Long is the Way

I reached over, setting down my empty bowl, and unzipped the tent. Leaning out the door I grabbed up a handful of snow and compacted it, and brought it back inside.

"Oh no! No not snow, no, no... NO!"

Tackling my cousin onto her sleeping bag I managed to get the handful of snow down the front of her pants. I felt the warm cotton of her panties as I pushed the super-cold snow into her crotch.

"Here this ought to cool that off!" I let go the snowball and pulled out my cold, wet hand. Ignoring her squealing, I slid it under her top and started tickling her ribs.

"NO! Stop it! Quit!" She squirmed under me as I ran my hands over her ribs, my chilly fingertips working furiously against her warm skin. "You bastard! Stop it, I can't breathe!"

"If you couldn't breathe you wouldn't be talking!" I continued tickling even harder. Finally she managed to turn under me till I was astride her back, trying to reach under her to tickle.

I shifted my weight and I felt her ass press back into my crotch. Two pairs of thermal underwear and little else was hardly anything between us. I noticed then that I was rock hard!

It was a grunting moan under me that caused me to pause. Jan lay beneath me, panting for breath and shivering a little. Her ass rose a bit and pressed back against my crotch, held there for a moment, then retreated.

"James. Please get off me," she said softly.

I climbed off her and sat down on my sleeping bag. The position I was sitting hid the bulge in my thermals. Why I wanted to hide it I don't know, there was no way she couldn't know it was there.

She sat up very slowly.

"I'm sorry, Jan," I told her after a second. "I got a little carried away."

She looked up at me. After a moment she got this strange half-smile.

"It's okay James." She looked down at her long underwear and reaching over to her pack pulled a cloth from a pocket. I looked away as she tried to dry her crotch. Finally she shook her head and dug back into her bag. I saw a fresh pair of white panties come out when I looked over my shoulder at her hearing the sound. I turned back away giving her some privacy as she stripped down and changed her panties.

"You can look," she told me softly.

When I turned around, I noticed a musky, perfumed smell starting to fill the tent. I watched her zip her wet underwear into a plastic baggy. I realized the smell seemed to be coming from them, even as I understood what it was. She noticed my gaze and blushed a little.

"Let's just say you're not the only one for whom it's been awhile." She told me, red faced.

"I'm sorry, Jan."

She shook her head. "Not your fault. I was teasing you in a way I shouldn't have been." She shrugged. "Lets just let it ..." She shrugged again.

"Okay." I agreed.

We soon turned to other topics to fill the time till sleep started to weigh heavier on us. As we zipped ourselves into our bags and lay down next to each other, the silence began to grow. I could feel sleep just at the edge of my thoughts but I couldn't get there.

Evidently she couldn't either

"James?"

"Yeah, Jan?" I turned to her a little. She started to say something but then shook her head.

"Goodnight, James."

"Goodnight." I looked at her for a second, then she turned her face away from me.

Ever-so-slowly I drifted off to sleep, only to awaken slowly hearing a strange sound. It took my tired mind a second or two till I began to sort out the sound. My mind ran through dozens of old memories till it found a similar sound and pulled up that reference file.

A woman masturbating. Trying to be quiet about it.

I gave no sign that I was awake. I just lay there, breathing evenly and listening to Jan as she breathed deep, slow breaths. Through my half-open eyes I saw the little clouds of heat fog rolling up from her lips to the roof of the tent.

I listened to the rustle of the sleeping bag, the soft panting breaths. I felt my cock growing and standing at attention, but I didn't dare to move for fear she would stop. I heard a gasp from her then her hand went still. There was a long slow exhale of breath, followed by a second low half-hidden moan. I listened, smiling, to her catching her breath. Then I heard her breathing settle into a more even pace as, needs sated, she drifted off to sleep. I took me a long time to finally get back to sleep myself.

The next day both of us were a little subdued. We packed up and started climbing more in a side ways fashion than upwards. We walked through the easily recognized trails around the mountain, going more or less, in a big circle around the side of Denali. Most people who don't climb don't understand that circling. You just can't go straight up a twenty thousand foot pile, of rock and snow, in one long climb. Your body has to get used to the changes in air density.

