by Meg Buchanan
Another new experience. Surfing and picnicking with Natalia. He couldn’t imagine her sitting in the sand, eating sandwiches and drinking coffee out of a paper cup, let alone riding a board.
They kept walking.
“The beach is very secluded. We will be completely alone there,” said Natalia.
For a moment he felt irritated at her. “Are you hiding me away again?”
“No. But it is a long time since I have surfed. I would rather discover if I still can in private.”
Fair enough.
Twilight had arrived, and the beach had started to darken.
“I don’t think there is any food in the house,” he commented.
“No, but there will be something open where we can eat.”
When they got back to the house, Natalia laughed as he pushed her against the wall in the foyer to kiss her and fumble through her clothes. She’d been right. Half the shops in the town were small restaurants. Natalia chose a pasta place. Now he’d eaten he wanted to play.
“Patience, my Lion,” she said. “Wait for me upstairs. I need to visit the powder room.” She’d always been shy about using the toilet when he was around. “I have another surprise for you.
He waited for her, and after a while she came to the bedroom and posed in the doorway.
“Do you like my pyjamas. Lion?” She had on this huge pyjama top all striped cotton and lots of fabric. It looked like something his father wore. The surprise must be under the pyjama top.
“Come here,” he ordered from the bed, and she slowly walked across the room to him unbuttoning the pyjama top. Underneath she had on a few centimetres of red satin and black lace moulded to her body like a second skin.
“Where did this come from?” He’d never seen it before.
“From my past life.” He lay her down on the bedcovers, finished unbuttoning the top, pushed it out of the way and watched the half smile appear and the flare of sensuality and humour in her eyes. He studied what she was wearing. The ribbon holding the satin together zigzagged from loop to loop all the way down her back and would have to be undone carefully.
“There’s something wrong with these pyjamas,” he said. “They look hard to get off.”
“I’m sure you’ll cope, Lion.” She’d rolled over onto her stomach. He could still see the mark the belt had made. He traced the parallel lines gently.
“Does it still hurt?” he asked.
“No.” She looked back at him, eyes challenging.
He knelt over her, knees each side of her thighs and found the ends of the ribbon and slowly undid the bow holding the top together. In the soft light he took his time moving up her back, pulling the ribbon out of each loop, tasting her skin, smelling the soap, perfume and salt, exploring with hands and mouth, moving up her spine to the base of her neck.
She’d kept one arm above her head holding her hair back from her face, body half turned so she could watch him, a memory to be savoured for a while.
Chapter Nineteen
Next morning, he watched Natalia stand at the water’s edge wetsuit on and holding her board. They found the beach as deserted as she’d said it would be. Their own haven of sand and sea stretched out as far as he could see.
He came up behind her carrying his board. “You’ll be fine once you’re out there.”
Natalia looked at the cold water and bit her lip. “I don’t even know if I can still surf. Its years since I took a board out.”
“You’ll remember.” He turned and jogged towards the waves. The chill of the cold on his ankles after the heat of the day was a shock but he kept running until he reached the first line of breakers. The cold water soaked through his wetsuit onto his skin.
Natalia followed him. She lay on the board and started paddling. She’d had a wetsuit in the garage too. It fitted her like a glove. A second wetsuit the same size had hung beside it.
He kept paddling and looking back to check Natalia was keeping up. She ducked her head each time a wave went over her, like second nature. He saw her go through a wave then look up and laugh. She hadn’t forgotten anything.
When they were past the last breaker, they sat on their boards and watched the surf forming and rolling in. The beach, with its wide sweep of sand, edged with pohutukawa trees, was just visible.
He watched the waves assessing how they were rolling, the direction they were running and the best point to catch them. He didn’t know this beach, but he had a rule; try to catch any wave that looked rideable. The more time you spent surfing the better.
“How are you going,” he yelled at Natalia, across the few metres between them.
“Great!” she yelled back. “The best waves to catch are the ones running that way.” She curved her hand to the left. He nodded. She did know about surfing.
“Ready?” he asked.
Natalia nodded and watched behind her, the water swelled and pushed forward.
Noah changed position, lay on his board and started to paddle. He gained momentum and looked back at the wave to get his timing right.
He saw Natalia head up looking ahead. She started paddling. The wave caught the board and moved it forward, gaining momentum. She went for it. She put her hands down beside her shoulders, palms pressed like she was going to do a push-up.
Now or never, catch the wave with Natalia or never live it down. In front of him, Natalia’s board gained speed and slid across the surface of the water. He followed her.
She raised her upper body and at the same time swept her feet up onto the stringer line down the middle. Her weight centred, she stood up and swept down the curl of the wave.
She really could surf. Unbelievable.
She kept low like he did and assumed the position of a sumo wrestler. He felt the sensation of speed and exhilaration and followed her. Her hands rose a bit higher than her waist just in the line of her vision.
He felt the muscle memory take over. He took off down the face of the wave moving in a straight line, the force of the water pushing against the bottom of the board. He started a turn and leaned in towards the wave, digging the rail in and angling the deck. The water under the board and the fins acted against the inertia and stopped him flying over the front. He headed along the wave, using his left hand to guide like a steering wheel. The surfboard followed where he pointed.
