by Tia Wilson
I had spent an amazing night with Jonas under a shimmering display of the northern lights. We had made crazy passionate love in the hot tub, and then on the kitchen table and then we had finally collapsed into his bed and enjoyed each other once more before we slipped into sleep. As the night had progressed more shots of the icy brennivin had been downed along the way. Now as I opened my eyes and the room took shape around me in the grey light I had a dull pain in the back of my head and my mouth felt dry and dusty. My first cogent thought was that I didn’t want Jonas to see me in this state first thing in the morning. My second thought was that I couldn't wait to see his handsome chiseled viking visage again and my third thought was, what if it was only a one night stand and he wants me out of the house straight away. I knew that was the probable outcome, so I tried my best not to dwell on it.
Jonas tapped lightly on the door and entered. Any fears I had where washed away in an instant. He beamed down at me and said, “Good morning beautiful”. I felt anything but beautiful at the moment but I smiled at him and tried not to breath too much in his direction. I really didn't want my toxic hungover breath scaring him off.
He offered me a steaming cup of coffee and said “This will cure any of the brennivins effects. Strong dark Icelandic coffee is just what you need”. He radiated warmth and happiness and it was infectious. “I’ll let you get ready while I prepare breakfast,” he said.
I took a sip of the coffee and my stomach growled as I swallowed. “I’m going to go in and check on Gunna,” I said and I could feel myself matching his smile.
“Ok. I’ll call you when breakfast is ready,” he said getting up and walking towards the door. He paused with his hand on the door handle and turned back to me. “About last night. I want you to know thats not a usual occurrence for me. I’m not some kind of romeo. We Icelandic men can be a bit blunt at times, so I will just come out and say it. I really like you and if you didn't have to go I would want to spend time with you again.”
I raised the mug up and took another sip, more to hide my widening smile. In my small amount of experiences with one night stands the guy was usually looking to get away from me as quick as possible, so Jonas coming straight out with no games was refreshing and made my heart speed up in my chest. “I had fun too.” He gave me one last dashing smile and then left me in the room.
I sat on the edge of bed sipping the steaming brew. As promised the coffee worked its magic and I slowly started to feel like a normal person again. What I wanted for the day ahead was to spend some time in Jonas’s arms again but what reality dictated to me was that I needed to make my way north for the meeting with the dean of the university.
I crossed the hall to Gunna's room and tapped on the door before entering. She grinned at me when I sat down on the bed across from her. “Looks like someone took my advise. Did you have a good night?” she asked in a whisper.
I flopped back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. “It was beyond anything I imagined. The northern lights put on a show that went on for hours. We had some drinks and hung out in the hot pot.”
“I can see by your smile exactly what you two kids got up to. I’m happy for you. Did the medicine work for you?” Gunna asked.
“For the first time in a long time I felt like a whole woman again. For such a long time it felt like a part of me was missing. Last night just felt… magical. Am I making sense?”
Gunna sat up in her bed and pulled her thick duvet around her. “You are making perfect sense. I could do with some magic in my life. Things can get very boring in my hometown. I’m happy for you.
I rolled over on to my side and looked over at Gunna and I could see what she said was genuine. Maybe the Icelandic women were just as much straight shooters as the men I thought. “Jonas is making breakfast are you going to join us?”
Gunna shrugged off her thick duvet and stood up beside the bed. She shivered when her bare feet touched the cold wooden floorboards. She was wearing matching black bra and panties and her skin was the palest I’d ever seen. I must of been staring as she said, “You probably haven't seen someone so white? Not a lot of sun this close to the arctic. I know some women who use the sun beds and it just looks plain weird on an Icelandic person. We are meant to be milky white.”
“I see a lot of perma tans in San Francisco, luckily I don't have that problem.”
Gunna stretched and grabbed a balled up t shirt from on top of her open luggage. She slipped it over her head and then started to rummage through her bag. “I cant join you for breakfast. I need to get out into the fresh air before I eat. I do it every day without fail. Thirty minutes in one direction and then turn around and come home.”
“Even in this weather? There was loads of snow last night,” I replied.
“Doesn't matter. I do it no matter what the weather is. It starts my day off proper and gives me time to think.” She found a pair of fleece lined trousers and slipped them on. “You enjoy your breakfast and I’ll see you in an hour.” Once she was dressed, including a bright reflective harness she wore over her jacket, Gunna gave me a smile and left. She shouted a couple of words to Jonas in her lilting Icelandic and then she was gone to brave the freezing weather.
I grabbed the set of fresh towels Jonas had left me on the end of the bed I never used and headed to the small bathroom at the end of the hall. I washed and cleaned up all the while dreaming that I would overturn my life and get what my heart desired, but the rational part of me knew I should be sensible and start to make plans to head north as soon as possible. No matter how my morning would go I knew I would have to leave Isafjordur and Jonas the first chance I got. I slipped into my fluffy robe as some wicked thoughts spun through my mind.
