The Sun on my Skin Ch. 01

"Oh, you're up!" Tina's voice was loud and happy as she entered the apartment, making me wince a little. "Oops, sorry, Jojo" she added more softly when she noticed my reaction. "Are you feeling a little delicate?" she asked.

"Mmm, a bit," I answered. "I wish I had some..."

"Paracetamol, coffee and or croissants; I have all three here," she said holding up a carrier bag. "I suspected you might not be feeling up to breakfast in the restaurant so I thought we could eat here."

"Tina, you are an angel, a beautiful angel," I told her. "I definitely need the paracetamol first, coffee after that and then food, maybe. Thanks, Tina." She handed me a box of tablets and while I took two she proceeded to fill the kettle and put it on to boil.

"Go and sit down," she instructed and I squeezed her shoulder in gratitude as I moved past. A short while later I was sipping coffee and apologising for anything embarrassing I might have done or said yesterday, particularly at dinner, as my recollections were a little hazy. "Don't worry," Tina reassured me, "Your behaviour was absolutely fine, though I've never seen you quite as chatty as you were last night. You're good company when you're a bit drunk!"

"I doubt I'll be such good company this morning," I warned her.

I did try a little croissant but I wasn't really up to it. I was also more than happy to stay inside, where it was cooler and much less bright, while my headache gradually eased. Tina seemed happy enough, saying that holidays should always be about relaxing. We talked and read our books and played a game of backgammon on a set that Tina found in a cupboard and that I lost convincingly. By lunchtime, I was feeling greatly improved and even a little hungry.

We walked over to the restaurant for lunch. I had found last night that the tables, each arranged for six or eight, even one that seated ten people, were designed by the resort to encourage guests to mingle and mix with other guests. And so that lunchtime we were joined by a family that I recognised as the German family I had greeted yesterday morning, though I now had some difficulties relating to the fear I had felt on first discovering that I was on a nudist, sorry, naturist holiday.

They introduced themselves as Karl and Martina and their daughter Katja. I quickly found out while we ate that they recognised me too. "It seems that you are content now being naked; you were not so yesterday morning Jojo, I think," Karl said to me and I smiled and nodded.

"I think I was a little in shock when I saw you yesterday," I explained. "I had no idea that I had come to a naturist resort. Undressing was... a challenge; yes, definitely a challenge."

"It is always difficult the first time," Martina told me, "and Katja has found it harder this year as she has grown up," she added quietly to me so Katja couldn't hear. Recalling how shy I'd been at Katja's age, she had my sympathy.

"You've done very well, coming on this holiday," Tina told me.

"Tina, as I said yesterday, I'm only here because I didn't know I'd be expected to strip off! I really don't think I'd have come had I known. Not like you and Alex: you booked the holiday knowing it was naturist resort."

"Actually, Alex didn't know; I booked it without asking," Tina confessed and looked rather downcast. Her voice took on a wistful note. "I think it was the final thing that broke us up. Things hadn't been too good between us for a while and I thought something like this could bring us together again. God, I was so wrong. When I told her she completely flipped and stormed off." I started to reach out to take her hand to comfort her when what she had just said struck me.

"What do you mean 'she completely flipped', Tina? She?" I asked keeping my voice low, though I'm sure the other three could hear me nonetheless. "You mean Alex was a woman?"

"Oh shit!" Tina whispered. "Jojo I was going to tell you..."

"Um, I think I need to go," I told Tina. Suddenly the world had become a very unsettled place. "Please, I need to think. Excuse me," I added, addressing Karl, Martina and Katja, and left the table, heading out of the restaurant.

Thoughts tumbled through my head. What did Tina want? Why exactly did she invite me? I'd just discovered she was a lesbian after we'd shared a bed -- twice! Oh, crap: did anything happen last night? Had I said or done anything? I kissed her when she brought me that glass of water; was that all?

It was such a shock I just couldn't begin to get a grasp on what it all meant and, more importantly, how I felt. I really liked Tina and she was kind to me and obviously liked me, but she couldn't possibly fancy me. She was such an incredibly beautiful woman; surely she could have any equally stunning gay woman. I, on the other hand, was just... ordinary. No, I was only here to keep her company while she got over the break up with Alex. Why was that a faintly disappointing thought?

