Splashdown

I woke to the sound of crying. Why did women cry around me so often lately? Once again, I spoke in a situation that seemed a no speaking zone, "Kath, are you alright?"

I heard her suck in a breath, she was scared to death, and not just to be caught. In my sleepy stupor I blurted, "What is it, Kath? Don't worry, I'll protect you." I put my arms around her, pulling her close.

Her answer was a pitiable whimper. She finally croaked out, "I'm fine, I'm fine. I don't want to be protected from my problem!"

"What is it, Kathy?" I was completely confused from my slumber.

Her response was in a pathetic voice, her words dribbling out staccato, here and there, as she could force them from her lips.

"Trust me, please just trust me. I'm not ... I can't explain with words. My brain can't help me ... I'm not trying to seduce ... damn it, Gary, let me s-show you."

She took my hand in hers pulling it lower on her body.

"This is only so you understand ... okay?" Hers eyes pled with me to comprehend as she placed my hand on her feminine cleft; she was soaked!

"Ahhh," she exhaled followed by a long slow hiss as she shook from my touch. "Gary, I-I'm dying here. Don't make me leave, please. I'm so sorry, so sorry. I can't help it!"

She buried her face in my neck as she continued, "I never thought Peggy would do it. Never! Her mistake Gary, and that's all it was, still opens the door for my hopes, which as her friend I shouldn't harbor. I know the word mistake sounds way too simple for what you feel. Peg feels that pain too. I imagine if you can find a way to keep her, she'll be the perfect wife now.

Believe me, I don't want to blow sunshine up your skirt, especially because she has opened the door to another issue. Gary, that other issue is me. Peggy's actions have opened a gate for me I never thought would be open! I-I'm shaking with frustration. I'm ready to go off. I-I don't know ... oh God."

Kathy was in awful shape. You might think this would be great. My wife fails me, so I am presented with a smarter, more disciplined, classically better-looking woman, who has a mad crush on me, and whose libido could currently be found under the heading "alley cat in heat". No, my friends, there are times when it sucks to be the good guy.

Based on my decision of how to handle the situation some of you will say I'm not good enough, others will say I am not good at all; either way I lose. Which was exactly how I was feeling at the moment. I challenge you to be in my place that night and do any better.

So, what did I do? I let compassion step up in the stead of passion.

"Lay still Kath and trust me. I'll earn your trust." She did exactly as I asked. She was close to hyper-ventilating. I could feel her heart pounding.

It was clear she was thinking, 'This is it. This is where he takes me. I don't know what life becomes after that.'

I wasn't trying to tease her; I needed her to focus and breath again. So, I took some time. Slowly I put my hand on hers. Taking my time was killing her I know, but my conscious is clear.

I could hear her muttering. My slow touch was wrecking her. My slow deliberate taking possession of her body and its functions was killing her in an exquisite way to go. I forced my other arm around her back, cradling her, placing that hand on her hipbone from behind, taking charge of it.

"Ooooh," she sighed speaking more to herself than to me, "So long since I've let a man touch me, and, oh, such a strong hand," She whimpered again as my hand on her hip controlled her lower body, pinning her in place. I'm absolutely sure she felt it was, in a word, commanding, and that I would command her, if that was my wish. Never underestimate a military bearing in the work environment.

She moaned again. My primary hand slowly slid her own hand down her body. Her stomach rose and fell with each heavy breath. This was an incredible show; Kathy is a very sexy woman. I was slow and deliberate, she misinterpreted this as the agonizing possessive torture of a consummate lover. I work hard for results, though I could only wish to live up to her misconception. Still, it was working, Kathy was loving every agonizing second.

My other hand controlled her pelvis holding it in place, while my primary hand clasped to hers continued down her torso. One hand commanded her hips the other controlled her hand. It was her own fingertips that slid across her flesh, her hand on her flesh, as she continued murmuring about my hands.

"His hand on my hip. Oh God, a man's hand on my hip. It's been so long."

My hand moved hers lower still, now over her tummy.

"Ohhh. Ahhh," she mewed as I guided her fingertips through her pubic hair reaching her division. My left hand now slid from her hip as I pulled her up to lay atop me, her back to my front. Two of my fingers slid across her mons and lower to begin parting her femininity. I didn't touch her opening. The pressure alone almost pushed her over the edge. She mewed constantly now, pathetic helpless little mews begging for primal release, begging for a connection with me on much deeper level. My fingers spread her open just a little further, then my control hand drug her fingers further toward a rendezvous.

