Disappointment wracked my body. The annoying sound kept coming. The dream slipped beyond my grasp, the cracks, and gaps too big to be repaired by any force of will.
But it wasn’t fair. I needed to finish.
I struck out at the source of the sound, knocking my phone and diary and empty water glass on the floor in my search for the alarm clock. I grabbed it and yanked, wrenching the cord from out of the wall. Silence reigned and in it, I heard my rasping breathing.
I turned over in bed and closed my eyes, intent on picking up where I had left off. My hand returned to between my thighs where it belonged, my fingers seeking to go deeper.
The nagging feeling from before returned with a vengeance. My fingers stilled before they reached their destination. I scrunched my eyes shut even tighter. I didn’t have anywhere to be. This was spring break. No classes to attend, I had never, ever had a wet dream quite like that before, and there was nothing stopping me from going right back to sleep and visiting that faceless dream man again. I’d need to study this later on, find out why I might be inspired to have such a dream now. As an aspiring psychologist, I couldn’t provide help and assistance if I didn’t even understand my motivations. But for now, I could indulge.
Wait.
My eyes flew open. The nagging feeling exploded, sending hot waves through my mind.
I was supposed to leave for my trip to the Caribbean today.
I sat up, shoving the covers off. “No, no, please,” I muttered, grabbing my phone up off the floor. The time on the device only confirmed my fears.
My alarm clock had gone off, but I hadn’t ignored it for long enough to make a difference in my schedule if I had set it for the right time.
I hadn’t.
I’d forgotten, leaving the alarm set for the time I normally awoke. I was now a whole hour behind schedule.
“No!” I cried. All my well-made plans split apart at the seams. I wracked my brains, quickly thinking of what parts of my day I could eliminate to make up for the time. Travel? No. I had a taxi scheduled to be here in … well, any minute now. I was going to have to skip my shower, skip my makeup, skip all my morning business. Shame burned my cheeks as I realized that I was going to have to go in public unwashed. The scent of what I’d been up to in my bed wasn’t going to be easy to hide.
Then I’d be on a plane, squished up in a seat next to some stranger, making them smell me.
I sank down onto the floor, breathing quickly, my heart pounding. That was too much to consider. I was raised better than that. I was raised to be proper and clean and ladylike, and going out without looking my best was just not the right thing to do.
But I didn’t have time to sit around and think about it.
I pushed myself to my feet and headed into the bathroom I took off all my clothes and scrubbed down with a wet washcloth, and followed it up with plenty of deodorant and perfume. Even so, I thought I could still smell the musky odor of arousal. I swallowed hard and soldiered through, throwing on the first clothes I touched. I also put on a hat, tucking my blonde hair underneath it to hide how gross it was.
My phone screen lit up with a call. I grabbed it while rushing back into my room. “Hello?” I asked. I grabbed the handle of my suitcase.
“I’m outside,” a gruff male voice said.
“I’m coming down the stairs now.”
The man hung up. I frowned, decided to let it go.
I hurried out the door, pausing for a few precious seconds to make sure I had all my keys and that the door was locked. I headed for the stairs and hurried down them, my suitcase bonking against my ankles and my carry-on bag thumping into my side so I could hardly hold to the railing.
The apartment where I lived was in a building only a ten-minute walk from my college campus. The convenience of the location made the hefty rent worth it, even though the apartment was only a studio.
That convenience played against me now. Colleges tended not to be located near airports.
The bottom landing came into view. I picked up my pace, taking the steps two at a time. My feet knocked together. I stumbled, crying out. The world lurched around me. My shoulder slammed into the hard, unforgiving floor, pain rippling throughout my whole body. I lay there, stunned, dizzy, my stomach lurching in a delayed response.
A horn honked from outside. I didn’t need to be able to see through walls to know the vehicle responsible was my taxi.
I pushed up to my feet and grabbed my bags. My ankle twinged and my shoulder throbbed. Gritting my teeth against the discomfort, I shoved out of the stairwell and cut across the lobby to the front door.
A taxi lingered right in front of the building. The driver leaned over to stare at me through the passenger’s side window and honked the horn again, nearly blasting out my eardrums.
I hurried across the sidewalk.
“Watch out!”
A cyclist came out of nowhere, swerving around in front of me. I could only stand there, my heart pounding with the near-miss.
“Idiot,” he yelled back, flipping me off.
I winced. He was an idiot. Cyclists didn’t belong on the sidewalk. He probably thought he had the right to be offended because I was only a woman and, in his way, even though he was the one who was wrong. I might have chased after him to give him a piece of my mind on any other day.
The passenger side window of the taxi rolled down. “You coming or what?” the driver demanded.
I didn’t have the time for things like this.
I threw my luggage into the back of the taxi and climbed in.
The driver rolled up the window and grunted at me by way of greeting. “Women. Never on time.
I opened my mouth to give him a piece of my mind and then shut it again.
Pick your battles, Kelly.
He’d had the meter running the entire time he was waiting for me. I watched as the amount I would owe him ticked steadily higher and higher, though the traffic we entered was so bad I could have walked faster. What was I even paying him for, the luxury of air-conditioning? Being able to sit down? I’d be on a plane soon and have enough of sitting down.
