by Angela Blake
“Let’s show her something, eh, Dan?” Peter said as they both began to play the opening notes of hotel California.
Just as she was wondering if they were only going to play, Daniel opened his mouth and began to sing. Esmeralda’s mouth nearly dropped open when she heard the voice that emanated from his mouth.
He sounded like a mixture between James Blunt and John Mayer.
Esmeralda shook her head as she came out of the memory only to hear Daniel softly sing Hotel California to himself as he stared out at the sea.
Esmeralda smiled sadly as she turned around and headed back to camp, unaware that Daniel’s body had tensed the minute she approached, and that he knew she was standing there the whole time.
He turned his head slightly to look over his shoulder. “Such a lovely face,” he crooned quietly as he watched her walk away.
Chapter 6
“Esme, wake up.”
Esmeralda was dreaming of something, a faraway place with warm sandy beaches, and a melancholy tune she couldn’t quite put her fingers on. She felt the warmth of the sun penetrate her body and warm her soul. She struggled to grasp onto the dream as she ignored the voice that was calling out to her somewhere outside her realm of reality.
There was someone in the dream with her, but she couldn’t see his face because the outline was blurry. The only reason she knew he was a guy was because his voice was deep and husky although slightly distorted.
He was telling her something, and she could feel the happiness radiate through her as the guy shifted closer to her. He leaned in to brush his lips over hers, but before she could feel his lips descend on hers, Esmeralda’s eyes flew open.
A gasp escaped her lips as she flailed and brought her hands up to defend herself. The sound of a guffaw made her lower her hands, and her eyes fluttered open as the shapes in her peripheral vision started to make sense.
Christina was sitting in front of her, in yoga pants and a hoodie holding a pillow in her arms as she stared at Esmeralda with an amused grin.
Esmeralda blinked and brought hers hands up to her face to rub her eyes.
“What time is it?” she croaked as she searched for her bottle of water. She finally found it, and she smacked her lips together a few times before she took a huge gulp. She cleared her throat as she lay back down and stared at Christina who looked far too amused for a person who needed coffee to wake up in the morning.
“It’s seven in the morning.”
“I thought you said you weren’t a morning person?” One eyebrow shot up in surprise.
“I’m not, but I crashed early yesterday, so I woke up earlier than I had planned, and I managed to make myself some coffee with the battery-operated kettle we got.”
“Good for you,” Esmeralda grumbled as she flipped on her side and shut her eyes, hoping to get some sleep.
A pillow hit her squarely in the face, so Esmeralda opened her eyes and glared at Christina. “What?”
“You’re supposed to be the morning person,” Christina pointed out, cheekily. “Besides, I didn’t just wake up early because I went to bed early, I woke up because you were moaning and panting in your sleep.”
Esmeralda felt the heat creep up her cheeks. “I was not. You’re just making this up.”
Christina laughed. “Oh, believe me, I wish I was. I mean, I know we’re close, and we share pretty much everything, but believe me, I do not want to hear my best friend writhing and squirming because she is in the throes of a sex dream.”
“I wasn’t having a sex dream,” Esmeralda protested as the flush spread even deeper.
“Right, uh huh, then why are you blushing?”
Instead of answering, Esmeralda ducked her head and let her hair fall over her face.
“Trust me, you were having one hell of a hot dream. If the sound of your moaning and groaning was anything to go by.”
Esmeralda picked up her pillow and buried her face in it. She had never been able to talk about intimate things as freely as Christina did. Not because there was anything wrong with it, or because she was ashamed, but because she always felt self-conscious and shy when she did. Like she was back in high school reading a romance novel with a particularly steamy twist.
“Who were you dreaming about anyway?”
Esmeralda pulled the pillow away from her face. “I don’t know, I couldn’t see his face.”
“Was he at least any good?”
Esmeralda gave her a look.
“What?” Christina said defensively. “It’s been a while, ok? I’ve got to live vicariously through you, so you’ve got to give me the juice details.”
Esmeralda laughed. “I don’t have to give you any details, Chris. There is such a thing as too much personal information. Or oversharing.”
“I don’t mind.”
“I do,” Esmeralda pointed out. “Besides, I would rather not think about it because the more I do, the more I think that it was a hot dream starring my ex.”
Christina visibly grimaced. “I see your dilemma.”
Christina moved, so she was standing in front of Esmeralda. “Okay, so since we’re staying, you can ignore him, I suppose. It shouldn’t be that hard. I mean we don’t have to interact with all the other guests. We could just stick to the ones we don’t know.”
“Which would mean everyone but him,” Esmeralda pointed out, ruefully. “Isn’t that kind of rude, not to mention childish?”
“Well, if you want to be all mature about it, be my guest,” Christina teased.
“I’m serious, Chris. I think I should talk to him. Figure out some ground rules. There’s no reason we can’t both be here, and enjoy our time without getting on each other’s nerves.”
“I guess not,” Christina admitted.
“Then it’s settled. I’ll go find him before breakfast.” Esmeralda stood up and began to change into a comfortable pair of sweat pants and a hoodie.
She slipped on her boots, jacket and brushed her hair before pulling it up into a high ponytail.
