Author's Note: This is a collaborative piece between Brittni4U and Skye_sub. Although published under my name it started as private emails shared between us to amuse only us. We liked the concept so much we decided to make it a real story. We hope you enjoy it as much we do.
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Serenity is a rare frame of mind, but we had found it in that moment, gliding along a pristine river in Canada's unpopulated north. I was completely awestruck not so much at the scenery but at my company. That moment and every subsequent one I'd spent in Britt's company had been nothing short of heaven. This was a shared dream somehow made reality; we were canoeing up in Saskatchewan's north. I couldn't quite understand how life had led me in this direction. Brittni was just 25 but had somehow found her way up north meet me, a woman, ten years her senior. We had been caught in a whirlwind romance ever since we had met online and fallen in love despite ourselves. Neither of us had expected it, but yet there we were.
Our saga had started simply enough, both of us being writers on an online erotica site had met via a mutual friend and fellow writer. Pictures were exchanged along with self introductory correspondences. It was a shock one day, when I realized that I had been a fan of Britt's for quite some time without realizing who she was. However, the emails exchanged between her and I died off quickly when my husband confronted me about my online activity, he disapproved of my writing, said I needed to be home more and furthermore he accused me of being a bad wife. He had never been a very affectionate man, but he withdrew further after this. Our sex life had never been good, but with that; it diminished until it was an exercise, we both performed out of obligation. Anniversaries or date nights were the only time we attempted to reignite our passion, but it was to little avail.
Feeling guilty with my own deficiencies; I tried to be something I wasn't. I stayed home, went to work, cooked meals and cleaned the house. At night I was lonely and sad, but I buried all that deep within myself. I hunkered down in the spare room, wrapping myself in the cold comfort of my sorrow caused by my failed marriage and my own perceived inadequacy. Soon I began to doubt whether I was even attracted to men at all anymore. All my relationships with them seemed to end poorly with me losing interest and feeling alone in a supposed partnership of two. I'd known I was bisexual for years but as my sexual appetite for men waned drastically, I began to question whether I was a lesbian. I couldn't bring myself to believe that though, my relationships with men were based on some real feelings... they just never seemed to last.
Years later, after I had separated from my husband, I wanted to reunite myself with the things that had given me satisfaction in the past. One night while viewing an adult lesbian film online I was instantly reminded of a beautiful blonde girl from California. On a whim, I typed a quick email to Britt in hopes we could collaborate on a writing project. I hadn't expected much. Certainly not that we would fall in love. Yet, while writing together and after many late-night talks, we found ourselves unable to stop thinking of one another. Longing to have something more overtook our thoughts, as we tried to maintain our own separate existences.
We made deals with each other in a vain attempt to abate the intensity of our feelings. It was agreed we wouldn't speak our love aloud with the hope we could banish our need by neglecting the emotion behind it. Contact was limited and yet, neither of us could bring ourselves to cut off our correspondence completely. Since we couldn't halt it all together, our feelings continuously broke through to the surface, until after some time we dove into the depth of the reality of our shared fate. Our emails, were heated, filled with the angst and frustration we felt at our distance, and our undeniable love for each other. I began to think that this must be it; I'd met my soulmate and she couldn't be further away by distance or circumstance. What kind of cruel twist of fate was that?
Eventually, we couldn't hold back anymore, we threw caution to the wind and decided we owe it to ourselves to meet and explore our feelings. So that was how it came to be that Britt and I found ourselves basking in the shared joy of one another's existence. Britt had made the outwardly appearing insane decision to spend a week of her vacation time with me in a remote northern area of Saskatchewan, Canada on a canoe trip. During our late-night talks, I had regaled her with stories of the pristine wilderness I explored in my 20s with my friends. Intrigued by more than the tales, Britt left the comfort of suburban California for the excitement of a real outdoors adventure and the promise of seeing me, her long-distance love.
The day was intensely hot in a way that Britt found discordant with her internal image of Canada. Under the heat of the hot summer sun, we paddled along wearing nothing but bikini bottoms, water shoes and swim sports bras. I was wearing a backwards ball cap to cover my long dark hair. Britt's hair was French braided into two tight pigtails that rested naturally over each shoulder and down the sides of her beautiful face. We were both wearing sunglasses. Upon seeing Britt's stylish large frames, I teased, "Oh hey there Hollywood, are you worried about being recognized by the paparazzi up here?"
Her laughter lit my soul and from my seat at the back of the canoe, I couldn't help but admire in disbelief; the beauty of Britt's natural lithe body as her muscles flexed with each stroke of her paddle. The river was devoid of all human life, but the birds sang from their treetop homes along the riverbed and overhead two eagles soared lazily across the sky in search of their daily meal. The water was crystal clear, and she questioned me as to whether it was actually possible to drink from the river. "Yes, of course babe, I've even done it, but we will play it safe and filter it anyway..." I explained my mouth curling into a sly smile, "Afterall, we wouldn't want to get beaver fever."
Britt laughed thinking it was a joke and added, "Yeah, well... I think we already suffer from that condition..."
"Yeah, you are right about that. Tell me, what would you, a pharmacist, suggest as a cure?"
She laughed and winked back at me over her shoulder. My heart felt like it stopped briefly as I felt a surge of love and desire. Time passed slowly and languidly as our paddles drove us to our destination. Upon arrival, we shored up on a small island that was a common tenting area for canoers passing through the area. Desolate in its beauty, the island was covered in a dense forest of jack pine, spruce and birch. There were grassy clearings near the bedrock lining the river that served as picture perfect scenes to set up the tent.
Eyes wide with wonder, Britt exclaimed, "It is so incredibly beautiful out here. Thank you for bringing me but wow, I'm overheating, I thought it would be much cooler in Canada."
I winked replying, "Canada is all sorts of cool, but we can get real hot too." My voice was dripping with innuendo.
Smiling back, she asked while following my lead perfectly, "Mmmmm, I wonder... How hot can it get?"
I curled my lip up to one side and answered dryly, playing dumb, "About 32 degrees today." While hammering in a stake with the blunt side of a hatchet I continued a little more seriously, "Babe, I am so happy to have you along. I mean... it's so wonderful it doesn't even feel real. It feels euphoric really... like maybe we are just dreaming, and this perfect weather only seems to fit that rationale. I mean... this far up north it usually isn't this hot. Anything above 30 degrees is an anomaly. Maybe you brought some Cali sun with you, along with the other half of my heart."
