End
Notes: This story is a continuation of the plot line set up in "Bitter Dregs" (because I can't leave well enough alone). :) It's also helpful to have read Kat on a Hot Tin Roof as this story references events therein.
What had started as a promised hike had turned into answering the call of nature, or rather, the infinitely more insistent call of Power Hormones. Kat lay on the blanket beneath Tommy, smiling up at him brilliantly, her azure eyes aglow with her deep-seated need, as his body plumbed her hungry depths with enthusiasm. However, his mind was a million miles away.
In all fairness, Tommy's mind hadn't been there since before the two had started out on their little trek. In fact, it hadn't been quite all the way there since Kim's surprise visit about six weeks ago. That had been something of a shock. Until then, he hadn't thought of her in quite a while, and was convinced he had finally gotten over her. But seeing her again reminded him of all the unanswered questions and unresolved feelings he still had.
However, it wasn't her visit per se that was distracting him from his pleasurable pursuit; it was something he had overheard Jason and Billy discussing the previous evening.
"I'm worried about her, Jase. She hasn't been calling nearly as often as she should. She's been putting it off until she can't bear it any longer."
"I know, but at least she is calling. I know how she feels. I was really hesitant when I first got back into the swing of things; it just didn't feel right somehow without the power hormones driving me--or at the very least a very strong emotional attachment."
"You know, one of these days we're going to have to tell Tommy and Kat what's going on. Adam, Rocky and Tanya have been helping out when we can't go to Kim, but what happens on the occasion when she calls and no one else is available? Or one of the others is down there helping her and Mondo attacks?"
"I agree; the question is, how much should we say? Sure, we tell them she's bottomed out with the bitter dregs --like you did when you refused the Gold Ranger Powers-- but what about the questions about her supposed boyfriend? Do we tell Tommy that there never really was any new relationship, that she still loves him? That she dumped him for his own good so he could be free to take care of his spikes without feeling guilty about her? That's something he needs to hear from her."
Tommy's mind was in a whirl. The letter had been a lie? Kim hadn't fallen out of love with him and found someone else? Jason had explained the dregs when he first came back to be the Gold Ranger and insisted they take care of Billy before he got worse, but Tommy hadn't really believed it could be so bad. He had never questioned Billy's explanation about the negative protons; what did he know about science? That was Billy's field of expertise, and he trusted the former Blue Ranger's knowledge implicitly. It never even occurred to him that Billy had made it all up. He never thought to ask ... just like he never thought to suspect Kim's letter. He had been so stunned and hurt ... it never occurred to him that Kim would make up something like that --that she'd lie to him.
How could she possibly believe that dumping me would be good for me?
How could Billy have refused the Gold Ranger Powers when we all knew how much it had hurt him to give up the Zeo Powers to Tanya?
But I never went through the bitter dregs when I lost my Green Ranger Powers! I never got so depressed that I'd do something so irrational as....
That's because Kim was there for you when you lost your powers. She wouldn't let you stay bummed out. She was there to comfort you and love you, both physically and emotionally. You had your other friends around you, too, and you were never without your powers for more than a month or so at best, both times. Who was there for Kim?
What about last Christmas?
What about it? Remember how you teased her about being so horny? You laughed and said that she had the strongest, longest-lasting final spike you'd ever seen. She hardly kept her hands off you; even when you were in public, she had to be holding your hand or something --it was as if she was starved for your touch. And she was; only you didn't know it. None of you did.
Tommy was more confused than ever. At the time, he hadn't called her --one, because it'd have been too painful to hear her actually say that she didn't love him anymore, and --two, because if that's what Kim really wanted, if that's what made her happy, then that's what he wanted for her. It just hadn't made sense ... he thought what they'd had had been something special ....
Of course, in light of all the things he should have questioned and never did, he gave half a thought to questioning Jason and Billy's words now, but only in passing. He knew Jason. This wasn't something he would make up. His best friend had been almost as devastated as he was upon learning of the break up. And what Jason had confided to him about his own bout with the dregs . That had really shaken Tommy, adding to the unreality of the situation. He just couldn't picture Jason in that state of mind. And in the eavesdropped conversation, Jason had gone on to tell Billy that the reason Kim did what she did in a letter was because she couldn't lie to Tommy in person. What if Kim had been lying to Jason? Although that seemed unlikely; Jason and Kim went way back, and Kim was a bad liar to begin with. He doubted she could lie convincingly to Jason --especially to his face. So that meant Kim really hadn't found someone else. She hadn't stopped loving him. Now, Tommy's question was: how did he feel about that? He honestly didn't know. Part of him was elated, and part of him wasn't sure he wanted to take the risk of getting his hopes up only to have his heart torn to shreds again.
