Thrice Shy

Why don't women understand that I don't want anything to do with them? Don't get me wrong, I'm not gay or anything like that, it's just that I have a low threshold for self-inflicted pain and my experiences with women fit neatly into the self-inflicted category.

I fell in love with my first wife for the very reason that I fell out of love with her, she was popular with men. As she got older and less good looking she had to try harder for that popularity and ended up having several disastrous affairs.

The ending was acrimonious and it was some time before I was willing to allow myself to become involved with another woman. I did have several short-term relationships while I was looking but found that a long term commitment was not going to happen, so I broke off these relationships before they went too far.

Then I met her, the woman who was to become my second disaster. At first I didn't recognise the signs, not because they weren't there, weren't obvious, it's just that I refused to acknowledge that I'd fucked up again, I had opened my heart up to someone who told me that she loved me and wanted to spend the rest of her life with me.

She was everything that a man could look for, she was kind, she was attentive, she was affectionate, oh boy was she affectionate. And the sex, the sex was great. It wasn't the physical, this is how I please a man sex, of my first wife, it was the 'Oh my God, you know how to please a woman!' sex that boosted my flagging ego from day one.

She gave herself to me totally, she allowed me to lead her through many different sexual experiences, at least that is what I thought, but on looking back over our lives I came to realise that it was she that was leading the experience. I was fooled by her pretence at naivety, her lack of experience, but, as I was to discover later, she was much more experienced sexually than she at first admitted.

But that's all in the past. The dust has settled on all of that and I'm fulfilling one of my, our, dreams, I'm touring the country in my mobile home, all that remains from the financial ashes of my marriage. We had often discussed doing just this but had never got around to doing it. So now it's just me and the dog, travelling around Australia with all the other 'grey nomads' or 'SKI's', people 'spending kids inheritance'.

One thing is for sure, I'm too old and too smart to fall for another woman.

It was getting late in the afternoon when we pulled into the caravan park at Geary's Inlet, a small coastal town on the Eastern seaboard, around halfway between Sydney and Brisbane. This was on my list of parks that would allow pets, so Bruno and I were looking forward to a pleasant stay.

It had taken no more than ten minutes for me to check in and plug my motor home into the site, the water and power were connected and the waste hose was hooked up and I was draining the waste from several roadside stops into the sewerage system. Bruno was wandering around the site checking on the 'pee-mails' left by previous canine visitors when she walked by. Bruno lifted his head and his tail started wagging at a hundred miles an hour.

"Aren't you simply gorgeous?" She said as the traitor stood on his hind legs to allow her to pat him. "And what's your name?"

"His name's Bruno." I said as I walked from behind the motor home.

"What breed is he?"

"He's a miniature schnauzer." I wasn't all that keen to engage in any meaningful conversation with anyone.

"He's such a friendly dog."

How could I explain to her that, under normal circumstances the traitor would have had her backed up against the side of the van and wouldn't have allowed her to move until I came to drag him away, it was part of his breeding to protect his master and home from intruders and interlopers. She would never have believed it, not now that he was behaving against type.

"He's not usually this friendly, I usually have to go through an elaborate introduction process before he's a friend, but he seems to have taken it on himself to do the introductions. I'm Grant, Grant Miller."

"Pleased to meet you Grant, I'm Eve, short for Evelyn, Williams I'm pleased to meet you, and Bruno." She held out her hand leaving me with two options, to be rude and ignore her, or to take the proffered hand and shake it. Not being a rude person I took her hand, and was somewhat surprised at the strength in it. "If you don't mind me asking, seeing as you've only just arrived and it's about dinner time, what are your plans for dinner?"

"I was going to cook up some fish I caught earlier today and have it with a fresh salad and a glass of wine, or two."

"What kind of fish?"

"Flathead, I seem to have a knack of being able to catch them."

