The telephone woke Brodie with a start, disturbing uneasy dreams of screams of agony and bloody bodies, the harsh ringing making him blink with alarm. What the hell…? He managed to reach over and grab the receiver before Tara woke up, her body draped carelessly over his naked body, hand resting on his hipbone. She murmured in her sleep, but didn't wake, her hand drifting lower to stroke his thigh.
Cursing silently, he finagled the thing until it was the right way up and growled into the mouthpiece.
"Yeah?"
"Brodie?" The voice was tinny with distortion.
"What?" Brodie's leg was killing him, and he wanted this damn 'phone call over with so he could take his meds.
"It's Davis. How's things?"
Brodie looked over at his old alarm clock. Just gone six in the morning. He grunted with annoyance.
"Do you know what time it is? It's still the middle of the goddamn night, Davis!"
"And 'Good Morning' to you too, Brodie. I've got news for you, if you can stop grouching long enough to listen."
Brodie sighed.
"What news? Who died?"
"Nobody." Brodie could hear the grin in Davis' voice. "Tara tells me your leg's working out better, and you're managing to get about, so Mr Cunningham thought it was about time you met your team. We're headin' down your way in a few days, and we'll meet up someplace, go over the plan we've worked out and you can tell us what you think, okay?"
"I'll tell you now your plan's probably worth shit, Davis, but what the hell …" Brodie sighed again. "How many men do you have?"
"Ten." Davis sounded smug.
This time Brodie chuckled.
"Ten? Those fuckin' things will eat 'em for breakfast … you need at least twice that. Go get some more, Davis - Christ!!"
Brodie couldn't stop the word exploding from him as he felt Tara's hand begin to curl around his penis, her touch skillfully arousing him. Despite himself, Brodie felt his manhood stiffen at her touch.
He reached down and reluctantly removed her hand, and he heard a stifled giggle as Tara began to stroke his nipple instead.
"Brodie?? Brodie?? You okay??? What's happening??" Davis' voice was loud with concern.
"Oh … uh, nothing … I just twisted my bad leg is all." Brodie collected his thoughts. "Now, where do you want to meet?"
As he listened to Davis' reply he tried to concentrate on the words, but Tara was hell-bent on distracting him, her hand stroking his nipple into hardness, and then she let her fingers trail once more down his chest and belly to his penis, now painfully erect despite Brodie's best intentions to ignore her.
"Stop it!!!" His voice was a low hiss.
"Huh? Stop what?" Davis was becoming mightily confused now.
"Nothing … nothing … uhnh …" Brodie couldn't prevent a soft groan escaping him as Tara slid her hand lower and cupped the swell of his testes in her small, deft hand, and before he could say another word he felt a gentle kiss on the engorged crown, Tara's lips tasting with delight the small drop of semen on the tip.
"Ahhh … Davis … I gotta go …"
Davis was stumped.
"Oh. Okay. I, er … I'll call later. You okay, Frank?"
"Huh … Jesus … oh, yeah … just fine … talk later …"
Brodie slammed the phone down and groaned loudly as Tara took him in her mouth. His hands reached down to tangle in her dark hair as she began to suckle gently, moving on him rhythmically, her hands working on him as she teased him with her tongue and teeth. His moans became louder, and Tara lifted her head to look at him, breaking the contact for a moment. He sighed at the loss of sensation, but Tara placed her hands on him instantly, caressing the rigid length and swirling long, capable fingers around the flared head. She smiled at his blissful expression, loving how he began to thrust against her touch, desperate now for more.
"Tara … harder … oh yesss … more, harder … just … just there … Oh God …"
His hands gently pushed her head back down to his throbbing arousal, but Tara resisted, smiling in delight at his desire to finish.
"You want me to put you in my mouth again, Frank? You're so hard … I think you need to come soon … you're so ready, I can tell … do you want me to do that, Frank? I will if you want me to … just tell me …"
Brodie was thrusting helplessly now, the head of his manhood glistening with his juices, and Tara knew he was on the edge of orgasm. She stroked and teased for a few moments longer, his groans becoming soft cries of need.
