“I’m sure most of you have done a web search before you came to this class; so much of this will sound familiar to you. Tandem skydiving is a popular training method for novice skydivers. It allows for first-time jumpers to skydive with minimal expectations for them to be responsible for during the jump, but if you want, you can participate as much as possible during it too. Be clear with your instructor just how much participation you want to control.”
“Each of you will have to find your comfort zone and decide how much or how little you want to be active. Today’s training will consist of the basic activities performed by the skydiving student during their first tandem jump. We’ll be reviewing the following: how to get safely strapped into your harness and connected to your jump partner, how to exit the aircraft, how to do basic positioning maneuvers in freefall and landing, and how to deploy the main canopy. However, your tandem master remains responsible for safe and timely parachute deployment.”
“Now please follow along as Bree and I show you the proper body mechanics and techniques that will be required for you to perform during your jump. Bree darlin’, since it’s your birthday would you like to be the master or the student?” He gave Bree his best Southern charm smile as he watched the look of surprise on her face, pulling her forward, he laughed. “Just kiddin Bree,” he winked. “Ok darlin’, too much pressure on you. I’ll make it easy and just strap you up in this harness, tie you to me, and I’ll be master.” He licked his lips and continued to tease, “If that’s ok with you?” He laughed as she blushed a darker shade of red. “It’s ok, you have nothing to worry about Bree; it’s a role I’m used to darlin’.”
Bree had already decided to ‘be adventurous,’ so she took his teasing and flirting like a trooper once the blood flow returned to her head. “Oh good, I would hate to have had to show you up on my first jump, Master.” She returned his wink and then pulled her front safety straps tighter, pulling Matt closer to her backside.
Matt broke out into a loud laugh at her brash behavior. “We’re going to get along just fine, birthday girl, just fine,” he repeated as he smiled and shook his head back and forth.
Just over an hour later, they were done with the ground class and getting rigged up for the actual jump. Everyone was matched up with a jump instructor and all of the rigging and gear was double and triple checked. The girls would be the last four to make the jump.
Each took the jump screaming at the top of their lungs as they exited the plane. As Lead Master Instructor, Matt took the last jump spot. Just as he was lining up to jump he asked, “So, Bree, how much control do you want?”
“None. I want to put myself in your hands and enjoy the experience.” She closed her eyes, reached into her pocket, and rubbed the Fortune card that Angele had given her for luck.
“That’s what I love to hear. Open your eyes. You can’t fully enjoy something you can’t see.” Matt laughed as he corrected himself, “Well, in this case anyway; are you ready birthday girl?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she said. “Matt, can we free fall for as long as possible?”
“Feeling brave are you? Good for you. Yeah Bree, I’ll let us freefall and pull at the last possible moment. Don’t worry; it will be a ride you’ll not soon forget.” He grabbed her wrists and crossed his arms in front of her chest holding her arms beneath his. They moved to the door frame and counted to three before they both stepped out of the plane.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY BREE!” Matt yelled, as they started their freefall.
Bree listened for Matt’s instructions as they began the free fall. When he said ‘one,’ she leaned her body forward into the wind. ‘Two’ she spread her arms and legs outward. ‘Three,’ he called and she bent them slightly out and upward as she was taught in ground school. She kept her eyes open the entire jump and didn’t scream once on the way down. She just absorbed the energy and the majesty of the jump and the view. She felt totally free for the first time in a very long time.
Bree thought to herself as they continued to fall… This is my rebirth. This is the end of the old Bree and the beginning of the new. From here forward, I will make my choices based on what I want, what is right for me. I’ll no longer be what others want or expect of me; unless it’s what I want and expect. This is my birthday, my rebirthday!
The freefall seemed to last forever, but she knew it was only a very short time. It was however, one of the most freeing, most exhilarating times of her life. She heard Matt yell something to her and then she felt the grab of the harness as he pulled the rip cord. The chute opened and billowed into the sky behind them and then over their heads.
