North

Marjie came back while we were still out. She didn't say anything, but just went to the truck. I got Rebel back into the room and was just turning on the computer when she came in carrying a small backpack.

"I didn't bring much in the way of extra clothes," she said, dropping the pack near the door. "I was going to be home by now."

"Well, it's not like you got those dirty today," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but I've been in them for two days. I feel dirty."

"You can jump in the shower if you want. I don't think my jeans will fit you but you can borrow one of my shirts and some sweats if you want." I opened my duffel bag and pulled out a long-tailed flannel shirt for her. She held it up against her and looked down. The tails fell to about mid-thigh on her.

"Forget the sweats. This will do just fine," she said. She grinned at me and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

I played on the computer while she showered. My thoughts were jumbled. I didn't know if we were going to do anything but sleep, but ripe fantasies bloomed in my thoughts. Hey, I'm a man. I'm a man who had been without female company for quite a while by then. I couldn't have helped the fantasies running through my mind, even if I'd wanted to. I didn't want to -- even knowing in my heart that they were probably doomed to remain dreams. The sound of the shower stopped and I heard her moving around. I tried to imagine her naked. I was successful enough to cause an erection to begin to twitch.

She came out wearing my shirt. Her bare legs and feet showed below. "I rinsed out my shirt and panties. If you're going to shower just hang them up again when you're done." I smiled. She was talking as if we were a couple now. She hadn't said, "Hang them up please" or, "if you don't mind". It was just a direction really. I didn't comment.

The thought of her near nudity and the sight of her in my shirt was nice. She turned back the blankets and slipped her legs under them, leaning back on the pillows the way we'd done that morning. I got the computer set up for her to play some games if she wanted, grabbed a pair of boxers out of the duffel, and went to shower.

The bathroom was still steamy from her shower. The aroma of shampoo and soap filled the air. It was a welcome change from the cold I'd been in all day. I peeled off my clothes and turned on the shower. Her panties were draped over the rail at the top of the glass doors. There was no bra. Reaching up, I pulled her undies down. I held the small garment up and couldn't resist bringing it to my nose. I thought I could detect a trace of her scent, but it was probably just wishful thinking. I set them next to the sink and stepped into the shower.

I was rinsing the soap from my back when the door opened and she knocked (a bit late, I thought, but...). "Can I pee while you're in there?" she called.

"Sure, just don't flush. I'm not sure if it will affect the shower." I felt more and more like we'd become a couple. My last wife couldn't pee if I was in the bathroom, or even if the door was open when she was alone. I watched through the pebbled glass at the blurred image as she sat on the toilet. A few seconds later I heard her stream hitting the water. My erection reawakened.

I'm not a fan of "water sports", but it is an intimacy to urinate in the presence of a member of the opposite sex. I started to stroke myself and then the thought hit me: If I could see her, she could probably see me, even if the view was distorted. I looked at her head and it was turned toward the shower. I stepped back a little and turned away a bit, just in case.

She pulled some tissue from the roll hanging beside her and I watched her hand go down between her legs. My back was half turned toward the glass so I just continued to stroke my hardness. I didn't intend to get myself off, in case my fantasy came true. I wanted to be able to perform if she opened the door to letting me between her legs. She rose to her feet and left the room without any comment.

I finished washing and turned off the water. As I dried the image of her pissing remained in my mind. 'Never mind, Don,' I tried to tell myself. 'She's going to be out of your life in a couple of days.' Still, I filed the thoughts away for my lonely future. On the heels of those thoughts came the realization that we'd have at least one more night to spend together. I held the fantasies at bay since I was about to leave the bathroom in a little while. It wouldn't be good to let my penis lead the way.

I've never been one who wanted or needed family to convince me I'm alive. I live every day and that's that. Still, companionship is good. That was what got me into my marriages. I guess at heart I'm a romantic, even if I have never really behaved romantically. The possibilities of spiriting Marjorie away with me to Arizona for the winter drifted through my mind. I enjoyed the idea a while as I shaved.

Suddenly I came to. I was shaving! Usually on these trips my razor never leaves the kit. Now I was shaving -- and before going to bed, rather than in the morning. I had to laugh at my reflection in the steamy mirror. The fantasy had a firm hold on my subconscious. I passed it off as just being prepared, in case anything might happen.

