The Art Of Friendship by Allison McDonnell

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Chapter Four: Opportunity Knocks

Meanwhile, not too far away, another struggle was taking place.

"Shouldn't we be checking on Devon and Danziger?" Julia asked, straining to get the words out between ever-quickening breaths.

Alonzo's attention was clearly focused on other matters and checking on his two crewmates had been moved way down on his list of 'Things To Do.' In fact, currently the only name appearing on his list at all was Julia.

"There's no way that anything's happened this soon," he insisted, wiping the perspiration from his dampened face with the back of his hand. "Right now, they're probably in the middle of bickering over something stupid," he panted before his lips descended again to ravish hers.

"Don't worry. We've got plenty of time."

_____________________________________________

"We probably shouldn't be doing this," John gasped as he and Devon kissed and groped each other with reckless abandon. They remained seated, locked in a crushing embrace, their bodies grinding into one another as if they were trying to make love through their clothing.

"Do you want to stop?" she asked in disbelief.

"Hell, no!" he mumbled, his mouth still firmly pressed against hers.

Almost dizzy with need, Danziger surged forward, pushing Devon back onto the sleeping bag with him laying on top of her. There was a myriad of activity as both feverishly began kicking off their shoes and squirming out of their clothes while, at the same time, fumbling to liberate their partner from their own attire.

Devon realized that her capacity for coherent thought was spiraling out of control and she valiantly tried to keep things in perspective.

"This is just another preview of New Pacifica, okay?" she relayed, not all that convincingly, as she ripped Danziger's shirt over his head and hurled it toward the far corner of the tent. She shivered from the sudden coolness of his metal dog-tags as they came into contact with her bare chest. "After tonight, we go back to our original plan. Nothing-" she stopped briefly to let out a moan as John began to nibble on her earlobe, "Nothing else happens between us until our lives are more stable."

Danziger could barely hear her words over the sound of his loudly thumping heart. "Uh-huh. Yep. No problem," he muttered indistinctly as his mouth continued to move over her skin. He could feel the rapid pace of Devon's own throbbing heart as his lips traveled over her jugular vein.

After several frenzied moments, Devon's proclamation finally managed to register in John's lust-clouded mind. He suspended his actions and brought his face back up to hers in order to respond to her directly.

"You do realize that our lives are never gonna be completely normal, don't you?" he felt it necessary to remind her, his eyebrow raised mischievously.

Yep, such an incredible smart-ass, Devon mused to herself. "Just humor me, John."

She could feel her skin flush with desire at the almost predatory look that overtook his features. "Oh, I'll do a lot more than that," he declared as he plastered his mouth over hers.

Devon returned his kiss with equal force, parting her lips and burying her fingers deep into his tangled curls. Danziger's hands migrated downward past her stomach until they reached the clasp of her pants. With a muffled grunt, he roughly tugged them open and Devon lifted her hips off the ground to enable him to slide them down her thighs. Her own questing hands left John's hair and extended down to hastily unfasten his pants. She shoved them down as far as her reach would allow and then hooked her toes into the belt loops to push them off the rest of the way, Danziger clumsily kicking the clothing aside when it reached his ankles.

Both of them were breathless with anticipation as John repositioned his large frame, placing his elbows on either side of Devon's head and resting most of his weight on her. She could see as well as feel how much Danziger wanted her as he shifted his hips to just below hers, poised at the ready.

Never veering her eyes from his, Devon reached up over her head to interlock her fingers with his before arching forward to share an urgent, sensual kiss. Time all but stood still for Devon and John and they were oblivious to everything but their passion for one another...

...That is, until they heard a loud, crashing sound coming from outside their tent. Both stopped dead in their tracks and Danziger disentangled one of his hands from Devon's to nervously raise the flap to investigate the source of the noise.

They were shocked by the sight that greeted them. The couple had been so absorbed by their overpowering desire that they hadn't bothered to notice that the storm had nearly doubled in intensity. The thunder and lightning were virtually constant and the ground was blanketed with chips of melting ice, alerting them that it had just finished hailing. Currently, the rain was coming down in sheets and the near hurricane force winds were fierce enough to give the illusion that it was raining sideways instead of downward. It was also flooding in several spots and John was grateful that Devon had chosen to place their tent on land that was slightly elevated, thus protecting them from being waterlogged.

Loud yelling brought both of their attentions to the opposite side of the rock formation. Apparently, Julia and Alonzo had not been as fortunate when it came to remaining safeguarded from the elements. A large body of shallow water had congregated around their dwelling which had resulted in the loosening of the tent pegs. The origin of the crashing sound had been the pair's shelter being uprooted over their heads as it was picked up by a strong gust and then smashed against a neighboring boulder with such force that the support poles had practically been bent into a pretzel. Correctly recognizing that the tent had sustained irreparable damage, the half-dressed couple was in the midst of scrambling for their clothes and possessions. And it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where Julia and Alonzo planned to spend the rest of the evening.

