Chapter 3

"Do you think they will?" asked Kelani as I closed the door to our room.

"Will what?" I asked.

"Get laid tonight?"

"They'll try. You got them going. I was very impressed."

"All I did was what I used to see the old women doing as they worked. They were practically pornographic when they chatted. Of course I didn't know the difference until I came to America. It took some getting used to. I kept saying things that were considered rude in polite society."

I thought about the ease and comfort with which she had stripped in front of me, and confirmed in my mind it was also related to the culture she came from.

"Well it worked," I said.

"They're like hungry tigers," said Kelani, unrolling her sleeping bag. "Did you see the way they looked at you?"

"Yes. Except for the black haired one."

"Wendy? Yes. She's trying to convince herself she's still in love with her husband."

"And you think she's not?"

"You can pick up things when women chatter."

"What else did you pick up?"

"Jennifer swings both ways," she said.

"You got all that from twenty minutes of casual conversation?"

"I got that from the way she put her hand on my knee," she said.

"Oh."

"That's why I got so lovey dovey with you."

"The newlywed angle was brilliant," I said. "I should have thought of that."

"Well, I really do feel like I hardly know you," she said, as she unrolled my bag and laid it out next to hers.

"I guess you're right," I replied.

She surveyed the bed. "This is going to be crowded."

"It's designed for people who like sleeping together," I said. "While I was walking around I saw an open door in one of the rooms. It had bunk beds in it. I can sleep on the floor."

There was a knock at the door.

I went to open it. Blondie was there.

"Is Kelani here?" she asked.

"Come on in," I said.

Her eyes took in the whole room and stopped on the sleeping bags.

"Hey," said Kelani. She bent over and unzipped my bag, going clear around the end.

"Did you bring any mascara?" Asked Blondie. "I seem to have forgotten mine."

Kelani unzipped her bag and then pulled one edge of mine to meet one edge of hers. She engaged the zipper and started zipping the bags together, to make a double.

"I never wear the stuff," said Kelani as she worked. "I'm not much for makeup."

"If only I had your skin," said Jennifer. "And your figure." She giggled.

Kelani flipped back one corner of the bag, making it ready for occupancy ... by two ... and then stood, turned and smiled.

"Sorry."

Blondie lost some of her giggly glow. "Thanks anyway. See you in the morning."

She ducked out of the door and I closed it.

"A woman worth watching," I said softly.

"You noticed it's an act too," said Kelani. "She wants people to think she's a dumb blonde."

"I bow to your wisdom," I said, looking at our bed. "She was sure interested in the bed."

"That's why I zipped the bags together. I didn't want her to think we were sleeping apart, even in sleeping bags. She's smart enough she may have seen through my act too. I am new at this."

"I don't think so," I said. "You were good. You even had me believing no other man will ever touch you."

"Thank you," she said. I saw her dusky skin darken more and she looked away. "You don't have to sleep on the floor."

There was invitation in her voice, and it zinged me. I looked at the beautiful and obviously willing young woman standing in front of me. I had dreamed of this circumstance for six months. I had masturbated, countless times, imagining this scene.

But I also had 20+ years experience with knowing that office romances rarely work out well. And we were on an operation.

"I can't sleep with you, Kelani," I said.

She looked surprised, which surprised me.

"I know," she said, suddenly. "That's not what I meant. I just meant that we're both professionals and this is just something that has to be done. What if she comes back? What are we going to do when we get to the campground? We have to look married. I get your reluctance, but just because we share some warmth doesn't mean I expect anything else has to happen."

My head seemed to warp a little bit as I tried to put her statement into some frame of reference that made sense. I decided it had to be a cultural difference again. My gut told me to sleep on the floor, because I was going to embarrass myself. I knew I wouldn't lose control and try to force myself on her. She could kick my ass six ways from Tuesday. But I could offend her. She was obviously putting great stock and faith in my professionalism, and I wasn't at all sure my professionalism was up to the task. At the same time, we needed to get past this discomfort that persisted between us. And if we could share a sleeping bag without anything going horribly wrong, that might be what would bond us together as partners, and allow us both to be more at ease.

"Okay," I said.

The next hurdle was one I hadn't thought of. I usually just slept in a pair of boxers. They were comfortable and light, and it just hadn't occurred to me that I would have to appear in front of her wearing boxers on this mission. I had assumed we'd sleep separately. I mean it was obvious we'd be sleeping separately.

And I had brought nothing else to sleep in. I could add a T shirt, but that was about it.

While I was worrying about this, Kelani took off her clothes and slipped into the bag naked.

"You're not wearing pajamas," I pointed out.

"No, I'm not," she said. "I didn't bring pajamas. I don't even own any pajamas."

"Well I'm wearing pajamas!" I insisted.

"Of course you are," she said. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"My boxers are my pajamas," I admitted.

"In my village men don't wear underwear at all," she said. "It serves no purpose."

