The Lift

The Lift

Mark 'Merlin' Mills, groaned as much as his aged C-47. The sun glinted through the dirty windscreen as he ran his fingers over his aircraft's yoke and throttle controls. He sweated in his flying gear, the radio headphones squawked in his eyes, in German of course, as Tempelhof Air Traffic Control was still in German hands, despite the Americans having control of the situation,

"In control!" He sighed, "What a bloody shambles," He turned and looked at his engineer, radio man and co-pilot keeping his gaze forward scanning the gauges, twiddling with adjustment buttons and tapping the Perspex windows. The Scottish navigator, Laurie Macleod, had been born worried about the oil temperature on the port engine, he tutted and sighed. Merlin Mills smiled to himself, he endured the grumbling, and grousing of his friend. He often thought 'Mac' was born complaining but his expertise was without doubt. More than once, his knack with engines had saved himself and his crews. The two men had been paired up in training on Lancaster bomber orientation, after flight school and once they had completed the training and went on operations in 1944, completing three full tours of bombing over Europe. The tours were terrible for his crew and himself; by the end of the war both men had become widowers, and they had survived two crash-landings and lost crew members.

After the war, Merlin Mills took up flying an old Dakota transport for an air freight company, beggaring himself and taking a large loan from the bank. He kept the old crate flying, with Mac's help and had just started to make some money. Then out of the blue, in July 1948, he volunteered his plane and piloting skills and was sent to Hamburg to be part of the US airlift campaign to feed and fuel the isolated city of Berlin. The flights were hard, but the money was perfect and was paying off the bank loan for his aircraft; he enjoyed the challenges of flying and the adrenalin surge when landing at Tempelhof, between two high-rise blocks of flats, with barely seventeen feet of clearance from his landing gear. Now the plane shook violently, as the port engine coughed and spluttered,

"What the devil!" Merlin barked at Mac, who then glanced back and peered out of the side window, the port engine coughed, and a thin trail of black smoke seeped from the cowling, "Oh hell!" hold and

"Feather the engine, Skipper!" Mac replied and Merlin adjusted the throttle levers forward and back, and then peered out at the engine, which coughed again,

"We can make it to Tempelhof! Come on old girl, don't let me down," Merlin asked, knowing his faithful plane had survived much worse,

"The temperature is coming down, but let's get this only 'Jenny' on the ground," Mac still fretted and watched the gauge until the tyres hit the grassy field of Tempelhof. Merlin taxied the plane to the hanger, killed the engines and Mac opened the cargo door at the rear of the aircraft for the German unloading crews to empty the cargo hold. Merlin jumped from the hold and looked for the German mechanics who were waiting at the sheet metal hanger, tools in hand. Merlin ran over, and halting German attempted to explain to the mechanics what he needed them to do,

"Bitte kommen Sie mit, meine maschine is kaputt!" He waved at his plane and turned back. The mechanics looked at each other, and then at the approaching slender figure in oil-stained work overalls,

"One moment pilot, I am responsible for this work crew!" her English was flawless, as was her figure despite the mannish boiler suit,

"I'm sorry Fraulein, but my plane was coughing and spluttering as I came into land, I'm ferrying flour and powdered milk," He pointed to his aircraft and the stream of German civilians unloading the hold. He turned back, to see the attractive brunette who stood smiling at him,

"I understand pilot," She began, but Merlin interrupted,

"Excuse me Fraulein, I'm Merlin Mills, I've been part of the airlift and I'm eager to get my plane back to Hamburg to continue the good work," He saw her deep brown eyes and creamy complexion,

"Merlin? Like the magician?" She smiled with brilliant white teeth,

"I can have some tricks up my sleeve, but right now, I need some magic from your mechanics. Would there be any chance?" He looked at the three former Luftwaffe mechanics, their toolbags in hand,

"Of course, Mr Merlin," She beckoned to the men, "Meine Herren, vorwards!"

After the three mechanics swarmed over the port engine, the verdict was an overnight strip down and then a return flight to Hamburg as the test flight. Merlin and the German interpreter walked away from the hanger aircraft, Mac refused to leave the C-47 in the hands of the former Luftwaffe mechanics, without him being present but promised to catch a few hour's sleep before his return in the morning.

