Primitive - Part II
By
Murky grey daylight filtered through the coral window; Mac pulled on his boxers and khaki shorts then looked out, studying the sky and struggling with far too many conflicting thoughts.
If it was wrong, why don't I feel any remorse? And how am I ever be able to look at her again without remembering. . .
He briefly glanced back at Rose, who was curled up in the silk flag sleeping soundly, and then squared his shoulders. He pulled on his tee shirt then padded back over to her, gently shaking her shoulder.
"Mmmmm . . .?"
"Wake up, Brat--"
"I hate it when you call me that," she growled, opening her eyes and glaring up at him. Mac grinned, relieved to be back in more comfortable territory.
"Then your folks never should have named you Briar Rose Althea Thais in the first place, Ms Clowderbock."
"Oh that's rich, coming from someone named Angus---" she shot back, sitting up and wrapping the silk around her body. MacGyver winced as he handed her some of the scattered clothing from the floor.
"Fair enough. We've got a break in the rain, so I thought we ought to go take care of a few things." He looked away while she dressed.
"What's most important?"
"I was thinking about building a stove. If we use one of these steel footlockers we could invert it over a trench fire and use the bottom panel as a cooking surface," he replied absently as he hacked off the top of a green coconut. Rose nodded thoughtfully while she sat next to him on the footlocker and fastened her rock climbing sandals.
"That would work--what about a signal fire?"
"Once the cloud cover breaks and the fuel dries out, we can think about starting one," he agreed, handing her the coconut. Gratefully she drank the sweet water from it, and sighed. Once she was done, Mac took it from her and sliced it length-wise, handing back half. The inner meat was fresh, and Rose scooped it out with unlady like eagerness.
"Man after last night, I'm famished--" looking up, she caught his blush as it flared across his face. Rose felt a similar heat cross her own features, and when MacGyver looked at her, they both burst into embarrassed grins.
"I--" they both began at the same time, stopping in the awkward pause of two people who care deeply what the other might think. Rose laid a hand on his lips, silencing him.
"I know--it was a one night thing, don't worry. I wouldn't want to lose your friendship, Mac. That's more important to me than . . . anything," she trailed off. A wide range of expressions crossed his face: surprise and confusion settled into disappointment as he set his half of the coconut down.
"Rose--it's not as if we can pretend it didn't happen. And frankly, I don't want to forget it," came his low voice. She bit her lip for a moment, wincing at the pain.
"I didn't say I wanted to forget it, Mac. I just don't want it to change what we have already."
"It doesn't," he replied uncertainly. "After all, we're still fighting."
"Oh we always do that," she pointed out with a rueful expression. MacGyver gave an emphatic nod of agreement and quietly added,
"--Maybe it's time we realized it's the same fight over and over."
She glanced up at him, seeing his hopeful, haunted expression and burst out laughing. Mac looked slightly annoyed.
"Geez, did you just realize that, MacGyver? I think that insight hit me about eight months ago, at Penny's wedding. Remember my date, Ramon Munoz?"
"What about him?" Came the wary inquiry. Mac was suddenly very busy with his half of the coconut, and Rose hid a grin.
"As I recall you were sort of brusque to him, and told me I could do better. Pointed out that he was a bore and didn't know the difference between a jellyfish and a sea slug."
"Well he couldn't--" Came Mac's annoyed reply. "I'll bet that the closest he'd ever come to an intertidal zone was at the parking lot to his marina."
"Maybe, but that's not the issue here. You were jealous," she pointed out.
"I wasn't jealous, I was just trying to make sure you weren't making a mistake--"
"Un huh--" came her cynical response as she rolled her eyes. "And it was just a coincidence that the very next day the Foundation needed me to fly out to Maryland to collect bacteria samples along the bay. That lovely three week assignment had your signature on the authorization line."
Mac flushed again, but said nothing. After a moment Rose took pity on him; she leaned over and bumped his shoulder companionably with hers.
"Ramon was a jerk."
MacGyver pursed his mouth in a thoughtful line and picked up the coconut halves. "So was I, I guess."
"Bingo," Rose grinned. "But that's one of the things I love best about you, Mac." Rose pressed a kiss to his nose and was out the door, leaving him to stare, stunned, after her. His stomach fluttered.
