Chapter 16
Troy's preliminary play with Angela was over when she pulled the blanket up. He had given little thought to the imminence of his arousal until her hand brushed against his trousers in rearranging the cover. The touch was agony to him in the tenseness of his erection.
"Why, darling, you're ready! Why didn't you tell me so? Here I've been letting you play with me in the cold thinking that you needed it. I'm tired of being set up on a pedestal, darling. I ache all over from need of you. Stop this foolishness, Troy, and take me now. I'm burning up with love for you."
It helped when she lent him her fingers to loosen his belt and zipper. Even then he would have delayed in taking her to prove how deeply he felt about her. He bent his head to kiss her body, and she halted him.
"Please, darling don't make me feel uncomfortable. It's not my fault that there wasn't enough water to bathe. I'm sorry that I can't come to you in an immaculate condition, but it can't be helped. Don't make me ashamed with too much intimacy."
She was right, of course. Both of them carried the musky odor of honest sweat, and he was a bit surprised that his sensitive nose tolerated her. There was something wrong in the television advertising that had brainwashed people into thinking that any odor at all that emanated from their bodies was distasteful. It was very stimulating to sniff the feminine aura of aroused womanhood that drifted from her.
It brought her down from the pedestal of goddess-hood into the realm of man, and he loved her the more for it. His arms crept around her, and he drew her close, to be overwhelmed by the exquisite tingle brought about by toe-to-shoulder contact with her bare skin. His palms soaked up the woman feel of the flat planes of her back, and she raised a lovely thigh over him.
There was no need to fumble over making an entrance. She knew instinctively what position was needed to accept him, and he bent his body toward her and she was there. It was as simple and natural as that.
Angela curled her spine and the hungry lips of her womanhood enveloped him. She gloried in the massive proportions of his body, which made it necessary for her inner organs to make adjustments before he could be fully imbedded. She had the idea that he was massaging her navel from the inside and she was ecstatically content.
His hand slid down her back to cup the smooth curve of her bottom. His fingers crept around its contour and pressed at the band of sensitive tissue that separated her anus from her vagina. She opened her mouth under his kiss and new lubrication flooded her as she experienced an orgasm. He felt the sphincter of her passage open and close on him while her thigh muscles writhed in an effort to hold him closer.
He waited until she had calmed down, and then he strained in a test of her depth and found her willing and able. They moved in perfect coordination, and Troy was almost sorry as he felt his spurting passion form and then release with a strength that amazed him. She had sensed the coming of his ejaculation, and she brought about another orgasm to coincide with his. It was a glorious ending to their first intercourse.
They were both overcome with the intensity of the culmination, and they made no move to disturb their togetherness. They napped between kisses, and morning light found them still lingering in each other's arms. With great reluctance they broke apart and prepared for the day's work.
Breakfast preparations were interrupted time and again for hasty kisses and caresses, and only necessity prevented them from returning to the blanket. They broke camp and began to walk again, but today there was a difference. She no longer followed him a good two paces behind like a Chinese wife. They walked hand in hand and occasionally bent to each other for a kiss or thrilling brush of thighs.
His loins hungered for her, and time wandered off course as their concentration on one another melted the distance. They broke the pace for spasmodic rest stops and then filled in the stops with anything but rest. She was unabashed at one stop when he became absorbed in her and manipulated her into multiple orgasm. Her knees were trembling when they finally rose to go on. Strength seemed to come from some invisible inner source, and neither of them felt excessive fatigue.
Troy looked up at one point to familiarize himself with their surroundinges and was surprised to find that they were almost at their destination. Casper's Crossing was just around the next bend. They dallied then in the knowledge that their ordeal was over. There was no more urgency in their strides, and they came to the crossing almost lazily.
The place had not changed, but there were signs that a crew of firefighters had been here for a while. Troy foraged through the cache of food, and they dined on cold canned beef and sliced peaches. Their interest in one another made them oblivious to the odd combination of food that they ate.
