Part 20, A Day Out.

Nina West sat waiting in the lobby of Brian Cook's home.  She was alone, having spurned Helen's company after the fiasco of the night before.  Nina knew deep down that it was silly of her to be mad at Helen for letting her down at the CoRTN compound, but a part of her still couldn't forgive the woman, despite the fact it hadn't been her fault, or so she said.

Helen told her that she had been chased away from CoRTN by a cop who didn't want anyone parked around that area.  After trying several times to find a place where she could watch for Nina to come out, Helen had been forced to leave under penalty of arrest.  She had ended up having to just drive in big circles around the neighborhood and only bad timing had caused her to miss Nina's exit.

Helen felt terrible about it, and Nina accepted her apology and explanation.  But Nina still felt she needed to get away from Helen for a day to calm down.  Luckily, her boss, Sarah Wickland, gave both Nina and Helen the rest of the week off while she was out of town on business.

So Nina called Jim and asked if he was doing anything; he wasn't, so they decided to spend the day together.

Now she sat waiting in the lobby while Jim was upstairs with Brian.  Immediately upon Jim's arrival, Brian had taken him upstairs to his studio, asking Nina to wait for them.

Nina hugged her nude body and wondered what the two of them were talking about.

"Oh, it was just about delivery of your statue," Jim told her when he eventually rejoined her.  He held her and gave her a quick kiss that Nina rather enjoyed.

"You were up there a while," Nina said, letting his arms envelope her.  Nina felt better when in his arms, despite the fact that she was nude and he wasn't.  She felt protected, almost clothed.  Nina was learning to trust Jim, and there were many other feelings that she was still trying to sort out.

"Sure.  Proper arrangements take time.  Now, come on, a big day ahead of us!"

Nina smiled.  "What do you have planned?"

"Oh, just a drive up to Uncle's cabin, maybe a trip into town for dinner tonight.  You game?"

Nina nodded and the couple started to walk out.  But Nina's eye caught someone watching them through one of the many mirrors that decorated the house.  It was Helen, nude herself because Brian had claimed another of her hours that morning.  She was half hiding herself and looking directly at Nina and Jim.  She must have realized that Nina had spotted her, because she moved and disappeared from view.

Nina wondered what was going through her mind, but was soon caught up in Jim's exuberance and forgot about her friend.

Jim's car was parked right in front, but Nina ignored it and started to walk down the driveway, until Jim stopped her.

"Here," he said, opening the passenger door, "I'll drive you."

Nina didn't think she needed a ride to the gatehouse to get some clothes, but his smile convinced her to climb into the car.  She had just sat down when out of the house bounced Kelly.  The young woman was still nude, as she had been for weeks now.  She had by now broken her old record, and every day for her was another notch on her belt...had she worn one.

"Jim!" she cried, "Wait up!"

Jim chuckled and stood by the car as Kelly ran down the steps.  She tackled Jim and the two of them hugged, making Nina frown a little.  Suddenly Nina didn't want Kelly around Jim.

"Jim, no one told me you were here; where you guys going?" Kelly said, grinning form ear to ear.

"Oh, no place special.  Just out to the cabin," Jim replied.

"Oooo!  Can I come along?  I'm getting kinda bored hanging around here."

Jim laughed and Nina opened her eyes in alarm.  "You could always go shopping or something," Jim told her.

Kelly pouted.  "I wish!"  In fact, Nina had noticed for a little while now that Kelly was getting a little less enthusiastic about her self enforced nudity.  Ever since she got here, she had been spending time either with friends or at the house.  Places you could go nude were somewhat limited, and over the last few weeks, Kelly had exhausted them all.  Nina thought that Kelly was about to give up and get dressed; after all, she had broken her previous record of longest time nude.  But Jim knew otherwise.  Knowing Kelly better, Jim knew that when she got like this it was a sign that she was ready to start taking some much bigger risks, where she almost dared the cops to arrest her.

Jim only hoped he would be there when Kelly finally let go.

Jim lifted up the slim, nude woman, holding her high in the air with his strong arms.

"Tell you what, Kel'," he said.  "Next time.  Okay, Honey?  Nina and I want some time alone."