"They're my favourite eating fish. I can't have you eating alone tonight, so what say I bring the wine and help with the cooking, and we can eat together." This woman, Eve, spoke in a tone that brooked no interference. This, it seemed, was a woman who was used to saying what she thought and getting her own way. Still, it could turn out to be an interesting evening and less excruciating than looking at a grainy television screen showing a program that I'd probably seen a year ago in the city.

The meal was great, steamed flathead and fresh, lightly dressed salad washed down with a chilled glass of Sauvignon-blanc followed by another glass, and another, until we were well into our second bottle.

There was something about Eve that didn't quite ring true. While she came across as being confident, as being self-assured, behind that veneer there was another person entirely trying to get out, someone less confident, almost vulnerable. She told me a little about how she came to be in this little coastal town, it had something to do with being unable to cope with the pressures of the big city, in this case Sydney, and her high pressure job with a media company. There was something more to this story, but for me to try and dig it out I would have to open up about myself and just now that was something that I was not about to do, so I let the conversation drift slowly along.

It was late and I was tired. Eve stood up. "You two look like you could do with a good night's sleep." She was right about me but Bruno had been asleep for the last two hours and only woke up when she stood up. "I'll see you in the morning and I'll show you around town and maybe even take you to the best fishing spot." She kissed me lightly on the cheek and patted Bruno's head as she left. The traitor followed her for twenty or so metres before turning around to see if I was coming too. Reluctantly he turned back and jumped sulkily into his bed.

"Goodnight to you too." I told him as he totally ignored me.

I had just poured the long-life milk on my cereal and into my coffee mug when there was a tap on the van door. Bruno's greeting was different to the usual 'Come in if you dare!' loud growl, it was more, 'it's about time you got here.' The door opened and Eve entered. "Did you sleep well?"

Bruno answered in the affirmative as she sat down and placed a basket on the table. "I thought you might like a substantial breakfast seeing as how we'll be busy today." She began to unpack the contents, a heat proof container with freshly cooked scrambled eggs, and another that contained hot toast, as yet un-buttered, a container of juice and a thermos of percolated coffee.

I put the plate of cereal on the floor for Bruno who looked at it as if it was poison before walking back to his bed.

Breakfast over we left the van and walked down the street into the town. Bruno was on his lead, which he didn't mind, but he had placed himself between us. There wasn't a great deal to see in this small town, a supermarket, a service station that dispensed disgustingly high priced fuel to people who would have to pay that price if they wanted to leave, which could explain why there were so many still here, and a couple of small stores that sold souvenirs and bric-a-brac and a bait and tackle shop.

As we walked down the street I couldn't help but notice that everyone we met called Eve by her name and stopped to talk to us. Most of them were on a fishing expedition trying to find out who I was, and I was happy to remain anonymous beyond my name.

"Do you know everyone here? It certainly seems that way."

"Well I have been here for a while."

"How long is a while?"

"Just over a year."

"If you don't mind me asking, what on earth made you come here?"

"Not now, I'll explain it all to you later."

The Bait and Tackle shop was on the shore of the inlet and I watched to see which direction the tide was flowing. It was still coming in. "I think I might see what the fishing is like here this afternoon. I fancy that there might be some flathead here."

"You fancy right. I caught a couple of big duskies yesterday afternoon." The Proprietor, the sign over the door told me his name was Ted, said.

"Did you use bait or a lure?"

"I used a prawn without a sinker and let it drift."

I turned to Eve, "Do you fancy drowning some bait with me after lunch?"

"Sure. I don't have any fishing gear, but if you have any spare then I'm up for it."

"Let's get some lunch then and see what we can catch later."

The three of us sat in the ubiquitous Beer Garden and fought our way through the mound of food that your typical country pub thought you needed to survive. Bruno did well out of the meal, managing to get at least half of my huge, succulent, steak and about two thirds of Eve's.

The fishing was brilliant, after a few lessons on casting, she couldn't bring herself to putting the prawn on the hook, and Eve had caught her first fish, a good sized flathead. I had decided to stick to my tried and true method and was using a brightly coloured soft plastic lure and it wasn't long before I had two quite large fish on the bank. "I think we have enough for a good feed tonight." I said as I took the lure off my line and packed it into my tackle box.

