There was a noise
ringing through the haze of Andrea’s brain, painful and persistent. She opened her eyes, quickly screwing them
shut again when the harsh light of morning almost blinded her. She was still slumped on her living room
floor, where she had collapsed the night before. The carpet was welcomingly soft against her face and she wasn’t
sure she could get up, even if she wanted to.
“Fuck, Andrea, what the hell have you been doing?”
Andrea craned her
head up to see Tom standing over her prone form. She tried to speak but found her mouth strangely reluctant to
form any coherent sounds. Finally she
managed to croak something out. “How
did you get in here?”
Tom bent down to
help her up, though she was like a dead weight as he helped her back up into a
sitting position on the sofa. “I have
my ways,” he said, “Good job too, looking at the state of you.”
“I just had a
couple of drinks,” said Andrea defensively, trying to smooth down her rumpled
clothes, noting that she stunk rather unpleasantly of alcohol.
“A couple?” asked
Tom picking up the empty bottle from its discarded position under the
table. “Is that a couple of bottles?”
he asked, holding it up accusingly.
“All right, all
right, maybe I did have one too many,” she conceded, rubbing at her head as it
started to spin again. It was then she
noticed her right-hand was caked in dried blood, the image of her smashing the
bottle darting through her adled brain.
“Let me guess,” said Tom, sitting down next to her, “The Major.”
Andrea let out a
long sigh and nodded her head, knowing it was hopeless trying to deny it any
longer.
“Oh Andrea, I thought we warned you about getting any ideas…”
“I couldn’t help
it,” wailed Andrea, swinging her eyes up to him pleadingly, “I love her!”
“Fuck me!” stated
Tom, plainly surprised, “I knew you fancied her but I didn’t realise it was
that bad.”
“It’s more than bad, it’s terrible.
I’ve made a utter prat of myself!”
“Why don’t you start at the beginning?” offered Tom gently.
Gathering
herself, Andrea launched into an explaination of how her feelings had built
until her startling realisation that she was in love with the Major; how after
that she couldn’t stop thinking about the other woman; how they had shared a
magical kiss underground at the mine.
Through that part of the story she had a wistful faraway look on her
face, while Tom looked even more startled than he had before. Then she told him what the Major had said
afterwards, finally recounting the events of the night before.
“Oh god, I acted
like such an idiot,” moaned Andrea, holding her thumping head in her hands, “I
wouldn’t be surprised if she never wants to speak to me again.”
“You couldn’t have been that bad,” said Tom diplomatically.
“I was
horrendous!” insisted Andrea, not even wanting to recall it, but unable to
think of anything else, “I was stumbling round the room, swearing, insulting
her.”
Andrea rubbed
roughly at her face while a strange gurgling sensation built in her
stomach. It started off as mildly
disconcerting, but then bubbled up further towards her throat. Andrea’s hand shot to her mouth, and she
dashed from the room frantically seeking out the toliet. Once she had deposited the contents of her
stomach in it, she staggered uneasily back into the lounge where Tom was still
waiting, eyeing her with slight amusement.
“Feeling better?” he asked
“Not at all,” she stated ruefully, flopping back down on the sofa.
“Here, try some
of this.” Tom handed her a glass of
water with one hand and her power regulator with the other, having obviously
retrieved it from its discarded location.
Andrea accepted
both, tentatively bringing the glass to her lips. She took the barest of sips, checking it wasn’t going to cause
her to retch again.
“I’m sure the
Major won’t hold it against you,” Tom suggested, “She’ll realise you were drunk
and upset, that you didn’t really mean what you said.”
“Maybe she might
forgive me eventually, but if I did have any faint hope of something happening
between us then I’ve pretty much put paid to that,” noted Andrea grimly,
pushing her bedraggled hair from her eyes.
“Maybe it’s for
the best,” offered Tom, “I don’t think she would ever have gotten involved with
anyone under her command again after Dixon.”
Andrea still
found herself bristling whenever his name was brought up. “That man has a lot to answer for.”
Tom nodded
sympathetically as she rose to his feet.
“I’ll make some excuse as to why you can’t make it to training,” he
suggested, “You should get some sleep.
That is presuming you’re sticking around?”
“Yes, I’m
staying,” confirmed Andrea, “I’m going to keep my head down and just get on
with things, try and forget all this ever happened.”
…………….
Andrea managed to
do as she had decided for the next few days, though the after effects of her
drunken episode continued to weigh heavily on her. The argument cast a similar pall over the Major herself, and it
was with a heavy heart that she sat in her office five days later, reading the
words on the papers before her on the coffee table, but not really taking them
in. It may have been five days, but she
was still smarting from her confrontation with Andrea, the young woman’s harsh
words still painfully fresh in the Major’s mind. The irony was that the Major had gone there with the intention of
trying to apologise and make peace with Andrea, but as soon as she’d seen the
bottle of whiskey on the table she’d known it was pointless. All she’d wanted to do then was extricate
herself as quickly as possible. Not
that it had stopped Andrea getting in a few below the belt jibes, particularly
about Adam. The Major wasn’t sure if it
was the uncomfortable reminder of his betrayal that was most hurtful, or the shame
she felt knowing Andrea knew about it.
The whole
incident had been profoundly disappointing, the degree of her present
despondancy making her realise just how much she cared about what happened
between her and Andrea. She’d tried to
allow for the fact that Andrea was obviously upset and worse for wear but that
didn’t really take away the sting of the words. Fearing a repeat, she hadn’t been able to face the prospect of
talking to her again, at least not yet.
Sighing she
wondered to herself how things had gotten so bad between them. It was only a month ago that they had been
happily sharing coffee and banter on the roof and now things had detriorated to
the point where they couldn’t even be in the same room together without it
degenerating into an argument. She knew
it was partly her fault, she had handled the whole situation badly, but it
didn’t help when Andrea was so hot-headed and stubborn. Rubbing her eyes wearily she looked out to
the sky for inspiration, just as there was a knock at the door.
“Come in,” she called instantly, trying to put on her best composed officer
face.
When she saw who
her visitor was she let it slip away again, she didn’t need to put on a mask
for this particular person. “Sophie,”
she said, getting to her feet as her friend crossed the room, “Good to see
you.”
“Hi Kate, good to
see you too,” greeted Sophie, giving the Major her customary hug, “Though I
have to say you look like shit!” she added, pulling back and giving the Major
the once over with her eyes.
“Thanks,” said the Major ruefully, “It’s nice to know who your friends
are.”
“Hey, if a friend can’t tell you when you look like a pile of crap, who
can?”
“So delicately
put,” noted the Major, sitting back down and offering Sophie a cup of coffee
which she gratefully accepted. “To what
do I owe this pleasure then?” asked the Major as she took another sip from her
own steaming mug.
“No reason in
particular,” said Sophie slowly, “I thought I’d just pop by and see how you’re
doing.”
“Pop by?” said
the Major doubtfully, “Right, because the base is so close to anywhere else you
might be going.”
Sophie tipped her
head to the side in acknowledgement that she’d been caught out. “All right, I wanted to know if there’d been
any progress?”
“Progress?”
Sophie sighed, now
fixing the Major with a pointed stare.
“Oh come on Kate, don’t play dumb, you know full well I mean with
Andrea! When I last saw you a week and
a half ago you were going to speak to her, find out what was going on. So, did you?”
The Major shifted nervously. “Sort
of”
Sophie wasn’t
letting her get away with any evasion though.
“What does that mean, sort of?”
“Well we did talk a bit and then…”
“And then what?” Sophie pressed, on the edge of her seat now.
“And then I kissed her.”
“Holy shit!” exclaimed
Sophie almost spilling her coffee in shock.
