Mine

He smiled, then added, "You sounded like my ex-wife."

"You smiled when you said that last comment didn't you?"

"Yes, why did you ask?"

"It's weird but I think I heard the smile."

"I agree. It's a bit weird. Though I haven't heard you smile, I have heard the angry look on your face. But that just may be the memory from our, shall we call it, talk, when you arrived underground."

"Cameron, if it's okay with you I'd like to hear about your ex-wife."

Figuring what the hell, it was no big secret, he responded, "It is okay with me. The marriage lasted only two years and it ended several years ago. We met at a university party when I was doing my Masters degree. She was in her last year of fine arts and we hit it off, and, well you know how it goes.

The trouble started when I graduated. She was under the impression that, with a Masters degree, I would be making tons of money.

Her name was Holly but it should have been Ivana, as in I vana new car or I vana go to Hawaii. When the reality of what I could earn starting out hit home, she turned cold and harsh. Demanding to know what I was doing to get a better job and criticizing me for having no ambition. Generally I'm not confrontational so I put up with that shit for a little over a year before I started to react and..."

Allison interrupted, "You don't need to explain how you reacted, I, think I've heard it several times now."

"Were you smiling just now?" Cam asked.

"Yes, I take you now know what I meant about hearing a smile." She replied.

There was a break in the conversation until some interminable time later Cam asked, "Allison, what does the 'W' stand for."

"Wendy."

Cam thought a bit then it came to him if she used her first name she would be Wendy Thomas.

"Oh, I had thought it was a pompous affectation, but I understand now."

Allison explained, "I was born before the restaurant chain became so well known. After the TV ads started I got tired of listening to every half wit who thought making jokes about my name was funny. It became clear that if I was ever to be taken seriously as a professional, Wendy had to go."

"Speaking of restaurants, I'm going over to our private take out joint can I get you anything Wendy?"

"Okay smart ass, why are you calling me Wendy when you know I don't like it."

"You never said you didn't like it, anyway I like it as it brings back happy memories of the first girl I ever kissed. It counteracts the feeling I have about W. Allison."

"You're kidding, aren't you?"

"Nope, I was six years old, and she lived across the street. Don't worry I'll only call you Wendy when no one can overhear, so everyone will think nothing has changed.

Say you didn't perchance live in Timmons when you were little?" Allison chuckled then answered, "No, I did some field work around Timmons and South Porcupine, but I grew up in Come By Chance. Before you ask, I lost the Newfoundland accent for good when I was taking my MBA."

Then she asked, "You just said, 'so everyone will think nothing has changed.' Has something changed? "

"Don't you think so? For my part I'm finding I actually like Wendy Thomas."

"What's your middle name Cameron?"

"Angus."

"I still don't care much for that asshole Cameron Grant, but I'm finding Angus Grant to be a very personable individual, downright likable in fact."

"You never answered my question about grub. Would you like beef jerky or potato chips or both?"

"A bit of both please."

"Good. I would have hated to drag you with me to bring back just my dinner. It occurred to me that walking back and forth to get a cup of water seemed a bit much so I am going to bring back one of the five gallon jugs. As far as I know we only have the cup from my thermos to drink from, so it's a good thing that Wendy and Angus like each other."

He dug into the boxes of food and started handing items to her. I was a slow process as without being able to see each other the hand offs had to be done by feel. When had had passed what he thought was enough food to her. He went to try to find the emergency blanket under the passenger's seat.

After he was successful in finding the blanket he said, 'I think the easiest way to do this is if you grab on to the back of my shirt and I'll lead the way."

"Hey Bwana, how am I supposed to hang on to your shirt with my hands full of food?"

"Put the beef Jerky in the pockets, and if you're still having problems then shove the chips up under your shirt, its tight enough they should stay put for the short trip back."

There was a delay in getting started as she had to put the food down to free her hands, then painstakingly find each item in the dark to stow it in her clothes. When she was finished stowing the food she said, "Okay Cam I'm ready."

