California Hot Springs

When it came time to go, Darlene was the one to wake me up. "Hey, sleeping beauty. It's time to go."

It was just past five o'clock, and although the sun still had a few hours left, the light had shifted. The amber glow coming through the trees reflected off her blonde hair as it fell along her face. She looked down at me with a halo. I smiled. She smiled back. The sensation of the warmth from the hot springs came rushing back.

Darlene knelt beside me, gently rubbing my shoulder to help me to wake up. "Having a nice dream?"

I yawned. She motioned toward my crotch. I was sporting an erection.

Margaret was standing over her shoulder. "Well, aren't we a sight. I'm surprised you can still do that after earlier."

Darlene turned to glare at Margaret.

Margaret laughed. "Oh, I was just putting on some sun lotion and well, let's just say he filled up my box nicely." She grabbed her pussy with one hand and gave it a shake. "I envy you riding down the mountain with him, especially given his current state."

"Margaret, you know Paul and I don't swing, so"--Darlene turned to face me--"as nice as it looks, I'll have to take your word for how nice it feels."

"I applaud your resolve, Darlene, especially considering you'll be riding down the mountain without an escort."

Propping myself up on my elbows and trying to not thing about the two naked women by me, I asked. "Escort? We have an escort?"

"No, without an escort," Margaret clarified. "John is riding back to town with us. So, it will just be the two of you."

"Oh, well, OK." I sat up and crossed my arms over my knees, mostly to hide my erection. "He'll probably be more comfortable than in the back seat of my Celica."

Margaret laughed. "Yeah, he mentioned it was a bit crowded. Anyway, I need to fold up my blanket, if you don't mind?"

"Sure." I stood up at the same time Darlene did. We turned toward each other, which ended up pressing our bodies together. My semi-erect cock nestled nicely amid her pubic hair, her nipples gliding along my abdomen. Without thinking, I reached over and grabbed Darlene's arms to steady us both. For a moment, we stood there, nearly embracing, looking into each other's eyes. I wanted to kiss her, and I think she wanted to kiss me. While we enjoyed the moment, it wasn't safe. We stepped apart and packed up to go.

When our bags were packed, we looked about the group. John was set to travel back with Margaret and her husband. Marcus and Liz had a couple of men riding down the mountain with them. The rest were forming into the same groups they arrived with.

Marcus headed up the trail, leading the way. After the first couple of groups followed on, Darlene looked at me and said, "The sun lotion she put on you has collected a lot of dirt. Do you want to wash off in the river before we head back?"

The idea of getting in the cold river wasn't all that enticing, but not dragging a bunch of dirt into the car, old as it was, didn't sound like a good idea either. "Yeah, good suggestion. Here..." I handed Darlene my towel and bag and slipped off my shoes. "I'll be right back."

Just as I ran off for the river, I heard Margaret ask Darlene, "Where's he going?"

"There was a fair amount of dirt caked on his skin. He is just going to wash it off. Don't wait up. We be along shortly."

It took longer to wash off the lotion and dirt than I thought. Sun lotion--especially waterproof sun lotion--doesn't wash off all that well with just water. As I was finishing up, I looked over to see Darlene standing on the edge of the river, hand on her hips, my faded beach towel slung over one wrist.

"I thought maybe you'd drowned."

"No, sorry! This is taking longer than I expected."

"Take your time. Everyone else will have left by now."

I stopped washing and headed to the shore. The water was cold and, even though the sun was still up, it was approaching evening, so it didn't have the same warming effect as earlier. As I stepped onto the rocks at the edge of the stream, Darlene held out my towel for me. "You're going to need this. You look cold."

"I am, thanks!" I dried off my hair and rubbed my arms vigorously.

"Oh no, the poor little guy is frozen. Maybe we should sit in one of the pools for a bit, let you warm up."

I headed toward the first pool, but Darlene grabbed my arm. "No, if we're going to warm you up, let's go to a pool that's really warm."

As we walked up the hill to the fourth pool, I noticed how empty the place was. There were still a few people swimming in the river and a couple were soaking in the first pool, but that was it.

When we arrived at the secluded fourth pool, we were the only ones there. I climbed in and looked over at Darlene. "Aren't you going to join me?"

She looked at the water for a moment. "I am already dry." But that was just an excuse. No sooner than the words were out of her mouth, she was slipping off her shoes and stepping into the pool.

The air was electric. I was sitting on one side, she on the other. We wanted to glide into the middle, but knew that if we did, we wouldn't stop there. I told Darlene about Carl, his comments about her, and the masturbation session we had afterwards.

"Well, you're just a little horn dog, aren't you?"

I blushed. "Normally, I would say no, but given what happened on the way up here, Carl, and then Margaret. Yeah, I've been a bit over the top."

