by Nathan Wolf
She had a bemused smile on her lips as she settled into my place on the bed. "What do you want me to do?" she asked.
"I want you to be happy," I said, as I leaned over her and lightly licked her lips. Lisa's eyes widened in surprise, and she resisted my kiss for an instant.
I gazed into her eyes as I stroked her cheek with my fingers. I slowly leaned forward again, nuzzled her cheeks, and kissed her closed eyelids. I traced the outline of her lips with my fingers and followed with a series of butterfly kisses.
I caressed her face, and chin, and nibbled the nape of her neck. I kissed her on her lips again as my hands moved across her shoulders. Her lips opened this time, and her tongue touched mine for a moment before it withdrew.
I looked into Lisa's eyes and whispered, "Do you want me to make love to you?"
"I'm not sure that I'm as ready as I thought," Lisa said with a sigh.
"It means you are not ready if you're not sure. Reluctant lovemaking is the second cousin to rape. You're an extraordinary woman, and I find you to be incredibility attractive and sexy. I'll make love to you when you ask me, but not until then. I don't attend parties unless I'm invited," I told Lisa as I took her into my arms and held her close to me.
Lisa shifted her body and rested her head on my chest. I thought I heard her whisper 'Thank you' as her breathing slowed. She was soon gently snoring in my embrace. I pulled the blankets over us and tried not to think about the pain in my balls.
Lisa's playful and seductive touch had brought me to the edge. I could have taken her at her word when she said that she wanted to make love to me to 'get to know me.' There was no doubt in my mind that she would have allowed me to 'have my way with her.' She was the one who suggested using sex as her way of getting to know her people, after all.
Lisa had boxed herself into a corner by making an offer she hadn't been 100% comfortable honoring. I gave her the opportunity to withdraw without losing face when I asked her permission to proceed.
My grandfather used to tell me, 'Sometimes we can only get what we want by not taking everything we can get.' He also used to remind me that 'No good deed goes unpunished.'
Lisa snorted in her sleep as she rolled over on her side and we nestled like two spoons in the kitchen drawer. She was quietly snoring again within a few minutes. I wrapped my arm around her bare body and held her close as I kissed her neck and soon joined her in slumber.
Chapter 11 – (Return to index)
My bladder is the perfect alarm clock. The urgent need to go dragged me out of hibernation as the night sky brightened in advance of dawn. I awoke to the gentle sound of Lisa's breathing. Naked, beautiful, and warm, she lay next to me in the relaxed innocence of sleep. Lisa sensed a change in my position, shifted her body, and pressed her bare bottom into my groin as we snuggled together under the covers. My hand remained cupped to her breast. Lisa placed her hand over mine and pulled it tight to her body as she slept.
Our bodies cuddled together in blissful warmth. I wanted to stay under the sheets forever, but I needed to take a piss. With a bad case of 'morning wood,' my erection found a home between the cheeks of Lisa's ass. As pleasant as it felt, I wouldn't be able to stop my body from unleashing a flood if I didn't get out bed soon. Wetting the bed wasn't an option.
I untangled myself from Lisa and silently slipped out of bed into the chill of the morning air. I adjusted the blankets to cover Lisa's exposed shoulder and made tracks for the bathroom. I decided to make a quick getaway instead of using the facilities in her room to avoid the awkward moments after a night in which nothing happened. I almost made it to the door when Lisa's sleepy voice called my name.
"Where are you going, Dennis?" she asked.
"Gotta go pee," I mumbled.
"Excellent idea; hang on, and I'll join you," Lisa said, as she threw the quilt back and climbed out of bed
"We might as well take a shower since we're already up," Lisa suggested while grabbing towels and soap from the closet.
Three members of the kitchen crew hard at work preparing breakfast are the only other people up and about in the hour before sunrise. We had the showers to ourselves.
We dried each other off after our morning scrub, and Lisa suggested, "Let's head down to the kitchen and grab a cup of coffee."
The custom of indoor nudity might make more sense if we were born kangaroos with natural pockets. I stopped by my room to make up for our genetic deficiency, put an unbuttoned flannel shirt on, stuck a pack of smokes and a lighter in the breast pocket, and joined Lisa in the kitchen.
