Letting Go, and Grabbing Hold

I smiled reassuringly. "Don't be." I reached out automatically to touch her knee to let her know I hadn't been bothered. Mistake. Her skin was really smooth. I could have sworn I felt a twitch of reaction in her knee, too, when I touched it, but I squashed that whole line of thinking ruthlessly. I did not want to get involved. It would be just my luck to fall hard for some strange girl from who knows where, just to lose her after three weeks. No thanks.

"It's fine," I went on, returning my attention to the shells. "I just needed a change of scenery."

"This is definitely one of those," she smiled. "I love it down here -- I came with some friends last time. Carla and Don are really nice." Her eyes turned slightly distant. "Really nice."

I gave her a curious sort of look, but she just shrugged with a hint of a grin.

"They are," I agreed. "They've got a nice life carved out for themselves here."

"It's perfect," she nodded. "They just sail around, enjoying themselves."

I smiled at her, and she returned the smile -- that same shy smile, which tried to fight its way past my now rigid self-control but failed.

We kept sorting, talking about nothing much, until the sun was nearly ready to set.

"Lucy?" The call came from Don, somewhere up the beach.

"Oh, I should go see what he wants," Lucy said, rising to her feet. She looked down at me for a minute, then bent over and kissed my cheek, and hurried away before I could say anything. I just sat there numbly, watching her go, mentally cursing myself for not wanting anything on this trip, but knowing it just wasn't a good idea.

I sat there, rifling through the rest of the shells in the bag, while the sun went down and painted the ocean all sorts of amazing colors, many of whom for which I didn't even have names. Our little beach was on the southern side of the island, apparently, as the sun was setting off to our right, visible but not blazing in our eyes.

Don called for me a few minutes later, and I went to help set up for dinner. Don had a special grill thing that he built a fire for, and he started to cook a huge meal for us, kind of a beach banquet, with skewers of all sorts of meat and vegetables and things. I was starving -- my stomach kept rumbling. Tim, Caitlyn, and I circled the fire like vultures while Robert helped Don with the meal. I'm not sure where Lucy or Carla was. I didn't see them much for a while, but by this point, I was practically drooling all over myself with hunger. Lucy could have walked by naked, and I'm not sure I would have noticed.

We finally ate -- some of us attacking the food like wild animals -- and then lay about contentedly on the beach while the fire burned down. Don told us that the boat would stay anchored in the little cove all night, and that we could sleep either on the beach or on the boat, whichever suited us better. While I liked a mattress as much as the next city girl, I much preferred a beach to a sauna, so I decided to stay on the beach -- a nearly unanimous decision. We all took turns swimming out to the boat to shower and use the bathroom on board, but only Chris stayed on board to sleep.

The rest of us found comfortable spots in blankets on the sand and laid around as the stars came out and the world got very, very dark, with only the flickering fire and a couple of lights on the boat illuminating anything, along with that soft starlight.

Caitlyn was out like a light right away -- she had always been a sound sleeper. Robert and Tim stayed up late near the fire playing cards with Don. Carla and Lucy were off wandering, getting in a walk to burn off some energy before sleeping.

That left me by myself to sleep -- or rather, to not sleep. I was actually a little frightened of my dreams at this point. It wasn't that they were sexual -- I liked that part just fine. It was the depth of the emotions behind them. The girl in my dreams wasn't just licking me -- she'd been savoring me. I wasn't just dreaming about some girl having sex with me -- I was dreaming about some girl making love to me. I already knew my sarcastic armor wasn't proof against that sort of thing. I could remember plenty of times, when I'd been in bed with a girl I wasn't sure of, I'd hear that breathing -- that quick, hitched breathing of excitement -- in my ear, and I'd fall head over heels.

Eventually, I gave up on sleep and wandered down the beach, finally finding a nice flat rock by myself to stare out at the ocean at night and think. It was a pretty incredible view -- dark, since I couldn't see the moon, but there was plenty of starlight to see by.

I watched the waves going in and out and whatnot, and thought about those dreams -- carefully separating the sex part. It wasn't just that the pleasure had been intense -- it was that the feelings had been equally intense. I had never felt like that before -- never, and I'd been in some pretty intense relationships.

Then I snorted to myself, shaking my head in disgust. Why was I even bothering? They were just dreams, for crying out loud.

"Ashley?"

I looked up in surprise -- Lucy was standing there, looking worried.

