Jake and Gill

They had not kissed for nearly a week as it happened, the thought went through her head, almost a whole week. And before that nearly three months of tortuous gym work to get into shape and no-one but Jake had so much as touched her. She'd been hit on a couple of times down the gym, but they were not worth consideration as she had worn her old wedding ring for protection and that still hadn't put the wolves off. No, she was definitely not going down the path of meaningless affairs.

Gill had been so hot climbing in the sunshine that she had taken off her sweatshirt and bottoms down to just a halter neck top and fairly short shorts, having tied her sweats around her middle. Now she was puffing like a steam train and probably looked red as a beetroot, while Jake was hardly breathing hard and still had his heavy thornless trousers and thick sweater on.

'I must look a mess,' thought Gill, depressingly.

"Sorry about rushing you through that last climb," Jake said with a smile, resting a gentle hand on her bare shoulder, "We couldn't stop anywhere there, but a lot of people take the opportunity to stop here for a while until rested. I'll get the stove lit and we'll have a cup of tea ready in less than five minutes."

"Tea would be nice," Gill admitted, "So then it's downhill for a bit?"

"Yes, downhill for a while, then a more gradual climb to that hill over there." He pointed away to a peak shrouded in clouds. Jake unpacked a small gas heater and lit it, placing a pot on top which he filled with water from a large bottle. "Then we have a fairly short descent to a campsite, with toilets and showers. We should arrive with plenty of light left to pitch our tents and prepare our evening meal."

Gill nodded her approval and sat down on a convenient rock. It was warm in the sun and she was able to relax and get her breath back. Once she was breathing normally, she put on her sweatshirt again as the wind had picked up and still had some wicked winter cold in it. She looked over at Jake while he calmly busied himself brewing the tea. She noticed he had a two-litre bottle of water, part of which he had poured into his billy-can.

"That reminds me, I drank all my water on the way up, I should have brought more with me. This bottle is one that the kids used to take on school trips, it only holds about half a pint."

"I've plenty of water here, I'll top your bottle up after we've had our brew."

"Thanks. Have you been up here before, Jake?" she asked.

He looked up from the gas stove and smiled at her. "Yes, lots of times, the first time when I was only four."

"Wow! You climbed this hill when you were only four?"

"Yes. My father was ex-military, and a keen route marcher, more so than my mother," he laughed, "She preferred walking on the level. But when she did come up here, she told me at the time, she loved the view."

"So she came up here with you on your first time?"

"She did," he replied, "It was middle of the summer and much hotter than today. We stopped here to rest for a while, so she and I could catch our breath. It has always been a special place for me. I suppose that's why...." He left the rest unsaid.

"Have you come here often since?" Gill started, "Oh dear, that sounds like a bit of a line, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does," he laughed, looking at her, his temporary reflective mood evaporating, "But, yes, I do come here regularly, a couple of times a year, sometimes three. It ... it's the last place I remember my parents laughing, full of the joys of spring."

"Oh, Jake, what happened?" Gill asked, concern at saying the wrong thing in her voice.

"They died shortly after," he stated grimly, "An accident, not coming home from here but about a week later."

"And you were only four?" Gill got up from her rock and stepped towards the crouching Jake, huddled over his tea-making utensils. This time she put her hands on his shoulders.

"You grow up pretty quickly when that happens," he smiled up at her wanly.

"Stand up, Jake," Gill insisted, in the voice she used to call bank meetings to order, "time for a cuddle and I won't take no for an answer."

"Yes, Ma'am!" he grinned and rose. As he turned she slipped her arms around his waist, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. She buried her face in his chest and he lightly kissed the hair on the top of her head. Gill lifted her face to his and their lips locked. Nobody was counting this kiss, Gill felt lightheaded, relaxed, all her aches and pains from the climb melting away from her muscles.

When the kiss broke and Gill opened her eyes, she felt like she could float on one of those fluffy clouds.

"Jake," she breathed, "As much as I've enjoyed the early start, the fresh air, the exercise and the view, that kiss ... has made my day."

Jake smiled silently, nodding, caressing her back, before bending in to renew their kiss. Gill responded with her tongue, her hands tearing at his back, her whole body shivering. She could feel the effect she was having on him; he was rigid while she was melting. They broke off again, looking at each other eyeball to eyeball, slow smiles on each set of tingling lips.

