A Sexy National Nude Day
Jo stirred, awoken by the bright sun pouring through the large windows of the studio apartment she shared with her partner. She stretched, her arms out above her head, her skin glistening in the sunlight. Relaxing, she ran her hands slowly, sensually, down the front of her naked body, over her firm breasts, her hard little nipples, her flat tummy, and onto her soft thighs.
She sighed. She loved being naked, loved her body, but sometimes wished she had more of it. She was petite, but still curvy. She cupped her breasts, rubbing her hard nipples softly. They were quite big for her frame, and she knew she looked good. But sometimes, just sometimes, she wished for more.
She rolled onto her side, her head propped up on her hand, and gazed down at her partner of three months. They’d actually known each other for years, but suddenly, just three months ago, something had clicked between them, feelings they didn’t even know they had had surged to the surface. They’d kissed, gone to bed, and moved in together a few weeks later. They’d then moved into this apartment about six weeks ago.
They were both art students, although at twenty-five they were a bit older than most of their class mates. Jo glanced up at the clock on the opposite wall – half past seven. It was time to be getting up. She smiled at the thought of the previous night. They had finalised their plans for today – National Nude Day – and then made love long into the night. Reaching down, she rubbed her clit gently, thinking about the previous night, about the day to come.
A few weeks ago they had decided that today, in honour of National Nude Day, they were going to have some fun, and make a statement. They knew they needed to be careful, but they also felt strongly that there was nothing wrong with nudity, and that people all needed to be individuals, and be able to express themselves. Today was that day for them and were they ever going to have fun!
Unable to resist any longer, Jo spent just a few more seconds staring at the exquisite naked form next to her. She felt that familiar ache at the base of her tummy, her wetness already springing from her pussy.
Reaching across, she ran her hand softly over Sue’s breasts, feeling their shape, their weight, her fingers dancing lightly across the firm flesh and onto the hard, puckered nipples. She rubbed Sue’s nipple with her fingertip, feeling the hard nub of flesh move softly from side to side. Sue stirred, moaning in her sleep. Keeping her fingers on one nipple, Jo dipped her head and sucked the other one gently into her mouth.
At first she just used her lips, clamping the ripe nipple between them, while sucking gently. But then she used her tongue, swirling it across Sue’s breast and nipple, rocking the hard button of flesh from side to side as she continued to suck. And then she used her teeth, nipping and nibbling on her gorgeous lover, listening to Sue’s moans as they became louder, as she started to wake up.
Sue’s hand moved to hold Jo’s head to her, her other hand on top of her friends, pressing it down onto her breast. Moving quickly, Jo kissed her way down Sue’s tanned body before settling between her long legs, tickling the soft inside of her thighs with her tongue. Sue eased her legs apart, conscious of Jo’s sigh as she looked down at Sue’s shaved pussy, at her pink wetness, at her clit already standing up and begging for attention.
Quickly, Jo sank her head down and licked along Sue’s pussy, sucking her lips, tasting her juices. She clamped her mouth over her mound, sucking on her, her tongue flicking across her clit before burying itself inside Sue’s sweet, tasty body. Reaching down, Sue held Jo’s head to her, pushing her hips upwards to grind her pussy against Jo’s hot and willing mouth.
Sue came quickly, crying out as her juices poured from her, as Jo sucked on her, as her body tingled all over, her climax building in her pussy before flooding her body completely. Her body relaxed slowly as Jo lapped at her pussy, licking and sucking her cum juices from her.
Jo slid back up the bed, her face glistening with Sue’s juices, and held her lover, kissing her, sharing her taste. Sue’s tongue flicked across Jo’s lips and face, licking her own juices from her, until their tongues met and started to explore.
Sue pulled Jo to her, holding her slender lover against her own fuller, but still firm, body. She kissed Jo, her tongue ravaging her mouth, their breasts pressed together. She slipped her hand between them, her fingers teasing Jo’s clit before pushing inside her hot body. Jo’s cries were muffled by Sue’s lips, by her tongue, as her fingers plunged into her wet body, her thumb rubbing across her soft pubic hair as she finger fucked her.
