by Angela Blake
She didn’t want to go back to that.
The other part of her didn’t care. The way he felt pressed up against her, the way they were both flirty and cute together, that was something she had never had with anyone else. The way his eyes just bore into hers. She couldn’t give that up, now that all the memories came pouring forth.
Soon, they had to pull apart for air, and they learned their foreheads against each other as they both drew in ragged breaths. Their panting receded after a while, but the wandering of their hands hadn’t as they greedily reacquainted themselves with each other’s bodies.
“Kissing you still makes me dizzy,” Daniel said, under his breath as he took in a deep breath.
“Same here. I think you’re going to kill me one day.”
Daniel rubbed his nose against hers in a gesture that was so intimately tender, it brought tears to her eyes because she had done it to him the first time they kissed.
He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead as his hands traveled back up to her breasts and settled there. Her breathing turned uneven as he began to rub her again.
“I love that I have this effect on you,” he said as he dug his teeth into her neck. He began to suck on it, and Esmeralda was sure that he would leave a hickey there, but she didn’t care.
She was still raking her hands over his back, and she was sure he’d have scratch marks on his back, so they were even.
When she ran her hands over the expanse of his stomach, his muscles rippled. She smiled. “I love that I affect you too. No one has ever responded to my touch the way you do.”
She brought her hand up to his neck and lightly caressed the vein there until she saw Daniel’s eyes roll into the back of his head. She knew that there was a weak point there, a vein of sorts that connected to the rest of your body, and if you touched it just right, your whole body went into a tizzy. This was exactly what was happening to Daniel at the moment.
Daniel groaned quietly as Esmeralda leaned in and began to tug on his earlobes. She licked them gently as she moved down to his neck. She began to kiss it and suck on it until she was sure she left a hickey of her own there.
Their bodies began to rock against each other, so Daniel tugged her head back, and meshed his lips with hers. They began to kiss with a renewed passion as their bodies grinded against each other, both eager for some friction. Esmeralda tore herself away after a while and impatiently began to tug on her yoga pants. Daniel helped her out of them, and she kicked them to the side of the room as they continued to rock against each other.
This time, they had nothing but their underwear separating them. She could feel his bugle straining against her core, and she pushed herself even closer, so he’d get some much-needed friction.
Daniel’s hands moved between them and snaked their way underneath her panties until they connected with her bundle of nerves. Esmeralda whimpered as he began to stroke her.
She tried to bit her lips to keep the noises from escaping.
“Don’t do that. Don’t hold back. I want to hear you.”
“People might hear us.”
“I don’t care.” He pushed another finger in, and Esmeralda cried out in pleasure.
“Esmeralda!” a voice called out from a distance shattering their fog of passion. The world crashed down around them. Esmeralda’s eyes widened as she recognized the voice of Christina.
“Esmeralda.” The voice called out again. It sounded closer this time. Daniel removed his hands and pressed his fingers to his lips as a smile tugged on the corner of his lips.
A giggle escaped Esmeralda’s lips as she tugged on her sweatpants and slipped on her hoodie. They both giggled as they crept closer to the front of the tent.
Esmeralda pressed her finger to his lips, and he pressed his fingers to hers, and their eyes were wide with amusement as they stared at each other.
Once Christina’s voice faded into the background, they stopped giggling, and they stared at each other sadly. They broke eye contact. The throes of their earlier passionate moment had dissipated once Christina’s voice had broken through, and they fully realized what they were doing.
“So, um yeah,” Daniel trailed off.
“Yeah, so what almost happened can’t happen again, I didn’t come here for that.”
“I know, don’t worry. Just friends.”
Esmeralda cleared her throat and unzipped the tent.
“Wait,” Esmeralda froze, her heart hammering in her chest.
“Let me check and make sure she’s gone,” Daniel said as he poked his head out and checked. “All clear,” he announced without meeting her gaze.
Esmeralda made her way out of the tent, and she called out to Christina.
Chapter 7
Their tour guide began to call out their names one by one as he ticked off their names to make sure they were there. Most of the people there were couples except for Esmeralda, Christina, Daniel and another guy by the name of Jack.
Christina discreetly ogled him as she elbowed Esmeralda. Esmeralda grinned as Christina stretched out her tank top to show off her figure. The weather had gotten better by nine o’clock, so they had changed into a pair of shorts and t-shirts.
Christina was wearing a pair of cut off shorts that showed off her long tan legs, and a tank top that showed off the rest of her slender figure. Jack, the single guy she was checking out, was checking her out, although Christina hadn’t noticed yet because she was trying to pretend like she didn’t care.
“He’s checking you out, Chris,” Esmeralda whispered in her ear as she patted her head.
“Really?” Christina’s eyes widened as her hands came up to pat her hair. “How does my hair look?”
“You look great, Chris. Really, don’t worry. He can’t take his eyes off of you,” Esmeralda reassured her.
“Well, then why hasn’t he come over, yet?”
“Maybe he just needs a little motivation?” Esmeralda shrugged, as baffled by the male brain as Christina.
“What, like make him jealous?” Christina made a noise in the back of her throat.
