Running into My Ex

Heading off to the tallest peaks bringing equipment which would make NASA envious is all well and good.

However, I doubted whether any of the gearheads undoubtedly making their way up half the mountainsides within view from my spot just off highway 51 crossing Norway's Valdresflya mountain pass enjoyed their stint in nature more than I was doing right now.

The scenery encompassed probably a thousand square miles of the most beautiful mountain areas of Norway (and we do have a lot of mountains to go around!), and sitting here next to the busy highway, listening to my trusty old kerosene stove hissing and puffing as it boiled water for a cup of coffee before I kept heading east - well, this was pure bliss.

I had even managed to arrive on the most beautiful time of year - in early September, the air was seemingly even purer and clearer than it usually was, and the colours... Ah, the colours! An orgy of reddish and orange hues, with a spattering of green, grey and brown thrown in for good measure. To me, autumn was the most beautiful season - well, early autumn, at any rate. November, being cold, wet, dark and miserable was thankfully still way off.

Life wasn't too bad, all things considered. It struck me that this was the first time in months I'd had that feeling - that realization bringing an immense sense of relief with it.

My partner of many years had been killed in a road accident last Easter; I had no doubt the pain would be with me until my dying day - but, apparently, there were still a few good times to be had. I took a deep breath, leaned back against the side of my 4x4 and sighed contentedly just as the sound of tires crunching the roadside gravel came closer. From the sounds of it, I was about to have company.

I turned and looked; a small Peugeot something-or-the-other, bright blue, came to a halt some eighty or ninety feet away, and the driver stepped out. A woman. I squinted. Could be around my age. I looked at the stove. Almost ready for coffee. I normally kept the stove and a couple of extra mugs in the car as an ice breaker - I had found that lots of people went on a nostalgic overdose when they heard the sound of the stove - as everybody and their dog had used them during camping trips in their childhood.

Anyway, she'd parked just far enough away that I decided to wait and see if she came over; it might be a little creepy if I hailed her from this distance, offering coffee and whatnot. I returned my attention to the stove, found the water to be boiling, turned down the stove and got the coffee out. Just as I had finished pouring in the coarse ground coffee and raised my eyes to the horizon again, I slowly started to turn towards the Peugeot again - only to be greeted with an astounded 'Erling? ERLING? Is that YOU?!?'

I quickly spun around. That voice I knew only too well, despite not having heard it in ages. Yup. The woman now having covered half the distance between our cars was my former girlfriend Helene - now seemingly frozen as she just stared at me in something bordering on disbelief. We'd been an item for most of my student days, but I hadn't seen her for probably fifteen years or so - yet she still looked just as she had back then - well, her hair was as unruly as ever, but now significantly shorter than the haystack it had resembled way back then, but that aside it was as if she had stepped out of a time machine.

I hadn't thought of her in ages, but now all sorts of thoughts raced through my mind, racing to make their way to my speech center first to come up with some response or the other. Our breakup had not been a good one, that's for sure, and I had been quite angry with her - as in, wasn't sure whether I could have controlled myself if I'd run into her randomly - for years afterwards. Well, that was water under the bridge by now. No use spending time rehashing old griefs. I gratefully realized I was no longer angry with her and my face lit up in a somewhat uncertain smile. -'Helene? Wow, I was just about to walk over to ask whether you wanted a cup of coffee before heading on...'

She blushed and lowered her gaze to study the gravel between us with great interest. Hesitantly, she asked -'So... You still want to? I mean, we didn't split on the best of terms, did we?'

I shrugged- -'No use ripping up in that now, is it? Water under the bridge, bygones be bygones, et cetera? So - I've got a mug for you if you want one.'

Visibly relieved, her eyes rose to meet mine. -'In that case, I'd love one. Would be too bad just running away now that we've met and it appears we are on civil terms again.'

I gave her a quick smile and motioned for the stove, merrily letting the coffee simmer as it steeped. -'Old habits die hard, and ever since I drove over here the first time, I've tended to stop here for a coffee to enjoy the scenery.' My arm made a sweeping motion towards the horizon -'After all, the view doesn't get much better than this, does it?'

With a broad smile on her face, Helene stepped in front of me. -'It just got a little bit better, no?' before stepping aside again. -'Sorry. Couldn't help myself. You have to admit you DID practically ask for it, though.'

