Off the Trail

"Argh, sorry," Andrew said. "It's what I study. I didn't mean to give a lecture like that."

"It's all right," Amaya said, trying to get those images out of her head. "Uh, I'm pretty vague on California history. So you're a budding historian?"

"Anthropologist," Andrew said. "If I ever finish my thesis. Actually, I know about this area because of a site downstream where the Yuki collected clay and plants for dye. My thesis has to do with their textile traditions."

"Oh," Amaya said. "My mother is—my mother used to spin and weave all the time. I spent my entire youth avoiding learning it, and now her arthritis ..." She sighed, the familiar guilt rising.

"I'm sorry," said Andrew. "That's hard."

Amaya nodded. Somehow he'd understood right away. Men usually didn't. She wished she'd been able to go to college, meet more smart men like him. There was a community college she'd been thinking about—but she already worked such long hours.

"How'd you find this place?" he asked. "I'm kind of a map geek, and when I'm procrastinating on writing I turn into an armchair excursion planner. I figured out there might be a waterfall down there, but it took a lot of route planning to get here."

"I just stumbled upon it the first time," Amaya said.

"Seriously? Did you guess it might be here from the map?"

"I don't really bother with maps," Amaya said. "They're not much help once you're off-trail anyway. I mean, you're better off just looking at the land."

Andrew blinked at her, surprised.

"So when you're traveling out here off trail, you're really just wandering? No map? Don't you ever worry about getting lost?"

Amaya shrugged. Jacki had been equally confused. But they hadn't grown up the way she had.

"Not really. I do worry that I'll stay out too long and it'll get dark before I can get home. I had to spend the night out once, and it wasn't all that pleasant, so I try to avoid it."

Andrew was staring at her in obvious astonishment.

"You're brilliant," he said with wonder. "And so gorgeous." Suddenly he turned red.

Amaya laughed, and she realized she didn't care about his girlfriend, or the way she usually did things.

"You're pretty good-looking too," she said. Even his upper chest flushed a little. Maybe he was overheated, or maybe— "You know, I think you need sunscreen."

"Oh, fuck." Andrew looked mortified again before joining her hesitantly in laughter. He got up and found the sunscreen, then retreated to a patch of shade behind his rock.

"Need some help?" she asked.

"No, I'm -" he started to say. But she was looking at him with a mischievous smile, and something else. It had been a long while since a woman looked at him that way, but he hadn't forgotten everything.

"Maybe," he said. "If you don't mind. I don't want to miss any spots."

"No," she agreed, standing up to go help him.

Andrew swallowed as she approached. Somehow she was even more beautiful in motion. Graceful and powerful, like a big predator. She was almost as tall as he was. Raw desire surged within him, tempered by a growing nervousness.

She took the sunscreen from his hands where he'd forgotten it. Embarrassed, he finished spreading it down his legs. He was slightly pink, but with luck he'd avoided getting too burned, thanks to Amaya.

Her warm hands touched his back and he tried to relax. Over a year since he'd felt that kind of touch. His cock stirred as she ran her hands down his back, lower each time. She didn't stop, and soon she was massaging it into his butt. His erection grew quickly.

Amaya smiled as Andrew shuddered under her hands. He'd called her gorgeous in that unpremeditated way. The navigating thing she could do that baffled most everyone—he thought it made her smart. She loved him for that. And he obviously liked what she was doing. She peeked at his cock, which looked even bigger than a minute ago.

She finished the back of his legs and walked around him.

"Sorry," he muttered, "It just does that sometimes."

"Shouldn't you take care of it, then?" she asked.

He gaped at her.

"I mean, that's what I was doing before I fell asleep," she said. "Something about the smell of the fresh air, the sun, you know. Or maybe it's just a thing with me from when I was younger."

She slipped a finger between her legs and then held it up, glistening with strands of her juices.

"See? You're not the only one," she said, before licking her finger clean.

He looked stunned, so she took his hand, splashing back to her sun-soaked rock. When she lay back, for a moment he blocked the sun, golden hair stretching like a halo around his shadowed face. In this moment, he could be anyone. Danny, Jeffrey, some man she'd never met. The rock's warmth filled her, and she inhaled pine and sagebrush and desire.

The moment passed, and it was just Andrew standing there with his kind eyes, his beautiful body, and his nervousness. She smiled and pulled on his hand.

Andrew stepped forward in a dream, trying to still his nerves. She was all lean muscle and curves and gorgeous brown skin. The hair between her legs glistened in the sun, and she spread herself wider, as if she wanted him to just out and fuck her.

As she pulled him forward, he leaned over, and without thinking he took one of her perfect, tiny breasts into his mouth.

"Oh, God," she whispered to herself. Encouraged, he leaned some of his weight onto her, his dick bumping briefly into her thigh. She'd closed her eyes, and whimpered a bit as he explored her beautiful nipple with his tongue.

"Andrew," she said urgently. "Can you just fuck me, real hard? I'm ready, if you are."

He swallowed. No question his body was ready. And no reason to hesitate, really, if she wanted it that way. He could be that kind of guy for once, couldn't he?

Without replying, he shifted higher, until his dick brushed her entrance. She murmured something encouraging, and he thought the angle was right. Her hairs tickled the tip. She was hairier than anyone he'd been with. It was beautiful on her.

With a deep breath, he settled forward, feeling her lips part around the head and then the shaft of his cock. Down, down he plunged, gasping at the liquid warmth that enveloped him. He'd never felt heat from a woman like this, as though she'd absorbed it from all around and funneled it into the furnace surrounding his dick.