Kelly wriggled in the air and almost pouted.  "Okay."

Jim laughed and put her down.  "You could always do something with Nina's friend Helen!"

Kelly frowned, then her expression changed to something more thoughtful.  "You know, you're right!  Have fun guys!" she said, scampering away.

Jim climbed into the driver's seat.

"You set Kelly loose on Helen?" Nina asked, hoping Helen was up to it.

"Sure.  You said she let you down last night.  What better revenge?"  Jim smiled and started the car, turning it around in the driveway.

"Well, in Helen's defense, it wasn't her fault."  Nina went on to explain what Helen had told HER.

"Oh well," said Jim, "at least they will both stay occupied."

Nina laughed.

When they reached the end of the driveway, the gates opened and Jim continued on without stopping.

"Hey!" Nina said, turning around.  "Wait, you have to stop!"

"Why?" Jim asked, pulling into traffic.

"I have to get some clothes!  I can't go around like this!"

Jim looked over at the nude Goddess sitting next to him and smiled.  "I can't think of a better way for you to go anywhere."

"But I'm NAKED!" protested Nina.

"I know!"

Nina looked into his eyes and blushed.  She slouched down in the seat and covered herself.

Jim chuckled.  "It's okay, it's not like we're really going anywhere.  You've driven nude to the cabin before.  And this time you're in an enclosed car with tinted windows, not a convertible.  You'll be fine!"

Nina knew that was true but it didn't make her feel much better.  "I would still have preferred to stop."

Jim glanced at her, but other wise kept his eyes on the road.  "Nina, you're a very beautiful woman, inside and out.  I'm still getting to know the Nina inside, but I find I can't get enough of the Nina outside.  I don't care if I never see you in clothes, they would only detract from your beauty.  I chose to take you from your home as you are, because I want to look at you just the way you are."

Nina thought about that for a moment.  "Well, maybe I would have gotten undressed for you, but I would have liked to have had the choice."

"Would you?"  Jim said.  "Would you really?  Tell me, Nina.  Sitting there now, knowing that you couldn't cover yourself up, knowing that you have nothing to clothe yourself with...isn't that making your heart pump hard, your senses reel?  Don't you feel more excited than you would have been if you had a handy shirt in the back seat in case of emergencies?"

Nina couldn't answer that.  It was true her body was very excited, but she didn't know if it was from pleasure or from fear.

Jim smiled, as if reading her thoughts.  "Tell you what, let's talk about it later.  Sit back, relax, and enjoy the drive."
 
 

---***---
 
 

Inside Brian Cook's house, Kelly carefully searched each room.  She eventually found Helen upstairs in the sunroom, perversely the most private public room of the house, despite its glass walls and ceiling.  Helen had been forbidden to stay in her room during her nude time; she had to be out where anyone could run across her.

Helen was settled on a couch, a magazine open on her lap, but she didn't appear to be looking at it.  Instead, she looked out past the glass walls at the trees outside, deep in thought.

Kelly paused near the top of the spiral staircase that was the only way into the room, before smiling and continuing up.  "Hi, Helen," she said.

Helen jerked her head around and blushed.  She looked down and busied herself with her magazine.  "Hi, Kelly."

"What are you doing up here?" Kelly asked her, padding over to sit on the couch.

Helen looked up, and Kelly was surprised to see how embarrassed Helen was.  It wasn't as if it was the first time she and Helen had been nude together, although Kelly had noticed that Helen usually stayed away from her for some reason.

"Something wrong?" Kelly asked her.

"No, nothing," was the curt reply.  Helen avoided looking Kelly in the eye and returned to her magazine.

Kelly moved a little closer and examined the way Helen was blushing.  She sniffed, and thought she smelled something familiar.  "You know that Jim and Nina have left for the day, don't you?" she said.

Helen nodded, not looking away from her magazine that lay across her lap.

Kelly paused, noting how erect Helen's nipples were.  "I guess that leaves you and me, then!"

Helen didn't say a word, and Kelly grinned.  "I'm sure we'll find something to do."

"I have things to do," Helen said politely.

Kelly shrugged.  "Perhaps.  But I figured that as we are both in the same boat, we might as well get to know each other."

