The word wasn’t an insult or even an evaluation of him. It was just how he perceived himself within the context of the rest of the world.
“You’re not a nerd,” I said, trying to comfort and reassure him even though he didn’t seem entirely bothered by the idea that he wasn’t one of the cool kids.
Hunter looked at me with an expression that said that he wasn’t buying it.
“Is that some of your guidance counselor bullshit coming through?” he asked.
Guidance counselor? Oh, yeah. Third grade teacher and guidance counselor. Damn. I needed to get it together.
“It’s just that I don’t think you should be talking about yourself like that.”
“I was a math and science double major, involved heavily in the chess and astronomy clubs, and the most hotly sought-after Dungeon Master on campus. Among the 12 of us who openly knew what that meant.”
“Dungeon Master?” I asked somewhat hesitantly.
Somehow, I don’t think that this story is going to segue into him wearing leather and strapping people to walls.
“Dungeons and Dragons.”
Sigh.
“Today’s episode was brought to us by squares,” I said.
Hunter gave a short laugh.
“Tell me about it. So, I agreed to go to this party with my lab partner.”
“Was your lab partner a blond girl who wore way too much white and pink, and seemed to think that visiting the dining hall was a formal occasion that warranted the wearing of pearls around her neck and diamonds in her ears?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
Bitches never change.
“Was this party a sorority party?”
“Yeah.”
Yep.
“Were you some kind of entry into a contest?”
Hunter gave a deep sigh.
“Yeah.”
Great to know that there are some traditions that just won’t fucking die.
“What happened?”
“I’m not entirely sure. I know that they gave me something to drink. A lot of somethings to drink. I loosened my tie. I might have ended up on a table dancing.”
I had a sudden flash of his dancing from the wedding.
“What kind of dancing?”
“Viennese waltz.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, and to his credit, Hunter did, too.
“Sexy.”
“Apparently so because the next thing I knew I was waking up the next morning naked except for my glasses and one sock with the girlfriend of one of the fraternity members in bed with me.”
“That’s some seriously 80’s teen movie stuff,” I said before it occurred to me that those movies came out when he was a toddler.
“Well, I probably don’t have to tell you that things didn’t go terribly well for me after that.”
“And you haven’t dated anyone since?”
“I don’t think that that really counts as dating,” he pointed out.
“Probably not.”
“I’ve dated a couple of women,” he said. “But it never went beyond a few friendly dinners. Maybe a show. I have a hard time attracting women and those who I do aren’t exactly brimming with romance and sexuality. Either that or I just don’t inspire it in them.”
“You keep saying that you have a hard time attracting women. I don’t believe it.”
“It’s true. They just seem to kind of look through me. Either I’m the perfect friend material, or I’m wallpaper. There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground.”
“There’s middle ground for me,” I told him. “You are much more than friend material.” I took a step toward him. “And you are definitely not wallpaper.” I closed the space between us and ran my hands down his arms, giving a little moan of appreciation at the feeling of his muscles. “Though I wouldn’t object to having you around to look at.” I got on my toes to draw myself up to whisper in his ear again. “Let me show you what that girl at the party couldn’t.” I brushed my mouth across his neck. “We don’t have to rush. We have plenty of time.”
Without waiting for a response, I rested my mouth to his, rediscovering the kiss from when we were standing in the pool. He accepted it immediately, his mouth opening beneath mine and his tongue slipping past my lips to massage against mine. As our bodies responded to one another, drawing closer until we were pressed together, my wet clothing cooling some of the heat that we were creating, I again started lowering us to the ground. He came with me this time, allowing me to ease him to the floor of the cave and stretch him back against the blankets. Outside the rain was pelting the jungle, filling the cave with the music of the individual droplets hitting the leaves, rocks, ground, and water. It buffered us from the rest of the world, enhancing the space of privacy and luxurious pleasure that we were creating together.
I wanted to introduce him to everything that he had been missing for so many years. I wanted to indulge his body and show him all that it was capable of receiving, and of giving. For so long sex had been an obligation, something that I did because it was another thing that was expected of me as a wife. This wasn’t about obligation or what either of us required from the other. Instead, this was about listening to our bodies and giving them exactly what they wanted, discovering pleasures within each other and within ourselves that were as wild and natural as the beautiful, if frightening, island around us.
With Hunter stretched across the pallet, I stood and looked down at him. I ensured that he was watching me as I undressed carefully, gradually revealing myself to him. I didn’t know how far the night would take us, but I wanted nothing between us and nothing to stop us from whatever exploration we desired. There were no limitations tonight. There was nothing that was going to stop us.
When I was finally completely naked, I knelt down and reached for the button on the front of Hunter’s pants. I released it and eased his zipper down slowly, wanting to continue to build the delicious tension that had been burning between us. Finally, they were open and I grasped the sides to start pulling them down. Hunter lifted his hips to make it easier for me to remove them completely and drop them to the side. There was nothing left concealing him now and I was able to let my eyes travel along his body, taking him in in all of his exquisitely crafted beauty. I forced my gaze to move slowly, scanning every inch of him, rather than rushing to what I had been waiting so long to see. When I had paid the proper respects to the curves of his shoulders, the deep cut of his chest, the plane of his belly, and the tantalizing trail of dark hair from his navel, it was finally time to see the erection that had been straining toward me through his pants as we kissed.
It was even more incredible than I had envisioned when I was in the water. Long, perfectly straight, and deeply veined, it was so hard and thick that it looked as though my fingers wouldn’t touch when I wrapped my hand around it. I was very willing to try. I leaned forward and touched a soft kiss to his lips, then brought my mouth to the side of his neck. I could feel him trembling slightly as I kissed my way down his neck and onto his collarbone. I brushed my lips along each bone and then pressed them into the soft dip between them. The rhythm of his pulse was there, telling me that I was coaxing him forward, bringing his arousal higher with every touch of my lips.