Sandy leaned back against the trunk of the tree and breathed in a deep lung full of the fragrant air. The perfume of fir trees and wildflowers drifted through her senses mingled with the tang of living things and the musk of moist earth. She curled her toes in the soft dirt beneath her and opened her eyes to stare up into the thick growth of trees that ran all the way to the sides of the mountains until they vanished just before the snowy peaks. Lazy drifts of clouds twined through the high clefts of the mountain tops and skirted the few pines and firs growing close to the summit.
Looking up it was easy to believe she was alone and that this wilderness was all that surrounded her, it was easy to believe until she cast her glance over her shoulder. Below her the town bustled, on the outskirts of Boulder the small town was set into the beauty of the mountains just as most towns were around here. There wasn't anything wrong with the town or with civilization itself but lately Sandy felt further and further from them, longing only to remain in her rented cabin and hide from the world. College at the University of Colorado at Boulder was proving stimulating and informative but it was hard to concentrate being on the edge of the Roosevelt National Forest and feeling that the very air breathed around her. Her parents had rented her the small cabin here on the hillside as a reward for her scholarship to the University, in truth Sandy believed they just wanted her gone so they could brag about her in their social circles. In the end it had all worked out well, she lived off campus in the quaint two bedroom cabin and commuted to school in the Honda CR-V she had purchased with money she'd saved from after school jobs and many a birthday check put into savings. The four wheel drive SUV was a necessity here in winter.
Sandy laid her cheek against her knees and watched a hawk skim the field nearby trying to flush an unlucky rabbit or mouse from its hiding place. The weather was still mild during the day and only the nights foreboding chill reminded residents that winter was not far off. Sandy was fairly oblivious to the subtle bite of cold in the air, she sat against the tree in nothing but her cutoff shorts and a tight tube top as though she were at the beach instead of the mountains. Classes had been boring today and Sandy had spent most of her time doodling in her notebook as opposed to listening to the lecture on a topic she already knew inside and out. Her grades were never a problem so most of her professors overlooked her obvious lack of attention in class they all knew she was one of the most intelligent students at the school. Sandy was not only intelligent she had grown quite beautiful over the last four years. Her form had always been slender and now in her twenty second year it had gained the womanly curves that turned heads wherever she went. Her small breasts had swelled moderately into full c-cups and were quite firm and perky. She exercised constantly, running, hiking, climbing and anything else she could find to get her blood pumping. Her lithe body was tanned deep bronze and well muscled for her efforts. Her brown hair was layered with golden highlights that had been enhanced by her time spent in the sun and her hazel eyes were flecked with green. All of these traits made her eye catching and desirable. She did not lack for attention at school, attention from both classmates and her professors as well, but their attentions went either unrewarded or unnoticed by Sandy.
Sandy curled her toes in the dirt again before standing up and heading inside to consider her dinner options. She was far from a health food guru, in fact most of the time she bordered on downright piggish in her eating habits. It was hard to convince her that the food groups were not, potato chips, cheese fries, steak, and popcorn. Were it not for her fanatic outdoors activities she fully believed she would plump up to the size of the Goodyear blimp. Sandy paused and eyeballed the calendar before she went to the freezer and removed two large steaks. Darkness was setting fast outside and a chill wind was descending from the mountains when she tossed the meat onto the grill. She stood there staring into the flames as she watched the meat cook, waiting for it to caramelize and need to be flipped. The light from the fire was the only light left when his arms encircled her waist from behind and even though she knew he would come, she jumped despite herself.
"William!" she shrieked. "You jerk you nearly made me pee myself! How many times have I asked you to quit doing that whole sneaking around thing!"
"But if I quit sneaking around I wouldn't be me." He grinned down at her before eyeing the grill. "Besides you knew I was coming!"
"Maybe I was going to eat them both." Sandy smirked as she pulled the steaks off the fire and shut off the gas. William was dressed in the loose fitting t-shirt and stone washed jeans they kept hidden in a hollow tree just inside the woods so that reports of a naked man prowling around the cabin wouldn't circulate through the town.
"What and deny me the pleasure of your culinary expertise?"
"Oh shove it." Sandy strode into the cabin to put the food on the table.
William chuckled and followed her into the house. He set the table as she brought out a salad, rolls, and baked potatoes to go with the steaks. Sandy poured herself a glass of Diet Pepsi and poured a glass of iced tea for William before she sat down in front of her plate.
"So how is school?" William inquired.
"About the same as always," Sandy cut her steak and dressed her potato. "I'm ahead of the class in the book and the lectures rarely bring any information I haven't researched on my own. The conclusions of the professors and other students always seem to take a decided slant toward a specific political train of thought though they all deny it vehemently when called on it. It's difficult to find an un-biased opinion anywhere these days though."
William chuckled. Politics never interested him despite reminding him very much of the power plays within packs of wolves and dogs, in the end it was always just a fight over the bitch or the beef. In humans cases it was nearly the same except it was a fight over the woman or the money, same difference as far as William could tell. He glanced across the table at Sandy as she spoke about her school and what she was learning, his attention was not on her words or the food he was mechanically eating but instead was totally on her. It had been nearly a month since he'd last been able to sit at the table with her and he could not deny he was hungry for something much more than food. Sandy was rattling on about mathematics and biology as William sat there and explored her with his senses. His eyes roved over the flat belly and firm swell of her breasts, delighting every time she moved and offered a new perspective of them to him. He could smell her fresh clean scent from across the table but he could also smell much more then just that. He caught the scent of her arousal, always present when he was nearby, as well as the smell of her sweat, light and earthy over her skin. He knew she'd been sitting by the pine tree today from the heavy scent of it in her hair and the few scattered needles clinging to stray locks. It was sheer wonderful torture to sit so close to her and yet be separated from her by the table.
After dinner William helped Sandy clear the dishes and wash them as well as to put away the leftovers.
"How was the park?" Sandy smiled at him.
"Wonderful," William grinned at her. "The deer are thick this season; I have a feeling that the park rangers may have to do some population control this year. Most of the bears are seeking our winter dens, squirrels are hiding their bounty of nuts, and the whole park is winding down for the year and getting ready for the onslaught of winter."
