by Anna Durand
"When I was a teenager, I never did anything I wasn't supposed to do. I was the shy girl nobody wanted to be friends with."
"I would've been your friend. As the nerd with glasses who loved computers, I didn't fit in either."
"But now you do." She glanced around, her lips curving into a soft smile. "You found where you belong, didn't you? I can tell how much you love this place."
"I do love it. But it's more than the trees and the hot spring. I love the people too."
She aimed her smile at me. "I can see why. They're really nice people."
After our visit to the lake, we headed back to the main resort area. Nobody was using the lawn where the miniten net had been set up earlier, but I knew why. It was time for the weekly bingo competition. Everyone would be in the dining hall for that.
Mara and I joined the game. She won twice, earning two snack-size bags of candy. Afterward, we relaxed on the lawn watching one of the guests lead an impromptu tai chi session---nude tai chi, of course. Mara seemed fascinated by the slow, precise movements.
She tore open one of her candy packets and dropped one of the chocolate-covered peanuts onto her tongue. Sealing her lips, she smiled faintly while she let the chocolate melt in her mouth and hummed with satisfaction. Then she chewed the peanut, slowly, almost sensually.
I wanted to drag her down onto the grass, strip her naked, and give her a different reason to hum like that.
"Want one?" she asked, holding a peanut to my lips. "They're so yummy."
She said that like a chocolate-covered peanut was the most succulent, delicious thing on earth, like she wanted to devour the entire bag while writhing on the ground in ecstasy.
Okay, maybe that was my fantasy, not what she actually wanted to do. Licking melted chocolate off her body... Yeah, I wanted that.
"Are you allergic?" she asked. "To peanuts, I mean."
"No, not allergic." I closed my mouth around the candy and her fingers, lapping up every molecule of chocolate before I chewed and swallowed the peanut. "Mm, you're right. That's really good."
But it didn't taste as good as Mara.
We had sex this morning, but I wanted her. Right now.
I'd told her we should get to know each other better before we got naked again, so I had to keep to my own word. For the rest of the day, we talked and hung out with the other guests and fed each other peanuts until both of the bags she'd won were empty.
At the end of the evening, I kissed her cheek to say good night at the door to her room.
Did I sleep? Sort of. But I dreamed about Mara---that smile, that body, the way she felt wrapped around me.
A week without feeling that again. I might just go insane.
Chapter Thirteen
Mara
I'd learned a lot about Ollie in one day, but the next three days taught me even more about him. Not only did he teach yoga, but he also entertained the guests with music, singing and playing the guitar like he had for me on that first day. On the second evening of my stay here, everyone gathered around the fire pit behind the guest house to toast marshmallows and have a good time.
I'd never seen a fire pit like that one, but it was a nice way to have a small bonfire without worrying about how to contain it. A circular brick enclosure surrounded the pit itself, which looked like a large metal bowl. A mesh screen formed a dome over the fire, but Ollie took that off so everyone could toast their marshmallows.
The newest guests, who'd shown up the day after I'd come here, had brought their children with them. Those boys put on a hilarious play about a dragon and dueling knights, with the bonfire as their backdrop.
After that, Ollie took center stage.
Well, he took center lawn. Ollie sat on the grass, cross-legged, and played his guitar so beautifully that he ought to have been a musician, not a computer systems engineer. But when he started to sing, he enthralled me. I'd heard him sing before, but his talent still amazed me. His voice wasn't polished like he'd taken years of lessons. He sang in a natural voice that suited the low-key pop songs he'd chosen to perform. I loved listening to him. His voice made me feel warm in a very different way from the warmth he gave me the rest of the time. This wasn't lust. His singing gave me a good feeling deep inside, one that morphed into a glow in my chest.
After every song, the crowd clapped and whistled. A few people whooped. I was one of them. God, Ollie was incredible. I wanted to see him perform his musical act in the nude, but he still insisted on wearing clothes for my sake.
