Horseback Riding, Part 2

Posted on Tue Mar 28, 2017 @ 1:56pm by Commander Caleb Ryan & Civilian Opal Oliver (Deceased) Dr

1,538 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Rumours
Location: Holosuite 3
Timeline: MD 3 1230

They entered a copse of cottonwoods that grew down along the banks of the small river and Caleb had to duck a bit as they entered the shade. Small white fluff floated around them in the sunlight that streamed green through the broad leaves. A few stuck in Opal's hair and Caleb chuckled, leaning over to pick the soft cotton out. He caressed her silken locks as he gazed down into her eyes. "Ah'm glad Ah could share this with ya," he admitted, swallowing a bit, fearful of the feelings this woman had awakened in him.

Opal gazed up at him, his strong hands gentle as he lifted the white fluffy cotton away from her hair. She wished she could make him want to kiss her, but she knew instinctively that to push the moment would bring the danger of bursting this beautiful bubble that she was floating in right now.

"I'm so glad you have. Thank you, Caleb. I truly appreciate this special place and what it means to you. You do me an honor bringing me here. I can sense that you don't show this to everyone," she said softly and honestly, her large emerald eyes wide with the moment and the feelings she had been quietly harboring for him right from the first time she had met him.

But she didn't want to spoil this by being too forward or too needy, so she gently lowered her eyes and gave him space to break the contact if he so wished. She looked down at the piebald's neck and toyed with its mane.

When she looked back up at Caleb, her eyes were shielded by her long dark lashes as she brought them back up to look into his face again. She wanted so badly to know what he was feeling or thinking, but she dare not be so forward as to ask him outright.

She found Caleb staring back at her, emotion warring a bit on his face. “Come,” he said, offering half a smile. He kicked the stallion into a trot and entered deeper into the trees. The river seemed to widen out here, flowing deeper, but slower, until it entered a small lake ringed with the trees. A small wooden jetty jutted out into the water and among the trees in the shade was a small wooden building.

“This is the fishin’ hole,” Caleb explained. “We used ta come out here in the middle of the burnin’ summer an’ skinny dip,” he said with a chuckle. “Pa would come out here when he wanted to sneak a pipe without Ma yellin’ at him, and grandpa taught us how ta tie flies.”

He dismounted Walker and tied the reins to a branch before coming over to help Opal dismount Samara Sunset. Opal slid easily into his arms as if she belonged there. He felt the soft press of her breasts against his chest as he stared into her eyes, the moment roiling with tension as he warred with his desire to capture her full lips with his own. “Lord, help me, yer so beautiful, Opal…” Caleb whispered as he leaned in closer.

Opal blushed. "Thank you," she whispered back.

Why do you need the Lord to help you, Caleb? she wondered silently and briefly as she reacted with all her instincts and leaned towards him too.

"I can wait, Caleb, if you're not ready yet," she said very gently as she reached up and touched his cheek softly with her fingertip, tracing the shape of his cheek bone tenderly.

Her words stopped Caleb short and he stared into his eyes. “Is that fair ta you, Opal?” he asked quietly. He returned her caress, his rough, calloused fingers lightly brushing her cheek, pushing back a strand of her blonde hair. “Ah don’t…want ta lead ya on, but Ah don’t want ta let ya go, either.” He pressed his forehead against hers, pushing back his black Stetson, as he sighed, his body tense with the conflict in his soul.

"Life isn't fair, Caleb," Opal responded, not moving or breaking their physical closeness. "Life hasn't been fair to you. You never deserved to be in the kind of pain you endure. I'm not just talking about that shrapnel you deliberately left in your leg to punish yourself for whatever blame you feel is yours to carry. I'm talking about the agony in your heart. I can't even begin to imagine what kind of person your wife was, but I can guess that if you loved her as much as you clearly did and still do, then she must have been a wonderful person, and in that case I can't imagine she would have wanted you to suffer like this for the rest of your life. There were two parts of her, one Trill and the other a symbiont with several lifetimes under its belt, but you must have loved the whole combination, I imagine, and I can't know what that was like. I just don't like to see you suffer, and I can't believe that she would have done either."

She drew in a breath, lifted her forehead slightly, but stayed very close to him. "What I'm trying to say is that it's not just about what's fair to me, wonderful Caleb. You deserve happiness as much as anyone I know. You're an amazing and brilliant man, and I want for there to be something long term for us if that's at all possible. If it could be the kind of something my heart is longing for, then that would be mind-blowing and everything I ever wanted, but if it's not to be, or at least not yet, then your friendship and quality time like this is a bonus and still something I would be more than happy to settle for. Any part of you is better than giving up on you, or giving you up," she said from the heart.

“Ya shouldn’t have to settle, Opal,” Caleb said quietly. “Ya deserve ta be happy, too.” He closed his eyes, fighting his inner demons, what he desired, and his love for a woman that had been taken from him. Trembling, his arms tightened around Opal, drawing her closer, and he leaned in, claiming her lips with perhaps more fierceness than he intended.

Opal's breath was taken away, but she responded to him with a passion that even surprised her own self. She knew she liked him, but how much she did had perhaps not been fully apparent to her before.

"I am happy, Caleb," she whispered when he released her. She was still safely ensconced in his strong arms. "Moments like this are more than enough to make me more happy than I could ever imagine possible. It would be greedy to hope for more" She smiled up at him, her eyes liquid with desire and something deeper. He might not be able nor ready to commit, and he may never be, but it was too late for her to pull back now.

She reached upwards with her full lips parted slightly and a fire in her eyes that promised to burn in her kisses again if only he wanted to allow them to.

Caleb pulled her in again, his kiss even more passionate now. Was he betraying the memory of Mika? He didn’t know. All he knew was what he felt for this woman in his arms at this moment. He wanted her. He hadn’t realized how lonely he had been, filling his life with work just to push back the void Mika had left.

Gently Caleb eased them to the soft grass beside the river, the cotton floating lazily down around them as his weight settled over her, his tongue dancing with hers, his hands starting to wander over the lush curves of her soft body.

Opal was overjoyed at this development and made it very clear to him that she wanted this too, just as much as he did. She too had been lonely and she wanted this man above any other. She responded to his kisses and began to explore with her hands too, softly caressing at first, but with a promise that she was serious. Her whole body responded to his touch and she pushed back against him, first her arms winding around his neck and shoulders and then her legs, one by one, sliding up along the outside of his thighs until eventually she was wrapped around him totally. "Caleb," she sighed, her desire and need evident in the quickening of her breathing.

They were wearing too many clothes, a problem that was adeptly remedied and the sunlight dappled down over them in shafts and shadows cast by the trailing branches and leaves that offered them both shade and small patches of warmth on their skin.

Caleb stared deeply into Opal’s eyes as they shed the last bits of their clothing. Then his lips set to explore her body, urging her to higher peaks of pleasure before they finally came together.

TBC

Commander Caleb Ryan
Chief of Security/Tactical
(Matthew)

Dr. Opal Oliver
Civilian
(NPC Jools)

 

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