Interlude (17 page)

“I wasn't going to just sit by and watch him
man handle you. You already went through that once with him.” Cal
said, adding, “Besides, I'm not the one who decided it would be a
good idea to do business with him.”

Karen held up her hand at him while she
gathered her thoughts. It was Cal's turn to be angry now! She
brought them into this weird situation, and then she gets mad at
him when things go bad and he tries to protect her? Cal fumed
quietly as he rubbed his hand. Man that hurt! That wasn't anything
like the movies. As he rubbed his sore knuckles, Karen took his had
to inspect his injuries in the passing streetlight.

“I think you may have broken a finger.” She
said quietly. Her voice held a hint of empathy as she rubbed his
hand.

“I'm sorry I lost my cool, but I couldn't let
him treat you like that. Not anymore.” Cal said as his tension
washed away. She really was like a drug to him! He could have cut
off a finger and her touch would be enough to block the pain. They
took their coats and got out at the hotel. They were both exhausted
as he opened the door to their room.

“Thank you.” Karen said after the long
silence. She had already changed into her pajamas; a white tank top
and undies. Cal, checking his email while he waited for the
bathroom, scooted the chair out so she could sit in his lap. She
curled up like a cat, her face buried in his neck. He smiled
quietly at the sensation as she unloaded all of her problems.

“Being with Kyle was the most regretful thing
I've ever done. The way he used to treat me, and the things he did,
was just, ugh...” She trailed off, her thoughts coming in slow
ebbing waves as fatigue set in. “It was because of him that I
started dating married guys. I figured that they had sort of proven
themselves to not be complete assholes if another girl had decided
to spend a lifetime with them.” She grunted lightly as she moved to
better curl up on him. “Nobody has ever stood up for me before.
It's not something I usually need, but I'm glad you were there to
do it.”

“Anytime babe…,” Cal said, listening to her
quiet mumbles as she drifted off to sleep.

Karen was a noisy sleeper! As Cal continued
where he left off on his emails, Karen struggled to find a better
spot on him to sleep. In amongst the grumbling and cooing noises
she made sleeping on him, she muttered the words,
“love
‘ya,”.
Cal looked up, the dark room only lit by his glowing
laptop screen. He smiled to himself as he moved her to the bed.

Chapter 6

Cal woke early. Beating the wakeup call by an
hour, he busied himself by packing his things and ordering coffee
for the two of them. As he checked his mail, he saw a new one from
Jeremy:

Hey dude! I haven't seen you since you got
your ass kicked in my trailer. We'll have to meet up and exchange
notes on your new life. Alice has been harassing my old lady for
information on your whereabouts. Word on the street has it you came
into some money, and her family has hired some bulldog lawyer to
get as much of it as possible out of you. Hope your butt hole
doesn't hurt too much after that! LOL! BTW, they wanted me to serve
you papers to appear in court. I guess they think you'll be hard to
get a hold of. I laughed at them. That would be the cruelest thing!
Let me know when you'll be up in SLO County again and we'll get
together.

Cal laughed to himself in the quiet room. He
shot back a response:

Hey man! Good to hear from you. I haven't
been gone that long. I guess Alice's family has been driving you
crazy in my absence! When I get back to the 'States you can just
bring the summons to Karen's house. We can go get a drink after
that! See ya later!

Cal listened to Karen stir as the wakeup call
came in. The quiet room became the usual flurry of activity as they
both finished packing. In amidst the bustle of zipping luggage and
ordering room service, Cal tried to explain his wonder-networking
software to Karen as she applied makeup in the tiny bathroom.

“It's actually pretty simple to understand if
you work in network security. In layman's terms though, the
software does it's magic by automating TCP/IP tasks on a
server-wide basis. On top of that, it also manages to seek out
remote networks based on predetermined parameters. So, instead of
hiring five or six geeks to complete your network setup, you only
need to hire this one.” Cal said, pointing to himself.

Karen tried to make sense of his explanation.
She knew some stuff about computers and technology, but Cal
probably operated on a whole different level. She thought over how
he easily handled things like this, and then she asked him a
question. “So, since you're so good with networks and network
security, what do you think of the way we handle money when we
transact?”