Though I had gotten used to the nudists, once in a while they surprised me.
On the afternoon of the third day, Ollie had to do some assistant manager work, so I headed down the nature trail on my own. Ollie and I had taken several walks together, and I knew the way. I'd asked him to meet me at the hot spring when he got done with his work, but on the way there, I decided to detour down one of the side trails where he'd shown me a meadow full of wildflowers that attracted lots of butterflies.
I loved that meadow. On this day, the sky was pure blue, and the sun beamed down on me to toast my skin. I spent some time there, enjoying nature, but I didn't keep track of the time. What did it matter? I'd wanted to escape from my structured life in the city, so here I was ignoring the clock and reveling in the beauty of nature.
After a blessedly indeterminate length of time, I returned to the main path and followed it until I reached the junction with the hot spring trail. I turned down that path, but only got a little ways before it happened.
I had just rounded a curve in the trail and when I saw a gray-haired man standing alongside the trail, maybe twenty feet away. He faced sideways to me and had his head down, focused on his hand that cupped his penis.
And he was urinating. Right there. In full view of anyone who walked down the trail.
In full view of me.
"Oh!" I said, slapping a hand over my eyes. Realizing how dumb that was---I'd been around nudists all day every day for the past several days---I lowered my hand and focused on his face.
The man smiled and shrugged. "Sorry. I didn't think anybody would be on this trail. Everybody's playing badminton or watching the games. Everyone except you."
Since this man was clearly in his seventies, maybe even eighties, I decided he wasn't a pervert. He just needed to pee.
I was very proud of myself for not screaming or fainting.
"Don't worry about it," I told the man. "Sometimes you can't fight the call of nature."
My new friend ambled back to the trail and approached me. He offered me his hand to shake---the hand he hadn't used to hold his dick while he relieved himself. "I'm Carl Weatherman. And no, I never worked as an actual weatherman."
He smiled when he said that.
I shook his hand. "Mara Severins. You just got here this morning, right?"
"Yeah, me and my wife got here today."
That meant he probably hadn't heard about me, the idiot who screamed and fainted when she got her first glimpse of nudists. He must've wondered why I wore clothes, but he didn't say anything about that.
Carl wanted to go back to the guest house, so I walked back to the junction with the main trail with him to keep him company. We chatted about how beautiful it was here and how all the other nudists were so nice. He finally asked the obvious question when we stopped at the trail junction.
"It's none of my business," he said, "but I'm wondering why you wear clothes. This is a naturist resort, after all."
"Yeah, I wondered when you'd ask me that." I bit my lip while I considered how best to answer. Well, he'd probably hear about my freak-out sooner or later. Might as well get it out there now. "My travel agent made a mistake and thought naturist meant birdwatching and observing wildlife. So when I got here, I wasn't prepared for all the nudists. I shrieked and passed out. I've gotten used to all the naked people, but I still don't feel comfortable going au naturel."
"This is a clothes-optional resort, so keeping yo
ur duds on is acceptable. Maybe one day you'll try it our way." He patted my arm. "Never know, kid, you might enjoy it."
Carl and I said goodbye, and I went back down the trail to the hot spring. Ollie wasn't here yet, so I kicked off my sandals and sat down on the rocky ledge that surrounded the pool, letting my feet dangle in the water. I swung my legs, splashing my feet in the blue water, loving the silky warmth of the hot spring. It felt so nice, but I wanted to experience it all around me like I had the first time, when Ollie brought me here. I'd dived into the spring with my clothes on, but today, I wanted to feel the steamy water on my skin.
I couldn't. I mean, I was the girl who went wacko when I saw naked people eating lunch in a cafeteria.
But things had changed since then. I had changed. Ollie had shown me how to relax and take pleasure in the simple things without worrying about whether other people thought I was an idiot. He'd helped me loosen up in record time, but I knew I still had a ways to go before I'd shed that part of me for good. Eventually, I'd have to go home---to my family and to the disapproval of those high-society idiots who turned their noses up at my sometimes ditsy behavior. Would this new version of me, the one I really liked, disappear when I left the resort?
