Shipwrecked - Chapter 165: Those Departing (MMF anal dp creampie oral)

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Chapter 165: Those Departing

It was clear the next morning that Iplah, Yplanah, and Enumi, along with Holly, were going to be leaving us. They were each more determined to go, and Enumi, especially, looked a little desperate to get their journey underway. Iplah had enough boat experience to captain, though it wasn't exactly an encouraging sign when, after I'd had him go out to the Humble Beginnings, he came to ask, through Ekoh, how to start the motor.

Felicity, though, did not show further interest in leaving, and I took some solace in that. Perhaps Amy's words had had some affect on her. I was thankful, and I hoped that, maybe, the woman and I could work through our entangled situation and move forward as friends, at least until something more was possible. I certainly wasn't looking to do more than offer friendship. She was still bruised and, in her words, 'damaged,' and I knew anything beyond friendship was not going to help her settle her mind and start to heal.

It wasn't that I was not upset to have the four newcomers choosing to leave, it was just that I had formed more of a relationship with Felicity than the others, and, as someone who always seemed to love easily, that had been enough for the thought of her leaving to be more painful, more difficult to swallow.

Most of those who had come South went back North after breakfast, leaving the four who wished to leave behind in the main camp so that they could depart quickly once a final decision had been made and preparations were completed.

Gale left a list of what she expected would be needed for the four to have a a week or so worth of food and other supplies to take with them. Nina strongly suggested their goal should be Papeete, a relatively short trip and, as far as we knew, a relatively safe place to set up their new lives. I failed, mostly, to see the logic of leaving Phoenix before Progress arrived only to travel directly to the heart of Progress's regional power. But it was not up to me, really. The offer had been put out there, and three people had chosen to accept it, Enumi also doing so on behalf of your four-year old daughter, Aholinah, the little Holly not old enough to make her own decision.

So, with it clear that we would have to say goodbye soon to the four, and after the large party going North had made known their last good wishes to those leaving, I organized the transport of supplies from our storage to the Humble Beginnings. I made the adults leaving, Iplah, Yplanah, and Enumi, do the bulk of the work to prepare the boat, Holly pitching in as she could, the little girl rather stoic from what I saw. Unlike her mother, there was not really fear in her expression. Her mother, though, was jumping at every bird's cry, every branch which snapped in the moderate breeze blowing in from the South.

It felt surreal, to be sure. We'd had people leave Phoenix before, but never as a permanent, one-way trip. Even though I barely knew those leaving, it still felt like part of our family was being taken from us.

Others maintained our South chores, and during breaks, Nina worked one-on-one or in small groups on our South defenses. I knew Hakee and Popko would see to the same in the North. Our fallback, ultimately, was the North, perhaps the cave in the worst situations. I doubted we'd ever get to that point, though. If things were bad enough to have to corner ourselves, with limited supplies and no way out, then it was a plan without hope. We'd have to give in and surrender before we got that point. We had been stashing extra supplies in the cave for days, but even so, I doubted we'd last a couple of weeks, best case, before needing to emerge and give ourselves up. It would be unnecessary suffering which wouldn't change the outcome if it came to that. I tried to juggle notions of independence and freedom for our people with the ultimate safety and survival of them. When and how to make the decision to barricade ourselves in the cave or to put down our arms, I had no clue.

To be sure, we didn't really know what might happen. Perhaps Progress would arrive bearing some semblance of diplomatic intent, but we couldn't expect that, and if we were so fortunate, I felt confident I could handle things on the fly. All of our spare energy, our preparations, had to assume the worst.

The Humble Beginnings was provisioned by the early afternoon, and I drew together the four wishing to leave along with Kate, Amy, Bailey, Ekoh, and Nina to discuss the status of things.

"I'm afraid we need you all to make your decisions final. All is set, as much as can be. The weather's fair, currently, though, as you can see, the West looks a little threatening. I suspect that if we wait another day, you might not get a chance to race South ahead of that storm."

It was clear immediately that each of the three adults were well-settled in their decisions, and Enumi looked even more eager to move on.