We made it to a good spot for the night, with it still in the early afternoon. I could see the others coming up hard in our direction so we stopped and started getting set up. By the time the other climbers caught up Jan and I were rested, had our breath back and could help them set up.

Just in time for the blizzard.

Well, it would have been called a blizzard where we are from but here, it was just a heavy snow storm.

We did the only thing we could.

Zipped up the tents and rode it out.

Jan and I sat on our sleeping bags, playing cards and listening to the wind. At first neither of us felt talkative.

"Jan?"

She looked up from her cards at me.

"You've been very quiet today. Do I need to apologize again?" I asked tentatively

She looked a little surprised.

"No. You're fine James. That was as much me as you. We're square. I've been just thinking about some things," she said after a bit.

"Like what?" I asked, laying my cards face down.

She sat quiet for several seconds then looked up at my face.

"The trip to the beach when we were fourteen." She gave me a shaky smile. "You saving my life the way you did."

"I remember." I gave a shrug. "I think you would have been fine. You were doing the right thing, you were just scared."

"James, I was a mile off the beach when that rip tide stopped pulling me. I've never been that good of a swimmer. Not a lot of places to do daily ocean swimming in Arizona."

I nodded at the truth of that.

"Then I nearly drowned you when you popped up beside me. Do you remember what you did to stop me from panicking?" She asked, softly looking at my face.

"I remember everything about that day, Jan. Yeah, I remember...I kissed you." I looked down at my cards for a second. The memory was a powerful one to me. It had been my first kiss.

"What made you think that would make me stop panicking?" she asked, fiddling with her cards a bit.

I sat quietly for a second trying to think back to that moment. It came to me with a amazing clarity given how long ago it had been since that day.

"I don't know exactly. You had me around the neck, you pulled me towards you. Your face was there in front of me. I was starting to panic myself. I don't know." I shrugged, reluctant, not wanting to tell her the truth.

"You said you remember everything about that day. What were you thinking?" she asked, looking at my face.

I sat quiet. Then sighed when she reached over and poked me.

"James?"

"I was scared you were about to drown us both and if I was going to die I didn't want to die without ever having kissed a girl." I smiled and shrugged.

After a second she chuckled.

"I can't say that was what was going through my mind at the time but you were the first boy I kissed. That's one of the few times I could say a kiss may have saved two people. I was so shocked to feel your mouth on mine, I stopped trying to drown us." She laughed softly.

We sat together quietly for a few minutes, each lost back in time. As I saw her hands start to go back to her cards though I spoke up.

"What else have you been thinking about?"

She looked down and softly tapped her cards with a finger. A slow grin appeared on her face.

"The time we went horseback riding."

I chuckled.

"You're full of old memories today, huh? Yeah, that was memorable!"

We both dissolved into laughter. Finally I had to ask.

"Just how long had you been planning to play Lady Godiva?"

"I was not completely nude! I just wanted to ride topless!" She looked at me, blushing a little.

"In front of me." I countered.

"Well...I wanted it to be in front of someone, and I figured you wouldn't tell anyone." She shrugged.

"I never did." I grinned. "Never forgot it though."

She blushed then looked up with a mysterious smile. I knew without her saying a word what she was thinking about. We said it together softly.

"Yellowstone."

Nodding, we both dissolved back into laughter. After several minutes I looked at her grinning.

"Still afraid of thunderstorms?"

She shook her head.

"Not since that night. In fact if anything, they make me horny as hell!"

I thought back to her shaking in fear and crawling into my sleeping bag next to me. The thunder rolling across the park had scared her witless. I remembered holding her shivering body next to mine. Her crying had stopped when my body began to respond to the close pressure of her against me. Her curiosity had known no bounds.

"If we had known what to do, I might have lost my virginity to you that night," she told me smiling. I nodded in agreement. "You know Mom found out?"

"No!" My jaw hit the floor.

Jan nodded. "It's was a while after it happen but she was cleaning my room and found my cigarettes and diary in the back of my cabinet speakers. I got grounded for the cigarettes and a long talking to about the diary. It's one of the reasons we never went camping together after that."

"I thought that was because your Mom got sick? Her legs hurting her?"

Jan shook her head. "That's what she told your mom. It was because of us." She shrugged sadly. "She was afraid if we got together after that, we might do something 'inappropriate' for two cousins."

