Overcoming

by H. R. Kitte-Rojas

  "Thank-you," she said.

  "You know how rare that is?" he asked. "Seems like everybody's out to take what they can get. Even me--I've become a look-out-fornumber-one dude, too."

  "Really?" Her mother was a giving person, and it occurred to Shauna occasionally that the world was far more selfish than her upbringing had led her to assume. Maybe that was ultimately why her heart had been broken. "You said 'become'--were you not always that way?"

  He blushed again. Shauna realized that white folks were at a distinct disadvantage this way: it was difficult to judge, by complexion, a black person's emotional state--with some it was impossible.

  "I was pretty naive and gullible once," Miles said. "I had to learn, you know, to take care of myself. Because nobody else has an interest in that...unless they're selling you something."

  "That's not true," she protested. "My mother cares about other people. Even strangers."

  He took in another mouthful of lasagna and studied her, nodding thoughtfully. "I'm glad there's still people like you," he said, after swallowing.

  "I saw a nice little park on the way over," Shauna said, after they let the subject drop. "What say we go for a walk there after we finish eating?"

  "Do I have to go barefoot?" he asked, grinning.

  She shrugged and laughed. "Shoes are optional."

  "I think I would like that," he said.

  When Shauna saw his motorcycle, she excitedly asked if they could take that to the park. Miles almost fell all over himself agreeing, and finding her a helmet.

  It was a short ride, but Shauna enjoyed it immensely. The fast motion through open air and the strange gravitational sensations when going around corners were thrilling. After they parked, dismounted, and stored the helmets in the fiberglass trunk, she bounced up on tiptoes to peck Miles on the lips.

  He asked her where she would like to go. She pointed to a trail, and they took it. She took hold of his arm with both hands, leaning briefly against his bicep as they walked. They smiled at each other, and continued into the woods.

  They heard someone approaching from the opposite direction on the trail. Shauna let go of Miles' arm and fell in behind him. A white couple came into view, with a big fuzzy dog on a leash. The man and woman nodded politely as they passed.

  They came to a hill. Miles climbed it without slowing his pace, so that Shauna struggled to keep up, and was winded when she crested the rise. She tried to catch her breath on the downhill slope.

  "Where's the fire?" she called ahead.

  Miles stopped and turned. "Too fast?"

  She nodded. "A little."

  He slowed a bit. They came to another steep hill. "A little help?"

  she asked. He glanced behind. She extended her hand. He enclosed it in his own gentle-but-firm grip, and pulled her uphill.

  She thanked him once they reached the top, but didn't let go. Instead, she maneuvered until their fingers interlocked. Their hike became a leisurely stroll. She watched squirrels and birds playing as they passed. She noticed different species of wildflowers growing in patches. Occasionally she pointed out these sorts of things to Miles, wondering if it was all as wondrous to him as it was to her. He didn't say much, but asked enough questions to show he was interested in her observations.

  Gradually, the sound of moving water grew within the forest's symphony. After Miles helped her climb another hill, she saw something off to the side of the trail and tugged back on his hand.

  "What?" he asked.

  She pointed at a clearing through a screen of foliage. "Can we go back there?"

  He glanced at the clearing, then back at her, and shrugged. "Okay."

  He led the way. She let go of his hand, but held on to the back of his shirt. He plunged through trees, careful to hold the branches down as he passed, so they didn't thwack her in the face. Just as he busted into the clearing, his hands jerked up to his face and she heard him sputtering. She entered the clearing after him and stopped to face him as he tried to wipe something from his face.

  "Spiderweb?" she asked.

  He nodded and sputtered some more.

  "Come here," she said, giggling. "Bend down."

  He leaned forward so she could check his hair, back and shoulders, ensuring no eight-legged hitchhikers were crawling on him. Once that was done, she helped wipe his face, the wipe becoming more like a caress as she examined his handsome features.

  "Thanks," he said. "Well, we're here."

  She smiled and pointed to a tiny waterfall across the clearing. "Isn't that beautiful?"