Jo rocked her body against the fingers inside her, clamping her thighs around them as her own orgasm built, slowly at first, but then in a rush as her pleasure exploded through her. Sue quickly pressed down hard on Jo’s clit, knowing she loved the exquisite pain and pleasure this gave her as her body flooded with her juices.
Breathing heavily, they clung to each other, now kissing gently, lovingly. They whispered their “good mornings” as they held each other, as they finished waking up.
Sue got up and went to the bathroom, while Jo started some breakfast for them both. Once Sue was finished they swapped over, and then sat cross legged on the bed, still naked, to finish their breakfast and finished planning their day. As they spoke, they both felt a nervous excitement, butterflies starting to rise in the stomachs.
While Jo cleared up after breakfast, Sue ran a hot, bubbly bath for them to share. They tried to relax as Jo laid back, nestling against Sue’s soft breasts. They chatted as Sue held Jo’s pert breasts, before washing each other. After quickly getting dried, they started to get ready.
Sue went first. Lying naked on the bed, she watched in the big mirror as Jo settled down beside her and started to draw on her back with the body paints they’d bought for the occasion. Once Jo had got started, her drawing became more elaborate, more colourful. Essentially, it was the message they wanted to get over. But the letters were formed from flowers of many colours. After a while, Jo sat back.
“Finished,” she told Sue.
Sue looked it the mirror, twisting her back to get a better a view. She read the message out loud.
“NND, Join In and Be Free Today, Or Kiss My ….”
And then there was an arrow, pointing very deliberately towards Sue’s gorgeous bum.
“That’s great,” she laughed, “Now quick, it’s your turn.”
Jo laid down, ready to be painted. Sue worked quickly, her hand almost a blur as she worked on Jo’s body. The words she used were the same, but were intertwined with animals. As soon as Sue was finished, Jo knelt up and looked in the mirror. She squealed with delight at what she saw, turning to hug Sue.
“Do you think the paint will run,” she asked seriously.
“There’s only one way to find out,” Sue told her, adding, “Lie down.”
As Jo lay back on the bed, face down, Sue knelt over her, her knees each side of Jo’s legs. Leaning forward, she felt her nipples touch Jo’s back. Slowly, sensually, she dragged her nipples back and forth across Jo’s soft skin, feeling them harden. She leant further forward so that Jo could feel the weight of her breasts, feel her hard nipples. Jo sighed as tremors ran through her. She pushed her bum up towards her lover, wanting more. With a laugh, Sue leapt off the bed.
“I think we know the answer,” she laughed, going to the wardrobe to get their dresses out.
They had each bought a thin cotton dress for the day, both with buttons all the way up the front. They quickly put them on, before stepping into their shoes. They turned and looked at each other. They looked stunning. The dresses fitted perfectly, clinging to their breasts, their hips, their bums, showing them both off to perfection, leaving little to the imagination.
“You look naked already!” Jo told Sue.
“You wait,” Sue laughed, a tingle of excitement running through her, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”
They grabbed their bags and headed for the door.
Outside, it was a bright sunny day. They walked quickly towards the nearest subway station, both excited but a bit apprehensive. They bought tickets for the city centre, and headed down onto the platform. They walked to the far end, now very nervous, and waited. A train was due in a few minutes. Their nervousness built as they waited, and as the train pulled in they looked at each other, all sorts of doubts creeping into their minds.
“Let’s do it,” Jo declared, grabbing Sue’s hand and leading her onto the train.
As soon as the train pulled away from the station, they looked at each other. The carriage they had chosen was – for the time being at least – quite empty, just as they’d planned.
“It’s now or never, ” Jo whispered, starting to undo the buttons down the front of her dress.
They stood facing each other as they each pulled the buttons on their dress open with shaking hands. And then, without daring to look around, they shrugged their dresses off their shoulders and stood naked, their beautiful tanned body’s nude in the bright lights of the train.
At first, no one seemed to notice. But as they did, a few murmurs were heard, followed by gasps and pointed fingers from men and women alike. They turned slowly, showing the message drawn on their backs to everyone, showing off their gorgeous nakedness.
