I reread Melusi’s message and it made my head spin. Had I really gone on and off a sex and man detox so manically and frequently?
Ash:Okay, just arrived at the Lake. Totally gorgeous by the way.
Ash:Have to run.
I climbed out the car and stared in awe at the massive lake in front of me. It was spectacular. In some places, the water was so clear it was transparent. Huge boulders rose up out of the water in parts, creating small natural islands where vegetation had grown wild. If I didn’t know I was in a land-locked African country, I would have thought I was on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean.
I immediately got to work while we still had perfect light: tracking the movement of the sun so I knew what shots needed to be shot in which order, creating that shot list, and then coming up with a gear list too. I was busy contemplating an aerial shot when I started to notice that the sun was much lower in the sky. I looked at my watch. I had been working flat out for six hours. Enough for now. I walked towards the hotel we were staying in. It was absolutely gorgeous, built onto a rocky outcrop, almost perching on it, as if it defied gravity. The huge boulders had also been incorporated into the interior design, and the reception desk was actually made of one.
“Hi, I’m with the production company, checking in.” The woman behind the counter suddenly looked a little panicked.
“Let me call my manager quickly.”
I looked around for Max. This didn’t sound good.
The manager arrived, looking worried as well. “Welcome,” he said nervously. “Has your traveling companion told you yet?”
“Told me what?”
“There has been an issue with your rooms. A tap burst, and there was some unfortunate flooding. We’re so sorry. We know you’d wanted to stay in those rooms specifically. But we are putting you up in another villa together.”
“What? We’re sharing a room?”
“Oh no, the villa has several rooms, but it does share common living areas.”
I relaxed a bit. I’d thought he was going to tell me Max and I were going to be sharing a room. Luckily, we weren’t.
“Not a problem,” I said, and the man looked very relieved.
The villa was incredible, rustic chic, perched high up on the boulders with the most incredible view of the endless blue waters of the lake. We definitely needed an aerial shot! In my room too, a huge boulder protruded from the floor and the bed leaned up against it. I peeled off my clothes and went straight for the bathtub. If I’d thought the bath at Matobo Hills had been perfect, I was very, very wrong. This was undoubtedly the world’s best bath. The bathroom was completely indoor/outdoor, and the tub had been carved out of one of the giant boulders. Green trees made a natural wall on the one side, but the front was completely open to the lake and view in front of me. And, what was better, a variety of bath salts and scented oils had been laid out on the Malawian rattan table next to the bath. I was going to make the most of this moment after what had been a rather long and hot day. The sun was setting over the lake and if perfection had a name, a place and a time, it would be the Takulandirani Villa, Lake Malawi, at exactly 5:39 p.m. I slipped into the floral-scented water and let out an audible moan of contentment.
God, this was amazing. I grabbed my phone and took a quick photo of my knees sticking out of the bath and the view behind it, and posted it on the group to a stream of jealous replies and photos of where they were. I put the phone down and muted it. I loved my friends, but I wanted some silence. Needed some silence. These last few days had been totally weird, to say the least. Things had been bizarre with Max, and I was just so happy to be free of all that. After last night’s talk, it was apparent I could actually have a decent, normal conversation with the man without all the sexually loaded subtext that had been underpinning our reunion until now . . .right?
I closed my eyes and tilted my head back. I lay there in the water for so long that it started becoming cold as the sun set. Small fairy lights woven around the trees came on. This place could not get any more magical if it tried. I climbed out the bath and stood looking at the view for a while, the fat moon casting a silver glow over the water below. I reached for the towel, which was hanging from a tree branch that jutted from the foliage, making a natural towel rack. These people had put so much thought into every single detail of this place. I hoped Max would sign them on . . .
“MAX!” I screamed, and froze. He was standing in front of me. “What the hell are you doing here?” I whipped the towel off the branch, only for it to snap and fall to the floor.
“I didn’t know your bathroom was here. Honestly, I was walking around to get some pictures of the villa at night.”
I’d put my hands over my breasts, crossed my legs to try to hide my rather bald nakedness and was now trying to pick up the dropped towel with my toe. He was staring at me. “For God’s sake! Stop staring. Stop—Aaaah!” My foot hit a wet patch on the floor and I lurched forwards. “Shit!” I lost control and toppled, wet and naked and totally mortified, right into Max’s arms.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine!” I immediately and incorrectly said. “No. I’m clearly not fine, actually, because I’m naked. And you are . . .here.”
“Sorry, it was a genuine mistake.”
“Aaagggh,” I moaned when the full picture of what exactly was happening right now came into crystal clear view, and as soon as it did, other things became crystal clear as well: the feelings surging through my naked body right now; Max’s strong arms wrapped around me; my breasts pressing into his chest; his cock pressing into my stomach, growing harder by the second, which had not gone unnoticed by me, and it was driving me wild.
Knowing and feeling how hard his cock was sent a thrill rocketing up my spine. The thrill rushed in both ways, to my face and lips and mouth, which tingled now, but also to the base of my spine. My hips, my thighs, between my legs. A warm throb deep inside made me swell for him, made my legs part ever so slightly. Of course, he didn’t miss this tiny move, because his hands travelled down my back and settled around my waist. My heart raced a little quicker, my cheeks flushed and my breath quickened . . .
I was not over this.
No matter how much I tried to fight it with him, I was so far away from being over it that I might as well be under him right now. Legs wide open, inviting him to do whatever he wanted with me. And I wanted it too. I wanted it so badly and I did not think I had the energy, or the desire, to fight it any longer. I gasped when suddenly one of his hands left my lower back and came down on my ass, almost a spank, and then gripped it tightly. I looked up at him, wide-eyed, questioningly. He pulled me towards him and then ground me into his cock.
“Do you feel that?” he asked, and I nodded up at him in a stupefied state. “That’s how much I want you, Ash.”
I let out a moan when he did it one more time for good measure. In case I was in any doubt about how big and hard he was.
