Chapter 46 Special Chapter Two

Tan looked back at Elaine who’s catching her breath and leaning her hand on the tree he just passed by. He smiled when she looked at him. She waved and signalled for him to go ahead. But instead of doing so, he went back for her.

Tan took the insulated water bottle from his bag’s side pocket, opened it and handed it to her. He took the back she was carrying. Elaine wanted to protest but she didn’t have the strength. She knew it wasn’t heavy because she made sure to put just a first aid kit, one hundred ml mineral water and some crackers in it before they started to climb.

Tan hired a guide and porter to carry their bags and tents for them. Elaine brought a lot of stuff... From ready-to-eat food to sleeping gear. While he just brought a survival kit and first aid kit aside from clothes good for two days of camping.

The climb was easy, he realized. They had to cross a somewhat deep river with big rocks a while ago but since the current wasn’t that strong, they didn’t have a hard time. But when they entered a forest trail, Elaine started to chase her breath and get weak. The heat from being secluded around the high grasses and bamboo trees caused her to have difficulty breathing. He made her take a rest but she was excited to get to the summit, she would only stop for a while and walk again. She’d be ahead a few minutes only to be overtaken by him again.

Tan smiled thoughtfully. He couldn’t believe she would run out of energy. It was Elaine’s first time to climb and though she was thrilled about it, she was obviously struggling. She was excited for days to climb the mountain and to stay overnight in the white sand of Anawangin Cove. Last night, she barely slept. Danielle picked her up from Mang Chito’s bistro yesterday afternoon. The girls stayed overnight at De Marco Beach Resort owned by his uncle Dave Lawrence De Marco.

He hasn’t seen Elaine for almost a week since his duty was continuous. He arrived at the resort with Gian at two in the early morning. His cousin waited for him so he’d have company for the trip from Manila. He hasn’t slept so he was thankful for his cousin’s offer to drive to Zambales.

Tan has been worried since yesterday that he might not make it to the camping. It was already four in the afternoon yesterday, his leave-which he filed more than two weeks ago- hasn’t been approved yet. He didn’t want to miss their first climb and adventure together that’s why he didn’t hesitate to name drop and use his father just to get the approval sooner.

Elaine removed her jacket and gave it to him. He was surprised that instead of drinking the water she poured it over herself.

“You should have drunk it. Your sweat…”

“You and your medical beliefs. I left some of it. Drink it while it’s cold,” she said, giving him back the bottle of water which was half full.

“Just drink it. I still have one bottle inside my bag.”

“I just drunk,” he replied. “Let’s go.”

“Rest awhile,” trying to restrain her.

“I don’t to. I want to get down right away so you could pitch the tent in front of the sea.”

“We’ve got time. If you want to extend for another night, that’s okay.”

He pulled the hood of her jacket when she started to walk again. Elaine was pulled back. She glared at him.

“We have a lot of time. Just rest for a while.”

“The other campers might beat us in pitching the tent—”

While on the way, he heard her asking Danielle which is the best part of the island where it would be nice to pitch a tent, away from the others if possible.

“Jesus, why are you so into that spot? The island is spacious.”

Elaine raised her eyes at him. Creased her forehead when she grinned. “I’d like to do it with you there. Don’t you want to? Let’s go.”

Amused, Tan laughed and pinched her nose. “Silly,” he said, then tightly held her hand and guided her to sit on a tree stump by the side of the road.

It was past ten in the morning when Tan and Elaine arrived at Anawangin Cove. Danielle and Gian are both experienced hikers who have been on the island a few minutes ahead of them. They’re done pitching their tent and are now preparing lunch. Because it’s a weekend, there’s quite a lot of campers.

Elaine was disappointed. She was right. Someone else beat them to the punch. There was already a tent on her chosen spot!

They ended up setting up their tent just a few meters away from Danielle and Gian’s. Inside the tent, Elaine changed into her swimwear. It was a two-piece bikini given by Danielle last month.

