A Man on an Island

***A raging thunderstorm, late at night after a cast-iron bitch of a long work day. All Cale wanted was to get home.

But for one friend who needed him, he'd go a long way. Even for a cup of tea. 0_o

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Cale drove through the sheets of rain with slightly bleary eyes. It had been one, long, cast-iron bitch of a day. The rain had begun in the afternoon, and he'd been working one call after another until things had slowed down just after midnight. He reached behind him to pop open the swing out window on his side. He needed the ventilation as he lit a smoke, but the last time when he'd cracked his driver door window, he'd gotten another wet lashing of rain in his face. Never much of a slow-learner, he'd gone for the one over the crew cab seat this time.

He watched a lightning strike in the mid-distance, as it quivered to keep itself alive until it was spent. A few seconds later the thunder rattled the change in the little bin between the seats. He loved this old truck for rough weather. When he was driving it, it didn't give a shit what came down, and neither did he.

The thought caused another one to arise and Cale suddenly had a thought about his younger brother Joshua. Like a lot of brothers, they were different, and yet they had a few common traits -- like keeping an old four-wheel-drive truck alive for shitty weather. They hadn't seen each other in a while and he thought that maybe it was past time to look him up and catch up again.

He had the heat on full since he was still soaked through from the last job, and he had the air conditioning cranked since the moisture of his wet clothes kept threatening to fog over the windshield again. He sighed, only a few more miles, and he'd be home, and off for a few days -- and he'd disconnect the freaking phone too, if he had to.

He heard his cell phone ring, and wondered who in hell would call him at this time. Not many people had this number. He was thankful that he was wearing his Bluetooth headphone now. There was a close strike as he opened the phone, and he winced.

"Jesus ... Hello?"

"Cale? Are you there?" It was Emma he realised, and she sounded odd.

"Hi Em, are you alright? You sound strange."

"Cale? I'm feeling foolish for calling you, but would you do me a favour?"

He turned a corner and the wind screamed past his opened backseat window. He watched another lightning strike, "Sure, if I can, Emma. What do you need?"

There was a pause as Emma hesitated. Cale thought he'd lost the call, "Emma? Are you there?"

"Could you come over here? The storm is really bad here, and it's not stopping, and ... and I'm afraid of lightning."

He thought about it as he looked at yet another strike, "Tonight's not a good night to be afraid of lightning, darlin'."

She sounded so small on the line, "Please Cale?"

He smiled, and she could have sworn that she'd heard the reassurance in her ear as he said, "Sure Emma, I can be there in maybe ten -- fifteen minutes. Look, I want you to do something for me while you wait for me to get there. Go and unplug your computer from wherever you have it plugged into, ok?"

"Why Cale? I have it on a power bar with a surge protector."

He frowned, "Ok, honey. I'll unplug it when I get there. Now, let's get off the phone. I'll see you real soon, ok?"

She sounded disappointed, "I feel better talking to you like this. You don't sound like you're afraid of anything."

He chuckled, "That's because I fake it really well. It's not safe to use phones during a bad lightning storm, Emma. I'd love to talk to you now, I've missed you, but I'll be there in less than ten minutes, so you just hang on till then, ok?"

"Ok," she said, "I'm feeling pretty stupid about this."

"No need for that. I'll be there as soon as I can."

They finished the call, and Cale sighed as he turned away from the road to his house.

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Cale stood in the pouring rain knocking on Emma's door. She opened it, and stared at his dripping outline for a second. A near strike across the street deafened him, and caused Emma to scream and start to fall back into the living room.

He almost jumped in shock himself, but he reached to grab her before she could fall, "Hi, Em. Can we go to your bathroom? I've been in these wet clothes for hours, and as soon as they began to dry, I got drenched all over again from your driveway to your door. I'm a complete prune under here."

She nodded, looking like she wanted to hug him in her fear. He took her arm, "Come on. Please tell me that you have a towel that you can lend me."

He stopped, looking at her computer, and then walked over to pull the plug of the power bar from the wall. Emma looked as though she was going to protest, but he just said, "Hey, give it a thought here. If lightning can come down half a mile, do you really think a little thing like the tiny surge suppressor in that power bar will stop it? The manufacturer might guarantee to replace your equipment, but they can't get your artwork back. I know what it means to you."