“Holy buggering shit!” she repeated thinking it best to put her cup down
on the coffee table before it went everywhere in her excitement. “You sly dog! So how was it, how did she react, what’s going on now?”
“Slow down! One thing at a time!” said the Major trying
to check her friend’s unfettered enthusiasm.
“How was it?” the
Major continued, repeating the question to give herself time to think of an
answer. Amazing? Mindblowing? “It was…fantastic,” she settled on.
Sophie grinned
broadly. “Really?” she said
suggestively, quirking her eyebrow in an invite for more more details.
The Major ignored
it, moving on to address the other questions.
“How did she react? She kissed
me back.”
Sophie couldn’t
contain herself again “Brilliant!” she cried, bouncing on her seat. “I can’t bloody believe it, here you’ve been
maintaining to me for years that you’re as straight as the proverbial rod and
all the time you’ve been hiding this secret little dyke inside!”
“I would hardly classify myself as a ‘dyke’,” corrected the Major.
“But you are attracted to Andrea?”
“Yes,” agreed the
Major slowly, “But this has never happened to me before. I’ve always been attracted to and been out
with men in the past, yourself excepted of course. And that was just a bit of juvenile experimentation.”
Sophie frowned at
the assessment of their extremely brief fling.
“You make me feel so good about that every time you bring it up.”
“Sorry, but you
know what I mean,” the Major tried to explain, “It wasn’t anything serious, for
either of us”
“All right, point taken,” conceded Sophie.
“So, given my
track record, why all of sudden at the age of thirty-five do I discover I have
hidden lesbian tendencies?” the Major asked, genuinely confused as to where
these feelings had developed from.
“Maybe they’ve
been there all the time and you just haven’t met the right woman?” suggested
Sophie before chuckling to herself as she realised her own words. “Listen to me, I sound like my gran in
reverse…’hello Sophie dear, how are you, have you met a nice man yet?’”
The Major smiled
wanly too, though she wasn’t really in the mood for jokes. “I guess you could be right.”
“You guess?” said
Sophie incredulously, “I would say kissing someone is a fair indication of
attraction! Talking of which, after the
kissing, what happened next?”
The Major avoided
Sophie’s eager stare, tellingly looking down at her hands in her lap.
“Uh oh, what did you do?” asked Sophie, seeing the guilty look.
The Major took a breath and then looked up to her friend. “Afterwards I told her it was a mistake,” she admitted ruefully.
Sophie theatrically thumped her forehead with the palm of her hand. “Kate!” she moaned, “You…are…hopeless!”
“I panicked!” confessed the Major plaintively, “All I could think about was what happened with Adam and how disastrously that turned out.”
“I bet Andrea took your announcement it was a mistake well.”
The Major felt the guilt rising again, saying her next words quietly as if that would make them less harsh in some way. “She ran off and then I didn’t speak to her for a week.”
“This just gets better and better!” cried Sophie, rolling her eyes.
“I didn’t know what to say,” admitted the Major, “I felt bad about how I behaved but at the same time I didn’t know how to make it any better for her.”
“You could have told her you didn’t mean it?” offered Sophie reasonably.
“The thing is I’m not sure whether I meant it or not,” the Major said, rubbing her head tiredly as the same conflicting questions that had bothered her all week returned. “Part of me was saying it was mistake, that I can’t allow my command to be compromised or distracted from again, especially not if I want to keep my job. Plus there’s the whole ‘woman’ thing,” she added.
Seeing Sophie looking like she wanted to interrupt, the Major quickly went on, “And before you say anything, all I mean is that it’s all a bit strange and confusing for someone who’s just assumed they were straight their whole life.”
“Ok, I won’t bug you about it, but you said that it was part of you that was insisting it was a mistake, what about the other parts?”
The Major laughed ruefully. “They were telling me that it was wonderful and that I should just go with it and enjoy it.”
“Hell yeah! Listen to those parts!” agreed Sophie enthusiastically.
The Major shot her a dark look, immediately quietening her. “That is not exactly helpful advice. You can understand my reticence can’t you?”
“I suppose so - Adam certainly did a pretty good number on you,” agreed Sophie, “But isn’t it a bit unfair comparing Andrea to him without even giving her the chance to prove otherwise? Adam was a first-class bastard, I never understood what you saw in him.”
“We’ve been over this before,” the Major said with a sigh, “It was a…difficult time for me, with what happened in Iraq still so raw in my mind.”
“You mean he took advantage - wanker!”
“Yes, ok, don’t remind me,” the Major remarked with regret, “But we’re not talking about Adam are we?”
“My point precisely!”
“Ok, you may be right,” the Major allowed, “Maybe it’s not fair to assume the same thing might happen again, but it seems safer to keep things this way, with my work life and personal life separate.”
“What personal life?” noted Sophie under her breath.
“I heard that!”
“Sorry, but you have to admit you’ve not exactly been putting it out there since Adam.”
“It was only seven months ago,” the Major reminded her.
“That’s long enough – it’s time to forget about him and move on. You have this gorgeous woman offering herself up to you and you’re dithering about, leaving her hanging,” noted Sophie, not pulling any punches, “I bet she’s cursing herself for falling for a straight woman – you’re always such hard work.”
The Major’s brow creased slightly at the blunt words. “Thanks! I did actually try and talk to her last Friday.”
“That’s something,” allowed Sophie, waiting for more information.
“However, when I went round there she was drunk,” the Major recalled, “And not just a little tipsy, absolutely steaming, falling down smashed. I’ve only ever seen her like that once before and that was when her friend died.”
“Uh-oh.”
The Major wasn’t sure she liked Sophie’s tone, especially not when coupled with the sucking in of her lips. “What?”
“I think I may have made a mistake when I said I thought she had a crush on you,” said Sophie thoughtfully.
“What?” exclaimed the Major disbelievingly, “That’s just great! I’ve made a complete fool of myself, wrecked my relationship with Andrea and now you’ve changed your mind?”
“Not entirely,” Sophie quickly said, “I don’t think ‘crush’ is the right word at all. I hate to use the ‘L’ word glibly, but I think she’s in love with you.”
The Major’s mouth dropped open dumbly as Sophie’s words made it to her ears, without fully registering in her brain. “In…love…?” she repeated stupidly.
“With you, yes.”
“But…but…how?” stuttered the Major, still finding it hard to grasp the concept, “She hardly knows me.”
“You’ve spent pretty much the whole of the last three months together on this small island,” pointed out Sophie, “I think she’s probably got a fair idea. As hard as it may be for you to comprehend, some people do find you attractive for a whole host of reasons.”
The Major couldn’t help blushing at the implied compliment. She knew that the ease with which that had happened was just another sign that she had badly lost control of her emotions. Chiding herself, she realised she had to get a grip – she was meant to be an army Major after all.
“But I’m not here to boost your ego,” continued Sophie, “What you really need to ask yourself is how do you really feel? Forget the obstacles and problems regarding your career and the base - how do you actually feel?”
“You mean do I love her?” deduced the Major.
Sophie studied the Major intently, her dark eyes boring into her as she turned the question back on the other woman. “Well…do you?”
The Major merely stared back at her, finding herself experiencing an emotion she wasn’t used to. She was scared. Not only that, but what she was scared of was her own feelings, so terrified in fact that she didn’t even want to examine them in case she was unprepared for what they would tell her.
……..
Andrea peered
through the foggy haze that swirled round her in the confines of the training
building, but it was no use – she couldn’t make out any of the others at her
current location. To make matters worse
her earpiece seemed to be on the blink and she’d lost radio contact with them
and the command centre. In frustration
she pulled it from her ear, the small device dangling uselessly over the
shoulder of her black uniform from it’s curly wire. The only sound she could hear was a faint electrical humming
coming from somewhere in the building and a far off constant dripping
noise. To add to the spooky atmosphere
was the ever increasing pall of smoke, no doubt part of the exercise, but
annoying nonetheless. Andrea could
barely see two feet in front of her due to the combination of dark and smoke
and decided it was best to head for the nearest exit and then work out what had
gone wrong with communications once she was out in the fresh summer air.