"Harder, Tommy!" Kat gasped, and Tommy's mind was wrenched back to the here and now. He wanted to kick himself. Once again, he wasn't being fair to the wonderful woman he was dating. Here he was making love to her and thinking of another woman. She really deserved a lot better than he had been giving her lately. Kat had given so much of herself... the least he could do was pay attention while they were making love! Determined to make it up to his flaxen-haired girlfriend, Tommy shoved his concerns down to the farthest corner of his mind. There would be time enough to deal with them later; Kat needed --deserved-- his whole attention now.
"Anything you say."
Kat saw Tommy's eyes clear. He was back from wherever it was he had been. She knew she had a right to be annoyed that he couldn't even concentrate on her while they made love, but then, she knew he'd been exceptionally distracted since coming back from the Youth Center the previous afternoon. In fact, even since before then --since Kim's unexpected visit a month or so ago, come to think of it. Which was hardly surprising. It was the first time he had seen Kimberly since he had received that letter. Kat just wished it hadn't shaken him so; things had been going so well for them, finally.
They had gotten off to an understandably rocky start. Kim and Tommy had been together for so long and were so close ... a break-up was inconceivable to those who knew them and had seen them together. That's why it had been so devastating for him. It had never been her intent to take Kim's place as Tommy's girlfriend; granted, she had been attracted to him from the get go (one look into those heart-melting, soulful eyes, and she had fallen --hard!), and being relatively new to Angel Grove --in spite of her friends' unstinting acceptance-- she had been rather lonely and in need of the warmth and companionship of a special relationship. However, that wasn't why she reached out to Tommy. The main reason had been because she wanted to ease his pain; she just couldn't stand seeing him hurt like that.
She had been well aware of the difficulties of catching Tommy on the rebound and of the fact that Kim's shadow would be there for a long while. Still, she had found herself drawn to him more and more over the following months, and slowly, he began to respond in kind. He hadn't immediately grabbed for the support she had offered him; it was more like he reached back to her tentatively, as if afraid of being hurt again.
Kat smiled to herself as she reflected on the turning point of their relationship; although she really shouldn't be grateful for Gasket kidnapping Tommy and brainwashing him. It was just that in the wake of that mess, he seemed to have found some peace, and their friendship had finally blossomed into romance. It had been such a sudden change that at first she had been a bit dubious; perhaps Gasket had done something to Tommy's mind to make him literally forget Kim. That wasn't how Kat wanted Tommy to come to her. However, it turned out that he had had some realizations after getting his head back together (so to speak), and he had decided that he had lingered on the pain long enough.
Only, he had been fooling himself. Tommy hadn't dealt with his hurt feelings; he had merely locked them away some place where they wouldn't disturb him. Kim's visit had proven that. Everything he thought he had resolved about the old relationship had come undone. And if he had heard the murmurings between the others that Kat had picked up on.... Tommy needed to sit down and take a long, hard look at his feelings for Kim, for herself, and finally, truly resolve them, or he was never going to be able to move ahead.
He's not the only one who needs to do that, an inner voice scolded. Inwardly, Kat sighed guiltily. No, Tommy wasn't the only one whose heart and mind were wandering of late. The reason his preoccupation wasn't bothering her was because she was more than a little preoccupied herself. Ever since her roof top escapade while the gang had been away camping, Kat had found herself thinking less and less of her red-clad boyfriend and more and more about her blue-clad teammate. It was a little disturbing because she'd never really thought of Rocky in this way before. He'd always been a dear friend and great partner when the hormones got out of control. She loved the way he could always make her laugh; he seemed to know just how to get her to have fun. And anyone who knew Rocky well knew that there was a very loyal, dedicated, responsible young man underneath all the jokes. Adam teased her sometimes about her own qualities rubbing off on his buddy. She really couldn't put her finger on what it was or what had changed, but she was finding herself drawn even more insistently to Rocky than she ever was to Tommy, and she wondered what that meant.
"Hey, Blue Eyes, you in there?" Tommy teased gently, bringing Kat back to the present. Her boyfriend smiled down at her warmly. "Am I boring you?"
"No, of course not," she replied. She threaded her arms around his neck, pulling him close for a kiss.
