Missing Baggage

I lean across her and find the phone, waiting until the operator answers.

"Coffee, toast, juice and fruit for two please, and can you leave it on the balcony table please."

I put the phone down and run my fingers down across her breasts and belly and Emma shivers and little goosebumps suddenly appear.

"Come on, I'll get the shower going and then I'm going to wash you."

Emma looks at me quizzically, an eyebrow raised but grinning at the same time.

"You're going to what? ... to wash me?"

"Yes, all over, head to toe, front to back, everywhere, a morning treat. Do you have any special shampoo or shower gel that you like to use?"

She shakes her head laughing.

"You're crazy."

"Yes," I admit, "but not until I met you."

She laughs again.

"Ok, you get the shower started and I'll get the shampoo."

I kiss her again and go into the bathroom, turning on the shower and taking the chance to have a pee while the running water drowns the sound. I thought for a moment that I'd sensed a hesitation in Emma when I asked about her shampoo and shower gel and I wonder if she's embarrassed at something she's packed, some personal 'girly' thing but the thought disappears from my mind as I hear Emma come into the bathroom.

"Oops," I say as I flush the loo. "Sorry, I just had to go." Emma just smiles and hands me the shampoo.

"Men! Get in the shower, I have to go too." and she can see that the steamy shower cubical will give her the privacy she needs; but even so I'm amazed at the intimacy between us, the lack of any inhibition.

We seem so relaxed together and she hands me her shampoo and other toiletries as we pass, me on the way to the shower and Emma to the loo and I want so much to reach out and touch her, to feel her skin again. I can't get enough of her but she needs to pee so I step into the shower behind the misted glass and put the toiletries on the rack.

I glance over towards Emma and can just make out her form sitting on the loo as she pees and I smile. This is all so homely, so warm and so utterly normal but I turn away, not wanting her to see me looking or to make her feel like I'm some sort guy who likes to watch women on the loo although seeing Emma there gives me a good warm feeling deep inside like we've been doing this forever.

I grab the shower gel and lather myself and then Emma is stepping in behind me, kissing my back before she says "Can I ask you something? Turn around and look at me." so I turn and she's standing there before me, so unutterably sexy with the water cascading over her, running in rivulets on her shoulders and over her breasts, blinking as the water splashes on her face and into her eyes.

I can't imagine what she's going to ask, something serious or something frivolous, I have no way of gauging her tone and I realise that I never will know with Emma and in that realisation I'm already assuming that we're going to be together long enough for "never will know" to have meaning.

"Do you think love is forever?...and yes it's a make or break question."

Do I think love is forever? Wow, where the hell did that come from? Is this some lateral thinking test or exercise or perhaps it's a religious thing but right now, here in the shower? I can't help smiling at her because I know that this is Emma and I know now that she's deadly serious about this even though I can't for the life of me figure out why this should have popped up now, so soon.

"'Cos this is important to me and I happen to think I'm rather taken with you, and I just...I...well...I'm kind of hoping to find us having something more than beautiful love making, being comfortable enough to pee, liking the beach at night, and loosing luggage...this question could be a biggy."

Wow, this really is something for Emma and I know that I have to give her the right answer because I'm more than taken with her and there's that feeling again, that feeling that rushes through me just like love but I can't say the word, even silently to myself, because this is so soon and yet...and yet...

I play for time, pouring a generous pool of shampoo in the palm of my hand, ready to wash Emma's hair.

I'm in trouble here because I know in reality that love isn't always forever, I have enough friends who've had difficult breakups to know that, but I'll have to answer soon or for Emma, the moment will have gone.

"Ok, I'm going to wash you first and then I'm going to answer your question because it's a deal breaker for me too. OK?"

She nods her consent.

"Turn around," I say and start to massage the shampoo into her hair and scalp. I can feel Emma relaxing as I work the shampoo into her hair and I continue with the shower gel, washing her back and arms.

"Ok if I wash your front?" I ask and she nods again so I let my hands slip under her arms, spreading the lather over her breasts and belly and although very sensuous this isn't sexual in any way, it's just being close and intimate...loving.

