Chapter 10: Catching Our Breath

Gretchen

Everyone was subdued when we closed the suite door behind us. I took charge and went straight to the bar. The clock said it was almost four PM and that meant the sun was over the yardarm.

"Drinks are on the house, people," I said, "name your poison."

Once everyone was served, I took a seat beside Trish. "I'm not going to sit here all evening thinking or talking about what happened today. There'll be time enough to do that in the morning. Hawk'll get to the bottom of this and we'll help her."

That brought nods from everyone. We sat and drank quietly for a while, rising to refresh our drinks as we needed to. After a few libations I was feeling much better, though I was worried about Hawk. She didn't need to spend so much time on her feet. I wished she'd let me stay with her.

Lisa looked over at Sandy with a smile. "I heard that you didn't let new surroundings stop you from indulging last night. You sounded like you were having a good time."

Sandy grinned back and raised her glass slightly. "I sure did. Keven is a very considerate lover."

I laughed. "Was she loud? I can't believe I slept through it all." I turned to Trish. "Did you sleep through it out here on the couch?"

Trish was blushing brightly. She shook her head and smiled. "No. I, ah..."

I raised my eyebrow and waited for her to continue.

"Can we talk about it in the bedroom?" She finally asked with a shy glance at everyone else.

I nodded and rose to my feet. "We'll be back in a little bit."

Jo waved her hand nonchalantly. "No problem. We'll come up with something interesting to occupy our time. We can't let this gloomy atmosphere get us down."

Trish preceded me into the bedroom and I closed the door behind us. She sat on the edge of the bed and I sat down beside her. I waited for her to speak when she was ready.

"It was me," she said softly, her expression uncertain.

A light went on in my head. "You mean making the noise?"

She nodded.

I took her hands in mine and shook my head. "I thought you were going to give me some warning. Didn't we talk about that?"

"I know I was supposed to tell you first, but you were right. When the time came I got into the moment and stopped thinking," she admitted. "Thank God they had condoms."

I smiled and shrugged my shoulders philosophically. "Well, at least now you understand what I meant about 'being in the moment'. Did you have as good a time as Lisa thinks?"

Trish smiled. "I think I had a better time than she thinks. Once it stopped hurting, that is."

I pulled her into a hug. "Oh, Sweetheart!"

Trish held me close and trembled a little bit. "It didn't last long and I won't have to worry about it again. I was a lot more worried about it than I needed to be. They were both amazing. He was so sensitive. It really helped." She looked at me with a palpable uncertainty. "What do we do now?"

I pulled back so I could look at her. "Now we take it one step at a time. Let's start off with you telling me what happened and how you feel about it."

Trish nodded. "I was having a bad dream. You were falling off the ship and I couldn't save you." Her eyes filled with tears.

My heart melted and I pulled her back into my arms and held her while she cried softly. "It's okay," I whispered in her ear, softly patting her back. "You saved me. If you hadn't dove into the rail I'd have fallen into the ocean." I felt a bolt of fear myself and had a momentary flashback. In a second I felt like I'd just gone through that terrible ordeal all over again. My bruises seemed to throb in time with my heart and I shuddered while my subconscious reminded me of how it could've ended.

Trish must have felt me trembling. Somehow even though we didn't move, she was now the comforter. I buried my face in her hair and cried. I thought I'd cried myself out last night with Hawk. I guess not. I expected her to say something but she just held me and rocked me gently.

Her hair smelled like strawberries. I blinked at the unexpected thought. Involuntarily, I drew in a deep lung full of her scent. Her skin smelled of soap and woman. Hawk had been my only foray with a woman and I'd never been attracted to any other - until I'd met Trish. When I'd told Trish that we'd very likely be having sex during her training, I'd had to admit - at least to myself - that I was looking forward to it. I wanted her.

I pulled back and looked into her eyes. "Hawk and I talked about you last night."

Trish swallowed and gently cleared her throat in surprise. "What did she say?"

"She told me that she understood we'd be together - for training and maybe other times," I said calmly. "I expected her to have reservations and restrictions but she didn't. After you saved my life, she said they were gone. She did ask me to promise that if it started coming between her and me it had to stop. I can work with that, can you?"

Trish's eyes twinkled and she nodded. "I found out last night that I liked women more than I expected, but I like men better. I'd never come between you and Hawk. Or anyone else for that matter. When I find the right man, he'll be unmarried."

"It's not easy but you need to remember not to be looking for that in the men you work for," I said quietly. "Let yourself get used to this first, and then we'll talk about it again."

I shook my head and grinned. "So, you and Sandy made love last night," I said, putting my hand on her leg. "Tell me about it. What did you like or dislike? What surprised you? Did you come?"

