Cougar Ch. 03

"What's the matter, Sally?" Alma asked, picking up on my mood swing.

"Nothing. Just a bit moody, I was thinking of my late husband is all."

Alma nodded, then she went in and showered.

"Feeling better yet?" She asked when she came out, rubbing her hair furiously.

"Yes, a little bit." I answered.

"Well, grab a shower and get dressed. Let's run up North and gamble." She grinned.

That sounded good, I hustled, freshened up and off we went.

Alma had on a pretty Peach colored outfit, it had a crossed type top designed to get attention while being just short of getting her arrested.

"Trolling, huh?" I laughed when I saw her. Then not to be outdone, I dug out a skirt and blouse that was mildly short, wearing the top undone enough that I probably would need to stay aware of who was sitting next to me.

We pulled down the hill into the casino, a young man was instantly there to take the car and park it.

He did a double take at the Corvette, then looked at Alma, then back at me. His face broke into a huge grin.

"One scratch and you die!" Alma called out to him, laughing. Then holding hands, we went inside. We were getting one hell of a lot of odd looks so I let go of Alma's hand.

"If we keep that up everyone will think we are a couple of lesbians." I laughed.

It didn't take 60 seconds and I lost track of her, so I wandered around the noisy place looking. I found a silly doubles machine that ate my $20 bill in seconds. Then I fiddled with some penny machines, nothing happening.

Finally I found a row of dollar machines, those were the old fashioned kind I had seen before. The other ones were all silly games, it appeared to be bet $1.50 and win 20 cents.

I sat down at one that had triples that paid on any row they landed on, in short order I ran my $20 bill into over $200. Then of course it began to go the other way.

"You are supposed to cash out when you get ahead, Sally." A voice behind me said. I looked back. It was Kerry, the young man I had danced with the first night we had arrived.

"Well, hello Kerry! Nice to see you, what are you doing up here?" I asked, pushing the button and getting three clicks.

"My Dad and I drove up to play a little bit." He said. That was when I noticed an older man standing nearby. He looked a lot like Kerry and was about the same size, perhaps just an inch taller.

"This is Dane, my Pop. He runs a day charter just down the coast, takes people fishing. Sometimes he does commercial too, for the local restaurants."

The man nodded at me and smiled. His face had fairly heavy weather beaten lines, his skin was very brown. It was obvious this man spent many hours feeling the harsh winds and sunlight out in the ocean. When he reached out to shake my hand I noticed it was thick, and it felt rough, solid.

"Say, why don't you let us buy you lunch upstairs?" Kerry asked.

"Sure. But I am here with my friend."

"Let's go find her, she is welcome too." He said.

It took some time but finally we found Alma in the upstairs section losing money as fast as she could. We rescued her from that and went into the restaurant.

Dane was quite the story teller, he slipped easily from one adventure to another, things he had seen and done out at sea. When he talked about catching crabs I thought of the TV show about that up in Alaska, I could just see this man sitting up in the cabin, in charge.

Even Kerry became quieter, his father was a powerful personality.

Dane also turned out to be quite a dancer, just like his son. Music was playing softly, there was a tiny dance floor. I accepted when he asked me to dance, we were the only ones out there since it was lunch time and most people were engrossed in their meals.

It was fun to be there, with company that was interesting and something going on everywhere a person looked.

Later Dane and I pulled two stools up in front of a huge slot machine near the front and took turns pushing the button. I noticed Alma and Kerry had vanished, now I was alone with this older man.

It wasn't much of a surprise when Alma came by later and told me that she and Kerry were headed back in his car. I glanced at my watch, surprised to find it was now nearly six PM.

We went over and cashed out our win tickets, we had been collecting every time we got $50 ahead and saving the tickets.

"That way when you run out of cash you will have gas money home!" Dane laughed. I was surprised also to find that I had only lost $40, Dane told me that meant I was a big winner.

He took my hand, once again I was aware of how strong this man was.

At my car, Dane smiled and thanked me for my company. I nodded, leaned in to give him a peck on the lips, but he just gathered me in his arms and kissed me.