"Oh ... my ... Goooood," her scent filled the air as I changed my grasp of her hand isolating her pointer finger, holding it like a pencil. She felt her fingertip slide into her crease. I placed it low as I held her open with my other hand, then slowly drug her finger back up, traveling along her sensitive spot and now reaching her hood, dragging it back and up until reaching ... detonation.

I moved her fingertip in light but insistent little circles. Kathy's back arched as oceans roared in her ears. I rolled my body partially to allow my arms to hold her in place. She saw stars before things went white in the pitch black. I saw her eyes snap open from their clench when she realized she was screaming. Amazed that she was screaming, she kept on screaming and continued to.

I used her fingertip to stroke across her slick wantonness over and over. She shook, clawing at the sheets with her free hand, pulling the sheets, tearing them. I should tell my wife what happened to the sheets. I briefly wondered if I would keep the sheets to show Peg the huge wet area and the rips from Kathy's nails. It might be a lovely parting shot. Even if things went better than expected with Peggy, was I above using the sheets as a warning? Actually yeah, I would never do that, but oh it was fun to pretend.

Forgive my brutal thoughts I was in pain and this was a unique torture in itself. The situation was primal. Please excuse my thoughts following the theme.

It took me a while to understand that Kathy's weak voice was now begging me to stop. I relented and she lay collapsed atop me, held in place by my arms which changed guise from capture to protection. Kathy shook from exertion, her chest heaving for air.

She no longer suffered from heat; this was sensory overload. Tears streamed across beautiful ruby cheeks. She continued to shake, soaked and exhausted. I rolled again, adjusting for a more comfortable position where she lay on her back with me on my side cradling her securely. I held her tightly as she cried harder. She cried for quite some time. Finally, she spoke in a tiny exhausted voice, hoarse from screaming.

"I-I wet your bed, I wet you! I need to ..." she turned trying to bury her face in my chest. Which was wonderful; Kathy had turned toward me, not away like I had become accustomed to Peggy doing.

Kathy had put on a spectacular display, Peggy for all her animal wantonness never soaked us to this degree. I thought Kathy deserved a medal. I thanked the heavens I had done well by her. Though she was embarrassed, I thought it was wonderfully beautiful. I pulled her into me more tightly.

Slowly Kathy's breathing became normal. Her faculties returned. Unfortunately, so did her capacity for speech. What she said was wonderful, I'd simply had my fill of words. In a weak, quiet, voice she vowed to me, "Gary, I promise I will put your first. I promise! You can believe me; I won't steer you wrong on Peggy either. All those wonderful talks we had before your wife's flight let me see who you were. Your dignity while honesty admitting you were humiliated, your intelligent problem solving when others would have lashed out, let me know who you are.

"I don't find many men I think are smarter than me, I know you are wiser at least. The six months we've been together as friends while Peg was in orbit have changed me, remolded me.

"I have longed for you to make a move on me. The longer it went, the more I knew I would not offer resistance. I went from telling myself I would be strong, say no, and be noble, to knowing I could not. I began trying to entice you to make a move, wanting that move so badly. I began thinking of little coquettish quips I could entertain you with. At times I caught myself being a mind numbed little schoolgirl. I feared I would be boring for you in bed, a dead fish, if you ever took me there, but not because you didn't move me, because I would be just so overcome.

"And now I have you in bed. And you did make a move! And I sort of broke a little. I admire you even more for not stepping over a certain line. But Gary, I-I need you. I can't lie now; I've fallen for you. You don't need this complication right now. Yet you just destroyed me, obliterated me, and you never actually touched the important bits yourself.

"Even now I lay here thinking "not yet, don't stop holding me yet". I wanted you so badly to just roll on top of me to have me, take me, make me yours. And you ... never did.

"At first, I was crying from the beauty of it, then from the intensity, and then because you were not going to claim me as your own. Gary, being in your arms, finding that release at your command, nothing's ever felt more right, it felt like a new kind of truth.

