Lost in the Green Grass

by Henry Sands

  This was not something that Jack had ever thought he had signed himself up for, particularly given that it involved “partnering” with a woman the same age as his mother. But he was leaving Tulum in the morning and he had, after all, said to himself that he would throw himself into everything.

  He looked back across the circle to Chrissie and Noelle. Chrissie, who already seemed to have started her own breathing exercises, was pumping herself up as if she was heading out into a boxing match. He frankly found her a little too intimidating and suspected she possessed an appetite for yoni stimulation beyond what he was experienced enough to provide.

  Noelle, on the other hand, seemed rather less scary; perhaps even quite sweet. Through her wet, slightly sandy sarong, he could make out the pertness of her small bottom and felt he would be more than comfortable partnering up with her. He tapped Leonardo on the shoulder to confirm it was on and went back to the women to report the good news.

  ‘Okay, Chrissie, if you want to go to the front and sit opposite Leonardo, you’ll partner with him. Noelle, if you’re comfortable with it, you and I will sit here together.’

  ‘Great stuff, let’s do this,’ Chrissie replied, and made her way past the other couples to sit down opposite Leonardo.

  ‘Okay, thanks,’ Noelle said with just a fraction of a suppressed smirk apparent from the side of her mouth. She sat down next to Jack and crossed her legs tightly, doing her best to eliminate any feelings of nervousness.

  After a couple more minutes of rhythmic breathing, Leonardo turned the music down slightly and began the main part of the class:

  ‘My trusted friends, welcome to our sacred circle. Our intention today is to achieve three things: firstly, to heal any blocked sexuality inside us; secondly, to awaken our senses; and thirdly, to transform our minds. For us to succeed, it’s important that we communicate clearly to our partners the boundaries and sensations with which we are comfortable.

  ‘Now, I want everyone to stand up slowly and face your partner. Look deep into your partner’s eyes, and sharing each other’s energy, let us start to undress.’

  At this point, Leonardo began walking slowly around the circle, talking to each of the couples in the group, reassuring the more apprehensive participants to release themselves into the circle of trust. He continued:

  ‘As we remove each item of clothing, I want you to say out loud something in your lives that you have been harbouring and would like to release.’

  ‘Sexual boundaries!’ one woman shouted first as she removed her dress over her head.

  ‘Judgement of others,’ exclaimed one of the men.

  ‘Preconceptions about age,’ Noelle suddenly whispered to Jack, before dropping her sarong and untying the bows each side of her bikini bottoms, allowing them to drop to the floor. Her pubic area had been waxed nearly in its entirety, leaving just a thin strip of hair she’d left at the top of her crack. No doubt a special holiday haircut, Jack thought, as he noticed a small tattoo of a shooting star around an inch to the left of her clitoris.

  Jack felt an unwelcome rush of blood in his body, pumping down towards his cock. He didn’t know much about yoga, though he sensed getting a rock-hard erection was probably against the spirit of the class, and therefore did everything he could to block his mind from the vicinity of the shooting star sat opposite him.

  He turned his thoughts as best he could to the lack of spice in his salsa plate he’d had for lunch, though despite his best efforts, his mind came racing back continuously to the naked woman in front of him, now staring intently into his eyes.

  ‘Well done, everyone! Now, let’s sit back in our cross-legged positions and breathe deeply again. Once you are fully relaxed, I want the women to wrap their legs around their partner, bringing your hips closer to each other. Once you’re comfortable in that position, I want you to relax again and focus on your breathing.’

  Jesus, Leonardo. What the hell have you got me into now? Jack fumed at Leonardo in his head, as Noelle wrapped her soft legs around him.

  Unlike some of the other women in the group, Jack was pleasantly surprised by the obvious care and attention Noelle took in keeping her body hair well trimmed. She had the petite body of a woman considerably younger than her sixty years.

  ‘When you’re comfortable with your positions, I want the men to ask their partner’s permission to enter their yoni.’

