No Trouble in Paradise

We explored, discovering the things women can do, arranging ourselves so that our pussies were mashed together, fucking ourselves until we both climaxed, licking each other to shattering orgasms, fingers playing, lost in passion and making sweet love, getting to know our bodies, and exploring our feelings for each other so intimately that I was lost in a world of just the two of us. She was all that mattered, and she obviously felt the same way about me.

We napped, made love, ate, made love and napped again. I woke before her and just gazed at my beautiful little lover. My heart was overflowing. I had never felt the feelings I was experiencing, and I never wanted to feel any other way. This, this, was what I had been searching for my whole life.

She stirred slowly, stretched like a big graceful cat and smiled, pulling me down for a passionate kiss. She giggled. "You smell like pussy," she said.

I laughed and kissed her again. "Yeah, and so do you. Race you to the water."

We ran, laughing, naked as the day we were born, diving off the stern into the clear cool water.

We pulled in the hooks late in the afternoon and headed back. She stood there on the bow, her hand on the rail, gorgeously naked like some maiden on a Viking ship, and I couldn't get enough of looking at that beautiful girl.

Don't get me wrong, I like dick, and men can be beautiful in their own way, but anyone sane would know there was nothing in nature more beautiful than Chelane. She was Venus, rising dripping from the waves.

We sailed slowly along and dressed the first time we saw boat traffic in the distance. She came to stand beside me, all that lushness pressed against me and her arm around my waist. We took down the sail and motored into my slip. She jumped off and secured the lines.

"Silas, what are you doing for the next two weeks?" she asked.

"Hopefully, you," I said.

She laughed. "Yeah, I was hoping for that, too. Do you have to work, or anything?"

"No, I'm on vacation," I said. "I don't 'have' to work, at all. I work to stay active. I like my job, but I take long-ass vacations."

She looked at me, one eyebrow raised in question. "Wow, you are lucky, Silas."

"I know, right? Anyway, I'd rather hang with you than anything else I can imagine," I told her. "We'll sample everything paradise has to offer, deal?"

She was down, and the only reason she went back to her hotel during those precious days we spent together was to get her things. She stayed with me, slept with me, was never far from my side, we fucked ourselves into exhaustion and I loved every minute of our time together. I got a little despondent as her departure loomed.

She sensed my mood and snuggled up to me where we were basking in the afterglow of some of the sweetest, hottest love making I'd ever experienced. We were learning each other's bodies, exactly how to enfold one another in love and ecstasy. "What are you thinking?" she asked.

"I'm kinda not wanting you to go," I told her. "I think I love you, Bae, and I wanna be with you."

She slid up over me, taking my face between her hands, smoothing away the tears that were coming unbidden to my eyes. "I know," she said. "I feel it, too, Silas. I don't want to go, but I have to. I never dreamed I'd meet anyone like you. I'm just on holiday, you know? I have school, everything about my life is somewhere else, except you."

"I know." I kissed her, wrapping my arms around her tightly, never wanting to let her go.

"What are we going to do?" she whispered.

"I dunno," I said. "I just feel like you're special, babes, and I wanna see what's there."

"Me too," she said. "Maybe I can come back Christmas, or you could come to Marseille."

I kissed her again. "Maybe both. Maybe more. I can see sneaking off for a weekend with you very often, lovey. Like every weekend. I'm thinking of swooping in and carrying you off to some forbidden castle, to hidden waterfalls and ancient forests where we dance naked under the full moon and perform sexual rituals to the old gods."

She giggled. "Oooh, that sounds lovely, but do we have to wait to perform the sexual rituals?"

I decided we didn't.

*****

I went with her to the airport, and we had a long tearful goodbye. She promised me she would come back over Christmas, and I promised her I would make the effort to come to her.

There was a hole in my heart just her size and shape, and it didn't get better. I had fallen in a big way, and my life was completely unsettled. I wasn't used to this. I was independent, self-sufficient, needed no one but my father, and suddenly I seemed to have transformed into this weak and needy creature. We texted, Snapped, Facetimed every day, sometimes more than once a day, and those were the highlight of my life.