Clean and starting to feel closer to a functioning human all thanks to the healthy dose of caffeine perking me up I go out to the kitchen to greet Jonas. It can usually be so embarrassing the first morning after sleeping with a man, that initial discomfort can fade away if no games are being played between you. The last few men I had seen before Craig had pretty much made it clear that it was only a one night stand they were after. On those occasions I was lucky if I even got offered a cup of coffee as the men dropped as many hints as possible that they wanted me out of their place pronto. I would always play it off that I wanted the same but when I was honest with myself I knew it hurt, even though we had both gotten what we wanted and now they wanted me gone from their sight.
I would know pretty quickly what the situation would be with Jonas and I tried to buck myself up and not think negatively too soon, after all we did have an amazing night and if that was all it was going to be I could deal with that, I lied to myself.
I went into the kitchen and Jonas was no where to be seen. I heard his deep gravelly voice from the other side of the room “Down here” he said. Hidden from my view by the sturdy oak table I could now see Jonas was lying on the floor under the sink working on it with some tools. He was stripped to the waist and his muscled torso glistened with a sheen of sweat as he worked. I could feel a flash of heat across my cheeks. I stood and watched him, mesmerised by his taught body as he continued to work and strain as he tried to loosen a bolt under the sink. Already dirty thoughts were flooding my mind and I hadn't even had breakfast yet.
“The outflow valve is busted” Jonas said, his voice amplified from beneath the sink. “I’ll only be a few minutes” he said reaching in behind a pipe.
I stood over him looking down at his body as his muscles contracted into tight bands of steel as he twisted part of the plumbing off. Jonas glanced up at me and said, “You’re looking fresh faced”.
I could feel it in my core, I wanted Jonas and I wanted him now. I had never felt this close and this comfortable around a man so quickly, if I wasn't careful I would fall hard for this dashing viking. Back home I could be afraid to take the initiative, right here standing above Jonas I felt empowered and in control. It was a cliche that people tried to reinvent themselves when in a different country, if that was so
I didn't care as I watched his muscles work.
With a clank and a thunk Jonas replaced the part and said, “All done”.
As he slid out from under the sink I looked down at him and said, “Stay where you are”.
He raised his hands up and waved them at me. “Let me clean up first” he said.
“You wont need your hands right now,” I said and this sent a thrilling wave up my spine. I wasn't sure where this was coming from, I was running on pure instinct and lust. He looked up at me with a glint in his eyes and smiled broadly. Our eyes locked on to each other and I could almost see the crackle of electricity spark between us. He looked at me with eyes wide and full of expectation. I was the one in control and it turned me on.
With a graceful movement I knelt and sat on his strong chest and shrugged off my robe. I was naked underneath and at the sight of my dark skin Jonas let out an appreciative sigh. I could feel his heart beating against my thigh, each beat of his heart entwined to the rhythm of mine. Time slowed to a crawl as I stared into his crystal clear eyes, our gazes locked for all of eternity.
Without breaking our gaze I slide forward on his torso the friction of his smooth white skin against my inner folds sending sparks shooting off my body. His face was now inches away from my silken insides and both our breaths rose and feel in jagged rasps. I could already feel an orgasm rising in my body and he hadn't even touched me yet.
I ran my hands down my body brushing past my erect nipples and then hooked my fingers under his head. I pulled him close and then the viking had his way with me.
His broad tongue slipped between my pussy lips and I threw my head back and closed my eyes as flickering lights danced behind my eyelids. Pinwheels of light spun and exploded in my head as each of his licks flicked and teased my clit. I was already losing my grip and the express train of an orgasm was barreling towards me. I squeezed my legs tight against his head hoping to elongate this sweet pleasure for another second more.
The burly viking between my legs had other plans for me and he was going to make me cum hard. His broad tongue slipped inside me and my body light up as if illuminated by a thousand suns. My orgasm crashed into me and I bucked and moaned loudly with each skilful lick from Jonas and his pulsating tongue. As my orgasm obliterated my senses a crystal clear image of Jonas and I some years from now, arms around each other and smiling filled my mind like a neon sign.
Slowly the room came back into focus and my breathing slowed as the beautiful moment ended. I got off Jonas and lay down on the cold floor beside him. My skin prickled at the cool sensation against my skin. I lay my head on his chest listening to his heart beat slow as I was filled with a sense of contentment. This felt right. I had never felt this way so fast and so intensely before in my life. We did not need to speak and we just lay there enjoying the closeness. Even as I lay my head on his chest the horrible distant voice of doubt sounded in the depths of my mind, this is nothing more than a holiday fling the voice told me and I tried my best to ignore it.
A sound from an alien planet intruded as a digital beep filled my ears and I realised I had started to doze off on the cold floor in the warm embrace of Jonas’s massive arms. Jonas stirred and got up and answered his phone while I slipped my robe back on.
His conversation only lasted a few minutes and he was smiling when it ended. “That was my friend Rafn. Good news about the plane, it is going to leave in the next hour. Im going to meet Rafn on the way as he might have some work for me. How long will Gunna be gone for?”
