Chocolate Kisses 2: Pearl Ch. 01

There was no answer this time and he walked away, dejectedly. His aimless wandering around the house eventually found him outside on the veranda looking at the patio furniture.

Why was she reacting the way she was? He had no clue. Yes, he knew he should have found a way to break it to her but then she would do nothing but worry and he never wanted to make her worry about him.

Looking back on it, he realized, it was a stupid thing to do, regardless what the Navy wanted. He should have remembered his wife and children come first in any situation and yet, that was what he was trying to do. The only way he could feel confident he was protecting them was to do what he had been doing.

He sat heavily onto a patio chair and suddenly felt her presence. "Bethany, please talk to me. I know you're mad but... give me a chance to explain, please."

She stood there, still dressed from dinner, her face streaked with tears. He took her into his arms and held her, just as he had one day in Los Angeles... the day she refused to marry him.

"How, Jimmy?" She practically begged for an answer, wanting to find a way to forgive him for his secrecy. That was what hurt her, not whatever he was doing but that he couldn't seem to trust her enough to tell her.

"I know it sounds kinda dumb, now... after all, what would the Navy want with me?" By then, his right arm held her and she turned and moved to him.

"I thought you were a businessman working with the Navy."

"It started out that way... but then, someone read my book on the War.

"When Catherine and I..." He stopped, remembering that day they had arrived in New York City. "When we came back from Europe, I went to college and got a degree in business and one in Political Science. That's why I was able to write the book in some kind of intelligent manner.

"An admiral's aide read it after we moved here and I was already working with them and one thing led to another and here we are. Look, Bethany, I know it sounds stupid but the admiral read the book, four times he told me. He said he was impressed how I put together the hidden motives for the war.

"It wasn't that I didn't trust you, it was just that I didn't want you to worry about it and it was better that you just thought I was doing some kind of consultation or something. We're so hidden there that only a few know where we are and what we are doing.

"Please, forgive me for not telling you." He held her tighter, wishing that everything had just gone away and they were once again the only ones in their own private universe.

The next morning, he woke to find them both still dressed and sitting on the patio, his arms gently protecting her from the outside world as she had fallen asleep against him... at least, he hoped he could.

Jim didn't want to wake her so he lay holding her until she stirred.

Everyone was once again at the table... eggs, bacon, pancakes, orange and pineapple juice... light conversation... nervous glances... the faint rattle of silverware on plates.

Jim and Bethany walked outside to the uphill patio. He brought along a beach towel to cover the bench.

For a great while, they sat there, holding hands and staring out at the Pacific Ocean, ironically enough, looking in the direction of Asia... and with it, Imperial Japan and the death that waited just over the horizon.

Several times, she could tell he wanted to say something and then became quiet, again. She bided her time, knowing full well that he would speak when he had completely formed in his mind what he wanted to say. Early in their strange relationship, she found that when he spoke to her, he often was as tongue-tied as a love-struck school boy. She had learned to wait.

"Bethany, I'm going to be at Pearl more and more ... at least, until I can arrange something else..." He paused and looked into her eyes, delving into her heart and soul, "and I'm thinking you could be with me... at least part of the time.

"What do you say?"

She was taken off-guard. "What... what about the girls?"

"Eliza can watch over them while you're gone, maybe every other week. We could try it and see what happens... that is, if you want." He watched her eyes, the windows to her soul.

She was hesitant, not wanting to leave her girls behind but she didn't want to be without him, either. "We... we can try..." her voice trailing off again, wondering what the future was going to bring.

Something was happening.

Sergeant William Blake, USMC, looked at the sailor standing before him. In his opinion, a sorrier sailor in the US Navy did not exist. His disdain for seamen reached a new low with Reynolds.

"Reynolds, you stupid bastard, what the hell's the matter with you? Do you realize what you've done? Jesus Christ! You'll be lucky if all you get is put on report and transferred to Guam. You'll probably get serious time in the brig for this.

"Wipe that stupid grin off your face, you asshole!"

Spencer Reynolds, to the sergeant's surprise, didn't seem very worried about his situation. This perplexed Blake. The charges were severe and worse, from his point of view, completely, unequivocally true. There was going to be hell to pay.