"I think we better get moving," suggested Jake, croakily.

"Tea?"

"Yes, I had forgotten, or something made me forget ... everything. Now, one lump or two, Ma'am?"

"No lumps, do you have any milk?"

"Yes, I brought some up in a thermos flask for today. Tomorrow we'll have to fall back on UHT milk though, if that's all right?"

"That's fine, Jake."

They sat comfortably on a rock looking at the clouds, the ones on the horizon looking angry. The wind was picking up too. It was getting decidedly chilly after the warmth of the climb. Jake packed up his equipment and the mugs, and put on his haversack. Gill picked up hers.

"Are you all right with that?" he asked.

"Fine, it's pretty much downhill from here, isn't it?"

"Yes, one more gradual climb to go but it's not too bad on the way down from there. I'm not too happy about those clouds though, we might get a soaking before we get to the camp site."

The drizzle started not long after they resumed walking as they descended into the low cloud layer. They stopped briefly to unpack and put on their waterproof tops and Gill pulled on her sweatpants. Before long it was extremely dark overhead and the rain turned to hailstones, some of them large enough to be painful when struck.

"We'll stop here and get one of the tents up and sit it out," Jake yelled above the sound of wind and hail on rock.

Gill slipped off her haversack and shivered while Jake's practiced hands swiftly erected and pegged down one of the tents. He pushed her inside, following up with the haversacks and zipped up the entrance behind him.

"Get out of that wet top and take off your boots and trousers," Jake instructed, seeing how Gill was shivering, "I'll unroll a sleeping bag and you can get in."

Gill struggled with her jacket zips, her cold hands refusing to work properly. Jake helped her out and rolled up the jacket in a corner, then helped her get her sweatpants off. It was very dark in the tent and Gill didn't even think about how self-conscious she was having Jake help pull her trousers down. It was only when she had been zipped up in the bag and began to feel warmer that she realised that she was only wearing her skimpy top, bra, shorts and knickers. The hail was hammering down on the tent.

"Now you," Gill almost giggled as Jake stopped, mid-task refolding her jacket and trousers, "Strip off your wet things and get in here!" she commanded.

Jake hesitated for such a long time that Gill began to squirm with embarrassment, thinking of course he doesn't want to get in here with a fat old woman, does he? It was so dark, she couldn't see the expression on his face, so all her temporary bravado ebbed away.

Jake seemed to have made his decision at last and quickly removed his wet jacket, down to his long-sleeved top, rolled the jacket up and placed it on top of hers. Then he lay back and wriggled out of his wet trousers, having first loosened the laces and kicked off his boots. Gill fumbled, found the zip and unzipped the sleeping bag to allow him entry. Jake slid inside and Gill put her arms around him. He felt so warm compared to her. Their lips soon found each other again, as if kissing was becoming second nature for them. A fierce wind shook the tent, followed by an intense fall of noisy hail, to interrupt their romancing.

They both laughed at the wind fiercely and fruitlessly shaking the tent, knowing they were safe within. The humour of the situation got to them and they relaxed, Jake rolling onto his back and pulled Gill onto him. She drew up one leg up over his thighs and rested her head on his chest. She could feel the ribs on his slender frame and idly wondered if his chest was hairy or not under that shirt.

An unwanted image of Wayne's hairy chest and soft, plump middle-aged stomach popped into her head; she hadn't been able to feel Wayne's ribs for years. She wondered how Wayne could even have attracted a much younger woman to have an affair with him? Now he had a new family relationship with the girl and their new baby. Jake was so much more desirable than her ex-, yet he didn't seem to have anyone in his life, or anyone she was aware of.

Not for a minute did Gill consider the likelihood of enjoying a long-lasting relationship with Jake. He was out of her league on a whole raft of objections. She ran her mind through the obvious ones. She was too old and too fat; even with her fitness regimen of the past few months, her rounded tummy refused every effort to flatten. She had too many time-consuming family obligations, with two teenagers at home. There were heavy financial commitments too, trying to buy a city house on a single income; Jake already admitted he had more money than he needed, to live the carefree lifestyle of a single man who was apparently not interested in dating. That was another thing, rumours were that he either never or hardly ever went on dates, so was this just a one-off? He had mentioned a future get together for pony-trekking, but that was a break that included the kids. Where did she stand with Jake, romantically?

