* Love May come in December
Erin and his Dad planed a camping trip every other year since he was ten. His Dad taught him to prepare for every unforeseen set of circumstances that might arise in the wild. Over the last six trips, Erin had grown from a timid young boy to a full-grown mountain man.
One thing he hadn’t ever planed for while camping was to fall in love. Cupid and Fate were probably laughing their asses off when the arrow finally struck. Since Erin did everything in his power to avoid getting wrapped up in a relationship.
His mother Carol had worried about her son for years. Most nights she pestered his father to talk to their son finding out if there was something wrong. They never saw Erin go out on a date or pay any real attention to a girl.
Erin worked on his father’s ranch; this suited his lone-wolf lifestyle. He always enjoyed the quiet mornings or riding the fence-line as the cowboys of a hundred years ago did. He would even stay out on the range for days on end, working until the sunset, forcing him to stop for the night.
With all the modern convinces available Erin settled for a campfire, and a good book. Within the pages of his books he traveled to places and times throughout history.
On the evenings he spent at home he helped dry the dishes and playfully tickled his mother or kicked his dad’s ass in a game of chess. Anytime Carol asked Erin to help her whether at home or driving her to town he never thought twice about lending a hand.
It concerned Carol when the girls in town waived or called out to him and he treated them as he would his own sisters if he had one.
“What about Linda, she’s a pretty girl?”
“Come on ma, leave it be, please, I just don’t find anything in common with the girls around here.”
Carol was almost in tears from frustration still not being able to fix her only son up with a pretty young girl. All he would have had to do is wink and he would have ten of them clamoring over each other to hang on his arm. Sliding that arm around his mother, he stopped loading the groceries in the truck,
“Someday mom it’ll happen just wait, you’ll see, she’ll appear and it will be perfect.”
“So you are looking then, right?”
Erin knew he had better say yes or she wouldn’t sleep for another week, wracking her brain to find the next candidate.
Carol wanted to stop by her best friend’s house before they headed back out to the ranch. Heather and Carol had been friends forever. Carol had been maid of honor at Heathers, Dan’s wedding, and fifteen years later she held Heather’s hand at Dan’s funeral. That was ten years ago, since then Heather withdrew from most folks, kept to herself most of the time much as Erin did.
She made a living as a seamstress in this small town, it paid the bills but there wasn’t much money left over so she preferred to spend her evenings quietly with a book.
Pulling up in the front yard Erin managed to open the door for his mother before the joyful cries of those two started. He loved watching his mom when she got around Heather, they both acted like schoolgirls, chatter, giggles and stories of things Erin closed his ears to.
Heather hugged Carol as if she hadn’t seen her in eons, turning to Erin she launched herself off the porch into his arms, kissing, hugging and tweaking his nose. She always enjoyed reminding him she was there on the day he was born and he was only a little better looking now. Erin carried her back up to the porch as she pulled at his hair and teased him about his mustache.
The routine at Heathers house was so predictable when she set one of her kitchen chairs in the middle of the floor, Erin took off his shirt and sat backwards, propping his arms on the back of it. Carol got three glasses and poured the lemonade while Heather pulled out her basket of hair clippers.
Carol jabbered on while Erin and Heather kept up a silent conversation at the same time. His sign language let her know how much he wanted her to cut off the top. She squeezed his shoulders, scrunching her nose twice acknowledging how much he had grown since his last haircut. A wink and pat on the hand told him she was ready to get started and he had better hold still, this all went on while Carol and Heather gossiped.
Before they left Carol convinced Heather to join them on the camping trip so she would have someone to talk to while the guys were off fishing.
Erin brought the books he borrowed. He and Heather playfully fought over the new ones she hadn’t read yet. He pinned her arms as he nibbled on her ear until she relented, agreeing to hand over one keeping the other two for herself.
Ray and Carol would head up to their favorite camp spot by the lake. Erin would throw the extra camp gear in his truck, stopping by Heathers house to pick her up. This way he and Heather could argue about authors or what motivated the characters in the last story they both read.
Even though Heather was seventeen years older than Erin, he got along better with her than anyone else he knew.
Every time she stayed at his house they jogged a few miles in the mornings, picked on each other throughout the day, joking around about everything in the evenings. She liked to play ‘remember-when’ with his mother once in a while looking up at him. Reminding Erin she use to baby-sit for his folks when they had one of their date nights.
