Threading the Needle Ch. 09

Lena's eyes sparkled as she laughed softly. "I win! I got more than half," she said as she crunched down in it. She smiled again at Winnie, a smile with less teasing in it. "But I lost too," she added. Her eyes sighted Rikki's last slice and she looked speculatively at the older woman. Rikki popped the entire thing into her mouth and quickly ate it.

"That one was mine. No sharing!" Rikki said, and they all chuckled.

After laughing along with the other two women, Lena slyly smiled. "That's too bad. I was looking forward to sharing it with you." While Rikki almost expected something like that from Lena, her chuckle caught in her throat when Winnie added, "Who says that you were the one who would get to share Rikki's apple?"

They both looked in surprise at Winnie. Her blue eyes were wide, but not quite innocent. Her wetsuit was peeled down to her waist and her breasts were barely covered by her little bikini top. Her full lips parted slightly, and there was the tiniest glimpse of a pink tongue. Rikki swallowed hard. She couldn't remember Winnie looking sexier than that exact moment.

"I guess we'd have to let Rikki pick," Lena replied. She turned to look at Rikki. Her own wetsuit was still on, but she had unzipped it down to her waist. While her boobs were somewhat smaller than Winnie's were, the neoprene pushed them together to give her considerable cleavage. Her eyes held no trace of innocence and instead shone in a distinctly sultry way. "So who would you like to share your apple with, Rikki?" she asked.

Rikki looked back and forth between the two hot women. "Uh uh," she said quickly. "No matter who I choose, I lose! One of you will be mad at me."

"Not necessarily," Lena told her. "You might just inspire the other one to try a little harder to win you over." As she said it, she leaned towards Rikki in a way that caused her breast to brush against Rikki's arm. Although covered by the wetsuit, Rikki had no problem feeling the firm mound pressing against her.

Winnie felt her stomach churn a little as she saw how forward Lena was, but she knew she needed to back up her bold words. "I'm not going to lose Rikki to her," she thought to herself. Inching closer, she slid her hand onto the inside of Rikki's thigh and spoke softly into her ear. "Wouldn't you like us fighting over you?"

All of a sudden, Rikki found her chest feeling compressed and it was hard to breathe. Caught between two extremely sexy younger women, she wasn't sure what to do. Fortunately, she was saved when all three of then noticed Weston coming over to talk to them. The other women backed off before he was close enough to discern anything.

"Hey, there," Weston said. Although he spoke to all of them, it seemed like most of his attention was on Rikki. "I already talked to the other rookies about who was interested in guiding down through Mercury and the Nozzle. The water is relatively high and it's tricky at this level. None of you has seen it before and you have to scout it from the river. There isn't any place to pull out until after it." He paused. "What do you say, Rikki, do you want to guide it?" he asked.

From Liz and some of the other veterans, Rikki knew that this rapid was one of the more difficult rapids in the state. She remembered Bear saying that he thought it could be harder than Boulder Drop, especially at this level. When she didn't answer, Weston spoke again. "Just know that the guys all said they would rather you do it."

That surprised Rikki a little bit. Both Linc and Sawyer were confident in their abilities. Deferring to her drove home just how much she had become the leader of all the rookies. There was no way she could let them down. "Sure," she said with a confident voice. It gave no hint of her quickening pulse. As far as anyone could tell, it was just another rapid to her.

Lena and Winnie grinned at each other. Neither of them would want to run it without having seen it before, any more than the guys, but they loved the fact that Rikki would. It seemed cool that she was more badass than the guys.

Following Weston, Rikki went over to talk to the senior guides and find out more about the rapid. The other two girls watched her leave. Lena would have been surprised to know that Winnie had the same thoughts about how attractive the view of Rikki's ass was.

They gathered up their things and got ready to head back to their raft. "I would have won," Winnie said in a quiet voice.

Lena grinned at her. "In your erotic dreams, cutie," she replied. The guys were already at the raft so both of them let it drop, although not before Winnie shook her head at her friend. They both giggled and grabbed the safety line around the boat to help the guys carry it back to the water.

A minute or two later, Rikki came walking up. Linc looked over at her. "Any place in particular that you want us?" he asked.

