We continued on our journey, but the realization that we may not find our way back anytime soon, or at all, was heavily weighing on my mind. But the piercing look in Colt's eyes when he said he would save me, made me believe in him all the more. I knew, without a doubt, that he would do everything in his power to get us back.

I was extra jumpy at any sign or sound of wildlife. Colt, noticing, stayed close to my side. I would catch myself staring at him in both appreciation, he was still shirtless afterall, and curiosity. He had managed to get me to open up about a few details of my life, but he seemed to evade any question I threw at him. I was surprised when he shared that little piece of himself about not dating. But he shut down after that. There was still so much we did not know about each other, and I found myself wanting to know everything.

"So, do you normally get your customers lost on these trail guides?" I teased.

He chuckled. "No, this will be a first for me. Of course, I don't normally have customers quite so...stubborn either."

"Says the most stubborn man I know."

"I'm not stubborn."

"Ah, right, you're just hard headed."

"Exactly." He winked. "Besides, I haven't done many of these guides. I've just been helping out while Hank's out."

"Hank?"

"Yeah, he's out on leave. He's the main guide. Also who you would have rather been with right now. He wouldn't have gotten you so lost."

"Hey." I reached out and touched his arm. "I'm glad it's you I'm stuck out here with. I wouldn't have wanted anyone else." It was true.

He held my gaze with such a powerful force, I felt as if I would crumble underneath his mere stare. He went to say something, but stopped himself, shaking his head and smiling instead. We continued walking.

"So if you aren't the main guide, what is it you do?"

"I'm a rancher. My dad's ranch will be mine someday, and I help run it. When I'm not doing that, I help out with whatever my mom needs at the lodge."

"Whatever your mom needs? So, what is it your mom does at the lodge then?"

"She owns it."

"Wait, she...she owns it? Wow, I didn't realize. That's impressive!" I praised. "Although I may have to give four stars instead of the full five on account of almost being eaten by a bear and chased by a moose."

He started laughing. "I don't think she would blame you. But, yeah, her and my dad started it up about ten years or so ago."

"So you ranch and do endless jobs at the lodge? You must stay busy. What is it you do just for you?"

He glanced at me and then looked ahead again.

"I stay busy."

He walked slightly ahead, and by his vague answer, I could tell he had no intention of elaborating.

****

It was now the afternoon of our second day trek, and my phone battery was at the end of its life. It held up impressively though, but I guessed that's what happened when you weren't constantly on it. We had been walking since early morning, and if we had been finally going in the right direction, we would be seeing some kind of sign of that soon.

Colt stopped and looked around. There was a mountainous hill formed with a lot of large rocks to the left of us and he walked over to it.

"I have an idea. Maybe we can climb this. It goes pretty high up, it might overlook the trees, and I can look if I see anything recognizable. The hike will add some time to our trek, but it looks like it flattens out, so it shouldn't be too hard of a climb. Plus, it might be our only option right now."

"Okay, let's do it."

He nodded his head and we started the climb up. Every so often, he would help me with my footing and balance. But he was right, it was otherwise a flat climb. The rocks were large, some even making small looking caves. We got to the top, and the view was gorgeous.

"Wow! It's breathtaking up here. Look Colt! You can see above some of the trees!"

His grin was a mile wide. He looked so carefree in that moment, and I decided I would do anything to see him always that way. He held his hand to his forehead to block out the sun, squinted his eyes, and scoured the horizon, looking for our way back.

A few moments later, he dropped his hand and looked to me expressionless. He took a step closer to me, still silent.

"What? What is it Colt? You can tell me. Are we still going the wrong way?"

He didn't answer me. Instead, he took another step closer, and another until he was right next to me. He reached out and grabbed my waist, lifting me up and spinning me around. My hands flew to his shoulders and I squealed in surprise as he broke out in a heart stopping smile. He set me down, but his hands stayed tight around my waist, and I placed mine on his bare chest.

"We did it Grace! I can make out some landmarks in the distance. The lodge can't be more than maybe nine miles now!"

My smile took over my face, I was so relieved. "No, Colt, you did it. I never doubted it!" I slid my hands around his back and hugged him tight; his bare skin pressed to my chest shot an electricity through me that I did not expect. I quickly pulled away and backed up. Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, I looked back up at him feeling suddenly shy.