I took on a project to get myself back in my groove. We had a contract working with a group out of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They had a group of former military and police personnel who were working with wildlife protection, sort of direct-action park rangers and anti-poaching enforcers. They needed training, and I took my group in to provide that training.

It was a righteous goal, given the corruption of a many of the wildlife protection services in a lot of the countries in Africa, and we worked hard getting them the training and equipment they needed to be effective.

I finally got that call from Solomon while I was there. We met in Dungu and had that date. It was fun, and I liked him, but my heart really wasn't in it. I thought we could be good friends, but that was all it was ever going to be. He wanted more, obviously, but I let him down gently and when he left, we promised to stay in touch. I had room in my thoughts, really, only for a certain little goddess in Marseille. I couldn't stop thinking about her, and the first weekend I thought I could get away, I flew in.

She met me at the airport, and the sight of her, all that gorgeousness and sweetness, the excitement on her face to see me, melted me into a puddle, almost incapable of movement and speech. I had a room booked at the Grand Hôtel Beauvau Marseille, and she had a bag packed to stay with me.

She took me around the city, and I enjoyed it, mostly enjoying being with her. She lived on-campus, and she took me and introduced me to some of her friends.

I was surprised, delighted and overwhelmed when she introduced me to her roommate, a delightful French girl named Marie.

"Marie, this is my girlfriend, Silas," she said.

Marie looked a bit shocked, but she recovered quickly and gave me hug and air kisses. "I am very pleased to meet you, Silas. I didn't expect you to be so..."

"Black?" I asked.

She laughed. "No, I was going to say so tall and beautiful."

We all giggled and any discomfort vanished. She was a tiny little blonde thing, so I guess the "tall" idea must have seemed right. Both Chelane and I towered over her like trees.

It was a great weekend. We prowled around and did touristy shit, went to the Massif des Calanques, which was spectacular: an imposing set of cliffs towering over an azure sea.

We had some long and serious talks. "Silas, I'm having that feeling again," she told me, that hot sexy body snuggled up against me in bed.

"Hmm? What feeling, lover?"

"That feeling I don't want you to go back," she said. "Silas, the semester is over in a month. I have to go home and spend some time with my parents, but do you think I could come and stay with you after that?"

"I would love that," I told her. "How long are you off?"

"I get off December 15," she said, "and I don't have to be back until January 22. I'll stay the first week with my parents, then I want to spend the rest of the time with you, if you want me."

She peeked up at me from under those impossibly long dark lashes, her eyes brown liquid pools.

"Oh, my God, Chelane, don't doubt that for a minute," I said. "I'm always going to want to spend every second I can with you. I'll do whatever I need to make that happen."

She wiggled with joy against me and those exquisite lips fastened to my nipple. She broke her lip lock long enough to look up at me. "I love your piercings," she said. "You think I should get my nips pierced?"

I laughed. "Up to you, Bae. Don't do it because I have the bars, but if you want to do it for you, go for it."

"I want to do it for you," she said. "Do you think it's sexy?"

"I do, but you don't need it to be sexy," I told her. "If you were any sexier, it would be criminal."

She cupped one of those amazing breasts at me and I had to slide down and give it some love.

"Silas, I'm going to have my master's degree in one more semester," she said. "Do you think I can get a job in Honiara? Start a practice?"

"I have no idea," I said. "I know nothing about psychologists. I'm not crazy, you know. Well, I'm cra about you."

She made a cute little frown. "We don't use that word."

"Sorry, Bae. Silas was just making a joke. I'm an idiot," I said.

She giggled. "No, it was funny. I was just roasting you. We really don't use 'crazy,' though. You can use it when it's just the two of us. I know you don't mean anything."

I squeezed her up. "No, I won't do that anymore. I will check into things and find out. Will you really come to Honiara after you get your degree?"

