In the Eye

In the Eye

By Giselle Renarde

"No, I get it," Susitna said, with obvious vehemence in her tone. Scooping her King Charles Spaniel puppy into her arms, she stood. "Come on, Charlie. It's a boys’ club. No girls allowed. What else is new?" Dale stood up to follow her out of the grad student common room, but Susitna surprised him by standing still. "It isn't a boys’ club," he said, even though there was only a narrow sense in which that was true. "Wait, you named a girl dog Charlie? Weird." "You're not allowed to bring dogs in here. People are allergic," Xu spat before she could answer. A Torquere Press Sip - 1

"Are you allergic?" she shot back as the little dog licked her chin. Xu looked down at the ping-pong table and rolled his eyes. "No." "Then shut up." When Susi turned back to Dale, her expression seemed to soften. It was so obvious she was willing to put up with Xu's attitude only because she was so fond of Dale. "Are you allergic?" she asked, gushing fonts of concern. Dale smiled at the care in her dark eyes and shook his head. "No, I love dogs." Muttering something about dander, Xu gripped his ping-pong paddle and said, "Come on, Dale, stop wasting your time with this chick. We've got a game going, here." There was no taming Xu. He was rude to everybody until he learned to trust them. He'd learned to trust Dale long ago, which was probably why he held on so tight. But for Dale, there were other avenues to explore. Sure, he liked Xu. Loved him, even? But every instance of intimacy, whether sexual or not, seemed like just a moment in time. Nothing was set in stone. "I'm sorry," Dale said to Susitna. "I mean…maybe you can come." "Dale!" Xu hissed through clenched teeth. Bouncing his ping-pong ball off the smooth green table, he whacked it so hard the little white sphere went soaring across the room. They all watched as it struck the ceiling before bouncing off the far wall and then plummeting to the floor. Charlie yapped like crazy and struggled to escape Susitna's hold as the ball bounced up high a few times and then rolled underneath the ping-pong table. The dog kept barking, even as Susi shook her head and said, "Anyway…" A Torquere Press Sip - 2

"You can't come," Xu pre-empted. "And it's not because you're a girl, it's because you're brown." Dale couldn't believe his ears, but it was Susi's jaw that dropped. After an eternal moment of disbelief, she threw her head back and laughed. "Fuck you!" "Xu!" Dale snapped. "Seriously?" "What?" Setting his paddle down on the table, Xu explained, "Bringing a brown girl along for the trip isn't the best way to blend into the midwestern United States." Susi set her dog down on the floor, pulling the leash tight so it couldn't chase the forgotten ping-pong ball. "Oh yeah, like a Chinese boy's going to blend in that much better." "I might not blend in, but at least I won't get put on a terrorist watch list!" "What the fuck are you talking about?" Susitna launched back. "A, I was born in this country, and B, my family is Indian…and Hindu! It's not like I'm a goddamn sleeper cell for Al Qaeda!" Xu shook his head self-righteously. "Where we're going, none of that matters. Brown is brown." "Okay, okay, okay!" Dale cut in. He couldn't bear another second of this ridiculous argument. "Cut it out, you two!" To Dale's surprise, they both shut their yaps and stared, wide-eyed, in his direction. Now he wasn't sure what to say next. Dale had never been subjected to any kind of racism during their past trips to Tornado Alley, but as a blond-haired, blue-eyed white guy, he was hardly likely to be targeted. Xu might be right about small-town xenophobia, but Dale wasn't about to turn Susitna away on account of her skin color. Anyway, he wanted her to come along on their trip. A Torquere Press Sip - 3

"Xu," he began, keeping cryptic in front of Susi. "Maybe it would be a good idea to let her come along… You know, to act as lookout and even do some driving when we're getting close?" Dale watched as Xu's expression turned from irritated to intrigued. He kneeled down to pet her pooch. "You have a driver's license? Are you a good driver?" "Yes and yes," she replied, glancing up at Dale. "You want me to drive into a tornado?" "Possibly," Dale admitted. "Very possibly." *** The foursome left the day after Dale's final exam: Xu, Dale, Susitna, and Charlie. Xu hadn't been too keen on bringing a dog on a tornado hunt, but Susi refused to leave her puppy at home with an unreliable roommate. "Anyhow," she'd said as they loaded their luggage onto the covered bed of Dale's pickup. "Animals are finely attuned to the weather. Maybe Charlie will be able to point us to the nearest storm." "Don't need her for that." Xu sighed. "That's what mobile internet is for. I just stay online with the real scientists and amateurs who are tracking these storms." Susitna set Charlie down in the crew cab and tied her leash to the headrest. "You're just piggybacking off other people's hard work? That's kind of sleazy. Anyhow, I thought you were the science guy." "Why?" Xu shot back. "Because I'm Asian, I must be good at math and science?" Dale bit his lip and loaded up the last of their bags. There was no point trying to mediate. Xu and Susitna were a lot like a storm, themselves: they got swept up in arguments, then things seemed to settle for a bit, but A Torquere Press Sip - 4

they always picked up once again before calming for good. "Not because you're Asian, you stupid fuck! Because your B.Sc. is in some kind of engineering, isn't it? And when we get back, aren't you the assistant professor for some engineering summer course?" "Yeah, engineering, not meteorology!" Xu looked to Dale, who tried to escape the obligation before their gazes latched. Too late. "Do we seriously have to bring her? I swear, if I have to drive through four states listening to that voice, I'm going to careen into oncoming traffic!" What could Dale use in his defence but sex? Throwing an arm around Xu's shoulder, Dale walked him to the far side of the pickup before whispering, "Every time we chase down a tornado, what do you say to me?" An impish smirk grew across Xu's lips. "It turns me on." "And you wish somebody else would drive so we could go at it right there in the middle of the storm." When his smile grew even wider, Dale could tell Xu was picturing the two of them getting it on in the crew cab while hundred-mile-an-hour winds whipped debris across their windows. And then suddenly his smile fell. "There's no way that witch'll be cool with this. We haven't even told her about us yet. What if she's a queerbasher?" Dale's heart raced with anxiety as he imagined everything that could go wrong. He had to get this pair on the road, where there was no turning back. "She's not, she's not a queer-basher. I think she's a lesbian or whatever." He would have said anything. "Listen, you need to butter her up, okay? Cut out all this arguing. A Torquere Press Sip - 5