"Please, Tara … now … I need to come now …"
She couldn't tease him any longer and enveloped him with her mouth, suckling and swirling with her tongue until his breath came in rumbling groans and she tasted the slip of more fluid from him as he teetered on the edge.
"Yes … yes … now …" His panting pleas were coming in short gasps.
Tara finally took as much of him in her mouth as she could and suckled hard, holding him tight in her soft, welcoming depths and caressing his testes with her other hand.
With a final, strangled cry Brodie arched upwards and Tara felt the hot spurt of his semen as he climaxed, feeling the pulse as she held him tight, his hips straining against her touch and her hands still caressing as he emptied himself to exhaustion, his cries of ecstasy thrilling her as she swallowed the last of his seed, the salty tang delighting her as he shuddered with pleasure.
"Godalmighty!!!!"
Brodie relaxed back on the bed, gasping for breath, chest heaving, Tara letting him go but not without dropping a parting kiss on his softening member.
"What the hell was that for??" The words came in harsh, exhausted tones.
Tara pouted. "Are you complaining, Frank?" She raised a quizzical eyebrow. "I can always leave you alone, you know …I just thought it would relax you …"
"Relax me?? Jesus, I thought I was going to have a heart attack!!"
She grinned with delight as she looked at Brodie's big body sprawled naked on the bed, broad frame sheened lightly with sweat from his exertions. He raised his head and studied her with surprise and a considerable amount of appreciation, then a big grin spread on his mobile features.
"We sure confused the hell out of Davis though. I gotta go phone the man back and find out where we're meeting up next week …"
Tara became serious as she lay down beside him and pulled the sheets back over them both, settling comfortably next to the big ex-soldier.
"So … things are beginning to happen." She traced the outline of one of the healing scars on his shoulder. "Are you really going to be okay with this, Frank? I mean, you could just give Davis directions and let them get on with it."
Brodie stroked her tousled hair and nodded, the grin slipping into grim determination.
"Yeah, I'm okay with it. I have to go, you know that." He looked at the concern in her dark eyes and couldn't stop himself from leaning down and kissing her, tasting himself on her lips and feeling her melting response. Her mouth opened and his tongue teased hers, her soft moan making him stir once more. Breaking off to catch his breath, he smiled. "I've got you beside me, Tara - that's all I ever wanted …" he kissed her again, deeply this time, and his hand drifted down to cup her breast.
"Brodie …"
"Mmm …" His mouth was raining kisses on her neck.
"I want you, Frank … all the time …" Tara traced the outline of his cheekbone as he lifted his head to look at her with those azure eyes she loved so much.
"I wish …" His voice was hesitant. "I wish I could … y'know … lie on you, Tara. But I can't … my leg and back …"
She smiled, letting him know she understood.
"It's all right … Give yourself time, Frank. It'll get better, you'll see. Then you can make love to me any way you want. Until then, I can do the work. It's not exactly a chore you know!"
Brodie grimaced. He delighted in their lovemaking, her touch sending him into a heavenly place where pleasure was king. But he wanted to please her properly, and that meant taking a more active part in their loving … he wanted to move on top of her and send her into ecstasy as he had done on the island, he wanted her arms to hold him tight against her and her legs to wrap around him as he moved within her welcoming depths.
Tara knew how he felt but couldn't do anything more than constantly reassure him, letting him know that given time he would be able to do more of everything, including making love to her. She felt him try to shift sideways, knowing he was intent on pleasuring her in return, but she heard his gasp of agony and his body jerked.
"Shit!" Brodie collapsed back into the pillows, his face twisted with pain as white hot bolts of agony shot through his thigh and lower back.
Then Tara was soothing him, trying to ease him through the pain, her cool fingers that gave him such pleasure now doing their best to help him cope as the irreparably damaged muscles objected to the movement of his wounded body. She slipped out of bed, wriggled into teeshirt and shorts and disappeared into the bathroom, returning moments later with a glass of water and Brodie's pills.
He managed to sit up in bed without causing himself any more pain and swiftly swallowed the medication, his body tense as he waited for the painkillers to kick in. Tara sat beside him, rubbing the bare skin of his shoulder in silent support. She saw his muscles slowly relax and the lines of pain lessen on his rugged face, but she noted the anguish still burning in the blue eyes.
