Chapter 42
CHAPTER 42
Ash
Ash: Bumped into hot doc in the airport.
This was what we collectively referred to Sibu as.
Yo: As in the guy who cried during sex?
Ash: That’s the one.
Melusi: That gorgeous young Denzel when he had all the muscles.
Ash: That one.
Sarah: You actually liked him.
Ash: I did. And the sex was going better than all the other sex I’d had, until he cried.
Melusi: Is he over his ex, yet?
Ash: Apparently so . . . And he wants to go on a date.
Sarah: I thought you were having hot sex with Max.
Ash: No, that’s over.
Ash: So totally, totally over. And I’m feeling so relieved.
Ash: Like really relieved and happy.
After I typed the words, I lifted my gaze ever so slightly to Max. He was sitting in the row in front of me in the van. He was looking out the window and I ran my eyes over his profile. Oh God, why did he have to look like that? And smell like that? Because there was a particularly woody and intoxicating scent filling the van right now. I put my fingers back down to my phone and typed harder than I needed to.
Ash: Happy.
Ash: So happy it’s over!!!!!!!!
Yo: Wait. I’m so lost.
Sarah: Me too.
Sarah: Last time we spoke you were going to have sex with him.
Ash: It kind of didn’t work out that way.
Sarah: Your life is like a soap opera at the moment. I swear I can’t keep up.
Charlie: Me neither.
Ash: I have to go, but I had to tell you all that.
Yo: I actually think a date with hot doc could be a good thing.
Yo: I liked the guy, besides it’s always good to know a doctor, just in case.
Russ: I thought you were on a detox?
Frank: Me too.
Yo: Where have you been in this conversation, guys. She’s not on it anymore.
Russ: No, I’m lost.
Melusi: It’s simple. She was on it and then decided not to be on it after she and Max were flirting on email. And then after she knew it was him, she went back onto it. And then when they started flirting, she went off it again, and when they didn’t have sex she went back on it, but now that hot doc is back, she might go back off it. Keep up!
I reread Melusi’s message and it made my head spin. Had I really gone on and off a sex and man detox so manically and frequently?
Ash: Okay, just arrived at the Lake. Totally gorgeous by the way.
Ash: Have to run.
I climbed out the car and stared in awe at the massive lake in front of me. It was spectacular. In some places, the water was so clear it was transparent. Huge boulders rose up out of the water in parts, creating small natural islands where vegetation had grown wild. If I didn’t know I was in a land-locked African country, I would have thought I was on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean.
I immediately got to work while we still had perfect light: tracking the movement of the sun so I knew what shots needed to be shot in which order, creating that shot list, and then coming up with a gear list too. I was busy contemplating an aerial shot when I started to notice that the sun was much lower in the sky. I looked at my watch. I had been working flat out for six hours. Enough for now. I walked towards the hotel we were staying in. It was absolutely gorgeous, built onto a rocky outcrop, almost perching on it, as if it defied gravity. The huge boulders had also been incorporated into the interior design, and the reception desk was actually made of one.
“Hi, I’m with the production company, checking in.” The woman behind the counter suddenly looked a little panicked.
“Let me call my manager quickly.”
I looked around for Max. This didn’t sound good.
The manager arrived, looking worried as well. “Welcome,” he said nervously. “Has your traveling companion told you yet?”
“Told me what?”
“There has been an issue with your rooms. A tap burst, and there was some unfortunate flooding. We’re so sorry. We know you’d wanted to stay in those rooms specifically. But we are putting you up in another villa together.”
“What? We’re sharing a room?”
“Oh no, the villa has several rooms, but it does share common living areas.”
I relaxed a bit. I’d thought he was going to tell me Max and I were going to be sharing a room. Luckily, we weren’t.
“Not a problem,” I said, and the man looked very relieved.
The villa was incredible, rustic chic, perched high up on the boulders with the most incredible view of the endless blue waters of the lake. We definitely needed an aerial shot! In my room too, a huge boulder protruded from the floor and the bed leaned up against it. I peeled off my clothes and went straight for the bathtub. If I’d thought the bath at Matobo Hills had been perfect, I was very, very wrong. This was undoubtedly the world’s best bath. The bathroom was completely indoor/outdoor, and the tub had been carved out of one of the giant boulders. Green trees made a natural wall on the one side, but the front was completely open to the lake and view in front of me. And, what was better, a variety of bath salts and scented oils had been laid out on the Malawian rattan table next to the bath. I was going to make the most of this moment after what had been a rather long and hot day. The sun was setting over the lake and if perfection had a name, a place and a time, it would be the Takulandirani Villa, Lake Malawi, at exactly 5:39 p.m. I slipped into the floral-scented water and let out an audible moan of contentment.
God, this was amazing. I grabbed my phone and took a quick photo of my knees sticking out of the bath and the view behind it, and posted it on the group to a stream of jealous replies and photos of where they were. I put the phone down and muted it. I loved my friends, but I wanted some silence. Needed some silence. These last few days had been totally weird, to say the least. Things had been bizarre with Max, and I was just so happy to be free of all that. After last night’s talk, it was apparent I could actually have a decent, normal conversation with the man without all the sexually loaded subtext that had been underpinning our reunion until now . . . right?