He put the blanket over his shoulder, picked up the water bottle and said, "I'm ready too, grab a hold."

During the short but slow trip back from the truck Allison thought about their talk and realized she was coming to like Cam, a lot.

"What happened to Angus?"

"It just seemed wrong, if it's all the same to you I'll call you Cam and you call me Ally."

Okay, works for me." *** After they had finished their meal Ally said, "Cam, I need to apologize for being so bitchy."

"Don't worry about it. It's all water under the bridge as far as I'm concerned."

"No Cam, you need to know. Like you, one part of it was an asshole ex, but the other part is my decision on your project directly effects my position in the company. If I approve this and something goes wrong I'll likely get dismissed. I wanted this project from the beginning but they decided that a senior person should have glory. It was only when that moron realized his head was on the chopping block because of the seeming delays that he convinced the board that as a geologist I was a better person to assess whether your method was a success.

Even though there's still three months on your contract they have been pushing me for the last couple of months to make a decision. The scientist in me also wanted to see the project first hand. I believe that what you are doing will work and will both boost production and make the mine safer."

Cam gave a little laugh and the said, "You could have fooled me on that."

"Like I said, it was just a little too much like fighting with my ex, not that you're anything like him."

"What was he like?"

"He was an incredibly charming self centered slime ball. If he didn't get his way we fought like, well you know.

I didn't know about the slime ball part until I returned from early from 2 weeks in the field prospecting and found him in bed with his boss's secretary. He told me, and I still can't believe he had the gall to say it, that he doing it for us. Turns out, not only was he fucking her, he was fucking the boss's wife. His idea was to get dirt on the boss so he could use it to get a promotion."

"Ouch." Was all Cam could think of saying, so he returned to business.

"Well, Ally me darling, I have just decided that the new method is a rousing success so it's full speed ahead from here on."

"What made you decide that?"

"We're alive. If there had been any issues with the science that explosion would have caused a cave in here. So our being alive proves no problem."

"What about the rock that crushed the truck?"

"I've been thinking long and hard about that. It was isolated so it's not systemic. It's my belief that without the explosion it would have remained there forever. The other explanation is the scalers, the miners who are supposed to find potential problems like that, just did a shitty job.

Now that all's well in the Cam-Ally world I'm bushed and going to bed or taking a long nap depending on the time in the real world, either way it is night, night for me."

Ally lay down on the cushions to try and sleep when Cam lay down but couldn't nod off. She tried to convince herself that there was nothing left for her to worry about but the utter strangeness of the black surroundings kept her feeling just insecure enough that she couldn't sleep. She had no idea how long she lay there listening to Cam's rhythmic breathing when the call of nature beckoned her.

She didn't want to disturb the quiet by calling to him, so crawled over to wake him with a touch. When she came to the edge of the cushions she reached her hand out then lowered her hand hoping he was where she thought he was. She was pleased with herself when she felt the material of his shorts but was a little confused when she felt something hard. In a flash she realized that she had grabbed a hold of his cock!

The relief she felt when the sound of his breathing didn't change was immediately followed by two competing thoughts. The sensible thought was to remove her hand immediately but the other was to run her hand gently over him to 'see' how big he was. The second thought had won and she had just started to move her hand when he coughed, startling her, causing her to quickly remove her hand.

Calm returned to her when she heard his breathing return to normal. Deciding she would never make it as a cat burglar, she moved sideways until she was sure she was over his torso, then shook him a couple of times before he woke.

Her relief in finding out he wasn't a light sleeper was almost palatable. "What's up?" He asked.

She giggled when her first thought was 'your cock' then said, "Nature calls. you" "Okay, do you think can get there on your own?" He asked.

"I should be able using your directions." She answered, then, started walking toward the truck.

She had just squatted down when, in horror, she realized that in the deathly quiet her peeing would sound like Niagara Falls. Ally was in the process of trying to figure out how she could do it quietly when she heard the sound of water splashing from the far side of the tunnel. The sound had the effect of both relieving her anxiety and causing her to relieve her bladder.