"It'll get better, Frank … I promise." She linked her fingers in his.
"When? When is it going to get better, Tara?" Brodie's voice was rife with frustration and anger. "I'm so goddamn sick of it! I'm tired of not bein' able to do anything!! Jeez, I can't even make love to you properly!"
Tara leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek.
"I know. But you'll get there, Frank, I know it." She sat back and grinned, unwilling to let Brodie sink into one of his brooding silences. "C'mon, fella. Up you get and get some breakfast in you. It's a lovely day and we'll eat out in the yard if you like, and you can 'phone Davis from there, okay?"
With Tara's help he hauled himself out of bed and dressed, and while he washed and shaved Tara laid out breakfast on the table in his tiny yard, now neat as a pin thanks to the young woman's hard work.
Brodie relaxed on his recliner and returned Davis' call, arranging to meet up seven days from now at the local hotel and meet the team that Brodie would take back to the island of San Miguel. That organised, he sat and munched his toasted bagel and pondered the trip. Today he would go look out a few things and clean up his small arsenal of weapons, somewhat depleted after the last trip to the island. He didn't notice Tara getting up and going into the house, and she returned moments later with something hidden behind her back.
"Frank?"
"Yeah?" Brodie was somewhat preoccupied, deciding which rifles he would take with him.
"Got something for you …"
Brodie looked up, momentarily confused. Tara stood in front of him holding
out a stick. But it was no ordinary stick, Brodie realised in an instant. Taking
it from her he turned it over in his hands, studying it closely.
It was a walking stick, that was obvious, just the right length for him, he gauged. But it was more than that … it was a work of art. The shaft was of fine, old ebony, heavy but perfectly balanced, but it was the handle that made his eyes widen in delight. Cast in heavy brass, he recognized with a jolt that it was a leopard. Caught in mid-pounce, the leopard's huge paws reached out to grasp its prey, the jaws open in a feral snarl. The spots were inlaid black enamel, and the eyes tiny chips of red-black garnet, glittering with ferocity. The whole animal looked as though it was leaping from the body of the stick, tail curling down the shaft, very alive, and very, very beautiful.
He looked back at Tara, confused.
"What - "
She smiled.
"It was my father's. It was given to him by my grandfather, who brought it back from Africa. I thought it might be better than that awful thing you have at the moment. The leopard is the baboons' most feared predator, and I thought it kind of suited you, Frank. See? It's snarling, just like you do."
Brodie was speechless. He turned the stick in his hands, watching as the light caught the dull gleam of the brass and reflected in the tiny garnets of the leopard's eyes.
"Oh, I forgot." Tara leaned forward and touched the two brass rings under the handle where it joined the main body of the shaft. "Twist the handle, Frank."
Brodie did as she told him, grasping the stick and twisting the handle gently. With an almost imperceptible click he felt it shift, and suddenly he was pulling the handle away from the shaft, revealing a gleaming steel blade.
"Holy shit!"
Brodie pulled the blade free of the shaft, whistling softly as he noticed the superb quality of the steel and admired the elegant strength of the slim blade, plain and unadorned apart from the name of the maker, 'Lemen & Jun Solingen'. Brodie knew he was holding something very special.
Tara watched Brodie's face break into a grin, his face becoming truly alive for the first time since he had returned from the island, and she felt the warmth grow in her chest at his pleasure.
Brodie slid the blade back into its ebony hiding-place and levered himself to his feet, wincing a little as the movement pulled his damaged leg. But he limped around the yard a few more times, free at last from the clumsy hospital-issue stick he loathed with a vengeance. The sword-stick was perfect.
Tara turned back to go inside the house. She had things to do before the trip and she would leave Brodie to get used to his new stick.
"Tara …"
She turned at the sound of his soft baritone and was stunned by the look in his eyes, the sun setting them aflame.
"Tara … thanks. Thanks for everything …"
She grinned and wandered back to him, reaching out to cup his face with both hands.
"Just get better, Frank. That's all I ask. Be well for me."
Standing on tiptoe for a second she kissed him, giving him all the love and desire for him she could muster in that one moment. Breaking off, she patted him on the chest affectionately.
