Abruptly aware of the fact that she was, in fact, flipping through the personal effects of a near stranger, she snapped her head up just in time to see Danny slide some rupiah across the bar toward Adi, pick up two large coconuts, and swing around to face Adele and the hut. She snapped the passport shut and put it back where she’d found it, hoping that the expanse of the lawn between them had veiled her movement from Danny’s eyes.
In a moment, he was hopping up the porch steps, and then handing her a heavy coconut with a straw poking out of the top. Noticing his passport on the bench, he plucked it up and stuck it in the pocket of his swim trunks before settling down next to her again.
“Don’t want to lose that!” He said, laughing. “I don’t even want to know how many rupiah it would take to get me out of that pickle.”
Her nerves at being caught snooping dissolved in an instant and transformed into a fit of giggles.
“That pickle?” She managed to get out between breathless laughter. “What are you, a 1950’s cartoon?” She doubled over her legs, laughing with a childish giddiness she hadn’t felt in years. “Like,” she erupted again, vaguely unsure what was so funny but not caring, “are you for real?”
“A pickle!” He said, an enormous grin breaking over his face, watching her laughing fit with amused delight. “C’mon, people say that! I’d be in a pickle if I lost my passport!”
At that, she stopped laughing abruptly and looked at him. They locked eyes in silence for one moment, then both exploded.
The giddy glee of everything—the waves, the sun, the breeze, the coconuts, the absurdly idyllic location, each other, the passport, the pickle, their chemistry—blended together into a thick frenzy of joy all around them. Things are good, Adele thought to herself, and was surprised at the notion, but allowed it. Things are good.
After the laughter died down, she felt Danny’s hand on her back. She’d remained doubled over, and was now resting her elbows on her knees, looking out at the ocean, her face framed by her palms.
“Well,” she heard him say. She knew she should sit up to come back to his level, but was reluctant to feel his warm hand leave her back. She savored the sensation for one more moment, then straightened up. “Well,” he said again, now catching her eyes and smiling. “Let’s cheers.”
“Yes,” she said. “Let’s.” She turned and picked up the coconut that she’d placed next to her.
They raised their coconuts, touching the hard shells to each other.
“To…” Adele’s voice trailed off. She couldn’t think what they were toasting.
“To freedom,” said Danny.
The word struck her as a bit strange, but somehow exactly right. She absorbed it, then nodded back at him.
“Yeah,” she said. “To freedom.”
He winked at her, and she felt warmth radiating from between her thighs.
Then he pulled his coconut away and she did they same, and they both drank the fresh coconut water, watching the sun fall slowly below the horizon. By the time the pinks faded to deep purples, and her coconut was empty, her hand was interlaced with his.
“My coconut is empty,” she said softly, keeping her eyes trained on the ocean. Her voice sounded as liquid as the waves before them.
“Mine too,” he said, and lifted their joined hands up off the bench and onto her lap. He released her fingers and spread his around the curve of her thigh, his pinkie almost brushing the juncture of her legs. She inhaled sharply, quietly. He moved his hand down her leg toward her knee, and she relaxed, only to tense in tortured and delicious anticipation as it crept back in the other direction. This time, when he came to the top of her thigh, he let his hand continue on, disappearing between her legs, pressing against the already damp fabric of her tiny yoga shorts.
She grew dizzy at his touch and had to close her eyes to steady herself, then snapped them open again as a wave of pleasure swept through her body. On reflex, one hand shot down and gripped his firm wrist, futilely attempting to pull it away.
“What’s wrong?” He murmured as his fingers continued to do their work on her. He breathed hotly on her neck.
“There’s people,” she managed, unconvincing even to herself.
His hot breath stopped for a moment, and she guessed that he was looking around. Two fingers applied perfect pressure between her legs, began to move more quickly.
“There’s no one,” he murmured, his lips back at her neck. She felt as if her entire body were floating, attached to the world only by those fingers. The ocean waves reverberated in her ears.
