It Finally Happened: Part XXVII
Only a sliver of the new moon was showing in the sky that night, though the nearly clear skies allowed just enough starlight to make the bright sand visible that night, like a sight more familiar to the Colorado raised young man, that of a snow covered landscape at night, only not quite as intense. He left the thinning beach crowd some time ago, the distant lights of the condominium complex the only indicator that he was anywhere near civilization. The light surf of the calm night was soothing to his troubled mind.
He sensed rather than saw the approaching figure, partly because ofhis other senses, partly because he expected her. The faint smell of floral and citrus reached him, making him think simultaneously of eating those tiny oranges at Christmas and the embrace of the woman he loved.
"Let me guess. Kimmunicator…Wade…tracking chip?" He tried to meet her eyes, but in the low light he could barely make out her outline.
"In that order." Kim dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around Ron's shoulders, holding him close as she kissed him. Their mouths moved as one, their tongues fencing with each other as his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her down beside him on the soft, loose sand. Kim didn't resist as his hands explored her back, from the nape of her neck to the curve where her backside met her legs. She returned the favor, reaching deep up into his shirt with one hand, feeling the slight groove up the middle, gripping his shoulders tightly, loosing herself in the embrace.
"I think we're getting sand in our clothes." Ron murmured as she worked on his shoulder, intent for once on actually leaving a mark.
"I brought a blanket." She said, kissing the middle of his chest.
With as much grace as he could manage in the dark, he helped her spread the blanket out on the sand, using a couple bits of rock to weight the corners. The wind was still light so it didn't threaten to pull anything up. Ron sat back down, leaning back on his outstretched arms. Kim kneeled beside him, putting an hand on his chest, lightly caressing him, then started undoing the last few buttons of his shirt before going back to caressing him.
"Wow, KP. I was expecting a lecture for running off like that."
"Ron, I talked to your mother. She told me what she said to you and let me tell you, right now I'm pretty upset with her. She had no right to say that to you, none."
"Kim, it's alright. It's nothing new from her. She sees the world a certain way and everyone in it is supposed to play a certain part."
"That still doesn't give her the right to put you down like that."
"Well, she is right about me. I'm a plain guy who isn't too terribly bright who somehow managed to get the most badical girl in Middleton to not only date him, but she actually hunts him down for hot making out."
"Mmmm, making out and more." She leaned over him, kissing him again, her nails digging lightly into his chest.
"Um, wow, uh…wow." He said finally as she went back to lazily kneading the muscles of his chest.
"I'm a little surprised. I expected to find you brooding out here instead of just hanging out like this. Thought I had my work cut out for me."
"Instead I'm 'good to go?'"
"Ronnie, don't let Bueno Nacho hear you say that!" She kissed the tip of his nose.
"I've been out here long enough to think it over. Oh, I did my share of brooding."
"You didn't think what she said is true, do you?"
He thought a moment, letting his weight back onto the blanket, putting his hands behind his head. Kim put her head on his stomach, facing him. "I didn't want to, but something inside me made me. KP, I feel like I've got something so good with you sometimes I feel like it's too good to be true. I don't like thinking that way, but I can't help it."
"It's okay, Honey. I understand…but let me tell you something." She sat up slightly, putting both palms flat on his chest. "I've spent almost thirteen years getting to this point. I've had to learn some hard lessons along the way. One of those lessons is to listen to my heart. Yes, I've gone all to pieces over eye candy like Josh or a couple of the Oh Boyz. I learned that's all they are, just pretty faces. Josh wasn't for me and while the others have some potential, they've got a long way to go before they're in my league.
"Ron, I'm in love. I'm not play-acting to put a notch in my bedpost. I'm not using you as a stepping stone to bigger and better boyfriends. You are not plain looking. You are truly beautiful and every time I see you I'm reminded how much I want to be with you and how lucky I am to have a best friend and lover all wrapped up in one man." For emphasis she sat up and kissed him again on the chest, working her way up to his neck and then his mouth. Her hair fell all around their heads, creating a faint red halo around them in the starlight. She crossed one leg over his, letting her sandals slip off, rubbing his calf with hers.
His hands started exploring her again, this time lingering longer on the more rounded part of her back. She didn't protest, instead wriggling just a little under his touch, letting out a tiny little moan of pleasure.
"Ronnie, I can't describe how good that make me feel." She purred.
"I think I might have sort of an idea." He squeaked as she started in on his neck again.
"I'm so glad you're not as upset about what she said as I thought you would be." She traced swirling patterns on his chest, leaning on her elbow.
"Well, I'll let you know a secret."
"What's that?"
"While I was sitting here feeling sorry for myself, I started thinking about all those things we like to do and that reminded me that you like doing them as much as I do. So, in a way, you saved me again."
"Saved by a girl, huh? What's that going to do to your reputation?"
"Depends on who catches us." He grinned, forgetting she wouldn't be able to make out the expression.
"Oh my God, I haven't told you yet." She gasped, sitting up on her haunches.
"What, what is it?" He asked, suddenly worried.
"Mom knows."
"Knows?"
"She knows everything that's happened the last few nights."
"Everything?" He squeaked. "What, did she see us or something."
"No, Ron, she's not dumb. I didn't even realize it, but she noticed your shirt was on backwards last night, plus a couple other things.
"Kim, my shirt stayed on until we went to bed and it was definitely not on backwards or inside out or anything. What else did she say she saw?"
"Well, she said my hair was messed up and that my bed wasn't made and she knew I snuck into your room."
"Oh boy." He sighed. "KP, for one thing, your hair was a mess because of the wind. You weren't in the bed long enough to get bed head. For another, your door stayed closed until we said goodnight. She was long gone to her room before that door even opened again. As for the sneaking around, she either heard something or guessed about it. Kim, you've been played by a master!"
