The Arrangement Ch. 08

"Daniel, I gave you the password to that email account for a reason. But if you're asking this question, I know you didn't use it."

"It's not like that, Mama," he defended himself. "I had no intention of marrying her, marrying anyone. So it seemed wrong to pry into her life like that. Then things just happened," he paused as he remembered that first week. He smiled as he realized that from the moment she lifted Bel into her arms that night, he had never stood a chance.

"Then it seemed even worse. We agreed to get to know one another the old fashioned way, by being friends."

"Seems like a fair enough decision to me. So why you asking me about things she said in those emails? Why aren't you asking your wife?" his mother replied as she tapped her foot. She had not tapped her foot like that since he had come in late from the senior prom.

"Oh, I'm just supposed to ask her. 'So Jill, why won't you ever get naked with me?' It's not the sort of thing that just comes up in conversation, Mama," he replied with stony resolve.

His mother's laughter ringing in the confines of the barn felt as inappropriate as Samuel's. "I'm so damned glad that my marriage is funny as hell to you people. But it sure ain't to me."

She sighed, "Don't tell me there have not been opportunities to ask, Daniel. It might not polite dinner conversation, but if the two of you are," she cleared her throat before continuing, "intimate, it is more than appropriate to discuss such things in the privacy of your bedroom."

He watched as her expression softened a bit, "I know your first marriage wasn't what it should have been, son. But I think growing up your father and I gave you an example of how things ought to be when two people love one another." She chuckled, "And I know for damned sure that Samuel and Simone must be trying like hell to keep you on the straight and narrow."

Daniel chafed at the mention of his friends, "So why the hell won't one of you clue me in on my wife's problem?"

"Because son, some things you need to discover for yourself," she replied. Her mouth twitched for a moment, Daniel recognized it as a sign his mother was thinking. "Daniel, were Rachel and Jill your only lovers?"

He choked on his mother's question. "Mama!" he yelled.

She laughed again, "Then what makes you think that you and David were the only men in Jill's life." She lifted her brow as she met his gaze. "Talk to your wife, Daniel," she said as she turned and left.

Daniel was left standing alone in the barn. His mind torn down two different paths. Given the guilt that ate at his craw like the cancer that was killing his father, did he have any right to talk to his wife about anything, especially something as intimate as this? But like his mother said, he had spent the last thirteen years of his life wishing with all his soul that his marriage could be half of what his parents' had been.

Now whether he liked or not, he had a second chance. Question was...was he man enough to take it? Could he put it all behind him? It had been bad enough when he lived with Rachel's blood on his hands, but knowing that he was responsible for her husband's death as surely as he was for his wife's, it seemed unfair to her. She did not deserve to be stuck with a murderer.

***

Jill lay on the blanket in the warm late morning sun. Daniel was off somewhere fishing, she was certain. Wearing nothing but a pair of old cut-off jeans and a sleeveless t-shirt, she had snuck away from the cabin, following the trail that led to the waterfall Esther had spoken about. She needed the break. Time away from him to think.

The horseback ride up to the cabin had been long, but the silence that reined between them made it seem longer still. They had barely spoken a dozen words as they made the trip higher and higher into the low mountains that encircled the property. The sun was setting when they finally arrived. Given that the cabin, which had been the original homestead of Daniel's great-great grandparents over a hundred years before, did not have electricity, it had not been a good beginning to the night.

It was too late for any fishing that night, so they had eaten in silence the sandwiches she and his mother had packed. Daniel had built a fire in the fireplace as the chill of the late night began to overtake the uninsulated cabin. Jill had busied herself straightening and cleaning, sweeping cobwebs and dust from the surface of the few pieces of furniture that graced the makeshift abode.

When she had turned to the small bed tucked into the corner of the one room cabin, she had practically groaned. Of course, she recognized that historically speaking humans of the previous century were physically smaller than modern man. But the truth was that the wood and down filled bed was even smaller than the one that they had been sharing for the past few nights. It was probably not even big enough for Daniel alone. And while she had spent more than one night in the past two months practically draped across her husbands magnificent chest, given the situation it did not seem a solution this night. As if reading her mind, Daniel had offered to sleep on the floor by the fire.