God, I hoped not. But just in case, I wanted to revel in my newfound freedom as much as possible before I had to leave this magical place.
I got up, glancing around to make sure nobody was around, then I stripped off my clothes. A breeze tickled my skin, and my nipples went rigid from the cool kiss of the air. I walked to the very edge of the rock ledge that encompassed the spring, my toes curled over its rim, and gazed down at the beautiful blue water and the steam wafting up from it.
Then I dived in, cannonball style.
Water plumed up around me.
I sank beneath the surface, bobbing up out of it. Laughter bubbled out of me, and I dived under the surface again, springing up out of the water, laughing even more, squealing when a wavelet lapped against my face. I couldn't remember the last time I had this much fun. Well, fun that didn't involve Ollie naked on top of me.
And I had never felt this free, except with him.
Paddling around the pool, I flipped over to do the backstroke and then moved into the center of the spring to float on my back. The sun shined down through an opening in the trees, casting its glow on the water around me and on my face. I shut my eyes while I swirled my fingers in the water, letting the rest of the world drift away until nothing remained except the sound of the breeze rustling the trees and the birds twittering.
"Mara?"
Ollie's voice pulled me out of my meditation. He stood near the edge of the spring, looking down at me with a confused expression.
I swam to him, folding my arms on the ledge. "There you are. I thought you'd forgotten about me."
"That won't ever happen." He knelt to get closer to me. "You're swimming. Naked. In the outdoors."
"Mm-hm. It feels wonderful." I splashed my hand in the water, some of the spray landing on his face. "Have you ever made love in the hot spring?"
He swallowed hard enough I could see it, and his voice dropped to a husky register. "No, I've never done that. Everybody knows Eve and Val did that once. Probably more than once, but nobody's caught them since that first time. I wouldn't want to be a copycat."
"But I want you, Ollie. Want you so bad."
"I, uh..." He blinked several times and shook his head, like he was trying to clear his thoughts. "I want you too, Mara, but there's been a complication."
"What's wrong?"
"Your parents are here."
Everything inside me froze, mutating into solid ice. My parents? Here? At a nudist resort? Oh shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.
I scrambled out of the hot spring, pushing Ollie over in the process, and struggled to get my clothes on. Taking them off had been so easy, but now I couldn't seem to get them back on the right way. Words tumbled out of me while I fought with my clothes.
"They can't see me like this, they can't. Naked? In public? Oh God, they'll have me committed or arrested or---"
"Stop." Ollie grasped my shoulders, turning me toward him. "Take a deep breath and exhale out all that anxiety and panic. Come on, Mara, you can do it."
I drew in one shaky breath, letting it out slowly.
"Again," Ollie said, his voice so calm and soothing that I believed I could shake off the panic as long as he stayed with me.
I pulled in a less shaky breath, blew it out, and inhaled a good, deep lungful of clean air. No quivering breath this time when I exhaled. I released the air in my lungs little by little, feeling the anxiety melt away.
Ollie smiled tenderly and brushed hair away from my eyes. "There. See? You did it."
"Yeah, thanks to you." I moaned pitifully. "But my parents..."
He kissed me, hard and quick. "You are an adult, Mara. You don't need anyone's permission or approval. If your parents are dicks about it when they realize this is a naturist resort, that's their problem."
Easy to say... Not so easy to believe.
Dammit, girl, you can do this.
I squared my shoulders, lifted my chin, and nodded once with conviction. "Yes, I can do this. Once I get my clothes on the right way."
Ollie grinned. "I can help you with that."
He did help me, and I loved feeling his hands on my body again, even it was purely to get my clothes on right. He kissed me again, slower and hotter, giving me the boost I needed to face my judgment day.