"Where's Carla?" I asked her. "I thought she was with you."

She shrugged. "Oh, she went to find Don."

I nodded, watching her. Her skin looked lovely in the starlight.

"Couldn't sleep?" She asked me, coming closer and sitting on the rock beside me.

"I haven't been able to sleep much since I got down here," I admitted.

She giggled a little bit. "Well, your cabin is the one next to Don and Carla's."

I grinned. "That was a bit of a problem last night."

She laughed. "I had the cabin next to theirs the last time I was down here."

I shook my head ruefully.

"Ashley?"

I looked at her. She leaned in, and brushed her lips against mine. I froze.

She pulled back, giving me that shy smile.

I looked at those soft brown eyes. "Look, Lucy..."

"No, not yet," she said almost clinically. "One thing, first."

"What?" I blurted, confused.

The one thing was a tiny, delicate, but very warm girl on my lap, with her arms around my neck, looking down at me seriously.

I realized my hands were on her waist, and didn't remember putting them there, but the warmth in those brown eyes was making it very difficult to think.

"Lucy..." I whispered warningly.

She just smiled, and she kissed me again, that same little brush, like a peck on the lips. This time I didn't freeze. She gave that tiny little breathy giggle, and kissed me again, a tiny kiss. She smiled that shy smile, and this time I returned it in spite of myself -- she was just too sweet not to smile at her. She leaned in, another tiny kiss, this time with a soft little whimper -- and then another, very quickly, and another. Not one deep or long kiss, but one soft little short kiss after another, interspersed with those little whimpers and smiles, wearing down my resistance until I slid my hands up her back and pulled her to me.

Now, all at once, the kiss was one of the deepest, hardest kisses I've ever experienced, her arms tight around my neck. She kept whimpering as she kissed me, too. Her hands scratched and tugged at my hair, her body pressed close against mine, rocking and thrusting on my lap, and her mouth kept moving each time she whimpered. I was taken off guard by just how excited she really was, but her sheer excitement started to unwind my self-control. Her lips were very soft, her tongue was very timid and gentle, drawing me to search for it, and her skin was like warm butter under my hands.

I started to really kiss her back, my lips parting hers and my tongue delving deeply, and she kept up those little whimpers until I started responding to them with little purring moans. Quite suddenly -- so abruptly that it took me by surprise -- all my confusion dropped away. I knew there was no love here -- just desire -- but my control trickled away, drowned in the simplicity of a warm, sweet, willing girl.

I don't remember undoing her bikini top, but I remember very well the hitches in her breathing as I nuzzled between soft breasts, tasting that warm chocolate skin and massaging her lower back to keep her loose and soft on my lap. I remember the feeling of her hair on my knees as she arched, her hands tangled in the hair at the back of my neck. I remember her trying to babble my name as I caught one taut little nipple between my lips and grazed it with my teeth.

Then I pulled back again, shuddering and rubbing my cheek on her flat stomach, almost in tears.

"Ashley?" Lucy whispered, sitting up, holding my head against her.

I looked up at her. "Lucy, I can't..." Then I blurted in surprise as I toppled backward onto the soft sand with a thump, Lucy on top of me.

"You can't, but I can..." Lucy breathed in my ear as she tugged my shirt up, and then slid her warm moist lips all over my neck. This was my undoing -- my neck has always been like a hair trigger for me. I bit my lip to hold in a moan, trying desperately to regain my self-control.

"Don't bother, Ashley," she whispered in my ear before sliding her tongue around it, which made me arch into her hands. "At least for tonight, you're all mine." Then her lips found my neck again, sliding down onto my collarbone as her hands traced little circles over my breasts, and I was lost.

I barely remember her undressing me, or taking off what was left of her clothes, but I remember vividly the feel of the warm sand under my shoulders, my butt, and the soles of my feet, and the delicious silky feeling of her smooth small body on top of me. I remember the slick warmth of her pussy against mine, rubbing and grinding, and those tiny whimpers in my ear mixed with her gasping breaths. I remember holding her hips, tensing to grind her frantically into me as we gasped each other's names into each other's mouths, and the way she screamed into my mouth when she came, jerking and twitching, atop me. I don't remember my own orgasm -- I only remember her grabbing my wrists, pinning my arms down, and her hips beginning this maddening circular swirling motion that sent me into orbit.

