The Ice Queen

Okay...note to self : Warm hands first.

While I'm there, negotiating taking a piss with a now terrified penis, my eyes came to focus on the wall behind the urinal. Like most it was covered in layers of old graffiti, most of it the "for a good time call" type shit, like truckers giving their CB handle and a channel to call for sex. A lot of it was asking for gay sex, I noticed. My eye wandered off those with the normal squick I felt for the idea, then I saw one to the right of me. It was almost closer to the next urinal and had faded a bit with time.

~"For a hot time with the Ice Queen, try channel ten. Husband watches."~

As my jaw dropped open in shock, negotiations concluded, and I sent a stream of piss up the wall. FUCK! I made a clean spot! Correcting my terrible aim, I looked back to the wall.

"No fucking way. No...Fucking...Way!"

The idea of Marion on her back, while some total stranger fucking her, and Drake sitting there looking like an albino extra from King Kong!

"Wow..."

Finishing up in a kind of daze, I washed my hands and headed into the station to get me something food-like and the biggest barrel of coffee they sold. As I filled a steaming cup I looked over at Marion, talking to the clerk like they were old friends, which they just might have been. I ran coffee over onto my fingers. Wincing at my scalded fingers, my eyes kept going back to her as I added too little sugar and slow stirred creamer into it trying to keep it from overflowing again.

My eyes took in her figure, even as my memory stripped off all those layers of padded clothes. She and Drake would often come over during the summer and swim in the pool Mom insisted on. With Dad arguing with Drake about the perfect way to eat steak, raw versus overcooked, and Mom running two blenders full of margaritas, I would float about the pool. Watching Marion. Oh, I would try to be hidden about it, but a wet half-naked woman with her figure? That is some teenage-wet-dream material right there. I especially liked it when she had that long black hair loose and it would cling to her, everywhere.

Alright, yes, I was envious of her hair. There were so many times I would have loved to have been her hair. I know, I know. Weird. But I was a teenager and that was so many years ago.

Like two. My eyes followed that dark braid down as I mentally undressed her.

She looked back over her shoulder, catching me looking at her. I don't think from this far away she could see my eyes snap up to her face from her ass.

"You about ready, Brace? I got you a couple of bacon egg and cheese biscuits. Good enough?"

Nodding, I blew across the top of my coffee cup and snapped a lid on it. I snagged a big bag of pizza pretzel Combos to snack on later as I walked towards her. "Whenever you are."

She turned back to the guy behind the counter with a smile. "Well Sam, wish me luck. I've got to go put myself into this kid's hands."

"Lucky him," said the clerk with a grin at her. He shot me a wink. "Getting to spend Valentine's Day with the sexy Ice Queen."

Marion swatted his hand playfully.

"Sam! Like a young man his age would want a fat old bitty like me." She looked over at me and she winked too.

I smiled back, afraid to comment. Mostly because I was sure if I opened my mouth what would have come out would have been "HELL YES, I WOULD!"

"Come on, Brace, I've already paid for that. Lets roll." She grabbed a brown bag with the food from the counter and nodded to the clerk. "Sam."

"You take care, girl, and tell that old fool you married that I said to stop trying to be a tap dancer. He's too fat."

Climbing in, the old leather driver's seat didn't feel right at first, but then it slowly began to move to fit me. The truck fired up with a coughing fit similar to the first time, but quickly settled into its even purr. I checked the fuel tanks at her urging. The needles were both pegged out at the very top; the station guy had filled both tanks. I double-checked every gauge, shifted into gear, released the brakes and then with me at the wheel, the old 1986 Peterbilt rolled back out onto Highway One. My eyes kept getting drawn back to the brass Puff the Magic Dragon hood ornament Drake had put there in place of the original.

Marion sat in her seat next to me, watching me learning the ins and outs of her truck. She gave me the odd comment for about the first hour, while she delicately ate a breakfast deli sandwich and chips. When that was finished, she swung her seat around and moved over to stand right behind me. I could smell her perfume, mixed with the peppers from her sandwich when she leaned in and looked over all the gauges.

"I'm going to get some sleep. Remember, keep calm. No matter what. Panicked driving will put you on the side of the road every time." She patted my shoulder then left her hand to rest there while she spoke. "You're doing fine from what I can see. Keep it up. Wake me in about six hours or sooner if there is a problem with the truck or you start to nod. Do you understand?"