“I don’t think that’s a viable option because they’re all couples except for Daniel.”
“And you,” Christina pointed out.
Esmeralda laughed. “And me, but I won’t work.”
A half smile began to form at the corner of Christina’s lips, and Esmeralda could see the wheels spinning furiously in that head of hers.
The smile faded from Esmeralda’s face. “You can’t be serious.”
“You haven’t even heard me out.”
“If you think I’m transparent when I have something on my mind, you’re like a hallmark card.”
Christina pouted. “Come on, Esme, please. It’s just a small thing.”
Esmeralda snorted. “It is so far from a small thing. You want me to pretend to be hitting on you, that’s a big deal. I can’t even hit on a straight guy I like. You want me to hit on my straight best girl friend?”
“Exactly.” Christina wrapped her arm around her. “You don’t have to kiss me or anything because that’s a bit too much. No offense or anything, but you’re not my type.”
A choked laugh escaped from her lips. “I’m not offended because you’re not my type either. I mean I tend to like them hairy, and sometimes a little rugged.”
Christina elbowed her. “Well, I like them with buff and with a big hard —”
“Okay,” Esmeralda hastened to interrupt her. “We’ve both made our points.”
“Yes, but here’s the thing, I’ve seen the way Daniel keeps glancing over at you, and the way you steal glances at him when you think I’m not looking, I’m not going to push you into telling me if something happened this morning or not because when you found me, your cheeks were flushed, your hair was messed up, and even though you zipped up your hoodie, I saw the hickey.”
Esmeralda sighed. “Nothing happened.”
Christina gave her a look. “Well, nothing much,” Esmeralda added. “It’s compl
icated, I guess. Nothing can happen anyway. The reasons he left still exist, I suppose, and we have to be civil while we’re here, so it’s better to just move past it. We just got caught up in the moment.”
“It’s okay to forget for a minute, Esme, but the way you two kept glancing at each other just now, it’s clearly not over, so you guys need to figure out what you’re going to do about it. You can’t keep ignoring it, or you’ll both explode. Anyway, my point is, we can make Daniel jealous too, and maybe that’ll help him figure out that what he wants is you.”
“I thought you hated his guts?” Esmeralda questioned.
“I do, but he made you happy once, and after your string of bad luck with guys, he was the first decent one in a while. He treated you well, so I hate that he broke your heart, but I think that if he got past his reasons, you could both be very happy again.”
“I don’t know, maybe.”
Christina leaned in to whisper. “Don’t overthink it. Now, can you please help me?”
Esmeralda rolled her eyes. “What do you want me to do?”
“Just put your arms around me like this.” She lifted up her arms and wrapped them around her shoulders. “And pretend you’re whispering something funny in my ear.”
“How does one pretend they’re whispering something funny?” Esmeralda asked in hushed tones.
“Like this.” Christina threw her head back and laughed, that deep flirty laugh that all guys were immediately drawn to.
“I feel silly,” Esmeralda said under her breath as she checked to make sure that Jack was watching them. He was watching them discreetly out of the corner of his eye. He looked a little confused, and Esmeralda couldn’t blame him.
“Chris, what if he thinks we’re lesbians?”
Christina paused clearly not having thought this through. “Okay, I can fix that, you have to go flirt with Daniel now, and I’ll go flirt with him.”
“Won’t that just make him think we’re bi?”
Christina waved her protest away as she shoved her towards the direction Daniel was in. “Doesn’t matter. Either way, I’ve got his attention, now time to take the next step.”
Esmeralda shook her head as she stared after her. She saw Daniel pause in his tracks as he looked at her, a confused smile playing on the corner of his lips. He was wearing a pair of shorts, and a loose t-shirt, and Esmeralda couldn’t help but flash back to his bare chest and boxer clad legs. She blushed as Daniel walked towards her. “Need any help?”
“I think I just got ditched by my best friend.”
Daniel shaded his eyes as he took a look. “Yeah, I can see that. Ditched for a guy, huh?”
“So it would seem.”
Daniel looked back at her as they fell into step together, and began to move in sync. “Well, I know I’m not as edgy as Christina, but I could keep you company.”
“You’ll have to do as long as you don’t ditch me for a guy, too.” Esmeralda jumped over a rock and paused to take out her aviator sunglasses. She slipped them on and gave Daniel a smile.
“There goes my master plan.”
“You were going to do ditch me for a guy too? Did you discover guys since we last dated?”
Daniel choked on his laughter. “No, no, I don’t mean it like that, not that I mind people who are, it’s totally their choice. I’m just not into guys.”
“Right, sure, so what’s with the pink socks?”
“My sister stuffed them into my bag as a joke.” He grumbled as he stared at the socks in dismay.
“How is Noela?”
“She’s good, you know, working hard.” Daniel slipped on his shades.
“That’s good, I miss her, and now that I think about it, maybe those socks do suit you.” She pursed her lips as she pretended to check out his legs. “I mean, they really do highlight the color of your skin, and they really show off your ankles, I mean they’re just clinging to them like that.”
Daniel made a face at her. “Oh, a regular comedian, aren’t you?”
“It’s my night job.”
