Stealing Asia (6 page)

We made our way to a small clearing by the bar where we were met by the
first of her friends. The guy looked about the same age as Esteban. He was
below average height, but with his curly blonde hair he would have no trouble
standing out in a crowd. Sunglasses covered his eyes and when he smiled it was
like the carefully rehearsed grin of a movie star.

‘This is Clay,’ said Asia and then turning to the man, she added; ‘this
is the guy that I was telling you about.’

‘Pleased to meet you,’ he said, taking my hand. ‘Asia has told me all
about you. This is quite a girl that you have here; you’re a lucky man.’

His accent was similar to Asia’s, but less refined. It sounded a little
more Hillbilly than Hollywood. He did have that larger than life aura possessed
by so many Americans though. There was a blonde girl next to him and she was
introduced to me as Dee. Like me, she was British. They then called over the
other couple. Coming back from the bar with two buckets in one hand and a
pretty blonde girl in the other, was one of the biggest guys that I had ever
seen. Seeing him approach was like watching a pickup truck towing a Porsche,
such was the contrast between this monster of a man and the waif of a girl on
his arm.

‘This is Barrett and Izzie,’ said Asia.

This time I did not offer my hand for fear of the bones actually being
crushed. Clay took one of the buckets from his friend, which he then shared
with Dee. We were still in a very loud area and this was not conducive to
getting to know somebody. After the initial introductions the atmosphere became
awkward. I made the excuse of getting more drinks for Asia and myself for us to
both leave. We took seats by the bar where I hoped to have a bit of time to
catch up with her on a one to one basis. I had forgotten all about Esteban.
With Asia around it was easy to forget about a lot of things.

‘So, do you have somewhere to stay around here?’

She shook her head.

‘We all checked out this afternoon as it made no sense to pay for a room
when we are partying through to sunrise. A taxi has been booked to pick us up
just after dawn, but if you are already bored with the party we could try to
find an empty cabin.’

‘Are you kidding?’ I replied. ‘This entire corner of the island has been
booked up solid for the past week by people eager to get accommodation close to
the party. We’ll never find anywhere with a vacancy at this hour.’

Asia smiled her most mischievous smile.

‘Who says we need a vacancy? All we need is an empty room and I don’t
think that too many beds are being slept in at this moment, do you?’

I had an idea what she was planning. The previous time that we had spent
together had been sexually charged and I guessed that she wanted to pick up
where we had left off.

‘Surely you aren’t suggesting what I think you are.’

‘Not suggesting; insisting – come on.’

We left our drinks on the counter and then made our way up into an area
filled by small beach huts. The noise from the party was still overpowering at
this distance and the chances of any cabins being slept in were pretty remote.
They were all secured by padlocks, but it did not take long to find one with an
open window. After looking around to make sure that we were not being watched,
we climbed inside.

The room contained a double bed, but there was only one backpack inside,
indicating a single occupant. The bed was freshly made and whoever was staying
there had probably just dropped off their bag before going straight out to get
started on the drink. Asia did not waste any time in pulling me over towards
the bed. I began removing her top, but she stopped me.

‘There isn’t time for that,’ she said. ‘We may need to make a quick
getaway and we don’t want to leave our clothes behind, do we?’

It was obvious to me that she was becoming turned on by the prospect of
being caught in the act. When I had been with her previously, we had
essentially hidden ourselves away in our own private love nest. This was
understandable given the circumstances that had brought us together. The sex
had been heated and passionate, but not particularly experimental. With some
distance now between us and the events of that night, Asia was a lot less
guarded and exuded a great deal more confidence. I was seeing a whole new side
to her and I liked it.

Ever since she had left me in Penang, I thought of little else apart from
what would happen when we were reunited. It was fair to say that I was more
than a little pent up and I worried that this coupling may not last quite so
long as either of us would desire, but she knew exactly what she was doing.
Asia was a gifted love maker and she took me to the very brink of orgasm before
slowing it down to the subtlest of pelvic movements, which kept me skirting the
edges of the volcano. The ecstasy that I felt blurred all perception of time
and motion and I could not tell how long had passed when she stopped abruptly
and placed her finger to my lips.