Troy roused himself to find out how the crew had got in and out with the bridge still gone, and he came to the conclusion that transportation had probably been a borrowed army or navy helicopter. It had been huge enough to bend down the grasses in a large flat area. Having reached this place, there was nothing to do but wait until they were visited. It would be utter foolishness to try to scale the ravine with the burned-out bridge. That type of effort would entail the use of ropes and climbing equipment, and they had none of these things. Troy and Angela settled down to enjoy their wait.
Troy built a large fire and heated water in a tub for Angela's bath. It started out to be casual and commonplace, but before it was done, both of them were soap-splashed and soaked. They washed clothes and ran naked while the garments dried. Troy chased her and caught her on a grassy mound that was well warmed by the sun. She fell on her back and looked up at him with expectant eyes. She was not disappointed.
She insisted here on the intimate kisses she had been denied on the trail. She was proud of her body in its cleanliness and she permitted him the bold kisses and exciting caresses that were a part of love. She amazed him with her open love affair with his body. He had the feeling that his sexual organs were precious family jewels in the way she handled and caressed them.
At one point she trapped his head between her soft thighs and then writhed in ecstasy while his tongue tantalized her into a small chain of intricate orgasms. He, in turn, was treated to a lip, tooth, and tongue exercise that left him panting and astounded that she loved him enough to play so privately with him.
They explored each other in every conceivable position, and neither could find fault with the other. She was a delightful companion who could match him boldness for boldness, intimacy for intimacy, and orgasm for orgasm. It was almost too much to expect it to last, but neither could visualize a time in which they could tire of each other. They lived in an Eden for a whole day and two glorious, passion-filled nights and then civilization descended upon them in the form of an awkward-looking helicopter.
Angela, luckily, had on her skirt and blouse, and she kept their visitors occupied until Troy could find the pants he had carelessly discarded. The 'copter crew was more than surprised to find them alive, to say nothing of being in excellent physical condition. The word had gone out that it was presumed that the tour's passengers had perished in the fire. The search had been abandoned that very morning.
They wanted to take Troy and Angela out immediately, but Troy insisted on staying until the other passengers were tended to. He had no doubt that they were all right, but his sense of responsibility wouldn't let him take preference until he was sure.
The helicopter pilot left his crew at Casper's Crossing and followed Troy's explicit directions. He spotted the overturned bus and several people waving frantically to get his attention. He landed and almost had to fight a few of them off in their frenzy to get back to the comforts and safety of civilization.
The pilot could take only four at a time, and new consternation was formed when they began vying to be first to leave. Jay had no influence at all with them, and the pilot settled it by drawing lots.
Bart Coldridge and Andra Flemming had to be among the first because of their need of medical attention. Vera Bartok and Helene Berry drew the short straws for the first trip. The pilot made the quick trip to the crossing and dropped off his passengers to begin the shuttle of rescuing the whole party.
Troy and Angela felt a little lonesome and left out as activity sprouted around them. A first-aid man did what he could for Bart and Andra. A crewman fed Vera and Helene. Another crewman pulled out blankets and made fires for anyone who might be suffering from exposure to come to. Vera ate and then went directly to sleep. Only Helene came over to thank Troy for the rescue.
"I'm grateful, Troy, for what you did for us. We must seem a pretty ungrateful bunch, but we all have our problems. I want to thank you for another thing, and that's Jay. We'd have fallen apart if it hadn't been for the tour and what happened. I think that we'll make it now. Jay held up very well back at camp. I'm sure that he'll amount to something one of these days."
She congratulated Angela, and Troy thought he saw a bit of envy in her, or maybe it was jealousy. Helene would always think that she had the lead in the field of men.
Troy noticed that after the talk with Helene, Angela seemed a little aloof. He questioned her. "Okay, sweetheart, what's bothering you?"
"Helene, of course. Was she better than me, Troy?"
"What the hell are you talking about? What's the bit with Helene?"
"Don't be coy with me, darling. I know that you and she played around up there on the mountain."
