[Hawaii]

HEATHER

I had a lot of time to think on the flight.  I wasn't mad at Lachlan.  I knew that now.  It just smarted a bit to realize he wasn't quite as rosy as I'd painted him in my fantasies.  But in a strange way, it was better.  We were beginning to let our masks slip, to show each other our true faces.  He was more real to me now than he'd ever been before.  Not just a reluctant hero or a romantic scoundrel, but a person with hurts and faults and flaws... just like me. 

While I had resolved a lot of things in my mind, I still couldn't entirely dismiss what he'd said about being lonely.  My perception of myself had already taken a strong blow when Uma and Lachlan had caught me in an intimate embrace with Terry and this only added fuel to the fire.

I wanted to believe Uma's words so desperately - that Lachlan didn't think I was a tart....but I couldn't help but feel that maybe he did, maybe he was just overlooking it because I was the best shot he had at beating back the loneliness. 

Of course, I also told myself that that kind of thinking was a load of crap.  That what Lachlan and I had found together was special and meaningful in its own right, not just because we were both lonely, but I found I couldn't completely silence all the doubts.  It made the long flight seem even longer.

And with all that I had swirling around in my head already, I was also missing Lachlan.  Missing his wit, his company, his irreverent charm.  Missing the closeness that had developed between us and the warm feeling I had inside me when we were together.  This distance on the heels of our recent intimacy was difficult.  I longed to have it back again but I wasn't quite sure how to make it happen.

When the flight was over, I waited again with Carol in the first class lounge.  She seemed smug, no doubt aware that Lachlan hadn't been so playfully attentive this time around.  The lounge was opulent and I saw a couple of quasi-notable b-rated stars but nobody thrilling.  I just couldn't seem to make the effort to even get excited about the grandeur of the place, let alone the people in it. 

The scene at the hotel desk played out differently too.  Lachlan's hand wasn't on my back this time and he didn't have to look my way to know the answer to the clerk's question.

Two rooms, not one.

LACHLAN

Flying and thinking.  The two go hand in hand, at least for me and this time around, I had plenty to think on.  Didn't do much good, really.  I was no closer to an answer when we touched down as I was when we took off.  I wasn't angry with Heather.  Disappointed she couldn't - or wouldn't - try to see things from my perspective, maybe, but not angry.  At least I think that's how she feels.  She hasn't said much to me since we talked about the Temple and that's usually a fair indication that a girl's got a bee in her bonnet about something.

What else could I have bloody told her, though?  I'm not going to lie to her or tell her what I think she wants to hear just so I can get into her pants.  I've never been that sort of bloke.  I'm also not the sort who builds relationships on lies.  I'd been thinking more and more about some sort of future with her, seriously thinking, and had I lied about that part of my life, she would have eventually found out anyway.  I don't bloody well brag about my conquests with women but I've never hidden the fact that Temple life didn't agree with me.  I was kind of hoping that she'd understand.  If this connection we feel was real and we were meant to be Number Ones, surely it could weather something like this. 

God knows, in this Game we'd have much more difficult issues to grapple with down the line.  I reckon if we can't handle something like this then maybe it's for the best.  I was aware I was being a bit dramatic about it all, but I had other doubts that I hadn't addressed, that quite frankly I didn't even want to address, and I knew they were really at the root of all this, the distance between us.  I didn't even like to think of them, much less take them out an examine them... so I didn't. 

And I hated that they kept surfacing at odd times.  We spent too much time together and were too similar for them not to.  We shared similar backgrounds.  Same country.  Same branch of the military.  Same damned face.  Hell even our personalities are similar.  We even went after the same sort of women in our films.  The kind that were already married to someone else.  I'm speaking of Thorne, of course.  I knew she loved him.  I also knew she couldn't have him.  He already had a Number One. 

I didn't.

So, there you go.  Lachlan Curry's most secret fear.  He was falling in love with a woman he thought probably only wanted him because he reminded her of someone else.          

HEATHER

I didn't even see Lachlan that first night.  By the time the second night had come, I couldn't stand the awkward distance between us a moment longer.  I found him on the beach, hands in his pockets, sitting on a low seawall that ran along the shore.  His shoulders were hunched and he looked sad and lonely.  His expression became a little more guarded as I sat down next to him but he didn't try to hide his feelings from me.  I leaned my head on his shoulder.  He put his arm around me.  I don't know how long we sat there like that.  Not talking, just taking comfort from each other's touch.