They slowly descended closer and closer to the landing site. As they neared the ground, Bree started to laugh and cry at the same time. When they landed, she and Matt were in a slow run as they touched down. After a few steps, she fell over and Matt went down with her. She just laid there and laughed.
“Are you ok Bree?” Matt started to disconnect their harnesses as he asked the question. He saw the tears running down from under her safety goggles and wanted to make sure she didn’t get hurt during the landing. He rolled over to face her, without moving her, so he could make sure she wasn’t injured.
“Never better Matt.- Thanks so much,” she said as she reached up and gave him a full open mouthed kiss, tongue and all.
Matt had wanted to kiss her from the moment he saw her little red bra under that white t-shirt. He also wanted to spank her ass when he saw it half exposed through the rip in her jeans. So, he took the opportunity to at least do one; he kissed her back. He pulled her to him, wrapped his arms around her and his tongue freefell into her mouth.
Bree loved the warmth she felt, the smoothness of his tongue as he explored her mouth. She felt the strength in his arms as he held her tightly to him. This is what a kiss from a man should feel like, she thought. This is what a woman should feel like when a man kisses her, really passionately kisses her. She should feel alive, warm, wanted, taken and fucking sexy.
Slowly Matt pulled back from the kiss. Looking directly into Bree’s eyes he repeated his jump call, but this time for her ears only. “Happy Birthday Bree.” He gave her a quick kiss and then stated, “By the way, I’ll be your jump master for tomorrow’s jump as well. Have dinner with me tonight.”
It wasn’t a question he was asking, he was making a statement. Bree took a deep breath and then smiled up at him as he reached out his arm and pulled her to a standing position.
“Good to know that you’re willing to jump with me again. I think I’ll be doing another tandem jump and yes, I will have dinner with you tonight.”
Once again, she reached for the Fortune card she had tucked away. She rubbed it for luck as she looked at Matt and thought of how handsome he was. She wondered if by choosing to say yes to him, her fortune would somehow change. Was this one of the forks in the road? she asked herself.
“There really wasn’t going to be any other option for you regarding the jump or dinner. You would have broken a bone on that landing if I hadn’t held you back. Besides, I wasn’t going to let you jump alone anyway and as for dinner, I would have tied you up if I had to.” His voice was light and somewhat teasing in nature, but the way he looked at her left no doubt in Bree’s mind that tying a woman up was not unfamiliar to him.
Bree smiled. “I’ve never been tied up before. Hmm.” She smirked as Matt’s brow rose in surprise.
“Well, maybe if you’re really good at dinner, I’ll give you a birthday present afterward.”
“Shouldn’t it be if I’m really bad at dinner? If you’re good, you don’t get tied up. It’s when you’re bad, you get tied up? Right?” She returned a questioning look toward him.
“No, not right. When you’re good, you get tied up and rewarded! When you’re bad, you get punished and spanked!” Matt’s icy blue eyes were full of promise and mischief as he waited to see her response to what he said. He wasn’t prepared for it at all.
“Hmm. I’ve never been spanked
either,” she said saucily and then smiled as Matt blinked his eyes, laughed, and shook his head at her. Even his laughter was sexy to her.
He reached his arm around her shoulder as they walked to the plane hangar. “Come on birthday girl, and bring that smart mouth with you. Let’s get you out of that gear and jump suit and decide where you’d like to have dinner.”
“Matt.” Bree had to look up at him since he was close to a foot taller than her.
“Yeah.” He peeked down at her.
“I’m giving you fair warning, my ‘smart mouth’ goes with me everywhere I go. It also gets me into trouble on occasion.”
“I don’t doubt either one of those things. Lucky for you, I kind of like a smart mouth. I also like the fact that it will probably get you in to trouble on occasion.” He pulled her closer to him as they both laughed.
When everyone was back at the hangar, Diana cornered Bree in the locker room. “So, what’s going on with you and Mr. Tall Dark and so Fucking Handsome?”