Cal struggled to do something with his unruly
hair. He shot back an answer after giving it some thought. “It
seems relatively safe. The only problem with direct transfers like
that is the risk of someone ripping you off. You know, they take
your money, but no goods delivered. I imagine your line of work
doesn't have much of an appeals process. I would, however, avoid
doing those transfers over standard mobile phone signals though.”
He finished.

“Why's that?” Karen asked. She was fascinated
to see him in his element. She had always considered him to be this
strong, almost masochistic, guy that tolerated abuse and pain like
it was a hobby. She was slowly coming around to the fact that he
was also very intelligent as well. As she watched him fumble with
his tie, he rattled on about wireless IP sniffing and side channel
cracks. She couldn't help but smile. It was good to see him as a
vulnerable human being. She took comfort in him in so many ways. He
made her feel like she was the only girl on the planet! He was so
kind to her. His ability to sense what she wanted before she even
knew she wanted it, was almost uncanny. She was lost in thought
when he slid up behind her to check himself in the mirror over her
shoulder. She could feel his body through her silk dress as he
slowly ran his hand down her side, unaware of the effect his touch
was having on her. The warmth of his hand radiating through the
thin fabric made her skin tingle. As her nerves sang with his
touch, she realized that he was trying to have a conversation with
her and she was completely tuned out!

“Did..., you get that last part?” He asked
with a quizzical expression.

She turned around to face him. In the small
bathroom he loomed over her like some kind of statue. She never
thought of herself as short, but Cal had a way of being larger than
life that he couldn't really control. Perhaps it was just the
control he had over her, his own special spell that made her feel
like this. “I was just puzzling over the fact that you're much too
hot to be a member of the geek squad.” She said with a grin.

“That's an old misconception. Nerds come in
all shapes and sizes now.” Cal said while returning his own
flattered smile.

Karen reached down to caress him through the
fabric of his pants. His hips moved slightly as she took to running
both her hands over him, exploring him like the terrain of a
distant planet. “I guess they come in extra-large too.” she
said.

Their flight back ended up being a nightmare.
Going to the Ukraine wasn't too bad, but the trip back ended up
being littered with stopovers when their original plane was
grounded for repairs. Cal spent the time answering emails and
returning the odd phone call, while Karen texted Soren and Ethan
about the Sikorskys they had just scored. After a stop in Colorado,
they finally had things taken care of to the point where they could
rest.

Cal leaned over to her. In the quiet cabin,
his whisper seemed to be as loud a yell. “You wanna join the mile
high club?” He asked her.

“What?!” Karen said with a startled look. She
was half-asleep when he asked her. “Airplane bathrooms? I don't
know,” She was excited by the idea, but she was worried about
getting caught. The thought of an Air Marshal handcuffing the two
of them after a quickie in the airplane toilet was sort of a turn
off.

“It'll be fine. The Marshal left to go flirt
with a flight attendant.” He said, looking over his shoulder at the
bathroom.

“How do you know? Those guys are supposed to
be undercover.” Karen asked as, she too, craned her head around to
see if the coast was clear.

“They have ancient flip phones from six years
ago. It's a special, standard-issue one for the U.S government with
very limited functionality.” Cal said confidently.

Karen pondered the thought of doing it in the
bathroom. It was exciting! Of all the business trips she had taken,
she had never done it before. “Okay, I'll go in there first. Wait
two minutes, and then knock three times on the door.” She said in a
conspiratorial whisper.

Karen got up and slid past Cal. As the fabric
of her dress brushed by his face, he fought to contain his arousal.
He wanted her so bad! They had teased each other so much on the
trip. Now, he needed her in ways that he couldn't even understand.
He waited, the seconds ticking by like hours. As he got up, he made
every effort to conceal his ready state from the other passengers
as he made his way back. He knocked. The door slid open quietly,
and Karen's hand grabbed him by his tie and pulled him in.

