City Girl in the Desert

"Another way great minds think alike, huh?" Tim said. To me he added, "Hey, Christine."

"Hello, Tim," I said. "Nice to see you again."

"Poor choice of words with Ms. Free Spirit here," Tim said, pointing at Katie, who laughed.

"Oh, it's fine," Katie said. "And you can see me that way at the pool anytime you like!"

I kept my disgust to myself as those two laughed. I would just have to have a stern word with her later on.

I will give credit where it's due: Tim gave back as good as he got when it came to my subtle flirtations. If most of his actual chatter was with Katie, I couldn't very well pretend I didn't understand why -- naturally he felt closer to someone he'd seen naked, after all. As for Katie herself, she was full of fond tales of her last summer on the commune and what an eye-opener it had been for her, how much more confident she felt after her stay, and at least neither one of them resorted to flattering her pussy again.

My own thoughts were very much with my own pussy rather than with hers, for Tim looked adorable in his short-sleeve print shirt, the sort of fashion don't that cute guys can nevertheless somehow pull off. The view of him in those tight swimming trunks was still fresh on my mind, and as I put up with Katie's inane prattle and admired his humoring of it, I was getting hornier by the minute.

Of course it wouldn't do to get him in bed on our first day there, though I had no doubt I could. I would just have to break my winning streak and take matters into my own hands. But when would I get enough private time while sharing a room with Katie?

The answer came halfway through some dull adventure movie someone put on in the front room after dinner. I, of course, dropped the hint to Tim that I would be in attendance, and then sauntered off before he could ask to join me. Always leave them wanting! I've had guys eating out of my hand since I first grew boobs, so I had no doubt he would turn up hoping to catch me. With that in mind, I squeezed into the last available bit of a couch alongside a British couple and an older woman they were chatting with, and had my sassy grin at the ready when he appeared a few minutes later. Naturally Katie was tagging along, and they both gave me a smile before settling for a spot on the floor.

Well, I'd won the battle, of course, but I did feel an odd combination of pity for Katie and frustration with her. Didn't she know better than to sit on the floor in a skirt? Even Tim thought of that and asked if she'd like him to go find a chair for her instead. But did Katie take a hint? "Everyone here was at the pool this afternoon, Tim, remember?" And those two silly fools dissolved into laugher as Katie at least remembered to pull her hem down in the middle as she settled herself.

Once again I reminded myself, I love Katie but I can't always save her from herself.

As I said, the movie was dull, a typical guy flick. While I was more and more certain that Tim, cute and hot though he may be, was the very definition of not a man but a guy, even he wasn't much into the movie from what I could tell. I kept an eye on him and Katie while I watched, just in case she needed my help fending off an ill-advised arm around her or something. He never made such a move, perhaps having guessed correctly that the way to stay on my good side is to treat my naïve but dear friend with respect, but he did give plenty of hints that he wasn't really following the plot. Neither was Katie, as it turned out, for less than an hour in, they both stood up and ducked out of the room.

For a moment I was horrified that he might try to talk his way into our room, but instead I saw them hug goodnight outside the front room door and go their separate ways.

It was awfully early to be turning in, but we were in the middle of the desert and there was no other option but going for a drink by the pool, which was likely as not overrun with naked people again. No thanks! Besides, I still had that delicious intimate itch to scratch, and at least maybe Katie had found somewhere else to finish off the evening. Ten minutes or so after Katie and Tim had left, I followed their lead and slunk out of the room.

When I got upstairs, our room was empty but Katie's bedside lamp was turned on. I was momentarily disappointed as I realized she was in the bathroom, then just as quickly relieved as I heard water sloshing a bit in there and realized she was taking a bath. So I would indeed have my precious few minutes to myself! I shut the door and looked for a lock, only to find there wasn't one, which of course made me reconsider. Once that seed of doubt was in my mind, I reminded myself of how well I'd been doing, keeping my hands clean since before we'd left New York -- was Tim really worth breaking that winning streak, cute as he was?

As I stood there debating the matter -- and trying to ignore how wet I was with anticipation -- I noticed something I hadn't noticed at first about the sound of Katie's bathwater. It wasn't just sloshing, it was sloshing in rhythm. The silly girl was playing with herself in there! Probably thinking of Tim, too, the poor thing, without a clue of how hopeless her chances would be against me once I let Tim in, if I let him in.

