Adam's Journey Pt. 32

I had heard a few rumors about a run-in between her and Brian, but wanted to get the story straight from the source, so I opened with that.

"Hi Dana. Why don't you sit down and we can talk for a few minutes."

She looked a little apprehensive as she took a seat. "Have I done something wrong?"

I laughed. "No, not as far as I know. Don't believe the stories the other guys tell you about me, they're just trying to scare you." I tried to put her at ease. "I'm way too easy on everyone around here and they know it. No, I just wanted to ask you if you were having any particular problems around the place, with any of the guys."

She leaned back and looked at me silently for a long time, and for the first time I noticed the bright gold flecks in her beautiful brown eyes. "I'm guessing you already know all about it."

I shrugged. "Rumors. I wanted to get the truth. And relax, I know what Brian is like, so don't expect me to take his side."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing, I haven't asked him. I said I wanted the truth."

She paused for a moment, biting her lip as she considered her reply. "OK, look. I can take the sexual banter with these guys, all the kidding around, and I really don't mind. We're all lonely, and it's harmless and it's kind of fun. Most of these guys are great, and I consider them my friends; but Brian, well, he just pushes it too far."

"Yeah, that sounds like our Brian."

"I mean he gets just gross, and he's relentless, he just doesn't know when to quit. That's all bad enough, but..."

I could see that she was hesitant about continuing, and so gently prodded her.

"Go on Dana. I need to hear this."

"Well, last week he trapped me in the hall. I had my hands full and just my robe on and he pinned me up against the wall and started rubbing up against me. He had a hard-on and he was pushing it against my ass, humping me. I told the bastard to quit, but he didn't." She didn't blush as she told the details, her indignation overriding any embarrassment she may have felt..

I had heard that something bad had apparently happened between them, in the hall near the showers, but nobody seemed to know the details. This was shaping up to be considerably worse that I had hoped.

"So what happened?"

"Thank goodness Harley came in just then and Brian backed off. He knew enough to not get caught. I gave him an elbow to his belly, and slapped his face, and Harley saw that part. Fucking Brian just laughed."

That pretty much matched what Harley had told me. Harley is a gentle bear of a man, in his early fifties. He's big, about 6'6" and probably close to 300 pounds, very little of it gone to fat. He's extremely competent, generally quiet and has a good sense of humor, and I knew he had taken a somewhat protective, fatherly attitude toward Dana. I thought Brian was very fortunate that Harley hadn't disassembled him on the spot.

"I'm going to need you to file a sexual harassment complaint, we can probably get Brian canned and booted out of here. Harley will back you up."

She looked at me speculatively for a minute or two, considering that. "Adam, if it's OK, I'd rather just deal with this myself."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

Agitated, defensive, she stood and crossed her arms. "C'mon Adam, me fitting in around here, and being accepted by the guys, that relies on me being able to take care of myself. You know that. If I go crying to mommy I might as well just pack up and go home, and I'm not willing to do that!"

She was right. She had garnered respect by fitting in and being self-sufficient and capable, something the men expected of each other and admired about her. Going all official and reporting Brian, regardless of the fact it was warranted, would undo that trust. I was amazed that someone so young had that insight, and the will to deal with it.

"You're wise beyond your years Dana, and you're right. OK, I'll give you a little leeway, but only a little. One more hiccup and we do it my way, there's not three strikes in this game. And you're going to sign and date something for me saying we had this talk, and you chose to go this route. I'm not happy about it, and I won't get hung out to dry."

She had agreed, thanking me for trying to help, and had gone her own way. Less than a week later I noticed a massive change in Brian's behavoir around Dana, no more teasing and abuse at all. It actually seemed to me that he avoided her, leaving the room when she was around and keeping his eyes averted, refusing to look her in the face. Whatever she had done to shut him up, we all appreciated it. I was actually relieved to see it, and again I heard rumors of how the change came about, but did not know the whole story. I planned to ask her about it someday, and felt confident that she'd tell me.

We had bounced and jounced our way to the first remote site and completed the work there, moving on to the second. It was a little after noon when we arrived at the second site, and we broke for lunch before doing the needed work. We had packed sandwiches and soft drinks in a cooler, strapped to her machine, and she brought it over. The day had heated up and we had both shed our long sleeved shirts, me to a t-shirt and her to a sleeveless knit top that was very flattering to her high, round breasts. I tried not to notice as the cool breeze made her nipples stand out, and, as usual, I failed.

