by Tina Maurine
Noah’s eyes met mine and held them for an intense second before he looked away, held up his beer in a toast and took a long, cleansing pull from it.
It was my turn. I fed everyone a line about how I had run away, which to my chagrin, nobody ‘bullshitted’ me on. REALLY?
We played round after round sharing, lying, drinking and exuberantly calling ‘bullshit’ at the top of our lungs into the Icelandic wilderness. Fuck, by the end of the game, everyone was calling ‘bullshit’ on everyone, just to get them either to drink or to have a reason to drink their own beers.
“Hey, everyone! So, now that we’re all totally tossed, how about a good old-fashioned game of Truth or Dare?” Sammie proffered drunkenly.
Dirk, Dax, AND Noah all whistled and whooped. Kari and I groaned good-naturedly.
Kari looked over at me and shrugged her shoulders. “Sure, why not?”
“Yeah,” I acquiesced. “I’ll play as long as it doesn’t get too serious or vengeful, and the dares are harmless.”
“Sounds fair. So, guess that means you volunteer, roomie!” Sammie pretended to pass me the gauntlet. She was a nut, with all the grace and acting flair of a hippo trying to walk a tight rope.
Drunk Ass!
“So, Tessa… Truth or Dare?” Dirk asked me.
“Dare.”
“Oh, Yeah! Okay. Hmm… give me a sec while I come up with a good one.”
Dax leaned over and whispered something in his ear.
“Hey, that’s no fair!” I pretended to pout.
From behind me, I felt Noah’s presence before his cool hand snaked under my jacket and rested on my hip bone, pulling me firmly backward into his hard body. A shudder rippled through me.
“Okay, I dare you to three-way kiss with Sammie and Kari, and I’m not talking about a peck. I want you to see some tongue action… for at least few seconds.”
“What? Seriously? Come on, that’s the best you could do?” The idea didn’t appeal to me at all, but it was my dare. I started to pull away from Noah, but he held me tightly.
“Boy, aren’t you enthusiastic? Why don’t you give it your perfectionist best?” he razzed.
I teasingly glared at him. “You’re next,” I threatened.
Pulling Kari out of her chair, we walked to where Sammie stood by the fire.
“Face us! You’ve got to face us!” The peep chorus chimed in.
I placed my hands on the necks of both of my friends, “Ready?” I asked in a hushed whisper, making sure they were game for the lame dare Sammie’s dickhead boyfriend had put me up to. I closed my eyes and went in for the kiss. I kissed Kari first. Her lips were smaller then Sammie’s. Sammie and Kari kissed, and pretty soon, all our lips were mashed together with some tongue mixed in here and there. I’d say we gave it a good effort, but I broke the kiss off when I had counted to twelve in my head.
“Fuck, yeah! That was awesome!” Dirk exclaimed, smacking Dax on the back as they both rejoiced in sharing the same pervo likes. I looked over at Noah, who seemed to have enjoyed it as well.
“Okay, hmm.” I walked around the lingering embers of the bonfire. I purposely stopped in front of each of my friends, looked them in their eyes and raised an eyebrow or cocked my head before moving on. I had fun building up the suspense.
Finally, I reached Noah—my back to the fire and the Peanut Gallery. I unzipped my jacket as I straddled his lap, where evidence of his arousal had been before. The gang hooted and hollered as I rocked and wiggled on his lap, feigning an effort to get comfortable. I leaned in and pulled ever so slightly on his earlobe with my teeth, giving it a gentle kiss and slight lick before sucking on it for a second.
“So, big boy,” I said squirming and wiggling again just for good measure. My plan was working because I could feel him growing hard at my apex. I leaned back in so that my hot breath teased his neck… “I did tell you that you’d be next. Truth. Or. Dare?”
Noah choked getting the word ‘Dare’ out of his mouth.
“He chose dare!” I announced. Everyone shouted and whistled in rambunctious encouragement. Still perched on his lap, I leaned in, so I applied a good amount of pressure to his now HARD cock. My full breasts, exposed from when I’d unzipped my jacket, now bounced directly below his chin.
