Chapter One
Christian
He cursed his therapist again as he tried to figure out the confusing trail map he held in his sweaty hands. After all, it was her brilliant idea that he take up a new hobby for exercise, which might also expose him to some fresh air and reduce stress in the process. Although, to be fair, she had suggested something along the lines of golf. It was Christian who thought hiking might be fun to try and a wonderful way to get the benefits she claimed he needed.
Dumbest plan he'd ever had, and now he was out in the middle of a hiking park he'd never been to before today and had no fucking idea where he was currently standing. Even worse, he was losing daylight, had yet to see another human during this entire ordeal, and there was little to no cell service.
So much for asking someone for directions or to direct the rescue crew on where to find my damn body.
A steady, warm breeze moving through the trees fluttered the glossy paper map he held in his hands, making it difficult for him to hang on to and keep from blowing away. The hieroglyphic-like symbols complicated this little adventure even more. It was like trying to translate a high-level security code for a foreign government.
Maybe this is a fucking drug cartel map, and I'm being led straight into their camp deep in the woods to be killed!
He let out an exasperated groan at his imagination and tried one more time to decipher the convoluted “legend” in the corner of the map. He'd never seen anything like this. For the life of him, he couldn't understand the difference between the dashes versus the lines—and some of lines were printed in various colors, so what the fuck did that mean? Not to mention that these lines zig-zagged all over the map like a plate of spaghetti. He was about to crumble it up into a ball and chuck it into the woods when he heard a loud splash from somewhere down the embankment at the side of the trail.
Christian hurried to the tree line and looked over the edge. There was about a twenty-foot drop down an easy-grade slope that was dotted with scrubby trees and rocks. A sparkling lake was spread out at the very bottom. He glanced at the map again and saw a blue area that could possibly be this particular lake, but there were also two other blue circles on the map as well.
So, which fucking body of water is this?
Christian looked at the lake again and noticed a man surface, shake the water from his hair, and then began to walk towards a narrow, sandy shoreline. The sun danced off his tanned, wet skin and made his muscles glisten. Christian stood in awe as he watched the chiseled man emerge from the lake. Each step he took brought him closer to the beach area and exposed more of his body. The water sluiced around his waist as Christian drank him in. Another step and the water level dropped below his navel to reveal a dark happy trail, and when the water dipped below his tapered hips, Christian held his breath at what he was witnessing. One more step and a chestnut-colored rectangle of pubic hair was revealed, surrounded by what appeared to be a thick shaft.
Oh, my god! He's fucking naked!
Christian quickly took a seat on a bump of rock and retrieved the binoculars from a zippered pouch on his backpack. He felt like a creeper—but so damn what! There was a gorgeous specimen of man slinking out of the water like a sexy sea creature stepping onto dry land for the very first time, and Christian wasn't going to miss a single inch of skin—or so much as one detail of this man's impressive body.
He watched the bare-assed guy bend over and pick up a towel sitting beside a pair of hiking boots in the sand. Christian scanned the short stretch of beach for clothing, or evidence of someone else with the guy, but there was nothing. Oddly enough, not even a pile of clothing sat nearby for the man to pull back on to cover himself. Did that mean he was hiking out here on the trails completely naked? This gorgeous hunk seemed to be all alone as he watched him dry off his face, both arms, and his chest with the towel—until something else caught Christian's sight.
He adjusted the focus on the binoculars that were pressed to his eyes, and sure enough, the man's cock was beginning to harden. The growing appendage was ignored at first while the man draped the towel around his neck, but then he turned slightly to partially face the lake. From this angle, Christian had an almost perfect side view of that beautiful cock thickening and lifting to attention.
“Holy fucking wow!”
Christian's eyes flew open wide when he saw the man's fingers wrap around the shaft while his head lolled back on his shoulders in pleasure. Through the lenses of the binoculars, he could see the man close his eyes as he bit at his bottom lip.
So fucking sexy, Christian sighed. He pressed down on his own hardening cock with his palm while he continued to watch the naked guy standing at the water's edge tighten his fist and stroke with more intensity. No longer was it just a casual tug to adjust himself after being in the lake. Now he was purposefully jerking himself off and doing so in plain view of anyone who happened to walk by on the trail.
Like me.
Without dropping the binoculars, Christian managed to slide his hand down the front of his nylon gym shorts and latch onto his cock. He started to mimic the rhythm the other guy had going on his dick and matched him stroke for stroke. The naked man's hips began to thrust, which allowed him to fuck his fist. The visual had Christian leaking so badly that he was creating a wet spot on the front of his shorts.
What do I care? It's not like anyone is going to see me before it has a chance to dry.