It should have been a fine remedy, but still Jill found sleep elusive that night, tossing and turning as she imagined how it would feel to rise above him in the soft fire light, to take him deep inside her body once more and feel the heaven that his touch always brought her. It had taken her hours to finally fall asleep and even then her dreams had been haunted with the images of his face as he arched up into her, taking her over the edge as he filled her with his seed.

Worse yet, when she did finally wake up she was alone. The blankets that he had slept on were neatly folded and tucked into a corner as if he had never even been there. Which was exactly how the needy and wanton body that was her curse felt this morning. It ached, begged and pleaded for his touch. For relief.

"Fuck," she spat as she felt her nipples harden beneath the thin cotton which was growing uncomfortably hot in the sunlight. Her shorts too felt uncomfortably sticky, but she knew that had far more to do with her hungry pussy than it did the rising temperatures. This was getting her nowhere fast she thought as she stood up.

She unbuttoned the shorts and slid the zipper down quickly. She pushed them down her legs and kicked them off. Then she lifted the hem of her shirt, pulling it over her head and tossing it next to her shorts and the shoes that she had discarded when she first arrived. She ran to edge of the stream that bubbled and frothed at the foot of the waterfall. She gave a soft yell as she lifted her legs high into the air and cannonballed into the water.

***

Daniel could not breath. He could not force air through his nose down his throat and into his lungs. His heart pounded an ancient rhythm in his head. His cock hardened uncomfortably in his jeans as he dropped his pole and the basket that included his tackle and the catch.

The show he had just watched was more erotic than anything he had ever seen. More so than any of the half dozen or so strip teases that he and his friends had frequented when he was younger. His wife, thinking she was alone, had done what he had longed for weeks.

Question was, what now? It was the question that had ridden him for days, but especially since his conversation with his parents yesterday. He was married to the woman and simple fact was he took those vows seriously. Dead seriously. Death do you part seriously. He always had, it was the lesson that his mother had eluded to in the barn. Divorce was not an option.

What's more, he realized that if Jill left now, his daughters would be devastated. As much so as when their mother had died, perhaps even more so. Britney and Ashley would never remember Rachel, Jill was the only mother they would know. He remembered how close the two blond heads had been as she played with Bel, entertaining her with dolls and stories when she was ill. Hell, even Jesse, was slowly warming to her.

But the starkest truth he had faced as he stared into that fire last night listening as she slept, her moans and pleas echoing about the tiny cabin, was that he would be even more hurt than his daughters. He wanted her soft cries as she came, wanted to know it was his body that gave her that release. He needed her soft caress as he fell asleep, her arms wrapped about his shoulders, his head pillowed on her soft, full breasts. He loved her.

So despite David's and Rachel's blood that would always stain his hands, he had come to a decision. He would bear this secret alone as he did so many others that his country labeled as OpSec, operational security. And it was. Not just his life rested on keeping the secret, but his men's, their families', and even David's men and their families. This secret was not his to share, not even with his wife.

He drew a deep breath, trying to push it all aside, as much as he could. It would always be there, like so many other things. But he could not afford to allow it to continue to control him, them, their life together. If on occasion, he could no longer keep it locked in the corner of his mind, if in moments of weakness he saw David's mark upon her body and ached for the pain he had caused them all, it was his burden alone to shoulder...and he would gladly for all those other times when she came so willingly into his arms. When he found in her arms and body, peace that he had never known before. It was a small price to pay.

Watching as she splashed and dove beneath the boiling surface of the water, he knew this was not an opportunity he could pass up. It was a miraculous gift. A chance to push one issue that stood between them. It was time. Past time that his wife little secret came out, he thought as he stripped out of his own t-shirt and jeans. He covered the twenty feet from where he stood to the edge of the stream in a heart beat. He watched her blond head plunge beneath the surface once more as he dove head first into the stream.

