Coalescence - SF3 (28 page)

Sensing what the change signaled, she called in amazement, "Are you going back out?"

Ryan was now within touching distance, but a stoic nod was her only reply. Jamie could feel her guts clench, but she tried to sound as normal as possible. "Do you have to, Baby? I’m getting a little chilled." She was, in fact, freezing now that her clothes were drenched from her unplanned dip, and the fear that still gripped her wasn’t helping one bit.

"Go on back to the car," Ryan said gently. "I just have to take care of one little thing. Go on," she urged as she pushed her firmly in the correct direction.

Jamie was having none of it. She looked up at Ryan and begged, "Please don’t get into a fight with the guy who cut you off, Honey. It’s not worth it."

Ryan smiled and placed a gentle kiss on her trembling lips. "I have no idea who did it, Babe. Even if I did, I wouldn’t fight him. Surfing is dangerous and you have to learn to take your lumps. Now will you go back to the car?"

"No. If you stay, I stay."

From the set of her jaw, Ryan could see that she would not be dissuaded. "Okay," she said, acknowledging that Jamie’s mind was made up. "I’ll be as quick as I can." She was dashing along the shore before Jamie had a chance to say one more word.

As she ran along, she reached up and tugged off her hood. Since she had not affixed her hair with a band, it tumbled out and fell against her back, bouncing gently as she ran. Just before she lay on the board to paddle out, Jamie watched her inexplicably yank the zipper of her suit down far enough to expose her white sports bra.
What in the hell…

As soon as Ryan got back to the pack and readied herself into position, she adopted a radically different attitude than she had previously shown. This time she did not play nice with the other children. She paddled out to the edge of the group and jockeyed for position, sticking her chest out and tossing her hair back out of her eyes repeatedly. She seemed to be trying to make sure that everyone knew she was there. This demeanor was so markedly different from her previous attitude that Jamie had a hard time making sense of it. Ryan seemed roughly aggressive, like she was trying to not only attract attention—she was trying to annoy the members of the pack.

After about ten minutes of impatiently waiting, a monster of a wave began to build. Ryan got to her feet and aggressively cut to the front of the pack, catching the leading edge of the cresting water and dropping down to begin carving it like a pro. The other riders tried to get into position, but no one could match the show she was putting on. She was too far away for Jamie to see her face, but she didn’t actually need to. She was absolutely certain that her lover looked cool, calm, cocky and oblivious to every other person fighting for position. When Ryan was really "into" something, she often looked like she was waiting for a bus. But Jamie had learned that the cool exterior was a mask that was easily misunderstood. She was, in fact, concentrating so hard and enjoying the experience so much, that she was no longer connected to the rest of the world. She transported herself to another place, a place that Jamie would truly love to visit, but she doubted she would ever be privy to the secrets that would lead her there.

Watching her lover masterfully carve the wave actually sent chills down the smaller woman’s spine, and when Ryan had exhausted the wave and trotted over to her minutes later, she knew that she still wore a big dumb-looking grin. "Now we can go," Ryan said matter-of-factly.

"Were you getting hot out there?" Jamie teased her as they walked away, hand in hand.

"No," she replied with a furrowed brow. "Oh…you mean because I unzipped?"

"Yeah, wasn’t it cold?"

"Freezing!" Ryan laughed. "But I wanted to make sure every guy out there knew that a girl was dusting their sorry asses!"

Jamie stopped dead in her tracks. "You did that just to make a point!"

"Partly," Ryan revealed. "That guy really dissed me by cutting me off so rudely. And I was really irritated that nobody paddled out to see if I was okay."

"Couldn’t you have stood on the shore and just taken off your wet suit?" Jamie couldn’t imagine going out in the frigid water with that much exposed skin just to make a point to a bunch of strangers.

Ryan laughed at the wide-eyed look her partner was giving her. "Sure. That would have made my point. To tell the truth, I was pretty scared by the whole experience, though, and I refuse to let my last run of the day scare me. I really had to go back out just to build my confidence back up. Unzipping let me kill two birds with one stone."

