Chapter Twelve: Part Three
She giggled, looking like a cheeky teenager for a moment. ‘They’ve told me that the three of us are going away for my birthday this year.’ Natalie sighed, looking into the distance for a moment before looking back to Kate with a far-away smile.
‘How will I know?’ Kate asked, her voice small.
Natalie’s voice was strong and clear. ‘Kate, do something for me. Stand up.’
Curious, Kate stood.
‘Close your eyes… thank you. Automatically and freely, raise your right hand to your chest… with your thumb and index finger; firmly pinch behind your right nipple and hold your grasp constant.’
In the face of her curiosity, and Natalie’s compelling instruction, Kate found herself doing as Natalie asked. Her face grimaced slightly as the sensation grew. It felt familiar, similar to the scenario Rick had talked her through.
‘Thank you. Hold fast and keep your hold constant. Without changing angle at all, lift your hand a little higher and squeeze just a little harder, until the sensation is running through you. Maintain your grip. Keep it constant.’ As Kate gasped, Natalie continued. ‘Catherine, breathe the sensation into the centre of your chest, always inwards, into your heart, as deeply as you can. Breathe the sensation in. Invite the sensation into you and feel it enter your chest, energising you. Let it lift you so you can ride it. A little harder and higher now, just lifting upwards, not out. Breathe in the feeling, not just the air.’
Kate felt the sensation change. On her next breath, she lost it again but felt the warm afterglow of touching the space that Natalie had described. She let go and looked at Natalie with amazement; surprised at what she’d just done in front of another woman, and the extra rush of sensation after releasing her nipple so suddenly. The thing that shocked Kate the most was that she was not embarrassed, but instead, felt calm and relaxed.
Natalie looked at Kate with deep conviction and said as she stood, ‘Kate, you and Ricky are made for each other. Trust me on this. We need another cup of coffee. Double-shot flat white?’ As soon as Kate nodded, Nat grabbed their cups and strolled back to the cabin, leaving Kate alone to process her thoughts.
When the steaming mug was pressed into her hands, Kate looked up at Natalie. ‘Thank you, Nat. I think I understand what you’ve been telling me. I assume that my doing what you asked was also part of the demonstration?’
Her answering smile was enough. Then Natalie said, ‘Kate? Correct me if I am wrong, but you are completely straight, right? No real desire or experimentation but maybe a little fantasy now and then?’
The blush on Kate’s face answered Natalie’s question before she said, ‘What I did just then is the closest I have ever come to an actual experience with another woman. I have seen some girl-girl porn that turned me all the way on, but no, I have no actual desires in that direction.’
‘That level of self-honesty and self-observation is exactly where you need to be. There are huge differences between an occasional flirtatious thought, a sexy fantasy below desire, and pursuing an actual experience. Let yourself explore the many unknown flavours of your desires and possibilities, Kate. You have made some real break-throughs this weekend. I can see it and you know it. I can also tell you that Rick will not make a move on you whilst on the island, with or without your encouragement. He respects you too much, and he is too smart and too caring.’
Seeing the range of expressions fighting for room on Kate’s face, she added, ‘I can see there’s another issue disturbing you. I can see it every time I say Ricky’s name. Kate, I love Ricky with all my heart, as the ‘son’ of my five closest friends, and as a wonderful mix of great friend, cheeky brother and honourable confidant, all in one. There have never been, nor are there now, romantic feelings or history in either direction.’
‘But what about when you and Dom taught him…’ Kate faltered, unable to articulate her thought the way she wanted to.
Natalie smiled and rested her hand on Kate’s. ‘Think about it like this; if Dom and I were champion salsa dancers, and Rick wanted to learn to salsa – which, by the way, he is very good at – wouldn’t our teaching him to salsa be a logical and natural thing?’
Kate nodded slightly, listening intently.
