Originally posted November 4, 2011
((This was a lot of fun to plan and play out. Squirrel and I struggled over the decision to post some of this interlude. It's intimate and mature. It touches on ideas that some might find uncomfortable, desire, acceptance, love. That kind of thing. There's nothing lewd here, but's kind of adult.))
The weariness caused by 24 hours of airports and planes fell away as they boarded the helicopter. The ground fell away beneath them. "Have you ever been on a helicopter before?" Chance asked. She shook her head. "You?" He grinned. "I was medevac-ed once. I was unconscious the whole time."
The beating of the propellers and the blue of the ocean quieted further discussion. Their destination slowly came into view.
As they approached their destination, Mac held to Chance's hand tightly, her first time in a helicopter and over a vast amount of water had her a little more than nervous, but as they approached the island and she saw the view her nervousness was all but forgotten as she plastered herself to the window to look out.
"Oh my goodness Chance!! is that where we are going? I can not believe, look, do you see? It's absolutely breath taking!"
Chance watched her reaction, as the helicopter landed and the central pavilion and villas of Cousine Island of the Seychelles came into view.
Her eyes widened and mouth opened. She reached out to take his hand. Her excitement and awe traveled up the length of his arm. "It's a conservation area... very pristine," he explained. "Prince Edward and Kate honeymooned here, I heard."
The tears in her eyes surprised him. They stopped walking and she turned to face him. "You are the most amazing man and I am so lucky to have you." He blushed, his mouth making small movements. She settled them with a kiss. "I love you. Thank you so much.. this.. this is... I do not think I can put how I feel into words."
He pulled her along as the guide lead them to their private villa. "There is a full service spa available and they cook, but everything is caught fresh so no menus. I filled out a questionnaire about your dietary preferences before we left... " He stopped, unable to take another step. "Wow...."
MacKenzie smiled and continued to look around, "Yeah… Wow is one word for it."
"I never really thought... I mean... I've never been anywhere like this."
"I am glad that we are sharing this together," Mac told him, "it would not be the same without you."
"It's stunning. I really don't know what to say."
She chuckled. "I think trying to put words to it, well that just lessens it somehow."
"We don't have to do a thing. They do have some diving... but... I think we just get to enjoy each other." He smiled entering the villa "They have hiking and... and a huge tub... and a beautiful bed...."
"Wow," he managed to stammer, "just... thank you." Mac stopped her exploration of the villa and turned towards him. "For what?"
"For... just being you, Mac. Accepting me for what I am. Giving me the idea to do something more. For letting me,... I dunno,... take you to a tropical island"
Her eyes sparkled as the looked deep into his. "I love you.. I love you so much Chance. I cannot wait to explore this place with you, making memories for us."
"I love you, MacKenzie. I love every day we spend together, every moment." The stood there kissing for some time, bodies trying to convey what their language could not.
"We can go to other islands, too," Chance eventually explained. "There are casinos and discos on Mahe, the main island."
This is more than I ever could have imagined, Chance," she answered with a nod and a smile. "That will be fun, I want to experience everything here."
"I assume you've never dived?" Mac's eyes widened as she shook her head. "That would require me to get into the water," she giggled. "Maybe we can work on that."
"I.. I think I would like that. You'll need to learn how to swim, first. Good thing you're so fit"
"I would like that," she confessed, pushing through her fear."
"I just think I want to look at you here for a while," he told her." "Then let's do just that," she agreed. "We have all the time."
"I'm ready to purge some airplane funk. Want to try to try out that tub?"
MacKenzie nodded. "Oh, yes. I would love to try it out." She replied, taking his hand and leading the way.
--
Chance leaned back in the hardwood chair, a glass of wine in one hand, a batik, blue sarong wrapped around his waist, his eyes cast upward. Behind them stood their private villa, before them the remnants of a meal so good, he wished he had made it. "The stars, they're different here." MacKenzie smiled, watching him as she sipped her wine. "Yeah. They are brighter, here. They look almost closer, like you could reach out and touch them." She giggles as he lifted his hand, reaching.
"Do you wish you could? I mean, like when I was a kid, I always wanted to touch the stars."
"I never was able to really look at the stars. I grew up in cities," Chance answered, letting another sip of red wine roll around in his mouth. "I remember the first time I came to the States as a teen. I was shocked that you could look around and not see cables and power lines hanging everywhere."
"Wow," sadness tinged her smile, "I never realized how different it was there. I would like to go one day."
"We will. I have business that takes me to Japan regularly." He reached over to take her hand, his wineglass dangling from the other. "What else did you wish for as a kid?"
"Oh wow," she answered, taking another sip of her chardonnay. "I guess a lot of the same things most American kids do. I wanted to go to the moon for a while." He kissed her fingers before asking, "What do you wish for, now?
"I have the things that I wish for, right here."
"All of them?"
Mackenzie grinned, smile shining in the starlight. "The most important ones."
"I love you. I never get tired of saying it."
"I never get tired of hearing it." Her eyes found his, glittering. "I guess I am sooo American in that," she added with a giggle.
"Huh?"
"Yukiko told me that the Japanese do not say I love you very much."
Chance chuckled as his thoughts traveled back to his very first love. "Aiko never told me, now that I think about it. My parents said it to each other all the time."
"Well I like to say it, so I will; as much as I can. I want to make sure you never forget."
"I don't see how I possibly could. I could be on the moon and know how you feel about me."