"Sure." I watched the road, my heart quietly trying to move into my throat from nerves. I was seriously about to be driving the Al-Can by myself. My eyes flicked to a large, brown shape off the side of the road. Moose.

Holy shit! That was a moose!

What the fuck am I doing?

She gave my shoulder a quick squeeze, then disappeared into the back. She pulled the two red velvet curtains closed behind her, their metal loops scratching on the metal bar that held them.

"Marion?"

She stuck just her head back through. "Yeah, Brace?"

"Sweet dreams." I looked over my shoulder at her face right there next to mine. "I got this. Don't worry."

She smiled. "I'm not. Thank you for this help, by the way." She vanished back behind the curtain.

** ** ** ** ** ** **

What followed had to have been the longest, most nerve-racking six hours of my life. Twice in that first hour, I had to cross large patches of road that were mostly ice. I hardly dared to breathe till I was over them. Then it got worse. It started to snow. For this area, it was probably nothing as far as snowfall went, but to me, it was white-out conditions. Un...drive...able! But, there I was in the middle of it, driving with hands white-knuckled, my throat shut with fear.

Keep calm. Keep calm. Keep calm. Over and over in my mind ran that litany. But you know what, it's a strange thing but you can't sustain nervous fear for that long. It will fade. Oh, it will come rushing back at times. That first hour after she went to sleep...sure, I was a nervous wreck. But not long after that, the relatively easy going for a bit helped. Then my ass would again be trying to eat a hole in the leather seat!

I've never been happier than when six hours passed, and my watch beeped. I started looking for places to pull the rig over. An extra wide gravel siding up ahead looked to be perfect for that. As I was stopping, I could hear her moving around behind me.

"Well? Have fun? Any troubles?" She gestured me up.

I moved over to the passenger seat. "Nope. Uh, I saw a few caribou crossing the road a few times. They were always way-up-ahead, so I didn't even have to slow."

She was nodding.

"Happens. I've probably seen every type of four-legged thing in Alaska walk past the front of this truck." She shifted quickly through the gears and got us back on the road. "Hell, when I first came up here I even thought I saw Big Foot once."

I looked over at her with a half-grin. "Oh, really?"

"Yep." She shifted again and reached up to pull hard on the horn. The blast of sound was answered by a truck going the other way. She gave a quick wave to the other driver as our cab passed his, then she looked back at me and went on with her story. "It was late one stormy night, I topped this little hill, and there it was on the side of the road. Big Foot! Snarling and growling so loud and fierce I could hear it even over Loretta Lynn! As I approached, it walked out into the road and threw up these great furry arms."

I chuckled. "Oh...uh, huh."

She gave me a quick look. "What? You don't believe me? Well, you're more than welcome to get Drake on the CB and confirm how he and I met."

Shaking my head, I was soon holding my side from laughing. She gave me a smile then nodded her head back towards the sleeper.

"Catch a few winks. We'll be dropping this load and getting our next one loaded here in about..." She looked over the long hood at a passing mile marker. "Two hours. I'll need your help then to get everything strapped and unstrapped, but after that you can go back to sleep."

The sleeper was chilly since she had slept in there with the curtain closed. I left one side open and crawled under the blankets to find them still a bit warm from her body heat. When I laid my head down again my nose was flooded by the scent of her, only now it was fresh. Oh, the misery. I wanted to cuss as I felt my cock ache towards hard. To desire the impossible while being surrounded by the smell of it. Of course, my mind went instantly to the writing I had seen on that bathroom wall, and then a half dozen fantasies of what Marion and Drake...if that message had in fact been about her...must have done with strangers over the years.

And how many times?

Again her soft voice singing finally distracted me and lulled me to sleep.

** ** ** ** ** ** **

The unloading and reloading of that trailer will forever, in my mind, mark the coldest I have ever-living-fuck-been in my life. I was in my coveralls, and had on the thick jacket with the hood. I looked like Nanook of the North for lord's sake, and I was freezing my ass off. If I had, at any point during that ordeal, looked over my shoulder and seen my ass lying on the ground I would not have been surprised.