Both her eyes and her mouth were wide open as she realized just how right Ron was. Had her mother been right about their expression? Had she actually tricked Kim into confessing because of a motherly hunch? For the first time since she found him on the deserted beach she sat up and away from him, rubbing her temples, thankful at least it was too dark to see how much she was blushing.
"Am I going to be able to look her in the eye?" Ron asked, not wanting to be on the outs with two-thirds of the females along for the trip.
"Uh, yeah, mostly. She's pretty okay with the way things turned out, though I wouldn't put it past her to play you a little too."
"Oh wonderful. Now I've got two Possibles who know the details of my love life."
"Hey, it could be worse. It could have been Daddy who figured it out."
Ron propped his head up, looking up at the sky. "I wonder which black hole he'd send me to." He knew, actually, that it just wasn't possible to do that. There wasn't a starship on Earth that would ever travel that far. In fact, there probably wouldn't even be one built in his lifetime that could reach the closest star.
It suddenly occurred to him that he actually knew something about that. He could even name the nearest star.
"I wish you could be with me for all my classes again KP. I really think I'm smarter when you're around."
"I can't always be, Ronnie. I needed my Advanced Placement courses for my early admission. It's the only way I'm going to finish my particular degree in just four years."
"Why the rush? Most of the more complicated degrees are taking more anyway."
"Because I have this vision of the future. We graduate from college, then we buy us a nice little place and start doing our darnedest to produce little boys with red hair and big ears."
"Whoa, KP, college…kids."
"I've got it all planned out. You make it all official as soon as we're adults. That way when I go to college and all the pretty boys start macking on me, I just flash the rock at them and they go away."
"You really think…did you just propose to me?"
"No, I most certainly did not. I just told you that you're going to propose to me when the time is right, and it's not going to be easy, buster. You've got to do it in front of my parents…after you ask Dad's permission."
"You've really thought this out, haven't you?"
"Yes. I had some time hiking out here. It's harder to walk on sand than I thought."
"You have to stay near the surf, where it's damp."
She put a hand on his stomach, leaning back up against him again. "Now I don't know how we're going to do it, but we're getting you into college and if I can help it, we're going together."
"Kim, you don't have to do that just to be with me. You have such potential to be so great."
"Who said I was going to some lame-o community college. I've already been accepted for early admissions to Middleton College. With some real elbow grease we can get you in there too."
"I don't know, Kim. The only thing I'm really good at is cooking."
"Then that's great. The Denver campus of Johnson and Wales is starting a program there this fall. If there's any way for you to get into college, that's your best bet."
"You sure, KP? You get a little freaked when I go into 'Chef Ron' mode."
"So not the drama. That was my bad. I had no right to treat you like that back then. Now, let's not talk about the bad old days, shall we. Where was I?"
"Right here." Ron sat up and started placing small kisses down her neck. "Wait a sec. You said making out and more. I thought…"
She cut him off by kissing him again, her fingertips reaching barely into his shorts. "Ronnie, if you want to, all you have to do is say the word." Letting go of his waistband, she took his hand and placed it in the middle of her chest.
"Kim, I want to, but then again I don't. Does that make sense?" He looked at her, barely able to see the starlight reflected in her large eyes.
"It makes perfect sense to me. It's just fine. What I meant is that I still owe you a night together with me." She sat up and found her bag, pulling out the tube. The top was secured with a drawstring but once it was opened, the contents all but popped out.
"What in the world?" Ron said as the soft, puffy material spread out on the blanket.
"Lightweight, miniaturized sleeping bag. It's part of our mission gear, we just haven't had the chance to use it yet.
"Isn't it a little warm for a sleeping bag?" he said, helping her spread it out on the blanket.
"Probably, but since we're still on 'plan B' we can just lay down on top of it." She pushed him down on the soft, cool material, wrapping one leg over his again, rubbing her entire body against his as she slipped his shirt off, stuffing it in her bag for safe-keeping. "It may be comfortable inside, though. It's one of Wade's creations, for hot weather climates. The fabric is supposed to regulate body temperatures, though I don't know if it can handle two active bodies."
"Care to find out?" He said, finding the zipper. She responded by slipping inside it with him, slowly closing the flap.
It was a tight fit, but they were pressed so close together it didn't matter. Kim crossed her leg over him and his hands started roaming again, a couple of his fingers tracing the bottom cuffs of her shorts.
She threw her leg the rest of the way over him, straddling his waist, wrapping her arms around his head as she kissed him, still moving her body against his, pressing herself against him, making small sounds as he kneaded the small of her back.
They didn't know how long they made out like that, at least until Ron's watch chirped, announcing the top of the hour. He looked up over her shoulder, checking the time.
"Don't worry about it, baby." She said huskily.
"It's just ten, though maybe we do want to set an alarm. I don't want to be caught out here after daybreak."
"Oh no!" Kim sat up suddenly.
"What is it? The twins up on the dune with their night vision goggles?"
"No, I just remembered, I promised Nana the two of us would have breakfast with her. We can't stay out here all night after all. Dammit."
"Kim, it's okay. There's going to be more missions in our future, so I promise, the next time sleeping bags are involved, we're going to share one." He reached into her bag, taking out the Kimmunicator. He turned it on, but didn't hit the call button. The "KP" logo lit up the screen, casting just enough light to see by, making it possible to set his watch without trying to do so while holding the light button down.
"Okay, it's set for eleven. When it goes off, we'll head back to our rooms and get a good night's sleep in comfortable beds."
"Ron, I really wanted to share a night with you."
"KP, there's a time and a place and you gave your word. Besides, I can't get enough of your Nana's badical lemon squares. Besides, we're wasting the hour." He pulled her back down, kissing her, wishing there wasn't a thin layer of lycra separating their flesh.