"So, Mr Merlin you need somewhere to sleep, there aren't many hotels in Berlin, but you may take my couch until the morning," The Interpreter jumped into her American-made jeep and Merlin joined her,

"So Fraulein Interpreter, if I'm to sleep with you, might I at least know your name?" Merlin smiled flirtatiously, flashing her a toothy grin. Mills had watched the professionalism of the young woman, as she spoke to Mac and himself, listening intently and then translating their English into German for the mechanics. They set to work and stripped out the port engine, with Mac looking intently at the oil filters and pumps, as it was handled carefully by one particular older mechanic, called Helmut, whom Mac found had an affinity for aircraft engines. After four hours, the general consensus was to overhaul the engine completely and see what could be done by the team, before dawn.

"Well, I didn't ask you to share my bed, Mr Merlin but I am Elsa Roedel, my late husband was Hauptman Josef Roedel of the Luftwaffe Nachtjagdgeschwader. Her voice was sad now, so Mills waited until she started the Jeep's engine and floored the gas pedal, and the vehicle leapt forward,

"I'm sorry, Elsa. I was trying to be charming," He admitted, but finding that her feelings mattered to him. She was quite beautiful, and Mills wanted the woman to like him for the first time in a long while, but an icy grip took hold of his guts. He remembered the nightly torment of the bomber raids over Germany, the pitch-black sky illuminated with exploding flak, and then the night hunters of the Luftwaffe, circling into the bomber stream, sliding beneath the bombers and shooting out the engines.

"I'm sorry, " His reply was cold and hard. Roedel glanced over to him,

"You flew bombers over Germany, didn't you? I've met a few Americans that flew raids over us," She pressed him,

"Yes, I was a 'terror flyer'. Wasn't that the name you gave us!" Merlin looked back, "I'm sorry, it was war. I lost my wife and child too!" The emotion thick in his throat,

"Perhaps we might forgive each other for things we could not control," She offered as the jeep slowed to a small row of prefabricated houses on the precinct adjacent to the airfield and then stopped outside a small grey and green flat-roofed bungalow.

"This looks familiar, we have thousands of these in London!" Merlin remembered his mother being so proud of her government-issued 'prefab' house, in Islington,

"A present from your RAF, we Englischer speakers, who manage the mechanic gangs were given a place to live close to Tempelhof. It's rather spartan but better than a basement in the city," She got out of the Jeep and Merlin followed her into the small single-floor house. Its walls were unappealing and its cheap beige paint had tried to lighten the walls, it had small windows, but she had put some pictures up and it had feminine touches to make it liveable. The Airlift was Berlin's lifeline from the West. The Russian road blockade, a crude but effective measure to starve out the German idea of freedom, had nearly worked, except for the USA funding the resupply by air. The 24-hour day flights in transport aircraft were meant to deliver 4,000 tons of food and fuel each day was still often short. The Berlines were holding on by their fingernails, after the defeat of the Nazis and the brutal occupation by the Russian soldiers, with the widely reported excesses of soldiers upon the defeated women of Berlin.

Now, it was vital to support the beleaguered city from the totalitarian regime under Stalin and the communists. Merlin had done his best to put the war behind him, and looking at Elsa, he welcomed the pang of attraction once again.

"Elsa, I feel that I'm imposing upon you. I'll sleep in my cargo hold, it wouldn't be the first time," Merlin smiled warmly,

"No, you're tired. You've flown over 100 hours, and some rest will be good for you," Elsa insisted, having examined his meticulous flight log,

"Well, if you're going to insist, allow me to provide dinner!" Merlin was growing more and more impressed with this woman. Merlin reached for his pack laid it on the table and undid the strapping to reveal a wooden box of six brown eggs; a pack of real butter, a small loaf of white bread, and a half-empty bottle of Johnny Walker single malt. Elsa's eyes widened,

"Mein Gott! I haven't seen fresh eggs in over a year! Butter too!" She stepped forward and held the egg in her fingers, "Oh Merlin, you are a magician!"

In a beat-up frying pan, the butter was heated over her small oven in the kitchen, Merlin beat up three eggs, cut slices and then dipped the bread and fried them. Elsa quickly set two plates and cutlery and watched him cook,

"I haven't seen a man cook for quite a while; you're very proficient," She smiled, looking over his shoulder,

"Since the war, I've lived alone, but I like being in a kitchen," After serving up the meal, they sat at a small wooden table, on battered wooden chairs. They talked, and each of them chose to share their lives. Merlin talked about Jennifer, his wife and their newborn son, William who were killed by the V2 rocket campaign. Elsa talked about her late husband, who was shot out of the sky by British night fighters in early 1945. Merlin listened patiently, as she relaxed with him, she talked about the years that followed the end of the war and the abysmal Russian occupation.