/She loves something about me. And I thought last night was the last surprise--/
The debris from the storm lay on the tide line; Rose looked back to where Mac was busily trying to separate clumps of seaweed from a plastic Coleman cooler. Neither of them recognized it from the Good Tern, but it was in fair shape, dented only on one corner. They had found bits of deck and tile, a string of glass floats from a fishing net, and three dead seagulls. The amount of litter that had washed up was depressing, and Rose sighed as she picked up her fifth plastic bag on her stroll. The wind was still strong, but occasionally the sun peeked through the clouds. She looked down.
"Mac!" came her yell. He dropped the seaweed and sprinted over reaching her quickly. Rose was kneeling, trying to yank something up that was half-buried in the sand.
"Come on, help me here--" she ordered. MacGyver recognized the duffle bag and quickly began scooping away the wet sand it lay half buried in. They yanked it out within a minute or so, and Rose fumbled with the zipper.
"Yes!" she crowed with triumph. MacGyver reached in and began pulling out equipment: a mask, fins, and a dive vest.
"My dive gear--" came his wondering tone. Rose wrinkled up her nose as she fished out a Ziploc baggie of trail mix, a waterlogged notebook and a single pair of soggy blue boxer shorts.
"Yech--well, after a good wash at least I'll have something to wear."
"No--You are *not* wearing those, Rose!" he growled, trying to snatch them from her. She held the shorts behind her back, dancing away from his impatient grabs.
"Hey, I have to have something to put on while I sew these things up, and *you're* not using them right now--"
"They're my *underwear* for crying out loud!" MacGyver muttered, as if this fact explained everything. Rose cocked her head, her tangled auburn hair blowing in the breeze around them.
"Oh come on--I'd let you wear *mine*--" she offered, waggling an eyebrow. It was too much for Mac, and he charged, tackling her to the sand as she laughed. They landed with a splash in a sandy tide pool, getting soaked in the process. Rose spluttered. MacGyver, not to be denied, managed to snatch the boxers and toss them back to the duffle bag before looking down at his tormentor. Rose was on her back in the shallow water, a furious expression on her face.
"MacGyver thanks a lot! Now I'm soaked again!"
"You know one of the most interesting facts about your average cotton fabric?" he observed as he leaned over her on all fours with a grin.
"What!" she angrily demanded, glaring up into his face.
"It gets transparent when it's wet."
Rose glanced down at her body and squeaked when she saw her own chest wetly on display in all its full-busted glory.
"Ahh!"
"Gee, I can think of a contest you ought to enter, Brat--" Mac managed with a straight face. She sat up and put her hands on his chest, trying to push him up and away, but MacGyver, being considerably stronger, refused to budge.
"You, you--!" Unable to summon up a label strong enough to vent her displeasure, she continued to push, even when he started laughing.
It was the completely wrong thing to do. Rose's anger crumbled away, and she broke into a tears, dropping her hands from him as she huddled miserably in the water. Mac froze. Finally, he sat down beside her in the tide pool and pulled her into his lap, letting her sobs dwindle away into hiccups against his shoulder. For a long time she clung to him, but finally she raised her face.
"Sorry," she sniffed. "It just all kind of hit at once, you know? Losing everybody, and knowing Wilson's body is just up there under the trees, and last night . . ."
"Shhhh, it's okay--" MacGyver reassured her, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. "You don’t have to apologize for being human, Rose. Come to think of it, this is the first time I've ever see you cry."
"Clowderbocks are tough--" she reminded him with a weak smile. "Known for their bull-headed ways. You don't cry either."
"I did when I thought you were dead," he admitted in a low voice. Astonished, Rose stared at Mac until he went on.
"I found an arm on the beach yesterday, and it was . . . rough."
Rose hugged him again, and he smiled into her hair as he hugged her back, rocking a little in the water.
*** *** ***
The fire at sunset was a beautiful thing. Rose bathed in the glow of it, and practically danced around the flickering light. Mac looked up from the other two brush piles and watched her for a moment, sighing. The three signal fires were lit, thanks to the box of pipe matches from the tackle box, and now all that remained to do was to keep them burning for a few hours. Most of the kindling was still damp, so the smoke was thick and white as it billowed up into the overcast sky. Rose settled down near the perimeter of one and watched it contentedly. She had cut the long sleeves off her top and used one as a belt to hold up the boxers she now wore.
"Do you think anyone will see it tonight?" She asked in a wistful voice. Mac walked over, tossing a mango to land in the sand near her.
"I hope so--I know it's still overcast, but I'd rather light them now than wait until clear skies--"
"And the water buckets?"