As she stumbled
back the way she had come, her mind inevitably drifted back to the drunken
night in her quarters, the recollections not getting any better with repeat
viewing. It may have been nearly a week
since then, but she was still ashamed by her own behaviour and had been too
embarassed to even attempt talking to the Major in the intervening period. However, as time went on, it became harder
and harder to summon the courage to approach her to apologise.
It was an
uncommon desire for her, to want to apologise to someone, yet she desperately
wanted to say sorry for all the hurtful things she had said to the Major. She wanted to try and explain that she
didn’t normally do and say stupid things like that, but that she had just been
so hurt by the Major’s rejection that she had lost it. The Major’s dismissal of what had happened
in the mine had been difficult to take, but it had hardly been fair to say what
she had. With gut-wrenching clarity she
could recall her terrible comments about Dixon, along with the Major’s pinched
reaction. And as for smashing the
bottle…Andrea couldn’t believe she could have been so petulantly childish. No wonder she’d not seen hide not hair of
the Major for five days, the other woman probably didn’t even want to be
anywhere near her.
As her mind
wandered, Andrea suddenly realised she had gone off course. Stopping for a moment she tried to gauge
where she was in relation to the walls and doors. The building was derelict and consisted of a number of rooms of
varying sizes and states of decay.
Andrea herself was currently in one of the largest, a cavernous chamber
that reminded her uncomfortably of the warehouse where she had lost her police
colleagues. The fact that smoke filled
the room only heightened her sense of déjà vu, and when there was a sudden
sparking noise behind her, Andrea nearly jumped out of her skin. She whirled round to see a loose electrical
wire, dangling from the ceiling, emiting sparks every now and then.
She took a deep
breath trying to calm her racing heart.
With all that had been happening with the Major, she hadn’t been to her
couselling sessions for a couple of weeks.
Now she wished she had continued to combat her fears surrounding the
events of that fateful day in the warehouse.
Trying to push those haunting thoughts aside, she noticed a shift in the
smoke, thinking she saw a figure through the gloom.
“Hello? Is there someone there?”
There was no
reply, and Andrea dashed over in the direction she thought she had seen the
movement, the smoke parting as she swept through it. She was by a wall now, but as she spun round on the spot there
was no sign of anyone else in the room.
Maybe it had been her mind playing tricks on her? Maybe the mysterious shadowy figure from her
dreams was now following her around in her waking hours? Though she had resolved the conundrum of the
owner of the black boots, she had still yet to catch up with the watcher on the
gantry during her nightmares, despite trying several times.
She shook her
head to bring herself back to the present, only then noticing something that
had evaded her senses before. There was
a strange smell. Andrea sniffed at the
air, trying to identify it. As she did
her eyes scanned the room alertly too, falling upon a section of piping that
rang along the ceiling above her head.
There was a crack in it, and she reached up to feel the rough
edges. It looked like the gash had been
deliberately made, and recently too, the detritus on the floor beneath it
freshly fallen. With her fingers
lingering there, she could feel the faint drift of something from the pipe. Suddenly it hit her what the smell was –
gas.
Andrea swung round
desperately to look at the wire she had spotted moments before. It wavered once in the draft before it
contacted the far wall. The spark
flared instantly and Andrea barely had time to get her hands up in a futile
attempt to protect herself from the ensuing explosion before everything went
black.
……..
The Major came
charging into the sickbay disregarding any need for decorum in her
urgency. Her eyes swiftly scanned the
room and as soon as they fell upon the pale figure on one of the beds the
crushing sensation in her chest was like a body blow. She was thankful there was no one else present to see how she
staggered uneasily to Andrea’s bedside, having to brace herself against the
mattress as the sickening feelings continued to sweep through her.
When the Major
had heard about the accident, she had dropped what she had been doing and
immediately rushed to the medical bay, having to fight down her fear the whole
way. During that agonisingly long walk
she had realised that the prospect of losing Andrea was almost too much to
bear. The Major hadn’t answered
Sophie’s question the day before regarding her feelings towards Andrea, but
then and there she knew she could deny it to herself no longer. She was in love with Andrea.
The Major studied
her face now, thinking the young woman looked peaceful enough, though there
were a few telltale grazes across her skin as evidence of the explosion. The Major glanced anxiously around, seeking
out Doc who was nowhere to be seen.
Frowning to herself, she supposed Andrea couldn’t be in any immediate
danger if he was absent. A monitor
beeped rhythmically by the bedside, much slower than the Major’s own racing
pulse.
Slowly her
fingers snaked out towards Andrea, though she paused almost frightened to touch
her. What if she was cold? What if the monitor was lying?
Suddenly she
closed the remaining distance, desperate to banish her doubts. Her fingers found the skin of Andrea’s face
reassuringly warm and the relief that washed through the Major was followed by
a long sigh of gratitude. She gently
brushed her fingers over Andrea’s cheek, lovingly tucking away some loose
strands of blonde hair. Gazing down on
Andrea’s sleeping face the swell of emotion in her heart was almost
overwhelming. The Major reached up to her
own eyes, the digits coming away damp.
She stared dumbly at her fingers, surprised to see the teary droplets
there.
She swallowed
hard as the implications of her feelings filtered through to her brain. The love she felt was so raw and powerful it
almost outweighed any other thoughts altogether, but deep down she knew that
was exactly why she couldn’t succumb to it.
No matter how
much she might love Andrea it was pointless to think it would or could go
anywhere. For a start she herself
couldn’t let that happen, it just wasn’t right in her position. There was also the small point of how badly
wrong things had gone when she had disregarded her better judgement
before. Her experience with Adam cast a
long shadow over her heart, and though she knew it was cowardly in a way, she
would rather remain safely detached than risk that sort of pain again. For she knew that if she did give in to her
feelings, then Andrea would have the capacity to hurt her, infinitely so.
The Major
withdrew her hand from Andrea’s face, crossing her arms instead as she tried to
convince herself that this was the right decision for both of them. The Major reasoned that Andrea’s attraction
to her was probably only a temporary thing anyway – far better that she find
someone more suitable and appreciative of her affections than the Major who was
constrained in what she could return by her duty and fears. A brief thought crossed her mind,
questioning why she felt so bloody awful if this was the right choice, why her
heart ached with a cold, numbing pain.
“Major, I didn’t hear you come in.”
The Major whirled
round, quickly wiping away any remaining tears and slamming down her best
composed command face.
“I wanted to
check how Andrea was personally,” she informed Doc as calmly as she could
manage.
He regarded her
curiously for a second, the light from the monitoring equipment reflecting off
the lenses of his glasses. “She’s
bloody lucky, is how she is,” he replied eventually, moving past the Major to
check his readings, “She was blown straight through a wall by the
explosion. For any of us it would have
most likely been fatal, but her denser bone structure saved her. It was a good job she was flung outside
though, since no amount of denser bones would have protected her from the inferno
in the building.”
The Major nodded,
though each word that outlined how close Andrea had come to being killed caused
fresh painful spasms in her chest. “But
she’ll be all right?” asked the Major, struggling to maintain her composure.
“Yes, she’s got a
few scrapes, bumps and bruises but otherwise there’s no lasting damage. I should be able to release her to her
quarters when she comes round. Is there
any word on how it happened?”
“Not yet, I came
straight here when I heard,” replied the Major without thinking, too distracted
with staring at Andrea again. Noticing
the look Doc gave her at the piece of information she quickly sought to qualify
it. “I’m going out to the training
ground now.”