"Yeah well," She remarked, taking another drink from her glass, "it is still nice to hear it."
"Your Aunt and Uncle seemed pretty affectionate."
"Yes. They love each other very much. She is the only one who can calm him down sometimes."
"What does the ideal couple look like to you?"
"Hmmm, that is a good question," He watched her, smiling as she thought for a moment. "I think they are devoted to each other. They back each other up when needed and hold each other when needed. They love unconditionally and they know how to listen to each other, even when they do not agree."
"How are we doing?"
"I think we are perfect." MacKenzie giggled as her response earned her a playful nip at her fingers. "What about you?" she asked. "What does your ideal couple look like?"
"I really don't know, I don't think I've seen one in real life, well until now. I've discovered acceptance is important to me. Comfort. Communication, really important. Trust." Chance paused for a moment. "I trust you. I trust that I can talk to you about things, share secrets, dreams…." He stopped talking as she rose then kneeled in front of him on the lush lawn. "And I am so thankful of that trust," she told him before placing her lips on his.
"You make it so easy to trust and love you," he told her as that smile spread across her face again. "I am glad it is easy." Their eyes met, each looking for the future in the others. "I love you," she told him again. "I love the time we have together, here."
Chance leaned forward to bring his face close to hers. "It's nice not having to share each other with the evil doers, a restaurant,… the real world."
"It is actually, very, very nice. Just you and me. No distractions." He tasted the chardonnay on her lips as she kissed him again. He draped his arms over her shoulders as the embrace deepened. "And now that you have me all to yourself," he mused, "what will you do with me?"
The image she shared with him through the mental link between them raised a color to his cheeks. "And that's just for starters," she teased. He placed a hand on her face, a calloused thumb caressing her cheek. "I love moments like this with you," she sighed.
"And this is a part of us now." MacKenzie kissed his hand before responding. "Yes it is.
"What comes after the starters?" His face darkened and his body shivered as she shared another image. He blinked as she took a long pull from her glass. "That's trust, showing me that. Show me a fantasy"
"A fantasy?"
"A fantasy," he confirmed with a nod. "I don't think I've ever thought about mine; what they would look like, how they would feel."
"I don't think I have really thought about it," Mac confessed. "I mean. I think that there are things that I think would be fun to you know, experience, I guess. But I do not know how I would feel about experiencing them. I mean they are supposed to be fantasies. Right?"
They talked, their conversation private, for them and the night air. They shared telling blushes and tiny giggles, expressing themselves in new and different ways. At first, the words came slowly as they looked for the terms to match feelings and desires never articulated. When they finished, Chance grinned and said, "I've never talked about sex like this with anybody ever before."
"Me either." Mackenzie blushed. "But it's… it's liberating, I think... a little?"
"A lot," Chance answered, his head nodding quickly. "I've never felt so loved, or so accepted or so... wanted." Her eyes reflected the stars above as they widened. "Oh believe me you are wanted," she told him, her voice husky with desire. "Very, very much wanted."
She opened her mind to him as her lips pressed on his. In that moment, they lay bare to each other. Chance revealed his whole self without hesitation. They saw each other's secrets, fears, the dark clouds of their insecurities, the bright lights of their dreams and desires. They hid nothing.
"Oh," she breathed, their minds intertwined. "I have never felt anything like this before."
"I think," Chance offered with a grin, "we're definitely stuck with each other now."
"I do not think of it as being stuck," She told him, her grin matching his. "I think of it as making a future."
"Making love," he said plainly, his smile warm and innocent. "Yes. Making love," she agreed, "a lifetime of love."
"I don't see any fear in there, anymore," Chance remarked.
"That is because there is none, not with you." Chance couldn't tell if they spoke the words or willed them into each other's minds. He felt the roughness of his own unshaven face as they kissed again, experiencing the touch as her and himself simultaneously.
"How did we find each other?" The taste of the dark zinfandel on his lips surprised him experienced as her, as did the warmth of their mouths.
"Helena told you to talk to me I think."
"I hope she knows. Wherever she is, I hope she knows."
"I am sure she does."
Chance rose to his feet, unsteady and unsure where his body ended. He extended a hand to help her up. His fingers plucked at her sarong, then the bikini she wore beneath. Closing his eyes helped cool the mutual excitement as his fingers worked the strings. He stepped back and opened them as MacKenzie stood naked, exposed beneath the stars.
He let his fingers brush across her skin as he walked around her, taking all of her in. MacKenzie's eyes saw herself as he did, through the filter of his heart: beautiful, sexy, perfect.
"Thank you," came the whisper across their minds, "for sharing that with me. I… I never knew… how you really see me. I mean, you have said it… I just..." Chance could not tell if the tears were hers or his own. They pulled each other close, feeling the warmth of their bodies against the cool tropical breeze, hearing the beating of their hearts in the still of the pristine night. They kissed again. She felt the tremor in his knee. He learned the quiver in her upper lip.
"Maybe we should go inside."
"Okay. That sounds good."
Neither of them moved.
"I love you so much. I don't want this moment to end."
"The next moment is with you, and the one after that."
Lips touched and lingered, wanting. "Like this moment."
Fingernails brushed up a naked back. "And this moment." A breath caught with the sensation. "Yes… yes."
Each moment followed the other, under their private, star filled, sky.
--
Vacation photos:
Chance gave Mac the platinum and diamond necklace from Tiffany's she's wearing before they left for the Seychelles.
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