"Did it work?" Jamie asked unnecessarily, seeing the twinkle in the sparking blue eyes.

"Like a charm. I feel…electric," she decided. "My whole body is tingling."

"Mine too," her smaller partner revealed. "But my feeling is localized." Her own version of the wiggling eyebrow had Ryan in hysterics, and they walked the rest of the way laughing aloud.

Ryan opened the doors to the truck and sat on the bumper to remove her wetsuit. Jamie stood in front of her with a big beach towel to give her some privacy from passing cars. She peeled her wetsuit off and wriggled out of her wet bathing suit. As soon as she was naked, Jamie got a gleam in her eye and pushed her down onto the floor. "Oh-oh," Ryan said with a chuckle as Jamie crawled on top of her, pulling the towel over them both.

The Suburban’s third seat had been folded down, providing a nice, flat surface about the size of a double bed for them to play in. It was still quite cool, and Ryan was pretty chilled from being in the water for so long. As she scooted up to pull her legs in the truck, Jamie closed the doors with a thud. She climbed astride her hips as Ryan gazed up at her serenely. "Why do I think you have more in mind than helping me dry off?" she asked with a smile.

Jamie just gave her a knowing smirk as she crawled over her to put the key in the ignition, cracking the windows and putting a beach towel in each one. Privacy c
urtains now firmly in place,
the
n
she rolled the windows back up, then opened the windows on the highway side a few inches for ventilation, and crawled back into the back. She sat cross-legged on the floor next to Ryan as she pulled out two self-inflating air mattresses that she had stashed in the back. She watched the smirk form on Ryan’s face as their little bed became even more comfortable. When the mattresses were fully inflated, she motioned for Ryan to climb on top, which she willingly did. It was obvious that this was Jamie’s game, so she just relaxed into the sensation and let her drive.

Jamie shucked her sweatshirt and then her sodden pants, and started to remove her swimsuit, but Ryan just shook her head with a little grin. The blonde smiled back and left it on, letting Ryan decide when it would come off. She climbed onto her favorite place, astride Ryan’s hips, and felt the cool body underneath her. She bent from the hips to kiss her, and within moments they were grinding against each other passionately. The scare of the surfing incident was fueling Jamie’s desire, and she willingly threw herself into the maelstrom of her emotions. She wanted to consume Ryan, to prove to herself that her lover was right here with her and that she was whole and safe.

Ryan sensed that this was more than just sex. She could feel that Jamie needed to be reassured, so she did her best to do so. Jamie spent a long time kissing Ryan , starting at her mouth, then slowly working her way down her body. She tasted like salt and the sea, but her natural scent came through, and the calming power of her aroma slowly brought Jamie some comfort. She looked down at her lover. The loving smile on her beautiful face broke some dam in Jamie’s reserve, and she began to shed the tears that she had been holding in. She fell onto Ryan’s chest, sobbing and gasping for breath. Ryan patted her back and spoke to her in a low, calm voice. She reassured her that she was fine, that she knew how to protect herself. She pointed out that she was very strong and had very good instincts. She teased her a little bit by reminding her that even a lead pipe to the head hadn’t taken her out for long, so a little surfboard certainly wouldn’t.

Jamie looked up at her and gave her a small smile. "I just get so scared, Ryan. You mean so much to me, that I can’t bear the thought of losing you."

"I know, Sweetheart, I know," she soothed. "I promise I’ll try to take better care of myself. I know how much I scare you sometimes, and I’ll try to be more careful."

"I don’t want you to give up the excitement that you need, Ryan. I just want you to be as careful as you can."

"I know, Baby, and I do try to be careful. I need to keep in mind how much you need me to stay healthy."