She's more likely to go along with our plan if you get on her good side." Furling his brow, Xu mumbled, "You've got a point, there." He let out a big sigh. "Okay, let's put the pedal to the metal. Mind if I drive the first stretch -- the SeventyFive down to the Emerson border crossing?" "Go for it, man!" Dale tossed Xu the keys, trying not to come off too gleeful as he called shotgun. "Oh," he quickly self-corrected. "I mean, unless you want the front, Susi." Climbing into the crew cab, Susitna set Charlie in her lap. "Back here's better. Gives Charlie a little more room to stretch her legs." Xu's smile still painted his face happier than Dale had ever seen it as he hopped in the front seat and buckled his belt. "If anybody has to go to the bathroom, speak now or forever hold your pees," Xu called out, adjusting the mirrors and seat. "I'm looking at you, Susitna…and your little dog, too." Dale held his breath, anticipating another catty argument. These two seemed to fight about every little thing. But not this time, thank God! Susitna only returned Xu's grin and said, "We're fine, thanks." "All right, then we are off!" Xu cheered. As he started 'er up and pulled out of the parking lot, Susitna hollered and clapped her hands. Xu responded with a "Woo-hoo!" which Charlie followed up with a series of excited yips. Hard to believe, after all their nitpicking, Susi and Xu seemed now to be having a good time. Even in the midst of their celebratory atmosphere, Dale felt it would be smart to set some ground rules to nip any more squabbles in the bud, but he couldn't bring himself to intrude upon their fun. A Torquere Press Sip - 6

"Anyway," Susi laughed, "if Charlie and I have to pee en route, neither of us minds squatting at the side of the road. Do we, chicken?" "Chicken?" Dale chuckled, turning around to watch the puppy lick her owner's face. "How many names does this dog have?" Susitna petted Charlie's silky dog-ears. "Hundreds! She knows her name, but she only really listens to the first syllable before responding. You could call her Charlie, or chicken, or chilli, or chimpanzee…anything that starts with ch, she'll answer to." "Stupid dog!" Xu cackled from the driver's seat. "Fuck you!" Susi shot back. "You're a stupid dog!" Dale's stomach plummeted sixteen stories. "Enough!" he shouted. Why oh why did he let this happen? He knew better than to allow these two in the same car together, but the problem was simple: he liked them both. In fact, he more than liked them both. Why couldn't they like each other? "You two are adults, but if you insist on acting like children, that's how I'm going to treat you. Now both of you need to shut up and stop arguing with each other, do you hear me?" Though he hated to be heavy-handed, it worked. Susitna and Xu both mumbled, "Yeah, sorry." Even Chicken Charlie gave a whimper before setting her little head against Susi's bare thigh -- why had it taken so long to notice how short Susi's jean shorts were? Wow! And she didn't usually wear such low-cut tops, did she? This one was only a casual stretchy camisole with grey and purple stripes, but it didn't cover much flesh. And, by God, had her tits grown overnight, or were they always that size?

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Now, of course, Dale felt badly for shouting at them both. "I'm going to read for a while," he said. "Let's all have some quiet time, okay?" The pair of them agreed readily enough, but they didn't actually remain silent all the way to the border crossing. Susitna played with her cell phone for a while before initiating a conversation about their collective endeavour. Fair enough, Dale figured. She deserved to know what they were in for. First off, she wanted to know why the two of them went storm-chasing if neither was interested in the research aspect of it. True, many storm chasers were good public citizens who only wanted to assist with early storm detection and to improve future prediction efforts, but there were many others like him and Xu. They didn't give two magic bananas about meteorology -- they were just in it for the excitement of the chase. "It's a thrill ride," Dale explained. "That's all." Xu pulled up to the line of traffic at the Emerson border crossing. "Hell," he said, "we spend September to May learning, and then spend most of the summer teaching undergrads. This is the only time we have to kick back. We don't want to spend it calculating wind velocity when other people can do it for us. We only want to chase tornadoes." Just as Dale was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he noticed a border services officer all in blue approaching their vehicle. Suddenly he couldn't get Xu's words out of his mind, about how Susitna would be hassled in the States because she was brown. He hated to think that way. Dale usually thought the best of everyone, but what if the officer picked on poor Susi? Well, knowing Susi, she'd put up a fight and probably end up making matters worse for herself. A Torquere Press Sip - 8