Now that made my head swim. Dane stepped back, looked at me.

"Would you like to go for a boat ride?" He asked me.

"A boat ride? At this time of night?" It was now fairly dark out.

"She has lights, and I always know where I am." He grinned.

"OK." I said, in complete impulse. We drove the short trip down to the tiny harbor, happily chatting all the way.

.....

The passage out to sea was scary, huge rocks lined the narrow channel, but we passed those and in short order I looked back and the lights from the small city seemed far away. The moon was up, it caused the big waves that slid by to glow, then change to shadow, that was fascinating, beautiful.

Then suddenly I was sick. For a moment I thought I had eaten some bad food, but Dane handed me some ice cold water and a tiny white pill.

"Seasick, this will help." He told me. I felt better out on the deck with the cool wind in my face. Dane turned the big boat and headed back, I could feel the change in the way the deck moved under my feet.

I felt better once we got back to the dock, Dane expertly tied the boat and helped me up the ramp.

"I am sorry for getting ill." I told him.

"Seasick, no problem. Nearly everyone does at first, then you get used to it." He grinned.

The drive back to the hotel alone was uneventful, there were quiet sounds coming from Alma's room so I just went on in to bed.

"You should have hung onto that one!" Alma was sitting at the table looking out the window when I came out the next morning.

"Why?" I asked, having a pretty fair idea.

"That kid is hung like a horse and knows exactly what to do with it!" She laughed. I just shook my head, got some coffee.

"Where did you go?" She asked.

"Dane took me for a boat ride, that was fun." I said.

"I will just bet! What is it like, making love on a moving boat out in the ocean?"

"We didn't. We just talked, but then I got sick."

"Sick? Bummer. I figured you were going to get laid." Alma laughed.

"No, I only barely met the man." I told her.

"That guy wanted to get you down on your back so bad he could taste it, I saw that in his eyes!" Alma just laughed.

I didn't say anything, he hadn't seemed like that to me.

"Let's hit the local shops, see if they have anything." She grinned.

It took nearly all day, Alma wanted to look at every little keepsake in detail. I never saw so many Made in China stickers in my life. Why someone would go to a tourist town and buy Chinese made trinkets is beyond me, but I guess they do.

A few things were neat, but I didn't buy anything. Alma did, I had to help her carry everything back to the room.

The message light was flashing when we got there, I pushed the buttons and heard Dane's voice asking me out to dinner.

"Are you going to go?" Alma asked me.

"I don't know, I was thinking that maybe Simon....?"

"Simon was in the lounge when we got here last night, with a big boobed blond about his age. I think you should go out with this guy, forget about Simon."

Another of those impulses, I called back and Dane answered instantly. I could hear the big engines running in the background, so I knew he was out to sea.

"Great, I am looking forward to seeing you. I will be by around 7 or so, OK?" He said.

"Maybe you will get lucky." Alma laughed as soon as I hung up.

"Oh, it's just a date." I told her.

"Uh huh." She grinned.

.....

I expected to go to some local restaurant, perhaps dance, maybe a show. Instead, we went to Dane's boat.

I was hoping he didn't want to go back out in the ocean, I was not in the mood to get sick again.

Instead, Dane cooked a fine meal of fresh seafood, served it below decks as his big boat stayed tied up at the dock.

"This is delicious, how do you cook so well?" I asked him.

"Fresh caught today, that makes it easy. I was hoping you would come over so I spent the day line fishing." He smiled.

I asked about his son, there had to be a woman somewhere.

"Kerry is a fine young man, he works hard and learns fast. My wife and I broke up way back, it's tough on a woman to be left all alone for weeks on end. I was working with a crew back then. Then I bought my own boat, now I can come home every night if I want to."

"I live here on the boat, she is 60 feet long and has everything I need." He added. Then he touched a button and soft music began to play.

Dane poured some drinks, came over and sat beside me. I could feel a very tiny motion of the boat, just barely. It was warm and I was feeling good.

When he put his arm around me and leaned in for a kiss, I kissed him right back. Of course I knew very well what was coming next, and it did. It flashed into my mind to resist, but then I knew I was in the mood.

