Beneath the Southern Cross

                     By Katherine English

 

 

1900 HOURS

On a Ferryboat in Sydney Harbor

 

"Wear my ring..." he'd asked, the stars of the Southern Cross burning brightly in his eyes.

 

"Oh Mic...I can't."

 

"On your right hand then...until you decide, then all you have to do is swap it over...or not..."

 

Sarah was in a quandary. Mic was everything she'd ever wanted...loving, committed, stable, not to mention ruggedly handsome. How could she possibly say "No"? She leaned against him, feeling the gentle summer breeze waft against her neck...his strong arms wrapping around her waist...his words echoing softly in her ears. And then the boat had sped by carrying the newly released Kevin Lee, breaking the spell... destroying the pure beauty of the moment.

 

"Mic...take me back to my hotel. We can call Harm from there. Maybe something can still be salvaged out of all of this."

 

"And you told me not to presume..." he joked, brushing her bangs from her face.

 

Sarah poked him gently in the ribs. "All I'm letting you presume is that the phone in my room works, Counselor. Anything else is pure fantasy."

 

"Fantasy's the stuff that dreams are made of..." he replied gently, his hand caressing the curve of her waist. "...and I know who fills my dreams. Waking or sleeping, you're always with me, Sarah. No matter what you decide...that'll never change."

 

Sarah closed her eyes, feeling the nearness of him...the rapid pounding of his heart against her breast...the gentle caress of his lips against her throat. "Oh, Mic... Why do things have to be so complicated?" she said, pressing against him, reading the soulful message his eyes conveyed. "Why can't I just..."

 

"Don't talk," he begged, "...just let me hold you and pretend it's forever...that this boat ride will never end...that I can lose myself in your smile 'til the end of time." Then tenderly, almost reverently, he pressed his lips to hers...inhaling the scent of her hair...memorizing the contours of her body against him.

 

Lost in the moment, Sarah closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck, waltzing through the ebony night in Cinderella slippers... soaring to the stars and beyond. Then the boat nudged against the pier, and the dream drifted away with the ebbing tide.

                          ..............................

 

 

 

"Well, that's done!" Mic smiled, placing the phone back in its cradle. "Harm and the Admiral will have quite a surprise waiting for Petty Officer Lee when he shows up at the airport tomorrow."

 

Sarah settled lightly on the couch beside him. "That's good...he deserves it!" Sarah said, the derision evident in her voice. "It would just kill me to think that he could get away with this!"

 

"Well...I certainly wouldn't want that," Mic smiled, his finger tracing the shell of her ear. "Especially since I plan to spend the rest of my life with you. I'd like to be able to enjoy it for a while."

 

"Mic..."

 

"I know...I know..." he said softly. "So where would you like to eat? We lost our reservations about an hour ago."

 

"Oh, Mic...so much has happened. I don't know if I can take any more

 

"Well, Luv...there's always room service. Why don't you get comfortable and I'll call downstairs?"

 

"Mic! Don't you ever give up! You're so bad..."

 

"Sarah," he said, the smile leaving his lips, "I'd give the rest of my days for just one night with you...but after all this time, do you really believe anything would happen unless you wanted it to?"

 

It was the truth. She could trust him in her room...in her heart...in her life. Silently she nodded, then taking a satiny white caftan from her dresser drawer, she retired to the bathroom to change and get comfortable.

 

Mic spent a full five minutes on the phone ordering room service, then once again settled himself on one side of the couch to await her return. The minute click of the latch alerted him that he was no longer alone. Mic turned and gazed longingly at his love...his Sarah... dressed like an angel in a flowing, swirling cloud of white satin...her feet bare, and her face scrubbed pink in the glow of the table lamp.

 

"You take my breath away..." he whispered, his voice a dim hush in the silence of the room. "Sarah...you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

 

"Mic..." she began, sitting beside him.

 

"I know...I know. It's too much, isn't it? But I can't help myself. When I'm around you I just turn into a babbling idiot, Love."

 

"Mic," she said, changing the subject, " If I'm going to be dressed like this, then maybe you should at least take off your jacket and tie. I can't relax when you look so starched and uncomfortable." Smiling, Sarah watched him remove his jacket as she massaged her shoe-weary feet, the ache of her high heels evident with each manipulation of her toes.

 

"Why don't you lean back and let me do that?" he offered, placing her feet in his lap. She knew she was courting disaster, but his hands felt so good, and her tired feet felt so bad.

 

"Oh Mic...that's heavenly." she sighed, feeling his thumb gently massaging her instep... his large, warm hands gliding soothingly over her abused flesh. Sarah lay back against the arm of the sofa, letting her mind flow with the gentle touch of his hands...the soft timbre of his voice.