"Not really. You all know what you're doing. Just don't fight. That's all I ask," Rikki said. If she was nervous, none of them could see it. She went about the normal tasks; checking to see if the tube needed air; making sure that the ropes were coiled and safely secured; and other tasks like that. As usual, it took longer for the customers to get ready to go. Lena and Winnie leaned against each other as they all waited with an aura of boredom. For guides, rafting often seemed to be a hurry up and wait thing.

Finally, Weston gave the all ready sign and each guide answered it back. One by one, the rafts peeled away from the shore and headed into the main current. Winnie and Lena had claimed the front and no one else had argued.

The river was swift, and they sped downstream. As the float approached a small island, Weston waved his paddle up in the air and then followed the river to the right. Rikki gripped her paddle. They were starting the approach to the drop. She was confident in her skills and her boat, but she hoped none of the customers went in during the rough ride. It would be a long swim with little hope of help until through the rapids. If you screwed up on Mercury, you got nozzled.

Bear was bringing up the rear of the commercial boats, and Rikki switched between reading the river on her own and checking what he was doing. She was glad to see him confirming what she thought was right. Entering into Mercury, she felt the river dropping and the water going faster. It was pushy, wanting to move her places she didn't want to go.

Calling out corrections to the paddlers, she was thankful to have an experienced crew. They moved as one, supplying the power for her adjustments. Straightening the boat, she followed the main line of the current. The rapid calmed down for a moment. At lower water levels, they could have stopped in an eddy for a moment. That wasn't possible today.

Standing up for a moment, Rikki looked downstream. She could see Indigo taking her boat through a narrow channel between two big holes. Both of them looked nasty, but the right one looked like it could grab and hold a boat in it. If that happened, they were all going for a swim.

"Better not let it happen then," she muttered under her breath. As the rest of the boat paddled forward, she used a few backstrokes of her own to get the line she wanted. Bear neatly slid through the gap, his boat bucking as it went through. She could hear the customers screaming with excitement.

"All ahead, all ahead hard," Rikki yelled at the top of her lungs. The boat jerked forward as all the guides dug in at the same moment. "Whoa, too far," she thought. Digging in, she pulled back on her paddle. With a pivot against her hip, the boat started to turn. She needed more. For a brief moment, she second judged herself. "Maybe a back right," she though. "No, fuck it. If we miss, we will need the momentum."

"Paddle hard, all ahead!" she screamed. Just as the boat was above the right hole, she jumped to the other side of the raft and reached her paddle out as far as she could to the left and pulled it straight back to the boat. It moved the back end over far enough and the tongue of water pouring down between the holes grabbed the nose of the boat. The crew was still paddling but it was just for the fun of it now. She brought them to the perfect spot.

A huge yell made Rikki look up. Bear was standing in the back of his boat doing a little dance. "You!" he yelled, pointing at her. "You rock, Rikki!" The smile on his face seemed to go from ear to ear. He gave her a thumbs up and then dropped back into his place, giving the river his attention again.

Her own boat was yelling too. They all put their paddles up in the air and brought them down to slap the river.

"Okay, okay," Rikki said. "We still have a river to finish. One back right, then all ahead." Still, she couldn't hide the satisfied smile on her lips. "Damn that was fun," she exclaimed. The rest of the boat chimed in agreement with her.

From the front of the boat, Winnie looked back at Rikki. She was on the right side in the front. If they had gone into the hole, she would have been the first sucked out, maybe to be maytagged under the raft. She had looked down into the boiling white pool and felt her stomach lurch, but she kept on paddling. She trusted that Rikki would get them through it. And she had!

Rikki's dark hair hung wet down from under her helmet. A big lock of it was stuck to her cheek below her eye. The smile kept getting bigger, until something came up that distracted her for a moment. Either by calling a command, or turning the boat on her own, Rikki dealt with it and then the smile came back. The sun was high enough that it could reach down the deep canyon walls to light them up. It made Rikki's eyes sparkle even more with life.

"God, she is amazing," Winnie thought to herself. Just then, Rikki looked right at her. Their eyes met and she gave Winnie an extra big smile. Winnie felt her heart lurch, somewhat reminiscent of how her stomach felt above the hole. She felt her face start to get red, and she quickly turned and looked down stream. As she picked up the pace of paddling, she realized something. Her face wasn't the only thing that felt warm. There was a familiar sensation of being warm and wet between her legs.

