'Til You're Mine

2015

I set off at a run across the dry, packed earth. The night air is chilly and fresh, and goosebumps break out across my skin despite the exertion. It feels like the desert goes on for miles, like I could run and run and find nothing but empty, barren wasteland. Behind me, I can hear Alex's footfalls as he laughs, "Are you mad?" and then we're both panting when I reach the perimeter of the RV park– not that far at all– fenced in with wooden beams and chain link.

In the distance, I can hardly see any RVs at all, but there's a flash of metal amidst the rocks and vegetation. I'm not sure if it is what I think, but I want to find out.

"What are you doing?" Alex whispers, laughing.

I'm shivering, blood fizzing in my veins, and I feel exhilarated as I simply grin at him, catching my breath.

"You're cold," he says, and he takes off his leather jacket, draping it around my shoulders. It billows around me, but it's warm from his body, and I slip my arms into the sleeves and practically burrow into it. "Shall we head back?"

He starts to turn from the fence, but I grab his hand, tugging him back. "No," I say gleefully. "Let's go in."

"In?" He looks at the fence. "How do you plan on doing that?"

I let go of his hand and begin to climb the wooden slats of the fence like a ladder. I can feel him watching me, and– though it's something that seems childish, silly, so very unlike what those women at the Chateau Marmont would be caught dead doing– I feel powerful in him seeing me do it.

Swinging my leg over at the top, I manage to climb down the chain link toe by toe, and then jump down on the other side.

"Think you can manage?" I tease him, sticking out my tongue as he stares me down through the boundary.

He shakes his head, as if scolding me in mock resentment, and I watch with a thrill as he climbs his way over as well. Much slower, and more careful than me. When he brushes himself off beside me, he turns up his hands as if to ask, 'Satisfied?'

I grab his hand without thinking once more, and set off in search of the silver source. A flash of light keeps evading me in the distance, as we creep around cacti and giant rock formations, skirting wide berths around the quiet RVs we come across. Alex keeps his hand in mind, following me, and it's all so playful and spontaneous that part of me thinks about just turning around, grabbing him, and kissing him right now.

Suddenly, he's halting in place, and his hand in mine pulls me back, so that I all but crash into him. Looking up, I see his eyes are locked to the side of us, and I look too, noticing a coyote, no bigger than a medium dog, frozen only a couple yards away, staring right back.

Its eyes glow faintly in the dark, and my breath leaves my body at the primal beauty of it. I don't feel any sense of danger, just an eerily wonderful awe.

Alex and I are frozen together, staring, my shoulder pressed against his chest, our bodies overlapping. I can feel him breathe against me, and his hand has gone to the opposite side of my waist, holding me as we stand together. It's protective, and appreciative, and I feel the blood rush through my body at the way the night is unfolding.

"How do you think it got in?" I whisper, because I thought the whole park was fenced in.

"Probably climbed up like you," he says back teasingly, directly into my ear.

His faint breath against the hairs at my neck make me shiver, and I turn to make a face at him, but the movement spooks the coyote, and it darts off, out of sight.