 

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "Room Service" an anonymous voice chimed from the doorway.

 

"I'll get it, Love." he said, rising from the couch and opening the door. "Close your eyes...I have a surprise for you."

 

Sarah relaxed on the sofa, her eyes shut in repose as the waiter set up the table on the side of the room. Then, paying the bill and tipping the server, Mic once again came to rest at her side.

 

"I wasn't sure what you'd like, so I ordered steak and lobster. Is that all right?"

 

"Mmm, that sounds wonderful," she sighed, wishing that she didn't have to move. "Now if you could just feed it to me..." she joked lazily.

 

"Nothing I'd like better, Love, but I think most of it would end up down your dress."

 

"Mic!"

 

"No, no...that's not how I meant it...but that is an interesting image..." he said, offering her a single red rose. Sarah smiled. What was she going to do with him?

 

Silently, Mic rose and offered her his hand, drawing her up from the sofa... close enough to catch the slight tang of his after shave. It was then she noticed the dim, wavering luminosity and the smell of fresh flowers. Mic had filled every corner of the room with long glowing tapers and roses of every color. In awe, Sarah watched the hypnotic play of light against the pale peach tones of the wallpaper. It was like something out of a fairytale, only this tale needn't end with the closing of a book. "Prince Charming" was here...he was real...and he was hers for the asking.

 

Mic stepped backwards into the center of the room. "Would you like to dance, my love?" he asked, the firelight softening his features, filling her with wonder. "There's no music, Mic. How?"

 

"Yes there is, Sarah...come here and I'll share it with you." he whispered softly, opening his arms to her...bidding her to become a part of his world.

 

Slowly, she entered the shelter of his embrace and felt him tenderly draw her near to his heart. "Do you hear it, Sarah? I can hear it every time I'm close to you."

 

Silently, Sarah lay her head against his chest, allowing the soft rhythmic beat of his heart to guide her steps as she glided weightlessly in his arms... lost in the magic that filled her soul. "Mic...?"

 

"What is it, Sarah? What is it, my love?" he asked, his lips nuzzling her throat, his hands caressing the small of her back.

 

"Stay with me tonight, Mic...make love to me..."

 

Sarah heard the soft intake of his breath, and felt the gentle touch of his palm as he reached beneath her chin...raising her face to meet his questioning gaze.

 

"Are you sure, Sarah? If you woke up hating me..."

 

"Shhhh., I won't hate you." she promised, pressing her lips against his. "I...want you. I want to take the memory of you holding me, loving me, when I leave tomorrow. Will you stay?"

 

His reply was silent... and as old as time. Tenderly, he pulled her against him, his lips claiming hers, stealing her breath away and replacing it with his own. "Sarah..." he whispered as he lifted the silky garment up and over her head, exposing the fullness of her body to his enamored gaze. Their meal forgotten, Mic gathered her in his arms and carried her to the bed. Then, gently laying her across the floral bedspread, he began to shed his uniform.

 

Sarah watched, entranced, as piece by piece his clothing dropped to the floor revealing his muscular physique...until at last only the white cotton of his briefs remained, strained by the demands of his burgeoning sex. Slowly he dropped the final barrier to the floor, freeing his massive organ, watching as her eyes widened at the sight of his naked form. She'd seen him in a "Speedo" at the beach...but what that minute piece of spandex had hidden, was a form that could inspire poetry!

 

Gently, he parted her thighs and stretched out above her, his weight resting lightly on his elbows, his sex pressing intimately against her.

 

"What do you like, my love?" he asked, his tone husky with emotion... his lips exploring the hollows of her throat. "Anything...just tell me and it's yours..."

 

But Sarah was lost...beyond words. Tenderly she laced her fingers through his hair, guiding his questing lips to her breast as she arched beneath him.

 

"Like this?" he rasped, his breath warm against her body as he drew first one hardened nipple and then the other deeply into his mouth...his hand following the curve of her hip downward toward the juncture of her thighs.

 

Sarah gasped as she felt his fingers probe deep within her, then retreat, wet with the proof of her arousal... only to advance once more. "Let me know if I'm getting warm..." he coaxed, as his tongue trailed maddeningly down her body, leaving a path of quivering gooseflesh in its wake.

 

"Oh, Mic..." she gasped as she felt his rough cheek brush against her inner thigh...his fingers parting the delicate folds of her femininity...his tongue worshipping at the bud of her desire.

 

And then she was lost. Grabbing his hair, she moaned into the soft candlelight as climax built upon climax, her hips thrusting against him...her body crying out for the ultimate completion that only he could give.