“You won’t believe it, but he asked me out for dinner,” Bree told her.
“That I can believe; what I can’t believe is if you said no.”
“Di, even I’m not that crazy! I said yes. God, have you seen the man,” she laughed. “He’s like Kevin Costner, Bradley Cooper, and Chris Evans all rolled up into one. The only difference is Matt has that thick wavy dark hair.”
“When are you planning to go to dinner with him?”
“Well, if you don’t have any other plans made, I was hoping to go now. Would you be mad if I didn’t go back with you guys and went with Matt? He wants to go to dinner from here and it doesn’t make sense to drive back with you and then have him pick me up.”
“No, I guess not, but are you sure about this? I mean, you haven’t even dealt with your feelings about the thing with Mark.” Diana gave her a friendly look of concern.
“Oh, I think I’ve dealt with the Mark thing. This morning I cried from the time I got up and saw the note, until just a few minutes before you guys came to pick me up. I realized some important things about Mark.”
“What’s that?” Diana asked.
“First, he wasn’t the man I thought he was. If he was, he would have never left me a note and just walked out without a goodbye. Second, he is way too selfish, self-centered, and egocentric to be in a relationship, his note proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt. Third, I have to agree with Angele. He is not who I wanted for the long term or deserved. I’m done with the tears. But, I also know it wasn’t his fault alone and that I played a part in what we had and what we didn’t have. We both accepted less than we should have from each other. It’s not something I will do again.”
“Well good for you. I hope you mean that and I hope you can act on it.”
“I will Di. I decided and made a promise to myself today when I jumped from that plane. I promised myself a new life, a rebirth, a life where I made decisions based on what I want and what is good for me. The old Bree is, well, not gone….just changed! I’m making changes and hopefully they will be for the better. My first change is accepting dinner with Matt.”
“Ok my friend. Keep your cell phone with you and call me if you need me for anything. Ok?”
“I will.”
“Promise me, Bree.”
“Di, it’s ok. I promise. If I even think something isn’t going right, I will call you. Cross my heart.” Bree made a crisscross maneuver over her chest. “But really, I just jumped out of a plane with the guy, how much more daring can it get?”
“Have you really looked at him? God, he’s a walking advertisement for an orgasm.”
They were all laughing as they left the locker room. Matt was waiting outside the hangar entrance. He looked very sexy standing next to a shiny black convertible Corvette Stingray, all tall, dark and handsome. The breeze was blowing through his hair and he had on aviator sun glasses and a killer smile.
“Fuck, you’re right. He is a fucking ad for an orgasm,” she whispered to Diana as they walked toward him. The other two laughed and walked to their car.
“Diana, it’s ok, you can go now. You don’t have to walk me over to him. I’m not five years old you know.” Bree was teasing with her friend; Diana was always very overprotective of her.
“You may not be five, but you’re still my best friend and before I leave you to go off with some strange man, I’m going to find out a thing or two about him. That I promise you.” She gave Bree the ‘I don’t care if you don’t like it’ look, Bree knew there was no stopping Diana once that look came out.
“Di please don’t completely embarrass me. I like this guy and he could be fun.”
Before Diana could respond, Matt was already greeting them. He’d read the look on Diana’s face before she even exited the hangar and by the shade of crimson on Bree’s face, he could only guess what was coming his way. He decided the best defense was a strong offense.
“Hello ladies. Diana, would you mind if Bree drove with me? I’d really like to take the birthday girl out for dinner and get to know her better. I know it probably sounds odd, but I’d feel better if you knew some things about me and where we were going for dinner. This way, Bree could feel more comfortable and I’m sure you would feel the same. Would you mind coming into the office with me for a few minutes?”
Diana looked at him then at Bree. Bree just smiled and then stuck out her tongue at Diana as they followed Matt to his office.