We rested briefly, with Lucy still laying on top of me, breathing into each other's necks, my hands on her back and hers in my hair, our skin plastered together.

I was feeling emotions that were fairly new to me -- not love, not even deep friendship, but a wonderful, relaxed sort of intimacy, and a deep, rueful fondness for this girl that had, I now realized, expertly seduced me. I had no regrets, either. My ex had never made me come that hard -- never.

Lucy giggled softly in my ear, raising her head to look into my eyes, not moving her body.

"So, you were saying?" She murmured.

I couldn't help but laugh. "All right, I'll give you that one," I sighed, unable to help running my hands over the satin of her hips and softness of her buttocks.

She sighed as well, leaning down to kiss me. "Just one?"

I growled softly -- some part of me felt a need to assert something. "Wise ass girl...I'll show you." I rolled her on her back, and captured a nipple between my lips again, drawing a surprised squeak from her.

Lucy grabbed my shoulders as I slid further down, nuzzling her stomach, and I paused. She sat up a little, her eyes wide. "Ashley, you don't have to..." She sounded breathless.

I looked up at her sharply, and my lips curled in a smug little grin. I had found this girl's weakness -- the one thing she most desperately wanted but couldn't ask for -- such a simple thing, too. She must not have been with too many girls -- I'd imagined doing it to her the moment I met her.

Sliding a little lower, keeping my eyes on hers, I nuzzled my lips into the downy soft, trimmed hair between her thighs and then fastened my mouth on her.

I felt a spasm run up her back and down her legs, and she gasped, her eyes going distant, and she lolled backward, her head rolling as her back arched. "Oh, god, Ashley..." She moaned.

She was sweet and tart, and very wet -- it had been so long since I tasted a girl who got half this excited -- and I drank deeply from her, my tongue licking every millimeter of sensitive dark pink flesh and my lips nibbling and sucking on anything I could wrap them around.

She writhed and wriggled under my mouth, one of her hands fastening into a death grip on my hair as her thighs rose to clutch my head, something I've always loved. I closed my eyes and just lost myself in her, in the delicious wet sweetness of pussy, something I'd needed so badly. I rubbed my nose and chin in her juices, swirled my tongue as deeply into her body as I could, and sucked on her labia like candies.

Within a minute, she came again, hard, squealing my name, but I didn't stop or let up -- in truth, I barely noticed. A single stray thought crossed my mind -- that Kathy had never come that hard for me, either -- and delved deeper, washing away all those painful memories in Lucy's sweetness.

She certainly didn't seem to mind -- I caught only pieces of whatever it was she was babbling in between her squeals and moans, but a lot of it had to do with begging me not to stop.

Lucy came again, her thighs quivering over my shoulders, and I just moaned and drove my tongue as deep as I could to taste every drop of her. I felt something warm and wet lapping at my feet, and it took me a moment to realize it was the ocean. I almost laughed at the absurdity of that -- here I was, laying naked on a beach with the ocean lapping about my toes, with my face buried in the pussy of a girl I barely knew -- and yet, I absolutely could not bring myself to pull away.

I squirmed around a little bit, stroking her slit slow and light with my tongue to keep her aroused. Working my arm free from beneath me, I sank a finger into her tight pussy, gently gliding it in on her wetness, loving the sound of her gasped squeal and the way her feet kicked on my back at the sensation.

"Ashley!" She started to say something, but I didn't give her the chance. Sliding my finger deep and then twisting it, my fingertip searching while my lips found her clit. Her breathing stopped as she arched up onto her shoulders, her fingers clawing at the sand beneath us, and I backed off, teasing her, slurping on her moist pussy until her hips started moving with my slowly pumping finger, her body rocking to my rhythm. I slowly accelerated, intent on making her scream again, and got my wish a moment later as I dug my fingertip into the rough spot inside her and firmly sucked her clit.

Her wail went on for a long ten or fifteen seconds as her whole body locked up, her legs tensed and stiff along my back and her hands clenched into fistfuls of sand. Then she went limp, and I finally released her, licking her gently clean and rising onto my hands and knees. I knew enough not to just slide up her body with sand stuck to my chest and stomach, and brushed myself off quickly before settling myself on top of her, stroking her tangled hair back from her eyes.

Her eyes found mine, wide and dazed. "Ashley...wow..."

I couldn't help a smug little chuckle, leaning in to kiss her neck, but she surprised me by stopping me, pulling my mouth to hers.