"Still ok?" I ask again as my hands move over her belly and further, below her bikini line, and all the time my mind is racing. Is this crazily too soon to be asking questions like this? I know what my answer is and I'm certain I know what Emma's answer is.

Emma flinches as my hands meet between her legs and then she relaxes again as I crouch down to wash her legs and finally her feet.

I'm done now and stand facing her, helping her rinse the shampoo from her hair.

I'm totally besotted with her, would do anything for her, and hope that she feels the same way about me.

Emma clears the water from her eyes and looks at me. "Ok, I'm not a natural seductress but I am brave, that's my one saving grace. I see something that needs tending to, I'll do it. I see something I want, I'll go after it except when it came to you."

She pauses before continuing.

"See, you had me when you looked up and smiled, only I was slow to realize it but now I do and Sam, I want you, I want you like I've never wanted anyone or anything in my whole life. Oh I'm honest too by the way. I'll not lie, deceive, fib, or tell you anything that's not fact. Ok, I talk to much too, but some think that's a good thing. Of course, some think I should have an off switch, but personally I think I'm adorable."

She gives a nervous laugh and squeezes in, one knee between mine and her arms draped over my shoulders, her head against my shoulder. "And that's why I asked you what I did."

It's time to answer her question, now or never.

"Yes, I think love can be forever, with the right person it can last a lifetime, and I think I'd like to find out if that person is you."

She doesn't answer, just raises her head to look at me, tears filling her eyes. "I'd like to find that out too."

We stand there in the shower absorbing what we've both said and then without warning Emma reaches up and kisses me and it's as if somebody has thrown a switch, all the seriousness of the past few moments tucked away, and it's bouncy Emma again.

"I'm famished, let's eat breakfast." And she's grabbing towels and gabbling away about what we'll do for the rest of the day as she almost drags me out to the balcony where breakfast is waiting for us.

She pours coffee and spreads marmalade on toast for me and then, as suddenly as she started, she stops.

"Do you think I could possibly manage an hour not talking? See, if I do, I win you for a day Ok? But if I fail, you get me for two and I'll either be myself and chat away or if you want me silent, I'll do my darnedest to keep my mouth full of something to keep me from talking. Would you like that? Me with my mouth full and yours for forty-eight hours to take out, make love with, anytime, anywhere, or just to hang out with and each time I say something you can either forfeit or gain another day. Deal?"

I'm sitting there listening to her, half choking on a piece of toast that I was eating when I started laughing.

"And what are you going to keep your mouth full of?"

Emma leans across the table and smacks me hard on my arm.

"Don't be smutty. I told you I don't lie or deceive although," she says with a laugh, pretending to wipe the corner of her mouth with a finger just as she'd done in bed this morning, "I can think of worse things to keep my mouth full of."

I smile at the memory.

"Ok, the bet's on. Timing starts from after we've cleaned our teeth."

We're sharing the basin as we brush our teeth, nudging each other playfully with our hips and after one particularly hard nudge from Emma I smack her playfully on her butt and she smacks me back.

"Oh so it's S&M now is it?" Emma asks with a laugh as she rinses her mouth and I suddenly remember the silk scarves that my pal Jeremy insisted that I pack. He's gay and outrageously camp and right at this moment I love him for his deviously naughty mind as an image of Emma tied to the bed with the scarves flashes through my mind and I wonder what Emma might have hidden in her suitcase and if she wants to play.

"I thought we might walk into town this morning and have a look around, maybe grab a coffee and then back here to the beach for a swim."

Emma nods her approval.

"And I really ought to get my suitcase over to my hotel and unpack..." and I can see a frown start to furrow her brow.

This is something that neither of us had even thought about since first we took the cab from my hotel to here last night. There's been an unspoken assumption that our two cases would stay side by side here in her room for the rest of the holiday and perhaps even for longer.

"Or we could do that later on." I continue and I watch as her frown disappears and is replaced with a face full of relief.

Emma walks out onto the balcony staring out over the ocean and I sit just watching her for a while, marvelling at what's happened in the past forty-eight hours before I join her and I put my arms around her waist, holding her close to me, like this is something we've done every morning for as long as we can remember. We stay like this for a while and then she turns and kisses me. She's smiling at something but I can't figure out what it is, perhaps she's just happy.