I finished up and slipped on the boxers. When I opened the door I heard the 'beep-beep' of the computer game I'd booted up for her. Then I heard her swear at the same time I heard the noise indicating a 'death' of the little man in the game. I had to smile. She tipped her glass, finishing another drink.

I thought I saw something in her eyes as she looked at me. I knew it was something I hoped and wanted to see, but pushed it away and looked away. Rebel had stuck his nose into my tipped over boot. He was sound asleep and dreaming of chasing rabbits or something. His leg vibrated slightly on the floor.

Marjorie slid over to the far side of the bed -- taking the laptop along -- to allow me room to join her. As I slid under the blankets I felt the heat she'd left behind. Another intimacy, I thought: sharing body heat.

I yawned. "Want me to turn this off?" she asked.

"Not necessary," I replied. "Knock yourself out. I'm just beat. I don't know why, since we didn't do anything except get drunk today."

"Well, there you go," she said. "That takes it out of you. All you can do is go to sleep or start drinking again." She raised her cup to illustrate her point. In spite of my reassurances, when she finished the game she yawned and asked me to turn the computer off. I did and set it on the floor next to the bed. We still hadn't discussed sleeping arrangements. I opened my mouth to open the subject for discussion.

She beat me to it, however. "Don, I know we just met and all that but we've been together a few hours. Normally, I would never share a room with a guy I didn't know. Still, we did okay this afternoon, so I think we can be adult enough to just sleep." There was only the one bed and nothing so luxurious as a couch.

The puzzled look on my face must have tipped her off. "Okay. So, that was all you had in mind anyway. Sorry I jumped to conclusions." She rolled away from my side of the bed. I thought she maybe sounded a little disappointed.

When she reached for the bedside lamp the shirt she wore gapped open and I got a clear sight of her naked breast. Her nipple was a chocolate brown that made my mouth water. Then the light went out and the sight was gone. I had left the light on in the bathroom with the door almost closed. It's a habit I'd adopted whenever I was in motels, so I didn't slam into walls in the middle of the night. I pulled the blankets up to my chin.

It was by that dim light that I saw her glance over her shoulder at me briefly before she rolled back over. I put my arm over her shoulder and she moved back against me. She turned over and nestled her head on my shoulder the same way she'd done that afternoon. Her warm breath caressed the fur of my chest. Lying there like that sleep was suddenly miles away. I was very conscious of the 'twenty-something', nearly naked woman lying next to me.

A few minutes later she whispered, "Don? Are you awake?"

"Yes," I answered, not nearly as quietly.

"Um...well, I can't really relax, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. This afternoon we had a few drinks and the fact that there was a beautiful woman lying next to me meant very little. Now here we are. We're both nearly naked and it feels really good to have you under my arm. I know."

"Do you want me to move?"

"No fucking way!" She chuckled and snuggled closer, though she was already against me. Her legs were warm against mine.

"It feels good to me, too," she said. She raised her face to mine. I planted a kiss on the tip of her nose. She smiled. "I was thinking..." I wasn't going to let her go on.

"No, you were right. Let's just go to sleep, Marjie. Things are too weird. I know most guys would jump at the chance, but I'm not most guys. You're beautiful and sexy and I'd love nothing more than to make love to you. But we aren't going to do that. I offered you shelter. There's no price tag on it."

"I didn't think there was. Still, I wouldn't mind if you wanted to do something."

"I do," I told her. "But we aren't going to. I don't just stick my dick into anybody who comes along. I think you deserve better than that anyway." She was so quiet for so long I thought I'd insulted her. I was trying to compose something to ameliorate that when I realized that she was crying.

"Marjie? What's wrong?" I asked her. She just reached across me and clamped her arms around my neck so tight I had some difficulty breathing.

"Oh, God, I feel so stupid crying like this," she gasped. "It's just that nobody's ever treated me like this! It's so...so much like a story or a dream or something!"

I patted her back and felt her tears on my neck and generally tried to deal with the discomfort. I hated this kind of thing. I felt great because I knew I'd hit a nerve, or a feeling, or something. I knew I had acted the right way. There was no doubt in my mind that she'd been ready to submit if I had wanted to just fuck her. The fact that I had displayed concern for her made a big difference to her. She sobbed on my chest a long time.