Dale's heart wouldn't let up as Xu rolled down the window. "Morning, folks," said the brunette officer, her hair pulled back into a neat ponytail. They all offered up their passports without being asked, and though they were neat about it, Dale felt like he was in a three stooges sketch. As the officer looked them over, she asked, "You're all Canadian citizens?" Dale wasn't sure who she was asking, exactly, so he answered, "Yes." Was it his imagination, or was Officer Ponytail glancing in the backseat a little too often? She asked all the customary questions -- Where are you headed? How long are you planning to stay? What is the purpose of your visit? -- and Dale answered every time. He'd forgotten to tell Susi he and Xu always claimed they were going to Graceland. Better than admitting they planned to speed down American highways, chasing storm clouds. By the time the officer got around to asking, "Do you have anything to declare?" Dale was one hundred percent convinced she was staring at Susi. God, Xu had been right all along! Born and raised in this country, and she was still the target of racial profiling at the border. He gritted his teeth as he said they had nothing to declare, but he didn't want to appear belligerent, so he tried to smile, too. The officer nodded and then sidestepped to the crew cab and rapped on the window. Dale's heart beat a mile a minute, but Susi appeared unperturbed as she rolled down the window. Offering a long, drawn-out, "Hi," the border services agent pointed her pen down at Charlie. "Did you bring along a rabies certificate for this little guy?" Rabies certificate? This was just perfect! Who'd have guessed they'd need papers for the dog? A Torquere Press Sip - 9

"Yup," Susitna said. As she dug through her purse, her puppy leaped up toward the half-open window to greet the friendly officer. "Here it is!" As she examined the rabies certificate, the border agent laughed out loud. "Charlie! That was my dad's name. He could be a dog at times, too." "My Charlie's a girl," Susi replied, petting the pup's umber ears. Setting her chin just above the windowpane, the officer made a kissy face. "Well, you sure is a sweetheart, isn't you, Charlie? Yes you is! Yes you is!" With a silly chuckle, she handed back the rabies certificate along with their passports, and then stepped away from the car and waved. "Have a good trip, kids. Drive safe!" Dale's chest went from harboring explosives to moaning with relief. "God, I thought she was going to go all terror alert on your ass! How the hell did you know they'd need to see a rabies certificate at the border?" "I looked up it up online." Susi crammed her documents back in her purse. "We'll just have to wait and see how my brown skin fares in the American Midwest." When she looked up at Dale, she seemed to see in his eyes the fear he'd felt for her. Tilting her head to one side, she smiled. "You are too cute." For someone who chased tornadoes around like a maniac, Dale was the first to admit he was a total pussy when it came to interacting with women. Turning his gaze to his passport, he pressed the deep blue covers between his fingers. "You're cute, too." As they drove across the border en route to Tornado Alley, everyone was quiet. Even Xu kept his mouth shut for once. A Torquere Press Sip - 10

*** Susitna and Charlie were both fast asleep in the backseat when Dale took over driving. She had Xu had been surprisingly heedful of his advice. In fact, even when they stopped for a quick bite in Fargo, nothing more controversial than a few wood chipper jokes flew between them. As Dale drove on after their meal, Xu worked on course notes for the seminar he'd be teaching while Susi read a novel. When the comfortable silence was interrupted by a burble of laughter from the backseat, Dale felt compelled to ask, "What's so funny?" "Sorry," Susi replied. "Something in this book just made me think of… Well, you know how all these socalled Christians are always saying stuff like, 'AIDS is God's punishment for being gay?'" Dale knew how Xu would react before Susi'd even finished her sentence. "Why would you say a thing like that?" Xu cried. "Why perpetuate such a hateful sentiment?" "Let me finish, asshole," she said, though she didn't make it through the word "asshole" without giggling. "I was going to say we're heading into prime territory for homophobia, right? But if they attribute disease to gayness around here, then what the hell do they think they've done to incur such a wrath of tornadoes?" A cackle escaped Xu's lips. Dale cringed to hear what argument he'd use to counter Susitna's reasoning, but Xu surprised him by saying, "That is so true!" "And, by the same reasoning," Susi went on, "lesbians must be the chosen people." Dale didn't get it. He shrugged his shoulders before realizing she probably couldn't see him from the A Torquere Press Sip - 11

backseat. "Okay, I'll bite," he finally said. "Why are lesbians the chosen people?" "Because the lowest incidence of HIV/AIDS is in the lesbian population. If AIDS is God's punishment, God must love dykes!" "Lucky you," Xu said. Susitna's hand rested on top of Charlie's head as her eyebrows furled. "What makes you think I'm a lesbian?" Before he could stop it, Dale's throat released a sound like a moaning, "Ohhh!" His stomach tied itself in knots around the burger and fries he'd eaten in Fargo as he waited for the sure-fire fight to break out between them. "You're just that kind of girl," Xu said. "No, no, no, no, no," Dale repeated under his breath. Strangely, Susitna seemed amused by this statement. Gently petting Charlie, she smiled and asked, "What kind of girl am I?" When Xu proceeded to explain, he really didn't seem to be provoking her. "You demand respect," he said. "When I think of lesbians, I think strong, powerful, outspoken, a little scary but also the kind of people who can call a crowd to arms if there's a need." He nodded and shrugged a little. "I respect lesbians." "I'm not a lesbian," Susi said. Her tone was flat even though she was smiling. "But thanks." She spent a further moment petting Charlie before saying, "I used to say I was a lesbian. I dated a girl. I'm attracted to girls. But I'm attracted to guys, too, and I can't seem to shake it." Dale's pulse raced when he thought about Susi in bed with another woman. He would have crossed his legs if he hadn't been driving. "So you're bi?" She shrugged. "I guess so. I hate that term, though. Bi. Sounds so wishy-washy." A Torquere Press Sip - 12