I spoke first, breaking the silence.  "I'm sorry."  I felt his body become a little more relaxed and I took a deep breath.  "You're right, you know....the Temple boys.  Nobody should have to live with that kind of loneliness."  He opened his mouth to say something but stopped when I squeezed his hand.  "I hate that you break the rules that way.  It scares me."  And God, did it ever.  A vision of Terry's haunted eyes rose up before me.  "I would do the same thing, though, if I was in your shoes." 

I truly couldn't imagine what life would be like for them.  Day after day to have no contact with the Sisters except for glimpses of their lives through their diaries.  What must that be like?  To know the only women you are 'allowed' to make love to have already committed their hearts elsewhere.  To have to read about the personal, private things they do with their lovers and know that you may never get to share in that intimacy. 

After my admission, things were easier between us.  He held me closer and we began to talk as we had before.  I didn't share all my deepest fears with him and I got the feeling he was holding something back as well, but we had found our rhythm again.  I felt close to him.  Our conversation was intimate and heartfelt and I had the sense that it was more real than it had ever been.  We were at that place where we were beginning to share of our true selves.  Not everything....but enough to know that maybe it could or would be everything someday. 

We watched the moon rise.  It made me think of his poem.  I smiled at him.  "I've got a question for you."

He raised his eyebrows at me.  "Yeah?"

"It's about your poem."  His look became a little less soft and I realized he was hoping I wouldn't ask him to recite it for me.  I knew it was hard for him, and quite frankly, although I think it's a lovely poem, I had no desire to hear the words he'd used to woo another woman.  To be honest, I think he was feeling much the same way.  I touched his face gently.  "It's ok, Lach.  I wasn't going to ask you to say it for me."  He relaxed into me at that confession and I snuggled back deeper into him, smiling.  "What I want to know is if your film was set in 1942, how could you have recited a poem that wasn't written until 1943?"

I felt shock ripple through him and then amusement.  "I dunno, love.  The next time I run across the Creator, I'll ask him."  He snorted.  "God knows, he's the sort to have pissed and moaned over that little detail.  Reckon he got over it well enough though.  It's too good a poem not to use."

I giggled.  "And is it still the only one you know?" I teased.

The playful light went out of his eyes and they became warm and intense.  "No.  I've another now."  He pulled me to him, spreading his legs to fit me between them as he put my back against his chest and wrapped his arms around me, moving his lips to the shell of my ear.  He spoke quietly, his low smoky voice rasping over me like a touch.  

I didn't clap when he was finished.  And I didn't need to crow about who had written it.  I know who wrote it and with tears in my eyes, I kissed him, hoping he knew that when he opened his eyes, his golden moment would still be here, in his arms, waiting for him. 

LACHLAN  

I can't believe we're doing this.  It started as a lark.  We'd spent the day together and now we were taking a walk on one of the private beaches here, just before sunset.  Our conversation had been lighthearted and playful so I gave her the usual song and dance that I do at the beach.  You know, love, in good ol' Oz, we swim in the nude...  That conversation is par for the course when you're with a pretty girl at the beach.  I think I've probably said something similar to just about every girl I've been swimming with since I was about fourteen. 

For all her playfulness and fire, Heather's got a lot of old-fashioned values and I never for one second thought she'd take my teasing words seriously. 

She looked up and down the deserted stretch of beach.  "Ok."

I thought at first it was just more of her sass, but there was a soft flush on her cheeks and she wouldn't meet my eyes.  Instead she turned and put her back to me, glanced at me over her shoulder and asked me to get the zip on the little sundress she was wearing.  My mind hesitated but my hands did not.

I lowered the zip slowly, letting my knuckles caress her spine.  The two sides of her dress parted revealing the smooth skin of her back and my breath caught.  I brushed aside her hair, kissed her nape softly and stepped away, turning my body so I wasn't looking at her directly but keeping her in my peripheral vision.  I have some antiquated values, but I'm still a man.  I wanted to see her nude body. 

She slipped her arms from dress but continued to hold the front to her breasts.  She glanced at me again over her shoulder, saw me watching her and slowly let the dress fall.  I sucked in a deep breath at the sight of her in only a skimpy pair of black knickers and I looked back out toward the water, willing myself to have enough strength not to give in to the urge to push her down in the sand and make love to her.  I had the sense that I was being given an invitation to intimacy but not necessarily an invitation to make love. 

When I looked back, she was walking naked toward the water.  Not running.  Not trying to hide any part of herself from me.  Just walking slowly into the waves until they reached her hips and then she dove under with a graceful motion and swum out a little ways before surfacing and turning to watch me.

