The Kindling of a Flame

Fifteen years of marriage was over. I didn't feel sad, it was just what it was. Lots of people divorce. We were no different. Of course I felt the guilt of betrayal but I couldn't live a lie any longer. Jan was understandably mortified. Then angry. But I'd done it. I'd told her I was leaving.

In my mind it had to be done. I had to be happy rather than going through the motions. I needed to be true to myself. And I had to give Jan a chance for a fresh start while she was still young enough.

I finished packing the last of my shirts and glanced at the time, glad Jan had chosen to stay at work while I was in the house. Understandably she wasn't keen on seeing me.

It seemed I still had twenty minutes or so until I was picked up so I sat on the end of what was no longer my bed and let my mind drift to how I'd come to be here.

I was thirty eight now but this journey had begun with me a long time before. Long before I'd even met Jan. back when as a naive somewhat nerdy eighteen year old youth I had a crazy infatuation with the dinner lady at my school. She wasn't one of the cooks. She was out in the hall with the Monitors to help oversee the children and clean up between sittings. Myself and Craig were Sixth-form Prefects and we organised the kids by class and kept the more rowdy ones in order as they waited.

"Class Two A." I called out from my rota.

Craig was there guiding the twelve year olds into an orderly queue as they rushed forward. Lunch was an hour and a half and with near four hundred children taking dinners it was like a slick military operation.

"And be quiet."

I could see Anne moving amongst the tables topping up water jugs. To me she was the perfect woman. A goddess in her blue smock. Thirty years old, an eternity away for me having just turned eighteen but it didn't matter. All I saw was a slim pretty girl with brown hair that hung just short of her shoulders. Not some silly girl my own age. A woman. Experienced. I couldn't count how many times I'd fantasised about her or how many times I'd jerked myself to exhaustion imagining the line of her tits, or her smooth thighs wrapped around me.

Of course the reality was that I'd never seen anything above the knees or below the neck but in my head I had every detail of her perfect body mapped out. My infatuation was such that had there even been any girls in our school I don't think I would have noticed.

The first time I let my interest show was the January of my last year at school when we had a childish conversation about her breast size along with Craig. In fact he started it when Anne accidentally knocked a plastic beaker from the table with her chest while leaning over to wipe up.

"Boobs too big?" Craig braved as he picked up the fallen item.

"I wish."

"They look just fine to me." I chirped in with a moment of honesty.

"So how big are they?" Craig pressed.

Anne glanced at me waiting eagerly to see if she would answer."

"You shouldn't ask a woman questions like that."

Then still looking at me she said.

"Thirty-six if you must know."

"No way. I reckon thirty-two. Thirty-four at a push." Craig retorted.

"Expert at judging a girls boobs are you?"

"So am I right?" Craig wasn't letting go.

"No. Thirty-six. I suppose you want to measure them."

"Oh look. A measuring tape."

How the hell I had a measure in my pocket I don't know. Left over from woodwork I guess but serendipity was working for me that day.

"Oh hell." Craig flustered.

Anne stopped wiping the table and stood up straight.

"Really?"

"I dare you."

Suddenly this had become my conversation. My eyes were on the line of her clothes where what I imagined were the most perfect tits ever gently protruded.

Anne smirked, glancing around while Craig went bright red at my cheek. He was a good talker, not so good when it came back at him.

Anne was smirking.

"Okay. In the broom cupboard.

Just you."

"Aw." Craig protested.

"Sorry. I don't trust you together."

We slipped inside and shut the door leaving my co-conspirator outside. He'd started this but somehow it was me in the cupboard with Anne. Loyalty meant nothing when I had a opportunity to touch the object of so much desire in me. A single bare bulb hung from the ceiling giving just enough light in the dingy space for me to see by.

"You should take the smock off." I suggested.

"That all you want me to take off?"

I wasn't brave enough to say what flitted through my mind at that moment. Instead I waited while she peeled the smock away and taking the measure she turned her back to me.

"From behind." She said lifting the tape into place herself much to my disappointment.

I could hear Craig outside the cupboard giggling.

"Hurry up before someone comes."

Now she was showing her nerves. I imagined she was regretting a foolish decision to tease a teenage schoolboy. For my part I wanted to see it through. To measure her tits even if only from a safe position at her rear was still the pinnacle of sex for me at this point.

