The Price of Fame - KJ1 Read online

  Sensing that no further instruction was forthcoming, Kate made her own decision, entering her lover slowly with long, slender fingers, seeking the sensitive spots she knew so well, adding to the pressure with a thigh, setting the rhythm, following the rise and fall of her lover’s hips.

  Then she lowered her head, taking an aroused nipple into her mouth, swirling the tip and biting down gently. Jay moaned, grasping her lover’s hair and pulling her more firmly onto her breast. Kate complied, biting down harder, Jay crying out her name as she exploded in orgasm.

  Continuing to stroke her lightly Kate gentled Jay, allowing her breath to settle briefly before replacing fingers with tongue, taking first quick and then long, firm strokes until she was once again begging for release.

  Grasping Jay’s buttocks, Kate pulled her tighter against her mouth, increasing the pressure of her tongue against the already swollen tissues.

  Immediately she felt her lover shudder with pleasure and heard her gasp as she came again.

  Moving up to lie alongside her exhausted lover, Kate brushed stray blonde strands from her eyes, kissing her with as much feeling as she could convey. “I want you to know how incredibly good you taste, love.

  You are my life. I love you, Jay.”

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  “I love you too, sweetheart, and I’d love to show you just how much.

  Unfortunately, someone has worn me out completely for the moment.”

  “That’s all right, all I want right now is to hold you.” And she had, the two women falling blissfully asleep tangled in each other’s arms.

  When she awoke just before dawn, Kate was as content as she’d ever been. She closed her eyes again and waited for her lover to wake.

  The remainder of the morning was spent lying on the beach, taking an occasional swim, and snorkeling. The afternoon was reserved once again for sailing to the spot they had discovered the day before. As she had previously, Kate took the helm, but this time, she explained to Jay as she went, teaching her what she knew. Halfway out, she motioned her lover to join her at the tiller, positioning her between her legs facing outward and placing her hand on the tiller as well.

  “Here, just pick a point over the bow and keep the tiller pointed at it.

  With your other hand, you hold the ropes that control the mainsail and jib. Pull tighter if you want to catch more wind, let them out a little if you want to slow down, okay? If you want to get stopped dead in your tracks, head directly into the wind.”

  “Sounds easy enough,” Jay said.

  Kate let them run along that way for a bit so that her lover could get the feel of it. She leaned down into a nearby ear. “Ready to turn?”

  “Just tell me what to do.” And the skipper did, letting her mate do some of the work, but never relinquishing full control. “How’d I do?”

  “Not bad. Don’t forget the tension on the sails, that’s critical, and make sure you warn the crew when you’re about to shift directions.”

  “Got it.”

  They practiced together all the way out to the island, Jay getting more and more excited about her new skills as they went. Kate smiled at her enthusiasm, loving the sparkle in her eyes that matched the color of the water.

  “Honey, I don’t want to stop just yet. Can we sail around the island, and can I take the helm by myself?”

  “You think you’re ready for that?”

  “Nothing to it,” Jay replied.

  Kate, who was a seasoned sailor, was a little leery of letting her lover handle the boat by herself. Then she remembered the first time she had gotten to solo: her mentor had taken her out to an island not that different from this one and let her loose, calmly correcting her when she made mistakes and giving her the freedom to learn. That trust had meant so much to her. “Okay,” she smiled. “Let me just get us around this corner, then it’s all yours.”

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  Jay could hardly contain her glee.

  Kate moved out from behind her lover, positioning herself on the starboard side for the moment. “Okay, pick a point and follow it with the bow and the tiller.”

  Jay did.

  “Good, now pull in the mainsail just a little bit and point the tiller a little to your left so that we catch a little more wind. Not too much, though.”

  “Aye, aye, Cap’n.”

  “Easy, there, matey, easy...that’s too much, let it out a bit.”

  Jay had pulled the sail tight as she turned to the left, causing the wind to fill the sail full. The boat picked up speed at what was to Jay an alarming rate.