There was nothing I could do about it. All the complaints I had were a result of my negligence.
Finally, finally, we arrived at the airport. I paid far more than I had expected to and then hopped out before I could hear any further derogatory remarks from a man who looked as if his hobby was not showering.
I dashed through the airport, my ankle threatening to give out from underneath me at any moment. I reached the line for security and hopped anxiously from one foot to the other. Everyone moved so slowly. Some people waited until the very last second to remove their shoes. Why? They had known they would need to. There were signs everywhere telling everyone what to do.
My turn, finally.
I’d packed carefully last night so I could be ready for this. I separated my belongings and my bag and purse into the necessary bins and put them on the conveyor belt. The belt rolled slowly, pulling the bins into the x-ray machine at a pace that a snail would have laughed at.
I paced in my spot, wishing I could will everything to go faster.
“Excuse me, ma’am.”
I looked up. A TSA agent motioned for me to go over to him. I hurried over, alarm bells ringing in my mind. I had been so careful when packing to make sure I followed the rules. What could have gone wrong?
He grinned as I came to him, a grin I really didn’t like at all. His eyes ran down my body before wandering back up to my face. A chill crept down my spine.
“Yes, sir?” I asked.
“I’m going to have to give you a quick scan.” He held up his metal-detecting wand. “When you passed through the detector, we noticed a suspicious amount of warmth on your body in some areas. It’s just in case. You understand.”
I blushed. I was sweaty and frazzled. What part of me had set off the alarm, when I felt hot all over?
“Please spread your legs. And hold your arms out to the sides.”
I did not like one bit the way he paused between sentences.
I parted my thighs as little as I thought I could get away with and held my arms out.
“Wider, please,” he instructed. “You wouldn’t want me to think you’re hiding something up that wet hole of yours.”
I gaped at him, hardly believing what I had just heard coming out of his mouth.
“Ma’am, please cooperate.” That creepy smile stayed on his lips. “Or I’ll need to search you. And I think you’d like it, wouldn’t you? You know what part of you set off our sensors, don’t you, you dirty girl?”
My cheeks flamed even more. There was only one thing he could be talking about. “You’re a creep.” My voice trembled.
He frowned. “Spread them,” he barked.
Other people started looking in our direction.
I closed my eyes and spread my legs wider apart. He swept over my body with his wand, not even bothering to put up a good façade. He reached my thighs and bent over, and breathed in deeply like he could smell what I had been up to despite my attempts to clean up. I shook with shame and anger.
He straightened up and wave me away like this whole exchange had been nothing to him. “You’re good. Please continue.” In a lower voice, just for me to hear, he said, “Though you’re definitely not clean, baby.”
Tears burned at the backs of my eyes. I turned my back on him and hurried to grab my things so I could get away from him.
What an awful misogynist of a man. If I’d had the time, I would report him to his supervisor for harassment. I couldn’t stand it when men thought they were superior just because of their gender. Women had to fight hard enough as it was for equality without people like him, believing a woman only had one place—on her back or on her knees. We were not stupid. We weren’t little girls who could be called names like “baby” and treated like objects.
Unfortunately, despite how much things had changed in the past century, feminism was still a foreign concept to many. Like it was calculus or something. Just treat everyone the same. How hard was that?
I reached the gate for my plane. I pushed my righteous thoughts aside and hurried through the terminal, onto the tarmac, at the bidding of an impatient worker. Not many flights went to the island, so this was a small, private plane. Everyone else who was on the flight must have already boarded, as I didn’t see anyone around.
But I did see the plane, though it was so small I could have mistaken it for a toy.
It was unexpected. Rust sprouted like mold in certain areas. And was that duct tape on the wings? When the wind blew, the whole construction rocked and creaked.
How is something like that supposed to fly?
I stepped a little closer for a better inspection.
A woman poked her head out of the open doorway on the side of the plane. She smiled and waved, and flounced down the ramp steps to me. I bit my tongue to keep from telling her to be careful, knowing exactly how dangerous stairs could be.
She was dark-skinned, with curly black hair, and she was beautiful and knew it. She seemed to have chosen her outfit specifically to show off as much of her body as possible. Her shorts were so small I could see the curve of the tendon up high on her inner thigh, and her shirt did little to contain her generous bosom—though it may have done a better job if she hadn’t undone half the top buttons.
“Hello, hello!” she cried, holding out her hand to me. “You must be Kelly! We have been waiting for you.”
I knew who she was, then. Going to an island and wandering around all by my lonesome would be an interesting experience, but I was there to learn. I had signed up for a tour guide who would accompany me most of the time, show me around and tell me about all we saw. This must be her.
“I’m Kelly, yes. Um, I’m sorry I’m late. I overslept.” I took her hand to shake it.
She folded both her hands around mine, her touch very warm and inviting. “Don’t worry, dear. It happens to the best of us.”
I swallowed hard and nodded. I wanted to apologize again but that would be wasting time. I’d done enough of that already.
