[Note: This is a romance story with some erotic scenes. It is
not
a story with erotic scenes in every chapter. Some chapters have incredible sex scenes, but many others have none.]
Claire
For once, the 'how' was not so important. The Foundation had tracked them back to their hotel. They had planted a bomb in their car. How, when, and why, didn't seem to matter.
Because Goldie was gone.
Harry was stunned into inaction. It was Claire who came to her senses first. She called a taxi, and got them to the airport as soon as possible. Soon enough they were on a plane for Savannah, Georgia.
"Why Georgia?" Harry had asked.
"Why not?" Claire had said.
Harry understood her reasons better when they drove in the air car she rented at the airport to Hilton Head, South Carolina.
A resort town.
Harry didn't feel like being at a resort, and told her so. Claire told him it was a good a place as any to rest and recover. It was late April, and the average daytime highs were in the 70's at Hilton Head.
Harry stayed in their hotel room the entire time, only leaving for meals. For five days he cried and hugged a pillow.
Goldie, his poor Goldie! He had loved her, he really did.
Harry realized that when he had told Alexandra that he loved her, that he hadn't, not really. Back then he hadn't really understood what love really was. No, the only woman he had truly loved was Goldie. He thought about all their wonderful times together. He thought about their passionate unofficial honeymoon in Hawaii. How they had watched the sunsets together. How they had made love at the base of a tremendous waterfalls. How Goldie had danced for him at the Luau, in that coconut cup bra and grass skirt. The smile on her face when she danced for him.
Now it no longer seemed to matter how much of her love was programmed and how much was real. For Harry, the experience had been entirely real.
And now she was gone.
For five days and five nights he sobbed in the bedroom. Claire let him grieve. There was nothing she could say to mitigate his pain.
And then, on the fifth night, when Harry was tossing restlessly in bed, he heard the bedroom door open.
"Claire?" he said.
"No," the figure said. "It's me, Goldie." He felt a shock as a warm, nude, feminine body slid into bed next to him. Harry only had underwear on, and felt his penis started to become shamefully erect as the woman pressed her soft body against his.
"Goldie?" he said, in a confused voice.
"Shhhh," she said. She started kissing him. Her lips felt so soft, so plush against his. He kissed her back, sobbing.
"Goldie... Goldie..."
"It's me, dear," she said. "I'm here for you."
But Harry knew this couldn't be true. In the dim light he could see that her hair was much thicker than Goldie's. Her breasts, which were pressed against him, were much larger than Goldie's. Her lips were even plusher than Goldie's. What was pressed against him was a much more feminine version of Goldie.
It aroused him even further, until his thing was hard against her belly. He felt shamefully embarrassed. He started to speak, but she shushed him again. "Shhhh, my darling. Let Goldie do all the work," she whispered. And then she reached into his underwear, and felt him. "Hard, just the way I like it," she said, and he could see a faint gleam in her eyes.
She stopped kissing him long enough to pull off his underwear; he lifted his bottom up to help her. He was very much aware of how he was cooperating with this. All of it.
She mounted him, pressing her pubis against his. He felt the roughness of her pubic hair against his erect organ. She started to kiss him again. " Isn't that much better?" she whispered.
"Claire-"
"Goldie. It's always Goldie," she whispered, and she kissed him so passionately, that the debate of who, or what, was kissing him was driven fully from his mind. She rubbed her groin in a circular motion against him, and grinned when she heard him groan. She lifted herself up, and grabbed him by a feminine hand, and inserted him into her.
She felt like Goldie on the inside... but different. Wetter, moister. There was a little less friction, and yet it was still tremendously stimulating, as the head of his organ rubbed against her inner walls.
As she moved up and down over him, he saw the beautiful outline of her breasts, her breasts which were so much larger than Goldie's, hanging down over her, swaying up and down, back and forth, as she worked herself up and down on him.
It was too exciting for him to bear. "Aaaahhh," said Harry. "Goldie, I don't think I can hold it in much longer."
She moved her mouth to his ear, and kissed it. "Then let it go, darling. Let it all go."
"Aaaahh... yessss... yesss.. yesss..." said Harry. He felt himself crossing an invisible line, the head of his penis twitched, and then he exploded inside of her. "Aaaaaah.... Claire!" he said, as he climaxed.
He was so exhausted, that he instantly drifted off into sleep, without being aware of whether he had fully seen to her needs.
*********
Harry woke up slowly. He had had an incredible dream. First he had been with Goldie, and then she had turned into Claire... his eyes widened as he saw Claire, lying next to him, watching his face. And smiling.
"Good morning, dear," she said. She leaned over and kissed him. Harry was too astonished to respond.
When she pulled back, he said, "Claire... did you... did we....?"
