Guardian

by Jack Porter

  My co-pilot resurfaced next to Hannah after a long dip underneath.

  “Is it alright if I get in with you, Number Two?”

  Layla wrung her glossy dark brown hair contemplatively. Droplets slid down her warm brown skin. The more modest of the three, she crossed her arms across her chest but said, “Yeah, come on in and live a little, Cap.”

  I laughed and untucked my shirt from my slacks. “Well, I guess I could use some freshening up.”

  Six

  My originally white shirt was grungy and gray as I lifted it over my head. Even taking that one article of clothing off made me feel a little cleaner. It had been soaked with sweat from our hike and the moisture in the pool room.

  All four girls had their eyes trained on my abs. Megan and Hannah were openly ogling me. Layla was stealing peeks, trying not to seem obvious about it. As soon as I began to undo my belt buckle, someone, I’m not sure who, whistled their blatant appreciation for this impromptu and very public strip tease.

  “Ah, you’re probably going to need a bit of help with this next part,” Piper placed her hands flat on the tile and in one sleek movement, pushed herself up and out of the water. Instantly she shivered, and her nipples pebbled into taut peaks. “The air is always cold when you first get out,” she said, noticing where my eyes had wandered.

  She sauntered over, moving in close to help me untie my shoes and then pull my pants down. When she stood back up to do the same to my boxers, a splash of spring water trickled from the ends of her tightly braided cornrows, down the tight four-pack of her athletic stomach, only to disappear amongst a lush patch of silky black curls between her legs.

  “Oh my,” Piper whispered low in my ear, so only I could hear her. “You are a big boy, aren’t you?”

  Glancing down at my fully erect member, which was completely enjoying the sensation of Piper removing my boxers from my body, I gave her a half shrug paired with an ear-splitting grin, “Can’t say I’ve had any complaints.”

  Piper stood more slowly this time, caressing long skillful fingers up my shins, thighs, and over my hips to settle at my waist. “I’ll bet you haven’t.”

  “Quit hogging Dexter to yourself, Pipes,” Hannah demanded in a huffy voice.

  I glanced over Piper’s toned shoulder to see Hannah hop out of the water and begin padding wetly over. Her breasts bounced with each springy step she took. I snickered. Her whole body was like a testament to her full, bubbly personality.

  And I’d be damned if she didn’t snatch my arm from Piper’s grasp and nestle it between those soft pillows of chest.

  “Hey!” Piper protested, but Hannah wasn’t listening. She’d already dragged me to the edge of the hot spring.

  “Want to jump in together?” she asked, but didn’t really give me a chance to answer. Instead, she simply tugged me in, yelling, “Geronimo!”

  Megan, quick as any fish, darted out of the way before we landed. Layla, however, wasn’t as lucky and I watched my second get hit face first with our splash before I went under.

  The water wasn’t what I expected. Not comfortably warm, but borderline scalding. And I remembered nearly every woman I’d post-sex showered with over the years tended to like their soaks just under this side of boiling.

  I stayed under, floating a while and allowing myself to adjust to the temperature. The original sting faded, and I felt the water's warmth seep into my grateful muscles and ease the stings and bites on my leg.

  Something shimmered below my feet and caught my eye. I glanced toward the light source. It seemed impossibly far down, but I could have sworn it was because my eyes were tricking me, that when I squinted and the source became more focused, it took the shape of an impossibly large bubble. One that looked to have items inside it.

  I was just thinking I’d give diving down there a go when Megan zipped over to me. Her full, naked body was wonderfully close to mine when she stopped and for several moments, I forgot the light source existed. Concern stamped her brow and she gave me a questioning thumbs up. She was asking if I was all right.

  Had I been under that long? I didn’t think so, but I could hold my breath for quite a while. Just because I’d flown rescue choppers for the Navy SEALS for most of my career didn’t mean I was exempt from passing the rigorous underwater training and regular water-related endurance tests.

  I gave Megan a cheerful okay signal and pointed skyward to indicate I’d resurface. The other girls are probably worried about me too.