‘What is it?’ I asked, barely able to catch my breath.

Her eyes directed me to the door, where I became aware of movement from
outside. Somebody was unfastening the padlock. We both looked at one another,
unsure of what to do and as the door opened, I put my hands under her shoulders
and rolled us off of the bed. I landed on my back with Asia on top of me. The
room remained dark and I hoped that whoever had come in did not plan on staying
for long.

My hopes were dashed when I heard the creak of the bedsprings and the
sound of a female giggle. The next noise was that of clothes brushing against
flesh as they were removed and then the bedsprings started up again. I could
feel Asia tremble, but it was not from nerves or anxiety; she was laughing.

‘Why have you stopped?’ she whispered in my ear.

I was too shocked to answer. Finding ourselves so close to being caught
made me feel exposed, yet powerful at the same time and I sensed that Asia
wanted to push it further still. She took hold of my shaft and slowly massaged
it with her fingers before gently lowering herself down onto me. She mouthed
the word “listen” and as I subconsciously started to focus on the groans coming
from the bed, I realised that she was timing her movements to match the rhythm
of the other couple. It felt like we were taking part in a badly dubbed porno
movie.

I soon forgot about any risks attached to what we were doing as it felt
so good. I was more than happy to let Asia be in control. As the other couple
sped up towards reaching climax, so did we too. When orgasm came, it was the
most potent that I had ever felt. I wanted to shout out in ecstasy, but for
want of giving us away, I had to bite down on my bottom lip to keep my silence.

We waited for a short while after the sounds from the bed had died down
before making any movement. One half of the couple had left immediately after
their brief tryst had ended and I could see from looking under the gap in the
bed that the door had been left slightly ajar, meaning that it was also
unlocked. When I dared to peer over the rim of the mattress, I saw a male
passed out on the bed. We were careful not to wake him as we crawled out on our
hands and knees before heading back down to the party.

***

The remainder of the night passed quickly. Asia insisted on dancing for
long periods. She had a limitless supply of energy and it was hard to keep her
rooted in one place long enough to have a proper conversation, let alone catch
up on what had happened over the previous few days. The moon had long departed
and the stars were fading in the early stages of sunrise when I finally got the
chance to speak freely with her. We bought fresh coconuts to replenish our
energy and sat down on the sand facing the ocean.

‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’ she said.

‘Yeah,’ I replied. ‘It’s a shame that people have to come here and turn
it all into such a tourist trap.’

She shot me a surprised look.

‘Tourist trap; don’t you think that’s a little hypocritical considering
you’re a tourist yourself?’

‘Not really. I would still come here if there was not all of this
development. I would prefer it.’

‘Are you kidding me?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You know; all of this self righteous traveller crap. It’s the worst type
of narcissism when people want paradise, but then criticise when others want
the same thing too. Without the development, the island could not sustain
everyone that wants to come here. Sure, these guesthouses are an eyesore, but
they are what drive the economy. Without the tourist baht, the infrastructure
of this country would be in a mess. Ask any local to choose between good roads,
improved schooling and sanitation or an unspoiled sunrise, and I think I know
their answer.’

I wished that I had never said anything. I thought I was saying the right
things, but obviously not.

‘Are you sure that your dad’s a rock star?’

‘What do you mean by that?’

‘I just did not expect you to think of things from such a perspective.
You sound like a politician.’

Her beautiful face performed its closest approximation to a scowl. She
had no creases in her skin and the resulting expression seemed more petulant
than angry. I did not wish to upset her and needed to change the subject
quickly if I was to salvage the moment.

‘There’s something that I’ve been meaning to give you,’ I said.

She eyed me suspiciously.

‘You’re not going to propose, are you?’ she asked. ‘These last few days
have been good, but using them as the basis for marriage would be a terrible
idea. Unless you’re after a green card. You aren’t after a green card, are
you?’

‘Whoa there; let’s slow down for a minute, shall we. I’m not after a
green card and I’m certainly not suggesting that we get married. I just wanted
to return this.’

I reached into my pocket and retrieved her mother’s locket, which I
placed into her hands. Her eyes immediately lit up and she embraced me
strongly.

‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I knew you wouldn’t let me down.’

She opened it up as if to check that the photograph was still inside,
which I found a little odd. I had not been wholly comfortable with keeping hold
of the locket in the first place as I would have come for Asia with or without
it anyway. Now that the test (at least that is what I thought it was) was over,
I hoped we could start to explore a more conventional type of relationship.

‘Tonight has kind of been like our first date,’ I said.

She rested her head on my shoulder.

‘Do you always sleep with a girl before the first date?’ she asked.

I turned to look at her and we both burst out laughing. We spent the
remainder of the party sat on the beach watching the sun rise over the ocean.
The silence said more than words ever could. I had never felt so comfortable
and contented in my life.

Chapter 6

Our taxi arrived shortly after dawn. The party was still going strong,
but I was glad to call it a day. Asia and I met up with her friends after
collecting our bags from the storage lockers. We looked for Esteban, but he was
nowhere to be seen. I regretted leaving him the way that I had, but as soon as
I found Asia, I could focus my attention on little else. I could only hope that
he might have found a girl of his own and would not be too put out by my
desertion.

The place that we were headed to was a beach on the north side of the
island. It was a long ride from Hat Rin as the road covered roughly half of the
island’s coastline. The trail terminated at a small fishing port where we
transferred to a boat for the final leg of the journey. Clay did all of the
bartering and brushed away my attempts to give him money towards the trip. I
thought that he was trying to make a good impression on me, but I decided to
reserve my judgement until I knew him a bit better.

The vessel that he procured for us was a traditional Thai long-tail boat
with a crew of just two. This consisted of an elderly man, who I assumed to be
the captain, at the aft of the boat controlling our direction and a younger man
at the fore, whose role I could not quite figure out. The latter shifted
position a lot and seemed nervous of the turbulent waves, so I guessed that
maybe he was in charge of balance. If the boating gig did not work out, he
could probably join the circus as a tightrope walker.

When we arrived at the beach, I booked a double cabin facing the ocean. I
would then have been happy to crash out for the remainder of the afternoon, but
Asia had other ideas. I did not complain, as those ideas did at least still
involve the bed. An hour later, I was finally able to catch up on my sleep,
whilst she went out for a swim.

It was dark when I woke and Asia was lying next to me. I thought it a
shame to wake her, but as I was unsure how long the resort would continue to
serve food, I did not really have a choice. Neither of us had eaten since
before the full moon party and I was starving. When in Malaysia, I had often
struggled at mealtimes, but Thai food was one of my favourites.

We got to the restaurant to find that the tables had been set up directly
on the beach and lit only by candlelight, creating a genuinely romantic
ambience. I was hoping that it would be just the two of us. Unfortunately for
me, Barrett and Clay were already there with their respective partners and they
called us over to join them.

I had yet to make up my mind about the Americans, as I could think of
little that we would have in common. Barrett and Clay sounded more like a law
firm than the names of people I could ever imagine calling friends. At least I
shared some common ground with their English girlfriends. If I had my way, we
would have ignored the offer, but Asia, I suppose, was duty bound to accept.

Their company was tolerable, but I could not help but feel excluded for
much of the evening. The American pair dominated the conversation and spent
much of the night talking each other up. I was later unable to recall a single
achievement or shred of evidence offered by either of them to give any credence
to their outlandish claims. At least the three girls seemed suitably impressed.
In Asia’s case, I sensed it was more down to home sickness than a genuine
fondness for the pair. I suspected that she had only made friends with them to
avoid being on her own had I failed to show up.

Following the meal, Clay tried to persuade us to stay for a nightcap, but
I managed to talk Asia out of it. I think that the other girls were relieved by
this too as they could not have been comfortable with their men giving so much
attention to another girl instead of them.

We bid them all goodnight before walking back to our cabin. Rather than
go straight inside, we sat on the sand and watched the stars drift by as the
ocean lapped at our feet. Paradise was everything I had imagined it would be.