I closed my eyes and tilted my head back. I lay there in the water for so long that it started becoming cold as the sun set. Small fairy lights woven around the trees came on. This place could not get any more magical if it tried. I climbed out the bath and stood looking at the view for a while, the fat moon casting a silver glow over the water below. I reached for the towel, which was hanging from a tree branch that jutted from the foliage, making a natural towel rack. These people had put so much thought into every single detail of this place. I hoped Max would sign them on . . .
“ MAX !” I screamed, and froze. He was standing in front of me. “What the hell are you doing here?” I whipped the towel off the branch, only for it to snap and fall to the floor.
“I didn’t know your bathroom was here. Honestly, I was walking around to get some pictures of the villa at night.”
I’d put my hands over my breasts, crossed my legs to try to hide my rather bald nakedness and was now trying to pick up the dropped towel with my toe. He was staring at me. “For God’s sake! Stop staring. Stop— Aaaah! ” My foot hit a wet patch on the floor and I lurched forwards. “Shit!” I lost control and toppled, wet and naked and totally mortified, right into Max’s arms.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine!” I immediately and incorrectly said. “No. I’m clearly not fine, actually, because I’m naked. And you are . . . here .”
“Sorry, it was a genuine mistake.”
“Aaagggh,” I moaned when the full picture of what exactly was happening right now came into crystal clear view, and as soon as it did, other things became crystal clear as well: the feelings surging through my naked body right now; Max’s strong arms wrapped around me; my breasts pressing into his chest; his cock pressing into my stomach, growing harder by the second, which had not gone unnoticed by me, and it was driving me wild.
Knowing and feeling how hard his cock was sent a thrill rocketing up my spine. The thrill rushed in both ways, to my face and lips and mouth, which tingled now, but also to the base of my spine. My hips, my thighs, between my legs. A warm throb deep inside made me swell for him, made my legs part ever so slightly. Of course, he didn’t miss this tiny move, because his hands travelled down my back and settled around my waist. My heart raced a little quicker, my cheeks flushed and my breath quickened . . .
I was not over this.
No matter how much I tried to fight it with him, I was so far away from being over it that I might as well be under him right now. Legs wide open, inviting him to do whatever he wanted with me. And I wanted it too. I wanted it so badly and I did not think I had the energy, or the desire, to fight it any longer. I gasped when suddenly one of his hands left my lower back and came down on my ass, almost a spank, and then gripped it tightly. I looked up at him, wide-eyed, questioningly. He pulled me towards him and then ground me into his cock.
“Do you feel that?” he asked, and I nodded up at him in a stupefied state. “That’s how much I want you, Ash.”
I let out a moan when he did it one more time for good measure. In case I was in any doubt about how big and hard he was.
“Only question is, are you finally going to let me have you? I know you want me, but you’re the one standing in your own way.”
And then he let go of me, ran his eyes up and down my naked body—it felt on fire—and turned and walked away again.
Ash: We are like fire and gasoline.
Sarah: Hey, you’re messaging privately. This must be serious.
Ash: It is. I just want to talk to you.
Ash: You were there at the start. I need advice. Proper advice.
Ash: Whenever we are near each other, everything feels combustible.
Ash: The sexual tension is insane.
Ash: What should I do?
Sarah: Are you asking me if I think you should have sex with him?
Ash: Yes.
Ash: No.
Ash: Yes.
Sarah: Do you just want to have sex with him, or do you want more?
Ash: Like a relationship more?
Sarah: Yes.
Ash: Absolutely NOT !
Ash: Not after everything that’s happened. Remember how broken I was? How long it took me to get over it all?
Sarah: But you were in love with him back then. You’re not in love with him now . . . are you?
Ash: WHAT ?
Ash: No, absolutely not.
Sarah: Are you sure you’re not having any feelings for him?
I put my phone down and bit my lip. Tapped my foot against the floor. Sure, there were feelings. Just not those ones. There had been moments with him that had been nice; he’d been nice, and it had felt familiar, but—
Ash: NO !
Ash: There are no feelings like that.
Sarah: And any chance of those kinds of feelings?
I tapped my foot faster this time.
Ash: Nope!
Sarah: And from his side?
I stopped tapping my foot and thought about the way he’d kissed me on the forehead. Tender, loving almost. Called me baby. Tended to my foot, ankle . . .
Ash: Definitely not.
Sarah: So then why don’t you just have sex with him and get it over with and out of your system? You guys clearly have some seriously unfinished business and that’s the problem. And I’m not saying this because of weird maybe curses, I’m saying this because you guys didn’t have any closure, and maybe this is the thing that needs to happen so you can finally close the door on this. And . . . just in case, in case there is the tiniest possibility that curses do exist, have sex with him as well.
Ash: You think?
Sarah: As long as you’re not lying to yourself about any possible feelings you might be having, then yes! Just have sex with him and get it out of the way.
I lowered my phone. My tapping foot was going ballistic on the floor; it felt out of my control. The chewing of my lip also felt out of my control. I wasn’t lying about having those kinds of feelings for him. The only feelings I was having for him were of the very dirty, and lustful kind and Sarah was probably right!
I needed to have sex with him!