  Noelle nodded, and Jack gently moved his index and middle fingers inside Noelle’s vagina. On the instruction of Leonardo, he worked his fingers inside her, feeling for any tension built up within her, and applied pressure to her left side, then her right side and then up to the top. His fingers rotated gently in that order again, slowly massaging the inside of her increasingly wet vaginal lips.

  ‘Now breathe deeply, and exhaaaale. Breath and exhaaaale, letting any tension out of you along with the air. We are in the sacred circle of trust here; release accordingly.’

  At that point, moans of delight began to erupt around the circle of trust, with none louder than Chrissie who started rocking back and forth on her hips vigorously with what looked like most of Leonardo’s hand now deep inside her.

  Jack was trying to focus on Noelle only, but couldn’t resist glancing at the other couples around the room. He was just thinking what a peculiar form of yoga this was that Leonardo had invented, when Noelle let out a cry and fell back onto the sand behind her, as if someone had taken a Taser to her body.

  Soon, all the couples were lying on their backs, eyes closed, listening to the music Leonardo had turned back up.

  ‘Feel the energy come up through your body, revitalising your chakras, connecting to your heart. Connecting to your soul. Allow that energy to float through you to your extremities and release it now through your hands and feet. Keep taking deep breaths and slowly come back up to a sitting position to face your partner. Put your hands together and thank your partner. Namaste.’

  Once the last couple had left, walking back to their respective hotels hand in hand, Jack and Leonardo blew out the candles and packed up the rest of the equipment.

  ‘Mate, I’m just going to put it out there. That was pretty weird. I didn’t expect to spend my last night in Tulum sat in a candlelit circle full of naked people with my hand inside a woman the same age as my mother,’ Jack said as he picked up the last of the mats.

  ‘Fair enough, dude. I can’t say I was expecting that either, but $600 for an hour’s work isn’t too bad at all. And they all seemed to enjoy themselves, didn’t they!’ Leonardo chuckled. ‘C’mon, let’s go get changed and head to the beach party.’

  *

  Papaya Playa Beach Club was the area’s original beachfront party, with many of the best DJs in the world having played there at some time or other. If you were in Tulum on a Saturday night and you wanted a big party, then this was the place to be found.

  Although the music officially started around 10pm, the club only got really busy at about midnight once the restaurants in town had closed and all the European and American seasonaires working there would then come down to the party. Diego had the prime DJ set which was due to start around 1am, and would finish up at sunrise at around 6am.

  Jack and Leonardo swung by one of the little bars on the main strip of the town for some tapas and a couple of drinks before arriving at Papaya Playa just after midnight. As Saturday was the main changeover day, a lot of the guests had just arrived that afternoon, and rather than succumb to jetlag and tiredness, they were often raring to go.

  There were three podiums built amongst the palm trees, where a fire-dancing performance was in full swing, with three women in leather Catwoman outfits dancing while blowing fire towards the crowd.

  Above the middle of the raving rabble floated a large helium-filled skull, attached to the sandy makeshift dance floor by a rope, in tribute to Mexico’s tradition for the Day of the Dead.

  Most of
the women there were still wearing their bikini tops, some with t-shirts layered on top and which were invariably tucked into a tight pair of shorts. The men, like in much of Tulum, were a mix of buffed American finance guys in Ralph Lauren polo shirts which were slightly too tight and styled with the collar standing up, and Europeans wearing brightly coloured linen shirts who Jack felt looked altogether less intimidating. What they all had in common was an appetite to party.

  Leonardo tried not to come to too many of these more commercial weekly parties, as he felt having twenty people dancing around his own campfire and listening to his own music was a far more authentic and natural experience than partying en masse. He was really there tonight to see Diego and give Jack a good send-off; contrary to his first impressions of a slightly stiff and uptight Brit, he’d enjoyed getting to know Jack far more than most of the guys who came through his camp.

  He grabbed a tray from the bar and returned with four tequila slammers and four bottles of Corona, before he and Jack pushed through the crowd towards the bamboo DJ booth.