“I don’t,” she began, her voice sounding weak and unfamiliar to her ears. “I don’t want to come yet.”
“Why not, silly?” He asked, and his tongue flicked inside her ear for a moment.
“Because then it’ll be over,” she said.
He laughed softly against her neck, a kind laugh, and then pulled his face away to look at her. “Well, then we’ll just have to do it again,” he said, his eyes sparkling at her earnestly as two fingers found her clit and circled it lightly. “There’s nothing to worry about, babe.”
With that, he increased the pressure, and she gave up her resistance. A moment later, she was coming powerfully in his arms, the vibrating pulse of her orgasm leaving her arms and fingers tingling.
She fell back against the bench, panting, her eyes closed, and breathed deeply as she recovered herself. Opening her eyes, she saw Danny looking patiently out at the ocean again. At her movement, he turned his head back.
“You said something about again?” She said, her voice low and sleepy, and he grinned back at her.
In one sweeping motion, he scooped her up from the bench and carried her inside, deftly shutting the double doors with his feet, then threw her playfully onto the couch.
Then he was tugging her shorts down her legs, her lacy pink thong coming with them, and then his lips were on her skin, working their way back up from ankle to belly button. His hot mouth kissed everything—almost everything—in between, tongue slipping deliciously down her inner thighs, tantalizingly skipping the one place she wanted it most to linger. When he reached the top of her body, she clutched his face and pulled it toward her, kissing him hungrily. He allowed his body to release, pressing fully down on top of her, and she moaned at the sensation of his hard erection against her.
As if struck by the same thought at once, both of them reached down toward his shorts and hurriedly pulled them off. She shifted her hips to allow for him to enter her, and then he was inside her, filling up every space. She moaned again and pulled at the small of his back, wanting him deeper.
He pushed himself more fully inside her as he ran his hands over the smooth sides of her body. Wrapping both legs tightly around his back, Adele watched in satisfaction as his face melted in pleasure.
“Oh, babe,” he murmured. She used the force of her thighs to pull him tightly down, and pleasure surged as she felt him swell inside her. The surge grew until it was heating up her stomach, her legs, her arms, and she knew that she wouldn’t be able to hold on much longer. Glancing up at Danny, she could tell from his half-closed eyes that he was right there with her.
Just as she reached her edge, suddenly Danny was scooping her up again, lifting her from the couch, somehow not breaking a beat in his thrusting motion. She wrapped her legs more tightly around him to hold on as he flipped them both around, sitting himself down onto the couch so that she was straddling him. As soon as they settled into their new position, Adele kissed him deeply, running her fingers through his hair, relishing having his face so close to hers, and then she drew her face away and rotated herself slowly around, his firm erection her pivot point. Facing away from him now, they began their slow rhythm again. She could no longer see his face, but his low moans and hungry lips on her back told her that he was in as much ecstasy as she was. His hands ran wildly over her stomach, her breasts, through her hair, and then settled in one spot on her hips.
“Addie,” he managed, and before
she could say anything in response, she could feel the pulsing bulge of his cock that signaled his orgasm. His hands clutched at her as he grew inside her, and the dual sensations triggered a hot, warming throb in her.
“Oh my God,” she said, and then she, too, was coming. She surrendered herself to this unexpected second orgasm, tossing her head and arching her back, pulling Danny’s hands up her front to caress her breasts.
As the wave subsided, she collapsed back against him, sitting naked in his lap, in a position that now seemed nurturing and tender. She pulled her legs up toward her and curled into him, closing her eyes.
They sat quietly, breathing for a few minutes, his fingers combing through her sea-sprayed waves. She lightly kissed his chest, her eyes still closed.
Finally, she opened her eyes and looked up to see Danny looking off into the middle distance somewhere, his brow furrowed.
“Hey,” she said, reaching fingertips up to touch his chin.
“Oh hi,” he said, the grin returning. She smiled back, and then gingerly lifted herself up, gathering her clothing from the floor.
