Time in a Bottle
(a companion piece to Memories II)
Disclaimer: JAG is the property of Donald Belisario, CBS, and Paramount. All other characters are mine and fictional.
* * * * *
If I could save time in a bottle,
The first thing that I'd like to do,
Is to save every day
Till eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you. *
1200 HOURS - Friday
Admiral Chegwidden's Cabin
McLean, Virginia
She was breathtaking.
Sarah MacKenzie drifted down the "aisle" on the arm of her best friend, Harmon Rabb to join the love of her life, Admiral AJ Chegwidden.
The day was vibrant with the sights and sounds of summer as the guests took their places in the wooded glade behind AJ's cabin, deep in the sylvan forest-land of McLean, Virginia.
Dress whites were the uniform of the day among the tiny gathering, as everyone turned to watch the bride leave the seclusion of her fiancé's cabin, and glide gracefully across a carpet of wildflowers into the arms of her beloved.
Sarah had chosen an antique, ankle-length gown of ivory eyelet lace, with a princess neckline and ivory seed pearls accentuating the bodice. She had accessorized her gown with matching vintage high-button shoes and a tiny cap made of ivory tea roses and pearls... coordinated with the bouquet she clutched between her diminutive hands.
To the haunting guitar strains of Jim Croce's "Time in a Bottle", the loving couple stood before the Naval Chaplin and exchanged the vows that would bind them together until the end of time.
The abbreviated reception, held within the warmly appointed living room of AJ's cabin was, of necessity, brief... and the couple stayed only long enough to change clothing and accept the profuse well-wishes of their friends before hopping into Sarah's Tracker and heading for the Virginia Coastal Reserve of Parramore Island for their secluded two-day honeymoon.
"I don't get it." Bud said to his wife, shaking his head. "There's nothing ON Parramore Island...no town...no roads...no people. The only way in is by private boat...and there isn't even a dock! You have to land on the Beach! Why would they want to go there?"
"Oh, Bud...Have we been married THAT long?" Harriet sighed. "I think it's SO romantic," she cried, sobbing into her handkerchief.
Bud had been staring at the wedding cake for a few moments, when finally the dawn of comprehension crept over his features. "Oh...I get it! You mean...?"
"When we get home, Honey, I'll explain it all to you in detail." Harriet promised.
Harm smiled. They were made for each other. So were AJ and Mac. Maybe some day he'd be as lucky...
1500 HOURS
The Public Dock
Quinby, Virginia
AJ had brought his "day runner", a small sloop fashioned after the ones used to train sailors at Annapolis, to the dock the weekend before. Ready and waiting for their arrival, the "Admiral's Lady" was loaded and prepared for the short sail to the Naval Wave Research cottage on the northernmost beach of the uninhabited nature reserve.
Dressed lightly in swimwear and windbreakers, the newlyweds set sail toward the north for half of an hour, then adopted an easterly tack around the tip of the island toward the area known as "Little Beach".
AJ was an excellent sailor, Sarah thought, as she watched his strong hands maneuver the reefable mainsail. It was hard to recognize the seaman in him, sitting behind the protocol of his position at JAG, but he existed nonetheless. Here, AJ seemed to be in his element, plying the tiller, shifting the boom... the firm muscles of his thighs bracing against the gunnels as he leaned into the wind...
Sarah caught her first glimpse of the cottage as they cleared intercoastal waters and approached the seaward side of the island. Set in a grove of loblolly pines, it stood by itself, overlooking a pristine beach of fine, white sand and sea oats, unmarked by the touch of human passage.
It was an Eden, a paradise set apart...and it was to be theirs alone for two magical days and nights. Their honeymoon would be brief, but it would indeed be memorable.
AJ headed the sloop at right angles to the shoreline, and planted its shallow draft a few yards from the beach. Then, kicking off his deck shoes, and throwing his windbreaker on the deck, he jumped from the side of the boat and landed waist-deep in the surf.
As Sarah watched, he grabbed the towline, and made his way toward landfall. There, amid the profusion of shells and driftwood, he began to draw the small craft ever nearer to the shore.
AJ was a powerful man, she realized. It was something that those who met him frequently overlooked. Though his frame was more on the athletic side, he was solid muscle, and deceptively strong.
She felt the stirrings of passion once more as she watched the play of his body working the prow of the small craft up onto the dry sand, his biceps wet and rippling in the glow of the afternoon sun.
Swinging her legs over the side, Sarah dropped, catlike, to the sand, and began to lift their small cache of luggage and supplies from the sailboat.
"Let me do that, Darlin." he said, making an obvious concession to her maternity status as he approached her from behind, slipping his arms around her waist... caressing the minute fullness that was their child.