"Gary, if you offered me the bad deal of being your dirty secret, your side girl, gave me the chance to cheat on my friend: I'd think it was the best deal since Prometheus stole us fire.

"Although broken you won't take my body, you've absolutely captivated my spirit by being this ... upstanding, especially in your circumstance. So, I'm doing my best by you. If you won't claim me outright, you can make me the sort of woman I've never wanted to be. I'll cheat on my friend in order to have part of you. That's not pretty, I'm not proud of it. At least I'm honest, even to a fault. I'm willing to compromise almost any ideal for you right now."

I pulled Kathy over me and turned away from our last direction rolling us out of her wet spot while shifting her into a classic spoon holding her close. I told her, "I know darling, that's why I'm going to hold you like this so you can't compromise yourself. We'll see how you feel in the morning. That should prove a much more entertaining talk than the one I expected to have about my wife."

"So, you're giving me a chance?"

"Kathy, you know what I am. You know I wouldn't listen to this from most women. I'll give you all the time you need to talk it out. You're too good a person not to do that for. For tonight just enjoy this. I won't let you go. Thank you for not leaving me alone, I need you tonight too."

There was another low whimper as she nestled her bottom into me stopping suddenly. Her shapely ass seemed to undulate of its own accord, just little thrusts. I could tell she was fighting it.

"Gary, I can feel, I can feel your frustration and your need. Your fear about not being physically able to perform has proven without merit. You must feel how eager and ready I am to accept you! If you decide to act, it doesn't have to start something, or cement a bond, it could be for no other reason than to relieve frustration and need. Let me do that for you."

"Can't Love, sleep on it and we'll see what you think in the morning."

"If I still want to in the morning, will you let me help you?"

"Sleep now, stop agitating me. Do you know how close I am to cracking, and taking our choices away from us?"

Kathy pulled away enough to see my face at those words. Her mouth fell open and her eyes grew. She tried to hide her hope. I tried to explain.

"You're a good woman, Kathy. If we chart a course together it shouldn't be in a passionate explosion of irresponsibility, but by full commission, an earnest giving in every way, a totality of cause. I'm too conflicted now. I can't think. I can't unwrap myself from the mists that cloak both my naked desires and open wounds. At present I'm at best half a man: I must put the stop to my accelerating turmoil."

She turned more, gazing at me, her trembling mouth a mirror of my fractured spirit. Her eyes growing wet feeling my pain. She was realizing just how torn I was by all of this. She nodded to me.

"Thank you, Kathy. Not leaving me alone tonight was wise. I've previously imagined this terrible night without you. This is much better."

I pulled her in closer yet, and she cooed wrapping herself around me like a protective cocoon. We stayed like that for a long time. We were sharing more than warmth. In my deteriorating state I didn't know what to make of it.

Instantly she twirled back to our original spoon position in my arms. She seemed a constant flurry of burrowing motion. She was burrowing into me. She seemed to be letting her body find every corresponding nook, notch and cranny in mine. She settled into place with a whimper.

"Is that good?"

"Yes very."

Kathy was thinking again. She decided it was best to get it out, "Gary, would you hold my breast while we sleep?"

I didn't know the significance of that gesture to her, but clearly it had some.

Hell, why not? I was being an absolute prince by any standard. I know some of you think I should have left the room, some of you think I should have fucked her into lunar orbit. Being honest, that lunar orbit thing had tremendous appeal for me, and I thought I was just the man to do it.

I didn't need to go over the crap in my life again tonight! I needed to let it all go, just for a little while. It had consumed me. I'd fought the good fight and lost. I just needed some rest. Just a little time without thinking and seeing everything important drain away from me. I needed to just enjoy the beautiful warm woman in my arms and sleep. I felt myself finally relax. Kathy felt it too, and she seemed to flow into every space I vacated, as if grafting to me.

I heard her cooing softly to herself, "He-He's holding my breast. My man is holding me and holding my breast." With that Kathy was gone, dreaming of her man. "Gary, Gary," she murmured in her sleep. Daaamn!

I stayed awake a little longer. I still had problems, more than ever it seemed, but I had options. Every man has trouble, not every man has options. I fell asleep, a beautiful, smart woman in my arms, just not the one I loved, not yet anyway.

