It Was a Cold and Dreary Night

There wasn't a star in sight as I leaned against a tree waiting for dawn. A glob of snow slipped in my collar and ran down my neck when I looked down at my watch. 6:03. I was freezing. I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to kill a deer. I didn't want to dress it out. I wanted to be home in bed with my wife.

Only she was someone else's wife now. My family had rented the little cabin every year for as far back as I could remember. I was the last one left. I was freshly home from Iraq. I somehow felt I had to come. I was miserable. I decided the hell with it, I would go back to the cabin and get warm. No! It would be stupid to be walking through the woods on a hunting lease just at dawn. A damn good way to get yourself shot.

I heard a twig or something snap to my right. I slowly turned my head and saw a pretty little doe stepping gingerly along. Two more followed her. Then a yearling. A small buck with little spike antlers ran up and smelled the does. They paid him no attention. The spike stopped and turned and looked back. He froze and didn't move. I knew there was a buck behind them.

It would be a tough shot. If I moved too soon he would see me. When I brought the rifle up I would have to be quick and swing awkwardly to my right without hitting the tree. It is difficult to swing smoothly from left to right and then track an animal moving from right to left.

The buck appeared, moving slowly. He didn't like something. He was very alert. He swung his head from side to side, smelling low then lifting his head to catch any higher odors. His ears moved as he paused and listened. His eyes would detect the slightest movement. He was magnificent with a twelve point rack of antlers. I needed to wait until he moved further ahead before I could bring my rifle up.

He cautiously took several steps forward then stopped again. His head turned away from me and I brought the rifle half way up before he turned back towards me. He eased ahead a few more steps. He was almost where I wanted him. He turned away and I lowered the rifle. I didn't want to kill him. I had the thrill of watching him move through the woods and not detecting me.

A shot blasted not far in front of me and the buck twirled and ran to thick cover behind me.

I stayed still for a few minutes. Then I heard some one moving through the woods in front of me. I saw a young man move slowly out in front of my position. Then he hurried forward and looked at something on the ground behind a low clump of myrtle.

I walked slowly towards him. I was only about twenty feet away when he heard me and turned and saw me. He was all bundled up wearing a day-glow hat over a ski mask. I looked down and saw the spike buck on the ground. There was a bullet wound just behind the place where the front leg joins the chest. I said, "Beautiful shot, right in the heart."

"Thank you." was the muffled answer.

"Did you see the twelve pointer back behind him?" The guy nodded, "Yes, this is the one I wanted though. He was too big for me to carry."

"Are you over in the "Ranger Bob" cabins?"

"Yeah! Help me drag him over there and I'll share with you on the meat."

"I'll help you. I have a drag harness with me and that will make it easier. I am staying over there too. Is this your first time staying here?"

"No, we hunted here last year. You been coming here long?"

"As long as I can remember, at least twenty five years." I told him as I got the harness from my day pack and put the loop around the deer's neck. I slipped the shoulder harness over my arms and snapped the front strap. I picked up my rifle and leaned into the straps and felt the small buck drag along behind me.

After we got to the main trail it was pretty easy going. Just one low hill then it was down hill to the camp. He pointed to the cabin next to mine and I grunted to him and kept going to the big A frame we used to dress our kills. I looked at him. He was standing holding himself and I could see him shivering. "You got hot coffee in your cabin?"

He shook his head. I figured him for a young boy now.

"I left some by the fire, come on in my cabin and thaw out. We can do the nasty part later. Not too long or it'll be frozen."

" I unlocked my cabin and turned the light on. I pulled off my gloves and fur lined hat and shed my outer coat. I got two big cups out and wrapped a towel around the handle of the coffee pot. I filled the cups and turned and held one out to him. He was the cutest girl I had ever seen. I almost spilled the coffee all over her. She still had her gloves on and she held her hands around the cup. Her eyes half closed as the warmth soaked into her hands.

I said, "Come on get out of that coat and I'll throw an other log on the fire. Move over here in front of the fire. I am too damned cold to bite you."

She smiled and took off her coat and gloves. Long blond hair cascaded over her shoulders. She turned slowly in front of the fire. We stood and sipped coffee staring at each other.

