The Park Ranger and the Marine Biologist
There wasn't ever any doubt about her intentions in life. She had concluded since she could walk- rather, the formation of her recallable consciousness- that she belonged in the wild. Twenty years later, with a smattering of burned family connections, disgruntled male classmates, and a shining degree in environmental studies, she donned her National Parks Uniform. Complete with the tight tan button down, a baseball cap that kept her wild auburn hair in a ponytail, and muddy hiking boots, she couldn't remember a day when she was more joyful. At the top of her graduating class, it had been relatively easy to find work. She hadn't partied and befuddled her college studies like so many of her colleagues throughout the five years in which she obtained her Masters. National Parks didn't pay well, but there were job openings, especially for qualified persons like herself. There were certainly worse places to be stationed as well. She had elected for the sunny forests of South Carolina. Acquaintances of hers were stationed in the bitter cold of Alaska and the remoteness of Wyoming.
Overall, she was happy. Secure. And above all, content.
Only, today would be the turning point of her career.
She worked seven days a week at the Park, with no vacation, and not a sick day on record so far. Illegal, perhaps, but her station manager never complained with her work ethic, always coming to her aid in smudging out check records. She loved the isolation, the serenity of the nature places of the world too much to stay away from it all. Today's job happened to be to camp out near the sand dunes on a secretive calm beach. It was protected by a S shaped inland cove, that hit the pristine sands from any boats that sought to find an exclusive party area. Additionally, the only access was thick bush hiking for 20km in three directions. Her job was to keep the beach safe because, while the beach was devoid of humans, that didn't mean that predators weren't there. Someone had to make sure that endangered turtle hatchlings made it to the water safely.
Only… she wasn't alone this time.
The beach was that fabled 20km from base, a pretty easy walk over flat ground, and she arrived in the early afternoon with an assortment of camping gear. As the lapping waves of the ocean came in sight, Artemis froze, her wild hair swinging forward from her abrupt halt.
There was a surfer. On the beach! A long paddleboard was stuck in the sand, providing shade for the man Artemis could now see laying at the base of the board. Who in the hell did he think he was? This was her beach! The Park's beach! The turtles' beach!
Human interaction beyond her station manager and the odd hello she uttered to the half a dozen other Rangers in the Park was rather low, so in hindsight, her reaction was perfectly normal at the developing situation.
"Hey! Get the hell off this beach! This is National Park jurisdiction you vagabond!" Artemis yelled, throwing her pack into the pine needles and sand before the beach. The man was laying right in front of the Turtle nests, which had been clearly marked by her, weeks before, in red tape.
The man, obviously startled, sprung upwards at her voice.
Artemis struggled to maintain an annoyed pretense. While the man had a wetsuit on, for whatever reason, his top section hung loosely at his back, exposing his chest. He was chiseled, with hard lines slicing through his back and abdomen, and he cocked his head at her displaying a sharp jawline with the barest amount of stubble growing in on his tanned face.
Oh, fuck her silly. She dug her steel toed boots into the ground, bracing herself, while resting her hands on her flared hips. She had to do this professionally, and tried to get her eyes to cooperate. For once in her life, she was not successful.
"Excuse me?" The man responded, a confused lilt in his deep baritone voice.
Goddamnit, why couldn't he have a squeaky voice. That would have solved this growing problem on her hands.
"You aren't allowed to be here. This is off trail, and protected government lands." Artemis quickly asserted, finding this civilian encounter to be one of her most… invigorating. Fuck that was the wrong word. Or was it? She had to clench a fist to keep her fingers from snapping happily. What was wrong with her?
The man stretched, rippling his muscles in the very most distracting way. How was this guy even real? Artemis found herself wanting to march over and shove this man back into the sand. She wanted to admire him from a top down perspective. What was the source of this heat she was experiencing? She struggled to find a definitive answer to that, as shirtless men were commonplace around the area. How did she turn this runaway reactor within her stomach off? Could she?
"Look Ranger Lady, I'm here for a reason, I paddled out all this from the other side of the bay for this beach, I'm not leaving. Plus, National Park land is public, and because I pay way too much taxes, it happens to be my land too." The outrageously handsome man crossed his arms across his chest. A bittersweet sight to be sure. His defined pectorals were now hidden, but now Artemis had a frontline view to broad shoulders and wiry toned forearms.
"Right… well, uh…" Artemis stuttered, seeing flashes of those forearms flexing while gripping her in intricate ways, "The beach has… turtles! Yes! Turtle nests, all over the place. Due to hatch any day now in fact. And I can't allow you to jeopardize their hatching. Endangered Hawksbill Turtles trump public National Park territory, so please get out of here."
