Wingmen (9781310207280) (46 page)

“Sweets, any
place you take me would be an island paradise.”

“You’ve been at
sea too long. You’re starting to sound like John Wayne.”

“All fighter
pilots sound like John Wayne.” Duane sat as close to Eleanor as
safety allowed. But it was awkward with her driving; he couldn’t
even get an arm around her shoulders. They drove in silence for
several minutes, passing a slow-moving column of Marines and
artillery.

Eleanor spoke
first. “I haven’t heard from Jack lately.”

“He’s been
pretty busy. Working us day and night. He got a decoration, you
know.”

“No, I didn’t
know.”

“Splashed a
couple of Jap torpedo bombers. At night. Pretty dangerous
work.”

“No. He didn’t
tell me. I would like to have been at the ceremony.”

“You didn’t
miss anything. It was pretty boring.”

“Well,” she
said. And then she was quiet, as though she could think of nothing
else to say. They were on a small, two-lane road now, dense foliage
on either side. They passed an olive-drab jeep with two uniformed
riders, going in the opposite direction. She pulled up suddenly in
front of a long wooden sawhorse blocking the entrance to a side
road. A sign on the barricade said the road was closed to civilian
traffic.

“Oh, darn,” she
said. “It looks like the Army appropriated our waterfall.”

“Is there
somewhere else we can go?” asked Duane.

“On a moment’s
notice, the best I can do is my place.” She was already turning the
car around. They headed back in the opposite direction.

“I don’t want
to take you out of your way or anything.”

“It’s only a
little further, and we’ll be more comfortable, anyway.” She reached
over and touched his hand lightly. Then he took her hand up in his.
“My, what strong hands you have,” she said.

“The better to
hold you with, my darling.”

Eleanor
laughed. “Come on,” she said. “You’ve got a better line than
that.”

Duane pretended
to think. “Okay,” he said. “How about, the better to squeeze you
with, my darling.”

“You’re on the
right track. Being squeezed implies a little more affection than
being held. But I don’t know…”

“Well, then,
the better to
caress
you with, my darling.” Duane reached out and
touched her cheek with the backs of his fingers, then thought at
once that he might have been too forward.

“Now you’re
talking, Sailor,” she said, patting his knee and leaving her hand
there until he picked it up and placed it firmly on the wheel.

“You just keep
your mind on the driving, Sweets. Leave the caressing to me.” He
was surprised with her boldness, and slightly flustered by her
physicality. He wasn’t sure if he liked that or not. They continued
driving for half an hour, far into the interior reaches of Oahu.
Duane had been to the place before, months earlier. It was very
quiet and very secluded.

“I hope you
brought your bathing suit.” Eleanor said as she parked the car in
the long gravel driveway.

“Nope,” said
Duane. “But that’s never stopped me from going swimming
before,”

“Well,” she
said with mock huffiness, “I am properly scandalized.” Duane opened
the front door for them and helped her carry the picnic hamper into
the kitchen. They set it on a table in a breakfast nook that had a
window looking out onto a lushly vegetated hillside. The afternoon
sun was already throwing long shadows across the fields and trees.
As she turned away from the table, Duane caught her in his arms and
kissed her quickly on the mouth. She pulled away.

“Drinks,” she
said, “why don’t you fix us a drink?” She pointed through the door
to the bar Duane and Jack had leaned against together at the party
so many months ago.

“Good idea,” he
said. Eleanor began setting out the meal, so that when Duane came
back with two tall glasses of bourbon on ice, he found chicken
sandwiches, potato salad, a pineapple pie. He set the drinks down
on the table and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

“That looks
fantastic.” He nibbled at her neck. “You’ll make some man a great
wife.”

“I sure hope
so,” she said. Again she pulled away. “You sailors are all alike.
One thing on your mind all the time.”

“Almost all of
us, anyway.” said Duane.