The people watching moved towards them gradually, just as the train pulled into the next station. Sue and Jo had planned to get off then, but a surge of people got on, seemingly oblivious to them. They froze, suddenly unsure what to do next as the carriage filled up, preventing them from getting off or from getting dressed. They moved closer together, their breasts touching. Everyone was looking at them, as they had wanted, but suddenly things felt different. They hadn’t planned on being so closed in.
Sue felt it first – a hand slowly sliding down her back to caress her bum, first one cheek and then the other, a finger sliding between them. Another hand rubbed the side of her breast. Another one squeezed between them to pinch Jo’s nipple. There seemed to be hands everywhere. At first it was unnerving, but then the caresses from so many strangers felt erotic, and they both felt their juices springing from them, both of them managing to stifle their soft moans of uncertainty, of pleasure.
This went on for long minutes, both of them getting more tense as their excitement built, as they tried to hide it, afraid to move. But then the train slowed as it reached the next station. The hands still on them left as a lot of people started to get off, to be replaced by other hands as people brushed past them deliberately as they left the train. They relaxed a little – until Jo felt someone close behind her, felt a hand slide over her tight little bum, felt a finger slip between her legs, and deep into her hot, wet pussy.
It only took three or four thrusts and Jo was starting to cum, her juices wet on her thighs. And then the finger, the hand, was gone. She turned around quickly, catching sight of an absolutely gorgeous young woman blowing her a kiss. She pointed her out to Sue, but soon lost sight of her in the crowd.
As a lot of people were getting off the train, they quickly pulled their dresses on, and stumbled onto the platform, holding the fronts of their dresses together with their hands. They ignored the bemused looks of the passengers getting on the train – and the applause of the passengers who had enjoyed their “show”. Giggling with relief, they quickly buttoned up their dresses, their hands still trembling.
By the time they had got themselves together, the platform was largely deserted. They walked quickly towards the stairs and escalators, thankful that no one else seemed to be around, eager for their next adventure. As they reached the first long escalator, Jo went up first, a few steps ahead of Sue. As they approached the top, Sue sensed someone behind her. She was surprised, but thought nothing more of it as a woman darted past her to stand behind Jo.
As soon as they started up the second escalator, the woman turned and smiled at Sue. It was the beautiful young woman from the train. Then Sue watched as the girl whispered something to Jo, before taking a step back so that she could bend down and push Jo’s dress out of the way before kissing her bum, a wet lingering kiss, her tongue sliding between her cheeks, her hand slipping between Jo’s damp thighs.
Jo sighed as she felt the hot lips on her, the wet tongue, the fingers entering her. Behind her, Sue watched this unfold, watched the girl’s hand moving as she finger fucked Jo rapidly, bringing her to a climax almost immediately.
Sue jumped as she felt someone else step up very close behind her. She felt hot breath on the back of her neck, and then the unmistakeable sensation of a hard cock being pressed against her. She felt her dress being dragged up, and his hot flesh on hers. She froze – appalled at what was happening, at what she wanted to happen. She knew she wanted more - a lot more. The stiff cock slipped between her thighs. She instinctively opened her legs a little, feeling him press against her pussy just as they reached the top of the escalator.
Sue watched Jo walk off as she was guided into a dark corner, the man close behind her. He reached for her breasts, grabbing them roughly through the thin material of her dress as he pushed his cock back towards her and entered her hot, wanton body. She gasped, and pushed her hips back to meet him, as his thick cock entered her, stretching her pussy as it wrapped itself around him, sucking him into the depths of her body.
He fucked her quickly as she arched her back, wanting him – needing him – inside her as deeply as possible. Sue heard Jo calling out to her, but she ignored the calls, wanting this unseen cock to fuck her cunt harder and harder. Her pussy was throbbing from the pounding, the pleasure, it was getting, his balls slapping noisily against her legs. With a stifled cry he came, his thick cum flooding her as she cried out her own pleasure, her relief.
The man quickly pulled out of her and left. Turning around as she straightened her dress, he was gone. All Sue could see was a grinning Jo. They walked quickly away from the station, their pussies and thighs wet with their juices, and swapped notes on their journey up the stairs.