***

I was alone in the
bed when I woke up the following morning. After throwing on a pair of
board-shorts, I stepped out onto the beach. It was a warm, clear morning and
for the first time I was able to see how the bay looked in daylight. It was a
classic crescent shape and opened onto a seemingly endless vista of an almost
glass like ocean. There were no waves; not even a ripple to bring the postcard
perfect view to life. Rocks bordered each corner of the crescent and behind me
was nothing but lush forest. If it was not for the dozen or so wooden cabins
and the reception block planted firmly in the centre of the beach, this really
would be the embodiment of tropical perfection.

The tide had
swept the sand clean during the night and as such there was only one set of
footprints leading down from our cabin. They were from bare, size five feet and
terminated at the water’s edge. I spotted her about twenty metres from the
shore to the right of some rocks. Rather than swim out to meet her, I decided
to take a stroll along the beach. Along the way I bumped into the two English
girls and was relieved that their partners were not with them.

‘Good morning,’
I said. ‘I thought you two would be with your hunky American boyfriends.’

Whilst I could
have used much a more apt adjective to describe the guys in question than
“hunky”, I saw no reason not to be polite to the girls as they both seemed
pleasant enough.

‘We could say
the same,’ replied Izzie.

‘That’s right,’
added Dee. ‘Asia is incredible. Where did you meet a girl like that?’

I told them the
story about the foiled mugging in Georgetown and the ordeal that I went through
to meet up with Asia in Thailand. As was becoming a habit, I left out the mystery
driver who was the one who had actually stopped the mugger. They both seemed
impressed that I would go to such lengths to be with her and they agreed that
it seemed suspicious that the scammer’s had targeted me in Hat Yai. Neither had
any theory for why that might have occurred.

‘Luckily, we’ve
never had any problems like that,’ said Izzie, ‘not with our two “hunky
Americans” to protect us.’

Dee giggled and
I wished I had never said anything.

‘Okay,’ I
protested. ‘You don’t have to be like that. You know how it is with these
American types. They all act like they just walked off the set of 90210.’

‘Sounds like
somebody is jealous,’ teased Dee.

‘Why would I be
jealous? I have a hot American of my own – remember? If anything, it’s those
two that should be turning green with envy.’

‘Just rub it in,
why don’t you,’ said Izzie.

I tried to
backtrack and apologise, but the pair of them burst out laughing. These two
could be quite a tease and that was now twice they had gotten the best of me. I
decided to quit before they could make further fun of me. Asia had completed
another length of the bay and if I swam out from my current position, I would
catch up with her as she passed.

The water was
cooler than I had been expecting. The air temperature was above thirty degrees
Celsius, so I suppose even a water temperature in the low to mid twenties would
feel cold by comparison.

‘I thought you
would never come in,’ said Asia, who was treading water whilst she waited for
me to catch up.

‘Well, you know
how I always like to keep you waiting,’ I replied.

When I caught up
to her, she began circling me like a shark patiently weighing up its prey. I
tried to track her movements, but lost sight of her as she swam down beneath
the surface of the water. The forest cast a shadow over this side of the bay
and as such the visibility through the water was poor. Shortly after Asia had
disappeared from sight, I felt a tug on my shorts before having them yanked off
completely. Asia re-emerged directly in front of me and threw her arms over my
shoulders, whilst wrapping her legs around my waist. I was now supporting both
of us in the water and needed to paddle with both arms to keep us from sinking.

‘I bet you’ve
never done it in the ocean before,’ she teased.

I was facing the
shore and could see the two English girls on the beach. It was obvious they
were watching us, because they both waved when I made eye contact with them.

‘Maybe this
isn’t the right time.’

‘What do you
mean?’

This was the
first time I had turned down sex with her and I could tell she had not expected
it. I tried to gesture towards the beach. With both of my hands supporting
Asia’s back, I had to use my head and this wasn’t easy to do without swallowing
a mouthful of saltwater.

‘We have an
audience,’ I said.

She looked over
to the girls on the beach.

‘So?’ she
replied. ‘When has that ever stopped you? You certainly weren’t shy at the full
moon party.’

‘This is
different. It’s not just the girls. I’d gladly have sex on the beach if nobody
was around or even in a swimming pool, but this is the open ocean for Christ’s
sake.’

She laughed.