“So,” I whispered seductively. His cock jerked along his thigh, as my hot lips brushed his earlobe. “I dare you to show me your…” again, his dick twitched. I leaned back and said loud enough for the others to hear, “That’s right. He knows what I am going to say.” I leaned back in and fisted my hand in his hair. He no longer operated of his own volition. I pulled his head back, so I could look into his eyes. They were dark, raging with pure desire. My lips hovered so close to his, they burned from the proximity. His breath came in short, uneven pants.
In a voice meant only for him, I whispered, “Noah, I dare you to show me your junk.” I grabbed his lower lip with my teeth and gently drew it into my mouth. Noah simultaneously gasped and moaned into my mouth. I felt myself dampen. His deep blue pools locked onto my bright green ones. Without looking, he lifted my weight off his lap as he shifted his cock on his thigh and repositioned me so I more directly straddled his lap. Or rather, his cock.
“What did she dare you to do?”
“What’s she want to do?”
“What’s she want to see?”
The peanut gallery fired cat calls and incessant questions at us.
Noah answered them without breaking his impenetrable and intoxicating gaze from mine. “My cock.”
“What did he say?” I could hear Kari asking Dax, but it was Sammie who answered.
“She dared Noah to show her his boner.”
A chorus of laughter, tittering and razzing resounded in the background.
“So, beautiful, if you want to see him for the first time, you need to take him out.”
I don’t know now if the dare was more for him or for me. It certainly felt like the tables had been turned; now, I was the nervous one facing the dare.
I could hear that the game had gone on, as others were choosing new dares for each other. The background noise faded, leaving us in our own little world… again. My focus fixed solely on Noah, or more precisely, on the unveiling of his cock, which now seemed to dance and jerk with every slight touch of my hands; first on his buckle, then his button. He stopped me halfway down his fly; all that lay between me and his glory. Noah reached up, putting his hand on the nape of my neck and pulled me forward.
“So, you wanted to see it? Look,” he commanded huskily. His voice, deep with emotion and pent-up desire, soaked my panties.
With his hand still on my neck, I obeyed him and looked down. My heart raced. I watched him take my left hand in his right, and the two of us pulled down his zipper. It wasn’t until he further opened his fly, and simultaneously reached in to shift his position, that his substantial cock sprang free.
Upon its release, it escaped with such fury that it smacked his six-pack abs with a distinct slap. I caught myself sucking in my breath. There it stood, blanketed in dark shadows and lit by the flickering firelight. I had never in my life seen such a handsome dick.
Noah sat there, bare to me, bare to our friends, bare on the tundra. He hadn’t taken his eyes off of me, not even while mine had broken free to explore the fruits of my dare. The carnal tension between us grew thick; molecules so sexually charged that I’m shocked we didn’t spontaneously combust.
I could faintly hear our friends heckling us. “Put it away already!”
“Fuck, go get a room!”
“Let go of me! I can’t see shit while you’re holding onto me!”
“You can join the party anytime!”
Noah’s firm hand remained at my nape, pulling my ear toward his mouth. “Tessa. Don’t ever doubt that I want you.” It fell out in a hoarse, throaty whisper. “EVER.”
“Are you guys ever going to finish that lame-ass dare?”
“Come on, already!”
“Use the mast
er upstairs. Just get it over with already!”
Noah’s eyes finally broke from our long, heated stare. “I’m going to pick you up, and I want you to swing your legs around so that you’re standing in front of me. Stay there until I get situated.”
I placed my hands on his shoulders and helped brace myself while he lifted me, still seated I might add, until I stood in front of him. I watched him try a couple of times to get his cock back in his pants. Finally, he lifted his hips and pulled at his jeans, finding eventual success at resituating himself before zipping his fly. “Woman…” was all he said before he smacked my ass. I was so fucking wet that I had no choice but to stand—uncomfortably—beside the bonfire.
It appeared as though the Truth or Dare game had fragmented. Kari and Dax walked off a short distance from the fire and were pointing and looking up into the sky. Sam and Dirk were sucking face, pretty much like always.
I went inside to go to the bathroom. When I came out, Noah stood in the hallway, blocking me.
“What made you choose that dare?” His stance and the tone of his voice made me a little uncomfortable. “What made you want to share my cock with everyone else? I wanted to share it with you in a different way. My way.”