I felt an intense rush of heat flash through me as I pulled my t-shirt off and dropped it to the sand.  She turned then as I had done.  She was less obvious about watching me than I had been about watching her but I saw her glance my way a few times while I unbuckled my belt and lowered my zip.  I pushed my pants down, taking my boxers with them.  I felt a bit uneasy, not because I was shy about baring my body or shy about foreplay under the open sky, but because I wondered what she was thinking when she looked at me. 

I was hard and weeping for her.  I didn't hide it from her.  I wouldn't have even if I could.  I walked into the water as she had, slowly and without embarrassment.  We swam for a little while, bobbing with the waves, not the play of children but the play of adults.  We found reason to touch each other often, giving small teasing glimpses of our bodies as we rose and fell with the waves; a flash of arse, the pretty pink tip of a breast, the hint of dark hair beneath the surface, the swell of flesh that even the cool water couldn't diminish. 

It wasn't long before we wound back up in the surf, just at that place where the waves crest and break.  It forced me to hold onto her tightly and pushed her body into mine each time a new wave rolled in.  On our knees, the water was high enough to cover her breasts when a wave passed but otherwise left them bare. 

She touched my face, pushing back my hair and trailed her fingers over my lips before whispering, "Selkie-man."  I couldn't help but smile.  That was quite a compliment.  

We've got similar Gaelic roots.  I knew the legend she was talking about.  Selkies are shape shifters with the ability to transform from seals into people.  Selkie-folk, men in particular, are said to be handsome creatures with almost magical seductive powers and are renowned for their many amorous encounters with human women.  I didn't think much of that applied to me but it pleased me that she thought so.

When the next wave pushed her into me, I tightened my hold on her so the retreating water wouldn't drag her away and I covered her mouth with mine.  The sound of the pounding surf was drowned out by the roaring in my ears.  I touched her skin, so silky and smooth... her sides, the small of her back, her breasts.  I swallowed her soft moan as I pinched her nipple and again when she cried out as I slipped a finger inside her.  She was so soft and slippery and warm.  The contrast between the heat of her body and the cool ocean made my head spin and my body throb.

I let the waves work her against me, a gentle timeless rhythm of push and pull that both heightened and prolonged her pleasure.  When she began making little noises in her throat, I moved us out deeper, beyond the surf where I had more control over the rhythm.  I shifted her so that her back was to my front and turned our faces toward the sunset, rocking against her slowly as I pumped my fingers and crooned to her.

"That's right, pretty girl....let go now... let it go.  Come for me... God.  Oh, God... yeah... that's it... that's it...Jesus..."  I felt her body flutter and grip my fingers hard as she climaxed.  And I felt my own body stiffen and come against the small of her back.  She hadn't even touched me.  All it had taken was the sight of her finding pleasure in my arms.  

I'm not even sure she knew I found my pleasure too.  I didn't grow soft after.  That happens sometimes.  I can't usually come again right away but when it's really intense for me or if I'm really wound up, it just doesn't seem to go away no matter what I do.  With a soft sigh, Heather turned in my arms and buried her face in my throat.  Holding the woman I'd just brought pleasure to, in that moment with the setting sun coloring the water around us a fiery orangey-red, I really did feel a bit like a selkie-man. 

She held me tightly for a little while and then slowly began to touch me as I'd touched her.  First my sides and my back and then her touch slipped lower to stroke my cock lightly with her fingertips.  I kissed her again, slow and deep while the water rocked us gently back and forth. 

I swore as headlights flashed out over the waves.  A car pulled up next to where we'd parked the rental.  Fuck.  It was the other car I'd rented.  Carol was getting out of the driver's side and shading her face with her hand as she looked out over the water.  I met Heather's eyes, and as Carol called out my name, we both grimaced.   

I pulled Heather to the shore, moving easily through the deeper water that tossed her smaller frame about and we dressed hurriedly.  This beach had no cover and we wriggled into our clothes as quickly as we could before Carol could round the point and make her way to where we were.  Still, I reckon she got a pretty good perve.  I stopped to do the zip on Heather's dress and Carol came round the rocks just as I was yanking my jeans up.  Thankfully my blood rush had subsided, but I know she had a good long look before I managed to get everything tucked away.  I bent and retrieved the scrap of black silk masquerading as Heather's knickers and stuffed them in my pocket before Carol could see them laying on the sand. 

Her deliberate intrusion of a very private moment got my blood up and I shook out the sand from my shirt with an angry flick.  Despite Carol's lewd gaze, I made no effort to hurry for her sake.  I pulled the shirt on slowly and buckled my belt with an angry huff that Heather told me later sounded like a dragon about to belch his flame all over creation.  I'm not surprised.  That's exactly how I felt at the time. 

