Pushing Up Daisies (3 page)

Coop sighed. “Yeah, me too.”

Sarah wandered in the small hills overlooking the ruins of Elaayo. She tried to imagine it a thriving city with ships docked in the small bay and diverse people wandering its streets. She imagined temples and homes lining the ancient pavers still visible though cracked and covered with sand as she climbed higher.

“What are you looking for?” Freidrick called after her.

“Tombs,” Sarah answered. “I read there are several in these hills, most unopened.”

“Really,” Freidrick said. “So exciting to think of being first one in after so many centuries.”

They tramped up into the hillside overlooking the ruined town following goat paths worn into the packed earth. Sarah saw a cave and peered inside. It was shallow and empty. They walked on, zigzagging further up the hillside on the goat paths. Sarah found several more caves in the sandy cliffs, but they were either empty or too shallow to contain anything.

Freidrick was getting tired of the hike and the heat. He stopped and took off his wide-brimmed hat to wipe sweat off his forehead and smooth his blond hair. “How far will we go, Sarah? It's growing late.”

“Just a while longer.” A sandy cliff hung over the goat trail. Sarah climbed up the side of the cliff and stood looking down at Freidrick. The ground beneath her feet was covered with a thin layer of sand, flaky and brittle. She stomped her stout sandal and thought it sounded hollow under her. She stomped again and the whole cliff collapsed under her dropping her into a dark cave.

The first thing she heard as she crouched in the dark was an ominous sizzling sound. Freidrick stuck his head into the hole in the roof of the cavern. “Sounds like a carpet viper, Sarah. Don't move.”

Coop leaned over the edge. “You okay?”

“Freidrick said something about a viper.”

The sizzling sound was coming from her left. Her eyes were adjusting to the dark but she still couldn't see the snake. Coop leaned down and handed her a heavy black flashlight. She reached up to get it and the sizzling sound escalated. “Drop it. I'm afraid to move.”

“I'm coming down,” Coop said.

“No, you might be bitten.”

“I have boots on. You're wearing a dress and sandals.” He dropped beside her and began shining the flashlight around the cave. He had his pistol in the other hand. The sizzling noise never stopped. “Saw-scaled vipers,” Coop began. “They make that sound by rubbing their scales together. Aha! There you are.”

Illuminated by the flashlight, a dark-brown snake with a cream belly and a diamond pattern lay coiled under a rock ledge. When the light hit it, it struck, but was too short to reach Coop.

“I'm going to have to kill it,” Coop said. “This is a very poisonous snake.”

“I'm fine with that,” Sarah said. “This looks like a tomb.”

Coop fired three shots into the snake. When it was dead, he used the flashlight to lift it and toss it out of the cave. Freidrick stuck his head into the opening. “It is dead? I do not like snakes.”

“It's gone, Freidrick. I think this is a tomb. Throw me my kit.”

He tossed the kit down to her. “I will come down as long as there are no more snakes.”

“I don't hear any more,” Coop said.

Sarah opened her kit and took out her own flashlight. Walking carefully, she scanned the interior with the light. It was a tomb. Shelves were carved into the walls of the cave. Desiccated bodies wrapped in shredded shrouds lay on the shelves.

Freidrick dropped into the cave. He carried a big halogen light with a battery pack. When he switched it on, the interior of the cave was lit with bright-white light. Sarah stood in the middle and stared in awe. No one had been in here since this cave was closed and the people laid to rest. Spider webs filled every corner and a thick layer of dust covered everything.

“I'm gonna figure out how to get out of here,” Coop said.

Sarah scanned the cave's interior. “The door is over there,” she pointed to an opening in the side of the cave wall that looked blocked. “It might have been closed by the ones who buried these people or it might be caved in.”

Coop went to see if the door could be reopened while Sarah took a big brush out of her kit. She brushed dust off one of the bodies. It appeared to be a woman with a child beside her. Freidrick hovered over her shoulder. “This is an incredible find,” he said.

“I think this tomb is from the first century,” Sarah said. “These shrouds look like they are made of wool. That was the most common woven fabric back then. And the style is from that time period.”

Sarah peeled back one layer of the shroud and saw bones. This was so real. Her heart raced. The dead woman held a small object in her hand. Gold glinted between the bones of her fingers. With shaky hands, Sarah pried the fingers open.

