ALWAYS FAITHFUL (9 page)

T
he conversation between the two, and sometimes Grace, was casual and innocent enough. They talked about their families, about the military and what made Nic want to join. They talked about people that they had in common and where certain people that Nic and Mike both knew were now. It surprised Claire to find out how many of the pilots that Mike had gone to flight school with were no longer alive. She had heard that the survival rate among pilots was average at best but with a war going on it was clear that being a helicopter pilot was much riskier that any other type of aviation. She wondered how those spouses survived after the loss of their loved one.

Dinner was starting to wind down and Grace was getting sleepy. She was starting to dip her little head closer and closer to her plate while she fought off sleep.

“Nic, would you mind sitting with Grace so I can start her bath?” She knew if she didn’t act quickly Grace would be sleeping before she had her nightly ritual of bath and a bedtime story.

“I want to keep her routine as normal as possible,” Claire said as she grabbed a bath towel and pajamas. “Pretty soon it will be chaos when Mike’s family gets here.”

“Sure, why not. We can sit on the couch and watch some TV and Grace can show me all her favorite shows. Right, Grace?”

“Kay,” Grace said as she ran for the couch, making a dive right into the cushions as Nic followed. Claire watched as the two snuggled close.

“What do ya wanna watch, squirt?” Nic said, as she started surfing the channels.

“Cartoons,” Grace yelled as she leaned closer to Nic.

Aw, how cute is that? Nic looks right at home with Grace.
Claire felt warmth flow through her body at the sight.

“Hey, something age appropriate for a three year old. Okay?” Claire reminded.

Looking over at Claire, with something akin to a childlike grin on her face, she nodded and went back to channel surfing. If Claire didn’t know better she would think that Nic had kids of her own, or perhaps she was just a big kid tucked under all of that camo.

“Nic?”

“Yeah?” Nic said watching the channels as they zoomed by.

“Have you ever thought about having kids? I mean, when you get married?”

“Aw,” Nic handed the remote to Grace, “Wanna try it?” she said to Grace as she turned to Claire. “Well yeah, I mean I always thought eventually I would have kids and a family. I just haven’t found the right person to make that kind of a commitment to.” Nic hoped that she was being vague enough in her answer.

“You’re great with Grace. I can see you with a whole pack of kids.”

“Well, I don’t know about a pack, but at least one or two.” Nic watched as Claire finished clearing the table. She swallowed hard when Claire bent over the table to wipe up crumbs and her jeans pulled tight across a very nice and firm ass.

“I think you’re gonna make a great mom, but that’s just my opinion.”

“Thanks.” Nic decided to let the conversation end there. She didn’t want to have to start explaining things about her life and she definitely didn’t want to have that conversation with Claire when the sight of Claire cleaning the kitchen table turned her on.

Nic sat on the couch with Grace, the little girl cuddling next to her, and she wondered again what life would be like when she had a family of her own. She had always liked kids. In fact, she was the neighborhood babysitter when she was younger. She often spent at least one or two days a week watching a few of the neighbor kids while their parents went bowling or to dinner. She liked them and they liked her. She had a way with them, probably because she was the oldest of her siblings. It was an easier way to make a few bucks babysitting than mowing yards or washing cars. Not that she didn’t do that too, but she liked babysitting much better. She looked down at Grace and wondered if she was partial to boys or girls. It was something she had never really thought about too much. If she had boys she could teach them how to play ball, skateboard or ride a bike, but then she realized she would teach a girl to do all of those things too. It didn’t really matter to Nic whether she had boys or girls, as long as they were healthy.

Nic jumped when she heard a scream come out of the bathroom. Running, she practically ran into Claire, who was walking out of the bathroom sopping wet from the top of her head to her shoulders. Nic tried to peer under the wet hair that covered Claire’s face.

“Are you ok? What happened?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Someone pulled the plug up on the faucet and the shower was active when I went to pour Grace’s bath.”

“Look, I don’t remember pulling anything when I
went to sit on the tub. Really,” said Nic, pleading, but also beginning to laugh. It was clear that Claire was pissed but Nic couldn’t help herself. Claire looked like a drowned rat and was dripping all over the floor in her haste to find the culprit who had pulled the lever.