Heather never had children so she kinda adopted him somewhere along the way. Erin had become a close friend, son or little brother all rolled into one. She had always been a part of his life. She was best friend, aunt, or a second mother. That’s why when Cupid aimed his twisted arrow at this pair it came out of left field for everyone. *
~2~
There wasn’t any fanfare with this awakening; in fact, it crept up on them before they knew what hit them.
It was a long ride up the mountain and Heather thumbed through his stack of CD’s listing her favorite songs. Every title she mentioned he quietly sang to her as she joined in with the harmony. Her mind blanked for a moment when she listed a love song. Erin crooned the smooth lines of the lead vocalist he even mimicked the gentle hand gesture the singer would have used in a live performance. It startled her when she couldn’t tell if he was just singing or whispering those beautiful things to her. The double shiver that ran up her back made her retreat to the passing scenery. Exhaling a long cooling breath brought a tingle to her ribs and blinking her eyes a few times brought her back to the moment.
“Come on, what’s the next one on your list?”
“I don’t want to play this any more lets just look around; how much longer before we get there?”
“I’d say…..about….an hour…yeah that’s about right. You’re gonna love it. We don’t camp right at the lake but you can see it from your tent. There is a wide spot in the river just above the lake, this side is shallow for paddling around and the other side has some deep pockets the fish love to relax in.”
“Sounds nice”
Heathers mind was still in a haze until, Erin, asked her if she planed on doing any fishing.
“Sure I’ll give it a try but you’ll have to show me how to do that whip thing with the line.”
“Oh that’s the best part, it’s almost more fun to shoot for that perfect cast, dropping the fly exactly where you wanted so the current washes it right in front of their nose, Bang fish on.”
Heather giggled at his excitement; evidently, fly-fishing was almost a spiritual thing with some men. Erin learned to love fishing from his father Ray, and he was more into it than his son.
Heather remembered hearing stories about Ray standing in the cold water so long his legs locked up, Erin and Carol had to help him out. Soon after that, Erin bought him a miniature pontoon boat that consisted of a chair mounted to two floats and a place to prop up his feet when Ray got too tired to stand.
When they got there Erin knew exactly where to park his truck to finish off their claim on this stretch of the river. It wasn’t as if there were any others around.
Erin smiled when he got out of the truck; closing his eyes, he tilted his face into the morning sun, stretching. He breathed in the familiar scent of the pines as the invisible breeze across the tops of the tall trees cheered like a distant crowd at a football game.
Just above the camp, the river came out of a narrow walled canyon made a sharp turn and spilled over some enormous boulders. The smooth rocks had furrows cut in them as the water carved them over hundreds of years. One path the river took around the large stones formed a small waterfall that hollowed out a pool a little larger than a bathtub before the draining flow rejoined the rest of the river. The splashing water sounded like the fountains in a hidden garden, its soothing tone added to the magic of this place.
Ray had the camp set up for the most part and was already in the river casting against the current. The thin glisten of his line caught the sunlight as it danced the most graceful curves over his head. Ray toggled the rod until he knew the whipping line trued with the precision of a ruler, he pointed the wand like a magician performing an allusion delivering the black leader exactly where he wanted.
To Heather it appeared the fish rated the quality of each cast. If preformed to a high enough standard, Ray was rewarded with a strike that became his greater prize. Erin pulled out his camera snapping a few shots of his father’s line in mid flight. He could almost see the blowup of the picture hanging on the wall in his dads study at home.
Carol already fanned out a towel on one of the flat rocks enjoying a magazine while she soaked up the sun. Erin set up his tent a short distance from the fire pit and assembled Heather’s fairly close to his. Ray and Carol stopped fooling with tents a few years ago when they bought the camper for their truck so Erin didn’t need to blow up an air mattress for them any more.
Before he took off for some exploring, he loaded all the coolers and food into the steel box him and his father made to keep the bears from stealing all the goodies. He chained it to a tree a short distance away from the camp to draw Yogi and Boo-boo away in case they came looking for a free meal.
After lunch, Erin, set up an unusual tent on the other side of his truck. Carol told Heather it was a changing room and shower complete with hot water powered by a small generator that purred next to the water tank in the bed of the truck.