***
She made her way around the campsite quietly so as not to disturb anyone, and she finally managed to find out which one was his because his was the only single tent in the campsite.
She stood in front of it, debating for a moment or two, trying to decide what to say, and how to wake him up. He had forgotten to zip up his tent, so most of it was already open, so Esmeralda peaked in and saw that he was sprawled on the floor, deep in sleep.
She pulled her head out and bit her bottom lip before she took a step back. She hesitated and took a step forward realizing that if she didn’t do it now, she’d never get around it, and she didn’t want there to be any bad blood between them. After all, he had always treated her well, and they had once respected and loved each other. There’s no reason they couldn’t respect each other again.
She gritted her teeth and decided to just get it over with. She poked her head in and called out. “Daniel?” She poked her head in even further and crouched down just a bit.
He didn’t stir, so she tried again louder this time. “Daniel?”
Before she knew what was happening, Daniel’s eyes flew open, and Esmeralda had fallen forward in surprise. Daniel’s face hovered over hers as he propped himself up on his elbows and gazed down at her, a half amused, half surprised smile covering his face.
Esmeralda’s face was flaming as she realized that Daniel was shirtless, and clad only in boxer shorts.
“Not that I don’t appreciate the view, but what are you doing here, Esmeralda?”
“Oh, um,” she stammered as she tried to keep her eyes on his face. “I know I told you to basically leave me alone, but I realized that’s not practical since we’re going to be seeing quite a bit of each other the next week, and it seems childish to ignore each other, so I thought maybe we could call a truce.”
Daniel stared at her, one eyebrow raised.
“Well, I mean we don’t have to,” she hurried to add, the words tumbling out of her mouth in a steady stream. “We
don’t have to talk at all, but I figured it might be better if we didn’t go out of our way to avoid each other.”
Daniel scratched his face. “We don’t need to, that’s true. I still care about you, Esme, and I respect you very much. I don’t want there to be animosity between us just because we aren’t together anymore.”
Esmeralda breathed deeply as she caught a whiff of his cologne, and a smell that she had always associated with him. He smelled like mint and this woodsy smile she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
She licked her lips nervously. “So, we agree?”
Daniel swallowed audibly as he stared at her lips. “Agreed. So is this a friendship kind of thing?”
Esmeralda laughed nervously trying to ignore the way her body ached to press herself to him. “You could say that. I mean, it’s an unusual friendship given the twenty year age difference, but why not, right?”
Daniel gave her a wry grin. “Why not, indeed?”
He cleared his throat. “So in the spirit of friendship, I should probably tell you, I knew you were standing behind me yesterday.”
“Oh.” Esmeralda gazed up at him. “I’m sorry if I intruded, it’s just that I couldn’t sleep, and I was walking around, and when I heard you play, I was drawn to you. You remember how I always said that your music affected me.”
“I remember,” he said softly, his molten brown eyes meeting her chocolate brown ones. “Just like when we first met.”
“Yeah,” she breathed wondering why they had both unconsciously shifted closer, and wondering why neither of them were stopping themselves.
“You sang Hotel California,” Esmeralda said quietly.
“You were supposed to be watching and trying to emulate what we were doing, but at one point, you put down the guitar, and just looked. I could feel the heat of your stare as I struggled to concentrate on the song and keep myself from taking you in my arms then and there, and just kissing you till I stole your breath away.”
Esmeralda’s breath caught in her throat. “But you didn’t know me.”
A soft smile played on Daniel’s lips as he brought a finger up to her mouth and began to trace the corners of her lips. “I know I didn’t, but everything in me was screaming that I had to get to know you. Had to make you mine.”
“Me too.”
Esmeralda was painfully aware of the distance between them, and the electrical charge that had suddenly settled over them.
Daniel’s fingers were tracing her face, reverently as if admiring the contours. “You were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, still are.”
“Daniel, I don’t think we should.”
Daniel stopped and gazed at her intently. “I know we shouldn’t especially because we just agreed to a truce, and we’re not hurting each other anymore, but I can’t seem to stop myself from wanting you.”
Esmeralda inhaled deeply. “This isn’t easy for me, either. Everything in my body is screaming at me to push myself closer, to let you touch me, and to hell with reason. I want to lose myself in you, and the way we make each other feel because being near you now, it unnerves me.”
Daniel closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to hers. They both breathed deeply. “God help me for wanting you as much as I do even though I know I can’t keep you.” Daniel’s voice cracked in the last part, and he swallowed audibly.
“God help me for wanting you even when I know you’ll probably walk away again,” Esmeralda whispered as she brought her hands up around his face and pulled him closer.
Daniel shuddered as he pushed himself against her, and his hands came up to rest on the small of her back.
Esmeralda was suddenly painfully aware of the fact that she had forgotten to wear a bra, and her breasts were straining against the fabric of her tight hoodie. Being near him this way wasn’t just affecting her heart and soul. It was affecting her body too.
As if sensing her thoughts, Daniel pulled back, and a mischievous glint entered his eye as he looked down at her chest.
“You’re not wearing a bra,” he murmured as his eyes darkened with desire.
“It’s not like I did it on purpose,” Esmeralda said. Her voice came out sounding husky.