"Right here--" he grinned. The buckets were the day's major achievement and both Mac and Rose were justly proud of them.
Hours earlier, Mac had found the bamboo stalks with the largest diameter. He and Rose used the sticky threads of several sea slugs to encircle them, and then opened the rifle bullets to glue the gunpowder in a ring around the stalks. Once lit, the gunpowder had burned through the bamboo neatly. A few taps with the machete separated the sections, forming the buckets. Now three of them (one next each fire,) sat filled with salt water. A fourth was up in the pillbox, filled with fresh water.
MacGyver took stock of their situation. The mangos and coconuts were good but not plentiful; tomorrow he and Rose would have to consider some serious foraging or fishing. Both of them were sunburned and mosquito-bitten, but generally in good spirits. He sat down next to Rose, who was tossing fronds into the flames.
"The warmth feels good--" Rose stretched her bare toes towards the fire. Mac nodded, his gaze directed upward, watching the white smoke billow up to dissolve against the grey cloud cover. He frowned at the sight.
"The last report indicated that we were outrunning a tropical storm, but I think it may have developed into a typhoon, Rose, because that cloud cover's too thick and widespread," he observed. "And if that's the case, then it may be a while until planes are flying."
Rose digested this news with a depressed sigh, and absently picked up the mango, nicking the peel with the point of her dive knife. The crackle and hiss of the flames blended with the soft sound of the waves out beyond the firelight. Both of them sat lost in thought, and gradually, they turned their gazes on each other. Mac struggled to bring up the issue that had bothered him all day.
/I've never ducked a responsibility yet--and this one's a twenty-four carat doozy, so here goes--/
"Rose, about last night--"
"--Did Pete ever tell you how he and I met?" she interrupted, hugging her knees. Mac tried again.
"No, but listen, I--"
"--It was while I was shopping for condoms," she continued forthrightly. Mac stared at her, and the heat on his face wasn't just from the fire.
"Yeah, it was back when I was working at Shoreline. Pete was in front of me at the grocery store. He had some frozen dinners and a pint of ice cream while I had about seventy five boxes of condoms and a six pack of diet Doctor Pepper."
Mac's eyebrows shot up.
"Seventy five boxes?" he managed to choke out. Rose grinned broadly and nodded.
"At least. I cleaned out pretty much everything they had--Trojans, Sheiks, Lifestyles--Pete kept shooting glances at my cart and then at me. I knew he was dying to ask me what on earth was going on, so before he could say anything I told him they weren't mine, they were for the staff at the aquarium."
A quick grin crossed Mac's face as he pictured blunt Pete Thornton's expression. Rose nodded again.
"Yeah, I'm sure he was thinking it was orgy night or something, but I was so pre-occupied it didn't register. I talked about how the guys at Shoreline were in a hurry, and that if I didn't get back things would really heat up--I must have sounded like some sort of total hootchie--"
"A hootchie?" Mac snorted. "A hootchie?" His shoulders shook as he laughed.
Rose shot him a slightly defiant, slightly amused look. "Better than the other terms, okay? As it was, Pete offered to let me cut in front of him, and it must have really blown his mind to see that I was buying all my goodies with a company credit card. The clerk made some crack about job perks, and I finally realized what it looked like."
"And?" intrigued, Mac waited for the end of the story. Rose closed her eyes.
"I hastily explained there had been a Freon leak at the aquarium."
MacGyver thought furiously, and flashed a smile at her as the answer came to him.
"Of course! You were planning on filling the condoms with ice and floating them in the cold-water tanks to keep the temperature from rising without diluting the salinity--"
"--Bingo. And condoms, being stronger, safer and more expansive than balloons were the perfect choice to do it. The clerk didn't understand the idea, but Pete did. He not only picked up on my urgency, he offered to buy more condoms and meet me at the aquarium."
"Wow," Mac mused, "Must have been a heck of a leak."
"It was," Rose agreed. "And the front lobby looked like a war zone. People were busy crushing ice, setting up tank transfers, moving patrons out--as it was, we lost three of the puffins and a snow crab exhibit before maintenance fixed the problem with the cooling system." She tossed the mango peels into the fire and licked her fingers before adding,
"Pete still teases me about it sometimes--whenever he thinks I look really stressed out, he grins and offers to buy me condoms."
"He never offered to buy *me* any--" Mac commented with mock petulance. Rose arched an eyebrow at him.
"Probably because he figured you'd never understand their primary function--"
"Rose--" he warned, the high color coming back to his face. She swatted his knee playfully.
