Stealing Asia

by David Clarkson

  Ever since she had left me in Penang, I thought of little else apart from what would happen when we were reunited. It was fair to say that I was more than a little pent up and I worried that this coupling may not last quite so long as either of us would desire, but she knew exactly what she was doing. Asia was a gifted love maker and she took me to the very brink of orgasm before slowing it down to the subtlest of pelvic movements, which kept me skirting the edges of the volcano. The ecstasy that I felt blurred all perception of time and motion and I could not tell how long had passed when she stopped abruptly and placed her finger to my lips.

  ‘What is it?’ I asked, barely able to catch my breath.

  Her eyes directed me to the door, where I became aware of movement from outside. Somebody was unfastening the padlock. We both looked at one another, unsure of what to do and as the door opened, I put my hands under her shoulders and rolled us off of the bed. I landed on my back with Asia on top of me. The room remained dark and I hoped that whoever had come in did not plan on staying for long.

  My hopes were dashed when I heard the creak of the bedsprings and the sound of a female giggle. The next noise was that of clothes brushing against flesh as they were removed and then the bedsprings started up again. I could feel Asia tremble, but it was not from nerves or anxiety; she was laughing.

  ‘Why have you stopped?’ she whispered in my ear.

  I was too shocked to answer. Finding ourselves so close to being caught made me feel exposed, yet powerful at the same time and I sensed that Asia wanted to push it further still. She took hold of my shaft and slowly massaged it with her fingers before gently lowering herself down onto me. She mouthed the word “listen” and as I subconsciously started to focus on the groans coming from the bed, I realised that she was timing her movements to match the rhythm of the other couple. It felt like we were taking part in a badly dubbed porno movie.

  I soon forgot about any risks attached to what we were doing as it felt so good. I was more than happy to let Asia be in control. As the other couple sped up towards reaching climax, so did we too. When orgasm came, it was the most potent that I had ever felt. I wanted to shout out in ecstasy, but for want of giving us away, I had to bite down on my bottom lip to keep my silence.

  We waited for a short while after the sounds from the bed had died down before making any movement. One half of the couple had left immediately after their brief tryst had ended and I could see from looking under the gap in the bed that the door had been left slightly ajar, meaning that it was also unlocked. When I dared to peer over the rim of the mattress, I saw a male passed out on the bed. We were careful not to wake him as we crawled out on our hands and knees before heading back down to the party.

  ***

  The remainder of the night passed quickly. Asia insisted on dancing for long periods. She had a limitless supply of energy and it was hard to keep her rooted in one place long enough to have a proper conversation, let alone catch up on what had happened over the previous few days. The moon had long departed and the stars were fading in the early stages of sunrise when I finally got the chance to speak freely with her. We bought fresh coconuts to replenish our energy and sat down on the sand facing the ocean.

  ‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’ she said.

  ‘Yeah,’ I replied. ‘It’s a shame that people have to come here and turn it all into such a tourist trap.’

  She shot me a surprised look.

  ‘Tourist trap; don’t you think that’s a little hypocritical considering you’re a tourist yourself?’

  ‘Not really. I would still come here if there was not all of this development. I would prefer it.’

  ‘Are you kidding me?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You know; all of this self righteous traveller crap. It’s the worst type of narcissism when people want paradise, but then criticise when others want the same thing too. Without the development, the island could not sustain everyone that wants to come here. Sure, these guesthouses are an eyesore, but they are what drive the economy. Without the tourist baht, the infrastructure of this country would be in a mess. Ask any local to choose between good roads, improved schooling and sanitation or an unspoiled sunrise, and I think I know their answer.’

  I wished that I had never said anything. I thought I was saying the right things, but obviously not.

  ‘Are you sure that your dad’s a rock star?’

  ‘What do you mean by that?’

  ‘I just did not expect you to think of things from such a perspective. You sound like a politician.’

  Her beautiful face performed its closest approximation to a scowl. She had no creases in her skin and the resulting expression seemed more petulant than angry. I did not wish to upset her and needed to change the subject quickly if I was to salvage the moment.

  ‘There’s something that I’ve been meaning to give you,’ I said.

  She eyed me suspiciously.

  ‘You’re not going to propose, are you?’ she asked. ‘These last few days have been good, but using them as the basis for marriage would be a terrible idea. Unless you’re after a green card. You aren’t after a green card, are you?’

  ‘Whoa there; let’s slow down for a minute, shall we. I’m not after a green card and I’m certainly not suggesting that we get married. I just wanted to return this.’

  I reached into my pocket and retrieved her mother’s locket, which I placed into her hands. Her eyes immediately lit up and she embraced me strongly.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I knew you wouldn’t let me down.’

  She opened it up as if to check that the photograph was still inside, which I found a little odd. I had not been wholly comfortable with keeping hold of the locket in the first place as I would have come for Asia with or without it anyway. Now that the test (at least that is what I thought it was) was over, I hoped we could start to explore a more conventional type of relationship.

  ‘Tonight has kind of been like our first date,’ I said.