She stretched her arms overhead, which didn't help, and groaned as her stiff muscles stretched out. "Mmm, damn! Those things are fun to ride, but they kind of beat the shit out of you after awhile."

I moved my shoulders around, loosening up. "Just be glad you're not my age. I keep hearing things creak and pop."

She laughed. "Yeah, you're so old. You've gotta be what, all of nine or ten years older than me? Cowboy up Adam, or I'll take your hat away."

I was wearing my Stetson, wanting the wide brim to keep the sun off better. She had a baseball cap, a red Cardinals number to shade her eyes and nose, and with her short hair she looked really cute in it. She took it off and dropped it on the ground, running her hands through her hair, which was a little sweaty, like my own.

I dropped my hat as well, lowering myself onto a flat rock in the shade and taking the sandwich she held out, and a cold Pepsi. We ate in silence for awhile, me admiring her profile as she looked out across the low sagebrush hills, her eyes following a small herd of antelope as they grazed about a quarter mile away. "It's so pretty out here. I love this country, so open and big."

As she said this she turned and caught me looking at her. She smiled and, tilting her head to one side, said "Were you looking at me?"

"Guilty. You're a very pretty girl, nice to look at. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all, it's a nice compliment. But I'm a woman Adam, not a girl." She looked back out at the antelope. "I sure wish I'd brought shorts along, it's getting hot and I could get some sun on my legs."

"The brush would tear you up, riding through it."

"I know that, not for riding, just for sitting here, and while we work on the equipment."

I took a small plunge, teasing her. "We're adults, you could strip to your underwear while you work if you wanted. I think I can handle that."

She laughed again. "I'm sure you could! And I would probably take you up on that, if I was wearing any."

That shut me up, then left me stammering and probably blushing. "Oh. Well. Yeah, I guess that does complicate things. Forget I said that."

She laughed again. "You're so funny, the way you react to stuff. It's cute. Do you know that's the first time you've kidded with me like that? You and Tony are the only ones that haven't hit on me, in all the time I've been here, and Tony's gay. You're not, right?"

"Right, I'm not. But I had someone special, and I thought you got enough grief from the other guys. Wait, you think Tony's gay?"

She caught the past-tense. "You had someone special? Not anymore?" She ignored my question about Tony.

I shrugged. "It's complicated. I don't know right now, so let's leave it at that. And I wasn't really hitting on you, just teasing. Although, now that you mention it..."

She looked at me, trying to see if I was still teasing. "I wouldn't mind being naked around you, it wouldn't be scary. I feel very comfortable and safe with you."

I shook my head, smiling. "That's not necessarily something a guy wants to hear from a beautiful younger woman, that he's safe and comfortable. Like her grandpa, maybe."

She giggled, the first time I'd ever heard her do that. "I meant it in a good way, just that you wouldn't do anything I didn't want you to."

"Well, that's true, I suppose."

She stood and unbuttoned her jeans, sliding the zipper down. "I hope you're going to join me. It would be a little weird to be the only one naked."

She hooked her thumbs in the waistband and began to wiggle out of them, but I stopped her. "Dana..."

She stopped and looked at me, the waistband of her jeans pushed down to the top of her thighs. The lower part of her flat tummy and much of her trim little brown bush were very visible, and it was an effort to tear my eyes away and return to her face.

"Dana, I'm not going to get naked with you. It's a lovely thought, believe me, but just a bad idea on so many levels."

"Why is it a bad idea Adam? It seems like a pretty OK idea to me." She made no effort to turn away or cover herself up, and I caught myself looking at her sex again and turned away. My mouth had gone dry, and I could feel the beginnings of an erection coming on. I was already horny from lack of sex and from being around her, and this, well...

She laughed as I turned away. "Don't strain a muscle trying not to look. If I minded you looking at me I sure wouldn't take my clothes off, now would I?

"C'mon Dana, this just has problems written all over it. Too many reasons not to do this, and only one reason in favor."