"You needed it," said Claire. "You've been moping around for almost a week. Harry, I can't imagine the mental anguish you experienced. But you need to start to move on."
"But... wouldn't it be disrespecting her memory...."
She grabbed his hand. "Dear, if Goldie were here, what would she tell you to do?"
"To get on with my life." Harry was sure of it.
"She's right, dear, gentle Harry," said Claire. "You shouldn't feel you're betraying her memory by enjoying life. In fact, by embracing life, you're honoring it. Goldie was always someone who grabbed life by the saddle, and lived it to the fullest. You should, too."
"I... suppose," said Harry. "That's why you brought me here, isn't it? To help me... snap out of it?"
"That's right," said Claire. "Now, are you ready to get up, and stop moping, and try to enjoy life? Just a little?"
"All right," said Harry.
He got dressed and showered, the first time in days.
They went down and had breakfast. Then Claire took him to a local botanical garden. It was early May, and the flowers were blooming.
"Isn't that beautiful?," said Claire, pointing to a long rows of rose bushes, in all different colors.
"Yes," said Harry.
"What do you think of that yellow one, Harry? That's Yellow Jessamine, the state flower of South Carolina," said Claire. She proceeded to identify each flower they came across, one by one and told Harry something about them.
"You know so much about flowers," said Harry. "I thought your field of study was Biomathematics."
"It was," said Claire. "But do you know any Fourther who had just one field of study?"
She smiled at him, and Harry realized how different she was from Goldie. Goldie had been smart, but she was no gold mine of information, like Claire. Harry had only dated one other Fourther, Jerri Thomas, but Jerri and Claire had very different personalities. Jerri had been much more serious. Claire had more of a funny side to her... like Goldie.
After walking around the gardens, they had lunch in a greenhouse cafe. Claire was stylishly dressed in a white hat, white shirt, and white shorts. Her eyes shined as she talked to Harry over lunch, and she frequently smiled at him.
Slowly but surely, he found himself smiling back.
After lunch, Claire suggested they rent a canoe and paddle through a nature preserve. They saw a lot of birds, and frogs, and tall plants coming out of the water, and green lily pads. After a while, Claire motioned for him to stop paddling, and they just rested, in the middle of the lagoon. Harry was uncomfortably aware that he was trapped on a tiny boat with a pretty woman who was attracted to him. He tried not to blush when she smiled at him.
"Goldie and I rented a sailboat during our honeymoon in Hawaii," said Harry, as he paddled slowly through a marsh.
"Your honeymoon, Harry?"
"We... we thought of it that way," said Harry. "Or maybe it was just me. We had been through so much together, Claire. Goldie almost got back together with Greg. I thought I had lost her. And then she entered into a relationship with a man named John Connor. I thought I lost her again. We went through some tough times, but it always made our bond stronger. It was so strong, I guess, that I felt like at the end we were already married, and the marriage was just a formality."
"I'm glad you and Goldie had some happiness," said Claire. "Despite our differences, I really did love my sister, and wanted the best for her. You know that, don't you, Harry?"
"Yes," said Harry. "It was unfortunate that in her last moments the two of you were...."
"At each other's throats?" Claire grinned. "We would have made up again. We always did, Harry. Even after she stole my boyfriend in high school. I forgave her, as I always did. How could I not? She was always insanely jealous of me."
"Of you?"
"I was always the prettier one," Claire said. "Goldie never developed quite as much as I did," she said, smiling as she touched her breasts, and then smiling even broader as she saw Harry's eyes widen. "And of course, I was a Fourther, and she wasn't. And also... did she tell you about her medical problem?"
"That she couldn't have children?"
"So she did tell you. How tragic. I felt so sad for her," said Claire.
"I... I lost a child recently," said Harry.
Claire looked confused. "You did Harry? With Goldie?"
"No," said Harry. "With someone else. Another Fourther, named Jerri." And he told her the story of how they had come to the island run by the Society, and how Harry had been coerced into impregnating her.
"How horrible," said Claire. "To be forced to reproduce... like a lab animal."
"I didn't enjoy that aspect of it," said Harry. "Although Jerri was lovely. She looked a little bit..."
"Like what, Harry?"
"Like you," said Harry. They both had the same thick wavy blonde hair. Claire's face was a little rounder, and Jerri had green eyes, not blue, but otherwise they could have been sisters.
"Was she pretty, Harry?"
Harry summoned the courage to look into Claire's sparkling blue eyes. "Oh yes. She was very pretty."
Claire smiled at him.
Neither of them spoke for a moment.
"What happened then, Harry?"
Harry told her how he and Goldie had encountered Jerri again at the encampment of the Vanguard group, nearly five months pregnant with his child, and how she had died in a crossfire.