"I hate it, too," Xu said from the front seat. Dale was glad Xu was the one to say it, because all he could think to say next was, "Xu hates that term, too," but of course Dale didn't want to give those words voice. It would give away too much. It would show that they'd discussed the matter. And why would they, two red-blooded males, have talked about bisexuality except in relation to themselves? "So, then, if you have an aesthetic appreciation for men and women, what do you call yourself?" Xu went on to ask. Susitna took a deep breath before responding. "Just… I don't know… sexual. Not homo or hetero or anything sexual. Just sexual. I think probably ninety percent of the population is in some sense bisexual, even if I don't like the word." "Oh my god, me, too!" Xu cried. "I've always thought that. When I was growing up, I always thought it was perfectly natural to be drawn to both guys and girls. I seriously never understood why there was this push for girls to go with boys and boys with girls." "So you're bisexual, too, even though we hate the word?" Susi asked. Dale kept his eyes on the road, though he could feel Xu looking to him for guidance. A cold sweat broke across his brow. Too many thoughts raced through his mind all at once. He couldn't latch on to any one of them, fully. "We both are," Dale said, without looking over at Xu. If he didn't look, he wouldn't have to contend with the glare Xu was certainly shooting him right now. Or not. Next thing he knew, Xu grabbed hold of his right hand, which he really didn't need for driving anyway, and squeezed it affectionately. "We are, even if we don't like the word." A Torquere Press Sip - 13

"Aww, that is so cute!" Susi said in the same voice she used when she was talking to her dog. "I had my suspicions, especially when you were such a bastard to me, Xu. I figured you were fending me off because you saw me as a threat." "No, it's not you," Dale laughed. "He really is just a huge bastard." Something in Xu's voice changed as he laughed along. It was as if he transformed on the spot from his public self to the private self he shared only with Dale and select others. "Well, you guys make a really cute couple," she went on, "but I've got to admit I'm jealous. I only came on this trip to spend some time with the guy I have a crush on… Now it turns out he's dating someone else?" Dale could not believe she'd just come out and said that. How could he possibly convince Susitna she still had a shot at him without hurting Xu? "Right," Dale mumbled. "I mean, but we're not like a couple. Not really." He felt his hand wriggle out of Xu's grip and he felt guilty for removing it. "Uhh…yeah," Xu said, drawing out his words. "More like friends with benefits." "Good to hear." Charlie wandered around the backseat as her master spoke. "Because, I've gotta say Xu, I've had this crush on you for like…almost a year now? It's crazy!" Just as Dale started preparing a gushy returnresponse, he realized the name in that statement had not been his own. His lungs turned to ice. He was amazed he could still drive with the threat of a thousand impending panic attacks looming large. Xu? Why would anybody have a crush on Xu? Dale wasn't even sure why he liked the guy! Xu really could be an asshole at times. A Torquere Press Sip - 14

Xu seemed to be saying something encouraging now, but all Dale could hear were the smack of his lips, one against the other. And then something else drew Dale's attention. It wasn't a sound but a smell. When he turned his head for a quick second, he saw just where it was coming from. "Susi, your damn dog took a dump in my backseat!" Susitna'd been so doe-eyed over Xu, she hadn't even noticed. "Oh, shit! I am so sorry, Dale. Really. I don't know what's gotten into her." "Holy Moly, that reeks!" Xu said, holding his nose even as he waved his hand in front of his face. "Pull over," Susi said in the most defeated tone Dale had ever heard from her. "Let me clean up this mess before it seeps into the upholstery." Dale was only too happy to pull off the interstate. The field might at one time have been farmland, but now looked like nothing more than overgrown grasses. There were no fences, so he drove right up just to put some space between them and the road. He didn't want oncoming traffic stopping to ask what was the matter. "Just a little dog shit. Nothing we can't handle." When Xu opened the passenger door and hopped out, Dale did the same. Though they'd opened all four doors to air it, the truck's pungent aroma wasn't doing him any favors. He walked around to Xu's side of the truck as Susi urged the dog's pile into a plastic bag. Dale was conscious Xu was talking, but he couldn't seem to process the words. His whole body was overcome by unforeseen desire, as if Susitna's attraction to Xu bumped up Dale's. Weaving his fingers through Xu's, Dale pressed his chest against his friend's, driving Xu back against the side of the truck's hood. Xu was still talking. Dale still wasn't hearing a word. In fact, the only sound he could A Torquere Press Sip - 15

make out was that of his own heart beating like a drum. All he could see were Xu's fine pink lips and, clinging to Xu's long fingers, he dove in for a kiss. The gleaming white barrier of Xu's perfect teeth seemed to ask, "Why? Why are you doing this now, in front of her?" But the question was in itself an answer. This was and always had been their trip, Dale's and Xu's, and bringing along a pretty girl wasn't going to make it any less about them. "What are you doing?" Xu asked, though the surging erection inside his pants clearly said, "Keep doing it!" When Xu glanced down at Susi, he brought Dale's head along for the ride. She was scrubbing the backseat with bottled water, fast food napkins, and the lemonscented car interior wipes from the glove compartment - when had she grabbed those? With a generous smile on her lips, she said, "Don't mind me, boys. I think it's hot." She couldn't have offered a more powerful go-ahead. Wrapping his arms around Xu's middle, Dale clung to him and kissed his mouth until Xu had no choice but to give in. Dale pressed his hard cock against Xu's thin body and gently rocked his hips to feel the fabric of his special occasion mesh undies against his erection. God, he wanted to strip off his outer layers right now and show off how hot his ass looked in this underwear. It wasn't just for Xu that he wanted to get nearly naked. He felt bold right now, and he wasn't sure how long the feeling would last. Before it passed him by, he wanted Susi to get a look at his big, solid dick. Maybe it would turn her on, too. Maybe she'd wrap her hands around it and stroke him while Xu fucked him from behind. Oh yeah! His erection strained forward at the very idea. Maybe she'd even lie back on the front seat with both legs out the front door, slip out of those short shorts, and throw her little feet over his shoulders. Xu A Torquere Press Sip - 16