Marion didn't even seem to notice the cold. She seemed to be in a dozen places at once, and I swear she did far more than half the work. Once we were loaded and I was a popsicle, she drove out the storage lot with the window down to let her talk to the guard at the gate. She didn't even shiver.

Ice Queen indeed.

By then, I was so tired that I was asleep before I even put my head on the pillow. Marion woke me about three hours later and I took over while she slept. I could see now why she and Drake did it this way. We were covering these huge, empty miles far quicker. When I looked at the map though, it seemed like we were only moving inches at a time. I never would have believed just how incredibly huge this area of the world was, vast and in places so...empty. Trees passing by for hours. At times the oncoming head lights would dwindle to one an hour. If that many.

We were in one such stretch when I glanced at my watch and saw it was nearly time to wake her. I began to look for a pull off but there didn't seem to be any sidings wide enough. Then even as my watch started to beep, I topped a small grade and saw red lights up ahead in the snow fog.

Ignoring my watch, I reached forward to the dash and flipped the Jake, then began to down shift to get us slowed. The big engine protested being choked. I did my best to hold the rig as straight as I could while we slowed.

"Marion, you might want to wake up," I called over my shoulder as I muscled the wheel to keep the trailer straighter. Reaching over, I slapped off the radio, killing Jerry Reed's warbling about getting The Shaft. "Marion?"

Behind me, I heard a mumble, then a quick rustling of clothes.

"Yeah? What's up?" she called through the curtain.

"Road trouble up ahead, I think."

I could see a figure walking towards me waving a road flare. Reaching forwards past the wheel, I flicked the lights to show him that I had seen him. The more I slowed the truck the more I began to see, he was an Alaska State Trooper, bundled to his nose against the cold. He tossed the flare to the side as I rolled to a stop next to him. He tipped back his hat, caught the mirror and stepped up next to my window.

When I cranked down the glass the cold was like a slap in the face.

"You're going to have to turn her around, youngster. The road's out. Truck flipped in a curve up ahead." The troopers eyes went over my face taking in, I swear, every pimple and counting my thin two-day scruff of beard.

"Who was it, Jim?" asked Marion, as she climbed out the sleeper.

The officer's face split into a grin. "Now I thought this old rig looked familiar as hell. Hey there Ice Queen! Where the hell is Drake? Did you trade him in on this newer model?"

Marion climbed over me to lean on the windowsill, while she laughed. "No. That fool's at home with a few broken bones. He fell his ass off the flatbed a week back." She looked towards the red lights. "Who turned over? Anyone hurt?"

"Fella named Jack Williams. Don't know him, young guy a little older than this one. He was choppered out of here just a few minutes ago." He gave his head a shake. "His load is spilled all over the road and it did the pavement some damage. Pipes. Clean up is going to be a bitch, and we're just getting started on it. It will be morning, if not noon, before the way is cleared enough to get through. As I was just telling him." He pointed at me. "I didn't figure you would want to wait."

"Damn." Marion slumped a little, then shook her head. "We will have to back track to hell and back to catch the old highway roads to get past this. Alright, thanks, Jim." She began to move.

The trooper stopped her, shaking his head.

"That may not be the best of ideas. Everything that is behind you is being diverted that way already. You know what it's like when that happens."

She nodded and leaned back on the windowsill thinking about it. I wasn't about to move so much as a hair, since I was enjoying the warm weight of her body across my chest and her breasts were pushing into my arm. My face was near her neck and my nose was filled with her warm scent. She suddenly perked up .

"How about Toliver's pass? Is it still open?"

"Toliver's? Girl, I don't think that roads had a big rig on it since the late seventies. Hell, I know it's been since the main highway was cut that it hasn't. That things more a rabbit train for sport-hunters, heading into the mountains to get to their hunting lodges."

"It still connects back up to the highway though, right? Drake pointed it out to me once. He said that was the way he used to go back when he first got started hauling, cause of all the construction. Is it cleared?"

He nodded. "Far as I know, yeah. If you give that a try, you be careful down that way. I can't make any promises about the quality of those old roads." He shook his head and hopped back down.

"Thanks Jim, I got ya. Appreciate it." She moved off me, and I quickly closed that pneumonia-hole. "Hop up Brace, I'll turn us around."