And for a blissful while, the two lost themselves in the demands of their bodies .
Tommy pulled out and lay next to Kat, regarding her with quiet appreciation. Softly he combed his fingers through the delicate strands of her gold hair and brushed them against her pink-tinged cheek. Slowly, as if imprinting the sight and feel of her graceful curves and silken skin on his senses, he drew his fingers down her throat to the swell of her bosom. He smiled with warm affection into the sapphire pools of her eyes as his fingers caressed her gently rounded breasts with their taut, rosy peaks. Kat's lips wetly parted with a gasp at his touch, and Tommy lowered his mouth to hers.
Kat wrapped her arms around him, burying her fingers into his wealth of mahogany locks, deepening the kiss. Normally, she really enjoyed it when Tommy made slow, sweet love to her. Sometimes it seemed as if they never made love enough -- not just Tommy, but the other guys, too. However, slow and sensual was not what she was in the mood for at the moment. Due to the sudden onslaught of her spike, her body wanted --needed-- hot, raw, unbridled, passionate sex. She yearend for him to drive his cock into her hungry depths as hard and deep as he could. She longed to give free rein to the wild, almost uncontrollable impulses flooding her every synapse. She wanted to wrap her legs around those trim hips and hold him inside her as if she'd never let him go.
It has to be the fresh air, Kat mused, thinking about her last wanton escapade in the great outdoors. Just something about being in the open seemed to set her inhibitions free, as if she were as wild as the world about her.
However, at the rate Tommy was going.... Normally, he was much better at matching her mood than this. She emitted a soft growl of impatience.
"I take it someone is in the mood for something a little more along these lines?" Tommy queried with amusement. So saying, he bit down on one blushing nipple.
"Ah!" Kat gasped, sucking in a sharp breath as the exquisite pressure sent bolts of sexual electricity shooting from her turgid nub, setting her every fiber alight with incandescent rapture. "Yes!" she hissed again as Tommy swiped his tongue roughly against the straining flesh. She grasped his hair and pressed him deeper into her quivering mounds. Her body writhed against his lean, hard form in a frenzy of lustful desire even as his fingers sought to tease her other aching tip and to knead her pliant globe more forcefully.
Kat's hips pumped against him, desperately seeking his cock. However, Tommy tauntingly slid down her body at that moment, his mouth wetly working its way down her trembling abdomen.
"Tommy...!" she pleaded, her blood surging in anticipation. So great was her state of arousal that almost as soon as his hot mouth connected with her moist folds, her body pulled taut in orgasm, her breathy exhalation sounding like a hiss of steam.
Tommy probed Kat's delectable pussy with enthusiasm, thrilling to the way she flung her legs over his shoulders and locked her ankles around his head. His fingers dug deep into the soft flesh of her creamy ass, and her keening cries filled the air as he ate her to another sense-shattering climax.
The abandon with which she rode his face sparked something within him --a chord anxious to rise to meet and satisfy his partner's desires. He concentrated his tongue on her swollen pearl of pleasure, flicking it with merciless intensity. Then, he drilled a finger into her juicy hole, delighting in the ferocity of the pressure her walls exerted on his lone digit, knowing that same hold would soon envelope his throbbing dick.
"Oh, yes!" Kat cried lasciviously as Tommy finger-fucked her in perfect synch with his talented tongue. She bucked her hips into his face energetically, her hands squeezing her breasts together, her fingers tugging at her engorged nipples. As incredible as Tommy's mouth felt, he still wasn't hitting her where she really wanted to be hit. However, a second orgasm crested, sending her shrieking joyfully into the fiery abyss of ecstatic bliss.
Still, she knew what she wanted, and as soon as she could form coherent words, she demanded, "Fuck me, Tommy! Oh, God, I want that cock of yours in me!"
"As you wish," Tommy acquiesced flippantly, but readily.
"Uhn!" Kat gasped as her boyfriend buried himself in her eager pussy with such relish it reminded her of Rocky at his most frolicsome. Tommy's pelvis slapped against her upraised cheeks with a satisfying smack. With sharp thrusts, his dick pistoned her energetically, hitting her deepest reaches unerringly and sending white-hot bolts of electricity careening through every inch of her body. She wrapped her legs around his waist, spurring him on until their mingled grunts of exertion and pleasure drowned out the sounds of the woods around them.
And still it wasn't enough.