“My name is Alora,” she said, smiling. “I’m your tour guide, as you might have figured out. Come on into the plane. I’ll introduce you to our pilot, Donovan.”
“Is everyone else already on-board?”
“Oh, it is only the three of us going to the island today.” Alora smiled. She looked very comfortable and relaxed, even though her breasts seemed likely to spill out of her clothes if she moved too much. I was embarrassed for her.
Alora led me up the stairs, her womanly flesh shaking and jiggling the whole way. I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. She reached the top and turned back to wait for me. I quickly looked elsewhere, not wanting to be caught staring.
The plane was as dingy on the inside and it was on the outside. Unlike in commercial airliners, the pilot’s cabin was open to the rest of the plane. A good-looking man lounged in the pilot’s seat, wearing short pants that exposed his muscular calves and an unbuttoned shirt. He would be more at home lounging on the beach than on a plane.
“This is Donovan,” Alora said, gesturing to the man.
Donovan slid his eyes to me as if moving his head required too much effort.
I smiled, feeling uneasy, not sure what to say.
My unease didn’t get any better once I was buckled in and the shaky plane started moving. I gripped the arms of my seat tightly. Reaching my destination in one piece was all I could ask for.
The plane lurched up for the sky, bouncing the whole way. Donovan lounged behind the instruments without seeming to care much about the turbulence. Before I could start questioning his qualifications, the turbulence smoothed out. I sighed in relief and sank back into my seat. Out the window, the sky was blue and wide and calm, without a single cloud. The cities and fields below appeared as pieces of a puzzle, not so much fitted together as stuck anywhere the pieces could be forced to join.
Alora watched me with an amused little smile on her face. “Do not be nervous. I’ve made this trip many times before. Donovan is a very capable man.”
A capable man, I noticed, as if she referred to more than his skills as a pilot. I had to trust that she knew best. “Can I ask what I should expect on the island? I’ve only done a little research. I didn’t want to get any misconceptions.” I paused. “Actually, I don’t even really know what to call it. Does it have a name?”
Everyone seemed to talk around the island without really talking about it. No one had said what it was called and instead referred to it by location, as in “that tiny island off the coast of Trinidad.”
Alora gave me another of her wide, easy smiles. “We call it Anwak. I must say, I am pleasantly surprised that someone wants to study my people’s culture. We tend to become lost in the background of bigger countries.”
I smiled back at her. “But you’re a tour guide. You should be used to it, shouldn’t you?”
“Oh, I am used to people visiting Anwak. Few want to understand our way of life.”
What little I knew of Anwak could be summarized in a single sentence: sex wasn’t taboo.
I wanted to learn why, and how this affected their culture, and what it said about my own culture.
“You will definitely learn a lot about sexual liberation there,” Alora continued.
I blushed hard. I was going to need to learn how to deal with people talking about sex out loud, first.
Donovan glanced over his shoulder at us and flashed a smirk. I looked away, out the window.
Alora shifted beside me and put her hand over mine. I jumped a little in surprise. “Don’t worry,” she said in a smooth, husky voice. “I will take care of you.”
Her eyes were very dark, the pupils dilated. I stared at her, thinking that surely, she couldn’t mean what it seemed she meant. But I couldn’t decipher what it was that had her gaze so intense.
My breath caught in my throat.
I pulled my hand away and grabbed at
what little remained of my composure after the day I’d endured so far. “I think I’m a little tired.”
Please don’t bring up that I overslept.
Alora just watched me with that enigmatic stare. Then, she smiled and said, “There’s plenty of time for you to nap. The flight will be a few hours yet.”
I nodded and closed my eyes. I settled back into my chair, leaning my head over in the direction of the window. I had to get control of myself. I had heard, after all, that the people from the island were very affectionate. I’d have to get used to it.
I brushed away the sense that I might be missing something important and let myself be lulled to sleep by the plane’s gentle rocking.
Chapter 3
Lewd display
I opened my eyes, my head pounding and my mouth feeling as if I’d licked a carpet. I lifted my head and looked around for Alora. There had to be drinks somewhere on this plane. Or maybe we were close to landing and I could grab something at the airport.
My search was interrupted by the sight of Alora. Rather than being in another seat, she kneeled on the floor in front of the pilot. His pants were unbuttoned.
I’m dreaming again, I thought. I let my head fall back against the seat. Such a blatant display as what was before me could only be what my imagination conjured, similar to what I dreamed that morning. This was a subconscious manifestation of my body’s unruly desires, whatever those desires might be. I didn’t know, and I didn’t think it mattered at the moment. It sure was hard to think, the way those two were going at each other.
I let myself observe the fantasy. Alora’s top had come completely unbuttoned. Her dark, beautiful breasts were unconfined, bouncing, and swaying with her smallest movements. They jiggled as Donovan grabbed her curly hair and pulled her up off his body. He was rough, his mouth crashing down hard on hers. The force of the kiss looked like it might hurt, yet the way Alora moaned told a different story.
Their tongues knotted between them, visible when their lips parted for gasping breaths.
Donovan slapped one of Alora’s breasts, making the creamy flesh bounce. “You like that, huh?”
Kelly Exposed Page 2