They spent the next few hours wandering around, stripping off whenever they could, enjoying their own nakedness, enjoying being watched, being looked at, enjoying “advertising” National Nude Day. They crossed a main road naked, almost causing an accident. They wandered through a busy park, feeding the birds as they went. They went into a department store to try some clothes on, and came out of the changing rooms naked.
Wherever they went, men and woman watched on, lots of them encouraging them, a few even “flashing” with them. And more than a few touched them when they could, or took up the offer of kissing them.
And Jo and Sue loved it – loved being naked, being together, being the centre of attention – and being constantly horny.
My lunchtime they were hungry – and not just for food. They bought a sandwich and a drink, and found a secluded part of a park to sit down in. Without even glancing around, they stripped off, stretching and sighing as they felt the hot sun on their naked bodies. They quickly kissed and cuddled, their bodies pressed close together, before sitting down to eat. As they lunched, they talked about their morning, and planned the rest of their day, giggling at what they wanted to get up to.
As they sat back and sipped their drinks, they both realised at the same time just how hidden they were. One look at each other was enough – they fell into each other’s arms, Sue falling backwards to lie down, pulling Jo on top of her. Jo straddled her lover, her knees each side of her, her hard nipples pressing into Sue’s firm, succulent breasts. They kissed softly, their tongues caressing each other before slipping into the other’s hungry mouth.
Sue reached down to run her hands over Jo’s bum, pulling her to her, their pussies grinding against each other. They sighed softly as they kissed, as their juices sprung from them as their bodies moulded together.
As they kissed, their movements became more urgent, more passionate, both of them wanting more. Jo turned herself around slowly, kissing her way along Sue’s body, licking and sucking on her erect nipples, on her belly, until she found the soft, wet centre of Sue’s body.
She ran her tongue into Sue’s pussy, just as she felt her own pussy being engulfed by Sue’s hungry mouth, by her probing, inquisitive tongue. Their passion built quickly after the excitement of the day, as they kissed and licked and sucked and pleasured each other, their faces coated in each other’s juices.
Sue gazed at Jo’s delicate pink pussy as she devoured it, sucking hungrily on her lips, her tongue probing her hole before flicking across her clit. As Jo’s moans got louder, Sue sensed something that made her look up. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight in front of her.
He was tall, well built – and naked. His cock jutted out in front of him, his balls hanging heavily.
“Mind if I join you,” he asked huskily, his hands already reaching for Jo’s soft bum, his fingers running past Sue’s now still mouth, and into Jo’s hot wetness.
Jo froze when she heard the voice, and then pushed back eagerly as the thick, strong finger entered her. Then she felt Sue’s mouth and tongue back on her, licking her, sucking her, as she was finger fucked.
Sue watched as the man pulled his finger out of Jo, and moved to stand behind her. She reached up to stroke his hard, long cock, peeling the foreskin back to reveal the bulbous, red head. He moaned out loud as she wanked him gently, her mouth still on Jo’s pussy. She pulled the cock towards Jo, guiding it into her, watching as it stretched Jo’s pussy, as it disappeared, just the head at first, and then the whole length of him.
Jo cried out as she felt the cock enter her, as it filled her, her pussy throbbing around it. She felt Sue’s mouth sucking on her clit, her mouth still hungry to taste her. The cock slid in and out of her, the first long, slow strokes being replaced by a faster, more urgent rhythm as their mutual pleasure, their need, built. Sue felt Jo’s fingers plunge into her in time to the man’s thrusts, her wetness pouring onto her thighs.
They all cried out as their climaxes built. The man roared as he drove into Jo one last time, before holding his cock deep inside her. She felt it jerking as his balls emptied his cum into her. Sue reached up, lapping at his heavy balls. Jo screamed as she felt his hot cum taking her over the edge, her fingers driving deeper into Sue, who in turn cried out her pleasure.
The man pulled out of Jo, and slumped on the ground beside them. Jo rolled off Sue and looked at the man who had just fucked her so deliciously. They both looked at his heavy cock, now soft in his lap, still wet from Jo’s juices.
“Sorry,” he half apologised, “I couldn’t resist!”
He told them his name was Steve, and that he had seen them earlier from his office window. Apparently, they had caused quite a stir when they walked past! They sat together for a few more minutes before he left them, quickly getting dressed before leaving them alone. They looked at each other and laughed. What a day this was turning out to be!