As we walked into the caravan park I turned to Eve, "Which van is yours?"

"Van? Oh I don't have a van."

"But you live here, don't you?"

"Yes, but not in a van, or even a cabin, I own the place."

"You own it?"

"Don't tell me you find that such an amazing fact."

"Well, no, I guess I don't, but now you're really going to have to tell me all about how you happened to be here."

"All right, but let's get these fish cleaned and in the fridge and get a drink, then I'll talk."

Talk she did. And I thought that my life was a disaster. "I told you that I worked for a media company in Sydney, well I started there as a Secretary and a couple of years ago I had worked my way up to be the PA of the CEO, which meant that I had to make sure that he was always where he was supposed to be, when he was supposed to be there, and that he had all the information, that would be quoted in any reports, at his finger tips."

"I should have realised that he was one of those people that did as little as possible and then only if he could gain some benefit from it, the mundane stuff he left to the minions."

"He was charming, thoughtful, he never forgot my birthday and the present was always just what I wanted. I suspected that he got someone else to buy it, just as he got me to buy the presents that he gave his wife. Before you ask, yes I was in love with him, and yes, I slept with him, and yes I dreamed of the day that he when he would leave his wife for me, but that was before I really got to know him."

"But then it all fell apart and I came to realise what a total arsehole he really was. He had asked me to put some of his financial transactions through to Accounts, and what I didn't realise at the time was that they were totally false. The bastard had been transferring funds into a private bank account for his own use, and from there it was shipped off-shore where the company couldn't touch it. But of course, because I put the paperwork through, I got blamed for it. When I confronted him with the facts, thinking that he'd support me, he basically told me that the company couldn't touch him and that I was to be left carrying the can."

"The company tried to pin it on him, they had been watching him for some time, but couldn't, so he was 'let go', the media release stated that he was taking up a position with an un-named media company overseas. Of course they had to fire me as well, but I received a very generous ex-gratia payment from them, under the counter of course, on the understanding that I wouldn't seek employment with one of their rivals."

"Because I had had enough of that industry I decide to take time out and have a holiday and found myself here at a time when the caravan park came onto the market. I had the funds, and it seemed like a good decision at the time, so here I am. And that ends the potted life history of Eve Williams. Your turn."

"I had a successful winery that I inherited from my father. I expanded the business by changing the marketing direction from bulk supply to the local consumer to more boutique styles that would appeal to the more sophisticated palate, and the move worked. The wine industry involved a lot of hard work and many long hours, something had to suffer, and that something were my two rather disastrous marriages."

"My first wife, while the attention we received at wine shows and industry functions appealed to her, that lack of attention when the workload was high, during vintage for instance when I would often put in a twenty hour day, meant that she wasn't the centre of my universe and she always had to be the centre of attention. So she looked for men who would treat her in the manner that she desired. I eventually had enough of it and divorced her."

"Financially I only just survived that, she wanted as much as she could get and I gave it to her just to get rid of her."

"My next disaster I didn't see coming until it was too late. I found out after it was over that I was something of a project for her, she thought that she could change me into being something that I was never going to be, and when that didn't happen she bailed, taking me to the cleaners in the process. I managed to get enough for the winery to meet her financial demands but it left me without the business that I loved, and no job, so here I am. The only things of value that I salvaged from that mess were some good wines that I have in storage and Bruno. He was the winery mascot. He lived in the cellar sales area and if anyone tried to break in at night he would have made a mess of them, but once the doors were opened each day he was the friendly greeter of customers that everyone loved."

"He is my protector whether I need him to be or not, that is why I was surprised at the greeting that you got last night. Normally he won't let a woman get anywhere near me."

"We're a couple of wrecks aren't we?" Eve said, "What are we going to do about it?"

