Chapter 38: Desire And Intimacy

It was very early when I woke up the next morning. Erin and Alex were next to each other, with Alex's arm sprawled across Erin's hip as they slept. I got up quietly so I wouldn't disturb them, brushed the cobwebs off my teeth, and threw on some clothes. Alex's keys were on the kitchen counter. I took them and opened the door as quietly as I could. The wind and rain were still battering the house, but the storm seemed calmer than when we were driving through it. The eye of the hurricane was further north and Tybee Island was being whipped by the rotating mass at the edge of the storm.

I was pretty wet by the time I got in the car. The turns Erin had made getting us here in the dark were confusing, but I figured I was on an island. How lost could I really get?

It turned out I could get pretty lost, even on an island. I managed to wander around until I found the shopping district. There was one lonely little convenience store, a mom-and-pop operation that was open for the few locals who stuck around through the storm. I found enough staples to keep us for a few days. I bought milk, bologna, bread, orange juice, microwave popcorn, some ground beef and buns, pancake mix, syrup, and eggs. That should hold us.

It took me about a half hour to find a landmark that looked familiar, but I managed. I hauled my packages into the house and dumped them on the kitchen table. Erin had gotten up and started making coffee. She was in the shower, and Alex was still asleep on the floor. I found a frying pan and put it on the stove. I mixed up a batch of pancakes and ladled the batter into the frying pan. While the first batch was cooking, I poured myself a cup of coffee. I also poured a glass of OJ for each of us, and decided to give Erin hers. I knocked on the bathroom door and opened it just a crack.

"Want some juice?" I asked.

She giggled. "Are you offering?" she said from behind the shower curtain.

"Orange juice," I said.

"Oh. Too bad."

She turned off the water and threw back the shower curtain. I stood there like a dummy, clutching the glass of orange juice, as I watched her unconcernedly reach for a towel.

"And here I thought you were offering something else," she said with a smile. "A little shot of Porter Potion, maybe."

I stared at her as she began to dry herself off. "No tan lines," I managed to stutter.

She looked down at her body, and then she looked back up at me with an unreadable expression. "How about that," she said.

"I take it you sunbathe in the nude a lot."

She smiled tightly. "You could say that," she said.

"Privacy fence at home around the pool? What about your brother?"

"Actually, we spend most of our summers at my Aunt Susan's place. She's got a campsite that's very ... private."

I handed her the glass. She took it and took a sip, all the while gazing at me. It was strangely erotic, not surprising considering I was standing in the bathroom, alone with a naked and very attractive girl.

"Uh ... pancakes," I stumbled, suddenly remembering my cooking.

Erin giggled as I scrambled for the door. How do they do that? I asked myself for about the thousandth time. How do they get me so flustered while they stay so calm?

I found my way back to the kitchen. Alex was awake and was minding the pancakes for me, a cup of coffee in one hand. She was dressed in just a tee shirt and panties, her hair tousled from sleep.

"Hey," she said. "Is this your handiwork?"

"Such as it is," I said.

"Here, take over," she said, handing me a spatula. "Gotta go pee-pee."

I continued with the manufacture of breakfast, trying hard not to think about Erin sunbathing nude at her Aunt Susan's place. I was just putting a big plate of flapjacks on the table when the girls came out. They were sort of dressed, in a casual and half-naked way. I could only sigh. It was going to be a trying weekend among such temptations.

"What shall we do today?" asked Alex as she reached for the platter of pancakes.

"Why, go to the beach, of course," said Erin enthusiastically.

We could hear the wind howling, and even though the rain was slackening, it was not a pleasant day, despite the moderate temperature. I looked at Erin doubtfully, but she was not to be denied. I refilled my plate, determined to go meet my destiny with at least a full stomach.

Alex cleaned up the kitchen while Erin searched a linen closet for towels. We were going to need a bunch of them. She came back into the main room with an armload. The girls took their bags into one of the three bedrooms and changed into swimsuits.

Since I hadn't been able to bring anything, I didn't have anything to change into. I grabbed my poncho and waited by the door for the girls.

The weather was continuing to gradually improve, though it was still nasty. We were within walking distance of the shoreline, but Erin suggested we drive over to a different beach, over on the landward side of the island. We got into the car, and Erin picked her way along one-lane avenues, across the island to a tiny spit of beach facing the coast. There was one other car in the small parking lot, but I didn't see anybody. Another foolish tourist, I told myself as we opened the car doors against the wind.