Of course, I couldn't be so cruel as to not let her have her fun, I decided, but damned if I'll let her be the only one to indulge herself! I pulled my panties down and kicked my sandals off with them, and lay back on my bed with my legs spread and admitted defeat.

Wouldn't you just know Katie would have to interrupt at the last moment! "Christine?" she called from the bath. "Is that you?"

"Yes!" I did my best to sound agreeable. "I was bored with the movie."

"Do you need the bathroom?"

"No, take your time!" Hadn't she ever noticed how careful I was with my pee breaks, so guys wouldn't notice? Maybe I was so good at it that girls didn't notice either.

"Thanks! I love this bathtub, you should try it later!"

"We'll see!" And I resolved to say nothing more, as my fingers were already good and busy.

Now, there's one good thing about playing with myself instead of getting a guy in bed for it. No need to hold back on the pleasure -- it's not like I need to fool myself into thinking I can do better, after all. And I am one very responsive gal when I want to be. I once really let myself go in a hotel room in London for a guy with a Bentley, and the silly old lady in the next room had to go and call us on the phone to tell us she was trying to sleep. (I felt like offering to call an escort service for the old bat, but that was her concern.) After admiring Tim all afternoon and the satisfaction of knowing I'd frustrated him so much he'd had to settle for flattering Katie's overgrown bush, I was in a mood to reach just those heights, and I was sorely tempted to let myself go and really express all my pent-up pleasure.

But I couldn't do it with Katie right there in the bath. I just couldn't.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I had any qualms about letting her know just what a tigress I could be in bed. In fact, I figured it would do her some good to be aware of that if she had any thoughts of competing with me for Tim's affections. Really, it would only be fair that she knew what an unfair fight it would really be. Rather, it was that she already knew how she'd gotten me into this embarrassing habit. I wasn't about to let her know just how deep I'd fallen into it! So as I flicked about at my clit with my fingers, imagining they were Tim's tongue and that my hands were free to squeeze his hard cock to my heart's content, I kept my husky breathing to a minimum and made do with whispering the occasional "fuck!" here and there. When I came, I had to grit my teeth and swallow hard to keep from letting out a roar.

It all left me nearly as frustrated as I'd been feeling before, but at least I knew I was putting Katie through the same thing, for I couldn't hear any moaning or yelping from the bathroom. Of course, there was no way Katie was capable of the sort of operatics I was, but surely there was something she was struggling to keep to herself. And it served her right.

I had my skirt back down in plenty of time, and was curled up demurely on my bed when she finally emerged, naked of course. "I needed that after such a long day," she said. "I'm going to read a while before I sleep. Let me know if the light bothers you."

"Good idea," I said, sitting up. "Maybe I'll read something too." I got up to collect my current paperback from my suitcase, and turned around just in time to see her climbing into bed. "Oh, for heaven's sake, Katie, you sleep naked too?"

"For years now, except on my period. What's the big deal?"

I sighed. "If you don't get it, I can't explain it."

At least we both had good excuses not to talk after that. So there were no awkward questions about what we'd both been up to while she was in the bath.

My inner sense of time is excellent, and there was no need to get up early the next day anyway. So I didn't bother with an alarm, and it was a pleasant late hour of the morning when I arose and stretched and saw Katie was already out and about. I could only hope she wasn't making a fool of herself at the pool again, but at least I didn't have to watch it close up this time.

Once I was showered and coiffed, it was nearly lunchtime. So I chanced on finding the dining room already open, and it was. With no sign of Katie or Tim, I let myself get roped in to joining Sarah and a few rather homely guys she'd been chatting with. "Christine here is from Manhattan," she explained as I reluctantly joined them.

"Yeah, I saw you at the pool yesterday," said one of the guys. "And I thought, she's got to be a New York gal."

"Well, I'm not originally from there," I said. "But I was always destined for the place, that's for sure. "In high school they called me 'Uptown Sophisticate,' you know."

"That's...foresightful," said the other guy.

"Not for me it wasn't," I said. "I just knew what I wanted from a young age, and I had the drive to get it. So why not be known for it?"

