That Damned Blessing Ch. 03

"That is hot. I hope you guys get together, I really do. I hope you get her good and pregnant."

He smiled at her. "You're kinda crazy, aren't you?"

"Oh I'm a sick bitch," she agreed happily. "The nastier and more perverted, the better I like it. I've always been that way. I've done things that would get me tossed in jail in most states."

He laughed. "I can never tell when you're BSing me."

"You're not supposed to know. It's part of my glorious mystique."

"Well, mission accomplished, I guess," he said, standing and reaching for his underwear.

She watched him dress, a thoughtful expression on her face. "You know, when you came to this island you were a boy. Oh I know you were 18, but you were still a kid. But you don't look like a boy anymore. You look more mature, older than your age. If you told me you were 22 I'd believe it."

Ratu and Fa'ahotu de-aged to about 20. Mom's looking younger every day and now I look a little older. It's all coming true whether we want it to or not.

He shook his head and forced a grin. "It's probably all the sun I've been getting. It's turning me into boot leather."

"Maybe," she said with a shrug, and stood up to put her arms around her. "Now you take care of yourself, OK? And take care of whatever girl you end up with. Whoever gets you will be lucky to have you -- whoever gets you."

"Thanks, Trish," he said, bending to kiss her.

Just before their lips met, she said, "Call me mom."

Paul and Jess walked hand-in-hand toward the office, her great sun hat casting her face in shadow. Paul wore a bush hat but he seemed fearless in the sun: of course, a deep tan just made him look even handsomer. In her whole life, Jess had never had a tan -- with her ginger's complexion, she just burned, peeled, and was white underneath. And that was why it was such a surprise when Paul looked down at her arm and said, "Babe, your skin -- it's tanned."

"No it's not," she laughed, and then she looked down and said, "Well fuck me, it is."

"What is going on with you?" he asked with a chuckle.

She knew exactly what was happening: Seetsahm had a deep tan, so she was developing one too. It didn't even come as a surprise anymore. "I don't know. It's probably a fluke."

"A fluke?" he asked, this time with an honest laugh. "Look at you, Jess: you look so young! Is that a fluke too? New skin care regimen?"

Ah, so he finally noticed. Husbands are so used to seeing their wives that it takes them forever to pick up on changes. "Not really. I think it's the climate and maybe how I'm eating here, with all the fresh fruit and fresh-caught fish. It's doing wonders, but it will probably all fall apart as soon as I get home."

He unlocked the office and stepped inside, where the active air conditioner raised an involuntary shiver from Jess. He dropped his hat on the desk and guided her over to the sofa, where they sat side by side. "If it does, it does. I'll still love you no matter what."

"In that case, there's one more thing you need to know. Get ready for a shock." With that, she took off her hat. The light in their room in the morning was dim so he hadn't noticed, but this room was bright and filled with sunshine. He looked at her in confusion until she leaned in and lifted her hair so he could see her scalp.

It took him a moment to see it, but when he did, the expression on his face became the most honest mask of shock she had ever seen him wear. "What the HELL? Is your hair turning brown?"

"It certainly seems like it," she said. "I googled it before you woke up, and apparently hair can spontaneously change color. Nobody knows why it happens. It's rare but hardly unheard-of."

"So when I come home at Christmas, you might be a brunette?"

"It might be a scalp infection," she lied smoothly. "Maybe all these changes are some kind of tropical disease. I'll have to see a doctor when I get home. But if it keeps growing in brown, I'll have to dye the rest of it to match or I'll look ridiculous."

"Wow. Wow. I can't imagine you as a brunette. But then you never did like your hair color. Maybe you'll like the brunette life more."

"Looks like I'm going to get a chance whether I want to or not," she said with a shrug. It had come as a startling change to Paul, but for her it was small potatoes in the scope of things. "But there's something else we need to talk about. It's kind of a big deal."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. And I really don't want to have this conversation, but there's no way around it. I just hope you don't hate me."

"Babe, you know I could never hate you. Whatever it is, just say it. We'll deal with it together."

"OK. OK." She took a deep breath and dived in: "It sounds like you might be out here another couple of years, maybe even more. You'll only be home a few weeks a year. That's a lot to deal with, I know. And I know that you have needs -- you're a man, every man has needs. And some of these native women are just gorgeous."