‘This is not the
open ocean. We’re about thirty seconds from the shore.’

When she saw
that I was not going to change my mind she broke away from my hold and started
to swim back to the shore. My shorts were still in her hand.

‘Modesty is no
excuse,’ she said, continuing to backstroke away from me. ‘I may not get my
fun, but I’m going to make sure that the other girls get theirs.’

I swam after
her, but had little chance of catching up to her before she made it to shore.
Asia was a strong swimmer and had too great a head start. It also felt really
strange trying to swim naked. I was terrified that a fish may swim up and start
nibbling on my tackle.

‘Come on, Asia,’
I pleaded. ‘Give me back my pants.’

This time she
did not reply and just carried on towards the shore. She emerged from the water
right by the spot where Izzie and Dee were sitting. After showing the pair my
shorts, she pointed to where I was to make sure that the girls did not miss out
on witnessing my humiliation. I swam diagonal to the shoreline, hoping to put
some distance between me and the girls, but they just got to their feet and
started walking along the beach to meet me. When it was finally time to leave
the security of the water, I cupped my balls with one hand and shielded my
modesty with the other whilst making a quick dash for my cabin. Mercifully, the
door was not locked and I was able to dash inside.

‘I’ll get you
back for this,’ I promised Asia when she finally joined me in the cabin.

‘What are you
going to do - leave me stranded naked on the beach and then call the boys out
to witness it? We could do it after lunch, if you want.’

Knowing Asia as
I did, something told me that she was not joking. There are some battles we
know we simply cannot win. With revenge out of the question, she continued to
tease me all through lunch. After we had eaten she went to sunbathe, whilst I
decided that I would try to make an effort with her friends. The girls were not
around, but their trans-Atlantic boyfriends were both sat by the bar with beers
in their hands. I expected them to rib me about the unplanned skinny dipping
episode as they must surely have heard by then, but they were not in a joking
mood. Clay had spotted a boat making its way around the rocks and seemed
agitated by it.

‘It’s probably
just a delivery,’ I told him. ‘Or maybe even some more backpackers. What’s
there to worry about?’

He shot me a
condescending look. I had no idea what his problem was. As the boat came
closer, I could see that it was filled mostly with Thais, with only one foreign
face onboard. Much to my delight that sole foreigner was my friend, Esteban. He
had no way of knowing I was on this beach, so seeing him again was a great
stroke of fortune.

‘I know that
guy,’ I said. ‘I was with him when I met you two at the full moon party. Don’t
you remember?’

They both shook
their heads and then walked down to the shore with me to greet the new arrival.
His transport was larger than the long tail that we had taken and was not able
to sail directly onto the shore. He alighted from the boat about ten metres or
so from the beach. The water was almost up to his neck, forcing him to carry
his pack high above his head as he made his way to dry land.

‘Esteban!’ I
called out, as he finally made it onto the sand.

‘Ben?’ he
replied. ‘I cannot believe it is you. It seems that Lady Luck is fond of me. I
never expected to find a friend out here on the remotest part of the island.
How are you?’

‘We arrived the
morning after the party,’ I replied. ‘I wanted to find you first, but you had
already gone. I’m sorry that I left you like that.’

He waved away my
concern.

‘Think nothing
of it,’ he said. ‘Am I to guess that by “we” you are still with this beautiful
redhead of yours?’

‘Of course; her
friends are here too. Do you remember them from the party?’

I turned to the
Americans.

‘Guys, this is
Esteban Cruz.’

Neither of the
Americans offered him their hand, which I found not only strange, but also
rude. A little embarrassed, I went on to introduce the pair to Esteban.

‘This is Barrett
and Clay.’ I said, before turning back to the Americans. ‘I never actually got
your Christian names. It seems a bit formal calling you Barrett and Clay all
the time, don’t you think?’

‘We aren’t
Christians,’ replied Barrett.

The American
seemed to spit that last word out as if he did not like the taste of it in his
mouth.

‘I mean your
first names. What do we call you guys?’

‘Barrett and
Clay’.

‘Barrett Barrett
and Clay Clay,’ I said, not even realising that I was speaking out loud.