“Go put some
music on. We’re going to do this up right.” Duane took his drink
and obediently went back through the kitchen door.

Presently
Eleanor could hear the sound of Hawaiian music. When Duane came
back into the nook she was sitting, nibbling at a sandwich. He sat
down beside her.

“You women are
all alike,” he said. “You never have the same thing on your
mind.”

She laughed.
“Never attempt a seduction on an empty stomach,” she said.

Duane shrugged
and picked up a sandwich. He was thinking that seduction was a
fancy word for it, but yes, that was what he wanted. The sandwich,
after months of navy food, was almost exotically good.

When they
finished eating the sun had disappeared, leaving a cool, glowing
twilight. Kicking off their shoes and taking their drinks, they
walked out the back door together and onto a wooden deck
surrounding a small swimming pool. Duane rolled up his pants legs,
Eleanor hitched up her skirt, and they sat on the edge with their
feet in the cool water.

“‘Tragic
Tarawa,’” said Eleanor. “‘Bloody Betio.’ That’s what all the
newspapers were saying. Was it all that bad?”

“I don’t know,”
said Duane. “I haven’t read any newspapers lately.” He was much
more interested in her long bare legs, and the inside of her thigh,
just above her knee.

“But you were
there. You must have seen something.”

“I flew over
the island a few times. There was fighting. You couldn’t see much.”
He leaned close to her and kissed her bare shoulder. She had a
faint, erotic smell about her.

“And what did
Jack do that was brave enough for a decoration?”

“Nothing much.”
Duane straightened up. “Why?”

“I like Jack a
lot. But he doesn’t keep in touch very well.”

“He’s busy,”
said Duane. “Running a squadron takes all his time.” He thought,
Maybe that explains
it. Maybe
.

“Did you know
Stan?” she asked.

“Your husband?
No. Jack mentioned him, but I never met him.”

Eleanor leaned
way back and splashed her feet in the water. “Oh, he was big and
strong.” Her voice was light, not at all sad. “I miss that man more
than anything in the world.” Duane didn’t know what to say, so he
said nothing. “I need a man like that in my life,” she said,
sitting forward and linking her arm in his. “It’s one of those
things you get used to, and then when it goes away you suddenly
realize how much you depended on it.” She stopped paddling her feet
and was still. “I guess you don’t know what I’m talking about, do
you?”

“I…” said
Duane, thinking hard for a comeback, “never thought about it.”

“No,” she said.
“I don’t suppose you have. But you’re not the only one.”

“Jack,” said
Duane. “He doesn’t think about it either, I guess.”

“Yes, you could
say that.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. Duane lifted her
chin with the fingers of one hand and kissed her on the lips. This
time she responded. Her mouth opened and their tongues touched
briefly. They drew apart.

“My goodness,”
she said quickly. “It’s dark. I almost forgot about the blackout. I
better turn off some lights.” She stood, pulling her skirt down to
hide those beautiful, exciting legs. Duane reached for her calf as
she skipped away but missed it in the dark. “Come on in and help
me,” she called. Duane got up from the pool’s edge and followed her
wet footprints into the house.

The music was
still playing in the living room. He looked around at the tasteful
wealth of furnishings. He realized that if they were to marry, she
could probably support him in style, instead of the other way
around. He was not used to thinking that way. Also, the fact that
she might spring the question on him, that she was obviously a
woman looking for a “strong” man, was somehow unsettling to him. He
went to the bar, poured himself another two fingers of bourbon, and
added an ice cube.

“There,” said
Eleanor, coming back into the living room. “All finished.” She was
wearing a housecoat of Oriental design now. “I hope you don’t mind
my getting out of that awful dress,” she said.

“No,” said
Duane. “Not really.”

“You shouldn’t
drink so much,” she said, joining him at the bar. “It dulls your
senses.” She plucked the glass from his hand and set it on the bar,
drawing up so close to him that their thighs touched. She placed
both her hands on his sides, just above his hips, and pulled
herself close till she could rest her chin on his shoulder. Her
smell was enticing, but Duane just stood there. She sensed his
reluctance almost immediately and stepped back lightly.

