Chapter 8
The best and most beautiful things in life
cannot be seen nor touched, but are felt in the heart.
-Helen Keller (1880-1968)
“So are we doing more preparation for marriage stuff again tonight?” asked Brendan after tea.
“I said I’d send you home with at least ten hours under your belt and you’ve only got a couple so far. But we can chat about improving relationships if you don’t want to do what we did last night.”
“No... Last night was interesting,” said Brendan... “Do you know any other massage strokes or just the one we practiced last night?”
“Gordon’s taught me half a dozen. I can teach you some more tonight.”
Jake glanced at Zac.
“Is Maya allowed to join us?” he asked cautiously.
“Why?”
“So there’s an even number of people... I was thinking of maybe trying what it’s like being the masseur.”
Zac’s grin was victorious.
“You’d like to participate rather than observe tonight, eh?”
Jake nodded.
“If Maya’s participating. And I think she should. She needs preparation for marriage training as much as any of us. Probably more, ‘coz she’s old enough to get married.”
Zac’s eyes twinkled.
“Hmmm... Maya? Are you observing or participating?”
“I guess I’ll participate... Since I’m old enough to get married.”
His grin warmed me like a bonfire.
“Fair enough, let’s chuck you in the deep end Jake... You and Maya can be massage partners.”
“Massage her? No way! I meant massage you! Or one of the guys!”
“I know you did... But I need you to partner with Maya since she’s participating too.”
“Why?”
“Because Scott Tracy wisely knows how much mischief his three younger brothers will get up to if he lets them massage me...” I piped up.
“Spot on Lady Penelope!” retorted Zac.
All round laughter.
“Okay... let’s learn to do this stroke on ourselves first... then we’ll practise it on each other...”
Ω
Jake took to the learning-the-stroke-on-himself bit like a duck to water. Predictably, Zac hit a wall of resistance when it came to the practicing-it-on-me bit.
“Come on Jake! Exchange mindsets!” coaxed Zac. “Dare to do the thing you fear to do and keep doing it. It’s the quickest and surest way I know of to conquer fear.”
I lay down on the floor and smiled up encouragingly at Jake. A metre from me on one side was Zac’s half-dressed body. A metre from me on the other side, Pete’s half-dressed body and shock of cinnamon hair. Towering above me, more abs and broad shoulders. A hint of Givenchy wafted through the room, but I wasn’t sure who was wearing it. I had never been surrounded by so much temptation.
Jake’s slender fingers closed hesitantly around my shoulders and kneaded them through my T-shirt. His attempt at pampering felt pretty good for a nervous novice... Fingertips teasingly slid gradually down the sides of my chest and explored the contours.
Mmmm... intensely nice... And completely unexpected!
I glanced up at Jake with surprise but he wasn’t even looking at me... He was fixated on Brendan... intently copying what Brendan was doing to Zac... Oblivious to the fact that his hands had even strayed into censored territory.
I savoured the moment as his hands gently glided across my chest and met at my breastbone... It’d been a long while since I’d felt like this. It was like Jake had accidentally woken up part of me which had been frozen over. Since Nepal...
I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and glanced over in Zac’s direction... The sight of his semi-clad body brought the first involuntary quiver to the surface... Zac was focusing on Brendan as well... Quietly instructing him... giving him feedback ... And Jake was listening to every word Zac said. Implementing his suggestions...
Jake! Look at me will you!?
He was massaging my stomach now. Copying Brendan like he was his shadow... Brendan’s fingertips were down near the top of Zac’s boardies now at his instruction... Jake’s fingers were teasingly gliding across the same area on me... inadvertently applying just the right amount of pressure...
A wave of intense pleasure crashed down as his fingertips moved around in a circular motion. My mind was trying to shut the sensations off, but my body had a completely different agenda.
This hasn’t happened for years... It feels so nice...
The warning lights were flashing. Rapid breathing. I was on the brink...
I can’t hold back much longer. Reign in Jake, will you?
My body arched in spite of my mind’s directive. Jake stopped momentarily but must have thought I was stretching because he didn’t even bother looking at me... He was still too busy copying Brendan.
