Thursday's Teaser - Love in the Caribbean

Love in the Caribbean by Norsebard

                                            This story was number one on the top 25 list at the Athenaeum


Excerpt from Love in the Caribbean

An hour later, the sausages were sizzling merrily on the barbecue, letting out the occasional pop and crackle that were matched in much larger scale by the thunderclaps that came from the storm cloud that was passing by a few miles to the south of Hook Island, and the creaking and groaning branches of the tropical vegetation around the lagoon.

Feeling calm and protected, Lana and Rebecca both sat between their partner's long legs; Lana leaning back against Joey's front, and Rebecca leaning forward to tend to the barbecue while Olly had her long, strong arms wrapped around her waist.

"God, this is life…" Lana said quietly as she looked at the smoke signals that rose from the barbecue.  Sighing contentedly, she took a swig from her glass of Diet Coke and reached down to caress Joey's thigh.

Giving Rebecca a little squeeze, Olly leaned forward and rested her chin on the secretary's shoulder. "How are you holding up, baby?  With the storm, I mean?"

"Just fine, Dominique.  Just fine," Rebecca said and sent the mechanic a warm, wide smile.

"Mmmm. We're the luckiest women in the world," Olly said dreamily.

Rebecca and Joey both nodded at the undeniable truth of that statement.

"So, I think the sausages are done… who'll get the plates and the potato salad?" Rebecca said as she stabbed the nearest sausage with a fork.

"I'm on it," Lana said and scooted away from her warm backrest.  Quickly moving over to the cooler box, she bent down and gathered up the plastic container with the potato salad without realizing that her shapely rear end was pointed practically straight up in an inviting gesture.

Olly and Rebecca noticed at once, and one of them let out a wolf call that caused both Joey and Lana to blush quite badly.

"Oh, grow up!" Lana growled, holding the potato salad.

"Wasn't me, Lana!" Olly said, and Rebecca quickly shook her head to show that it wasn't her, either.

"Uh-huh?  Well, I don't think it was the Skipper… was it, Skip?"

"Nope," Joey said.

"Ha!"

"Maybe it was the Klabauterman," Olly said and began to look around like she was searching for something - or someone.

"Who?" Lana said as she popped the lid off the container.

Tightening her grip on Rebecca's waist, Olly began to speak in a voice half an octave deeper than her already rich timbre, "The spirit of the sea. He's not visible yet, Lana.  Perhaps you'll meet him at the magic hour… when dusk gives way to night."

Lana blinked a few times and began to bite her lips.  Turning to look at Joey, she hoped that the Skipper would say something reassuring, but when a visible shiver ran over Joey's body, it quickly transplanted itself onto Lana's. "Oh no, not ghost stories… not here, not on a deserted island…!" she croaked, almost dropping the long-forgotten potato salad.

Joey just nodded.

"Nooooo…" Lana whined, already dreading the dusk.

"Hey, are we gonna eat or what?  Like I said three minutes ago, the sausages are ready!" Rebecca said, completely ruining the meticulously staged tension.

Breaking out into a laugh, Olly gave Rebecca a good squeeze and then reached down for her plate. "I'm ready, baby!"

"Oh you miserable, no-good sailors!  Always trying to scare the stuffing out of us landlubbers with all your damned superstitions and tall tales!" Lana growled as she slapped a ladleful of potato salad onto Olly's plate.

Holding out her own plate, Joey laughed and blew Lana a kiss to make up.

---

Once a good deal of the sausages and the potato salad had been consumed, a contented silence fell between the four women. Sensing that it was the perfect time for a little singing, Olly reached behind her and took Joey's guitar.

Putting the strap around her neck, she gave it a quick tune-up and then let it rest in her lap.  "Any requests?" she said, laughing.  "No, it wouldn't work anyhow. I only know a couple of songs… but I wanted to take the guitar first, 'cos once the Skipper's pipes come out to play, my stuff will just fade into the sand."

"Excellent… I'd love to hear you sing, Dominique," Rebecca said and ran her fingers up Olly's thigh.

"Whatcha gonna sing for us?" Joey said, still sitting with Lana resting against her front between her long legs.

"Oh, a little song that goes something like this…  Blow A Gal Down."

(...)

Love in the Caribbean - 163 pages
When Lana Ferguson gets an old treasure map for her thirtieth birthday, it's merely the start of a grand adventure that will take her and a friend to the exotic US Virgin Islands. To top it all off, the Captain and the first mate of the boat Lana has hired are charismatic, strong, gorgeous gals - and suddenly, romance is in the air for both Lana and her friend. They came looking for treasure; will they find Love in the Caribbean instead...?
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