"Same boat?" Helen asked, glancing up.

"Sure!  I know you pal around with Nina a lot, and I usually do the same with Jim when I'm here.  But since the two of them got together, it hasn't been as much fun."

Helen didn't answer, but her body language told the younger woman that Helen had her thoughts regarding Jim and Nina being together.

"Jim's quite a hunk though, isn't he?"  Kelly said, watching Helen carefully.  "There was a time when I wondered if he and I...well, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about."

Helen nodded politely.

Kelly moved a little closer.  "But who can blame him, going after Nina, she is very beautiful," she said quietly.  "It almost takes your breath away...looking at her," she whispered.

There it was, that flush again, spreading slowly across Helen's face and neck.  Kelly took a deep breath, her nose picking up that fragrance again.  She smiled.  "You like her, don't you," she said quietly.

Helen stiffened, just a little.  "Well...sure I do.  She's my friend," Helen said softly.

Kelly reached out and put a hand on Helen's bare thigh.  "No...I mean...you LIKE her."

Helen looked up like a scared rabbit before moving off the couch.  She headed for the stairs and went down without a word.

Kelly grinned and lay down on the soft couch, her face where Helen had been sitting.  Kelly sniffed and nodded, having a pretty good idea what else Helen had been doing up here.  'Yes', Kelly thought, 'maybe Helen would be fun after all!'
 
 

---***---
 
 

Nina and Jim spent a quiet day at the cabin his uncle owned.  They swam, they talked, they made love, getting to know each other as two people at the beginning of love try to do.

She got him to talk about his family, and Nina discovered how he was able to afford to spend $80,000 on a statue of her.  Jim's family was old money, railroad riches diversified into construction, textiles, and aerospace.  Jim's personal wealth was impressive for someone still in college, but he didn't brag about it.  In fact, he seemed rather ashamed of having so much, and Nina didn't push the subject.  Instead, he talked about his family, and Nina enjoyed the stories.

"You'll have to meet my parents sometime," he said to her, toying with one of her nipples as they lay in bed together.

"I'd like that," Nina replied, her head on his shoulder, her hot sweaty body hard against his.

Jim turned to look at her and smiled.  "Would you?  Really?"

Nina punched him.  "Sure!  Why shouldn't I?"

Jim chuckled.  "Okay then, I'll set it up."  Then he leaned over and kissed her.
 
 

---***---
 
 

Nina was showering outside, a shower head fastened to the wall of the cabin pouring warm water all over her.  She felt good, calm, relaxed, unconcerned about how she was showering in front of the great outdoors while there was a perfectly good bathroom inside.  Her thoughts were on Jim, and how their bodies had met that last time, his tenderness and his passion.

Nina grinned, worn out.

She felt strong arms circle round her, hugging her to a naked male body.  "I'm never going to get cleaned up at this rate," she said, smiling.

"Works for me," Jim replied, kissing the back of her neck.  "I find I can't resist the wet look!"

Nina giggled.  "Slow down, Lover.  We have to eat sometime!"

"I agree, which is why I'm taking you out to dinner."

Nina turned to look at him, her soapy body making it easy to slide around.  "Taking me to dinner?  You seem to forget that I have nothing to wear, unless you have something for me here!"

Jim grinned.  "Oh I can never forget that you have nothing to wear, but where we are going, it won't matter."

"Jim," Nine said, suddenly feeling nervous again,  "I...Can't we just stay here?  I'm not up for one of your games right now."

"Aren't you?" he said.  "I think you are.  I think you enjoy this more than you think, that you find an excitement, a thrill in being nude, beyond what you grew up with."

Nina looked uncertainly at him.  "I don't know," she whispered.

Jim nodded.  "That's right, you don't.  And you'd like to find out, wouldn't you?"

Nina looked at him for a moment, water pouring down her back from the showerhead.  "Yes...I would."

Jim held her face, a serious expression on his own, and he bent to kiss her.  "We'll find out together.  In fact, before we go eat, let's give you an adventure."

Nina opened her mouth to protest but Jim put his finger across it, hushing her.  "It'll be fine, trust me.  Now finish up and we'll go."

Nina nodded.
 