We left the towels in the car. They would have blown away if we tried to put them anywhere. They would have gotten as soaked as we were getting, anyway. We had to lean into the wind as we walked out onto the hard-packed sand. Stingers of blowing sand tried to rip away pieces of my skin until we got closer to the pounding surf. Then it was sea spray taking off the first few layers of epidermis. The waves were huge, over five meters, the tops foaming and breaking off in the wind. The sea was an angry gray-green color, roiling and bubbling as the next breakers built. The three of us stood side by side, facing into the wind, and we leaned into it, letting the wind hold us up. I held my arms outstretched and leaned further, feeling as if I was dancing along the point of balance. It felt as if the wind was going to pick me up like a kite and let me float away. It was the closest sensation to flying untethered I had ever felt, and I laughed for the sheer joy of it. The rain plastered my hair to my head, and seawater combined with the rain hit on my face and in my mouth.

I glanced over at Erin, standing next to me. The wind was whipping her t-shirt, plastering itself to her body. She was laughing into the wind, looking for all the world like an aspect of Pallas Athene, the Goddess of Storms. Beyond her, Alex was dancing in the sand, letting the wind whip her hair around, completely happy in this element.

So, I realized, was I.

We spent the rest of the morning playing on the beach. We dared the ocean by running out into the receding surf, retreating when the pounding waves attacked. We only went out about knee-deep, but even that was risky. I could feel a strong undertow even that shallow. No way was I going to go any further into it. The girls followed my lead, dancing out into the water and running back to shore, laughing and squealing in the rain, the wind, and the salty spray.

It was exhausting, this creation of fun in adverse conditions. I sat down heavily on the wet sand to catch my breath. I thought I was sweating heavily, but the air was so full of moisture collecting on every surface that I couldn't really tell.

Alex and Erin collapsed down on either side of me. They looked as bedraggled as I felt.

"Food," said Alex. "Food and drink."

"And shower," I added. I leaned over and picked at my shorts. The sand in my underwear was beginning to irritate me.

"Feed me first, Porter," said Alex. "Then shower."

"A creature driven by your stomach, aren't you?" I asked.

"Let's just say I'm a creature driven by certain ... hungers, shall we?" said Alex with a mischievous grin. She scrambled to her feet, and then held out her hands to haul me up. "And right now food is what I crave."

Alex pulled me to my feet, and I reached down and helped Erin up. The three of us, pushed by the wind, stumbled arm-in-arm-in-arm back to Alex's car.

There was no point in trying to dry off in the rain, so we spread dry towels across the seats and got in. Erin drove us back to the house, and we made a mad dash to get inside. I pulled off my soaked shirt, but decided to put up with the sand for a little longer and left my shorts on. I dried myself off the best I could, and I padded into the kitchen to get some sodas while the girls toweled off.

I found a saucepan and filled it about halfway with water. I put six of our eggs into the water and put it on the stovetop. I turned around in time to see Alex and Erin, both completely naked, settling on the couch in front of the television.

"Just call us when lunch is ready," said Alex with a chuckle.

"I'm a slave to women," I muttered.

"You're our hero," swooned Erin in a high, silly voice. "How can we ever repay you?"

They couldn't keep a straight face, though, and they collapsed against each other as they both burst out laughing. I could feel my face burning as I turned away to finish preparing lunch. My imagination was frothing with thoughts of payments and paybacks, along with silent questions of the costs.

While the eggs were boiling, I took a shower. It wasn't until I finished and I was drying off that it occurred to me: I had no dry shorts. Or underwear. I wrapped a towel tightly around my waist, determined not to walk around naked in front of both girls.

I walked determinedly out of the bathroom. The girls had torn open one of our bags of chips to fortify themselves while they waited for me. I self-consciously walked over to grab a handful of chips. As I bent over, I felt Erin tug at my towel, and she managed to whip it off before I could grab it. She tossed it over the couch behind her. She had a devilish gleam in her eye.

"I think we're starting a new tradition. A No-Clothes Weekend." She turned to Alex, who was sitting beside her, trying to look innocent. "What do you think, love?"

"I think that's a great idea," said Alex. She couldn't hold her serious expression, though, and she began smiling.

I suddenly felt like a piece of cheese in a houseful of cats. With as much dignity as I could muster, I picked up my towel and wrapped it around me again. I walked away from them, back to the kitchen. I heard Alex whisper, "Yum," but I pointedly ignored the comment. Two naked girls in the house, and I was the nervous one. Go figure.