  He followed her gaze, then smiled at her, but said nothing.

  She rested a hand on him for balance, then removed her shoes. "Join me in a walk on the wild side?"

  He shot her a crazy look. "I ain't walkin' barefoot through tall grass. There's probably snakes in there."

  "You were raised in the city, weren't you?" She held both shoes in one hand, and strolled toward the brook. In a moment she heard him trudging along behind her.

  "You don't know what you're missing," she called behind her. "It's so liberating."

  "I'll walk barefoot on the carpet when I get back," he replied.

  "Stick in the mud. What about this scenery?

  "Spectacular," he said.

  On a hunch, she turned to confirm that his eyes were on her butt. He was ogling her just like he had at the roller rink. For some reason, she didn't feel objectified. Still, she was compelled to reprimand him. "I meant nature. The trees, the flowers, the waterfall...not my booty."

  "Oh," Miles said. "That's all nice, too."

  She rolled her eyes and continued toward the waterfall. When they reached it, she stood at the edge and took it all in. "Listen to that sound. It's almost like wind chimes--so relaxing."

  His arm slipped around her waist and she shivered involuntarily

  -a good shiver. "It is nice," he said.

  She leaned against him. His hand went up to her shoulder and massaged it gently. She sighed.

  After a long moment, she stepped out into the stream. She squealed when the cold shocked her skin.

  "You okay?" Miles asked.

  "This water is so cold!"

  "Well I could have told you that."

  She picked out a path across on smooth stones, and began to take it, but squealed again when she slid on the slippery surface of a large, flat one, waving her arms frantically for balance. Taking her totally by surprise, Miles came up behind her, putting one arm behind her back and one behind her knees, and with a swoopy dipping motion, lifted her off the ground. In the classic bride-overthe-transom carry, he brought her across the creek. Her arms instinctively went around his neck, shoes dangling from her fingers behind his back.

  On the far side, he lowered her to her feet and said, "I'm not the only city-bred folk up in here. There's a foot bridge farther down the trail we could have used, if I knew you wanted to go to the other side.

  She was glad she hadn't crossed on the bridge. This had been much better. She turned to face him, gazing up into his eyes. "That was very chivalrous," she said. "I bet your socks are soaked, now."

  "You're so beautiful," he said, appearing genuinely awed by whatever he saw in her.

  His powerful arms pulled her in close. He bent down until his face met hers, and he kissed her tenderly. She dropped her shoes, closed her eyes, raked her fingers through the hair behind his head, and kissed him back. Her tongue pushed through his lips where it was welcomed enthusiastically.

  They got so carried away in the kiss that they made loud smacking noises she would have considered vulgar if she'd witnessed the scene from a non-participatory vantage point. But it didn't bother her at all now.

  She was dizzy when Miles pulled back. She opened her eyes and saw he was studying her intensely.

  She groaned and whispered, "Don't stop, now."

  He led her by the hand to a smaller clearing, separated from the large one by a thin wall of high shrubbery.

  They stopped in the center and
faced each other. He kissed her again, his hands caressing her face, then her neck, then her breasts. She moaned. She knew what this was leading up to, but, despite all the wise and cautious warnings of her conscience, part of her wanted it to happen. Most of her wanted it. Oh, hell--all of her wanted it.

  He took her shirt off. She made no protest. In fact, she reached behind herself and unhooked her bra. He lowered his mouth to her breasts, and kissed them all over. He tickled, teased, kissed, licked and suckled on them, stoking her inner fire until the flames of her passion quietly raged. She pulled his shirt off and kissed him some more.

  They removed pants and undergarments and stood admiring each other's bodies. Miles was hard. And circumcised.

  She had never been with a circumcised man, but had seen drawings in biology textbooks. She rather liked it, now that she saw it in real life. And the smell didn't disgust her, as it did with uncircumcised men. The length of his erection pressed against her tummy as he pulled her into another embrace, kissed her passionately and cupped her breasts. Electricity throbbed from her pelvis through her whole body, tingling in her fingertips, toes and nipples.