Trish blushed but didn't look away from me. "I was nervous. I was having a bad dream and Sandy asked me to sleep with them. I didn't want to be alone so I did. Later, I woke up to them both playing with my tits. Sandy told me they wanted to make love to me and asked me if I wanted to. Gretchen, she was so wonderful. She talked me through everything and guided Keven. I mean, being with her felt good but not like when I was with Keven. Oh, God, the man is amazing."

I laughed. "Guys can do that to you. Hawk's taught me that a woman can, too. It's not the motions, it's the emotions. If you don't feel like sleeping alone, my bed is always open to you. Just slip in with Hawk and me."

Trish smiled gratefully.

"Tonight," I continued, "I think you should make moves of your own after dinner. I'd like to see you take the lead - be the aggressor."

She nodded without the embarrassment I was expecting. "I can do that. I have to admit that now I've had a taste of sex, I want more. Will Hawk be with us?"

"I think so," I said. "It depends on what's going on in the investigation and how she's feeling. You've never seen her 'on the job' before today. She is so focused that eating and sleeping take second place to the mystery. I certainly want her there. Are you okay with a group scene?"

"You mean you, me, Keven and Sandy? With possibly Hawk?"

I shook my head. "No, I mean with Ted, Lisa, Jo and Earl there, too. I'm talking about all nine of us in a room-shaking orgy. This may be the one time where Hawk and I do this and I don't intend to miss out. If that makes you feel uncomfortable, though, don't do anything you don't want to do."

"I don't know," she said uncertainly. "I'll have to think about it and take it one step at a time. Let's just start and see what happens? I know that if you're watching over me I don't have anything to worry about."

The bright trust in her eyes melted my heart. I pulled her back into a hug. "That means so much to me."

There was a knock at the door and Lisa opened it. "We've decided to split up into couples and scatter out to do whatever strikes our fancy." She smiled at our embracing on the bed. "I suspect you two can entertain yourselves for a while."

"I'd call you a perv but I was more than half-thinking something along those lines," I laughed. "Actually, I think I'll see if Trish will join me in doing a walkabout, too. Getting frisky can wait until after dinner. I'd like to see about getting to know everyone more closely this evening. Are you up to it?"

Lisa's eyes widened. "All of us? You mean an orgy? I've never had more than a threesome."

Trish stood up and walked over to Lisa. "I slept with Keven and Sandy last night. Sandy showed me how to be with another woman, but you were the first to touch me. I want you, Lisa. I'm nervous about all of us together, but if you and Gretchen are there..."

Lisa laughed and hugged the younger woman. "Of course I'll be there for you. Ted and I have been planning to get together with Hawk and Gretchen. What's adding four more people for fun? Why don't we ask the peanut gallery?" She turned and stuck her head back into the living room. "Hey, they want to schedule an orgy for after dinner. Is that a good time for everyone?"

Everyone burst into laughter. "I'm serious," Lisa said mock-crossly. "I'm game, if Ted is. How about the rest of you?"

Earl cut everyone else off. "Hell, yes!"

Jo laughed and swatted her husband. "Yes," she said.

"I'll be right behind you, baby," Ted told Lisa.

"I bet you will, you perv," I shouted back as I stood up. "Will you be a good boy and get behind the rest of us girls, too?"

They were just standing up when we came out of the bedroom. Ted came over, pulled me into his arms, and gave me a kiss that steamed up the inside of my eyeballs. It had been almost a year since I'd been with a man and I felt my libido revving. It took a real effort of will to pull back and not start tearing his clothes off right then and there.

"Does that seem willing enough?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah," I said huskily. A glance at Lisa showed her smiling at us. "That reminds me, Hawk and I want to talk with the two of you about something - just a heads up; I want to get the same treatment Hawk got. I want to have a baby."

Ted smiled and didn't even seem surprised. "Hawk beat you to the punch. She talked with us before the cruise and said that you wanted to talk about it. Lisa and I hashed it out. So long as we get to be a part of the baby's life, then we're okay with helping you out. Besides," he said with a wink, "you might get jealous when Lisa starts showing."

A huge grin broke out on my face and I squealed as I grabbed Lisa up and hugged her. "You're pregnant? Ohmigod! I'm so happy for you!"

She kissed me on the cheek. "Thank you." Then she gave Ted a look that boded ill for him. "We were going to wait till the end of the cruise to tell you both."

I kissed her back on the lips. Her eyes locked onto mine and she parted her lips, inviting my tongue to come play. We kissed deeply for a minute and only stopped when Ted broke us up.

"That's for after dinner, girls. Why doesn't everyone that feels like kissing someone else get that out of their system now? Then we can let our imaginations run wild until later."