Northern Moonlight

by Anisa Claire West

  “Not a chance.” Gio muttered, gluing his eyes to her lovely form.

  The sun dipped low into the horizon just as Gio and Sabrina arrived at Sugarday Field from a leisurely drive sprinkled with light conversation and more delicious compliments from a very bemused Giovanni. Gio decided he would take her to the most secluded corner where they could recline on a blanket and forget that the world even existed. As he parked the car, Gio surveyed the grounds, pleased to see that there were very few people in sight. He would have Sabrina all to himself this night.

  “Did you really think I would take you camping?” He asked with a wink, spreading the blanket over the grass.

  “Well, if you had, I would have made the best of it and toasted some marshmallows over a campfire! It wouldn’t have been so bad!” Sabrina said congenially, as Gio narrowed his eyes and caressed a tendril of her hair that shone natural red-gold highlights under the moonlight.

  Around them, the night was closing in. The almost starless sky hung low and sleek, housing a slice of moon that did little to illumine the somber shroud. Beneath the blanket they shared, the grass was cold and dewy, causing the pair to huddle closer.

  “I’m sorry about the other night. I shouldn’t have driven away without giving you a kiss goodnight.” Gio said intensely, pinioning Sabrina on her back.

  “No you shouldn’t have.” Sabrina agreed, suddenly forgetting why she had been mad at him in the first place. Before she had a chance to remember, he was on top of her, molding her lips sweetly to his. His hands wandered over her body in the sundress, slipping underneath the hem to fondle her bare thighs.

  Sabrina covered his hand with hers and said urgently, “Gio, someone could see us. We’re not going to make love here in this field!”

  “We’re not?” He raised an eyebrow defiantly and quieted her effectively with a kiss that transported her to a place of pure sensation where propriety and privacy were alien concepts. Boldly, she wrapped her legs around him, tugging on his hair and pressing his face down closer to hers so the kiss naturally deepened.

  When they finally returned to reality, Sabrina blushed furiously to discover her dress twisted around her body and her sandals strewn carelessly in the grass. Sensing that she was about to transition to the Primrose side of her personality, Gio encouraged her to recline next to him on the blanket.

  “Let’s just hold each other and look at the sky.” He murmured, as she compulsively smoothed her rumpled dress. When she would have reached for her sandals, he grabbed her hands and clasped them together over his chest. For long moments, they lay hypnotized by the panoramic view of the sky as well as by the erotic aftershocks still sizzling inside them.

  Voices sounded in the distance, and Sabrina could hear the distinctive gleeful chatter of a little girl. She lifted her head from Gio’s chest and saw that a family of four was laying a blanket not too far from theirs.

  Two children skipped together in a circle until, without warning, the little boy clobbered his sister, knocking her over on the grass. The little girl stood up in a flurry, running to her mother’s side to issue a formal complaint against the imp. The parents exchanged a look that spoke of how familiar they were with such antics, and the mother waved a scolding finger at the little boy. As the mother reprimanded the boy, she glanced over at Gio and Sabrina, seeming to notice them for the first time. Taking in their state of partial undress, she looked away as though scandalized, and Sabrina knew it was time for them to take their erotic picnic elsewhere.

  “Gio, we should leave now.” Sabrina nudged him as he slept lightly.

  “Huh? Why?” He asked, not opening his eyes.

  “Look over there!” Sabrina urged, as he turned his head and finally noticed the young couple with their school-age children setting up for a much more wholesome sort of picnic.

  “Out of all the places in this field, why do they have to come here?” Gio grumbled, but did not argue further as Sabrina gathered their picnic basket together.

  In a quest for privacy, they decided to move their uneaten picnic to Sabrina’s house. As Gio careened his truck into the driveway, Sabrina ducked her head as she spotted Mrs. Benjamin hauling a garbage bag to the curb.

  “Come on, let’s hurry and get into the house. My neighbor watches me like a hawk.” She hissed through her teeth, as Gio chuckled, unfamiliar with Mrs. Benjamin’s prying personality.

  Shaking his head in amusement, Gio got out of the car just as the old lady was walking back to her porch. In her slippers and housedress, Mrs. Benjamin padded towards Gio. Hoping to avoid Mrs. Benjamin was futile, Sabrina realized, as she hopped out of the truck.

  “Hi Mrs. Benjamin.” Sabrina greeted with a false smile.

  “Hello Sabrina.” The woman narrowed her eyes and came closer, looking disapprovingly at her sundress. “You’re stained with mud!” She accused, as Sabrina peered down at her dress, noticing a small smudge of dirt.

  “I better go inside and put it in the washing machine.” Sabrina said brusquely, dreading that Mrs. Benjamin might guess the reason for the stain.

  “Aren’t you going to introduce me?” Mrs. Benjamin hollered after them, as Sabrina walked briskly towards her house.

  Impatiently, she whirled around and said, “You’ve seen him before. He’s the man who left those flowers for me. But, I’ll introduce you. Mrs. Benjamin, this is Giovanni.” Giovanni politely offered Mrs. Benjamin his hand.