"What reasons Adam? If you're embarassed because you're small or something, don't be. I'm not hung up on big cocks, I like 'em any size." She laughed. "That sounded a little slutty, but you know what I mean. Not everyone has a perfect body."

Easy for her to say, since she had an extremely nice and quite possibly perfect one herself!

"No Dana, that's not it. There's just a lot of reasons..."

"Like what?"

"Well, for starters, my ass hasn't much seen the sun since I was about three years old. It's so white it would scare the antelope, and that sun will blister me in about ten minutes. Second, I'm kind of your boss when Carl is off-site, and getting tangled up with subordinates is always bad news, and third, you've avoided any sexual tangles with all the guys up 'til now. Why start now, and why me?"

Before she could answer (and I was very curious to hear her answer to that last one) I went on: "Plus, we're out here in the open where anyone could see, we have work to do, and I'm way older than you."

She left her jeans pushed part-way down and pulled her top off over her head. I was right, she had a perfect body, young, tight, and flawless, her breasts high and firm and her rosy nipples erect and perfectly matched. Now I really didn't want her seeing mine.

"That is quite a list Adam. Let's see, where should I start? First, about the sunburn, I have sunscreen in my pack and I'll be happy to rub some on your white ass, or anywhere else you think you might need it. As far as being out in the open, who are you afraid is going to see us, the antelope, the prairie dogs, or the sage grouse?"

I couldn't argue those points, sunscreen works well, and her rubbing it on me, hmmm... And about the open space, she was right, there was nobody within miles of us.

She went on. "We have plenty of time to get our work done. We can work naked, it'll be fun. You're not that much older than me, and I don't care about that, and as far as you being my boss, that doesn't matter either. That idea about being your subordinate, now that has some serious fun potential."

I looked at her and saw her grin, enjoying kidding me. I had to laugh at her spirit, and fun but assertive nature. She saw me looking at her body, and seemed to recognize that I really liked what I saw. I was hard, and, being so horny, very tempted.

"So, was that all?"

"No, you didn't answer the main one. Why me? Why not one of the other guys?" I really wanted to hear her answer to that one. For the last couple of weeks, except for the fact that it did not take place at a small midwestern college, my life had felt like something out of Penthouse Forum. This was just not me, not my normal life. There was always Izzy of course, but that's the thing. Izzy had always been there, from the beginning.

I've dated and slept with a few other women over the years, but always in that order, and always the traditional one man, one woman, get to know each other, build a relationship path to sex. Once even all the way to marriage, which pretty much ended the sex part. Now, with Rain, and the experience with Kristi, and then Sue and Rick, and now maybe Dana, this was just not my life. I just didn't have sudden, unexpected, spontaneous sex with near strangers, I had always had to work for it.

Not that I didn't enjoy the chase, but women don't usually hit on me, I'm not that handsome, smooth, studly, lady-killer type, and had experienced some long dry spells. I waited for her to answer.

"Why not you, Adam? And who says I'm not involved with any of the other guys?"

That surprised me, completely. "Are you?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but I'm young, healthy, and have normal needs and desires, and it gets lonely out here if I wall myself off from everyone. Damn, I have all these guys around me every day, and every night - I'm not a nun, Adam."

"No way you're sleeping around! Who? I would have heard about it!"

She shook her head. "It's called discretion, boss. We're discreet, and very careful, kind of like being way out here. And the 'who' is none of your business."

I just looked at her, still a little surprised. I don't know why I was surprised, I'm maybe a little naive, I guess. I think she thought I was still waiting for an answer.

"OK then. Justin, for one. Are you happy?"

That made some sense, Justin was her age, although nowhere near her achievement level or intelligence. He was our errand boy and delivery driver that would drive the long miles into town for supplies and other necessities as needed, and do odd jobs when called upon. A nice kid, and good looking, but he had probably already reached the pinnacle of his career. Still, they had bonded over their common age and music tastes, and fate had thrown them together out here in the boonies, etc, and I could see that, how they might eventually come together.

"Dana, I guess that makes sense. Look, I'm not judging you, and what you do on your own time, well, just be careful, OK?"

"We are. And Harley, Adam."

That took me a second. "Harley? You're sleeping with Harley? He's more than twice your age! I thought he looked at you like a daughter or something, the way he watches over you. I don't believe that!"