Water rushed beneath him carrying him faster than her. He swept around below her line and rode the wave almost to the beach, not trying anything tricky. He looked back and saw Natalia riding graceful and perfect.
The wave slowed. He kicked out too and sat on his board watching Natalia finish her ride again. She paddled over to him then balanced on her board in the swell, legs dangling in the water.
“You haven’t forgotten anything,” he said. “You were amazing.”
She nodded “This is more fun than I expected,” she said.
“Want to go again?”
Natalia nodded, then turned ready to paddle out again. “Beat you to the next wave, Lion.”
Together they surfed for the next couple of hours. Then they sat on their boards outside the breakers.
“After the next run, do you want to take a break?” he asked. The world felt blue, the sky and the sea sparkled with light.
She nodded. “I think we should feed you soon, Lion.”
He lay on his side, under a pohutukawa tree, the boards propped up beside him. He peeled an orange, handed it to Natalia, then started on his own. The deserted beach swept around them in a huge all-encompassing curve of sand.
She sat in the shade, wetsuit unzipped and pushed down to her waist, sleeves dangling. She looked at him and smiled, “It’s better here than I remember.”
Noah nodded and took bite of his orange, he leaned forward so the juice dripped on the grass. Natalia bit into hers and juice ran on her chin and dribbled down her neck. She wiped her lips with the back of her hand and nudged a memory of the night before.
It had been amazing, they had both been gentle and tender and
caring. One of those times when it felt right to go slowly. Was she remembering last night too or was the way she was eating that orange just the way she ate an orange?
He leaned over and drew her closer and kissed her, following the trail of orange juice with his tongue. Then he rolled onto his side, broke a segment off his orange, and touched it against her bottom lip like he was feeding her.
She parted her lips a fraction and nibbled at the segment. A little of the orange juice went into her mouth and the rest trickled down her chin.
He leaned forward and kissed her and then followed the sticky trail with his mouth, squeezing the juice from the segment and kissing, savouring, licking, from her lips, over her chin, along her neck and finishing at the hollow between her breasts.
“My turn,” said Natalia, “Lie down.”
He lay back on the grass and Natalia squeezed her orange with both hands, crushing it so the juice ran over his chest and down to the edge of the wetsuit. Holding his gaze, she sipped the juice from the hollow of his stomach and then kissed him and made a dribble with her tongue, from the corner of his mouth to his shoulder blade moved her lips over the trail back to his lips. She did it again slowly licking up the juice from his stomach, moving to his mouth and then back again, he felt the muscles tighten, respond.
Natalia had turned over and sat up, put her arms around his neck and kissed him. He nuzzled her neck and moved his hands over her breasts and hips and murmured, “Beautiful.”
With a faint smile, he reached behind her and undid the zip of her wetsuit the rest of the way and pushed it further down over her hips.
He discovered something new. Wetsuits when they were wet came very close to chastity belts. There was no easy, sensual or erotic way to get them off.
Natalia lifted her hips as he tugged at the suit and pulled it down to her thighs. She sat up and struggled, pushed it down her legs and over her feet.
The pyjamas had come off more seductively. When he had finished unlacing the ribbon he pushed the straps off her shoulders. Let the sides of the top fall to the sheet in a soft puddle of satin, lace and ribbon revealed the soft naked curves, the perfect body.
He stood up to take off his wetsuit. It seemed to be a lot more stuck to him than usual. It was tight and difficult.
“Fuck,” he said. “It’s usually easier than this.” He hopped about on the grass and pulled one foot out of the leg. Natalia sat on the grass leaning back on her elbows, watching him, laughing. He stomped on the wetsuit with the free foot and wrenched the other out. He kicked the suit to the side and flopped down beside her.
“Now, where were we?” Just for the fun of it, he got another orange out of the bag, cut it in two halves and held one of them in his hand. He put the other on the grass with the knife and surveyed her carefully.
Last night the lovemaking been easy, sensuous, one step after the other, he’d touched, she’d responded, he’d caressed she’d reciprocated.
He made a dribble starting between her breasts and meandering down and down. He followed the dribble with his mouth, taking off the bikini top, and then the bottom over her hips and down her legs, exploring with his hands and mouth, moving through the stages of interest and arousal, layer upon layer. They climaxed and then started again until they were both replete, satiated, sated.
They walked back to his car. He carried both surfboards and the wetsuits. Natalia had insisted on putting on a long cover-up thing she’d bought with her.
“You look fine in the bikini,” he’d told her. Only the very edges of the bruise showed, and only he would know what the marks were.
“Pfft,” she’d said. Maybe she was conscious of them.
“What are we going to do about dinner?” he asked.
“I thought you said you couldn’t eat all the time.”
“I still have to eat regularly, I’m a growing boy.” He saw her bite her lip. Not the right thing to say. Usually she made the comments about how young he was. “What do you want to do?” he asked.