They slipped their dresses and sandals back on, and walked across to the nearest shops. They used the bathroom there to get cleaned up, and to touch up their now smeared body paint. At Jo’s suggestion, they then headed out to a large shopping centre a couple of miles away.
I felt my mind slipping again, another notch of sanity falling from me as she stood up and caressed me, purring at me in the back of her throat. She spoke in a whisper as she kissed my chest.
“You see, he will want me, he will come back for me…..no one can resist me.”
“Who?” I almost shouted, “Who will come back for you?” I felt some focus return and I pushed her away, hastily trying to pull up my pants over my softening cock.
She smiled, “They have gone, but they will come back for me. He must!” Her face looked almost feral in the red light, and I could see a dribble of my cum on her chin.
“Where did they go? Where did you go with them? Answer me!?” I grabbed her and shook her as I said this, and her eyes looked frightened for a minute. A flicker of sanity returning for but a moment.
“I don’t know where they went, but we stayed at La Mansion de Rio, and he loved me, and he loved her. Damn her!” She spat the last words out like a curse. “Now they are gone.” She collapsed to the floor and began to weep. “He is gone and he will never return and I am lost, lost.” I stood staring at this woman, and I felt the madness rising up within me. And in my mind I said over and over. ‘I will kill him. I will kill him…’
* * * * *
My mute cabbie dropped me at La Mansion de Rio with only a nod as I paid him, and I looked at the sweeping Spanish architecture of this ancient building. The night was pleasant now, warm but no longer hot, and the cicadas sang in the trees next to the old hotel.
It too bordered the Riverwalk, not far from the restaurant I had been at earlier. I walked into the plush lobby, and approached the desk clerk. She looked worried, and some part of my brain realized I must look pretty bad. I smiled, and tried to ignore the pounding in my head. I pulled out my wallet, and flipped open her picture holding it up to the woman as I spoke.
“I am sorry to disturb you, I am looking for this woman. Have you seen her?” she shook her head quickly.
“No Sir, I have not. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
I hung my head, I was so tired, and my head hurt so badly. “Yes, a room for the night. Whatever you have available.”
I slid my platinum visa toward her, and she nodded as she typed on the computer. A few minutes later I was walking into a lavish room overlooking the river. I walked to the desk and dropped both my bags on it, before turning to look out at the night. My head still throbbed with the beating of my heart, and the music of the cicadas seemed to drill into my skull. My world was evaporating, some part of me knew this, but I could not stop. The voice in my head said again, ‘I will kill him…’
* * * * *
When I woke the noonday sun was streaming through the curtains, and the room felt overly warm. I lay on top the bed, still in my clothes, and I felt sore and stiff. I sat up and shook my head slowly. The pounding in my head had stopped, and my head had cleared somewhat.
As if more from force of habit then desire I stripped and climbed in the shower, washing the spit and cum from my cock, as I wished I could wash that memory from my mind. I tried to think, to ground myself in what I needed to do, but I was so far removed from the reality of my day to day life I felt I had no purchase on anything.
After I dried myself, I powered up my notebook and plugged it into the wall outlet that had a sign advertising high-speed Internet access. I drummed my fingers as I waited for the machine to boot, and connect to the network. At last I opened the credit card site again, and logged in. the last charge was for La Mansion de Rio. The date was last night. I began to feel my blood pound again, and the world seemed to dim.
“They might still be here I thought.” I stood and looked around the room hastily, as if they might appear behind me or in the shaded corner.
There was a knock on my door and I left in my chair, staring wildly about.
“Housekeeping?” a voice said as the door cracked open and the face of an older Hispanic woman appeared. “Oh! Sorry Sir, I thought no one was here.” She began to close the door as I shouted.
“No wait!”
I stumbled up from the desk as she opened the door. Her face took on a look of alarm as I rushed toward her fumbling for my wallet. I tore her picture from it holding it up to her.
“Have you seen her, is she staying here.” I could see the recognition in her face immediately, but then her brow crinkled as she looked up at me.
“We are not allowed to give out information about guests senior.”
I tore open my wallet pulling out several hundred dollars and holding it out to her. “Please, she is my wife. Please?”