“Well, not to pull the exact same thing I pulled last time,” she said, laughing gently. “But I’ve really got to go—I had an unexpected three hour after-class tutorial session yesterday, and I still need to catch up on some work. I wasn’t expecting to stay over here for long, I just wanted to come by and tell you, but, well…”
They smiled at each other, silly with happiness for a moment.
“Yes, I apologize for detaining you,” he said.
“Oh it’s alright, I’m sure you can make it up to me,” she said, kissing him sweetly on the cheek. Pulling her tank top on and sweeping her hair back up into a ponytail, she gave herself a glance in the mirror.
Damn, she thought, looking at herself. She looked good, glowing in a way that she hadn’t for years. Her brown hair had a rich sheen to it, the sea-spray and humid air adding volume and texture; her shoulders had new definition and a sun-kissed glow; cheerful freckles had sprung up on the bridge of her nose; her slight frame suddenly had curves and suppleness where there had been none before—she was a bona fide hottie! She spun around, gave Danny a wink, and headed for the door.
“Let’s drink coconuts again sometime,” she said. “Next time it’s my treat.”
“It’s a date,” he said, giving her a slight wink that almost made her melt to the floor. Before she could give in to the impulse to jump back into his arms, she turned, opened the door, and stepped out into the warm breeze of a quiet dusk.
Chapter 9
After Adele left, Danny sat on his porch for a long time. He was surprised at how relieved—almost euphoric—he’d been when she’d jogged up to his porch. The reaction was fueled by an emotion that was strange to him, one so unfamiliar that it had taken over hours to identify. Only now, as he sat by himself in the darkness, the warm air blanketing his barely-clothed body, did he become quite certain of what he’d felt.
It was a feeling of recognition. He’d felt a flash of it the first time he and Adele had met, that night in the lobby, and it had been growing in intensity ever since. He recognized a like soul in her, if he were one to believe in souls. Looking into her eyes, he understood who she was, and felt, without knowing much about her at all, that she understood him, on the most fundamental level. The level that has nothing to do with what car we drive or what job we have. She understands, was the phrase that kept circling in his mind.
Of course, there were other feelings: Attraction. Lust, if he was being honest with himself. Fondness—he genuinely liked hanging out with her. He’d even found himself walking past the yoga studio while her classes were in session, not so much to ogle the half-naked yogis (though that was part of it), but to get to feel as though he was clued in to what she was doing.
He hadn’t felt this way about anybody since his first wife, Nikki, and he’d had no desire to experience such strong emotions since then. The ups had been incredible with Nikki, had given him new appreciation for what it meant to be alive, and to be in love, but the downs were even more intense. He’d left that relationship feeling a depth of grief that he didn’t know to be possible, as well as a sense of complete failure. Sure, her infidelity had been the straw that broke the camel’s back, but he knew that he was at least half responsible for the demise of their relationship that had brought her to an action like that. He’d thrown himself fully into something, and failed. It was a feeling he never wanted to have again.
In the four years since then, he’d worked to pull himself out of that hole—and done a darn good job at it, he thought to himself, surveying his idyllic surroundings—and also to build up safeguards against something so devastating ever happening again. He’d found that it was quite possible to have a rich, fulfilling life, while building lots of wonderful relationships, without ever forging a particularly intimate connection with any one person. He had a family he adored, inspiring friends and colleagues, and lovely short relationships with incredible women. He felt he’d discovered the secret to true happiness, and it was this: fall in love with your life, not with another person.
He pulled up his feelings again, examining his heart under the microscope of his mind, trying to convince himself that he was mistaken, that he’d mischaracterized his emotions toward Adele.
Before he could settle into any serious consideration, his phone vibrated beside him. A wave of gratitude for whoever was calling washed over him—he didn’t want to think about Adele or his dangerous feelings for her anymore. Glancing down, he saw that it was his sister, calling from back in the States.