I took a deep breath, shaking my head slightly, "Well... I'm sorry it has come to this, honestly. We only ever wanted to welcome you here, to have you make Phoenix your home. But I understand things are out of our control, in a way, and you only wish to avoid whatever will come here. I'm sure you all understand that Progress's intentions, whether here with Phoenix, or in Papeete, are not known. I don't think you'll be treated unfairly there, but... they will certainly ask you many questions about those of us here. I ask, though I cannot force you, that you reserve details of our preparations, our arms, and of those who are here, especially Nina and Kate."

"And Kal," Nina added, "please don't mention Kal. If they're looking for him because they think he's working for GS, they will only be more aggressive if they get confirmation that he's here."

Enumi pursed her lips, "I won't say a word," she promised, "I only seek refuge for me and my daughter. I will not mention any details. You have all taken us in despite our situation, and... I do not like making this decision... but it is what I believe best for me and Holly. I will not betray those of you staying behind..."

I nodded, "Then it is best you say any final farewells. Let's get you on your way before you lose the light of the day..."

With that, hugs went around, a few tears, and an hour later, after a quick hot meal, the four refugees fired up the Humble Beginnings, followed Ekoh's careful instructions for how to extract it through the shoals, and soon, the boat was growing smaller as it headed South in search of a new home.

- - -

As always was the case on Phoenix, there was no time to mope and mourn and idle. Not only did we need to rapidly implement Nina's defensive adjustments and train, but we also had to fish and sew and hammer and do the countless tasks, big and small, which ensured our survival. Other than Kate and Ekoh, the two still on night watch and currently sleeping, everyone left in the South put shoulders down and pushed through the lingering sadness from the departures. There was nothing else to do. Maybe we'd have time to reflect and mourn later. I know I, and others, felt a sadness weighing on us that day.

Felicity was doing better on her own, it seemed. With Kate on night watch, there'd been long hours where her companion was not awake to be at her side, and the woman pulled her weight as best she could. I stayed away from her in the general sense, on Amy's advice, only conversing with her to discuss tasks or to suggest better means of accomplishing them. Otherwise, Amy had said, I should let the woman come to me if she wished to talk. Felicity didn't share her decision to stay with me, she had simply not come around when I'd earlier called for decisions from those seeking to leave.

That evening a storm rushed in from the West, just as I'd feared. I hoped that those who left earlier that day had made good progress South and avoided the worst of it. The trip to Tahiti wasn't all that long, though the Humble Beginnings was clearly much less nimble and powerful than the craft which had returned me to Phoenix months before. It would probably be sometime the next day before they arrived. Ekoh had strongly suggested they anchor in the night and turn off all lights rather than risk running aground. None of those on the boat had any real captaincy experience, and even a long-time boat pilot like Ekoh would not have risked the vessel in the darkness. I hoped the refugees took his advice, though I also hated the idea that they would not just keep moving on to their destination.

The distance to Papeete was short enough that I thought it a miracle that we hadn't already been visited by Progress United. Nina thought it was due to the more important patrol channels far to the East of Phoenix. Heavy traffic of GS boats there likely took more priority, though, it was hard to know for sure that GS wasn't still using the more Southerly waters as they had before our raid on their island depot.

With dark, rumbling skies all around, those of us in the South gathered for the evening meal in the common shelter, the heavy weight of worry for our departed friends hanging on all of us. Sure, as I said, I didn't know any of them well, but that didn't take away the sense of loss and the way it emphasized how people could be gone in the blink of an eye. With our future in doubt, the threat of a Progress arrival all but certain in the days ahead, it was hard not to wonder how many of us would remain beyond that point. Phoenix might be stripped of its people for all we knew, some killed if things went really bad. I swallowed a few tight gulps of stew and tried not to dwell too long on those thoughts. I needed to maintain my calm and ensure everyone else did, as well.

The rain hammering down above, lightning and thunder crashing around us, Felicity came over the sit beside me after finishing her bowl of fish and crab stew. She sat silently. I held Azure and Katie while their mothers went to bathe together, my daughter laughing and having fun patting the infant's head. It helped lighten things a bit.

