Her First Castle

"Are you sure you don't need some time to rest? Aren't you jet-lagged?" Diane loved hearing Paul's voice with that charming British accent of his, and how it made him sound so smart and sincere. Of course, he really was smart and sincere, so that helped, but she could melt for that accent any day of the week.

"No, Paul, the key to beating jet lag is: as soon as you step on the plane, you adjust your inner clock to the Time Zone that you're going to. Even if you have to drink coffee to stay up late, or take a pill to go down early. Then it's not so bad. So, where are you taking me?" It wasn't her American accent per se, he wasn't as enthralled with accents as some people he knew. No, it was the funny way she'd pronounce certain words that made it so enjoyable talking with her.

"We're going to take a tour of Tintagel Castle. I've packed a little picnic for our lunch while we're there, and we can talk about what all you'd like to do while you're here."

"A castle? Oh Paul, that's so exciting. I've always wanted to see a real castle."

"Well, don't get too excited. Tintagel is nearly 900 years old, and it isn't a castle like you're used to seeing in films or telly. It's mostly ruins now. I just wanted to take you to it because it's the only castle that is officially tied to King Arthur, and I know how much you love the Camelot stories. Maybe in a couple of days, I'll take you to this other castle that's not too far away. It's more... intact, and, frankly, it's beautiful. But I thought this would be a nice, easy way to start your week."

"A picnic at a castle? Paul, you are a charmer."

Just then, a car approached from the other direction, and they passed each other going much too fast and much too close for Diane's taste. She let out an audible gasp.

"Diana, are you all right?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's just... jet lag is nothing, but these narrow streets, and driving on the wrong side of the road? That's going to take some getting used to."

He smiled and patted her knee. "Hopefully, you'll stick around long enough for you to get used to it."

The rest of the drive was uneventful, but all through the tour Paul kept an eye on Diane, gauging her mood. Although the history was fascinating, it really was just a walk among ruins to Paul, and he hoped she wasn't disappointed here.

On the other hand, he thought, the pretty tour guide with her posh accent had a world of knowledge, and she was really selling it, trying to keep the enthusiasm up. He thought that might help patch over anything Diane might feel was lacking.

But today Diane wasn't walking among ruins, she was strolling in the footsteps of history, and doing everything she could not to show that she was absolutely giddy as a schoolgirl. Diane hung on the tour guide's every word; How it was built in the 12th century as a palace, and the walls kept being fortified over and over again over the years until, in some places the walls had swelled to 3 feet thick, maybe more.

And then, when that cute little Guenevere of a tour guide started in on the Arthurian legends? Diane's feet were no longer touching the ground. She felt as if she were merely a toy balloon drifting along after the tour group. Finally, the guide led them to a small walking bridge.

"This part of the tour is over, so if you will all please follow me across the bridge. This new bridge was built to connect the two parts of Tentagil Castle. Over there, we can enjoy our bag lunches, picnics, and such. I encourage you to walk around, take pictures, and I'll be nearby if anyone has any questions. Everyone ready? Right then, this way."

Diane was more than a little apprehensive about the bridge. Although it was only a few years old, and it looked like it was made of sturdy metal, it was awfully narrow, and she was sure she could see it swaying in the wind.

"Hey Paul. I'm not so sure about this bridge thing. It looks a little, uhhh..."

"Now look," he said, "This has been a heavily fortified castle for 900 years, and you heard the tour guide. They expect it to last at least another 300, at least. Do you think they'd really put anything less than the strongest bridge they could possibly build to join the two halves of this magnificent Castle? I tell you what, you walk in front of me, and I'll keep my arms around you and make sure you don't fall."

"All right, that's a deal I can live with." Diane said, as she turned and started slowly making her way across the bridge, her footing was a little unsure as the bridge began to slightly sway in the wind. Diane could feel Paul's arms on either side of her shoulders, steadying her, protecting her, holding her. She could feel his biceps, even through his jacket, and thought that the castle walls weren't the only thing heavily fortified around here.

On the other side of the bridge, Diane could not believe her eyes at the amazing view of the ocean. She pulled out her camera started snapping pictures. Channeling her inner photographer, she tried for shots and angles that included the crumbling castle walls and that beautiful ocean as a backdrop. Meanwhile, Paul unpacked their lunch and opened the bottle of wine.

As they finish their sandwiches, (and most of the wine), Diane couldn't help but notice that it was getting windy, cloudy, and chilly very quickly.