I took the tape and pulled the ends together behind her back, taking the opportunity to lightly brush my uncomfortable bulge against her pert arse. She didn't flinch and I weighed up trying it again. No. Too obvious. And I wasn't sure I wouldn't cum in my pants if I did. Just as exciting I could feel the clasp of her bra just under my fingers holding the tape in place.

"Thirty-six." I read out.

I caught her perfume and swooned. She smelt wonderful.

Anne stepped away gathering the tape up.

"Satisfied?"

"Well there's still cup size?"

I think I was pushing my luck now and could feel my cheeks burning.

"C cup." She whispered.

"And no you're not checking that."

She opened the door keen to be out before a teacher appeared. I was ecstatic. I knew her bra size. For a lad who'd never touched a girl this was the height of sexual experience. Thirty-six C was implanted in my brain for life.

"Well?" Craig asked.

"She was telling the truth."

"Oh yes." He punched the air

"Did you touch them?"

"No."

"You should have. I would've done"

"That's why I was in the cupboard and not you."

I kept her cup size as my own personal little secret. That day had been a mini triumph for raging teenage hormones.

But more was to come.

The snow came heavy that January. In hindsight it was probably pointless for anyone to have made the journey into school. We spent the morning huddled in cold classrooms with heating that struggled to cope with only the handful of teachers who'd made it in. At lunchtime the Head announced anyone able to go home should and I packed my things away keen to be home in the warm.

Trudging outside was a shock to the senses. I never was great at dressing appropriately. I wore a jacket and trousers to school and a crombie in the colder months. That's what I did. Always smart, with Oxford brogues that just vanished under the ever deepening whiteout. The idea of compromising and donning wellies or putting a coat on with a hood was alien to me.

I paid the price with snow over the tops of my shoes and a biting wind that cut through the material of my trousers and froze my ears.

"Hi Paul."

My heart jumped at the sight of Anne wrapped in her heavy coat and long black boots coming out through the heavy Victorian gates behind me. Sensibly she had a hood up secured under her chin so that it didn't blow off. But her sweet round face with its cute little turned up nose was beaming out at me.

"Didn't think you'd be here today." I said moving to join her.

"I know.

Was a bit pointless trudging down here just to go back, but I didn't want to let anyone down if they had put dinners on.

We can walk back together if you like?"

"Yes. That'd be great."

This was another high. I was with her outside school. Okay, so walking home was hardly a date, but it was an opportunity to talk away from Craig or any other interfering teenagers. I'd impress her with my maturity.

We started walking and chatting about nothing in particular. Her house was on the same estate as mine and it meant I had her to myself for an easy twenty minutes.

The weather was horrid. A bitter cold wind blowing against our faces and driving the fallen snow into drifts that we had to walk around. Ahead it was an undulating scene of coldly pristine white.

Once Anne misjudged where the curb was and I grabbed her arm in time to stop her falling.

"Thanks."

I felt like the knight in shinning armour for that.

"It's a bit deep in places. Be careful."

"Glad you're here."

Another corner and we could see her house. A semi on our nineteen seventies housing estate. My own was little different, just further on.

"It's too bad for you to carry on. Come in and warm up for a bit."

Her house looked the perfect respite from the weather. And it was her house. I would get to see where she lived. I buzzed.

"You sure it's okay?"

"Of course it's okay. Jim's at work and Terry's at his Nan's.

Get in."

Anne gave me a playful shove up the wide drive and I eagerly headed for the door.

"Christ it's cold."

She fumbled with the key in gloved hands while I kicked the snow away from the edge of her door so it didn't fall in as it opened. A moment later and we were inside. I was shivering, trembling in fact as I realised I was chilled to the bone.

"Give me your coat and go through."

Double glass doors opened into the front room and I got my first view of where she lived. Soft comfy sofas I immediately imagined myself cuddling up to Anne on, and oak furniture. Pale paint coloured the walls and the floors were carpeted. A large fluffy hearth rug sat in front of the fire. It was homely, contemporary.

"Brrr.

I'll put the fire on."

I glanced again at the snow falling outside. It was even heavier now, hanging like a curtain, and I still had nearly half a mile to battle through it to the far side of the estate.

