Chapter 25

I am floating on balloons.

The moment Dave drops me in front of my room, I break into a grin that refuse to dim down. I change my clothes, and pose and click selfies in bold and cute looks. I'm so out of breathe and I don't want to think about this encounter at all, only the evening, and his smile.

I so want to see him the next evening, but I don't want to seem desperate, so I hide my emotions pretty well when Dave tells me he has a night shift and he couldn't meet me. We video chat for two hours when he is in his office. And he asks me if I want to go for a ride.

"Yeah, sure. I have nothing else going on."

As if I'd have done anything else even if I had anything else going on.

I put on my one and only trench coat, black jeans, put my long hair down and a blue beanie. I see him pull up near the petrol pump near my room. He's wearing a camouflage full T-shirt, with a black jacket. I can't see his face as his head is wrapped with an ear warmer, but I can recognize this 100 kg hunk of a man anywhere on earth. I take a seat on his bike and he takes off.

I have never been to this side of Holtshire, especially not with a man. I put my hands on the handlebar behind me as I'm too scared to hold him. Also, I think I should not, I have known him only for two days. Dave pulls the bike through the empty roads, crossing the mall and crossing another part which houses the wealthier people of the town and quite a few colleges and universities. He points at the biggest one of them.

"This is my college. Or, used to be. I completed my Engineering from this place. This place is just… so memorable for me."

We cross a barren field-like place, train tracks, then finally some Townships to reach a place which overlooks a river. I have heard about this place, but I have never come here. The place is kind of a picnic spot for the locals; there are trees surrounding the river and small benches are placed here and there. We spot one empty-looking near the lamp post just in front of us and take it. There are a few couples and some group of friends hanging out near us.

"These are students from the college. They are allowed to stay out of their dorms until 08:00 p.m." He tells me.

"Is it not 08:00p.m. yet? I thought the ride took longer."

"Why? Was it that boring?" He pouts.

"What? No! It wasn't boring at all. I just meant, that I've never been to this part of the town. And it looks all so different to the first timer, I guess. I mean, first timer as a traveller, because I've never been here, and it's different…"

I catch him laughing.

"Relax. I'm just messing with you. You're really nervous, aren't you?" He asks.

"Yes." I look down.

"Don't worry, I won't kidnap you. And I know you don't like Holtshire, and I agree that this place is dull and boring. But I've spent a big part of my life in this town, four years of college, then left this state for three years just to get posted here again two years back. And I can tell you this, if you've got good company, this place isn't half as bad. After a while, it just becomes a part of you. It becomes your home." He looks at the opposite bank of the river as he says it.

I look there as well. "I seriously doubt it."

It's getting chilly, chillier than the average December night in a tropical country, as cool breeze starts blowing from the black river glimmering in the moon towards us, and we laugh as we get to know each other better. Mostly, I begin to learn about Holtshire,about Dave's Engineering college, and about his job. We are laughing when I feel something on my nose, a drop of water. It's drizzling.

"Would you look at that? It's raining." I say, excited.

"You really like rains, don't you?" He asks.

"Yes. They are beautiful. But you know what's better than rain?" I ask.

"Thunderstorms!" Both of us exclaim.

We laugh. It's getting late and the last of the people around us have started to disappear. It gets even cold, and my trench coat seems flimsy against the wind that has increased in the past few minutes. The wind whooshes through my breathe, chilling me to the core. I shiver and my teeth rattle. Dave puts a tentative hand around my shoulders, and when I don't object, his firm becomes solid.

"…and that is why I keep telling you, you need to jump into a mud pen with those pigs, you are so much in love with water bodies." He laughs.

"Hey, have you ever played in the mud? It's so much fun." I protest.

"I have. But I am a human being. You are a pig."

"You're an owl."

"Maybe. But you are a pig."

I punch him multiple times on the shoulder. "Shut up, you donkey."

He holds my hands in a grip to stop me from beating him. "Pig."

I try to unclench my hands from his grip but he is too strong. I bite his hands.

"Ow. Stop it, pig." His laughter is magic, sigh!

I keep biting his hand off. "Stop or I'll bite off your cheek next," he warns.

He pulls our hands towards himself as I try to take another bite of his hands, and his teeth are on my cheek. I jerk my head, "Ow, what!"

And then his mouth moves from my cheek to my lips. I have kissed several guys before, but nothing in this world could have told me what his lips would feel like. His lips are so full, and soft, that in a moment my entire face feels like it's pressed against a cushion. Those lips move in themselves, rolling left and right, and I can't feel mine anymore. I can only feel them, searching through the clouds of my entire being to plant a seed of warmth inside the core of my heart, which spreads in the cold, winter evening from my chest to the whole of my body and to the tips of my limbs. My hands clench the collar of his shirt and I tug on it, forcing my lips deeper into his mouth, and his hands hold my waist in a fierce grasp. We pull closer to each other, our bodies rolling up and down the waves of lust, and I feel more than warm. His hands slides my body, spreading the heat to my bosom as his hands move over my breasts, first softly and then with deliberate force. He squeezes my breasts and I moan in his mouth. His hands move all over my body, then struggles with the buttons of my jeans, I help him open them and he pushes his hands inside me. His fingers drive me mad just like his tongue inside my mouth does. They don't stop and he kisses my neck, and cheek and bites my ears. He finally pulls back and looks at me, I open my eyes to see him smiling mischievously at me, and I grin.

"You could have told me you were going to do this. I was caught off guard."

He doesn't say anything, just chuckle.

I'm flushed with the heat and still turned on. As we move towards the exit, I see him walking like nothing has happened, and a recklessness comes over me. I see no one around, though, but it's an open space, so I pull him to a sort of wall like structure near the gates. He raises his eyebrows in confusion.

"I need to do something. To you," I whisper.

"What?" Man, that whisper makes me want him to take me right here, right now. I push him towards the wall, he stumbles a little, and kisses him, bit by bit, everywhere. My hands fumble with his belt buckle, finally succeeding in pulling off enough of his clothes to put my hands and mouth on him. He moans like the wind around us as the pleasure mounts, and he holds my hair in a light, but firm grip and moves like a trapeze artist, finally releasing the tension from his body in my hands. We stand there, kissing, for what seems like an eternity before coming back to the rain drenched Holtshire Township. Holding his waist like I have known him for my whole existence, I return to my room where I lay down on my bed, jeans and makeup intact, and fall asleep.