I smiled faintly. She was right; she was strikingly beautiful. Her short-cropped hair suited her well - she had always had a slightly boyish look to her, slender and athletic as she was - though her breasts were ample enough to ensure noone would mistake her for a male. I quickly raised my gaze again, somewhat annoyed with myself - fifteen seconds after meeting her for the first time in more than a decade, I was ogling her tits. Sigh.

Good thing she hadn't noticed - or, at least, pretended she hadn't noticed. Either would do for me. I gratefully turned towards the car to fetch another mug.

Seconds later we were taking in the view in a slightly uncomfortable silence, each wrapping our hands around a cup of steaming malabar coffee.

-'OK, I'll start.', Helene sighed. -'I am sorry. Really, big time, Biblical scale sorry. For the first few years, I wanted to call you and say so - but, hell, I never worked up the nerve to actually do it. I am sorry it ended the way it did.'

She really looked ill at ease, poor thing. Well - that was water under the bridge, as I had realized only minutes earlier. -'Nevermind, that is too long ago to hold any grudge over. Besides, neither you nor I had much experience back then - be it with being a couple or... Well, how to stop being one. Don't mention it. We're good.'

I was rewarded with a warm hug - well, something as hug-like as one can manage when holding a cup of coffee. -'Thank you,' she murmured into my chest. 'Don't get me wrong, though - this does NOT mean we'll rekindle the flame or whatever - I still believe we needed to split, even if I fucked up the actual splitting up bit of it...'

I held her close for another couple of seconds, just enjoying being near another person, before gently letting go of her. My eyes met hers and I nodded, firmly. I more or less agreed that our relationship had been on track to crash and burn at some point, anyway - and, water under the bridge aside, once burned, twice shy. I wouldn't dare venturing into another relationship with her. Full stop. -'No worries, my dear. Granted, I am single at the moment - but that... Well, it is so fresh yet I haven't got any plans whatsoever - and, no offense, even if I had... Well, I wouldn't dare hitting it off with you again - which is not just your fault, mind!' I quickly added after seeing her tense up.

-'Mhm. I am -ahem- available, too - and that's the end of that subject!' Helene muttered.

That settled, our conversation started flowing easier; the initial awkwardness gave way to a brief update on what we had been up to for the past years - Helene had two kids, who were with their father this week - eight and eleven years old, the most adorable young girls one could possibly imagine, oh my how pre-teeny the oldest one had become - soon boys would start becoming a worry for mother hen Helene.

I had a chuckle. -'Luckily, I haven't got anything to worry about on that front - well, none that I know of, anyway.' This was an old and worn joke traded between field service personnel, but could easily be misinterpreted by those not in the trade; Helene threw me a puzzled glance before half mockingly wondering whether I'd been screwing around so much that I'd lost track of my conquests. I shook my head. -'Oh no, I can guarantee there aren't any toddlers on earth who'd call me dad - well, my......ex'es son, he still calls me dad. I'll admit to thinking it is quite nice, to be honest.'

Which led the conversation onto me. -'Oh, so they live nearby?' Helene inquired.

-'Well, he lives with his father, a five-minute-walk from my place. His mother, Torill... Well, she's dead. Drunk driver veered into the wrong lane. This Easter. Next subject, please.'

-'Oh my, my, oh my GOD, Erling, I am SO sorry!' Helene exclaimed, looking seriously ill at ease. -'I didn't mean to...'

I shook my head. -'No worries, there's no way you could have known - and it's not like it's something one should hide or avoid speaking of - it happened, and nothing to be done about it. We'd been a couple for eight years when she died, so I am not quite... Well, not quite up for dating yet. I'd started to see myself growing old with her, you know - and then...'

I sighed and felt my eyes well up a bit. -'So, no worries. Not even if the femme fatales of the past should come knocking. No worries. You're safe.'

With that, we settled into a rather comfortable silence, just enjoying our coffee. I felt like it somehow had lifted the burden of Torill's death to mention it to Helene - she knew me better than anyone alive, and just having her nearby had a soothing effect on me, much to my surprise, given our history.

A few minutes passed, the silence only broken by the occasional sipping of coffee - until Helene raised her left foot and knocked the enamel mug against it to shake out the coffee grounds before handing the mug to me. -'Thanks a lot - both for the coffee and for not biting my head off. I guess we've got places to go, both you and I, so...'

She sighed. -'Oh, and again - I am terribly sorry to hear about your loss. Nice seeing you again, though - really!'