When I looked back Anne had lost her coat and was bent over fiddling with the controls on the electric fire. Like a true teenager I focused on her arse and long legs before quickly looking away as she straightened back up.

"You should get out of those wet clothes."

"Er... I'm fine.."

"No you're not. Get the jacket off and anything else that's wet.

Look at your socks. They're soaked. And your trousers."

I went red. Suddenly faced with the object of many a fantasy wanting me to take my trousers off. I should have been ecstatic but the reality was somewhat different to the brave manly behaviour I would have day dreamed.

She was right though. My trousers where soaked to the knees. Even Anne's skirt was wet around the hem.

I let her take my jacket and socks but shyness stopped me there. Even when she returned with two big fluffy blankets to wrap ourselves in.

"Here.

They're just old ones but they'll be nice and cosy to wrap up in."

"Thanks."

It felt fluffy and warm. The heat from the fire was beginning to reach me and my skin prickled even as I shivered from a cold that cut to my core.

Anne was looking at me again, disapprovingly.

"I'm not going to ask again."

"They'll dry off with the fire."

"Stop being so shy. We're both adults.

Look I'm okay with it."

Anne pulled her skirt away and I saw her legs properly for the first time. Up to tiny panties that hugged every line of her arse. Without a thought for the torment she was causing me she hung the skirt over a radiator before coming back.

"Paul.

Come on. It's no different to being on a beach in trunks."

"Okay." I relented.

I unclipped my trousers and bending forward I pulled them down, struggling to pull the sodden bottoms over my damp feet. Knowing my cock was rock hard and about to be evident didn't help my awkwardness. I was happy to wrap myself in the other blanket hiding my embarrassment before sitting back in front of the fire.

"That's better.

I watched as my trousers joined her skirt to dry before she turned back. I think I caught a glimpse of her crack through the thin material of her panties just as she pulled the massive blanket around herself again. and my cock sprang to life in my underpants. She sat on the rug close to the fire and pulled her legs up to her chin.

"I'm frozen to the bone."

Anne put her hands up to absorb the heat.

"What if your husband comes home?"

I readily slipped from the sofa and took my place up opposite her on the rug.

"In this? He works an hour away. He's not coming home any time soon. It's still coming down out there.

It does look pretty though."

Through the window it was picturesque. Snow danced on the wind as it fell from deep blue-grey clouds. A chaotic curtain of fluffy feathered crystals covering the outside world in a frozen blanket. I felt cocooned here by the heat of the fire away from the blustery iciness I knew I'd have to face again.

"Do you think it'll be clear by Monday?"

"Not seen it this bad for years but I don't suppose it'll keep going.

Sorry. School for you Monday."

"Fine with me. I can't afford not to be there with my exams coming up."

"It's quite Christmassy." She laughed.

"A bit late though." She turned back from the window and smiled at me, sending my teenage hormones racing.

"Relax. You look so tense."

"Sorry."

She was right. I was a bundle of nerves, desperately searching for something clever to say. I had nothing.

"Excuse me. My bra's cutting into me. You don't mind if I remove it do you?"

"Christ no."

My eyes nearly popped. So did my cock.

"You might have to look away for a moment." She grinned.

I did as she asked, just catching a glimpse of the blanket dropping away. My cock ached again knowing she would be pulling her top up to get the offending garment off.

"Okay. You can look back now."

I saw her pullover laying on the carpet along with her bra and went red knowing she sat in just her panties under the all encompassing blanket.

It wasn't hard for Anne to read my mind. The smirk betrayed she had and my stomach knotted with more embarrassment.

"Bet this isn't how you thought your day would turn out?"

"No. Not really."

Then I got brave.

"Of course if you have a tape measure handy this'd be a good time to check your breast size again."

I instantly wished I hadn't spoken. But then her eyes widened, and thankfully she smiled at my cheekiness.

"You got your measurement. And you seemed pleased with thirty six. Don't think I didn't notice."

"Yeah. I was.

And the cup size."

"Ha. Not to small in your vast experience?"

She was teasing and enjoying my discomfort.

"They're perfect."

"You've not seen them. But they say more than a handful..."

She started laughing.

"Eighteen and you still haven't been with a girl?"

"Not yet."

Christ I was declaring my virginity.

"Not even a grope?"