A haunted look crossed the woman’s face. She stared at the money, then back into my face. I don’t know what she saw there, but she looked scared, or haunted. She reached out and slowly took the money.
“Room 214 senior, just down the hall.” She pointed down the hall, then paused as she turned away. “She has not been alone.” She turned and pushed her cart down the hall.
I turned my back to her and walked down the hall, sleepwalking. I passed the rooms, counting them in my mind as I walked. “208, 209, 210″ My world seemed to narrow as I walked up to the door. I could see the detail in the old wood of the antique door. I watched my hand reach out and grasp the wrought iron doorknob as if someone or something else was in control. It turned and the latch clicked and some part of me thought how quaint that this old hotel still used these old knobs and keys.
The door swung open into a cluttered room. Cloths and food left around the room, and central to it all a huge bed with the covers crumbled in a heap in the center. Then I saw the covers move, and I could see the long black hair as it snaked across the bed from under the covers.
I walked slowly into the room, the lush carpet cushioning my feet. The door clicked closed with a loud clunk, like the closing of a cell door. I could see the table beside the bed littered with half empty wine glasses, discarded food, and a scattering of pills that slopped off onto the floor.
As I approached the bed, I could see she was alone in it, that the man was not there. I stopped at the edge and stared down at the mound of covers, and I could see one of her shapely ears where her head emerged from the heavy quilt.
Then, as if she knew I was there she rolled over and I beheld the face of my love. Her eyes were swollen and red, and tears had wet her face. My heart stopped beating. “So beautiful, So lovely. . .” echoed through my mind, and then she smiled and my heart lifted in song.
“I’m so sorry.” She whispered as she stared at me, more tears spilling down her face. “God forgive me, I’m, so sorry.” And her voice cracked as she sobbed.
I lay down and pulled her into my arms kissing her wet face. “It is alright beloved, it will be alright.” All of my being was lost in this moment; I could forgive her, as long as I had her.
She kissed me back passionately, her arms grasping at me, pulling at my cloths. I felt my world narrow, until nothing existed but her and me. My heart felt as though it would burst from my chest like a wild animal in flight. I tore my clothes off as she continued to kiss me, and her tears wet my cheeks.
In moments I was nude, and I pulled the covers from her. I drank in the sight of her golden skin and her full beautiful breasts. I lowered myself onto her and the heat of her body burned through me.
“Now, take me oh take me once more..” she begged in a whisper, as I settled between her thighs. I felt my cock slowly push into her, and she was wet and welcoming. My body shuddered with the contact, with the feel of her enveloping me. It was the feeling of home, of love, of everything I thought lost and now regained. It was the feel of her and me as one.
Slowly I pushed into her over and over and I could feel her heart hammer against my chest. I kissed her as I pushed into her over and over again. There was a symphony in my ears, and I felt lifted by a joy I have never known. I lost track of time, and all that mattered was the flow of the movement of our bodies, the feel of her next to me.
But then I felt her hands slide from my back where she gripped me, and her kisses became soft, then almost faint. I pulled my head away from her and looked into her yes. They were misty, and seemed to see far away. She looked pale.
“My love? What’s wrong?” I said reaching up to stroke her hair from her face as my cock throbbed in her.
She smiled a faint smile, and I could feel the heavy pounding of her heart, and it seemed too hard, and too slow. She spoke, and her voice was barely a whisper but it rang through me as clear as a bell.
“I’m so sorry. I thought you weren’t coming back. . . I . . . I couldn’t live without you. I’m sorry, forgive me, forgive me . . .” With the last word the breath left her body and I felt her heart give two great pounding beats, then stop. A chill went through me then, and I think the last vestiges of my mind fled from me. She had thought I was him. The pills on the table swam into my mind. She had been apologizing to him because she was dieing, and she thought he had returned. She hadn’t even seen me.
With a rage and a madness that was complete I began to pound my cock into her as I screamed, “It’s me, I’m not him, it’s me damn it, it’s me!” How long I flailed at her I don’t know before I spent myself in her, but finally I crawled off of her and sat on the floor looking at her still form. Even in death she was beautiful, more then any man should dare to call his own.
