What Two Boatmen Proposed to Us on the Beach

The afternoon before, we spent it at Tere’s country house, the four of us together, with Ingrid. It was one of those afternoons that stick to your skin: the pleasure of being back in our usual little corner and, above all, the luck of having shared it with her, who had only been in the country a few days and already had us all in love with her.

Ingrid was Austrian, just passing through, and she had that very her way of laughing at everything without judging anything. When we came out loaded down with the bags of what we’d bought, she was the one who insisted on staying the night at my house. The others said goodbye at the door and the two of us went upstairs laughing like teenagers.

We showered together, playing with the spray from the showerhead, and ate the leftovers standing in the kitchen. I was exhausted, but she wasn’t sleepy. When I finally got into bed, I felt her come into the room and sit on the edge of the bed, with her nightgown rolled up at her waist and her legs open, like an invitation that didn’t need to be put into words.

She has legs that drive me crazy. I stroked them from the knee upward, slowly, until I found the edge of her underwear. I was hot, hotter than she was even, because as I remembered what I wanted to tell her, every image was already coming back to life in my head.

—Have you been to Austria? —she asked suddenly, kissing my neck—. Or why do you do so many things the way they do them over there?

—I’ve never been. I only met an Austrian, years ago. One I adored and still adore a little. With him I did things I’d never dared do before.

—Tell me —she asked, propping two pillows behind my back so we’d be at the same height—. I want to know what you felt. And what you still feel.

Where to begin. I told her that, to understand it, I first had to talk to her about Andrés.

Andrés is my husband now, but back then we were only friends. Very close friends, the kind who tell each other everything and sometimes a little more. His company had offices a few floors above ours, in the same building, and we ate together almost every day at the same restaurant. First we talked about work; then, about everything else.

One day visitors arrived from headquarters in Switzerland. Three young men, and among them an Austrian who was still kind of green. I walked into the boardroom offering coffee, and he asked me for a cappuccino. I held his gaze as mischievously as I could and brought it to him myself. When I handed it over, the others laughed under their breath; I didn’t get the joke, but I did understand the way he was looking at me.

That same afternoon Andrés had arranged to meet him at his hotel. I worked up the nerve to go with him. The Austrian, whose name was Klaus, wasn’t downstairs, so we went up to look for him. The room door was ajar. Andrés pushed it open, and I got the shock of my life: Carolina, his secretary, was riding Klaus, completely naked.

We closed the door quietly. I was furious, though I couldn’t have said why.

—She’s your secretary! —I snapped at Andrés in the hallway.

—Leave her be, she’s free to do whatever she wants —he answered, amused—. Don’t be jealous.

That only made me hotter, even though I’d never considered myself jealous. We went downstairs to wait in the bar. When Klaus showed up, already recovered, the three of us had dinner and my anger gradually melted away between one glass and the next. He looked at me differently, and I looked at him too.

Andrés asked him what he wanted to see in Mexico, and Klaus said a place without tourists, by the sea. I suggested Bahía Serena, a small port on the Pacific, and the next morning the three of us were taking a plane. Andrés had booked three rooms, one for each of us, “so we all have freedom,” he said, winking at me.

***

We spent the first afternoon at the beach. When we got back, I hung my wet bikini on the balcony, which looked out over the ocean, without bothering to get fully dressed. That was when I discovered a camera peeking over the wall separating my balcony from the one next door. Only the hands were visible, but it didn’t take much thinking: on the other side it could only be Klaus.

I took a deep breath and decided to let him do it. I struck my best pose, pretending I hadn’t noticed, smiling into the empty air. If you want photos, I’m going to give them to you. The next day I repeated the scene, this time with nothing covering me, and let him fill the roll.

That night, after dancing late at a bar on the coast, Andrés retired early and left us alone. Klaus didn’t speak Spanish and I barely fumbled my way through his language, but we understood each other perfectly with our hands and our looks.

The next morning I went to his room under the pretext of telling him about breakfast. He was in his underwear, half-covered by the sheet. I brought my chair close to the bed and, with Andrés acting as translator before leaving, I confessed what I wanted. Andrés said it in English with a smile: that I wanted to sleep with him and didn’t know how to ask.

Klaus grabbed me by the nape and kissed me. I kissed him back harder. When Andrés closed the door on his way out, I was already at his mercy and I didn’t want to be anywhere else.

—Ingrid, you can’t imagine how much I was enjoying myself! —I said, interrupting my own story—. Don’t fall asleep, the best part is coming.

—I’m not falling asleep —she murmured against my chest—. Go on, please. But let me feel your legs.

She tucked the two pillows beneath mine and lay down pressed against my side, kissing my breasts while I kept talking. We were both red-hot: my story was turning her on, and her hands were turning me on.

Klaus undressed me slowly, garment by garment, taking his time. He penetrated me firmly, but once inside, he didn’t move: he kept caressing me, kissing every inch of me, asking again and again if I liked it. I was melting from sheer desperation, feeling him huge and still, wanting to come without managing it.

Then he turned me face down and put the pillows under my stomach, lifting my hips. He kissed me and licked me where no one had ever done it before. I had never tried anal sex, and when I understood what he was after I felt fear and desire in equal measure.

