Chapter 8: Wakeup Call

Sandy

We took Gretchen back to our suite in a wheelchair and I tagged along to give her a more thorough examination of my own. We girls stripped her down in her bedroom. Given the already visible signs of bruising, it was obvious that Gretchen would be a sight in a few days. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be her usual beautiful one.

I sighed and shook my head. "I'm sorry, Gretchen, but there's going to be some bruising. You must have bounced all over the side of the ship because you have bruises everywhere. They aren't huge, but some of them look pretty deep. I hope black and blue are your colors. If not, there'll always be green and purple," I smirked.

Gretchen smiled weakly. "You have a terrible bedside manner, Sandy. Hearing about my bruises makes me feel so much better." Amazingly, she managed to sound tired and sarcastic at the same time. "I'm going to look like hell, and that ruins more than half of my clothing plans."

"Maybe," Jo said uncertainly. "We might be able to conceal some of it with makeup."

"There'll be time tomorrow to see about that," I said standing up. "We need to get you into a gown and then get you medicated. Sleep is the best thing for you right now."

Gretchen shook her head mulishly. "I'm not going to sleep until Hawk's back."

I considered pushing the issue but decided deception and misdirection would work better. "That's understandable, but there's no reason to be in all that pain, is there? At least take the pain medication."

At her nod, I opened the pill bottle and sent Trish off for a glass of water. When it arrived, Gretchen took the pills without complaint, and we got her into bed.

Trish sat on the floor with me while Jo took the chair. We talked in low tones about the events of the evening. It took a bit more than half an hour before I saw Gretchen's eyelids start to droop. I suppressed my smile and kept up the low conversation with the others while she slid slowly into the arms of Morpheus.

When she was asleep, we went into the living room. I closed the door quietly behind me. "That worked out well," I said smugly.

"Did you slip that poor woman a Mickey?" Jo asked with an evil twinkle in her eyes. "She's going to be vexed with you."

I shook my head. "Nope. I just talked to the ship's doc and made sure that the pain medication also had something in it to make her drowsy. In the state she was in, she needed the sleep."

"Tricksey little Hobbit!" Lisa said, standing up with a soft clapping of her hands. "Remind me to watch you more closely. I need a drink," she declared. "Name your poison! Drinks are on the house."

"I'll just take a coke, if you don't mind," I said. "I'll be keeping an eye on Gretchen tonight and I don't want to muddle my thinking."

"Make mine a scotch on the rocks," Jo said.

"I really haven't tried anything like this before," Trish admitted. "I only turned twenty-one a couple of months ago. What should I try?"

Lisa considered that. "I think something fruity." She marched off to the bar and started mixing drinks. "If you're going to keep an eye on Gretchen, you can take the bedroom nearest the master."

I nodded. "For tonight, I think that's best. When the boys wander back in, I'll tell Keven we're having a sleepover. With all that's happened, I think circling the wagons might be a good idea. There's safety in numbers."

Jo looked around the sumptuous living room and the moonlit deck. "I don't suppose there's room for Earl and me?"

Lisa brought us our drinks and Trish sipped on hers. "Ooooo. I like this," Trish said. "It tastes just like a fruit smoothie. Jo, I don't need a whole room to myself. I'll sleep on the couch and you and Earl can have the room right over there." Trish pointed to her room.

Jo smiled her gratitude. "Thank you." I smiled to myself. I'd always liked people who knew how to simply say 'thank you' without going through the whole 'are you sure?' routine.

Trish took a deep drink that told me she was in for a lesson tonight about alcohol. I made note to keep an eye on her. I caught Lisa's eye, held up three fingers and pointed at Trish. Lisa nodded her understanding. There would be a three-drink limit for the buxom young woman.

We sipped our drinks and watched Trish get tipsy with amusement. She was a cheerful drunk, I decided. Not that she was really that drunk. Lisa searched around and found some extra pillows and a blanket for Trish, then put them on the couch.

The boys came in while Trish was off undressing for bed and brushing her teeth. Well, the boys and Hawk. I knew the news wasn't good from the looks on their faces. I knew it really wasn't good when Hawk headed for the bar.

"Where do you think you're going," I asked as I cut her off.

"This has been the day from hell," Hawk complained. "I need something. Just a small one."

"I'm betting that Gretchen would pitch three kinds of fit if she saw you try," I said while crossing my arms.

"Well, she's not here right now," Hawk said, trying unsuccessfully to slip past me. "Someone tried to kill my wife, someone probably did kill that putz Skip, and my back is killing me. Cut me some slack."

"You want some slack, I'll give you some slack," I agreed. "No hard liquor, but you can have a glass of wine or a beer."

"I can?" Hawk blinked at me.

"Yes," I said with a grin. "While you shouldn't drink at all, a glass of wine or a beer this one time won't harm the twins. So, if you like, I'll get one and you can tell Gretchen about it tomorrow."

She scowled at me. "That's playing dirty." With a sigh, she lowered herself into a chair. "I'll just have something non-alcoholic. Surprise me."

I dug into the bar and found some cold diet drinks. While I was there I filled drink orders from the boys, and we listened to Ted as he filled us in on the details. Trish came out and lay down on the couch in a charming, if clingy, flannel nightshirt. That made her the center of attention, much to her embarrassment.

Lisa updated everyone on the sleeping plans. Earl and Keven went to get some clothes and bathroom gear. They got back just as I finished showering.

I pulled Keven into my arms and kissed him. "Go take a shower and I'll put this stuff away. Then we need to get some sleep because I'm going to be getting up every few hours to go check on Gretchen."

