Page 29 of The Explorer
“No. But I should warn you. He’s an Explorer and those people are extreme.”
I laughed. “I know.”
She laughed with me. “No, you don’t understand. There was a show that followed their work. These people walk into polluted areas, sleep outside, and use the wilderness as a bathroom.” She wrinkled her nose when she said the last part.
With the drink in my system I found her amusing. “Have you never taken a shit in the wild?”
“Absolutely not. But Explorers do. Everybody knows they aren’t normal. I mean this in the best way; be careful who you associate with. Explorers like your friend over there are almost always criminals or illiterate people.”
I couldn’t take her comments seriously. “Are you saying that how well a person reads and writes determines if they are good people?”
Lucille swung a hand. “You would understand it if you were from here.”
“Yeah, but I’m not. As I see it these brave men and women risk their lives for your future. For weeks at a time, they give up on comforts like running hot water and modern toilets to go and clean up the world for future generations. Problem is that the rest of you are a bunch of entitled pricks who don’t appreciate the hard work they do for you.”
Lucille’s eyes widened and her lips made a small “oh” expression.
“That’s right. Banni and his people shouldn’t be treated as outcasts. They should be celebrated as fucking heroes.”
Looking in Banni’s direction, I saw that he was still talking with three women who were hanging on his every word. “At least those women seem to appreciate him.”
Following my gaze, Lucille dipped her head a little. “This place attracts people who are drawn to trouble. Danger can be addictive, and Banni was a favorite from the show that followed the Explorers. I too find him attractive but then I was always drawn to the dangerous and troubled type.” She moved a little closer and placed her hand on my thigh.
Tilting my head, I looked down at her hand and back to her face. “You think I’m dangerous?” She couldn’t have chosen a better compliment.
The right side of her lips lifted in another seductive smile. “The right kind of dangerous. There’s something incredibly sexy about you. Your energy is strong and almost masculine. I feel like you would punish me if it pleased you.”
That made me laugh. “You mean like spank you?”
“Only if you want to. I already told you everyone in this club wants you, myself included.”
I didn’t know what to say and I think Lucille sensed my underlying uncertainty.
Taking my hand, she played with it. “Have you ever been with a woman?”
“Not yet.”
A seductive smile played over her lips. “Would you like to?”
I smiled back and pushed through my inner resistance. “Mm-hmm.”
She looked pleased as she sat watching me with her nail running in circles on the inside of my wrist. “Good.” Leaning closer, Lucille whispered in my ear. “Your friend is keeping a close eye on us.”
Turning my head toward Indiana, I saw that Lucille was right. He was watching us and our eyes locked. Sitting opposite us on a leather seat, he was surrounded by sexy women trying to get his attention.
Indiana kept staring at me with a sullen expression on his face as if he was willing me to connect to him instead of the beautiful woman next to me.
“How about we ask him to join us for some fun?” Lucille’s whispering in my ear made me blink my eyes and try to break the strong connection between Indiana and me.
Seeing him sit with his strong legs slightly spread and his arm resting on the back of the seat, he looked so handsome and rough. It was the weirdest sensation because I had never thought of Indiana in a sexual way before. Maybe it was the flirtatious energy between Lucille and me, or her indication that we should ask him to join us in a threesome, that made me see my friend with a new set of eyes.
I had seen him half-dressed many times when we went swimming, but as he sat with the blue shirt that I’d picked out for him, he looked… My brain was scrambling in confusion because I shouldn’t think of my friend that way, but swallowing hard, I allowed the word to form in my mind. Indiana looked bloody sexy and the second I admitted it, my gaze broke free from him and zoomed in on the women jockeying for his attention.
“What do you think?” Lucille purred next to me. “I’m up for some fun, are you?”
It was like I had tunnel vision and couldn’t see anything but Indiana. Why hadn’t I ever seen how attractive he was with that trimmed beard and broad shoulders? His lips were… wow, why didn’t I ever notice how full his lips were? Without thinking about it, I licked my own lips and heard Lucille laugh beside me. “Oooh, I can tell you like my idea of a threesome. Would you like me to invite him, or do you want to do it?”
I had felt sexual desire before, but never toward Indiana, whom I’d always considered one of my closest friends. I couldn’t invite him to be in a threesome with me. He would scoff at the idea. Indiana didn’t like me that way. He was here because he knew my father would have never forgiven him if he’d let me stay in France without protection.