“I think I can break through this seal,” Coop said.

The sudden tramp of feet overhead caused Sarah to glance at Coop. He stood frozen in place with one finger in front of his lips. Sarah nodded. Loud male voices speaking Somali drifted down to them.

Freidrick, Coop and Sarah slowly eased into the shadows cast by the halogen light. Sarah whispered into Coop's ear. “Pirates. They found the Jeep and heard the shots. Turn off the light.”

Sweat beaded on Coop's forehead and upper lip as he switched it off. Freidrick was shaking with fear. There was only one way Sarah could save them. It was her fault they were here. She walked to the dead woman, snagged the golden object without examining it and put it in the pocket of her dress. She indicated Coop and Freidrick should move deeper into the cave.

“Help,” she called in Somali.

A dark face appeared above her and fired off a long string of Somali. Sarah understood about half of it. She smiled and waved. “I'm an archeologist,” she called back. “I fell into this cave.”

The Somali stuck one long black arm into the hole. “Grab my hand,” he said in Oxford-accented English.

Daisy led the Italian woman through the dark farmhouse and into her bedroom. She pushed the door closed behind her and switched on the light.

The young woman was one of the Italian hikers. Daisy and the guys had discovered the Italians in the second bar they tried. Ten young women were in Kalarrytes to hike the nearby mountain of Lakmos. They all attended the Sapienza University of Rome and were hiking in Greece during a school holiday.

Filomena giggled and slid her white blouse off her shoulder revealing the top of one creamy breast. Daisy was on fire. She grabbed Filomena's hand and led her to the bed. The climate around Kalarrytes was Alpine so there was a down comforter on the bed. She drew it off and pushed Filomena onto the sheets.

They fell onto the softness together. Daisy was slightly shorter than Filomena who was tall with strong, slender legs. Daisy wound her fingers in Filomena's long, dark hair and pulled her face close for their first kiss. Her lips tasted like licorice, she'd been drinking Sambuca, and they were soft. Daisy sucked on her pillowy lower lip while she pushed Filomena's blouse off.

Filomena's small breasts were firm under her hands, the nipples long and rock-hard. Daisy sucked in her breath as she pulled each one. Filomena giggled and pushed Daisy's tube top down. Her breasts flowed out and into Filomena's waiting hands.

Apparently Filomena had been with women before. Her caresses were practiced. She knew just how to touch Daisy's sensitive breasts, stroking them, pinching and pulling on the nipples until Daisy was crazy with desire.

Daisy pushed Filomena's skirt up and ran her hands up smooth thighs until she felt the edge of Filomena's underwear, little more than a scrap of lace. She slid her hand under the edge and found Filomena wet with desire. “I'm gonna get out of my clothes,” she said in a deep throaty whisper. “Why don't you do the same?”

They undressed quickly and returned to the sheets. Naked, they embraced, rubbing their bodies together. Daisy had lotion. She grabbed the bottle off the bedside table, squeezed a dollop into her hand and began slathering it all over Filomena. She rubbed the lotion smelling of wildflowers into Filomena's breasts and stomach as she knelt over her. From there, she worked her way down, rubbing her legs and thighs. Then she rolled Filomena onto her stomach, squeezed more into her hands and attacked Filomena's round ass. She rubbed lotion into the globes, spread them and ran her hands between the woman's legs. Filomena groaned in ecstasy beneath her as she massaged her butt and back.

“Yes,” she breathed in Italian which Daisy barely understood because she spoke Spanish. The languages had some similarities but a lot of differences.

“Oh, that feels wonderful,” Filomena said in broken English.

Finished with her massage, Daisy pushed Filomena's buttocks open and buried her face in the fragrant flesh. Filomena lifted so Daisy could access her sex. Daisy used her tongue and her fingers to invade the opening aggressively. She was too hot to be gentle, but Filomena didn't seem to mind being manhandled. Daisy was strong. She lifted Filomena, flipped her over again and spread her legs wide. Filomena moaned with anticipation as Daisy concentrated her gaze on the pink flesh exposed to her hot eyes.

