Eyes on the Stars

by Lynn Ames

  Claudia collapsed back on the bed laughing. “Woo, that was something, huh?”

  Jessie shook her head. “Was any of that tale true?”

  “Every bit of it. Rebecca told me after Annabelle told her while we were waiting to go up this afternoon.” Claudia rolled over on her side until she was facing Jessie. She reached out and tugged at Jessie’s belt. “Now, where were we? Oh, yes. I believe I was telling you what I had planned for you tonight.”

  Jessie slapped her hand away. “Do you have any idea how close we just came to being discovered? We can’t even be sure Janie didn’t see where your hand was.”

  “Trust me, Janie didn’t see anything. My back was in her way.”

  Jessie got up and paced back and forth in front of the bed. “We’ve almost gotten caught at least three times in the last three months. I swear I’m getting gray hair from worrying. I hate this.”

  Claudia got up and came to her. “What do you want to do about it? Stop seeing each other?”

  Jessie grabbed Claudia’s hands and squeezed. “Never. I love you, Claude.”

  “And I love you, sugar. We’ve done all right so far. Another two months, and we’ll be through the training. Then we can put in for the same assignment and live off-base together wherever we go, just like a married couple.”

  Jessie sighed. Claudia was right—if they could make it through the next sixty days without being found out, they’d practically be home free. There had been close calls, but it had been worth it. She gazed at the woman she loved with all her heart. “I can’t wait.”

  “Me, either.” Claudia kissed her briefly on the mouth. “So I’ll meet you back here after dinner, right?”

  “Wild horses couldn’t keep me away.”

  “That’s my girl.”

  “You two are moving like your pants are on fire. Where’re you off to in such an all-fired hurry?”

  “Hiya, Annabelle.” Claudia gave her one of her megawatt smiles as Annabelle caught up to them near the entrance to the base.

  Jessie grumbled under her breath. “Here we go again.”

  “There’s a new record I need to pick up in town. I wanted to get there before they’re all sold out.”

  “Yeah? What’re you hot for now?”

  “Glenn Miller. He’s got a new one out called ‘That Old Black Magic.’ It’s dreamy.”

  “I don’t think I’ve heard that one yet.”

  “You will as soon as I can get my hands on it.” Claudia waved in dismissal as she looped her arm through Jessie’s and propelled them forward. “See you later,” she called.

  “Yeah. See ya.”

  When they were out of earshot, Claudia said, “Geez. We could’ve been stuck there for hours. You know how Annabelle likes to talk.”

  Jessie rolled her eyes. Annabelle, whose penchant for long-windedness and vapid conversation was well-known at Sweetwater, had trapped her on many occasions. “Let’s get a move on before anyone else spots us.” Jessie began walking faster. It had been a whole ten days since she and Claudia were able to steal away and make love. If she had to wait any longer, Jessie was sure she would combust.

  They managed to get off the base and into town without further incident. “Mrs. Dunphy? Are you here?” Claudia called, as she knocked on the door of the little, unassuming house just off the main strip. She peered through the curtain on the front door.

  “Who is this lady, again, and how do we have use of her home?”

  “I met her when I was getting my hair done last week. We got to talking, she mentioned that she was going to be away this week visiting her sister in Abilene, and I offered to bring in her mail and water her flowers. She’s a widow—lives here all by herself. I was just being helpful.” Claudia winked.

  “If she arranged for you to take care of her house, why are you knocking and asking if she’s here?”

  “It’s polite to ask before barging in, silly.”

  “Oh.” Jessie was quiet before asking a question that had been plaguing her all the way over here. “She doesn’t mind us using the guest bedroom?”

  “I explained to her that the beds we sleep in aren’t beds at all, but pieces of cardboard masquerading as cots. She felt sorry for me and said I could sleep at her house any time, and bring friends with me.”

  “Convenient.” Claudia opened the front door and Jessie followed her inside. “I don’t suppose you explained to her that we have a curfew and a bed check and that we have to be back on base on time or we face disciplinary measures.”

