played it again and again.
The third time through I asked, "Would you like to dance?"
"I've never danced before." His voice was slightly unsteady. I had watched him throw a knife with deadly accuracy into the flesh of an opponent with no hesitation, and now he was going to be nervous?
I stood over him and offered my hand. He took it and got to his feet. I positioned myself about a ruler's length in front of him, then held my breath as I closed the gap.
"You place your hands here." I put both of his hands on my hips.
"I like dancing already," he said with a smile that filled even his eyes.
"Don't be fresh," I scolded playfully. Then I put both of my hands onto his shoulders.
"Now, I definitely like this."
I smiled. I liked it too.
"Now we sway." I gently rocked us back and forth and moved my feet nice and slowly.
He checked his stance and loosened up when he realized he had tensed. He looked into my face with an expression I couldn't name. Then he closed his eyes and sunk his fingers deeply into the muscles at my waist. The action took my breath away.
Intensity. The expression on his face had been intensity.
I closed my eyes, feeling it too, and involuntarily slipped my hands up onto the nape of his neck —my fingers tangled into his dark, loose hair.
What are you doing? But the music continued to play, and I had been so broken—and obviously so had he. He was strong and overwhelming, and for this moment… just for this one moment, I wanted to allow myself to get lost in his arms, lost in his power. It was—just a song—just a moment.
His forehead touched mine. Our faces were impossibly close.
Slightly frightened, I laid my cheek on his collarbone. He pulled me in closer to him.
The song ended and an upbeat song began. Neither of us moved. I realized my breathing had become shallow and ragged.
"That was—good—dancing," I said, my words tumbling out.
"Yeah," he agreed as he stared at me with that same intensity.
"I'll show you how to work the iPod and change the songs," I said breaking the spell.
The rest of the afternoon and into the night, Theron played song after song after song while I meandered around the camp doing various chores. He asked me questions and I filled his head with band and music trivia.
When it was time to turn in for the night, he declined with a sheepish grin. "I'd like to play with this some more," he said, indicating the iPod.
"Okay —goodnight." I lay in my bag, listening to him change songs. Each time he landed on one he really liked he would play it over and over again. I had to laugh.
I just gave him the gift of music, I thought. Pretty cool.
I closed my eyes as he selected "Iris" again —the Goo Goo Dolls' song we had danced to. I thought of his deep eyes and pale, apple-colored lips just inches from mine as he held me close, protecting me.
Sleep didn't come for a long time.
~
In the next few weeks, Theron and I did everything together. In addition to morning runs, we also hiked through the forest. He had never been camping and approached everything with childlike enthusiasm. I taught him the names of plants, flowers and trees and which plants were richly edible, perfect for foraging. I explained to him how he should avoid mushrooms altogether because too many toxic mushrooms mimicked edible ones. I steered him toward plants without poisonous copycats.
We plucked fat round pine cones from the trees around us and plunked them into my harvest bag. Later, we would roast and eat their inner seeds. A big bunch of dandelion greens were easy to obtain. They grew all over the place. I showed him how to dig with a spoon around the plant and how easy it was to yank it up out of the earth while keeping the edible leaves and roots intact. We found fragrant patches of sweet clover. I explained that I personally liked them better raw as a salad, but you could cook them too.
Having someone to be with dissolved the sometimes crippling paranoia that came with being utterly
The third time through I asked, "Would you like to dance?"
"I've never danced before." His voice was slightly unsteady. I had watched him throw a knife with deadly accuracy into the flesh of an opponent with no hesitation, and now he was going to be nervous?
I stood over him and offered my hand. He took it and got to his feet. I positioned myself about a ruler's length in front of him, then held my breath as I closed the gap.
"You place your hands here." I put both of his hands on my hips.
"I like dancing already," he said with a smile that filled even his eyes.
"Don't be fresh," I scolded playfully. Then I put both of my hands onto his shoulders.
"Now, I definitely like this."
I smiled. I liked it too.
"Now we sway." I gently rocked us back and forth and moved my feet nice and slowly.
He checked his stance and loosened up when he realized he had tensed. He looked into my face with an expression I couldn't name. Then he closed his eyes and sunk his fingers deeply into the muscles at my waist. The action took my breath away.
Intensity. The expression on his face had been intensity.
I closed my eyes, feeling it too, and involuntarily slipped my hands up onto the nape of his neck —my fingers tangled into his dark, loose hair.
What are you doing? But the music continued to play, and I had been so broken—and obviously so had he. He was strong and overwhelming, and for this moment… just for this one moment, I wanted to allow myself to get lost in his arms, lost in his power. It was—just a song—just a moment.
His forehead touched mine. Our faces were impossibly close.
Slightly frightened, I laid my cheek on his collarbone. He pulled me in closer to him.
The song ended and an upbeat song began. Neither of us moved. I realized my breathing had become shallow and ragged.
"That was—good—dancing," I said, my words tumbling out.
"Yeah," he agreed as he stared at me with that same intensity.
"I'll show you how to work the iPod and change the songs," I said breaking the spell.
The rest of the afternoon and into the night, Theron played song after song after song while I meandered around the camp doing various chores. He asked me questions and I filled his head with band and music trivia.
When it was time to turn in for the night, he declined with a sheepish grin. "I'd like to play with this some more," he said, indicating the iPod.
"Okay —goodnight." I lay in my bag, listening to him change songs. Each time he landed on one he really liked he would play it over and over again. I had to laugh.
I just gave him the gift of music, I thought. Pretty cool.
I closed my eyes as he selected "Iris" again —the Goo Goo Dolls' song we had danced to. I thought of his deep eyes and pale, apple-colored lips just inches from mine as he held me close, protecting me.
Sleep didn't come for a long time.
~
In the next few weeks, Theron and I did everything together. In addition to morning runs, we also hiked through the forest. He had never been camping and approached everything with childlike enthusiasm. I taught him the names of plants, flowers and trees and which plants were richly edible, perfect for foraging. I explained to him how he should avoid mushrooms altogether because too many toxic mushrooms mimicked edible ones. I steered him toward plants without poisonous copycats.
We plucked fat round pine cones from the trees around us and plunked them into my harvest bag. Later, we would roast and eat their inner seeds. A big bunch of dandelion greens were easy to obtain. They grew all over the place. I showed him how to dig with a spoon around the plant and how easy it was to yank it up out of the earth while keeping the edible leaves and roots intact. We found fragrant patches of sweet clover. I explained that I personally liked them better raw as a salad, but you could cook them too.
Having someone to be with dissolved the sometimes crippling paranoia that came with being utterly
Similar Books
