JAG: Sarah Ch. 02

John's visit to Arturo's proved to be a study in misdirection. It turned out that the delivery truck had a set of identification papers in the glove compartment that had been used uniformly by all of the drivers delivering on the base. It was an expedient measure for Arturo's, but it thereby gave the false impression that the same person had been present during each instance.

Well, it had been a good thought, he reflected as he entered the police station to locate Mac. They'd just have to keep trying.

Farrow checked in with the desk sergeant in the lobby. "I'd like to speak with Sergeant Asakai, please. Tell him Colonel Farrow is here to see him."

"No can do, colonel. The sarge just left with a pretty lieutenant in tow. Do you want to leave a message?"

Farrow's instincts were immediately on red alert. "Did the lieutenant leave any message for me?"

"Let me check." He looked under a blotter on his desk. "Nope. Not a word. I can't help you."

"Well, can you tell me where they were heading?"

"He didn't say, colonel." He turned and called to a younger man who apparently clerked in the building. Hey, Jushi! Did you hear Asaki say where he was going?"

"Yeah, I think so. I think I heard him tell that Marine Lady he was heading for home."

"I need his home address...NOW!" Farrow demanded.

"Hey listen. We don't..."

"I said quick! Now give me the address or I'll rip you AND your files apart and get it myself!"

"Okay, okay...Don't get nervous. I suppose it doesn't matter. It's right in the phone book anyway."

John Farrow grabbed the slip of paper from the sergeant's hand and raced for the door, leaving a stunned and angry police station in his wake.

The phone began to ring, temporarily distracting Asakai from his objective.

"People know where I went today, Asakai. You can't get away with this." Mac asserted bravely.

"Only God knows the term of one's life. Knowing where you are will only help them find your body, I'm afraid. I can't let you go...you know too much. I can't take the risk that you'll tell someone else."

"But others DO know, Asakai, many others. My death won't keep you safe. It will only add one more meaningless death to your guilt. The men who raped your mother...not all Marines are like that. Most aren't...the people you killed were innocent victims, like your mother. How can you live with their deaths on your soul? Is this what your mother would want, Asakai?"

"I don't believe you." Asakai hesitated, just enough for Mac to grab a small tea table to use as a shield.

Asakai swung the blade, embedding the edge deeply into the wooden table.

Angrily, he braced one foot against the table and attempted to wrench the sword free. It was then that Mac gave a tremendous shove, toppling Asakai to his knees.

The sergeant wrenched the blade free from the table once more. Age may have been on Mac's side, but the sword evened the playing field. Quickly, Mac lunged for the door, throwing it open, and rushing headlong... into the arms of John Farrow.

Realizing that all was lost, Asakai ran from the immediate area, and locked himself in what appeared to be a bathroom. By the time the colonel had kicked the door free, it was all over. Asakai was dead, the final victim of his own insanity.

2200 HOURS
Kishaba Tower Apartments
Camp Butler

The worst was over.

After an endless police interrogation, Mac and John had finally been allowed to leave. It was with profound gratitude that Mac finally sank exhaustedly into her overstuffed sofa and kicked off her shoes.

"If you were a drinking woman, I'd make you a stiff one right about now, Sarah."

Sarah just smiled, and leaned her head back against the arm of the sofa. "This is all the intoxication I need, John. And after today, I don't think I'll need any extra stimulation for a long, long while."

"That's too bad." he smiled. "I was just going to massage your feet...but if you'd rather I..."

"No...no, go right ahead! Please!" she laughed. "A girl can never get too many foot rubs! Indulge me!"

John came to rest on the sofa beside her, her legs laying limply across his firm thighs. His stroke was gentle, hypnotic, and Sarah felt the stress of the day melt within his hands.

She tilted her head back, her eyes closed, lost in the nearness of him, the touch of his firm hands upon her skin, the erotic timbre of his voice. She could give it all up for this man, she thought...everything...the Corps...law school...all of it.

"Sarah...I love you." he whispered so softly that she was afraid she'd imagined it.

Could it be true? She opened her eyes and gazed in wonderment at the emotion radiating from his very soul.

"I love you, Sarah." he repeated again, the silken promise of his words filling the silence of the room.

"John..."

"I know...it's wrong. It won't work, but right now I don't care. I love you, and I want to be with you. If I'm off base...then tell me so. You won't have to worry about me ever again. But if you feel the way I do...the way I'm hoping you do, then let me stay tonight. Let me love you..."

Sarah was breathless. Tentatively, she reached out her hand and stroked the firm line of his jaw, her hand circling behind his neck, ever so gently drawing him down to her, losing herself in his eyes.

Greedily, his lips claimed hers, obliterating the world and all it contained. His scent, his touch, the firm planes of his body were more intoxicating that she could have ever imagined.