  “Must’ve slipped my mind.”

  The house was spotless and filled with family photos. Jessie picked up a framed photograph from the top of the piano in the living room. A handsome young man in an Army Air Forces uniform stared back at her. He portrayed an air of cockiness.

  Claudia looked over Jessie’s shoulder. “That must be her son. She said he’s overseas flying missions.”

  “Good-looking guy.”

  “If you like that sort of thing.” Claudia’s voice held that seductive quality that made Jessie wild.

  She pulled Claudia to her and kissed her deeply. “I want you so much. I’ve missed you.”

  They stumbled down a hallway, stopping to kiss and touch more along the way. “I think the bedroom is this way,” Claudia breathed against Jessie’s lips. Together they moved through a doorway.

  Jessie backed Claudia over to a bed with a homemade quilt. Without breaking the kiss, she leaned over and pulled back the covers. Deftly, she unbuttoned Claudia’s blouse and slacks, lowered the zipper, and slipped her hand inside the waistband. Her now-experienced fingers found the spots she knew would make her lover beg for more.

  “Too many clothes.” Claudia struggled to free herself from the sleeves of her blouse. Jessie paused to help. She unbuttoned the cuff of one sleeve, brushed the material off Claudia’s shoulder, kissed the exposed skin, released her breasts from the constraints of her bra, and bent to taste the sweetness underneath.

  For the next two hours, they touched, tasted, marveled, and exulted in each other. Jessie memorized the scents, the flavors, the murmured words, the meaningful sighs, the textures, a plea here, an exclamation there, a fervent prayer answered. For her, each time they were together this way was more special than the last.

  “You have to give me time to recover, sugar.”

  “I’ll give you exactly two minutes.” Jessie kissed Claudia’s collarbone, then the side of her neck as she swept aside her tousled hair. She laughed when Claudia groaned.

  “I do believe I’ve trained you too well.”

  “Are you saying I’m too much for you?”

  Claudia sighed contentedly and rolled over on top of Jessie. “Oh, no, darling. You’re just enough.”

  “How long do we have?”

  Claudia lifted her head to glance at a bedside clock. “Mmm. Not enough time, lover. We’ve got to be back in forty-five minutes. We’ve got to put this place back in order, and I’ve still got to bring in the mail and water the flowers.”

  A thought occurred to Jessie. “How are you going to explain to Annabelle that you didn’t get the record?”

  Claudia smiled. “But I did get it.”

  “Claude, I know my powers of observation aren’t always the best, but I’m sure you haven’t snuck out to a record store since we got here.”

  “Didn’t have to. I bought the record last weekend. I’ve been keeping it in my footlocker.”

  “Oh, you sneak.”

  “A girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do.”

  “Yes, she does,” Jessie agreed, her voice muffled as she buried her face between Claudia’s breasts.

  “Another day in paradise,” Rebecca remarked, passing first Jessie’s bed, and then Claudia’s on her way to the bathroom. “I swear, if we get one more dust storm, I’m going to start looking for camels.”

  “Maybe we can all get out to the lake this weekend,” Shirley said, as she sat on the edge of her bed, spit-polishing her shoes.

>   Claudia, who was busy pinning up her hair, grunted noncommittally. “What’s on your schedule this morning, Jess?” Claudia asked.

  “After calisthenics and drill, I’ve got time in the Link trainer.”

  Claudia scrunched up her nose. “Eww. It’s 100 degrees and you’re going to be cooped up in a simulator for two hours? Why? You’re already the best pilot here.”

  “It’ll only be one hour fifteen minutes, and I’m working on my bad weather instrument flying.”

  “If I didn’t know any better,” Janie threw in from across the room, “I’d swear our girl Jessie has a crush on her Link instructor.”

  “Well, he is a good-looking man,” Annabelle said. “Anybody would have to be blind not to notice. So, if that’s the case, I say good luck to you, Jess.”

  “Cut it out,” Jessie said, her face turning bright red. She chanced a glance at Claudia to make sure she didn’t think any of it was true.