could even suck her toes while Dale grabbed her wide hips and drove his dick right into her wet snatch. He could plow her while Xu went at him from behind. Imagine that! The spell of kisses and erotic visualizations was broken when Susitna cried out, "Charlie! Get back here!" Dale looked up from his broken kiss just in time to see the King Charles Spaniel running after a rabbit or gopher, or whatever the hell lived in the fields of South Dakota. "Guys!" Susi squealed, dropping her cleaning implements to the floor and springing out of the truck. "We need to go after her!" In less than a second, Xu had shot out into the field, leaving Dale to hump the not-so-receptive truck body. "Damn it, you two," he mumbled, though they were both way out of earshot. "You left all the doors open." Before chasing after the pair and the dog, he went around locking and closing car doors. The interior didn't smell quite so bad -- in fact it smelled more like lemons than anything else -- but before he could bring himself to shut the final door on the crew cab, he spotted a sweater shoved into Susi's backpack. It was clover-green and made of a thin, summery fabric. Something very much like love compelled Dale to pick it up, set it against his face, and inhale deeply. Susi's aroma filled his lungs with floral sweetness, and he was suddenly driven to find that little dog of hers. With her sweater in hand, he closed the door and took off across the field, toward a line of trees in the distance. As Dale surged forward, the air seemed to get very heavy. He spotted Xu and Susi in the distance before he noticed the darkened cloud system over a bright afternoon sky. "Did you find Charlie?" he called to them, out of breath already. And then he heard the dog A Torquere Press Sip - 17

barking like crazy up ahead, and a familiar sense of trepidation overtook him. Xu pointed way out into the distance. "What do you think?" Jogging up to them, Dale stared up at the charcoal grey sky. The winds were picking up and, without any more warning than that, they were caught in a downpour. "What the fuck, man?" Susi shouted, picking up Charlie and holding the puppy tight against her chest. Charlie stopped barking, and now sat quivering against her owner's ample cleavage. "Where did this come from?" Dale couldn't offer any response. He'd planned on tracking storms, or at least seeing what the real storm trackers had to say this evening when they arrived at some cheap and cozy motel in Omaha or thereabouts. When he looked to his partner in crime, Xu said the same thing. "I haven't had a chance to listen in yet. I wanted to get my course-planning out of the way first." He held up his cell phone, shielding it from the onslaught. "I don't get reception out here." "Wherever here is," Susi said through chattering teeth. Her dark, wet hair slapped her face, and she had to shout over the high winds. They should have been running, trying to escape this massive rainfall, but there was nothing quite so mesmerizing as a possibility. "You guys are the experts," Susi finally went on. "Is this it?" "A tornado?" Xu asked. "We're still a little far north…" "But it could be," Dale interrupted. Realizing he was still holding Susi's sweater, he helped her to wrap it around poor shivering Charlie. He had to try hard to ignore the fact that the back of his hand kept brushing her breast. Finally, he stole his hand back and shielded A Torquere Press Sip - 18

his eyes from the downpour. As he stared into the distance, he was sure he was seeing things. He had to be imagining things, because... "That looks like the start of a mesocyclone." As he said the word, Dale felt a surge of energy through his dick, and he knew he was every bit hard as when he'd kissed Xu beside the truck. There was something undeniably arousing about a tornado. Maybe it was the shape, or the vacuum. A tornado would be a great fuck if it weren't so damn destructive. "Mesocyclone?" Xu repeated, probably because the word turned him on, too. "You mean the twister?" Susi asked, still clinging to Charlie. Her feet seemed to loosen beneath her, and she slid backward through the long grasses. "Oh my God, guys, we have to get back to the car." But Dale didn't move, and neither did Xu, who appeared equally transfixed by the violent tornadogenesis ahead. Without taking his eyes off the supercell storm clouds, Dale reached for Xu's hand and, miraculously, found it. "Right before our eyes!" "I know," Xu said. Strangely calm, Dale moved closer to Xu. His heart stilled in his chest, and his breath tranquil in his lungs. Everything was perfect. It had never been this easy before. Just as he moved in to kiss the guy who by sheer chance shared his fetish, Dale felt a terrified hand on theirs. He looked up to see Susi's panic-stricken eyes veiled by wet strands of black hair. She tossed her head to the side and droplets of water went flying. "Come on!" She pulled on their hands so hard they couldn't keep from tumbling toward the truck. "We're going to get killed out here!" A Torquere Press Sip - 19