When she made it back to their camp, as she now thought of it, she was about to light into him about breaking his own safety protocols when she realized he must have guessed she would worry about the sound and had taken a piss himself to mask it for her.

When she thought about it, outside of their spats, he had done everything he could to keep her safe and comfortable since the explosion, even to the point of working at making friends with her.

He arrived at the camp, saying, "God I needed that."

In the not so distant past she would have thought he was just another boorish man, but with her newfound enlightenment she realized his comment removed any residual embarrassment she had about pissing in the tunnel.

Cam then said, "I'm still bushed so goodnight, good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, whichever is applicable."

Ally said goodnight and slipped under the blanket but sleep still eluded her. She wondered how she could have been so wrong about Cam. She was surprised that in the hours that they had been trapped she had gone from thinking of him as a misogynist bastard to thinking of him with genuine affection.

She decided that maybe her problem getting to sleep was how uncomfortable it was trying to sleep in the coveralls. So she took them off.

She still felt a little insecure so steeling her resolve, she whispered, "Cam, I'm still a little freaked out and can't get to sleep, would you come and snuggle with me?"

She was half hoping he didn't hear her, but in the same soft tone she heard, "It would be my pleasure Milady." Ally had another brief moment of horror when she realized she hadn't put the coveralls back on before asking Cam to snuggle, then decided she wouldn't mind if he did somehow realize she was essentially bare assed. She felt the blanket move, then, his arm slide beneath her head so that his bicep was now her pillow. The next thing she felt was his chest against her back followed by his other arm wrapping around her mid section. She was surprised when she didn't feel his groin pushing against her ass, but let that thought go to just bask in the feeling of security his presence gave her.

She still couldn't get to sleep as her conscience was now bothering her. "Cam, I have a confession to make to you."

When he didn't reply she continued, "When I went to wake you up, I accidently grabbed your penis."

He answered, "I know it was accidental. There is no way you could have unerringly managed to grab my cock first try in this blackness."

Relieved that he was not upset she put her arms around his arm on her torso thinking now she could go to sleep. It was not to be, as something he said that seemed off but she couldn't quite pin it down. Then it came to her. How did he know his cock was the first place she touched?

"You knew?"

"Yeah, I was still awake when you came over."

"Why didn't you say something?"

"I could somehow sense your anxiety and figured if I said anything you might have a heart attack. Besides I wanted to see, I mean feel what you would do.

While we are in a confessing mood, I have a couple of my own to make. Remember when you where putting on my overalls and you felt my bare leg?"

"Yes. I called you a pervert and essentially accused you of trying to rape me. I feel bad about that."

"Don't feel too bad. When I slid my hand across your back I felt the string of your G string so I knew it was your bare butt pressing against me. If you hadn't yelled at me, it wouldn't have been your hand that first felt my erection, but your butt. Fortunately by the time you calmed down any thought of sex had left my mind."

"I..."

"Wait, there's more. The reason I had an erection when your hand landed was, I was day dreaming about your ass."

It was clear indicator to Ally of how much their relationship had changed when she found she was pleased that her ass had been the subject of his fantasy. She decided she wanted to know more about how he now saw her and asked, "Cam how good looking do you think I am? And I want the truth."

"The truth is I don't know what you look like. The only time I looked directly at you was when we were arguing and then I was focused on your ice cold blue eyes and the angry set of your mouth. I can tell you some things you're not. You have no moles or scars on your face and your breasts are no bigger than a 'B' cup. Even wearing coveralls, I would have noticed if you had big boobs.

While I'm talking about your body, you have terrific legs if the other matches the one I caressed and you have an amazing ass."

"So you're telling me you don't know if I'm attractive?"

"That's different. When we met you could have been bare naked, and built like Miss Universe and I wouldn't have found you attractive. Now that I've gotten to know you, even without a full picture of what you look like, I find you very attractive."