“Have Erin show you how to use it later, these boys don’t mess around when it comes to camping, they enjoy the outdoors but going to bed all clean and fresh makes for a better stay. I remember what it was like around the third day before they got the shower, trust me this is much better.”
Heather perched herself on a large bolder holding one of her books but she didn’t get much reading done as the warm breeze massaged her face and hair. With the sun falling behind the cliffs of the canyon, the water of the lake didn’t sparkle as it did that morning but it calmed something inside her just to see it.
She couldn’t quite put a label on what she was feeling. This place dissolved the remnants of her past, the spirit of gloom finally lifted freeing the joy in her, feeling the peace she knew so long ago. *
~3~
The sun seemed brighter at that moment; she wiggled out of her tiny sweat pants and tied the shirt she had been wearing around her waist. Sitting there in her safari shorts and red halter Heather glanced down at herself deciding it was finally time for a bikini when she got back home. Lying on her stomach, she took advantage of what was left of the afternoon sun.
Erin wasn’t having the kind of luck fishing his father experienced so he went to gather some wood for the fire. Glancing up where his mother and Heather were sunning them selves he took a double take at Heather. The open back halter was all but invisible as the top part of it was hidden under her light colored hair and the lower end was nothing more than a thin strap. The khaki shorts she wore were only a shade or two darker than her skin. This made his heart jump, the second look disappointed him as it seeped in what he really saw.
Puzzled by his own reaction he focused on why. As pretty as she was he never looked at her that way before. His mind flashed back to the last time he tickled her and the insides of his arms started aching. Walking off into the tree line a ghostly image of her soft brown eyes twinkled, her giggles echoed in his ears.
“Get a grip dummy…I am… what a body? What’s wrong with me…have I lost my mind…maybe but she’s perfect for me. She’s almost as old as my mother… what’s that got to do with it…she isn’t and that’s what counts. I like her and have for years…no I haven’t its Heather…I know that, out of all the women I’ve looked at she’s the one. Shut up that’s Heather I’m just being stupid…horny that’s all… let it go…think about it…if she kissed me right now would it ever be the same…stop this.”
“Stop what honey; who you talking to?”
“No one ma, I’m just thinking.”
“Well don’t you think you have enough firewood already?”
Erin looked at the pile he gathered and laughed at himself not remembering how many trips he made but they weren’t about to run short tonight.
“Go get Heather sweetie, she’s fallen asleep and if she doesn’t cover-up she’s gonna burn.”
Erin headed over to wake up Heather and the closer he got the faster his heart beat until his neck throbbed. He thought she looked like an angel with that soft smile on her lips.
“Heather, Heather mom says you’re gonna burn.”
“Oh-Damn, I must have drifted off, here take this but don’t loose my place.”
She stood and dusted herself off,
“Ooo-Look my shoulders are already warm, I said my shoulders you bad boy”
“I’m sorry it just…”
“Just what, don’t you like my fancy outfit; when we get to my bag I have some lotion would you be a dear and help me; I shouldn’t blister if I get enough on this right now.”
Erin rolled his eyes as she sashayed back to camp. She added a little extra swing in her step to acknowledge the fact she caught him looking at her cleavage and it made her feel pretty.
His dad and mom were at one end of the picnic table cleaning the fish and breading them for the fryer. Ray waited to cut up the largest one until he could mock his son for not catching anything worth keeping. Talking about fish was the diversion Erin needed to cool his blood. When Heather stepped up next to him with the lotion, he showed her his dirty hands trying to convince her he shouldn’t be the one for this job.
“Nonsense, your mom has batter all over her hands and you need to show me how to work that shower of yours anyway. You can wash your hands and I can rinse the dust off my back before it gets ground in.”
No one realized the torrent of emotions that flashed through Erin at that moment. Heather had already forgotten about his wondering eye, concentrating on the task at hand. She sat on the bench in the shower-tent pulling off her boots while listening to Erin explain the sequence of buttons she needed to push to get the warm water to flow. She convinced him to stick around so he could wash his hands after applying the flowery lotion too.
Once the water heated, she held onto his shoulder as she rinsed one leg then the other trying to keep her clothes as dry as possible. Every time she lost her balance or splashed him, Heather giggled. Playfully he acted as if he would choke her for her antics while she moistened the washcloth she brought with her.
“Come on big boy, I dare you, hear it is, squeeze.”
