There was a scratching at the edge of the cliff, and suddenly Darcy’s hand appeared. I could see the heavy tension in her fingers, and I could have easily grabbed her and pulled her up. But I knew she could do it herself, and wanted to do it herself. She slowly pulled, and I marveled at her perfect blonde hair, matted with sweat, as her beautiful face appeared. The muscles in her arms flexed, strong and toned, as she pulled herself over the edge. Finally, she was completely up, and I ran my eyes along her toned, perfect body, and wondered how I got so incredibly lucky. She laughed wildly, and I knew she was feeling the same adrenaline rush and accomplishment that I had just gone through. She lay on her back, legs dangling over the edge of the cliff, and slowly caught her breath.
“Quite a fucking climb, huh,” I said finally.
She grinned back at me, upside down. “Not bad.”
It had been without a doubt the hardest, most dangerous climb we’d done together so far. I was constantly amazed at her ability. She brought the best out of me, and I was constantly trying to keep up with her.
“Yeah, wasn’t much of a challenge,” I said, grinning.
“You look tired there. Maybe you’re out of shape.”
I laughed. She smiled back, and I savored her body, the lean curves of her muscles, her full breasts, and lips. I couldn’t wait to take her home and celebrate.
She looked back out at the forest stretching out into the distance before us, the land completely flat for miles ahead. We could see tiny, blurry bumps, which were the skyscrapers in downtown Denver. Boulder spread out, its stock sprawl, to our left. We lapsed into a comfortable silence and enjoyed the summit, the exertion, and the beauty.
“Hey, I love you,” I said suddenly.
She looked back at me, smiling. “I love you too. Where’d that come from?”
I shrugged, shifted my weight onto my knees, and leaned forward to kiss her. There was a moment of vertigo as we kissed so close to the edge of a cliff, thousands of feet above the ground, where humans barely ever tread, but it quickly passed as we fell into the taste of each other. I savored every touch we shared, every time our bodies came together, because for a single moment, when Michael’s fighter Gunther wrapped his arms around my throat and the world began to dim, I was afraid I’d never feel her again. As the world dimmed around me in that moment, all I could see was her terrified face, and the knowledge that I’d brought so much pain into her life struck me like a hammer. That thought was what forced me to find the strength to lift my arm and finally win the fight, with any means necessary. Finally, I pulled away from our embrace, head reeling.
“Just wanted you to know that.”
She grinned again, and I knew I’d do anything for that smile. I looked back out into our new world, out into the vast distance marked by space and shape, packed with houses and roads winding through like snakes, and imagined what our life would be like in the future. The different possibilities stacked on top of each other and blended into one immense line, like a map of an imaginary world printed twice.
I thought it was perfect.