"I think we should sit at the table and finish our coffee. We don't want to get too hot and start to sweat or we will really suffer when we have to go back out."

"Do we have to go back out? I'm just kidding, I know we have to dress the deer. It is going to take me a long time, my Daddy always did that for me. We were supposed to be here together but he is dying with cancer. He insisted I come. My boyfriend was going to come but chickened out at the last minute. Daddy wants raw warm venison liver. He begged me to bring him some."

I saw tears running from her eyes and handed her my clean handkerchief. She wiped her eyes and handed it back.

I told her my father and my mother and brother had been killed in a plane crash while I was in Iraq. I only came up to the camp as a tribute to them, they all loved it so much up here. I needed the hanky myself. "The smoke gets in your eyes." I told her. She smiled gently and said she had the same problem.

I glanced out the window and saw it was snowing again. I walked to the window. It was coming down pretty hard. I told her I would go out and dress the deer for her and told her to just keep the fire going for me. I shrugged back into my coat, hat and gear. I picked up my knifes and headed out. The A frame was rigged and I hung the deer by it's hind legs. I had the intestines out and in the big garbage can provided for that purpose when I turned and saw her wiping out the body cavity with towels. She grinned at me. We dropped the carcass and I cut the lower legs off, tied ropes through the tendons and hauled it back in the air. I quickly skinned it out and then quartered it. We put the meat in large plastic bags and the liver, heart, and tongue in smaller bags. We didn't want the hide or head so we put them in the garbage. She helped me carry the meat back to my cabin. My hands were frozen and I washed them in cold water then warmer water, I looked at her and told her to get over where I was and clean up. Her fingers didn't seem to want to work so I washed her little hands for her. When the luke warm water hit them she jumped as if it were boiling. I rubbed them under the water and she sighed and told me how good it felt. I added some water to the coffee pot and put more coffee in too. I took off all my outer clothing and told her to do the same. I put some more wood on the fire and pulled two old rockers in front of the fire. We sat and thawed out.

I looked over at her and for the first time I saw she was a very attractive woman. I said, "My name is Sean, Sean David Murphy. Who are you?"

She smiled and said, "I am Shirley, Shirley Barton Banks.

I am really very pleased to meet you. You saved my life with that deer. I could never have done that. My hands would have frozen off before I was done. I have to get going soon to get that liver to my Dad."

"No way you are getting out of here today. Not the way it's snowing. I am worried that I won't have enough wood for the fire. I will have to go to the wood pile pretty soon before it is buried. I have seen snow over the doors here.

She looked at me. "I don't have very much wood. I couldn't get a fire started this morning."

"Listen, I am talking survival here. We need to get dressed now and move whatever stuff you have over here. We need to share what we have. There are two bed rooms. Come on get dressed. Then we need to make a couple of trips as fast as we can for wood. Hurry."

We went next door and I packed up her little bit of food and told her to bring me all the blankets. I stuffed them into a pillow case for easy carrying and we were ready to go. We put her stuff in my cabin. I remembered seeing a small sled and I got it and my drag harness. We trekked over to the huge wood pile and loaded down the sled. We made four trips and I was afraid to make another because the snow was now thigh deep. I didn't want to risk getting lost out there

with the wind blowing snow around in drifts. I went in my room and stripped down to my thermal underwear, I put jeans and a flannel shirt on.

She saw me and asked if I were warm enough. I told her I was just fine, but that I still had my thermal underwear on.

"What do you mean by thermal underwear?". I went back in me room a brought some out to show her. She asked if it were warmer than regular long johns. I told her to try it out, it would be a little large on her but it was brand new and not stretched out yet and it should work ok. She went in her room and was back in five minutes in jeans and a corduroy top. She grinned. "This is toasty warm and so light weight. I have to get some. Can I wear this for a while?"

"Keep it as long as you want. I have several more sets with me."

We sat and talked for hours. She had been married but was single now. No kids. She was living with her dad to care for him. Her aunt was with him now. I tried the phone for her and got through to her father's home. She talked to him and to her aunt and told them she was snowed in with a strange man. The were upset and she said she would be alright. We would stay in touch as long as we could. They told her they had been worried because the weather station said the storm could last for days. I talked to her aunt and told her I would look after Shirley and not to worry. Her aunt told me Shirley's dad was going in the hospital in the morning. She talked to them again and said her goodbyes.