  She rested her head on my shoulder.

  ‘Do you always sleep with a girl before the first date?’ she asked.

  I turned to look at her and we both burst out laughing. We spent the remainder of the party sat on the beach watching the sun rise over the ocean. The silence said more than words ever could. I had never felt so comfortable and contented in my life.

  Chapter 6

  Our taxi arrived shortly after dawn. The party was still going strong, but I was glad to call it a day. Asia and I met up with her friends after collecting our bags from the storage lockers. We looked for Esteban, but he was nowhere to be seen. I regretted leaving him the way that I had, but as soon as I found Asia, I could focus my attention on little else. I could only hope that he might have found a girl of his own and would not be too put out by my desertion.

  The place that we were headed to was a beach on the north side of the island. It was a long ride from Hat Rin as the road covered roughly half of the island’s coastline. The trail terminated at a small fishing port where we transferred to a boat for the final leg of the journey. Clay did all of the bartering and brushed away my attempts to give him money towards the trip. I thought that he was trying to make a good impression on me, but I decided to reserve my judgement until I knew him a bit better.

  The vessel that he procured for us was a traditional Thai long-tail boat with a crew of just two. This consisted of an elderly man, who I assumed to be the captain, at the aft of the boat controlling our direction and a younger man at the fore, whose role I could not quite figure out. The latter shifted position a lot and seemed nervous of the turbulent waves, so I guessed that maybe he was in charge of balance. If the boating gig did not work out, he could probably join the circus as a tightrope walker.

  When we arrived at the beach, I booked a double cabin facing the ocean. I would then have been happy to crash out for the remainder of the afternoon, but Asia had other ideas. I did not complain, as those ideas did at least still invol
ve the bed. An hour later, I was finally able to catch up on my sleep, whilst she went out for a swim.

  It was dark when I woke and Asia was lying next to me. I thought it a shame to wake her, but as I was unsure how long the resort would continue to serve food, I did not really have a choice. Neither of us had eaten since before the full moon party and I was starving. When in Malaysia, I had often struggled at mealtimes, but Thai food was one of my favourites.

  We got to the restaurant to find that the tables had been set up directly on the beach and lit only by candlelight, creating a genuinely romantic ambience. I was hoping that it would be just the two of us. Unfortunately for me, Barrett and Clay were already there with their respective partners and they called us over to join them.

  I had yet to make up my mind about the Americans, as I could think of little that we would have in common. Barrett and Clay sounded more like a law firm than the names of people I could ever imagine calling friends. At least I shared some common ground with their English girlfriends. If I had my way, we would have ignored the offer, but Asia, I suppose, was duty bound to accept.

  Their company was tolerable, but I could not help but feel excluded for much of the evening. The American pair dominated the conversation and spent much of the night talking each other up. I was later unable to recall a single achievement or shred of evidence offered by either of them to give any credence to their outlandish claims. At least the three girls seemed suitably impressed. In Asia’s case, I sensed it was more down to home sickness than a genuine fondness for the pair. I suspected that she had only made friends with them to avoid being on her own had I failed to show up.

  Following the meal, Clay tried to persuade us to stay for a nightcap, but I managed to talk Asia out of it. I think that the other girls were relieved by this too as they could not have been comfortable with their men giving so much attention to another girl instead of them.

  We bid them all goodnight before walking back to our cabin. Rather than go straight inside, we sat on the sand and watched the stars drift by as the ocean lapped at our feet. Paradise was everything I had imagined it would be.

  ***

  I was alone in the bed when I woke up the following morning. After throwing on a pair of board-shorts, I stepped out onto the beach. It was a warm, clear morning and for the first time I was able to see how the bay looked in daylight. It was a classic crescent shape and opened onto a seemingly endless vista of an almost glass like ocean. There were no waves; not even a ripple to bring the postcard perfect view to life. Rocks bordered each corner of the crescent and behind me was nothing but lush forest. If it was not for the dozen or so wooden cabins and the reception block planted firmly in the centre of the beach, this really would be the embodiment of tropical perfection.

  The tide had swept the sand clean during the night and as such there was only one set of footprints leading down from our cabin. They were from bare, size five feet and terminated at the water’s edge. I spotted her about twenty metres from the shore to the right of some rocks. Rather than swim out to meet her, I decided to take a stroll along the beach. Along the way I bumped into the two English girls and was relieved that their partners were not with them.

  ‘Good morning,’ I said. ‘I thought you two would be with your hunky American boyfriends.’

  Whilst I could have used much a more apt adjective to describe the guys in question than “hunky”, I saw no reason not to be polite to the girls as they both seemed pleasant enough.

  ‘We could say the same,’ replied Izzie.

  ‘That’s right,’ added Dee. ‘Asia is incredible. Where did you meet a girl like that?’

  I told them the story about the foiled mugging in Georgetown and the ordeal that I went through to meet up with Asia in Thailand. As was becoming a habit, I left out the mystery driver who was the one who had actually stopped the mugger. They both seemed impressed that I would go to such lengths to be with her and they agreed that it seemed suspicious that the scammer’s had targeted me in Hat Yai. Neither had any theory for why that might have occurred.