"Honey -- "

"No, this is hard, let me finish. I know you have a high drive, you always have. It's not right for me to demand that you deny your needs month after month after month. So what I'm saying is...if you need to...let off some steam with someone, I understand. I won't be angry."

"Jesus," he whispered, leaning back to digest that for a few moments. Finally he said, "I sense an unspoken 'And.'"

She swallowed and nodded. "And I'm perimenopausal. My sex drive is through the roof. You know that, I practically rape you a few times a day. It's going to get worse before it gets better. I don't think I can go without for six months at a stretch. I know I can't. I'm sorry."

He took it all in and sat staring ahead, seemingly seeing nothing, his face unreadable. After almost a minute she started to speak, but he silenced her with a raised hand. That just gave Jess time to think. I'm not sure I'm doing this because of Ryan. If the shamans can't fix this mess then it won't matter what arrangements Paul and I make because our son and I will end up together. But even if they do, my needs are officially out of control and I am going to have to satisfy them whether Paul agrees to it or not. I just hope it's not with Ryan.

It was almost five full minutes of excruciating silence before he said, "I can see why you felt we needed to talk about this."

"I'm sorry, Paul. I'm so sorry. I wish it were different."

"Yeah. We knew me taking this job would put strains on our marriage. I can't really be surprised it's come to this. I guess we both need to be adults about it, huh?"

She wasn't sure whether that sounded direr than he intended, so all she said was, "I guess so, yeah."

"I understand where you're coming from, and it's...unreasonable for me to demand you turn into a nun when I'm not around. So yes, I agree to this -- with rules."

Relief flooded her and she visibly relaxed. "Of course. Did you have some in mind?"

"Yeah. First, and I think this is the big one: this is just for sex. If either of us develop feelings for whomever we're seeing, we end it then and there. No relationships except ours."

"Yes, absolutely. I don't want to replace you."

"Second, we don't do anything with anyone the other person knows. That means I don't do anything with the wives or girlfriends that are here, and you don't do it with friends or my brother or anyone from else I've met."

Have you met our son? "That makes sense. Anything else would just add complications. But you do know that Trish Hendricks will be throwing herself at your crotch the moment I get on the plane, right?"

"Trish holds no appeal for me, trust me."

"That's a relief. I could stand you with anyone else but her."

"So third: condoms every time, no exceptions ever. I don't want either of us to catch anything, including a baby."

Her womb shouted in outrage, and the image of her and Ryan gazing down at their first child seemed very vivid and very seductive. "Yes, absolutely."

"Fourth, keep it discreet. I don't want Ryan to know. I don't want anyone here to know. I never want to hear details, ever. In fact, I don't even want to know that you're doing it, and I won't tell you what I get up to."

"Yeah, that's probably for the best." I just hope Ryan doesn't know because he's the one giving me what I need. I hope the island think tank can figure this out.

"And fifth and last, when we're together, there's nobody else. When I come home to visit or when you come back here, no fooling around with anyone else."

"That's the way I want it too."

"Then we can give this a try and see how it goes. I guess sixth, if either of us wants to stop it, it stops, no questions asked."

"All those are sensible rules."

He nodded. "OK. Let's not talk about it anymore then. You brought that great picnic lunch, let's go eat it. Maybe you can improve your tan."

"Maybe!"

"I'm going to miss you, my big damned hero."

Ryan looked at Lexy as they walked along the beach, holding hands. "I'll miss you too. I mean we knew that this was a time-limited thing going in, but..."

"But now that the limit is here, it feels different."

"Yeah. I guess I grew some feelings for you after all."

"We've spent almost every day of the last month together, and we've had more sex than I had in my whole life with anyone else. It would be weird if we didn't feel anything at all."

She was right, of course, it would be weird. And he did feel something for her, but all this madness with his mom was filling his heart as well as his mind and he didn't have much room for anyone else. Still, no point in telling her that, it would just hurt her feelings. "Do you still want to keep in touch?"

"Yes, of course. You have my social media contacts, so you'd better use them!"

"Don't make me the only one responsible! You need to keep in contact with me too."

"Of course I will. And I will tell all my friends about a wonderful guy I know in Wisconsin."

"All the guys I know will be jealous that I had a Spanish girlfriend for the summer. Well, most of them won't even believe me, but the ones who do will be mad jelly."

