The hotel wasn't what might be considered upmarket but it had character. There were shutters to the sides of the windows and ivy vines crawled all over the walls. The hanging baskets adding more colour to the overall effect offering a kind of french feel to the place.
As Rance and Ria walked through the arched front door ducking to avoid the vines they bumped heads, laughing while walking past the front desk. Giving them a wry smile as they passed, the receptionist watched them all the way up the stairs, jealousy consuming her.
"So, what books have you written that I might have read?" Ria asked him.
Rance gave a little chuckle. "I think you've read them all. I had them all in the cabin amongst others."
"You're kidding! Most of those books were yours? I honestly thought you were struggling to write your first."
"Nope. I write as Tom Phelps which is probably why you didn't put it all together." Rance held her hand. "You should sit down because I need to tell you everything about me."
Ria didn't like this. She liked Rance when he was just a regular Terrance the woodsman, not a rich Tom the wealthy author.
He explained. "Look, I've been writing for fifteen years. In total I've written 35 books. Some were complete tripe but a few were scorching successes which made me wealthy. We weren't a wealthy family. As you know I was born in the cabin and brought up there for the first few years of my life, that's all we had. My mother decided that we needed to get out of the wilderness so she moved out here to Ignace. She got a job at a diner, saving as much money as she could to get a place big enough for us. My father was a hard man, not nasty, just hard. He taught me how to look after myself out in the wilds." Rance held her hand while he explained his story.
"When my mother got enough money together, we came down to join her but that was three years later. Our apartment was sparsely furnished but compared to the cabin it was a palace. I had my own room for the first time in eight years. My father felt lost when we came down here. Eventually we moved to Marchant Falls where my father started working as a mechanic and my mother started working at an office. I was taken to the office each day and taught to read and write by my mother's boss. I didn't do any other learning. All I know is reading and writing. I read as many books as I could. My mother had romance novels so I read them. My father had workshop manuals so I read those too."
Ria was entranced by his outpouring of truth. The story wasn't magnificent or grand but the complete normality of it was what made it interesting.
"I started to write immature scribbling from the age of 11. They were mainly fantasy adventure stories, not great but they were good practice for my art. Every spare moment I got, I wrote. The older I got the better my ability became. At the age of eighteen I penned my first novel, and it was well received. It earned us enough to buy a modest little house just around the corner from the house we rented in Marchant Falls. We still visited the cabin every now and then but it was rare since it's quite a way out. When I was 20 my mother died. My father slowly withdrew, becoming more and more distant. He left the town and went back up to the cabin, it was all he really knew. I saw him every now and then when I went out to visit. I went up there one day and found him dead on the trap line. He'd been out there a while. He was really only recognisable by his clothing."
Ria shed a tear. "I'm sorry babe. You don't have to go through this again if you don't want to."
He continued. "It's ok. It was the way he wanted to live and the way he wanted to die. I don't feel sorry for him because it was his choice, it was the way he preferred to live, and die. I reported his death to the ranger and they gave me permission to bury him out there where he was happiest. I was alone at 24 in the house I'd bought with the money I made from my first book. I used the loss of my parents as inspiration for my next book. That one didn't do so well and was slated by critics. That hurt. I tried again and while I was writing that one I met Helen. She loved nature so when I suggested she join me up at the cabin she jumped at the chance. She loved it up at Echo springs."
The memories were beginning to bring out emotions about his past that he hadn't really thought about in years. A few times he had to stop to compose himself before he could continue.
"My books were selling fairly well and we had an income that meant we didn't need to worry. We spent lots of time up at the cabin each year until four years ago when the accident happened. I averaged about four books a year, and usually one would do really well while the other three ticked over. When Helen died I had a large insurance pay-out. Added to the money I'd made from writing I had a good bank balance so I bought my current house in Marchant Falls and treated myself to a nice car. I guess I was trying to cheer myself up after all the losses I'd suffered. It didn't work. I still have plenty of money and I have a feeling my new story is going to be a good one. After all, it is about you."
Ria placed her head against his. "I wish you'd have told me this before we got down here."
"I really wanted to, there didn't seem to be a good time or a good way to start, but you know now."
"So you're rich and have a nice house in Marchant Falls which you say is a safe and lovely town. If you had peace there why visit the cabin to write?"
Rance thought about it for a few seconds. "Probably because the place gives me a lot of inspiration. It's an adventure being out there. Not knowing where your next meal is coming from or what it's going to be. Dealing with life and death situations brings lots of ideas, but then this year I decided I wasn't going to leave the cabin. I was going to finish the story and leave it as a suicide note/memoir."