"What's with me?" she wondered once again. Even though she enjoyed spending time with Logan, Winnie didn't get excited just being around him the way she seemed to be with some of the women around her. With Rikki, it was even more pronounced. She found herself frequently thinking about her, even daydreaming. That wasn't the case with Lena and Indigo. Being around them was arousing, but outside of bed she didn't find herself imagining being with them when they weren't around. As of yet, she hadn't played with herself while fantasizing about Rikki, but that was mostly because she was so conflicted about this attraction. She sighed and once again tried to banish the troubling thoughts from her head.

Rikki kept guiding for a little while, but eventually Bohdi took over for her. She moved up behind Winnie. Leaning forward, she spoke in her ear. "God that was fun! I can see why everyone loves this river!" Winnie suppressed the little shiver that ran through her body and nodded in agreement. Rikki looked over at Lena with a grin.

"I fucking love rafting," she yelled as loud as she could. Lena screamed her approval and after a moment, the rest of the raft joined in. Rikki was leaning forward against Winnie. Her life jacket was too bulky for Winnie to feel any of her actual body, but she imagined that she could. She leaned back against her as she lifted up her head to add her voice to the howls. Once again, Winnie felt a little wave of arousal wash over her.

While there some fun spots on the way down to the take out, there was nothing like Mercury and the Nozzle. They passed the time chatting. More so than normal, Winnie found herself tongue-tied. Her awareness of Rikki was at a peak, and it was just easier to nod and not say much.

As they were putting the gear away after getting off the river, Winnie felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning, she found Rikki standing close behind her. Their bodies were almost touching.

"Winnie, are you okay? You've been really quiet," Rikki said.

With as close as they were, Winnie couldn't avoid looking into Rikki's deep brown eyes. Her enticing lips drew her attention as well. "Ah, yeah. I'm fine. Just have a few things on my mind," she told her.

Rikki touched her on the shoulder and then ran her hand reassuringly down her arm. "Anything I can do?" she asked.

Rapidly shaking her head no, Winnie tried to ignore the feeling Rikki provoked in her. Turning around, she went back to putting the gear away. "I'm just thinking about Logan; wondering what he is doing right now," she said. It was as good an excuse as anything, and certainly one that Rikki would believe.

"Poor thing! Well, I'm sure he misses you as much as you miss him," Rikki said, before going to get more gear. Picking it up and coming back to the van, she kept her eyes on Winnie. "I hope he is," she thought as the similarities between Logan and Samuel crossed her mind again. She looked over and saw Lena talking with Liz, and it occurred to her that Logan reminded her a little of Liz too. He was a bit too confident in his own attractiveness. Shaking her head, she thought, "I'm just down on romance I think."

On the other side of the parking lot, Liz shook her head as she looked at Lena. "Sorry Lena, I can't. I've got plans in town and don't have time for a beer," she said. Throwing the last of her gear into the back of her car, she opened the driver's door. "I'll call you, okay?" she added as she got into her car.

Lena watched her drive away. "I know she didn't promise anything, but it still feels like a slap," she thought. Balling up a fist, she tapped it a few times against her thigh as she worked on letting the frustration go. "It's been a fun day. I shouldn't let her take away from that." Opening up her hand, she turned and walked back over to her own car.

With a smile on her face that was only slightly forced, she looked over at Rikki and Winnie. They were just about done with the gear. She watched until one of them noticed her.

"Hey, you two are going to the tavern, aren't you?" she called over to them. She felt herself flush just a little at the needy way she sounded but managed to keep her smile.

"You bet," Rikki said, grinning at her. After a stressful week, she wanted the complete rafting experience, which usually included stopping for a beer afterwards.

"Great! I'll follow you when you're ready," Lena replied before getting into her car. As she waited, she focused on breathing and letting go of the angst she felt over Liz. Just like she said at lunch, there was nothing she could do about it and it was stupid to let it make her miserable. By the time she saw Rikki's car lights come on, she felt like she was mostly successful.