 

---***---
 
 

Nina sat nervously in the car, her arms across her breasts, her knees up.  Her thoughts were full of the trial ahead, why she was doing it, whether she was doing it at all!  Despite the fact that she had been forced into such things before, it still felt so very new, unpleasant.  Yet...

She looked over at Jim who gave her an encouraging smile.

"You're not trying to change me into Kelly are you?" Nina asked him.

Jim chuckled.  "No, I couldn't do that even if I wanted to, which I don't.  You and Kelly are nothing alike.  Kelly...well she doesn't have much humility.  She doesn't feel the shame that helps people build a well-rounded personality.  Most of the time I really think that the only reason she doesn't go out in full public naked is her fear of being arrested again.  Otherwise, she'd do it, no matter who was looking at her."

Nina grunted.  "Maybe she should join those crazies at CoRTN."

"Na, she wouldn't want to be with those guys," Jim said.

"Why not?  Their religion IS nudity."

"Yeah, with a lot of open sex thrown in as well from what you've told me.  That's not Kelly.  She's open enough about showing off her body, but I don't have enough fingers and toes for the number of guys she has rejected."

"Does that include you?" Nina asked, remembering the way he had picked up Kelly earlier.

"No, it doesn't.  Kelly and I never did look at each other that way.  She's pretty enough, but not my type."

"Not your type?  A woman who wants nothing more than to go around naked all the time isn't your type?" Nina said.

Rather than grin, Jim frowned.  "Like I said, she lacks humility.  You, on the other hand, carry buckets of it."

"Buckets, huh?  Is that a technical term, Doctor?"

Jim's frown turned into a grin.  When Nina had asked him what he was going to do with himself in life, he had surprised her by telling her he was pushing for a career track as a psychologist.

"Yeah, very technical.  Freud used it all the time."

Nina giggled, relaxing a little.  "So I'm full of humility."

Jim nodded.  "Yes, and I trust you to know your limits because of that."

"And when we reach my limits, will you stop?" she asked.

"Only if we can't discover how to expand them.  But knowing your limits means you know not to do anything stupid.  I can trust you to know when to back off.  I can't trust Kelly anymore."

Nina frowned.  "If you can't trust her, why do you still think up things for her to do, ways for her to streak?"

Jim glanced over at her as he drove, silent for a moment.

"You wouldn't have a way of knowing this, but these past few weeks I haven't really done much with Kelly, not compared to past years.  And the things we did do, I tried to make sure she wasn't alone doing."

"Why?"

"Well...it's nothing.  You're not her.  Look, we're here."

They had driven to the coast and dusk now hung over them, the sun below the horizon while the sky still glowed.

Jim pulled the car off the highway in a lay-by.  "Wait here," he said.

Nina waited nervously while Jim got out and walked toward the ocean.  Just like at Buffalo Beach, the water here was at the bottom of a cliff, and Jim disappeared over the edge, presumably following a path.

Ten minutes later, he came back up, and in the dim light Nina could see that he was smiling.  He climbed back in the car.

"I just had to make sure no one was about," he told her.  "It's all clear.  Now, here's the plan."

"Do I really have to do this?" Nina asked him, scared.

"No, you don't have to do this.  We could just go eat, maybe go back to your place if you like.  But I see in you a need to get this done.  Do you want to do this?"

Nina held her breath.  Did she?  She didn't know, but she didn't want to disappoint Jim, so she nodded.

"Okay," he said, watching her.  "Here's the plan.  You follow the path down to the beach; there's no one there so you'll be alone.  Turn left and follow the beach for about two miles.  You'll see a cell phone tower on the cliff, there is a path under it that you can use to climb back to the top.  All you have to do is walk from here to there."

"Naked," Nina said.

Jim smiled.  "Of course!"

"Is the beach going to be deserted all the way?" she asked him.

"I doubt it.  There are several homes on the cliff between here and there, but who knows if they will have people on the beach when you need to get by.  If you have to, you could always get in the water and swim past them, but I'd rather you didn't.  I'd like you to streak past them, just run and wave.  You'll be fine, and they will get a cheap thrill."

Nina didn't think much of that plan.  "Okay," she said.

