A Couple Pt. 01

I handed the sheet back and told her, "Mostly, you take it in when I ask you, and you let it out when I ask you. If you want to have some fun, watch that area of the sail just to the rear of the mast. If it is fluttering, you should take in the rope until it stops. But the boat goes best when it has the nicest round shape to it, so test the wind by letting it out until it flutters, and then take it in some.

"Oscar, why didn't I know that you were a sailor?"

"Because dearest, I was too stupid, in the middle of our visiting muddle, to think of asking you to go for a sail with me."

"So that's something else we have to fix?" she said softly.

I took her unoccupied hand and sucked on a finger. "Yes."

As we got out onto the bay, the breeze freshened and I moved us up to the high side. I had her ease the main sheet and headed downwind on a broad reach. The little hull came up on a plane and we shot along.

She handed me the pretty hat which I stuffed under the counter. Windblown and excited, hanging on to the sheet for dear life, she looked more beautiful than ever.

"Oscar, this is wonderful! "

We were nearing the entrance to the Bay and I decided that with a green crew, we needed less stress. I told her to take in the sheet as I headed up close hauled. We had to come about soon.

"We have to put the wind on the other side of the sail. It's called coming about. You have to duck down in the middle and then get on the other side after we have turned. You don't need to change the sheet unless I tell you. Ok?"

The crew was green but determined. I called ready about and put the tiller over. The sail filled on the other tack as we settled on the starboard side.

She looked at me with a gleam in her eye. "Did I do all right?"

I leaned over for a kiss and answered, "Perfect. Tomorrow you will steer by yourself!"

I saw a nice strip of beach. "With this much wind, why don't we go up on the beach over there for our picnic?"

The centerboard came up easily and the rudder had a release latch. In a few minutes, we were relaxing on towels on the beach with the basket next to us.

"I meant to ask what you were giving Lars money for. I don't think his mother intended for us to pay."

"You'll like the story. His perfect English is the result of a year with his cousins in Minnesota. He told me he did sports. I asked about a girlfriend here and he said she is in summer school in Stockholm and he has to do chores to raise money for ferry tickets. I told him we would like to contribute to an extra ticket."

She nuzzled into me. "That was really cute of you.

Our tongues were dueling. I pulled her tangled hair and pressed her to me. She relaxed and closed her eyes. "Should we pretend we are back at university and do foolish things again?"

"I've been thinking. This seems like an extended first date, with special benefits."

"Yes, a lot of special benefits mama would not approve of."

We were dozing off, so I said sleepily, "You asked me to propose and I did. Are you going to accept?"

"I think I'm supposed to say I have to think about it."

"So we are lying here, loving the moment, loving each other, and wondering what happens if we do this silly thing and then it all goes south."

"You have a nice way with words. I've always liked that about you."

"Your mother, bless her departed soul, thinks it is not right for you to be sleeping with someone and not forcing him to make an honest woman of you."

"Too many nots in there."

As I slipped into a nap, I thought to myself that it was nice that our important issues did not seem to have much traction.

A gust of wind blew sand in my face and woke me up. It might be a bit exciting getting back with the wind having shifted against us.

We shook the sand out of our clothes and loaded the boat. I buckled Natalie securely into her life jacket. In a soothing voice, I said, "Wind has shifted. We'll need a bunch more of those tacks you did so well before lunch."

She kissed me and punched my arm. "Faker. Getting me out here. Pretending it's not going to be hard going back."

"Don't worry. You've picked this up faster than anyone before you. You'll do fine."

I put her in the bow with the paddle and shoved us out, nosefirst. She paddled into the wind and got us in deep enough water for me to get the rudder and centerboard down and the sail up, and off we went at a great rate.

The chop was breaking on the bow and spraying us with cold water. Let's hurry this up, I said to myself.

I worked upwind, taking the main sheet from her in the rough spots. A failure to ease in the gusts would put the lee rail under. This was not the first time I had a green crew with me assuming I was in control of the elements when the reverse was true.

With four tacks, we made the dock. Lars must have seen us, for he obligingly caught the bow while I dropped the sail and Natalie could relax.

He showed me how to unstep the mast and use some rollers to get the boat up on dry land.

He gestured at the bay, "Enjoy that? Looked like you were handling it well."

I put my arm around Natalie and said, "All due to the great crew." She smiled at him and elbowed me. He said to her, "Thank you for the help with the ticket. Katrina told me to come see here right away!"

Natalie leaned up and kissed him on the lips. "Give her my best."

"Oh I will. I definitely will."

We headed back to the cottage, feeling lazy and jet lagged again.

She nudged me, "No sleeping right now. Let's go to the store and find something to cook for dinner. We'll get fat eating out all the time."

Coming back from the store, she said, "I accept."

Just like that. No frills. I accept. I looked at her and she smiled. I walked and waited to see if there was more.

"Just I accept?"

"Isn't that good enough? Am I supposed to grovel, or scream, or cry?" She was laughing at me.

