Chapter 3: North Carolina

Two hours from Camp Forge, I wandered through the small town of Newark, Delaware – home to the University of Delaware. With fond memories of my time with June, Jan, and Trish, as well as Bob and Jim, I scattered a small envelope of Karen’s ashes from the top step of the ivy-covered college library on the beautiful campus. I thought of Karen as the ashes floated away in the tree-lined quad. I wondered how she would have reacted to the Circle in Camp Forge. Would she have wanted to be a part of it, or would she have been horrified and run the other way?

Before my visit with Lauren, I would have guessed that Karen would have run the other way, but Lauren had revealed part of my wife I never knew. Maybe she would have stayed and joined in.

The library had Wi-Fi. I retrieved my laptop computer from a saddlebag and sent a vivid description of my past week to Lauren. The email rambled a bit, but positively met her requirement that my emails to her had to be detailed, erotic, sexy, stimulating, and raw. I’d heard of ‘phone sex,’ but not ‘email sex.’ I held nothing back. I posed the same questions to her that I’d wondered about Karen and the polyamorous circle. I wanted to see how Lauren would respond – to my descriptive email about the events I’d enjoyed during my stay in Camp Forge, and to the question about participating in such a circle. Lastly, I asked her how she thought Karen would have felt about something like the circle.

From Delaware, I headed west into Maryland on old two-lane roads. I stopped midway across a bridge over the Susquehanna River and scattered another small envelope of Karen’s ashes. I stood and talked into the breeze, rambling about the past week as I shared my Camp Forge experience with Karen’s spirit as though she wanted to hear every detail. I wished she could have stood there with me and shared her thoughts with me.

Back on the road, I made a planned trip back into Pennsylvania to see the magnificent home Frank Lloyd Wright designed and built there for the Kaufman family – Fallingwater. I sprang for the complete tour of the home and roamed the grounds taking pictures. As I’d planned, I took my envelope of Karen’s ashes for Pennsylvania and spread them in the steam that flows under the home and then cascades downstream in a series of small waterfalls. I settled for this peaceful place being her Pennsylvania home. I wished I could have shared seeing it with Karen, and then tears came to my eyes because the thought swept over me that there was so much that I had wanted to share with Karen. I sobbed, and my tears fell into the cascade.

I ended the day camping beside a small waterfall off a side road in West Virginia. At twilight, I scattered another envelope of Karen’s ashes into the pretty falls. I waded into the rapidly moving stream just below the falls to cool down and share the pretty setting with Karen. That night, I prayed to Karen’s spirit, almost the way one would pray to a totem – seeking guidance, insight, and awareness. Just before I fell asleep I felt kissed by her spirit.

Wednesday morning, I ran on the dirt roads and trails near my campsite and then did my exercises. Exercise had become so important to me early in my Army training; I came to see it as a vital activity that would save me in tough situations. Now, I knew those tough situations could be both physical and dangerous, such as what I’d experienced with that farmer at his burning barn, as well as mental, such as how my hard runs were helping me heal from losing Karen. As that thought ran through my brain, I could also hear Nurse Lauren lecturing me about how my exercise generated a runner’s high – the release of natural endorphins that in turn gave me an elated feeling the same way a small dose of morphine would. I chuckled.

I bathed in the stream after my exercises, donned shorts and a t-shirt, meditated in a shady spot, lathered up with suntan lotion, had breakfast, and got back on some secondary roads that meandered along side of and through the Appalachian or Blue Ridge Mountains and foothills. I crossed over into Virginia, skirted Roanoke, and decided to camp early instead of pushing ahead to North Carolina. My earlier visits to Virginia had all been much further east – the Virginia around Washington or Fredericksburg – the Interstate 95 corridor that I now avoided so diligently. This part of the state felt so serene and refreshing.

A brisk warm breeze rolled through the trees surrounding my campsite. I allowed this state’s trace of Karen’s ashes to be carried by the stiff breeze into the forest on the late afternoon wind. Karen had loved nature so. Karen and my definition of spirituality had a strong component of ‘Nature’ – with a capital ‘N’ – in it. She told me often that feeling the earth and rain, catching a rainbow after a thunderstorm, smelling a forest or the ocean, and things like seeing animals in the wild, brought her closer to what she called ‘Source Energy.’ Those conversations had helped convert me from being a brash soldier to a more thoughtful civilian and man who had become more open and aware of his spiritual journey. I equated my trip across America to my spiritual journey, hoping I’d find a way to feel the Oneness with the Universe as I traveled.