I surged forward, and he stepped down the first stair into the kitchen, so that we were nearly eye-to-eye.
I narrowed my eyes, “I didn’t share you and I won’t share what I saw with anyone else. As far as I’m concerned, it was just you and me out there.”
I felt compelled to place my hand on the side of his face, caressing it gently as I laid out my feelings for him to either accept or chastise. He listened, and when I was done, he buried his face in my chest as his arms snaked around me in a bear hug. I squeezed him back tightly. We stayed like that for what seemed like forever, until we both heard the bus door opening. We gave each other a final squeeze and let go.
In a hushed whisper, I heard Noah say, “Why couldn’t it be a different time in a different place? A better time? A better place?”
I hadn’t expected to hear emotion in Noah’s voice. Lust, for sure. But emotion? All I could think was… Vi? Suri?
“Lover’s spat going on in here?” Dirk asked as he and Sammie nudged past us into the hallway that led to their bedroom, not pausing for an answer.
Once their door closed, I spoke. “So, we’re okay, right? I didn’t mean any disrespect by my dare. I just...,” I sighed. “I just really wanted to see you and thought it would be fun.”
“Sure, we’re fine. Grab your jacket. It’s cold outside, and I want tonight to be perfect.”
19
I pulled the sleeve of my cold parka up just enough to see that my watch read 0047. I placed my hands over the tired bonfire. Kari and Dax had already snuggled into their sleeping bags and fleece blankets. I watched them cuddling and occasionally pointing up at the Aurora Borealis. It warmed my heart when I heard them laughing and getting along well. I knew a little about Kari’s past, and knew that she of all people deserved to find a guy who knew how to respect her. I just prayed Dax was as genuine as he seemed.
I jumped when strong arms encircled my waist; I hadn’t heard Noah walk up behind me. “Sorry, beautiful. I didn’t mean to startle you.” He nuzzled into my neck and I heard a quiet sigh escape past his lips.
“I just can’t believe how insanely gorgeous it is.”
“You truly are.” His comment caught me off guard, warmed my core, and pulled at my heartstrings.
I reached down and ran my hands down his thighs, squeezing him in sweet appreciation. Looking back up at the sky’s wonder, I paused. “The sad thing, is that no matter how much detail I use to describe the brightness of the reds and greens, and how they shift and dance across the sky… I’ll never convey their beauty to anyone. Unless they’re here tonight, nobody will actually understand how majestic the northern lights are.”
“Well, Tessa,” he said, giving me a comforting squeeze, “I couldn’t be more honored knowing I’m one of those people sharing this moment with you.” We stood, cozy and warm, staring back at the embers as they died down. An iridescent and completely God-created light-show took place above our heads.
This is an evening I’ll never forget.
I was so caught up in nature’s brilliance and the steady breathing by my ear, a comforting rhythm that set the cadence for the evening to march on to, that I didn’t hear Sammie and Dirk approach; they just appeared beside us. In fact, I couldn’t tell how long they’d been standing there taking in the magnificence of the Icelandic night sky.
“Ready to go snuggle in?” Noah asked.
I was getting used to the husky rasp in Noah’s voice when it was laden with lust and emotion. I stepped out of his embrace; an unspoken ‘yes’ to his question. I grabbed his cold hand in mine, squeezed Sam’s arm goodnight, and led him to the mattress farthest from the bus. I chose this one because I knew the northern lights would be most brilliant where there was the least amount of light.
All around us, tundra grasses grew in low-lying clumps. Chunky glacier rocks spotted the landscape. The barren earth and dark sky felt otherworldly to me, like we had somehow landed on an alien planet where only Noah and I existed.
This is our time, our place…
I slipped off my boots, placing them at the base of the make-shift bed, and my jacket I tucked under the top of the sleeping bag, so I could use it as a pillow. I noticed Noah’s silhouette seemed to be doing the same.
Glancing back towards the embers, I saw Sammie and Dirk climbing into their bed too. That explained the singular outburst of giggling and frolicking I heard coming from that general direction.
I climbed onto the air mattress, careful not to pop it, and snuggled under the covers, lying on my back to drink in the dramatic show taking place on the sky’s stage.