My brain was scrambled, but fortunately we were approaching the cottage and I stayed silent.

I sat on the sofa, watching her put things away and get her cooking organized. She looked over at me, "Bourbon?"

I nodded. She brought two glasses over, each with a single icecube. She straddled across my knees and raised her glass, "Here's to us."

I took a big gulp and answered, "Here's to us."

She leaned down and kissed me. "Foxed you with that, didn't I?"

"Yes. I don't know why, but I'm in a daze."

She shifted forward so her pubic bone was pressing on me.

"I've got another shock for you. If you marry me, there might be babies!"

I drained my glass, still looking at her. "Aw, poor thing, let me get you some more courage."

I did need more courage, but in the meantime I washed the lettuce, got the vegetables ready for steaming, and found the pan for the broiler.

We kept half glancing at each other. She wandered over and bumped me with her hip. "Say something."

"I'm happy."

That's all? Just 'I'm happy'?"

"Yes."

She pulled my collar down and kissed the back of my neck. Whispered, "We're both scared of this, so we are funning each other. That's it, isn't it?"

I remembered my revelation from yesterday about fools in love. That's why couples didn't worry about all the problems with marriage. They were fools and so was I. I grabbed her and twirled us around the room. She screamed at me to stop.

I gazed into the smiling eyes and said, "Let's keep funning. Just funning along without a care."

She hugged me and whispered, "Without a care."

She navigated Inge's kitchen as if she had been in it for years. She even found ingredients for bearnaise to go on the veal chop we shared. I thought to myself I could do a lot worse than be married to Natalie. In the back of my mind was a shadow about a traveling husband leaving a wife alone with babies.

I asked, "How portable are your research skills?"

She looked at me and took a sip of the excellent Bordeaux we had found at the store.

"Not very, but possible. My current project is funded by DARPA and has a year to run. If I wanted to cope with the private sector, I could go almost anywhere. Security algorithms are a big deal these days."

She raised her eyebrows at me, "You were thinking...?"

"I can't be married to you and be a vagabond. And it won't work to sacrifice careers."

"It's only been an hour, and you are already trying to figure out how to make it work?"

"Yes, unfortunately. I'm a fool in love, but a worrying fool."

We put the dishes in the sink and moved to the sofa with the rest of the wine. She lay back on me.

She waved her fingers around in the air. "What do bad viruses and complex algorithms have in common?"

She sat up. "Do you suppose there is Internet anywhere around here? I have my laptop with me. We could go looking for possibilities."

I pulled her back down. "Aren't we a pair. One minute we are kids in love, the next minute looking for an Internet connection to find new jobs."

She burrowed into me. "I am SO glad we did this. It's completely different from what I expected."

I detached myself for a moment and went to get my mobile. After getting entangled again with my newly identified fiance, I made a call.

She answered on the second ring, "Lisa, it's Oscar." There was a scream from the other end and a "Where are You! You haven't called in ages."

A quick exchange of "everything's fine," included the fact that she was in her flat in London.

"I was wondering if you would accept visitors for a day or so?"

"Of course! When?"

"Well, I guess I should tell you that Natalie and I, after all these years, are engaged. It would be the two of us."

"You're not! How incredible! Is she there with you? Let me talk to her."

I relaxed during several minutes of high velocity girl talk. I even undid Natalie's blouse and got my hand under her bra.

She held the phone off her ear and said, "She wants to know if the sex is any good. What do I say?"

From the phone I heard, "Natalie, you can't!"

I answered so Lisa could hear, "Tell her it's not like that night in her apartment in New York two years ago, but we are making do."

From the phone, "Making do. I'll just bet. Has he got his hand in a naughty place?"

"Yes, he does. Mostly he can't keep his hands off me. Says it's the Baltic air."

Natalie had deduced by now why I wanted to be in London, and smiled at me. She mouthed at me, "How much longer here?"

I mouthed back, "You decide."

She removed my hand from under her bra and put it between her legs. "Lisa, we can't lie around here forever, are you free to receive visitors by later this week?"

There was more girl talk, mostly in travel agent mode. Natalie was multitasking, pushing up against my fingers while checking flights with Lisa.

"Ok, I'll confirm by email, or call back if I can't find Internet on the island."

Before she hung up, I already had us up and moving toward the bed. Her dress was on the floor by the time we got there, and her lacy black underwear followed right after.

"Are you going to fuck me without asking? On our engagement night?" Her eyes dared me to be bad. She was as antsy as I was, now that the whole purpose of our ten day trip had been accomplished in two.

I threw her into the middle of bed, and unzipped my shorts, giving her my best alpha male look.

She turned and clutched a pillow. "No, no. Mama, he's going to take me!"

I leapt on her. "Think you are going to escape the bondage scene, do you? Going to tease me and threaten me with your mother?"