"Okay, honey, let's have this out right now. You don't bug me and I don't bug you. That fair enough?" Angela started to get angry at his abruptness, and he held up his hand. "Should I ask how you and Jay made out? Let's leave the past where it is-behind. I love you and no one else. I don't want to know about you and Jay. I'm only interested in you and me. No more itchy bits?"
Angela hadn't thought that he could know of her brief affair with Jay, and she had been caught in her own web. She gave in with as much grace as she could muster. Besides, why endanger a thing as perfect as she had with Troy?
The helicopter landed after a while with another load. Marilyn Burns hurried to find Bart, Owney Lee hobbled to the food with a wide grin, Janey Daybird leaned on a crewman and winked at Troy as she hopped by on her good foot. The lesbian named Jonni seemed to be lost until she found Andra. Troy worried some about Andra's future and then shrugged it off as none of his business.
There was another roar of motors, and a large navy chopper came down to disgorge a doctor, some reporters, and a couple of forestry officials. Troy took Angela off alone and tried to make love to her. He didn't want to answer foolish questions when there were better things to do.
Angela fended off his advances as being too public. "Not here and now, darling. Someone might come looking for us."
"Nuts! Are you going to turn out to be one of those women who have to be wooed? I thought you liked sex."
-"I do, but let's wait until we can be alone. By the way, I didn't hear you propose to me. I've had enough of being someone's mistress."
He proposed to her, and her resolve to wait until they had privacy vanished. They played with each other for a few minutes, and then she bent far forward over a high tree stump. He entered her from behind, and their love blossomed into pure physical delight. He backed off afterward, and she stayed in that position long enough for him to remember every crease of her body.
He bent over and bit at her rump, and she collapsed in a laughing heap. "Never change, darling. It's so much fun being with you. Let me go now. I want to see if I can sneak in a bath before they all get the idea."
He wandered down and mingled unnoticed in the crowd as the rescue helicopter arrived with another load. He recognized Franki, Lorena Diaz, Willa Carstairs, and Jefferson Burns. He wondered if there was any significance in the fact that only Jay and Claire were left. He saw Helene bite her nails nervously, and he guessed that Jay was in for trouble.
He stopped Burns as he passed. "What the hell happened to you? Been sick?"
Burns coughed. He looked incredibly old and tired. "No. Matter of fact, I'm not sleeping well lately. Look, Woodford, we've had our differences in the past, but that's all over now. Would you consider going to work for me? I feel like taking a long vacation, and there's no one qualified to take my place in my organization."
"Sorry, Burns, it wouldn't work. I remember the snake. I got the idea that your business ethics run along the same lines. Life's too damned short and full of fun to get it all cluttered up with nasty little things like snakes. You'd better see the doctor. Your wife's over there with Coldridge, in case you're interested."
Burns gave him a mean look. "I hate to bear grudges, but I can afford one in your case. You didn't have to bring my wife into this."
Troy saw the little man's vindictiveness and relented. "I meant nothing more by the remark than common courtesy and information. Sorry you took it another way. Shake hands and part friendly?"
Burns brushed him aside and hurried over to inquire about the doctor. Troy was glad that it was all over. It had been a strain to know that Burns was behind him somewhere, and it didn't pay to turn your back on an enemy. He wondered about the job offer and came to the conclusion that Burns had had something in mind to get revenge for the way Troy had taken power away from him.
Jay and Claire were transported to camp just before dark, and Helene was waiting for them. Troy wasn't close enough to hear, but he saw the blush rise on Claire's face and he grinned as Jay dug a toe at the ground while Helene shook a fist under his nose. A forest ranger that he knew came over to speak to him and compliment him on getting the people out in good condition. It was a compliment that he accepted for a job well done.
He gave the man Owney's information on Bart Coldridge and skipped the part about Owney's being raped. Bart would have a tough enough row to hoe without a felony charge against him. Marilyn would have her hands full if she decided to keep him as a lover.
Angela met him, and she smelled all perfumy from soap. He grinned as she led him to a remote place where she had spread their blankets. The night was long, and they were not particularly sleepy.