The storm raged outside the window. Claire could hear the rain pounding against the roof, thunder clapping ferociously overhead. It was the worst storm she had seen in a long time. She jumped when a tree branch banged into the window. It was the storm’s way of threatening to come inside, she thought. There was a fire burning in the fireplace, hot and crackling. The flames sent strange shadows up the walls of the cabin and she was surrounded by the dark dancing images. She was curled up on the sofa under a heavy wool blanket. As she sipped a glass of wine in the firelight, she realized that she had picked the best weekend to make her getaway. The cabin had no power in a storm like this and certainly no phone. She was totally and completely alone.

Claire had just ended a three year relationship after coming to terms with the fact that they both wanted different things. And that that was never going to change. He hadn’t known how to handle her mentally, much less physically. Three years and he had never given her an orgasm. But he always tried to play it off like it was her, like she was defective. She wanted to throw it in his face that she had had plenty of orgasms with other men before he came along, but she was too polite to ever say that. She just put up with it. Now she had no idea why she had stood for that for so long. She would rather be here in a dark cabin in the mountains during the worst storm in a decade all by herself than to be in their Park Avenue apartment with him for another day. Sure he knew a lot about wine and even more about the stock market, but what was that compared to good old fashioned fucking?? She didn’t like to be shallow but in the end it boiled down to common sense. She was pretty sure the man didn’t even know what a clitoris was.

She leaned back against the couch pillows and stretched her legs out. This was by far the most comfortable sofa she had ever lain on. She was wearing an old college t-shirt and a pair of boxers. The fire and the blanket together were doing a good job of keeping the chill of the stormy night away. Claire took another sip of wine and put her arm behind her head. She let her mind wander as she listened to the sound of the rain. She watched the shadows on the ceiling and thought about the places her life had taken her thus far. Her eyes closed slowly while one memory stood out among all the others. Her last day of college when she and her best friend were saying goodbye, moving to different cities, starting new and totally different lives. She had a job in New York as an interior designer and he had a job in San Diego as a marine biologist. It was the first time they wouldn’t live in the same city since high school and they were both torn up about it. She remembered fondly as Zack went to leave her dorm room for the airport, he bent down to kiss her cheek, sadness in his eyes. Instead of kissing her cheek, though, he kissed her full on the mouth. Claire had been so stunned that she hadn’t been able to move. But gradually as she felt his lips on hers, her body began to respond on its own. Her arms went around his neck and his around her back and they clung to each other. The kiss was probably the most passionate of her life. They had moved toward the bed without ever separating even an inch.

Claire’s skin began to flush as she thought about what had happened next. The room seemed to grow hotter around her and she felt a tingling sensation between her legs. The memory grew sharper in her mind: Zack practically throwing her down on the bed and climbing on top of her, the two best friends a tangled mass of limbs. He had never made a move on her, not once in the ten years they had been friends. She had never wanted him to. He was just Zack. But that one night, she had wanted all of him. Claire set down her glass of wine on the floor next to the sofa. Reaching under her boxer shorts, her fingers toyed around with the soft tuft of pubic hair. She thought about Zack, big, tall, strong Zack. He was handsome but not in a traditional way. But now, just that thought alone was enough to make her touch herself. Zack. She remembered how he had torn off all of her clothes and she his. They had wasted no time on foreplay. Claire’s fingers parted her own lips and slid inside. She arched her back as she fingered herself. The memory of Zack’s lovemaking was somehow fresh in her mind. She teased her clitoris, moaning out loud to the empty room. Her legs curled up and straightened again, her body tossing and turning.

In her mind, she felt Zack’s hands on her. His big, gentle hands lifting her hips towards him and then groaning as he shoved himself inside her. Her best friend had fucked her, right there on her dorm room bed. And she had fucked him back. The rain still pounded outside while in her memory Zack was pounding her. He was thrusting so hard into her and she was so wet for him. She had been dripping wet ever since the moment his lips had met hers. Writhing on the sofa, Claire continued to relive the encounter and felt her first orgasm in three years coming on and coming on hard.

“Oh god,” she breathed. “Zack.”

She just wanted to hear his name out loud. It got her even hotter. There were intense waves of pleasure coursing through her. He had turned her over on her stomach and had fucked her from behind. Her favorite position. And it had felt so amazing. Not amazing, no. There were no words for how she had felt. How she was feeling now just thinking about it. The way he had moved on top of her, his stomach against her back, his hands interlocked with hers. Then he had pulled her up onto her knees and banged into her while she was on all fours, holding on to her hips and pulling her to him. He had gone so deep, so deep inside her she thought she might break from the sheer fire of it.

Claire was close, so close. Thinking about Zack fucking her on all fours was going to send her over the edge. She had one hand playing with her clit now, massaging almost furiously with need, and the other driving in and out of her pussy. She was so wet, almost as wet as she had been with Zack. But no, never quite that wet. Her thoughts were only of him and that final moment when he reached around her front while still thrusting into her and began to toy with her clit. She had nearly screamed. He had rubbed his finger on her clit until she could see stars. She came hard and loud and with one final thrust, Zack had come too. Claire was crying out in her stormy mountain cabin; she was coming and it felt so good. She felt the warmth wash over her as her body exploded with rapture and she fell back against the pillow exhausted.

