1. Saturday
An hour ago, when I checked my altimeter, everything seemed okay, but now it registered an altitude that was much higher than it should have been, according to my map. This meant that the atmospheric pressure was dropping dramatically and bad weather was on the way. High up in the mountains that's a dangerous situation. It was near the end of October and I was on a high altitude tour from hut to hut around the Grand Combin, a mountain top in the southwest of Switzerland.
It was still a one and a half hour's walk to the next hut, the Cabane de Panossière, where I would spend the night. I quickened my pace to reach it in time.
The sky was still blue, but, before long, dark clouds appeared, which covered the entire sky, and gusts of cold wind came down from the ice fields. Then it began to snow and soon I was in the middle of a terrible blizzard.
I realized that it would be madness to continue. I had to seek shelter as quickly as possible and decided to descent to an old unoccupied log cabin I had seen on my way up.
Half blinded by the snow that stung like needles I sought my way, shuffling foot-by-foot, careful not to fall into the nearby ravine. The wind was howling and it was bitter cold. I had an extra windbreaker in my backpack, which I put on over my jacket, but it didn't help much.
After an hour of struggling against the elements I suddenly stumbled over a soft mass lying across the path. At the same time I heard a faint moaning. It was a young blonde woman lying down, exhausted and shivering with cold. Wearing only a sweater and no jacket, she was soaking wet and would not survive another thirty minutes. I took my windbreaker off and put it over her. Then I lifted her on her feet, but she was half-unconscious and could not remain standing, so I had to support her and, later on, carry and drag her.
I do not know how much time it took us to reach the cabin, but when finally we got inside I fell down on the floor, panting with fatigue. But had to look after the woman, so I scrambled on my feet again. At first I thought she had died on the way, because she felt icy-cold and didn't give a sign of life, but when I held a little mirror near her mouth, it got a little bit steamed.
The fact, however, that she did not shiver was a very bad sign. I feared she could die at any moment from hypothermia. I had to get her warm at any cost.
There was a fireplace and there were logs of wood, so I made a fire as quickly as possible and dragged her near the flames. But that would not be sufficient. I took off all her clothes, rubbed her dry with a towel and put her in my sleeping bag. Then I undressed myself, got in the sleeping bag as well and pressed my naked body against hers. It was like embracing a pillar of ice. I shuddered and my teeth chattered, but gradually I got a little warmer. It got dark and, overcome with tiredness, I fell asleep.
2. Sunday
The next morning I was roughly shaken awake by my bed-companion.
"Where am I and who, for Heaven's sake, are you," she asked in English. "Oh my God, how did I get naked, and you... Oh my God, what have you done to me? You dirty bastard, you filthy pig, you drugged and raped me. Get out of here! You pervert, you swine." She kicked with her feet and pummelled with her fists.
"Quiet, quiet, let me explain," I said, but she was impervious to reason.
"There is nothing to explain, everything is clear to me, get out, out!"
A little embarrassed I left the sleeping bag and put some clothes on. "Oh my God," she whimpered. "Oh my God, how could you this to me, I'll never get over it. Don't touch me, you creep. Damn, you ruined my life, asshole, do you realize that?"
"On the contrary," I said. "I saved your life. I found you half dead in the snowstorm and brought you in with much trouble, risking my own life."
"Tell me another," she retorted. "That won't go down with me. You stripped me and took advantage of me, that's obvious."
"Nothing of the sort," I said. "You were dying from hypothermia and the only thing I could do to get you warm was sharing my body heat with you and ..."
"Where are my clothes? I want my clothes and get out of here."
"Your clothes are still wet, but you can have some of mine," I said. "I have spare underwear, pants and a sweater in my backpack. As for leaving at this moment, that's impossible. Look outside and you'll see it's still snowing. Going out now would be suicide."
I gave her the clothes, which she put on, while I decently turned around. When she tried to stand up her legs were unsteady. She staggered and flopped down on a wooden bench near an old table. I noticed she was a very beautiful blonde, but also very pale, with languid eyes.
"You have to regain some strength," I commented. "I'll get you some bread and cheese from my backpack and make you some hot coffee or tea."
"Tea would be fine," she answered weakly. "Thank you."
I made breakfast for both of us and sat down in front of her. She looked anxiously at me while we were eating and asked: "What are you going to do with me?"
I gave a laugh and said: "You still don't believe me, do you? Do I look like a rapist?"
"I never met one before, so I don't know what rapists look like," she answered.
"You have a point," I said earnestly, "but let me tell you something. Believe it or not, but for me sex is a matter of sharing, not of taking. I always do my utmost to please the woman I make love to. For me there are no more beautiful moments than in the arms of a woman brought into ecstasy by the pleasure I gave her. Rape does not figure in my dictionary, honestly. And, by the way, my name is Harry. I'm from Eindhoven in The Netherlands."
For a long time she stayed silent. "I'm Marion," she said finally, "from Grand Rapids, Michigan. I'm here with some girlfriends. Yesterday we went for a walk, but the weather got bad. So we decided to return, but then there was that snowstorm and we lost contact and I was all alone and it was very cold and I had no jacket and I thought I was going to die and then I woke up in a sleeping bag, stark naked, with you ..."
"In my birthday suit too. Must have been a big shock."
"It was, I can assure you." And then after a long silence and very seriously: "I must apologize. I was not nice to you and very ungrateful, I guess. I believe you are a decent person. I'm sorry. And thank you for saving me."
"Forget it. How are you feeling?"
"Much better already, thank you. How much longer do you think we'll have to stay here? My friends must be worried like mad."
"I don't know," I answered. "It depends on the weather. There is nothing for it but to wait. Let's hope we can leave tomorrow. However, we are safe here, there is plenty of firewood and we have enough food for a couple of days."
"Okay, let's make the best of it she said."
I had a deck of cards in my backpack, so we played cribbage, writing the score on a piece on paper. We also talked a lot and told things about ourselves.
After dinner (instant soup, bread and cheese) it got dark and we sat down side by side at the fireplace, looking silently at the flames for a long time.
Finally she said: "You are a nice person, Harry, hold me, please."
I put my arm around her and she put her head against my shoulder.
She trembled a little. Then she whispered: "Will you sleep with me tonight?"
I stroked her hair and cheeks that had much more colour now. She closed her eyes and offered me her lips, which I kissed lightly.
"Be sweet to me, please," she said softly.
I kissed her again and whispered: "Please, show me your breasts."
She pulled the much too wide sweater she wore over her head. What I saw in the glow of the firelight took my breath. Of course I had seen her breasts the night before, but then I had not really looked, as I had other things to worry about. But now ...
Her breasts were full and round, proudly standing out, with nice pink nipples and wide areolas around them. "Oh my God," I whispered. "How beautiful."
When I touched her nipples, they got erect, and she sighed. "Ah, I'm very sensitive there."
I softly kissed and licked them and sucked them lightly.
"Ah, yes," she sighed. "Go on, please."