"I'm sorry, Kal," Felicity said quietly as if she didn't want anyone else to hear her words.

"Sorry for what?"

"For being... me..."

"That's not something to be sorry for, Felicity..."

"No," she said, "I'm sorry I set you up the way I did. That I... put expectations on you. In my head. I don't know why I got so jealous and angry for a few days... I just did. And I'm sorry."

"You did nothing wrong," I assured her, "I shouldn't have risked clouding things between us."

Felicity shook her head, "No... you've only been a friend. I know that. I guess... I guess I just needed to believe something, someone, even if it was some fantasy version of you. It's not fair, to you or to your wives. I... I just needed to believe I was worth someone's attention. All their attention. I feel so vulnerable, Kal. To everything. To everyone. I guess I let that blind me to reality, and... when I realized what I'd built up in my head... I hated myself for involving you or anyone..."

"It's okay, you didn't harm me or anyone, I promise," I said quietly, "it's just going to take a lot of adjustment... you know... with how things are here... with how things are with me..."

"I know," she replied, "I don't want to cause trouble, Kal. I really don't. I almost left to get away from everything here. To go somewhere new, where no one knew my... secrets... Where I didn't have to compete with others for attention. Where I could just go find someone to trust, one day, and live out my life not wondering if I'd be as good as someone else in my partner's life..."

I still worried that the words Felicity used suggested that she continued to think of me as more involved in her life than I was. At least, I figured, she'd started to think things through enough to talk to me again. "I'm really glad you stayed, you know," I said to her, offering a small smile.

"I'm glad I stayed, I think," Felicity replied, "I'm not saying... I've figured out things, but... I won't burden you any more. This is my problem to sort out... my tower to break down in my head. I'm sorry I ever let the fantasy of it get that far. You're a good man, Kal. I see it right now, even." she told me, "with you just holding those two. I see it when you just sit and talk with one of your wives. You care. I don't really understand how Amy or any of them can take the fact that you don't hold only them in your heart... but I can see that you do. Extraordinary, really. Maybe, one day, I can figure this all out. Maybe..."

"Polyamory isn't for everyone," I said, "and loving someone polyamorous is not easy, either. I don't pretend that it's always easy, Felicity. I often feel like I'm leaving out most of those I love, that I can't possibly give enough to each one of them, that... that I let them down and don't make them each feel as special as they are... but... I hope that if that's how they feel, they would let me know..."

"Amy doesn't feel that way," said Felicity, "she just adores you. She never says a bad word about you, Kal. Kate, either, and, given what she's told me about how you two were lost to each other and she came here and had to face her horrible fears that you'd chosen other loves in your life, that says a lot. She told me it took some time before she was comfortable with things, but that, now that it has settled, she feels her place in your life is still vital and important. I think... deep down... she rather wishes it was more like what she said you had when it was you and her and Nina, but she loves you too much to lose you again, and she's found herself attracted, romantically and physically, to others here. It helped her, I think, to not feel like just a cog in the big Kal wheel of romance, that she, too, was a wheel of her own who could reach out and love others, too."

I nodded, but didn't otherwise reply.

"That's foreign to me, Kal, even before what happened with that horrible monster... The idea of really loving more than one person? I would have thought that meant spreading yourself too thin, leaving only jealousy to fill in the gaps, but... somehow, that's not you, or Kate, or anyone else in your life. You've managed something extraordinary, Kal. I hope to learn how to do it, one day."

"It makes me stronger," I explained, "and I don't just mean the sexual opportunities. I mean... We kinda have these buckets, right? Emotional strength. Relationships are give and take, sometimes your bucket gets low and your partner's does too, so what then? You struggle until one or the other can refill a bit, and your relationship is lacking until that happens, if it happens at all. But... with many partners... there are many buckets. One partner is low, another too, but someone else has some reserves and can refill enough for the first two to recover. It's rather wonderful how that happens. I get down, maybe Kate gets down, and Bailey's there to throw her support to us, or Amy, or Keekah. Or maybe, like when Amy was depressed a while, Kate and I and the others are there for her. None of us gets too low or for too long. That's kinda how I see it. It makes me stronger, and I hope each of them feels that way, too."