***

Jill had just touched bottom and was heading back towards the surface, several feet above her head, when she felt the tug. She instinctively fought it as something wrapped about her foot, pulling her backwards. She feared that she had gotten tangled in one of tall plants that grew in the sandy soil at the bottom of the pool. She shook her leg madly as she tried to break free, but it was no use. As her lungs tingled with the need for oxygen, her hands flayed about her. She hit something but she was not sure what. As the burning need for fresh air intensified, her only thought was 'I never told him I loved him.'

Then as if by some miracle, she felt herself being tugged upwards towards the bright sunlight twinkling across the surface of the water. As her head broke through she gulped for air, taking a huge lungful even as she spewed water from her nose and mouth.

"Breath slowly," she heard his deep voice command from behind. She felt his arm wrapped about her waist. But that was not all she felt. Their bodies were aligned perfectly, touching from shoulder to feet almost. She felt the soft tickle of his legs as he kicked, treading water and holding them both afloat. She felt too the heated length of his erection pressed between the soft globes of her ass. But at that moment, it was not desire she felt.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Daniel? You could have killed me," she said as she pushed at his arms, trying to free herself.

His deep laughter was not the response she wanted. She kicked out, landing a glancing blow to his shin, but he held tight.

"Let me go, god damn it," she cursed.

For a moment his hold about her waist lightened and she thought he would obey her command, but he did not, instead turning her in his arms to face him. "Wrap your legs around my waist, baby," he demanded.

She pushed against the solid steel of his shoulders, trying in vain to excrete herself. "What do you think your doing? We could fucking drown," she accused as she stared into those blue depths. What she saw there ignited her body, sending up in flames. The ice was gone and the passion she saw flaming in his eyes equaled or surpassed what she felt tingling from the tips of her toes to the top of her head that felt it would explode if she did not feel him inside her that moment.

"I said wrap your legs around me," he said as one hand trailed lower, lifting her left leg and forcing her compliance. She did not wait for him, lifting the other and entwining her feet behind his back. Her breath caught once more, burning in her lungs as it had before at the feel of his hard cock pressed at the opening of her wet depths, wetness that had nothing to do with the water surrounding them and everything to do with her body's need for him.

"Daniel," she choked.

He buried his face in the wet lengths of her hair as his teeth found the juncture of her neck and shoulders once more. He surge into her then. Taking her fully in a single stroke as he treaded water. Despite the questions that raced through her mind, in spite of the righteous anger caused by his treatment the past few days, she felt her body crash helplessly like the water cresting over the rocks above their head. It foamed and frothed as she rode out the wave of ecstasy. She whimpered as her fingers bit into the flesh of his shoulders.

He pushed deeper inside of her. She moaned as she felt her body climbing that peak once more. "Daniel, we can't," she protested. "The water's too deep."

She came as his cock thrust and retreated in time to the soft laughter that ricocheted off the rocks of the waterfall.

"Sweetheart, I can tread water for days. With packs that weight more than you do," he chuckled and she felt the movement once more to her very core. "Actually, this has always been one of my fantasies," he winked. "A Seal fucking his mermaid mate, how fucking erotic is that?" he teased.

Jill shook her head and chuckled, feeling the spray of water off of her wet hair. "You are too naughty, Commander."

He thrust his hips forward as his feet kicked a bit harder. "So what do you say?"

She laughed again as she wrapped her arms tighter about his neck, arching into his thrusts, she toyed with him. She smiled at the deep moan her movements stole from deep in his gut. "As long as you don't expect me to sing like Ariel, I say let's test your fantasy, Commander."

His hands moved from her waist to cup her breasts that floated half immersed beneath the surface. "Oh god no, please don't sing."

"Hey, Britney and Ashley don't complain," she protested as she felt his fingers brush across her hard nipples. She moaned this time as she arched her back, pressing the pebbles against his touch.

"They can't talk yet," he replied as he tweaked and pinch the tiny buds. "Lean your head back baby. Like you're floating."

She whimpered at the feel of his fingers working the sensitive flesh. "Are you sure you can do this?" she asked.