-'Thanks, it was good to see you, too - I'm not going to pretend otherwise.' As if an afterthought, I added -'You'd see right through that, anyway.'

She giggled, stepped forward and gave me a good, warm hug and the briefest of kisses on the cheek, before releasing me from her embrace, turning and heading for her car.

After a few steps, her stride slowed, then stopped altogether before she turned back towards me, a mischievous grin on her face as she noted I was still following her with my eyes.

-'Just a thought, by the way - and do act as the responsible adult and tell me right away if this is a terrible idea, even by my standards, but... Well, to put it bluntly, it wasn't bad sex that made our relationship crash and burn, and now that we're both available... Well, I haven't had anything worth mentioning in months, and neither would you, I guess - so unless it is too early for you, what do you think?'

Well, if nothing else, Helene had my full and undivided attention. Mulling her suggestion over for an instant - I can be quite the fast thinker when there's sex to be had - I realised there was no reason we shouldn't, really - we HAD had great sex back in the day, and as far as too early went - well, I wasn't ready for a new relationship, and definitely not with Helene - but at some point I had to start living again. It might as well be today.

-'How? Heading down to Gjendesheim and ask if they offer hourly rates?'

Throwing her head back, laughing, she shook her head, knowing she had me. -'Not quite, stupid. Up here it was a bit brisk, not to mention rather exposed - but if you join me down to Randsverk or so, it ought to be balmy-ish, so we can do it outdoors? It's not like it's crowded down there, so we'd just park by the roadside, head a few paces into the woods, roll out my blanket and get down to it?'

I pondered it for a moment. It was the wrong direction as far as I was concerned - I was heading east, having passed Randsverk about an hour ago - but the thought of being deep inside a woman in less than an hour won out. Obviously, it would. I didn't even have any plans to suggest we head east for our quick tête-á-tête, either - nor feel peeved that she just expected me to add another couple of hours to my journey just to get her laid. There's a time for everything, and now was a time to get laid, not quarrelling. -'I'm in.'

-'Quelle surprise!' she giggled in mock surprise. -'Just follow me, will you, and I'll stop some suitable place, OK?'

Hm. My day had definitely taken an interesting turn, I'd hand Lady Luck that. Helene was already getting behind the wheel, so I tossed my coffee gear unceremoniously in the car boot, then jumped in and got the old diesel cranking just in time to follow her as she sped out from the parking lot, following the blue 206 as if my life depended on it.

I'd never, ever been as eager not to lose track of the car in front of me - mercy upon any poor sod attempting to overtake me and get between me and my femme fatale. Well, with any luck, she wouldn't turn out to be that - not again, at any rate.

I was painfully erect, feeling every bump in the road - and there were lots - like a jolt of electricity. Helene seemingly wasn't untouched herself - or perhaps she'd been in the habit of slowly creeping up 15-20km/h over the posted limit even before our chance meeting?

Not that I cared; what waited at the end of this drive would be worth a speeding ticket. Minutes later - luckily before we'd had the chance to present our license and registration to the police - she flashed her turn indicator and drove as far out on the road shoulder as her car would safely permit, then came to a halt. I parked right behind her, stepping out of my car just as she pulled a rug out from her boot. Nodding towards the dense forest lining the road, she smiled her broadest, sultriest smile. -'Let's head a couple dozen paces that direction and get down to it, shall we? Perhaps giving some poor, unsuspecting forager the experience of a lifetime while we're at it, but I don't care too much - at least we'd have TRIED to be discreet, no?'

Without waiting for a reply, she headed off into the woods - and without hesitating, I followed her, throwing a quick glance behind me as we disappeared in between the trees. Noone paid us even the slightest attention. Not that there were any people to be seen at all - as Helene had suggested, we might at worst surprise someone foraging for berries or mushrooms. Tough luck.

We didn't have to go far; it turned out the land owner had left the trees only in a narrow belt along the road; we emerged into a glen lined with shrubbery. Helene glanced around, then made for a small, reasonably level, grassed area. -'This will do just as well as anywhere else, won't it?' She suggested. I nodded approval. There were no people to be seen, neither was there any obvious reason why anyone would suddenly come upon us - no cabins, footpaths or anything.

Helene squatted and started folding out the blanket, sat down on it and swiftly pulled her purple fleece sweater over her head; the white top she wore underneath followed it, and there she was, sitting in her bra and Fjällräven trousers. She didn't waste any time undoing her belt, and I found myself in a hurry to catch up with her; I assumed any foreplay was more of a formality at this point, if Helene was even half as turned on as I was.