His big heavy hands slid up, touched one of my breasts, I turned my head and nuzzled his neck.

It wasn't a mad eager tearing at each others clothing, Dane carefully and gently undressed me. Then he stood up and slid off his shirt as I watched through slitted eyes. His biceps bulged, his hairless chest was muscular. He smiled at me, his eyes taking in my now naked body in delight. I made no effort to hide from him, I was feeling the tingles of anticipation.

For some reason I was completely comfortable with this man, even sitting there naked. I could feel myself get damp, I wanted him to climb on me, fuck me, take me. I felt my legs open for him as I lay back. His gaze dropped down between my legs, what looked like delight flashed in his eyes.

Dane reached down and tripped the catch on his slacks, slid them down and stepped out of them. He wore nothing else, and he was fully erect. Circumcised, the large knob reached nearly all the way to his navel.

I reached out and wrapped both hands around his erection, his breath was coming faster now. He was extremely hard.

I had not expected him to be huge, and he wasn't. But he was not small either, just normal. It felt so good to touch him like that.

Then he was pressed against me, for some reason my first orgasm hit me as he slid inside the first time, then it just kept on and on.

That was a magic coupling, and I have no idea why. Perhaps the slight motion of the boat, the sounds and smells of the harbor. I could hear what sounded like bells from time to time.

There was no oral sex, just sweet petting and touch, wonderful intercourse. Dane's body fit mine, we made love like a long time well practiced married couple. I could feel his pelvic bone mash into mine, we squirmed against each other rather than pounded.

Then after what seemed like forever but was probably only 15 minutes or so I slept, Dane's hard body right next to me. It was the type of sleep one can only get from a full belly and wonderful sex.

I woke up to a noise, then a voice.

"Oops, sorry boss!" Someone said, then the door shut. I sat up, looked around in confusion for a moment before remembering. Dane was on his side naked, leaning on one elbow, looking at me with that same smile. I realized I was fully uncovered, so whoever had just been there must have seen me.

Dane spotted my concern.

"Relax, that was just Carlos. You are beautiful, that probably made his whole day!" He laughed.

"Carlos?" I asked.

"My crewman, we will be heading out in a few minutes. Want to come along?"

"No, I better get back. We check out this afternoon, I need to get back to my office."

I wasn't in the mood to get seasick again.

I dressed quickly, Dane pulled on some heavy work clothing. He took my hand and walked me up to the seawall. He had called a driver to take me back to the hotel. We passed Carlos on the way, I blushed as he grinned at me.

Then I saw Kerry coming down the dock carrying some gear, he looked at me and then his Dad in surprise, then he grinned.

"I hope I can call you, I want to see you again." Dane told me as he leaned in and kissed me.

My head was in a whirlwind all the way back to the hotel. Alma was already packed, it only took me a few minutes myself.

The same pimple faced kid brought my Corvette up, he was smiling ear to ear.

"Man, that is some car, lady." He told me.

"Not a speck on it!" He said to Alma.

"Good, sweetie. When we come back, maybe I will give you a really nice reward." Alma teased.

The poor kid blushed bright red at that.

.....

We had driven at least 30 miles before Alma said a word.

"You must think I am quite a slut." She said finally, looking out the window.

"No, nothing like that, I guess you were just having fun."

"Four different men in three days, I can't believe I actually did that." She said.

"Four?" I asked, surprised. "I only know of three."

"Simon. Last night. You won't get mad at me about that, will you?"

"No." That was true, it didn't really matter at all. Earlier, it might have, but now it did not.

We drove on in silence.

"So how was that guy, Dane?" She asked after a long period.

"He seems nice, I guess I like him. He did ask if he could call me, but you know how men are in situations like this. Probably he was just out for a good time. Like...Simon." I couldn't resist getting that dig in, maybe it did irk me a bit that Alma had bedded him.

Alma didn't say anything, she just looked out the window.

.....

Back at work, we both got right into it. Nothing more was said about the trip. After two days and no call from Dane, I figured I knew the score there, too.

Nathan was still running around over there, still naked most of the time. I just closed the curtains, ignored him.

