Chapter Cancun
Cancun
It was a shoot in Cancun where it all came to a head, roughly six months after Tulum.
Again, no sign of Bel on the call sheet.
Again, as had often been the case recently, a difficult drive with Miguel to the airport and a strained parting, one where she’d told him she loved him, out of a sense of duty as much as anything else, and he’d simply wished her a good time, his annoyance at her going away for work again clear to see.
Nadia caught her attention immediately when Luisa arrived on location.
Brazilian, in her mid-twenties, enough of a name that Luisa knew who she was when she saw her, a stereotypically beautiful woman from that part of the world with the same confident ease in her own body that Bel had.
Luisa was drawn to her in a way that she couldn’t rationally explain, something about the way that Nadia was so tactile with everyone, drawing them into her world with little touches.
That and her eyes, dazzling blue eyes in a deeply tanned face that held your attention when you talked to her.
Personality-wise she was the polar opposite of Bel, warm with strangers as much as friends, the life and soul of the party by reputation.
At dinner that night Luisa used all of her tricks to sit next to Nadia, before laughing loudly, probably a little too loudly, at all her jokes, and mirroring her little touches, a not too subtle brush of the fingers as they both reached for the water jug, a hand resting on Nadia’s forearm for a few seconds too long after confiding in her about something relatively trivial.
Luisa knew that she wasn’t being subtle, but subtlety didn’t seem necessary in this world that felt like it was a million miles from Aguascalientes. When the group moved to the hotel bar Luisa made sure that she was in Nadia’s orbit, and before long they had a few moments alone.
Luisa didn’t have to wait long.
“What to get out of here?” Nadia asked quietly but firmly, her accent making the words sound more seductive than they might otherwise have been, the expression on her face leaving little doubt that she didn’t mean going for a drink somewhere else.
Luisa’s heart raced as she nodded, realising as she did that this could be it…
this could be the night that she worked out whether she was a lesbian or Bel was just a one off.
She followed Nadia to the lift, and as the doors closed she silently slipped off her bracelet, a gift from Miguel for her eighteenth birthday, and tucked it away in a pocket, creating a boundary between her life at home and whatever this was about to be.
Nadia's room was nearly identical to Luisa’s, generic luxury made personal only by the scattered belongings of a woman constantly traveling… expensive skincare arranged on the bathroom counter, a silk robe draped over a chair, a battered paperback on the nightstand.
When Nadia kissed Luisa she was confident, taking the lead.
Very definitely not Nadia’s first time with a woman, that was for sure.
Luisa responded eagerly, waiting for the electric current she'd felt with Bel to surge through her. Nadia’s hands moved to her hips, drawing her closer, and Luisa pressed against her, trying to accelerate things, to reach that point of no return where thought dissolved into pure sensation.
But something just wasn’t clicking. The mechanics were there…
her mouth was soft, her body warm against Luisa’s, they were both doing everything right…
but the chemistry was missing. When her hand slid beneath Luisa’s shirt, cupping her breast, the touch felt nice but deliberate, like they were both following a script they’d memorised but didn’t fully believe in.
Still, she persisted. I'll see where this goes, thought Luisa, appreciating that as it was only her second time with another woman she still had plenty to learn. Maybe the magic happened later, maybe the art was in the foreplay.
They moved to the bed, clothing gradually discarded, and Luisa looked at Nadia's body with genuine curiosity... different from Bel's and different from Luisa's, more voluptuous, less toned, although this was all relative. Nadia was still a fashion model after all.
Luisa's mouth went to Nadia's breast, her tongue circling Nadia's nipple, drawing a long, soft moan, erotic but also, Luisa couldn't help thinking, slightly exaggerated, slightly performative.
As they continued Luisa recognised the performance because she was doing it too, moaning at appropriate moments, arching into Nadia's touch in ways that Luisa had learned that men responded to.
With a sinking feeling she realised that they were both, at least in part, acting.
Both going through the motions that led to pleasure but without that genuine, all-consuming connection she'd experienced with Bel.
When Nadia's hand slipped between Luisa's legs, her fingers finding the right spot and touching her gently, she felt her body responding, the arousal undeniable. Without a doubt it was still fun for Luisa, even without the connection, but she longed for the emotional depth to go with it.
She closed her eyes, trying to focus on the physical, and Nadia's fingers were doing everything right, sensitive to Luisa's needs and her reaction, but instead of being lost in the pleasure Luisa found herself mentally directing the scene.
.. tilting her head back performatively, letting out a long, shuddering moan that she only partially felt, making little gasps of encouragement at the right moments.
When Luisa finally came it felt good, undeniably good, but only good. Better than Miguel could manage, but about as good as Luisa could often achieve on her own and not even close to the earth shattering, soul shaking pleasure that Bel had given her again and again on that incredible night.
But still, she felt her back arching, genuinely, her hands uncontrollably grabbing at Nadia's body, a series of loud cries coming from her mouth, muffled by Nadia's lips kissing her messily. It was good. It was worth it. More than worth it, it was good sex without a doubt.
Afterwards, Luisa reciprocated. Moving down Nadia's body, she applied everything she'd learned from Bel supplemented by everything she'd read online in the intervening period.
.. tracing patterns with her tongue, using her fingers in tandem, paying close attention to how Nadia responded and adjusting accordingly.
Nadia came much quicker than Luisa had expected, noisily, performative again but seemingly genuine, her thighs tightening around Luisa's head, her hands pushing Luisa's tongue away when she couldn't take any more.
Luisa felt a sense of satisfaction that she'd been able to draw that sort of response from Nadia without guidance, pleased that she seemed to know what to do with a woman now even though it was only Luisa's second time.
They lay beside each other after that, close but barely touching, a careful distance between them as if they both sensed that the performance was over.
They talked for a while, pleasant but superficial conversation talking about cities they'd both been to and mutual acquaintances in the industry.
Only superficial topics, nothing of substance.
Around two Luisa made her excuses and left, citing an early call time in the morning, a perfunctory kiss at the door acknowledging what had happened between them but also, seemingly, that it was a one-time thing.
Over the rest of the shoot there was no awkwardness between them, on a personal level they were friendly, but there was no chance of a repeat performance, and Luisa had no desire for one.
She left Cancun to fly back home even more confused than before... if her encounter with Nadia had been amazing it would have told her something, if it had been terrible it would have told her something too, but instead it had been good. That was all... good, bordering on very good.
So, she knew now that she enjoyed sleeping with a woman that wasn't Bel, so she had learned something. But she also knew now that just any woman wouldn't do... obvious in hindsight, but something she just had to experience for herself to know.