To Beat the Heat

The permeating heat pressed down on everything like a wet, heavy blanket. Even lying spread-eagle on the air mattress in the tent in the coolest, skimpiest bit of clothing I had packed for the beach trip, with the squirrel fan picking at my damp hair and teasingly blowing open the top of my dress, the muggy warmth was almost unbearable. Coupled with the irritating, omnipresent sand and the sun-induced weariness dragging on my muscles, I was torn between disgust and contentment. Either way, I utterly lacked the energy to move.

Until of course my exhausted contemplations were rudely interrupted by a flailing Amanda suddenly flopping down on the sagging air mattress, sending me flying for a moment before the mattress found equilibrium again. I groaned in protest of the unexpected movement as it ground yet even more sand into my slightly sticky skin, but Amanda merely laughed.

"Who's ready for Supertroopers?" I heard a voice from just outside the tent ask. Knowing full well who it was, I didn't waste the effort of turning my head to watch my boyfriend hunching over to crawl inside the tent, his laptop and my computer speakers in hand. From behind me on the bed, Amanda laughed loudly again. She was far too excited and perky in this heat, but she at least had a reason, as she had not actually ever seen the absurd movie that Colin was opening up on his computer. I had, however, so I didn't bother to work up the energy to reorient myself to see the screen. Colin rigged up the speakers, wired everything with power and stretched out across the bed in front of the screen, while Amanda laid down to his left. I stayed where I was, perpendicular to the other two, and only moved enough so that I could use Colin's lower back as a pillow.

"Move the fan," I groaned. "You're blocking all the air."

One of the other two obliged, and I sighed as the blissfully cool air blew across my body. I didn't even care at all that it was nearly blowing my dress right off of me. After a while, though, as I fought a losing battle against my exhaustion, I heard a loud snicker.

"Cute bra, Jessie," Hannah called from outside the tent. I opened my eyes to see that my bra was indeed exposed for all the world to see. But my heat-induced apathy would not allow me to get worked up over such an insignificant fact. I merely mumbled in reply, "Thanks, Hannah. I thought so, too."

"Whoa, now!" Amanda said as her head popped over Colin's shoulder. Intrigued, Colin looked over his shoulder at me as well.

"Whoa, dear. You're kinda hanging out."

"Yeah, yeah," I said. "So I've heard. It's too hot, though, so I don't care. Watch your movie."

Colin reluctantly turned back to the screen, and Amanda did the same as I closed my eyes once more, a small grin blooming on my lips. Though I'd never been one much for voyeuristic tendencies, I found it was an interesting feeling, knowing all these people were looking at my bra. Somehow, even in the oppressive summer humidity, I was getting a little turned on.

Slowly, I stretched and pulled myself parallel next to Colin, curled my arm underneath my head and allowed the fan to tease my hair and tickle my neck. It felt so good that I shivered...though I wasn't at all cold. I did, however, roll over and press my body into Colin's side. Even though it was ninety plus degrees out, the warmth of his body against mine still sent cold shivers up and down my spine. Gently, ever so gently, I traced my fingers in a doodling pattern across his lower back, careful to avoid his sunburned shoulders. I kissed his bicep briefly without pausing in my doodles. He turned and looked at me, eyebrow raised in an unspoken question. I merely dropped my gaze and laid my hand flat against the small of his back. When I sensed he had returned his attention to the movie, I stretched out to my full length once more and rolled away from him slightly so I could see his handsome face. Every time I did, I remembered how much I loved to do just that—just gaze upon the man I loved. I shivered again in the impossible heat.

Colin must have felt my body tremor next to his, or subconsciously felt the weight of my gaze, as he looked away from the movie again. I leaned in quickly and planted a soft peck on his lips. Then I rolled away before he could do or say anything. I waited a moment, and then rolled over so that I was on my back again, lying right beside him. I looked up at him to find him looking right back at me. The span of a heartbeat passed between us before he dropped his head to press a kiss to my lips. He meant for it to be a quick one, but as he pulled away, I caught his lower lip between my teeth, holding him to me. I kissed him deeply, tugging gently on the lip I held prisoner before releasing it to plant a few softer kisses on his mouth in rapid succession. I became aware of Amanda's laughter as it morphed into a loud, protesting groan.

"Ewww...cut out the couple-y stuff, guys..." she said.