Kat's whimper of frustration was more like a snarl. Tommy grinned as he watched passion transform the normally reserved Pink Ranger into a veritable wild woman. He rarely saw this side of Kat. Such wanton desire--naked in her eyes--fired his blood, making him rise to the challenge of satisfying her raging need. It had been too long since he'd been so inspired. It brought to mind one of his last times with Kim
"On your hands and knees," he ordered, his voice raspy with his own suppressed urges.
"Mmmm...!" Kat purred in anticipation, eagerly complying, scrambling around and thrusting her bottom at him in undisguised invitation.
Kat felt completely and utterly out of control as she impaled herself on Tommy's rampant prick. As he grabbed her hips and began pistoning her for all he was worth, Kat found herself wishing they'd have invited Rocky or one of the other guys along. What she really wanted was to be fucked in both openings --Tommy's cock in her cunt and Rocky's awesome rod in her ass! The very thought had her moving and gasping in a deeper frenzy. She knelt upright, and Tommy pressed her back to his chest, his hands cupping and roughly fondling her bouncing breasts. He pinched hard on her erect nipples until Kat moaned gutturally for the intensity of the fire racing through her veins at breakneck speed. Nipping and licking, he savaged her neck and her pulse point. Then, his hand wandered down her undulating body to pet her wet curls. A questing finger found the swollen bud of her clitoris between her nether lips and stroked it in time with his plundering dick.
"Forget my clit; shove that finger up my ass!" she demanded rawly. Maybe she couldn't have another cock, too, but she'd take what she could get! She dropped forward and wagged her bum at him lewdly, and she let out a mixed sigh/groan as Tommy worked his saliva-slick digit into her rectum. She nearly swooned from the power of the sensations ripping through her bottom as Tommy's finger reamed her puckered hole.
All Tommy could do was hold on as Kat lost it. Her ecstatic cries crescendoed to impossible heights as her muscles clenched him in a vice grip. He felt the first tremors of her climax radiating throughout her body, and he felt his own imminent eruption boiling like molten lava in his balls. Together, they drove each other to the brink, mutually consumed by their individual pleasures ... minds playing out erotic fantasies ... bodies tensing ... muscles coiling ... voices rising in cries of ultimate pleasure....
Kat came first. With a wild toss of her head, she reared back and screamed as her orgasm exploded through her: "Roocckkyy!"
"Oh, God, Kim --now!" Tommy shouted almost in the same instant. Seconds after Kat's pussy clamped around his cock in a deathgrip, he filled her sex with a copious load of come, then collapsed weakly against her back. As for the Pink Ranger, she had fallen forward, just as exhausted, and it was as they lay there catching their breath, sanity slowly returning, that they realized what they had both just said. For a long while, neither dared to move. Then, Tommy rolled away, and they settled down on the blanket side by side. When at last they could look at each other, both sported sheepish blushes.
"Sounds like we need to have a little talk," Kat ventured first.
"I guess so," Tommy agreed hesitantly.
"You still love Kim, don't you," Kat stated, getting straight to the point, knowing that no good would come of a discussion if she let Tommy take his time and pussyfoot around the issue.
"No ... yes ... I don't know...." he sputtered, his hand combing through his hair then reaching under the long locks to rub the back of his neck. "I don't know what I feel anymore."
"I think you do, Tommy; I don't think you ever truly stopped loving Kim, in spite of everything."
"I tried letting her go...."
"How could you when you had all those unanswered questions locked up inside you? Without those answers, how could you have any closure?"
Tommy was silent for several minutes, then he confessed, "I guess a part of me really didn't want to let her go. Deep down, I just couldn't believe that she could stop loving me, because that meant that what we'd had together wasn't really special, wasn't really real. I didn't want to believe that --I couldn't believe that."
"Just because things change, doesn't mean what you had wasn't special. It was. It was very special; anyone who saw the two of you together could see that. What you two had was the type of relationship that most girls dream of having. I know I did," Kat admitted with a wry grin. "And it's the sort of love that you don't give up --or forget about-- easily."
"God, Kat...." Tommy began, obvious regret lacing his tone. "I feel horrible. I mean, I feel like I've lied to you and used you...."
"Tommy, if you used me, it's only because I was willing to be used."
"Huh?"
"I knew how much in love you and Kim were, and I knew there was no way I could --anyone could-- ever replace her in your heart. You were hurt, lost and lonely, and I was lonely, too. I just thought that maybe we could take care of each other for a little while and bring each other some happiness. Only, somewhere along the way, I wound up falling for you."