"Hello Hoho; you not look so happy." A woman's voice startled me from my tumbling thoughts and speculations. I had wandered down a narrow pathway and there in front of me was Marta, the woman we'd met at Reception on the night we arrived. This time, however, she was pulling what appears to be a giant wicker basket on wheels full of sheets. The basket thing wasn't really the first thing that I noticed; what first caught my eye and my attention was that she was as naked as me. It crossed my mind that you probably wouldn't want to work here if you weren't a naturist yourself. I was going to correct her pronunciation of my name when I notice the cheeky grin on her face; she was teasing me.

"Hi Marta," I replied. I had begun to think that I was completely relaxed about nudity, that I had stopped especially noticing the bodies of others. I was wrong as I was acutely aware of Marta's very attractive form: her firm, nicely full breasts, her hips, the soft, slight roundedness of her abdomen and, below, the smooth hairlessness of her mound split -- oh god I swallowed hard at the sight -- split by the rounded cleft of her pussy. I was also very conscious that I was completely on display to her. I wondered what the matter was with me.

"Why are you sad, Jojo? You not happy being nudist?

"I think... mostly I am.... At least I am now, anyway." I decided to be honest and candid. "The problem was Tina didn't tell me that this was a naturist resort so... well, it was a bit of a shock that first morning. I admit I was surprised by the way you were dressed that first time I saw you," I told her.

"You should not have been surprised: this is Aldea Naturista, 'Naturist Village'. It says so at the entrance; did you not see it?" she asked.

"I think I misread it, the Naturista part at least. I thought it meant something to do with nature. Anyway, the nudity I'm okay with... I think I like it actually," I admitted a little shyly. "You obviously enjoy being in the nude, Marta. Is that why you chose to come and work here? Did you want to be paid to be naked?"

"Ha! That would be a good thing, no? I do get some money but the true story is that my, er... padres... er," she searched for the English word which, for once, I could provide.

"Parents, your parents."

"Si, my parents, they are the owners of here, owners of Aldea Naturista. You maybe see Mamá when she is working in the bar by the pool?" I recalled the woman who served me that first morning and thought I could see the resemblances to Marta so I nodded.

"You've grown up with naturism then?"

"Si, my parents always they are nude at home and me too so it is normal for me. But when I begin at school and I bring a friend home one day, I find it is not so normal for everyone!"

"You lived here, in this resort then?" I asked, wondering how a young schoolchild would react walking in here and seeing loads of bare-arsed people. To my surprise, she laughs loudly.

"Oh no! Can you imaginar? No, we lived in a house in Cártama. It was lucky, Papá he was at work and so it was just Mamá nude in the house. She told my friend that she was just having a bath and I learned the lesson that nudism is not for everyone. Not everyone is like us, no?"

"Marta, a week ago I wasn't like us!" I smiled.

"What about your girlfriend? Was she a naturist?" she asked and I barely heard the second question.

"Tina's she's not my girlfriend!" I told her, shocked that she thought that. Was that the impression we'd given?

"Oh, disculpe... sorry. But when I meet you, you were sad, Jojo, and on your own so what is the matter?" she asked with a note of genuine interest and concern in her voice that made me want to tell her what had happened. I hesitated and Marta took my hand as, abandoning the wheeled basket in the middle of the path, she led me over to sit on a secluded patch of grass off to the right. We sat side by side, she cross-legged, which was distracting, to say the least.

"Tina had a girlfriend," I began hesitantly; I wanted to talk this through but at the same time I didn't want to betray Tina's friendship. "They split up a few weeks ago and so Tina invited me on this holiday in her place." Marta nodded. "The real problem is that I didn't know Tina had a girlfriend..." I felt myself coming close to tears, though I wasn't sure why exactly.

"So you did not know she was with another girl. That was not fair of her," Marta said in a voice a little tinged with outrage at such behaviour.

"She could have told me," I agreed, feeling that my upset with Tina had been somewhat vindicated.

"You know, Jojo, that if Tina is not the woman for you there are plenty other girls," Marta touched the back of my wrist; her fingers gently brushed the skin, making me tingle. I was startled by what she was saying and I looked into her face to find she had a shy, coy look in her eyes as she gently bit her lower lip. "Eres una chica muy hermosa," she said quietly. Oh goodness, I thought as I hastily worked out what she'd said and realized she'd just called me a very beautiful girl. I couldn't quite believe it but it seemed Marta was flirting with me!