Coffee is the nectar of the Gods and Colombia's only legal drug export. It's also a natural lubricant, allowing us to slide from dreams to wakefulness with a minimum amount of friction.
Coffee in hand, Lisa led me to a cozy nook next to the fireplace in the Great Room, and we sat together next to the fire.
"I want to talk to you about last night," Lisa said, as she sipped her coffee.
"OK, what's on your mind?" I responded.
"Tell me something, I know I turned you on. Why didn't you want sex with me?" Lisa asked.
Her question was both delicate and dangerous. The wrong answer could do damage to our relationship, but I had no idea of what she thought the correct answer should be. I followed my grandfather's advice: 'tell the truth if all else fails.'
I set my coffee down on the fireplace hearth, took Lisa's hands in mine, and looked into her eyes as I spoke, "Your body said one thing, but your words were saying something different last night. I listened to the truth that your body spoke. You weren't ready to get that intimate with me. "
"True, but I would've gone along if you had persisted," she acknowledged, as she gave my hands a soft squeeze.
"I figured that you would allow intercourse if I pushed it. You would be resentful, nevertheless, and that makes for a lousy start to our relationship. I would have selfishly screwed you to the floor if I only thought about my own gratification," I said with a grin.
"I'll take your friendship if I have to choose between being your friend and being your lover and can't have both," I further explained.
My father used to tell me that the best way to learn the thoughts of another is to ask a direct question, shut up, and listen to the answer. "What about what happened, or didn't happen last night?" I asked.
"I was relieved at first when you asked for my permission, then I was pissed. I was confused after that. I was happy in the end. Maybe you didn't think me desirable enough, or maybe you didn't like me enough for us to fuck. I felt safe, loved, and cared for when you held me in your arms and stayed the night," Lisa said as she gave me a hug wrapped in a smile.
Silence filled the comfortable space between us as our conversation slowed to a stop. The colony's leader took a sip of coffee and studied me over the rim of her coffee mug for several moments before saying, "You're a strange man, Mr. Richards. Whatever am I going to do with you?"
Our zone of silence gradually evaporated as the sisters of the colony drifted into the kitchen for breakfast in ones and twos.
"Refill your coffee and grab a seat; we've got a group meeting in fifteen minutes," Lisa announced, as she excused herself to prepare for the gathering. I set off to the kitchen looking for fresh coffee. Ready or not, a new day was getting underway.
It's a fundamental law of the universe: staff meetings seldom begin on time, and the Liberty Mountain assembly was no exception. Significant numbers of sisters hadn't taken a seat at the conference table yet. Start time came and went as Lisa kept glancing at her wristwatch and scanning the faces of the attendees for missing members. I also glanced around the table for Darlene who was among the missing. My lady love took starting times and deadlines as suggestions rather than requirements. She had a long established reputation for always arriving at the far edge of 'fashionably late.'
Only the light tapping of Lisa's pencil on the tabletop betrayed her outwardly calm exterior. The taps steadily increased in tempo the longer we waited. It was as if the pen
cil doubled as a Geiger counter reporting that her frustration was approaching critical mass.
The giggles and laughter of several women echoed from the walls of the hall as if on cue. Darlene, Lucia and a woman whose name turned out to be Sandra emerged from the kitchen moments later. I saw the trio and nearly burst out laughing. They were as drunk as skunks, and could barely keep from falling over as they staggered toward the meeting table.
Darlene took a seat next to me with a stumble and moaned as she held her head in her hands. She seemed like she had just come from an orgy: her hair was a mess, nipples stood like stiff pencil erasers; her shoulders, cheeks, and chest glowed like a neon sign with the rosy blush of sexual arousal. The swollen outer lips of her labia glistened with vaginal lubrication.
"Too much party," she groaned, as she leaned her body against mine.
"Too much sex?" I asked.
"There's no such thing as too much sex," she said with a burp. Her hand flew to her mouth as her face took on a greenish tint.