"Now, off you go and play with your guns - I have things to do."
She wandered back into the house, leaving a stunned Brodie wondering what on earth he could have done to deserve such devotion.
**********************
The hotel was all dusty potted palm trees and faded, late-Victorian splendour.
Tara and Brodie wandered into the lobby, Tara staying close as Brodie limped beside her. Davis was at the desk talking to someone on the telephone and when he caught their eye he waved, his amiable face breaking into a youthful grin. He indicated some hopelessly overstuffed chairs and signalled that he would be with them momentarily.
Tara watched as Brodie lowered himself carefully in the chair. He looked tired, she thought, but reasonably relaxed. He had spent the past week sorting through his gear, figuring out what he would be taking with him on the trip, and he seemed more cheerful than he had for months. Even the nightmares hadn't been quite so bad, although they still plagued his sleep every night.
She grinned. Brodie has certainly made a bit of an effort to spruce himself up for the meeting, and was clad in a pair of nearly-new jeans, a soft cotton shirt and an old but presentable beige tweed jacket with suede elbow patches. She thought he looked like a retired schoolteacher, but she didn't tell him. He wouldn't have appreciated the comparison.
But even she was surprised when one of the waitresses brought coffee and eyed the big man with undisguised admiration. Tara had to admit Brodie was a decent-looking man when he was cleaned up.
Brodie caught her eye and winked.
"Looks like I still got it!"
Tara sighed.
"Whatever you say, Frank …"
Brodie grinned.
With his 'phone-call finished, Davis joined them, this time accompanied by the big South African Tara had seen the last time Davis had visited. What was his name … ah yes. Van Guelder. Pieter Van Guelder.
He was a big man, this South African, almost as tall as Brodie although not quite as broad-shouldered. He was still powerfully-built though, and intelligence shone from the dark, dark eyes. Short-cropped black hair set off the tan obviously gained through long exposure to hot climates, and his white smile set off his handsome features. When he spoke his deep voice was made even more charming by the soft, lilting Afrikaans accent.
Once the introductions were over they got down to business, and it soon became obvious even to Brodie that Van Guelder knew what he was talking about.
" … we set up a perimeter fence with sensor equipment … infrared certainly - you said all the big animals had been killed off, Mister Brodie? Well, we'll catch 'em on the CCTV … might be an idea to set up motion sensors … maybe thermal recon …"
For two hours they bandied ideas backwards and forwards, Van Guelder offering solutions, Brodie coming up with plans and suggestions. Tara filled them in on the medical unit, saying they would be ready well ahead of schedule, and Davis told them the whole team would be in San Miguel village in three days time.
As they talked, Brodie watched Van Guelder watching Tara, the ex-policeman turning a winning smile to her at ever opportunity. What unnerved Brodie was the fact that Tara smiled back.
"You say these baboons are pretty intelligent, Mister Brodie. Well, forgive me for saying so, but I was born and raised in the veldt, and I know baboons. They can be awkward bastards, but killers? It seems hard to believe …"
Brodie snorted.
"They'll eat you alive and enjoy it too. They weigh at least two hundred and fifty pounds, and those are the small ones. They can get to twice that and measure around five feet long, or tall, or however the hell you measure a baboon. They can out-think and out-run most living things, and that includes humans, and they have the blood-lust of Hitler on crack. That's the beauty of a little bit of gene-splicing - you can make as many of the crazy sonsabitches as you like ..."
He saw Tara flinch at the inference, but he thought he had better let Van Guelder know exactly what he was letting himself in for.
Van Guelder studied the big man that sat opposite him, taking in the pain-lined face and the intriguing walking stick that Brodie kept close by him. An interesting man … a dangerous man, despite the badly damaged leg, he could see that. He would be difficult to deal with, he knew.
"Well, Mister Brodie … I'll take that under advisement, but I think we'll be able to tackle anything that heads our way, don't you?"
Brodie saw the naked challenge in Van Guelder's gaze and was hard-put to stop himself from exploding at the idiot, but he saw Tara's forbidding glare and kept quiet. The man was a moron.
The resulting uncomfortable silence was broken by Davis clearing his throat.