Carol was nattering on about the schedule and how she needed to talk to me and something about Terry ringing her....  I caught Heather's wince at that and felt my blood pressure climb higher.  First off, even though Thorne pays them to be at his fucking beck and call, I never EVER expect my crew to fly without talking to them before hand.  Typically, I either do it over dinner or I ring them before I go to bed so we're all on the same page in the morning.  Secondly, if Terry's message had been important, he'd have rung me directly.  My phone was in my pocket all day and it hadn't chirped once.  Thirdly, Carol knew damn well what she was interrupting and that just plain pissed me off.

I turned my back on her without a single word and took Heather's hand, whispering in her ear that I was sorry and asked her if she would please go up and wait for me at the car.  I kissed her slowly, gently, and then let her go, watching until she was safely up the beach trail before I turned my attention to Carol. 

I don't think she'd ever seen me mad before.  Bit of an eye-opener for her, mate.  I gave her a sound dressing down.  I made sure Heather was out of earshot before I did, though, because mad as I was, I still knew it wouldn't be right to take her to task in front of someone else.  She worked for me and I owed her that much, but I made damn sure she knew I wouldn't have a problem putting her in her place if she couldn't find it on her own in the future.  She was a good stewardess as well as a certified emergency technician, but she wasn't irreplaceable.

Back at the car, I found Heather sitting on the fender, quiet but not shaken.  She smiled when I approached and embraced me but the mood had been broken.  It seemed I'd forever be escorting her to her door only to have to walk away after I'd kissed her goodnight.  

[Seattle]

LACHLAN

You know, looking back on it now, I'm almost glad Carol interrupted us when she did.  As I was lying in bed last night, I realized our evening on the beach had felt too much like goodbye.  The last chance to touch her before I had to fly her home.  I had the feeling that if I'd made love to her last night it would have been an ending rather than a beginning.  A period put on the end of our time together and then once the plane touched the ground in Seattle, we'd part and all I'd have left of her would be a handful of precious moments. 

It hurt.

I knew what that feeling in my chest was now.  It was love.  And it killed me to think of walking away from it.  From her.  This situation, it wasn't like it had been with Lil.  Back then I'd walked way because I had to, because no matter how deeply I loved, I knew she would never be mine.  With Heather, I had a chance.  She wasn't wearing another man's ring.  And as the plane touched down, I decided the only reason for me to walk away from that was if she rejected me outright. 

My mind was spinning through the post flight rigmarole as I tried to get a handle on my runaway feelings.  I'd been a bit short with Phil too, but he knows more than he lets on.  We'd sort ourselves out over a pint later.  No worries.  We got the plane squared away and met the girls in the lounge.  Thankfully, Phil took Carol off with him to the hotel leaving me alone with Heather.  She was so beautiful, sitting there alone at a small table in the corner.  So still and graceful, her long dark hair falling softly around her shoulders.  I felt something warm move deep in my chest when she looked up and smiled at me. 

Now or never, mate.

I crossed the room, dropped my bag at my feet and sat down across from her.  Her eyes warmed and we both reached out for each other's hand at the same moment.  I loved the way her hand felt in mine, so slender and delicate but strong too, like her.  I took a deep breath.  "So, love, I had this crazy idea..."  My words from that night in the pub.  They'd worked once with her.  Why not twice?

Her eyes glittered.  "Yeah?"

My mood turned on a dime.  What had started out as lighthearted and flippant became serious and heartfelt.  "I'm not ready to walk you to your car and watch you drive away from this... from me."  Not quite all my cards on the table, but I reckoned it was close enough.  Her eyes were very big.  "I thought maybe for us, the trip doesn't have to end here.  I have some leave..." I gave our luggage the eye.  "Our bags are already packed.  I thought we might trade the jet for the car and just keep on going."

I watched as the emotions flitted across her face.  She's so expressive.  I saw each one; pleasure, surprise, shock, and lastly, happiness.  Her face was soft and her eyes were wet.  "Are you asking me for a visit?"  This time, her words were gentle and warm.  No touch of teasing.  No breathy surprise.   

And this time when I answered, there was absolutely no hesitation.  "Yes, I am."  That warm feeling deep in my chest expanded.  There was no need for her to voice her answer to me.  Her sweet smile and the tear on her cheek were more than enough.  I brushed it away gently with my thumb and cupped her nape in my palm, drawing her in for a slow, tender kiss.  She tasted like tears and woman.  And home.

