But both our bodies surged forward when the Jeep came to a halt. I would have been face-first on the Jeep floor if it hadn’t been for Alex holding me in place.
“Okay, everyone,” Thomas said. “We’re a bit late, so you’ve only got fifteen minutes to freshen up. See you back at the bar.”
Alex and I slipped our hands out, but when I went to stand up, Alex stopped me. Keeping eye contact, he slipped his finger—thefinger—in his mouth and moaned around it.
“Back to the tent. Now.” I shoved him out the Jeep door, and he caught himself, laughing. He offered his hand to help me down, and once my feet were on the ground, we wound our fingers together and briskly walked along the boardwalk.
“Nikki!”
My stomach plummeted in disappointment as we came to a halt.
Sam caught up to us. “Sorry, you are later than I expected so I didn’t catch you right out of the Jeep. Could you come with me very quickly and bring your camera?”
“Uh, well…” I glanced at Alex.
“That’s okay, I’ll see you back at the tent.” His hand squeezed mine three times and then he let go.
Sam led me to the kitchen where the staff had set up a few more plates for me to photograph. I made quick work of it, hoping to be back at the tent for…a quickie? A shower? Honestly, I was willing to show up to dinner absolutely filthy.
Alex Boyd was a tease.
Unfortunately the drums banged for dinner, and I was still shooting the last plate. When I finished, I crashed out of the kitchen, nearly running into Alex.
“Hey, is everything okay?” His hair was still damp from a shower, and he’d changed while I was occupied.
“Yes,” I said, gesturing over my shoulder. “Sam wanted me to take some pictures for her. I’m going to head back to the tent, quickly.”
Alex held out a hand. “I can take your bags back if you want to stay here. I’m afraid you probably don’t have time to shower.”
“You could take my bags back,” I said, stepping in close to Alex and dropping my voice. “But you can’t change my knickers for me.”
A noise that sounded an awful lot like “ughnnnaaa” came out of Alex’s mouth as he flopped his forehead onto my shoulder. “I didn’t need to know that. The last thing I want to do is to be chatting with Ernst or Mark over a cocktail and a hard-on.”
I shoved him off me. “Dinner won’t last forever. I’ll be back.”
As Alex shuffled over to the bar, a little stiff-legged, I walked out to the tent and dropped off my gear and made the aforementioned knicker swapping. I was the last one to arrive back at the dining hall, and since Alex already had a drink for me, I took my seat.
Dinner was delicious, and I debated about suggesting we leave right away, but then dessert came out, and, well, if I had to cut one out in the choice between orgasms, dessert, or sleep, I’d be a well-fed, sleep-deprived zombie tomorrow.
The dessert was malva pudding, a South African classic that literally had me scraping the plate clean. I debated licking it, too, but while I knew Alex well, I didn’t know what his turn-offs might be. Plate-licking was too risky of a line to cross.
Alex made that noise again. “Ughnnnaaa.”
“So that’s a general blissed-out noise, and not a sign of your sexual desires. Good to know.”
He contemplated his empty plate and the spoon in his hand, looking rather forlorn. “I’m not saying it was as good as sex. But…”
“I think we should head back to the tent before you finish that statement.” I stood up, tugging Alex along with me.
We said our goodnights and rolled ourselves—they were big portions of dessert—back to the tent.
I switched on the lights, stripping off my outer layers, and Alex immediately tried to tug me toward the bed. “Oh, don’t,” I said, sounding prissy, even to my own ears. “I’m still all dirty from the drive.”
“Someone was too busy with their camera to shower, unlike myself, who is squeaky clean.”
“Well, then I guess you won’t be showering with me.”
Alex grinned. “I can guess exactly what would happen in that scenario. We’d be in the shower together, get distracted, the well water would run out, and everyone would hate us because there’d be no water for the rest of our stay.”