I asked if she knew how to play dominoes, she said it had been a while but she remembered how it was played. I got the box out of the cupboard and we moved the rockers and pulled the table closer to the fire. She remembered how to play alright. She had me begging for mercy after about four hands. She was fun to play with. She was very gentle in her teasing when she would whip me. I found it very hard to take my eyes off of her. She was delightful to watch. We finally gave that up and fixed something to eat. I opened a large can of Clam Chowder and fixed two grilled cheese sandwiches. They hit the spot. We couldn't see any thing out the windows any more. I turned on the water and let it trickle after I filled all the containers we could find. I suggested we move the couch in front of the fire. Then we could wrap up in blankets and let the fire burn lower to conserve wood.

"Sounds like a good plan, but why can't we do that in the rockers?"

I looked at her, there was a twinkle in her eye. I smiled, "Yeah! That'll work."

"Well, maybe the couch might be better. We could sit close together and share blankets and body heat."

"Hey! Good thinking. We can try that later."

"Oh! Shouldn't we be trying to conserve wood now?"

"Well, yes, I guess we really should. Here help me move the table an we can slide the couch over here. Good where did we put the blankets. Oh! There they are. I think we should put one down to keep our backs warm. Now sit here and I'll sit close to you. Here pull this blanket around us. This one too. How is that?"

"That is nice. Put your arm around me and we can sit closer. Mmm, that feels nice and cozy."

We sat and snuggled for hours, the fire burned very low and we were still very warm and comfortable."

We learned everything we could think of about each other. She was wonderful, smart as a whip and really beautiful. She had won beauty pageants when she was younger to please her mother. She didn't need to prove anything to herself. She was a very self confident young lady. We talked about almost everything. She loved hunting and fishing. I told her about fishing in Florida where I was from. She said she would love to try salt water fishing. I said I would love to take her salt water fishing. Her head was on my shoulder I turned and buried my nose in her yellow hair. It smelled clean and slightly of flowers. I pressed my lips to her head and she turned and looked up at me.

"Try again, that was a complete miss." I didn't miss the next time. I pressed my lips gently to hers. I felt her lips part and the tip of her tongue searched for mine. It was delightful. One of her hands slipped up behind my head. The other rubbed across my chest.

The little cabin became very warm.

I sighed, "I have to tell you we have a problem coming up. I still feel a little dirty after dressing out the deer, how about you?"

"Yes, I need a shower too! But I am not ready to share one with you."

"I didn't think you were. That shower stall is too damned small anyway. Go take a shower now and I'll get one after you. I am worried about the power going out. I am surprised we still have power. Call me when you are out."

A few minutes later she called that she was out of the shower and that I could get in. I went to my bed room and stripped. It was cold in there. I pulled a towel around me and scooted in the shower. The water was plenty hot but the side of me not under the water froze. I was out in a hurry too. I quickly dressed and hurried out and slipped in beside Shirley on the couch. We snuggled together and I felt her body heat take the chill out of me. I told her I was sorry I hadn't gone first to warm the nest up for her. Next time I would. She put her arms around me and pulled me close to her. She said, "I am glad I was here to warm you. Let me know when you want me to make you hot."

"What makes you think you can make me hot?"

"I know I can, I see the way you look at me. Do you want to bet?"

"You want me to bet that there is nothing you can do to make my body react to your sexual advances. Right, and do you also want me to bet that the sun will not come up tomorrow? How much do you want to bet? I'll just give it to you now . Now if you want to bet that I can't get you hot you might win that too."

"I don't think so."

"Really?"

"I know you can make me hot. I get hot whenever you kiss me. No man ever did that before."

"Oh My! That boggles my mind."

"Why, you are a very handsome hunk of a guy. Any woman would want you."

"You are very sweet to say that. I have never been good with women when I first meet them."

"You just didn't let them get to know you."

"Do you know me?"

"I know you more than you think. I love everything about you. From your smell to your taste."