"Right … okay. I think that's all for now. I, ah, I hope you two will stay for dinner." He saw the doubt in Brodie's face and grinned. "Aw, c'mon, Frank … it's just dinner, for Chrissake. And anyway, it's free. Since when can you pass up free chow?"
Brodie sighed, catching Tara's raised, hopeful eyebrows. He could hear her voice now in his head … Let's not screw up, Frank Brodie … build fences, goddammit!
He held up his hands in surrender.
"Okay, okay. If you're payin', Davis …"
Scott Davis grinned. Brodie was in.
**********************
The food was surprisingly good. Fresh seafood and all the trimmings, and the company was stimulating. Well, as far as Tara was concerned.
Van Guelder had sat beside her, and the meal was enlivened by his stories of Africa, the love of his country rife in the big man. He told her of his time at the Kruger National Park and his secondment to Tsavo in Kenya, and of his time as a policeman in Bloemfontein.
"It's pretty there, you know? I was raised about forty clicks outside Bloemfontein, on a farm out in the veldt. It's all cattle and sheep there, very rural." He grinned, his face alive with memories. "Didn't stop us from having problems with elephants, though. The bloody things break down the fences. Can't shoot 'em unless you have a license these days, so you have to do your best to keep 'em out any way you can. But I'll tell you now, there's nothing like the veldt a few days after a thunderstorm. It's like paradise … all the colours of the flowers against the red earth, and the smell … it's so sweet it makes your heart burst with the beauty of it …"
Tara was enjoying herself. She hadn't been able to relax like this for as long as she could remember, and Brodie wasn't exactly the most enlivening company. She turned to the big man sitting at her other side. Brodie was very tired, she could see that, but she thought it was good for him to mix with company a little.
"So … I've never asked you, Frank - where are you from?"
Brodie sat silently, poking at a piece of snow-crab left on his plate. He was too tired and too damn fed-up to be bothered, but he decided for Tara's sake to answer.
"Lower East Side. It was a shit-hole."
There was silence around the table.
Van Guelder watched Brodie as the man gave up on the crab and shifted in his seat, obviously trying to ease the pain in his leg. He noticed the chain carrying Brodie's dog-tag gleaming against his skin at the open shirt collar.
"Soldier, hey? Who with?"
Brodie smiled bitterly.
"Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps."
Davis' face lit up with interest.
"I suppose you were in 'Nam, huh?"
Brodie's eyes sparked.
"Yeah, Davis. I was in 'Nam. I was there for only eight months, I was nineteen years old and the whole goddamn operation was FUBAR. If you really want me to tell you about seein' five-year-old kids disintegrate in front of you, blown to smithereens by 'snake an' nape', or what it's like to see your buddy hacked in two by some moron dropping a bouncing betty on you by mistake then I'll be happy to oblige. It was a real blast, Davis … just nothin' but fun all the fuckin' way …"
Brodie didn't wait for an answer. He pushed his chair back and hauled himself to his feet. Gathering up his stick he limped from the room, leaving a stunned trio behind him.
Tara took a deep breath and dropped her napkin on the table.
"Davis … Pieter … thanks for the dinner. I'll call later, okay."
Davis nodded, understanding in his expressive eyes.
"Look out for him, Tara. He's hurtin', I know. Don't worry - we'll see you in a few days."
Nodding to Van Guelder, Tara ran out after Brodie, who she could now see hailing a taxi outside. She caught up with him just in time, as he managed, with some difficulty, to ease himself inside the Oldsmobile that had stopped at his wave. She silently clambered in beside him and set off for Brodie's house just a few minutes away.
*********************
Silence reigned.
They had arrived home and Brodie had instantly begun to strip down one of his bolt-action rifles, studiously ignoring Tara's expectant glare. Finally she had had enough. Grabbing the rifle she hauled it out of his grasp and propped it against the wall.
"Hey!"
Tara sat down opposite him, fire sparking in her dark eyes.
"Do you want to tell me what the hell that was all about?"
He looked back at her sullenly.
"What was what all about? Oh, you mean that little discussion with your pal Van Morrison, or Van Dip-shit, or whatever the hell you call him? The guy you spent all evening makin' goggle-eyes at?"
Tara was incensed.