[Gig Harbor]

HEATHER

My hands were shaking.  I absolutely could not believe this was happening.  It was all so surreal, like a dream.  My bag slung over Lachlan's shoulder.  His own in his hand.  His other hand at the small of my back while we walked to the parking garage.  It all seemed so domestic.  Me digging for the keys, him loading the bags into the back of my Jeep.  His laugh when he had to adjust the driver's seat for his long legs. 

We didn't even have a destination in mind.  We just got on the road and drove.  We wound up at the ferry terminal and just took the first one we found.  It didn't matter where it was going.  We stood at the rail, his body blocking mine from the bite of the wind as he nestled me against his chest and enfolded me inside his bomber jacket.  I put my head on his shoulder and he held me close as the ferry churned through the cold green-gray water of Puget Sound.

He nuzzled my neck for a moment and then returned his attention to the view.  "It's gorgeous here."  He's right.  It is.  The air was cool and clear.  The Olympic Mountains rose up, craggy and wild in the distance.  Off to the left, the late afternoon sun glinted off Mt Rainier's glaciers.  There was a rugged beauty here in the mountains and trees and water that I've always liked.  It made me happy that he liked it too.  And thankfully, I got to share it with him on a truly gorgeous day.  The weather was perfect.  People were playing on the shore.  Boats of all sorts were moving through the water around us.  A small harbor seal was sunning itself on one of the big floating buoys. 

That thought brought a smile to my face.  I nudged my Selkie-man and inclined my head toward the seal.  "Friend of yours?"  A little color rose in his cheeks and his warm laugh shook his wide chest against my back.  His tongue peeked out, resting on his lip for a moment and then I felt his chest rise as he took a deep breath.

He leaned us both closer to the rail and shouted over the sound of the engine, "Oi, mate?  Get your own girl.  This one's taken."           

Was I taken?  I wanted him to be taken with me.  I wanted him to take me.  My laughter joined his and a warm feeling spread in me at his words.  Lachlan's girl.  Oh, how I wished that were true.  He braced his legs, lifting his chin to the wind and something in his stance made me think of Bud. 

Bud and Lachlan.  

They have a lot of similarities that have nothing to do with the fact that they're from the same era, specifically the tendency they both have to keep their true self hidden from the world.  Take Bud.  He uses the physical to mask the emotional.  Lachlan's the same way, except in reverse.  He uses the emotional to mask the physical.  And I think it is that hidden self that is probably the truest one, as well as the one they have the hardest time accepting or expressing.  Imagine Bud in his most private moments, telling you how much he loves you.  Now, imagine Lachlan doing the same thing... 

With his body.  

So, what does it all mean, exactly?  In practical terms, it means Lachlan is more apt to tell you how he feels and Bud is more apt to show you... but (and this is one hell of a big but) it is the things they hold most dear to their hearts that they express with that hidden self and you know it's hard for them which makes it all the more touching when they do. 

Take Lachlan, for example.  He's always got a smart comeback and can talk your ear off, but he'll tell you more with a simple touch or a passionate kiss than he can in a hundred words.  He's incredibly physical.  It leaks from him, which is why I suspect he bounces so often and fidgets with his hands or puts them in his pockets.  It's because he simply cannot keep from touching a woman when he's attracted to her.  It's his initial impulse and it's like he's constantly checking it, giving a smile or a laugh instead. 

I felt it with him that night in the waves.  He wasn't bouncy or fidgety.  It's like something switched over inside him.  Emotional to physical.  It's not so much that one negates the other as much as it is the amount of emotion he can infuse into a single touch.

Like now.  

We are leaning against each other, my back to his chest, and yet more is said in the softest stroke of his thumb over my knuckles than in anything else.  He rubbed his cheek against mine as the Bremerton ferry terminal came into view and he kissed me softly.  "C'mon, love, let's head back to the car."

We got off the ferry and spent the rest of the afternoon driving the scenic highway that runs along the water.  We stopped in a few of the sleepy little costal towns to wander along the waterfronts.  Lachlan particularly enjoyed all the aircraft carriers moored in Bremerton.  I have to say, the naval shipyard there is pretty impressive.  We shared a light dinner at an outdoor restaurant.  White chowder served in a bowl made of crusty sourdough bread.  What is it about eating seafood on a marina that makes it taste so good?

We finally stopped at a little waterfront inn in Gig Harbor.  It was just after five, so all the galleries and antique stores that lined the boardwalk had just closed, and it seemed almost idyllic, like a postcard...  Sun starting to set on the water, boats moving lazily through the bay, a blue heron flew overhead and came to rest on one of the old weather beaten piers.