"Marta, I'm not gay," I told her nervously. "Er, yo no soy... um, a lesbian," I try to say it in Spanish to make it clear.

"Oh... So sorry, Jojo. I just thought... I hear you and Tina say you will share a bed. I see the way you are together and... I see you watching women yesterday. I am sorry, I make a mistake." I looked at Marta. Physically she was very attractive: we were the same height and very similar in build; like me, her tummy was a little rounded and her hips wide but on her the effect was lovely.

Perhaps Marta had a point; was it normal for a woman to look at other women as I was at her? And it wasn't just her, was it? Though, in truth, she and Tina definitely seemed to attract my eye in a special way. As if to confirm this thought I found myself glancing down to where the smooth olive skin of her naked pussy nestled among the blades of grass. I licked my lips and swallowed, my mouth suddenly dry. Had she made a mistake?

Marta leant closer to me and I realized she was holding my hand. I made no attempt to move away or remove my hand; I was paralyzed, though whether by fear or fascination I couldn't say. Her nipple brushed against my arm as she reached across and took my other hand. I turned my head to look at her. Our faces were so close that our noses touched and a moment later her lips pressed lightly on mine.

I had never kissed a girl more than a brief, chaste kiss on the cheek. I had never considered lesbian sex; I was straight, I had been pregnant by my first boyfriend, for Christ's sake... My one and only boyfriend, a traitor thought pointed out, a boyfriend I'd never had any real inclination to replace.

The feel of those lips, soft and warm, even while her boob pressed against my arm, seemed to trigger something within me. I couldn't help it and I reached my arm around her and hugged her with a sigh as our breasts made contact. I felt her mouth open and her tongue brush my lips and I responded, ardently and passionately, my tongue darting out to entwine with hers, to explore her mouth as she did mine. Kissing boys had never felt this good. Oh god, what was I doing?

I pulled back, perhaps rather abruptly because Marta gave a little gasp of surprise. "I'm sorry Marta, I've never done anything like this before." She looked disappointed. "I don't know what's got into me; I've never wanted to kiss a pretty girl before. A beautiful girl actually," I added, trying to say something to make her feel better.

"But maybe you will want to again. Maybe?" she asked hopefully.

"Oh Marta, I don't know!" I told her, though I had enjoyed it, much more than I thought I ought to have done... and I'd been really off with Tina -- my kind friend Tina -- because she was gay; what a hypocrite I was. "I'm sorry Marta but I need to go." I climbed to my feet and Marta rose too.

"I should be working too, Jojo. I am sure I will see you again; later maybe." She smiled hopefully.

"Possibly," I conceded and a little reluctantly let her hand go before stepping off the path to let her past. She smiled and nodded, a hopeful glint in her eyes. I turned away, unsure of what else to say, and hurried back to the apartment. I needed to apologise to Tina for my reaction and behaviour at lunchtime.

As I entered the apartment the first thing I saw was Tina spreading a sheet over the now unfolded sofa bed. She looked up as she heard me enter and answered my unspoken question. "I wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable, sharing a bed with a gay woman."

"Tina, I'm sorry. It was just such a surprise."

"No, I should have told you. This is probably for the best anyway; I don't want to make things difficult between us when we get back to work." She turned back to finish making up the bed and that seemed to be all she wanted to say on the matter. I, on the other hand, was desperate to ask questions. Why, really, had she invited me to join her here? Had she thought I was lesbian and, if so, why? Did she find me attractive? Had she considered a relationship with me? However, I didn't know where to start or how to ask so my natural timidity and reticence won and I said nothing. I convinced myself that my questions were irrelevant anyway: whatever she'd thought when inviting me, Tina obviously didn't want us to do anything that we might regret later.

That afternoon was very difficult. There was a distance between us, an awkwardness that had never been there before. I still wasn't quite feeling a hundred percent and the weather was now very hot and humid, the sky hazy with cloud as we sat by the pool. Neither of these helped but they weren't the heart of the problem either. "It's so warm and sticky," I complained, trying to start up some conversation, "Still, being naked definitely helps. Can we have nude days back at the office when the weather gets really hot?" I asked smiling.

