The next day at work brought bad news. A last minute business trip to Frankfurt meant their hike would now happen a couple of weeks later than arranged. As it turned out both were consumed by work so really he hadn't thought that much about her until the days immediately before their hike. He hoped he hadn't understated the strenuousness of the trail. As he pictured her in his mind's eye he recalled that she was a little on the small side but yet not petite. Not quite athletic looking, she had said she'd liked hiking, which he found a little hard to believe. He looked forward to encouraging her to go ahead of him on some ascents to gauge her agility and savour her attractiveness without being detected. He recalled how he had touched her arm and longed to explore more of her. But he was pulled back from his fantasy with thoughts of practicalities. Beyond hiking what did they have in common; how should he let her know he liked her and more importantly what if she rejected him. Yet still his growing excitement brushed his doubts to one side.
And now it was Sunday morning. He'd gone into the office the day before to tie up all the week's loose ends so that he could focus fully on their hike. He'd only been to the trail he'd told her about once before and when he had gone he'd left out later than he'd hoped to meaning that he raced through it in order to finish before nightfall. He knew he hadn't really paid as much attention to his surroundings as he would have liked to and perhaps today would be no different.
Their journey north was uneventful. They talked about traffic and weather and work which was fine by him as he could switch to auto-pilot as he surreptitiously noted every inch of her. Though seated he was still able to gaze down at her without her being detected. Even better, she took in all of the scenery from her side of the car, her head turned away from him for a good deal of the journey. Politely she had asked if she could put her feet on the dashboard. Her perfect toes were topped with hot pink nails. He wondered whether they'd feel as hot as they looked with his lips wrapped around them. He imagined lightly sucking on them, tonguing and blowing on them; moving upwards between her satiny legs pausing only to anoint the backs of her knees with kisses. She was wearing a totally inappropriate wraparound skirt and a pale vest that accentuated her dark skin and was fitted enough to cling to the curve of her breasts which, he happily observed were what he considered the ideal size for all kinds of enjoyment. The seat belt dipped between them, a place he longed to be. Her hair was piled high atop her head exposing a long slim neck. Again his imagination got the better of him as he peppered it with kisses, flicks and long strokes of his tongue.
Thankfully his erotic reverie and physical arousal were arrested by their arrival at their destination. They sat side-by-side on the tailgate of his car, and booted up. He still couldn't figure out why she'd worn a skirt. She then proceeded to hold forth on victorian hikers and international women's day. He was only half listening as he was keen to show her the delights of the region and hopefully she'd reciprocate. The first half an hour was pretty easy going. As he had planned he let her lead. In previous encounters with women he'd gotten very physical, very fast. But this time around he simply enjoyed spending time with her. Watching her, noticing new things about her. He was prepared to wait to see how things would pan out. In fact he wasn't sure how to proceed. Surprisingly she climbed with ease in the skirt, there was no breeze so it hung limply around her calves. Every now and again an upward lunge would expose a compact calf which rippled as she transferred her weight from rear to front leg. She carried a small day bag so whilst her back was obscured he could just make out her shoulders and the toned muscles around the base of her neck. Her ebony skin entranced him. It looked cool to the touch and he longed to find out. Once again he felt those familiar gentle surges of blood flow and was happy to enjoy the feeling, but even so he decided to go ahead of her to ensure she wouldn't turn back at any time and notice his erection. Subconsciously he knew she wouldn't be able to see anything but after an embarrassing classroom episode aged fourteen he lived in fear of people's gazes falling to his crotch.
Gallantly he'd pause and wait for her at tricky points offering a hand to help her up. At one particularly steep point he pulled her up a little too enthusiastically and he found himself sandwiched between a tree trunk and her taut torso. He was as sure she could feel his arousal against her as he could feel her pert nipples against his chest. It should have been an awkward moment but there was a look about her. Her body said 'proceed'. He looked around, needing a diversion from the situation he found himself in and he there it was. It was the same forked path he'd encountered the last time. 'Okay we take the right path and after about 30 minutes we'll be at the top.'
Fifty minutes later and he was apologising profusely as they had been traversing level terrain since they passed the fork. Although she was eager to reach the summit she'd also been enjoying the journey and was in no hurry for it to come to an end. Her skin glowed with the exertion of keeping up with him. She tucked the sides of her skirt into the waistband of her skirt exposing more of her smooth bright black skin. The air was close and stifling. She wanted to stop but there wasn't so much as a stump to rest on. A little way on she could make out shafts of light pouring in through the canopy so they agreed to press on and then stop to get their bearings.