Of all the people Reynolds could assault, the one he picked was probably the worst... only having sex with an admiral's wife could have been worse. He didn't know entirely who Commander James Ewart was but the telephone call from Nimitz lit a fire that refused to go out. Whatever Reynolds thought was going to happen, he was dead wrong.

Eliza and Bethany were hanging the laundry when they heard the insistent ring of telephone. The sisters looked at each other and then Bethany ran to the back veranda, but the caller had hung up. All she heard was the disconcerting hum of the dial tone.

A while later, it rang again and this time Bethany was able to answer it.

"Hello?" She was almost out of breath, having run to the phone again.

"Good morning. This is Sergeant William Blake, calling for Commander James Ewart. May I speak with him, please?"

"He's not here, right now. This is his wife, Bethany. I expect him back late this afternoon. Would you like to have him call you back?"

"Yes, say about four o'clock? My number is..."

"One moment, please... let me get a pencil and some paper."

When Blake hung up the phone he was confused. Scuttlebutt indicated Ewart had a colored woman living with him as a common-law wife but if that was her, she didn't sound anything like the colored women in Georgia. This woman sounded well educated with no hint of any accent. He decided to look into it, if only for his own interest.

Stationed at Fort Benning, whenever he had a pass to leave the base, he would seek out the colored whores in Columbus. For some reason, he found them more to his liking. They knew it was business and were willing to do anything if he paid them enough.

He hated Georgia. It was hot. It was humid. It had chiggers. Everyone drank warm Coca Cola and talked funny. It had been fun for about a week but then he realized he couldn't understand them at all.

Early Thursday, September 11th, following an incident with the USS Greer and U-652, President Roosevelt ordered the United States Navy to 'shoot-on-site' German warships, including the U-boats prowling the Atlantic. Even so, the president was unsure that Congress would vote a declaration of war and the country remained divided on whether or not to enter the war. The pro-German sentiment was countered by the newfound support from American Communists after Russia was invaded.

Jim didn't come home at all that night. He did call, she knew but was still disappointed that he wasn't with her.

On the afternoon of Wednesday, the 17th, their two young girls were in the citrus groves behind the house, playing in the trees planted the year the older one was born.

Now, almost ten years later, the orange and lemon trees were so much taller than she was and Ano'i strained on the ladder for that last reachable orange to share with Olina.

Their Hawaiian names, Ano'i, which meant 'desired,' and Olina, 'joyful,' were as symbolic of them living in Hawaii as much as their family breaking all ties with California.

Suddenly, hopping right before them was a huge gray-brown, ugly-green cane toad.

"Get back, Olina, get back. Don't touch it, it will kill us dead! Run!"

The barefoot girls ran for the house, screaming for their daddy.

Jim came out onto the veranda in time to have his daughters bowl into him and almost knock him down, his pineapple juice flying everywhere over his pants and the wooden floor.

While the younger girl, only five, continued to scream, the older one told him about the large toad that had come into the citrus grove.

"You did good, honey... take your sister into the house and ask your mom for a cookie. Go on, now..."

Laughing, Jim inspected his wet, sticky-sweet pants and then went around the house to the garage to get a shovel, finally heading out toward the orange trees, just as it started to rain, again. At least, he thought, I'll get my pants washed.

As much as he hated scaring his daughters, an inherent fear of the deadly amphibians was better that finding one of his girls dead.

A short while later, he returned carrying the dead animal on the blade of the shovel and then, lifting the lid of the trash can, dumped the huge eight-inch-long toad in. He didn't want to worry his daughters, but that was the third one he had killed in the last week.

The toads seemed to be everywhere and had been spreading throughout the island impossibly fast. In tropical Hawaii, the imported amphibians bred all year long, as many as twenty-thousand eggs at a time, all the tadpoles toxic.

The wretched animals had already killed the girls' shepherd, Buddy. The 120-pound dog had died a horrible death as the poison coursed through its body.

