7. Moonglow

If this wasn't pure bliss then Everest didn't know what it was. Lounging in a cold and calm lake on a cool night, all alone and with nothing to disturb you.

Despite the frigid cold in the air, the pale white full moon shone down in all its glory. Its multiple bursts of reflections on the repose lake shimmered and sparkled like a thousand white jewels on the sleeping water.

Although it was yet to rain for the season, the fresh, earthy scent that came with rain permeated the air like an air freshener. Everest could see the bright, translucent beads of moisture that the early late-night dew had formed on the blades of grass about the lake.

Daring to explore beyond her backyard had been worth it after all. The landlady hadn't mentioned anything about a lake being on her property, so when she had found it in all of its restful glory, she had been astonished.

It turned out the picturesque prairie that stretched on at the back of her house had an ending after all. She had just finished her steak and kidney pie for dinner and had retired to the Adirondack chairs on the back deck when she had got wondering. The way the green expanse of land stretched out and disappeared behind weeping trees in the distance intrigued her. She had wondered where it all led to and had finally given in to her curiosity and followed the grassland far out behind the thick copse of trees.

She had just been about to give up the quest, seeing that the grass seemed to have no end when a bright reflection of the moon caught her eye down below. Then she had discovered that the downward plunge in the grassy plains had not been more prairie after all, but a landlocked body of water.

Far out down the lake, more thick sets of overhanging trees drooped over the lake, shadowing the end and source of the landlocked area.

She couldn't believe all that wide stretch of cool water was hers. Tall, forest trees on her right side blocked out everything else to the right. Besides, hers was the last house on the street, what sprawled on was woods and then vegetation. And the abandoned house on her left seemed lost in the distance. She was absolutely, totally private.

Then giddy and feeling weirdly crazy for the moment, she had run back to her back deck to strip and skipped back to the lake, with the splendid moon licking her butt-nakedness aglow. This was her only chance to do crazy things as such, she was never going to be able to do something like that in the congested city.

Here was also a good place to come think deeply, she mused as she waded lightly in the water towards the overhanging trees. She didn't go too close though, there the waters ran deeper and also, the canopy created by the trees shaded that part of the lake from the moon wash and Everest was ever wary of what might lay beyond her sight there. It could be a semi-aquatic animal living in the blanket of trees, or a family of creatures nestling in the deeps.

She sighed out in pure pleasure and stopped wading. Stretching her lips in a contented smile, she lay her head back in the water, pushed her chest to the surface and let her legs dangle freely in the water. It was as though she were aiming to levitate toward the moon.

She aspirated another sigh. I could definitely get used to this.

Basking in the coolness of the air and water whenever she wanted, letting the wash of the moon glow cascade over her being, listening to the orchestra of nocturnal insects alternately harmonize and terminate. Two words - Pure. Bliss.

She smiled and shut her eyes to draw in freshly scented air. I definitely can.

All of a sudden, a plunking sound disturbed her inertia. Greatly alarmed, she sought the source of disturbance in the water. She squinted and frowned. She could clearly see a wide ripple breaking out from a point near the shore, it looked like something had dropped in there. Something heavy from the sound of it.

And then it emerged from beneath the water like a banished sea god finally coming out of exile. Everest choked on a gasp. Someone, not something.

The person had their head turned away from her vantage point and she could only make out the fair-haired head and the beginnings of muscled shoulders. It was a man.

Distraught with fear that slowly trickled into her chest, her heart started an unruly hammer beneath her breasts. How the fuck was she supposed to get out of this now? Wasn't the lake supposed to be private? It was mostly on her rented property, after all!

The person dunked their head again and when he came back up, his hair hung down heavily from his head and he shook his head vigorously from side to side like a wet dog to get rid of the soak. She could hear the person sigh out in pleasure and she was almost smiling at that mutual feeling when the guy's body rose further out of the water. His face was now somewhat turned towards her and she could see his tanned and well-toned upper torso glistening in the splendour of the moon.

His hair still hung heavy in his face and Everest was pretty sure the intruding stranger had to be from the ranch house or something. When the said guy raised a thickly biceped hand to brush his hair out of his face, Everest just couldn't hold back the gasp that escaped quickly enough.

It was that scary, rude head rancher from earlier. What the. . .?

Everest wanted to find a hole in the water to bury herself in. Now she was in a deep fix.