"You DO trust me, don't you?" Jim said, holding her arm.

Nina waited a beat, then nodded.  So Jim leaned over and kissed her.

Nina responded and opened her door.  Feet on the hard asphalt, she turned to him and said, "You'd better take me someplace special for dinner after doing this for you!"

Jim laughed.  "Go on now!"

Nina, crouching low, made a mad dash for the path leading down the cliff face.  She looked back to see Jim's car pull back out onto the highway, and sighed.  She couldn't believe she was doing this.  Out in the middle of nowhere, no clothes, forced to walk at least two miles before she would have any kind of safety, without knowing WHEN she might get to wear clothes again.

She hoped he had been kidding about taking her to dinner naked, but had the sneaking suspicion he wasn't.  She hoped they were going to the restaurant at the Buffalo Resort.  At least she had dined nude there once before.

Nina reached the bottom of the cliff and walked out onto the cooling sand.  Jim had been right, there wasn't anyone around, but she could see lights coming on in the various houses between her and the cell tower, which blinked a light of its own.

Could she do this?  What if she just waited here; how long before Jim came back to look for her?

But Nina felt she couldn't do that to Jim, or to herself.  So, the naked girl began walking.
 
 

---***---
 
 

It went better than Nina had hoped.  She stuck close to the cliff until full darkness fell, although a nearly full moon lit up the ocean to her right.  After that, she walked more confidently out on the beach, and only had to hide a couple of times when she saw people.

One thing she couldn't do was streak, running past them as if her not having clothes didn't bother her.  It DID bother her, at least enough not to want to take that kind of risk.

So she worked her way along the beach, keeping out of sight as best she could.

Her goal was pretty close and she was looking forward to a very good meal when she heard the shouting.  She ducked down, caught in the open, and looked around, wondering if anyone had spotted her.  The beach was very wide here, with a considerable distance between the cliff face and the current water level.  From the tide line, Nina saw that most of this space would be underwater at high tide.

The screaming seemed to come from the ocean side, and Nina understood the distorted words.  "DADDY!  DADDY!" they called out, and Nina realized it was a girl yelling.  Nina saw a shadow running from the water, and saw in horror that she was right in the path of the runner.  Had she not hesitated, things may have turned out a lot differently, but Nina couldn't move until it was too late, and too late for her was when the girl was close enough to see her.

The girl, she must have been eight or nine, stopped, wide-eyed at seeing Nina crouched naked in the sand.  But Nina found out that the girl barely noticed her nudity.

"Please, help him!" cried the girl.  "My brother, he's out in the water.  He's in trouble.  Daddy told us not to swim in the dark, but he did it anyway and he's in trouble!  Can you help us?"

"Your brother is out there?" Nina said, looking out at the water.

"Yeah, he's in trouble.  Can you help?  PLEASE?"

"Where is he, I can't see him!" Nina said, standing up and crossing an arm across her breasts.

"Please, he's out there.  Help him!"

Nina looked at the girl and then at the water.  She felt her nudity, but also felt the fear of the girl, so she began to jog to the water's edge, looking out for any sign of the boy.

She heard him rather than saw him, a faint, "Daddy!  Mommy!"

Nina waded into the water and started to swim.  She knew what she was doing was very dangerous, going out into the ocean in the dark without any clear plan.  But she felt she had to do something.  As usual though, once she was swimming, Nina felt her confidence grow, and soon she was eating up the distance to where she thought the boy was.  Every twenty strokes, Nina would stop and take a bearing on the boy's cries, hoping he didn't lose his strength before she got to him.  He couldn't be far, but it seemed to take forever.

Farther, out, as she was treading water, a swell rose, and she saw him just yards away.  She swam over to him and grabbed him from behind.  He immediately began to struggle, but she held on to him.

"It's okay, it's okay," she said, "I'm here to help you!"

"DADDY!" the boy yelled.

"We'll get you back to your Dad, just hang on, okay"

The boy nodded, crying but calmer.  Nina figured he was older than his sister, maybe twelve or thirteen.  It was hard to tell in the water.

"Cramp," said the boy, "left leg...bad."

"It's okay, I'll swim for us both.  You just lay back and float, okay?"