Filomena squirmed and writhed as Daisy chafed her clit with one finger and circled her opening with the other. It didn't take long for Filomena to climax in long gasping shudders. Daisy moved up to straddle Filomena's face. The hot Italian was only too glad to latch onto Daisy's sex with her mouth while her hands kneaded Daisy's ass. She sucked and licked, grinding her face into the hot flesh while she opened and closed Daisy's butt.

When she inserted one finger into Daisy's anus, Daisy moaned and reached up to caress her own breasts. She pulled her nipples, pinching them hard as her orgasm raced over her. Gasping, she buckled over and then slowly toppled off Filomena to lie next to her breathing hard.

Filomena laughed, a throaty chuckle, and ran her hand over Daisy's thigh and into her neatly-trimmed mound. “You are so wet,” she whispered.

“I'm a squirter,” Daisy admitted. “Can't help it. I was squirting when I saw you naked.”

She spoke in Spanish which Filomena seemed to understand. Filomena rubbed her entire mound vigorously, then opened it to touch her swollen clit. “I want more.”

“Can I fuck you?” Daisy asked.

“With what?”

Daisy opened the drawer and pulled out a strap-on dildo. She held it up. “Or maybe this one?” She pulled out a double-ended dildo and Filomena squealed.

“Oh yes, that one.”

Daisy pushed Filomena back into the sheets and slowly eased the dildo into her wet opening. She often used this one on lonely nights in the safe house. Positioning herself between Filomena's legs, she stared down at her lover's pussy. It was shaved and swollen, the lips thick and dark pink. She reached down and spread them. Filomena had a large, fleshy clit. She chafed it several times, ran her fingers into the displayed opening and pressed the head of the dildo into her. It slid the first inch easily, then Daisy had to push. This was what turned her on the most, actually pushing the dildo into her lover. There was something so exciting about it. She almost felt like a man.

The other end was deep inside her, stretching her and filling her. It was the other side of the coin. They were both feeling the same thing. She pulled Filomena into a sitting position and they embraced and kissed, each impaled on the purple piece of plastic. Rocking back and forth, they shoved the dildo in and out faster and faster until they were moaning and gasping and the bed was shaking. Strong, Daisy was able to hold Filomena's buttocks in her hands and squeeze and push her onto the fake cock harder and harder.

When Filomena climaxed, she collapsed onto Daisy who was not there yet. Groaning with frustration, Daisy rolled onto her back and began to masturbate using the dildo. Filomena slapped her hand away and bent close to handle the dildo herself. She shoved it in and out faster and faster until Daisy's legs were stiff, her back arched and her entire body rushing with pleasure. When she came, she groaned deeply and grabbed Filomena's hand. “Stop, so sensitive,” she whispered.

Filomena laughed and fell back on the bed beside her. They embraced and Daisy pulled the quilt over their sweaty bodies.

* * * *

Downstairs, House had returned from his run and sat in the living area listening with his enhanced hearing to the two in the bedroom above. He wished he could join them. He loved Daisy as a friend and knew if she wasn't gay, they'd be more than friends. Daisy had an idea he felt this way, but pretended she didn't. When his cell phone beeped announcing a text from the home office, he was almost glad.

He read it, grabbed his laptop and flipped it open. He had emails from the office. The four of them were needed quickly. Two aid officials and a U.N. soldier had been captured by Somali pirates. He was directed to meet in Mogadishu with the rest of the team. They had Intel, a location and a raid planned for midnight Somalia time.

He glanced at his watch. It was two-forty-five in the morning here in Greece. Somalia-time was two hours later, so it was four-forty-five there. He better get going. Traveling out of this remote location took some arranging. Before rounding up the team, and interrupting Daisy and her friend, he called in a request for a helicopter to meet them in the landing field next to the house.

Then he started texting Gopher and Blackberry. When he'd sent out the alerts to the two men, he tromped up the stairs to get Daisy. He was still rushing with the effects of the run and the kill he'd made in the mountains. Daisy would be disappointed. He knew she'd hoped to run tomorrow night.

He stood outside her door grinning. He didn't hear any activity inside. Maybe they were done. He knocked got no answer and knocked louder.

“Go away, House,” she called. “I got company.”

“No shit,” he yelled back. “Cover up, I'm coming in.”