She nodded with a smile, getting it now. As he passed the kitchen, he stopped to check if her kettle was full, and satisfied with that, he turned it on, "I need something hot inside me. If you don't mind, I'll make us some tea in a little bit." Emma nodded.

"Why are all of the lights off?" he asked, "The street lights are still on in this part of town. I saw that on the way over."

Emma looked as though she felt very foolish, "It's just something that I've always done in lightning storms," she said, "My folks used to both work shifts and I was alone a lot. I used to think that if I had the lights off, then the lightning wouldn't find me. I still do that, though I know it doesn't make any difference. I just feel a little better then."

In the bathroom, she sat on the edge of the tub. There was another close strike, and the power went out. Emma whimpered, and Cale fished his LED flashlight out of his pocket. He turned it on and set it on the counter, pointing at the ceiling. He looked around. Emma was sitting huddled in the tub. He took off his shirt, and began to get his pants off. "I get the feeling that you've been in that thing all evening."

"Yes," she said nervously, "why are you getting undressed?"

"I've been wet to the skin since seven o'clock, Emma. I need to get these things off. I figured that we've already seen each other naked, so it wouldn't be that big a deal."

He looked at her curiously, "Or is it?"

She shook her head, "No, I suppose not."

Cale towelled himself dry as fast as he could, "Emma, I need you to get out of that tub. We can figure out some other place that you'll feel safe, but believe me, that bathtub is not one of them. It's connected to the ground electrically through the pipes and the drain. A good close strike, and you might just light up, so come on," he held out his hand. She looked from his body to his face doubtfully.

He got to his knees beside the tub, "Emma, I know you're afraid, and I understand that. But you're also looking as though you're afraid of me too. I don't understand that. I was under the impression that you and I were friends when I left here the other day. I'm definitely not going to hurt the first friend I've had in I don't know how many years, Emma. If I'm freaking you out so much, I'll get back into my wet clothes, since you don't have anything here that will fit me."

Emma took a deep breath and sighed, "I'm ok now. I was the one who called you here through this crap." She stepped out of the tub, and they looked at each other.

"Emma, "Cale sighed wearily, "I'm still the same guy that you took pictures of, and I'm still the guy who sang to you so badly. Look, just trust me here."

Emma stepped into his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry. I'm just so scared. How come you're not afraid?"

He shrugged, "I'll tell you about it in a little while. Look, I'm going to put you to bed, do you have any hot chocolate? Would you like it if I made you some? You look to me like a hot chocolate kind of girl."

"Yes," she said uncertainly, "Why are you putting me to bed?"

He sighed, "It's the best place that I can think of for you right now, Em. You go and get into fuzzy pyjamas or whatever you feel like, and get into bed. I've been up since five this morning, and I've had one long, hard, soaking wet day and I'm pretty tired. I think you just need to hold onto me to feel better. I'll stay on top of the covers if you have a spare blanket, or if that's too much, I'll sleep in a chair. The important thing here is that you're safe.

I wish you'd understand that. You're safe, Emma, from the storm -- and from me too. If you don't lose that freaked-out look whenever you look at me pretty soon, I think it would just be better if I leave."

Emma looked at him, "No. Don't go ... please."

She shook her head, "I'm just being stupid over something that's always frightened me. It's not you, Cale. It's me, and it's about time I got over it. I do feel a lot better with you here." She smirked then and he loved it on her face.

"Come on, there just have to be a billion women in the world who'd think I was nuts, but you can put me to bed like a little kid and keep me from being afraid like the scaredy-cat that I am. Do you know any good bedtime stories?"

They walked into her bedroom, and Cale handed her the flashlight while he stood in the hall facing the other way. Emma began to get undressed, and then looked back at his back for a second. She took off all of her clothes and got into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin, "I'm done with the flashlight, Cale."

He walked in to pick it up, "Do you take a bit of milk in your hot chocolate?"

She nodded, smiling at his serious expression, and then he was gone.

When he returned, he found her sitting up in bed with the covers pulled up. He handed her the mug, and sat in the wicker chair with his tea.