I worked my sneakers off, pulled my jeans and briefs off in one move; my cock sprung free, reaching almost arrogantly for the skies; pulling at my T-shirt, I got it over my head just in time to see Helene wiggle herself out of her trousers. Giggling, she observed that there was nothing like the expectation of sex to get something done in a hurry. I'd have to concede her point as I knelt in front of her. Smiling, she undid her bra clasp and let the flimsy, semi-see-through grey garment slide off her shoulders - sitting almost naked in front of me, the familiar, oh-so-round-and-lovely breasts were just as I remembered them - they still appeared to defy gravity as they strutted towards me, crowned by the tiniest, darkest areolas one could imagine with a nipple you could cut glass with, it seemed.

I eagerly cupped my hands over them, sighing as the feel of her warm, soft flesh sent a jolt through my body. Arching her back and thrusting her chest forward, she giggled. -'I'm glad you've found each other, but, well, my undies...'

Ah. Foreplay is overrated, anyway. I let my hands slide down her sides, inched my fingers under the hem of her undies and pulled them down her slender thighs, exposing her. She'd done a nice job of it - her mound was mostly bare and smooth, with a tiny tuft of blonde hair just covering the top of her slit. Helene lifted herself off the blanket to help me pull the undies off of her.

I had just started easing myself over her when Helene coughed and raised her finger to me in a mock stern gesture. -'Hell no! There's no way I'll let you empty yourself in me after ten seconds and be done with it. First eat me out, then we can, ah, discuss fucking afterwards.'

I laughed. It didn't sound like Helene's rough edges had been polished entirely away by the years that had passed since I had last been with her. Besides, she were right. If I'd had her wrapped around me now, not having had sex since spring - I'd probably last two or three thrusts before shooting my load, I sheepishly admitted to myself.

Still laughing softly, I kissed my way south over her tummy, approaching the mound I knew oh-so-well.

My tongue teasingly parted her labia, soon darting down one and up the other, enjoying the musky taste of woman - finding it almost intoxicating. The emotions welled up in me - the first few months since Torill's death I'd mourned 24/7, crying myself to sleep every night, only to wake up exhausted to cry more throughout the day - but I wouldn't be fully honest if I claimed I hadn't missed this, the scent of woman, the pleasure brought by giving someone pleasure - not to mention the thrill of receiving some, too...

I forced the thought of Torill, bless her, from my mind, feeling a little sting of bad conscience as I did so - letting my tongue probe between Helene's lips, parting them, as I did so. Whimpering with anticipation, she pressed her sex towards me, forcing my tongue a little deeper, my nose pushing against her hood, eliciting a deep, guttural moan from her.

Gently, I started tongue fucking her - my tongue darting soon here, soon there, exploring her sex, feeling the sleek wetness engulf me as I pushed my face eagerly closer, ever closer...

Her thighs locked my head in a vise, and for all I cared the world could have ended right then and there - I'd be none the wiser until I emerged from her soaked sex. Teasingly, I let the ridge of my nose rub against her clit while my tongue did its thing in her slit. It worked; I felt a hand ruffle my hair before forcing me even closer to her. I stepped up my game - Helene had always been rather brusque and to-the-point when she was horny - first, get a quick release, then save the tender lovemaking for afterward. Licking her greedily, her juices flowing freely, I definitely felt intoxicated - being so close, so incredibly close to someone, feeling her arousal, anticipating the pleasure our lovemaking would bring shortly...

I felt every throb of my pulse in my temple. How I loved doing this! And soon, once she'd cum against me, writhed in pleasure as orgasm rode her, come back down to earth - well, then I would be next!

I didn't have to wait long; Helene's swollen, glistening sex was thrust violently against me, her clit fully exposed - taking my cue, I gently, oh-so-gently closed my lips around it, carefully sucking, before I let the tip of my tongue caress it. Helene groaned, tugging at my hair, frantically worked her pelvis against my face - and came, came with a long, piercing howl. I eased myself away from her sex, letting her ride out her orgasm without any further stimulation. As she came back down again, her thighs eased up on their grip, and I pulled away, resting my head on her inside thigh. -'So, I hope that was just what the doctor ordered,' I giggled, feeling a tingle of anxiety as a thought crossed my mind. -'And now, please, please tell me you're on the pill or have -ahem- the appropriate accessories handy in your purse?'