"What?? Goggle-eyes?? Are you nuts?"
"Yeah, goddamn fuckin' goggle-eyes!!! You were all over him like a rash, and he was lovin' it!"
Brodie was on a roll now, the anger bursting from him in waves.
Tara was astounded. He was jealous. Frank Brodie was suffering from a severe and crippling bout of jealousy.
"Just who the hell do you think you are, Frank?" Tara's voice was dangerously calm. "Do you think you own me? Do you think because we've slept together you have a right to tell me who I can or can't talk to? Well that's just tough, because I'm not gonna take this any more." Her voice began to quaver as she continued. " I've put up with your tantrums and bad temper, your ass-hole behaviour and your sulking. But that's it. I've had enough. I think I'll go spend the night at the hotel, and you can think it over on your own, Frank, because I'm tired of following around after you and picking up the pieces!"
Brodie exploded.
"Go!! Think I care? Get the hell out of here!! Go and climb in bed with a whole man for a change! He can give it to you the way a man should, not laying on his back like a goddamn cripple!"
They glared at each other for long moments, neither of them speaking, Brodie's big body trembling with emotion.
Then, oh so slowly, Brodie folded. The breath came out of him in a huge, gusty sigh and his face crumpled. He leaned against the wall, his legs suddenly unable to hold him up and he slid slowly downwards, his game leg stretched out in front of him, and he curled into himself, arms tight around his chest.
"I can't do this any more, Tara. I can't take it … it hurts too much …"
Tara studied the stubborn ex-soldier for a split second, suddenly realising
Brodie thought he was alone. Helpless, angry - and
very
alone. The look in the blue eyes damn near broke her heart.
"Oh, Frank … I'm so sorry …"
She dropped to her knees beside him, kissing him gently, then she draped his arm around her shoulders and helped him up onto his feet and into the bedroom, his big body sagging against hers in weariness. She sathim on the bed, hearing him gasp with the pain of it, and she touched his cheek, making him turn to look at her.
"I'm tired, Tara. So tired I feel all broke up inside. And I can't sleep a lot of the time - damn nightmares …" His voice deepened with stress. "Don't leave me. I want you. I ... don't want to go on without you ..."
Tara crouched
down beside him and put her arms around hunched broad shoulders. "I never
had any intention of leaving you. I can't get along without you, Frank."
She smiled a little. "What would I do without you to yell at e? ... And
make love to me?... I couldn't let that go, I love it too much ... when you
make love to me you make me feel like the most beautiful, desirable woman in
the world..."
He raised his head and looked at her with an intensity that took her breath away. "You are..."
She silently turned back the coverlet and sheets, then slowly undressed him as he watched her with soft wonder in his azure gaze as, clad in only boxers and his dog tag, he was eased into the warmth of the bed. She quickly changed into her night-shirt, and before Brodie could say anything she was curled up beside him, her arms embracing him in the night. She kissed him then, but while they desired one another, now was not the time.
"Sleep now, Frank - I won't go. I'm here to stay, you'll see …"
His arms had reached for her and held her to him as he settled against her slender frame.
"I know, girl. I know …"
And so they slept, and when the nightmares took him in the night, she held him and soothed them from his mind, cradling his shivering body as he eased back into slumber.
*******************
She woke to find him spooned behind her, big body sprawled against hers in sleep, but his hand was beneath her night-shirt and cupping her full breast. She could feel the hard length of his arousal against her lower back, and on shifting slightly she heard him moan against her neck, his hips thrusting instinctively.
"Frank?" Her voice was soft, gentle in its desire. "Frank, sweetheart …"
He awoke easily from his fevered dreams of a soft, welcoming body, to find his dreams were real - Tara turned on her back as he wakened, unbuttoning her night-shirt as his hand slid over her breast, inflaming him further. His erection was aching it was so hard, and his eyes widened as she slipped out of the night-shirt and turned on her side to face him.
Brodie moved to take off the now uncomfortably restrictive boxers, but she stopped him with a touch, and then her hands were moving on his body, touching, stroking, feeling his skin quiver as he lay quietly, relaxing into her care of him. He felt cool fingers slip the boxers down over his hips and he shifted slightly, allowing her to ease them over his now straining phallus, and he grunted as he felt a fleeting caress of the flared crown. Then he was free of the boxers, his body naked next to hers.