Easily, John Farrow lifted her in his arms, and carried her into the bedroom, laying her gently upon the pale candlewick bedspread. Silently, he gazed at her as though trying to decide where to begin, then slowly removed his shirt and lay down beside her.

He had a muscular body, the kind that a life of hard living gives naturally to those who live it. Sarah ran her hands over the hard, rolling contours of his arms as his fingers peeled away the shell of her clothing, covering her heated flesh with his lips.

"Tell me what you like, Sarah." he whispered in the darkness. "Show me what you want, and it's yours"

Sarah blushed, unseen in the night, unsure of her next move. What should she say? What should she do? No one had ever asked her a question like that before. To her, intimacy had always been a passive issue, dictated by the needs of her lover.

John pressed his lips to the pulse point at the base of her throat, his hands gently kneading her breasts, stroking her nipples to rigid attention.

"Tell me, Sarah..." he whispered again. "Show me..."

Slowly, Sarah ran her palms down the firm lines of his body, stopping at the belt to his trousers. "Take off your clothes," she instructed, amazed at the sound of her own voice. "I want to see you."

Silently, Sarah reached over in the darkness and switched on a nightlight. John's penetrating gaze sent delicious shivers down her spine as he undid his pants and dropped them in the pile with his shirt.

He was magnificent! She'd seen men in their natural state before, but never one so...so heavily... she flushed again.

Gently, John lowered himself between her knees. "Tell me..." he whispered a third time, his massive erection pressing firmly between her trembling thighs.

"Lay on your back," she directed, her voice a husky rasp in the stillness of the room "I want to touch you."

John looked at her for a moment, a heartbeat of uncertainty passing across his firm features, then silently rolled onto his back, his hand softly stoking her inner thigh. "Like this?" he questioned. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." she replied, positioning herself between the rock-hard perimeters of his thighs. Gently, tentatively, she reached out her fingers and touched his throbbing organ, standing erect in the dim light, feeling it pulse beneath her touch.

It was beautiful, she thought, her hand gently stroking the silken smoothness of its engorged tip. John groaned, struggling to maintain control. "Sarah...I can't..." he paused, panting shallowly. "I didn't think you'd want..."

Softly, Sarah lowered her head and took the tip into her mouth, tasting the salty essence of him, feeling the smooth texture slide between her lips, as she ran her tongue across its silken surface.

"Oh, God, Sarah! You've got to stop!" John ordered frantically. "You don't know what you're doing to me!"

Reaching down between his legs, he placed his hands under Sarah's arms and lifted her astride his chest.

"You're incredible," he rasped. "but you have to stop, or this will all be over in no time. Now let me do something for you..."

Firmly, he placed his hands beneath her rounded buttocks, and urged her forward until her thighs rested on either side of his head, his breath playing heatedly among her moist, downy curls. His hands stroked the tender flesh on the insides of her quivering thighs, and she grabbed the headboard for support.

Then, using his thumbs, he hungrily parted the final barrier which shielded her from his questing tongue, probing deeply into her intimate recesses, stroking her straining nub with the tips of his fingers.

Wordlessly, her voice pierced the stillness of the room. Her body began to shake uncontrollably, her knees refusing to support her weight. She felt a mad rush of fluid between her trembling thighs, and knew that she wanted him deep inside of her.

Quickly, desperately, she straddled his hips, plunging his enormous length far into her core. She gasped. He was immense! She paused momentarily to accommodate her body to the extraordinary size of his presence, then quickly adopted a frantic rhythm dictated by a million years of experience.

John, driven beyond the brink, began to arch his hips, driving his member still deeper into her narrow passage, causing her to cry out for more, climax building upon climax.

Finally, with nothing left but adrenaline, John rolled her over on her back, and thrust mindlessly between her thighs, deep into her belly. Then, his chest heaving, he threw his head back, filling her with his essence, carrying her with him on a voyage of no return.

Later, tucked into the warmth of his arms, Sarah lay in the afterglow of their lovemaking. The smile on her lips spoke of contentment...complete fulfillment.

"Sarah," John whispered, the concern in his voice evident. "Are you alright? Did I hurt you?" he asked, inhaling the fragrance of her hair, stroking the fullness of her breast. "I've never lost control like that before..."

"Shhh," she said, seeking to allay his fears, "we were a perfect fit...like a hand in a glove. You make love like an angel...and a demon. I wouldn't have it any other way, my love."

Then, tired and sated, she fell into a deep, restful slumber...safe and secure in his sheltering embrace.

John studied the sleeping features of the woman in his arms, feeling the warmth of her breath on his chest, and whispered the words he found so difficult to say in the light of day.

