Daise walked up behind me, slipped her arm around my waist, and gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek. I turned my head to look at her with a smile and asked“I hope you’re not a vegetarian?”

“No. I haven’t eaten too much meat recently. Those steaks look huge.”

I laughed. “They are fairly large. Don’t worry about it though, what we can’t eat will go into the fridge and we can snack on them later. There’s nothing like cold steak sliced up on white bread with a bit of ‘Old English’ mustard.”

“Sounds nice. Can I get you something to drink?”

“Yes, please. A Coke would be nice.”

As Daise walked over to the bar fridge, Sgt. Major Dhlamini looked at me with a grin and cocked his head at Daise.

“You approve, do you, Sgt. Major?”

“Yes. She seems nice. I really approve because I can see the effect she is having on you, though.”

“You aren’t worried about the shit-storm it is bringing down?”

“No, I’m actually looking forward to it.”

“Yes, you would. You love having an excuse, don’t you? By the way, are you staying over tonight?”

“Yes. Nqobile has me sorted. I have one of my guys fetching the kit we need for tomorrow. He’ll meet us at the car place.”

“What are you guys talking about?” Daise asked as she returned carrying my Coke and a Castle Lager for the Sgt. Major.

“Alina is arriving tomorrow, and we were just going over the final arrangements.”

“All I heard was something about weapons?” Daise queried, with a nervous lilt to her voice.

I explained the basics to Daise; that we would be picking Alina up but changing cars and that she should stay with the Sgt. Major in the over-watch car. At first, she seemed to be a little surprised that all the arrangements were necessary, but I explained to her that we were just taking precautions to ensure that we didn’t make it easy, although we knew that we could be found simply enough once someone knew it was us that Alina was joining. Daise was obviously still nervous about the whole thing but seemed to be content to leave the issue in our hands.

Once the meat was ready, we all helped ourselves to the salads that Nqobile had made and ate with our plates on our laps. The Sgt. Major ensured that the soldiers on guard got their food, and then rejoined us.

After the meal, we were all tired so we packed up and went off to bed.

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It took me a while to figure out what had woken me. My curtains were open, so I could see that it was still night time. I got out of bed, then walked out into the passage, and then followed the sounds to Daise’s room. I could see that she was still asleep, but she seemed to be having a nightmare; she was tossing and turning, and every couple of seconds she called out in what I guessed was Russian. I was reminded of the many times I had comforted my daughters at night when they had bad dreams. Daise had kicked off the covers, so I laid down on the bed next to her and pulled her into my arms. She didn’t wake up, but put her arms around me and pulled me close. I continued to lie there, holding her, until I fell asleep again.

The next time I woke up, it was because Daise had moved. I opened my eyes and watched her. She was awake and I could see she was trying to extricate herself from the tangle the two of us had made of our limbs and the bed-sheets. I smiled slightly and tightened my grip on her. She looked up at me in surprise.

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“You had a bad dream; I fell asleep as I held you.”

Daise looked embarrassed, “Sorry if I woke you.”

“When? Now, or in the middle of the night?”

“Both.”

“Well, I certainly never expected our first night sleeping together would be like this,” I teased her.

“Me either.” She looked at me again and a mischievous expression crossed her face, “I expected it to be much more active.”

I laughed. “You looked so beautiful in the moonlight from the window, I wanted to kiss every inch of you.”

“Why didn’t you?” Her voice shifted suddenly; from a young girl's to the throaty voice of a woman. It caught me completely off-side.

“I didn’t want to take advantage of you.”

“And if I had told you I didn’t mind?”

I decided that was an invitation that I wasn’t going to ignore. I bent my head and nuzzled her neck, biting softly as I moved up to her ear. I could feel the goose-bumps on her shoulder and all around her neck. She shivered.

“That’s nice.”

Encouraged, I freed my hand and started stroking her arm and running my fingers through her hair; kissing her skin all the while, and kissing around to her jaw, nibbling with my lips. I could feel the response from her body; the way she arched against me; the way she shivered; the tremble in her throat and how she turned her head so that I could gain access to her skin.

I shifted over slightly and reached her mouth with mine. It was slightly open and I took her bottom lip between my teeth for a second, then kissed her mouth. Her tongue slipped out and teased my mouth.

I felt my desire rise like a flood and suddenly I was kissing her ravenously. She returned the kiss in full measure and our tongues wrestled; striving to penetrate each other as deeply as possible; in a frantic foretaste of other penetrations to come.

I moved my hand over her nightie, feeling the warm swell of her small breast, with the rigid protrusion which begged to be touched. She moaned into my mouth, and I moaned back, just as incoherently.

Suddenly, we were both frantically shedding our few clothes and I reared above her, intent on consummating what we had begun. As I penetrated her, I looked into her startled eyes and paused; shaking from a suddenly repressed desire.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” She sounded uncertain.

“We don’t have to do this.”

“Yes, we do. I want you to.”

I slid forward slightly, held up momentarily at the start, then sank fully into the wet warmth between her legs. I realised, belatedly, that there had been more resistance than I had expected.

“Damn. You didn’t tell me you were a virgin.”

“Did I need to?”

“I would have waited longer, tried to make it better for your first time if I had known.”

“Please stop talking, just carry on.”

I could see that she was determined. I moved slowly out and in, and I could see that she wasn’t enjoying it.

“I’m sorry. It’s hurting you.”

“It doesn’t matter. I want it to be good for you.”

“It’s only really good for me when you enjoy it.”

“Please.” She started crying. “I don’t know what to do. I want you to like me. I thought you liked me.” She turned her head to the side and I watched a teat roll down her cheek.

“I’m really sorry. I’ll stop.”

“NO! Please don’t. Finish it. Maybe next time you can teach me what to do.”

I started moving again, taking it slow and easy. After a few strokes, it seemed to get a little smoother and her frown disappeared.

“Is that better?”

“Yes. Much better.”

“Put your legs around me.”

“Ok.”

I stroked for a few more minutes, then spasmed quietly as I came. I relaxed and lay on top of her for a few seconds, then rolled to the side and pulled her into a hug.

“Are you Ok?” I asked as I cradled her head on my shoulder.

“I’m fine. A little sore, but fine. Sorry I couldn’t make it nice for you.”

“No, I am the one who should be sorry. We’ll try again and take our time. It should be better next time.”

We lay together on the bed as the dawn light started creeping into the room, both of us in a state of near-sleep, holding each other. Eventually, I kissed her and asked, “Want to go and swim?”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea, except I think I mustn't now. I'm a little tender and I'm worried that the chlorine will burn me. I'll come with you though.”

We got up and I left her to get dressed, while I went to get my costume.

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We held hands going down the stairs and out to the pool. Cpl Maseka called out a greeting as he walked passed us. We both dropped our towels on the deck-chairs and I dived in while Daise sat on the edge and dangled her feet in the water.

Edited by Mlle. Euphrosine. The remaining errors are the authors