 

"Mic...Mic..." she screamed into silence of the room, her voice small and pleading in the quiet that blanketed them. "Please...now..."

 

Wiping the moisture from his face, he once again rose above her, his eyes aflame with desire, his straining manhood poised at the juncture of her thighs. And then she felt him plunge deeply within her...filling her...stealing her very breath away with the sheer magnitude of his presence. He paused, allowing her body to adjust...waiting desperately for a sign that she was ready to continue.

 

"Don't stop! Please, Mic...don't stop..." she cried, her body thrusting savagely against him.

 

Gratefully, he immersed himself once more within her, his body making demands that his mind could no longer overrule, his massive tool penetrating her very being...driving her once again to the point of no return.

 

Deeper he thrust, the last vestiges of civilization left far behind, replaced instead by the primal drive of a man consumed by the demands of the natural world...and the love in his heart. "Sarah!" he shouted...her name an invocation to the gods as he felt himself flood her womb, his seed filling her, his massive thrusts carrying her with him beyond the Southern Cross to the very edges of infinity.

 

Limply, he lay above her, his sated member still nestled within, as though abhorring reentry into a world beyond the intimacy of her body. His breath came in ragged gasps...his heart pounding against her breast in loud, uneven thuds.

 

"This was a mistake." he breathed, his lips pressing against her eyelids. "Now that we've been...together...how can I ever live without you again?"

 

Slowly, he broke the link that still joined them, sliding to the side...his arm draped protectively across her abdomen. "Sarah..." he whispered as though some evil force might swoop down and snatch his happiness away. "We were meant to be together, my Love. I've known that since the first moment I saw you...I've spent the last year and a half praying that you'd see it too."

 

"Mic...you're so special to me...so precious. I don't know how to handle my feelings for you. You've turned my life upside down."

 

"Then let me make it right again. Let me fill your world with love...with family...with children to share our lives. Grow old with me, Sarah...give me something to live for."

 

Gently she stroked the rugged line of his jaw, feeling the sandpapery texture of his skin. "Mic..." she sighed, her eyes glowing with unshed tears, "...any other woman would give her soul to be here with you now, hearing the beautiful things you're saying...but I still need time. Her eyes took on a faraway look.

 

"Home and marriage"...they frighten me a little...I need to come to grips with my own fears before I can share that part of myself with anyone again. Can you understand?"

 

"Take what you need, my love." he said, his body once more responding to the nearness of her. "...and when you're ready...I'll be waiting..."

 

                            .............................

 

 And so he loved her the long night through...until the Southern Cross had passed beyond the rim of the world, and the glow of morning began to fill the eastern sky. Silently... gently... the minutes flowed into hours and the hours fell mute victim to the uncaring whirl of infinity...and then it was time for her to leave.

 

"I love you, Sarah MacKenzie." he said, as the others made their way toward the boarding gate.

 

"Oh Mic..." she whispered, feeling the cold, bare existence of her life invading the warmth she'd found in his perfect world. Then, placing her lips to his, they shared a kiss so intimate... so perfect that even the angels wept.

 

"Take this..." he said, pressing a thin envelope of hotel stationary into her trembling hand, "...and think of me." Then, as though the vision of her vanishing down the boarding ramp would tear his heart asunder, he turned and walked away.

 

 She stood alone in the departure lounge until the last call to "board" was announced, then slowly walked the barren corridor toward the plane...alone. In her hand she still clasped the letter, his parting gift to her, yet unopened but now stained with the aftermath of her tears.

 

Hours later, as the sea of faces around her succumbed to sleep, she broke the seal and began to read:

                 ……………………………..

 

My Darling Sarah,

 

I want to say so much to you...things that my heart knows but my lips can't convey. And so I'm sitting here in the fading candlelight putting it all down on paper and praying that you'll understand.

 

As I watch the dawn rise out of the timeless sea, I know with a certainty that this is how I want to spend the rest of my days...here beside you...holding you...growing old with you.

 

I can see our children in your arms...a reflection of our devotion...our testimony to life and love. I can see us watching them grow and thrive, and someday having children of their own. I can see you waking in my embrace each morning, beautiful even as time steals its way across your brow. I see it all, Sarah...and my heart longs to make it so. Think about what could be, my darling...and when the time is right... move my ring to your left hand and we'll begin our life anew. We were meant to be together, Love...until the end of time... Mic

 

                              ...............................

 

Silently she watched the Southern Cross fade into the night, knowing that somewhere, somehow, her lover would be watching it too. "Until the end of time," she thought, once more touching his ring...maybe you're right, my love...maybe you're right.

 

THE END