Her legs were around me and her hips bucking before I was fully sheathed. "No. Stop. You can't do this! Oh my god, mama, he's done it! He's all the way in there. Why does it feel so good? Oh, oh, I'm coming!"

She really was. The play acting turned into a passionate female fucking the very devil out of me. I didn't last, and in a minute was filling her and shouting my own climax.

I turned us over. She lay on my chest catching her breath. "You're bad. Here we are for an idyllic ten days, and the minute I say I will marry you, you're ready to leave."

I raised my voice an octave, "Lisa, we can't lie around here forever..."

She raised up and ran her tongue around my lips. "What about the bondage?"

"We can do bondage at Lisa's. Do you suppose she will watch like she did before?"

After a very wet kiss, she said, "I was so shocked when I saw her, naked and stroking herself. But you hadn't noticed and kept going and I had the most incredible orgasm. And she was clapping after!"

The memories were getting me hard again. "I remember she was so shy when you asked about a boyfriend. We didn't get to the bottom of whether she was straight or gay, or bi."

I rubbed the hard ass above me and pushed up into her a few times lightly.

"What if we inflict a threesome on her as a house present?" Natalie's eyes were glinting at me.

"Just to get a flavor of her sexual preference?"

"Yes, that's it. Just to get a flavor."

I got on my knees on the side of the bed and pulled her legs over my shoulders. "What are you doing?"

"Just getting a flavor." She was dripping our juices and tasted heavenly. She flinched every time my tongue hit her clit.

"On top of everything else, I'm going to compete with Lisa for best mixed cum flavor?" She was twitching and probably needed another round.

She added, "Did I say you could fuck your sister and come in her?" The pussy was getting very twitchy.

I kept doing what I was doing and she let it all build up and came with a small scream and several minutes of clenching on my fingers and gushing on my tongue.

She got me up on the bed and licked up our juices from my slimy cock. "If I givc you roaming privileges with your sister, will you ask about any others?

I pulled her in tight. "I shouldn't tell you this. Some day you will bludgeon me with it. Until about a year ago, I had friends in Sydney and in Paris. Women I met through WHO work. Nice uncomplicated girls that liked me and liked sex with me. After that time you and I saw each other in Chicago, I forced myself to say goodby to them. It wasn't easy. They thought they had done something wrong. I found nice presents and told them it was all my fault and there were other guys that would have great sex with them and look after them."

"Why did you do this?" She was licking and biting me. Now I was the one who was twitching.

"I had to acknowledge to myself that you and I had a special thing going, and it wasn't fair to you for me to have side relationships with other women."

She whispered, "My god," and was fast asleep. I pulled up the cover and joined her.

The following day we were quiet around each other. It seemed as though yesterday's earthquake was being followed by small tremors. Natalie found a place in the village with WiFi and went off to deal with ferry and airline tickets. I felt like solitude and went out in the boat in a light breeze that I could handle easily by myself. When you've changed direction in your life, there's never certainty, but in our case, I was full of anticipation. The talk about maybe changing jobs had loosed a flood of emotions. The WHO and I had evolved together over ten years. The advances in lab technology had made my field work much more rewarding by shortening the feedback loop to days from weeks or months. Most of the new field protocols for the organization reflected my work. Could I walk away from that? Did I want to? Did I need to?

I carefully put the boat away as it had originally been. There would have to be a special present for Inge. Maybe Natalie would find something in London.

We both got back to the cottage around noon. Natalie brought lunch with her. "Should we eat here or take it out along the path?"

"You choose, I'm fine with either. The sun is very nice."

She led us along the path in the opposite direction from before. She had the white hat and white walking shorts with a yellow tee shirt. My girl, I thought to myself with fatuous pride.

In a mile, there was a cove with trees and even a bench. "Just for us," she smiled at me.

The still warm panini with eggplant was delicious. "How on earth did you find this here in the middle of Scandinavia?"

"The woman at the deli told me these islands are full of well off tourists in the summer who snap up specialties. If you like, we can detour there on the way back for real gelato. Her relatives from Milan come every summer and supervise."

I leaned over and kissed her. "I'm getting totally spoiled. What did you work out on travel?"

"We are on the early ferry tomorrow and will be at Heathrow in mid-afternoon. Lisa already acknowledged my email. She said to take the fast train to Paddington and a cab to her flat since the traffic is horrific in London and at the airport."

"I can relax and pretend to be your valet?"

She pulled my ears and kissed me. "After all that alpha activity last night, you are now mummy's little sub?"

"Are you an actress behind that PhD body armor?"

She broke up laughing and crawled into my lap. She worried my knuckle and said, "You're getting inside my skin, Oscar. Yes, I did act in school, in a very amateur way. The drama group liked me because I could memorize and project my lines out on stage. That covered many deficiencies."

"How will we know when there is acting being performed?"

"I don't like to cry, so if I'm crying, it's not an act."

She sealed that with a kiss and I hugged her tightly.

* cont'd in Part 2 - Excitement in London *