I reached up to the pills on the table and scoped a handful up. I knew how I could join her, but as I grabbed then, I brushed a small note from under them off the table. It fluttered to the floor like a leaf falling on a calm autumn day. When it stilled I could see her flowing script upon it, and with no thought I read it.
” “I am sorry my love for what I must do. I can not live without you, and I can not return to the man I love as well as you. He would never have me again after I have so lost myself to you, nor do I think I could live without you. Please forgive me; I thought I could satisfy you…I thought I was the one. I have been a fool. God forgive me.” ”
The pills slowly fell from my hand across my naked body as I read, and the rage began to grow. Like a beast that clawed its way up from the depths of my soul it howled for blood. I trembled as I stood, and with a final act of any feeling I pulled the covers gently up over the form of my beloved, and the voice in my head cried now with no hesitation like a choir of angels. “I will kill him. I will kill him.”
* * * * *
I don’t know how many cities I tracked him through. After San Antonio I picked up his trail in Del Rio, a small border town. I followed him through Mexico, and always he eluded me, always one step ahead, as if taunting me.
In his wake I found women, beautiful women broken and forlorn as if the greatest love of their lives had left them. Many I found like I had found her, and the townspeople could not understand it, how could she have done it. I knew though. I had started calling him Don Juan, after the mythic figure that stole woman’s hearts. But this man, he was also the destroyer, that I called him too.
I had called my lawyer and had him sell everything I owned, the house, the cars, the stock funds, everything that spoke of success and roots in this world, all gone. I had nothing left but my revenge and a swollen bank account with which to pursue it. Every day that passed I became something less and something more. Less of my rational mind remained, and more of the monster of my revenge grew.
After two years though, I lost his trail. I would pick it up occasionally, but never often. Long enough to find a broken marriage, a young girl with wrists slashed, brain dead in a hospital. He was the destroyer, and I would destroy him. I came to loathe him with every fiber of my being.
* * * * *
I was sitting at a little beachside bar, drowning my mind in more liquor, and swimming into and out of sanity as the days had gone for me for a long while now. I had been here for some time, and the bartender and I joked with each other as he tried to pick up on the young college girls that came and went on their vacations.
I had been staying here for the last few months, as my search had become aimless without a trail to follow, and I returned here since I had picked up his trail here several times. I was beginning to doubt if he really existed. Perhaps he was a phantom, a spirit that came in the night and vanished like smoke on the wind.
The gulls cried as the sun sank into the west in a ball of fire, and the smell of the sea and the sound of the waves washed around me. Two years of my life I had searched, without contact with family or friends, and without hope. Perhaps my search was over. Maybe I was to play out the rest of my life on the beach here in Mexico, like some pathetic impersonator of a Jimmy Buffet song.
I felt a hand on my back and I broke from my thoughts. It was Bill, and old American that said he had come down here to retire and relax. He had a beautiful boat he spent most of his time on. He said he liked to be alone. I could respect that. I only saw him occasionally and then briefly, but we had formed a friendship of sorts. Tonight I was happy to see him.
“Hello Bill, how is the boat?”
“Good, good, though lonely out on the waves by myself, but I find it better that way.” He said the last few words of this with such a profound note of sorrow that I actually turned and looked at him.
“Well hell Bill, nothing keeping you alone out there, hell I bet half these college kids would jump at the opportunity to go for a sail with you on your boat.”
He looked at me and the wrinkles under his eyes seemed to grow and he squinted at me. “It is better if I am alone. Some things are just better.” He nodded to himself looking away, and taking a drink of his beer. “And what of you my friend, I see you sit alone here every night I come, why do you sit alone?”
He looked at me with a twinkle in his eye, and I knew he was just poking fun at me, but something in me must have needed to tell someone, because I started to tell him. It was a long tale, and before long we had retired to his boat, and sat in the dim moon light as the boat rocked.
I told him of her, and of her death. I couldn’t be sure but I thought he sobbed at that, as if in grief and I loved him in that moment for that. That he could share my pain. I told him of my lost life, of my madness, and my inability to turn away from this path of revenge. I told him of the nightmares of her dieing beneath me, of her body beautiful even in death. But finally I told him, and admitted to myself, the loneliness of it all, the loss, the isolation, the bitterness.