“You don’t think it’s more sabotage?” asked the medic.
“I’m not making
any assumptions,” the Major said, “Remember we discovered that it was Patterson
who tampered with your device and he’s safely locked up now. This could just be a random accident.”
“Maybe,” allowed
Doc, “Though it’s amazing how many of these ‘accidents’ happen to Andrea.”
The Major was
only too painfully aware of that fact, though she tried not to let it affect
her reasoning. That was precisely one
of her fears about allowing herself fall under the spell of her emotions. The Major found she had an irrational urge
to find whoever was responsible, if there was a someone, and hurt them in
return. The depth of the violent urge
was not a little scary to her, though at least she was aware enough of it to be
able to control it. For now.
“Right, I’m going
out to the training area, keep me informed of Andrea’s condition,” the Major
requested, making for the door, though it was a wrench to tear herself away.
Doc seemed
surprised she was leaving. “You’re not
going to wait until she wakes up?”
The Major
regarded him evenly. “Is there any
reason I need to?” she asked. Of course
she wanted to stay, but she didn’t want to give the impression of anything
untoward – Doc’s reaction suggested there were some people who had already
noticed her closeness to Andrea.
“Er…no…of course not,” he replied.
“Good,” the Major
noted, “And let’s keep this little visit between ourselves, shall we?” she
added, thinking she needed to make sure she nipped any gossiping in the bud.
“Whatever you
say,” he answered, turning back to his patient as she turned for the door
again.
The Major hovered
briefly in the doorway, now Doc’s back was safely to her, taking one last
longing look at Andrea. Steeling
herself for the days and weeks of concealing her feelings that lay ahead, she
finally forced herself from the room.
……..
Andrea’s recovery
progressed over the weekend, the young woman not attending the usual meetings
and training sessions, but instead taking things easy in her quarters. Come Monday evening though, Tom convinced
her that she’d been ‘moping about’ in her quarters for long enough after the
training accident, and that she should attend a reception being held in the rec
room. It was for a group of government
officials who had been touring the base all day and the reception was supposed
to be a relaxed and informal get together for them at the end of it, though
Andrea herself felt anything but relaxed.
She ran her
fingers along the back of her collar, feeling decidely warm in the rec room
that was currently occupied by a selection of visiting officials and some more
of the higher ranking base staff. Not
that her pale blue shirt was particularly tight around her neck, she just felt
uncomfortable in the presence of all the stuffed shirts, having to put on a smiling
face for their benefit.
The only reason
Andrea had finally agreed to Tom’s incessant badgering was that she hoped to
see a certain someone in attendance.
She knew it was silly considering they’d hardly even acknowledged each
other’s existence for two weeks, but the power the Major held over her thoughts
and emotions was still as strong as ever.
Despite her best efforts to study everyone present, as always Andrea
found her eyes naturally drawn to the other woman. She hadn’t seen the Major in more than passing during the past
week, and the longing ache in her heart now was evidence of how deeply she felt
the loss.
The Major on the
other hand didn’t look particular bothered that Andrea was maintaining a
discrete distance on the opposite side of the room, in fact she hadn’t even
looked over once. Andrea knew because
she had been surreptiously watching the other woman the whole time, noting how
commanding and downright gorgeous she looked in the uniform she wore for
official ocassions. Andrea particularly
liked it because it came with a skirt that revealed a healthy dose of leg. Whenever a fresh person tried to talk to
Andrea, she managed to position herself so she could keep an eye on the Major’s
actions. They were depressing viewing
though. Not only did she show no sign
of even being aware of Andrea, but also she looked at ease and happy to be
enjoying the reception.
The Major’s
dismissive attitude towards Andrea had extended to the her not even bothering
to visit her over the weekend, to check she was all right after the
accident. A procession of other people
had dropped by – Tom, Harry, Bel, Doc, even Dr Todd. However, none of their well wishes could make up for the lack of
a visit from the one person she really wanted to see.
She knew she could
hardly blame the Major for not wanting to speak to her after her horrendous
behaviour of a week ago. Getting drunk
had been stupid, and Andrea was being careful to stick to orange juice now, not
wanting any repeat of that incident.
Not that she could imagine the Major wanting to come to her quarters any
time soon for that to happen.
Glumly Andrea
wondered if there was any hope of a reconciliation. Though she’d intimated otherwise to Tom several times, she
desperately clung on to the hope that maybe the Major would come round. That maybe they could be friends again,
possibly even more. It was the only
thing really keeping her at the base.
Andrea just couldn’t forget the kiss they’d shared and prayed that in
time the Major might realise it hadn’t been a mistake, that she did want more.
Andrea was
placing her drink down on a table and gathering her courage to go and attempt
speaking with the other woman when she felt a presence beside her.
“It’s Andrea Hallstrom isn’t it?”
Andrea turned to
the speaker in surprise. It wasn’t
often she heard anyone talking to her in Swedish, not since she’d stopped
talking to her parents. Next to her was
a short, officious looking woman. She
wore a smart and immaculate grey suit, her blond hair neatly tied back while
her green eyes were behind a pair of thin metal framed glasses.
“Yes, and you
are?” Andrea said in reply, also speaking in her parent’s native tongue. She was a bit out of practice but it wasn’t
likely she was going to forget how to speak it after it had been drummed into
her from a young age.
“Anna
Kaminski.” The other woman introduced
herself and offered up her hand, “I’m attached to the secretary of state’s
office.”
Andrea took the
small hand, careful how hard she gripped it.
“And do you often speak Swedish to random people at receptions, Miss
Kaminski?”
“I just like to
practice sometimes,” admitted the other woman, switching to English without a
flicker, “It saves me from getting rusty.”
Andrea caught the
barest of accents in the other woman’s english speaking voice, but couldn’t
quite place it. It could have been
eastern european of some kind she thought.
“You’re not Swedish though are you?” Andrea noted, continuing on in
english herself.
“Did the accent
give it away?” asked Miss Kaminski, with the touch of a smile, “But you’re
right, Swedish is just one of my languages.”
“One? Sounds impressive” said Andrea, raising her
eyebrows. “So you’re ‘attached’ to the
secretary of state are you?” she commented, recalling the other woman’s choice
of words, “In what way exactly, or is that secret, as are most things around
here?”
The shorter woman
didn’t answer, just giving Andrea a knowing look as if to confirm that it was
indeed secret in some way. Andrea
couldn’t put her finger on it, but she didn’t think she liked the government
official. It was nothing obvious, just
a strange vibe she got from her.
“So how have you
been finding things here?” asked the other woman, turning the conversation back
to Andrea.
“Fine,” remarked
Andrea evasively. Given her
reservations about the woman, Andrea wasn’t about to reveal anything until she
found out precisely what it was for.
“No problems at
all?” continued Kaminski, obviously fishing for something, “The command of the
base has been acceptable has it?”
Suddenly it was
clear to Andrea what the other woman was after. “You want me to dish some dirt on the Major?” she stated bluntly
in distaste.
“I wouldn’t put
it exactly like that,” said Kaminski diplomatically, “But if you do know of
anything…”
Andrea merely
stared back into the impassive eyes.
Though she might have had some recent differences with the Major, Andrea
certainly wasn’t about to stab her in the back. “No, I have no issues with the way the Major runs the base,” she stated, “And even if I did, I wouldn’t
tell you.”
Kaminski’s face
took on a pinched look, her eyes narrowing with the barest flicker of
annoyance. “I see,” she noted through
tight lips, “Major Jarvis does seem to engender this strange loyalty in people. Strange yet misplaced.”
Andrea was liking
Kaminski less and less. “Maybe some
people appreciate the job she does here,” she suggested.
“Maybe some
people do, but there are others that think she should never have got this job,
let alone kept it after that debacle last year.”
