Falling Petals

Nate (Nathan) and Staci, sweltering in their dwelling, were researchers for the FDA in the fourth month of a six-month assignment in the Rain Forest in Brazil. They were at odds once more about who would do the field work today, while the other remained in the lab running tests on the plants and oils they have found so far. Their lab, which was basically a shack with a generator, was modest to say the least. With no air-conditioning and little more than candlelight in the living quarters, and barely enough juice to run a small fan in the lab, it was hard to stay inside to pass the time, let alone actually work. They often tossed a coin to see who would get to explore, and, it seemed, more often than not, Nathan was the lucky one.

Not today though…

Staci managed to win and was getting her hiking boots on when Nathan came to her with the mosquito spray she would definitely need. She tried to smile and say thank you, but she just smirked. Clearly upset, he left the room and began to prepare for an experiment. When Staci had all her gear packed and was ready to go, she came to him to say she’d be back in three hours. As silly as it was, they said ‘goodbye’ with a goofy secret handshake they had come up with one boring afternoon a couple months ago when it was just too rainy to search.

Staci could see Nathan was clearly worried even though he knew she was an experienced hiker and it angered her a bit. She smiled and turned to go, wondering why men always thought of women as fragile flowers, no matter how tough, experienced, and knowledgeable they really were. “Oh well,” she thought and she began to sing one of her favorite hymns, “How Great Thou Art,” just to irk him further. She loved teasing him and knew that her praying would make him worry even more. She liked to test his limits that way. It gave her quite a laugh to see a “manly man” so shaken up.

Giggling as she closed the door behind her, she headed off on her mini adventure. It wasn’t long before she came to a clearing. It was a small clearing, full of the most beautiful pink flowers, flowers she had never seen before; a small voice gave whisper to a warning, but having no basis she decided not to dwell on it. Of course she had to dig a few up for their research, and proceeded to do so. The sun was barely peeking through a dark cloudy sky, but it was so hot and steamy that her headband was barely catching the sweat any more.

Back at the lab, Nathan was getting a little worried, pacing back and forth in the cramped space. Staci was 30 minutes late, which wasn’t unusual, but this day in particular he had a bad feeling, and decided he would begin searching for her if she passed the hour mark. He finished his testing and looked at his watch. Indeed, the hour mark had passed so he packed his backpack with food and emergency supplies, just in case, hoping she wouldn’t be angry if she were, in fact, alright and just got busier than expected or decided to explore. Off he went.

After she got five good roots dug up, she bagged them and tagged them and stood up to continue on her quest. Suddenly becoming disoriented and woozy, she sat with her head between her knees for a few minutes, trying to get her wits about her. She couldn’t so she decided to go back to the lab, angry that Nathan was right in underestimating her, at least for today. As she stood, she felt the dizziness return, but went on anyway. She needed to get back to the lab for help; something was definitely not right. She was not much further than a few yards away from that beautiful clearing, or so she thought, when she ran into an older than old tree. It was something out of medieval times, huge and black with barely any leaves. The branch lowest to the ground had to be 20 feet high itself. There was a large, smooth area near the base on one side that looked like it had been sanded down to a glossy finish. She thought she could rest there as she still felt queasy, so she leaned against the tree, slid down that smooth side, sat, and took a drink of water. Still shaky, and feeling faint, she closed her eyes and drifted off.

The heat was stifling as Nathan followed the path Staci was to take, so he made sure to drink plenty of water. He came upon the field of pink flowers and spied where she had dug them, and saw her footprints leading away and followed them.

He recognized these flowers as being the poisonous “Hibiscus Heterophyllus” plants, whose oils seep into the skin and cause flu-like symptoms, and may lead to liver and kidney problems, or even death.

He was panicked now and frantically began calling for her. He was glad that she wore her hiking boots so her tracks were very distinct and he could get to her in a hurry. Some time later, he came upon her sleeping against that tree, burning with fever and shaking intensely. He tried to wake her, tried pouring some water in her mouth, anything he could to help, but she was out. He decided he needed to get her back to the lab and take care of her there but when he began to pick her up she moaned out in agony. Her muscles must be stiff and sore from the poison. “Ok, think, Nate, think,” he thought out loud. Even though he hated to, he knew he didn’t have a choice: he had to go back to the lab and get more water, something to make her feel better, maybe even a tent and sleeping bags in case she was too weak to move.

