Operation: Stripped & Stranded

by E Kay Sims

  I easily found a glass in a glass-fronted cupboard, conveniently located near the soapstone sink, which was below a window that looked out at the back of the property. It was too dark to see out, but the light above the sink illuminated my reflection back to me. I looked exhausted. Dark circles ringed my eyes and my usually tan skin looked a bit sallow. My neck and shoulders were knotted with tension. I filled the glass with water from the sink, then chugged it down just as EZee made an appearance on the back stairs.

  “Hey,” she said, looking down at me from the third to the last step.

  “Hey, yourself,” I replied.

  “I was about to hop in the shower,” there was a gleam in her eyes, “and I thought maybe you’d like to join me?”

  I set the empty glass on the counter and took two long strides which brought me to stand before her, eye level. Her nipples hardened right before my eyes. “I thought you’d never ask.” My voice rumbled from my throat.

  She reached for my hand as she turned and pulled me up the stairs behind her. My eyes remained focused on her perfectly formed ass, I was mesmerized by the sway of her hips as she seemed to float up the stairs before me.

  A few minutes later, we were naked under the hot stream, covered in soap as I slid in and out of her hot, tight sheath with her back pressed against the tiled wall. Her legs tightened around my waist as she found her release, my thumb massaging her clit intensified her pleasure. The pulse and throb of her tight pussy milked my dick, causing my balls to tighten as I spiraled toward my release. I gripped her ass with both hands and thrust deeply into her one last time—pubic bone to pubic bone—then ground my hips viciously against her, filling her with everything I had to give. My mouth took hers, covering her cries with my groans of raw pleasure. But I didn’t stop, my hips thrusting hard every few seconds, building her pleasure again. She came a second time, more violent than the first. As her orgasm rippled in waves through her body, I held her tightly against me, chest-to-chest, belly to belly. My orgasm nearly caused my knees to buckle and my head swam with dizziness, but I managed to keep us both upright.

  She went limp in my arms, her head rolled back, eyes closed, kiss-swollen lips parted. I kissed her gently and eased out of her, realizing I hadn’t worn a condom. “Fuck,” I breathed, looking down between us.

  Her eyes popped open to meet my gaze. “Shit!” she breathed. “We forgot protection!” She squirmed in my arms until I let her down, only letting go when she was standing on her own.

  “Fuck, I’m sorry,” I said. “It’s my fault––”

  “No! I’m just as much to blame,” she said, moving under the showerhead to rinse off the soap.

  “You’re on the pill, right?” I asked a bit worried now.

  “Um, yeah. But I forgot to take them yesterday and today.” She rinsed her hair furiously. “Dammit! I can’t believe I forgot them two days in a row.”

  My hands found their way to her hips and I pressed my body into hers. “It’s going to be okay,” I said, reassuringly.

  She stilled in my arms. “How can you be so sure?” she asked, her voice tinged with worry.

  The vision I’d had earlier invaded my thoughts, the one of her in a field of lavender. Another premonition hit me without warning. This time, I saw EZee sitting on a porch swing––the very one I saw earlier on the front porch of this house. She was holding a towheaded baby boy to her breast as he suckled hungrily. My heart slammed in my chest bringing me back to reality.

  I gripped her tighter. “It’s all going to be okay. Trust me,” I said, certain that I was right.

  I knew in that moment that it would be. And I knew what I had to do to secure my future. I could not stay in the 75th Ranger Battalion. As soon as I got back to Ft. Lewis, I was going straight to my Squad Leader to inform him of my decision. I’d go regular Army or reserves before I re-enlisted as a Ranger. Hell, maybe I’d consider becoming a recruiter.

  I kissed the back of her neck and my hands slid up to cup her firm breasts. Something had changed in me moments ago. But, I surmised, it had been a long time in coming. Meeting EZee had been the catalyst. This woman was my destiny, I knew that now. I was never surer of anything in my life up to that point.

  She turned in my arms, her hands moved to either side of my face as she gazed at me intently with those gorgeous hazel eyes. “I don’t know why, but I do trust you, Eric Thorsen.” She tilted her chin up, bringing her lips closer to mine.