  “It’s okay, love,” Kate shouted to be heard over the wind and the water rushing by. She was leaning out over the boat as far as she could, trying to keep them from heeling all the way and capsizing. She could see the panic building in her lover’s eyes as they grew wide. “Don’t worry. Just let the sail out a little, don’t make any sudden shifts.”

  But even as she said the words, a small swell caused Jay to lose her balance. As she began to fall, she yanked the tiller hard, causing the boat to turn violently to the right. The mainsail line slipped through her fingers, the sail beginning to flap wildly in the wind. With the sudden shift in direction the boom swung hard the other way, catching Kate in the side of the head before she even had time to duck and knocking her unconscious, the momentum pitching her overboard and into the water.

  Jay barely had time to blink in the space it had taken to lose her lover.

  Her scream died on the wind.

  On the shore of the tiny island, some tourists who had disembarked from a nearby cruise ship witnessed the entire scene. The two crew members who had transported the passengers in a motorized dinghy saw the tragedy unfolding as well, and they were in their craft even before Kate hit the water and were speeding to the rescue.

  “Hang on. We’ll be right there,” the smaller man yelled.

  As they reached the sailboat and grabbed hold of the side, Jay dove into the water, desperate to find her lover. After surfacing to take a breath, she dove back down, trying valiantly to see despite the tears that clouded her vision. She struggled to clear her mind and let her lifesaving-instructor training take over, trying to gauge the current, figuring how far the boat had moved past the spot where Kate had gone overboard.

  Running out of air, she was forced to break the surface one more time to take a breath before re-submerging. It had been two agonizing minutes, and every additional second decreased the chances of finding her lover alive.

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  There! Finally, she spotted the still figure, lying limp on the ocean floor, fifteen feet below the surface. Kicking hard, she propelled herself downward, reaching out and grabbing an arm, then planting her feet on the bottom and pushing off with all her strength. Jay broke the surface, pulling her limp lover into a lifesaving carry and signaling to the circling dinghy. Within seconds, one of the men pulled alongside, grabbing the unresponsive woman under the armpits and hauling her into the dinghy.

  Then he reached over again and assisted the small blonde into the craft.

  “Can you get us to the island? Please hurry.” Jay turned her attention to the prone figure, checking for a pulse and to see if she was breathing.

  “She’s not breathing, but she has a pulse.” Her voice shook and her whole body trembled, but she put everything aside except the thought of saving the other half of her soul. Nothing else mattered.

  She laid Kate out and rolled her onto her side, clearing her mouth and then compressing her abdomen, emptying her stomach of water. She checked again for breathing and pulse. The pulse was there, although weaker, and she still wasn’t breathing.

  “Miss, we’re at the shore now.” There was a hand on Jay’s shoulder.

  “Let us help you get her onto the sand.”

  “Hurry, I have to save her. I have to.”

  The look of agony on her face told the man all he needed to know.

  �
�We’ll do everything we can, miss.”

  Two passengers who had been watching from the shore met them as they hit the sand, grabbing the dinghy and beaching it and helping the crew member lift the unconscious woman out of the boat and onto the ground.

  Jay dropped to her knees by Kate’s head, checking one more time for a pulse and breathing before tilting her head back, pinching off her nose, and beginning mouth-to-mouth. This couldn’t be real; it had to be a nightmare, that’s all. The only sounds she could hear were the beating of her own heart hammering in her ears and the whoosh of the air she was breathing into her lover’s lungs. In between breaths, she watched for the telltale rise and fall of the chest, listening with her ear by Kate’s mouth for escaping air. For an agonizing minute, nothing happened save the continued rhythm of the mouth-to-mouth breathing every five seconds.

  Tears streamed down Jay’s face as she leaned over one more time, breathing life into the woman without whom she was sure she would die.

  “Please, love,” she pleaded, “please don’t leave me now, I couldn’t bear it. I need you so much. Please, please stay with me.” She turned her head to the side, placing her ear near her lover’s lips and watching her chest.