Thursday, I repeated my exercise and meditation regimen, this time adding in some wind sprints to tax my body. I spent additional time doing my morning meditation, wondering what the equivalent of wind sprints were in seeking spiritual enlightenment. Could I do ‘mind sprints’?

I took an easy ride down to Chapel Hill, getting into the college town for a late lunch. I rode around the campus and surrounding commercial area before settling on lunch in a salad and tofu luncheonette. I walked around campus, taking in The Well and a few other campus cornerstones. In the middle of the picturesque, I deposited another small envelope of Karen’s ashes, knowing how she would have found this place so interesting; she loved college campuses, and had often made us detour so we could walk around one near whatever route we were on.

After that moment, I mounted up and used my iPhone’s GPS capability to find the home of June’s sister, Kim, and her husband Ron.

At Kim and Ron’s large home I found a scribbled note for me on the front door: “Jim – key under doormat. Make yourself at home and enjoy the pool. See you about six. Hugs and kisses, Kim.” Instead of the dot over the letter ‘i’ there was a little heart.

I let myself into one of the finest and best-decorated homes I’d ever been in. In my grubby shorts and sleeveless t-shirt, I felt out of place. I’d left my boots outside, remembering June’s concern about odor. Yet, with June’s introduction and my telephone chat with Kim, I knew her to be a friendly and approachable person. June had showed me a picture of this pretty powerhouse.

I brought a few things in from my motorcycle packs. I found a washer-dryer off the kitchen and took immediate advantage of them to clean up my soiled clothes and towel from the past couple of days. I found a cache of soft drinks in the kitchen refrigerator, so helped myself. I stripped to my running shorts that doubled as swim trunks and took advantage of the pool and the solitude of the surrounding forest.

I fell asleep on one of the pool loungers. A splash of someone diving into the pool woke me up. I snapped to attention just in time to watch Kim surface near me at the pool’s edge. “Hello, Sleepy Head!” she said with a grin. The photo June had shown me didn’t do her justice.

I replied as I sat up, “Nice to meet you face to face. Your home is beautiful. Per your note I made myself at home – pool, kitchen, and a load of clothes in your dryer. I hope that was OK. What time is it?”

“It’s just after six, and I wanted you to get comfortable. I want you to stay through the weekend at least – longer if you can.” She paused and added in a candid tone, “You’re more handsome than what I milked from my sister and the fuzzy photo she sent me. I can see why she didn’t want to share.” She laughed as she pulled herself out of the pool.

I’m sure my jaw dropped as I gapped at Kim’s lithe figure in her tiny wet bikini that clung to her curves. I could think of nothing I would have changed about her body or her beautiful face, even as she shook her wet light brunette hair out of her face.

Kim looked pleased that I had noticed her figure. She gave me a coy look. “I’m going to get a glass of wine. Can I get you one.”

I jumped up with my offer to help. I found Kim as attractive going away from me as in front of me. I felt she’d put a little extra wiggle in her walk as she led me across the patio to the kitchen door.

I found Kim easy to talk with; she put me at ease instantly – well, except for how little clothing she had on. I found it difficult to look her in the eye, when I wanted to lap at her full breasts, touch the curve of her hips, and explore the flat stomach and sexy small pendant in her navel. Ever the gentleman, I somehow managed to keep my eyes above her neck, at least when she looked in my direction.

Kim made me repeat the story of my motorcycle journey, the details of my rescuing a farmer from a barn near where her sister lived, and the sights I’d already seen. She also wanted to know where I planned to go next. I explained that I’d head down the east coast to Florida, and then swing up to Alabama. I told of the end of my trip at my sister’s home in San Diego before Christmas – many months away.

Kim got the same look Karen used to get when she hatched a plan but didn’t want to share it just yet. I figured I’d hear about it soon enough if it involved me.

She explained that Ron had a consulting assignment in Washington where he had a pied-á-terre at the Watergate. She didn’t expect him home for the weekend but would talk to him by telephone in the evenings. He had an all-day workshop on Saturday and Monday meetings, so wouldn’t be home over the weekend. Kim declared me her ‘weekend husband;’ a term I quickly decided was fraught with possibility and danger.

To deflect some of the ‘danger’ in her statement, I pointedly asked, “Would Ron want to relinquish the title of ‘husband’ to some guy on a motorcycle just passing through town?” I chuckled a little to take any sarcasm out of my remark, if she interpreted it that way.

Kim said, “Ron isn’t at all concerned. I told him you were coming to visit ... and he said for me – for us – to enjoy ourselves.” She smiled and added, “No limits unless we place them there for ourselves.”