  Miles squatted, laying their clothes out in a makeshift bed. She watched dumbly, head swimming. He rose again, gazing deep into her eyes.

  "I want you, Shauna."

  She said nothing, caressing his chest with both hands.

  "Are you okay?"

  She blinked, then slowly lowered herself to a reclining position on their clothes. He stared down at her, appearing as dreamy as she felt.

  Trembling, she reached up and encircled him with her hand. She interpreted his sudden intake of breath as a gasp of pleasure. She used her grip on him to gently guide him down to a prone position with her.

  They lay there together, kissing and touching, probing and shuddering, gasping and groaning, caressing and moaning, marveling and adoring. Words were no longer necessary. She was dripping wet. He was hard as granite. When she was absolutely ready, she rested her head back against the ground and opened her legs to invite him. He kissed her deeply on the mouth, then positioned himself over her, pulling a condom out of his pants pocket, which was near her knee. She strained her neck to tilt her head up again, wanting to see their bodies together--the contrast of white and black; soft and hard. She watched as, without assistance from his hands, he rubbed her mound with the head of his member. She moaned and saw stars.

  Didn't he understand? She didn't need anymore prepping. She was ready for him. So ready. She yanked the little package from him, tore it open, unrolled the rubber onto him, then took him in hand and guided him to her opening.

  He slid inside her with magical slowness. The electricity overwhelmed her and she cried out. Once buried to the hilt, Miles stopped. She fought through the waves of psychedelic sensations and opened her eyes. He stared down at her with a hungry, reverent expression. She pulled his head down to kiss him, then moved her hips for encouragement.

  He began to move inside her, ever so slowly. It was maddening torture that made her whole body quiver with desire. She moved her hands down to grip his buttocks, pulling him in deeper and faster. At first, he resisted. But she hissed, "Please, Miles! Give it to me!"

  He adapted himself to her pace, and they worked together with perfect rhythm. Amazingly, she felt the origins of that perfect storm brewing. She moaned and gasped and clawed at his back. She planted her heels in the ground and thrust her haunches up to meet him stroke-for-stroke. Involuntarily, they accelerated even faster.

  She'd never been here before. It was incredible. Nothing like Clarence and the others.

  The sensation ebbed for a moment and she feared she was hitting her plateau. She opened her eyes again, and saw him watching her with that awed adoration.

  "Come on, Baby," he said. "Let yourself go. Let it all hang out." He nipped at her throat, then, arching his back, kissed and licked his way down to her left nipple.

  Her body made up for lost time, then, convulsing to orgasm with speed and fury. She held on to him with one arm but buried her mouth in the other arm to muffle her scream. Every muscle from her waist down spasmed wildly--and a few muscles above the waist.

  The wild thrusting stopped and she melted in place like butter, completely relaxed despite the delicious aftershocks.

  "Oh, Miles..." she muttered. Gradually, she realized he was still hard, deep inside her. "Oh, Miles!"

  "Did you enjoy yourself, baby?" he asked, softly.

  She would have never imagined she would enjoy a man calling her "baby." Right now it seemed the most natural thing in the world.

  "Yes I did," she said. "But you didn't get there, did you?"

  "I will. But not before you do again."

  She laughed, breathlessly. "Ain't you got swag? Well come on, then, big head."

  He began to work it again, and she lost all ability to continue coherent conversation. She came again, in half the time. She was surging to the top again when, incredibly, Miles seemed to grow even harder and hotter inside her. His rhythm sped until he was slamming her hard. She kept a death-grip on his butt and almost swooned before they finally climaxed together.

  18

  Breathing hard, Miles kept his weight on his arms and off her. She shook her head, herself out of breath, and pulled him down until he rested atop her. Speechless, she buried her face in his neck and inhaled his spicy scent.

  Before the weight became uncomfortable, Miles maneuvered them onto their sides, but without breaking their embrace.

  Every time she opened her eyes, he was studying her with that mesmerized expression again.