  “Well, I don’t want to keep you, Mrs. Benjamin. Have a good night.” Not waiting for a reply, she whisked Gio over to the front door and unlocked it in a single motion. Inside, she breathed a sigh of relief. “Believe me when I tell you that woman could have kept us talking until dawn.” Gio laughed as Sabrina took another look at her dirty dress.

  “This really does need to come off.” Gio said, yanking on the fabric.

  “Be careful! Don’t rip it. I can still wear this dress if I wash it with enough detergent.” Sabrina scolded.

  “If it’s not rain getting me out of my clothes, it’s dirt getting you out of yours.” Gio remarked, waiting for her to shed the dress.

  “You’re right about that. After rolling around on all that grass and dirt, I wouldn’t mind taking a shower.” Sabrina said invitingly.

  “I wouldn’t mind taking one with you.” Gio replied, as the two made their way to the lavender-tiled bathroom.

  Gracefully, Sabrina stepped out of her sandals and stripped off the dress as Gio watched with ravenous eyes. He enthusiastically followed suit with his own clothing, and Sabrina marveled how he was naked in a matter of seconds. She ran tepid water from the shower spigot and tested it before stepping in. Gio followed close behind her, and they both luxuriated under the water’s gushing refreshment. As the water saturated Sabrina’s hair, she reached for a shampoo bottle.

  Gio gently grabbed her wrist and said, “Let me do that.”

  Then he squeezed a dollop of fragrant shampoo into his palms, rubbing them together to create a foamy lather. It was with heart-wrenching, infinite tenderness that he soaped and washed her long cascade of dark hair, all the while gently massaging her scalp, sending joyful tingles throughout her body. As his masterful hands kneaded the back of her neck and upper shoulders, she closed her eyes, trying to crystallize this moment in her memory, knowing she didn’t have to try. Sabrina sighed sweetly as Giovanni patiently proceeded with his loving massage, telling her with the movements of his hands what he was still unable and unwilling to put into words. You must love me. She thought to herself in a silent murmur. No man would be so solicitous in such a tender manner unless he truly loved a woman.

  As Sabrina arched her back, pressing her hands against the ivory porcelain tiles of the shower, she felt a jolt of arousal in Gio, but still he continued his thorough massage, now molding the muscles of her middle and lower back, sending wave after blissful wave of gratitude through Sabrina. She thought of all the ways she could return the favor, then deliberately cleared all thoughts from her mind, not wanting to disturb the p
erfection of Gio’s rarely displayed affection. Mentally, she floated away, barely noticing as he began to rinse her hair, cupping his hands to gather water and then carefully pouring the water onto her soaking hair.

  When the shower was over, Sabrina felt like a kitten who desired nothing more than to curl up into a ball and sleep on a crocheted blanket by the consoling warmth of the fireplace. Her juxtaposed feelings of vulnerability and satiation were new to her. Gio wrapped her in a plush cotton towel and led her to the bedroom, looking at her intently and with undisguised appreciation.

  Mischievously, he left her in the bedroom and ran down the stairs. Before she had a chance to ask what he was doing, Gio was back in her bedroom with the picnic basket in hand. He unlatched the beige wicker basket and pulled out a bag of long stem strawberries, followed by a bunch of plump grapes.

  “Did you pack these aphrodisiacs hoping that you’d get your way with me?” Gio winked as Sabrina feigned a look of innocence.

  “Of course not! I don’t need to do anything at all to get my way with you.” She replied flirtatiously as he grinned back at her, removing a strawberry from the bag.

  Gripping the stem, he offered her the succulent fruit, as she parted her lips and accepted it. She took the stem from him and swirled the strawberry around in her mouth, as Gio watched appreciatively. Then he dangled the grapevine over her mouth, as Sabrina bit into one of the grapes and captured it between her teeth. “You like juicy things too, don’t you?” She asked, reaching for a strawberry and feeding it to him. Together, they made a meal of the fruit, followed by the bread and cheese.

  When they were sated, Sabrina was about to part her smiling lips to have an intimate talk with Gio when a piercing, obnoxious sound sliced through the air and shattered her dream-state. She scowled as she realized it was his beeper, urging him to call the firehouse. In a matter of moments he could be gone, again risking his life, and leaving her feeling utterly exposed and alone.

  “Sabrina, you know what that sound means.” He frowned, looking at her apologetically.

  She swallowed and nodded, as he hesitantly walked over to her rotary phone on the nightstand. She turned away and enveloped herself more snugly in the towel as he dialed the number and spoke a few terse words.

  “It’s Gio Salvatore. I just got paged…I’m off-duty right now…Oh, man. Right off of…Yes, I’ll be right there.” He hung up the phone and bolted up, throwing on his clothes in a fluster as Sabrina waited for an explanation.

  “There’s a forest fire that they can’t control. It’s in another township, but they’re calling for back-up. I have to go.”

  “Are you going to be back later?” She asked in a hopeful voice.

  “I don’t know. It depends on how much progress we make with the fire.” He shrugged, and in this subtle gesture she perceived indifference, infuriating her.

