Chapter 4: St. Bridget's Complaint

Time: Saturday, February 29, 2048 9 PM, lower level of Megan's quarters

Alvaro and Megan came back to Megan's house at 9 PM after a long evening stroll and headed straight to the lower level. It had been a wonderful day of recreation for them both. Most of it was spent riding their horses in a great circumnavigation of the beaches and coastal roads of Porto Santo. They had dinner at Megan's home at 5 PM and then left again just at the sun was setting at six. A full moon rose in the east a half hour later and provided ample light for their long walk. They started off by holding hands and soon switched to holding hips. The numerous houses along the roads appeared dark and vacant, but they both knew how deceiving appearances could be. The world was quiet and peaceful, filled only with the sounds of the night wildlife and the farm animals.

"Such a beautiful night," commented Alvaro in Portuguese as they walked.

"I like it even better with a new moon," replied Megan with fluent Portuguese and a cheerful laugh. "The stars are stunning then... Hah!"

"What?"

"I was just thinking about something my parents told me long ago. It seemed so romantic this evening when we had dinner by electric lights. We save the candles for emergencies. But my mom once told me that when she was a teenager, candlelight was considered romantic, much more so than electric lights. Imagine!"

Alvaro smiled. "Do you think of home often?"

Megan paused. "The people sometime. Our web connections are down so often now, not to Madeira but to the rest of the world. I sometimes wonder if my old friends are okay, and I haven't been able to reach my parents since Christmas."

Alvaro nodded and sighed. "It's not us. The worldwide web is failing."

"Yes, I know. Everything is under the knife and the explosive. But not here!" She gestured at the nearby farm houses with her free arm. "Here is an oasis of peace! I bet you every one of those doors is not even locked."

Alvaro laughed. "Ha! I grew up here, remember? No bet!"

"Is it the same on Madeira?"

"Almost. Not quite but almost. There's actually a jailhouse in Funchal."

"No! Really?"

"Uh huh. A 120,000 people Megan. They can't all be sociable."

"No, I suppose not."

There's one here at Porto Santo too."

"A jail?! Oh nuts, really? Are you serious? Where?"

"By the docks. Well, it's not really a jail, but you can lock people up there, a holding pen. Criminals would be transferred to the main island."

Megan paused for a moment and then laughed. "How I've changed! A year ago I would have thought it impossible to live in a society without locks and fences and jails. Now I'm having a hard time with the reverse."

Alvaro smiled and squeezed her hip and switched from Portuguese to French. "Viva la difference!"

"Oh, indeed!" she laughed as she returned his squeeze and leaned to give him a quick kiss. "It almost feels as if I must think this way while I think and speak in Portuguese, and to think of locks and jails, I'd have to go back to thinking in English."

"The solution is obvious. Continue thinking and speaking in Portuguese."

She laughed again. "Sounds like a plan." The two lovers continued their long stroll.

They returned to Megan's house after a delightful three-hour walk. They retired to the lower level, and by the light of a five-Watt nightlight, Alvaro inspected the shutters on the small high windows that were just above ground level. Satisfied everything was secure, he gave Megan the okay to turn on an array of recessed high-efficiency light-emitting diodes. The array lit the room to a level that would be a little dim for reading but otherwise was perfectly adequate.

Megan took her hot shower first. After she dried herself, she let the towel fall and looked at herself in the mirror, eyeing her B-cup breasts with a critical eye. "Not bad," she thought. "A typical Celtic lass. More than a hint of red in my hair, green eyes... and my body? It's certainly pleasing to Alvaro. He loves the curve of my hips." She raised her arms straight out and studied her image. She never had much vanity, felt herself blessed with a fine body and as attractive as a typical woman, but nothing out of the ordinary.

She knew that was not how Alvaro thought of her. She could see it his eyes and deportment, how he admired other attractive women compared to how he admired her. His expressions revealed the core of his desires and hopes, and the fact that he considered Megan to be the most stunningly beautiful creature that could ever possibly exist. He had often said so too, and with complete sincerity.

Megan smiled and lowered her arms. She was pleased with how she looked now too. The intense amount of exercise and excellent diet had done wonders. She allowed herself an idly fancy of one day magically going back to Ft. Hood, Texas again. She thought she might now be considered a bonnie lass at the base. But no matter. Her true love was here. All thoughts of other men were folly, and she pushed them from her mind.

After slipping on her sleep clothes, she left the bathroom and found Alvaro working with her computer, checking his e-mail though the undersea cable. Seeing the bathroom free, he switched places and showered while Megan prepared their beds.

Ten minutes later Alvaro came out of the bathroom dressed in pajamas and drying his hair. He smiled at Megan's setup. It was the same as last month. The large bed in her bedroom was turned down and all prepared for sleep, and her bedroom door was open. The fresh linen for the foldout sofa was still in the closet, and Alvaro would have to make up the sofa bed himself. The offer was obvious. Megan was hinting there was no need for Alvaro to sleep in the living room.