Devon and John exchanged a horrified look before flying apart from each other. Devon started mumbling the words 'oh, no' over and over again while Danziger chose to repeat a more vulgar term which, coincidentally, was a crude description of the act the two had been moments away from engaging in. Clad only in the clothes they were born in, the two madly dashed to redress before they could be discovered in their very compromising position.

"Where's my shirt?" Devon asked in a panic as she reached behind her to clasp her bra.

Danziger, still buck naked, was obviously experiencing similar difficulties as he frantically searched the small enclosure for his own clothing.

"Hell, if I know!" he exclaimed. "Have you seen my underwear?"

She shook her head as she replaced her panties and pants which had somehow ended up tucked under the sleeping bag near where their heads had been. At the same time, John located Devon's blouse along with his shirt and pants in a rumpled heap in the corner of the tent. He roughly tossed her shirt in her direction and reinitiated his desperate quest.

"Where in the hell is my underwear?!"

Devon was nervously buttoning her blouse with shaky hands when she became aware of Julia and Alonzo's voices growing louder with each passing second. "Oh, God, they're coming!" she declared in alarm.

She turned to Danziger who was still wearing nothing more than an agitated expression and ordered, "For Heaven's sakes, John, forget the stupid underwear and get dressed!"

While Danziger rushed to put on his trousers, Devon peeked between the nylon crease to view their two future tent guests quickly making their way toward their shelter.

"Hurry up, John! Hurry up!" she hissed.

"You know, yelling won't make this go any faster!" he snapped back as he poked his head and arms through the holes in his shirt.

Devon knew that they'd run out of time when she heard the splashing sound of approaching footsteps. She quickly arranged herself on the far end of the bedding facing away from Danziger.

"This is not happening," she muttered under her breath.

Just as Alonzo lifted the tent flap, John threw himself onto his side at the other corner of the sleeping bag facing the opposite wall, his burly frame practically brushing up against the canvas.

Julia and Alonzo noisily spilled into the dwelling, looking as though they'd just gone for a swim without bothering to remove their clothes. The doctor and pilot fell to their knees and dropped their personal effects onto the blanket directly in between the other couple with a loud thud.

"Good Lord, it's hot in here!" Julia blurted out as she reopened the door, waving the fabric back and forth to increase the circulation of air.

Devon and John didn't react to any of the commotion going on around them. Both of them were far too engrossed in their apparent staring matches with the tent wall. Julia and Alonzo observed their peculiar behavior and exchanged a curious glance. Because of the excitement of their tent collapse, they'd forgotten all about their plan to catch Devon and Danziger in the act. Julia checked her chronometer with a small smile. The two leaders had only been alone for about forty-five minutes. Perhaps John hadn't been as angry with Devon as they'd first thought.

Solace was obviously considering the same theory as his mouth distorted itself into a smirk. "Wow, some night, huh?" he offered, pivoting his inquisitive gaze to Danziger. "Well, buddy, it looks like we're gonna be roommates after all."

"Yeah, looks like it," the mechanic rigidly responded, not bothering to turn around.

Julia and Alonzo bounced their gazes off of each other, again, this time wearing all-knowing looks. Yep, something went on all right.

Julia began to search the darkness for the luma-lantern and finally discovered it knocked on its side and partly obscured by one of Devon's socks. She also took notice that Devon and John's shoes and socks were haphazardly strewn around the tent. How interesting...

"Didn't you hear all of the racket we were causing out there?" she asked, still being forced to speak to Devon's back.

Alonzo stifled a snicker as he added, "You guys weren't asleep already, were you?"

Devon tried her best not to trip on her words. "No, uh, we weren't asleep, but, uh, we didn't hear you. The, um, storm must have drowned out the sound." Plus, it was hard to hear much of anything with John's tongue in my ear, she noted to herself.

"Well, since I'm here, I might as well check that bruise on your forehead," Julia said, donning her diaglove which had remained remarkably dry despite being housed in a soaking wet med-bag.

"No, that's not necessary," Devon expressed in an awkward tone.

"C'mon, what's the big deal?" Alonzo urged, unwilling to let it drop. "Why don't you just let the doctor do her job and then we can all get some rest."

Realizing that she wasn't going to be able to talk her way out of it, Devon reluctantly turned over to face Julia and Alonzo. The physician immediately began checking her vital signs and pretended to be unaware of the beads of sweat on Devon's brow and that, not only was her shirt extremely wrinkled, it was only partially buttoned.

The leader kept her eyes glued to the ground, only briefly checking Danziger to confirm that, thankfully, he had managed to get himself dressed in time. Perhaps she and John would get away with it after all.

Then, again, perhaps not.

"Hmm, I'm getting some strange readings here," Julia relayed as she lightly scanned Devon's neck with the diaglove. "Your blood pressure is pretty elevated. Are you feeling all right?"

Devon backed away from the equipment before it could be given the chance to tattle any other information. "I told you, I'm okay," she nervously insisted.