“REALLY, I’m sure you don’t know who did this, do you?” Claire said as she inched closer and closer to Nic who was now backed against the wall of the bathroom, nearly doubled over with laughter.

“So you think this is funny, do you?”

Moving into Nic she buried her wet hair into Nic’s chest and began rubbing the soaking wet mess all over Nic’s upper body. She grabbed Nic’s shoulders and pulled their bodies together to make sure that Nic couldn’t get away from the wet mess that she was creating. Laughing, she continued her onslaught even though Nic was now begging her, through great gulps of laughter, to stop.

Nic wrapped her arms around Claire to stop her from doing any more damage to her already wet t-shirt, and to keep her head from brushing against her breasts any further. Nic felt Claire’s breasts make contact with her upper body as she moved back and forth. Holding Claire tighter she could feel her own nipples harden at the contact between them. She stood there with Claire in her arms and could smell her, a scent of freshness and heat, the kind of heat that comes from arousal.

Claire looked up into eyes that had darkened at the contact between them. She was so close to Nic she could feel Nic’s breath on her face. Nic’s scent made her head spin with desire, and the moment was too much for Claire to deny. Without thinking, she leaned forward and kissed Nic, first resting her lips gently against her, and when she felt Nic respond, she deepened the kiss.

Nic slid a hand up Claire’s back and into her hair, pulling her closer to her lips. She heard a moan but wasn’t sure whose it was. It didn’t matter, she was on fire. She couldn’t think clearly. It had been too long since she had been with someone and the depth of her need took her by surprise. It felt so good and she couldn’t stop her body from reacting, from taking control of her brain. Her body tingled from the contact. She felt Claire’s arms blocking her chest and wished she had moved her arms so she could feel Claire’s nipples press against her own breasts. She pulled Claire’s head back and exposed her neck to her lips. She started at Claire’s earlobe and worked her way down to the raging pulse in her neck, licking, sucking and biting as she devoured Claire’s neck. She heard Claire moan and it only served to spur her further down towards the hollow near Claire’s collarbone.

“Mommy, you ok?”

As though they had been splashed by cold water they pulled apart. Claire took a step back and clutched her hands to her chest to cover her erect nipples, just in case Nic didn’t already guess the damage that had been done by their contact. She struggled to control her breathing long enough so she could answer Grace.

“Yes, honey, mommy’s ok. I just got a little wet when someone pulled the wrong plug in the bath that’s all.”

Nic couldn’t pull her eyes away from the sight of Claire’s generous curves beneath the t-shirt plastered to her skin. She flushed when she met Claire’s darkened eyes. Nic looked down to see her own hardened nipples pushing through her tight t-shirt.

Claire tossed Nic a towel. “Here. You might want to dry off. I need to change while Grace’s bath runs. Would you mind?” She motioned to Grace with her chin as she sidestepped Nic, keeping her hands firmly over her
breasts.

“Not at all. Come on little one. Let’s sit on the couch and wait for mommy to get changed.”

“But why? How did you get wet? And why was you kissing mommy? And why is mommy wet?” Nic suddenly realized that Grace was at that age where everything was a question. More importantly, Grace had seen everything between her and Claire. She wasn’t sure how to answer so she decided to take the safe way out.

“You know what, Grace, why don’t we let mommy answer those questions? OK?”

“Why?”

“Well, because …”

“Because I am the mommy, that’s why honey. And Nic has other things to do. Right Nic?” Claire said, saving Nic the embarrassment of having to try and explain something to a curious three year old. It was something she wasn’t sure she could explain to herself. Claire gave Nic a half-hearted smile as she picked up Grace and took her into the bathroom.

She was being given a way out so Nic graciously accepted the offer, and grabbed her jacket from the back of the couch. She went to the door of the bathroom and briefly watched as Grace was lowered into the tub. Clearing her throat, she stuck her hands into her jeans and waited for Claire to turn around. When she didn’t, Nic stood for a moment longer and then turned to leave.

“I better get going. I need to get to the office and check on things in Germany since it’s almost morning over there. I’ll call if I hear anything. Thanks again for dinner.”