He put on a condom. He gave me a gentle slap so I’d relax and pushed in with a patience that was melting me. At first it burned, but his hand slipped underneath to my clit and everything became one single sensation that ended up bringing me to my knees. When I couldn’t take any more, he turned me over, took off the condom, and sat me on top of him, sinking into me all the way.

He lifted me by the hips and let me fall, setting my rhythm, until I understood he wanted me to ride him. I started slowly and ended up furious, moving fast, squeezing him, feeling him tense until he came inside me with a long shudder. I had already come before he did, so hard that the orgasm lasted through several more thrusts.

We showered together, him soaping me with a tenderness I hadn’t expected. That’s how I met your countryman —I told Ingrid—, and that’s how I fell a little in love with him forever.

***

—You’re leaving me hanging —Ingrid protested, no longer hiding her eagerness—. I’m dying to know that place. But tomorrow I have to leave.

—What if you don’t leave? —I blurted out—. I’ve got three days off for the long weekend. Let’s go to Bahía Serena together.

She sprang upright, eyes shining.

—Really? I’ll stay a few more days in your country and we’ll go. I’ll pay for the trip.

We got a flight for the next day at noon. I arranged with Tere for her to cover for me at work and so, half-crazy, we set off on our own adventure.

At the airport we made friends with a girl from a car rental agency who, without us buying anything, got us a small cheerful hotel, run by a young, gorgeous couple: Raúl and Diana. We settled in, ate there, and went out for a walk.

At the pier I recognized Memo, the boatman who years earlier had taken me to the island with Klaus. He remembered me instantly and offered to ferry us across again. This time he was with Beto, a slightly older man, just as shameless. They invited us to climb onto the roof of the boat to sunbathe with no tan lines, and Ingrid found stripping off everything utterly amusing.

They anchored near the beach, cut the engine, and served us beers. It didn’t take a genius to understand they had something in mind.

—Last time, did the foreigner pay you? —Memo asked bluntly.

—No. He was a company guest, a photographer who wanted to photograph me and I let him. And this one here is Ingrid, also foreign, also very daring, but she’s my friend.

—And what are you looking for now? —Beto insisted, without taking his eyes off Ingrid.

—Something that leaves us with a good memory of you —I told them—. Something fun. And... well, whatever happens.

***

That night, though, the fun started earlier than expected. Raúl and Diana invited us to dinner in the hotel restaurant and, between the tropical music and the drinks, the conversation got hotter. Ingrid, already loosened up, confessed that she wasn’t exactly lesbian, but that every now and then she was, and that was enough for the couple to want to find out how far that “every now and then” went.

We went up to their room to keep the party going. Diana came over to Ingrid and kissed her without preamble; my friend responded by arching into her while Diana slid a hand under her blouse. They ended up on the floor, tangled together, kissing for a long time, and the unanimous verdict was that both of them were perfect for this.

—The problem —Diana laughed, her hair disheveled— is that there are four of us and only one man.

—I’ll solve it —I said, and took off my clothes while she did the same.

We embraced in a sixty-nine, both of us getting off at once, she biting my lips and I biting hers, until we both wanted more. Then we shared Raúl out. He had a reputation for being quick, so I rode him first without letting him finish, stopping him every time he got to the edge. I passed him to Diana for a while, took him back myself, and when he was about to explode I handed him to Ingrid, who climbed on top of him and came screaming the way I’d never heard her scream before.

—Your turn, friend —Diana said generously—. I always have this one.

I took Raúl over and worked hard to give him the best ride of his life. I kept him rock-hard for a long while and, when I felt satisfied, I let go, driving him to come inside me with a groan that woke up half the hotel.

***

The next day, after walking around and eating with Raúl and Diana, we went back to the hotel and found Memo and Beto waiting for us at reception. They had looked for us all over the harbor to invite us out. Tired as we were, we got dressed up and went with them.

They took us on a moto-taxi to a palapa packed with music and local people. We drank beer, danced pressed together, and late in the night we walked to the edge of the sea. Behind a little mound, Beto spread out some tarps on the sand. We both knew perfectly well what for.

They undressed us amid laughter and beer. I stopped Beto before he got too impatient, put him on his back, and gave him the same treatment I had given Raúl, taking him to the brink again and again. Ingrid copied me with Memo and we made both of them last, long and wet, until they were left spent on the sand.

When we were covered in sand, the four of us went into the sea naked. After a while other couples from the area joined us, imitating us, and the night turned into a game of bodies brushing against each other in the warm water with no commitment other than the pleasure of the moment.

On the way back to the hotel, Ingrid was quiet, thoughtful. At reception, Raúl and Diana were still there, and they asked us how it had gone. She looked at them, looked at me, and finally spoke.

—What an amazing country this is —she said, still breathless—. People who really want to join you, even if only for a while, with no commitment and no jealousy. I love this place. And I love you, whatever you are: lesbian, bisexual, or whatever you want to call it.

I kissed her slowly, right there, in front of the smiling couple.

—One comes with a clear mind, to meditate —she laughed softly against my mouth—, and look how it ends up.