"But obviously there's something wrong. I'm certain that there's no history of coronary problems listed in your bio-stat file." Julia leaned in wearing a look of feigned concern. "Did something happen?"

"No!" came Devon and Danziger's voice in unison.

Devon's face quickly turned crimson with embarrassment. Could they possibly have sounded more guilty?

"I'm sure that I'm fine," she said as convincingly as possible. "Earlier, John and I had an argument. That could be why my heart rate is up."

"Then maybe I should check John's vitals, too, just in case," Julia suggested.

"Yeah, Danziger, you're not getting any younger," Alonzo added with a slanted grin. "Don't want Devon giving you a heart attack."

Still refusing to roll over to address them directly, the mechanic growled, "If you don't shut up, Solace, you're the one who's gonna be in need of medical attention!"

Alonzo smiled so widely that he almost reopened the cut on his lip. "Well, then I guess that Julia and I should get ourselves situated for the evening," he said cheerfully as he shoved aside their belongings and flopped himself back onto the sleeping bag between the two leaders.

"Come on, Doc," the pilot encouraged, tugging on her hand to persuade her to lie down next to him. "You might as well make yourself at home. Looks like we're in for the night."

Julia began to comply with her lover's request, but suddenly hesitated, pulling her fingers from his grasp.

"What's the matter?" he inquired.

The physician gave Alonzo a sly grin, clueing him in to the knowledge that she had yet another trick up her sleeve. She then coaxed her features into a humbled expression and turned toward Devon.

"Uh, I'd really rather sleep on the end. Devon, would you mind trading places with me?" she asked in a voice that was deceptively apologetic.

Devon let out an irritated sigh to show her unhappiness with Julia's request before nodding her agreement and moving to switch sides. No sooner had the leader repositioned herself into the tight space between Julia and Alonzo when the pilot started to clumsily climb over her.

"What are you doing?" Devon demanded in amazement.

Alonzo wedged himself in between the two women, practically propelling Devon against Danziger's tension-ridden form which remained facing the wall.

"I'm sleeping next to Julia," Solace said matter-of-factly as he straightened out his legs.

The four of them laid there in complete silence for several minutes, crammed together like a can of sardines into a tent that was only large enough to accommodate two people comfortably. And, at the moment, Devon and Danziger were feeling anything but comfortable.

Devon did everything she could to keep her body from pressing against John's, but it couldn't be helped. If she backed up even slightly, she ended up bumping into Alonzo who seemed to have no problem at all with taking up as much space as possible.

The pilot yawned loudly and extended his arms outward in a lazy stretch, forcing Devon even further into Danziger's back. Both of them could feel the heat of the other's skin radiating through their clothing and John was becoming almost lightheaded by her closeness. Not only could he feel the tickling sensation of her breath, he could smell the sweet scent of her hair which brushed against the back of his arm with each nervous exhalation that she took.

Meanwhile, Alonzo was doing whatever he could to further rattle the leaders' cages. "So, what were you two fighting about, anyway?" he asked jovially.

"I swear to God, Alonzo, if you don't shut that mouth of yours, I'm going to come over there and shut it for you permanently," came the overly belligerent reply from the corner.

"Jeez, Danz, I was just making conversation," Solace beamed, thoroughly enjoying himself. "You don't have to get testy."

"Not another word, do ya' hear me?" John snarled. Another menacing growl escaped his lips before he repeated in a slower, deeper baritone, "Not... another... word."

Alonzo wasn't the least bit intimidated by the mechanic's hostile warnings. In fact, he was having trouble holding back his howls of laughter.

"Okay, okay," he acquiesced. "Just let me say goodnight to Julia and then I'll be quiet." His face exhibited a decidedly roguish expression as he turned toward the physician and wrapped his arms around her.

"Goodnight, Querida," he whispered as he pulled her into an impassioned embrace, showering her with kisses that were so loud and lengthy in nature that they bordered on downright lewd.

"Will you two just go to sleep, already!?" Devon angrily demanded, trying to stop their public display before John decided to make good on his violent threats. Not that she blamed Danziger for wanting to exact revenge. Even Devon found that she was beginning to search the room for a blunt object to use to clobber the pair of spirited exhibitionists.

Although she wasn't able to locate an appropriate weapon, what her eyes did come across was a sliver of white fabric protruding from the end of the sleeping bag near her feet. Immediately recognizing it as John's missing underwear, she shuffled her feet back and forth to successfully slide the article of clothing back under the bedding until it could be retrieved later.

At the same time, the younger couple grudgingly parted and settled back to their original places on the blanket.

"Killjoy," Alonzo muttered under his breath with giddy delight.

He exchanged a wink and a diabolical smile with Julia. Yes, it seemed that their work was done. It had taken over a month of tormenting the leaders and closely observing their every move, but their efforts had finally paid off. Devon and Danziger were busted, there was no doubt about it.

And with any luck, tomorrow the fallout would begin.

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