"I love you Sarah MacKenzie...more than any woman I've ever known. I'll love you until the day I die. How can I ever let you go..."

Then, gently, he touched his lips to her closed eyelids, like a feather in a dream, and joined her in a land far away.

0600 HOURS
Kishaba Tower Apartments
Camp Butler, Okinawa

It was the most glorious morning Sarah had ever seen.

Behind her, his arm draped gently around her waist, John's even breathing played like a song to her ears. She flushed at the memory of last night, all they'd said...all they'd shared. She felt her body begin to grow warmer, and wished she could live it all over again... a thousand days and a thousand nights in John Farrow's embrace.

John began to stir, his arms tightening around her body, his lips tracing warm, erotic pathways down the side of her throat. "Did you get enough sleep last night?" he asked lazily.

"You should know." she whispered, huskily. "Or have you forgotten already?"

Gently, he rolled her over onto her back, and looked deeply into her eyes. "I could never forget." he said, seriously. "But, you still look drained. Yesterday was a rough one. I want you to take the day off. Stay home. Stay in bed. Rest."

"John. Just because I'm sleeping with the boss, doesn't mean I'm going to ask for special privileges. I have a job to do. I need to get to work!"

John propped himself up on one elbow, and gazed lustily down at her exhausted features.

"First of all...'sleeping with the boss' sounds like something nasty...it doesn't apply. I love you. We were 'making love." he said, his thumb gently stroking her dusky nipple.

"Secondly, you just solved a ten-year-old murder case, and almost got yourself killed in the process. Even if I'd never met you, I'd vote to give you AT LEAST a day off to pull yourself together."

"Then, last of all...I'm only your boss on a technicality. You're rotating out. Actually, you're between assignments, you just haven't gotten on the plane yet."

"Which brings me to a forth point...Sarah, you've got two weeks before you have to report to college. Let's spend them together. I have enough personal days left to take at least ten years off...okay, well maybe not quite that much, but a lot. We could head up to the northern end of the island, up along the coast near Hedo. We could make like tourists, snap a few pictures, sleep 'til noon...make love all night until the sun comes up. What do you think?"

"But, what if someone sees us, John. It could mean trouble. I don't want to hurt you in any way."

"Hado is a long ways away from here. There's a northern training area up there, but it's only for maneuvers...the troops stay right on the base, then go back 'home'. We have nothing to worry about."

"You know, Sarah...except for it costing you so much, I wouldn't care if someone saw us. I've got my time in. I can take my pension and experience anywhere and name my price. But you've got your whole life ahead of you, and I love you too much risk taking it away from you."

"But John, I..."

"No, don't say it. I know what's in your mind right now. But this is one of those 'been there-done that' type of things. You'd resent me later, Sarah, maybe even come to hate me. I couldn't live with that."

As though to dull the hurt he knew his words had brought her, he smiled, and whispered in her ear: "So, stay home, darling Sarah, rest up, and I'll bring take-out back with me tonight after work. Maybe we can find a new use for chop sticks." he laughed, making her blush. Think about the trip to Hado, Sarah, will you? Let me know tonight, okay?"

0530 HOURS
Two weeks later
Cape Hado, Okinawa

Their time together had been glorious. John had secured the use of a traditional Japanese cottage, on a cliff high above the pounding surf of the East China Sea. There, they had passed fourteen idyllic days, wrapped in each other's arms, dreading the moment when it would be time to say good-bye.

It was their last morning together.

John and Sarah watched the sun rise out of the eastern sea, a ball of crimson, setting the world afire. Below them, on the rocky shore of Cape Hado, the tide surged restlessly against the shore, whispering that it was time to go.

Their two weeks in the cottage atop the cliff had been magical, the stuff dreams were made of, but now, like a dream, it had come to an end. It was time for Sarah to return to the real world, and the life she'd left behind.

They had spent their final night savoring each minute, knowing that it would be their last. There, on the windswept cliff with only the stars to bear mute witness, they had made love to the rhythm of the timeless sea, memorizing each heartbeat as a hedge against the cold days to come, preserving them to last until the end of forever.

Now, with the harsh glare of morning, they knew it was time to go. Silently, wordlessly, John drove her to the airport, neither of them daring to share a glance, a smile, lest the world fall to pieces around their feet.

The pain in his eyes was unbearable, and it was only after a brief clasp of hands on the runway, a final salute, that Sarah boarded the plane and let the tears flow unheeded down her cheeks. It was then, she remembered the poem that had been mounted on the wall of their cottage in Hado. Translated, it read:

Even after we part,
Should fate have it so,
We will be like flowers
Linked together, never to
be torn apart.

"Good-bye, my love," she whispered, "until we meet again."

THE END