How the heck could she get out of the water with him all out there at the bank? And she was naked.

Shit.

For fuck's sake, why had she not brought her clothes with her? If he had seen them on the bank, he'd have known someone was in the water. Being near the shade of trees, he had to not have seen her.

The guy appeared to have heard her gasp. He paused from rubbing water down his thick arms to look about and frown. But because she was shaded from the light of the moon, he couldn't see her. Also, he hadn't really looked towards there.

An acidic mix of mortification bled through her sharply at the situation she was in. It made her body tingle to the curly bases of her scalp. She wanted to stay rooted to the spot and wait him out, but she knew that was equally a bad idea. She was bound to see things private, or worse.

Deciding speaking up was the best option, she swam a bit closer, close enough for him to see her silhouette - or not - and far enough so he couldn't see her nakedness in the somewhat clear water.

She cleared her throat, startling the already wary rancher. "I didn't realize this lake wasn't private."

She watched as recognition slowly sank into the guy's features as he realized who she must be. It was an oddly satisfying thing to observe as his chiselled cheeks suffused with bright red colour in the moon bath - knowing she wasn't the only one embarrassed.

Yet, she was the one to be more embarrassed (horrified, more like) when the rancher dashed out of the water. She gasped at his bare buttocks and her heart palpitated faster in her chest.

Could she possibly unsee what she just saw, however attractive it might have looked?

She slipped her gaze away as he slid on his pants, his bare back to her all the while. The images and thoughts that projected in her mind at the view made parts of her clench and her blood climb higher on her face. Where had the wantonness come from?

She looked back at him when he started to apologise, relieved to see that he was now appropriately covered. Although the view of him standing there bare-chested, all husky muscles, hard uplifted pecs and firm abs with the moonlight cast on his handsome face, was something that made her heart continue its lewd race.

"I swear, I didn't see you in the lake," he was saying, his voice coloured with embarrassment. "I'm sorry I disturbed your calm."

Everest had started to nod when another alarming thought hit her. This time, it wasn't wantonness that put her heart in a marathon. She was suddenly overcome with the thought of the calm lake. And how clear it was.

He might not have been able to see her well from his point of view in the water, but standing above her there on the bank, in the moon-kissed night, he could probably see the tip of her painted toes in the water.

She gulped and tried to coil into herself. She mentally willed him to disappear as soon as possible. Where had he even come through?

When she snuck a glance at him, she could see he was looking anywhere but in her direction. Her stomach lost its bottom. He definitely had to have seen her.

Fuck.

To her further discomfiture and chagrin, he did not leave. He just stood there rooted to the spot, squirming and obviously embarrassed.

Then he bent to pick up his button-down shirt and started to put it on. Everest was even more aware of him in the flood of the moonlight. It was strangely stirring how the flimsy material of the white shirt plastered to his wet torso like another skin as he did the buttons. It perfectly showed off the sectioned, flat planes of his taut tummy and the mound of his hard pectoral muscles. It was crazy toey how she could almost see the signs of a slight bulge in his pants, no doubt from seeing her on the water and it was frigging weird that her eyes had strayed there in the first place.

The guy then cleared his throat and Everest could practically hear him swallow. "Um, and I'm. . . I'm really sorry about being harsh earlier," he said. He still had his gaze caught on everything else except her. "And thanks, for bringing back my daughter's toy set."

"It's no problem, really."

Now more mortified for him than for herself, she madly wished him to leave. So she could get out of the sudden cold water before she died from embarrassment.

He looked conflicted between saying a bit more in explanation and bolting.

She now practically prayed he'd do the latter. Her body was stewing hot from embarrassment in the frigid water. The thought that he might have seen her still sat ill with her. Her hair mostly looked like a lion's mane, fresh out of water.

"Uh, I usually come here at night to unwind, that's why. . ." he trailed off and slicked his wet hair back from his face, wiping the other hand over his mouth. He looked a bit worried. "Um, and yes, the lake belongs to you mostly, per se."

When the embarrassed woman in the water remained silent, he murmured his apologies and might have bid her good night before turning on his heels and hurrying back in the direction of the back of the abandoned house.

Long after he had disappeared, Everest let out a shaky breath and cupped a handful of the cold water to wipe over her face. Still a bit disoriented, she walked out of the lake and scooted in the direction of her house.