She had a grin on top of her sneer as she craned her neck to give him a clear shot at strangling her little impish neck this tormented him in ways she didn’t realize yet. Erin turned off the shower, and took the clothe, she turned her back and lifted her hair with one hand. Gently he wiped the dust away, rinsing the clothe as needed to keep from just smearing the dirt around. When he was done, he reached for the towel while she washed the dust from her chest.
Heather thought his hand shook a little on the first part so she was looking for it when it was time for the lotion. Now she was sure he was trembling, it was unmistakable. Erin stopped sooner than she thought he would, quickly washed his hands and disappeared before she could thank him for taking care of her.
Heather was puzzled by his weird behavior and her thought clicked like a machine as she tried to understand. She suddenly realized she was cold without him there. Her mood wasn’t as bright and the sigh that escaped her was bathed in disappointment. She flopped back down on the bench to put her socks and boots back on. Giving her mind free rein to take her wherever it wanted she quickly realized that every thought that flashed in her head had Erin in them in some form or another.
“No he’s just a kid…hell I use to change his diapers; he’s a little pest…he aint so little any more is he…I haven’t thought he was a pest in years…other than Carol he is the best friend I have ever had. He’s smart…strong…kind…what am I saying…seventeen years older; I’m crazy it’s that damn book I’ve been reading. Erin isn’t my white-knight…yes he is and I know it…he thinks I am a….stop, stop, stop, cut it out you lonely ol…no not Erin.”
Shaking out her over-shirt just like she shook off those weird thoughts, she slipped it back on tying a knot with the tails right over her flat stomach. She promised not to think like this anymore but she would watch him to see if his actions fit what she thought they meant.*
~4~
Dinnertime slid through the camp and if it weren’t for Carol and Ray, talking or prodding conversation it would have been silent. Erin kept his answers to one or two words. This set all kinds of red flags up with his parents. When Erin past on a game of chess with his dad his folks started giving each other the crooked eyebrow looks. Erin never past up a chance to claim a victory from his dad unless he was sick.
Carol noticed Heather was fairly quiet too so, she assumed they had a fight. She also noticed how far apart they sat from one another as they usually picked and swatted at each other arguing like a couple of little kids. As it stood, they made sure they didn’t even look at one another. Carol waited until Ray and her son went to start the evening fire then as she cleared the dishes,
“What’s wrong Heather, are you feeling okay?”
“Sure I was just thinking.”
“Did you and Erin have a tiff?
“Heavens no, I’m just enjoying the great outdoors, lookin around.”
“Yeah, I could see that.”
Before the fire got going, Ray sat on his milking stool and felt Erin’s forehead,
“You sick boy?”
“No I’m fine just got a lot on my mind”
“You wanna share?”
“No Pop, not this time.”
“You and Kitten aint fussing with each other are you?”
Erin didn’t answer.
Ray moved off just as the tinder caught. He wondered over to the ice-chest for another beer. Carol headed that way as well, so they could whisper together. Heather came over to the fire, sitting on one of the stump-logs. Erin noticed when she sat, keeping her eyes focused in the fire and her hands folded in her lap. Erin could almost feel Heather wanted to say something but when he looked at her the words caught in her throat.
Maybe it was the fire light but she wasn’t looking at a little boy any more. She saw a strong, handsome, man, and one with the most kind piercing eyes she had ever seen. She knew it wasn’t possible but for a moment, she felt as if he could read her thoughts. She liked everything she saw in him and knew Erin read it on her face.
“Your ma thinks were upset with each other, we aren’t are we?”
When Erin smirked at her before he turned back to the fire, Heather blushed and felt all warm and gooey inside. He stood and for a second she was afraid he was going to walk away. When he came over and sat beside her, she shivered from relief. He purposely bumped her shoulder.
“After Mom and Dad head off to bed can I talk to you?”
“Of course, anything you know that.”
Erin dropped his large hand onto hers brushing her bare knee at the same time. This made her insides scream with joy and the secret parts of her twitched to life. Erin got up to go get him a beer telling her he would bring her a wine-cooler.
Carol and Ray came back over to join Heather and Erin next to the cozy little fire. Carol acted as if she hadn’t been talking about them but her tone seemed a little too pleasant. When Erin handed Heather the drink she quickly handed it back so he could twist of the stubborn cap, this small little gesture made him swell with pride that she would rely on him to take care of her even in the smallest way.
