Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

Bess

A high wail, tailed by a low, trembling horn, reverberated through the forest.

“Elk!” Charlie cried out, pointing at a small clearing below us.

I detected some movement, but it was too far away to make sense of. “Are you sure?”

“Yes! That sound was a bull elk. It’s mating season so there’ll be a harem as well.”

“They have a harem?”

“About eight cow elks, usually. We used to watch them when I was a kid. My grandfather was a hunter. They’re fascinating. If we get a bit closer, we might hear them.”

“Is it dangerous?”

“If you get too close, sure. The male weighs about seven hundred pounds and they can attack without warning. But we won’t get too close, only close enough to use my new binoculars, okay?”

I was powerless against that pleading look of excitement and simply followed him down the hill, trying to memorize the way. Thankfully, the terrain was mostly rocky, the trees smaller and further apart, allowing us to weave through them in the general direction of the elk.

It wasn’t long before we heard them again. The shrill sound, now close and startlingly loud, made me jump.

“That’s the bull bugling,” Charlie told me.

He’d taken the lead, and I was happy for once to slow down, staying behind him. Heading for the direction of the sound, we made it to a large rock overlooking the clearing. The elk had congregated on the opposite side—one horned male and eight females, just like Charlie had said.

The male seemed to be chasing one of the females, who lazily skipped around the field, letting him get close, then stretching the gap between them before anything could happen.

“Are they actually mating right now?” I whispered.

Charlie grinned. “I think the female’s playing hard to get.”

As he said it, the cow elk slowed down and circled the male, hopping on its back, then quickly retreated.

“Isn’t that the female?” I asked. “Why is she mounting him?”

Charlie smirked. “Maybe she’s showing him what to do.”

The cow elk strutted off and the bull elk followed, his tongue flicking out. When they got to the edge of the forest, she allowed him to get close, presenting her hindquarters.

“Is he sniffing her…?” My mouth hung open as I stared at the scene.

We were close enough to see what was happening without the binoculars, but Charlie handed them to me anyway. “She’s enticing him. Look a bit closer.”

“Why does she keep running away, then? She needs to stop and let him mount her, right?”

Charlie drew a breath, blowing it out with bulging cheeks. “Right. I’ll never understand females.”

“She’s already part of his harem, right?”

“Uh-huh. She should give up and accept the inevitable.”

We watched for a long time as the two elk circled each other, the female leading on the male. Then, finally, she stopped and the bull elk climbed on her back. With Charlie’s binoculars, I caught the moment of almost penetration before the cow elk moved away.

“Was that it?” Charlie asked.

“I don’t think so. I saw his thing but… you know.”

“What?”

“He didn’t hide the sausage,” I clarified. “If these are recording, watch the playback.” I handed the binoculars back to him.

That’s when the elk headed towards us. Charlie crouched to hide behind the rock, pulling me down with him. There was no need for binoculars anymore. We could see them in vivid detail. The giant antlers charged at us as the male swerved by our hiding place. He only had eyes for the female, though. She’d stopped running away now, instead turning back to rub her neck against his, again climbing onto his back as to show him what to do. They were huge animals. Majestic.

I held my breath as the male mounted the female again, his pointy white erection now on full display. But this time, he rose on his hind legs and thrust into her. The powerful act was over in seconds, after which the animals went their separate ways.

I allowed myself to breathe again. “That was quick.”

“You like it to last a little longer than that?” Charlie’s voice sounded throaty.

If he was turned on, so was I. Not that I found a bull elk sexy. It was just hard to watch them without thinking of Charlie. What were the human mating rituals? We weren’t that highly evolved. We still had those primal urges—behavior so innate that it needed no words or higher reasoning. I wanted him the same way I wanted all the things I couldn’t have. Beach vacations, massages, chocolate that didn’t cause pimples… Charlie was my pie-in-the-sky dream, and if I had a chance to make it true, why wouldn’t I?

“I appreciate more than one thrust, yes.” I tried to keep my voice light, but it came out nearly as thick as his. “And a bit of foreplay, not just running around a field, letting him sniff my butt.”

His shoulders shook from laughter as he held onto a small tree to keep his balance. “I’m willing to go the extra mile. You like someone going down on you?” He grinned from ear to ear, his cheeks red.

I swallowed. “Are we really talking about this?”

“No, definitely not. Who’s talking about it?” He swiveled his head, eyeballing the forest like a fucking owl.

No one was allowed to look that hot when playing dumb.

“We’re not talking about it,” I confirmed, sliding off the rock and heading in the direction we’d come from.

At least I thought so. After a few minutes of climbing, we came to a path and started following it up and over the hill. But the path kept veering to the left, leading down. We came to a tight bend, then another one. After a while, a large root blocked our way, forcing me to throw my legs over it. I was starting to feel the chill. Not only the cool of the falling night, but the terrifying realization that I’d never been here before.