He ran as quickly as he could over the uneven ground all the while wondering how she could have hiked that far, in the wrong direction, in that condition and very concerned that he could lose her. He would not let that happen. Nathan burst into the lab and began just grabbing all the medicines, more water, cloths, food, and the pup tent and two sleeping bags, quite a load to hike with, especially in that heat, but he had no choice and didn’t care. If she was feeling better, Staci would help him bring it back in the morning. Finally finished packing he headed out, not as fast as before obviously but still moving quickly.

The hike had taken its toll on him as well, but when he arrived back at the tree, Staci was still in pretty much the same state as he left her in. He got a cloth wet and placed it on her forehead and then drank some more himself before he began setting up the tent. He returned to her and washed her face and chest, rewetting the cloth as needed. He melted some acetaminophen in a water bottle and tried getting her to drink some. She sipped a little, while she was in and out of her stupor, which relieved him a little. He then picked her up, pain and all, and carried her to her sleeping bag, as the ground was much too hard. She looked so sweet and beautiful and helpless and he began to feel very protective of her. For the four months they have been partners, he had only once thought of her in any other way than professional, and that was one night a couple of months ago.

…They were about a month into the project and had become decidedly bored having run out of crosswords, and board games, so they played a drinking game. Of course one thing led to another and they ended up making love. Both regretted it immediately after and promised to keep it professional, and they did.

But now, it seemed Nathan was realizing he had developed a slight crush. She called out his name and he took her hand, she asked what was going on and he filled her in though he doubted she understood much, as she was still quite incoherent.

Staci smiled and caressed his cheek and of a sudden his whole body felt alive. He smiled back and took her hand and kissed it lightly. She asked for more to drink, a great sign, in his opinion, of her feeling a bit better, though he thought an attempt at eating was premature right now. She was still feverish and one always starves a fever.

He washed her face and neck and chest once more, and as he was pulling his hand away, she took it and began to kiss it so sweetly all over. How something so simple and sweet could turn him on so much was beyond his imagination. She pulled him down to her so that they were face to face and she looked at him gratefully. “Thank you so much for coming for me,” she whispered as she leaned up a bit to softly kiss his lips. He responded back with a deeper kiss and she lay back, pulling him down with her. He didn’t want to but he had to pull away.

“Are you sure? You still seem out of it to me,” he asked, concerned that he might be taking advantage of the situation.

“Yes, please. I want to be with you more than anything,” was the reply.

With that, they were in a full-blown kiss. She was still so hot and he worried that he could be doing harm to her, but her kiss was so sweet and so wonderful that he could not resist. He gently caressed her breast through her top, which was soaked from perspiration and the water he was using to cool her. She groaned through her kisses, obviously aroused, so he began to unbutton her with one hand while still enjoying their tongues dancing. Staci reached down and began furiously undoing his pants. It was very apparent that she wanted him, and he loved it. He wanted her so badly, so intensely, but he knew she was in no shape to handle what he wanted to do to her, so he took control.

He pulled away a bit, up onto his knees and began to remove his own clothing while she watched with anticipation in her eyes. Nate smiled at her as he knelt down and removed her boots and socks. Never taking his eyes away from hers, he felt her sexy, smooth legs, caressing them all the way up to her inner thighs where he took his thumbs and gently teased her. She wriggled a little and closed her eyes. He grabbed her shorts and panties together and slid them off, revealing the familiar, yet even more exquisite pussy he had enjoyed a few weeks earlier.

This time he wasn’t drunk, had no inhibitions, nothing but strong feelings and wicked desires all culminating to this one moment and he just had to bury his tongue inside her. Staci moaned in ecstasy and writhed around on his face. Oh she loved it. He loved it. Both of them were in excruciating pleasure and she was coming over and over. Nathan lapped it up, could not get enough. When he felt she was ready to have him, he moved his body atop hers carefully so as not to put too much pressure on her because he knew she was sore, and he slid his hard cock deep within. Staci welcomed him by spreading her legs wider as he entered her and then wrapping them around him. She looked into his eyes like a woman in love, but could it be true? The mere thought that a creature as perfect as she could fall for him was making his appetite for her ferocious. He kissed her beautiful lips, and lightly nibbled her neck as he slowly pushed himself deeper into her. Her pussy was just as he remembered, a perfect fit, squeezing and quaking, slippery. Unbelievable!

Staci was intoxicated by the scent of herself on his face. She knew he loved tasting her, she could tell, and it was driving her crazy. The feel of his dick inside her was perfection. She could not imagine a better feeling in this world and she was falling for him. She had to admit that the sex they had before was great, but their camaraderie the past few months and the fun and even the professionalism all led up to this moment. She realized she had developed feelings for Nathan, and she knew she had to tell him her secret.