All evening long Erin kept his eye on Heather as she seemed more beautiful to him in the light of the fire than she has ever looked in the past. He tempered his stolen glances knowing his folks were also looking to see if they could figure out what was happening between these two, still thinking it was a disagreement.
Heather couldn’t help but wonder what Erin wanted to talk to her about but at that moment, she could hardly wait. The list of things he might ask her zipped through her. The stuff she hoped he would talk about didn’t dare add themselves to the list as they were so far out of bounds she felt like a silly school girl for even imagining them, but they were the best thoughts she could ever remember having. The difference in their age was quickly swept into the same pile with all the other reasons she wasn’t suppose to enjoy looking at him. When Ray finally bid everyone a good night, Heather smiled inside as much as she did outside.
Carol exhaled disappointed she didn’t find out what was going on and kiss them both goodnight.
Now that his mother left the circle of light, Erin lifted his eyes to look directly at Heather. The smile they shared told them both they had to wait just a little longer before they were alone. The twinkle in his eye made her squirm a little but it also made her heart beat faster. Erin glanced over to the tiny window of the camper and with the light on inside he could see the silhouettes of two curious heads looking through the curtains.
Erin stood and reached his hand out, it was like turning on an electric magnate. Heather’s hand latched onto his in a flash as they too walked out of the circle of light the campfire formed.*
~5~
The hunter’s moon dazzled the night. The rocks in the river churned grooves into the surface of the water; the patterns formed a washboard affect in the flow. The silver light reflected off the crest of each of the swells. The sounds of a hundred clicks and giggles murmured as Erin led Heather away from the golden light of the campfire.
The strength in his hand felt as if it transferred into her hand traveling half way up her arm. Heather’s fear of what might be waiting in the dark stayed further than she could see. As long as Erin had a hold of her, a shield protected them. He was fearless and stronger than anything that might be lurking. Her heart raced, the wondering what he might say throbbed in her ears.
Erin’s feet carried him further and further from the camp. He hoped the next step would show him what to say. He wanted to tell her she was beautiful. He wanted to change what they had as friends into more, but how. Finally he stopped and with one more step she caught up. He didn’t realize how tightly he squeezed her fingers until she touched him with her other hand.
Both of them looked up at the milky sky. The stars were so thick they too formed a river with their glow. The black carpet of trees crowded the edge of the lake below and blanked the rest of the valley. Finally Erin turned to face Heather. When she looked up the silver light twinkled in her eyes making him forget his words. She stepped a few inches closer making it easy for hands to find her shoulders. Pulling her hands in between them she didn’t realize how cool the night air had gotten until she touched his stomach.
Her shiver gave him permission to wrap her in his arms still not committing to any romance. Her ear on his chest brought the sounds of his speeding heart with the fast swells of his breathing. When he squeezed a little she moaned with pleasure and melted instantly.
Erin was still searching for what to say, any words that might help him explain, when Heather looked back up at him. The sudden impulse to skip talking and kiss her would tell her in a flash everything he wanted to say. If she pushed him away he would be destroyed but he couldn’t help himself he had to kiss her just once, not as a friend but more. Everything went into slow motion as his mind raced; his eyes darted once from her eyes to her lips then back again. Heather’s face was still painted in a question when it happened. Lightning must have flashed as a jolt of fire engulfed them. This was what he had been searching for his entire life and he knew it.
The dream she dared not even consider came true in that second, it overloaded every thought she ever had save one, ‘YES.’
The power in his arms crushed her to him as her lips surrendered, accepting his and his invasion. Nothing else existed except Erin and he needed her as a man needs a woman, ‘Yes.’
This kiss was everything he hoped it would ever be, better. He pulled back just enough to give her a chance to object. If she did, if she pulled away this sweet memory would sustain him the rest of his life. The cold sting of the night air on his feverish lips was a sharp contrast to being bathed in her fire. It scratched at his heart threatening to kill him if she pulled away.
With her eyes still closed the glow of an angel shown on her face. The faintest whimper that escaped her begged him for more. His hunger for her exploded, he stole a dozen more kisses in those next moments. Heather’s feet came off the ground as she hung in his arms. The spinning in his head pushed him into the tall grass that lined the river. Heather was safely on top of him for only an instant until he rolled her onto her back. Now she was his prey. She lifted her arms allowing Erin to hold her tighter. She trapped his beautiful face between her hands guiding his lips back to hers for yet another and another of his kisses.
