- Hard Fall by James Buchanan Read Free Book Online Page B

myself on to the anchors I'd placed with a few locking carabiners and called up, "Off rope! Come on down."
    From above me I heard Kabe's yell of, "Below," advising me to watch for anything he might knock loose on his descent. I hung off the gear and studied the scene below.
    Close as I was, a good twenty feet, I could smell the blood, although there was a lot less than most people might suspect.
    Without a puncture into the body cavity, from something like a limb or rock, people who fell didn't bleed much. Her clothing seemed reasonable for someone who'd been out in the mountain morning: fleece pullover, knee-length 51

    Hard Fall
    by James Buchanan
    mountaineering pants and hiking boots with heavy socks. The strap for a light, day-type pack was tangled about one arm.
    In climber time, it didn't take Kabe long at all to reach me.
    We hung side-by-side for a bit as he clipped in to my anchors.
    For a guy who normally liked to cheat death in the you-fall-you-die game of free solo, he was meticulous during a trad climb.
    "So." Kabe looked over as he locked in a crab and smiled.
    Lord, there it went again, that soul-shattering grin. There weren't nowhere to run to this time. I hung there and basked in the glow of it. Without acknowledging my slack-jawed state, he continued his thought, and eased into my side. "I'll hang here, rig the rescue pulley. You rap down, do what you need to."
    Somehow I managed to dredge up a coherent response.
    "Sounds good." It took me a bit to realize how near Kabe was. Actually, I knew without even knowing how close Kabe was ... it took a good chunk longer to realize that it wasn't an accident. "What in tarnation are you doing?"
    Sharing someone's protection on a face didn't usually mean sharing their up close and personal space. Although my definition of personal space took a long walk around the mountain when I climbed and didn't relate to nothing I might think when my feet were planted on the ground. Still, he was nearer than he really needed to be. So near I could taste the salt on his skin as he reached across and clipped into the pro right above my shoulder.
    Growling out, "I think you're secure enough to set your own protection," I moved over the only inch I could get.
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    Hard Fall
    by James Buchanan
    "What, bother you?" Likely, Kabe decided it was a good time to razz me, since there weren't a darn thing I could do about it. He teased, his leg sliding against mine. If he didn't watch it our ropes would get all good and tangled. "I'm good, can hang out here all day."
    The scent of sweat mixed with chalk and flowed down my spine. "I can't." I'da moved off even more if'n there was any place to move off to. Strung like a pig out for slaughter, I had nowhere to run.
    "Your arms going to get tired?" Somehow he managed to reach between me and the rock, so that his shoulder was under my pit. It pitched his crotch against the back of my thigh. Boy had a hard-on to rival Kilimanjaro. He swayed a bit on the rope, like he was having trouble finding a place for a
    'biner. It rubbed him in all the right places. "Can't hold it up?"
    The bucketfuls of load he put on it let me know it weren't my arms he was joshing 'bout.
    What I wanted to do was push back, feel that thick piece of meat against my skin. "I think you need to stop screwing around."
    "Hey, you know," that lean brown arm, roped with muscle, brushed against my chest, "where else can you hang out half-naked and in bondage gear with another guy and nobody says anything?" He bumped my hip, messing around here
    'cause he thought I couldn't say nothing. "Slide your hand up a greasy crack and hang out for a while."
    Dangerous play for him. He likely figured he could get away with it up here, maybe he'd gotten away with it before.
    Mess with some guy's head, one you figured you'd never 53

    Hard Fall
    by James Buchanan
    partner with again, and then when you hit the ground nobody says nothing. 'Cause if the guy he'd been diggin' on said word one, then