Gravity
-- by Sarah
With the sudden burst of sunlight in the room, George rolled over in the bed. He groaned out loud as he shielded his eyes.
“Come on, sleepy head,” Jessica called to George, as she
opened the French doors to their private veranda. She stepped out in to the early morning and
took a deep breath. She was more than
happy to be away from the cold and grey slush that was
Ignoring her, he put his pillow over his head.
“Get up! Beach time!” Jessica said, which earned her only more groans from her companion.
Ignoring his protestations, she started packing her beach bag. She included their digital camera and books for each of them.
Having already put on her own suit, a black one piece, with straps that cris-crossed her back and a bodice patterned of blue tropical flowers, she dug in George’s suit case for his swim trunks. She came back in bedroom and put her hands on her hips.
“George!” she admonished, before returning to the dressing area.
He peeked out from under the pillow. He could see her in the reflection of the dresser mirror. With a smile on his face, he watched her quietly as she applied sun screen to her legs and arms. Watching her so innocently at work on her task, and thinking how sensuous she looked, leaving the room was the last thing he wanted to do. “Come back to bed,” he said, his voice still raspy with sleep.
“Nope. Up now. I want to get that prime spot close to the
water before anybody else claims it,” she said, referring to the relatively
private beach area of the resort that she had read about in the brochure that
the concierge had given her the previous evening. They had traveled from JFK to Houston
International, where they had been delayed a few extra hours before they had
finally taken their connecting flight to
After a restful night of sleep, Jessica was raring to go. She needed fresh sea air and sunshine. Even more, she needed a relaxing day with the one she loved. She knew it was just what they both needed to restore their collective spirit of a long hard winter of work and stress. When George still hadn’t budged, she pulled the covers off of him and pounced on him. She straddled him and began tickling him. He attempted to fight her off, but succumbed to laughing. Finally, he was able to flip over taking her with him, so now he was on top of her. He pinned her arms to the bed in order to cease her assault.
He looked in to her smiling face and gave her a long, loving kiss. “You look bloody sexy in this swim suit. Sure you can’t wait to get out there?”
She shook her head. He kissed her a again, this time deepening his kiss. He let go of her arms and began to explore her body, swathed in the silky lycra.
She used the chance to slip away. “Up and out. Beach time.”
He groaned, “Not even breakfast in bed first?”
“Breakfast on the beach.”
Reluctantly, he got up. She threw his trunks at him. “Hurry up.”
George stumbled to the bathroom, where he showered quickly and pulled on the swim trunks. Jessica tied her matching sarong around her waste and put her straw hat by her bag. She pulled on her sandals, locked the veranda doors and then paced the floor.
When George emerged, he watched her for a minute. “So, the beach all day?”
“Yes. Let’s go,” she said as she put on her hat and shouldered her bag.
“My Jessie is so impatient, but I think she’s forgetting something.”
She looked at him quisically. He held up the bottle of sunscreen to her. “Oh my gosh, you’re right.” She dropped her bag and removed her hat as she crossed the room to him, turning her back and lowering her suit straps. He chuckled as he poured some of the sweet smelling lotion in his hand. He applied it to her silky alabaster skin. When he was done, he kissed her shoulder. “My turn,” he said, turning his back to her.
In turn, she began to massage the lotion on his skin. She found herself admiring the way his muscles of his broad shoulders felt beneath her hands. When she was done, she slipped her hands around his bare stomach and held him tight, resting her head between his shoulder blades. George could feel her heart beating quickly as she leaned against him. Feeling wicked, he pulled away and said, “Okay, let’s go.” He slipped on a light button up short sleeved shirt, his sandals and grabbed his own straw hat.
They made their way down to the beach, where, much to Jessica’s relief, they took the last available umbrella closest to the water. Two cushioned lounge chairs were placed under the unbrella, along with a small table. The tide was out but the chairs were far enough away so that if they did stay there all day, the incoming tide would not quite reach their space. They settled themselves in for a relaxing day. After placing their order, a waiter brought them a delicious light breakfast that included tropical fruit and mimosas. After a while, Jessica felt herself relaxing, all of the tension of the recent months beginning to melt away from the increasing warmth of the mid-morning sun. Her book was on her lap, but she spent the morning focusing on the clear blue horizon of the Mayan Riviera. In the distance, she saw colorful parachutes sailing across the sky.
