Copyright Kim Couples 2003

(You’ll find more stories on my website at asstr.org. Choose ‘Authors’ from, the drop down box at the top right of the index page and select ‘K’ for Kim at the bottom of the first page that appears.)

He was about to go out to the boundary when she arrived. It was a surprise - no more of a shock - when she suddenly appeared. The dogs hadn’t announced her arrival, which was rare, and he was preoccupied with tying hay onto the trailer of the tractor.

‘Hi I’m Linda.’

‘Er hi… Steve.’ His empty face gave him away.

‘You are expecting me aren’t you? From the student employment service?’

He extended his hand to meet hers and reacted instantly to the smile. ‘Oh yes. Yes…’

‘Perhaps you were expecting a man,’ she added without losing the smile. But he wasn’t falling into that trap.

‘Well I was expecting a student. I could do with the help. They said they were going to send a vet student…’

‘I am one. A vet student. Third year next year.’

‘Oh, sorry. Welcome. I’m just across the campus myself; at the agricultural school. Just back for the summer.’ She was too delicate to be a vet. She looked as if she’d be more at home drinking cappuccinos outside one of those restaurants in town, but if she didn’t get sick of it and leave, she might be useful. Anyway, there wasn’t any choice. His parents were free to employ anyone they liked. They wouldn’t be back for another month and it was hard to get anyone to take casual work so far out.

‘They said there’s a cottage I can use.’

By the time he came back for another load of hay, she was waiting in the barn dressed in a light blouse, boots and a pair of credible jeans. He backed the trailer in and she began stacking the bales, without a word. He turned on the tractor seat, smiled slightly and watched, as if challenging her. She interlocked the bales three high, as he had, then sat on the top. ‘Okay.’

She fed the stock from the trailer with the same efficiency. He found he was turning around to her regularly. It was partly a safety issue. She might fall off. As she bent to take a bale, her blouse would open enough to reveal, just for a moment, small, firm breasts. He wasn’t ogling; he didn’t do that, but it happened several times.

‘Done this before?’ he asked as they idled back to the barn.

‘Yes. Not in a drought like this one, but I used to live on a farm.’

‘Good.’ It was all he could think of saying.

Over the next four days, they established a comfortable working relationship. Linda turned out to be especially useful docking and dipping the sheep, though, as you might expect, his dad’s dogs just ignored her. He began to relax. The drought had made him anxious for almost a month and her help made it easier to face each day. But it was more than that really. She was an optimist and knowledgeable enough about stock and country life for her optimism to be encouraging. And she was good company. Their breaks, particularly at lunch became more and more leisurely as they chatted happily away. She’d usually remind him of the time and he’d say, ‘No worries, have some more tea.’ And she would.

On the fifth day, Rona rang from the village.

‘Want a visitor?’

‘Okay, when?’

‘Early afternoon. I’ll cook you a meal again, if you like.’

‘No, I’m busy, with the drought and all. Come for tea. I’ve got some smoked pork. We’ll have that.’

‘Sure, see you about five thirty.’

‘Let yourself in if I’m not back by then. ‘

They’d been to school together. Now she lived in the city during the week and kept her parents’ spacious old stone bungalow for the weekends and summer holidays. But it wasn’t just a holiday house; she was a country lass and the public relations agency was another world she rarely discussed with the people she had known since childhood. Steve, and everyone else who cared to comment, had decided that city life had changed her. And it wasn’t just the silver Volvo or the cellphone. She was more confident now. She loved to talk and there were times when he found her energy and unconventional ways exhausting.

She’d probably want to stay the night. She often did when his parents were away. Sometimes he’d call on her and they’d have sex in her huge bed or sometimes in her lounge. That was their arrangement. They visited each other, talked, helped each other in practical things, and they had sex together whenever either had a particularly strong need or they felt especially close. Sometimes she’d talk about staying the night but never about making love or any kind of commitment. They’d been doing it since their early 20s. It was inevitable that the whole village knew by now. He didn’t mind and nor did she.

It was perfectly obvious that Linda had never repaired fences before. He found her pulling the loose wires with her bare hands and trying to staple them before they slipped back. She seemed disappointed but not frustrated. He grinned as he brought out the wire strainers, thinking she hadn’t come across them before. ‘Try these.’

She laughed and said, ‘It thought I might be able to mange without them – for a temporary job repair.’