Oh no! Not in front of them all!
A tsunami of sensations too good to withstand erupted. My pelvis earth-quaked spasmodically under his fingertips. The groan I had been holding back involuntarily escaped my lips. Zac finally turned his head and looked across at me. His face registered his surprise. He pushed himself up into a semi-reclined position... eyes dancing with mischievous delight. Savouring my obvious pleasure... A cheeky grin twitched at the corners of his mouth. I shut my mouth to hide my searching tongue... To try and regain control. Hold back the sensations.
I had everyone else’s attention now as well. Everyone’s except Jake’s. He was looking around from face to face but he still hadn’t picked up on what was going on in my body and he was still massaging me. I involuntarily panted then gasped air like someone drowning. The three amigos were frozen in stunned-mullet astonishment. Even Zac was captivated by my response. He knew I was turned on and it was turning him on. The rapt look on his face was almost worth the incredible embarrassment.
“Stop it!” I squealed, pushing myself into upright position and grabbing Jake around the wrists.
He looked at me blankly.
“Sorry. Did I hurt you?”
Laughter boiled across the room.
Jake looked from face to face in confusion. Pete bit his lip. Brendan and Dale were close to losing it.
“Will someone tell me what’s going on?
“Equipped with his five senses, man explores the woman he has partnered with and calls the adventure orgasmic!” grinned Zac.
“That’s not what Hubble said. You’re misquoting him.”
Everyone else roared with laughter. Zac cleared his throat softly.
“Okay... We seem to be bogged... Let’s observe Maya together and see if we can get to the bottom of this mystery... Jake... describe her pupils...”
“Er... wide.”
“Respiration?”
“Rapid.”
“Skin appearance?”
“Flushed.”
A titter of mirth from Brendan. Zac silenced him with dancing eyes.
“Scent?”
“You want me to sniff her?”
“Go on.”
“You do it.”
Zac bent down obligingly, his eyes sparkling with delight.
“Fragrance... Prada I believe,” he said gently.
The tsunami of embarrassment abated as he moved into my personal space.
“Body heat felt and small beads of sweat also observed...”
I exhaled noisily. Drew strength from his steadying presence.
“Some other very nice aromas, near her lower abdomen...”
“Oh no you don’t!” I protested.
Zac laughed cheekily.
“Taste? Hmmm... I suppose we could lick the side of her neck...”
“Get out of here!”
I erupted into girlish giggling.
“There we go. Maya’s bouncing back... Conclusion Jake?”
“Um... Fear? Or pain maybe. You know... when her face was screwed up...”
Zac held back his smile.
/> “Conclusion Pete?”
“Highly sensitive to touch.”
“Dale?”
“Gonna make someone a great wife.”
“Brendan?”
“I can’t wait to get home to try it on Cherie!”
Jake looked at Zac quizzically.
“She stopped me because she liked it too much?”
The snail had finally caught up. The expression on his face was priceless.
“But I thought women had to have their clothes off and all that...”
“Apparently not in Maya’s case.”
I tried to thump him. He caught both fists mid air and soothingly caressed them.
Skin on skin. Sparks.
“You’ve got a cheek teaching them to do that to a woman!” I protested.
“Why? Don’t you think a woman should enjoy herself in a marriage?”
He brushed my cheek with his index finger. The delicate touch created a new whirlwind within me. I gave up and laughed away my embarrassment.
“Better.”
I caught Jake’s eye.
“You’re gonna send a woman through the roof one day Jake.”
Jake grinned shyly. Pleased by the rave review.
“But not until you’re married to her,” cautioned Zac. “And that goes for the rest of you too.”
Grins and laughter all round. Zac glanced at me.
“A word Maya. Your room...”
Guttural laughter from the three amigos.
“Chaperon Sir?” tormented Pete.
“I think we can handle this one unchaperoned thanks.”
Zac caught Pete’s eye.
“Fire up my laptop for me though. And call me as soon as Gordon comes online...”