This time we were holding hands when we went to check ourselves in.  The lady behind the desk smiled and fluttered a bit when Lachlan grinned at her.  He handed her his card and his gaze swung to me when she asked the inevitable question.  One room or two?  His eyes searched mine.  I smiled shyly and squeezed his hand in return.  He pulled me against him and wrapped his arm around me, holding me close as he turned his face back to the clerk and said without the slightest bit of hesitation, "One please, love."    

LACHLAN                 

I carried the bags in, following Heather so I could watch the way the sweet curve of her arse moved under that pretty skirt she had on.  The room was nice, but small, although the gorgeous view more than made up for it.  The inn had five rooms and ours was one of three on the ground floor with a private courtyard and access to the private dock as well.  Actually, since we were here on a Tuesday rather than a weekend, we had the whole place to ourselves so everything was pretty much private.  Just the way I like it. 

I stowed our bags while Heather pushed back the curtains on the massive French doors.  We were maybe ten meters from the shore.  From the room, all you could see was a vast expanse of gray water, a few boats and the trees on the other side of the bay.  Bloody beautiful place.  My gaze turned to Heather.  As pretty as this place was, she was far prettier.  She was also a bit skittish with me.  Shy.  Color in her cheeks.  My God, that got to me.

Now, while it's true I've got some old-fashioned sensibilities, I'm neither innocent nor naïve.  Not about life and certainly not about women.  I reckon I've had my share of experience with both.  I knew what she needed and knew what I wanted.  I caught her hand, pressed her gently down into one of the two rattan chairs and knelt down in front of her, holding her eyes as I slowly slipped off her sandals, stroking her sensitive soles as I did.

I straightened and sat back in the other chair, pulling off my boots and socks.  Her eyes were very wide.  I stood up and offered her my hand, pulling her to her feet with gentle smile.  I cupped her face in my hands and brushed my lips over hers.  An almost-kiss.  So close we shared the same breath.  I linked my fingers with hers and lifted my head, tugging her gently through the doors towards the dock.  "Come on, Blue."  I led her through the small courtyard and onto the dock, knowing it was time to put the rest of my cards on the table.  There was only one way I wanted to do this.

"Blue?"  She asked, as I knew she would.  It was the perfect place to start.  The name I'd been calling her in my head for days now.  I settled into one of the wooden lounge chairs at the end of the dock and pulled her down in my lap, making room for her between my legs as we settled ourselves. 

I left my fingers entwined with hers and kissed her gently.  "Yeah, blue."  I paused and took a deep breath.  "It's from a line in the poem-"

"Up, up the long, delirious burning blue?"

I nodded.  'That's the one, love.  For pilots... well, for this one anyway, the blue is both sanctity and exhilaration.  It's the place we lose ourselves....  and the place we find ourselves.  It's home."  My heart was beating so hard in my chest I wondered if she could feel it.  "That's how I see you....my blue."  It made so much sense to me on so many levels.  Even what I found with Uma, it just all fit if I looked at it that way.  Uma and I?  We will always have the moon.  Powerful and strong, but it hangs in the sky that is Heather.  I can't put it more simply than that.  "I love you, Heather.  Whatever happens, I just wanted you to know that."           

"Oh, Lachlan."  She turned in my arms so she could see my face.  She had tears in her eyes and I suspected they matched the ones in mine.  "I never dreamed..."

I kissed her then, before she could respond.  I wanted to have that moment, that memory, in case she what she felt for me was different from what I felt for her.  She lifted her mouth from mine, pulling back to look in my eyes.  With a shaky hand, she traced my brow, my nose, my lips.  Her hand cupped my cheek and her fingers brushed into my hair as she smiled at me through her tears.  "I love you too, my Selkie-man."

My heart leapt at her words and I felt a peace settle inside me, easing something I'd carried for far too long.  That warm feeling inside my chest expanded until I felt I was drowning in it, like liquid happiness.  Despite that, it wasn't a moment of joyful exuberance.  It was quiet and still.  And I will carry it inside me all the days of my life.

We talked of private things while the sun set.  I couldn't tell you what color it turned the sky, but I could tell you what color it tinted her skin and how it made her dark hair glimmer with warm golden light.  The sounds of the night rose around us; the call of seabirds, the soft slap of water of wood and stone, the quiet creak of ropes and the low sounds of voices carrying over the water.  From somewhere across the bay, music drifted to us.  I smiled and pulled her to her feet.  "Dance with me, love."

Got an angel on my shoulder
Got a penny in my pocket
And I found a four leaf clover
And I put it in my locket

The worn boards of the dock were warm under my feet and the feel of the woman in my arms made my head swim.  It was as if God had stopped time to make this one perfect moment last forever. 