"But there is such a thing as too much (burp) brandy," Darlene gasped, as she bent double and barfed up who knows what over my bare feet.
Standing in a puddle of someone else's used dinner is over the top gross. I nearly lost my breakfast before I got my gag reflex under control.
"Clean up on Aisle Five," I called out, as I helped Darlene to her feet.
Lisa's expression was halfway between annoyed and amused. "We'll start the meeting as soon as we've gotten these guys cleaned up and into bed," she said.
I took a seat next to Alice and her daughter twenty minutes later. The meeting of the sisterhood of Liberty Mountain was finally about ready to start.
The flannel shirt I was wearing gave me the comfortable illusion of being dressed even though it was unbuttoned, and it covered none of my vital parts. Alice leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Is it true that you spent the night in Lisa's bed?"
"We kept each other company last night," I answered.
"Very interesting; will you keep me company tonight if I ask nicely?" Alice asked with a sexy smile as she placed her hand on my thigh and gently caressed my bare leg.
"Mom!" her daughter protested as she watched her mother's attempt to seduce me.
"Shush, Little one. You'll get your turn after I check him out," Star's mother replied.
The touch of Alice's warm hand stroking my thigh in close proximity to my genitals was enough to get my libido's attention, and I could sense myself responding to Alice's invitation.
Part of me was amused at the turnabout in my love life since I arrived in the colony. I had always played the part of the seducer prior to my visit to the Society of Sisters. With the tables turned, I was now the target for seduction. The new state of affairs perfectly fit with my passive/aggressive approach to sex. I had always been the sexual aggressor early on, usually with mixed results when I was young. My advances ended in failure more often than I cared to admit.
"Your place or mine?" I said to Alice, as I moved her hand to the relative safety of my knee. I didn't want to sprout another public erection in front of so many naked women. Exhibitionism isn't my thing, as I said.
The gathering's primary agenda item was the question of work assignments. The concept was simple: Many hands make light work. Maintaining the colony required a lot of effort and every member of the community had at least one assigned chore or duty. The colony ran as smoothly as a Swiss watch when everyone pitched in.
I was the only person without anything to do after the sisters completed the division of chores. Lisa called on me when I raised my hand.
"Freeloading isn’t my thing; I need a chore. How can I contribute to our community?" I asked.
"You are my guest until your status here at Liberty Mountain is established. Feel free to help out wherever you can," Lisa said.
"Does anyone need a helping hand?" I said as I turned to face the gathering.
Silence answered my inquiry until Alice spoke, "Our sensors have picked up a deer herd about ten miles out. Lucia and I are on the schedule to go hunting this afternoon, but she isn't in any condition to do anything until she sleeps it off. You can tag along in her place."
"I've never been hunting before," I pointed out.
"Do you know how to shoot?" Alice asked.
"Sure. I took basic training and qualified as an expert marksman," I replied.
"Are you a member of PETA?" Lisa inquired.
"If you mean "People Eating Tasty Animals," then the answer is yes," I said amid chuckles and laughter from the sisters.
"Then it's about time you learn the manly art of hunting. Alice is extremely skilled, and she'll make sure you have all the appropriate gear. You two leave in an hour. Meeting adjourned, good luck," Lisa said.
Chapter 12 – (Return to index)
"These mountains are as dangerous as they are beautiful. They might appear to be lovely and majestic but don't let 'em fool you. The beauty hides the heart of a killer," Brenda explained as she dug through her inventory looking for a pair of gloves in my size.
"Got 'em!" She yelled as she held the object of her search aloft, a pair of insulated gloves joined the rest of my new wardrobe.
A slim and attractive woman in her mid-thirties, Brenda served as the colony's quartermaster. Medium sized, well-tanned breasts protruded from her chest, and a pageboy haircut framed her freckled face. The dented circular scar of a long healed bullet wound adorned her left breast, a few inches below her collarbone.
One wall of the armory displayed her honorable discharge from the US Army along with a citation awarding her the Army Commendation Medal for heroism, a Purple Heart for wounds received in combat, and an Iraq Campaign Medal. Ex-army and combat tested, she was the real deal.