"What exactly did happen with Margaret?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure. She was putting sun lotion on me, and then I was sitting down with her legs over mine. She kept putting on the lotion but was playing with my cock at the same time. Next thing I know, she's rubbing the tip of my cock along the folds of her vagina. She asks me to move forward and that was it. My cock slid in, and then I was on my back with her all cowgirl on me."

"Did you cum?"

"Yes." Darlene looked hurt, disappointed, or maybe frustrated. "Margaret gives a rather good hand job," I said as an excuse. "The moment my cock slid in I had no resistance. It was pretty quick, to be honest."

"But then you said she went all cowgirl. Did you keep having sex or was that it?"

"Well, Margaret kept going. I sort of just laid there."

Darlene turned to look off in the distance.

For a long while we sat there in silence. Finally, I waded over and lightly put my hand on her shoulder. She turned her head towards me, pulling up a hand to smudge away a tear. The whites of her eyes had reddened.

"Hey," I said quietly, "I'm sorry."

"No, it's stupid of me." Darlene buried her head into my chest and took a deep, labored breath. "I'm married, happily married to Paul. I shouldn't want this. And I certainly don't have any claim on you."

"It's OK." I wrapped my arms around her shoulders. "We have a connection, a really strong one. Neither of us were looking for it, but the cosmic forces in the universe had other ideas." I felt her arms slide around my waist and pull me in tight.

Darlene shifted to where her cheek was pressed against my sternum, my heart beating loudly in her ear. She sighed, I sighed. We held each other.

I'm not sure how much time passed, but the sun was setting when I finally came back to reality. The glorious reds and golds in the sky and reflected off Darlene's hair. I could feel her breath gently gliding across my stomach. Every so often she would shift her position and then squeeze tighter just to ensure we weren't going anywhere. I kissed the top of her head. "We should go back. I'm not sure how easy the trail will be if we attempt it in the dark. We'll be OK once we're back to the car, but if we wait much longer, we may just have to spend the night."

Darlene looked up at me. "Now you really are trying to tempt me."

We laughed. "No, I'm trying to get you home safe."

She wiggled her hips and suddenly I was aware of our naked bodies pressed together. "Think about what we might do if we ended up stuck out here all night."

I was, and my growing erection was evidence of that.

Darlene noticed and wrapped her legs around my hips. My cock took advantage of the new position and pressed up between her ass cheeks. She wiggled her hips again. "Ooh, someone is beginning to get the idea."

Sometimes I hate that I have a reasonable bone in my body. I don't have many of them, but they can be quite demonstrative when they want to be. "I need to get you home. I absolutely would love to prop you up on that rock, dive between your legs, then fuck you senseless. And then do it all over again. But we can't..."

She didn't seem to take notice, squirming in my arms enjoying the effect it had on my cock between her legs.

"We have to go, Darlene," I urged.

"But it would be so much better if we stayed."

"We don't have anything to sleep in and it gets cold up here at night."

"So, we huddle in the pool to keep warm, besides, you don't think I can keep you warm enough? I have ways." She giggled.

"Oh, I know how hot you can be." I was less than an inch away from slipping inside her. While the water was washing away most of her lubrication, Darlene was making plenty to compensate. I could feel the head of my cock getting way too close. If we crossed that bridge, there would be no going back. Not tonight, not ever.

I put my hands on her hips and pushed her away. "I tell you what. Let's get back to the car. We can head back to town, grab a bite to eat, and talk about our options, rationally."

"But..." she pouted.

"As much as I want to fuck you, I don't want you to end up with a broken heart. You've already cried one too many times today."

That was the phrase that did it. Darlene looked up at me and her face changed. She realized, as much as we both wanted the physical connection, she was married and had no real interest in ending it with Paul. The two of them had set boundaries about what they could and could not do outside the relationship. I was definitely out of bounds.

"OK, let's go home."

We climbed out of the pool, grabbed my towel--Darlene wrapped it around herself to keep from freezing in the evening air--and headed back to our bags. By the time we climbed up the hill to the parking lot, the last bit of evening light was fading. Fortunately, there were only a couple of cars and my beat-up Celica was easy to spot, even with just starlight to go by.

Neither of us dressed for the ride home, nor did we play. We talked about dreams and goals, hopes and aspirations. By the time we arrived at her house, it was like we were old friends reacquainting after a long separation. When I stopped to let her out, she turned to me, put a hand on my cheek and said, "I still want to have you eat me out someday. I also know that when that happens, that's not all that's going to happen. But for now, I have to work some things out with Paul. Thank you for being who you are. I hope you're willing to wait."

I put my hand over hers and smiled. "Are you kidding? I've been hard most of the day wanting to be with you." I looked down; her eyes followed mine. Yes, I was erect, as hard as I'd been all day. "I want you. I am willing to wait. What I'm not willing to do is break your heart in the process. Go, be with Paul. If it turns out that you and I can happen, I am all in. But until then, you have a good life."