Tommy didn't know what to say to that.
"Although, to be honest, I'd been expecting us to have this conversation long before now. I figured that once you realized that Kim's letter was a load of malarkey...."
"Waitaminute! Do you mean to tell me you knew the letter was bogus?" Tommy exploded, sitting up and glaring at Kat, his sense of betrayal evident. Kat sat up and placed a calming hand on his arm.
"I didn't know for certain; it was just a feeling," she explained patiently, knowing that Tommy didn't really mean to accuse her of anything. It was just a knee-jerk reaction. "Like I said, what you and Kim had was something you don't give up without a fight. I couldn't imagine Kim abruptly finding someone else, but I had no proof. I didn't want to say anything and get your hopes up. I just assumed you'd call her and find out --we all did-- but since you didn't, none of us felt it was our place to interfere. We respected your decision to let her go." Then, she smiled with a bit of humor. "So, how'd you finally figure it out?"
"I heard Jason and Billy talking last night about Kim...."
"... and the bitter dregs? I overheard Tanya talking to Adam not too long ago about the same thing," Kat said.
"That seems just a little far fetched.... Doesn't it?"
"Honestly? Her breaking up with you because she felt it was for your own good sounds a lot more like Kim than her falling for someone else does. Only Kimberly knows exactly what was going through her mind at the time, but . Ultimately, she did it because she loved you."
Everything Kat said made sense to Tommy, but it was going to take a little time for him to digest and decide what to do about it. As much as he wanted to get back together with Kim, he had to confess to being rather reluctant as well. That she could hurt him so....
"So, what's this about you and Rocky?" he asked abruptly, setting aside his reflections for the moment, and getting to Kat's portion of the soul searching they both needed to do.
Kat flushed pink. "There is no me and Rocky.' It's just ... I'm not sure how to explain it. It's not like when I first met you --sort of fell with one look. It's like he's always been there for me, always known just what I needed, even when I didn't. I just never realized it until now. I don't know how I could have been so blind. I really enjoy spending time with him, and he's been on my mind a lot lately...."
"... and you'd like to explore the possibilities," Tommy summed up, smiling kindly.
"Yeah, I think I would," she murmured, lowering her eyes briefly.
"Then go for it."
"Really?"
"Yes. You need to follow your heart on this one. If you don't...."
"I'll wind up as miserable as you?" Kat teased.
"Hey!"
"Seriously, y-you really don't mind...?"
"No, I don't --and not just because of what may or may not happen between me and Kim. Kat, if being with someone other than me is what makes you happy, I couldn't stand in your way."
"Just like you couldn't stand in Kim's way when you thought she loved someone else," Kat realized. "It takes a lot of love to let someone go to follow their heart, especially when it doesn't lead back to you. Thank you, Tommy, for understanding."
"Me? You put up with so much from me ... I really and truly want for you to be happy. You've more than earned it," Tommy replied. "And I think that you and Rocky will be good together. You have a way of bringing out the best in people."
The two shared a lingering hug, and for the first time in a long time, neither felt the need to hold back. Both felt as if a great weight had been lifted from their souls. Then, Tommy lay back down on the blanket, staring up at the sky pensively.
"What is it?" Kat queried, unable to track his thoughts.
"I wonder ... did we ever truly love each other? I'd hate to think that there wasn't anything at all between us, except a need not to be lonely," he said at last. She smiled and lay down next to him, snuggling close against the cool breeze.
"We love each other; we've just grown past our infatuation and the extra need, I guess you could say. What remains is the love of two really good friends who'd do anything for each other ... like between you and Jason, Rocky and Adam, me and Tanya ... and what you and Kim would have shared eventually had she really and truly found someone else."
"I guess you're right. You really are something special; I hope you know that."
"And so are you."
Companionable silence fell over the pair as they watched the clouds roll by.
"So, when you gonna work up the nerve to talk to Rocky?" Tommy asked at last.
"When you teleport your arse down to Florida to talk to Kim."
"Touche," he laughed. "Just remember that even though you've given your heart to someone doesn't mean you can't share your body with the rest of us."
"You're telling me this?" Kat sputtered with merry indignation, and Tommy had the grace to look sheepish. She retorted playfully, "It's a good thing you reminded me, because you haven't taken care of my spike by a long shot."
"Well, then, we'll have to do something about that. After all, what kind of friend do you think I am?"
"The best."