Alex's attitude was a studied nonchalance, almost a challenge. She dared to be nude. Erin, on the other hand, was completely comfortable in her skin, absolutely unconcerned about her state of undress. Erin's perfectly even tan, contrasting with Alex's pale breasts and groin, forced me to conclude Erin spent a great deal of time outside and out of her clothes, and probably in the company of others.

And me? Even with Alex's deliberate attitude and Erin's relaxation in being naked, I was neither nonchalant nor comfortable. I needed some small cover-up. Why is that?

Ah, well. Something to ponder some other time. Lunch calls.

There was mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish, and mustard in the fridge. Once the eggs were finished boiling, I put them in cold water and added a few ice cubes. While they were cooling, I spread out lots of bread and got out a bowl. I peeled the eggs and mashed them with a fork, and then I added the mayonnaise, relish, mustard, and some salt and pepper. I spread the egg salad on the bread, and then I cut the sandwiches diagonally. I made one sandwich for each of the girls, and two for me. I had the feeling I would need the fortification.

While I was fixing lunch, Erin got up and went into one of the bedrooms. She came back out with a small bottle in her hand, which she set on the floor by the couch. Then she walked over to the front door, where the girls had left their bathing suits and shirts. She gathered them up and took them into the hallway. She opened a closet door, and there was a stacked washer and dryer. She put the wet clothes in the washing machine and started it.

"Can you grab my stuff too?" I asked.

"Already did," she said. She favored me with a smile. "It's the least I could do for my favorite chef."

She went back into the front room to rejoin Alex, who had the television on. The local stations, apparently deciding the hysteria had passed when Diana left the state, had resumed their normal broadcasting. I brought the sandwiches out on a plate and set them down on the coffee table. There was a rerun of Green Acres on, and Erin and Alex were pretending to be interested in it.

"Good show?" I asked as I sat between them. I picked up a sandwich and took a big bite.

"Oh, yes, the best," gushed Erin.

"Those Gabor sisters really knew how to act," added Alex.

"Mmm ... hmmm," I mumbled, deliberately incoherent.

The girls couldn't hold it. They both began laughing, leaning against me. I kept on eating, desperately trying to forget I had two beautiful, naked girls sitting next to me. It was difficult, but I managed to keep it together enough for the thought of food to take hold of the girls. They both reached for a sandwich and settled back to enjoy lunch.

Erin got up to get a glass of milk. I started in on my second sandwich. It was sloppy eating. I leaned over the back of the couch and asked Erin to bring in some paper napkins.

"Got 'em," she called out.

I glanced over at Alex, who was leaning against the arm of the couch with her feet up on the table. There was a dribble of egg salad on her chest and running down between her small breasts. She waited until she saw me looking at her, and then she slowly put her finger in her mouth, got it nice and wet, and then she gathered up some of the spilled egg salad from her body and sucked it off her finger. She looked into my eyes the entire time, enticing me, daring me. I sat rooted to the spot. No way was I going to take up that invitation, even though I could feel my towel begin to press against my expanding cock.

I looked away. Chips. Chips are good. I grabbed a handful and stared at the television while I munched on them. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Erin come around the couch.

"Oh, poor baby, you spilled," she said.

It was enough to make me glance over, and I was lost. Erin was leaning over Alex, her delectable ass jutting out, and she was slowly licking up the dregs of egg salad from between Alex's breasts.

Erin paid no attention to me sitting beside them as she cleaned up Alex's spill, and then proceeded to lick and suck on her nipples. As Erin's tongue began their magic, Alex put one hand gently behind Erin's head, caressing her. I sat back to give them a little more room. I wanted to walk away, give them some privacy, but it was too fascinating to watch.

Like a car wreck, I thought disjointedly.

Erin's mouth slipped from Alex's left breast over to her right, and Alex's other hand found Erin's fuller breast and was gently squeezing it, testing its firmness. I longed to do the same, but I stayed where I was. This was their game, and I was merely an observer.

Alex's hand on Erin's neck was encouraging her to move lower. Erin resisted for a time, content to tease Alex's hard nipples with gentle bites and sucking. I watched as Erin let her fingers trail down to Alex's thigh. Alex, in more of a reflexive action than a conscious decision, let her legs relax. I could see her pussy lips were swollen and damp, expecting Erin's touch.