He cleared his throat. "Come on. We better start back down. We still have a bit to go. If we veer more left when we get back down, we should stay on track." He motioned for me to follow, and we carefully started the climb down.

About halfway, Colt froze in his tracks. I looked to him to see what was the matter. He was looking at the ground.

"What is it?"

"There's a lot of animal scat around. And that print right there in the dirt doesn't ease my mind. Come on, we need to hurry."

My heart sped up. "What do you mean? What kind of print?" I looked down searching, and saw what resembled some kind of cat print. My eyes went wide. "Is that a--"

"A mountain lion."

"Yeah, a mountain lion print."

"No, Grace. A mountain lion." His voice was extremely tense, and I looked toward him to follow his vision.

No more than maybe forty feet away stood a mountain lion, its' upper body sloped down in a pouncing stance and eyes trained on us.

"Oh my God." My breath caught in my throat, and I instantly felt my heart drop into the pit of my stomach.

Colt slowly inched closer to me, and stood up on his toes. He began waving his arms around and yelling. I tried to mimick him, I told myself to do the same, but my body did not listen. Instead, I froze. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. I just watched.

I watched as the cougar perked its ears back and lifted his head. I watched as the cougar took one step back, and then resumed a low stance. And I watched as it darted toward us.

Colt grabbed my arm, pulling me and yelling to run. We got a few feet until he pushed me down and screamed to crawl inside the small opening that surrounding rocks had made into a miniature cave. I squirmed my way in, thankful there was room enough to fit, and turned to help Colt. His head darted in and then his body. But a deafening scream richoteching through the hollow air made it clear to me that not all of Colt was in. I heard the lion's low growl, and the sound of it and Colt's tortured scream is something I will never forget.

Grabbing a loose rock, Colt turned and started hitting the cougar. It was enough for it to retreat back and give Colt enough time to finish crawling through. I pulled him in and he moved one of the heavier rocks to block most of the entrance to the compacted hole, his hand narrowly escaping the beasts mighty paw as it struck out at the rock.

I frantically searched Colt's body for signs of bleeding. My eyes landed to his leg. His jeans were shredded and blood was soaking the material that was left. I gasped in horror and immediately stripped off my over shirt, leaving me only in my tank top.

Colt tore more of his jeans to reveal his wound. The mountain lion had clawed into his flesh. I didn't see a bite wound though, and for that, I was grateful. I wrapped my shirt around his leg and tightly tied it to help stop the bleeding. Colt laid his head back against the rock, closed his eyes, and winced. A slew of curse words filled the small space.

"Oh my God, Colt. I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. This is all my fault." I blubbered out, tears falling uncontrollably.

He opened his eyes and leaned up. Due to the limited space, we were basically on top of each other. He lifted my chin with his hand and peered into my eyes.

"I have a feeling you have done enough unnecessary apologizing in your life. Please don't start with me."

My eyes darted back and forth across his face landing on his lips. I closed the distance and our lips met sweetly, yet swiftly. I pulled away all too soon, and yet, not soon enough. I was overcome with emotion, extremely thankful he was alive, that I had allowed that emotion to take over.

"I'm sorry...I mean, okay." I breathed.

He held my chin a moment longer, his eyes searching mine, before dropping his hand and leaning back. Outside we could hear the carnal growls from the angered cougar, and I sunk close to his chest. He wrapped his arm around me and held me tight.

"Colt, what are we going to do? You're badly injured. We need to get you help."

"The only way to get me help, is to get the hell off this mountain. We'll keep moving once we are sure the mountain lion is gone."

"But your leg...how are you going to walk?"

"I'll be fine. Grace, we're going to get back." I nodded, my face still on his chest.

"Could you do me a favor though?"

"Anything." I lifted my head, searching his face.

"Could you move your hand off my dick, I'm in enough pain."

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" I jumped up to move, but he held on tight.

"I'm kidding Grace. Don't move. Don't go anywhere."

We shared an overwhelming look, and I slowly sank back down, resting my head once more onto his chest.

"Tell me something. About you. To help keep my mind off the pain. Please?" He asked.

"What would you like to know?"

"Everything."