There was another thunderclap, and Cale looked at Emma, hoping that it didn't cause her to spill, but she only smiled at him as she sipped it."I was afraid you'd spill."

She shook her head, "I actually feel safe with you here, Cale. I was just so rattled before. I'm sorry I called you, but this lasted so long, and I just got more and more afraid."

"It's ok, "he said, "lots of people are afraid of lightning. As long as it's a reasonable fear, I'd say that's healthy. I think a lot of what you fear comes from not understanding it. I'm pretty sure that if you knew about it, you could get a handle on it pretty quickly. I'm glad you're looking a bit better too."

She looked at him curiously, "So how come I'm safe here in my bed, and not in the tub? Can't the lightning hit me here? And why aren't you afraid of it?"

Cale shrugged, "I am afraid of it under certain circumstances, Em. I'd be terrified if I was out riding my bike tonight. I was sitting at a traffic light once in a storm, and a light standard got hit on the other side of the intersection, maybe a hundred feet away. I turned my head away from the flash, and saw huge arcs of electricity running from the footing of the standard that I was sitting next to into the ground. It lasted maybe five seconds, and it was about six feet from my foot.

But for normal things, I'm pretty ok with it. I actually like watching it. You're as safe there as any other place, probably a bit more so. You have the window closed, and that's good, so you're ok. I suppose it's possible for a huge strike to come down through the roof all this way, but it's really unlikely for one simple reason -- lightning is electricity, and electricity is lazy. It always chooses the easiest path. To hit you in that bed there would be much harder than to just hit a lot of other, more attractive things, like TV towers, tall trees, all kinds of stuff."

He grinned, "Not that you're not attractive, mind you. But to a bolt of lightning? Too much work. If you're outside in a storm, get inside. If you're inside, close the windows and doors, and stay off the phone. A nearby strike can put a spike into the line, and you can get a belt that way. Same with cellphones; a cell phone is a radio, and when you've got an active call it's putting out a signal. Lightning, while it's building up to a strike sends out pathways for itself, and being lazy, won't hesitate to use your cell signal as the last link to the ground. That's why I was trying to get us off the phone."

"You look a little silly sitting in that chair, drinking tea in a lightning storm, naked." She said with a smile, "but you still look good to me."

Cale smiled back, "I'll be fine as long as you don't pick up your camera. I'm afraid that I look like shit tonight. Seriously, I'm so sorry if I was making you feel nervous, Emma. I thought that since we'd been naked in that shoot together, you wouldn't mind if I got undressed in front of you."

She giggled, "I'm starting to like having you take your clothes off for me. I'd better be careful, or they might take my 'L' card away. Are you really tired?"

He nodded, "But I'm still happy to see you again, and now I have a couple of days off."

"How about this, then, "she said, "If you say I'm pretty safe here - and I do feel safe with you, how about you come here, and you can go to sleep? If I get scared again, I'll be fine, as long as I can hug you."

"Emma, you can hug me anytime you want to. I love it when you do, but I'd hate to have to wait for another storm to get one of your hugs."

She waved him over to the bed, "Then get in here with me, Cale... No, I mean under the covers, silly."

He slid uncertainly under the covers and she moved next to him.

"Um, no fuzzy pyjamas?" he asked, "Not that I'd want you to wear them..."

"Nope, "she said, as she hugged him, "Just me and my friend, Cale."

He sighed, "You're really killing me here, Em. I just want you to know that."

"I know Cale, and I'm sorry about that part of it." She reached to his face and kissed him softly. He kissed her back just as softly, though he squirmed a little uncomfortably. Emma noticed it, and reached down to help his hardness away from the blanket that it was straining against. She laid it on his abdomen carefully and they began to kiss again.

"Cale, "she began, "I'm really enjoying this, but I might start to kiss you pretty hard. I'm kind of like that, just saying ..."

He looked at her, "That's ok Em, as long as you don't break my nose or teeth, I'm fine. But you ought to know that there's a hazard to kissing a guy who's gone almost a day without shaving. Compared to yours, my face will be like sandpaper now, so you be careful." She took his head in her hands and began to kiss him harder.

