Thunder In Her Body

by C. B. Stanton

  Lynette slipped up onto the kitchen bar stool and watched Blaze as he searched around in the upper cabinet for some soup. His towel was tucked expertly around his firm waist. She noticed that he was perfectly proportioned for a man of his size. He wasn’t overly heavy, yet neither was he of slight build. He was just right! He poured a large can of soup into a small sauce pan, added some water and turned the electric burner on low.

  “Want crackers with your soup?” he asked with a smile.

  “Sure,” she said, just so content to be in the same room with him.

  She would have drunk the soup from his open palms if he’d asked at this point! Girl, what the hell’s wrong with you, the question circled in her mind. Never, in all of her experiences had she been so captivated by a man. Blaze walked around the kitchen island and positioned his hips between her knees. Lynette adjusted her thighs outward to accommodate the width of his pelvis.

  “You know, this is just about the right height,” he said naughtily. He spread open the bulky blue bathrobe from the belted waist exposing her thighs and began to rub the insides of them. Reaching under his towel, he pulled himself forward so that his mild tumescence lay on one of them. He moved back and forth letting his skin rub on hers. Then he put his arms around her shoulders and hugged her.

  “You know, we’re gonna have to do something about this barrier between us, don’t you,” he said as a statement not a question. “A committed couple doesn’t need anything between them – you know what I mean?” he asked pointedly. She knew what he meant. In the decade of the 2000s, wise people don’t just jump into bed without practicing safer sex. Having to use a condom, though practical for most people, shouldn’t be necessary for a committed couple unless there is a medical issue.

  A committed couple? A committed couple!! He used the word committed!

  Were they already there? Had they, in the better part of two days, skipped past the hellos, the what ifs, the maybes, the let’s think about its? Did he already know what he wanted from her? Did they already want to be committed to a monogamous relationship? None of that had crossed Lynette’s mind. She’d been so caught up in the sexual urgency between them, that she hadn’t thought about the tomorrows, but evidently he had. Somehow he had moved them from a state of transitional introduction to commitment! Did she even know enough about him to want to be his committed lover? She asked herself, as if someone was interrogating her, if she was ready to complicate her life with the needs of a man? Her life would change if she walked into this relationship. She didn’t want it to change. Her life was comfortable, manageable, controlled – safe. She liked it that way. She’d fought to get it that way. Relationships took work, hard work. Did she want to do the necessary work again? And besides, there was mileage and distance between this place and where she lived. Long distance affairs were a pain, tiresome; fraught with misunderstandings, demands and confusion. “Been there, done that, didn’t like it,” she said to herself. What he was asking of her didn’t make sense, at least not at this juncture.

  There was a void in her thoughts, when she didn’t think anything, she just let herself feel. It was something she’d learned to do through meditation. Just feel. Be in the moment. Be present. How did she feel in the innermost recesses of her being? Her mind was quiet – listening to her spirit. In the Hebrew language she’d been told that the word spirit meant breath, so she was quiet, listening, breathing. This felt good; uncannily, it felt right. Blaze moved forward confidently, apparently certain that he wanted to invest in a serious relationship with her. From somewhere deep inside her reasoning-self, she knew that what he apparently wanted from her, she could give him, and it made the decision easier for her. Yes, she thought she could step into a committed relationship with this new and wonderful man. She would take that chance. She knew that anything she decided on this day she could un-decide later if it didn’t meet her needs. He was, so far, everything she once prayed her lifetime partner would be, and he was the most powerful lover she’d ever had. There was no one else in her life. And, this would be in keeping with her standards – only one man at a time. Yes, she would consent to be his committed lover. Believing now in her instincts; trusting herself to willingly take this journey with him to wherever it led, she could relax and say yes.

  “You’re right. I know exactly what you mean,” she finally said.

  “I can tell you that I haven’t been with another man in five years, but that doesn’t mean that I’m for sure safe,” she admitted. “Troublesome diseases have a way of masking themselves and appearing years later.”

  “Five years,” he repeated, looking down into her face with a frown and a question on his brow. “Why?”

  “It gets complicated, Blaze. Lack of opportunity, disillusionment over the last relationship, job demands, there’re a lot of reasons,” she said a bit sadly, rubbing his warm, golden chest. “You need to know that I just recently lost a lot of weight. That’s why I was scrutinizing myself in the bathroom mirror. I wasn’t sure if you’d like what you were going to see and touch. I’m not some skinny, hard-body. I’m a woman who filled the holes in her heart with food for many years, and now, at this age, in some ways I have to pay the price.”