"I think they do, Kal. Kate and Amy both talked in much the same way. But it's even more than that, I think," Felicity said, then sipped from a cup of water. "They aren't your harem or defined by a connection to you. You know, like the stereotypical Mormon sister wives and such. They aren't a collection of lesser partners, but partners in full, just several are connected to you, and some to each other. You don't seek to possess but to strengthen. I think that if Kate or Amy felt less important than you in the relationship, they wouldn't stand for it. Those two, especially, are quite strong. I know the others less well, but if you made yourself the center of this web, you would know that wasn't okay with them. That's the key, as I see it, Kal. There's no center in what you all do. You're all equal. I think... I think that's really nice, actually."

I smiled, "A nice way to put things. I hope I only ever make those who choose to love me feel important and to give them whatever strength I have to do more than just hang off my arm. And I have no doubt that both Kate and Amy would let me hear about it if I took them for granted or left them a sense that I thought of them as anything less than equals, to me and to each other."

Felicity stared down at her hands, "And yet... when I... when I was letting my mind build up this fantasy... All I could do was imagine me, and me alone, as the sole importance in your life. I know that's selfish..."

"Only if taken out of context. I think," I said gently, "you are more than justified in wanting whatever relationship comes next for you to be one where you are special and loved in a way that features you strongly. I... I want to be clear, Felicity," I had to be brutally honest to ensure there were no more misunderstandings, "I think it would be a mistake for you and me... to move forward with anything... right now, at least."

"Oh, I agree," she said firmly, "I know that. Even when my mind wandered the possibilities, I knew that was true. I'm not in a place, mentally, emotionally, to be in a relationship, Kal, not even if it was you and only you. I have some healing to do, I know. I just feel, sometimes, a strong urge for... I dunno... validation? Approval? A sense of worthiness? I don't know what. It would be stupid for me to push into any relationship beyond friendship, for some time I think."

"Well, my friendship is always yours," I assured her, "and I'll do whatever I can to assist you in healing."

"Thanks," she said, smiling, reaching out to hold my hand just below where my arm was wrapped around Katie, giving it a brief squeeze before letting go, "I really appreciate that, Kal. Whatever happens from here... I'm glad I decided to stay."

"Me too."

- - -

That night, in bed with Amy, Bailey, and Keekah, I tossed and turned so long that I got up quietly and left the women and the little ones to wander through the shelters. The storm continued to hammer down outside, and Kate and Ekoh had taken up posts in the common shelter where they could marginally keep watch without being exposed to the dangerous conditions outside.

I found them leaning against each other, the man's hand resting on Kate's thigh, gently stroking that beautiful freckled flesh. It was obvious Ekoh was erect, his small penis sticking out from between his thighs. I smiled, watching a moment, then said quietly, "Hey, you two."

Ekoh's hand shot back into his own lap and he appeared to try to cover his genitals, an odd reaction given that the man had been going naked in camp lately.

I laughed, "Don't stop on account of me, I'm pretty sure you've got Kate rather wet right now from the petting."

She smiled, "Mmm, oh, yes."

Ekoh looked a little bashful, but didn't resist when Kate took his hand and slid it right between her crossed legs. The redhead looked at me and said, "Can't sleep?"

I shook my head, "Not a wink. Was worried I was keeping the girls up with my restlessness. Thought I'd come see if you two were still awake. I wouldn't blame you for knocking off for a while." I peered out the small window on the front of the shelter where tough, clear plastic on a solid frame covered the bug screen in the opening. "Can't see a damn thing out there, even with the lightning."

"We're wide awake," Kate said, "but, yeah, watch is a bit pointless right now. So... we were thinking of getting ourselves up to something else..."

"I'll let you have the place to yourselves, then," I said, looking to walk down one of the hallways to see if anyone else was awake.

"Don't you dare leave now," Kate purred, "I think Ekoh and I might enjoy an extra hand or two..."

Ekoh nodded but didn't look at me, seemingly concentrating on sliding fingers through Kate's red bush and into her pussy.

"Might help you sleep," Kate smiled.