She laughed. "We've taken hundreds of pictures together. If they don't believe those then they probably don't believe in evolution either."

"Probably not. It is Wisconsin. Folks there believe in Jesus and beer, and not in that order."

"Didn't you say something before about cheese?"

"Right, can't forget that. Beer, Jesus, and cheese, the Holy Trinity. What do people in Spain believe?"

"Hmmm. We believe that Germans need to lighten up."

"I only ever met one German, but yeah, he was pretty intense."

"Telling a German a joke is like telling a cow to drive a car."

"Telling a German a joke is like telling him not to invade Belgium."

She snorted, then burst into laughter. "I'm going to tell that one at home! I have some French friends who will love it."

They swam for a while, had sex (he didn't call her mom this time, which was a relief, but of course he imagined that she was Jess the whole time), and tanned together. After another dip in the ocean, he suggested, "How about we go up to my room? We can shower together and then see what happens."

Screwing in a bed was a treat for them, so she smiled and nodded. "Lead the way. And a shower sounds good, I have sand in my crevices."

"OK, that just sounds uncomfortable."

Their little subterfuge games were still in effect, so Ryan entered first, trotting up the stairs and down the hall to his bedroom. He turned the door handle -- and the door didn't open. He tried again and got the same result. He went back down to the lobby and approached the desk, saying, "Excuse me, but my door won't open."

"I'm very sorry to hear that, sir," the desk clerk said.

"I know you are. Did you do something to it?"

"What room are you in, sir?"

"Come on man, you know what room I'm in. I've been asking you to fix the lock for the past four weeks."

"What room are you in, sir?"

"Uuuughh. I'm in room 311."

"Ah," the clerk said, looking at the register. "Mister...McCullen?"

"You know I'm Mr. McCullen."

"I see a note here that we repaired the lock on your door this morning. Your key should open it, sir."

"My key is in my room. Behind the locked door."

"I'm very sorry to hear that, sir. Why would you leave your key in your room when you knew we were going to fix the lock?"

"Because I assumed you weren't going to fix the lock, seeing as I've been complaining about it for the whole time I was here and you never did a thing."

"Respectfully sir, that's untrue. We fixed it this morning."

"Yeah I know that but I had no reason to expect you to."

"I'm very sorry to hear that, sir. I am uncertain what I can do to help."

"You can take the master key and open the door, for one thing."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, sir."

"And why is that?"

"Because I have to stay at the desk. If I were to leave it to open your door and someone came to the desk while I was away, it would reflect badly on the hotel."

Ryan clenched his fists to tightly his knuckles squeaked. "Like one person a day comes to the desk. I'm your quota. You can safely come up to my room with me for three minutes and you'll be back before anyone knows you're gone."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, sir."

Ryan pinched the bridge of his nose and counted to ten. He was proud of his calm tone when he asked, "Do you have spare keys for the rooms in case a guest loses one?"

"Yes sir."

"Are they here at the desk?"

"Yes sir."

"So you could give me the spare without leaving the desk."

"Yes sir."

Ryan waited for several horrible seconds before asking, "Can you do that now?"

"Yes sir." The desk clerk ducked down behind the desk and Ryan heard a rattling, and then the clerk popped back up like a jack-in-the-box holding a key, which he extended to Ryan.

Ryan took the key, looked at it for a moment, and asked, "Why didn't you just give me this when I first came to the desk?"

"Respectfully sir, you didn't ask for it."

Somebody is asking for it. "Right. I'll bring this back in a couple of minutes."

"Thank you, sir."

Ryan trotted up the stairs to the third floor, unlocked his door, and turned around to come back. On the way down the stairs he met a surprised Lexy coming up. "Don't ask, for the love of God," he said. "Just go into my room and start the shower, I may come back soaked in the lifeblood of a desk clerk."

"Oh yes, they are obstructionist bastards, aren't they?"

A few moments later, Ryan handed over the key and said, in a voice dripping with sarcasm, "Thank you, you've been soooooooooo helpful."

"I'm very happy to hear that, sir."

Jessica paused in the hallway, stomach aflutter, and tried to turn the knob. Shockingly the door didn't open, so she knocked softly. A moment later Ryan opened the door, looking surprised to see her. "Hi," she said. "Ummm...did they fix the lock?"

"I don't want to talk about it," he said. "What's up?"