“Well, if you don’t stop, you’re going to regret it,” Daniel said, casually as they continued to trail along, the last two people in the group. Esmeralda took a peek at Christina up ahead who was laughing as she spoke to Jack animatedly.
“Oh, really? And just what are you planning on doing?”
“Just this.” He reached out and poked her.
Esmeralda shrieked, and the rest of the group turned back to look at her. She offered them an apologetic grin. “I thought I saw a snake.”
They turned back around and continued to walk. “That’s not fair. That’s cheating,” she hissed as he grinned wickedly and tried to tickle her again. She jumped to the side to dodge his hand. “Stop that.”
“Stop that,” he mimicked her high-pitched voice.
Esmeralda glowered at him as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh, real mature. What are you? Five?”
“Five and a half actually.”
Esmeralda rolled her eyes as she poked him in the side. “Hey now, you’re starting to play dirty.”
“Well, you started it.”
“Now who’s being a five-year-old?”
Esmeralda stuck her tongue out at him. “Still you.”
Daniel snorted. “Says the woman who just stuck her tongue out at me.”
“It’s a very mature move, by the way. It means I’m in touch with my inner child.”
“Yeah, way too much,” Daniel muttered.
Esmeralda gave him a sweet smile before she shoved him. He laughed. “Be careful what you get yourself into, Dunbey.”
“You be careful, Austin.”
“You think you can play with fire?” Daniel casually draped his arm over her shoulders.
“Do you?” she challenged as she leaned into him like she used to. She stood on the tips of her toes and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and gave him a coy smile.
“I missed this, I miss you, Esme,” Daniel said quietly, all hint of earlier playfulness gone, his tone taking on a sad melancholy form that Esmeralda didn’t like.
“Me too, Dan,” Esmeralda said quietly as she kept her eyes trained forward, afraid that if she looked at him now, she might beg him to change his mind again, and she couldn’t. She laid her pride at his feet once before, and he didn’t even bother to take a second look, she couldn’t do it again.
“I don’t want to hurt you. I never meant to you, you have to know that.”
“I know. Let’s not talk about it, okay? I know you think that breaking up with me was the right thing to do because you were busy and felt like you wouldn’t be able to make enough time for me.”
“And I know that you think my reasons are crap, and that I should’ve fought them, but I just couldn’t risk you resenting me in time. You deserve so much better than that.”
They lapsed into silence as their hands found each other and intertwined. “Let’s just enjoy our time here, okay? For now, we can pretend like the outside world doesn’t exist.”
“Okay.”
They made their way towards the front of the line where people had already gathered in a circle as they listened to instructions for how they should behave in the place they were visiting. They were simple rules like don’t touch, don’t vandalize, etc.
The women were handed plastic bags to wrap around their legs because in Egypt, it was considered inappropriate for a woman to show off her bare legs in certain places particularly if these places are considered holy.
She shot Christina an amused look as they both tied the plastic bags around their waist.
‘Are you ok?’ Christina mouthed as she gestured to Daniel who was bent over, tying his shoe laces.
Esmeralda nodded, and mouthed the same. Christina grinned as she gave her a thumbs up, ‘so hot.’ She mouthed as Esmeralda laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Daniel asked as he straightened up.
“Oh, Christian was just telling me something funny.”
They
formed a line of two’s and began to walk into the building, their guide up ahead explaining about the importance of the place they were in, and its majesty.
***
After hours of wandering, the guide told them that they could take a break and sit underneath some shade. He made sure everyone had water before he wandered off to talk to the other tour guides.
Esmeralda caught Christina’s eye, and Christina came bouncing over. “Did you enjoy the sights?”
“Yeah, it’s really something, I can see you were doing some sightseeing of your own.”
Christina was staring at Jack’s behind. “Oh, yeah, I saw some things that caught my eye, very toned and muscular.”
Esmeralda made a fake gagging noise. “I’m pretty sure you’re talking about someone not something.”
Christina gave a start as she turned to face Esmeralda. “Oh, you mean the citadel? Yeah, that was nice too.”
One eyebrow shut up. “Yeah, that was nice too?” Esmeralda used air quotes. “Only you would think to say that about a place of this magnitude.” She crossed her arms over her chest in amusement. “Do you even know who built it?”
Christina had gone back to staring at Jack who was pouring water doing his neck and over his hair. He shook his hair and little rivulets of water splashed around him. Some of the other guests moved away in annoyance as he gave them an apologetic smile and mumbled sorry.
Esmeralda could practically feel Christina drooling next to her. She elbowed her in the side. “Chris?”
“What?” she responded dreamily.
“The citadel?”
Christina’s eyes snapped to Esmeralda’s. “The what?”
“You know that big building we were just in. The one that’s of historical significance?”
“Oh, yeah, right. The citadel.”
“Whose citadel is it?”
“Some guy.” Christina waved her away. “God, he’s got a great butt.”
Esmeralda began to laugh. “I sure hope you’re not talking about the guy who built this because I’m pretty sure he’d want to be remembered for something other than having a great butt.” Christina continued to stare at Jack’s assets, clearly not having heard a word Esmeralda said. “Chris, why don’t you go talk to him?”