She smiled. "Be nice Adam. And no, not exactly like a daughter. He cares for me though, and I do for him too. He's very sweet, and so gentle for such a big man. And yeah, he's older, but boy, does he know stuff! And that old saying about big hands or big feet, well that applies to him for sure!"

I knew exactly what she meant, and gave a quick laugh. "I thought you said that didn't matter to you."

"I said it didn't matter, I didn't say I didn't like it! Big is fun, but Justin isn't very big, or very talented. Just really, really enthusiastic!"

That had me laughing out loud, she really was turning out to be a delight.

"You are a revelation, Dana. We should probably get to work, though."

She held her hands out to her sides and let me look at her, her beautiful semi-nakedness. "Are you really sure you want to turn this down? Are you positive you're not gay?"

"I'm not gay, and no, I don't want to turn you down. But I need to. Are we OK with that?"

She shrugged. "I guess. Do you care if I leave my top off?"

"No, that would be lovely. I'll even take my shirt off so you don't feel out of place."

I did, and she looked at me. "Cool. You look nice, good pecs. Let's get to work, boss."

She took our shirts and dropped them on the seat of her ATV, then got her laptop out, connected to the unit, and went to work. I just had routine maintenence at this site, making sure the solar panels that were used to charge the batteries for the equipment were functioning OK, and that all the sensors were still in place. Her work should have taken longer than mine, but I kept sneaking looks at her, and so was getting very little accomplished.

I had noticed several times that she had a small smile playing about her lips, and when she looked up and caught me looking (for about the 50th time), she laughed.

"Why do you always look away so fast, like you're caught with your hand in the cookie jar? It's OK to for you to look at me, I really don't mind. You're kind of giving me a big ego boost."

I had to kind of laugh at myself too, it was foolish for me to be so uncomfortable with her semi-nudity when she so obviously was not.

"Just reflex, Dana. Guys don't like to get busted ogling the women, especially by the ogle-ee."

"Would it be easier for you if I put my top back on?"

"Easier, yes, but not nearly as enjoyable. No, I'll be fine. You look incredibly beautiful, and you might as well be comfortable."

She thanked me, and we worked in silence for awhile, and I continued to enjoy her body. I've heard it said that if you go to nude beaches or nudist camps it becomes very normal very quickly, and you don't really notice the nudity after awhile. I'm afraid it might take me years to get to that stage, especially if very many of the women looked anywhere near as nice as Dana. Or Kristi or Kori for that matter, or Izzy, Rain, or Sue. I had to admit that even Lisa has a great body. Fuck it, I just love the female form in all its variety, and I'll admit to being a lech!

I was the first to break the silence. "So you're really involved with Harley, huh? Amazing! How did you keep him from killing Brian when he walked in on him assaulting you?"

She laughed. "It wasn't easy, believe me. Harley wanted to twist Brian's head off and squeeze out the contents, if any. I told him the same thing I told you, that I had to handle it myself and that I didn't want him to butt in." She paused for a moment. "I was really surprised how angry he got about it, he always seems so quiet and gentle, just good old easygoing Harley, you know?"

I stood up and looked at her. "I'm not surprised at all. He obviously cares a lot about you, and he's old school. In his mind you just don't treat women that way, and if he sees it, it becomes his job to protect you. A little different type of respect for women between him and Brian, huh?"

"But I can take care of myself!"

"I know, but he wasn't raised around today's strong, independent women Dana, remember that. It's a code of honor thing for him."

She smiled softly, and her eyes sparkled. "He's really very sweet. And sexy, like a big teddy bear."

I grinned at her description, nodding. "Just don't hurt him, Dana. His wife died about two and a half years ago, and I thought for awhile he might too. He really struggled with that. He's really only started to get back to his more normal self just lately." The little light bulb in my head suddenly clicked on, and I stared at her for a few moments. "Oh. Duh. Well, now it makes more sense."

She looked very serious. "He told me about his wife, Adam, about how she battled the cancer. And he cried, he still hurts. He says I'm the first woman he's been with since then, and I really care for him, but he knows we're not exclusive, he understands that. We just really enjoy being together, and I would never, ever do anything to hurt him."