As their threesome ran in a tight bunch toward the vehicle, it seemed as good a time as any ask, "Would you be up to driving in closer to the tornado while Xu and I fuck in the backseat?" "What?" Susi screamed. "No! That's… Are you crazy? No fucking way I'm driving in this!" Dale felt pleased that the rain was more off-putting to Susitna than the idea of him and Xu going at it behind her. It helped to ease the letdown of a fantasy unfulfilled. When they made it back, Susi dragged them both to the high covered truck bed. "Who has the keys? Someone open this thing up!" "Why?" Dale called out over sounds of thunder, wind, and rain. She pointed to the windows of the crew cab. "You think I'm going to sit there while glass shards come flying at my face? If the tornado's coming this way, Charlie and I want to be here in the back." Xu shrugged and then launched his hand deep inside Dale's jeans pocket. "Might as well get in back if we're not going to drive through the storm." Until that moment, Dale hadn't realized just how wet his clothes were, or how hard his cock was, for that matter. His dick strained for those lean fingers, pushing aside sopping denim in its struggle to reach them before they escaped with the keys. As soon as Xu'd opened up the cab-high truck bed cap, Susitna dove in among their bags. Xu crawled in after her, saying, "I knew this sleeping bag would come in handy!" He had it unrolled on the truck bed by the time Dale crept in between them. Inside the truck, under the windowless shell, they were protected from the rain's wetness, but its sound seemed amplified as it bounced wall to wall in the dark A Torquere Press Sip - 20

space. Susi pushed their bags to the side. She pulled a warm sweater out of her own luggage and traded it for the wet green one they'd wrapped around Charlie. The poor dog still trembled. In fact, they all seemed to be shivering. Despite the humidity in the air, the rain had been cold and now they were all soaked to the bone. "I beg your pardon if this seems a little forward," Dale chuckled, "but I'm getting out of these wet clothes before I catch my death." Even though there was room to sit up, it seemed easier to flip onto his back and slip out of his wet jeans that way. Susi set Charlie down on top of her bag, and turned on her elbow. With the shell hatch still open, the fierce storm winds tousled her wet hair as she watched Dale undress. "Wow, you weren't kidding about fucking in a storm. Your dick is begging for it." To his great surprise, Susi reached out and grabbed his package through his one-of-a-kind mesh underwear. When she squeezed his hard shaft, he let out a moan nearly as loud as the thunder outside. "Yeah, Susi," he whispered. "Don't stop." Would Xu be jealous? He didn't even care, at this point. A gorgeous girl was stroking his dick. What did it matter what Xu thought? "Are you seriously this turned on just because of a tornado?" "It's not just the tornado," Xu said, raising his voice over the windstorm. He tore out of his top and pushed off his bottoms to reveal the hard dick Dale had come to know and love over these past few years. "And it's not just him. Lots of people find storms sexually thrilling." Susi was still dressed and dripping as she leaned over Dale to grab hold of Xu's cock. Resting her wet tits on Dale's stomach, she pulled his erection out from under the mesh and pumped its shaft in time with Xu's. As Xu groaned, bucking his hips up to meet her strong hand, A Torquere Press Sip - 21

the winds howled through their hideaway. A leafy branch flew through the air, smacking Xu clear in the face. "Oh my God!" Dale cried. Susi clung to their cocks as he tore the branch away. "Are you okay?" For a moment, Xu looked utterly stunned. After a brief silence, he chuckled and said, "I will never be defeated by foliage." When Dale and Susi didn't laugh along, he cleared his throat. "Why don't I just close this trap door, here?" When the shell was closed up tight, their truck bed hideaway went pitch black. Nobody moved. Even Susi, though clinging to their erections, held absolutely still. The winds were wicked out there -- Dale didn't need to see their wrath to know it. The whole truck rocked side to side while debris pelted the sides. From the echoing interior of the truck bed, the rain from above sounded like hail. "Could a tornado flip us?" Susi asked. He tone was fearful and strained. Charlie whimpered from on top of their luggage. "Sure it could," Xu replied, sounding typically cocky. Just as Dale was about to scold him for frightening Susi, Xu went on, "If it was an EF5 tornado, yeah, for sure. But that one wasn't much better than an EF1 or EF2. We're going to be fine." Convenient lies, but Dale was glad Xu had taken that route. Realistically, there was no way to tell if the vortex they'd seen in its formation would turn into a devastating mesocyclone, or if it would only toss a bit of dirt around. "Are you sure we'll be safe in here?" Lying didn't come naturally to Dale, but he did it for her sake. "Safe and sound." His heart raced as the words fell out. Really, he had no idea if they'd come out of this A Torquere Press Sip - 22

alive. And that turned him on like nothing else. They could get rolled. One way or another, they'd end up on top of each other in the pitch-blackness. As the winds smashed bits of dirt against truck's exterior, Susitna's hands started moving again, up the length of his cock, and presumably up Xu's. The pads of her soft fingers played in the pool of pre-come soaking his cockhead. This was heaven! If he was going to die today, this was the way to go. When Susi whispered, "I want to take off my clothes," her words echoed through the dark chamber. "Do it," Xu replied without hesitation. She was quiet for a moment before saying, "I don't feel right doing this in front of Charlie." "It's dark," Xu countered. "She can't see in the dark. Don't worry about it." At least he knew better than to tell a dog-owner, "She's just a dog!" Xu was a lot more suave than Dale had ever given him credit for. For a split-second, a devastating thought crept into his head. Why has he never been romantic with me? But, thinking back on the times they'd shared in their years of chasing tornadoes together, Dale had to figure Xu was a different kind of romantic with him. They'd always been friends, and when sex and intimacy crept into their relationship, they'd expressed their love more amiably than sweetly. Maybe different couples shared different versions of romance. And some couples, it seemed, shared their love with another person -- collectively, they did. Dale and Xu had been "together" in some sense for a pretty long time. Dale had a crush on Susitna. Susitna had a crush on Xu. Xu seemed now to return the sentiment, and Susi at the very least found Dale "cute." A Torquere Press Sip - 23

