“Oh. I’m so sorry” said John, shocked at her openness.
“Its ok.” She replied giving John a gentle smile. “My parents grew up just here, they lived all their lives in the hills. We were such a happy family.”
John looked down at Heather lying on the rock. Previously her nakedness had been a sign of strength, like an Amazonian princess ready for battle. But now there was a fragile vulnerability to her.
“They raised me like this” continued Heather, “as my grandmother raised my mother, to live in harmony with nature, naked and free. She grew up here like me, running naked across the hills, By all accounts she hated getting dressed to go to school as much as I did. ”
Heather smiled at the memory of her mother before continuing,
“She knew my father from a very young age. Their parents were friends, and so they grew up together. They used to tell me stories of how they'd run off for the day to play in the hills and leave their clothes under a rock, not coming back for them until hours later.”
Again she smiled at the thought.
“As young kids they used to just play and swim together, but as teenagers, well, you can imagine what they were getting up to” she said, this time with a laugh. “I guess they loved each other from a very young age.”
“They embraced nature”, she continued, “they loved everything that was natural and devoted their lives to it. They went to university together, my mum studied biology and my dad did environmental science, they wanted to understand everything about nature that they could.”
“They sound an amazing pair” said John.
“Yes, they were” said Heather. “They both became brilliant scientists, by the time they had me in their late twenties, they'd made quite a bit of money from some of their research, enough to allow them to do other things with their time.”
“What things?” asked John.
“They hated people who messed with the environment” she said, “and they did a lot of research on the effects on the local wildlife of chemical toxins used in some local industries. They were quite successful in getting some changes made to local environmental laws.”
Heather stopped and sighed, the happy memories of her childhood coming back to her.
“They were wonderful parents” she said as a smile radiated over her face. “They raised me as they were raised, to love and respect nature. We all lived a naturist life, never wearing clothes, always out walking, climbing, studying the beauty and wonder of nature. We were so used to living naked we could hike naked even in winter, although we would wear shoes if it was wet”
“I like them more and more!” said John.
“They were great” she said, her smile widening.
“Were? What happened to them?”
“My dad became obsessed with another local issue” Heather said, as her voice became sad and empty. “Have you heard of Taibhseil Island?” she asked.
“No, never” he replied.
“Its an island just off the coast about ten miles from here.” said Heather, gesturing in the direction of the sea. “It was used to test biological weapons in the 1950s, like Gruinard Island was to test Anthrax in the 40s. Its been uninhabitable since and under quarantine, but my dad decided he wanted to investigate it and find out if it could be decontaminated.”
“Was it safe to go there?”
“He wasn't sure, but he went one night to take samples from the shore. He said they were all clear and couldn't understand it, so one night he went with my mum to go back.” Heather paused for a breath before continuing. “I never saw them again.”
“What happened, was there an accident?” asked John.
Heather didn't answer right away. Instead, she reached out and took John's hand, holding it tightly for reassurance before continuing.
“We never found out. There was an investigation, but as the place was under quarantine, the attitude was that they brought it on themselves. No one was even allowed on the island to investigate.” Her voice began to drift off, becoming soft and weak as she began to wipe tears from her eyes. John, unsure of how to offer her more comfort, nervously placed his hand on her shoulder. As he did so, she turned and offered him a weak smile before sitting up and placing her arm around him. She lowered her head against his chest as she continued.
“I was fifteen years old at the time. Just old enough for the social services to leave me alone once my grandmother said she'd be my legal guardian”
“What did you do then?”
“I followed my parent's example. Their research and some patents left me with a decent income, so I did a degree by distance learning so I could continue their work.”
Heather sat up now, but still kept hold of John's hand as she continued her story.
“I even did a PhD, doing all the research up here” she said with a sense of pride, “you should really call me Doctor Heather” she said with a smile.
“Wow, I'm impressed”, said John, his eyebrows raised. “Brains and beauty” he said without thinking.
“Aw, thanks sweetie” Heather replied with a smile and a squeeze of his hand.
“No, sorry...” he stammered, feeling awkward and nervous about what he'd said. Heather just smiled and giggled a little.
“Don't say sorry” she told him. “it was such a sweet thing to say.” John just smiled nervously back at her, his feeling of stupidity rising within him. He turned his face to avoid eye contact with Heather, but she wasn't going to let him hide from her that way. She leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on his cheek.
He hadn't expected this, and his head spun round in surprise to face her. She put her hand on his cheek to gently hold his face so she could look him in the eye.
“Thank you” she said, in an earnest tone.