"Tell you what--next time Peter suggests them, I'll send him to you."
"It might be too late," he muttered shame-faced. "I mean, incredible as last night was, there's still a chance you could be--"
"Ah, no there isn't," she broke in patiently. "Back when Hanna first hired me, she suggested that I go on Depo-Provera like she had, so we wouldn't have to deal with certain, ah, monthly events, shall we say. Since she and I were diving in shark territory, it made a lot of sense."
Mac, startled, said nothing, but a small shiver of relief shot through him. On the heels of it was an even tinier sense of disappointment.
Rose gave him a serious look, her first in a long time. "So trust me, Angus MacGyver, you don't need to Do the Right Thing, as my granny would say."
"And here I was, ready to save you from a terrible reputation--" he shook his head in mock-regret.
"Too late--" She gave a dramatic sigh and laid the back of one hand on her forehead. " My fate is sealed, as a Clowderbock. We skinny girls with big boobs are predestined to the dark and inescapable fate of terminal hootchiedom."
Both of them completely cracked up at this; Rose rolled over in the sand, giggling as MacGyver laughed long and loud. Every time they came near to recovering, they would see the other's face and begin laughing all over again. Finally Rose flopped on her back, wiped her eyes and ran a hand over her aching abdomen.
" Oh Lord, my ribs hurt--"
"Mine too." MacGyver lay down as well, resting the back of his head companionably on her stomach, and they both studied what few stars were peeking through the clouds overhead.
"Mac?"
"Yes?"
"Last night--" she stopped uncertainly. MacGyver held his breath, but he let his hand reach out to squeeze one of hers, and it seemed to give her courage. She rushed on.
"I guess I kind of vented a little at you. It's been hard to think about leaving the Foundation, and even harder to be honest about the reason why."
Neither one of them spoke for a moment. MacGyver drew in a deep, deep breath.
/It's time. There won't be a better moment, and as Harry used to tell me, without risk there's no reward-/-
"Rose, do you remember that fundraising reception for the Collier group last year? The shindig Pete called Chatting for Checks?" MacGyver mused. "You wore a green dress and had your hair up."
"Yeah?" puzzled by the wavery sound of his voice, Rose thought back for a moment. "I was there to translate for the two guys from the Ukraine. . . I remember you were in a really bad mood that night. Man you hate to wear ties."
"It had nothing to do with ties, but everything to do with that green dress," Mac confessed huskily. Rose thought harder.
"What? You liked the color?"
"When we were setting up, you went up the spiral staircase. Someone opened the lower lobby doors, and the gust caught your skirt. I was standing right under those stairs. I looked up and--" he trailed off. Swiftly, Mac sat up, and leaned over until he was looking down into her face. Rose swallowed hard.
"There hasn't been a week since that I haven't thought about that moment. Your tanned legs, the curve of your hips, the lacy garter belt, and the incredible mind-blowing fact that you didn't have a damned thing else on--" he breathed. She stared at him, wide-eyed, and he made a small pained sound.
"So that's why you were such a pain in the ass that night."
"Believe me, it wasn't my *ass* that was having a problem," Mac blurted bluntly. "Not to be crude about it." He hung his head, and Rose pushed herself up on her elbows as she murmured,
"Oh dear. MacGyver admits to harboring lust, details at eleven--"
"Brat, you act as if it's no big deal, but it was one of those things that was driving me out of my mind for a while. You're my friend, for crying out loud! You don't go fantasizing constantly about your friends!"
"Well *sure* you do," she shot back cheerily. "Along with strangers, models in magazines, characters from TV--"
"But--"
"Normal, Mac, completely normal," Rose announced, sitting up. "So I was a featured attraction in your late night round-up--lucky me."
He took her chin in his hand and stared at her, his expression darkly serious.
"Rose, I have never thought about *anyone* before in the ways I have about you."
"O-kay . . . " she murmured uncertainly, but leaning forward, Mac followed it up with a slow deep kiss of such intensity, that she shuddered against his mouth. When they finally broke for a breath she groaned.
"Damn you MacGyver! This is making it really hard not to want you again--"
"That was sort of the whole idea," he admitted candidly. She studied his expression in the glow of the firelight, her pulse beginning to race. Two days of light stubble shadowed his strong chin, and his uncombed blonde mane hung in tangles to his shoulders. His dark eyes glittered through his bangs. Rose scooted closer until she was able to touch noses with him.