She grunted once, when he finally settled inside her, and then she reached her arms around him, crushing him against her, kissing him with her warm dry lips and then whispering in his ear.

"I mean it," she said. "Fuck me hard. Don't worry that you're hurting me."

She grabbed his ass with shocking strength, fingernails digging into his skin like claws. Much more aggressive than his lovers ever were. He'd never wanted anyone like this.

And so he pulled out with a shuddering sigh, and then slammed right back into her, bumping his knee painfully on the rock. He didn't care. She must be getting scraped, but she just moaned for more, and so he gave it to her, fucking as desperately as he'd ever fucked. She scratched at him and he bit her lip and held her hair, and he pounded his iron-hard cock into her, over and over.

Her eyes never opened, and he didn't care. She was glorious and primal. The sweat pooled between them, and despite the cool water on his legs he was getting dangerously warm, but it was just as well. Any more comfortable and he'd have come far too soon. He kissed the muscle of her shoulder, trailing his teeth lower, until he trapped her nipple, and she made a strange animal sound, pulling him even tighter against her.

Amaya felt herself growling, and it scared her. Her back scraped hard against the rock, and she only urged Andrew on. Her desire was a towering thing, a column of flame reaching to the sky to devour them both. Andrew felt impossibly big inside of her, an immense pole piercing her through, and every time he bottomed out she ground herself against his groin, her clit jolting with their rhythm. His teeth brushed her nipples again, and he took a tentative bite. Too much for her, usually. Exactly what she wanted. She hauled on his ass, over and over, willing him to go even deeper into her somehow, to find the burning center of her desire and succumb to it with her. The burnt air filling her lungs smelled of pine and youth and home.

Her orgasm was the kind that snuck up on her, the tiniest twinge blossoming into something too big for her mind to encompass. She gasped and shivered and ground to a halt, her body squeezing on Andrew's cock and feeling him holding still with her, even as he emptied his seed into her with a groan and a happy mumble into her cheek. He started to stroke her hair as her convulsions faded, whispering her name once with a reverence that unsettled her.

She opened her eyes and saw he was nearly crying. Amaya smiled and scratched his back gently, and for a while they simply lay together, his dick still hard and twitching pleasantly inside her from time to time.

Finally Andrew slid out of her, rolling to dunk himself completely in the water. He practically expected it to steam off of him. Somehow Amaya seemed immune to the incredible heat. She stretched and sat up, and he couldn't help but gasp. Her back was badly scratched and bleeding in a few places.

Amaya guessed what he saw. "It's all right. I wanted it that way. Better than pine needles," she added cryptically.

After he'd cooled enough, he squeezed next to her on the rock. When he kissed her lightly on the shoulder, she didn't complain. So he started to kiss her further back, lips gentle on her reddened skin, fingers stroking her chest and stomach.

Amaya put her hand on his thigh, then found his semi-hard cock. His lips were cool on her back, and his fingers felt delightful. She stroked him idly to hardness as they sat together. She didn't know what to make of this strangely tender moment. She didn't really care. There hadn't really been an After with Danny that first time. They'd been so young.

Andrew was a grown-up lover. She realized she might never have had one before. And suddenly she wanted to do it all again, ten times as hard. Maybe she'd ride him this time, spearing herself on his cock and stretching her arms up to the scorching embrace of the sun. But she should give him a chance, too.

"That was my fantasy," she managed to say. "And the best sex I've ever had. Do you have a fantasy?"

Andrew's mouth fell open. This entire afternoon had been beyond a fantasy. But she seemed serious. In truth, he had embarrassingly many fantasies, and most of them wouldn't work out here. But if she meant it ...

Five minutes later they'd found the perfect spot.

"You sure you're not too sore?"

Amaya laughed as she leaned into the tree. "Just my back, really. Anyway, you said you wanted it slow."

This time he savored every millimeter of penetration. Amaya groaned and tried to push back against him, but he held her hips firmly as he entered her pussy from behind. She had a spectacular ass. Even her asshole was beautiful. As he pumped slowly in and out, he gently brushed across the brown hole, and she squirmed happily. Maybe he shouldn't have been shy about that fantasy either. He felt his body gearing up for another orgasm, and he slowed further. He didn't want any of this to end. He didn't know if she'd even want to see him again. And so he fucked her slowly, and closed his hand over hers. She understood when he brought it up between her legs, helping her touch herself. If his control held, he could keep fucking her after she got herself off. He found he wanted to show off. He couldn't bear the thought they might not do this again.

* * *

"And then what?" Jacki whispered, giggling in disbelief.

"Oh, then he sat on a rock and I got on top of him. Slow, fast, everything in between, rocking back and forth, must've gone another half hour like that. Amazing lover, you know, a real stud. Rawr."

Jacki snorted. "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed your hike. I hope you at least got a satisfying nap while you dreamed up that fantasy. That's what I get for teasing you, I guess."

Amaya smiled as Jacki moved off to start her shift, and surreptitiously adjusted her bra away from the worst scratches on her back.

Next Friday, she thought, fingering the scrap of paper he'd given her. Maybe she'd call him before then. But maybe not. She liked the idea of surprise. Maybe he'd catch her masturbating this time. Or maybe he would be the one there first, lounging with his hair down, idly stroking his cock while he waited for her. She liked that thought. Stalking silently towards him, anticipating what was to come.

But she wouldn't let him wait too long. Cougars weren't like house cats, playing with their food before pouncing. She was far too hungry for that.