Ω
I sagged down on the floor near my bed. He sank down beside me. Warm. Accepting.
Silence.
“Well that’s gonna hold number 1 position on my ladder of all time embarrassing moments for a while,” I murmured.
“You know what they say. Life’s shared embarrassing moments deepen friendships.”
“You mean complicate them.”
“Nah, enrich them. My friend Gordon always refers to life as a tapestry… Every thread included in a tapestry’s design is important because it’s part of the pattern in the finished product… Some threads are easier to sew into a design than others… Every once in a while a thread will knot. But if you patiently persist, the end product will be a breathtaking work of art…”
“And I’m a knot right?”
“No. You’re like the golden thread in a tapestry… Eye-catching… and worth the extra care to ensure it doesn’t snag while it’s becoming part of the design... ”
I drew a deep breath.
“I think I’m starting to get a glimpse of why Jake seems to have opened up like a butterfly in the last 24 hours.”
“I expect greatness of him Maya. And it’s the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him.”
I moved closer to him. Kissing distance closer.
“What do you expect of me?”
He remained resolute in the face of my thinly veiled enticement. I was secretly impressed by his strength of character.
“Hmmm… How about a mutual foot-rub for now?” he suggested.
“A foot-rub?”
“Yeah… I’ll sit opposite you. Now you rub my feet and I’ll rub yours.”
I sighed extravagantly as the day’s weariness and the night’s embarrassment slipped away. I had to hand it to him. He knew how to pamper a woman.
“How did you know my feet were hurting?”
“I didn’t know. Although my feet would’ve been killing me if I’d walked around in your shoes all day in this country.”
“What’s wrong with my Stuart Weitzman’s?”
He seemed amused by the question.
“Open toed shoes and desert. Not a good combination.”
He pulled a small bottle out of his pocket.
“What is it?”
“Peroxide… I carry it around with me. It works wonders on cuts and blisters if you get to them early enough… This is gonna sting a little.”
I nodded. Granting him permission to inflict the pain. He was right. It stung.
“Brave… You hardly flinched.”
I drank in his approval.
“You need to get yourself some appropriate shoes if you’re gonna keep up with us you know,” he said gently.
“You expect me to lose my sense of fashion?”
“No… I just expect you to go shopping.”
“Expect me to go shopping? Now you’re talking my language!”
Two quick knocks on the door.
“It’s open Pete.”
Pete poked his head through the door… Cautiously curious. Like a kid walking in on his parents when their bedroom door was locked.
“Gordon’s online.”
“Ta.”
Zac stretched noisily and picked up his hiking boots.
“Thanks for the foot-rub… Let me know if the cuts on your feet get infected… Spinifex can be nasty.”
“I will… Goodnight. Both of you.”
“Night Maya,” they both replied in unison.
Ω
“Good evening Zachariah. How’s the assignment shaping up?”
“Well, the Japanese are here in force. They’ve booked out the local hotel for the next fortnight, so I’d say the tests are scheduled for between now and then. The Koreans are camped out east of the Celia fault. We’ve got the name of a Korean national for you to check out... and the coordinates of their base camp if you want to snoop... Weather-mod wise, we’ve got photos of hail falling out of blue skies... two eyewitnesses saw three plasma balls yesterday arvo about 5 kilometres from the JORN radar station and we all witnessed a larger fireball last night. No more local quakes, but there’s evidence that someone’s been measuring their intensity down at the Celia fault-line.”
“You have been busy since touching down in Western Australia. What about team dynamics? Any knots in the tapestry?”
“A couple more than usual, but I’m working on them. There is something you need to know however Gordon. It’s imperative that you change the password on your home computer...”
“Not much point...” interrupted Gordon. “The little roo just keeps coming back, hopping the fence and grazing no matter what I do. How’s he settling in anyway?”
“You know Jake’s been hacking into your computer?”
“I’ve changed my password half a dozen times and he’s cracked it every time. So I’m changing tactics. When he goes back home he’s got a surprise in store for him when he logs onto his desktop. I’ve changed his password to get even!”