"No." Now I was uncomfortable admitting my innocence.

"I guess an all boys school isn't great for meeting girls?"

"Does it show?"

"Just a bit."

Again I felt her studying me.

"You're still tense.

You're fine with me at school. Stop letting your cock do your thinking."

My eyes went wide hearing her use that word.

"It's kind of hard when I'm sitting half naked in your front room and you're... well."

Oh my God. She was as good as naked under that blanket. I felt certain I was bright red now.

"Yeah well. It's hard to get warm in wet clothes. But it's probably something you shouldn't mention when we're back on Monday."

"Promise. Our secret."

"Not even to your mate Craig."

"He wasn't in today. He won't have any idea."

"Good. Just don't tell him."

She gave that look. The sort where you were left feeling judged. Tested may be.

"You're right though. I am less dressed than you."

Anne hesitated as if considering her next words carefully.

"Take your shirt off.

Only fair we're equal."

It came like an instruction. Something had changed in her eyes and my imagination started to race with impossible ideas. This time I didn't protest, unbuttoning and pulling my top away while she watched me intently. I didn't worry about her seeing my chest, even taking my time to wrap the blanket around me again.

"You're a good looking lad.

You'll make some young girl very happy some day soon."

"Probably not before I leave school. All boys school. Remember."

"That why you look at me the way you do?"

I flushed red again.

"I do notice you know."

"Sorry." I mumbled.

"Don't be. I'm thirty. It's nice to know I can still turn the head of an eighteen year old after eight years of marriage and a child."

"Anne. I think you're gorgeous." I blurted it out, finally determined to tell her.

"Even if I was surrounded by girls my own age I'd still..." I couldn't say that.

"Your husband is very lucky." I corrected.

"That's what I tell him. He's not bad himself to be fair. Bit of an old fuddy-duddy sometimes, but he's okay."

I felt a little deflated at that but it was to be expected. He was the guy she'd married. It hurt to think she had probably been riding him while I was still learning to ride a proper bike. Christ I wish I'd been born ten or twenty years earlier.

Anne just sat staring, studying me.

"What?" It was making me nervous. Her eyes held me for a moment longer then she boosted me again.

"Sorry. It's just that you're more..."

She looked away unwilling to finish the sentence. Instead staring into the fire as she lost herself in her own thoughts. It took me a moment then I grasped that she had been comparing. What did she mean by 'more'? It could only be good couldn't it?

"Have you never had a girlfriend at all?" She probed.

"No. Not a proper one."

I didn't see the point of lying.

"When I was younger I hung around with someone, but that's just kids."

"You're not a kid any more.

A few months and you'll be out there in the world working for a living.

Before you know it you'll be married with children."

"I think I'm a little way off that yet."

"Perhaps. Just make sure you have some fun before you settle down."

I squirmed with rising embarrassment.

"Is that what you did? You must have married young?"

I think I saw a flash of regret in her eyes before she looked away to hide it.

"Yeah. I did. Too young.

Jim was only my second proper boyfriend and the first to ask. He's a little older than me. A lot actually. He turned my head. Good job. Money to spend. Car. The usual.

But he's lovely. And a great father."

"So was he..."

"My first?

No. Second.

My first was a lad the same age as me. I was eighteen if that's what you want to know." She was grinning wildly at me now.

"We did it in my bedroom and mum caught us.

I don't think I've ever had such a blazing row. She didn't tell dad thank god."

"You got caught by your mum?"

"She came up to see what the noise was about. The clumsy clown knocked everything off the bedside table. Luckily we'd finished but she still caught us naked." She started laughing at the memory.

"Liam couldn't get it up in my house after that even when we were alone. Poor lad having his cock stared at by his girlfriends mum. Bet he remembers it to this day."

"I bet."

"Probably mum as well." She sniggered.

"All these things you have to look forward to. Perhaps don't get caught by any mums though."

She hesitated again.

"Make the most of it. It ends sooner than you think."

"To be honest. Right now I'm more interested in getting started."

"Yeah well. You never know when something magical might happen."

Again she glazed over as if deep in thought. Her next words burned into my brain such that I never forgot them or the sound of her voice as she spoke them. Soft, purposeful.

"Would you like to see a woman naked?"

My cock was burning and I desperately wanted to rearrange myself.