Ollie took my hand, leading me back toward the guest house---and my parents.
Chapter Fourteen
Ollie
Nothing had prepared me for walking in on Mara swimming in the hot spring in the nude. Sure, I'd seen her naked before. Once. We'd done the deed, but somehow, seeing her frolicking in the hot spring without a stitch of clothing on had hit me harder than the first time I'd seen her naked. Surrounded by the blue waters, she looked so peaceful and so damn sexy.
But her tranquility evaporated when I told Mara her parents were here. Still, she was handling the news better than I'd expected.
The closer we got to the main resort area, the more we could hear the badminton game unfolding out on the lawn. Some of the younger guests, who were in their twenties like me, had wanted to make badminton a contact sport. The guys kept bumping chests and whooping, and the girls hopped up and down while giggling.
I told them to please calm down, but I guessed as soon as I'd left the vicinity, they'd gone wild again. Their screams and whoops echoed through the open area beyond the last bit of trees at the end of the nature trail.
Mara stopped us within sight of the trailhead. She chewed on her lip, staring at the vague shapes of human beings we could see through the trees.
"You okay?" I asked. "It's cool to take a minute before we go out there."
She sucked in a breath, rolled her shoulders back, and gave me a tight smile. "It's okay. I can do this. About time I stood up to my mom, anyway."
"I know you can do it. You're one amazing woman, Mara. Don't forget that."
"Thank you, Oliver."
Every time she called me Oliver, I wanted to tear her clothes off and make her scream my name. Since I couldn't do that right now, I settled for kissing her.
More whoops and shrieks erupted beyond the trees.
I led Mara out of the woods.
Some guy shouted, "Go for it, Tad! All the way!"
Just as Mara and I reached the edge of the lawn, maybe fifteen feet from the edge of the makeshift badminton court, it happened.
"Go for it for real, dude!" someone hollered.
Everything seemed to unfold in slow motion. I saw the shuttlecock, that comet-shaped ball, fly through the air. And I saw a muscular guy with buzz-cut hair leap high off the ground, his racket outstretched, determined to whack that shuttlecock. He missed and kept sailing, sailing, sailing through the air...
The guy slammed into Mara.
&nb
sp; My hand was torn from hers. I tripped and hit the ground rolling.
And Mara screamed.
I came to a stop facedown on the dirt and lifted my head to see what had happened to Mara.
She lay on her back on the ground.
The shuttlecock guy had landed smack on top of Mara, but in the opposite direction. His face was between her thighs, and his dick was crushed to her face.
Mara screamed again, flailing her arms in an attempt to shove the guy off her.
I scrambled to my feet and rushed to her. "Get off her, you dickwad."
The guy seemed stunned, and he didn't move.
So I thrust my hands under him and pushed the shuttlecock ass off Mara. He ended up on his back beside her, laughing so hard his eyes watered.
"Are you okay?" I asked Mara, kneeling beside her. "Did that jerk hurt you?"
She shook her head, but her lips were trembling.
I picked her up and cradled her to me, kissing the top of her head.
And I glared at the dickwad.
He was still laughing.
"Shut up," I snarled at him. "Get your shit and get the fuck out of here. You're banned from Au Naturel Naturist Resort for life."
The idiot stopped laughing. "What? You can't do that, man, it was an accident."
"I told you to calm things down and behave like grown-ups. You and your pals think it's funny to act like lunatics, but we do not condone that kind of behavior here. Your broke all the rules." I hugged Mara tighter. "Get out of here. Right now."
The guy stared at me for a moment, then got up and slunk back to the guest house. His friends followed him.
Every single one of the remaining guests started clapping and cheering.
"Way to go, Ollie!" someone shouted.
Ruth Norris gave me an appreciative nod.
Mara, snug in my arms, was gazing up at me like I'd just defeated Godzilla single-handed. "Thank you, Oliver. You're my hero."
I opened my mouth but couldn't think of a damn thing to say.