  Logic told her that this was his job, and an admirable one at that, but the woman in her screamed abandonment and was sorely tempted to run and cling to him like a vine so he couldn’t leave her again. But she had her dignity and fought the tears that she could feel liquefying behind her eyes.

  She walked over to him, gave him a hug and watched with a sinking heart as he raced out the front door, jumping into his truck, turbo charging the engine into motion, and disappearing around the bend with a screeching of tires. Sabrina let the towel drop to the floor, standing naked in front of an open window and not even caring. She rubbed her eyes and wondered how one moment they could be so unbelievably close to one another, probing each other’s physical and emotional depths, and then, with the shrill sound of an electronic beeper, he could be vanished.

  Barely aware of her own nudity, she walked over to her credenza, where a small AM/FM radio cassette player perched. She turned it on to her favorite easy listening station, trying to drown herself in the glum sounds of a lonely heart song. She flung herself with considerable force onto the bed and lay directly on the downy decorative pillows, not bothering to move them aside. That was a strange trademark of Sabrina: whenever she felt sad, she listened to dark, melancholy music to match her mood. Although the sad songs did little to lift her spirits, they were still oddly soothing and somehow validated her sadness.

  With her hair a sopping mess, her stomach twisting into knots, and her eyes growing redder by the millisecond, Sabrina tried not to picture Gio’s thick, capable fingers working their way over her skin. But as she drifted off to sleep, her remembrance of his hands was the last conscious thought she had.

  Hours later, she awoke with a shiver and instantly stiff neck, shocked to look down at her body and find herself nude with goose bumps covering the length of her flesh. The room was pitch black, and she felt a cold draft fanning through the window. It must be the middle of the night, she surmised, taking note of the pervasive darkness as well as the crackling of static coming from dead air on the radio.

  She slipped under the sheets, realizing with a lump in her throat that Gio had not returned. If he were still fighting the fire, she would have no way to reach him. She would simply have to wait, painfully wait until he came back to her. She glanced at the wall clock and blinked as she registered the time, 2:28 AM.

  *****

  At that late hour, Gio was indeed still fighting the fire, and battling with his own exhaustion as much as with the flames. Natural surges of testosterone and adrenaline always provided him with a substantial amount of energy initially, but as the hours waned into dawn, so did his vigor fade. Sweating copiously beneath his heavy armor, he felt like a zombie and secretly longed to be in the soothing arms of Sabrina. He thought of her petite, curvaceous body thinly veiled by the towel, her luxurious hair dripping water onto the hardwood floors, and felt a pang of longing.

  As the aurora sunlight swam into the sky, Gio was finally parking his truck on the side of the road, wearily making his way inside the barren loft. With a hint of nausea, he recalled the destruction that the forest fire inflicted after it had at last been conquered. Rows of pine and oak trees lay in ashes, creating a hot, murky graveyard in the middle of a once magnificent forest. If only they could have contained the fire, they could have saved all that gorgeous foliage from withering into nothingness. Even a dedicated team of fire squadrons from several nearby townships could not prevent the calamity, caused by teenagers having a bonfire.

  New trees would be planted eventually but, for now, acres of the forest were desolate. It could have been worse, though, he admitted to himself, thinking how some forest fires burn for days or even weeks before finally being defeated. Then, with a sensation of déjà vu, Gio remembered the fire of 1966. Every time he was faced with a monstrous fire like the one he confronted tonight, it were as though he were once again an eighteen year old orphan.

  When Gio finally sank into sleep, his dreams were both vivid and troubling. In the only one he would recall upon awaking at noon, a vicious green dragon was breathing fire directly into his chest, singing him at his heart center. In a fit of agony, he felt the fire penetrate his shirt, aiming directly for his racing heart. Behind the dragon, he glimpsed a beautiful angelic woman in a white gauze gown, looking at him with compassionate eyes. In the dim light of his bedroom, she seemed almost to be an apparition. It’s Sabrina, he marveled in his dream. Gracefully, she glided forward, and with each light step she ventured, the dragon became smaller and less imposing.

  When she was finally at his bedside, gazing ethereally into his frightened eyes, the dragon and its licking flames disappeared entirely, leaving him to exhale in relief. As he held out his hand to touch her, he was struck by a warm pulsation deep in his chest. To the naked eye, the fire was gone, but he still felt his heart caressed by an insistent heat. With a knowing beam, Sabrina traced her fingertips in a heart-shaped motion over that precious organ, all the while warming him from head to toe with eyes that radiated like toasted almonds. The dream ended there, with Gio willingly surrendering to the foreign feelings it elicited.

  When he woke up, a sheen of
sweat bathed his body, soaking through his shirt and causing him to head immediately for a refreshing shower. Gruffly, he cast aside any analysis of the peculiar reverie, wanting very much to start his day. As he pulled on a pair of beige khaki pants and matching shirt, he knew that he had to call Sabrina. She had looked so sad when he left the night before, like a lost little girl with her big doe eyes and slightly trembling pink lips. Groaning, Gio felt a rush of distinct emotion at the mere envisioning of her. Picking up the phone without another thought, he dialed her seven digit number and waited for her to answer.