“Even then, that was too weird” John said in response.
“He's probably drunk” said Heather. “And lonely. Still a bloody freak though.”
“I hope he's alright though, I think he broke his arm.”
“He'll wake up tomorrow with a hangover and a bunch of injuries he can't remember getting” said Heather, “And it won't be the first time either” she finished with a laugh.
“So we just leave him?” asked John.
“He'll find a sheep to keep him company, he'll be fine” she replied, again with a nervous laugh.
Alone in the dark, the creature curled up in the ground. Its pain was easing now, leaving almost no memory of the experience on the hill top. All that was left was the confusion of its limbs no longer working properly, and the ability to do no more than shuffle slowly when it wanted to move.
As the darkness approached, it began to revert to its usual dormant state, awaiting the moment when food would present itself.
The return journey was a delight for John. Although still unnerved by the mysterious stranger, the cool evening air was a powerful distraction, soothing his muscles and giving him a spring in his step. His muscles were beginning to cool down though, and despite ever effort to convince himself otherwise, he was starting to feel a little bit cold. He was desperate to stay naked though, he felt unable to give up this sense of freedom, or to let Heather down.
It was Heather who let him off the hook.
“You look cold” said Heather, noticing him shivering slightly.
“I'm fine” her replied, “I feel great.”
“You sure?” she asked.
“Well, maybe a little cold” was his reply.
Heather stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. She threw her arms around him and held him closely, making as much contact with her skin to his as she could.
“You're freezing” she said as he felt the warmth radiating from her. “You should get dressed.”
“I don't want to” John replied. “I want to be free.”
“And you will be” she replied, “but I told you, this takes some getting used to. Don't rush it”
“Its not far though, is it?” he said.
“No, but I want you nice and warm when we get back”, she replied as a slight smile came to her face. “I don't want to be the only one warming the bed up tonight.”
“Ah, okay” said John as he realised what she meant. Such was his inexperience with relationships, it hadn't occurred to him that they'd be sharing a bed tonight.
He didn't need to be asked again. He threw the rucksack off, and quickly pulled his clothes out. The t-shirt felt restrictive as he pulled it on, but at least if felt like it might warm him. The shorts were a different matter. They felt coarse and restrictive, and he immediately missed the freedom they took away.
Heather wrapped her arms around him from behind and held him tight.
“You'll be naked again soon” she said quietly in his ear, “and warm, and with me.”
John smiled as she said this and threw the rucksack on, setting off down the hill at an even faster pace than before.
Somewhere in the distance, the creature's nose twitched. It sensed a faint whiff of food in the air, but it was too tired to move and its injuries still hurt.
Instead it called out with its long, wailing sound again, the noise carrying west across the hillside to the sea. It was answered, faintly in the distance, but it was close enough to satisfy the creature. It knew some of its kind had now crossed the water to join him.
Chapter 11
John struggled not to laugh, but it was almost a lost cause. They'd come down from the hill to find Claire and Brandon waiting outside the cottage with Chris and Annie, and Heather had greeted them warmly, with a very happy hello and a huge hug for Claire. But as she turned to Brandon she had flashed John a smile and John would have sworn she was deliberately doing a little more what she had previously so delightfully called “jiggling” than normal. As she shook Brandon's hand her whole body seemed to shake up and down a little more and John was convinced he wasn't imagining it.
Brandon's reaction was quite remarkable. He started staring intently at her eyes, much more than John had felt he had done when he met Heather. But then Brandon would start to feel awkward and look away, inevitably downwards at first, but then his head would snap up and try again to hold eye contact with Heather. Every time Heather said anything, she'd gesticulate with her hands, inducing just a little bit more movement to her body, and Brandon looked close to panic.
“Hi, I'm John” he said, stepping forward out of mercy and introducing himself. “You must be Brandon.”
“Nice to meet you” replied Brandon, shaking John's hand with relief at having something he could actually look at. “And this is Claire” he finished.
“Hi” said John, “Heather's told me about you guys.”
“Oh dear” replied Claire, laughing and feigning shock, “nothing too boring I hope.”
John just smiled politely as they shook hands. A moment of awkward silence began to develop between them as they stood there, neither were especially sociable and they certainly had nothing in mind to say to each other.
“Come on you guys” said Heather as she came to their rescue, “don't be shy and come inside, Annie's got dinner ready”
All four walked into the cottage, to where Annie had already set the table. John was only slightly surprised to see her cooking naked, but Brandon was clearly uncomfortable with two naked women in the room. As they sat at the table, he leaned over to him to offer some words of reassurance.