“What’s the
matter?” she asked.

Duane smiled
perplexedly. “Eleanor…” he said.

She looked
deeply into his eyes, seeing confusion there. “Oh,” she said, “I
understand.” She left him and walked quickly across the carpet to
the sofa where she sat demurely at one end, crossing her legs at
the knees, and folding her hands in her lap. “Whose seduction is
this…” She said it playfully, not sarcastically.

“I’ve never met
anyone like you,” said Duane. He picked up his glass of bourbon,
drained it with a single gulp, and turned to the sofa. Unusual or
not, she was a damned good-looking woman, and he wouldn’t
disappoint her the way Jack had. He sat down beside her, placing an
arm across the top of the sofa above her shoulders. “You wouldn’t
want me to think you’re the wrong kind of girl.”

“Heavens, no,”
she said, leaning her head back until it rested on his arm and
wriggling a hand between his back and the cushions. “I believe a
girl should get to know a man better before she allows him to,
shall we say, take liberties.”

“I agree,” said
Duane, leaning over and kissing those wonderful, warm lips.

“That tells me
an awful lot about you,” she said.

He lowered his
arm until it was around her, pulled her into an embrace, and kissed
her again.

“I think we
know each other pretty well now,” she said.

“Does that mean
we can hold hands?” he asked.

“You can hold
anything you want, Sailor,” she said. She ran her hands through his
hair, tickled the nape of his neck. Duane kissed her lips, her
cheek, her neck, toyed with the top button of her housecoat. When
he had it open, he realized with a mild shock that she had nothing
on under it. He opened the second button, and the third, until he
could slip his hand inside and massage her warm, soft breast. She
gave a delicious, arousing sigh from deep down in her throat. Duane
felt the blood rising in his groin.

“I think,” she
said, “we’d be more comfortable in the bedroom.”

“Do we know
each other well enough for that?” he asked.

She shook her
head to toss her hair back from her eyes and almost casually placed
her right hand in his lap, feeling his erection.

“Yes,” she
said, “we do.” She stood suddenly; took him by the hand, and led
him to the bedroom.

“How long have
you been at sea?” Eleanor asked.

“We were only
gone about a month,” he said. “Why?”

She laughed
quietly. “I’m sorry,” she said. “What I meant was, how long has it
been since you…did this?”

Duane pondered
this complicated question in silence, a little embarrassed.

“A month and a
half,” he said finally. He wanted to get up and get a cigarette,
but his shirt was on a chair on the other side of the bed and he
would have to walk all the way around. She would see him naked.
“Why?” he asked again.

“Oh, I was just
curious. You were so…fast.”

“I’m sorry if I
did anything wrong,” he said defensively.

“Oh, no,” she
said, “don’t think that.” She took a deep breath and exhaled it
slowly. After a moment, she said, “You would have liked Stan.”

“Oh?”

“He was my
first love,” she said matter-of-factly. “He taught me a lot of
things.”

Duane was
almost aching for a smoke, was still embarrassed by the things she
chose to talk about, was also embarrassed by the jaunty way she had
hung the housecoat on the bed post at their feet.

Eleanor went
on. “We didn’t have that much time together before he left, so we
had to get the most out of every hour. We learned to go slower.”
She reached over and placed her hand on his chest, letting her
fingers tickle the swirls of hair that grew there.

“What’d you do?
Bring a stopwatch to bed?” He tried not to sound cynical, but knew
he did, anyway.

“No,” she said.
“I guess it’s hard to explain.” Her hand went from his chest to his
abdomen, pausing at the navel. She was getting close to a very
personal spot, so Duane pulled her over on top of him and kissed
her hard. She didn’t resist as he thought she should; in fact, she
stayed on top when the kiss ended.