The sun beat down on my shoulders from an almost cloudless sky as I walked up to the tent. I call it a tent. It was made of a striped material and had straight sides with square corners. Three sides were closed but the fourth through which I now entered had a wide opening that faced toward the sea. I was tingling with a mixture of trepidation and excitement as I was about to have my first ever massage and I was completely naked under a light wrap. Up until five hours ago I had never been naked on a beach before, but it was beginning to feel deliciously normal.
It turned out the masseur was a young man. He introduced himself as "Yves" and spelled it for me in case I was confused. I replied I was Chantal and said a silent thanks to my parents for not giving me a nerdy name. He remarked my name was French, no argument there, although I explained it was my father's mother's name and the other grandparents were Scots and Irish. It's a difficult name to shorten but through school my nickname was "bean pole" and I wasn't sharing that. Despite my mongrel ancestry I'd grown up in the Midlands of England and always thought of myself as English, much to the annoyance of my Scottish cousins.
I say he was young. He was probably about my age and I'm twenty-eight. He was dressed in a clean white singlet and navy blue shorts that were cut to just below mid-thigh. As a writer I tend to be constantly observant of details. He had a broad chest and nicely muscled body. The kind that comes with athleticism, not body-building.
He indicated that I should lie down on the massage table, which was just at a comfortable height to do so. I am quite tall, about five foot ten and he was maybe a little more, not much. I like my body. I was always rather lanky as a teenager but I've filled in nicely. My breasts aren't large but they have a good natural shape and my nipples jut out when excited or cold. Thanks to the light breeze off the sea and my trepidation they were that way now.
I folded my wrap on the chair to one side and quickly lay face down on the table. He laid a clean sheet over me and proceeded to gently rub my shoulders, then down to my butt and all the way down to my legs.
As it was my first massage, I did not know what to expect, but thanks to a couple of happy hour cocktails and a glass of wine with lunch over an hour ago I felt quite at ease. I'd flown over from London two days ago and not had a very good night's sleep before flying down here yesterday afternoon. I was just falling asleep, when he folded back the sheet to my waist and began to apply a pleasant-scented lotion to my shoulders. We made small talk about how nice the resort was.
I didn't say much, just grunted as he found some tight knots in the muscles by my shoulder blades. He stopped talking and concentrated on working my shoulders, then pulled and lightly pummeled my loose flesh moving gradually down to my buns. He folded the bottom of the sheet up over my shoulders as he began to press deeper into my glutes. I work out regularly so I felt I was in pretty good shape but he still found some tight and tender spots.
As he worked I reflected on the last few days. I had broken up with my boyfriend a few weeks ago. He wasn't cheating on me. I just decided he was a rather selfish, inconsiderate oaf and I deserved better. I have to confess I'm not good at relationships as sooner or later most of the men I've met have disappointed me one way or another. I also like my own company as I think many writers do. I say I'm a writer. I have written a rather popular line of romantic fiction: not very racy, but full of breathless pauses. They are not the magnum opus I would like to write but they are published and together with day-job as a freelance journalist nicely supplement my income as I hone my craft.
Anyway, my Stateside friend Melanie told me she was going on holiday and had rented a unit on a Caribbean beach for two weeks and she would be happy if I would join her. The timing seemed perfect so I jumped at the offer and immediately booked my flights. As I am self-employed, I only needed a couple days to make the necessary arrangements. I flew into Miami where we shared a room for the night. It was only on the plane journey down that she told me the unit was on a clothing-optional beach and that she came once or twice a year as it was her favourite place.
I started off in my bikini on day one, but within ten minutes my top was off and less than an hour later I said 'what the hell' and joined Melanie and other beach-goers naked in the sea. It felt wonderful, as did air drying on our loungers in the sun. Why did people wear clothes to the beach anyway? Melanie had the barest hint of a fading bikini tan line. I on the other hand was white as a sheet apart from my face and forearms and I energetically applied suntan lotion everywhere. Around ten thirty a steady procession of clothed people came walking up and down the beach. Melanie told me they came from the cruise ships that did a day stop on the island. They were an interesting species to watch as they clutched beers and held hands nervously. No doubt worried that their beachwear might fall off them or they might be spirited off into the sea by the