“I've known Annie for ten years and I had no idea she was like this” John said quietly.
“She was like this when we arrived”, Brandon replied, “I walked in and she was standing there naked.”
“Its a bit of a surprise, isn't it?” said John with a little sympathy.
“Just a bit” came the reply. “I mean its nice enough to see” Brandon continued, “but its just weird they walk around like that.”
“Oh, I'm not complaining” said John, beginning to feel uncomfortable with Brandon's attitude, “In fact...”
“Not complaining about what?” interrupted Heather as she sat down beside John. John was sure she had done a little extra “jiggling” again as she shuffled into her seat and tried again to stifle a laugh.
“The weather” replied Brandon, without giving John a chance to reply, “its really nice.”
“Yes, the weather” replied Heather, giving a sly glance to John as she shifted slightly closer to him in her seat.
After their day on the hill, dinner was very welcome for John and Heather and Annie's cooking left them well fed and very satisfied. John, unused to the fresh air and exercise found himself getting sleepy even before he left the dinner table, but Heather wasn't letting him away that easily.
“Come on you” she said to John as she stood up. “One last swim before bed.”
“Okay, sounds good” replied John, not entirely telling the truth.
“You warmed up yet?” she asked.
“Oh yes” John replied with a smile, knowing exactly what she meant.
As he pulled off his t-shirt, he noticed Claire's eyes glancing over his body. He felt suddenly self conscious, but as soon as he turned to Heather his nervousness dissipated in an instant and he slipped his shorts off.
“Oh, another one!” said Claire, smiling. “Now I get to look at something for once” she said with a laugh.
Brandon looked angry at that comment, but he just looked down at the table, the abundance of nudity making him feel very uncomfortable.
“Look all you like dear” said Heather laughing, “but I get to touch.”
“Mind if I join you guys?” asked Annie as John and Heather headed for the door.
“No, the more the merrier” said Heather as she scampered out the door, quickly followed by John and Annie.
The moonlight softly illuminated the three naked bodies as they
slowly made their way down to the pool. John and Annie struggled to keep up with Heather as they tried to watch their footing, but they remembered the soft grass was fine underfoot and they soon caught up. As they did, Heather turned to face them and made eye contact with Annie. Instantly, the two women burst out laughing, unable to control themselves.
“You are such a cruel bitch” said Annie, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I swear I've never seen anyone shake themselves quite that much before”
“I know” replied Heather in between unrestrained laughs. “His poor little face. I thought he was going to burst.”
“You should have seen earlier when he arrived and I was already naked” said Annie, beginning to regain some small self control over her laugher. “His little heart sank. I was very naughty as well.”
“How come?” asked Heather.
“I swatted some imaginary flies around him” Annie replied.
“Imaginary flies?” said Heather looking a bit confused.
“Well that was the excuse I gave” said Annie, smiling broadly, “for spanking my naked ass not two feet from his face.”
Heather's jaw dropped.
“Four times” Annie continued. “And hard. Enough to leave a mark.”
Heather fell to her knees in laughter, no longer capable of even speaking.
“Did you guys torment me like this yesterday?” said a very confused John, who was by now feeling a little paranoid.
“No...no” said Heather as she stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes, “did you think we did?”
“No, no” said John, “just wondering....” His sentence tailed off.
“I'm confused now” he continued, “what's going on?”
“Brandon's an arse” said Annie, “if he wasn't Claire's boyfriend, we'd have chucked him off a cliff a long time ago”
“Why, how come?” he said.
“First time he ever came here” Heather said, “he arrived when Annie and Chris had just arrived and I was the only one naked. He asked Annie if she thought it was...what were his exact words again Annie?”
“Slutty to flaunt herself like that” replied Annie.
“What?” said an astonished John, “And you put up with that?”
“Of course” said Annie, “he's just so much fun to torture!”
“Ha ha, I guess so” said John, now laughing as well.
“Every time they come, I seem to spend that little bit more time naked” said Annie, “my way of supporting Heather.”
“Well, many thanks for spanking your own ass” said Heather, “your support with that was appreciated”
All three of them laughed as they continued down to the water. As they walked, Annie was bursting to ask them the obvious question. She had been ever since their return from the walk, but now they were all alone she couldn't hold back any more.
“Okay guys, don't keep me in suspense any longer” said Annie. “What happened? You two look as loved up as anyone I've ever seen.”
“Let's just say I'm owe you a finders fee for this one” replied Heather as she took John by the hand as they walked.
“Really?” said Annie. “Did you guys...?”
“Six times” was Heather's quick response.