The lovemaking was so intense, so completely fulfilling that if neither one of them came, it wouldn’t matter. Their bodies were colliding on another realm that simple ejaculation was beneath. The two of them could feel each other so deeply; every muscle movement and every twitch was just like pouring gasoline on a fire. Staci was moaning and writhing; Nathan was growling and thrusting faster and faster and he could no longer contain his true feelings. He slowed again, to barely moving and said, “Staci, I’ve fallen for you and I want this to be special, not just sex. I want to make love to you. Will you allow me to?”

Staci was happier than she could ever imagine. She replied with tears in her eyes, “Nathan, I’m in love with you too. I want this to be special and honest and I want to make love with you, too, but I have something to tell you.”

He was torn by that statement. He wanted to just move on, make love to the woman who just professed her love for him, and then hear the bad news, but he knew that now, if he were to continue, it would taint the whole experience with wondering concern for what was about to be revealed. So he decided to be a man about it and told her she could share anything with him and it wouldn’t change his feelings. She felt good about that, so she held him tight, wrapped her legs even tighter around him so he couldn’t get away and whispered in his ear, “Nate, I got pregnant the last time we did this and I’m so happy about it now. Do you think you can be happy too?”

His mouth was agape, he could feel it, and he knew she needed an answer to that question, but he couldn’t just snap his fingers and decide how he felt. He looked around, feeling as if he were in a different reality, when he noticed that the ominous tree they were ‘camping’ by wasn’t so ominous any more; it had even started to bloom. He could see the flowers growing bigger, but how was that possible? All of a sudden he was snapped back to himself as he felt Staci wrapped tightly around him, her legs around his waist, her pussy around his cock, her love around his heart and then he knew. She was all he ever wanted, she made everything about life more beautiful and a baby would just complete the picture. So he began to make love to her a little faster and smiled at her and said, “I already am happy about it,” and he kissed her and felt her cum so hard that she was shaking.

Staci was beside herself in love. Nathan had given her this wonderful gift of love and the start to a new direction in her life. She just stared at him, as he entered her over and over, and drank in his image. He was so handsome and rugged and intelligent and she was loving every second of him making her his. His big cock felt so good inside her, like it belonged there. Every thrust made her quiver as she heard and felt him groan, felt his power. She begged him to fuck her hard, but he wouldn’t. He just took his time and made her crazy with anticipation. She needed to cum, but she wanted to cum with him so she held back, rechanneling that need into passionate kisses, scratching his back, anything to get her mind off the aching, but when she bit his neck, he went crazy.

She felt him pulsate inside her and she knew he was close so she let go. She felt every inch of him sliding in and out of her, squeezing her muscles tightly around him, and biting his neck so hard she almost drew blood. It was so amazing, so slow and intense, so perfect. She exploded, screaming his name and how much she loved him and when he felt her and heard her, Nathan came so hard inside her that he thought he might faint and he collapsed just to her side. He looked at her and lovingly kissed her and he thanked her for making him the luckiest man in the world. She cuddled in his arms, thanked him for protecting her and taking care of her and they both fell asleep.

Darkness had fallen when they awoke and that tree had the most wonderful scent. Staci’s fever was down so Nathan made her eat a little something while retelling her what had happened, that those flowers had poisoned her and next time she would wear gloves and like it, or else. “Yes sir,” she declared playfully but with a serious tone. After they ate, they decided to go to sleep for the night and make for the lab in the morning and then the city to get her checked out.

As the darkness faded to light, a soft rain fell. Nathan woke first and stroked Staci’s cheek. She awoke with a smile, no fever, and feeling much, much better. She was beauty. She was his. He gazed at her as she got up and walked over to that tree, the one that was so mysterious, and found that it had returned to the form it was in when they first saw it. Could they both have imagined the same thing? She helped Nathan pack up their things as they talked about what this tree had to do with the realization that they were in love. One of the rules of the project they were working on was that nothing they did would destroy any of the rainforest, so whenever they dug something up, they replanted seeds or roots in the same place after running tests. However, Nathan wanted to leave their mark on this tree so, clearly violating that rule, he took his pocketknife and carved their initials and the date right near that smooth spot on the side that provided Staci with a place to rest.

As if he had pushed a button, the tree sprouted again before their amazed eyes, dropping thousands, millions of flower petals all over them and the floor of the forest. It was a sign that this love was meant to be and they knew it. As they turned to go, Staci leaned over to grab her pack and all at once he was loathe to realize that he was, indeed, going to receive no help from her in hiking all this gear back to the lab even though she felt so much better. You see, no mother of his child was ever going to lift a finger…