She wasn’t joking when she said she wanted to do “it” in the tent with Tan. They’d been together for months now. But they hadn’t done “it” yet because her boyfriend has been avoiding it. She isn’t questioning his manhood, she was sure he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

She could feel him rock-hard every time they kissed. With just a stare, she could hear his heavy breathing. She just doesn’t get why he had to restrain himself each time. That’s where they’ve headed anyway because she has no plans of stopping him if he’d ask for it one day.

At twenty-one, she hasn’t given herself to anyone. Men would not dare touch her—because she is not the type of girl who’d allow just any guy to touch her. But Tan was different. Every time he’s near, every time she smells his warm and fragrant breath, she feels as if the butterflies in her stomach are having a riot. Tan was like a god. He had this kind of charm that could make every woman’s knees melt and heart race all at the same time.

And Elaine missed him a lot. They haven’t seen each other for several days because he was in the hospital the whole week. Though they kept their communication open, that’s not enough for her. She was very excited to see him so she was ecstatic to find out he’s able to make it after all. Her heart skipped a few beats when finally she saw him got off the car. But aside from a kiss on the forehead, pulling her close and a quick kiss on the lips sometimes, there weren’t any other more intimate things he’d do. While she had several plans in her head.

Certainly, she is a little bit disappointed. If only she could get him alone in the remaining time inside the suite, she would’ve done it because she missed him terribly. She wanted him now more than ever. She wanted to surrender herself to him. Prove to him how much she loved him—that she didn’t have anyone else in mind to give herself to but him, always. And if he wanted to do “it” tonight, inside this very tent, she won’t refuse.

Elaine checked herself again, exhaled and decided to come out of the big tent. She was on her way when Tan got inside. She smiled even more. She saw he was taken aback for a while upon seeing her.

“So, how do I look?” she asked and placed one hand on her waist like a candidate in the Miss Universe pageant.

Tan looked her over down from her face. When his eyes moved down to her breasts, he tried not to make it obvious that he tensed. He was not doing anything yet but just his intense gaze, she could almost feel a frisson of emotions starting to rush through her.

Tan’s eyes were glued for a while on her chest which is covered with a tiny piece of cloth. But instead of moving further down, he brought back his attention to her face. Then he proceeded to hand her the bag.

Elaine tried to stop the budding excitement in her chest. Dear God, Is he looking for a condom in his hiking backpack? It’s not dark yet.

But wait, how will they do it? In a while, Danielle or Gian might come to call them to bathe. Aside from that, the tourists are still bustling around.

Talking about wrong timing, she groaned.

Ah, never mind, She could cover her mouth so no moan would be heard. But condom and their first time to do it? What was this good-looking jerk thinking?

“Tan, first-time ko… I don’t want a cond—”

She stopped midsentence when the guy looked back at her. She creased her forehead when he handed her hiking shorts.

“What’s this for?”

“Wear it. The bikini’s too revealing, I don’t want to find enemies in this vacation. Come out when you’re ready. There’s a lake at the end, I’ll take your picture there while there aren’t many people.”

Elaine removed her hands from her waist. She came all the way here to seduce this man but on the first step of the plan, she already thinks success is unlikely.

Before she could protest, the guy quickly made his way outside the tent. She just scratched her brows. Why would she wear a two-piece only to cover it with hiking shorts? Nonetheless, she wore it with a pout and followed him.

They took a lot of photos, Elaine forgot her disappointment for a while. It only resurfaced around three in the afternoon. Danielle was on the beach while Gian and Tan were starting to brainstorm what food to eat for dinner. Both her and Danielle know nothing about cooking so the guys are in charge.

Danielle was busy wading in the water while Elaine was sitting facing the sunset discussing with herself. She was quietly planning something to make sure she prevails with what she wants to happen. Tan gets drunk easily and Gian brought whiskey. The first time Tan got drunk, she remembered he kissed her—which was the reason they got together then.

But he could not remember kissing her when he woke up the next day. What if he also forgets that something happened to them? She might not just break his rib. She grimaced at the thought. She could not do that to him.

Three or four shots of whiskey—how many shots did it take before? When she couldn’t remember, she decided to go with two, there might be no action if he gets completely knocked out.

