Evening Glow
Page 3
Gradually, people melted away across the moonlit beach. Jim joined Ron in their lean-to, where they slept together for the first time in several days, happy to be close to one-another and to share their love again. Val and Shelly retired to their lean-to, and their giggles gave indication of how happy they were with each other. Ralph and Jeanne wandered farther away down the beach, passing over one lava barrier onto Bathing Beach and another to Third Beach, where they amused themselves in private. In their lean-to, Julia was attending to Mark’s painful knees and other aches and pains, and to keeping things neat and tidy. Sexuality was not a large component of their relationship, especially when Mark’s knees were bothering him, but Julia realized that she was happier at that moment than she had been in quite some time. She pondered briefly on how strange that was. Then, as Mark slipped off to sleep, she rose to serve as watch person for the infirmary. She found both of her charges apparently asleep. She sat down in one of the two empty lean-tos, the one previously occupied by Jim, and began to tidy it up.
James and Maria held hands, walking across the sand, wandering down to the edge of the water to look out over the ocean and to look up at the moon and the stars strewn across the heavens above their heads. Putting his arm around Maria’s waist, holding her tight against him, it seemed to James that it had been days since they had really had time together. Maria fussed briefly, then turned to James and whispered, “Oh, James, touch me. I need you so much.”
As he complied, he found that, brief as her clothing had been, it had all disappeared. Such a plea from this woman was one he had rarely been able to resist. He steered her to their lean-to, where they lay on the blankets and quietly made love.
In the kitchen, Marcella and Paul sat together looking across the water and listening to the noises from the lean-tos behind them. Marcella reached out to take Paul’s hand; it seemed to be all the encouragement he needed. Their lips met. Passion met passion as they joined the evening of love, coupling on a tarpaulin in front of the fire.
It was an evening on which many people made trips to the water’s edge to splash in the warm, shallow water, or to venture out farther and swim. James and Maria occupied one part of Camp Beach, venturing to the edge of the water, splashing in the shallows, rinsing off, and rescuing their abandoned clothing. Paul and Marcella, equally naked, occupied another part of Camp Beach at another moment, splashing and swimming before returning to the Kitchen Tent, where Paul took up his duties as fire watchman and Marcella picked up her clothes and went to her lean-to after a good-night kiss. Val and Shelly emerged naked, sweaty, a little weak-kneed, no longer giggling, from their lean-to at a different time and sneaked to the water to rinse and cool off. Ralph and Jeanne swam at Third Beach, carried their clothes to Bathing Beach and swam again there, rejoicing in how wonderful it felt to be naked, together, alone. No one noticed an additional swimmer who emerged a bit later from the palms, crossing the sand, shrugging out of pajamas, swimming out to the reef.
Acknowledgments
I want to acknowledge all people involved in this book series, without their permission and their support of whom this work could not be accomplished: Mr. Samuels, Mr. Del Mar, Captain Ashley, and the free spirit of Mr. Gallagher.
Distributed by Nick Niels Sanders with all rights and permissions required.
Table of Contents
Evening Glow
25
Menu planning
Valerie & Michelle
Lunch
Acknowledgments