  She felt something crawl on her and the spell was broken. She cried out and swatted at it. Wordlessly, they disentangled from each other and began to dress. She didn't see what he did with the condom. Suddenly, she was self-conscious about what they had done, and worried that somebody would catch them.

  They held hands on the trail back to the bike, but she let go and dropped back behind him when they passed another hiker.

  On the ride back to his house, Shauna slipped her hands under Miles' shirt, and felt all over his hard, flat stomach. She was still feeling giddy, and couldn't get enough of this man.

  At the house, she asked to use the shower. Her back was under the water and her front was lathered with soap when the shower door slid open and Miles stepped in with her.

  "Can't a girl get some privacy?" she asked, but she wasn't really complaining.

  Miles slid the door shut behind him and shook his head. "I'm stalking you, sexy thang."

  She giggled. "Maybe I should file a restraining order."

  He kissed her, then began to wash her. Well, at first it could be considered washing. Then the focus of his concentration narrowed until it became obvious she would have the cleanest breasts in the world. Men. Oh well--it was not unpleasant.

  "You found your favorite toy in the toybox, didn't you?" she asked.

  "All of them are my favorite," he replied. "It's just that, right now, there seems to be this really stubborn dirty spot right about here..."

  She couldn't help smirking as she said, "Well, by all means, do what you gotta do." She pulled his head down to her bosom.

  The hot water thrummed on Shauna's nape and cascaded down her back. Miles titillated her with his hands and mouth. He was really good at this. It briefly occurred to her that she'd been touched in most of the same spots before, but hadn't experienced nearly as much pleasure as a result.

  He kissed down her wet stomach. She shuddered from the tickle and anticipation. When he reached her sex, he asked, "How about this? Has it been cleaned?"

  "I washed it," she said, her words barely audible. He had her booty gripped with both strong hands and his nose almost touching her vaginal lips.

  He grinned. "Let's make sure you did a thorough job." And that's just what he did.

  This orgasm was softer, and it was a good thing, or she might have fallen in the tub and hurt herself.

  She gently backed away from his
face, still shuddering. He got the message and stood. She glanced down and saw he was stiff.

  "Somebody is hungry again," she said.

  "Ravenous," he agreed.

  "I guess we should make sure he's cleaned up for supper, then."

  She lathered him up with soap, then stroked him with a slow, twisting motion. He apparently liked this very much, and she enjoyed his every wince, moan and gasp.

  "Ow," he said.

  "What's wrong?"

  "The soap," he said, gritting his teeth. "It got inside..."

  Apologizing, she rinsed him off.

  "Don't be sorry," he said. "I loved what you were doing. It's just that the soap made it hurt."

  "Maybe I should kiss it and make it feel better," she whispered.

  The look on his face told her he would indeed like that, so she repaid some of his oral favors. She had never done this for a man before, and, frankly, couldn't have imagined herself doing it. But that's how generous she was feeling right then.

  When the hot water ran out, it was time to relocate.

  They toweled each other off, then Miles lifted Shauna off the floor, this time in something like a fireman's carry. They giggled all the way to the bed, where he plopped her down and she bounced on the mattress.

  "What are we, cave people?" she teased.

  "I'm Tarzan," he said. "You're Shauna, Queen of the jungle."

  "You Tarzan, me Jane," she said, grinning.

  "Jane's got nothin' on you, girl."

  They made love for hours. Afterwards he leaned back against the pillows and she rested her cheek on his chest. He stroked her body as if petting a kitten and she accordingly purred as she reached up to play with his hair.

  "Did you enjoy it?" Miles asked.

  "Couldn't you tell?" Shauna replied.

  "Just making sure. You seemed to have a lot of worries about sex."

  "It was wonderful," she said.

  "You're wonderful," he said.

  She twisted at the waist to gaze up at him. "What is it you like about me so much?"

  "You mean besides your physical perfection?"

  She rolled her eyes and snorted. "You don't have to lay it on so thick, Miles. I already went to bed with you."