“You don’t have to tell me that,” Noah said, his hands going right back to where they had been. But this time, he pulled the top of my bathing suit down, the warm water rushed at my naked breasts and there was no longer any kind of barrier between them, and him. They were his to do with as he pleased. And he did. He reached out, big hands smothering them completely. Cupping them and covering them like he was claiming them. I put my hand over my mouth to stifle a whimper as he squeezed them in his palms. Noah pulled my hand away and looked around.
“No one is going to hear us,” he said.
“Except him.” I pointed at the monkey again.
“Damn monkey.” Noah pulled away and walked towards the other side of the pool. “Bugger off. Go!” He brought his hand down on the water, sending an enormous splash into the air. The water hit the monkey on the face and, for the second time that evening, it screeched at us and then ran into the bush.
“Okay, gone!”
“Gone!” I said in agreement, and then I laughed a little again.
“Right! Now, where was I?” he asked playfully.
“I think you were somewhere here.” I pointed to my breasts. “With your hands, if I’m not mistaken.”
Noah looked at them and then shook his head. “Maybe I’ll use something else now.”
And this time, I was unable to stifle the sounds coming out of my mouth as he lowered his mouth to my breasts and almost drew the whole thing in as he sucked. Stuff inside didn’t just explode, they went supernova. I arched my body forward. I don’t know how I knew to do this, but I did. This sexual instinct just came out of me, and it wasn’t even hard to access, as if it had always been there, just below the surface, ready and waiting for Noah to bring it out. No one else. Just him. I laced my fingers through his wet hair and held on tightly to the strands as I pulled his head to the other breast. I wanted the other one to experience the same thing. And it did, as he ran a hard, flat tongue under it and around it, circling the fleshy part, but not going near the nipple,yet. He ran a tongue through the middle of them, running it all the way up my neck. I threw my head back to give him access to the sensitive underside, just below my chin. He traced my jaw, up to my ear, pulling my earlobe into his mouth and biting down on it ever so softly. And then he let go and his tongue trailed back down to my breast and this time, the tip of his tongue grazed my nipple. The feeling was too much to take, and my hands longed to be on him like his were on mine.
I put my hands on his body for the first time ever. On his chest first, then I moved them to his back, dragging my nails over it as his muscles seemed to move beneath my fingertips. He moaned at the feeling of my nails running the length of his back; they seemed to infuse him with a certain urgency that had him grabbing at my bathing suit, pulling it down even further. I felt it by my hips now, and I knew that in a matter of seconds I was going to be completely naked. It didn’t feel right that I was the only one, though, so I dug my fingers into his shorts and pulled at the same time he did. We both gasped, pulled away and looked at each other, holding eye contact for one second before he fell forward again and pressed back into me. The weight of his body crushed me into the wall even more. I would not be able to get out from under him, even if I wanted to. This idea of a total loss of control drove me wild with excitement. And even more so when I could feel him, all of him. Hard, pressing against my hip and stomach. It pushed against me and I could feel the aching. In him, in me, in the very water around us even.
We were completely naked together now, and nothing about it felt uncomfortable. It felt natural, and right, as if we’d been building up to this moment since we’d met. This moment of wet nakedness in a pool, on a deck looking out over the sea with . . .
“Crap! He’s back.” I pushed Noah away as I locked eyes with the monkey in the tree.
“What?” Noah turned and glared at him.
“Oh my God, and he’s bought reinforcements!” I pointed as little gray faces burst out of the bushes.
“You sure you don’t have that watch of yours on this time?” Noah asked.
“No. What are they doing?” I asked, getting nervous, as they seemed to be holding some kind of psychic conference. Looking at each other over and over again, planning something in their little furry, primate brains.
“Is it me, or do they look like they’re about to come for us?” Noah and I held hands and instinctively started crab-walking our way out the pool.
“They’re coming for us,” I said through the giant, toothy grin I was giving the monkeys. I was trying to look friendly and unperturbed and not show my fear . . . but that was all a lie.
“Run!” Noah hissed in my ear as we reached the steps of the pool. It all happened so quickly after that. Fast, blurry flashes of gray descending on the deck as we ran for the door. Frantic gray fingers reaching for the left-over picnic scraps, fighting over the bread sticks and bits of cheese and mashing strawberries between their teeth until it looked like they were bleeding out of their mouths. We made it inside and slammed the glass door behind us and stared out over the carnage that was now the once-romantic picnic on the deck. The sounds of them fighting over the scraps was almost earth-shattering. One of them picked up a champagne glass and polished off the liquid in the bottom and then threw the glass into the pool. Some of the younger ones were now playing on the top step of the pool, splashing each other, whilst young two males squared off around the picnic basket, fighting for dominance over this new container of treats. Another monkey was dragging our champagne bottle into the bush, another two were sucking on the ice cubes, one was ripping up one of the pillows and another two were using our picnic blanket as a convenient place to mate! Noah and I slowly turned to each other. Wide-eyed. Wet, naked, out of breath and dripping on the marble floor.
“Uh . . .” Noah finally whispered. “Only in Africa!”
“Yup!” We stared at each other for a while, in a silent, shocked daze and then . . .
“AAAAH!” I screamed and jumped back from the window, almost falling, but for Noah’s quick arm around me, as a monkey charged the window.
“That’s him! Look, the ear.” I pointed.
“Bastard!” Noah hissed as the monkey who had started this whole mess. He was glaring at us through the glass now.
“Let’s go!” Noah took me by the arm and rushed me to the bedroom, our wet feet sliding across the floor as we went. He slammed the door behind us, closed all the windows and then drew the curtains as quickly as possible and, when he was done, we collapsed onto the bed in naked fits of laughter.
CHAPTER 68
When our laughter finally stopped, I realized that Noah and I were lying on the bed together naked, and the implications of that, were, well . . .sex.
Because yes, we were going to have sex tonight! That was a given and, based on what had happened so far in the pool, it was going to be fantastic. We fell into a kiss as soon as our lips were no longer laughing and smiling, and this was the kind of kiss we hadn’t shared yet. Because this one was filled with so much lust and longing that I knew it wouldn’t be able to stayjusta kiss for much longer. And it didn’t. His lips left mine and soon they were traveling down my collar bones and my breasts and my stomach, and that’s when it hit me.
“Wait!” I put my hand on the back of Noah’s head.