The concentration that went with straining and securing the fence wires brought them close together. Their heads would be almost touching as she hammered and he pulled on the levers of the wire strainers. Her blonde hair brushed him once as she looked up. Then her hand touched his arm, the gentlest possible touch. He felt a jolt. She stood back, as if startled. He felt the need to start a conversation quickly.

‘What are you going to do in the weekend? Back to town?’

‘No, I thought I’d stay on, if that’s okay.’

‘Sure, no problem. But there’s not a lot to do here.’ He glanced down and could see the button just above her bra, was now undone, leaving a visible edge of black lace curving around her breast. He was desperate to look back somewhere safer, because women can tell when your eyes are constantly flicking down. He was sure that they know, even when they’re not looking at you.

She had a hint of a smile as he caught her eye again. ‘I thought I’d go fishing, maybe swim in the stream. And I’ve got plenty of reading to do.’

As he left her at the top of the path to the cottage, he decided that Rona’s car shouldn’t be visible from the cottage and she wasn’t likely to come up the path again till morning. He’d been wishing all afternoon that he hadn’t agreed to Rona inviting herself around.

But the evening with Rona was as diverting as it always was. It began, as usual when they had been apart for more than a few weeks, with a slight awkwardness. Then, with some laughter and some good-natured teasing on her part, the relationship was fully restored.

He prepared the meal. She hovered, drinking the local wine and telling him the latest gossip from the village. For the first time she asked for candles and he found some untapered ones in a drawer. He’d thought of denying that he had any but it wouldn’t have seemed believable.

After dinner they watched a couple of comedies. She dragged his hand to her breast as they cuddled on the sofa. He pushed her necklace aside and kissed her neck; not because they were lovers in the usual sense, but because her skin was warm and feminine, and she was adventurous and made him feel sexy. She undid her bra and he slipped his hand under it. He kept thinking of Linda’s breasts and how her nipples might feel between his fingers. Would they be as hard as these? Would she be withdrawn and awkward about sharing her body. He realised it was a ridiculous fantasy.

‘I can stay tonight if you want,’ said Rona, as if it was a minor issue.

‘Do you want to?’

‘I’d like some good sex.’

‘We could do it here.’

‘No. I got sore knees last time. Anyway, sleeping together afterwards is one of the best bits.’

So they enjoyed each other on his bed. The sight of their firm young bodies in the soft light rekindled their lust for each other. Years ago she had taught him how she liked to be pleasured and he’d been eager to know. Now he brought her to climax with ease and slid into her as they wrapped their arms around each other. He lay there kissing her neck but not moving inside her as she recovered her breathing. Eventually, she put her hands down to his hips and drew her legs wider as she whispered. ‘Ready.’ He rose and began the slow build up they expected from each other. Before long their bodies were slapping together as they panted in delight. He paused and she felt him come inside her.

They were lying entwined again when he mentioned Linda. It was part of their understanding together to talk about past lovers and people they fancied.

‘I’ve got some help around the farm.’

‘Where is he?’ she grinned, looking around in an exaggerated way, as if the new farm worker were in hiding in the room.

‘She. It’s a woman. She’s a veterinary student. She’ll be here till her course starts again.’

Rona pushed him back so that she could look him in the eyes. ‘Is she good looking?’ She seemed intrigued.

‘Gorgeous. It’s so distracting.’

‘I thought you were specially hard tonight. Have you done it with her?’

‘No, it’s distracting when I’m working…we’re working. I can’t take my eyes off her.’

‘Well, don’t go all shy on her. Ask her out. Ask her in here, before she disappears into the sunset.’

‘No, she’s probably got a boyfriend.’

‘Has she said anything?’

‘Not so far.’

‘How long’s she been here?’

‘Since Sunday afternoon.’

‘Then go for it. If she hasn’t mentioned Mr Special by now, she doesn’t have one.’

‘Do you think so?’

‘I know so. And now that you’re so hard thinking about her, let’s do it again playmate. Tell me about her while you’re inside me.’

An odd relationship really. Not many women would invite a man to do that. It was wonderful, but in fact, he didn’t volunteer much about Linda, she had to prise it out of him.

‘Does she have a nice body?’

‘Fantastic. Though I haven’t seen much of it – in the flesh. Not likely to either.’

‘Defeatist. Does she have beautiful breasts?’

‘Yes. What I’ve seen of them.’

She put a pillow on the floor and knelt on it. ‘Bigger than mine?’