Now, though Dale couldn't see a thing, he could hear the wet fabric of her camisole clinging to her flesh as she pulled it up and over her head. When she tossed it to the side, it landed somewhere against the truck bed with a splat. Her labored breathing mingled with the terrifying winds outside and Dale's hand somehow found its way down to his erect dick. He stoked himself as Susi slipped out of her bra, and her shorts and her panties. Even in the dark, he and Xu gravitated toward the naked woman like sunflowers to the golden orb. "I don't want to die," she said. Xu's hands travelled Dale's flesh in search of hers. "Don't worry," Xu consoled, "we won't let you." As they rolled their bodies to face hers, Xu's familiar cock landed like a pleasant reminder against Dale's ass crack. He pulled himself in close, urging his erection up through that path between two mounds of flesh. Xu's hand fumbled across Dale's chest, traipsing down and down again until it met his firm dick. Dale moaned when Xu touched it, and Susi seemed to follow that moan down them. She kissed Dale's cheek and a shock ran through his whole body. He turned to meet her lips with his. Her tongue penetrated his mouth, thrashing between his teeth, infusing him with warmth. Did she realize she was kissing Dale and not Xu? Perhaps she did, and she actually wanted to kiss him. The very thought made him just as happy as the kiss itself. "Hey, what about me?" Xu teased. "I thought you liked me best." To Dale's surprise and relief, Susitna didn't pull away from him and cry, "What the hell? I was kissing Dale?" No, she extended their kiss, running her tongue in slow circles around his before backing away. "I'll get to you," A Torquere Press Sip - 24

she cooed in Xu's direction. "I'm just enjoying a piece of your boyfriend first." Dale chuckled inwardly at the suggestion. Despite all they'd been through together, he'd never considered Xu his boyfriend. He wasn't sure why. As Susi leaned across Dale's shoulder to plant a kiss on Xu's waiting mouth, her hard nipples brushed his arm. Breathing heavily, she settled her big breasts across him until they'd passed over to Xu. Now she was spread across their two bodies, and he couldn't keep himself from picturing what she'd look like if they weren't in the dark: fresh brown skin shining like she'd just been rubbed down with cocoa butter, nice big tits with dark erect nipples, a mess of black hair below her navel, and glistening pink between those two lips. His fingers found her bush utterly by accident. The moment they tapped wetness, they planted themselves inside of her. She moaned against him, kissing Xu as Dale stroked her pussy. He couldn't believe how wet she was -- but then, of course, it had been a while since he'd been to bed with a girl. Girls' bodies did pump out quite a lot of lube when they were really turned on. Too bad guys couldn't do the same. He'd spend a lot less money on anal lube if that were the case. Xu's hips thrust with greater force in Dale's ass crack, tickling his hole every time an erect shaft or hairy balls banged against it. "God, we need some lube!" Dale cried. "And condoms. Where's my bag?" When he squirmed to the pile of luggage, Susi took his place at Xu's side. He could feel her body shifting as he moved. But that was okay. It really was. He didn't mind. "How are you doing over here?" he asked Charlie as he felt along their luggage for the one that might be his. The dog whimpered and whined as the truck rocked on its axels. Something big was going to happen, and it A Torquere Press Sip - 25

was going to happen out there while they were trapped in here -- but which was preferable: witnessing another tornado or making use of the arousal the storm had brought on in the first place? Pulling a bottle of lube and some condoms from his bag, Dale stuck one hand out in front of himself and crawled forward. When his hand met something supple, he stopped and Susi laughed. She set her hand on top of his and made him squeeze her boob. First he heard her moan, and then he heard wet lapping sounds to his left. Xu was going down on her. Xu was eating pussy! And, man, did she ever seem to like it. That was one area in which Dale had never felt much confidence. He knew he could give a killer blowjob, but that was because erections were easy to work with. Clits were such slippery, fussy little things. In fact, they drove him nuts and he was glad Xu was the one to please her that way. He couldn't have handled the pressure. One thing he could do, though, was suck a tit. Dale couldn't understand why everyone in the world didn't lust after breasts -- they were just the most delicious things he could imagine! Sinking down on Susi's chest as she panted and whinnied, he licked her nipple in smooth circles. The truck rocked side to side a little, throwing him off course, but he soon regained his footing. As he sucked on her big tit, Susi ran a hand through his hair, pressing his head down against her chest until his nose somehow became trapped between mounds of flesh. He pulled away, gasping for breath. In the dark, it was hard to tell exactly what was going on. Susi seemed to be coming already. Cunnilingus was amazingly effective if the giver was good, but Dale's erection strengthened with every shake and shudder of the truck. A Torquere Press Sip - 26

There was a twister out there somewhere. He needed to fuck something…now! Feeling his way down Susi's body, he found Xu's occupied head and followed his back to a butt raised up in the air. As Dale backed in behind it, it started to move forward. "I want to get inside you," Xu said, presumably to Susi. "I have condoms," Dale interrupted. "Want one?" "Yes!" Susi cried. "Oh God, yes!" Maybe she was still in orgasm mode. Though he couldn't see what he was doing, Dale tore open a packet and reached down for Xu's hard cock. Xu moaned with pleasure as Dale slid the latex down his shaft. "You don't need any lube, do you?" he asked. Xu laughed, and Susi did, too. "No, he did a damn fine job of warning me up," Susi said. "Now get up here and sit on my face, you!" "Who, me?" Dale asked. Susi gasped, and Dale wasn't sure if it was in response to the howling winds rocking the truck, or if it was because Xu had just rammed his hard cock inside her pussy. She moaned and said, "Oh God," before repeating, "Get up here, Dale!" He'd been taken with the idea of fucking Xu's tight ass, but how could he say no to Susi? So he followed their moving bodies up until he found a shoulder, and then a breast. That's when something grabbed him -- a hand -- and yanked him across the outstretched sleeping bag. His knee came off the ground and for a moment he thought this was it, the tornado had them. They were in the twister's unforgiving grasp and any minute now they'd land upside-down in a ditch and be immortalized as the kids who were killed by a tornado while having a threesome. Wow…everyone would think they were so cool! A Torquere Press Sip - 27