The brand new garments still carried tags from LL Bean. I let out a long whistle when I did a tally in my head. The camouflage Gore-Tex hunting jacket and matching tactical cargo pants carried a hefty price north of $800. Gore-Tex is some amazing shit. The fabric is a lightweight, waterproof, and breathable membrane that repels liquid water while allowing moisture and vapor to pass through.
A pair of Gore-Tex lined winter hiking boots I had brought with me turned out to be the only article of my clothing which passed muster with Brenda. "The secret of staying alive in the wilderness is to stay warm and dry, and the proper clothing is your first defense," Brenda commented as she rummaged around for headgear.
"Is it true that we lose most body 'heat' through our head?" I questioned Brenda.
"We lose heat from any part of the body exposed to the air, but the head is a special case. For example, when hands are unprotected and exposed to severe cold, the human body tries to maintain a core temperature, and sometimes our bodies will shut down circulation to the hands to conserve heat," Brenda replied.
"The rapid loss of hand function is the net result. Eventually, they become useless popsicles. Our bodies will sacrifice our hands to save our lives. The head is different. Our bodies will never shut down blood flow to our heads, but it will sacrifice everything else to maintain our brains at a functioning temperature. Folks succumb to hypothermia and die from cold without ever realizing they are in danger," Brenda spoke as she produced an adjustable thermal fleece Balaclava Winter Face Mask.
"Is all this really necessary? We're only going hunting. We're not climbing Mount Everest." I grumbled.
"I use the ‘parachute principle’ when it comes to gear," Brenda said as she examined the facemask.
"Gear is like a parachute. It's better to carry one and not need it than it is to need one and not have it," Brenda joked.
After a few adjustments and additions, Brenda smiled with satisfaction. My wardrobe now met her minimum standards for survivability in extreme conditions.
"You can't go hunting without a weapon," the quartermaster laid a Kimber 84M Mountain Ascent rifle on the counter for my inspection.
The rifle weighed in at less than 5 pounds. Fitted with a four round magazine, it fired a .30-'06 bulle
t with a muzzle velocity of a bit over 3,000 feet per second. The rifle's $2,000 price tag was the heaviest part of the Kimber. Apparently, when you win the lottery money is no object.
Brenda positioned me in front of a full-length mirror and, like a tailor, stepped back to admire her handiwork. "Very nice. Now you look like a hunter. The deer will take one look at you and die of fright," she noted with pride.
"More likely Bambi will die laughing. I feel like an escapee from an L. L. Bean fashion catalog," I said with a silly grin.
"Either way, dead is dead, and Bambi is dinner," Alice smacked her lips in anticipation of venison stew.
Unloaded rifle in hand, I followed her to the underground garage. A somewhat dented 2009 Kawasaki mule retrofitted to run on hydrogen fuel would be our transportation. We spent the next fifteen minutes doing a pre-trip safety inspection.
I read out the items from our pre-trip cheat sheet, and Alice reported the status of each. Tires? Check. Fuel? Check. First aid kit? Check. Radio? Check. Emergency Rations? Check. And so it went until we had checked each of the vehicle's systems.
Satisfied our pre-trip checklist was complete, Alice took her place behind the wheel, I climbed next to her and rode shotgun, and we sped down the tunnel toward the exit.
Our Kawasaki mule abruptly decelerated the moment we hit daylight.
"Why so slow? I can walk faster than this," I said to Alice.
"This is our exit protocol. We reduce speed when crossing the meadow to minimize damage to the grassland," Alice kept our speed to a crawl.
It was all rather clever. The Colony's survival strategy was to do nothing to alter the visual footprint of the valley. The likelihood of someone accidentally entering Liberty Mountain's valley was modestly remote. However, it was a virtual certainty on any given day dozens of Google Earth's armchair explorers loaded images of the valley into their computers. Dirt trails left by vehicles exiting the mountain would attract unwanted attention.
Once we crossed the meadow and entered the forested area the air temperature dropped like a rock as our rate of travel increased to a more reasonable 20 MPH. The ground was littered with splotches of sunlight mixed with patches of frost left over from last night's deep freeze.