Filed to story: Shhh Professor! Please Don’t Tell! Novel Free
He reached a tentative hand out and tucked my hair behind my ear. My heart melted, and I closed in the distance. I kissed him, placing both my hands on his shoulders and standing a little on tiptoe to reach his lips.
I felt him inhale sharply. He hesitated for one moment, and then pressed his lips against mine passionately. He gathered me into his arms, almost crushing me against his chest.
We heard someone call out. We jumped away from each other, looking around guiltily. Whoever had shouted wasn’t in sight. They had probably been calling out for some other reason.
I gazed up at him, unable to keep from smiling.
“Thank you,” I said. I squeezed his hand and walked away up the deck.
I was in a daze for the rest of the day. We all went out to a restaurant in Hurghada after the boat tour. Jackson talked with the other students animatedly: the life of the party. I had never seen him so happy. My own happiness was like a stupor: I felt drunk with the way my body was still churning with warmth after our kiss.
My happiness was stabbed through with a streak of pain. I wanted more. More wasn’t possible.
We took a bus back to our hotel. It was still light and warm enough for a walk. I wanted to stroll along the beach and wait for the sunset to arrive.
“We’re going to play card games in Tony’s room,” Annie said to me as we all walked back inside the hotel. “You want to join us?”
Annie had that suspicious glint in her eyes again. She knew something was up with me.
“I think I want to go for a walk first,” I said. “I’m pretty tired. I’ll probably stop by later.”
Card games did sound like fun. They sounded distracting. I needed that right now. And as much as I wanted to be near Jackson, it would be good to spend some time away from him and clear my head. So far, he hadn’t joined us for any of our late-night hangouts.
I slipped away from the group and walked out towards the beach. The sky was already tinted in pale pinks and golds along the horizon; paired with the fading blue overhead, it was like a soft blanket of color. I took off my sandals and walked through the sand to the water’s edge. The cool waves rushed up and lapped against my feet.
I closed my eyes, feeling the wind from the sea rush against my face. I thought about history. About all the things we’d seen. How many love stories had been intertwined with all these works of stone? We didn’t know. Tears didn’t last. Heartbreak didn’t last. Maybe I wouldn’t remember how much my heart was aching right now in a few more years.
I opened my eyes and saw someone walking towards me across the beach.
Jackson.
His pants legs were rolled up, and the plain black t-shirt he was wearing accented his muscular chest and arms. He walked with a relaxed, strong stride, but his eyes were intently fixed on me.
I glanced back at the hotel. The lights were on inside. Twilight was falling around us. No one would be able to see us from inside the hotel. We could interact as we liked here.
I stepped up to him and kissed him again, wrapping my arms around his neck. I felt him laugh with surprise under my lips and then returned my kisses in earnest. We stood there for a moment, kissing. My body arched backward and pressed against his as he held me tightly.
All of the weeks of longing seemed to be burning on my skin, drinking up the feeling of him as if he could fill me. I felt my heat growing, with desire unfurling in me like a flower made of fire. I’d never kissed anyone like this before. I’d only had a couple of boyfriends in high school, and I hadn’t felt like this about them.
I knew, suddenly, that this was a decision I wanted to make. I still hadn’t lost my virginity. I wanted to lose it here and now. I wanted it to be with a man that I loved as much as I loved Jackson.
“Sleep with me,” I whispered. “Please.”
Jackson stopped his kissing for a moment, his eyes wide as he gazed down at me.
“Are you sure?” he whispered. I could practically hear his heart pounding. Or maybe it was my own.
“I’m sure,” I said.
I had never been more sure of anything in my life.
“We can buy a condom at that gift shop,” I said, feeling myself blush. Our group had been laughing about them this morning. “I’m not on birth control.”
Jackson shook his head. “We don’t need to,” he said. “I had a vasectomy done many years ago.”
Relief bubbled through me. The certainty that I wouldn’t get pregnant caused my last remaining twinges of nervousness to evaporate.
“Let’s go,” I whispered.
“My room or yours?” he whispered back. No one was within earshot, but we still spoke furtively.
“Yours,” I said. “Annie and I are sharing a room.”
I realized I would need to tell her I wasn’t coming to play cards. I should tell her right away I might not be sleeping in my bed that night.
I slipped my hand into Jackson’s, and we walked to the edge of the beach together. It felt wonderful. His hand was warm in mine. For a moment I let myself pretend that we could do this anytime. That tonight wouldn’t be the end of whatever we began.
We parted ways on the beach. We decided we should enter the hotel at different times, and from different doors.
“What’s the number of your room?” I whispered.
“21A,” he whispered back.
He seemed to be holding me with his eyes. They were liquid with happiness.
I went back inside the hotel first. I was glad. I needed to text Annie, and I wanted to shower and put on the pink lace panties and bra that I had brought along with me. The plain underwear I’d been wearing all day was not what I wanted taken off me during my sexual debut.
I texted Annie as I rode the elevator upstairs.
Hey! I can’t come to the card night anymore. And I might not sleep in my bed tonight. Don’t worry about me.
As I was getting out of the elevator, my phone buzzed.
Oh, get it Ellie. I’ll see you tomorrow 😉
I smiled and tucked my phone back in my pocket. Would she have had that reaction if she knew who I was planning on hooking up with?
I took deep breaths as I walked to my room. I was nervous, definitely, but also excited. It felt like I would burst. I felt like a woman, overflowing with a passion I was desperate to let out.
I took a hurried shower, slathered myself in rose-scented lotion, and put on lingerie. Had this been in the back of my mind when I’d packed it?