Panting as if they had been running for their lives, they stopped kissing, staring into each other’s eyes. Heather was the first one to find her wits,
“Oh my god what just happened, I mean…wow but what did we just do?”
“You just told me everything I’ve ever wanted to know.”
She touched one finger to his lip, “Wait let me think for a minute…oh what have we done Erin?”
“Are you sorry it happened?”
“NO, but…lets slow down for a second, hold me and lets me think, my god where did you come from?”
Erin smiled as she petted his face. He sat up pulling her close. Heather turned sideways in his arms as their legs tangled adding to their clinging. Their breath slowed while Erin picked strands of grass out of her hair.
Heather rested her head on his chest looking at the stars again, “Is this what you wanted to tell me?”
“Yes.”
“I’m so glad; I thought I was loosing my mind, maybe I have but I don’t care.”
*
~6~
“Heather”
“Yes?”
“Are you as cold as I am?”
With muffled giggles, Heather races ahead of Erin to get back to their campfire. His playful pinches to her butt were meant to make her move faster but she slowed to enjoy his attention.
Basting in the heat of the fire Erin asked her if she was tired or felt the need to retreat to her tent. With the energy of a cold shiver Heather shook her head, her eyes still glazed from his kisses. Erin stepped over to his truck and retrieved two beanbag chairs,
“Standard camping furniture, nicer to sit on while enjoying a good book….or a friend.”
After they settled as close to the fire as they dared, they started off facing each other with their legs crossed with Erin rubbing her hands to speed her getting comfortable. They quickly found themselves leaning on one elbow nose to nose just looking at the other one.
Heather had a slight look of regret on her face as she slowly stroked and picked at his hair,
“What are we going to tell your mother, she’s gonna freak and I’m still not sure this is a good idea.”
Erin didn’t answer at first as he pushed Heather to her back, hovering above, he slowly moved in for yet another of her sweet kisses. The look of regret she had been holding onto melted into desire.
“It doesn’t matter as long as this makes you happy.”
That was the final key to unlocking her heart, nothing else mattered. She had known him his entire life yet until he kissed her, she never realized how much she loved him. Erin couldn’t understand why he never saw the girl of his dreams, she had been hiding so close. When he looked at her he couldn’t see their difference in age, he couldn’t see his mom’s best friend all he could see is the beautiful woman he needed.
Another hour passed quickly, neither on them wanted this to end. Erin glanced over his shoulder at her tent and then to his,
“Why don’t we move your sleeping bag into my tent that way we can talk all night.”
Heather blushed, “Talk?”
“Well I figure we’ll talk some too, wait here a minute.”
Erin left her by the fire as he prepared to take her to his bed for the first time. Heather slipped away for a moment, when she returned Erin had zipped both their sleeping bags together.
Once they got inside, Erin closed the flap of the tent. They sat there stunned for a moment still not believing this was real, or what were they were about to jump off into. He unlaced her boots as her flirting eyes promised him they would never forget what they were about to do. While he pulled off his own boots Heather shinnied out of her shorts and threw them and her over shirt away. She slipped into the sleeping bag quickly, more from being exposed to his hungry eyes than the chill in the air. Erin was a little apprehensive to undress in front of Heather too, so he only stripped to his boxers, but before he could slip into the bag Heather flicked her halter-top at him and it landed on his head.
Erin quickly slid into bed wrapping his strong arms around her. Heathers giggles stopped instantly as she felt the warmth of his naked chest on hers. Drawing in her surprise as a sharp breath, she had forgotten how wonderful it felt to be in the arms of a man that loved her. He felt her relax, she cooed her pleasure while snuggling tightly to him, her shivers weren’t from being cold anymore, and she smelled heavenly.
Erin was scarred to death, he had never been in love and never at this point in his life. Wracking his brain to remember every love scene he had ever read. When two people ventured into the unknown, in his books the man was always so sure of himself, took the lead and guided the girl where they should go. Whispering in her ear,
“Heather I don’t know…I mean I’ve never…”
She stopped him from finishing what he tried to tell her by climbing onto his chest, kissing him into silence. *
~7~
Still separated by a thin vale that held them apart, Heather sat high on Erin’s hips as she reached up for the meager light that now seemed way to bright. Erin took those few seconds to admire her gifts before the shadows stole them from his pleasure. As she lay back on his chest he covered them both with the thick blanket of their sleeping bag that had fallen away.