  His words came out slowly, measured. “I like everything I see. I like everything I feel. I like the way you touch me. I like the way you sound, the way you taste. I absolutely adore that unfettered side of you – the wildness that you keep just below the surface. I love the way you surrender yourself to me when we make love. That wasn’t just sex last night, Lynette, we made love. I like everything about you Lynette Trudeaux,” he said without equivocation. “I hope you can learn to feel the same way about me; I want you to feel the same way about me. I’m a good man Lynette, and I think I’m worthy of someone as special as you,” he said with both pride and humility. “We’ve found something here, something extraordinary. If I live a thousand years, I won’t be able to explain it. But it’s happened. You’ve taken over my mind. You’re all I can think about and you’re everything I want and need. Do you have any idea what you already mean to me?” he asked very sincerely, clutching her tightly against his chest. He moved his hips back and forth between her thighs careful not to go too far. He kissed her tenderly on the forehead. He kissed her on her neck. He laid his head on her shoulder, and kissed her there too. She wanted to answer him, but she couldn’t find the words. This was all so fast. She was totally enamored by him, drawn to him in a way that would take a long time to understand – she was open to his every need, of that she was sure. Totally in touch with her practical self, she admitted that she wanted to be with him. There was an issue of trust; her issue from years of broken promises and pain. Somehow, intuitively, she knew she could allow herself to trust him with her heart. He seemed to make everything beautiful and right. Now that she thought seriously about it – if life didn’t throw them a dirty curve, she wanted to feel this way, to be with him, maybe, just maybe, for the rest of her life. In less than two days her world was changing, and this could mean forever! He began to speak again which jarred her out of her deep contemplation.

  “I can go to the Indian Agency clinic in the morning, or sometime during the day and get tested. I wanna do this for you. No, that’s not completely true. I want to do it for us. It’ll still take about a week to get the results back, he said wrinkling his nose.” He paused for a second and laughed down in his throat. “Do you think a case of condoms will hold us until the results come back?” he continued to laugh, in a lewd but appealing way.

  “Oooww, bad man, bad man that you are,” she teased as she gently bit his shoulder.

  “There’s a health department clinic down on Main Road for you, if you want to, unless you’d rather go to a private doctor,” he said hesitantly, looking down at her for a reaction. “I know a good family practice physician in the village,” he added.

  “Sure, I will,” she replied. “The clinic results may come back faster. I have good health insurance, and if necessary I’ll just do
a private pay. That’s no problem,” she replied. “I want you to be sure. No doubts about anything,” she uttered, astounded by the rapid development of their relationship. It amazed her how easy it was to talk about this very important subject. There was no embarrassment, no coy beating around the bush. They were grown, modern, intelligent, educated people. And they both wanted to take advantage of their new gifts - in every way.

  “Ordinarily, I would have no right to ask, but since we’re moving like an avalanche down a mountainside into this new phase, are you in any kind of even quasi-relationship right now? I mean, do you have any unfinished business with another woman?” Lynette asked, looking him squarely in his face. “We’re talking monogamy. That has real meaning for me. I’m free to make that promise to you but are you…?” she asked seriously.

  He laughed, “Noooo, Baby. Haven’t been in a relationship for probably over a year now. Because you have the right to know, I’ve only been to bed with a couple of women in that time and the last time was almost six months ago,” he said honestly, “and believe me, I was careful.”

  “I didn’t…I mean I don’t…” she stammered.

  “Yes you do need to know, Lynn,” because I’ve got a strong feeling that from this day forward we’re going to see many sunsets together, or as we Injuns say, many moons,” he laughed, and brushed her soft, frizzy hair back from her face. He placed his lips on hers and spoke into her mouth as he kissed her and talked at the same time.

  “I’m serious Lynn. I’m serious about you. I want you now. I want you forever. Take this journey with me. I’ll walk beside you step by step. I’ll be there for you in every possible way, and I’ll never disappoint you,” he said softly as he kissed her tenderly.

  “I’ll never disappoint you,” he repeated as if it were a solemn vow.

  He continued to just hug her. It was so good to be held that way. She’d had to be the rock on which so many leaned for as long as she could remember – she nurtured everyone else. No one nurtured her. “I know all this has come at us pretty damned fast from where we were just two nights ago. But we’re not love-struck teenagers, Lynn. We both have some mileage on us and experience teaches us to listen to our deepest instincts. My instincts are screaming at me Lynette. Take her; make her your own. She’ll make you happy. I know what I want in my life, and I suspect you do too. Are we what we both want, that’s the question?” he asked. He paused, hugging her up even closer to himself. His voice was soft and filled with emotion, “I can say yes, can you?”

  The sound of the soup boiling over startled them both and they moved quickly toward the hissing mess. Blaze turned the burner off as Lynette lifted the pot from the heat.

  “I don’t care much for electric stoves. I burn so much food on them. Gas is easier to control,” she said.

  “Note to self,” he said, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  They slept together in his big, comfortable bed all night. Well, they didn’t sleep all night. And in the morning the sun wasn’t the only thing that was up! After Blaze reached for the foil packet in the night stand drawer, Lynette crawled over on top of him.

  “Just lay your arms up over your head and relax,” she whispered to him. “I’ll do all the rest.” He was possessed of incredible passion and stamina, and she had five years of abstinence to make up for.