"I know you're barely three months along, but lifting heavy gear isn't a great idea. Why don't I grab the food and our packs, and you get the bedding? It's the most crucial part of the weekend, anyway." he smiled wickedly, his lips nuzzling her throat, his hands stoking the embers which he'd ignited within her.
"AJ, if you keep doing that, it'll be time to leave before I ever hit the high water mark." she breathed, her hands cupping his, pressing them into her flesh.
"Then I guess we'd better hurry." he whispered sensuously against the warm fragrance of her skin. "I wouldn't want you to miss anything..."
The cottage proved to be a delight. Purchased at the time the Reserve had been established, it had once belonged to a painter who had lived his life at one with the sea he loved. Now, almost fifty years later, it still sat, preserved, on the unpopulated strip of sand, waiting for their touch to bring it back to life.
New England in style, the cottage was of white clapboard with sea-blue shutters and a full wraparound porch. It was used only briefly each spring by the Naval Wave Research group, who kept it meticulously maintained for their few weeks of residence each year.
The inside was paneled in native red cedar, assailing the senses with its heady aroma. But the "piece de resistance" of the small three-room building was a massive fieldstone fireplace, which dominated the intimate living area.
As AJ went out back to "fire up" the generator, and prime the pump, Sarah began to make up the large four-poster that commanded the main bedroom.
A low rumble filled the air, then settled pleasantly into an innocuous drone as the generator came to life.
Smiling, Sarah stretched a flat king-sized sheet across the soft down of the featherbed, tucking the edges beneath it, hoping the sheet would "stay put".
Then, pleased with the results, she rolled onto her back and followed the pattern of the tongue-and-groove ceiling boards, as their swirls and islands illustrated a story that only nature herself could translate.
She became aware, suddenly, that she was no longer alone. Turning her head, she found AJ staring silently from the doorway.
"You're watching me again, AJ. Aren't you tired of that yet?"
"Darlin', that's not possible." he answered, his voice hushed with emotion. "Every time I look at you, it's like you're a new woman...you just get better and better. The only thing I can't understand is how you ever decided to hitch your wagon to an aging 'seadog' like me."
Sarah looked at him, perpetually amazed at the modesty of this strong and dynamic man.
"Why don't you come a little closer," she suggested, "and we'll see if we can figure it out together?"
AJ grinned, an expression he reserved for her eyes only. "Darlin', I was hoping you'd say that..."
Softly, he lay down beside her, pressing his lips against hers, drawing her sweet breath deeply into his body as his hand explored beneath her windbreaker.
Tilting her head back, she sighed, a low moan rumbling against his lips. "You have incredible hands, my Love." she whispered as he removed her jacket and slide the straps of her one-piece suit across her breasts and down the length of her body. "I had to marry you...you've spoiled me for anyone else."
"No bikini this time, Darlin'?' he questioned, softly.
"Oh, AJ...you don't want to see me in a bikini at this point." she warned, alluding to the changes pregnancy had begun to make in her still voluptuous figure.
"Darlin'," he said, his eyes caressing the fullness of her breasts and the almost indiscernible swell of her abdomen. "You got me there. I'd much rather see you out of it."
Sarah blushed, his words adding impetus to the growing need within her. It always amazed her...just a word from this incredible man, the hint of a touch, and she became consumed with wanting more...wanting it all...wanting him.
AJ stood and began to remove his trunks, his prodigious erection pressing heavily against the fabric, fighting for release.
"Let me." she said softly, sliding to her knees between his feet.
Slowly she grasped the waistband, and began to peel the offending restraint from his firm, taut body... her hands stroking his heated flesh as the sound of his breathing quickened and his muscles tensed.
Sarah closed her eyes. She wanted him there...now...in wild abandon on the rough, braided rug. But the sight of his burgeoning manhood called irresistibly to her, and she felt her hands sliding upward, across the backs of his rock-hard thighs, to clasp the firmness of his buttocks.
Softly, she ran her tongue across the silken smoothness of his engorged sex, feeling it begin to pulse with impatience, tasting the maleness of him on her lips.
"Oh, Darlin'...what you do to me..." he breathed, as she took him fully into the warm wetness of her mouth...touching...teasing...tormenting.
He stood it, until he could stand it no longer, then, overcome, he sank to the carpet before her, imprisoning her between the firmness of his thighs.
AJ held her closely, his lips claiming hers, his tongue exploring the sweet recesses of her mouth. She felt his pulsing erection pressing urgently against her belly as he gently lowered her to the floor and covered her body with his.
"Darlin'," he rasped, fighting for control. "You make me crazy...you make it so hard for me to wait..."
"Then don't..." she pleaded, her legs twining around his hips. "Don't wait...make love to me...now."