Christian kept his pace steady as he continued to spy on the man working on his prick in earnest. It was the hottest thing Christian had ever seen—and so bold. He wished he could be that free and comfortable with himself to skinny dip in the woods and not give a shit who saw him. It was obvious this guy wasn't feeling an ounce of shame about what he was doing. He worked his shaft with fast, twisting curls of his wrist, and Christian could only imagine what that fist would feel like clamped around his own needy dick.
The man on the beach widened his stance and bent his knees a bit as his hand action quickened. Even from a distance, Christian could tell he was getting closer to shooting. Everything about the guy seem to tighten. He watched the man's stomach muscles flex and strain as he reached for his orgasm. Christian was almost too fascinated with what was playing out below him to keep his strokes in any kind of steady cadence. His hand kept faltering and he'd lose his rhythm, but the show he was watching was almost enough to propel him to climax all on its own.
A moment later, the naked guy arched in the sand and thrust his hips forward. Christian's mouth hung open in anticipation. He couldn't have gotten the binoculars any closer to his face if he tried. Then he waited for what he knew was about to … blow. The man's fist was almost a blur of movement, and then it stopped while the echo of his orgasmic growl rolled up the hill where Christian was perched on the rock, watching. The low, throaty sound that reached Christian washed over his aroused body and lifted all the fine hairs on his arms.
A beat later, the naked man began to come. The first blast of his release shot from the tip of his cock with an arc that was downright impressive. The ribbon splattered partially in the sand, and a glob even reached the water lapping at the shoreline. The man grunted again and another long, milky strand flew through the air and hit the beach. Several more strokes and then he began to slow his hand.
Christian hung the strap of the binoculars around his neck and held onto the side of the rock while he worked on his own cock. He closed his eyes and allowed what he'd just seen to play inside his head. He tightened his fist and felt his balls start to lift. A few more strokes is all it would take and then he'd feel relief.
As he adjusted himself on the hard surface of the rock, his foot slipped in the mossy growth at the bottom. Before he could stop himself, he started to skid. His ass slipped off the rock and hit the ground; forward momentum took over from there as he began to tumble down the embankment.
No! No! No!
His hands reached out to grab whatever he could: tree roots, dirt, outcroppings of rock—anything his fingers could latch onto that might stop himself from sliding all the way to the very bottom of this hill, but everything seemed to be just out of his reach.
“Motherfucker!” he shouted as pain laced through his ankle and up towards his knee. Not a second later, he hit his head while his elbow banged against something else causing more pain. He rolled and turned for what felt like ten minutes before he finally slammed up against the trunk of a wide pine tree. The sudden jolt of stopping was almost as fierce as the luge run down the hill.
Christian gulped in a breath of air and tried to assess his injuries. He eased himself up to a sitting position against the pine tree and did a visual self-inspection. Nothing felt broken, but even covered in dirt as he was, he could see the cuts and scrapes on his arms and legs. A deeper looking gash was dripping a steady flow of blood from his shin, but everything else seemed to be minor. While Christian allowed the relief of the situation to settle into his bones, he heard the crunching sound of footfalls approaching.
Shit! Naked guy heard me falling!
“Jesus, dude!” the man yelled up at him. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I'm fine,” Christian quickly hollered back. “You don't have to come up here!”
Christian hadn't even finished saying the last word when the man appeared from behind the tree, still naked, except for the hiking boots, which looked like he'd barely taken the time to slip on before he was off and running up the hill to save Christian's sorry ass.
Of course, this beautiful creature was still bare-assed, he laughed to himself. Clothes weren't suddenly going to appear out of thin air for this guy to wear, nor would he have had time to throw them on before he played hero to Christian. He didn't even have a chance to wave the man off, and he was kneeling down on the ground beside him with that recently spent cock resting against his muscled thigh. Christian's head tipped back and hit the trunk of the tree behind him. Fuck my life.
“Anything broken?” the guy asked. His hands began to quickly move around Christian's limbs.
“No, I'm fine,” Christian answered absently. If he ever wished he could be invisible, now was that fucking time. “Just a few cuts.”
“This one needs to be cleaned out.”
“Yeah, I've got some antiseptic shit and bandages up in my backpack,” Christian stated flatly. His face was burning with embarrassment.
“Where's your backpack?”
Christian pointed above them on the embankment.
“You slid that far?” the man asked, and Christian managed a shrug with his sore shoulder. “I can run up and get your stuff for you.”
“No!” Christian said with a little too much force. “I mean, I can hike back up to the trail and take care of this.”
“Yeah? You really think you're okay to walk unassisted?” he asked.
“Of course, I can get back up there,” Christian retorted.
“How about I help you?” he asked, and then flashed a brilliant smile that parted his gorgeous lips and revealed nice, straight white teeth. “I'm Derek, by the way.”
“Christian. Chris. Either works.”
“Okay, Christian—Chris,” Derek said as he latched onto Christian's hand to help him to his feet. “Let's see if we can get you back up that hill.”