She finally began to sniffle and try to get herself back together. I untangled myself and went to the bathroom for some tissue. She honked her nose into it in a very unladylike manner. When she looked up to see me smiling she laughed.

"Really sexy and attractive, eh?" she said.

"Yes," I said. She did a double-take and realized I meant it. Well, she understood I meant it was okay. I guess it only made her feel closer to me.

When she looked around for someplace to get rid of the snot filled toilet paper I just held out my hand. She wore a surprised expression as I took it and deposited it in the trash for her. "Jesus," she said in a low voice. "You're a knight in fucking shining armor!"

"What?" I asked, "just because I threw your snot-rag away? Besides, I may be a knight, but I'm a knight in a pair of boxers."

"No. Because I just offered myself to you and you didn't take it because you said it wasn't right."

"Well, as long as you don't think it wasn't because I'm not attracted to you. I am -- very much." I was tempted to grab her hand and press it to my semi-hard erection as proof, but knew that would destroy all the credit I'd earned. "I am. It's just that the time and the timing are wrong. Now can we just go to sleep?"

She nodded her head and sniffled a bit more. A few minutes later, as I was slipping down that long slide into sleep, I felt her lips on my shoulder and felt her breath when she said in the faintest of whispers, "Thank you, Don." Then she relaxed and her breathing leveled off.

When I'd been younger, I would never have let the opportunity pass. I had found, however, that as I got older I needed more than a woman willing to spread her legs when it came to sex. I needed to care for the woman. I cared for Marjorie, but there was no bond there -- not yet anyway. I finally was able to let sleep take me.

I opened my eyes. The light was no brighter than it had been when I closed my eyes. My brain told me I was awake, though. I picked up my watch from the bedside table and pushed the light button. It told me it was 5AM. I looked at the sleeping woman next to me. I replayed everything we'd done and said the day before. I had no idea whether we'd ever see each other after Quesnel.

I pushed a strand of hair out of her eye and looked some more. With her eyes closed I could look as much as I wanted. She really was beautiful. Her eyes never opened, but as I gazed at her those violin lips curved into another beautiful smile. "Are you just going to stare at me all day, or are you going to kiss me?" I had to laugh.

I leaned toward her and kissed her lightly on the lips. She wrapped her arm around my neck and prevented my escape. Her lips opened and I gladly let my tongue find its own way.

A few -- or a lot -- of seconds later we broke the kiss. She opened her eyes and looked at me with no amusement in her eyes. If I had to describe her expression, I'd have to say she looked hungry. She rolled on top of me and kissed me again. She reached down and unbuttoned the shirt she wore. She stripped it off her and I felt her flesh against mine. She leaned down and her tits smashed against my chest. When she started struggling with my boxers, I helped her. The random thought passed through my brain that sleeping a whole night together must have established that bond I thought I needed. Her legs fell to either side of me and I felt her wetness.

We made love. It began as simple, horny sex, but ended as making love. Once I felt her heat enveloping me, I slowed down and all I knew about her bubbled over my lust. She'd had little enough love in her life up until then. It was high time she had some. I had a lot to give and nobody else to give it to right then. I know I had only known her a day. I know there was a lot about her I didn't know. I knew, as well that these two days -- and nights -- might be the only time we had together, too, so I tried to make it as memorable as I could for both of us.

She achieved orgasm on top of me. When she calmed down I rolled us over. I dragged her legs up and over my shoulders and she gasped. While I pounded into her I stopped thinking. I simply felt what our bodies were doing to and with each other. For her part, her breathing quickened and overflowed. She climaxed three more times. Each time her expression was so erotic that it drove me to further heights and I was able to postpone my own orgasm until her fourth orgasm was subsiding. The last time she scared me because her eyes rolled back until they were simple egg-white blanks. It wasn't until I exploded that she seemed to come back to herself.

I slipped out of her and wrapped her in my arms, feeling pretty proud of myself. Along with a new perspective on who to take to bed, getting a bit older had also given me a bit more control over my response. I had learned to hold my climaxes back for a long time. My pleasure came more these days from watching what I was doing did for my partner.