“What for?” he asked.
“For listening.” she replied. “And for understanding. And for being yourself.” She smiled slightly before continuing. “And for the brains and beauty comment. That was very cute of you.”
Without thinking, Heather leaned forward very slightly, inviting him to kiss her. But his confidence wasn't enough and he just lowered his head slightly. As he did, Heather just kissed his forehead and embraced him tightly.
“Thank you” she said in a quiet voice as she broke away from the embrace.
“You already said that” he said. “No need to thank me, I'm just glad you feel able to talk to me.”
Heather looked at him, a contented smile on her face. Her eyes glanced up and down his body as he sat perched on the rock. She found she was becoming more and more impressed with this man. She thought how he had been tender, caring and understanding with her. She thought about how at no point had he acted inappropriately. He had held an emotionally upset naked woman in his arms and he had been the perfect gentleman. Heather didn't think there were many men who would do the same. She decided she wanted to be more than friends with this man
“What is it?” John asked as he watched her staring at him.
“Do you like me?” she asked in response.
John looked confused, unsure what she meant.
“Yes or no” she added with a smile.
“Yes” he said, “yes I do”, showing a hint of confidence in his answer.
“Good” she replied, nodding for several seconds before continuing, “I like you too. Maybe I could like you a lot. How does that sound?”
John felt unable to answer, his inexperience with women had left him completely confused as to what she meant. Heather decided not to worry about an answer, and stood up and held out her hand to him.
“C'mon” she said. “It'll be dark soon, we'd better get back.”
As the sky turned golden with the sunset, the two of them walked back down, hand in hand. A friendship had been born on that hillside, a bond of trust created between them. By sharing her inner self with him, Heather had won John's trust, and as they approached the stream, this trust was to reward both of them. The pool they had dived into was in front of them and
John walked towards the edge.
“I fancy a last swim, do you?” said John.
“Mmmmm, sounds fun” replied Heather, her sense of fun returning.
John stepped onto the rocks on the edge and once again almost slipped. Pulling himself back he laughed nervously before pulling off his t shirt and throwing it to the side. As he stood there in his shorts, turning his back on Heather to face the water, he slipped his shorts off and stepped back onto the rocks, holding his footing this time. For a moment he felt the first taste of the freedom that comes with being naked in nature, a freedom Heather lived her life by, and he liked the taste of it. He leapt into the water, screaming with happiness all the way down. Picking up his clothes, Heather walked down the grass slopes at the side before dropping John’s clothes on the bank and diving in. She swam up to John and faced him.
“Thank you for listening,” said Heather, “I don’t often get to talk about it.”
“Thanks for feeling you could share that with me” replied John, “if you don’t mind, I might share some things with you as well sometime.”
“Anytime, sweetie, anytime” Heather replied, her usual warm smile slowly returning to her face. She kissed her hand and placed it against his cheek and John shivered slightly in realization at how much he’d changed in just a day.
“Race you back to the house”, said Heather as she jumped from the water, but John stopped. Despite the imminent nightfall, he suddenly felt vulnerable in his nudity and didn’t want to take a step further.
“What’s wrong” Heather asked.
“Not them,” he said, “I’m not ready for them to see me yet. Just you.” Heather nodded and walked towards him.
“So you’re getting dressed now?” she asked.
“Yes”, replied John. “I’m sorry.”
“You never have to say sorry for who you are” replied Heather with her usual smile now fully returned. “Not to me. Now get your clothes on so I can race you back!”
John sat up in Heather’s bed. He was getting ready to sleep naked for the first time in his life. Heather sat on the bed gazing at him at they shared a last drink before sleeping.
“Are you sure you’ll be ok outside?” John asked, “I brought a tent, so I’ll be fine outside.”
“I wouldn’t hear of it”, laughed Heather, “I’ll head up to that rock we talked on, I often sleep up there.”
“I can’t believe you sleep outside” said John, shaking his head and smiling.
“Well, that’s progress”, said Heather, “this morning you probably wouldn’t have believed I would sleep naked!” She finished with a laugh, but John just smiled.
“I think you’re going to be really good for me” said John, “but I don’t want anything to go wrong.”
Heather looked at him and smiled. “Let's take it slowly, just friends at first. No problems, no hassles, and we'll see what happens, okay?”
“Okay,” replied John, “thanks. I’d like that.”
As Heather turned out the bedside light and left the room, John watched her slender figure in the shadows as she walked out the door. John felt his whole body melting and a wonderful feeling of warmth come over him. He thought he was falling in love with Heather.