“An hour,” I said as reality intruded on the perfect world I had started to construct in my mind.
He checked the time on his phone and said, “Ok, we have enough time.”
I realised in our passionate frenzy that I had never asked Jonas what he does for a living so I broached it with him.
“I’m a life long fisherman. My father and my grandfather and going back many more generations of Danielssons, we all worked on the sea. Life on the sea is in my blood.”
I’d guessed right, his rough and course hands where from a lifetime of hard work at sea. My skin prickled at the thought of his hands on me again, rubbing across my supple skin. “I better get ready,” I said getting up and heading to the bedroom. I tried my best to hide the disappointment in my voice. One more day with Jonas was not going to happen.
The next ten minutes were spent in a whirlwind of stuffing crumpled clothes in bags, dressing and making myself look as good as possible in the rush to be ready. Gunna came back and joined me in the frenzy to pack our stuff. “You don't look too happy,” she said as she squeezed her bag shut and yanked the zipper closed.
“This is all ending so quickly. I know its only been a day but this fjord and amazing scenery has really got its hooks into my heart. You might think I'm being stupid but all I have been doing is day dreaming about quitting my job and starting a new life in a place like this.”
“Iceland has that kind of power over people and I’d guess its not only the landscape that has your imagination twirling,” she replied.
“Is it that obvious?” I said as I finally got my luggage shut.
Gunna winked at me and said, “Theres no reason you cant come back after you finish your business meetings? My advice would be that sometimes you need to take risks with your life. You wouldn't be the first foreigner to feel Iceland's magic. I know a few Americans in my town who came here on a weekend stopover and on those two short days decided they wanted to live here. Follow your heart.”
“If I never see you again after today I want to tell you that it was a pleasure meeting you and spending time with you,” I said.
Gunna patted her luggage when she got the zip closed and then sat on the bed facing me. “I have a feeling this wont be the last time that I see you.”
Before I got a chance to answer and the moment I was dreading, the taxi arrived and honked his horn from outside.
Chapter Five
We bustled out of the house and Jonas helped us with our bags in to the back of the car. A wind was starting to come in off the sea and drifts of snow blew across the road. Jonas got in the front seat of the car and Gunna jumped in the back. I stood and looked across the fjord at the distant snow capped mountains and the grey waves crashing on the far away shore. I breathed in the crisp clean air and tried to absorb and remember every detail around me. A trunk of driftwood sat by the side of the road and a gnarled branch stuck up in the air like a waving hand. The wood was polished and smooth from the sea and the wind. I looked back at the house and noticed details I had missed on arrival last night. Hearts were carved into the wood at intervals around the house and the front door had a heart with a flock of ravens flying behind it carved into it by what must of been a master artisan. The wind picked up and whistled as it came down from the mountains. Each and every detail I tried to remember as I turned away and got into the waiting cab.
Once in the taxi I sat looking out the window as the car wound its way back into the fjord and towards town. Everything was moving so fast and I was afraid to ask Jonas the questions battling in my mind. What next, was the big one and I felt even foolish thinking there might be a next. My brain told me this was it but my heart told me this was only the beginning of a new chapter in my life.
I didn't want this to be nothing more then a quickie one night stand but it seemed so ridiculous to think about it as anything more. I needed to rid my mind of all my fanciful ideas of starting a new life in Iceland, and dreaming of my pale skinned viking pressed against my dark skin as we embraced in some small wooden cabin deep in a fjord. I like to think I am usually a practical and grounded person who normally keeps flights of fancy to to a minimum. Thinking about being held in Jonas’s arms was not helping me forget about some flimsy and improbable dream.
I stared out the window as the road turned into town and we drove along a narrow street with brightly coloured houses of corrugated metal on either side. Jonas tapped me on the arm and it pulled me out of my daydream. “I need to stop
here and talk to Rafn and then I’ll drop you both at the airport” he said. We pulled up outside a quaint looking coffee shop that was brightly lit inside. It looked like the perfect place to get out of the strong blowing wind. What does he mean leave me at the airport? For a second I had thought we would be leaving together and I would at least have the time on the flight back to Reykjavik to spend time with him, but now I realised that had been nothing more then wishful thinking.
Jonas got out of the cab and crossed the road. The driver took out his phone and started to play a game on it. I felt nothing but surprise when I could feel tears welling up, this wasn't like me at all I thought. I quickly wiped them away and pulled myself together. Gunna had noticed my tears. “Are you ok?” and she put her hand on my shoulder.
“It’s all happening so fast. I don't know, maybe I’m tired from all the flying,” I lied. I was feeling foolish at my outburst.
“If you need a friend while you are here you can call me,” Gunna said and took a small leather bound notebook from her bag. She jotted down her number and said, “You call me if you get up north and we can hang out some more.” I was glad for her kind words.
I focused on Jonas and watched him through the window in the coffee shop. He went over and tapped a large man on the shoulder who had his back to Jonas. The man stood up and turned around and looked very annoyed. It looked like angry words passed between them and then all of a sudden they were hugging and patting each other on the back.