She wondered if she should take a bold step, like when she kissed him at the footpath gates a week ago. That time the bold move brought dividends.

She moved her hand down towards his underpants and squeezed his right buttock. Jake almost jumped out of the sleeping bag, breaking off the kiss and grabbing her wrist. 'Oh, damn!' she thought, 'too much too soon, you've blown it now, girl!'

"Sorry, Jake," Gill apologised, "I was getting a little carried away."

"Not to worry," Jake said, keeping his voice tone neutral, unreadable, but releasing his limpet grip on her wrist, "It looks like it's brightened up out there. We'll pack up and get moving so we can get to the camp site before dark."

Gill observed Jake's methodical work as they emerged to clear blue skies and brilliant warm sunshine. They had to pull on their wet trousers straight away, Jake put his on while still in the tent. Jake spread out their coats in the sun to partially dry while dismantling the tent and packing it up in his haversack. By the time they set out again it was too warm for their coats, so they tied them to their haversacks and proceeded in their shirtsleeves.

Gill held out a tentative hand. Would he still be upset with her? Jake smiled and took hold of her hand as they walked along.

They hadn't gone far when Jake suddenly released hands, dropped his haversack off his shoulders and started to run off to the side of the track and down a steep incline. Gill looked where he was heading and could see a man lying at the bottom of this deep gully, ahead of them and to their left. She slipped off and left her haversack too, but picked up her coat as she noticed that much of the gully was in shade as the sun dropped low in the sky this late in the afternoon.

When she had scrabbled her way down through the loose scree to the bottom of the gully, she saw that Jake had already reached the man, was talking to him and helping him to a drink from his flask. Gill gasped when she saw the man's leg, his open fracture of the right leg shockingly obvious.

Jake rose and stood between Gill and the injured man. "We can't get a phone connection down here, what about your mobile?"

Gill flipped her mobile open to see that there was no service on hers either. "I haven't had any signal since shortly after we started the walk," she added, "I have checked every now and again throughout the day."

"Take my phone Gill, and continue down the path until you get a signal and then call the mountain rescue. Tell them that we need an air ambulance. They are in the list of contacts on the phone under 'Mountain'. Then get back and let us know how long they will be."

"Not sure if I know my way or may get lost on the way back, and even less able to describe exactly where we are. Best if you go and I stay with him."

"Yes, but-"

"I've seen the wound, Jake," she said, pressing her hand on his, "What's his name? I'll talk to him until the air ambulance arrives."

"All right," Jake decided, "His name's Tim. He lost his bearings in the middle of the hailstorm and slipped on the ice on the edge of the path and fell down here. He says he can't feel a thing. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Gill approached Tim and spread her coat over the offending wound. She sat down next to him and held his hand, speaking to him all the time. She asked him about his family, surprised to hear he was a grandfather and a widower, who was more concerned wondering how he was going to get to work on Monday if he couldn't drive his car.

In no time at all, Gill could hear someone descending through the loose scree. It wasn't Jake returning, but a middle-aged man, more than a little overweight. He was puffed by the time he reached the two climbers sitting it out waiting for the emergency service.

"Hello," the new arrival puffed, "we saw your bags at the top of the gully, my wife is looking after them. Can't get any mobile reception, I'm afraid."

"That's OK," Gill smiled in reply, "we couldn't either. My er- boyfriend has gone down the hill to call help. He knows his way around these hills much better than I do."

"I'm Ken, by the way, my wife Dee is at the edge of the gully," he said, waving to his wife. Gill looked up, Ken's wife was waving back, so Gill couldn't help herself: she waved back automatically.

Gill heard the helicopter heading their way long before she saw it. Looking up, the clouds were lighter overhead than they had been. Up on the ridge Gill saw Dee take off her hi-vis anorak and wave it around over her head, the helicopter must have seen it and soon it hovered above them, picking out the best spot to land. The helicopter landed on the ridge and in no time at all the paramedics were on scene armed with stretcher and blankets to check on the injured man. It was only then that Jake appeared at the top of the ridge and waved at her. Gill picked up her soiled coat, which had been put to one side by the paramedics, and walked up to meet him as he came down.