The drive to the tavern didn't take long. Like most places they hung out, it was on the way home. This one was right in the middle of a small town. It was only the guides today. The customers all headed straight back to the city. Weston also didn't stop either. His wife preferred to have him come home immediately when he wasn't camping out.

Bear's big truck was easy to see from the road and Rikki pulled into a spot next to it. The two of them got out and waited as Lena parked and came over to them. She put her arms around both of the other girls, and they walked into the bar. The rest of the guides already had a table, but they saved spots for the three of them. Indigo and Alex were with the guys. It was tight and they all had to shoehorn their way into their places.

Winnie was just slightly slower than the other two in finding a spot. The only place was by Indigo and Alex. She felt a slight apprehension and she went to slide in next to Alex. Before she could do that, Alex moved to the side and opened up a spot between the two girlfriends. She looked up at Winnie and their eyes met for a moment. There was a hint of a mocking smile on her lips. Winnie remembered again that Alex knew all about her little tryst with Indigo from the previous week. This certainly wasn't a random act. For a split second, she hesitated, feeling unsure about what Alex might have in mind. Waiting any longer or even refusing might raise questions that she didn't want to answer, so Winnie sat down between the two women.

No one paid any attention to where she was sitting. After a couple of minutes, Indigo leaned her head by Winnie's ear and whispered. "Nice and cozy, don't you think?" she said softly as she put a hand on Winnie's leg. She couldn't help but jerk her leg a little. Fortunately, it only hit Alex. At least Winnie thought it was fortunate. When Alex put her hand on Winnie's other thigh, she wasn't so sure.

At first, they kept their hands motionless, just a weight on her legs. She tried to ignore them, and just sipped at her beer. As she was bringing it up to her mouth for a drink, Alex slid her hand a little further down the inside of her thigh. Winnie gasped slightly, hiding it as a cough. A little drop fell onto her t-shirt, making a blotch on her breast.

"After we dropped you off, we went home and fucked," Indigo whispered into her ear again. It looked like they were just talking in the loud bar, but her lips were close enough that her breath moved Winnie's hair. "We were both thinking about you as we fucked; at least I know I was," she continued whispering. Indigo's eyes flicked over at Alex.

"So was I," Alex said at a normal volume. No one paid attention to them. It was just a random statement in the cacophony of all the guides speaking. To Winnie, however, it was if she was spelling out exactly what happened the night before. Her face burned a bright red. Both of the other women chuckled softly, and Indigo slid her hand deeper between Winnie's legs as well.

It wasn't just her face that was burning. Winnie could feel the combination of the embarrassment and the excitement from both women touching her shoot straight into her pussy. It was already wet. Part of her wanted to press her hips forward in hopes of getting a little bit of contact. It wouldn't matter which one it was. A bigger part of her was frightened by the rawness of the desire and the implications that it carried. Her face looked tight, and Indigo realized that Winnie wasn't enjoying the teasing this time. Lifting her hand, she grasped Alex's and linked fingers with her. They let their clasped hands sit on Winnie's lap, but they didn't do anything else.

"Sorry," Indigo said softly. "I shouldn't tease you. It's just you are tempting to both of us." Her breath continued gently drifting over her skin. Winnie couldn't help shivering and feeling her excitement ratchet up even further.

She noticed Lena excusing herself to go to the bathroom and took the opening as a reason to get up herself. "Pardon me," she said to Alex, not trusting herself to look at the gorgeous Indigo with her face so close. Alex made room for her to get out and as she walked away, she heard them chuckling to themselves.

Seeing her coming, Lena waited and then they walked to the bathroom together. Lena noticed a little bit of the byplay but didn't fully catch on to what was happening. Neither of them said much as they went into the restroom and found their separate stalls. Lena finished first and waited for Winnie when she came out of the stall. She watched her as she washed up.

"Are Indigo and Alex being bitches?" she finally asked as Winnie threw away a paper towel.

"No," Winnie replied, shaking her head. "They are just teases. It's a carryover from yesterday when they gave me a ride home. I think they like kidding the girl from Oklahoma." She finally had control of herself. She was tempted to touch herself in the stall, but she couldn't with Lena there. "You know, shock the sheltered."