“Hurry! Come and keep me warm.”
The chilly tension in my muscles eased once Noah joined me and snuggled in close. A welcome burst of heat warmed the double-sized sleeping bag and my chilled bones. He lay on his side with one arm over my abdomen and the other bent under his head as a makeshift pillow.
We watched the neon green, sea-foam green, and mint green swirl and streak across an inky-black night sky sprinkled with millions of bright white stars. The pink, purple and red streaks elicited ohhs and ahhs from all six of us; the only time any of us were aware that we weren’t alone.
As the night hour deepened, I still couldn’t get it out of my mind… I hated to break the mood, but I had to know if I was right.
“Noah?” I whispered it so as to not disturb the others. He shifted his head to focus on me and not the sky.
“Tessa.”
“Hey, so if you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to, okay?”
I watched him, and my comment didn’t elicit even the faintest action. No movement. No response. Nothing. I drew in a tight breath of Arctic air. Its chill made it hard to pull it in far enough to get the strength I needed to continue. “Earlier tonight, about Lisa…”
At the mention of her name, his body stiffened and his eyes became pained.
I hesitated. The silence enveloped us. “Never mind. I can tell it’s too personal.” I dropped the subject, rolling my head so I could better see the display in the sky. The pained energy that emanated from Noah made it hard not to want to reach out and hold him; something I knew would seem out of place and uncomfortable if I did.
We lay like that for a long while; me looking at the lights, Noah watching—no, make that studying—me. He radiated the same intensity I’d felt that night at the aircraft boneyard, when he’d watched me from across the bonfire.
Finally, Noah broke the silence. “Tessa?” I turned toward his wounded voice. “It’s not you. It’s just…”
“Shh… it’s okay. Really. I shouldn’t have pried. It’s too soon.” I smiled reassuringly, hoping he could see that I was trying to be a good friend to him.
He raised up on his elbow, leaning over me. His grief-stricken eyes
targeted my empathetic ones before his mouth descended, searing mine. His lips burned me everywhere they touched, his kisses so intense, they nearly hurt. He wasn’t being overly aggressive, though his kisses did lean more towards that; however, these weren’t meant to be hurtful or punishing. Instead, his spirit, his soul poured pain into the kisses until they left me branded. Then, as abruptly as his heart-wrenching kiss began, he ended it.
“Lisa,” he said in a voice woven with suffering, “was my little sister.” I heard him take a deep cleansing breath.
“Was?” My question seemed to fall on deaf ears, but he finally answered me.
“Yeah. My parents adopted me when I was four, only seven months after my father’s parole officer received that call from the park landlord about our rent. I think I told you last night that he came for a home visit and saw the neglect and squalor I was living in?”
I strained to remember through last night’s and tonight’s boozy fog; vaguely, I recalled he’d mentioned something about it…Oh yeah! I was thinking about it this morning after I woke up. “Yes, I remember you mentioned it; you said your foster parents were movers and shakers—that they made things happen.”
“Right, well when the parole officer found me I was half starved—fuck I was skinny,” he said it more to himself than to me. He reached out, laying his hand on my hip. “Tessa, I was gross. I had scabies and head lice…”
I interrupted him, “Noah, it wasn’t your fault. What’s gross is how badly your real father neglected you.”
He mindlessly traced imaginary circles on my hip with his finger. “Anyways, none of that mattered since they found my father with a needle in his arm; he’d OD’d a day and a half earlier on heroin. Social Services pulled me from his shitty trailer and immediately placed me with Dave and Laura. What a piece of shit… they say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
His sarcasm hit me hard, “Noah, don’t say that. You’re nothing like your real father.”
“I still hurt the ones I love,” he whispered his testimony, looking far off over my shoulder before his aggrieved eyes met mine. “Mom and Dad were really loving at first, I was six when Lisa was born, just two years after my adoption. I was the solution when they’d been told they’d never have a kid of their own. She was their miracle baby. The baby that they were told they’d never be able to have. Lisa was our family’s dream come true that could do no wrong, she was a sweet angel.” He reminisced softly, lovingly. “She was an angel child. Everyone loved her, especially me. Lisa was my miracle best friend…” his voice cracked “…and I lost her.”