  CHAPTER 7

  ¤

  Silver City

  Clare and Aaron got very little sleep themselves that Sunday night. Lynette had been right about their attraction to each other. Since both were adults, single, unattached, healthy human beings, they took advantage of the privacy of the condo and got to know more about each other. Aaron was an able lover, and Clare, shy on the surface, held nothing back when she was in the throws of passion. Tired, rest-broken and a bit stiff, Aaron awakened to the smell of coffee brewing – the leaded version. He came down stairs and watched Clare bustling around in the small kitchen trying to get a little breakfast prepared before they had to leave for Silver City.

  Aaron reached around her tiny waist and squeezed her tightly.

  “Good mornin’ sweetie,” he said, a bit groggy. “Make plenty of that java, ‘cuz I’ve got to be awake and on my toes today. Big case. Lot’s of money at stake. Why’d you keep me awake so late?” he teased.

  “Me!” Clare said in feigned annoyance.

  “Well, if you weren’t so damned sexy and pretty, I could’a slept down here, like we were just friends,” he said.

  “And you have some swamp land in New Mexico to sell me,” she teased, as she kissed him passionately.

  By 8 a.m., Aaron was backing the big white Cadillac out of the condo garage and heading south on the interstate. They would have to go through Socorro, Tularosa, Alamogordo and drop south from there as there weren’t any passes that went over the San Andres Mountains. On the other side of the San Andres Mountains was the Rio Grand rift, a north-south geological slash through New Mexico. And with that rift came another set of hills and mountains, so there was no other way but to go through Las Cruces. From there they would pick up Interstate 10 to Deming, then north on 180 to just outside Silver City. The 2 ½ hour drive that Aaron mentioned was really more like 3 ½ to 4 hours each way, so there was a good chance they wouldn’t be back by dinner time.

  Aaron was a good, careful driver and Clare was comfortable with him. She offered to drive part of the way, as she, too, was skilled behind the wheel, but he wanted to make the trip easy for her. He liked her, and they had worlds of things to talk about. He loved animals, and she had once been a director of an animal shelter. They, of course, had the law in common, and compared New Mexico state law to Texas’. Both were avid readers and Aaron loved to travel. Because of his diabetes, his doctor said he needed to walk every day, and Clare was a dedicated hiker. Aaron had two children from his marriage, but because of their busy lifestyles, he rarely saw them. They came for Christmas a couple of years when the grandchildren were small, but with teenagers, planning a visit had become a bit troublesome. So they talked on the phone often, the sons called for legal advice occasionally, but for the most part, Aaron’s life was with Blaze, the hands on the ranch, and a few well-chosen friends who golfed at the Country Club. During the summer, he often attended the quarter horse races around the state. In years past, he had traveled in Europe and hoped someday to go back there, maybe with someone special. Clare and her sisters had been to Paris, France a year earlier, so they talked a lot about The City of Love.

  “I don’t mean to be rude, Clare, and I know Lynette is your best friend, but what is she? I mean what’s her pedigree?” he asked hesitantly.

  “She’s a mongrel,” Clare quipped laughingly. “She calls herself a true example of America. A Hines 57 mix, literally a mongrel,” she replied, chuckling.

  “What do you mean?” Aaron asked.

  “Well, as you might have guessed, she’s mixed-race. She’s part Jewish, part Scot, part Black, part German, a little bit of French and it appears there might be a significant part that is Native-American. On documents she checks the Other box. But, if there are only three choices, White, Hispanic or African-American, she checks the African-American box.”

  “She’s not black!” Aaron said with some shock in his tone.

  “That’s the designation she chooses and that’s the culture from which she originally came, though she has never lived in an all black community. She’s very proud of her African-American ancestry. She honors the lives of all of her parts, so to speak, and she honors the gift of life from wherever it came,” Clare added.

  “She’s a beauty, whatever she calls herself, and I think Blaze has his hands full. I’ve known him almost my entire life, and I’ve never seen him pacing through the house like he was Saturday night. It was like she’d already gotten under his skin and it was an itch he didn’t know how to scratch,” Aaron shared. “I got up the first time and saw the light on in his office. He never works at night. Then Suzie Q got restless. She kept coming in and out of my bedroom, so I
went into the kitchen, and he was just standing there, leaning against the pantry door, with his arms folded over his chest. He didn’t even notice me until I said something. He gave me the strangest look, and apologized if he woke me up. If I didn’t know what was probably on his mind, I’d be worried. She’s done something to him, Clare,” Aaron said with some concern in his voice.

  “I think that observation goes for both of them. Lynette is pretty easy to read, once you get to know her. To some people she can come off pretty guarded. She’s selective about who she lets into her world. She’s had her share of knocks and she jokes about having her other master’s degree from the graduate school of hard knocks! But Blaze couldn’t find a more caring, kind or loving person than her. She’s tops in my book, and this is my personal observation – she thinks Blaze is somebody really special,” Clare added.