She pulled him down to her and kissed him
with so much force their teeth clashed together. As she fumbled for
his zipper, she continued kissing him. Cal, taken aback by her
sensual assault, returned with his own attack. He ran his hands
under her short dress. When he found her thong, he hooked his
fingers into it and slid it down her legs. She wiggled her hips and
legs to help him. There was so little room in the cramped space. As
she was bent down, Cal's rock hard manhood bumped her cheek. She
grabbed it in her mouth and bit down lightly. As Cal groaned from
this violation, she moved her tongue over it, her exhaled breath
tickling his pubic hair as she moaned quietly. She slowly stood up,
her face running along the front of his shirt the entire way. His
scent was so inviting! He was like a drug to her. His musky, clean
manly aroma was her custom formulation of pleasure and desire. She
kissed him again, pulling him down to her. She couldn't control
herself around him. She needed him like a drink from a garden hose
on a hot day. He forced his tongue into her mouth as she climbed up
his body in the tiny space. Karen's heels struggled for grip on the
paneling as she wrapped her legs around him. He leaned forward,
pressing her body against the small vanity as he pushed inside of
her. She stifled her loud, uncontrollable moaning by biting his
ear. The pain from her bite only seemed to drive him into a frenzy.
He thrust himself deep inside her as an act of passionate revenge.
She let out a muffled chirp at this, as he slowly settled into
rhythm.

As he pushed harder and faster, his thumbs
dug into her hips as his long fingers grabbed her with unrelenting
force. The pain only served to excite Karen more! She bucked her
hips on the vanity in an attempt to upset his pattern of thrusts
and gyrations. He responded by grabbing her harder. “God this is
great!” Karen thought to herself as she began climbing. She felt
her pelvic muscles slowly tighten. How would she stay quiet? The
thought of a whole first class section hearing them fuck only made
her more excited. She buried her face in Cal's shoulder and bit
down. The more she felt like screaming, the harder she bit him. Her
release came in waves of sheer, convulsing pleasure as her teeth
clamped down on him involuntarily. His groaning pretests were
staved off by his own need as he came inside her, his face buried
in her neck as his stubble abraded against her soft skin.

Her breathing was a trembling series of short
gasps as she recovered. Cal held her soft, limp body in his hands
as she rested on him. His recovering breaths on her neck made Karen
shudder even more. As they finally straightened their clothes,
there was a light knock at the door!

“Alright you two, come on out.” A quiet, but
authoritative voice outside the door said.

Karen and Cal sat quietly with the guilty
look of teenagers caught in the act. The Marshall, a gentleman in
his forties with light brown hair and a medium build, had given
them a quick lecture about airline safety and proper use of the
bathroom facility. His telling grin the entire time let them know
that they weren't in any real trouble though. Back at their seats,
they laughed about the whole encounter.

“That would have been embarrassing!” Cal
whispered with a smile.

“Yeah, I would hate to have to call in a
favor with my CIA contact for that!” Karen said with a giggle. She
looked at his shoulder as her smile fell. “Oh God! You're
bleeding.” Karen said as she gingerly touched his wound through the
shirt. She felt terrible. She was always injuring him somehow.
There, on his shoulder, were the marks of her teeth highlighted in
crimson speckles.

Cal regarded the two red crescents showing
through his white shirt. He grinned with pride at his new war
wounds. “That's gonna leave a mark.” He joked.

“I feel so bad! Ever since you met me, all I
do is get you injured.” She said with an empathetic smile.

Cal looped his fingers through hers and held
her hand. “I would suffer through it all over again to be with
you.” He said. She smiled at him and rested her head on his
shoulder. As she dozed off, she listened to him clatter away softly
on his laptop. “It feels good to be with him.” she thought.

The flight into LAX was bumpy and turbulent.
The balmy LA weather only served to stick their clothing to them as
they made their way to Cal's Range Rover. The asphalt seemed to
buzz with the heat of the late afternoon. Cal felt more tired than
he ever had in his life! The jet lag, and their little initiation
to the Mile High Club, had left him absolutely wasted. He popped
the rear hatch and loaded their bags, being careful not to bump his
laptop too much in his fatigued state. He unzipped his bag to find
a shirt without bloodstains on it. Karen gave him a timid,
apologetic look while he buttoned up. Karen moved over to look at
his shoulder. In one swift move, she quickly grabbed his keys from
his pocket and bounded off toward the driver's side. “I call
shotgun!” He yelled jokingly as she started the car.