"That it might..."

Kate reached her hand down between Ekoh's legs and began to stroke his small cock with two fingers as I stepped towards her, soon taking my longer penis into her mouth. She sucked me, bobbing her head, then pushed Ekoh back and made me lie beside him while she crawled between us, alternating blowing Ekoh and me over several lovely minutes.

The redhead crawled over me, using her hand to slide me into her slick, hairy pussy. "Mmmmm," she moaned, "I want you both inside me right now."

Ekoh understood and moved behind her. Kate held still while he got in position, the man squatting down, his leaking cock disappearing behind her body. I felt him miss his mark a couple of times, the tip of his dick sliding against my shaft before I felt Kate shudder and groan, Ekoh's penis finally slipping into her tight anus.

Kate began to move, slowly and in small rolls of her hips, keeping us both inside her. I could feel a little pressure along the top of her channel from where Ekoh's penis was in her butt. It was nothing like when I'd teamed up with Tok and Gale, the other man's cock much bigger than Ekoh's, and mine, for that matter, but I rather enjoyed the sensation.

I remained still, letting Kate work her body over me. Ekoh thrust rapidly as she rocked her hips, a look of pleasure and concentration on his face. Reaching my hand between us and finding Kate's clit already erect and slick, I kissed my wife while the three of us mated, trying to be quiet so as not to wake anyone in the attached shelters.

Ekoh began to groan and I knew he was releasing when Kate breathed, "Cum in my ass... Mmm... Fill my ass..."

She started to climax soon after, just as Ekoh slowed down, breathing heavily. Kate's orgasm rocked me and I strained, the heat inside her body growing wet and even more slick. I thrust up in time with her clenching channel, driving deep into her cunt, soon boiling over and spurting my seed into her vagina.

Kate kissed me while Ekoh caressed her ass, the man leaning back on his knees, staring down at what I was sure was the woman's leaking, raw anus, my penis slipping free, a wet warmth spreading over my balls from the cum bubbling out of Kate's vagina.

"Mmm," she moaned, "that was lovely, you two..."

"My, yes," Ekoh agreed with a smile, "I still cannot believe you let me enjoy this with you!"

Kate looked back, then slid off my body, pulling Ekoh closer and kissing him a moment. I grinned at how surely the man had gotten hooked on Kate's sensual attention. I certainly loved fucking the woman. She'd always been a very giving lover, and it was no different for Ekoh. The size of his cock didn't matter. Kate was just horny to get to experience the man's dick in her pussy or ass.

I yawned and saw Ekoh doing the same a moment later. I wiped myself off, then handed clean rags to the others. "Think I might be able to get that sleep now," I told them, yawning again, my mind feeling fuzzy and warm, not as weighed down with dark concerns in the stormy night.

I kissed Kate again and nodded to Ekoh, "Thanks for sharing that, both of you. See you in the morning..."

- - -

I had managed some sleep that night, but woke when I heard Katie fidgeting beside Bailey. Azure was awake, as well, though Harry and Hermione, sharing the crib with Azure, were still soundly asleep. I carefully extracted myself and gathered up the Katie and Azure, carrying them into the common room.

Kate was awake, if barely, Ekoh snoring beside her. The storm had lightened a bit, but rain continued before dawn. Kate smiled at me, "Aw, such a good papa."

I grinned, "I do try."

Kate offered to feed the girls, so I handed the infants to her and watched in awe as the woman's breasts gave milk to the suckling little ones. "That is still so amazing, you know. That you can give milk..."

The look on Kate's face soothed many ills in my head, "I just love it so much," she said. The noise of the suckling children was just loud enough to hear over the rain, and I saw a bit of milk slide out of Katie's lips and drool down onto Kate's body. I swept a finger along the thin trail and brought the woman's milk to my mouth. Kate chuckled. "Weirdo," she laughed.

"Delicious," I told her, "can't help that I like tasting whatever comes out of your body."

"Well," Kate shook her head, "not everything that comes out of my body."

"True," I agreed, "but most of it..."