"I don't mind," she mumbled against my lips, so I kissed her deep, letting her taste her own sweetness on my lips and tongue.

Then I pulled my lips free and rested my face in her shoulder, surprised that I was actually trembling. That kind of emotional catharsis took a lot out of me. I tried to ignore the throbbing in my own body -- I badly needed to come again, but I knew Lucy was probably exhausted.

"Thank you," I whispered. "I needed that."

Now it was Lucy's turn to roll me over, smiling down at me. "You have amazing eyes," she murmured. Then she lifted up slightly, her legs squirming with mine, making my breathing hitch. She grinned. "You need something else, too, though."

I blinked up at her, and actually felt myself blush a little. "Hey, that's all right, I..." I gasped as she squirmed so that her pussy brushed mine again.

"Well, not yet," she whispered. "It will be, though." Her hips started that mind-bending swirling motion again, and I moaned loudly.

"That's it, Ashley...let go." She sighed into my lips as she worked on top of me. I buried my face in her neck, wrapped my arms around her back, and just moved with her. I could tell she was just trying to make me come, but as my hands started guiding her and my lips nuzzled at her breasts, she lost control again, and we came spasmodically at almost the same moment, with me panting into her chest and her squeaking those high-pitched whimpers that so turned me on.

Finally, we relaxed, our skins warm and slick, our breathing slow and deep, our bodies sated and relaxed. She laid her head into my shoulder, and I slipped into a deep, real sleep.

***

I woke up, a few hours later, feeling Lucy stirring beside me.

"Ohh...I can't sleep on sand," she muttered into my ear, and I fought back the urge to giggle.

"Why don't you go find your bed on the boat?" I whispered, kissing her ear. "And...thank you."

She smiled a huge, sweet, happy smile at me -- I knew she understood, and I think she had gotten just what she wanted as well. One good night. I was incredibly grateful to her.

We kissed one last time after dressing and parted ways, with Lucy wading out toward the ship and me wandering down toward the fire, wondering if there was anything edible left from the earlier feeding frenzy.

As I was picking through a few remnants of food clinging to the skewers -- yes, I was really that hungry -- a shadowy figure wandered up toward the fire. I looked up in surprise -- I'd noticed Robert asleep against a tree not far from the fire, and Tim was snoring right beside the fire.

"Ashley?" The person called out softly, if that makes sense, and I knew who it was. There was no mistaking that accent.

"Yeah, Chris, it's me." I put a few more shreds of meat in my mouth, wincing at how burnt they were, but not caring that much.

The skinny redheaded woman wandered up to the fire, yawning.

"Couldn't sleep?" I asked.

She snorted. "Not likely -- not with all the noise from the master suite."

I laughed a little -- I could afford to feel a lot more magnanimous about that, now. "Again?"

"It seemed even louder than before," she shook her head. "Those two are insatiable."

They weren't the only ones. A girl hadn't worn me out the way Lucy had since high school.

We chatted quietly as I kept nibbling at the remains of the previous evening's dinner. Not long after, Tim woke up, followed by Robert. We all played cards until the sun came up. I felt enormously more relaxed, unsurprisingly, and Robert seemed to notice the difference in me -- when he gave me a questioning look at one point behind Tim and Chris's backs, I winked at him, and he grinned briefly and gave me a little congratulatory toast of a water bottle.

Gradually, over the next couple of hours, everyone else straggled in. Don and Carla arrived from the boat, and Caitlyn wandered in shortly after. Lucy joined us as well -- we exchanged a smile that we thought was subtle, but that Don, Carla, and Robert all noticed, as I figured out from the amused looks they each gave me over the next half hour, each of which I answered with a blush and a faint smug little grin. Lucy, to my amazement for a girl who seemed so shy, showed no particular reaction to the looks she got, other than a happy little grin and nod when Carla leaned over to whisper something in her ear while looking at me with twinkling eyes.

I was glad at least that Tim and Caitlyn didn't seem to pick up on it. Don and Robert set up a wonderful breakfast of fruits and fish and nuts, and we ate, talking companionably and discussing the next leg of the trip -- from here, evidently, we passengers had a choice. We could either sail past a chain of abandoned islands like this one, where it would be quiet and isolated, or we could sail to a little resort on a bigger island, where we could meet some people and drink and dance and do all the usual resort vacation nonsense.