The air between them had become tense. It was the first time since meeting that they'd felt any tension. It was strange to think that his life story could cause that much discomfort but there it was. "I'm sorry I felt different about you when you showed me your car. It shouldn't have had that effect, or rather I shouldn't have let it have that effect, but I was put on the back foot by the surprise of it. I still feel the same way about you. You are still the same man and nothing has changed for me."
"I hope you still feel the same when we get to Marchant Falls!" He lifted her hand and kissed it. "That might be a shock to the system too."
"As long as I still have my Rance I don't care. We could be broke and I'd still love you."
He stood pulling her up with him, kissing her as she reached her full height. He held her tight as if to tell her he was never going to let her go. She smiled as he gave her a squeeze. "We should probably get some sleep. We have a long journey tomorrow and we'll probably need to take driving in shifts."
"You want me to drive your Porsche?" She asked a little panicked at the thought of damaging it.
"You can drive can't you?" He asked sarcastically.
With her sharp eyes cursing him she said. "Yes of course but you might regret it."
He laughed and they kissed. The kiss started light and lovingly but the longer they kissed the more passionate they became. Rance untucked her T-shirt and lifted it over her head, quickly unhooking her bra. She threw it to the floor before unbuttoning his pants and taking his shirt off. His pants dropped, stepping out of them as he unbuttoned hers he carried on kissing her. They were in a frenzy of lust as they were impatient to get at each other. Soon they were naked, stroking, feeling, fondling each other. Ria backed to the bed with Rance following. She moved backwards across the bed as he crawled along following her like she was trying to escape a wild beast and he, torturing his prey.
Soon there was no space left for her to escape to so he began to feed on her, his lips and tongue sucking and tasting her skin, his teeth gently gnawing at her neck and ears. Rather than beating this beast away she was welcoming him by stroking him, arousing his animal within. Working his way down from her neck he nipped and nibbled down to her breasts where he enjoyed taking his time. Ria moaned in delight at his slow progress as it built a fire in her loins.
He continued his course down her belly as his hands stayed with her breasts, until he reached her pubis. Always the woodsman, he felt most at home in the forest and it was no different when he was with Ria. He revelled in playing here before taking his prize. Ria was squirming with tortured relish wanting him to stop teasing but also wanting to make the torture last longer. Rance moved his rough hands down her soft body to her legs and under.
As his hands slipped under her legs she lifted them. As soon as she did Rance moved south to her glistening diamond mine, where he excavated for her hidden treasure. The more his tongue bored the more treasure she gave, her precious liquid the price for her pleasure. Her hands were strongly pulling at Rance's hair, wanting more and more of his mining expertise as he quarried. Before long she was feeling the familiar sensation of her orgasm approaching. He'd placed his charges and all he needed to do was push her button. He dredged her channel until his tongue made contact with her detonator and off went the explosion.
He continued to enjoy her as she wallowed in her deep climax allowing her treasure to be gathered by Rance. Once her orgasm subsided, she pulled him up to kiss her and tasted his diamond encrusted lips. He entered her and carried on where his tongue had left off. "Rance?" She paused, waiting for his attention. "Would you really want a child with me?"
A dreamy look spread across his face. "I'd have an army of children with you, but one is fine to begin with."
She kissed him as she scratched his buttocks with her nails. "Let's do it!" She said with a steely look of determination in her eyes. "I want your baby!"
He rocked his pelvis as his lips locked with hers. She was gently biting his lower lip to stop him disengaging from the kiss. Her nails causing raised red marks on his back as he thrust into her. Her belly raised and fell in time with each thrust as if being inflated and deflated, the cadence of his motion increasing with his state of arousal. Ria was loud, almost screaming in ecstasy as he reached his crescendo. He pushed deep and she felt him pulse as he emptied his essence into her.
Lips clinched tightly and eyes staring at each other. Rance made a funny little noise as he momentarily shivered. Ria giggled and so did Rance. "That was amazing." They said simultaneously.
Even after six weeks of doing almost nothing but being together, they still couldn't get enough of each other. If anything was going to test them it would have been their close proximity in the cabin.
Rance dismounted and slid into bed behind Ria. Their favourite thing was to fall asleep together on their left sides with him spooning behind her as they had done on that first fateful night.
They did it like a rehearsed move. Soon they were both in a deep and satisfying sleep.
The next morning Rance woke early. The light trickled through the slightest gaps between the curtains. They hadn't moved all night. Ria felt so warm against his chest, belly, groin and legs. He kissed the long scar on her shoulder bade as he grew erect. Her head moved back so she could look at him in the murky light. "Good morning soldier." She offered.
"Good morning my lady." He countered.