I set about getting coffee going and checked to see if my wives or the twins were yet stirring. Finding them all asleep, I returned to the common room. Ekoh had roused and was watching with a smile on his face as Kate breastfed the girls. "Hard to believe she's almost one, Kal," Kate said quietly.

Katie's birth took place on January 13, the previous year. It was the twelfth, just one day until my daughter turned one. "Still can't believe it myself. She's grown so much!"

Katie was still forming words and manifesting other signs of her ascent into toddlerhood. She walked pretty well, though I was thankful that the sand where she practiced her gait provided a reasonably soft place to fall, as she often did, often laughing each time before picking herself up and wandering again for a while.

"It makes me really happy for you, Kal," Kate told me, as she had several times in the past, "I always thought you'd be a good father..."

I worried that Kate was, once more, dwelling on her own inability to conceive.

But, she smiled and chuckled, "So many wonderful things here, you know. Before we brought you back, I really worried that I'd never fit in, yet, look at me!"

I did. Kate's naked body shown with light sweat, two young girls, one about a year old, the other just about three months, still sucking on her swollen breasts, the woman's freckled flesh flushed and lovely just above. "You more than fit in, Kate," I replied, "I can't imagine life here without you."

"Thanks," she replied, then shifted Katie back to me when the girl began to fidget and reach out towards me.

I held my daughter a moment, then let her down when she wanted to wander.

We'd long ago done what we could to create safe places for Katie and the other young ones to crawl and stumble without worrying too much about what they might pick up or stumble over, but there were places, like the built-in fire pit we used to make meals when the weather was rainy, that just couldn't be completely made safe. Naturally, I still tried to keep some things piled around that area to discourage Katie from exploring too close, but she was never left alone in the shelters, so, for now, I kept an eye on her and stayed close to where the fire was flickering and poured three cups of coffee before setting a kettle over the fire and getting started on breakfast.

- - -

The rain stopped around dawn, and the island quickly became miserably hot and humid. The sun's strength always seemed to intensify just after a storm had moved through, and this one had brought only hotter air behind it. It was muggy in the shelter, and as others started to congregate, I shut down the shelter cook fire and got the one outside going strong to finish the meal.

Kinnon joined me outside, Kate taking care of the children for a while, as I dropped cut vegetables into the remains of the previous night's stew. Naked, as she'd been some time, the woman's dark skin was glistening with sweat before even approaching the fire.

I'd been rather worried about her the last few days, but with so many other problems and concerns, I'd let her situation linger without addressing it. She'd been seen drinking a few times, and was visibly drunk at least once, in the previous days. The woman joined me without her flask, but I smelled the alcohol on her breath as soon as she wrapped her arms around me and gave me a hug.

"Morning," I said to her evenly.

"Morning," Kinnon replied, "can I help?"

"Sure, how about grabbing me some of the dried squash."

Kinnon left, returning with the sliced, partially-preserved vegetables and then she dumped them into the boiling broth.

"How are you doing lately?" I asked her gently, not wanting to start a fight or accuse her. I knew this was going to be a long struggle for her, to give up alcohol or at least moderate it, but since she'd run out of her personal stash which had been brought from Uhonamona, any drinking she'd been doing was from pilfered stores on Phoenix. I hadn't directly addressed her theft, not wanting to make things worse, but the longer it went on, the more important it was to confront her. She didn't get special rations of alcohol just because she was an alcoholic, but I admitted to myself that, short term, it might be worth granting her an exception while she worked through her problem. Alcohol was something we had a great deal of in storage, especially with the large batch of his island wine, more a rum-like flavor, which Tok had recently made with an infusion of vanilla beans. Plus, the alcohol was rationed as a treat, not a source of nutrition. She wasn't taking food from babies by stealing it, so I supposed it wasn't terribly bad, all things considered. The theft itself was the problem, though.

Kinnon shrugged, "Getting by. Some days, better than others..."

"I noticed..."

"I'm sorry," she said, "I'm really trying, Kal..."

I nodded, "I know... but... you know it's not okay to just take from the stores, right?"

Kinnon looked down at the stew, saying with a tone of shame, "I know..."