Chapter 5
Three tents clung to the hillside amongst the boulders, their dull green colours blending almost perfectly with the surrounding mountains. For the three students it had been a wonderful place to live for past four weeks. Each day had been an adventure for them, up at dawn for a day's field work for their final thesis, then a night of camp fires and wilderness living. But now they had finished. It was their final night out here before their return to civilisation and Helen, Bill and David were relaxing in the hot evening sun, satisfied in their achievements. With the camp fire dying and their food all eaten, the three friends contemplated the end of what had been an amazing experience.
“I can't face civilisation tomorrow,” David said as he lay on his back, looking at the pink tinged skies above, “its too much fun here.”
“I wish it was our first night, with all this still to come” said Bill, feeling as melancholy as David.
“Oh, cheer up boys” said Helen, “we should be celebrating all we've done, not being all miserable.”
“Celebrate?” said David.
“With what?” added Bill.
“Oh, you boys” said Helen with mock despair. “How will you cope when we all go our separate ways?”
Bill and David looked at each other with confusion.
“Did you really think I wasn't prepared?” Helen added as she reached into her tent and brought out a bottle of whisky.
Bill and David cheered when she held it up and opened it, taking a long swig. She passed it to Bill, who took a mouthful and winced as he swallowed.
“I grabbed that on the last trip down to the village” said Helen. “I figured you guys weren't planning that far ahead”
“We didn't need to, we had you to do that for us” laughed Bill as he passed the bottle to David.
“Besides, I'll need it.” said Helen. “Remember what we'd said we'd do when we arrived, what we'd do to celebrate on our last night.”
“Oh no” said Bill looking nervously at the rock pools in the stream.
Helen just laughed as the other two looked nervous. David took an extra large swig of the whisky before passing it back to Helen.
“So let's do it!” said Helen.
“You really mean to do it?” said Bill. “You're going to strip naked and jump in the pool?”
“Oh yes!” said Helen as she took a big gulp of the whisky before passing it to David.
Immediately she stood up and pulled her boots and socks off. Passing the whisky to Bill, David started to follow her, laughing as the whisky began to take effect.
“Take a big gulp” Helen said to Bill as she dropped her trousers and stepped out of them. Bill did as he was told, trying not to look as her t-shirt followed.
Helen ran down to the river, now just wearing her underwear. She was shaking with excitement at what she was about to do. She'd never been naked outdoors, the very thought of it sounded wild and untamed and she couldn't wait.
“What are you waiting for?” said an already naked David as he ran up beside her.
“For him to notice me” she said gesturing back to Bill with a smile as she slid her pants off.
“He's got to get the hint eventually” David replied, “you've been coming onto him for weeks.”
“And to no avail” she replied as she fiddled with her bra strap. “But he'll be mine, don't worry” she finished with a smile.
Throwing off her bra, she leapt from the edge of the rocks, falling to the water below, screaming with delight as she hit the ice cold rock pool. As she swam to the side, David followed her down, hit the water with a bit splash.
Bill heard the shouts and screams coming from the water and with one more big mouthful of whisky, decided to throw caution to the wind. He stood up and began stripping off his clothes, excited and nervous at the loss of each item from his body.
Now in just his underpants he looked round nervously, making sure no one was around. He felt suddenly stupid for doing so, there hadn't been anyone else around for days, and so with a final burst of courage he pulled his underpants down, stepping out of them and covering himself with one hand.
As he reached the edge he looked over, feeling a bout of vertigo. Immediately pulling back he closed his eyes and jumped. The icy water hit him like a punch in the stomach, the sheer cold of it winding him on contact. As he surfaced, the first thing he saw was Helen sitting in the water on the edge of the pool, cheering for him. He swam over to her, feeling suddenly alive in a way he never had before.
“That was amazing” said Bill, “this feels amazing.”
“I knew it'd be fun” she replied with a smile.
“Where's David” he asked, looking around and not seeing him.
“He's gone back to the tents.” Helen replied. “I as
ked him to leave me alone with you.”
“Oh” was all Bill could say in reply.
“Haven't you noticed?” she said, “I've wanted you for a while now.”
“I noticed” said Bill.
“Don't you like me then?” asked Helen.
“Oh, I do, its just I thought I'd be a bit awkward with David around. You guys seem quite close. I thought he liked you too. I didn't want him getting jealous.”
“Don't you know?” said Helen. “David's gay, he'd be more jealous of me than you.”
Naturist, Red in Tooth & Claw Page 3