  Peals of laughter and shrill shrieks of joy hit my ears as soon as I broke the water’s surface. Apparently, Hannah’s little stunt had turned into a full out water war. Girls were teaming up and splashing their opponents. Piper and Layla wrestled, each trying to dunk the other under.

  Layla’s face was red with exertion. Not only was Piper stronger, but she also seemed to handle the heat better than my co-pilot. I could see how weak Layla was becoming, but Piper, in her fun, simply thought she was gaining the upper hand.

  “Hey Piper, back off. I think she’s too hot.” While I stroked over, I studied Layla’s face. Grim certainty settled over me. I was right. Her eyes were becoming more glazed by the second.

  Now that I thought of it, it made sense. Layla had pushed herself harder than anyone else today because she didn’t have an athlete’s background. She wasn’t used to testing her body to the edge of its capabilities.

  Why didn’t I notice sooner?

  I reached her just as she fully blacked out, eyes slipping closed. Narrowly, I managed to avoid her head dropping beneath the steaming water.

  Using my hands around her forearms to keep her afloat, I said, “Come on, Number Two. You can hitch a ride with me. That’s a girl.”

  All modesty was pushed aside as I hooked her arms around my neck and pulled her in close to my chest. Her body was light and warm in the water as I moved us through the pool.

  I took no pleasure from Layla’s body pressed into mine. Piper and Hannah’s advances were different. This was not an advance. This was someone in need, and it would have been wrong of me to treat it otherwise.

  If I were honest, I was so worried about her safety that the thought she was completely naked didn’t cross my mind until I had her splayed out on the cool marble tile, fanning her face and pressing a cool water bottle from the supply sack to her chest.

  Piper assisted me in covering her body with a blanket from one of the burlap sacks just as she was fluttering her eyes open.

  “Hey,” Layla said wearily.

  “Hey there. I think you overdid it today.”

  “I think I did, too.” Layla sat up slowly, holding the blanket to her chest. Her eyes glanced down my body briefly before snapping back up to hold my gaze. “Thank you,” she said. “But I don’t like being a damsel in distress.”

  I smiled. “I won’t tell anybody.”

  Layla smirked, her eyes brightening and looking more like normal. Then she glanced at the other girls. “Too late, maybe.”

  “Drink this water, and take it easy, Number Two,” I said, standing. “No more working for you this evening.”

  I became aware that the girls were out of the spring and getting dressed. Once I was sure Layla was making a full comeback, I left Piper to help my co-pilot into her clothes.

  The other girls were yawning, and I was aware it was probably past sundown.

  Time to set up the tents.

  Well, tent was a loose term. They were small backpacking tents, meant for one to two people at most. And there were only two. The green tent was a good foot longer than the blue one, to support someone my size.

  My initial thought was that we didn’t need them. The point of sleeping underground was that we were no longer exposed to the elements. But the girls had put that idea to bed fairly quickly. They said they would feel safer in the tents.

  However, the girls soon spotted a potential problem as I got their blue tent set up first. Even all huddled together, only two of the girls could sleep in a tent at any given time,
and there were five of us. If they crammed themselves together, the fit girls might be able to squeeze three into a tent. If they didn’t mind half sleeping on top of one another.

  Naturally, I informed the girls I would sleep elsewhere in the room, and let them have the tents—two girls in each one.

  But the uproar was tremendous. They insisted it wasn’t right, and that I had to have a decent place to sleep so I could be at my best.

  So we compromised. Three girls crammed into one tent, myself and the remaining girl in the other.

  Furious whispers ensued. Each had various excuses for sleeping in my tent.

  Layla because she was the most familiar with me. Megan because she had nightmares and didn’t want to disturb the other girls. Piper because she was closest to my height and would be uncomfortable in the smaller tent, and Hannah...

  “Because I want his cock,” she sassed, glancing down at my still-naked cock with obvious interest. Needless to say, this drove the entire argument downhill into bickering and name calling.