For the love of god do it, or I might assault you… she finished silently. A shiver ran up her spine, and she resisted the urge to cross her legs. She hoped he would've liked the sight of her toned legs in her tight mountaineering pants, but she had to remain professional…
"Oh, I know!" The man exclaimed, sinking any chance for Artemis to think on a rational level, "My friend to town tipped me off about it, it's a perfect place to be for my upcoming research. I have a spot staked out to photograph the cute flippered nuggets when they scuttle down into the water." The man grinned, gesturing behind him to a bag on the sand.
Oh no. Artemis felt her legs grow shaky, as this godly specimen of a man lit up about talking about sea creatures and wildlife. Lust pooled in her stomach and her upper thighs quivered. When was the last time she had gotten any release? The horrifying thing was that she couldn't answer that question. College? Laughable. High school prom? She punched her date.
"Oh that's… good. Great. Fantastic… Wonderful..." Artemis's list of adjectives would have likely spiraled further as she lost herself in green eyes. GREEN EYES.
"Ah, where are my manners. I see you are a Park Ranger Miss." The man smirked heavily, walking over towards her barefoot. The scorching sands didn't bother him in the slightest, but it sure bothered her. Oh, it bothered her. "My name is Percy, I'm a Marine Biologist with specialized interests in Sea Turtle nesting grounds and early adolescent turtle life." He stuck an arm out to her, but Artemis had already experienced total brain failure at the worlds biologist, turtle, and specialized interests.
She looked at his arm blankly, before looking up at his grinning face, his hair flopped to the side, still damp from the ocean. "If I was to throw you on the ground here and fuck the daylights out of you, would you be opposed to that?"
Percy smirked, before he lightly laughed, "Nope, by all mean…"
Artemis crashed her lips to his, throwing both down onto the ground which was full of pine needles and cool sand. She quickly scrambled on top of him, thrusting her hips into his. His snort of amusement was cut short by a groan as she pinned his wrists above his head, and bit down on his neck.
The turtles hatched that night, and waddled into the sea unperturbed. The moans and yells of a female in heat kept the predators away quite nicely.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
"And yes, that is exactly what happened. I had to witness it. Some first encounter for the lovely couple eh? A toast! To the Bride and Groom!" Annabeth laughed loudly into the microphone, raising her glass. A smattering reply of glasses followed, with whispers of amusement and horror that greeted Annabeth's speech.
Artemis could only bash her head into her wedding table, hands fisting in her dress. Percy was besides her, looking altogether too innocent, and unsurprised. That day, so many months ago rolled back into her memory. Normally a memory that she always loved to both recreate and recount, it now only sent a horrible prickling of embarrassment down her spine.
"Oh, husband of mine, you won't survive the night." Artemis lifted her head, simultaneously delivering a sheepish wave to the wedding guests while speaking pure venom out of the side of her mouth.
"Hey, Annabeth told it right… she was there after all…" Percy grimaced, wincing as he toasted his family at the next table over. It didn't help that his mother and father were seated with a lot of his former professors and senior colleagues.
"This is an excellent time to figure out that fun little fact!" Artemis seethed, her mind conjuring up an image of that night… with Annabeth watching in the moonlit beach. For fucks sake, she wanted to die, something painful too, so she could get her mind off of this scene until her final death. She chanced a look over to her mother and father. Her mother had the expression of a dying seagull, but her father was all thumbs up. She didn't know which she preferred. Her twin brother looked murderous, but he was a classical musician, so she suspected that the only way Percy would be in danger would be if he was strangled with piano wire.
"In all honesty, Annabeth paid me ten grand with the others, so she could tell the story." Percy admitted. Annabeth had sat back down at the table full of thieves. Grover was there, along with Jason, Piper, Calypso, and Leo. All of them were bawling their eyes out in laughter.
"Wait really?" Artemis instantly dropped her anger, "So we can… you know?"
"If you are referring to us renting that sailboat and touring the Pacific for our honeymoon, that is a yes."
Artemis blinked her eyes, imagining the several months at sea alone with a man she had never gotten tired of both sexually and his irresistible dorky persona. She pressed her lips to her new husband, all the scarred guests long from her mind now. Tomorrow she'd be off for the wonders of the sea and the islands they had chartered courses for. "Right, well I'll be right back One last bit of business to do before I reward you tonight for being the best husband in the entire world."
Percy nodded sagely, "She has a recently injured shoulder from a scuba dive she did with me two days ago, just avoid the left arm." He knew that stopping Artemis from her warpath was futile. Annabeth had it coming. It was unwise to give him the money before Artemis had her way.
Artemis smiled grimly, before meeting the blonde's eye. The woman was justifiably terrified, and bolted like a rabbit from the reception hall. She gave chase, confident that Annabeth wouldn't escape. She was a Park Ranger after all, and she always succeeded in her hunts.