Ally was so happy with his answer that she slid backwards until her butt was pressed against his groin. She could actually feel his cock swelling in the crack of her ass through his shorts, which started turning her on. She hadn't intended on doing anything about it, but when she took a deep breath she could smell the sweet scent of her arousal and realized that he would be able to smell the scent as well.

She decided what the hell, he had turned out to be a nice, decent man with a rugged charm, and it had been a while, a long while so she reached back to get a good feel of his cock.

Feeling her hand Cam moved his free hand under her shirt and fondled her breasts. "Mmm, 'A' cups and no bra. Absolutely perfect."

"I thought men preferred women with big boobs."

"Maybe other men do, but for a lifetime of enjoyment give me tiny tits. They don't sag or stretch and remain adorable forever."

"You have experience in this area?"

"Not really, it's just a theory of mine but the science is sound, and we know that I am damn good when it comes to the science of sagging, as I said earlier the proof is we're still alive." He chuckled.

"Seriously though, I like boobs period, but am not obsessed about any size. It's the woman who carries them that matters."

He pulled his torso back from her and after a couple of seconds she felt him lifting the bottom of her shirt until, with her assistance he pulled it off altogether. When he snuggled up to her she could feel the hard muscles and the soft hair of his bare chest against her back and marveled at just how much information she was receiving but had never noticed before. His hands returned to her breast, playing with her nipples. When he started kissing the back of her neck, it sent shivers of excitement running down her spine.

Not to be outdone Ally, reached back with her free arm trying to tug his shorts down to free his hard cock. Cam reached back to help and soon his member sprang free from its confinement.

Ally parted her thighs and positioned him between them.

It was soon apparent that the angle was not right for penetration. When he started pumping, she was so wet from arousal that her inner thighs became slick. When she squeezed them to give him some relief, she felt, to her delight, that at the angle of their position, the head of his cock would slide over her clit on the way in and the ridge of his glans would bump her pleasure center on its way back. It wasn't long before she felt her climax coming and just as she was reaching her peak she heard him saying, "I'm going to cum."

She shakily grabbed a handful of paper off her previous pillow and covered the head of his cock just in time to collect his semen in the tissues. With that mess averted she reached her peak and had an intense orgasm.

When she finally came down, she grabbed more sheets from her shrinking former pillow to wipe herself dry.

Ally was about to tell Cam how wonderful she felt, when she heard a soft snore in the darkness. 'Typical man,' she thought, but seconds later she too was fast asleep.

***

When they awoke, with nothing else to do they talked. They talked about their childhoods, their beliefs, their attitudes, politics, philosophy, hockey, art, music anything they could think of to break the silence. More importantly they listened to each other. Without any distractions they could hear undertones in otherwise matter of fact statements. They could feel the others pain, their joy, their anger, and their sorrows.

The more they conversed the more they found they were very much alike. Even on topics where they disagreed, they found the others opinions had validity and caused them to alter views towards the others.

Independently, they same realization came to them. That they not only liked the other, but respected the other for the person they were.

After what seemed to Cam like no time at all, he felt the pressure of bodily needs. He went to the latrine and on his way back he stopped at the truck picking up food for them to eat.

When he returned, Ally made her trip to answer the call of nature. At this point she was so comfortable with Cam she felt no embarrassment at the idea he would hear her. Cam poured water into his helmet so they could wash their hands as best they could and that done, they sat with their bodies touching and ate in companionable silence.

When they finished it was as though they read each other's thoughts as without a word they lay down snuggled together and fell fast asleep.

***

Cam woke immediately alert. He listened for what had woken him. He heard the faint sound of a diesel engine and metal on rock.

He gently awoke Ally with, "Wake up sweetie, our liberation is at hand."

To her surprise, Ally found she was disappointed that their time together was ending. She voiced her feelings to Cam saying, "I've learned so much about myself and about you, I almost hate for this end."

"I feel the same way, but ready or not here they come." was his response. She panicked a bit when she realized that she hadn't put the coveralls back on and didn't know where they were.