"Ok, I'll just get my wallet and then we'll go shall we?" Emma nods and we go back into the room and while I rummage around for my wallet and sunglasses Emma disappears into the bathroom and I can hear her singing, such a happy sound. And then she's back, picking up her phone and handbag.

The town is busy now, locals and tourists alike crowding the narrow streets, stopping at the market stalls and we meander, hand in hand, taking our time. We pass a bar and I ask Emma if she'd like a coffee and she nods. And now I know what's going on. It's our bet: she's not talking for an hour so when the coffee comes I ask her if she'd like milk and sugar, trying to trick her with a question but she just smiles and pours her own milk and adds a sugar lump.

And then suddenly Emma's phone starts to chime. It's the timer.

"Ha, I won the bet, one hour without talking so I get to keep you for another day."

"I know," I reply. "You've got me for another day. I glad you won." and we kiss, just lightly but it says everything.

We finish our coffee and I'm expecting Emma to start chattering again but she's quiet.

There's something on her mind, something that's distracting her and I know what it is because the same thing is worrying me.

Ok we had a lucky meeting, an evening right out of '100 best first dates', sex that was just out of this world but now it feels as if were in danger of becoming just another holiday couple filling time until lunch and then what?

We don't know each other, have no background together and we've completely exhausted our one topic of conversation -- the missing baggage. Well, I contrived to mess that one up didn't I? I mean what a stupid thing to say:

'And I really ought to get my suitcase over to my hotel and unpack...'

Why did I say that for god's sake?

What I really want is to hang my clothes alongside Emma's, in her wardrobe in her room, to spend the rest of our holiday together, to fly home together to our home.

I'm going to have to front this out with her, even at the risk of seeming presumptuous, but I've got to do it.

We stop at a bar and I order a couple of drinks. Emma seems down and twirls the ice in her drink aimlessly, distracting herself. I have to say it now.

"Emma, how would it be if I unpacked my case this afternoon..." She won't even look up... "but into your wardrobe, my clothes alongside your clothes...I mean if that's ok?"

It's as if the sun has come out from behind a dark cloud, just for Emma. She lights up and a smile spreads across her face and I can see that her eyes are wet so I lean over and wipe her cheek with my fingers.

"I did that really badly this morning didn't I? I'm sorry."

She sniffs so I pass her my handkerchief.

"Would it help if I tell you that my hotel is just round the corner from here and I thought that I might check-out, that is if I can find somewhere else to stay, like the room where my suitcase is?"

She smiles and nods, dabbing at her eyes.

"Will you wait here? I'll only be a few minutes."

She nods again so I go round to her and give her a hug.

"Just a couple of minutes -- promise."

As I turn to leave she grabs at my shirt.

"Sam, you will come back won't you."

The hotel receptionist is a little stuffy about such a late cancellation but I agree to pay an extra day in lieu of notice but the reality is I'd have just left the room empty rather than argue with them.

At the café she stands up as she hears my suitcase rattling over the cobble stones and she runs towards me. Any other time this could seem corny but with Emma it just seems so natural, so right, and we kiss in the street.

She grabs my hand and almost pulls me towards our hotel...our hotel? Well I hope it is 'cos I've checked out now and if Emma changes her mind I'm on the streets.

"Sam? promise me something, that you're not doing this to just please me, that you want this too, honesty all the way? Huh?"

I stop and turn her towards me.

"All the way Emma I promise, all the way." and that seems a good time to kiss again so we do.

I don't know if there are any local rules about public displays of affection but if there are then we're breaking all of them. We're standing in the middle of the street kissing deeply, our bodies pressed hard against each other and as Emma's fears subside I can feel her responding to my growing arousal.

"Wow Sam... just wow." so I kiss her again until she playfully pushes me away.

"So, have I convinced you?" I ask and Emma just nods and smiles.

"Yes I'm convinced."

We decide to have lunch and we find a place in the main square in the shade of the trees. The food is good and we take our time, drinking in each other as well as the wine.

It's one of those meals where every gesture, every mouthful has an unspoken meaning: a breadstick rubbed across her lips, an oyster slurped and chewed, a spoonful of cream shared and a second bottle of wine.