  ‘Luckily, we’ve never had any problems like that,’ said Izzie, ‘not with our two “hunky Americans” to protect us.’

  Dee giggled and I wished I had never said anything.

  ‘Okay,’ I protested. ‘You don’t have to be like that. You know how it is with these American types. They all act like they just walked off the set of 90210.’

  ‘Sounds like somebody is jealous,’ teased Dee.

  ‘Why would I be jealous? I have a hot American of my own – remember? If anything, it’s those two that should be turning green with envy.’

  ‘Just rub it in, why don’t you,’ said Izzie.

  I tried to backtrack and apologise, but the pair of them burst out laughing. These two could be quite a tease and that was now twice they had gotten the best of me. I decided to quit before they could make further fun of me. Asia had completed another length of the bay and if I swam out from my current position, I would catch up with her as she passed.

  The water was cooler than I had been expecting. The air temperature was above thirty degrees Celsius, so I suppose even a water temperature in the low to mid twenties would feel cold by comparison.

  ‘I thought you would never come in,’ said Asia, who was treading water whilst she waited for me to catch up.

  ‘Well, you know how I always like to keep you waiting,’ I replied.

  When I caught up to her, she began circling me like a shark patiently weighing up its prey. I tried to track her movements, but lost sight of her as she swam down beneath the surface of the water. The forest cast a shadow over this side of the bay and as such the visibility through the water was poor. Shortly after Asia had disappeared from sight, I felt a tug on my shorts before having them yanked off completely. Asia re-emerged directly in front of me and threw her arms over my shoulders, whilst wrapping her legs around my waist. I was now supporting both of us in the water and needed to paddle with both arms to keep us from sinking.

  ‘I bet you’ve never done it in the ocean before,’ she teased.

  I was facing the shore and could see the two English girls on the beach. It was obvious they were watching us, because they both waved when I made eye contact with them.

  ‘Maybe this isn’t the right time.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  This was the first time I had turned down sex with her and I could tell she had not expected it. I tried to gesture towards the beach. With both of my hands supporting Asia’s back, I had to use my head and this wasn’t easy to do without swallowing a mouthful of saltwater.

  ‘We have an audience,’ I said.

  She looked over to the girls on the beach.

  ‘So?’ she replied. ‘When has that ever stopped you? You certainly weren’t shy at the full moon party.’

  ‘This is different. It’s not just the girls. I’d gladly have sex on the beach if nobody was around or even in a swimming pool, but this is the open ocean for Christ’s sake.’

  She laughed.

  ‘This is not the open ocean. We’re about thirty seconds from the shore.’

  When she saw that I was not going to change my mind she broke away from my hold and started to swim back to the shore. My shorts were still in her hand.

  ‘Modesty is no excuse,’ she said, continuing to backstroke away from me. ‘I may not get my fun, but I’m going to make sure that the other girls get theirs.’

  I swam after her, but had little chance of catching up to her before she made it to shore. Asia was a strong swimmer and had too great a head start. It also felt really strange trying to swim naked. I was terrified that a fish may swim up and start nibbling on my tackle.

  ‘Come on, Asia,’ I pleaded. ‘Give me back my pants.’

  This time she did not reply and just carried on towards the shore. She emerged from the water right by the spot where Izzie and Dee were sitting. After showing the pair my shorts, she pointed to where I was to make sure that the girls
did not miss out on witnessing my humiliation. I swam diagonal to the shoreline, hoping to put some distance between me and the girls, but they just got to their feet and started walking along the beach to meet me. When it was finally time to leave the security of the water, I cupped my balls with one hand and shielded my modesty with the other whilst making a quick dash for my cabin. Mercifully, the door was not locked and I was able to dash inside.

  ‘I’ll get you back for this,’ I promised Asia when she finally joined me in the cabin.

  ‘What are you going to do - leave me stranded naked on the beach and then call the boys out to witness it? We could do it after lunch, if you want.’

  Knowing Asia as I did, something told me that she was not joking. There are some battles we know we simply cannot win. With revenge out of the question, she continued to tease me all through lunch. After we had eaten she went to sunbathe, whilst I decided that I would try to make an effort with her friends. The girls were not around, but their trans-Atlantic boyfriends were both sat by the bar with beers in their hands. I expected them to rib me about the unplanned skinny dipping episode as they must surely have heard by then, but they were not in a joking mood. Clay had spotted a boat making its way around the rocks and seemed agitated by it.

  ‘It’s probably just a delivery,’ I told him. ‘Or maybe even some more backpackers. What’s there to worry about?’

  He shot me a condescending look. I had no idea what his problem was. As the boat came closer, I could see that it was filled mostly with Thais, with only one foreign face onboard. Much to my delight that sole foreigner was my friend, Esteban. He had no way of knowing I was on this beach, so seeing him again was a great stroke of fortune.