  “Alright, ladies, alright.” I raised a hand to get their attention. “Each of you can sleep with me in turns. That’s only fair. Agreed?”

  The girls looked at each other and nodded coolly.

  I frowned, facing a difficult decision of who would be sleeping with me first. My gaze swept over them while they waited patiently for my decision.

  “Megan, you said you have nightmares?”

  “Yeah. Usually when I’m in an unfamiliar place like this.”

  “Alright, then it’s decided. Hannah, Piper, and Number Two in the blue tent. You and me in the green one. Hopefully I can help you get used to the place tonight.”

  “I have no doubt you will.” Megan couldn’t seem to keep the satisfied smirk off her face any more than the other girls could hold in their envious glares.

  Shaking my head, I left them to find my own clothes still discarded on the floor by the pool.

  Seven

  I put on my boxers, but not much else before becoming distracted. The large spring’s blue glow never seemed to dim or waver, and the enigma of it called me over, shirt and pants forgotten.

  There was something otherworldly about this place. The animal goddess statues (were they goddesses?) and the blue light below the spring, but other things too, like the mere size of these ruins, with ceilings taller than the three-thousand-year-old sequoia trees, and the bone flute that was bigger than an elephant tusk. It would suggest that gods had really inhabited this place at one time. Gods or giants.

  That was impossible, and I chuckled at the ludicrous thought.

  “Thinking about going back for another swim?” Megan slipped up from behind me to stare at the spring as well. The water played off her freckled skin in a pretty way, and with the blue light melting into them, her hazel eyes were just shy of glowing aqua topaz.

  I wanted to tell her this, but since we’d be sleeping together in a short while, I didn’t want to make things uncomfortable for her. Instead, I asked, “Did you notice something odd while you were under the spring? Something solid-looking at the bottom?”

  “Hmm, I think so. Looked like a bubble with something inside it,” she said, putting her hand on her chin and looking up at the ceiling in thought. “But that’s impossible, isn’t it?”

  “Probably, but what if it holds a clue as to what this island is? I was considering trying to dive down to take a look.”

  “Sounds fun, like an adventure! Want some company?”

  I gave her a closed-lip smile. I knew Megan could handle herself well in the water and wasn’t worried about her ability to dive. She knew her limits and would go up for air if she thought she needed to. “Sure. I could use a second,” I said.

  Megan raised both hands to her lips as if I’d just said something naughty. “Oh, don’t let Layla hear you.”

  The way she didn’t take my slip of words to heart spoke well of her character. I laughed. “You knew what I meant.”

  Megan released a yawn, stretching one long arm into the air in a way that made her shirt ride up her stomach. “Yeah, I did,” she mumbled sleepily. “No biggie. No one can replace Layla’s crucial role.”

  Dark circles rimmed her eyes, which were half-closed already. Sounds of the other girls settling into their tent came to my attention as well. I glanced at my watch, which hadn’t moved a tick since we crashed. Close to midnight now, I estimated.

  Responsibilities before fun, Captain, I told myself. I wouldn’t risk Megan’s life to satisfy my curiosity.

  “Let’s save this adventure for another day,” I said, steering her toward the tent.

  I wasn’t particularly tired, only itching to find out what lay beneath the depths of this hot spring. It drew me to it just as the road had called me down it. However, seeing as I’d just invited Megan to come along and she was obviously not fit for a deep dive, I decided to sleep instead.

  Besides, I needed to try and get some rest anyway.

  There was no awkward shuffling between the two of us as I entered the tent first, then Megan. She was too tired for that. Instead, she curled her slender body against me and laid her head on my shirtless chest. A waterfall of sleek auburn hair trailed down my bare stomach. It felt nice. Soothing.

  I knew she wouldn’t mind if I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her flush with my body, but one thing would lead to another, and it would be far more than warmth I’d be stealing. I’d capture her soft pink lips. Plunder her soaking wet body.

  Try not to complicate matters, I told myself, but deep down I knew my resolve as a man was weakening before the girls’ sexy bodies, tantalizing flirting, and stunning inner strength. With a party of young hot women like them, any man would crumble.