She was still thinking about it when Tan went near her. He stood by her side. She looked at the thing he handed to her. Sunblock lotion.

“The sun’s still out. You might get sunburned,” he said, not even looking at her.

Elaine suddenly had an idea. Perhaps she needed to set up the mood first. Just like in boxing, warm up first before the main event.

She looked up. “Let’s go to the tent, Tan. Could you put lotion on me in there?On my whole body?” she asked, with tantalizing eyes and swallowing her remaining pride.

The guy looked at her. “I left a barbecue on the grill. It might burn,” he replied.

The smile on her lips faded. He’d really put the barbecue first? “Gian is there.”

“He’d bathe in a while.”

She looked sharply at him. “Is making love with me very much to ask, Dr. Tan De Marco? Admit it to me. Don’t you like me anymore? Am I not beautiful? Am I not sexy enough by rich people standard? Oh right, you’re a doctor. You are used to seeing naked bodies.”

“That’s unfair…”

“Unfair? You’re unfair, Tan. You are the only rice grain who refuses a desperate and flirty chicken.What ekse do you want me to do? Strip dance in front of you?”

Elaine heard him laugh softly. She looked at him, glaring. Tan removed the smile on his face but she could still see his dark eyes dancing in amusement.

“If you don’t want to, then let’s just break up so I may find myself a boyfriend who will follow me to the tent to do what I want to do!”

She bit her tongue. She did not mean that. But she’s annoyed. Tan was making her feel desperate and unattractive. She was about to stand and walk out but Tan was able to stop her in time. He took a deep breath and sat beside her. He looked hurt by her last statement.

Elaine got guilty. Why was she so immature? Before she was able to speak to take back her word, he already took her hand. Her eyes widened when he brought it to a hard thing that’s obviously bulging between his legs. She immediately removed her hand when she felt it twitch. Suddenly her face became so warm- as warm as Tan’s hard erection though it’s hidden by in his shorts.

“Scared?” he asked, passion and desire were burning in his eyes. Elaine was tongue-tied. “Since I saw you early this morning, until this time, I’ve been struggling to control myself,” he said, his voice deeper and huskier than usual. “Stop seducing me for your own sake, sweetheart. My restraint not to take you right here right now is hanging by a thread. I don’t mind having people around.”

She swallowed. She felt her face turning beet red. Tan and she are staring at each other. She could hear her heart is beating hard although she wonders if it was just her heart or Tan’s as well.

He sighed, noticing she was stunned. “See, you aren’t even ready for this yet.”

“I-I’ve been watching porn for weeks… Too much porn…”

Tan gave her an amused smile. The expression on his face became gentler although seriousness and lust were still visible in his eyes. “That and what I am going to do with you when the right time comes are two different things, Elaine.”

“I just miss you… That’s why I’m the way I am…” she admitted. She wanted to look away but she can’t. His stare makes her weak in the knees.

“And I’ve missed you, too, so much. No minute or hour that I don’t,” he answered in a sincere tone.

Tan traced her eyebrows with the pad of his thumb before his gaze fell and lingered on her slightly parted lips. The warmth of his breath was inviting and destabilizing—weakening her very core.

When he claimed her mouth, she shut her eyes close. She couldn’t care less about the people who can see them. She could only focus on how soft Tan’s lips felt against her mouth.

Elaine swallowed when Tan released her lips. He pulled her in for a hug

“Tan, I did not mean what I said earlier…” she said.

He nodded. “I know. Don’t ever think even for a minute that you are undesirable, Elaine. No matter how many decades pass, you’ll remain beautiful and desirable in my eyes,” he said, as he tightened his embrace. “But I love you and respect you as much as I want you. You can call me old-fashioned or what but I’d take you to the altar first before I do everything I want with you. I will make love with you for sure in wild abandon—in the right place, at the right time… red roses underneath.”

Elaine felt her heart was being caressed from what she heard. Together they turned towards the setting sun. She looked at him when she felt him pushing her head down. They smiled.

Tan kept his words. He took her with gentleness, passion, and respect on a bed full of red roses on the night of their wedding—literally!