Wished on all the stars above me
And I caught the nearest rainbow
Gonna find someone to love me
Gonna find someone to love

We whispered love words to each other, two silly people dancing under the stars on the end of an old dock.  

Well, I tossed a lot of nickels in a wishing well
And saved the fortunes that the fortune cookies tell
I got a lucky penny and a mustard seed
But a warm and tender love is all I need 

All those little charms for luck.  An idea formed in my mind and I kissed her, lifting my head to murmur against her lips, "Lucky, lucky, lucky, that's me."  And this time, mate, I meant every bloody word.

And I want a love that lingers
And is stronger through and through
So I'm gonna cross my fingers
That I'd find the boy to love me true
And I'm gonna love him too

I held her tighter as the song faded away.  "You found him, Blue."

"And I love him, Lach.  So much."  

I hugged her tight.  "Shall we make it official then?"  I didn't have any clever words now.  Only the truth, spoken from my heart to hers.  "Be my Number One, love.  Let me be yours."

She nodded solemnly and put her hand over my heart.  "Ever and always."

I touched her heart too.  "Ever and always," I echoed. 

HEATHER

I was smiling as he led me from the dock, thinking that for all beautiful words that man has to convey his thoughts, no one word exists to name the depth and breadth of the emotion I felt swelling within my breast.  Lachlan stopped at the French doors and swept me into his arms, carrying me inside.  The significant gesture wasn't lost on either of us.  He didn't say the words but I knew what we'd shared out on the dock was as close as we could ever come to it.  At heart, we were both simple people and the quiet, heartfelt vow we'd exchanged suited us.  We didn't need more than that.

He parted from me to close the doors but he left the curtains open to let in the moonlight.  In the wan light, his eyes looked dark and warm and they crinkled at the corners when he gave me that quiet, private smile that was just for me.  He reached out and touched me with that way he has, so much raw emotion expressed in a simple touch.  His knuckles stroked the inside of my wrist and then trailed up my arm before he covered my breast with his hand.  My nipple pebbled against his palm and I drank in the sight of him.  Dark hair.  Dark eyes.  That perfect, perfect mouth.  My Selkie-man. 

Only he wasn't a myth or fantasy or even a dream spun of loneliness and longing.  He was real and warm and intent on making me his in the most elemental way a man can claim a woman.  Our clothes fell away until we were only wearing the soft moonlight and the warmth of our lover's touch.

We stood in the silvery moonlight a long time, simply tracing each other's bodies with our hands and mouths, learning what tickled, what raised gooseflesh, what made the pulse beat fast and thready in the hollow of a throat, what caused eyes to close and what caused soft gasps of pleasure. 

He shivered as I traced the small blue tattoo at the front of his hip with one shy, curious finger.  I'd seen it that evening we swam at the beach.  An ankh.  Some call it the original cross.  A symbolic representation of both physical and eternal life.  It wasn't the kind of tattoo you see today with clear crisp edges and brilliant color.  It was the kind you see on old men's forearms.  Blue-gray with soft edges. 

I'd asked him about it on the way back to the hotel after Carol interrupted us.  He said he'd gotten it with Johnny and Charlie three days before Charlie shipped out.  Johnny was afraid his parents would find out so he had to have it put in a place his mother would never see it.  And in the way of best mates the world over, Lachlan and Charlie had followed suit, wanting to have something that bound them all together before the war pulled them apart.  Eternal life.  What an apt symbol for a pilot facing the kinds of nearly impossible odds they did back then. 

I lowered my head and blinked away the tears, thanking God and all his angles for watching over my Selkie-man and keeping him safe from harm.  I knelt before him and traced the design with my finger and then again with my tongue, glorying in his soft moan of pleasure as I rubbed my cheek against the hard length of his cock before I pressed my face against him to breathe in his most intimate scent. 

His hand slid into my hair, guiding me gently as I loved him with my mouth, needing to make that connection with me so that it wasn't something I was doing to him but something we were doing together.  Even as we shared that intimate touch, it was the feather-light whisper of his fingertips on my cheeks and lips that was infused with so much tender emotion that my heart ached with it.  I sucked and kissed, flicking my tongue into the slit with firm little licks and felt his body tense under my hands as his body wept for mine.  He tasted like the ocean, like salt and want and man.  I thought how appropriate that was.  Life from the ocean.  Life from his body.  Such a precious gift. 

Not for me.  Never for me.  But I would receive it into my body and cherish it for all the other gifts it would bring us.  Love.  Intimacy.  Rapture.  Happiness.  His hands were gentle when he pulled me to my feet and pressed me back on the bed, covering me with his body.  He kissed my face, traced the arch of my brows, my cheekbones, the bow of my lips.  His hips rocked, rubbing the sensitive exposed head of his cock against me as he drew the crest of my breast into his mouth and suckled. 