* * * * *

The next morning, we rose stirring slowly, still holding each other. Kathy's face simply alit when she opened her eyes to see my smiling face. She closed her eyes a moment committing the moment to memory. Eventually she got up wondering what to put on. I suggested nothing. At first, she looked appalled. She wasn't used to being in lover mode. Her face quickly melted, transforming into a huge smile peeking out from a strong blush.

I left the bed first; Kathy hadn't let me see her entirely naked last night. I didn't need to take that from her. I made my way to the kitchen and coffee. When Kathy appeared, she made her way to the far side of the table hiding her nakedness from the hips down. I let my eyes drift over her causing a wonderful blushing smile. She couldn't look at me seeing my happiness at her beauty. She couldn't hide her ear-to-ear grin either.

I called out where the cream was so she could help. I don't think she was used to mugs. I told her they were simply more convenient in the backyard. She went stiff as I walked out with my mug of coffee onto my back patio. Kathy was buck naked, I was in my boxers, just as we had slept. I sat in a chase-like piece of overly elaborate outdoor furniture, waiting for her to join me.

Kathy was tentative at first, her confidence seemed to grow in the sunlight. Being naked outside seemed a revelation to her. A layer of emotional constriction had just been thrown away; a yoke of conventionalism had just been shrugged off.

She sat, now reveling in being naked outside. Yes, she made sure to look around at the boundaries of my yard first. The yard had thick perimeter foliage; no one was going to see us by accident. I smiled imagining if people knew lovely Kathy was there in her birthday suit, that some enterprising person would surely sneak through my neighbor's yard to scale the fence and hedge, even if they were barbed wire and oleander, for the view.

We'd been there a while soaking in the morning warmth. It was wonderfully cleansing. We'd both just about finished our coffee when suddenly Kathy looked mischievous, "You know if you are going to parade your needy friend around your backyard naked, any neighbor who sees me will just presume you've had me. Perhaps that you even make a habit of it. It would be a special injustice for you to have to serve the time on that malicious rumor when you haven't done the crime. Maybe we should, um, split the difference and you do me - just in case of rumors. You have an overdeveloped sense of right and wrong, Gary. Do it for justice."

I laughed aloud, "Well, let's talk about that."

Her face shifted from sultry, to staving off rejection, to hopeful. With bright eyes she encouraged me to continue.

When I hesitated, simply enjoying my surroundings, Kathy rushed to fill what she felt was an awkward silence by asking if Peggy and I had similar outdoor mornings. She inspected the large, upholstered couch-thing we were lounging on. Indeed, Peggy and I had had fun there in the past. One doesn't like to be too conventional, but the couch-thing was more comfortable than rolling around the dewy morning grass. Besides this couch was huge, practically an outdoor mattress.

I put my coffee on a side table and reclined on the sofa - couch - sectional - recliner thingee. I had no idea what the damn thing should be called. I now pet it affectionately while grinning at Kathy.

"I bet the ISS doesn't have one of these," I said joking.

"Most compartments of the ISS are smaller than this thing," she returned in mirth. "We bunk down in sleeping bags Velcroed to the wall."

Somehow Kathy flowed, folding herself on and around me, nestling with my arm around her neck. I remarked that for such a tall girl she sure could make herself fit into very tight spaces.

She beamed for a second reading my mind, and retorted with a very seductive smile, "Yes, I can make myself fit in small places when the need arises. Tell me Gary, when your need arises ... can you do the same?"

I blew a hot breath out of excited lungs. I stroked her hair between my fingertips, rubbing it just for the silky feel, which delighted Kathy. She said she hoped her form was pleasing to me.

I said it was. My actual words were, "Fucking A, Kath." She answered with the erudite and appropriate, "Mmmm."

She tried not to be lewd when she said, "Yeah, I see."

I glanced down. I had quite the erection stretching my boxers. Kathy seemed nervous, not wanting to break the spell and make my hard cock turn back into a pumpkin, or whatever the appropriate flora would be.

"If you like the way I fold into your arms, why don't we try to put that big thing in a tight space, Gary? I have every confidence you will find a way to make it fit."

Kathy reached to my face to kiss me. She took her other hand and grasped my manhood through my boxers. I uttered a strong moan. It seemed like forever since I had felt a woman's touch. My entire body stiffened, making her eyes pop, and I swear, her lips swell.