“There is a lovely restaurant not far from here. I have been there before, and the food is excellent. And it is Russian. I will treat you to the authentic taste of my country.”
“I thought that was vodka.”
Natalia laughed. “There is more to Russia than vodka, Lion. There will be a suit in my friend’s wardrobe that will fit you. He is built like a lion too.”
“A suit?”
“It is a very formal restaurant. They will not let us in if we look like we have just come from the beach.”
“What’ll you wear?” He hadn’t seen her unpack anything suitable for a place that fussy.
“Don’t worry Lion. I will find something.” She seemed more relaxed than she usually did. After going to the restaurant, he might suggest they see if that spa bath and that big shower with all those heads were as much fun as they looked.
The evening dress Natalia found looked as severe as her day dresses were. Plain black and fitting, but long. She’d added a necklace and earrings he’d never seen her wear before. They looked expensive. They could have been diamonds, but he didn’t want to ask. She’d found a suit for him, plain black too, and a white shirt. He looked like a rugby player on tour.
Chapter Twenty
A riot of heavy carved furniture embellished with gold leaf dominated the restaurant too. Way more authentic than he expected, and the owner must have used the same interior decorator as Natalia’s friend. But he’d exercised restraint on the floor. It was only highly polished marble.
They stepped through the entrance. In the dining room all the tables seemed full. More people were at the bar as if they were waiting to be seated. Serving staff moved silently around taking orders and serving food. The tables were far enough apart they could only hear the click of plates and hushed conversation.
“It doesn’t look like they’ll have a table for us.”
“I am sure they will.” Natalia slid the wrap off her shoulders and folded it over her arm. The tuxedoed maître d’ came and greeted them.
“Natalia!” He touched her on the shoulders then kissed both cheeks. The flow of Russian was too rapid for Noah, but the man seemed to know Natalia well and was happy to see her.
“Gregor.” Then Natalia spoke in Russian as fluent as Gregor’s. She’d taught him a bit, but he’d never heard her speak it like this. Of course, she’d be fluent.
She seemed to be asking the man about his family and how the restaurant was going. From the nodding and smiles, it seemed all was well in Gregor’s world.
Finally, Natalia turned back. “Gregor, meet my friend Noah.” Gregor shook hands with him. Then made a comment to Natalia that made her laugh. The only words he could understand sounded like beautiful young lover. Embarrassing.
Then Natalia greeted the waiter in the same way, the kisses on the cheeks, the rapid Russian. Natalia seemed to know everyone in the restaurant by name, and they knew her. He couldn’t understand much of what they were saying, but the way they spoke to her and acted seemed deferential.
“You really have been here before. Everyone knows you.”
Natalia nodded. She knew the girl who took her wrap, the bartender, and Julia in the black t-shirt, little black skirt and apron tied around her hips. Gregor had called Julia over. It looked like she would be their waitress for the meal.
She showed them to their table. He pushed Natalia’s chair in then sat opposite her. She took the huge gold encrusted menu the young girl offered her. He took his, smiled his thanks and opened it. All in Cyrillic script. Some of the letters were familiar, but not enough of them. No show in hell of him reading that.
He couldn’t understand Julia when she recited the specials either. He shut the menu and draped its red tassels across it. “I’ll leave you to order for me,” he said to Natalia.
Natalia laughed and nodded. She closed her menu after barely glancing at it. “I will order you a feast, Lion. You must be hungry after a whole day surfing.”
“So, will you. You
were surfing too.” Though Natalia never ate much.
“I will help you eat it. But the feast will be for you.” She turned to Julia and spoke in rapid Russian again. She seemed to be asking Julia’s opinion about something. Julia laughed then answered the question with a few suggestions accompanied by the sort of gestures fishermen use to show the size of a huge fish they’ve caught.
Natalia nodded and asked something else. Julia shrugged and made a maybe, maybe not gesture. The discussion wandered on, and he looked around the room. Either there were a lot more people in this town who spoke Russian than he would have thought, or the food was so good they were willing to take their chances. The crowded restaurant, the smells coming from the kitchen, and the plates loaded with seafood going past him were promising.
When Natalia and Julia agreed about the order, Julia noted it down, then looked at him and said something that made Natalia laugh. Natalia waved her hand in an off with you way.
Julia laughed too and hurried back to the kitchen.
“What did she say?” It didn’t look like that last comment had been about food.
Natalia leaned forward and whispered. “She said if I ever tire of you she will help mend your broken heart.”
“Jesus.” After his experience with Ash, he would be staying away from young girls from now on. “Girls don’t talk like that,” he said. Maybe they did about Luke or Cole, but freckles and red hair didn’t get that sort of reaction. The carafe of iced water and glasses arrived. He waited for the man to sort it out and leave again.
Natalia lifted her glass of iced water and touched it against his cheek. “Ah my beautiful Lion. One day you’ll realise how attractive you are and that will be the end of me.”
That again. How come she could never forget the age difference? He changed the subject. “What have you ordered?”
“Wait and see. Don’t spoil Julia’s surprise. She said the chef had a special dish she would get him to prepare for you.”