We meander back towards the hotel, stopping to look at the market stalls and we become separated amongst the stalls in the street; I've been looking at a trinket or something and I catch myself looking anxiously for Emma, feeling like a lost child and then suddenly she's there, only a few paces from me, her dark hair spilling onto her shoulders that carry the straps to her dress. She isn't wearing a bra and I imagine the weight of her breasts against the cotton fabric.

She looks so at ease moving amongst the other holiday-makers, as if she's the star and they the extras in some scene from a movie. I press through the crowd until I catch up with her and take her hand.

"Hi, I lost you," I say and she turns and smiles in a happily unconcerned way as if we shop like this all the time and I love her in this moment with an intensity that I had never imagined possible and know that I want us always to be like this.

We haven't planned our route through the town but eventually we find ourselves back at Emma's hotel and there's a sweet moment while Emma fishes in her handbag for the key and then dangles it temptingly in front of my face before opening the door and ushering me in.

The room is cool and dark with the shutters closed; Emma kicks off her shoes and turns to me, tilting her face up for me to kiss her.

As our tongues find each other I can feel Emma's hands on my belt, tugging to undo it and then the coolness of her hands against my flesh, her fingers seeking out my erection.

I find the zip of her dress and undo it, slipping the straps of her dress off her shoulders, releasing her creamy white breasts with their rosy nipples.

She's pulling me towards the bed...our bed and I just want to submit to her, to please her, to love her.

We lie on the bed caressing each other, kissing, touching and her hand moves down my side, caressing my hip and then she finds my erection, rubbing her thumb in my precum and I break the kiss and gasp for air as she moves her hand up and down my shaft, our bodies moving with a sensual hunger, legs tangled and moving slowly over each other, every part of us wanting to touch and be touched. My cock presses against her belly and I meet her parted lips again and we kiss so passionately. I want her so badly it almost hurts. She has her mouth against my ear and I can feel her breath, shallow with excitement and then she whispers.

"Please baby, can we do this slowly, later, not now honey, please?" She swallows as if collecting her thoughts.

"I'm on fire for you, so wet and I want to feel like this all afternoon until I can't stand to wait any longer. Is that ok?"

"Yes, of course it's ok, it sounds fun. I want this to be right for both of us all the time and just so as you know, I'm on fire for you as well."

She laughed. "I know, I can feel you."

As much as I want her right now I understand what she was saying. If this is going to be more than a holiday fling then taking our time now and then wouldn't be a bad thing and then I recalled the books in her case.

I propped myself up on one elbow.

"Oh, by the way, when I was looking for some ID in your case yesterday I couldn't help but notice that you have a book on tantra in your case. Is waiting for the moment like we're doing something in the book?"

Emma sat up as if she'd been shouted at.

"You bastard, you looked through all of my things didn't you."

I had to cover my head with my hands as she swatted at me.

"What else did you find?"

"Hey, really, honestly I didn't look through your stuff, honestly, just the books."

She had a look of anger mixed with embarrassment on her face and she was blushing.

"Honestly, cross my heart and hope to die, I didn't look at your stuff, y'know, your makeup bags and bits. Honestly."

She stopped swatting at me.

"Honestly? Really Sam, honestly?"

"Yes Emma, honestly. I'm not the kind of guy who pries into people's private stuff although," I said with a smile, "The way you're blushing tells me there's more than toothpaste in there."

She swatted me again.

"So, tell me Mr Honesty, why are there some tubes of flavoured lube and a pair of handcuffs in your case, not to mention the silk scarves and condoms. I don't think it'll be cold enough here for you to need one round your neck although, come to think of it that's not a bad idea." and she made a gesture like strangling someone. "Was that your idea of a holiday? Come here, find some floozie to tie up, fuck her and then fly home again?"

"Ah, so it's ok for you to look in my case but not me to look in yours, not that I did. That's a bit unfair isn't it?"

"So what were you intending to do with the handcuffs? Arrest someone?

"Well, it had crossed my mind but then my suitcase went missing and I found you, the most unflooziest woman I've ever met, if unflooziest is a word. And in any case, it seems that you've got some personal things in your case so doesn't that make us even?"