‘Smaller. But I like them…and yours.’ He eased into her again and she folded her arms on the bed and lay her head on them. ‘Do me a bit harder.’ He was thrusting with slow, long strokes when she raised her head and turned back, though not enough to meet his eyes. ‘Imagine she’s here now, with us…’ He was both shocked and excited by the suggestion. The pace quickened. ‘Imagine you’re doing it with her now and I’m on the bed watching. You’re having us both tonight. You’re inside her now…stroking her and she’s enjoying every minute of it.’ It was more than he could take. He stopped to pump inside her and collapsed on her back, holding both her breasts. ‘You’re a good friend,’ he gasped.

‘Yeah. You’re not so bad yourself.’

He held her again as they slept together, but as the first light entered the bedroom, she slipped from the sheets. ‘I’ll go before she’s up. Don’t want to ruin your chances,’ she whispered. ‘Let me know how you get on. Great workout last night.’ She smiled and kissed his forehead.

He was stirring. ‘Do you want to do it again before you go?’

‘No I’d better go now. I’ll ring you.’

He had an easy excuse to call at the cottage. She was hiding from the morning heat under the elm his great-grandfather had planted. She looked up from her magazine and looked pleased to see him.

‘You said you might go fishing. We’ve got some rods up at the house. If you want one I can get it.’

‘Thanks, but is there any shade down by the river?’ She was wearing shorts and uncrossed her elegant legs as she spoke.

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I can show you if you like.’

‘I’m sure I’ll find it. But I would like a rod. Thanks.’ He felt dismissed. He selected a rod and a spinner from the tool shed and took it back to her. She offered him lemonade but he tuned it down and returned to the house.

About mid-afternoon, he moved some cattle from a hill on the northern end of the property. He was walking back above the river and saw her about 50 feet below him, casting out into a pool. She knew what she was doing. It was effortless, elegant, and she looked beautiful even from that angle. After a few minutes, he felt that he was now spying on her and she’d made it clear that she wanted to be alone. It was difficult to walk on, but he did.

He was hoping she’d come up the house to return the rod that afternoon but he didn’t see her till the Monday morning when he picked her up with the quad bike at the top of the path to the cottage.

‘Catch any fish?’

‘One. Not very big. I just like the peace and quiet really.’ She sat behind him and as they took off up the hill she slipped her arms lightly around him. He could feel her breasts against his back as they bumped their way down the other side and felt elated.

Over the next few days their working relationship changed. The previous week, he had announced the work they would do. Now they discussed the problems and would decide together the best way to handle them. He encouraged it because most of all he wanted to distance himself from the role of her employer. He wasn’t. They were both employees on his parents’ farm and he even found an opportunity to say so. The drought was relentless and there was at times an air of tension as they hurriedly sought out new sources of water further and further up the stream and extended the water pipes to reach them. They were both well aware of how long the stock would last if they couldn’t keep the water troughs full. Sometimes they took on separate jobs and would not see each other for several hours, but usually they worked together, often in comfortable silence. The lunch breaks extended to up to a couple of hours. They agreed that it was to escape the heat.

‘Did you go swimming in the weekend?’

‘No.’ He was disappointed. He’d imagined her there.

‘I was going to go in on Saturday but I didn’t want to swim in the fishing hole, so I just took off all my clothes and lay there in the shade for about an hour. It was lovely.’

‘Oh.’ She was lying next to him with her wide brimmed hat over her face and moved it to catch his expression. ‘There’s a pool further down we use for swimming,’ he muttered, determined not to catch her eye. ‘It’s deep enough for a swim.’

‘Thanks. I’ll try it sometime.’

She came for dinner on Thursday and they sat close together on the veranda, each with a beer in their hands, looking out towards the hills as the sun set. The conversation was more animated than usual. They touched each other playfully a couple of times, laughed regularly and he almost took her in his arms. Almost. His arms didn’t actually move around her and she went home at nine.

Early the next evening Rona rang.

‘How are you getting on with your workmate?’ (She didn’t even say hello.)

‘Okay.’

‘Is she there now?’

‘No she didn’t come over tonight. Did last night though – for her dinner.’

‘You sleeping together yet?’ There was a long pause. ‘Tell me to butt out if you want…’

‘No. It’s okay. No we’re not. It’s difficult. Sometimes I think she wants to…’

‘You haven’t asked her?’ She seemed surprised.

‘No I don’t want to blow it. We get on so well but she seems to like being on her own quite a bit. I’d hate to ruin it.’