They washed up together. Merlin was conscious of her body next to him, he detected her smell, despite being in a workman's outfit. After setting the kitchen to rights, and pouring two generous measures of the scotch into two enamel mugs, Merlin sat on a wooden chair and Elsa, to the narrow pelisse bed, that served as a couch,

"I have rarely eaten so well, I thank you," She raised her mug and saluted Merlin,

"My pleasure, Elsa. I have rarely enjoyed it.

"I hid as much I could. I moved from basement to basement. Finally, as the communists took a tighter grip on the women in the city. Finally, I was cornered in a bombed-out building; luckily, I was sent to a Ukrainian Colonel who befriended me and took me as his lover," Merlin reached out to her, with a hand, but she waved him away, "I have consigned that to the past, now Merlin. I had it much easier than others in the city. Eventually, he allowed me to cross to the western occupation zone and avoided any untoward male attention, I was hired by the occupation forces as an interpreter, having Russian to my repertoire, "her voice was wistful, almost a whisper as though she was remembering someone else's life,

"Oh Elsa, you did what you had to; to survive in those times. But speaking for myself, I am overjoyed that you did. I haven't smiled so much in a very long time," Merlin confessed, his blue eyes softened,

"I did survive. Now, I repay my city with my language skills, ensuring that you and your planes stay in the sky and bring us food and fuel and keep the Berliners out of the hands of Stalin," She looked at Merlin and smiled back, knocking back her enamel cup,

"I'm happy to keep flying, and bringing as much as my 'Jenny'," Merlin drained his cup in salute to his plane,

"Named after your wife?" Elsa sat back, she looked at him intently,

"A little part of her that always stays with me," He smiled, "though I don't need any reminder,"

Elsa shuffled forward, leaned over him and brought her face to his.

"I haven't taken a man to my bed in three years, I've never wanted to but I would like you to sleep with me, and in the morning, I'll take you to your plane, and you and I will fly to Hamburg," She kissed him tenderly, and his lips met hers,

"Why do you want to return to Hamburg with me?" He asked, bringing his hands to her face,

"I want to speak to the commander of the air flotilla, but I'll tell you everything in the morning," She kissed him again and then stood up. She held out her hand and he accepted it and she led him to her small bedroom. The room was almost bare, a small single bed, a single pine wardrobe and a chair and dressing table, replete with small bottles and jars. As she turned to look at him, she began to unbutton the oil-smeared overalls, revealing a white vest hiding a pair of high firm breasts, with erect prominent nipples. Her complexion was peaches and cream, and Merlin took her in his arms and held her tightly, his mouth on hers. Before his kiss was tender, now it was passionate. He wanted her now, Elsa was no Jennifer, she was dark-haired, brown-eyed and very sexual in her manner. She returned his kiss fully, her tongue massaged his in return, and her hands were busy, pulling at his shirt, lifting it from his trousers, and exposing his broad, smooth muscular chest. He detached from her lips and helped her pull off the mechanic overalls and saw her mismatched beige French knickers. She looked up,

"I don't have any exciting lingerie, Merlin," She looked ashamed,

"Then when we land in Hamburg; we'll have to go shopping," He smiled as she pulled down the underwear, exposing a healthy black bush of ebony curls. As she stood, Merlin lifted her white vest, her pert breasts wobbled pleasingly, her nipples full and stiff. Her areolae were dark, wrinkled with excitement. As they kissed again, he lowered her to the bed and then stood over her. She watched him, undid his belt and unbuttoned his cargo-style trousers, and let them fall, revealing his lack of underwear and a large quivering erect cock,

"Leiber Gott! Merlin that is quite a wand you have there!" She chuckled keeping the magical humour themes,

"Well, Elsa, why don't you kiss it and see if you fall under his spell," Merlin watched her blush slightly and then kneel on the bed, and began to kiss the length of his cock, starting at the root of his shaft up to the tip. Whilst cupping his ball sack. Once at the glans, Elsa licked his purple flesh, coating him with her saliva and then she took him in her mouth, allowing him to slide into her mouth. Merlin moaned softly, hoping that this woman would understand the importance of fellatio, as he knew how important the art of cunnilingus was to a woman before he slid his urgent member inside his lover. As Elsa suckled his cock, her mouth filled with saliva and she dribbled onto her high breasts making them glisten in the small side lamp, she pulled away,

"Oh mein Gott, du bist riesig!" She gasped, "You're huge!" She looked up,

"Then lay back and let me relax your... Katchen?" He smiled at her quizzical look, his German still was elementary,

"Nein, mein Muschi," She corrected him, as she lay back and spread her legs for his mouth.