But it wasn't the storm that had him by the ankle. It was either Xu or Susitna -- didn't really matter who, because the second his knee met the floor again, a mouth wrapped him in delicious warmth. Dale held Susi's big tits to steady himself while she sucked his balls one after another. There was a hand grasping his dick at the base, and while he had no clue whose it was, he loved the idea of not knowing. Another mouth met him straight on. A hot tongue licked his cockhead and, though the sensation was familiar, the circumstance was entirely new and exciting. Xu wrapped his hot lips around Dale's cockhead as he fucked Susi. Susi sucked Dale's balls while she bucked back at Xu's erection. They were all connected -- Susi to Dale, Dale to Xu, Xu to Susi -- and the very idea of it was every bit as arousing as the storm outside or even the sensation inside. As he squeezed Susi's ample breasts, Dale thrust his dick farther inside Xu's mouth. He didn't get too far, of course, because the farther he moved toward Xu, the harder Susi seemed to pull back on his balls. He was kind of stuck in place out of fear Susi would become a harsh mistress, but she exercised incredible control over him with her mouth. To Dale's delight, Xu came closer. As the guy took in more cock, Dale could have sworn he felt vicariously what it was like to penetrate Susi. For a moment, Xu's mouth was her pussy, and Dale treated it with passionate care. Strangely, as Susi sucked his balls, he got a sense of what it felt like to be fucked by Xu, too. He felt the warmth and wetness of her pussy inside himself, and for a split second knew what it meant to be penetrated like that. He felt the emotion in their experience, and his heart rocked with joy to share love with both. A Torquere Press Sip - 28

Then everything got crazy. Susi and Xu sucked in time with one another. Their bodies moved fast under and before him. Everything happened in perfect syncopation inside their little circle, but even as they approached collective orgasm, Charlie started barking. The wind became audible even over their cries of passion, and the now-familiar sounds of dirt and pebbles hitting the truck were replaced by the sounds of larger debris smacking its body. Dale's erection surged as the truck rocked like crazy. This was it! He thrust his dick forward into Xu's mouth and his balls back into Susi's. Both swallowed everything they could. They shared the feast, humming and crying as their own personal waves closed in on them. With Charlie barking at the storm, Dale squeezed hard on Susi's nipples and she squealed against his balls. He then wrapped one hand around Xu's head and rammed his cock inside that warm mouth. Xu squealed, too, and held perfectly still on top of Susi as Dale exploded with come. Xu kept sucking and Susi kept sucking, and Dale held perfectly still. And the truck held perfectly still. Charlie stopped barking. There was no noise from outside. Nothing. No wind, no debris, large or small, hit the truck. The silence was eerie, after all they'd heard during the storm. Overwhelmed, Dale rolled off Susi and away from Xu's mouth. He lay flat on his stomach, feeling around for the latch. "What's happening now?" Susi panted. Her breath fell honey-sweet on his shoulder as she spoke. "Is it over?" A feeling of combined peace and trepidation settled over Dale as he grasped the latch and released it. The light of day climbed in with them and, as much as he A Torquere Press Sip - 29

tried to examine the damage outside, Dale's gaze kept returning to Susi's naked breasts. As she rolled on to her belly, Xu crawled up to the back of the truck bed and looked out across the field of debris. All in all, the damage wasn't too bad. They were lucky not to have parked too close to any houses or trees, because it looked like a few in the distance had been uprooted. "What's all that?" Susi asked, pointed down to the varied debris outside the truck. Xu looked out over her naked shoulder. "Lots of shingles, probably from the barns around here, fallen leaves and branches, lumber…" "That looks like part of a billboard there," Dale said. "And some garbage, some… what are those, chicken feathers?" Charlie started barking at the mention of chicken. After staying still on top of their luggage throughout the storm, she now hopped down from the truck to sniff around the large piece of billboard propped up against a soda can. When she barked in one side of it, something came flopping out the other side. It was probably the ugliest thing Dale had ever seen, but it was alive. "What the hell is that?" Susi asked as her dog tramped over debris to sniff the frightened critter. Xu looked on in amazement. "I think it's a naked chicken." Susi's eyes grew wide. "Oh my God, you're right! Do you think it got its feathers blown off in the storm?" "I've heard of that happening," Dale said. "But I've never seen it up close and personal." The world seemed vacant but for three friends and two animals. As they looked out from the truck bed, Charlie nuzzled the featherless chicken, who gazed back at her in bewildered curiosity. A Torquere Press Sip - 30

"Looks like your puppy's got a new sister," Dale laughed, suppressing thoughts of the damage this twister might have done in more populated areas. Susi rolled her eyes. "Just what I need -- a naked chicken to go with my naked boys." She smacked their bare behinds before asking, "So when's the next tornado touch down? We have got to do this again!" The End

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In the Eye Copyright © 2011 by Giselle Renarde All rights reserved. No part of this eBook may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address Torquere Press, Inc., PO Box 2545, Round Rock, TX 78680 Printed in the United States of America. Torquere Press, Inc.: Sips electronic edition / July 2011 Torquere Press eBooks are published by Torquere Press, Inc., PO Box 2545, Round Rock, TX 78680

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