  I made love to her again, slowly this time, worshipping her body with mine. And then again, when we’d finally went to bed in the wee hours of the morning.

  EZEE

  I awoke to the sound of the horses neighing in the corral. The stable hand must have come early––oh, shit! I looked at the clock. It wasn’t early at all, but midmorning. Eric was still sleeping, tangled in the sheets. I let my gaze travel down his body, stopping at the scars here and there––battle scars. Some were knife wounds, others had been made by bullets or shrapnel from bombs. Even so, his body was gorgeous, ripped with muscles, his skin a deep tan from the desert sun. Memories of the night before flooded my brain, heating my face with embarrassment as I recalled the things I’d done to him.

  His stomach rumbled loudly while he slept, pulling me out of my reverie. I climbed out of the huge king-sized bed, grabbing my robe off the nearby chair and headed to the bathroom.

  A short while later, still in my robe, I prepared an omelet with fresh eggs from the chicken coop. I’d brewed dark roast coffee in the French press, cooked the last of the bacon, and made griddle toast and was slathering it with butter when Eric startled me. “Good morning, gorgeous.” He stood at the bottom of the stairs in nothing but his underwear. Lord! The man was an Adonis!

  “Good morning,” I said, suddenly shy, self-conscious of my disheveled appearance. “You’re just in time for breakfast.” I gazed up at him, blinking to hide my blooming lust.

  “The smell of bacon and coffee woke me––best smell in world… aside from you.” He gave me a knowing look.

  “I promised to cook you breakfast before driving you home today,” I said, setting the small table built into an alcove. “Here, you can help me carry this to the breakfast nook.” I handed him a tray laden with a French press, cream, and sugar and two coffee cups from my grandmother’s wedding china.

  “Thank you, you didn’t have to make me breakfast, which looks divine, by the way,” he said, taking note of the large fluffy omelet I was transferring from the pan to a large plate with same pattern as the coffee cups.

  “Go ahead and sit down,” I told him. “Pour yourself some coffee, or I have orange juice, if you prefer. I just juiced it this morning.”

  “Really? You juiced the oranges yourself?” He looked at me with disbelief.

  “What? I like fresh juice,” I said matter-of-factually.

  Eric chuckled. “I’d love some, if it’s not too much trouble,” he said in that deep sexy voice of his, making goosebumps rise on my skin.

  I finished cutting the omelet in half—well, actually, I cut his portion much larger than my own—then went to the fridge and grabbed the orange juice. Opening the cupboard, I pulled out a small juice glass and poured the juice. Eric had stood up from the table and walked across the kitchen to take the juice from me just I turned to put the large glass carafe back into the fridge. I barely missed spilling the juice all down his front, if it hadn’t been for his quick reflexes, sidestepping and taking the glass from me in the nick of time.

  “Oops, sorry about that.” He grinned sheepishly.

  “No worries,” I said, all flustered at his nearness. “Um, your breakfast is getting cold.” I broke the silence that had fallen between us.

  “Oh, right,” he said, watching my chest rise and fall under my thin robe. I felt my nipples peak under his gaze.

  I rushed to grab our plates from the kitchen island and carried them over to the breakfast nook. Eric joined me at the table just as I sat down. He set down his orange juice then poured us bot
h coffee.

  “I hope you like it,” I said, as he put a forkful of omelet, oozing with melted cheese, into his mouth.

  “It’s delicious.” He chewed, his eyes closed, savoring the food. Then after he swallowed, he pinned me with his ice blue gaze. “Don’t tell me––you have chickens, don’t you?” He paused. “I know fresh eggs when I taste them.” He took another bite, smiling at me.

  “Yes, I gathered them this morning from the henhouse,” I took a bite of toast and smiled back.

  He shook his head at me. “I knew it!” He waved his fork at me. “You’re quite a surprise, you know that?” He looked around the kitchen, then at our food. “This place, this food, everything.” He paused. “It just goes to show, you should never judge a book by its cover.” He laughed. “I must be losing my touch,” he added a second later.

  “What does that mean?” I wanted to know what he was thinking.

  “I just meant that, I’m usually better at judging people. But you, I can’t quite figure you out. It’s a mystery––a challenge. I like a challenge…” he trailed off, concentrating on his food.