He settled himself between her perfumed cunt, brushed the thick moist curls and found her swollen clitoris and then began to lick at it, this newly uncovered discovered treasure. Immediately, Elsa jerked and shuddered,

"Oh please Merlin be gentle, Ich empfindlich! So sensitive," She corrected herself as she gasped at his wet tongue,

"Trust me, Elsa, I will be very slow and tender," Merlin assured her, meaning every word. He wanted to be slow and deliberate with her. She had confided her enforced whoredom, to the Russian Colonel as a matter of survival and wanted to show her that he would be careful and loving.

His lips brushed over the delicate wet pussy lips, and then licked at her swollen nub, enjoying her shiver and moan. He didn't want his erection to come on too quickly, as it had been a while since his last lovemaking. He teased a finger into her fluttering pussy hole, slipping into her aching hole and found the ribbed roof of her cunt and found her swollen G-spot and stroked it in a beckoning motion. As the electric shock of his finger hit her, Elas gasped, for breath, groaned and then as he sped up let a keening from her throat as she reached her orgasm. Her pussy fountained a warm stream of her juices onto his hand, the bed sheets and his chin,

"Mein Gott! Ich abspritzen!" She sobbed, tears in her eyes, three long years of frustration now given a release to this Englishman's fingers and tongue,

"My Oath! You should be in the fire service!" He joked as he wiped her wetness from his chin and lips. As she shuddered, he sat up and put his cock to her delicate lips and rubbed her juices on his swollen glans and then poised at her opening. She could feel him at her opening, she shuddered,

"Fick mich Merlin!" She panted, translating her German to English, "Fuck me, Merlin! It's been too long; I want you inside me!"

Merlin slid half his thick, heavily veined cock into her mass of wet hair, rubbing himself up and down her slit and then plunged himself into her, stretching her wide,

"Oh, du dreckiger Hund!" She swore as she gasped, widening her legs and then thrusting her hands down to her pussy, to prise herself open for him, she wanted to excite the 'dirty dog' as he penetrated her,

"I'm only giving you the head, you'll have to ask for the rest!" Merin sighed, his cock inched into her, accompanied by wet squelch and gasps from Elsa's throat as he pushed slowly into her, pausing before attempting to put his full shaft into her tightness,

"Oh, please Merlin!" She breathed, as the sensations coursed through her body, and a sudden and potent feeling overcame her. For an instant, she was back on the narrow bed of the Colonel, and as he climbed onto the pelisse, and pushed himself into her, he put his hand over her mouth to muffle any noise; he didn't want to hear her moans and insisted on her silence as he fucked her. After weeks of that treatment, she would put her knickers in her mouth herself, as he would order her to open her legs for his penetration and eventual climax. Soon, she would need to be muffled to reach her orgasm eventually; she needed the restraint, the sense of denial before she could become excited enough to climax properly. Now as she felt her body respond, and wanted to feel the fabric in her mouth, partially touching the back of her throat. She needed her moans to be smothered, but what would Merlin think of her? Now as Merlin slid himself into her aching pussy, and leaned forward to kiss her, she whispered to him,

"Please don't judge me, Mein Liebling, put my knickers in my mouth, smother my noises!" She looked up at him, pleadingly," And hold my wrists in place,"

"What? You want it in your mouth?" Merlin looked into her eyes, glanced to the right, scooped up her discarded underwear and then gave them to her. He wasn't sure whether she wanted no noise, the prefab house clustered in a small plot with other such houses, and the walls were paper thin. Immediately, she put them to her lips, then sighed,

"Fuck me, Merlin. Put yourself inside me and make me climax," She stuffed the knickers into her mouth and put her hands above her head. She thought how the Russian Colonel had held her wrists as he fucked her, then turned her over and took her like a dog took a bitch. He could not have known that Elsa's sexual behaviour would be forged in the months of her uneasy alliance with him. Now Elsa found she couldn't simply have sex like the movies portrayed it, her excitement came from her smothering and when her wrists were held. Merlin looked down at her full liquid eyes, fixed upon him. He took her firm left breast to his mouth and sucked on her erect nipple, as pushed his engorged cock inside her fully, while Elsa opened her legs wide for him,