“You’ve hacked into my computer?” protested Jake. “No-one’s ever got past my codes!”
“Hello Little Roo... I didn’t realize you were in the room too.”
“Um... Zac’s lap-top’s in our room.”
“Our room?”
“We’re twin sharing like you and David used to... To make it easier to get to know each other,” elaborated Zac.
Gordon read between the lines.
“So how are you enjoying your first YGD workshop Little Roo?”
“Last night I was scared and wanted to go home. But now that’s all changed...”
“That’s good to hear.”
“Um... I’m sorry for hacking into your computer. After I’d read everything you’d published, I wanted to email you and ask if you had any other unpublished material. But I was too afraid you’d think I was a dork.”
“So it was easier to sneak in the back door and graze, eh?”
“Yeah.”
“I thought as much. Out of curiosity did you graze on anything other than my research files?”
“Like personal photos? No way. That’s private.”
“Lucky for you... Some of my personal photos might’ve made your ears pink!”
“Did you really chan
ge my password on my home computer?”
“Yes... It’s Gidday-Jake-Downunder now.”
“It is? I like that. I might keep it for a while... Um... Did you look in my personal files when you hacked into my computer?”
“Why? Have you got some photos that would make my ears pink?”
“No... But I’ve got some letters I’ve written to my dad that I want him to read before any other people read them. They’re ‘specially for him.”
Gordon hesitated.
“I noticed the folder labelled Dad, but I didn’t open it Little Roo,” he returned softly. “The contents of your Research Articles folder were intriguing however... Actually they made me a hundred dollars richer.”
“How?
“You still in the room Zac?”
“Yeah.”
“You owe me a hundred bucks.”
“Ouch! Why?”
“Remember we were hunting high and low for that geophysicist Jack Tracy from Australasia - to invite him to join us on this assignment?”
“Yes...”
“And I bet you a hundred bucks that Jack Tracy was a pseudonym?”
“Yes...”
“Well Zachariah - you’re rooming in with Jack Tracy.”
Zac glanced at Jake with dancing eyes. Jake looked down at his feet awkwardly.
“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me. Unfortunately, you owe me a hundred bucks as well so we’re square.”
“Why do I owe you a hundred dollars?”
“Remember how you bet me a $100 dollars that you’d meet the bloke who cracked the Lewis constant before I did?”
“Yes.”
“Well he’s rooming in with me... I even found out he named the constant after his mother!”
Silence.
“Gordon? Are you still there?”
“Yes... Sorry... I was just thinking about another bright young student I knew a few years ago, who came close to cracking the constant... Listen... It’s been an interesting update... I tell you what Little Roo... How about a gentleman’s agreement? I email you all my unpublished papers and you email me all yours, and we bounce ideas off each through email from now on?”
“Rad!” replied Jake, his eyes flickering with excitement.
“Great! Hey Zachariah... a word of warning... Don’t turn into a comet. Make time to recharge yourself... You can’t be running on fumes when those lads of yours need your leadership.”
“Wilco.”
“And get that webcam fixed on yer laptop, you hear? I like reading faces when I’m chatting to ‘em. Sometimes expressions say more than words.”
“I’ll go shopping next time I’m home.”
“You’ve said that the last five times.”
“I mean it this time. I need some new boots.”
Gordon laughed warmly.
“Goodnight then you pair... Sweet dreams.”
Ω
Zac’s dreams were sweet. Mega loaded maltodextrin sweet. And Maya guest starred in his vividest dream an hour or so before sunrise. Rewind and replay the previous evening... Zac knew Maya’s pleasure had been real. Her face had contorted briefly as she’d struggled to recapture the sensations... he’d heard her panting breath... felt it on his face as he drew closer to her... He found himself smiling again at the memory... her mixture of acute pleasure and embarrassment...
It was a turn on just thinking about it... There she was again... Trying to hold back the tsunami... Except instead of sitting up and grabbing Jake’s wrists, she reached over and embraced him this time. And instead of being surrounded by his team, he was alone with her in her room... She laughed seductively as she ran her hands over his boardies. Zac’s desire loomed maddeningly. She cradled his head in her linked hands and drew him closer. She was almost too good to resist... They were skin on skin now... His body throbbed under her touch. She gently guided him into her. She was warm and wet and in control. And he was euphoric as their bodies merged and their spirits became one...