  I liked the sound of his voice when he’d said it. I liked the way he gave me butterflies and made me feel all jittery inside whenever he looked at me. For a moment, I let myself imagine what it would be like to wake up next to him every morning. And I liked the idea of that too.

  “Eric,” I said, drawing his attention from his breakfast.

  “Hmmm?” He looked up, taking another bite of bacon.

  “I um…” suddenly I was at a loss.

  “I feel it to, you know?” he said, his eyes serious.

  “You do?” I asked, knowing that we were both talking about the same thing––the undeniable connection between us that had been there from the very first moment we’d laid eyes on each other.

  “I know it sounds crazy, Everett, but do you believe in love at first sight?” He stopped eating, his fork mid-air. His hand slid across the table to mine.

  “I never did before,” I paused, “until just now––these past few days,” I said, my voice dropping to a whisper. “That first time I saw you––standing there in nothing but a towel––the first thought that came into my head was, this is my destiny. I didn’t believe it at the time. But then we met again at the restaurant.” I paused, my face flaming at the memory of what followed. “And then the next morning in class, there you were again…” My eyes dropped to our hands, mine in his much larger one.

  “I know.” His thumb caressed the back of my hand. “It’s as if the universe brought us together. Why else would we keep crossing paths like this? And there’s the fact that we live less than thirty miles apart in the same state. I don’t believe in coincidence,” he finished.

  “For me, it’s more than just sexual attraction, Eric. I feel something for you that I can’t put into words––something I’ve never felt before. I know it probably sounds ridiculous… we just met!”

  “I feel it too,” he said solemnly.

  “Where do we go from here?”

  “Wherever you want to,” he said. “I’m not going to re-enlist. I’ve made up my mind. Or, if I do, I’ll go regular Army or go into the reserves. Either way, I’m leaving the Ranger Regiment.”

  His words shocked me. “But I thought––”

  “Last night it hit me,” he interrupted, “I had a premonition. I’ve got to trust my gut on this one, EZee. If I stay in, I don’t think I’m going to make it back home from the next deployment.” His eyes were bright with his intensity. “I want to see you––more than that––I want to be with you. If you’ll give me a chance….”

  “Yes,” I said quickly without giving it any thought. “I want to see you, too. I’ve been dreading having to drive you home today, not knowing if I’d ever hear from you again.”

  Eric laughed, “Fat chance of that! There is no way in hell I’m going to just let you walk out of my life now!”

  We finished our breakfast then Eric helped me wash the dishes. We were in no hurry to drive to Corvallis anytime soon. We showered and then I gave him the grand tour of the farm.

  Mrs. Nichols stopped by in the afternoon to drop off Nico while I was showing Eric the lavender fields my great grandmother had planted on the south side of the property.

  “Halloooo?” I heard Mrs. Nichols call from the side yard before I saw her rounding the back corner of the house with Nico under her arm. As soon as he saw me, he began yapping excitedly, nearly jumping out of her arms. As soon as she set him down, he charged toward me.

  “Nic!” I knelt down as he jumped up on my pant leg. “Hey, baby, did you miss me?” I laughed as Nico licked my face profusely. “Yuck, no kisses, baby, no kisses. You know I don’t like that.” I held him away from my face. “Thank you, Mrs. Nichols. I hope he wasn’t any trouble.”

  “Oh, no! He’s always such a dear. I enjoyed his company, but he was acting pretty sorrowful the past day or so, missing his mommy,” she said, eyeballing Eric.

  “Oh, pardon my manners,” I said, “Mrs. Nichols, this is my friend Eric. Eric, my neighbor, Mrs. Nichols. She’s known me practically my whole life.”

  “Nice to meet you, young man.” She held out her hand to Eric, who took it politely.

  “Likewise,” he said, giving her a nod.

  Nico barked playfully.

  “Oh, and Eric, I’d like you to meet Nico,” I said, holding my long-haired Chihuahua out to him so Nico could sniff Eric’s hand.

  “Hey, buddy.” Eric let Nico smell him before giving him a friendly pat on the head.