  At the front of the dance floor nearest the DJ booth, Leonardo spotted two extremely beautiful women, one blonde and one brunette, dancing away, seemingly oblivious to the crowd of onlookers glancing on admiringly.

  Without hesitation, Leonardo headed towards them with the tray of tequila slammers he had just picked up over his shoulder. Jack couldn’t make out where he was headed, but by now knew Leonardo well enough not to ask questions.

  When they reached the girls, the brunette turned towards them. Jack realised immediately it was Makenna, who had slipped away without a trace, leaving him to assume that she had already left Tulum.

  ‘We thought you looked thirsty,’ Leonardo said, as smooth as ever, handing each of the girls a tequila slammer and a Corona to wash it down. Jack and Makenna went along with their friends’ assumptions that they hadn’t met before, and Jack noticed that, as cool as before, Makenna showed no embarrassment at all at seeing him again. Each of them licked the side of their hand, sprinkled some salt on top of it, and then threw the double shot of tequila down their throats. To take away the harsh taste of the tequila, they each then took a large slice of lemon and sucked down hard on it, wincing slightly at its acidity.

  ‘You left in a hurry the other night,’ Jack whispered to Makenna, out of earshot of their friends.

  ‘I know… I’m sorry. I should have said something, but you looked quite comfortable on the sand, and I knew I had to get back to our hotel before it became obvious to the others who I was with.’

  ‘I get it,’ Jack said with a smile, ‘but it’s a nice surprise to see you again. I thought you were leaving a few days ago?’

  ‘Yeah, we were meant to, but my friend Candice here and I decided to stay through the weekend. LA-bound tomorrow. What about you?’

  ‘Last night in paradise for me too. London calling. And, actually, there’s no one else I’d rather be spending my last night with, if I’m being honest. I’m so pleased to see you again.’

  ‘Oh, is that right, Mr Englishman? You think a girl falls twice for your accent, do you?’ Makenna responded flirtatiously, moving her face slightly closer towards Jack before taking a swig of her Corona.

  ‘One can only hope, I suppose,’ Jack responded, moving his head a little closer still, while maintaining enough self-discipline to avoid going in for a kiss too soon, particularly in front of the others.

  They were distracted from their near embrace by a roar from the crowd around them. Diego had put on his headphones and started spinning the Technics electronic DJ set in front of him. The crowd started bouncing.

  Tonight, even by Papaya Playa standards, was going to be big, as the first Saturday of the Christmas holidays always was. But now that Jack had found Makenna, he felt he would rather be anywhere else with her at that moment, rather than in the sweaty pit of bodies on their first night in Tulum, going too hard and too fast. His Tulum, with Leonardo, had not been like this over the last three months. But Diego had got the place energised, as they all knew he would. Everyone around him seemed to be another drug-fuelled, drunken holiday-maker giving it everything they had. The thought didn’t stop Jack repeating the tequila shot process with the others a few moments later when Leonardo returned with a refilled tray of drinks.

  The music got louder; the beats got faster. Diego always tried to blend in an Aztec edge to his music, incorporating well-known dance anthems with a Mexican Mayan twist. The crowd were loving it, and as more people filled the dance floor, others spilled out beyond it onto the beach.

  Makenna was wearing a black one-piece jumpsuit, revealing the whole of her toned, tanned back. Jack took the opportunity to run his hand down it, and then continued further, before resting it gently on Makenna’s right buttock.

  She responded by throwing her hair back and beginning to move her hips closer to him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Leonardo running his hands through Candice’s hair, and starting to kiss the side of her neck. The movement of their bodies was mirroring Diego’s beats.

  The first thing Jack noticed about Makenna when he saw her last time was the way she moved her body to the music in a way he had never seen a woman do before. It was so effortless, yet so captivating to watch. Here she was doing it again and pulling him with her. Jack had never been particularly confident on the dance floor, but Makenna was guiding his body in a way which made him almost believe that he himself knew how to move.