  Just as she was about to turn and give another breath, Kate coughed weakly and made a choking sound. Quickly, Jay inserted herself behind her upper back, sitting her up a little to clear her airway. Kate coughed 188

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  several more times, gasping for air, her lover holding her tightly from behind.

  “Jay...” It came out as a hoarse whisper.

  “Shh. Don’t talk now. You’re okay, love, you’re going to be okay.”

  She rocked Kate back and forth in her arms, forgetting for a moment about her head injury, ignoring that there were other people present, blocking out everything except the feeling of life coursing through the body pressed against her chest.

  After a moment, Kate leaned to the side and vomited, Jay soothing her and rubbing her back.

  “Miss, she really needs to be checked out. We have a doctor aboard the ship.” The young crew member pointed in the direction of the cruise ship, which was now plainly visible from this side of the island. “We could take you on board and let him have a look. She took a nasty blow to the side of her head, it could be dangerous still.”

  “Thank you, you’re right. Are you sure that would be okay?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” the other crew member smiled at her. “I’m sure Doc would be happy to help. He’s always complaining about being lonely.”

  Jay looked around for the first time, noting the crowd of people that had gathered. She also noticed that the sailboat had been towed safely onto the sand. She wiped her eyes self-consciously, never letting go of Kate, who was wheezing and semi-alert.

  Seeing the indecision on Jay’s face, one of the male bystanders said,

  “We could lift her into the dinghy for you.”

  “That’s very sweet, thank you.”

  “No problem, and don’t worry, we’ll be careful not to move her head.

  Okay guys, give me a hand.”

  With that three other burly men stepped forward, gently grabbing Kate and lifting her into the dinghy. Jay never let go of her lover’s hand and scooted in behind her in the boat as the men helped the crew members give it a shove off.

  Within minutes they had arrived at the side of the large cruise ship, several more crew members meeting them and attaching lines to the dinghy so that it could be lifted mechanically out of the water and up to deck level, where a stretcher and the doctor were waiting. For the first time, Jay realized that the crew members must have been in contact with the ship by radio, transmitting news of the emergency and getting everyone ready to assist. She was grateful beyond words.

  “I don’t know how to thank you two. You saved her life; I don’t know what I would have done without you.” Tears spilled down her cheeks.

  “No, no, miss. You saved her life, we just lent a little bit of a helping hand.”

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  There was no time for more talk just then because the mechanical lift ground to a halt, the crew members and doctor springing into action, transferring Kate to the stretcher and carrying her to the infirmary.

  “Hi, I’m Dr. Hanratty,” the medic said, noting that the small blonde woman hadn’t moved from the patient’s side or let go of her hand.

  “I...” Jay cleared her throat around the emotion that still threatened to choke her. “I’m Jamison Parker and this is Katherine Kyle.”

  “Nice to meet you both. Trust me, I promise to take good care of your friend.” He smiled kindly at Jay, who looked as if she might collapse herself. “Do you want to sit down for a minute?”

  “No,” she said too quickly. She didn’t want to let go of Kate’s hand, couldn’t bear to lose contact with her.

  “Okay, well, let me tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to take a quick look at her, then x-ray her head. I understand she took a nasty blow, is that right?”

  Jay simply nodded, unable to answer around the lump in her throat, knowing it had been all her fault.

  “Don’t worry, young lady, I’m sure she’s going to be just fine, and from what I hear, she owes that to you. You’re quite a hero.”

  “I don’t feel like a hero. If it hadn’t been for me, she wouldn’t have gotten knocked in the head in the first place.”

  “Excuse me,” a voice said weakly from the stretcher. “Jamison.” Kate motioned her lover to lower her head so that she could make eye contact with her. “This was not your fault, it was an accident. Stuff happens. I love you, and I’m here with you and that’s all that matters, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Look me in the eye and say that like you mean it, Scoop.”

  Jay smiled for the first time in what seemed like hours. “Okay, Stretch,” she said more strongly, glad beyond measure just to be able to hear her voice.

  “That’s better. Okay, Doc, let’s get this over with, I’ve got a vacation to get back to.”