After a while, George broke their comfortable silence, “Fancy a swim?”
“Mmmm, I think not yet,” she replied.
“I think I’ll go ahead and give the water a test,” he said.
She smiled, “Report back then.”
She watched him as he ambled down to the water’s edge and then waded in up his thighs. Evenutally, he ventured further in the cerillian blue water. She again found herself admiring his physique. Suddenly a rather large wave came out of no where, knocking him under the water. She laughed out loud and then abandoned her own reluctance to go in. She shed her sarong and ran down to the water to join him. As she splashed in to the deeper water to where he was, he came to meet her, catching her in his arms as she reached him. He planted a kiss on her lips just as another wave knocked them over. Coming up from the clear water, laughing, he pushed her wet hair back from her face, kissing her again.
“Refreshing, isn’t it?”
She had to agree. It was like being doused in miracle waters. They held on to each other as yet another wave threatened to knock them down again. They swam out a little further to avoid the breakers and delighted in the calm they found. They spent an hour floating in each other’s arms until finally Jessica suggested that they get out of the sun.
As they reached the shallow water, they broke into a sponstanous race back to their chairs. After drying off and calming down, they relaxed into a quiet conversation until the waiter brought their pre-ordered lunch. They enjoyed a lunch of fresh fish tacos with mango salsa and frozen margaritas.
After lunch, George asked, “So all day out here?”
“Yes, all day. I’m enjoying it too much,” she responded, taking her hand in his. She continued, “Although, I could be persuaded otherwise.”
“I was hoping you say that,” squeezing her hand tighter.
“Oh really? What did you have in mind?” she asked with a grin.
“I was thinking that we should spend some time defying gravity,” he said, looking at her intently.
“What?”
“Defying gravity,” he said again, this time turning his head toward the horizon.
She followed his gaze to see what he was looking at. “Oh no. No way, George Sutherland,” she protested.
“Aye, love, I’ve already booked a ride for us.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” she said increduously.
“You love flying in a small airplane. I think you’ll love this just as much.” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it tenderly. “Besides, it’s tandem. What do you say?”
“Tandem? Will it be with you or some stranger?”
“With me, of course. I’ve done this before. Trust me, you’ll love it.”
He gave her his best persuasive look and leaned forward to kiss her cheek, then her lips.
“Okay,” she said reluctantly. “What time is our appointment?”
“3:30. Plenty of time for us get over to the recreation area.”
They gathered up their things and headed to the speed boat that would take them on their parasailing excursion.
They boarded a speed boat where they donned bright orange safety harnesses. To Jessica’s surprise, they were the only couple aboard the boat, aside from the pilot and his assistant. After they were a half mile or so out, the assistant began hooking them up to the ropes and parachute that would send them soaring above.
“How high will we go?” Jessica asked.
The assistant looked up into the cloudless, uncrowded sky. “About 250 feet. Your first time?”
She nodded.
“Don’t worry, senorita, you probably won’t want to come back down,” he asssured her.
George assumed position behind her and the next thing she knew, the winch-driven system had them flying, higher and higher. At first she didn’t dare open her eyes, as her stomach jumped into her throat at the jerk she felt as the bright rainbow colored chute caught the breeze and opened fully. She felt George’s arms wrapped tightly around her and heard his deep brogue in her ear, “Open your eyes, Love. I’ve got you and nothing’s going to happen.”
She opened her eyes slowly and was exhilerated at the spectacular view she discovered. Her voice caught as she tried to express her feelings. “Oh George...”
“I know, Love, it’s overwhelming.”
She leaned into his embrace and found herself lost in the
experience. Her heart was pounding, but
rarely had she felt such simultaneous peace and excitement. She felt like she and George were the only
two people in the world, although she knew below there were two men making this
happen.
She turned her head and said, “Defying gravity.”
“Yes, my love, defying gravity. This is how I feel every moment I'm with you. I wanted to show you.”
“Oh George, I feel it too.”