Something had happened to me down at the resort, and I just was not sure what.

I was sitting by myself watching TV when the phone rang. It was Alma.

"Kerry called me, he wants your phone number. Can I give it to him?"

"Why does he want my phone number?" I asked.

"He doesn't. His Dad does. He must have transposed some digits, he has been trying to call you and he says some guy keeps answering." She laughed.

"Really?"

"Yea, really. Kerry says Dane is all upset because he can't reach you." Alma laughed.

Then she gave me Dane's number, but I already had that written down.

"You must have been damn good!" Alma laughed, hanging up.

Dane and I talked for over an hour, the next night he called me, and the night after that.

Then he drove up, spent the day and night with me.

"What about your fishing business?" I asked at one point.

"Kerry and Carlos took her out, they know what to do." He smiled.

.....

After a couple of months of what is best described as a whirlwind romance, Dane asked me a few weeks ago to marry him! He even presented me with a beautiful ring.

I had to tell him I would think about that. I saw the chagrin on his face, but I just was not sure.

I still have not told him about Simon, just a day or so earlier before we were together the first time I slept with another man.

Deep inside, I somehow felt guilty about that. I know that is silly, I had not even met Dane yet, but still the feeling was there.

I hadn't told him what I really was that first trip down there, a Cougar on the make.

Dane sounded unhappy about my stalling. But this was all a surprise to me, I never expected that at all. It was supposed to be just fun, perhaps some sex, that is all. I have my own life, so completely different than Dane's.

I booked the trip to Mexico, I spent two weeks there, just thinking. I didn't date, I didn't go out with anyone at all. I did call Dane several times, each time we talked for hours.

Each time he told me he loved me.

.....

(Now I am back. I sat down here to finish this story.

I am a Doctor, I head up a clinic with a very large employee responsibility. I am wealthy, at least compared to the world I live in.

Dane is a wonderful lover, a fine strong man. His weather beaten face looks 10 years older than his 51 years, but he sure doesn't act it. Every single moment I spent with him has been a joy.

He told me he loved me, I did not know what to say in return, so I just hugged him.

Dane is a fisherman, and a very long ways from wealthy. He is also completely happy doing what he does for a living.

"It's magic!" He told me once. "You never know what is going to come up out of there."

I remember my late husband Tom. I remember how I felt about him, the giant hole in my life that was left by that accident.

I know how I felt about Tom, this feeling I have for Dane is nothing like that at all.

Am I in love with Dane? I can't answer that, all I know is I think of him nearly every moment of every day.

I love being in bed with him, I want to be in bed with him. I also love just sitting on the couch with him, watching a movie on TV.

Is that love? Or is it just sex, someone to be with? If it isn't love, then it sure is damned close to it.

I am a mature woman, well into my forties. One would think I would know what I want from life by now.

The truth?

I do not have a clue.

So. What would you do?)

.....

Almost finished now, I will end this by telling you what I just did.

I made up my mind to say no. There is no way to weave the life of a simple fisherman into the life I know and live.

I picked up the phone, called Dane's number. He answered almost instantly, he always does. I could hear the throb of the big engines in his boat in the background, I knew he was at sea.

"Hi, Sally!" He said. His voice, that was enough.

One more of those impulses.

"Yes." I told him.

"Yes?"

"Yes! I will marry you."

Dane was quiet for several seconds, I got the impression he was fighting back tears.

I know I was.

"God, I was hoping...When?" He asked finally.

"As soon as you can get here." I laughed.

"Thank God. I am on my way." Dane said.

"Carlos! Bring her around, we are heading in!" I heard Dane shout to his helper.

"I love you, Sally." He said to me.

"I love you too, Dane." I hung up the phone.

.....

Now I am sitting here quietly, waiting for the man at the security gate to ring that I have a visitor.

I know that I have a lot to tell Dane. How much will I tell him?

Well, I am going to tell him everything I can think of. All of it, even my deepest secrets.

Who knows, perhaps he will then change his mind and not want me?

I am nervous about that, but I really don't think he will change his mind.

I'm just Sally.