Tara came back up to him, her breasts within reach of his mouth and he caught a nipple, long arms reaching around her, holding her to him as he suckled and laved with his tongue. She arched against him, gasping with the sensation, fingers in his curly hair holding him to her.
"God, Frank - it's so good …"
She sighed as she felt his hand stroke down her hip, and long fingers probed between her legs, reaching to her centre with firm caresses. Parting her thighs she moaned and bucked against him, and then he was inside her, readying her for him. She cried out as he removed his fingers, but he took her own hand and laid it on his erection, and Tara felt the drop of moisture at the tip and gently began to smooth it into the engorged crown. She watched in the half-dark as Brodie's head dropped back in ecstasy, and he thrust instinctively once more, the friction making him groan in desperation.
"Now, girl - please, it has to be now … I want to come inside you and if you keep doing that I'm gonna come in your hand …"
Brodie moved as though to shift on top of her, but Tara put her other hand on his chest, stopping him.
"No, Frank. You're too hurt yet. Just lift your hips a little …"
When he complied, wincing at the removal of her touch from his now desperately hard penis, she slid one leg under his waist and rested the other on top of his hip as they lay sideways on the bed. She reached down between them and took his erection in her hand once more, but this time she stroked the head against her clitoris, the sensation making them both cry out.
Suddenly the engorged head of his manhood was inside her, Brodie gasping with the sensation of it, and he clutched at her hips, pulling her further onto him. God, she was tight! He could feel her fingers still on him, feeling the length of him as he slid into her depths. Her hand fell away, and they lay still for a long moment as they savoured the feel of each other, Brodie's length filling her completely, to the very tip of her womb.
Then she began to move, slowly, exquisitely, feeling the muscled hardness of him within, his groans as he answered her movement with gentle thrusts making her smile with the pleasure of it all. Long legs wrapped around him and Brodie held tight to Tara's hips as she met his thrusts, hearing her small cries as she felt the pressure start to build in her body. She began to shake as her orgasm became imminent, and Brodie thrust harder, needing his own release but desperate to pleasure his lady before he lost himself in her body.
"Frank … oh God … please …"
Her voice was breathless with desire, and he thrust even harder, ignoring the pain from his leg and back, the pleasure of Tara sheathed around him robbing him of any sensation except that of their coupling. He felt the tightening at his groin and knew he only had seconds before he came, and he tried to delay it, taking short, hard thrusts, and then he felt Tara's muscles flutter around him and she cried out, her orgasm sending her arching against him, belly to belly, clasping his hips trying to pull him deeper.
The sensation was too much.
"Tara … I can't stop … feels - feels so good … I'm gonna - "
He felt himself swell and lengthen, and then he was exploding, his throaty moans joining her soft cries. His body spasmed as he held her tightly to him, knowing she felt the hot spurts of his semen as he emptied himself into her, the last long, shuddering thrusts convulsing through him as she was filled with his milky essence.
Their movements slowed, then stilled, their voices quiet now as they lay, still joined, arms cradling each other in their loving. They kissed gently, Tara tracing the outlines of his face as Brodie gazed into shadowed, sated velvet-brown eyes.
"You all right, Frank?" Tara searched his face for pain, and found none.
Brodie grinned ruefully.
"Nothin' wrong with me, girl, that having you with me won't cure …"
They eased apart reluctantly, but Tara gathered him in her arms and held him close, his mouth nuzzling her neck and then drifting to her nipple as he rested against her. His hands lay flat on her back and he drew her to him, both of them settling into the warmth of the big bed and the comfort of each other's body. She listened as his breathing slowed and steadied, and felt his big frame sprawl once more against hers, this time relaxed in repletion. He slipped into sleep, his moustache tickling her bare skin, muscular arms keeping her safe.
Once more that night he woke her, his need driving him, and she pleasured him gently, his moans as he spent himself in her depths sending fire to her loins. Afterwards he fell asleep while still inside her, hand at her breast, and for the first time in over ten long years, the horror of San Miguel island did not plague his dreams.
**************