‘Sounds like you need therapy. Want to come over?’

He was surprised that she’d offer, under the circumstances, but it was just what he wanted and he was at her house within half an hour.

As arranged, he let himself in and he found her immersed in her spa bath, her nipples peering out from the bubbles. The music was classical. Not his taste, but quiet.

‘Hi.’

‘Hi’

He undressed and sat opposite, putting his legs outside hers. She smiled, sat up and took hold of him as he straightened.

‘You lovely horny man.’ She stroked him there, looking into his eyes regularly. He began to wonder what it was about his relationship that had allowed it to be suspended between friendship and loving for more than five years. They’d decided before their first night of coupling that they would never be lovers in the usual sense. There was something missing. They both understood it, and it didn’t matter. They’d been friends as teenagers; helped each other through some difficult times, and discovered together a joy in sexual pleasure and each other’s bodies.

‘Perhaps she’s in her bed thinking of you now.’

‘It’s too early for bed.’

‘Don’t be so damned practical. Fantasise a bit. Perhaps she’s stroking herself, like this.’ She used her other hand to demonstrate.

He sat up suddenly. ‘Turn around. I want to do that to you.’ She pushed into his back feeling his hardness against her. He reached down and it was just as she had shown him in their early days together. Tantalising, teasing her body, sliding the back of his fingers down her legs, then up again; caressing her inner thighs. She parted her legs a little more with a slight gasp. He brushed her swelling lips, stroked her curls, touched the lips again with his fingers, another gentle touch. He held her breast with his other hand and kissed her neck as her nipple swelled. His left hand found her special place; so gently that once again it seemed to be merely accidental.

‘I’m really turned on tonight,’ she whispered.

‘More than usual?’ he asked, touching her centre again then caressing gently around it.

‘Yes.’

‘Why?’

‘Because this might be the last time we’re together…’ She paused, ‘And I keep thinking of you and your gorgeous maiden.’

‘And…?’ His fingers continued the gentle pleasuring. She put her hand on his to encourage him.

‘I’ve got this picture of you in my mind.’

‘What picture?’ They’d played games like this before but she was much more visual he was and far less inhibited about her excitements.

‘It’s like I said last time. It’s the two of you…and me watching. At first anyway.’

‘Sounds good.’

‘We’re sharing you. I’ve never done that before. Never seen another woman doing it. I’m picturing you both of you naked.’

‘What would you want to do?’

‘Just watch, then feel you inside me the way we always do.’

‘Anything else?’

‘I think I’d like to touch her breasts, maybe kiss them.’ She was writhing with pleasure and climaxed seconds later. He held her against him while the water cooled.

As they dried each other on her heated towels she said, ‘It’s just a fantasy you know. This can be the last time if you want’. And she laughed, ‘But let’s make it a good one, a real workout, horny man.’

They ran to her bed. She lay on her back and helped him into her as if anxious to have him there. They coupled several times, driven on, partly, by a desire to show their appreciation of the special relationship they’d had over the years. Naturally, he thought of Linda too and it added to his excitement. But they didn’t talk of her again. He left Rona at about one, assuring her that, despite appearances, he wasn’t too exhausted for the drive back to the farm. They held each other and, for one of the few times, kissed on the lips as they parted.

Friday was the day it rained. It began late in the afternoon. Not drought-breaking rain, just drizzle at first, then steady. It was enough to give him hope. Linda hadn’t thought about taking a coat so Steve didn’t mention his in the tractor box and they worked on as the rain soaked them. The excitement and relief added a new pleasure to being together. Her wet hair dripped over her face and she wiped it away with a muddy hand, laughing because she realised that now she probably looked as dishevelled as he did. As they joined another pipe she said, ‘Glamorous pair, aren’t we?’

He looked up. ‘Come up to the house for a shower. Give your water tank time to recover.’

She did and cooked dinner for them. They shared wine and confidences as the rain trickled into the spouting and it marked a new point in their closeness. He wanted to reach for her hand across the table, but didn’t. Their knees touched at one stage but he decided it was unintentional. Her freshly washed hair was tied behind her and her eyes sparkled as she laughed. He knew then beyond doubt that he loved her. He also knew that if he had said so she would have thanked him politely, told her how honoured she felt, how uncertain her own feelings were, and leave. It had happened before. She left anyway. Around nine thirty after a game of cards.

As she turned on the veranda steps she asked, ‘Want to come down to the cottage for lunch?’