He scrubbed the shovel over a barrel for several minutes before putting a light coat of oil on it and hanging it back up on the wall. One of the chemicals released by the adult toads was similar chemically to heroin, causing hallucinations and death.

That was why he told his daughters to run as fast as they could from any of the dangerous amphibians they saw. He made sure that all of it was removed.

It was becoming time, he realized, for the territory to take a much more aggressive stance against the Central American import but with war clouds on the horizon, doubted it would happen any time soon.

"Damn cane toads," he complained. Just the same, he was proud of the way his older daughter handled the situation, doing everything he had taught her.

Ironically, both the deadly toads and the Ewart and Franklin families arrived in Hawaii at the same time in 1932.

"Bethany!" he called, removing his muddy shoes and walking into the house. "Where are you, baby?"

He found her in the kitchen, pouring milk one-handed into two glasses for their daughters. She offered her cheek for him to kiss.

"How are you feeling?"

"Ahh, Jimmy, it's getting much better. I'll get you a glass; you're just in time for some cookies. Sit down, honey. Did you take care of it?"

He looked at his young daughters, each holding an Oreo, wide smiles showing black crumbs between their teeth.

"It's gone... I'll take a look later today and see if there are any others or if this one just got here by accident," he said, with a mouth full of cookie. "If I keep eating these, I'm going to get fat. How's your wrist, right now?"

"It's actually pretty good. I guess it wasn't as bad as we thought."

He looked at his wife. The years had been more than kind to her. It was hard to imagine they had been married, living and loving in Hawaii for ten years. Where had the time gone?

At thirty-four, she had gained a little, who didn't? ...especially after two babies, but was more beautiful to him than the day he saw her standing on that street corner in Venice. Her dark figure had rounded out in just the right places for him and, he smiled, she gave him a very nice feeling when he made love to her.

She knew he loved her. The smile on his face every time he saw her made everything worthwhile.

He brought her to an emotional, sexual nirvana with his mouth. If anything, this last year they had made love more than ever before... until recently and something happened, she just didn't know what. It must be the tropical climate, she thought... tiring him out, she hoped... or, whatever was going on at Pearl. He was still reticent regarding his work.

Bethany came over and sat on his lap. Running her fingers through his now graying hair, she kissed him deeply and surprisingly, could feel his excitement growing.

"Why, Mr. Ewart..." she whispered. "What on earth do you have in mind? Something scandalous, I bet."

"Why, Mrs. Ewart, I was just hoping to show my appreciation for your chocolate kisses and cookies."

As soon as the girls left the room, he cupped her breast and kissed her chocolate neck. She shifted on his lap to better feel his arousal pressing against her.

"I am the luckiest man I know... a wife of sweet chocolate who loves me and two little girls of golden honey who adore me."

She whispered into his ear. "You know, tonight would be a great night to have some of those chocolate kisses you're always talking about and I've got some honey of my own for you." With that, she gave him a squeeze and stood up.

He stood up behind her, careful of her arm and nuzzled her neck. She bent her neck toward him as he moved his lips to that magic spot below the side of her chin and she could feel her body start to heat.

He remembered that Christmas Eve so long ago when she first came to his bed and freely offered him her love and her virginity. Although the sexual tension had been thick enough to be present every second of the day, that night was a romantic union of two souls rather than a wild, meaningless romp beneath the sheets.

"Jimmy, not now, the girls are awake. Oh, Jesus, Jimmy, I love you more than life, itself. Oh, yeah, right there, baby." He was arousing her more than any time in the last few weeks. Was it desire, love, need, lust? She didn't care, she wanted it.

She became still, realizing what she had just said. Damn it! I'm only 33 years old. I need it more than once in a while these past few weeks! ...and, I want it from him...

He inhaled her scent. He knew he was more than ten years older than she. He wondered how long he still had with her and his daughters. However long it was, he was determined to make them as happy as possible.

"For a... umm, a thirty..." He shut up, realizing that he was now treading on thin ice. "How old did you say you were, little girl? Seventeen, eighteen?"

"Oh, you flatterer... tonight, we'll see what you can do with a seventeen year old... try and keep up with me, dirty old man."