I had to squirm past her to get into the passenger seat as she moved into the driver seat. I'm pretty sure she could feel, as we passed, just how hard the close contact with her had made me. When she got the rig turned around, an impressive bit of driving on this narrow road, she kind of confirmed it when she took a second to give me a strange look. I very quickly looked away.

About five miles back up the road, she slowed then managed a tight turn off onto a gravel-graded road, little more than a two lane tract through the trees. It did, however, show signs of a lot of recent traffic through the slush. We followed this road for a few miles, and I felt my eyes getting a little heavy. Just as I was starting to think about heading back into the sleeper, she flipped the Jake and the big truck grumble-idled down. Marion watched the side of the road then, and at a point that I could see no difference in, she turned the big wheel, and the truck headed off down a fucking rabbit trail!

Oh, I was awake then.

As the trees whipped past the cab, she muscled the wheel through crazy turns where the road graders had gone around a big tree rather than cut it down when they laid out this road. I felt my butt leave the seat when she topped a little hillock speed-bump. Then it was around another even tighter turn, with me watching the trailer sliding in the mirror beside me. The rear of the flatbed caught a small tree and dragged it out the ground in a huge spray of snow and wood chips.

"Sweet Jesus, I'm glad you're driving this, and not me." I told her after about two miles of this crazy shit.

Marion chuckled. "And I wish Drake was here driving it. He knows this road. I've never been down it. Just going to have to take it slow."

After five miles, I was white-knuckling the door handles. After ten, I was thinking of taking up the florist trade instead of truck driving. When I looked over at her, she was steady as a rock, as she took us through places where I would have jackknifed us in a heartbeat.

"Damn, I can see why they call you the Ice Queen!"

She chuckled, a sexy grin taking five years off her face.

"Thanks, but that had nothing to do with my driving. Fuck," she muttered softly, that grin disappearing. I felt the whole rig slide diagonal for a moment, then she put it to rights. "Back when I was your age, I was the only virgin girl in the junior college I was going to. All the boys called me Ice Queen because I wouldn't give them the time of day." She shook her head and the smile reappeared. "If they could have known what I would be like in just a few years. They would have called me something totally different."

She laughed over the memory, even as she fought to keep the trailer from sliding. I watched it drifting in the mirror expecting at any moment to see another tree torn out the ground, but she got it straightened out.

"Slut puppy, maybe," she continued.

I looked back over at her, and I must have had a terribly startled look on my face, cause when she glanced over at me she burst out laughing.

"What? I found out that sex was fun, that I liked it, and I had me a lot of it!" She glanced at me, barely taking her eyes off the road. "Am I embarrassing you, Brace? I hope not, but I can't really help it. I get a bit naughty-chatty when I'm nervous." She stuck her tongue between her teeth and grinned. "Naughty trucker girl comes out when I'm scared."

I looked up when I heard her shift the gears. Ahead of us was a series of rising grades. She shifted again to meet the gear demands of the climb. The big truck motor roared up under us.

"Surprised me more than embarrassed," I told her. When I felt the back drive-tires spin my hands clutched at the armrests. "I just never pictured you that way."

She chuckled and shook her head.

"Really? Damn, I didn't know I was hiding it that well. Hell, I know I've flirted with your Mom and Dad in front of you." She gave me a quick look.

"I didn't take it serious." I shrugged. "Figured you were just kidding around, I guess."

"Well, I was...and I wasn't at the same time. That's why it's flirting."

The motor changed pitch as we leveled out, then roared up again as we almost immediately began to climb. An odd sound caught my attention then. I leaned over and took a quick peek at the gauges on the dash board. When I glanced up at her, she had a frown furrowing her brows. As that odd sound came back with a vengeance, I saw her look afraid for the first time.

Then I looked past her face at the mirror on her side, the world of white behind us was vanishing in a swirling storm cloud of black!

"Oil pressure is dropping off fast!" she told me, as she shifted down. I felt the rig begin to slow on the grade. We crept the last few dozen feet over the top of this hill. When I looked out my window at the mirror beside me, I could make out nothing behind me, not even the trailer. Everything was lost in black smoke.

"We are smoking real bad too," I told her, even though I was sure she already knew.

"Yeah, I saw. Not good at all. Look up ahead." She nodded with her chin. Following that delicate pointer, I looked forwards to find us just starting to head up an even longer grade. Not too steep, but long.