When I finally talked my story out, and we sat in silence with the sound of the waves hitting the side of the boat, and the wind creaking in the rigging, I heard him draw a long shuddering breath.
“You my friend have endured more then a hundred men should endure. Can you not let it go, can you not go back to your life?” his voice had a sound of pleading in it, of genuine conviction and caring.
“There is no life to go back to.”
He shook his head, and then, as if coming to a grave decision he squared his shoulders and stood. “You stay here for a moment. I must fetch something. “He disappeared below decks for a few moments, and I was left alone with the night sounds, and the emptiness within myself.
He came back to his seat and he had a small box in his lap. He opened the lid and I saw the moonlight glint on something inside. He drew it out and handed it too me. It was a beautiful antique pistol. I looked at it in puzzlement.
“It is a gift I want you to have, hold it for a moment while I tell you a story. Be careful, it is loaded.” His face was shadowed in the dark, but his voice was rich, and it struck me as odd how it sounded young while he was so very old. I laid the gun in its worn holster in my lap as he took up his tale.
“Once, a long time ago I was not so different from you. I had a wife, a beautiful woman whom I loved beyond all measure. But I lost her. I was not a good husband, and another man won her heart and she left me for him. I too swore revenge, as you have done, though I never did find her, I did find him.
I searched for many years. My life grew on and eventually I began to despair that I would never find him. Then I did. I did not know him at first, but eventually we came to be friends and it was he himself that would tell me he was the man I wanted. I went mad; I told him what he had done to me. I told him I would kill him. He said it was my right and that so it would be passed on, but first he begged me to hear his story too. I did not listen; I shot him with that pistol. He did not die immediately, and the pistol has but one shot, so I listened to him talk as he died, and what he did not have the breath to tell me I have learned the hard way in my long life.”
“Now I tell you, like I stood before him, you stand before me. I am your wrongdoer, I am the one who took your love, and shattered your life. By rights my life is yours, and I will give it to you. But like he, I ask you to listen to the rest of my tale before you choose.”
As his voice faded off and I sat in silence I thought for a moment, then I began to laugh. This man must be in his 80’s or 90’s, he could not possibly be the man my love ran away with. I shook my head. “You had me going for a minute there.” I said still chuckling.
He sat very still, and I heard the lid creak on the box in his lap. The moon light glinted on something as he raised his hand out to me. It was a ring, a beautiful ring. I had looked for it for six months before I had asked her to marry me. It was her ring. There could be no two rings like it, for I had had it custom made for her. It was like seeing her before me again on that day in the sun in Spain when I had asked and she had laughed and said yes. It was like a shadow of all the joys now gone. I began to shake.
“Please, hear my story. Then choose. Please. You must be free to chose, to take my life or to spare it, only then will it end.” He voice was full of pain and sorrow, but the pounding was back in my head. The pounding that had left me for a long time now was back. Back like the night in San Antonio when I had encountered his first victim. Back like when I first saw two glasses of wine on my nightstand.
Without thinking I drew the gun from its sheath. Without thought I aimed it at his heart and cocked the trigger. “Please” he said again, “Please listen.” But the pounding in my head, like the drumming of fingernails, like the beating of a her heart before it stopped. Too much had been taken, too much I had lost along the way. Too much of me was empty.
The sound of the gunshot was surprisingly quiet here by the ocean, with the wind and the waves. He slid from his chair quietly, and died quickly, unlike the man he spoke of that he had gunned down. He only said one last thing to me. “I’m so sorry, so sorry, so it shall go on.”
I did not understand then, though now near the end of my life I do. Now after carrying the curse for 50 years I know. He was not sorry for what he had done, he was sorry for what he was about to do to me. For when he died by my jealous, vengeful hand I took his curse on myself. The curse of Don Juan I have called it.
It can only be broken when one who has been wronged, comes to seek revenge, and with all the knowledge of who and what has wronged him, chooses not to kill. When I die in peace, the curse dies with me, and I am old now. This curse, it will not let me take my own life I have tried. If only I could have peace for a few more years, it would end. But this very day I saw him, the one who has been following me, like I followed the one I killed.