I waited for her to say more, but she did not. I offered, "How about... we work out a special ration to... make it official... enough to last you for times when you need it... but no more..."

"I've been stealing it," she told me as if we hadn't just established that, if doing so in a few couched terms. "I shouldn't, but... the last few days have been really hard..."

"I know... for all of us..."

"I want to try just smoking pot instead, but I keep needing a drink, Kal. I hate this crutch..."

"Anything I can do to help?"

She shrugged, "Not really, I think it's all on me... I just... I need to just stop. Knowing it's there, knowing I can go... steal... a nip or fill my flask... the temptation is strong..."

"If we could just lock it up to help..."

"I'd probably find a way to pick the lock," she admitted.

"You're still doing better, though. You don't drink like you did a few weeks back..."

"True," Kinnon said, "and I don't drink all day, just... sometimes I need a swallow to get my head right..."

I nodded silently, stirring the stew. I didn't want to press too hard on her yet. That time would come, I knew, if Kinnon didn't get a handle on her addiction. "Well, this needs to cook down a bit. Think I'll go for a swim, want to join me?"

She nodded, "Sure. I'll grab us towels."

- - -

"So," I asked her in the choppy surf which was washing us back and forth as waves from several directions fought for control of the sloping, sandy shore, "how are things with the three of you?"

"Good, I think. Hakee's North right now, of course, and Nina and I aren't just jumping into bed together currently. Taking it a little slowly. Though, we've had a few moments to share, and those have been lovely."

"That's great," I told her. The three had made a lot of progress when they'd all been North, and it seemed they had reached some sort of compromise all could live with. I knew it sucked that Hakee was North while Kinnon and Nina stayed South, but I needed Hakee to take charge of those working the fields, and Nina was required in the main camp to continue working on our defensive arrangements. Since Manu was also North, I needed Kinnon South so that our two medical experts were not congregated in one place in case of emergencies. "I hope soon the three of you can have some time together to keep working on things."

"I hope so," Kinnon agreed, "but I think we're doing okay. Sometimes I just need to learn how to be patient. It's not easy when you fall for someone so quickly, so hard."

I nodded, "I know that feeling." I thought back to how I, myself, had fallen for Hakee at one point, damaging my relationships with Amy and the other young lovers I'd taken. Maybe it had been as much lust as anything, but it hadn't felt that way at the time. It had, I believed, forever scarred any chance of a romantic relationship between me and Hakee. Sure, I loved the beautiful nineteen-year old, but I wasn't in love with her the way I was with Bailey, Keekah, Amy, and Kate. I doubted I ever would feel that way for Hakee given how I'd had to break her heart over those days and both she and I had had to put up some thin but durable walls between us.

"But, yeah, we're okay right now. Everything going well with you?"

I shrugged, "Well as can be, I think. Sad to lose those who left, and very worried about them."

Kinnon looked off to the South, her back to me a moment, then spun, causing her breasts to bounce up above the waves. She saw me looking at her round, dark tits, her nipples hard and tight, and Kinnon grinned, "Not too worried to miss checking out my rack, though..."

"Hey, that's unfair," I mildly protested, "you do have rather lovely boobs, you know."

Kinnon smiled, "Oh, I know. And one of these days, if you're up for it, I want you to touch them again..."

"Any time," I promised her.

"I figured." Kinnon teased me a moment by jumping up and down in the rough surf, causing her tits to bounce each time, snapping up and down as she laughed. A big wave crashed over her and threw her into my grasping arms just as we got pulled under. We surfaced laughing together as I held onto her a moment. Kinnon looked at me, shook her head, then kissed me deeply. "You kiss like a girl," she told me.

"Thanks," I grinned, "I know that is a compliment coming from you."

"Oh, very much so. Makes me think 'one of these days' is going to be sooner rather than later. I find myself desiring you, Kal. I've told you that's somewhat odd for me."

"I feel special," I said, "and I'm not just saying that."

We laughed together a while, just a bit of levity before needing to dry and return to start on the day's chores. With the skies clearing and the humid heat already pressing in, it was going to be a long one, for sure, and it served as a direct reminder that we were now in the heart of the Southern Pacific Summer.