“Zack,” she said again to the empty room. She had not talked to him in almost a year. They had had a fight over something petty. Claire didn’t like the woman he had decided he was going to marry and Zack couldn’t stand Claire’s boyfriend. Although in different cities, they still managed to fight like lovers. Even though they had only had sex that one time. Zack had gone to catch his plane and she hadn’t seen him since. They had talked and emailed and done all the usual keep in touch things. But neither of them dared be in the same room again. It was the best night of their lives and neither thought they could ever top that.

Claire had called Zack before she had left for the cabin, crying over her breakup and missing her friend dearly. He hadn’t answered. She left a teary message but no details about what had happened or where she was going. She hadn’t had the guts to tell him. But she had so desperately wanted to hear his voice, to have him tell her she was going to be all right. He was always good at that.
She opened her eyes and looked into the fire. Fire. Like she had had with Zack. Tears welled up in her eyes as she wondered for the millionth time why they hadn’t tried to make a go of it. Why had they just walked away from each other? The tears spilled over as she thought of the wasted three years she had just spent. All that time lost, worthless. Time she could have been with Zack. But maybe he didn’t want her. Maybe he really and truly thought of her as nothing but his best friend.

The thunder clapped loudly overhead. She almost didn’t hear the knock on the door. Claire jumped, startled. Was it a knock? Who would it be in the middle of a night like this? She stood up and walked to the door, afraid to open it. She decided to suck it up and open it up a crack just to see who it was. She peered through the rain and darkness and almost fainted as she realized who was on her doorstep. It was Zack.

“Can I come in?” he asked her as though it were the most natural thing in the world for him to be standing there in the rain.

Claire was speechless, but she took a step backward and opened the door fully. He came in, all rain soaked and dripping on the wood floors.

“How did you…? But nobody knew that I was… I don’t..” Claire stuttered, trying to get her voice back, trying to make sense of why the man she had just been fantasizing about was suddenly standing in the middle of her getaway cabin.

“Your sister told me where you were. I got your message and I was freaked out, you sounded so upset. And when I couldn’t get a hold of you, I called your sister’s house. You told her you were coming up here after your breakup apparently. So I came to find you. I was worried about you,” he explained.

“Oh,” Claire replied, still trying to get a grasp on the situation. Slowly it dawned on her that Zack, her Zack, had flown all the way here and driven up a mountain in the insane weather just to see her, because he was worried. She smiled. Then ran into his arms as fast as her legs would carry her. She jumped up on him, wrapping her legs around him and he held her. He was soaking wet but she didn’t care. He stroked her hair, and his strong arms just held her. As though it were all she had ever needed. And maybe it was. She burst into tears. All of her frustration and hurt from the past three years was all coming out. She had held it in so long. He walked over to the sofa and sat down, still holding Claire.

God he loved this girl, was all he could think. And she was in pain, and that hurt him so much. He was angry with himself for having been so distant with her since their one night together. The truth was it had scared the hell out of him. She was everything he had ever wanted and could never have. Then suddenly he had her and he got spooked. He ran away to San Diego and things were never the same between them. He was always too afraid to even be in the same room with her after that night.

But now here he was, he had flown across the country to do nothing but hold her if that’s what she wanted. He had known she wasn’t happy just as she had known he hadn’t been happy. That was why they had a falling out. Neither of them wanted to admit to being in a crappy relationship. He had broken it off with his fiancé two months ago but hadn’t gotten up the nerve to call Claire yet. Then he got her message. Her tearful, heart wrenching message. And he knew he had to see her.

She still cried softly into his shoulder. He stroked her hair and her back, trying to calm her. She had her head titled, exposing the soft skin of her neck to him. He leaned down and kissed her there. Claire stopped sobbing and turned her head to look at him.

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered to her.

That was all it took. Zack kissed her full on the lips, tasting her salty tears, yearning to devour her. She kissed him back with the same ardor as he slowly laid her down next to him on the sofa. His desire for her was overwhelming. He wanted so badly to please her, to be inside her, to love her body and soul. His hands were holding her face as he worshipped her with his mouth, his tongue exploring every inch of her lips and her neck. Claire felt as though she were drowning in a sea of ecstasy. He was here, he was here and he was going to make love to her. Her entire body vibrated with sexual energy; she was charged with her need for him. Claire took off his jacket and his shirt. She kissed his bare chest, her lips on his nipples, flicking at them, making him groan with pleasure. She loved the feel of his hard muscles under her hands and mouth. She felt powerful, as though she could conquer the world. Because she was beautiful.

Zack pulled her t-shirt off over her head and threw it to the side. He ran his tongue down her silky skin to her breasts. Claire’s back arched as she surrendered herself to him. This was poetry, what he was doing to her, what he was making her feel and she loved it. He parted her thighs and buried his head between her legs. He licked at her and pressed his tongue hard into her sweet spot. He invaded her with his longing and she knew she had to have him immediately. She pulled him up to her and they quickly removed the rest of their clothes. As he entered her, she felt the world close in around her. It was just the two of them in the whole entire universe. Nothing else existed. He was inside of her and she was complete. He moved within her, the tip of his proud penis brushing against her g spot, causing her to cry out. She held him tightly to her, aching inside for him to go deeper. She couldn’t get enough of him. She felt herself come over and over again, her body in spasms. It was as though her body had been designed for his, that only he could fuck her this way. He took her into oblivion with a final thrust and they both surrendered helplessly to the void.