  She slowly and sexily spun around to face Jack. She put her arms around his neck and tossed her head back again to the sky, in exactly the same way she had the other night when she was naked in the ocean under the stars. Jack took the opportunity to take a prolonged glance at the full curvaceous breasts he had revelled in the night before.

  Hand in hand, Jack moved their clutch up from her waist, across her chest, and then carefully over to the back of her head. Every part of him wanted to kiss her, but he knew she was leading the dance and would wait until she leaned into him. He closed his eyes and envisaged the next few hours, overjoyed to get another taste of this enchanting Californian chick.

  At that point, her hand rested on his cheek, and she pulled his face towards her. He moved his mouth towards her. But just before their lips touched, they were made to leap apart by an excruciating screech from a concerningly familiar voice right next to them.

  ‘Oh my GOD, it’s the vagina massagers…!’ Chrissie, who had clearly been continuing to throw back the tequila since they’d last seen her on the beach, appeared with a group of five other women, who must also have been approaching sixty, including Noelle.

  Leonardo’s embrace with Candice had also been brought to a rapid halt.

  ‘These are the guys! The ones we were talking about. My God, WHAT this man did to me,’ she said pointing at Leonardo. ‘I mean, really, he put his entire arm inside me and introduced me to God. Where have you been all my life, and how much more of you can I have before I leave next week! My friends ALL want a go. Look at the smile on Noelle’s face still. That’s her partner there! Do you offer group discount?’

  Candice and Makenna shared a puzzled look towards each other, amusedly digesting what they were hearing. They both readjusted their clothes.

  ‘We’ll see you around,’ said Candice, before quietly slipping away into the crowd.

  That wasn’t how Jack had hoped the evening would pan out. The girl of his dreams had been right there, just a few moments ago, dancing with him. They were about to kiss, for God’s sake. And now, he felt another hand rubbing his back. The hand of Noelle. Any thought of getting annoyed was short-lived, though, and he could only laugh to himself at the absurdity of the situation.

  Fuck it, he thought to himself. It was nearly 2am, and his carnal instinct had kicked in. Makenna had disappeared into the crowd, and he knew there was no chance at this time of night of explaining what had just happened. While the thought of spen
ding the rest of the night with Noelle wasn’t quite how he had envisaged his last night being spent, the likely alternative at this point was spending it getting annihilated with Leonardo. Besides, Noelle had a good sense of humour and a surprisingly athletic body. Sleeping with women nearly forty years his senior wasn’t something he was planning on making a habit of, but he saw no harm in indulging a bit more this one time.

  He took Noelle’s hand, who seemed slightly surprised at first. He smiled and gestured with his head for them to move away from the crowd and the over-excited hollering coming from Chrissie, who by now was literally bear-hugging Leonardo so tightly, it was unlikely he would be going anywhere soon. Noelle caught the eye of one of her other friends. The friend nodded, seemingly encouraging her to go with Jack. Given her friends now knew where she was, she shrugged and allowed Jack to lead her away from the group through the crowd.

  They were soon on the beach, behind the main dance floor, and began walking away from the party, shoes in hand and allowing the waves to wash over their feet. Once they were sufficiently far away to be out of sight, Jack led Noelle up from the beach and into the dunes.

  Without a word, Noelle lay down on her back, and Jack lay next to her and began kissing her neck. Jack began whispering some irrelevant small talk to her, to which Noelle, in an uncharacteristic, dominant manner answered, ‘No more talking, sportboy. I want you inside me.’ Jack wasn’t quite sure where the term “sportboy” had come from, but he got the gist of what she meant pretty clearly.

  *

  On realising Noelle and Jack had disappeared towards the beach, Chrissie decided to tighten her clutch on an increasingly uncomfortable Leonardo, going in for the lunge. Leonardo managed to turn slightly at the last minute to avoid his entire face being engulfed, before wriggling out of her sweaty clasp. Unlike Jack, Leonardo was not flying home in the morning and he had no intention whatsoever of taking things further with Chrissie.