"I'm sure," he replied with confidence that bordered on arrogance. "Now lay back so I can taste those sweet tits of yours."

Jill bit her lip, "Well, when you put it so damned nicely, Commander, how can a girl refuse." She winked before she released her hold on his shoulders. Laying back, she obeyed, spreading her arms as if she was floating on the surface of the stream.

"That's right baby, surrender. Surrender to me," he said as she felt him bend forward. She whimpered a bit as she felt his cock retreat from her depths a couple of inches, but before she could complain she felt the heat of his lips covering her engorged nipples. She cried out with the intense sensation of his mouth suckling on her as his hips moved in slowly torturous circles. His cock teased her depths, thrusting in and out in perfect time to his legs paddling several feet above the bottom of the small pool.

"God you taste sweet," he whispered against her breasts. "You want to hear another of my fantasies, sweetheart?"

Jill was writhing against him, trying to draw his cock deeper. His words barely registered until he bit gently at the peak, "I wonder what your milk would taste like. You don't know how many times I've watched you give Britney or Ashley a bottle and wished they were your babies. Wished you had breast fed them. Wanted to taste your sweetness." He groaned as he sucked her nipple deep into his mouth, "Tell me you would have let me, baby."

Jill was unable to answer him with words. Her body was afire once more with the erotic image his words wove in her mind. If she was a wanton, it was never more so than when her body ripened with child. To her it was elemental as Mother Nature that surrounded them then. Bursting forth with life and water, nurturing and giving back.

She felt the power of it all as her body clinched tightly about his as she felt a powerful orgasm travel from the tips of her toes, pooling in her womanhood and bursting forth like life itself from her nipples in his mouth. She roared her release, its chorus melding with the roar of the waterfall, the chirping of the birds. She felt the power of the earth and water itself flow through her as he lunged deeper inside of her. She felt him tremble against her breasts as he joined her, pouring his life into her.

She felt his hands about her waist as his frantic breath brushed across the heated surface of her breasts. It was the only warning she got before he tugged softly once more taking them beneath the surface of the water. This time she knew what was happening, trusted her lover. She wrapped her arms about his neck as he hovered for a moment beneath the water. The rainbow of colors on the surface above them was as beautiful as the feel of his body still hard inside of her. His lips captured hers, his tongue slipping inside her mouth as he wrapped his arms tighter about her, kicking and taking them to the surface once more.

"Damn it, mermaid. I think that was even better than my fantasy," he chuckled.

She giggled, "I'm impressed, Commander. You did that so well, considering my weight." She blushed and looked away, afraid she had revealed too much already.

"As much as I want round two, how about we take this one to land, sweetheart?" he said as he turned towards the shore.

It was only then that Jill realized how completely vulnerable she was. Totally and completely naked beneath the water. Her clothes and the blanket more than twenty feet from the edge of the pool. She panicked as much as she had when she felt him pulling her down earlier. "No," she protested. Her heart slamming inside her chest as she struggled to breath through the panic she felt overcoming her.

***

Daniel watched the fear and panic wash across her face. He held tight to her waist as she tried to pull away, tried to make for the safety of shore or deeper water. Even knowing that she was going to be upset by his suggestion, he was rocked at the depths of her emotions. For a moment, he thought about letting her go, letting the issue go. Allowing her to just swim away, turning his back as she sought her clothes and ran from this place, like he knew she would do.

But one thing he knew. You could not run from your demons forever. Hell, he had spent days with his. Faced them in the pale light of the fire as he listened to his wife call his name as her body shook with an orgasm while she slept. He had faced them as he sat on the banks of the stream above this place. His mind thousands of miles away, replaying and reliving each and every one of his movements over those days. The movements of his men. Trying for the thousandth time to find some explanation of what went wrong that night. But for some things there simply were no explanations, he thought.

Drawing her against his body as he brushed her hair back from her face, whispering softly to her, he knew one other thing. There was an explanation for this. For his wife's irrational fear and it was past time they had this one out.