"Probably not," was all Tina said in reply and went back to her book. Shit, why was she still so pissed off at me? I wondered.

Dinner time finally arrived and after showering (one at a time and with no mutual back washing today) we went to eat. Unfortunately, we ended up sitting with Karl, Marina and Katja again, which meant a few slightly awkward questions at the outset. Between us, Tina and I passed off the lunchtime drama as a simple misunderstanding. I wasn't at all sure we convinced them and Katja gave us strange looks, though maybe she was trying to work out what was going on between us.

I noticed Marta was waitressing this evening, serving two of the other tables. She was wearing what seemed to be the standard waiting uniform at the resort, a navy blue apron tied around her waist, that in some ways it made her even more erotic. I caught her eye several times and when she smiled at me I couldn't help smiling back. Once, when no one else was looking, she flipped up her apron, flashing her pussy at me, then winked when she saw my shocked expression.

Tina's mood did not improve; if anything it seemed to get worse. The walk back to the apartment was in sullen silence. Once inside Tina's only words were, "I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning." With that, she went straight into the bedroom leaving me standing there.

I went through to the bathroom, cleaned my teeth and went for a pee. As I walked back through the bedroom I looked over towards Tina who was in bed, rolled in a sheet with her back towards me. Given the hot and heavily humid air of the room, the sheet was clearly not for her comfort but another signal of her unhappiness with me. The prickling in my nose and eyes signalled the welling of tears and I hurried out, closing the door behind me so she wouldn't hear my sobs.

Lying in bed, the uneven and uncomfortable sofa bed, of course, I cried quietly. I had tried to apologize and clear the air after my inconsiderate reaction to her inadvertent coming out at lunchtime, yet here I was. Why was she so upset with me?

And what about me? What about my reaction to Marta? And that kiss, oh god, that amazing and unexpected kiss... Am I a lesbian? Like my friend Tina... hopefully, she's still my friend... I felt so completely wrung out by the day's events and emotions...

Sturm und Drang

I think I must have dozed off, my body's tiredness finally overwhelming my tumultuous mind. Whatever, I was suddenly wide awake as the after-echoes of the almighty crack of thunder still reverberated in my ears. I gave a pathetic little whimper, pulling the sheet over me. It was so thin and offered no comfort as the room was filled with a bright, blue-white flash followed moments later by another peal of deafening thunder. In the ringing silence, I heard the patter of raindrops build quickly to a steady, loud, hissing susurrus. I was conscious that I was trembling as I anticipated the next thunderclap.

This time there was no warning flash as both lightning and thunder coincided. I couldn't help myself; I screamed. I knew what thunder and lightning together meant: I was, for the first time in my life, in the centre of a storm. A second simultaneous flash and thunderclap followed almost immediately and I bolted, rushing through the bedroom door, pushing it shut behind me as I stood panting in fear, my body slick with sweat.

"Jojo, what is it..." Tina asked sleepily, "oh, is it the thunder?"

"Yes," I squeak and give another mewl of fear as there was more thunder. "Can I just stay in here till it's over?" I pleaded.

"Jojo, come here, you don't have to cower over there. You're my friend... come over here." I walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. I felt the bed move as Tina shifted and then she took my hand, lifting it from where it rested on the bed to hold it. As thunder rolled again she tugged my hand, pulling me to lie next to her and she placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Thank you," I said to her, feeling safer just being near her, though the slight abatement of the storm helped too.

"I don't want to lose you as a friend," she said.

"What happened, Tina?" I asked. "I know I didn't react well when you, you know, when I found out Alex was your girlfriend rather than your boyfriend. I thought we'd talked about that and I really am sorry I upset you."

"Jojo... I, I followed you when you left at the end of lunch..." I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. "I saw you kissing that girl, Marta." Her voice was thick with emotion. "And then this evening... you and she flirting with your eyes and smiles." She took a shuddering breath. "Jojo, why did you pretend to be shocked and upset that I'm lesbian when you are too?"

"Oh god Tina, I know I kissed Marta but it just sort of happened. I've never kissed a woman before, honestly; I've never even thought about doing so..." I looked into her eyes. "When I found out you were gay I was worried: you're my friend but also my boss at work and we'd slept naked in the same bed. I was scared and upset and then I met Marta and, well..." She nodded to save me from repeating the same story.