  “Relationships on base are prohibited, ladies. And we all know our Jessie would never go against regulations.” Claudia winked at Jessie.

  Rebecca, who was just exiting the bathroom, said, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was Claudia Jessie was having a relationship with. The two of you spend every free minute together. I don’t know if there’s enough space between you for a man.”

  Jessie’s hands began to shake.

  “If we were having an affair, at least we wouldn’t have to worry about getting pregnant!”

  “Claudia Sherwood, how completely, deliciously scandalous,” Annabelle said, laughing heartily.

  Jessie felt her face flame an even brighter shade of red, and she grabbed a towel and rushed into the bathroom to prevent anyone from seeing. Through the closed door, she heard Janie say, “Don’t ever change, Claudia. You are the bee’s knees, I swear. You always have the most up-to-the-minute music and magazines, and the most wicked sense of humor. I never know what will come out of your mouth next.”

  “Me either,” Jessie mumbled, as she turned on the water to wash her face.

  “Go to the canteen with me and split a lemonade?” Claudia asked, coming up alongside Jessie as she walked across the grounds.

  “I don’t have time right now, Claude. I’m going up in the AT-6 in a couple of hours.” Jessie noted Claudia’s pout and steeled herself. When Claudia pouted, Jessie almost always gave in. “Besides, you heard what Rebecca said this morning. Maybe we should lay low for a while.”

  “Rebecca doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Besides, I took care of that.”

  “By nearly admitting that it was true? My God, Claude, what were you thinking?”

  “The best way to deal with speculation is head-on. If we really were seeing each other, nobody would expect that I’d come right out and admit it. What I said throws off suspicion.”

  “I’m not sure I agree with your logic. Not only that, but you know I’m no good in those situations. I just about incinerated on the spot.”

  Claudia laughed. “I know, sugar. Boy, was I glad the bathroom was free. You’d have given away everything.”

  “It’s not funny, Claude. I really could’ve blown our cover, and then what?”

  “Relax. No one’s got any proof. Let them gossip.”

  Jessie stopped walking and faced Claudia. “You don’t really mean that. What if we got called in by Cochran?”

  “We won’t.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  Claudia sighed heavily. “Why must we always have this conversation?”

  “Because we constantly seem to be living on the edge.”

  “What do you want me to say, Jess? We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. But I don’t believe it’s as big an issue as you do.”

  “You don’t think it’ll be a big deal if we get caught?”

  “I don’t intend for us to get caught.”

  “Nobody intends to get caught. It just happens.”

  “Well, it’s not going to happen to us.” Claudia brushed past Jessie and stalked off.

  “Great. Just great.” Jessie kicked at the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust. It would be a relief to get up in the air, where everything was so much simpler.

  “Jerk. I swear he’s going to get someone killed.” Janie ripped off her goggles and hat on her way into the flight prep area.

  “What’s going on?” Jessie asked, as she geared up for her second flight of the day.

  “Achison.”

  “Mmm. Say no more,” Jessie sympathized. Of course, she knew Janie wouldn’t let it lie there. Gerald Achison was the most reviled instructor at Sweetwater. Almost every girl in the program had a Gerald Achison story. Every morning when the girls checked the flight schedule for the day, they all prayed together that Achison’s name would be missing from the instructor list. So far, no such luck. There were other instructors who merited a deep dislike, but none who inspired fear the way Achison did.

  “First, he rushes me through the pre-flight check. Can’t be bothered with the checklist. Forget the fact that I wouldn’t put those tires on a tricycle. Then, we’re at max altitude, and he wants to take it up another two thousand feet. Has the nerve to accuse me of being a chicken. He says, ‘You’re just afraid because you’re a girl. The boys wouldn’t hesitate—they’d take her right up.’”

  “You didn’t fall for that line of garbage, did you?”

  Janie straightened up. “I couldn’t very well let him brag that we girls aren’t as brave as those silly boys, could I?”

  “You did it?”