Alvaro gave Megan a shy smile and sat down beside her on the sofa. They were cuddling a moment later, the soft fabric of their pajamas the only thing separating them.

"Have a busy day yesterday?" Megan asked. By tradition, they did not discuss work outside her house during their weekend holidays. Their rides and walks were purely for recreation and intimacy.

"A bit. I might have to be away the end of next month."

"Yikes! Really?"

Alvaro nodded. "Another trade mission to the U.S."

"Back to Texas?" Megan's eyes sparkled with interest.

"No, the East Coast, Virginia. And Discovery will be gone too. It will be docking at Brazil and Mexico. But we could move our next holiday up or back a week. I could catch a ride here on a fishing boat."

"I guess that'll be okay." She gave him what she hoped sounded like a sexy growl and whispered, "If you have a choice, make it a week sooner!"

He laughed. "Okay!" They kissed for a while. "How about you? Interesting Friday?"

She shrugged. "My morning was completely dull. Some dogs for wellness checkups and vaccines. There was a young gentle pooch with the ridiculous name of Bone Cruncher. Oh yes, the highlight of the morning, one duck with an injured wing." She paused for a kiss. "The afternoon was much more interesting! I brought in a goat to the kindergarten class and talked about how to keep the animal healthy. What a joy to work with children Alvaro! Nine girls and eight boys, they're so beautiful!"

"You can leave your clinic unattended?"

"Sure. I had nothing scheduled. And if there were an emergency, the clinic is only a few hundred meters away from the school. My two teenage assistants would call me. They usually spend their afternoons studying upstairs in the clinic library." Megan paused and then laughed. "At least that's what they say they're doing. Carlito and Luzia have started dating each other."

"Uh oh!" laughed Alvaro. "Do you think you should leave them alone like that?"

"Oh, they're responsible. They won't go too far. They both asked me to trust them, and I do."

"Hmmm," Alvaro muttered as he started nibbling her neck. "Trust is a beautiful thing. Your neck looks very trusting..."

Megan's mind was still on her work. "How Madeira still manages to get dog vaccines these days is completely beyond me." She paused again and gave a soft gasp at a particularly intimate caress. Alvaro's hand was stroking the underside of her breast, almost cupping her, and his mouth had moved to lick the soft center of her throat. It was trust, and she tilted her head back to expose herself fully. His tongue caressed her vulnerable throat while his hand slid to caress her other breast. Soft strokes at first, and then a firm squeeze. Megan could feel her nipples getting hard. "Hmm, that feels nice... Thinking frisky thoughts?" She wiggled her body playfully, and let the back of her hand slide along his hip and then teasingly across his groin. Through the soft cotton of his pajamas, Megan felt a very stiff erection.

He grinned. "A lot of flashing images, you, me... I guess I was also thinking about two teenagers alone together in a library!" He licked Megan's neck to her ear, his open hand cupping her now from underneath, supporting and fondling the weight of her breast. "I know Luzia's parents, and Luzia too. I went to preschool with her older brother, back in the 2020's. You're right, she is responsible, and worthy of trust. But physically she's the kind of girl boys dream about..."

Megan wiggled and then sighed as Alvaro's fingers at last found her nipple. "I know. But Alvaro, they're both eighteen. They have the right to be together without chaperons." Megan turned to kiss her lover, and for a long while no words were spoken. Their caresses were intimate and loving but not demanding. Eventually they got into a position where Megan was giving Alvaro a backrub. Megan was kneeling on the floor and Alvaro was lying prone on the sofa, looking so relaxed Megan thought he might fall asleep.

She definitely didn't want that. She pulled down the bottom of Alvaro's pajamas a bit with one hand and lowered her head and started licking his tailbone. Her other hand was still massaging the small of his back. Alvaro had done the same thing to her their last night together five weeks ago, and she had found the experience both heavenly and sexually arousing in the extreme.

Her mind flashed back to the experience. She had been panting. Alvaro's breath had felt hot and ragged between his licks, and in the dim light she had seen his male eagerness for her making a big tent in the front of his pajama bottoms. Megan had lain still and submissive, hoping her lover would remove her pajama bottoms completely and mount her, either in her bedroom or right here on the sofa, she wouldn't have cared which. But her exposed tailbone was as far as Alvaro ventured that night.

What had stopped him? Megan didn't think it was sexual morality, not any more. In their hearts, they had both accepted each other as life mates, husband and wife. Megan was sure of it. So what was stopping Alvaro from mounting her? What was stopping Alvaro from asking her to marry him? Megan suddenly realized it must be something fundamental, perhaps some deep issue of honor or loyalty. Could it be his job?

"It's time," Megan thought. "It's time to get some answers. But how to do it?" The solution came to her almost immediately. Their bonds of trust and love for each other were infinitely strong. There was no risk. She should simply complain and ask.