"How about keeping your clothes clean?" I argued.

"In my village men become proficient at wiping," she said.

"This conversation is going downhill fast," I said. I decided that was good. I mean she obviously wasn't trying to seduce me. Not if she was talking about skid marks in men's underwear.

"If you say so," she said. "Hurry. It's bloody cold in here."

"Your accent is creeping back," I said.

"It does that when I think of home," she said. "I try not to think of home all that much."

"That's too bad," I said, trying to concentrate on anything except the fact that I was going to climb into a sleeping bag with a very naked Kelani. "Home should be a good memory."

"Yeah," she said. "Too late for that."

"Sorry," I said.

"It's in the past."

Someone knocked at the door again.

"Yes?" I called out.

Blondie opened the door and stepped in. She stared at me, standing there in only boxers, with my pants in my hands.

"I'm so sorry!" she said, not averting her eyes at all. "I thought when you answered it meant I could come in."

Her eyes went to the bag. My eyes followed and I saw Kelani's naked upper chest suddenly visible. Somehow all that long, black hair had formed into a pillow of sorts, supporting her head and surrounding her oval face. She looked gorgeous.

"Never mind," said Blondie. "I was going to see if I could get some of your body lotion. I forgot that too, it seems. But never mind. I'm so sorry. I promise I won't bother you again tonight."

With that she turned, left, and closed the door behind her.

"Well that was rather transparent," said Kelani. "She's definitely suspicious of us. The question is why?" Before I could frame a response she said "Would you please hurry up? It's freezing in here!"

I turned off the light and she moved over as I got in. I zipped the edge of the bag up and laid back. Only then did I realize I had forgotten to put on a T shirt. I blamed it on Blondie's distraction. She had looked me over too while she was there.

Kelani rolled against me, and her breast pressed to my arm. She felt hot.

"You're supposed to be warm, not cold," she complained.

"You're not supposed to be rubbing your naked body all over me," I shot back.

"I'm trying to get warm," she argued.

"You're already as hot as a furnace."

"I'm only touching you a little bit. Don't freak out."

I tried to think of something other than the fact that one of the most beautiful women I had ever known was pressing her naked body against me.

"So what do you think Blondie's agenda is?" I asked.

"Jennifer? I don't know. I haven't been around her enough."

"Well, you've been playing it as though you're not interested," I said.

"I'm not," she replied.

"I didn't mean to imply you were," I said. "You just said she kind of made overtures, and since she's obviously interested in us for some reason, I thought you might want to investigate that a little."

"I'm curious about it," she said, wiggling against me. "But I'm not sure it matters. It's the contractor people we need to worry about, not the guests."

"You have a point," I said.

The point I was thinking about was on the tip of one of her breasts. I could feel it poking into my arm. I felt my cock arrive at full erection. Worried that she might somehow brush against it and unmask my obvious lack of professional detachment, I said "No offense," and rolled so my back was to her.

"None taken," she said as she scooted up against my back.

It got quiet. I could feel her hot breath on my back. I wanted to jerk off, but of course that was impossible unless I got out of the warm bag and went to the bathroom. It was tempting, but not enough.

I wasn't sleepy. I was horny, and I knew sleep would come with difficulty. So I went over all the things in my mind we were going to be looking for when we got up on the mountain. I tried thinking up ways to get into the storage rooms, to see what was there and take some kind of inventory. I had decided that photographing the storage rooms was the only way to get good results, when I heard her snore lightly behind me.

She wasn't having any trouble sleeping.

Again I wondered about her culture, and how she was raised. Obviously she was comfortable in a situation like this, and able to do this without making it into a sexual thing.

I'm pretty sure I didn't get to sleep for another hour or two.

I woke at one point, and her arm was draped over me, her hand lying on the bag beside my chest. It was a casual kind of touch, something one might do in one's sleep.

But it sure felt good.

It was a rough night.

In the morning I woke early and just got up. I went to the john and got rid of both the piss hardon I had and the semen that was making my balls feel swollen. When I came out, she was up and still nude, waiting for the bathroom. She brushed by me without a word and closed the door. I got dressed and, probably because I'm stubborn and was trying like hell to make this into a casual situation, I stayed there and waited for her.

She came out, combing out her hair with her fingers. Her nipples were stiff, protruding from her smooth, round breasts. I knew it was the chill of the morning - I could see goose bumps on her belly - so I picked up her pack from the floor and sat it on the bed next to me. She dug into it and started getting dressed. This morning she had skin tight designer jeans and a western, long sleeved shirt in a checkered pattern. Her oriental face looked odd above the western shirt, but I was distracted by the fact that she hadn't put on a bra when she put on the shirt.

Her hands went to her head and I watched, amazed, as within what seemed like only a few seconds she had braided her hair into what looked like a complex French braid. She brought the loose end up and bit it with her mouth while she searched her bag for a scrunchie. Then she stood up and looked at me, sitting there in my boxers, shivering.