  “You bet. That damn bird was shaking like she was going to come apart at the seams. I was frightened out of my mind.”

  “You shouldn’t have done that. You’re lucky to be alive.”

  “No kidding. Jerk.” Janie threw her gear in her locker. “You’re not going up with him, are you?”

  “Not this time,” Jessie said, as she checked the fastenings on her parachute. As she walked out to the tarmac, she couldn’t help but think about the fact that Claudia was scheduled to go up with Achison that night for her checkout flight on the AT-6.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “Promise me you’ll be careful up there.” Jessie pulled Claudia to her. They were in the bay, locked in the bathroom. Everyone else was still socializing over dinner.

  “I’m always careful, sugar. What’s eating at you about this trip?”

  Jessie debated how much she should say. She wanted Claudia to be prepared for anything, but she didn’t want to spook her to the point where she would be thinking instead of flying instinctually.

  “Well?”

  Jessie looked into the eyes she loved more than flying. In the months they’d spent together, she’d come to crave Claudia with an intensity she’d never thought possible. “It’s Achison.”

  “I know that. It isn’t like I haven’t flown with that moron before. I can handle it.” Claudia leaned into Jessie’s body. “Right now, all I want to handle is you.” She kissed Jessie, slowly at first, then with wild abandon.

  Jessie nearly forgot what she was worried about. Nearly. She pulled back when she felt Claudia’s hands undo her belt buckle and pull the blouse free of her slacks. “Claude.” Warm fingers played at her naval. “Claude,” she pleaded. “I’m serious.”

  “So am I, lover.”

  “Damn it, hold on a minute.” Jessie tried to reverse the flow of blood in her body. At the moment, all of it seemed to be below her waist.

  “Tell me you don’t want me.”

  Jessie knew she couldn’t say that.

  “Tell me this doesn’t feel good.”

  She couldn’t say that, either.

  “That’s what I thought.” Claudia resumed her exploration, finding a particularly sensitive spot.

  Jessie groaned and took Claudia’s mouth with a savage need she hadn’t known was within her. Before she could resist, Claudia was inside her, urging her forward, rocking against her to increase her pleasure. Jessie lost track of where they were and what
they’d been discussing. The only point of orientation was the delicious pressure building within. Even if she’d wanted to, she couldn’t have stopped the explosion that consumed her.

  She leaned heavily against Claudia, gasping for breath.

  “That’s more like it.” Claudia continued to stroke her.

  “Claude. You have to stop.” It took all Jessie’s restraint not to succumb again. She stilled Claudia’s hand with a vice grip. “Please. The girls will be back any minute.”

  “You know I hate when you get all practical on me, don’t you?”

  “One of us has to be.” Jessie said, panting between the words as she tried to recover.

  Claudia withdrew her hand, pouting all the while.

  Jessie tucked her blouse back in, buttoned up her slacks, and adjusted her belt. “Will you promise me you’ll be extra careful up there tonight?”

  Claudia was looking in the mirror, fussing with her hair where Jessie had run her fingers through it. “I promise, sugar.” She looked at Jessie in the mirror and winked. “You want to walk out first, or do you want me to?”

  “I’ll go.” Jessie knew that if she stayed any longer, she would be tempted to kiss Claudia again. Or make love to her. The girls really would be back any second, and it wouldn’t do to push their luck any more than they already had.

  Jessie looked at her watch for the third time in as many minutes. Reluctantly, she had let the girls drag her to the canteen for some refreshments. She figured it would be a good way to distract herself from thinking about…

  “Got a date?” Shirley asked.

  “What?”

  Shirley picked up Jessie’s wrist and dropped it. Her eyebrows were raised in question.

  “Oh. No.”

  “You seem on edge tonight, Jess.”

  “Even more than ususal,” Rebecca chimed in.

  Jessie frowned. In this case, the truth would work just fine. “Claudia’s on her checkout ride.”

  “So? She’s a great pilot. Should be a piece of cake for a girl with her skills,” Annabelle said. “Gin, by the way.”