"Don't worry, Diane, I know the weather around here. It's just a small storm coming in. It'll blow over in just a few minutes."

But inside, he was kicking himself, thinking that the weather was one thing he hadn't planned on. He had checked the weather, no rain storms were expected, so he had left his umbrella in the car. Just then, the clouds opened up, and the rain came down harder and faster than could be expected.

They left the picnic basket, and started running towards the ruins of the second half of the castle to see if they could find some semblance of shelter for awhile. Very quickly they did, indeed, discover a semi-hidden room with the ceiling still miraculously intact. The doorway was hidden, aimed at a tight corner, and Paul couldn't believe their luck in finding it. It was a fairly narrow room, but long. He figured that it had been used to store armaments, but it was a pretty cool place to ride the storm out.

Turning to Diane, he saw that she was on the verge of shivering. He opened his coat, inviting her to step in and share the warmth. And, as she did, he closed his coat around her and clasped his hands behind her. The snuggling led to hugging, which led to rocking back and forth like they were slow dancing at a school prom. The slow dancing soon led to kissing, and their hands running up and down each other's body, ostensibly for warmth. He began to kiss his way down to her neck and she moaned in delight.

But she wasn't at some high school dance. She was no longer that fragile young teenage flower. Now, she was a full-grown, independent woman, who was not afraid to go after what she wanted. Diane put her arms in front of her to create some space between her and Paul.

He suddenly realized that he had been lost in the moment, probably going too far, too fast for Diane, so began preparing an apology in his head. But when Paul looked at Diane's face, she didn't look upset at all. In fact, she had a quiet, mischievous smile on her face and he had no idea what that meant. Not yet, anyway. Diane locked eyes with Paul, and slowly sank down to her knees in front of him. Although their eyes stayed together, Paul's eyebrows raised higher than she had ever seen on anyone and she had to stifle a laugh. She unbuckled his belt and pulled down the zip, slowly enough to enjoy the sound.

This is what she called her Goldilocks moment. Diane knew that you can never tell what you're going find when you reach into a man's pants. Some men are too small (awww). Some men are too big (ouch). But as Diane fished for Paul's member, and brought it out for a formal introduction, her mind felt a sigh of relief, because, thank God, this one was just right (yay). She kissed her new friend hello, and it promptly turned into British Steel, and that made her giggle a little, but he really did get that hard that fast.

As she stood up, she reached under her skirt and quickly dropped the panties to the ground, and backed up one step, two, three, until her shoulders met the ancient stone wall. Oh good, she thought, I'm about to be between a cock and a hard place. Sometimes, that's a great place to be.

He kissed her deeply, and she could feel his hunger. Wasting no time, she captured him with her legs, wrapping them around him, back against the wall for balance, legs around his body for support. As he entered her, she cried out, involuntarily, realizing that this is what it was all for, all the long distance communications, the airports, the plans, the planes, everything. It was all for this, and this is what she needed, and she needed it now.

This was not slow, emotional love-making. There would be time for that later. But right now, this was heat, this was passion, this was guttural, this was need. Paul began thrusting, grunting, pounding into her. Feeling the stone at her back, she was grateful for all the battles this castle had seen, all the repairs, all the improvements. She was grateful for the fortified stone wall at her back, because, with the way Paul was pounding inside her, with any lesser wall, he would have driven her straight through it.

And when it came, that moment, when They came, when neither of them could breathe in or out, they looked at each other, searching each others' faces, asking, hoping for something real, something true.

And, as their breath returned, Diane was certain she heard an old fashioned police whistle, familiar to her from so many, many British movies. The faintly muffled voice of the tour guide announced that it was time to leave. Only then did he realize that, quite to his surprise, he had been right, the rain had stopped. It really was just a quick summer squall, blown to shore from the open sea.

It only took moments for them to put their picnic basket back together and head for the exit, thanking the posh tour guide as they passed.

They made their way back to the car in silence, neither knowing quite what to say, afraid they might spoil the moment.

But once they reached the car, before he could unlock the door, she summoned her courage.

"Paul? You said that there's another castle you wanted to take me to?"

"Oh, yes, absolutely," he said, opening her door, "You're going to love it."

"You know, I believe I will. I think I'm going to like it here. Except for one thing."

"What's that?"

"Well, these trips are going to get expensive if I keep leaving my knickers behind."