Touching Shadows

The Pier

The next few days went by, filled with beautiful sunny weather broken up with the occasional rain shower.

I was still getting my head around everything that happened the other night in Cohen's tent. I don't know what I expected when I unzipped it and crawled in next to him.

But what I got was the best sexual experience of my life to date. If you consider my useless-in-bed, or absent-in-bed exes, that isn't a huge achievement. But I also had a lot more fantasies to play out in my mind since.

I couldn't believe that plain old Audrey had the guts to do anything like that. But it was like Cohen has found a switch to turn on my sex drive, and I was having a hard time concentrating on anything other than craving more. I refused to spend any time considering all the complications in what we had done together. If I started, I wouldn't be able to get out of bed in the morning - the reasons why this was a bad idea would cripple me.

The kids had free time today, and some of them were in their tents reading or playing board games. Another group had gone off with Tanya to look for edible roots and berries in the area. A few of the kids were skipping stones on the shore and others were swimming.

I'd been sitting on the end of the pier reading my novel in the sun. The water had been calling me, and I'd finally finished my chapter. I replaced my bookmark - an amazing blue and brown feather I'd found on a morning walk, and put my book down.

I pulled my singlet over my head and dropped it next to my book, before wiggling out of my denim shorts. Jemima had insisted I bring 'at least' two bikinis, so I had put on my terracotta coloured string set today to justify packing it.

The kids had been doing bombs and dives off the pier yesterday, so I knew it was deep enough to be safe. I stood and tied my loose hair up off my shoulders, then dove off the end of the wooden pier.

My body pierced the cool, calm surface of the lake. The water was heaven against my hot, sun-kissed skin. I came up for air, and floated for a little, occasionally pausing to check that the kids on the shore weren't up to no good.

I swam a little longer before deciding to head back towards the shore. Slowly swimming towards the shallower water, I heard a voice quietly calling.

"Psst...Red!"

I looked around,
turning in the water, but couldn't see him.

"Under here!"

I turned further to my left and saw him, under the pier in the shadows, near the step ladder to climb back up.

"What are you do..."

I didn't finish my question, as Cohen had held his finger to his lips to silence me, then beckoned me over.

I looked around, but the kids were further up the shore, none of them in deep enough to see him. I swam over.

"What are you doing, Cohen?"

I was whispering. The gentle slapping of the water against the pylons was loud under here. I'm sure me whispering was overkill, as no one on the shore would hear me over the splashing.

"I saw you sitting up there before. I thought you might need some help relaxing."

His face was serious.

"I was relaxed!"

"You were studying that book very intently. I get that this isn't a leisurely camping trip, but you really need find less intellectual ways to unwind."

I was treading water and wondering where this conversation was headed.

"What did you have in mind?"

His face changed into a cheeky grin.