She nodded, all that mass of beautiful waves falling forward to veil her face. "Yes. I love you, Silas. Can I live with you?"

"Oh, my God, yes! I have never wanted anything more in my life."

I was blown away. "I gotta tell you, Bae, I'm kind of a mess. I've never had a real long term love relationship with anyone. I don't even know how. You're going to have to help me."

"I don't think anyone knows how until they do it," she said, snuggling even closer to me. "We'll do it together."

*****

Chelane flew back to Botswana to stay with her parents over the first week of her Christmas break and Dad flew in to visit me. It had been a while, and I had been missing him dreadfully. He had Derick with him. I had known Derick all my life, and he was sort of like an older brother/uncle. He was also sort of the guy who made everything run smoothly with Red Knight.

I was perfectly content with the arrangement, and fully expected him to step in and take over when Dad finally decided to retire. We caught up, they had business things to tell me, new contracts to discuss and it was like old home week, like I was back living with Dad and Derick might as well have lived there.

He had finally gotten married when I was about 25, and had a little girl I adored. He constantly poked me about my lack of a partner, all good natured and funny.

He was off doing something around town, and I had Dad to myself. I cooked him dinner and snuggled up to him on the sofa.

"Dad, I kinda met someone," I confided.

"Really? Oh, wow, baby. Do I know him?"

"No, and it's kinda not a 'him'," I said. I was worried about how he would take that. He had never been a judgmental parent, but I knew that might be a shock to his system. I had never heard him express a homophobic thought in my life, but he was pretty traditional.

"What do you mean? What..."

"It's a her, Dad. Her name is Chelane, and she's coming here next week. I want you to meet her. You're going to love her, I know."

I could see he was at a loss by the look on his face. I laughed. "Dad, you want me to be happy, right?"

He stammered around for a couple of seconds before he became capable of coherent speech. "Yes, Silas. I do want you to be happy. That's all I ever wanted for you. I never knew you were... gay. I mean, you've had boyfriends... is this a recent thing? Why haven't you ever talked to me about this... said something?"

It was kind of hilarious, but I needed to explain. "Dad, I've always been attracted to men and women. I never... felt like it was a deal. I never met anyone, male or female, I thought I wanted to be with, you know, like long term. Then I met Chelane..."

"How did you meet her? How long have you been... together? Are you going to like, get married? Am I ever going to have any grandkids? Jesus, baby, this is all..."

I shushed him, kissed him and snuggled into that huge man. He wrapped his arms around me and I felt safe, just like I had when I was just a tiny little thing. My father had always been my rock. I had never known my mother. She was some sort of activist, met him and they had a whirlwind romance before she was out on her crusade again. She never came back, and he was my god.

I explained how we'd met, who she was and showed him pictures on my phone.

"God, baby, she's gorgeous. She looks young!"

I had to laugh. "She is. She's just about to get her master's degree in psychology. Maybe she can tell me what's wrong with you."

He chuckled. "Yeah, maybe she can tell me what's wrong with you. Do you love her, Silas? Damn, she is stunning. You have better taste in women than men. God, I remember that dickweed you dated in high school. What was his name?"

"Mark," I said. "He was sort of a... dickweed, wasn't he? Slippery motherfucker stabbed me in the back and wound up with that hoe... I forget her name."

He squeezed me. "The good old days with my drama queen."

I punched his arm. "I was NOT a drama queen. Okay, maybe a little. I do love her, Dad, and she loves me. She is sooo sweet and so beautiful and gentle. You're going to love her."

"If she makes my baby happy, I know I will," he said.

"She does. I've never been so happy in my life," I told him.

Chelane's visit with her parents had not gone quite so well. When I got the story out of her, I discovered that they were extremely unhappy that she was with me. They were unhappy that I was black, that I was a "lesbian," and that I had "corrupted" their daughter. They threatened to cut off funding her education, forbade her from seeing me and succeeded in alienating their daughter.

She Facetimed me, crying her little heart out from a hotel she had checked into. "I'm not staying here, Silas. Not another day. I don't know what to do."