"Wow! I love everything about you too! There are some things about you I would still like to know."

"Like what?"

"Did you love sex with your husband, do you love sex with your boyfriend?"

"I enjoyed it with both of them."

"Did you have mind blowing, gut wrenching, bed wetting, screaming at the top of your lungs, orgasms with them?"

"No, I have never felt like that."

"Poor Dear, I will take care of that for you tonight."

"What?"

"You heard me. I can do that for you."

"I don't believe that. You are just talking, right?"

"Wrong, have you heard me bullshit you one time today?"

"No."

"Then let me know when, and I'll prove it to you."

"Anytime."

"Now! Take off all your clothes. Under the blanket is alright." I slipped out of my clothes too. She looked at me and nodded. I pulled her to me and kissed her hard and insistently as I delved my tongue into her mouth. My hands caressed her warm breasts. I took her hand and placed it on my erection. I felt her grasp the shaft and slide her hand up the length of him. She moaned softly. I moved my head under the blanket and sucked on her nipple. She pulled my mouth harder to her breast with her free hand. She opened her legs to me. I moved my mouth to her sex. She was moist already. I kissed her feeling the tender places between her legs. I ran my fingers over her hidden treasures and followed them with my tongue. She was slippery now and she was trembling and wiggling as I found her little nubbin and really begin to love it. Lip nips and butterfly kisses drove her up the wall. I heard her scream my name and continued my assault on this sweet flesh. Her fluids were really flowing now and I knew she had had a good orgasm. I moved back up and kissed her mouth. She was whimpering softly And I whispered to her that I loved her. She began to cry. She sobbed softly and I raised her head with my fingers. "Are you OK?"

"Wow! You don't brag, you tell the truth. Nobody ever loved me like that before. You didn't even try to please yourself."

"Oh! But I did. I was ecstatic that I was able to show you the loving you deserve and need."

"I don't care if it never stops snowing. Can we do some more?"

"Sure, I am ready when you are. We really need to be in bed to make love most other ways."

"We were never even in bed were we?"

"No, are you ready for that?"

"Oh! Yes I really am." I helped her to her feet and threw couple of logs on the fire. I followed her to my room. She crawled in my bed and I pulled the covers up over us. I moved beside her and kissed her sweet lips. She pulled me close and felt for my penis with her hand. She found him and said, "I want him inside me. I need him. Please! Please!"

I moved between her legs and rubbed my self over her. She was still wet and slippery. I eased myself slowly inside her. I pulled out some then slipped further in. A few more slow thrusts and he was all the way in. Her eyes opened wide and a soft smile came over her face. She growled deep in her throat. "Grrrrrr, Purrrr, I love that, you feel so good. Love me baby, Love me." I thrust a bit harder and faster. I could tell she was nearing an orgasm by the way her breaths were coming faster and faster. I really socked it to her, pounding my pelvis against hers. She was moaning loudly now with every thrust I made. She began to shudder and shake, her cries getting louder and louder. I was getting close too. She was tight and smooth. I gritted my teeth and kept pounding into her. She screamed, "Yes, Yes, Yes." at the top of her lungs. She threw her arms around my neck and held on tight. My body went rigid and I felt a wash of supreme pleasure sweep over me. And pulse after pulse of my love shot into her sweet body. I adored her. I fell on top of her. She mewed and kissed my face over and over. I rolled off of her and she pressed herself to my body. I adjusted the covers and held her tight. I whispered, "That was pure heaven, I love you Shirley, I really do."

"Oh! Sean, you really know how to make love. You are so far better than anyone I had before it is not even close. I never knew sex could be so damned good, so satisfying, so wonderful. How do you do it.?"

"I think the answer is that you really have to love your partner, to want more than anything to please them, to not worry about your own pleasure, it comes on it's own. I guess that doesn't make much sense but it is how I feel."

"Sean, I need to please you too. I want to love your lovely cock and take him in my mouth and make you cum in my mouth. I desperately need to do that. I really do."

"That sounds so good, I want you to do that too! Right now I think we need to get up and get our heads together and take stock of where we are. Come on lazy bones, lets get dressed, get some dinner, clean things up, and get ready for bed."