"Oh, you mean you gave yourself that nickname," Sarah said.

"Well, yeah," I said. "Who else was going to think of it for me?"

"Anyway," Sarah said. "Going to the pool this afternoon?"

"I might," I said. "But don't get any ideas, I'll be keeping my suit on!"

"Me too," said the guy who'd seen me the day before, whom I didn't recognize at all. "I wouldn't subject everyone to this body! Not such a pretty sight, you know?"

"You're right," I told him.

For some reason the conversation stalled there, but I was saved from having to restart it when Katie appeared. "Hi all," she said. "Christine, sorry I didn't let you know where I was. I just didn't want to wake you up."

"Not at all," I said. "Just tell me you weren't at the pool again already?"

"Of course not," she said. "I do have my studies to attend to, remember? I spent the morning in the library, and I'm going back there after lunch." Then she turned to greet Sarah's friends. "Hi, I'm Katie," she said.

"Jim," said the first homely guy.

"Stan," said the second one. "Pleased to meet you."

"Are you the Katie who used to live here, a few summers ago?" asked Jim.

"That would be me, yes," Katie said. "I can't get over how my reputation precedes me!"

"It's a good reputation," Stan said. "Danny never shut up about how he couldn't wait to see you again. Welcome back!"

"It's great to be back," she said. "You know, I saw you guys at the pool yesterday. Sorry I didn't get a chance to say hello."

"No problem," Jim said. "To tell you the truth, I was a little bashful to introduce myself, while you were naked and I wasn't."

"I understand!" Katie said. "I went through the same thing when I first got here last time. But next time, don't be shy, okay? It's fine!"

"Excellent attitude, Katie," Stan said. "Thanks."

"Christine," she added, "Don't let me stop you from going out there again this afternoon, okay?"

"Uh, okay." I opted to pass over in silence that her being there would be more likely to stop me from going back.

"We're all going," Sarah said. "I went bare yesterday for the first time, and it's so addictive! Guys, I wish you'd try it."

"We'll see." Stan gave me what could only be called a dirty look as he said it, as if I could care less what he chose to do.

After a stop in the front room after lunch to see if there was anyone new who looked worth getting to know, I quickly decided the pool it was. This time I donned my leopard print bikini, and put on a bathrobe over it to avoid giving any guys the wrong idea. Then as soon as I stepped outside, I remembered all the nudists wore a bathrobe to the pool. I'd sooner risk giving some guy a heart attack than making him think I'd go naked at the pool, so I tossed the bathrobe back on my bed and tried to imagine I was fully clothed as I headed for the pool.

Fortunately, no one saw me on the way. Even more fortunately, I stepped out onto the deck to see although Sarah had once again put her big body on display for one and all, her two friends hadn't. The three of them were chatting away just as casually as could be on the ledge by the shallow end, and I evaded their unwanted attention as I found a vacant deck chair near the deep end.

I did have plans to take a dip later on, but for the moment I was content to get some sun. I pulled my current trashy novel (which I had had the presence of mind to cloak in the dustcover from one of Katie's textbooks -- I hadn't even looked at the title) and was soon lost in a rose-colored world where people were smart enough to know when they weren't beautiful enough to put their bodies on display.

I'd been utterly absorbed for some time when a familiar voice snapped me out of my daydreaming. "Women in international trade," he said.

I looked up and was overjoyed to see Tim standing there, decent and unaccompanied by Katie or anyone else. "Hi, Tim," I said. "What about international trade?"

"Your book," he said. "Is that how you and Katie met, are you studying international affairs too?"

"Oh!" At last I looked at the dust cover, which did indeed say what Tim had just recited. "No, I just got curious about her studies and she didn't need this book today. No, we grew up together and me, I'm done with school, thank you very much!" I set the book aside where I could make sure he wouldn't see what was really inside, and grinned up at him. "Good to see you haven't lost your modesty like her," I said.

"Truth is, I'm just not as brave as she is," Tim said. "Is she coming here today?"

"No, she's studying, the poor thing."

"Oh, I admire that about her," he said. "Maybe I ought to try going nude while the coast is clear, huh?"

"What do you mean clear?" I asked. "There are a dozen or more of us here!"