Jamie slid off her hips and curled up next to her in a little ball. Ryan rolled their sweats up into a makeshift pillow and drew Jamie closer. She rocked her slightly and hummed a little lullaby to ease her into sleep, but she was too wired to join her partner. The near-constant hum of traffic and the calm, even breathing against her ear began to soothe her, but she chose to remain awake. The feel of Jamie in her arms was so satisfying that she often wished she didn’t need sleep at all, and could just hold her for hours at a time. Her musings grew less focused and, before she knew it, she had joined her partner in a well-deserved nap.

When they woke, Ryan was pleased to see that the sparkle had returned to her partner’s eyes. They spent a few minutes kissing while they awakened fully, and then Ryan ran over to the public shower to rinse off.

When she emerged, she was dressed in her running clothes, and Jamie gave her a startled look. "Ryan, you’ve been surfing since dawn! Don’t tell me you want to run now!"

Giving a sheepish shrug in return, Ryan tried to explain. "I got very agitated today, Honey. I thought the nap would calm me down, but I still feel antsy. A nice run will let me get my equilibrium back."

"Hard to believe we are of the same species," Jamie mumbled.

Ryan helped her partner carry their gear down to the shoreline, and Jamie sat down in her beach chair with a book. Bending to kiss her goodbye, Ryan lingered just a bit as she grinned through the kisses. "There is something so sexy about kissing your sweet, sweet mouth," she said with a seductive tone in her voice.

"Do you need to go back to the truck for a little love?" Jamie asked when she noticed her sparkling eyes.

"No, I’m just getting used to being aroused all of the time," she decided with a lopsided grin, as she gave her another little kiss and took off. Jamie watched her for as long as she could keep her in sight. Few things pleased her as much as watching her lover run. She mused that Ryan actually looked like running was her natural way of moving. She had a long, economical stride that just ate up ground as she moved along the asphalt path. Jamie had a demure little smile on her face, and she realized after a long while that she wasn’t going to read her book. She was so totally content to just sit and wait for Ryan, that she didn’t need the distraction of reading.
My God, will it always be like this?
She shook her head a little to try to clear it, but realized that the image of her partner rarely left her mind.
How will I ever be able to concentrate on school? I can’t even read a book while she’s running!

The sun was finally starting to peek through the marine layer, but it was still too cool to remove her sweats. She leaned back in her chair and watched the still-weak rays fight to break through the clouds, and let her thoughts drift back to her lover.
I still can’t believe that I was naïve enough to believe that I was in love with Jack. What a mistake it would have been to marry him! Our relationship was actually more like a business partnership than true love.
Shivers chased down her spine at the thought of being married to him for the rest of her life.
I would have never known what love could be
, she thought with regret.
Now that I know, I am determined to hold on as tight as I can to this feeling. It’s far too wonderful to ever let go.
She closed her eyes and let her thoughts drift inexorably towards her partner. A very satisfied smile graced her face as she relaxed into the reverie.
Now I just have to figure out a way to keep her alive
, she mused, as she shook her head at the daunting prospect.
It was a lot easier with Jack. With him I only had to worry that he’d get a fatal paper cut!

It was nearly an hour before Ryan returned. She was wet, but the day was so cool and breezy that the perspiration was drying fast. Jamie insisted that she put her sweats back on, which Ryan did after removing her wet shirt.

"Guess what I am?" she asked with a big smile, leaning over her partner like a predator.

"Either hungry or horny, I’d say," Jamie replied with a laugh. "Which oral craving do you need satisfied?"

"I’d like to start with eating, but I could easily be convinced to partake of the other later on," she said with a leer.

"I just bet you could," she replied as she patted her tummy. "Let’s feed the beast and then decide on the rest of the day."

There were still two muffins left from breakfast, and Ryan polished them off quickly. Now sated, she stretched for a minute and said, "I think I’m ready to shop."

Jamie was surprised by this suggestion, and she gazed at Ryan for a moment, trying to make sure her partner was serious. "You hate to shop, Honey."

"Uh-uh," Ryan insisted. "I love to shop—I just like to shop for the things that
I
really like. Ready to go?"