Colin laughed as he turned away from me again. "Oh, Amanda...you know you're just jealous."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Right..."

I grinned at the ceiling of the tent. "Oh, but Amanda...you don't have to be jealous, you know. Feel free to join in the fun." I nudged Colin, who took my cue and threw an arm around the other girl. I lurched up to rest on one elbow as I snuck an arm around his back and swiftly poked Amanda in the side. She squealed like a banshee, and then fell into a fit of giggles as she tried to squirm away from my wiggling finger.

"Stop! Stop!" she gasped through her squeals. In response, I clambered over her captor and weaseled my way in between them to better torture her with my tickling. Finally, I decided to show some mercy and withdrew my poking barrage. She lay completely spent beside me, chest heaving, cheeks flushed. From my vantage point lying on my side, I couldn't help but notice how well-endowed my friend was. I nonchalantly voiced my newfound revelation.

"Mandy," I said. "You've got nice boobs."

I heard Colin behind me exhale loudly in surprise. Amanda just turned to me and laughing again, said "I know, right?" She raised a hand to one of her perky, rounded breasts and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Wanna feel?"

"Sure!" I replied, and proceeded to fondle her other breast. I could feel Colin nestled up behind me, and more prominently, I felt a warm bulge growing slowly between my buttocks. I laughed out loud, and Amanda began to giggle all over again.

"Mmmm...Mandy," I said. "Very nice." I suddenly began poking her again, so that she curled up into a ball and rolled onto her side, trying vainly to get away from me. However, this merely exposed another target for me, as her ass wiggled before me. Quickly, I spanked her. She yelped, and then laughed. I smacked her butt again, and she tried to squirm away. But I was having none of that. I hoisted myself up and over top of her, forcing her on her back as I straddled her hips. I expertly jabbed her exposed tummy a few more times, eliciting further high-pitched shrieks. When I finally paused long enough for her to catch her breath, I leaned forward so that my face was less than an inch from hers. At that angle, I became very aware of her heaving chest, as every time she exhaled, her breasts just barely grazed mine. We lay there just like that for the span of a heartbeat, and I caught myself staring at the fullness of her lips. I wondered, just for a moment, what it would be like to touch those lips with my own. I leaned a little closer.

"Stop..." Amanda gasped as she began squirming beneath me. "That tickles!" I realized I was breathing on her neck, her "O" spot.

"Oh, you know you like it," I purred at her before rolling off her and surrendering to the hilarity of it all once more.

The two of us laughed uncontrollably for a long minute or two. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I noticed Colin had not joined us in our giggly fit. I rolled back onto my back to better see his face and suddenly found his lips on mine. He kissed me with a passion he usually reserved for mid-deed. Feeding off his enthusiasm, I returned the kiss just a fiercely, snaking an arm up to lace my fingers in his soft curls and pull him even closer. Amanda's continued cackles echoed dimly in my skull as a heady desire suddenly filled my entire being; a white-hot heat building between my thighs that flashed before my eyes as Colin's lips moved against mine, as his hand brushed, and then grabbed my ass. I jumped, and then nearly moaned aloud from the exquisite pleasure sparking like static electricity between us when he dropped his mouth to my throat.

Suddenly, though, he pulled away. In a daze, I wondered what was wrong. Too slowly, I noticed the quiet that filled the tent. Amanda had finally sobered up and had fallen silent. My eyes slid sideways to see her watching Colin and I with a strangely thoughtful look on her face.

"What's a matter, Amanda?" I asked, my voice thick with checked desire. "Jealous?"

Amanda merely grinned lazily at us and slowly turned her eyes back to the almost forgotten movie still playing on the open laptop. I looked back at Colin and leaned up to plant a last hard kiss on his lips. I then laid back and stared up at the mesh netting of the tent ceiling as though it held the meaning of life. In reality though, I couldn't stop thinking about what had transpired in the last few minutes. This temporary obsession had to do in part with the swooping sensation in my groin that sent my head spiraling every few moments. These particular moments seemed to oddly coincide with every tiny shift in position that Amanda or Colin made, pushing me closer to one or the other, bobbing me up and down on the sagging air mattress. I didn't think I had ever been this horny in my entire life. In fact, I knew I hadn't. It was an almost painful sensation.