I felt him smile against my skin as he began to coax soft sounds of pleasure from me.  The swirl of his tongue.  The exquisite scrape of his teeth.  The soft rasp of his stubble.  The wet heat of his mouth.  He left a moist trail between my breasts, pausing to press a kiss to my heart before he took my other nipple in his mouth and sucked, unembarrassed by the soft wet sounds and the quiet grunts he made as he nursed at me. 

He paused, waiting until I caught his eye before he moved lower.  My hands slid into his hair as his had done to mine earlier.  He took his time, rubbing his cheek against my dark curls before closing his eyes and pushing his face against me.  I both saw and felt his chest rise as he breathed in through both his nose and his mouth, experiencing my scent with as many of his senses as possible. 

His eyes flared as he spread my legs, revealing all my secrets to his gaze.  His tongue touched his lip and his fingers hovered for half a heartbeat.  His eyes flicked up to mine and I knew he was remembering that night in Hawaii when he held me as I came in his arms.  For a fleeting moment, there was a touch of male satisfaction in his smile.  It slipped into something else entirely as he held my eyes and slowly slid his finger inside me.  We both groaned at the sweet press.

His eyes moved away from mine and focused on the graphic display before him.  He withdrew his finger and licked it slowly, sucking it into his mouth and then added another, meeting my eyes again as he pressed both of them inside me.  I saw the muscles in his buttocks clench as his hips juddered against the bed, subconsciously echoing the press of his fingers.  He lowered his head and kissed me, deliberately licking around his fingers before covering me with his mouth and sucking, flickering and swirling his tongue until I was making rhythmic noises in my throat and arching my hips from the bed.  His other hand curled around my hip and pressed down firmly on my belly as he sucked harder and thrust his fingers deep. 

I came with a soft cry, keening my pleasure to him even as the world spun away in a swirl of dancing lights.  He lifted his mouth from me and when my eyes could focus on him again, I saw that private smile, this time infused with wonder and male pride.  He had pleasured me well and he knew it.  His mouth and chin were wet with me and I loved that he didn't wipe my scent away from his skin before he moved to up to cover my body with his. 

There was a tightness in him now, a need to take me fully.  A need we'd both denied far too long.  His eyes closed and his jaw clenched as he rubbed his tip through my slick folds, gathering my welcome so he could slide himself home.

Home.

He didn't play or tease.  He took me as he was meant to, without hesitation or reservation of any kind.  We both gasped as he came to rest against my womb, wrapped up in love, lonely no longer.  A handful of heartbeats slipped by as we watched each other.  He felt my body soften and ease around him and he lowered his head to kiss me as he began a slow steady rhythm.  Like a heartbeat.  Like waves on the sand.  Like love.

We moved together, learning each other's rhythms until we were sweaty and panting, until the rhythm faltered and I existed only as waves of fire breaking around him as my climax capitulated me into glorious flight.  The soft creaking of the bed stopped as he stilled and shuddered against me, holding himself deep as he came with hoarse cry.  I felt his cock pulse, felt the warm gush of his semen, felt him push himself deeper still as he lost himself to his own pleasure.

He slumped against my chest.  I could feel his heart beating in two places.  I was home.

[Home]

LACHLAN  

It was the rain that woke me.  Soft and steady.  I rose from the bed and opened the doors.  The night, ripe with the smell of rain flooded my senses.  I returned to bed, slipping under the covers.  Heather stirred against me, opening her eyes and smiling at me shyly and with so much love that my heart ached with it.  I opened my arms and she snuggled into them, resting her head on my chest as we both watched the patters the rain made on the black water. 

I felt her smile and heard it in her voice when she spoke.  "The feel of you finding pleasure in my arms is like nothing I've ever felt before, Selkie-man."

"Yes it is."  I smiled at the night.  "I found my pleasure too that night in the ocean."  Her arms hugged me closer and I felt her relax into me with a soft, contented sigh. 

"I didn't even touch you," she whispered.  

I twined my fingers with hers and stroked them gently.  "You didn't need to.  Seeing you, feeling your pleasure....it was like my body was too small for the all joy inside it, love."

"Lachlan Curry, you are the most romantic man on Earth."  Her words were soft and teasing but I could feel the warm trickle of her tears against my shoulder. 

"And you, Blue, you're the untrespassed sanctity of space I want to lose myself in until we both slip the surly bonds of this existence for the next."