"How are you?" he asked solicitously as they met with a hug, "holding up?"

"I'm fine," she said, chewing her lip, "I hope he's going to be all right."

Behind them, the helicopter took off, sending a cold wet downdraft. Jake squeezed her to him. Ken and Dee waved and took their leave, hurrying off the way that Jake and Gill had come in the gathering gloom. Jake took Gill's soiled waterproof jacket from her, taking off his own coat and putting it on Gill. Although Jake was slim, he had broad shoulders. The coat was too big for her but would at least keep her warm and dry.

"What about you, Jake?" she asked, concerned that his courteous gesture would cause excessive risk to his health, "You'll freeze in this rain. I don't mind a little blood."

"I'll be alright, Gill, we just need to get a move on if we are going to get to the camp site before it gets too dark."

He hoisted up both of the haversacks, folded Gill's coat over his arm and tucked her arm in his and they started to move down the long path towards their target camp site. Overhead, the clouds were turning black and it was already rapidly growing dark and the intermittent rain fell even heavier. Even the wind picked up, driving a cold easterly in their faces.

"How long will it take to get to the camp site, Jake?"

"A couple of hours at most," he said, getting small LED torches for them both out of a side pocket in his rucksack.

Gill noticed he was shivering, his top already soaked through completely. They hadn't gone far when they were hit by another fierce hail storm, just as they were about to descend a narrow track, made slippery with ice crystals.

"We'll stop here," yelled Jake over the cacophony of falling hail, "I'll get one of the tents up."

Gill stopped by, watching as Jake unhurriedly and methodically unpacked and erected the tent. She held the rucksacks and the two torches for him while he worked. When the tent was up and partly pegged down, he took the torches off her and urged her to get inside and take the wet coat off, while he finished off the pegs.

Gill had unrolled her sleeping bag, removed her boots, stripped off to her underwear and was snuggled up inside it by the time Jake poked his head in moments later.

"I need the other rucksack, Gill, can you pass it to me?"

"What for?" Gill replied.

"I need to get the other tent up."

"No you are not! Get yourself in here, now, John Jacob Nicholls, strip off your wet clothes and get in here with me ... now!"

"Yes, Ma'am," Jake replied meekly, coming into the low tent on his knees.

He zipped up the flapping tent. It was a lot darker inside than out, and it had already got quite dark outside. With barely a hesitation, he stowed his mallet, kicked off his boots, and turned off the torches. He wriggled out of his clinging wet shirt. From a prone position he pulled off his trousers, down to the band of his underpants. They were wet too, the water having soaked through from his tee shirt. He hesitated for only a second before pulling them off, along with his socks.

Gill was well aware from the movements of his silhouette what his state of undress was, despite how dark it was in the tent. Without any hesitation on her part, she held open the flap of the sleeping bag, having wriggled over as far as she could to allow him room to get in. She mouthed a silent prayer as his cold body eased in next to her hot one. She put her arms around him and sensed a slight flinch before he relaxed into her warm embrace. Gill still had her bra and knickers on, and feeling a little overdressed.

Gill rubbed his back as he buried his cold face into the natural shelf between her shoulder and neck. Her first impression was that he was clearly cold and shivery, she could feel the goosebumps on his skin. She could also feel the growing tension and heat of his natural reaction on her thigh, which made her determined to press the opportunity up a notch. Gill started by kissing his cold cheek, he nuzzled her neck, they both started breathing more heavily, the hunger rising between them. Neither could find the words that would break this spell, neither wanted the spell to break. Their lips moved across skin towards one another's mouth, until lips met and they kissed deeply, passionately, their tongues urgently penetrating yielding lips. Gill gripped Jake's wet hair with both hands, pulling him as tightly to her lips as she could. Jake's erection was rampant now and Gill wanted it, needed it.

"I'm sorry, Gill," Jake panted as he broke off their kiss, "I never intended this to happen when I invited you -"

"I did," Gill interrupted, "I hoped and prayed this would happen. I need you Jake, I need you now!"