He did of course and arrived shortly after midday. The sun and the cicadas had been out since early morning and the grass was now dry again, as if it hadn’t rained.

She had laid out a rug under the elm where the shade had allowed an oasis of green to survive. He sat there as she brought out a vegetarian lunch. Afterwards he poured wine and they lay propped up on their elbows, savouring their escape from the heat. In a moment of silence, he said. ‘I can’t help thinking of you lying down by the river without your clothes.’

She looked up.

‘Oh I often do that under this tree too. I’m a bit of a nudist. I like being naked. Don’t mind do you?’

‘It’s up to you.’

‘It’s your garden. I thought you might be shocked if you turned up. That time you came about the fishing rod, I was just about to take everything off. It was bit early in our relationship for you to see that.’

‘I would have been surprised.’

‘Haven’t seen a naked woman before?’

‘Yes of course. Just not you. And not outside my parents’ cottage.’

‘Is the gate latched?’ she asked, looking him in the eye for the first time since the conversation had taken this especially flirtatious turn.

‘Yes.’

‘And you wouldn’t be shocked?’

‘No.’

She paused for a moment then stood and slipped off her shoes, her shorts, her blouse, her bra and her panties. And there she was, naked and doing a joyous twirl to show her lovely body to him. He was stunned. She lay down on her front and asked, ‘Want to join me?’ And he did. She didn’t look back at him while he undressed, but as their two nude bodies lay side-by-side she put her arm over him. He returned the gesture.

‘I’ll bet you look great naked,’ she murmured.

‘You certainly do.’ And she squeezed his shoulder. Those seconds she had stood in front of him so magnificently nude had created a vivid image and he was determined to retain it, so they lay in silence for several minutes. He was uncomfortably hard against the rug. ‘What do we do now?’

‘We don’t have to do anything. Just enjoy being naked together. But we can walk around the garden if you like.’ He knew that was not a good idea.

‘Or we could make love,’ he blurted, surprising himself.

She nodded slightly. ‘Mmm’ He moved enough to kiss her shoulder, then her lips as she looked up. She giggled, ‘That’s nice. I was hoping you’d do that.’

She sat up and leaned towards him.

He had to see her, so he turned over revealing his excitement. ‘Your breasts are absolutely beautiful,’ he murmured, wishing he’d said that she was beautiful – all of her. He reached forward and brushed each breast lightly with his fingers. She smiled. ‘You’re very gentle.’ And she reached down and held him, obviously appreciating his hardness. He drew her back to him and they kissed with her nipples touching his chest. ‘Got a condom?’ she whispered.

‘Only up at the house. I wasn’t expecting this.’

‘I was,’ she said as she disappeared into the cottage. On her way back, she paused for a moment on the worn step to show the sun her lightly tanned body and drew her arms wide. ‘What a wonderful day!’ To him, everything seemed in slow motion. He wanted to give her pleasure, to excite her, to make her desire him. She had her own plan. She rolled the condom on, straddled him and eased him deep inside her. ‘I needed to know what you’d feel like inside me. That’s lovely.’ She began to move on him, looking into his eyes as she said, ‘I wanted to do this days ago. You’re not a very forward lover’.

‘Not with you. It was too important. I didn’t want to put you off.’

‘Me too, but it was really hard to come back to the cottage when there was a perfectly good double bed in the house and a man I really wanted.’

‘If you wanted me that badly, why didn’t you say so?’

‘I don’t know. I almost did.’

She held still while he thrust into her several times. Then she half closed her eyes and ground herself back onto him, letting out a little cry of pleasure. He felt his climax closing in already and encouraged her off him. She was quizzical. ‘You’re turning me on so much, I was about to come.’

‘Just come when you are ready. We can do it all afternoon.’ He sat there with the condom wet from her juices and cooled down at little. They both sensed when he was ready again and she lay back, spreading her legs wide. He lay inside her, feeling her hard nipples against him. ‘I just want to stay still for a bit and fill you up.’

‘Great. You’re a good lover.’ And she hugged him.

‘I do love you.’ There he had said it. She didn’t reply and after a few seconds he put his head up to check her reaction. There were tears in her eyes. She pulled him down and between kisses she whispered, ‘I love you too.’

From then on the lovemaking was intense, vigorous. He did come of course, several times, and so did she, as the thrusting, gasping abandonment gave way once more to tenderness.

They slept together in the old house that night - revelling in the touch of their bodies and the possibility that their love would continue forever.