“You didn’t? Well, I don’t know. I mean coming to my tent this early in the morning, looking the way you do,” he teased.
“What way is that?” she asked as she desperately tried to push the warning voice in her head out of her mind.
“Well, let’s just say that you can pull off anything and make it look sexy.” He smiled then frowned. “But you should probably wear a bra before everybody else wakes up, or everybody will be staring.”
“Are you jealous?” Esmeralda’s voice was tinged with surprise.
Daniel’s eyes snapped to hers. “Maybe I am, and I know it isn’t right because we aren’t together anymore, but I can’t help it.”
“I know,” Esmeralda said quietly as she absent mindedly ran her hands over his back.
“Esmeralda, I’m trying really hard to stop myself from doing something we might both regret here, but your hand on my back like that, is bringing back all sorts of memories, not to mention it’s driving me nuts.”
“You think you’re not driving me nuts, too?”
Daniel’s face hovered in front of hers, his entire body taut with the effort of controlling himself. Esmeralda continued to trace his back. A small twitch made its way to Daniel’s mouth, and he brought his hand up to her neck, and began to move down until they were laying on top of her sweater.
Her breath hitched in her throat as he began fondling her over her sweater. Esmeralda gasped at the sensation as she realized just how much her body craved his. Her hands began to move restlessly up and down his back. She let her hands lightly graze his back knowing that the movement of her fingernails would cause ripples of goosebumps to rise up and down his back, and she was right.
A slight tremor went through Daniel’s body as Esmeralda’s hands continued to travel over his body making their up the slope of his shoulders, down his stomach and over the planes of his back.
Daniel cursed under his breath as his hands began to rub her chest. “Do you want me to stop?” he asked as his hands toyed with the hem of her sweater.
“Never.”
He groaned as he buried his face in her neck, and his hands made their way underneath her sweater and up to cup her breasts. She leaned into him as she moaned when the tip of his finger made contact with the nub of her nipple.
He pinched them softly at first, but then he began to knead them until they were fully erect. Esmeralda bit her lips to keep the whimper at bay. She arched her back and buried her face in his neck in an attempt to control the noises, but the second she could a whiff of his cologne, she moaned in the back of her throat.
“The sounds you make, they’re driving me freaking crazy,” he whispered into her neck as he kissed it gently. The feel of his lips on her skin made her hips buck in response, and Daniel’s tongue darted out to lightly lick her neck. He began to nip it as one hand stayed on her breasts, and the other moved down to her sweatpants.
They settled over her sweet spot, as Esmeralda’s hands did a little exploring over their own. One hand stayed on his back, and the other began to tweak his nipples slowly before moving down the expanse of his stomach and resting on top of his junk.
She felt him twitch as she placed her hand directly on top of it. He made a low growling noise in the back of his throat as he grinded against her hand. She removed her hand and wrapped her legs around his waist, and moved, so her core was directly in front of his, and she wriggled her hips just a little.
They both moaned at the contact. Daniel moved back slightly, and his hand reached behind him for the zipper as he yanked it up to make sure it was closed. He returned his attention back to Esmeralda who was looking at him through hooded eyes. One hand cupped her face, and the other reached behind her neck and undid her hair, letting it cascade down her shoulders. He ran his hands through it before he pressed
his lips to hers for a kiss.
His hands traveled down her back and hoisted her up, so she was sitting pressed up against him, with her legs still firmly wrapped around his waist. He maneuvered her, so she was pressed even closer, and her hands came up to rake themselves up and down his back.
“Too many layers,” he mumbled at one point as he wrenched his lips away and helped Esmeralda out of her hoodie. He tossed it to the other side of the tent, and a soft smile made its way to his lip as he took in the sight of Esmeralda sitting there, her hair all mused, a certain glow enhancing her features as she bit down on her bottom lip.
Esmeralda blushed as his gaze continued to rake over her, leaving a trail of heat in their wake.
“You’re so Goddamn beautiful,” he said as he tucked her hair behind her ear.
“You’re not so bad yourself, Sparky.”
A wicked smirk crossed his features. “Not so bad, eh? That’s the only compliment you’ve got for me? Are you sure about that?”
Esmeralda gave him a coy smile. “Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. What are you going to do about it?”
Daniel’s lips hovered over Esmeralda’s without kissing her. “Well, I could always kiss you until you surrender.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
Daniel pecked her lips lightly then pulled back and kissed her again. “How am I doing?”
Esmeralda snorted. “That’s pathetic.”
A deep chuckle escaped his throat. “Pathetic, eh? Well, we’ll just see about that.” He pressed his lips to hers, firmly until desire was coursing through her very veins. She pressed herself closer to him, and when he bit down on her bottom lip, she obligingly parted her mouth, so their tongues could begin their sensual battle.
He tasted like peppermint, and Esmeralda felt as if she was floating on top of a cloud, gazing at them from cloud nine. A part of her knew that she should stop. That the reason he had left her still existed, and he would probably leave her again, and she didn’t think she could survive him a second time.
It had taken her a long time to accept the fact that he was gone, to stop crying herself to sleep, and to not flinch whenever his name came up.