  “That’s the spirit,” the doctor said, and proceeded with his examination.

  Outside, the two crew members were talking amongst themselves.

  “Man, that poor woman took a hell of a whack to the side of her head; that boom was really moving.”

  “No kidding, she sailed about five feet in the air before she landed.

  You could tell by the way she hit the water that she was already out cold.

  Sank like a stone.”

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  “The cute blonde did all right, though, finding her so quickly. Must have had some training; she knew just what to do.”

  “Yep, handled everything by the book, just like they teach you. Come to think of it, that was pretty amazing, considering how shook up she was. Did you see the way her hands were trembling?”

  “Wouldn’t yours have been if it had been you? Jesus, her friend would’ve been dead, or at least brain damaged, in another minute or two.”

  “You think something’s going on there?”

  “You mean do I think they’re more than friends? Hell, I wish my wife would look at me the way they looked at each other. Yeah, I think something’s going on there.”

  “Too bad, they’re both awesome looking. Nice bodies, too.”

  “Man, you need a girlfriend.”

  “You got that right. By the way, the captain says we can use the dinghy to take the two of them back to the main island if the tall one checks out okay. We can tow the sailboat behind. It should be alongside by now, they were bringing it with the other dinghy that went out to cover the passengers we left on the island.”

  “Good, I’d like to see it through, make sure they get back all right. I feel bad for the kid. You know she’s got to be thinking it was all her fault. Bet she’s gonna have trouble sleeping tonight.”

  “Yeah, can’t say I envy her. I wouldn’t want to live with that.” />
  “If the wind hadn’t picked up just then like it did, she would have been fine.”

  “Yeah, and with the direction it was blowing, we could hear the instructions, but she obviously couldn’t. Her friend was telling her the right thing. If she could’ve heard her, she probably could’ve made the correction in time. Poor kid.”

  The ship’s captain joined them.

  “Hi, guys. Any word on our visiting patient?”

  “She and her friend are in with Doc right now.”

  “Good, I think I’ll take a peek.” He opened the door to the infirmary.

  The doctor glanced up at the sound of the door opening. “Hi, Bert.

  How are you?”

  “Fine, Jake, just fine. How’s our guest doing?”

  “Captain Bert Higgins, I’d like you to meet Ms. Jamison Parker and Ms. Katherine Kyle. Ladies, this is the man in charge of this tub.”

  “Hey, old man, watch how you talk about your home. Hello, ladies, it’s a pleasure to meet you both, though I wish it were under better circumstances.”

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  “Captain, we can’t thank you enough for offering us your facilities and the assistance of your crew. The doctor and your crew members have been fantastic.”

  “You’re quite welcome, Ms. Parker. We’re all happy we could help.

  Do you have everything you need? We’ll be docked here for another few hours, and I’ve instructed the boys to take you back to the main island when you’re ready. We’ve got the Javelin, too, and you can tow that behind.” He noticed that Jay was shivering slightly, which made sense, since she was wearing only a wet bikini. “If you’ll excuse me for a minute, I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay, Katherine.” The doctor turned his attention back to his patient. “Here’s the deal: you’ve got a pretty bad concussion and you’re going to have a heck of a headache for a while. The bump should go down by tomorrow morning as long as you ice it every now and again. I don’t see any skull fracture, which is a good thing. Your pupils are still a bit dilated and your vision isn’t as clear as I’d like, but I think that will resolve itself by tomorrow. It seems as though your brain is working fine, and your hearing is clearly superior. As for your lungs, you took in quite a bit of water and that’s got to clear your system. You and your friend here managed to get rid of most of it, but there may be some hiding in there. I’m going to give you some antibiotics just in case; can’t have you developing pneumonia on your vacation, after all. I’d rather you didn’t lie flat tonight and I don’t want you sleeping for too long with that concussion. Jamison, your job is to wake her up every two hours or so to make sure she’s all right. No heavy exertion for the next couple of days, and you should probably stay out of the sun tomorrow. Otherwise, you’re going to be just fine. You’re young and strong and you obviously have a hard head.”