The only good thing about this year's country-wide team building seminar had been the location.
He had been reluctantly falling backwards into the arms of equally reluctant colleagues. Collectively lost tug-of-wars. Fallen on his face in three-legged races. Every trite metaphor for cooperation and trust known to man, beast or corporate exec had been excavated, dusted off and made into an event.
They had even spent hours writing synonyms for trust on a whiteboard. A quite impressive amount, once it had been made clear nobody was worried about factual correctness.
But at least the location was wonderful. Rustic log cabins, so far from civilization the nights were truly black. He had never experienced anything quite like it, so small beneath the open starry sky, as if the universe might swallow him whole at any moment.
And inside his cabin was complete, utter darkness. He could not see the hand in front of him.
He was startled out of his reverie by the noise of the handle. The door opening then closing with a thud and a click.
His heart was pounding up a frenzy in his chest. He reached for the switch for the bedside lamp only to realize there was none -- switch OR lamp.
He was about to call out, but the intruder beat him to it.
"Hello?" It was a woman's voice.
"Hello?" His voice was shaking. He took a deep breath, steadying himself. "Who are you?"
"I'm just another participant."
"What are you doing here?"
The silence dragged out, the only sound the relentless thud of his heart pounding in his ears. "Um..." She started at last. "I noticed the door was unlocked and..." The voice sounded as nervous as he felt, as though it might dissolve into frantic giggles at any moment. It was quite beautiful. Reedy, almost frail, hard to put an age to. He found himself relaxing almost despite himself, it was too hard to imagine such a voice belonging to a violent person.
"And..."
"Well..." A deep breath. "To be frank, I want to..." She gave a nervous giggle, then swallowed. "I want to fuck." The word sounded odd coming from such a gentle voice. She hurriedly added. "If you want to, that is."
His head was spinning, his heart pounding, all he could do to steady himself was to keep talking "Do I know you?" He was trying and failing to match the voice to that of any of the women he had met during the day.
"No." After a brief silence the voice returned, shaky, out of the dark. "So. Do you want to fuck or not?"
Maybe it was her sweet voice, already he was imagining what sounds she might make. Or maybe it had simply been too long. "Yes."
A nervous laugh from the darkness. Footsteps moving closer. The rustle and unzipping of clothes, the thud of shoes falling to the floor. Movement in the air, a whiff of flowery scent. Then the covers were moving, the bed shifting and creaking, cold air entering along with her naked body.
She was soft and heavy as she lay beside him, wrapped around his arm, her body still cold from the autumn air outside. He could feel her heart beating, as quickly as his own, where her chest pressed against his arm. Nipples tickled his upper arm, public hair scratched against the back of his hand.
Cold fingers moved up his bare stomach, ticking as they came to rest on his chest. Her warm breath contrasted cold lips as she kissed his neck. Warm pleasure contrasted pain as teeth bit his ear.
A gentle touch tickled his hair, guided him to turn towards her. Then her lips were on his own, as if of the darkness itself. Soon after her tongue touched his, the taste of her saliva filling his mouth. Her hair was cut short, feathery to his touch as he stroked it.
He closed his eyes though, of course, it made no difference. Lost himself in the moment as they lay still, bodies and tongues touching, warming. Her fingers nestling in the hair on his chest. He could feel her growing wet as she rubbed against his hand.
Then her weight shifted again, the bed creaking in protest as her mouth disappeared, leaving saliva cooling on his lips, the taste of her still lingering. The wetness of her tongue, the heat of her breath, reappeared at the base of his stomach, worked its way up towards his navel.
Wanting to hear that voice again, have something to which he could connect the physical sensations, he found himself asking the first thing that came to mind. "What if it'd have been a girl?"