“Well good morning, Lizster,” he said, picking up immediately.
“Good morning yourself, Dan the Man,” a cheerful female voice responded.
“I appreciate the sentiment, but—”
“Dammit,” Liz responded, laughing. “I swear I’ll get it some day.”
Danny’s family still had a hard time calculating the time difference between them, despite the fact that he’d lived on a different continent for years. At first it had irritated him, but he’d come to find it endearing.
“You can do anything if you believe in yourself,” he playfully teased.
“Ha ha,” she said. “Well good evening. Good night. Good afternoon. Whatever. Anyway, what’s happening in paradise these days?”
“Oh, same old same old,” he said, pushing Adele from his mind.
“Have you been able to get time to surf? I know last time I talked to you there were all those development meetings in Singapore and work was just getting kind of—”
“Yup, surf’s been great,” he said, cutting her off. If there was one thing he wanted to talk about less than Adele, it was work. “Spent hours out there this morning, actually. But I want to hear about you! Palm trees aside, my life isn’t nearly as interesting as yours. How’s my little man?”
“Caleb is fine,” Liz said. “Actually, it’s kind of the most adorable thing ever, his preschool is putting on a spring pageant, and he’s playing an inchworm. It’s insanely cute, he just squirms across the floor to practice—maybe not super sanitary, but hey. Oh, wait—Caleb! Honey, do you want to say your pageant line to Uncle Danny?”
Danny felt a burst of love in his stomach. His nephew and godson was one of the great sources of joy and happiness in his life. In a moment, he heard the four-year-old’s tiny, assertive voice on the other end of the line.
“I am a intworm!” the voice declared. “I cwaw on leafs!” Danny’s smile almost split his face in half.
“Oh man, you better get your Oscar speech ready, little man,” he said. “That’s quite the performance.”
“Bye bye Uncow Danny. Yuv you!” Tears sparkled in Danny’s eyes as his smile grew wider. Man, that kid.
“Hey dude,” said Liz, coming back on the line. “Listen, I don’t want to run up a crazy bill—“
“Liz, how many times do I have to tell you, I will pay for these phone calls,” he said, his voice stern and exasperated.
“Hush,” she said. “Well, either way, I just wanted to hear your voice quickly. I’ve gotta run and drop Caleb off at daycare before work.”
“No worries,” he said, though he was sorry to end the call. The phone calls from her, his younger brother, and his parents, were his only ties to that part of his life these days. And though this new life he’d created was more than he could have dreamed of, he missed them.
“Love you, Danny,” Liz said. “Go enjoy paradise.”
“Love you too, Liz,” he said. A moment later, the call went dead.
He put the phone in his lap, sighed, and stared back out at the ocean for a long time.
Chapter 10
Everything felt simple the second time Adele left Danny’s cabin. Before, it had been so fraught with guilt and doubt, worry that this one act had sabotaged her journey of self-discovery. This time, she felt nothing but giddiness. He was fun, he was sexy—god damn he was sexy, she thought, conjuring up the image of his smooth, muscled back tapering down to a firm and supple ass—he was smart, and he liked her. Their interactions were easy. She wasn’t going to let herself analyze the pleasure out of this one.
The hour had crept past ten by the time she got back to her cabin. Late, in the realm of her yogi island life; she’d been trying to get in bed by nine in order to be well-rested when she awoke at ten to six for asana practice. She decided to get right into bed, because tomorrow wasn’t a day to be sleep deprived.
They would be doing inversions, something for which she’d need to be firing on all cylinders. Inversions—or headstands and handstands in laymen’s terms—were perhaps her weakest point in her yoga practice. She didn’t feel confident in those poses at all, when she could even get into them. In fact, they terrified her. The complete lack of control, the possibility of tumbling onto your head, breaking your neck, that moment where your feet lose contact with the floor and you take that leap of faith that you’re strong enough to sustain it, strong enough to protect yourself—it was all too much. It gave her butterflies in her stomach just thinking of it.
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