"I thought we should talk. About tomorrow."

"Oh," he said, then paused. "You mean...in my room?"

"There's no place else we can talk. Everything is shut down. I think we'd set off the alarms if we opened the outside doors at this hour."

"Yeah. Yeah. OK, come on in."

She stepped into his bedroom, her nerves twitching. Being alone in a room with him and a bed when they were so hot for each other was very dangerous, but this was a conversation that needed to happen. "Go ahead and sit on the bed, I'll take the chair."

They seated themselves about as far apart as the room permitted, but Ryan still looked as uncomfortable as she felt. "So what did you want to discuss?"

"Well first, I wanted to remind you that I'll be waking you up early. I want to be climbing that mountain at dawn."

"Right, you said that before."

"Oh right," she said. They had discussed the logistics at length on the beach that very evening. "Tomorrow they'll be fixing this. We have to believe that."

"Yeah, we have to go in with that attitude."

"So when that happens and all this lunacy ends...I want you to know that I'm going to love you as much as I ever have, but in the way I should, the way a mother is supposed to love her son."

"And I'll love you the proper way too. It's just..."

After a moment, she said, "Yes?"

"I don't think either of us will forget everything that's happened. All our dreams -- I'm almost certain that I know how it would feel if we really did those things. I know exactly how you'd feel if I went inside you. I know how you sound when you come and the face you make."

"I know how it would feel if you fucked me," she whispered. "It would feel amazing."

"See? How do we forget all that? How do we go back to normal?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "But we have to try, don't we? Maybe...maybe the memories will fade when the blessing is revoked. Maybe there won't be any more changes and I'll stop turning into dream-me and go back to just being me."

"There have been a lot of physical changes," he mused. "Some of them I wouldn't mind keeping."

"Well...I mean...yes, getting younger has been amazing. I didn't look this good when I was the age I look now. But if it means getting our lives back I'll lose every one of these changes in a heartbeat."

Ryan said nothing, instead just looking intently at his mother as a smile slowly curled his lips. "Damn girl," he said. "You're hot as hell, you know that? You keep looking like that and I'll have a hard time keeping my hands off you even without the blessing."

She knew she should have put a stop to that kind of talk and rebuked her son, but instead she blushed and giggled. "Thank you, babe. I feel the same about you. I guess we'll just need to try all the harder to be good."

"Yeah, I guess so. It won't be easy."

She locked eyes with him. My Lord, he's irresistible. "No it won't. Not knowing what we know. Knowing how good it could be if we just gave in and fucked each other's brains out for real and not just a stupid dream. God I want that so bad!"

"Mom," he said in a voice of quiet command. "What are you doing all the way over there? Get your gorgeous ass over here."

It was all the most natural thing in the world. How could there be anything wrong with sitting on a bed with her perfect son whom she wanted with every fiber of her being? Wasn't she supposed to? Wasn't a woman supposed to be sexual with the man she adored? Wasn't he supposed to put babies in her? With a naughty grin she pushed herself to her feet and slinked over to where he was sitting, standing in front of him with a hand on her cocked hip and a smirk on her face. "Well? What now?"

His answer was simple but perfectly eloquent: he took her hand and pulled her forward so she toppled face-first onto the bed. With another giggle she rolled herself onto her back, just in time for Ryan to move above her. He settled his weight atop her and she welcomed it hungrily, spreading her legs and letting her dress fall up to her waist as he moved between them. Their mouths met like magic and their tongues twisted together as she wrapped her arms over his back and hooked her heels over his strong calves. She was so horny it ached.

Here it was. She was in bed (or at least on one) with the best man in the world, and he wanted her and she wanted him and there was nothing to stop them. Their kiss was so hard it was bruising her lips, and his cock was so hard it was straining at his shorts; she could feel it rubbing against her wet slit through her panties as he dry-fucked her, his hips pistoning, the friction making her feel divine. Take off your clothes and let me take off mine and JUST PUT IT IN!

But he was firmly atop her and her arms and legs were around him so fiercely that he couldn't have stood up if he had tried. Her hips were bucking against his with every thrust so that the sensation was amazing, but all she could think was how much better it would feel if he was actually screwing her and every meeting of the hips drove his cock into her eager pussy all the way to the hilt. But this felt amazing too, his erection sawing against her pussy, pushing her soaked panties against her clit.