‘Don’t let religion’s demonization of pleasure and societal preconceptions of what is normal get in the way, Kate. D-s, and being a dominant in particular, is a very specific skill set. Any skill set is best learnt from those with expertise, just like salsa dancing. You didn’t learn engineering from expert farmers; you learned it from expert engineers.’
Kate nodded, thinking, and then she nodded again. Seeing the logic of Natalie’s clear and uninhibited comparison, she smiled at her simple and direct analysis.
‘I know the man, Kate. You will have to raise the flag to let him know you’re ‘available’. Mason and Madison are too smart to have mentioned one word of what we talked about yesterday to him. He is also too respectful to have questioned them. If you want him, you had better tell him. I, for one, enjoy your company and I don’t want him letting you get away. I don’t want to see you let him wither on the vine either!’
Raising her coffee, Kate smiled, saying, ‘You know, Nat, this is seriously good coffee.’ Natalie raised her mug in salute. Both women knew that the coffee was not the subject of the compliment.
‘Hello?’ called Dee from the rear door of the cabin.
‘Down here,’ Natalie answered back. To Kate, she added, ‘I invited them here for breakfast too. You have wonderful friends.’
‘I am lucky.’
‘You are worthy. Only the unempowered believe in the randomness of luck.’
‘I feel like I am lucky.’
‘You are worthy, Kate, and the worthy always feel lucky. You have gratitude and gratitude encourages recognition of good fortune. The unworthy threaten, bluster, lie, cheat and steal. The unworthy belittle, compete, scheme and seek aggrandisement through titles, petty victories of aggression, manipulation and ego. The unworthy find little love and experience only a pale version of joy. The word, unlucky is the battle cry of the unworthy, just like the word, but is the battle cry of the mediocre. You are worthy, Kate.’
‘You must be a hell of a pshrink.’
‘I am the best I know.’ It was such a simple declaration that they both laughed. Dee and Carrie reached them, adding their own steaming cups and a platter from Natalie’s kitchen to the spread as they exchanged greetings. Natalie uncovered the platter and they shared their breakfast, chatting happily whilst enjoying the spectacular views over the water.
Shortly after the last of their food was gone, distant sounds interrupted the tranquillity of their morning. They heard breathless pulses of gasped conversation, punctuated by the rhythmic staccato of running feet.
‘Oh ladies, you really don’t want to miss this,’ Nat said to the girls smiling wickedly. ‘The stress of standing watch yesterday is finding release and many muscles will soon be shining brightly at the beach.’
The questioning looks prompted Natalie’s further explanation as they followed her cue, quickly gathering up the remnants of their breakfast. ‘They are blowing off steam in their own way, through competition and exertion. Juanita will be with them. Normally it is three times around the Big End to start. Let’s get to the beach, that’s where the fun will be. Grab your costumes on the way, the water will be great.’
Kate and Natalie were approaching the beach as the runners pounded past them on their second lap. JC was leading his mother and Rick by less than a body length. Dom and Edison were only a few steps behind them and Mason was bringing up the rear by only another step or two. Juanita had on a tight sports top and the men were shirtless. Their hard-working muscles looked spectacular in the mid-morning light. Their eyes were set dead ahead, each determined to prevail.
Carrie asked, ‘Do they always go so hard?’ as she and Dee met Nat and Kate at the top of the beach, watching the retreating backs pounding onwards along the ring road.
‘Always. It’s in their blood. It gets even more fun soon.’ Natalie and the girls waved hello to Madison who was on the far side of the beach and walking up to them. She then pointed to a long metal bar set at three points over a concrete pad. ‘Remember we hung the towels over that yesterday? It has room for them all to do chin-ups at the same time. They will keep doing sets of five chin-ups and ten push-ups until one of them gets a full set ahead. If I feel sadistic, and I do, I might even send them off for a swim as well.’ She winked at the amigas. ‘400 is a nice distance, isn’t it?’
‘Has anyone ever told you that you have a bit of an evil streak, Nat?’
‘All the time, Carrie. All the time.’ Natalie laughed, dropping her towel and bag on the warming sand.