But my reverie was suddenly interrupted by Rex calling throughout the camp that the van was making a run to go get henna tattoos and anyone who wanted one needed to hop on board ASAP. Amanda scrambled up to catch the ride, and in the wake of her abrupt absence, the change in air pressure in the mattress sent me rolling across the tent. Considering I was already uncomfortable, I decided I might as well go along for the ride.

"Gonna get a tatt, dear?" I playfully called over to Colin, who was taking care of breaking down the mini-home (er...tent) theater we had rigged up.

"Nah..." he said, "but I might as well tag along, I guess. Might find something of interest..."

"Interest...right..." I mumbled, as I ducked out of the tent. I stood on the small, rubberized welcome mat outside the door as I fumbled with my flip flops. Without warning, I felt a hand suddenly pinch my ass. I jumped horribly and squealed almost as loudly as Amanda as I struggled to regain my balance. Fortunately, my attacker steadied me, hands on my elbows, as he pulled me to him. Again, I felt a prominent swell pressing against my ass. Colin nuzzled my neck and I shuddered as shocks of desire ran all the way down to my toes.

"I want you," he breathed in my ear. I didn't trust my voice; I could only nod in response. "So bad..." he continued. I nodded fervently.

"But we can't do anything right now...we've got to go," I whispered hoarsely. He sighed and released my arms. I reached up behind me, grabbed his head, and kissed him hungrily. All too soon, I pulled away and headed for the van. My man was right behind me. "The sooner we go," I murmured softly, "the sooner we can get done, and the sooner we can get back."

***

Unfortunately, that wasn't quite the case.

By the time everyone piled back into the van, trying their best not to smear or smudge their freshly inked tattoos, and we pulled back into camp, the skies were beginning to darken, and the heat was rapidly dissipating, thought the humidity did not. We were all scrambling to rain-proof our tents, and had just managed to throw the last of the dry laundry hanging on the clotheslines strung up around the site into the girls' tent when the first droplets came pelting through the foliage. The low growl of thunder wasn't enough to drown out my mother's dinner call either. Suddenly, nine hungry teens were diving for the shelter over the picnic tables as the storm really let loose.

As every stuffed their faces and huddled together to avoid getting drenched, Rex and Anya finalized the plans with my parents to get dropped off at Karma, a club just for 13-19 year olds that they found while cruising the internet on Anya's iPod. Considering we were all 18 (except Amanda, who was a year older than everyone else), they were convinced we had to go. Even though clubbing was not really my "scene," I was being dragged along because I had wormed my way out of going banana boating the day before. So of course, I was dragging Colin right along with me, though he was just about as reluctant as I...especially when considering the fact that everyone else was going out, including my family as they were planning on shopping. If we could find an excuse to stay behind, then we would have the campsites to ourselves...and we could finally find relief from the searing heat building between us that even the icy rain couldn't dampen.

Alas...Anya was not about to let me off the hook that easily. She had already accused me of being "antisocial." So it was off to Karma we went...and it turned out to be a total bust. They blasted horrible rap that they tried to pass off as music with the bass thumping loud enough to give someone a heart murmur, and the dancing matched the scene of homecoming and prom perfectly, with everyone grinding and humping to a primal beat. All the other couples in our group began dancing; even Charlie and Amanda, who weren't even "together," started grinding each other to the beat.

Resigned to my fate, I shimmied up to Colin and closed every gap between our bodies. I began to gently sway with the music, but found my partner immovable as stone. I looked up. He wasn't even smiling. I pressed closer, and began to grind my hips against him slightly, but his only response was to back away, just an inch or so.

I stepped back, slightly hurt by his rejection.

"What's a matter, dear?" I asked, yelling above the pounding music.

"Nothing," he said coolly. "You're being beckoned."

I looked up questioningly at him. "Jessie!" I suddenly heard from behind me. Amanda was calling me over to dance with her. I glanced back at Colin, and he motioned for me to go on. I went over to my dancing buddy and started grinding right in step with her she danced up against Charlie. We were dancing close enough together that our breasts would rub against each other every so often, sending shivers down my spine each time. I laughed and grinned incessantly at Amanda as she began to get into the music. At one point, she even put her hands on my hips and pulled me closer, singing loudly all the while. At the end of the song, though, I reluctantly left her and Charlie on their own as I returned to Colin's side at the edge of the dance floor, where he stood looking listlessly across the crowded room.