He nodded and in twenty minutes I had the alarm set to give me a couple of hours of sleep and we drifted off to dreamland.

I shut off the alarm before it woke up Keven and reset it to go off in another two hours before padding into the living room. Trish had kicked off the blanket and was shivering a little, so I pulled the blanket back over her with a smile. She looked deceivingly innocent laying there. Of all people, I knew firsthand that she had a bit of a wild child inside her that was dying to get out.

In the master bedroom Gretchen and Hawk were curled together, fast asleep. I stood beside their bed and Gretchen seemed to be sleeping normally, so I tip-toed back out and closed the door softly.

Trish was sitting up on the couch blinking at me sleepily. "Is she okay?"

I nodded my head. "She's looking fine. Go back to sleep."

Her face twisted into a troubled expression. "I'm having the same dream over and over. I'm trying to hold onto Gretchen and she keeps falling into the ocean no matter what I do. I hate bad dreams."

I sat down beside her and took her into my arms. "It's only natural with the shock you've had. Try to remember that you held on and you helped save her. That might help with the dreams."

She looked deeply into my eyes. "I don't want to sleep alone. Can I sleep with you?"

The bed was big enough for three. "Of course you can. Come on."

Trish grabbed her pillow and we left the blanket on the couch. Keven was still sound asleep and I prodded him until he moved over without waking up. I was going to slide in and let Trish have the outside but she shook her head. "You have to keep getting up. I'll sleep in the middle." She blushed. "I'll keep my hands to myself."

I laughed softly. "You might, but there's no telling where Keven's might end up. But if you want to take your chances, be my guest."

When she was laying beside Keven, I slid in behind her and draped my arm across her midsection. "Good night."

"Good night," she murmured back, already drifting off.

I woke up when someone shook my shoulder gently. Peering over the bed in the dim light, I saw Keven grinning at me.

"I see we have a guest," he whispered.

"She was having nightmares," I said. "I told her it was okay."

Keven shook his head. "I can guess what kind of nightmares she might be having." He shook his head again and then smiled. "Sleeping right next to me might have led her to a different kind of dream, though," he said roguishly. "I might have had my hands all over her when I woke up."

I laughed softly. "She said she'd take her chances, and I doubt she'd find your hands anything but a heaven-sent dream. In fact, they might even help chase those bad dreams away."

"Want to help me?" he asked seductively. "We could pick back up where we left off yesterday."

That woke me up. The thought started spreading heat into my belly. I looked at her measuringly and nodded after giving it some thought. "If she says stop, though, we stop."

"Of course," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder and gently rolling her onto her back. "Help me."

I took her breast in my hand and began gently rubbing it through the flannel. Her nipple was extremely responsive and hardened right up. A glance told me she was still asleep.

Keven slowly unbuttoned her nightshirt and exposed her magnificent breasts to me. Oh yeah, her nipples were like pencil erasers. A smile was tugging at her lips and her breathing was getting a little faster.

The memory of sucking on them yesterday made me wet. It had been a long time since I'd had sex with a woman. It hadn't happened since medical school. I'd had a torrid affair with one of the other students. It had been a real eye-opener.

With a saucy grin for my fiancé, I leaned forward and sucked her nipple between my lips. The taste of her skin was clean, fresh, and exciting. Using my teeth, I gently nipped her and began using my tongue to arouse her further.

Keven's eyes were locked with mine as he lowered his mouth to her other breast. How well I knew the magic he could do with that nasty mouth of his. Together, we suckled on our new friend.

Trish's head began moving from side-to-side, and she moaned softly. Her eyes were moving rapidly under her eyelids and I could only imagine the turn her dreams must have just taken. Then her eyes opened and she blinked at me in confusion.

"Good morning," I whispered huskily. "Keven and I want to pick up where we left off in the living room. Do you want us to stop?"

Trish smiled shyly and shook her head. "Oh, no, don't stop."

I ran my fingers down her belly, raising goosebumps in my wake. Her soft curls wrapped around my fingers, alerting me to the fact that our little morsel hadn't worn any panties to bed. That shot a bolt of lust through me. Had she known what would happen? Had she hoped we would have sex? I slid my hand between her legs and cupped her sex.

Trish arched her back and groaned. She opened her legs, giving me all the access I could want. In the dim light, her skin was almost golden with a light sheen of perspiration. Between my fingers, her labia parted and I could feel her hot arousal. The girl was smoldering.

Keven mirrored my kisses as we began to travel down her body, our kisses moving in tandem across her rippling stomach. Taking one leg each, we opened the present we were about to give ourselves and began raining kisses and little love bites along her inner thighs.

The scent of her sex was almost as arousing to me as seeing Keven's face beside mine as we reached the center of her together. Her slit was parted and damp. The hard nub of her clitoris proudly stood out from her flesh, beckoning us to partake of her nectar.

With an unexpected eagerness, I ran my tongue along her length and circled her hardness, watching as Keven sucked one of her labia into his mouth to gently massage it.

Our attentions had an immediate reaction from her as she arched her back again and moaned loudly. Her hands crept down and found our heads, entangling in our hair and needlessly holding us to our task.

The taste of her flooded my senses, sweet and slightly metallic. I gave reign to my lust and sucked her clit into my mouth, using the tip of my tongue to ravish her. Keven's face brushed mine as he dug his tongue as deeply inside her as he could wedge it. His jaw worked as he brushed her insides all around as I moved up to give him room.

"Unnngggggg," she groaned, thrashing about even more violently. "Yes..."

I looked up and saw her watching us eat her. Her eyes were alive with her own need. I let my lips go wild on her nub and was rewarded with both her hands moving to grip my head.