The boy did as he was told and Nina began to tow him to shore.  She was glad she swam every day, working out the exact muscle groups she was using now, for it was hard work.  Not only was she pulling a dead weight, but she felt she was also swimming against the current.  She didn't give up though, she kept moving.

"ALEX!" yelled a voice from the shore and Nina winced.  She knew there was no way she could avoid being seen nude by another person unless she abandoned the boy close to shore, and that she wasn't about to do.

"HERE, DAD!" yelled the boy.  "I'M BEING RESCUED!"

Nina almost laughed.  She kept going though, until her toes scraped sand and she was able to stand.  She helped the boy to get on his feet, and she was vaguely aware of a man running through the shallows toward them.

The man, dressed in slacks and a shirt, ran right to the boy and picked him up.  He was followed closely by the girl, and a woman who presumably was the mother.

All of them crowded around the boy while Nina edged away.  Maybe they wouldn't notice she was nude!

No such luck.  The light was dim here at the ocean's edge, but not so dim she couldn't be seen.  When the man turned to focus on her, his jaw dropped before he caught himself.  His wife also noticed Nina's lack of dress and looked stunned for a second, before an amused smile crossed her features.  Then she turned back to the children.

The man took a step forward, still knee deep in water.  "Er...thank you...for rescuing Alex," he said.

"It's okay, I was glad to help!" Nina said, feeling VERY self-conscious.

The man stared at her for a second, before speaking again.  "No...I mean it.  You saved his life, there must be something I could do for you...maybe, some clothes?"

"Don't be silly, Donny!" said his wife from behind him.  "It's obvious the girl was just out skinny dipping, she doesn't need any clothes.  She must be from the Laja place up the beach, they hardly ever get dressed at all anymore!"

Nina blushed big time.

"Well," said Donny, "I have to do something for you."  He stepped forward, and his stunned expression changed to one of recognition.

Nina's heart fell because at that same time she recognized him.  Donald Bell, one of the lawyers at the firm she worked at.

"Wait a minute," he said, "You're...Nina West, right?"

Nina smiled a hopeless smile.  "Yeah...Hi, Mr. Bell."

"Honey, this is Nina West, a paralegal from the firm!" he told his wife.

The woman looked a little startled, but offered a smile.  "Very glad to meet you, Nina, I'm Wanda.  Thank you for being here for my son."  She turned to Donny.  "I'm taking the kids back to the house; Dad'll be here any minute and I want to check Alex out."

"I'm okay, Mom," said the boy, now conscious of the fact that he had been saved from drowning by a beautiful naked woman.  Boy, would he have a story to tell his friends!

His mother said she would check anyway and pulled him and his sister back in the direction of the house.

Donny looked back at Nina.  "I really want to do something for you.  Why don't you collect your clothes and come up to the house with us, so we can talk about this."

"I can't," Nina said, wishing she could die right there.

"Why not?"

"I...left them...way up the beach.  I was...taking a walk."

Donny swallowed.  "Oh...well, come up anyway.  I'm sure Wanda won't mind.  It's not like WE haven't skinny dipped in the ocean from time to time."

"No, please.  I can't.  I have to meet someone," Nina said, just wanting to get away.

"Well, go get them and bring them back if that will make you feel any better."

"Please, maybe another time?" Nina pleaded.

Donny nodded.  "Okay, another time.  But I want to make this right with you!"

Nina smiled.  "There's no need, your son is safe.  I have to go."

Donny nodded and watched Nina depart until the darkness swallowed her up.  He had watched her many times at the firm, and water cooler talk had her pegged as one of the more desirable single women in the firm.  He had never in his wildest dreams ever imagined that he would get to see her without a stitch of clothing on.  What a tale to tell HIS friends.

Nina, shaking from the adrenaline rush from both the rescue and the discovery of her identity, made it without further incident to the cell tower, and at the top collapsed into Jim's arms.

It took him a little bit to get the story out of her, but by then she was a lot more composed.

"Come on, then," he said.  "I'll take you home and we can eat there.  I think you've had enough adventure for one night."

Nina looked up at him and kissed him.  "Thank you."
 
 

End of Part 20.