“Bye, Nic,” said a soft little voice from the tub.

Smiling broadly Nic waved at Grace, “Bye cutie. See ya soon. Ok?”

“Kay.”

“Good Night Nic.” Claire didn’t turn around, and her back was stiff.

“Good Night, Claire.”

N
ic settled onto the seat of her motorcycle, and pulled her helmet on. She thought about what had just happened in the house. She suddenly realized that her body had reacted to someone’s touch instead of to pain. Her body had turned a corner and was now reacting again to something completely out of the ordinary-the touch of another person.

She had battled for the last six months to get her body to a place where it no longer ached to walk, or hurt to get out of bed in the morning and get ready for work. To do things that everyone else took for granted everyday. She had put up with the ache in her hip and the jarring pain of her scar just to be able to ride her motorcycle again, because she wanted her life to feel somewhat normal. Now she was beginning to understand that her body and her mind were changing from fighting to survive to being able to enjoy something that had nothing to do with pain. That something was Claire.

She wanted to go back into the house and thank Claire for what had happened, but thought better of it as she realized that Claire might not know how to take the news of her dramatic change. In fact, she didn’t think it would go over well with a straight woman. who, on top of everything else she was dealing with, may not want to find out that she had stimulated Nic into an epiphany.

Nic rode her bike back to her place feeling raw and edgy. Try as she might, she couldn’t get the vision of Claire’s beautiful face, the feel of Claire’s lips pressed wantonly against her own and the pressure of Claire’s body fitting tightly against hers out of her head. She wondered briefly if she had imagined the whole thing, but her body reminded her that it was true. She was on fire. Changing course, Nic headed for the gym, knowing she was going to have to work through this physically before giving it anymore thought.

Heading for the locker room Nic could feel herself start to relax a little. By the time she came out, dressed and ready for a grueling workout, she had set her mind to the task at hand, which was to figure out what she was going to do about Claire. Sitting in the inverted leg press she started sorting through the facts as she could figure them out. Claire was a beautiful woman so it was easy to get lost in her beauty. She was exactly Nic’s type too, so that didn’t help the situation any. Had she said or done something to encourage Claire?
But Claire isn’t gay!
Maybe the talk the two had earlier about Nic’s accident in Iraq had something to do with what had happened.
But what?
Squeezing out the last of the reps, she racked her brain trying to think about what she might have done.

She switched machines and lowered her body into the hack machine. Her body ignited as she thought of Claire’s gentle touch on her back as she changed the bandage. Claire’s soft hands gently stroking the tape along the side of her breast was hard to ignore. She dropped down into the squat, straining as she pushed the weight back up into the start position. She could feel her legs trembling and wondered if it was the weight of the machine or her body responding as she remembered the innocent caresses.

Claire is in a vulnerable state and is just reaching out for comfort, that had to be it,
she told herself as she changed to a different machine to work her hamstrings. A sense of relief replaced the anxiety that had been slowly building.

Of course, why didn’t she see it sooner? Claire was reacting to the loss she was experiencing, and Nic was just the person that happened to be there when it all came to a head. There was that nagging thought again,
Claire isn’t gay.
It would be one thing to reach out to another male for comfort, but a woman? She doubted anyone would make that kind of mistake, surely not a straight arrow like Claire. Perhaps the fact that Nic was a woman didn’t enter into the picture. Maybe she was just someone who reminded Claire of Mike and so it would be easy to see how Claire could reach out in that way? Finishing her workout, she felt a sense of relief, tinged with a hint of disappointment.

One problem remained. Nic could convince her mind that it was innocent, but her body told her something else. Nic had reacted to Claire’s advances and she felt completely captivated by her.
It’s just ‘cause I haven’t been with someone in a while that’s all. I’ll get over it, no problem. We have a shared experience and that probably has something to do with it.
She definitely did not want to complicate things for herself or Claire, especially with what Claire was going through with Mike’s body still missing. Her steely determination replaced the edginess she felt and she knew that she needed to remain professional with Claire, regardless of what had happened earlier. She could do this, she had to and once she put her mind to something it was all but a done deal as far as she was concerned. The issue was over and she was ready to move forward.