Andrea was
starting to feel the first stirrings of anger at the other woman’s lack of
respect for and belief in the Major.
Kaminski was meant to be one of the Major’s colleagues, yet it seemed
the other woman was more than happy to bad mouth her to others. “She’s managed to prove she’s more than
capable of running this place since then,” Andrea pointed out, “Everyone here
holds the Major in high regard. Now if
that’s all I think I have a much more pressing engagement at the bar.”
Andrea quickly
moved away from the woman, remembering vividly why she didn’t like politicians
and beauracrats – they always had a hidden agenda of some kind. Recalling the course of action she had been
set upon before she’d gotten waylaid, Andrea searched out the familiar red head
amongst the crowd, her heart beating faster in anticipation as she did. When her eyes did finally locate the Major,
it was just in time to see Kaminski collaring her too.
Kaminski’s words
came back to Andrea as she briefly watched them, noting the Major didn’t look
best pleased to find herself talking to the stern-faced official. From what Kaminski had said, it was obvious
the Major was under pressure from above.
In which case she wouldn’t be risking her career by getting involved in
anything that could bring her ability to command into question. Any kind of romantic involvement certainly
fell into that category. Pursuing
something like that would be handing someone like Kaminski ammunition to use
against her on a plate, especially after the events of the previous year.
Andrea realised
she was clinging onto a dream, one that was never going to come true. It was clear to her that she had to resign
herself to the fact that the Major could and would never feel the same as she
herself did. Maybe they could still be
friends – at least that way Andrea would still have the other woman in her
life, even if it wasn’t how she wanted.
At that moment though, that prospect offered her scant comfort, and
unable to watch any longer she quickly left the room to be on her own.
…..
The Major tried
not to obviously follow Andrea’s departure, though she was much more interested
in where the young woman was going than she was with what the person in front
of her had to say. It had been a
pleasant surprise to see Andrea there so soon after her accident. Doc had been keeping the Major closely
informed regarding Andrea’s welfare, though he had questioned several times why
she didn’t just go and see Andrea herself to find out how she was. The Major managed to fob him off with some
excuse about being busy, though the truth was far different. In reality she didn’t want to go and see
Andrea because she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to control her emotions,
especially not if they were alone together.
The Major took pride in her famed self-control, a control that was
severely threatened around Andrea. So
she had kept her distance, though it had been unbearably hard.
Then Andrea had
swept into the reception and the Major had been completely enraptured. Her eyes had tracked Andrea all the way
across the room, the young woman seeming to be a shining beacon amongst the
dullness of the others present. Only
when Andrea had stopped and started to turn did the Major force herself to look
away and concentrate on the latest official she was conversing with. It had been hard keeping her eyes focussed
on the man, remembering to smile and engratiate herself at all the right
moments.
“Am I boring you, Major?”
“Of course not,
Miss Kaminski,” said the Major, switching her eyes back to the petite woman who
was actually shorter than the Major herself, “It’s always a pleasure to hear
your thoughts on the base,” she added, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“I know you think
that because I’m not in the army, that I don’t know what I’m talking about,”
noted Kaminski, “That I’m some pencil-pusher out to close you down.”
“You’re
not?” asked the Major pointedly. She really wasn’t in the mood for verbal
sparring with Kaminski. Normally she
would relish the challenge, but that day she was far too pre-occupied to
concentrate. As soon as she’d seen
Andrea was at the reception she’d wanted to go and speak to her, but had been
cornered by one person after another until it was too late and the young woman
was leaving.
“You think because
you’ve had two successful missions that everything is going well? Let me tell you that it’s been bloody hard
keeping your antics away from the prying eyes of the press.”
“That’s your job
though isn’t it, covering things up? We
don’t want you to get bored do we?”
Kaminski shot her
a withering look. “If I had my way you
wouldn’t be out doing things in the public eye, this is meant to be a secret
facility.”
“Lucky we’re not
doing things your way then,” noted the Major bitingly, “Since we saved the lives
of those miners, not to mention the passengers on that jet a few weeks
ago. The Ministry wanted us to start
producing results, take a more active role, and that’s just what we’re doing.”
“I think some of us had a slightly different role in mind.”
The Major was
curious, but tried not to show it too obviously. “I just bet you did, sorry we couldn’t accommodate you,” she
said, not sorry in the slightest.
“There’s still time,” commented Kaminski.
“Not while I’m in
charge,” shot back the Major, “My people aren’t going to be puppets in whatever
power game it is you’re playing.”
“And you think your position is safe do you?”
The Major laughed
ruefully. “Oh no, I’m sure you’re just
waiting for me to trip up in some way,” she replied.
“I never thought
this project should have got off the ground in the first place,” continued
Kaminski in disparaging tones, “Especially with someone like you in charge.”
The Major had to
restrain herself from rising to the obvious bait. She knew Kaminski was a wily custmoer, and she’d probably sensed
the Major’s earlier distraction, no doubt hoping to capitalise on it some
way. “You would rather we left our
operatives to your tender mercies?” asked the Major, deciding to fight back with
her own cutting remarks.
“As a matter of a fact, yes. I’ve
always said we’re being to soft on these…people.”
Kaminski’s
distaste was barely concealed, the Major bristling at the anti-superhuman
sentiment being expressed.
Kaminski
continued on with outlining her bigoted views.
“We should be studying them in labs, not letting them run around free,”
she added.
The Major held
onto the bottom of her jacket to stop herself slapping the other woman. “Fortunately not everyone thinks like you,”
she said coldly, “I hear the minister himself is very interested in the unit.”
The immediate
annoyance that flashed across Kaminski’s face brightened the Major’s day no
end. The Major had heard through the
grapevine that the Secretary of State For Defence was starting to take a
personal interest in the Superhuman Research Unit and it appeared that it was
true. Obviously Kaminski wasn’t pleased
at the prospect of her boss getting involved in what she saw as her own private
fiefdom.
The Major swiftly
extricated herself from talking to the officious woman now she had made her
mark, fed up with her company. In fact
she was pretty fed up with the reception as a whole. She wasn’t fond of these sorts of things at the best of times,
and now the only reason for staying there was gone there seemed little point hanging
around either apart from the fact that it was the done thing to do.
Once she had seen
Andrea there, the Major had hoped the reception might provide a good
opportunity to speak on neutral ground, until Andrea had departed suddenly and
robbed her of the chance. She had
wanted to at least try and clear the air since things had been unbelievably
tense between them. Not that the Major
had changed her mind from the decision she had made at Andrea’s bedside – she
knew she still couldn’t succumb to her feelings. However, that didn’t mean they couldn’t talk and she wanted to
apologise for her avoidance over the last two weeks, even if that meant she
would have to use a few half-truths and white lies to explain why she had
distanced herself. Having built up her
courage she knew she couldn’t leave it at that, and quickly making up her mind
she made her excuses and hurried from the room too.
…….
Andrea shuffled
despondently along the corridor in the direction of her quarters, trying not to
let her despair overcome her. She
wondered if things would ever get better - would she ever get over this
all-consuming and unrequited love? It
was just too painful being on the base with the object of her affections so
close yet unattainable. It was slowly
eating away at her, making her morose and depressed and so unlike her normal
confident self. To make matters worse
she now found that a few tears were slipping down her cheeks and she furiously
brushed them away and tried to steel herself.
Luckily it was quiet in the corridors and she made it back to her door
without encountering anyone who would witness the fragile state she was
in. Her hand was on the handle when she
sensed a movement out of the corner of her eye. Looking to her side her heart almost leapt into her mouth. It was the Major, walking briskly along and
heading straight for Andrea.
Andrea didn’t
dare speak, not trusting herself while her erratic emotions were still so close
to the surface. Instead she waited for
the Major to reach her, the other woman looking slightly out of breath as she
did. It occurred to Andrea that either
she had been walking very slowly or the Major must have run to catch her up.