And then she was gone.
Zac stirred from his sleep. Cold and sticky. Wide awake now. He sighed noisily as he realized what had happened.
He got up, and quietly headed for the shower. He turned on the tap. Nothing.
It took a moment to work out why. Yawn... No generator running - no electricity. No electricity - no pressure pump. No pressure pump - no water. No water - no shower.
The only source of water he knew of was the gravity fed raintank over near Jen’s washhouse. Zac crept outside over to the raintank and filled a bucket. He gasped as he roughly rinsed himself off with the cold water... Wrapping a towel around himself, he rinsed out his sheet and boxers and hung them over the washing line to drip dry.
“You right luv?”
Jen was standing a metre away from him. Zac jumped in fright and tightened his towel bashfully. Jen studied his face. In the pre-dawn light he looked like a small child caught outside after curfew.
“I...I...”
“Ssshhh... No need to explain. We’ve had three boys remember?”
“Sorry.”
“Stop apologizing... A young man feeling ashamed about a wet dream is as silly as a woman feeling ashamed about her periods leaking.”
Zac ran his palm across his face... Wiping away his acute self consciousness.
Aussie women were a different breed! Able to take fireballs, interruptions to lovemaking and pre-dawn discussions about night-time ejaculations in their stride without blinking an eyelid.
Zac sagged down on the roughly hewn bench near the raintank. Jen put down her basket of washing and sank down beside him.
“You sprang me and now I’ve sprung you,” ventured Jen. “I guess that makes us even, eh?”
A faint smile.
“You’re an early riser Jen...”
“Not normally... I’m making an early start on the chores... I’m going shopping today in Kal... It’s an eight hour round trip, and my list will take me about four hours to get through, so that’s why I’m starting so early. Actually I didn’t think to ask, do you need anything from the shops?”
“No, but it might pay to ask Maya... She needs a decent pair of hiking boots... Actually, she might even like to go for the ride. I’ve got a hunch she’s got SWS...”
“SWS?
“Shopping withdrawal syndrome. My little sister gets it regularly and I recognize the symptoms.”
Jen laughed deliciously.
“You’re probably right, since she’s from the big smog. I’ll ask her at breakfast. Actually it’d be nice to have another woman to talk to on the trip. Especially coming home... I hate driving through the straight stretch, Menzies side of Leonora by myself after sunset.”
“Too many roos?”
“Nah... I just dodge those... But the lights scare me.”
“Lights?”
“Not every trip, but sometimes on the way home about 30 kms out of Leonora there’s these lights with blue tails that chase your car as you’re driving along. Dave used to always tell me they were a product of my overactive imagination until one night he saw them too when he was driving home... He hasn’t said they’re my imagination since... And lots of people I know from Leonora and Laverton have seen them too. Blokes from the mines... families... truckies... My friend Cheryl has even seen them recently. The night before the earthquake actually.”
Jen shook her head, as if shaking away memories.
“Goodness, listen to me rambling! You must be freezin’ your goolies off sitting out here with just a towel wrapped around yourself.”
“Nah... I’m from Alaska, remember?” grinned Zac. “It’s getting light though... I might head back and get dressed. You’re close enough to my mum to handle being caught out by you. But I wouldn’t want to be caught out by some other people around here.”
“Like the beautiful Maya, eh?”
“Quit it Jen! Now you’re sounding like my Mum!”
“Maybe your Mum and I are besties...”
“That’s impossible
! You live on opposite sides of the planet.”
Jen laughed and got to her feet.
“I’m about to turn on the genny so I can do the washing. By the time you get back inside the water will be on if you want a warm shower after that cold splash.”
“Ta... Actually, those lights you were talking about have sparked my curiosity.”
“Ask Dave to tell you all about ‘em,” suggested Jen, picking up the basket of washing. “See you all shortly.”