  It thoroughly surprised me that I hadn’t yet.

  I nearly groaned aloud when Megan hooked one knee across my hips, her soft inner thigh rubbing against my cock as she shuffled intimately close. Keeping perfectly still, I let her seek my body’s comfort to help her sink further into the depths of sleep.

  The urge to roll over and claim the treasure that lay between her legs was strong. If we didn’t get rescued soon, I might end up breaking my oath to remain professionally detached.

  And how sweet it would be.

  For a long time, I listened to her even breathing in the dark and wrestled with my desire. Finally, at some point, slumber fell over me. It was a light combat sleep, one where any hint of danger would have me alert in seconds.

  Megan struggled with her nightmares only once before morning. My eyes snapped open as her hand balled into a fist on my chest while her mind fought whatever demon sought her out.

  I whispered soothing words to her, knowing better than to wake her up completely, and rubbed her back until she settled down again.

  All in all, it wasn’t too bad, and I was able to find sleep again within twenty minutes of her first whimper.

  The next morning, I woke before Megan. Obviously, I couldn’t tell it was morning, but I estimated I’d got about four hours of sleep, which was plenty. I thought to do some exploring before breakfast, and maybe even climb up to the surface and look for an easy meal, something that would taste better than the MREs.

  I extracted myself from Megan’s sleeping form, but when I climbed out of the tent, I realized I wasn’t the first person up.

  Layla sat beside the blue-lit pool, its light creating a silhouette of her naked body. As I approached, I saw that she was soaking wet once again, as if she had just gone for a swim.

  “Hey,” I said softly, trying not to startle her.

  She turned and looked at me, but at first there wasn’t recognition in her eyes, as if she had been thinking deeply of something.

  “Did you get in the water by yourself?” I asked, trying not to scold.

  Layla shrugged. “Dex… I… yes. I was cold and wanted the warmth of the water.”

  Something about the way she spoke made me not believe her, but I wasn’t about to call her a liar. Then she smiled. �
�Don’t worry, Cap. I was careful.” She hopped up and scooted away from the pool, grabbing her clothes as she did so and holding them in front of her.

  “How did you sleep?” I asked. I tore my gaze away from her body as she dressed, looking at the still but steaming water of the largest pool.

  “Okay, except for being cold. You’d think that with three of us in that tent, we’d be hot. How about you?” she asked.

  “Huh? Oh. Yeah, I slept fine.” I had still been thinking about that blue light at the bottom of the hot spring.

  “Megan didn’t keep you awake?” Layla asked the question innocently enough, but I could tell she was very interested in my answer.

  “Not really.” I glanced back and my number two and smiled. “You hungry?”

  “Starving. Dexter,” she said, pulling her shirt down over her head. “Are you still going to dive down there?”

  “Yeah, I want to. Why?”

  “Just… I know you don’t need me to tell you this. But I worry. Be careful, okay?”

  I looked again at her wet hair, and then met her eyes. They were filled with concern. It was kind of sweet. “I promise. I just want to have a look.”

  Over our breakfast of MREs (I hadn’t left to get anything else), we discussed what to do with our day. Although we spoke of exploring this underground chamber and possibly some hunting or fishing, the conversation never did turn to going back to the beach or getting rescued. In the back of my mind, I realized we should do that right away, but somehow I just didn’t want to bring it up. Instead, I was happy to enjoy the girls’ company and laugh at how bad our food tasted.

  As much as I wanted to dive straight into the pool, we really did need to find a water source. The water of the springs had too much sulfur in it. When we’d boiled it for drinking, it was so unpalatable that we spit it out. Anyway, we needed to know what was around the temple. A hike would do us good.

  We spent the day scouring the woods surrounding the ruins, eventually finding a clear, swift-running stream. Then we stumbled upon some roots that Piper recognized. Apparently, not only was she interested in medicine, but in plants, as well. She had grown up working in her grandmother’s garden.