The way she says it was a perfect mimicry of her mom. Several minutes later, I had to wipe the tears from my eyes when we finally stopped laughing. My sides were hurting.

"Have you ever regretted that we didn't?" I finally got the courage to ask her.

She looked surprised, then thoughtful. Slowly she shook her head.

"I loved Morgan. I was always glad it was him that made me a woman. He was gentle. I don't think that, with the way we were fumbling together, it would have been."

I shook my head, laughing quietly and clutched at my side.

"How about you?" she asked me.

I thought back to the youth that I had been. I do remember a strong sense of disappointment, that I didn't see her after I learned what went where and how. Slowly, I shook my head.

"I had a couple of women...well, girls my own age...before I met Wendy. I guess it's a little different with a boy maybe. My regrets have to do more with the loss of opportunity than anything."

"Well, that does my ego a world of good," she said with a quirky grin. "Your only regret was that I was not a notch on your bedpost?"

I shook my head.

"That's not how I mean it. The women I've been with...they will always be with me. In my memories. I've never forgotten a single moment of my first time, with any one of them." I smiled at her softly. "Same as I'll never forget the first time I ever kissed a girl."

She gave me a slow grin back.

After dinner when the sky darkened and sleep started to weigh heavily on us we got settled down for the night, Jan struggling with her sleeping bag's zipper again. She had forgotten about going to ask for oil before the storm blew in.

Just as I heard her breathing start to get even I felt a sly smile coming to my lips.

"Jan?"

"Hum?" came the sleepy reply.

"Let me know if there is a thunderstorm tonight. I want to wake up and listen to... it." It felt like my grin was going to split my face.

After a moment I heard her suck in a breath.

"Oh my fucking god." I heard her softly whisper.

"Goodnight, Jan, sweet dreams," I said chuckling.

"You...fucking prick! Goodnight!" She finally chuckled. "Pervert!"

Laughing, I slowly drifted off to sleep.

We spent the next day in the camp with the other climbers, on the advice of the guide. He swore there was going to be another storm roll in at any moment. I disagreed after watching the sky for a few hours, but then he "knew this mountain better than I," of course.

We had bright blue skies all day.

One of our fellow climbers, a fellow named Wilson, was carrying a folding table up the mountain with him. It was made with a cloth top, and the whole thing folded up. He said he wanted to sit on the summit and have a meal. He had with him a table cloth and full set of dishes and a set of silverware. In his pack he had a steak MRE and a glass-lined, metal bottle of champagne.

Anyway, when it became apparent we weren't going any higher that day, we broke out that table and five of us sat around it and started playing cards. We were betting of course.

Jan was winning. Twelve years married to a casino dealer kind of leaves that sort of mark on you. I knew when, nine times out of ten, to fold against her though. So, I was at least coming out ahead. Well, I wasn't completely broke anyway.

We started to pack it in when the sky began to darken.

"One more hand," called Wilson as I was gathering up the cards.

"I thought you said you didn't have anymore money?" asked Jan lifting an eyebrow.

"Oh, I don't. I'm broke, you've tapped me there. I do, however, have something of value."

Jan looked over at me, and I kind of shrugged.

"What?" she asked taking the cards from me. I watched her hands as she shuffled slowly. I saw the fumble mistakes she was making. To me they looked so obvious.

"A four hundred dollar bottle of champagne," he said pointing towards his tent.

The other players mostly had stood up, but they turned to look back at him. He had been bragging on the plane about drinking that on the summit, all the way from the airport to the glacier.

Jan fumbled the cards and caught them before they dropped. I had to hide my grin.

"Against what?" she asked sweetly. "What you've lost?'

"Oh no, no. I don't care that much about the money." He grinned at her. "When I'm sitting on the summit with my table laid out and my food fixed. I want to drink a toast with my champagne With a naked woman holding the glass I clink!"

I saw Jan's eyebrows lift. She was the only woman in our group.

"You want me to stand naked on the top of Mount Denali and drink a glass of champagne with you?" She chuckled. "And you think I'll freeze my tits off up there for a bottle of four hundred dollar champagne?"

"No. I think you'll do it because you can't stand the idea of losing at cards. I've watched you play, you're good. You don't have all our money by accident." Wilson sat back in his fancy folding chair. It was much bigger than the folding stools most of us were sitting on. "One more hand. Black jack, straight deal. That way no fancy card trading can help you win. Just one hand, pure luck...or be revealed as the card sharp you are."