"Old man!?! I'll show you who's an old man." He began to mercilessly tickle her right below her waistline. Soon, though, his tickles became something else; he heard her give a little moan as she pushed back against him and then her body shook in his arms. "What do you say to a little nap time?"

She took a long moment before she answered, wondering if today would be different, if today he could love her like he did just a few weeks ago. She had to try.

"Just a minute, lover boy. I notice you didn't say anything about being 'dirty'." She walked onto the veranda; the two girls were playing with their dolls. "Girls, come into the house to play or color or something. Daddy and I are going to take a nap so make sure you are quiet."

Jim was locking the deadbolts on the doors and closing the bottoms of the windows. Turning on the fans, he said, "Don't answer the door or the phone. Later, we'll have pizza."

"PIZZA!!!"

That, unfortunately for the anxious lovers, got the girls very excited and they ended up being put to bed in their room for their own nap.

"Now, you stay here until I come to get you, understand?"

"Yes, Daddy..." Both of them started to cry and he was trapped, as he knew he would be. Like their mother, his two girls were able to get anything they wanted from him. When it came to them... he was putty in their hands.

He sat down on the floor, hugged them and then kissed the tears on their honey-colored complexions.

"Mommy and Daddy are tired right now and we need to take a nap. You girls play in here, OK? Maybe... and that's a big maybe, we'll go to the beach later. OK? C'mere, give mommy a kiss."

He looked up in time to see his wife smiling and holding out her hand to him. She put her finger to her lips. "Shhhh..."

The two lovers went to their bedroom and closed the door.

Later, he spooned his Bethany Rose, his left hand draped over her waist, gently holding her breast, massaging her nipple. Kissing her shoulder, he shifted closer and felt his erection pushing against the back of her thighs as he ran his left hand down her waist and onto her thigh.

She pushed back, grinding her hips and moved forward, finally settling down on his face as he began to kiss and then insert his tongue deep inside her. His tongue moved around each lip, first the left and then the right and then deep into her heat as she bucked up and down against his head.

She braced herself with her free hand against the headboard and continued to press against her husband's face, placing her clit directly onto his open lips and began her moans as he closed his mouth and sucked it in.

He began taking in and then letting out her clit, over and over. After all this time, he knew the easiest, quickest way to bring his wife to completion.

Jim felt her start to quiver, then shake and finally bounce on his mouth. Each time she lifted, he took a deep breath and held it as she came down and ground herself onto his mouth and pushing his chin into her, spreading her, bringing her up and over and then off the edge.

Meanwhile, outside toward the back of the property, Eliza looked carefully at her husband. "Junior should be back by tomorrow."

"I hope that he learned something from all this. It's been five months, now."

"I know, I know... it was great Jim was able to get him that apprenticeship with that scientist. Who knew there'd be so much interest in coral reefs?"

John picked up a small piece of reddish basalt and threw it into the greenery. "Well, he better be able to explain it to me, that's all I'm saying. All joking aside, I really missed him but he was showing too much interest in the local girls around here and we don't need that, right now."

A few hours later, Eliza and John walked onto the back veranda, past the new propane refrigerator and then to the door. He grabbed the doorknob and tried to turn it, but it was still locked.

"That's strange... you got your key, honey? I forgot mine on the dresser this morning."

"No, it's never locked during the day. Maybe something's open. Do you think they took the girls somewhere?"

"I don't know, but we've got to get that birthday dinner started. I've at least four more pies to bake. I'm trying a new recipe."

They walked around the side of the house and noticing the bedroom window was open, approached. However, Bethany's moans and the squeaking bed told them it might be a long wait before the door was unlocked.

"Well, Liza, we've got three choices: we can knock on the window and ask them to open the door for us, but we'll probably get killed by Bethany; we can wait on the back veranda until they're finished, but you told me that that could be an hour or two they way they do it; or we could try and see if the kids can open the door."

"That seems the best. If we mess up their afternoon, there'll be hell to pay later." Eliza smiled, thinking of her own bedroom escapades with her fifty-year-old husband. "I don't understand how you old men are able to get it up, let alone keep it up for so long. Why, just the other day, Bethany and I were..."