Cale decided to play a hunch that he wouldn't have been able to explain. He had a feeling that Emma might like to be dominant, so he always kept his kisses softer than hers. After a few moments, she responded by really going to town. Her kisses took Cale's breath away; he'd never been kissed like this in his life. He groaned softly, and Emma swung her leg over him. He guessed that she was looking for a place on his body to rub herself against.

He'd been stroking her back, but now he just picked her up and moved her onto him. Emma was startled at his strength, "Wha-?"

"Shh, "he whispered hoarsely, "You try to find yourself someplace good to rub on -- maybe my hip there."

She took his advice and began to grind, grunting occasionally, "Oh Cale, I want to do something that's good for you too."

He thought about it, "What would you do right now if I was female?"

"I'd use either my thigh, or my knee on you, but I think that would hurt you instead."

Cale smiled, and reached to lift his scrotum out of the way, "Use your knee, but aim lower, right between my legs, Em."

She brought her knee forward tentatively, and found that it put more pressure on her mound through his hip -- so that was good. She lifted all of his male bits and carefully pressed her knee against him, and was amazed as he inhaled and responded to it. His penis was against her own hip, and she felt it throb.

"Is that good for you there?"

He nodded, and she began to make love to him again, as he stroked her back and sometimes grabbed her bottom to encourage her.

That was it. She began to leak furiously out of both ends as she ground herself hard on him and shuddered into her first orgasm and Cale urged her on, telling her how good she was for him. When she stopped for a minute, she looked at him, "I never knew about that place on a man. Can you come like that?"

Cale smiled, "No way, but it still feels great, and it can help sometimes, I guess. Maybe if you helped with your hand, I dunno. But it doesn't matter, Em. I'm having a great time with you. I don't know if most men even know about that spot. Certainly most women never find out."

"But why?" she asked.

"We're all centered on getting our rocks off, I guess. I never conducted a survey. I just know what I like, "he kissed her, "and I like that."

She stared at him, "Really? I wasn't kissing you too hard? Sometimes I can't help myself."

"I loved it, "he said, "You're the best kisser I've ever known. Do that all you want, but I might try it too." She was on him hard within half a second. Cale almost laughed once when he realised that she was completely ravishing his mouth, as though she was taking him that way. He thought it was terrific. She began to whimper and plead to him.

"Cale? ... ever since the shoot, .... I can't get something out of my mind .... I keep ... I keep wanting to ...grind myself against your sweet face. Please Cale, ... please let me fuck your face, please?"

He threw his arms back and pushed his head against the pillow, "I know how strong a woman you are -- and I know that you hate to say please. So when you say my name like that, and you use the 'P' word," he sighed, "I'm helpless, Emma."

She sat up, "Move down baby." He moved himself away from the headboard a distance. She smiled wickedly at him. "Your kiss there that day told me how you feel, and that you might be a little good at this. Cale, I don't know how I haven't worn this thing right off since that day. I've been wanting this so bad."

She moved up to straddle him, and he began to caress her thighs as he began to kiss. Emma rapidly became more forceful with him, holding his head to hump against him gently. Cale reached up to her nipples and put as much into them as he felt -- or tried to.

Emma went from purely animal grunts to soft keening, stopping every so often to whisper his name plaintively. He grasped her ribcage under her armpits so that he could use only his thumbs on her nipples. It brought her back to her grunting every time as she rutted against his mouth. He sucked and licked, trying to follow any clues that her motions gave him. Finally she threw back her head and screamed out his name as she shook.

It gave him chills to hear it as she sobbed. She pulled back a little out of sensitivity and sat holding his head so tenderly in the darkness, illuminated by the sporadic flashes of lightning. Her head hung down, tears dripping onto his cheeks as she whispered his name to him again and again as she trembled. Only his name, as though it was the most important prayer in the world to her.

She slid down to lie with him a while lateer, "Thank you so much, Cale. Nobody's ever made me cry before." She started kissing his chest, and lifting her head to suck his nipple into her mouth. "That's one thing I'm sorry about, Emma," he said, "I think you'd want more, and they're too furry."

She lifted her head and released his flesh with a soft pop, "Oh shut up, baby. I'm going to learn to deal with it. It's not like I thought at all, and I like them. I like them a lot - especially since you obviously like it when I do this."