"I mean while Katie's not here. Maybe then I can surprise her once I'm used to it."

Now, the temptation to see him in the altogether before Katie did was strong. But I didn't want him feeling quite that comfortable with me yet. "Let's hold off on all that," I said. "I'm not feeling quite up to that yet."

"You're thinking of it too, are you?"

I gave him my best grin and nod; no need to tell him the answer was absolutely not. I gestured to the empty chair beside me. "Keep me company for a while. Let's get to know each other a little better, and we'll see how we both feel about it later."

Tim was all too free of his gender's tendency to few words. He could even outtalk some of my girlfriends! There were stories of growing up in some California suburb I'd never heard of, and of college and teaching English somewhere else in the Middle East -- I guess that's how he found out about the commune, but I wasn't really listening. I was just enjoying the lilt of his voice and the view of his sleek body, and hoping for a show from his trunks.

Surprisingly, there wasn't one. Perhaps he was nervous. With that in mind, I more than welcomed his gaze upon me and reminded myself to be patient.

"Christine?"

I snapped back to attention. "Sorry," I said. "I got distracted." I could only wish that really were true!

"I asked, how did Katie convince you to come over here? I mean, I can see it's more her kind of thing than yours."

"Oh, you've got that wrong!" I said. "Ever since we were girls, Katie was the quiet, demure one and I was the adventurous one. Honestly, I think she's just putting on a show here to overcome her past. I've tried telling her, look, it's fine to be who you really are! Maybe after yesterday she'll have it out of her system."

"I sure hope not." Tim laughed as he said it, and I chanced a glance down to see now he was getting hard. "Sorry about that!" he said, and he spread his towel over his middle.

"Oh, that's perfectly all right," I said. "Just don't get the wrong idea about Katie from what you saw yesterday, all right?"

"It was kind of hard for her to hide anything, wasn't it?"

Enough was enough. I sat up. "Ready for a swim?"

"With our suits on?"

"Yes, Tim. You're not getting a better look at me just yet!"

What I did see of his body looked even better glistening in the water. I was ever so relieved that there was no risk of his spotting my own arousal when the rest of my body was already wet. He did not need to know what I was feeling just yet.

At least now I knew I had my hooks in him. As we were toweling off, he said, "Will I see you and Katie at dinner?"

"We haven't exactly got a lot of other options for eating out here, have we?" I pointed out.

The three of us did end up having dinner together, and I had to run interference several times when he expected me to know anything about Katie's studies. Finally she was at least smart enough to say, "Tim, I think you've got the wrong idea. Christine works in banking, and she doesn't know anything about women in international politics. Or about international politics, for that matter."

"Hey!" I punched her on the arm.

"Well, it's true, Christine," she said. Turning back to Tim, she tried to continue. "Ever since middle school --"

"Tim doesn't want to hear about your awkward years, Katie!" I interrupted.

"I do if she wants to talk about them," Tim said. "I survived that living hell too, after all. I'm more than happy to compare notes with both of you about that."

"Both of us!" I exclaimed, trying to sound as diplomatic as I could.

"Oh, Christine never had an awkward phase, don't you know?" Katie told him. "Miss Uptown Sophisticate had it together from the day she hit puberty!"

It was nice of Katie to acknowledge that, and at least the conversation was steered into safer waters now. So I let them both go on about their memories of puppy love and embarrassing milestones, and didn't even object to Katie telling him all about the first time she wore a bra to school. If she wanted to make a fool of herself, after all, so much the better for driving Tim into my arms when the time was right. Which, of course, it wasn't yet, not after the intimate afternoon we'd had at the pool. Now was the time for a few days of frustrating him to heat up his desire.

For the next three days, I did just that. A cordial smile when I walked into the dining room, then I'd sit with someone else. (He usually ended up with Katie anyway, and after the talk about middle school I didn't even want to know what they were up to!) A playful grin at the pool, and I'd dive in and swim and leave him eating his heart out on the deck.

On the fourth day, Katie went into the city for some meetings at the university. So I figured the time was right for another taste of honey, especially since the next day was the fourteenth. As I strode up to his deck chair at the pool, I was undecided about just how far I should lead him on to think I might participate in Nude Day. I figured the answer would come to me as we chatted.