“Really Bree?” Diana shook her head. “I would appreciate that, Matt. Bree may not think it’s important, but I do. I’m sure you’re a great guy and completely trustworthy, but I don’t like letting my best friend go off with some guy we just met and have no clue about who he is. You can’t be too careful today.”
“You’re absolutely right, Diana. I appreciate you being so protective of Bree. You’re a good friend and a smart lady.” He winked at Bree as he talked to Diana.
“While I make you a copy of my driver’s license and give you my cell number, I’ll tell you some things about myself. First, I’m born and raised in North Carolina. I’m a graduate of UNC, Chapel Hill. I have an undergraduate degree in Psychology and a Graduate degree in Military Science. I spent eight years in the USMC and had multiple overseas tours. I am, or was, what’s known as a Task Force Ranger and that’s how I learned everything there is about parachuting, helicopters, and some aircraft. I co-own this jump and flight school with the two gentlemen you met earlier. They were also in the Marines with me and we are more brothers than friends. They’re the only family I have. Oh yeah, I’m thirty-two and I have a dog named Boo.”
“Really, a dog named Boo?” Bree laughed, “Like the song?”
“Yep. It was the song my parents used to dance to in the kitchen. They loved it and so do I. You’ll get a chance to meet Boo sooner or later. He practically lives here and the guys love him and care for him as much as I do. If he’s not with me, he’s with one of them. Boo reminds me of my parents dancing and that’s a great memory.”
Matt stopped talking long enough to finish making the copies of his information and writing his cell number on the paper. Then he handed three copies to Diana and a copy to Bree. “Are there any questions you would like to ask me?”
“Yes, there are,” Diana said, as she searched in her purse for something. She pulled out her cell phone and called the number on the paper Matt just gave her. His phone vibrated in his back pocket and he smiled at her as he answered it.
“Hello Diana. You are a very smart woman. I think I’m going to like you and we’ll be friends.”
“Hello Matt, I am and we will see. Now, where did you say you were taking Bree for dinner?” She kept the phone placed to her ear as if she wouldn’t hear the answer without it. When he answered her, she disconnected the call and put it back in her purse.
They walked out of his office together and bumped into Tommy, one of Matt’s co-owners and friends. Diana couldn’t pass up the opportunity to test Matt a little more. “So, Tommy you were in t
he Navy with Matt?” Matt broke out into a deep gut laugh.
“Well, no Ma’am. That’s not correct. We were in the Marines together. It’s a common mistake with lay people, but the United States Marine Corp is a service group of its own Ma’am. We Marines are a separate and rather distinct service branch,” Tommy stated with a level of pride that couldn’t possibly be measured, but was seen in his posture and heard in his words.
“I stand corrected. I apologize.” Diana smiled at him. “Tommy, do you mind telling me Matt’s home address?”
Tommy looked at Matt and Matt nodded his go ahead. Tommy answered Diana’s question.
“Satisfied?” Bree asked.
“As much as I can be on such short notice; I’ll Google the rest. Have fun at dinner. I’ll call you in two hours and Bree, you better answer the phone.” Diana walked over to where the others were waiting for her and waved back as they drove away.
“I’m sorry about that,” Bree apologized to Matt.
“Don’t be. You have a good friend there. I meant what I said before. She’s one smart cookie and I like that. I like the fact that she wants to make sure you’re safe. She’s a keeper Bree.”
“Yeah, I know. I love her. Like your friends, she’s the sister I never had. I can’t say too much in explanation, but Diana had a bad experience once. Since then, she’s been rather cautious in her own dating and fairly protective of me, especially when it comes to men.”
Matt nodded his understanding of her loyalty to Diana and her privacy. He and Bree drove into town and filled the time during their ride with stories of their history. They both talked of their families and growing up in North Carolina. They discussed music, books, and things they had in common. When Matt asked her about her relationship status, Bree took a minute to decide what to say.
Twist (A BDSM & Romantic Erotica Boxed Set) Page 52