He kind of looked down his nose with a sneering grin.

I saw the look in Jan's eyes. My own blood was starting to heat up a bit.

Hers was already at a boil.

I watched her hands as she shuffled the cards some more. The clumsiness was gone now. I watched her deal out the cards, two each, one up one down.

Wilson got a black ten showing.

Jan had a red six.

I watched Wilson's face looking for any sign as he glanced at his cards. His face was steady as a rock.

Jan didn't even look at her hole card.

"I'll stand," he said with no expression.

"I'll raise," she said, her fingers on top of the cards.

"What?" he asked, looking at her sharply.

"I'll raise the stakes of the bet. I deal one more card to each of us." She reached over and tapped the deck with a finger. "You were the one wanting to wanted to trust to luck."

Wilson leaned forward in his chair.

"Why would I want to do that? I'm happy with the cards I have." He looked hard at her face.

Jan smiled.

"I win, I get your bottle of champagne. Plus a case of it when we get down off the mountain." She tapped the deck again. "You win...and after I clink your glass naked, I'll give you a blow job while you eat your steak dinner."

I saw jaws dropping all around.

As for myself, I think my eyebrows just got to the top of Denali before I did.

Wilson looked at her. I saw a growing lust start to affect his judgment.

"A blow job? For one more card?"

Jan nodded.

He lifted his hole card, like it may have somehow changed since he looked at it last. I could see his greed and lust warring in him. He looked across at the red six she had showing. She still had made no move to look at its partner.

"Done!" he said in a near-snarl.

Jan hands moved quickly laying two more cards on the table.

A second red six sat beside her first.

Wilson got a black two. I see his face split into a grin.

"I like my cock sucked softly, little lady," he told her, flipping over the hole card. A red five.

Seventeen.

Jan just sat looking at him. For a second I was worried for her then I saw that twinkling in her eye.

"Then you better work on your flexibility." She flipped over her hole card.

A black six.

He looked up at her with shock making his face laughable.

Jan smiled nicely. Her fingers tapped the three sixes in front of her.

"Don't ever bet the Devil's Widow... when sex is on the line. Not even God can win on those odds." She gathered up the cards and got up. I heard the snickers from the others around the table. "Good night, boys. It's been giggles."

I watched Jan walk off towards our tent.

When I looked back to Wilson, I saw him looking daggers at her back.

"Pay up... if you please." I told him with a cold chill coming to my voice.

When he looked at me I saw the shocked look come to his face. I knew what he was seeing. Not the friendly mountain climber he had known for the last few days..

I could almost feel the ex-army ranger showing.

I watched him walk back to his tent and come back slowly carrying the thermos like bottle. He handed it to me reluctantly... then gave a shrug. His slightly oily grin came back.

"I hated having to hold on fifteen, but figured I would bust if I drew another card. I tried to bluff to make her draw another. Your girlfriend's a hell of a card player," he said, as he folded up his chair.

I grabbed our stools from by his table.

"She's my cousin," I told him as I walked away.

We struck out early the next morning. A blustery July tenth. Jan and I were cutting a trail again for the others. Several of the others had come by to see us as we packed up to congratulate Jan.

The mountain was beautiful, and at the same time, humbling as we started up its bright face. I got the feeling then that if it was alive, it wouldn't even have noticed us climbing around on it.

We pushed higher today than we had been before. Climbing till the air started to feel like we couldn't draw enough of it into our lungs. We ate our lunch, panting for breath.

At my nod we headed back down.

Between the brightness of the snow, blinding, even through my goggles, and the lack of air, I had a pounding headache when we set up camp. I tried to help Jan as much as I could, but in the end, she made me sit down.

She finished setting up the camp with business like efficacy.

I laid down on my sleeping bag and shivered when I felt her place a very cold rag across my forehead. It was filled with snow.

"How you feeling?" she asked me after about an hour. I had been able to do nothing but turn the rag over.

"Like I want to puke," I told her as softly as I could.

"So, it's one of those." She said, in as soft a whisper as she could. She took a second rag and gently covered my eyes. It helped a little but even through my closed eyes the light was painful.