"What's a matter, dear?" I asked again, hugging him close.

"Not my style...at all," he said, frowning. "I just don't approve of this type of public display."

I sighed. "I really don't either, you know. But it's not really about that. It's not about ethics or morals right now, is it? It's about having fun with friends! Just loosen up a little bit."

He merely shook his head. I sighed again and laid my head on his chest.

"Do you wanna step outside, on the balcony, for a minute? Get some fresh air?" I offered after a moment.

"Sure," he said dully. I took his hand and led him through the crush of writhing bodies to the door. We stepped out onto the slightly less crowded balcony, and soon realized it was not set up for patrons to admire the view. The smoky haze choked all but the neon lights of the shops of the Grand Strand below us.

"So much for fresh air," I muttered, unwilling to take a deep breath until I reached the ledge and escaped the worst of the cigarette smoke. I turned back to Colin. "Wanna go back in?"

He smiled grimly at me. I tugged him back to the door. Once we were back inside again and could breathe without fear of instantaneous death from asphyxiation, I popped the question.

"Do you wanna leave, babe?"

Colin wouldn't look at me. "No," he said simply.

"I said, do you want to leave? 'Cause I really don't care... It's not really my scene, either."

"No, I'm alright. You wanna have fun, have fun. Don't let me ruin your night for you." He still refused to look me in the eye.

I sighed. "Dear, I'm not going to have fun if you're not having fun. We can go, I really do not care."

"No, no," he insisted. "Have fun, go dance with Amanda."

"Nope. I'm done. If you're ready to leave, then I'm ready to leave."

"You'd really leave Amanda all alone?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Alone? She's got Charlie! She sure doesn't need me to have a good time!"

Colin looked down forlornly at me. I glared at him. "Let's go," I said.

"Alright... If you're sure..."

"I'm sure!" I snapped, and pulled him towards the exit. I only paused to tell Anya we were calling it a night and heading back to camp. She merely shrugged and waved us on our way, though I caught the hint of an eye roll as well, and I knew she figured I'd flake. Oh well...her opinion didn't matter to me nearly as much as Colin's happiness did. Within the minute, my man and I were back on the street and free from the pressures of Karma at last.

***

We were about five miles north of the State Park at that point, and the plan was to walk down the beach back to camp. Before we started our trek, we stopped in a few touristy stores like the Gay Dolphin, but then it was down the strip and eventually we cut across to the beach. But maybe two miles into our trip, I realized I had not thought this evening through very well. Walking down the beach in a tight denim skirt with the sand kicking up my legs was causing some seriously painful chafing between my inner thighs. I had to stop every so often and spread my legs all lady-like just to let the cool ocean breeze blow up my skirt and soothe my burning thighs.

Between my frequent pit stops, and the serious turn our conversation took as we walked, the trip back to the park seemed to take forever. Though we had left the club around nine, it was almost eleven o'clock by the time we were shuffling into the darkened, quiet campground. We wandered slowly back to our site, getting lost along the way in the dark once or twice, but we made it back all the same.

When we did finally creep into the site, I remembered Hannah was in my tent trying to sleep off the pain of her "injury" from her banana boat accident. I wasn't going to complain just then, though, as she gave me the perfect excuse to hide away in the guys' tent with Colin for awhile. I just grabbed my pajamas, made a quick trip to the bath house to get changed and ready for bed, and then returned to camp and rejoined Colin. We stretched out on the air mattress he shared with Charlie and cuddled innocently for a time. Being in such close contact with him, however, even our most simple kisses and caresses slowly stirred up the feelings that had been boiling just below the surface since this afternoon all over again.

After awhile, I could hardly stand it. Innocent was just not going to cut it anymore. I thrust my hips into his crotch and ground myself into him, almost as if we were back at the club dancing. Though, strangely enough, he seemed far more accepting of my advances now that we were horizontal.

"I want you...so bad," I moaned softly. To reinforce my point, I kissed him hard on the lips, before trailing my kisses down his throat and back up to his ear. I nibbled the outer rim of his earlobe and felt him shudder with pleasure. He returned my onslaught with a series of tantalizing kisses of his own, along the length of my neck. A wave of heat flash through my body, leaving me a little light headed. I arched my back in utter bliss.