This first night of discovery wouldn’t be a fevered romp in the back of some car on a lovers-lane. They had all night to enjoy each other and they planed to use every hour to savor this new taste of their love for each other. The dancing light of the campfire abated into nothing more than hot coals so their eyes were useless to them as they explored.
Nesting comfortably between the span of his shoulders the thick muscles of his chest became her pillow while she enjoyed his hands gliding over the curves of her back and hips.
Her mewing of contentment was answer by the deep rumbling of his bear like growl. The vibration of it sent another shiver through her. Erin breathed in the scent of her hair as his lips rested on her forehead. They hadn’t even begun their first adventure and she knew she would never get enough of him. Slowly she dragged her cheeks over the bristle of his whiskers, turning her face slowly she let them scratch the softest parts of her face. Heathers fingers marveled at how thick his wild mane felt as the hot blasts of his flaring nostrils called her back to his kisses.
Erin wanted to let Heather set the pace but the hunger in him was building. His dominance simmered as long as he could control it. When it finally boiled over Heather quickly found herself under the shadow of his body and under his control and she loved it.
That night Erin took her as many times as his strength would allow. Heather blacked out several times from the pleasures he bathed her in. Their hearts were now branded, the mark of the other ones love claimed them. Tangled and exhausted Heather’s dreams continued their love making till the songs of the morning birds woke her.
Still wrapped in his arms she listened to Erin’s breathing as he was pressed to her back. Her spirits floated on the clouds, the deep tingling within her felt exactly as Erin did the night before. She thought he was still asleep.
She heard Carol and Ray moving around in the early morning. The crackle of a new fire could be heard outside, then she heard Carol’s panicked voice,
“Oh God, Erin get up Heather is gone, I can’t find her.”
“Mom relax, Mother Stop, she’s fine, Heather’s in here with me.”
Ray quickly ushered Carol away from the tent before Erin’s words made since to her but from a distance when the picture finely hit her it was unmistakable. Erin and Heather couldn’t help but giggle at her reaction as Ray insisted she leave them alone a while longer.
“Erin she’s gonna hate me for this.”
“No she won’t, we didn’t do anything wrong, she just needs to see it as we do. You wait here a few minutes while I heat the shower then after we’re done we’ll go explain it to her.”
The time in the morning shower added to the memory of the most perfect night of their lives. Heather’s wet body looked even better than he imagined. She was proud of the marks he left on her. It had been years since a man did that to her and she planed to enjoy them as badges of their passion. She told him she couldn’t wait for more but as the water ran cold they decided to wait for later. Erin was the first to be fully dressed so went to find out if his mother had fainted.
Erin looked around and saw his father crouching by the fire; Ray nodded his head in the direction his mother was in, telling Erin he had better go talk to her before she had a complete meltdown.
Heather headed to the fire giving Erin a chance to talk to his mother alone. Ray never looked away from the fire as Heather sat on the other side but he had a slight smirk on his face,
“So Kitten, did you sleep well last night?”
Heather knew exactly what he meant so in her normally meek voice she retorted,
“Yes, very nicely thank you.”
“I guess you two weren’t fighting after all were you?”
She blushed, “No”
That’s all Ray had to say about it but when he looked up he gave her a wink that let her breath a little easier. Now all she had to do was face Carol.
Erin on the other hand wasn’t having as easy a time with his mother. Carol bustled about cooking breakfast on the camp stove. Erin was trying to get her to stop and listen to him but as long as she moved she didn’t have to listen to what he said. Finally Erin grabbed her around the waist and hugged her,
“Momma, I love her, don’t be mad, she is the one I have always been looking for.”
Carol patted his arm and gently pulled away to continue her cooking,
“But….”
Erin stopped her from saying anything further,
“It doesn’t matter, look at it this way at least you know what my girlfriend is like without drilling me with a thousand questions.”
When she chuckled at his joke Erin knew she just needed a little time to let it sink in. walking back to the fire pit he waived for Heather to trade places with him,
“Your turn, she’s thinking about it but watch out for her spatula.”
*