I soothed her as best I could, got her airline ticket changed to the next day and did my best to assure her that everything would be okay. I knew she was going to be upset for a while, but I had hopes that when her parents realized that they had no control over her, saw that I loved her with all my heart and would never hurt her, they'd come around.

It's hard to undo the kind of damage they'd done, and it hurt me that our relationship had caused her the slightest pain.

I picked her up at the airport, and she was a mess. I took her home and introduced her to Dad. He took one look and I could tell he fell in love. I got her a drink and she sat between us, telling us her story and sobbing her little heart out.

I looked up and Dad was crying. The big tough hard man had a heart like a marshmallow, but I was one of the few who ever saw that side of him. He held Chelane and I hugged her from the other side.

"Chelane, I'm so sorry your parents aren't happy for you. I want you to know I am. I don't know you very well yet, but I'm going to be your dad, too. Silas is all I have, and she's impressed me with how much she loves you and how happy you've made her. I know it's going to be rough for a while, but you two have each other. You stick together and you're going to make it."

"Yes, I know." She was calmer. "Thanks, Landin. I just don't know what I'm going to do. I have one more semester, and I have no idea how I'll pay for it. I'll get a job, I guess."

"There's nothing wrong with having a job," he said. "Will you let me give you a job?"

"What kind of job?" she asked. "I still have to study and go to classes. I'm doing my practicum next semester, too. How much would you pay me? I don't know anything about what you and Silas do."

"You know how to use a computer, right?" he said.

She made a watery little giggle. "Yes, of course."

"Well, you can do research, I know, or you wouldn't be where you are in college. Silas, you got any ideas?"

"I do," I said. "Chelane, we have a lot of employees who do some pretty sketchy shit. Sometimes they come back pretty traumatized. They need someone to talk to, someone safe. Sometimes they need therapy. Would you be willing to talk to them, help them with whatever issues they are experiencing? That's kind of what you're trained to do, right?"

She looked at me, and I drowned in those big brown eyes. "Really? You'd trust me to do that?"

"I trust you with my life," I told her. "If you run into something you don't think you can handle, you can refer them to someone who can. You can do it over Zoom or something."

"Wow, I'll have to think about that. It sounds kind of like what I would do in a practice."

"We'd pay you the same thing we pay the therapists we use now," Dad said.

I could tell she was going to do it, and her whole mood changed. Evidently, that had been really worrying her, and over the next few days, that sweet bubbly girl emerged, and she had Dad wrapped around her little finger.

Derick was another story. She came in from going to the store with Dad and saw Derick and I snuggled up in a lounge on the back deck, the first time she saw him.

I glanced up and saw her face, and there was a look on it that shocked me. She turned on her heel and went back inside before I could get a word out. I jumped up and chased her, catching her at the door to our bedroom.

"Chelane, baby, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Who is that? Obviously, you're pretty comfortable with some guy. I come home and you're all loved up on him, rubbing up against him. Who is he, Silas?"

"What the fuck, Chelane? I told you about him. That's Derick. I wasn't 'loved up' on him. Jesus, this pisses me off. I've known him since I was like three. I do love him, but not like that. Never like that! He's like my older brother or some shit. I live YOU Chelane. ONLY you. Do you understand?"

She burst into tears, and that broke my anger. I pulled her over to the bed and we fell in together, clinging to each other like the last port in a storm.

"I'm sorry, Silas," she sobbed. "I'm just so... I love you so much and you're all... the whole thing with my parents... I'm just a mess. I saw you and I just thought..."

"Shhh, it's okay, lovey." I held her, petted her, kissed away her tears, and those kisses turned to passion. We were tearing off our clothes and all the worry, fear, anger and tears turned into a torrent of love.

She was beautiful, hot as fuck, and she was mine. I knew that I wanted her, forever, and I was sure that nothing was ever going to change the way we felt about each other. I wasn't naïve, either. I was going to do whatever it took to make her happy for the rest of our lives.