“Andrea, I’m glad I caught you,” began the other woman, “Could I have a
word?”
Andrea couldn’t engage
her mouth immediately. The Major
actually wanted to speak to her?
That was certainly a turn up for the books. “Er…yes…come in…” she managed eventually, opening the door and
gesturing her inside.
Andrea felt
incredibly uneasy with the Major in her room, her mind spiralling off at all
sorts of tangents that involved everything from grabbing her and kissing her
right there in the kitchen to painful recollections of what had happened last
time they were alone there together.
Trying to regain some sort of control she kept her back to the other
woman as she headed into the kitchen.
“Would you like a drink?” she asked, thinking that was a fairly safe way to
start.
“Thank you, a coffee, black,” replied the Major.
Andrea could
sense the Major hovering behind her but didn’t dare glance round and look into
those blue eyes, fearing she would lose herself in them. After several uncomfortable moments of
silence the Major finally spoke.
“How have you been, after the accident?” she asked.
Andrea restrained
her first bitter response, which was to wonder why the Major hadn’t come to ask
her that before. “I’m fine,” she
answered instead, concentrating hard on the getting the coffee granules in the
mug in front of her without spilling them everywhere from her shaking hand.
“Good,” replied
the Major simply. Andrea thought she
detected an uncharacteristic uncertainly in the other woman’s voice, though
obviously she couldn’t confirm that by studying her expression. “I’m sorry I didn’t come to see you before
now,” added the Major, “I’ve been…busy.”
“Of course,”
noted Andrea blandly. She couldn’t be
bothered to challenge the obvious lie, knowing things would just be easier if
she could keep her interactions with the Major on a calm, even level. That way there was less chance of her
emotions spilling over into either fury or, even worse, passion.
“I also wanted to apologise,” added the Major, “For what happened at the
mine.”
Andrea couldn’t
help swinging round then, curious as to what the Major meant. As soon as she saw the blue-grey eyes
regarding her intently from just a few feet away her heart started thumping
faster in her chest, her mouth achingly dry.
She had to glance down to avoid being sucked in completely by the
entrancing gaze.
“I…didn’t mean to
be so callous in the way I treated you,” continued the Major slowly, Andrea
listening without interupting. “It was
wrong of me to speak so bluntly and push you away like that, though the
sentiments I was trying to express with those actions were what I felt at the
time.”
“Oh,” was all
Andrea could manage. For a moment she
had ridiculously hoped the Major was going to say she hadn’t meant it. She berated herself for continuing to hold
such fanciful notions.
The Major was
taking a few slow breaths now, no doubt trying to find a kind way to put what
she had to say. Andrea didn’t really
want to hear it, but knew she had to if they were going to move on in any
way. Feeling the urge to put some
physical space between them just as the Major was driving in the emotional
wedge, Andrea wandered over to the lounge window, leaving the Major’s coffee
for her on the kitchen work surface on the way. Andrea turned back to face the other woman once she got there,
satisfied she was far enough away to stop the unnerving physical reaction the
Major’s proximity had generated.
“You were saying,” prompted Andrea.
The Major took a
sip of her coffee, before carefully placing it back down. It looked like she was finding it hard to
summon the words, that fact small comfort to Andrea who braced herself for the
inevitable.
“I take full
responsibility for what happened in the mine,” continued the Major, “I took
advantage of my position and that was wrong of me. I’m sorry if I played with your emotions, but that wasn’t my
intention.”
The Major paused
again, surprising Andrea by licking her lips nervously. Then suddenly she was walking towards Andrea
who was too disarmed to move away, rooted to the spot as the Major neared. For a second Andrea thought she wasn’t going
to stop, but she eventually came to a halt about a foot away. The Major’s eyes tracked up to Andrea’s face
a soft apologetic expression in them.
“I don’t like
what’s been happening between us the past couple of weeks, and I was hoping you
could forgive me. I’d like us to at
least try and be friends again.”
Andrea wanted to
scream at the suggestion, and was unable to resist giving it one final try - it
wasn’t as if she had anything else left to lose. “Just friends?” she asked quietly, avoiding the Major’s eyes as she
did.
“Sorry?”
“I said is that
all we can be, friends?” Andrea repeated with more conviction, looking up to
plaintively search the face before her.
The Major looked
faintly surprised that Andrea would be suggesting there could be anything more
than friendship, as if she hadn’t been expecting it. Her next question confirmed that. “You want more than friendship then?” asked the Major.
Andrea snorted a laugh. “Of course
I do! I thought that was obvious.”
“Not
exactly. I thought that…,” the Major had
to search for the right words, “…that you weren’t too happy with me after what
happened. That you didn’t even want to
speak let alone spend any time together.”
Andrea had to
concede she could have given that impression, it wasn’t as if she’d been approachable
or welcoming that last time they had spoken.
Now she was sober, though, she could see that the Major looked sad when
she spoke of the distance between them, and her eyes were so soft and enticing
as she did. Suddenly Andrea realised
she was in danger of letting herself get carried away with hopes and dreams
again. She had to face up to reality
sooner or later.
“Of course I want
to spend time with you,” said Andrea, trying to keep her trembling voice even,
“I’ve missed spending time with you. But I know that you have your duties as base commander to attend
to, and that those also prevent you getting too…close to anyone under your
command. I understand why what happened
in the mine was a mistake for you.”
Andrea was amazed she could say the words so calmly, but she cared about
the Major too much to allow her to take the full burden of responsibility for
what had happened.
The Major shook
her head ruefully. “You’re right, there
are a hundred and one reasons why it just isn’t prudent for me to get involved
with someone under my command…”
Andrea nodded and
managed another faint, “I understand,” before she had to turn away, not wanting
to display her dejection to the Major.
The lump in her throat was almost too big to allow her to breathe, and as
she tried to swallow she realised that tears had started to slip down her face
again too. Unable to stop them now they
had started, she only hoped that the Major wouldn’t notice if she kept facing
away, staring numbly at the window.
When the hand
touched her shoulder she almost jumped in her agitated state. “Andrea, what’s wrong?” asked the Major
gently.
Andrea couldn’t
speak. Even if she had known what to
say, she wasn’t sure she could make her lips say the words. They were trembling as she fought hard to
keep from breaking down completely.
“Andrea, please…”
said the Major again, urging her to turn round with the hand that still rested
on Andrea’s shoulder.
The touch was
gentle yet powerfully enticing, encouraging her round. Andrea’s breathing was becoming shallower as
she fought hard to resist but it was hopeless, the Major was irresistable. Suddenly the barrier that had been holding
all of Andrea’s feelings back shattered, unable to contain the force of them
any longer. Andrea whirled round to fix
her eyes on the Major. Andrea knew
everything she was feeling was plainly obvious on her face, so she realised
might as well say the words out loud too.
“Don’t you get
it?” said Andrea beseechingly, her voice breaking with the emotions tumbling out
of her, “I love you! I’m totally, utterly, completely in love with you!”
Andrea’s stark
words hung in the air of the silent room as the Major stared directly back at
her, her eyes wide in shock. The tears
ran freely from Andrea’s own eyes, welling up and spilling over now the dam had
broken.
“I know you can’t
return my feelings,” continued Andrea despondently since it seemed she had
shocked the Major into speechlessness, “So please, just go.”
Andrea turned
away wretchedly, folding her arms across her chest as a small sob bubbled up in
her throat. She wished the Major would
just go and leave her to it, give her some dignity at least and allow her to
submit to her misery alone. Yet there
was no telltale sound of movement behind her, the Major remaining exactly where
she was. Perhaps Andrea had shocked her
so much with her confession that she had forgotten how to.