“Wow!” she said, “maybe I need to bring Chris up a hill sometime”
Heather and Annie laughed, but John just smiled a big broad smile as Heather reached her arm around him and pulled him closer as they walked.
“Thank you” said Heather, this time with earnest sincerity instead of laughter. “Thank you for finding him for me.”
Annie just smiled, happier for both of them than she ever hoped she would be as the three of them continued through the darkness.
Chapter 12
Night was falling, the temperature was dropping and Allan shivered in the darkness. The breeze coming in from the sea brought a chill to the air, and his tent was proving difficult to erect. The only flat and solid ground was in a hollow out of the wind, and it was infested with midges, a swarm of aggressive, biting insects that gave him no respite. If he spent as much as thirty seconds assembling his tent he'd have to run off for five minutes into the breeze at the top of the dune to let the swarm clear. Normally it took him no more than a few minutes to set up his tent, but he'd been here more than an hour, and now he was setting up in the dark.
But this place was worth the trouble. He'd walked for miles across the barren moorland to reach it, and it was as beautiful as he'd expected. Long sandy beaches contrasted vividly with the bare red sandstone rocks that rose in mighty terraces above the beach. The evening sun had long since gone, and where there had been bright orange cliff faces in the golden glow of sunset, there were now only dark and forbidding walls of rock, menacingly hanging above him.
Everything he'd heard about this place was true. He'd read about it, how it was a captivating place of barren beauty and rugged wilderness, but he hadn't really believed it would be quite this good. As he sat atop a dune waiting for the midges below to clear he felt a sense of calm come across him. Fine, the midges were stressful, but he'd get his tent built eventually, and the moon gave enough light to see while he built it.
But this place was mesmerising. The sound of the waves became captivating, and even with the chill in the air, he felt a longing to throw himself in the water.
Hurriedly he ran back to his tent, and began assembling it quicker than ever. He fought against the midges, almost choking on them as he put the final touches to his tent. Eventually they overwhelmed him again and he ran off, but this time with a completed tent behind him. Now he headed down to the shore, and with a glance around the beach just to double check he was alone, he threw his clothes off and ran down the beach. The cold air chilled his skin, but he just felt more and more alive with each step.
He dived straight into the water without hesitating, expecting it to be freezing. Instead he found it pleasantly warm and he lingered in there, splashing around and being tossed about by the breaking waves.
When he emerged from the water, he was exhausted and exhilarated. As he stepped onto dry sand, he turned and fell back, his arms and legs outstretched. Letting out a huge shriek of delight, he stretched out his arms and legs, shaking them with pure joy. After long months trapped in an office he finally felt liberated and free.
Lying there in the darkness, the breeze slowly began to penetrate his skin. The excitement of the skinny dipping had subsided and he was feeling a little cold. He knew it was time to get dressed and get in the tent, but he wasn't disappointed, he knew as soon as the sun rose in a few hours it'd warm up and he'd be straight back in the water.
Walking back to the tent he didn't notice the body washed up on the beach a few hundred metres away. As it had only arrived a few minutes ago, Allan was never going to spot it, it was too dark by now, and he was more concerned with getting warm. He never noticed it slowly pull itself inch by inch across the beach, up towards the dunes.
As Allan reached his clothes he picked up the bundle of them and carried them up to the top of the dunes. He stood there looking out at the darkness, catching the glimpse of breaking waves as the moonlight caught their white crests. He decided that maybe a short walk was called for, and in a moment of bravery he dropped the bundle of clothes and began to walk along the crest of the dunes.
It was a strange feeling, walking without clothes. He's always meant to try it, but never quite found the chance, despite having gone skinny dipping in mountain rock pools many times. He was pleased to find that he was enjoying it. He felt more in touch with the environment as each blade of the long grass tickled his calves and thighs as he walked. He regretted not having tried this sooner and vowed to do it a lot more. The wind, sand and grass all felt wonderful all over his skin and he felt as if in a dream.
But he awoke quickly when he heard a noise from the base of the dunes like a long groaning. Immediately he dropped to the ground, covering himself, terrified of being caught. He tentatively leaned out across the dune's
edge to see what had made the noise, hoping desperately it was an animal. His heart sank when he saw a naked human figure lying below him, not moving.
Allan was caught in a moment of brief panic. This person clearly needed help, but Allan's clothes were several hundred metres away and suddenly he felt very naked and very exposed. He initially decided to run back and get dressed, but common sense told him he needed to see if this person was okay first.
Covering his genitals with his hands, he ran down the dune to where the body lay. Still covering himself with one hand he shook the body gently, but the person barely responded, just groaning again.
Naturist, Red in Tooth & Claw Page 8