It was only about a minute before her eyes fluttered open and she looked at me. "Good God! What did you do to me?"

I smiled and hugged her. I moved my leg across hers and pressed my belly and sticky dick into her hip. "Just the usual stuff. Why?" I know. It was shameless fishing for compliments, but I thought I deserved it.

"I have never come so many times in a row -- or so hard!" She pushed up on an elbow and her hand slipped down under the covers. Her brow smoothed and she smiled. "Just making sure you 'got there' too," she explained. I assured her I had. "I need another shower now," she said and she slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom. In the dim light from the bathroom I watched her muscles ripple under the skin as she rounded the end of the bed and walked from the room. I waited until I heard the water running and the glass door slide before I left the warmth of the bed. I went in and joined her under the hot spray.

We were back on the road an hour later. Marjie was studying the atlas, taking her job as navigator seriously. Not that there was a lot of navigating to do. There was only the one highway. The road got steadily better the nearer we got to Fort Nelson. It's a little better than a hundred miles from Muncho to Nelson. I half expected her to change her mind once we got there and ask me to drop her off at Joe's friend's place. We pulled into the gas station a little after noon and I filled up. I took Rebel out in back of the station and he took care of his business. I gave the attendant my credit card and went around to the passenger side to open the door to the back seat for Rebel. The weather had grown warmer and the air had lost its deep chill. It was still cold, but there was less snow and the temperature was tolerable.

I closed the back door and just stood by the open door to the front. Marjie looked up at me and smiled. She closed the atlas and turned in the seat. She pulled me toward her and wrapped her legs around my calves. She forced my torso forward and kissed me hard. "This morning was fantastic, Don. I'm still tingling."

I broke the kiss and smiled at her. Then I got serious. "Marjie, this is your last chance. If you want me to, I can drop you off -- either at Joe's buddy's house or you can call him from a café and have him pick you up."

She sat straight and shook her head. "Huh-uh. I'm finished with him. This morning just confirmed it." I took a deep breath.

"So you still want to go to Quesnel?"

She hesitated a few beats before answering. "Yeah, I do. I haven't talked to my cousin for a while, but she always complains none of us ever come to visit." I had a feeling about her hesitation, but I let it go for the time being.

"Okay," I said. "I just wanted you to be sure. What we did this morning shouldn't be a part of your decision, though. I won't say it was just sex, or just physical. I like you an awful lot. But this whole thing -- leaving Joe, leaving the North -- has to have more of a foundation than just running away. You need to be moving toward something, too."

She grinned. "Is that apprehension I hear in your voice?"

I swallowed hard. I always hate this kind of conversation. "Yeah. Don't jump to conclusions -- either way -- about anything, though. We'll get to Dawson Creek tonight and Quesnel tomorrow unless we stop at Prince George. We have time to think it all through."

"Two days and one more night," she said. "Not all that much time really." The attendant had returned with the charge slip and she released her hold on me -- for the time being. I signed the slip and got my copy. Marjie asked me to stop at the Ft. Nelson version of a department store so she could get some spare panties. Then we had lunch at a little burger place and hit the road.

The weather got a little warmer in the afternoon. It made sense, since we were moving south and decreasing our elevation. Just before we hit Dawson Creek it started to rain, mixed with a little snow. Snow was piled to either side of the road, evidence that they'd already had their fair share of fall weather. The road was bare and not too icy.

We pulled into town just after the early twilight had blotted out the daylight. I pulled in under the canopy of the motel I usually used there. The owner remembered me from earlier stays, mostly because he remembered Rebel. He gave him a scratch. The long pink tongue lolled from the side of Reb's mouth. He's just a whore for attention. Most of the motels in British Columbia allow pets. Some charge a damage deposit. The closer to Vancouver and the U.S. border you get, the more likely they'll just charge extra, or disallow pets altogether. It was still early to stop. We could have gone another couple of hours. I have traded speed for comfort on these trips, however. I'd rather drive fewer miles and stay in a decent place than take a chance on not finding one down the road. The first couple of times I made the trip I wouldn't stop until I'd put 700 to 800 miles behind me in a day. Now I stopped early more often than not. I had no deadline to meet, after all.