When the Major’s
hand came to rest on her shoulder for a second time, Andrea actually did jump
slightly. What was the Major
doing? Why hadn’t she left when she had
the chance?
Slowly the Major
turned Andrea once more, the young woman allowing herself to be guided back
round though she kept her head bowed.
Unperturbed, the Major’s fingers slipped across from Andrea’s shoulder
and under her chin, tilting her face up.
Andrea didn’t have the will to resist, meeting the gaze of the soft blue
eyes with her teary own one. As she
did, it was her turn to be surprised when she saw the tiny half-smile on the
Major’s face.
Andrea had barely
started contemplating the reason for that when the Major’s fingers continued on
their path, tracking up Andrea’s cheek to wipe away some of the tears that
marred it. Andrea gasped at the
intimate contact, the smile on the Major’s face growing as she noticed the
reaction.
“You know you
didn’t actually let me finish what I was saying before,” the Major said, her
voice low and husky as she spoke.
Andrea couldn’t
even begin to formulate a sensible response as the Major’s thumb brushed over
her skin.
“I was saying
that it’s not prudent for me to entertain this sort of thing, but we can’t
always do what’s prudent. Sometimes we
have to go with our hearts rather than our heads. I’ve tried hard to deny my feelings, tried to pretend I can
ignore them and they’ll go away. But
it’s no good, it’s eating me up inside having to hold it all in.”
Andrea could
barely believe what she was hearing - it seemed like one of her dreams. She feared that at any moment she was going
to wake up and find herself alone in her bed as always.
“You’re all I
think about,” continued the Major, her eyes on Andrea the whole time, “If being
with you would affect my command, than being without you is ten times
worse. I spend my days wondering how
you are, what you’re doing and wanting to be sharing whatever it is with
you. I’ve missed you so much these past
couple of weeks that there have been times I thought I might go mad. Then last week when you got hurt it was
almost more than I could bear. It was
then that I realised just how strong these emotions were. That’s the real reason I didn’t come to see
you, I was scared to admit what I was feeling, scared to face up to it.”
Andrea finally
found her voice though it was small, still unsure if she could trust the words
she heard. “I thought it was because
you didn’t care that you didn’t come to see me.”
The Major shook
her head. “Nothing could be further
from the truth – if anything it was because I care too much. I thought I could turn my back on that, and
even when I came here this evening that was my intention. But seeing you I knew almost immediately
that I couldn’t go through with it. How
can it be right to deny something so precious and wonderful and amazing?”
Andrea was quiet
again, drinking in every word the Major said, letting them warm her previously
chilled heart.
The Major stopped
her wiping of Andrea’s tears, cupping the young woman’s face instead. “What I’m trying to say in this completely
rambling way is that I love you too, Andrea.”
Andrea knew her
mouth had dropped open, but she couldn’t even engage those smallest of muscles
to close it.
The Major
actually looked worried at the way Andrea had frozen. “Did you hear me? I said
I love you.”
“Y-yes, I heard,” stuttered Andrea, “I just didn’t dare believe it was
true.”
The Major’s lips curved into a smile.
“You should.”
The Major drew
the young woman towards her and placed her lips lightly on Andrea’s own. The touch was delicate at first, as if
seeking confirmation that it was all right to do so. Andrea made a small whimper of pleasure coupled with relief
before yielding to her arousal and wrapping her arms around the Major to pull
her close. All her pent-up frustrations
exploded in a kiss of utter wanton desire, the Major responding in kind.
Breathless,
Andrea pulled back for a second, her eyes scanning the Major’s face to seek
confirmation that this was really happening.
“You’re not about to say this is a mistake are you?” she asked warily
The Major made a
small laugh as she stood in Andrea’s arms, a laugh that sent shivers of
excitement down Andrea’s spine. “No,
I’m not going to say it’s a mistake,” she replied earnestly. “I’m sorry I said that before, I was
confused and I’m not afraid to admit that I was also a little scared. I never thought I’d fall in love with
another woman, but here you are capturing my heart competely.”
Andrea felt a
fresh thrill skitter through her as the Major said the word ‘love’ and grinned
broadly at the words. “You don’t know
how long I’ve waited to hear you say that.”
All of a sudden
it was as if everything was right in the world, all Andrea’s doubts and fears
were gone and she was left with this wonderful moment She pulled the Major to her once again, taking the initiative
this time as her confidence in the situation grew. The Major let out a small, guttural moan as Andrea kissed her,
enflaming Andrea’s desire even more.
She could contain
herself no longer, caving into the heat as the kisses became more fevered, the
hands that roamed over the Major’s back more urgent. They stumbled back across the room, their lips locked together
the whole time, before they banged into the kitchen counter. Neither of them cared about the forceful
impact, Andrea far too busy tugging at the shiny buttons on the Major’s uniform
jacket in a frenzied attempt to get it off.
She eased them through their holes and pushed the jacket back over the
Major’s arms, letting it drop to the floor at her feet.
Then it was the
Major pushing Andrea backwards, the pair of them crashing into the back of the
sofa, nearly falling over it. All the
time the hungry kisses continued as the Major’s hands moved up onto Andrea’s
shirt, quickly undoing it and flinging it way across the room with abandon. As the Major’s hot fingers caressed her bare
flesh, Andrea let out a ragged gasp, the barest touch sending her into
paroxsyms of ecstacy.
Needing to touch
the Major back she pushed away from the sofa, guiding the two of them in the
direction of the bedroom. Only in her
passion-crazed state she missed the doorway, the Major’s back thumping into the
wall instead. She grunted but didn’t
let up with the exploration of Andrea’s bare torso, slipping her hand between
them to tease a single nipple through Andrea’s bra. Andrea groaned as the nipple immediately stiffened, her own hands
coming up to fumble with the Major’s buttons.
Finding it
trickier than the jacket she glanced up to the the Major’s face. “How much starch do you use on this
exactly?” she asked, raising a single eyebrow.
The Major merely
smiled back, the lop-sided smile that always sent a tiny thrill through
Andrea. Only today it meant so much
more, sending a resounding pulse of arousal shooting straight through her. Giving up on getting it off the proper way,
Andrea roughly yanked on the shirt, the buttons pinging off onto the floor as
it ripped open. Andrea stared down at
the skin exposed to her, the small, perfect breasts just aching to be
touched. So she did, slowly at first,
trying to curb the wanton urges within.
The Major’s head
tipped back against the wall, a low moan issuing up from her throat at the
touch. Andrea leant forward, placing
her lips along the Major’s neck, brushing them delicately up the soft
skin. Her tongue flicked out to swirl
along the Major’s jawline, before heading back down her neck.
Andrea forced herself back from the wall for a second. “Shall we go into the bedroom?” she
suggested in a ragged whisper.
The Major’s eyes
met Andrea’s, the raging desire evident in them. “I think that would be a very good idea.”
They spiralled
into the other room, stumbling across the carpet, bodies pressed together the
whole way before tumbling down onto the duvet.
As they hit a loud screeching noise almost made Andrea fall off the bed. She just had time to see a furry blur
streaking out the door in a hurry.
“Gerry,” she said
in recognition.
The Major was
laughing as Andrea drew in a relieved sigh.
The Major toppled back onto the duvet her auburn hair splaying out
across the pale blue cover. The sound
of her laughter was amazing to Andrea, so full of genuine warmth and she
flopped down next to the Major, stroking her face for a moment, as she studied
every detail about the other woman, following the contours of her face with her
fingers.
“You are so
beautiful.” Andrea thought the words
were wholly inadequate.
The Major was blushing though, Andrea surprised by the reaction. “Stop it.”
“You are!”
insisted Andrea, leaning closer to whisper her next comment. “And even better, you’re all mine.”