Now, I suddenly felt that a spotlight had just flashed on me. Did she expect me to make love to her? Just what had June told her about my days and nights in Camp Forge? For the time being, I tried to put those unanswerable questions out of my mind and just roll with what happened moment by moment.

We sat on the outdoor patio as the sun set. We shared wine and some cheese and crackers. Kim suggested we go to a restaurant she liked for dinner and then visit The Cat’s Cradle, a local club, for some music. She explained in an apologetic tone, “My husband Ron is much older, so he doesn’t care for my brand of music most of the time. Maybe you won’t either, but there’s a band there tonight I want to hear, plus I hope you like to dance.” I nodded acceptance of her offer.

Kim insisted on taking the motorcycle, explaining how we’d be able to park right by the door of the places we were going. Wistfully, she said she hadn’t been on a bike in a long time and wanted to experience the thrill of the ride. She threw on a light summer dress and proudly declared herself ready to go as she twirled around before me. On the bike, I tried to overlook the fact that she snuggled up tight against me and showed a lot of thigh as she rode on the back of the cycle.

We ate light at a small downtown bistro with dim lights and a romantic atmosphere. Over dinner, Kim acknowledged she knew about Karen’s death. She got me talking about Karen – things like how we met, how long we were married, what her illness had been like, and what made our relationship tick. Kim exuded empathy and sympathy for Karen’s loss and for my widowhood. In hindsight, I found the conversation therapeutic and noted that I didn’t choke up as I often had when talking about my dead wife.

After dinner, we went to the club she liked and sat through one set of the live band. We danced a little, and with her encouragement I felt my dancing got better and looser as the evening wore on. When the band took a break, Kim nudged me and said, “I want to take a longer ride, and then go home.” We rode out of town and at her direction she took me past the impressive building that housed her solar technology company. Back at her house, she had me park in an open bay in the garage.

Once in the house, Kim said, “Let’s take a midnight swim.”

I agreed and without thinking followed her outside to the pool. Standing beside a lounge chair, Kim meticulously slid off her summer dress. Underneath, she wore no bra and only a small thong. She shimmied out of the thong in one of the sexiest dance steps I think I’d ever seen. Her spike heels remained on temporarily, adding accent to her legs.

I’d become frozen in place about ten feet from her, no doubt with my mouth hanging open – again. She came up to me, put her arms around my neck, and pushed her naked body against mine. The kiss came next and melted my belt buckle and the coins in my pocket. I kissed back.

Kim pulled away slowly and unbuttoned my shirt. She talked to me in a low whisper, telling me about how she liked my sex appeal, how June had told her ’all’ about my time in Camp Forge, and how riding on the motorcycle had really turned her on. My shirt dropped to the deck. I kicked off my loafers. She undid my belt buckle, the zipper, and then helped remove my pants ... and lastly my briefs. She told me how she thought men who wore briefs were much sexier than men in boxers. She ran her hands up my thighs stopping just shy of my manhood.

By now, both of us had noticeable erections of key parts of our anatomy: Kim’s nipples could have cut glass, and for that matter so could my erection. She moved in, and we kissed again, this time in a long, drawn-out kiss involving lots of tongue, panting, and roaming hands. Kim pulled me to the pool’s edge, and together we fell into the pool where we enjoyed more petting and kisses as the cool and refreshing water swirled around us.

Kim controlled those moments between us. After teasing each other and swimming to and away from each other, we emerged from the pool. Towels materialized from a cabinet against the house.

After partially drying myself, my mouth found her breasts. I maneuvered her to a padded lounger and started to kiss her. Kim whispered to me, “Please, go down on me. I love oral sex.”

I knelt before her outstretched legs, and then dove face first onto her trimmed mons. My tongue encircled the area, dropping deeper into her cleft. I excited her. She excited me.

Karen hadn’t liked oral sex all that much. Once in a great while, she’d get really turned on and push me down to the beautiful ‘V’ between her legs, but more often than not, she just wanted me to finger her and rub the area with my palm.

Kim’s request was a delight for me. I loved the taste and aroma of a woman – this woman enticingly laid out before me in the gentle light coming from inside her home. I sated myself on her pussy, feeling as though I had turned this woman into a blithering mass of orgasming flesh. I felt so powerful making Kim cum over and over, and she just kept encouraging me. I wondered how long I’d been in that heaven because time had seemed to stop.

We made love on the lounger, Kim welcoming my every kiss, move, and penetration. As hot as we were, we both lasted an inordinately long time – over an hour, before my orgasm finally pushed us into a new place and into new dimensions in the cosmos.