  Suddenly Nico lunged out of my arms for Eric. Luckily, Eric caught him just as he launched himself out of my arms. Nico proceeded to lick Eric’s face profusely as he had done to me a few minutes before.

  “Well!” Mrs. Nichols exclaimed. “He must like you, Eric. He usually growls and nips at strangers, doesn’t he, Everett?”

  “Yes. I’m surprised he’s taken to Eric so suddenly,” I replied. Even I was astonished at Nico’s behavior. “Thank you again for watching him.”

  “Sure, honey, anytime. I best be off. I need to start dinner for Walter or he’ll be all in a tizz. Nice meetin’ you, Eric.” She waved, then headed back toward the front and across the street to her own farm.

  “Alright, buddy, no more kisses,” Eric said holding Nico away from his face.

  Nico barked his reply.

  “He really does like you. Usually, he hates strangers,” I said, turning back toward the house. “C’mon, let’s take him in and figure out what to do about dinner. I’m starving.”

  In the end, we had decided to go out for dinner at the Bronco Saloon. After some brews and burgers, we shot a few games of pool, then I drove Eric home to Corvallis.

  GIL

  I

  pushed the door of the convertible shut and tossed the keys from hand-to-hand as I studied Eric’s condo from the footpath. How could such an innocuous building hold such trepidation for me? How had it come to this? I’d fucked up our friendship big-time and it was time to take responsibility for that. I wasn’t sure what the outcome of this meeting would be and that messed with me. After a few minutes pacing back and forth on the footpath—okay, so maybe it was closer to ten—I gathered myself together and made my way past the double garages to the front door located down the side of the light brown home. I knocked, then noticed the doorbell.

  “Oh, shit,” I admonished myself.

  I froze for a moment before pressing it, then did so quickly. The setting sun was warm against my left cheek as I waited for an answer. I thought about Leah waiting for me in the bar and grill down the road and hoped she wouldn’t wait in the new rental car we’d just hired.

  Anything to keep my mind off what was about to come.

  The roar of a loud engine blasted my ears and I moved back down the walkway to find a deep purple, crazy-looking hot rod with a nose bigger than Barbra Streisand’s, and an engine that sounded like it was going to take off into the atmosphere at any second.r />
  I fought the urge to cover my ears as I peered into the car at Eric and Everett.

  Eric was behind the wheel, staring at me with those fierce, angry eyes. I took a step back when he opened the driver door and stepped out of the car.

  “Eric,” I said with a gulp.

  “You made it, I see,” he growled. “So, what’s the plan, Gil?” He waited for my answer.

  “I took the place the company offered me. Leah’s with me, so I didn’t want to impose on you.” I swung the convertible’s keys on my right index finger.

  Eric held his hand out for the keys. “Who the fuck is Leah?”

  “Piper. Piper is Leah,” I responded. The mere feel of her name on my tongue brought me joy.

  “You’ve got to be shitting me!” He rolled his eyes and snatched the keys from me.

  I held my hands up in surrender. “Eric, please. I love her, mate. I really love her, and she loves me. She is not like the strippers you’ve heard about. Leah’s got a good head on her shoulders. The only reason she ever went into that business was to pay her way through culinary school.”

  Eric looked back over his shoulder at Everett, who still sat in the car. When he looked back at me, his expression changed slightly. He took a deep breath. “Look, Gil,” he put his hands on his hips, “it’s none of my business. It’s your life. It’s not my place to judge you. I guess you’ve got it all figured out.” He paused, then took a step toward me. “I wish you nothing but the best, man.”

  He clapped me on the back and shook my hand. “So, you won’t be staying with me then?”

  “I won’t be, Eric. I want to make a home with her. But I want you in my life, mate. I can hardly remember a time when we weren’t friends.” I lowered my gaze to the ground. “I’m sorry about what I said, how I handled your story. It’s such a stupid Aussie way of handling shit and I truly didn’t mean anything by it. It’d kill me if we aren’t best mates anymore.” I chanced a glance at him and felt a lump of emotion form in my throat.

  “Never said I was going anywhere.” He pulled me in for a bro-hug. I held onto him for a little too long. “Okay, awkward now, dude.” He shoved me away.