"We have this fish that we caught this afternoon, I suggest that we eat them while they are fresh and see what happens after that."

The Park Manager's residence was a far cry from my barely adequate living quarters. The kitchen was spacious but for some reason Eve and I kept bumping into each other. The living room was large and the sofa huge, but we were seated close to each other watching television, at least the television was on. Bruno was stretched out on a rug in front of us and took no interest in what we were doing.

Eve was looking into my eyes as if to try to read my innermost thoughts. "What?" I asked.

"What I can't work out is, after all that I've been through with the men in my life, and the fact that I swore that I would never get involved with one, ever, I'm sitting here beside you, I've bared my soul to you, and I'm about to go back on everything that I promised myself. It must have been fate that led me to your van last night." Her hand reached out and came to rest gently on my cheek. She turned my head to her and, just before her lips caressed mine I saw tears well up in her eyes.

It wasn't the most passionate kiss I'd ever received, that honour would have to go to my second wife, but it was the most sensuous by a country mile, and it demanded a response. I have had kisses in the past that have left my lips red and puffy after five minutes but Eve's kisses I could have enjoyed all night without any discomfort, not that it lasted all night, it lasted all of a couple of minutes before she fell against me and I could hear her softly sobbing against my chest.

"Tell me I'm not about to make the biggest mistake of my life."

"I can't tell you that because I don't know whether you are or not, all I can say is I feel the same way and that we should let our feelings guide us and go along for the ride. Let's enjoy the trip and if the destination is what we want then that's a bonus."

This time I kissed her, just as softly, and I could feel something stirring inside me, and I don't mean the stirrings in my loins, which was a different matter entirely. Her hand that had been behind my head holding me close released itself and I felt it on my cock. "What have we here?"

"You haven't met Dick have you?"

"No but I feel that I'm about to." She worked the zipper down and introduced herself to Dick, kissing him through the cloth of my shorts. He seemed pleased to meet her, in fact he was straining to meet her. "I think we should adjourn to the bedroom." It wasn't an order, it was more of a suggestion and one that I agreed with.

I held her close to me as we stood at the foot of her huge bed. "I hope that we aren't going to do something tonight that we'll regret in the morning." I whispered between kisses.

In answer Eve undid my trousers and they dropped to the floor. I stepped out of them, and my shorts that were just behind the trousers and she dropped to her knees in front of me. The softness of her kiss was repeated in what she did to my cock. In minutes there was nothing soft about him, he was rearing to go, he was champing at the bit, and then he was shooting his load of cum into her throat. I'd had blow jobs in the past but nothing came close to the one that I'd just been on the receiving end of.

I lifted her up and took off her clothes before I gently laid her on the bed. Her body lay pale in the moonlight that streamed through the curtains, the only dark patches were her nipples and the small tuft of dark hair of her pubes. These patches of darkness became the focus of my attention, she could barely feel the touch of my fingertips, of my tongue, as I explored her. Even so, the feather touch was arousing her, she moaned softly and her body began to writhe under my touch until, with a half scream her back arched and she began to spasm. My finger had just entered her pussy and was rubbing against her clit when all hell broke loose. She grabbed me and pulled me to her, her arms locked around me preventing me from moving until she had subsided.

"Oh my God, I have never felt like that in my life and you haven't even introduced Dick to my pussy. What will happen when you do?"

"There's only one way to find out." Dick was standing at attention ready for duty, so I pointed him in the right direction and left him to it. He touched pussy gently and then moved into her, pausing to get his bearings, after all it had been a while, before proceeding further. He was in no rush, choosing instead to savour each moment, each second, of his journey, I was just along for the ride and what a ride it was. It was a journey like no other that I had ever been on, one that gave me so much pleasure, every single part of me was tingling with excitement, with anticipation, and when the journey was over and I had reached my destination, every fibre of my body had reached that destination. I have never had such an experience as this. This wasn't fucking, this was something else, and intangible experience beyond anything that mere words can describe.