"We want each other--I guess that's pretty much a fact. So what are we going to do about it?"
"Stand up--" he whispered, his voice brooking no argument.
Rose slowly got to her feet. Mac slid his warm hands around her calves, and bent forward, pressing kisses to her knees. Leisurely, he let his hot mouth travel up the front of her legs as his hands slid up the backs. Rose trembled, and dropped her palms to his shoulders to support herself.
"Mac . . ." she blurted unsteadily. He reached the hem of the boxer shorts she wore and paused for a moment, then yanked the fabric hard. She gasped; the shorts fell away to a pile on her bare feet. He continued his trail of kisses upward, lingering first on one thigh then the other until his lips reached the soft tangle of her fur. Without hesitating, Mac pulled her right knee up, hooking it over his shoulder, and her inner thigh brushed against his ear as his strong hands slid over her bottom, pulling her to him.
"Oh!" she gasped as his tongue glided in slow strokes over the sensitive bud deep between her thighs. Rose wobbled, her fingers spasmodically gripping MacGyver's hair as she squirmed. His hands steadied her as he continued the erotic assault on her senses, and Rose began to pant.
"Oh God . . . Maaaaaaaac . . ." her head lolled back, and she spasmed, rocking against him for a moment. When she finally caught her breath and recovered enough to bring her knee off his shoulder, Mac rose up, hands moving under her shirt, tugging it up over her head. She gasped, feeling the warmth of the fire against her bare skin, realizing she was completely naked now. Then MacGyver's hungry mouth came down on hers and she wrapped herself around him tightly.
His face reflected a heart-rending mix of shyness and passion; Rose could feel the heated tension rising from his skin as she struggled to get him free of his clothes. Her eagerness amused Mac; he caught her hand before it snagged his shirt, and brought it to his mouth, kissing it.
"Slow down, Brat," he chided in a hoarse whisper. "Just--" She understood, and took a deep breath. He guided both of them down to the sand and pressed his lips to her forehead while she gently tugged his shirt up.
"I remember this chest--" she ran her fingers through the soft fur, making a happy sound. MacGyver shivered, and stretched out in the cool sand. Rose bent over him to drop kisses down his lean stomach, and with nimble fingers undid the shorts. Pleased, he glanced down his body. She tugged.
"Now *that* is not a Swiss army knife--" Rose smiled almost wickedly. MacGyver raised himself up on his elbows, watching her with helpless fascination as she bent forward, her lips parting around him. He gave a deep groan; his fingers dug grooved in the sand as Rose moved in slow strokes, her hair brushing his thighs and stomach. Gradually his breathing grew erratic; he reached for her shoulder with a clumsy grab; Rose reluctantly drew back, pursing her wet lips as he shook his head.
"Got to stop that or . . ." he warned hoarsely. She paused, but he hooked his fingers under her arm and tugged, pulling her up and across his body. The heat of his flesh under hers was shockingly good, and his hands caressed the slope of her back to grip her bottom hard. Rose could feel the throb of him against her belly; he was biting his chiseled lip as he struggled with the pleasure. She raised herself up, one hand guiding him, and slowly sank down with a grateful sigh. His fingers tightened around the curves of her bottom.
"Ah! Rose, Rose . . ." came his soft, passionate groan. She swiftly kissed his face as they swayed together, the rhythm of their bodies increasing. Rose gripped his bare shoulders, arching back gracefully as he grunted low in his throat. She collapsed against his chest, panting as he shuddered under her.
After that, for a long quiet time they said nothing, but their hands moved in a slow dance across each other's skin. MacGyver stroked her back, caressed her long spine and drew aimless designs across her shoulder blades. She smiled, her ear pressed to his chest, listening to the strong beat of his heart. Rose sighed.
"Mac?"
"Mmmmm?"
"That was really good,"
"No, that was incredible. If I had any common sense or physical strength left, I'd go stomp out the fires right now."
"We've got to get rescued--" Rose chided him. He raised his head and looked at her, a mischievous expression on his face.
"You in any particular hurry, Brat?"
She thought about it.
"No."
"Good. Me neither." he sat up with her still straddling him, and pressed his forehead to hers. "But once we get back, some things are definitely going to change."
"Mac--no promises, okay? We're not exactly in our right minds right now--" Rose warned softly. He swiftly kissed away her protests, and whispered,
"Not promises, Rose, just realizations. Can you get used to that?"
And she nodded slowly, hugging him in the dim light of the fading fire.
continued in part III