We lay on the lounger cooling down, at least until Kim moved off me from our last sexual position. She pulled me up to my feet, and with a giggle gently pushed me into the pool. She followed me with a smooth dive that knifed through the surface of the water with barely a splash.

We again found our way into each other’s arms as the cool water reinvigorated us.

Suddenly, the ‘dangerous’ part of being a weekend husband flashed through my thoughts. I worried that I had in some way endangered Kim’s relationship with her husband Ron. I asked, “Are you all right with what just happened? I mean ... your husband ... your sister ... I mean, I just want to be sure that I didn’t...”

Before I could stammer our any further incomplete sentences, Kim kissed me again. She whispered in a husky voice into my ear, “Everything that happened – and will happen – between us is just fine with me, Ron, June, and anybody else that needs to know. Relax and enjoy us – now. I liked the way you made love to me. Come do it again.”

Kim had me sit on the edge of the pool as she fellated me back to hardness. We made love again on the lounger, again, much to my surprise, taking over a half hour before my orgasm ended our coitus. This time Kim had us changing positions, varying the pace, touching each other erotically in every conceivable place while we remained coupled, and kissing with a wide range of emotions behind our act from giggling humor to serious passion. Kim seemed to enjoy a half-dozen orgasms before my own arrived.

After we’d finished our second round of sex and lay there panting next to each other, I asked in a near whisper, “How’d you do that? How’d you make me last so long? How’d you get so many orgasms in ... before you allowed me to cum?” I had felt Kim had been completely in control through both of our sessions.

Kim hummed in happiness and responded, “It’s my own variation on Tantric sex. Neither of us could do what we did unless we connected with each other at a deep level beyond just being physical and sexual with each other. We connected at a spiritual level. I knew we connected at this special level within thirty seconds of meeting you. I knew we would make love this way because of what June told me. She and I think alike and resonate the same way to the same people.”

She went on, “This evening – my being with you at dinner, dancing, and our making love – was more than each of us just getting our rocks off ... or even wanting to please the other. We connected with each other through something even greater. Our stroking, kissing, licking, penetration, pace, and variations in position helped us explore each other in new ways beyond the physical. We honored each other and honored the creative Universe that exists in all of us – in all things. I often think when I have a really hard orgasm that I have truly become One with that Force.”

I said, “Well, that aims me in the direction, but I still wonder ‘How you did what you did?”

Kim chuckled; “You did what you did. I helped point the way. When we made love, I simply showed you how to use all your senses to move beyond sensation to a different mental level that both embraced and transcended the physical senses. You felt it; I could tell; you followed my lead and were willing to explore and not rush things. Making love isn’t rushed. We merged our beings with each other because we both wanted that deeper feeling; I even suggested it to you with words. We wanted to prolong the pleasure for each other and for ourselves, and so we did.”

We were silent for a moment, and Kim added, “You should know I have never connected with someone so quickly, so fast – and on so many levels – multiple dimensions of mind, body, and spirit. When we met face to face, I knew. I could have made love to you with the same results and feelings within a minute after we met; we’d have made the same connection. Our dinner and the club were foreplay to our real purpose tonight. Thank you.” We kissed very tenderly, our bodies rubbing together to heighten the sensations we felt for each other.

I said, “You’ve given me some things to think about – I mean making love on multiple levels simultaneously. When I’ve done it before, it just was what it was. You were directing me to connect on all these levels. I feel so energized, and so at peace now. Was that deliberate?”

Kim nodded, “Yes. I’ll tell you more along those lines tomorrow.”

Kim snuggled into me, one of her breasts within easy reach of the hand that wrapped around her. I stroked her nipple casually. Kim purred. As we both started to nod off to sleep, Kim pulled me up and led me upstairs to her large bed. I instantly went to sleep cradling this beautiful woman in my arms.

I awoke to a sunbeam in my face, surprised at how rested I felt. Beside me, the sexy form of Kim lay sleeping on her stomach. I leaned over and kissed her shoulder, and then slipped out of bed. Downstairs, I found my briefs, went to the pool, and started doing laps; I lost count somewhere around two hundred before I stopped. Kim found me doing Tai Chi next to the pool; she joined me for the last part of my meditative exercise. She was nude, a point that distracted me so much I finally gave into my lust and just watched her.

Kim finally spoke as the routine finished, “You’re up early. Everything all right?”

“The best,” I assured her. “Making love with you rejuvenated me. I’m very happy. You?” I suddenly worried that she’d had second thoughts about our lovemaking.