Then they were
kissing again, arms and legs and bodies entwining in a mass of heated
flesh. Somehow Andrea got the Major’s
bra off, kissing all over her skin when she did, sucking and teasing her
nipples. The Major’s corresponding
moans were long and low and full of desire.
The Major’s hands in turn fumbled across Andrea’s back, undoing the
clasp on her bra. Andrea eagerly shook
it off onto the floor before turning back to the Major whose hands immediately
came up to squeeze the newly exposed flesh.
Andrea groaned at the nimble fingers caressing her skin. Gazing down into the brilliant blue eyes,
something suddenly occurred to her.
“Have you ever done this sort of thing before?”
“What, fondled the breasts of one of my subordinates?” The Major asked cheekily.
Andrea pouted,
though it was hard to maintain a mock stern expression when the Major was
continuing to tease her nipples so distractingly. It was hard to think, let alone do anything else. “You know what I mean,” she managed, “With a
woman.”
“Let’s say I have had some…experience.”
Andrea was
surprised, but didn’t press further.
She didn’t know why she had asked in the first place. She didn’t care what the Major had done in
the past, all that mattered was that here and now she was on Andrea’s bed and
Andrea had never been happier.
“Shall I show you?” asked the Major invitingly, raising a single eyebrow.
“Oh yes,” agreed Andrea.
Before she knew
it she was on her back, the Major having rolled her deftly over. Her body slid against Andrea, the other
woman’s hot breath whispering out past her left ear, tantalising in its
caress. The Major’s tongue slipped
around the ear, swirling round in a slow tormenting dance.
“Oh, Major!” gasped Andrea.
Suddenly the
tongue stopped, the Major pulling back.
Andrea could barely force her eyes open to see the Major, with both
eyebrows raised, regarding her dubiously.
“What?” asked Andrea, desperate for her to continue, her body humming with
pent up frustration.
“You know I may
have to punish you if you insist on calling me that,” noted the Major with her best serious face, though Andrea could
sense the underlying playfulness.
“Is that meant to dissuade me?” she asked honestly.
The Major’s
pretend stern face crumpled into a laugh.
“Maybe not,” she conceded, “But anyway, I think we can do away with
ranks, since I seem to have done away with most of my clothes.”
“All right,
Kate,” said Andrea testing out the name, though it still sounded slightly odd,
even with the other woman before her in a state of undress. She pushed herself and the Major up from the
bed into a sitting position, her eyes drawn to the other woman’s legs. “Though I think we need to do something
about those remaining clothes,” she noted.
Andrea slowly
slid her hand up the Major’s bare leg, and under the hem of her uniform skirt,
stroking the smooth flesh of her thigh.
The Major groaned at the intimate contact which was getting ever closer
to the juncture of her legs.
Andrea leaned
towards her, feeling the heat radiating off the Major while her fingers
continued on their upward path. “Or
maybe I’ll just leave it on,” she remarked softly, “Since you look so
incredibly sexy in a skirt.”
“And you just
look incredibly sexy all the time,” replied the Major, wrapping her arms around
Andrea’s shoulders and pulling her down to kiss her.
As they fell back onto the bed, Andrea used both hands to push the Major’s skirt up over her thighs, hardly able to control the rampant lust surging through her now. She wanted to explore everything about the Major’s body, discover what touches would make her tremble, what touches would make her moan and what touches would push her to the heights of ecstasy and beyond.
However, the heat coursing through her was too much to allow for further rational thought, and Andrea was acting purely on instinct and her overwhelming desire for the woman that lay beside her. Her fingers travelled magnetically downwards, seeking out the warmth between the Major’s legs. The lightest brush over already damp knickers was enough to send a small shudder through the other woman. Then Andrea was easing them aside, not bothering to remove them as she slipped a single finger under the material and into the inviting hot, wetness beneath.
The Major gasped, grabbing onto Andrea’s shoulder and hauling her downwards into a frantic kiss. Andrea knew her own underwear was already soaked, the feel of her finger inside the Major enough to drive waves of arousal through her body. The Major bucked as Andrea slid another finger inside the knickers, the Major’s fingers digging sharply into the skin on Andrea’s back, the minor pain only serving to heighten the thrill of the moment. Having the Major lost completely under her touch as Andrea curled her fingers within her was unbelievably erotic - to know she could make this powerful woman lose control so utterly.
The Major’s gasps grew louder and more frenetic as Andrea slipped her fingers in and out in a gently rhythm. It seemed she wasn’t the only one having trouble holding back their desire as the Major thrust urgently in time. Andrea guided her thumb under the hot material too, brushing it ever-so slightly over the Major’s hard clitoris. Instantly the Major let out a juddering cry, surprising Andrea with the loudness of it. Then suddenly her whole body was shaking too, her hips pushing hard against Andrea’s fingers that were being squeezed tightly by the Major’s muscles.
“Fuck!”
Andrea could only marvel at the profanity escaping normally polite lips. The Major had collapsed back onto the bed now and Andrea slipped down next to her.
“Are you all right?” she asked, knowing the other woman wasn’t particularly used to this sort of thing.
The Major’s head slowly tipped to Andrea, the smile broad upon her face. “Oh yes,” she agreed huskily, “I am definitely all right.”
Andrea just had time to smile back before she found herself flipped over, the Major clambering on top of her and fumbling with her belt buckle. After a couple of seconds of tugging at Andrea’s jeans, she looked to Andrea in exasperation. “Get these bloody things off!” she ordered.
Andrea laughed and offered an over-elaborate salute. “Yes, ma’am!”
The Major moved aside so she could quickly pull the jeans and her knickers off, throwing them on the floor with the rest of the clothes, the Major doing the same with her skirt. She was about to comment when the Major pushed her back onto the duvet, hungrily devouring her mouth.
At the same time the Major’s hands seemed to be everywhere, teasing, tantalising, tormenting. Andrea couldn’t focus on one thing, everything merging into one overwhelming mass of sensual delight. However, she couldn’t miss the delicate fingers slipping inside her.
“Oh god!” she cried, flinging her head back against the bed.
Then she was lost again as the Major’s tongue slid across her chest, her teeth seizing onto a nipple and pulling it inside her mouth where she flicked the sensitive tip remorselessly. The Major’s head didn’t stop there, tracking a trail down over Andrea’s abdomen, her hair tickling across Andrea’s skin, each strand like its own lover’s caress.
When her tongue slipped down between Andrea’s legs, Andrea thought her head was going to explode with the rush of heat to it. She had no idea what the Major was doing with the combination of her fingers and tongue, only that it was the most amazing thing she had ever felt.
She hovered on the edge of oblivion for one perfect moment, her body held in the aching anticipation of ecstasy. And then she was over and falling fast, unable to hold back the unstoppable wave any longer. As she came crashing down, she could still feel Kate’s fingers, held fast within her. When she attempted to move them, Andrea couldn’t help quivering anew, her whole body so sensitive to the barest touch.
Finally she eased them out, and Andrea lay back on the duvet unable to move or think, just breathing hard and fast. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep, satisfied breath. This was how things should be; this was what she had been waiting for these last few months, maybe her whole life.
She felt the warm arm sliding across her stomach, opening her eyes again to see the Major by her side, smiling softly at her.
No, she told herself, that was wrong. It wasn’t the Major by her side it was Kate. Now she had finally had the privilege of seeing the woman underneath the uniform it was most definitely Kate.
Andrea grinned back, slipping her own arm around the smaller
body and pulling Kate even closer, feeling the welcome melding of their
flesh. Kate merely rested her head on
Andrea’s shoulder, seemingly content not to say anything further for now. Andrea felt the same – what else was there
to say when you had experienced something so wonderful? Words wouldn’t be able to do it justice or
better reality. Instead they lay there,
drifting off in each other’s arms.