Page 52 of Maximum
CHAPTER 14
Cult Leader
Maximum
My body felt sore when I woke up—the same kind of sore as from the times I’d been on the bottom of a pile of heavy rugby players. This time, however, the reason for my achy muscles made me smile.
Fleur and I had repeatedly found each other throughout the night, and with each time we made love, she became braver. She had started whispering in my ear about positions she wanted to try. Some of them were new to me but I was happy to comply, and grateful that I was a fit athlete.
My core muscles burned like I’d done a thousand sit-ups or kept a plank position for an hour. It was a sweet sort of pain knowing that I’d brought Fleur to one screaming orgasm after another. We had wild sexual chemistry and she no longer protested when I called her mine. Still, I was longing to hear her say it back and confirm that we were a couple now, which was sort of ironic since I’d avoided relationships for so long.
Strange sounds coming from the outside made me get out of bed and walk to the French doors leading to our private outside area, which included a small pool and a patio.
Pulling the curtains aside, I blinked my eyes. “What the fu…” I stared but backed up to the bed, feeling for Fleur’s foot behind me and clasping it firmly. “Wake up.”
A groan sounded from her, but I still didn’t look at her. Squeezing my hand tighter on her foot, I spoke with urgency in my tone. “Fleur, wake up!”
“What is it?” Her voice was drowsy, and in my peripheral view I saw her sit up and rub her eyes.
“Fleur, look outside.”
She did and crawled out of bed. Like me, she was naked, but she didn’t seem to care when she walked to the double doors with a low cooing sound. “Aww… look at that.”
Outside were at least seven elephants and a full herd of zebras. One of the elephants was drinking from our pool and on the patio sat two small monkeys.
When she reached for the doorknob, I stopped her. “We should put on some clothes first.”
We dressed in silence and I made sure to grab my camera before we walked outside. From my time in Asia, I knew monkeys were curious and liked to investigate hotel rooms, so I made sure to close the doors behind us.
“Isn’t this amazing, Max.” Fleur sat down on the steps leading from the patio to the pool area while I snapped pictures and video.
“Good morning from South Africa where we just woke up to some visitors outside our suite,” I narrated and filmed the large elephants and zebras, before zooming in on Fleur. “I’m not sure if this is normal or because of Miss Dolittle here.”
Fleur had that peaceful smile on her lips that always came out when she was near animals. One of the monkeys was touching her legs and investigating her shorts, probably looking for food.
“This little guy is limping because he got his right leg stuck in a car door when a tourist didn’t see him sneak in.”
“He told you that?”
Fleur looked into the camera. “Yes.”
When the monkey climbed to sit on Fleur’s shoulder, holding on to her hair, she stood up and moved around the pool. The elephants seemed calm and the zebras were grazing not far from us. I kept filming as Fleur walked down to greet them and I literally gasped out loud when I saw their collective reaction to her. It was like they’d all been waiting for her to wake up and they moved closer, as if she was a familiar face they trusted. Fleur didn’t walk up to touch any of the animals. Instead she lowered herself to the ground and crossed her legs with her knees pointing out. The monkey crawled down and sat next to her. Two other monkeys joined them, one nestling into her lap, but still Fleur didn’t touch them. She just let the monkeys play with her hair and groom her like they would each other.
“Okay, people, how do you explain this behavior?” I asked the camera, knowing I’d have to show this to my family and friends so they could understand why Fleur Linden was extraordinary.
Around Fleur, some of the elephants and zebras began sitting or lying down and even from the thirty-meter distance between Fleur and me, I felt a wave of calmness. She had told me about her “be at peace” meditation, which she’d done with the lions that first morning when she walked out to meet them. The pull in me to be a part of it was so strong that I walked down to sit beside her.
For ten or fifteen minutes I was in a bubble of awe that I got to be part of this experience, just letting happiness flow over me without a care in the world. My love for Fleur was overflowing and, in my mind, I had this vision that I was a tree growing roots, but my roots weren’t seeking downward for nourishment and strength, they were growing horizontal toward the woman next to me. Fleur was like an extension of nature itself, and her presence grounded me. No wonder a rootless traveler like myself was drawn to her.
“Are you starting Noah’s ark or something?” The Australian accent of the male voice breaking through our meditation told me it was Mike.
Opening my eyes, I saw him approach us with a big grin. “Told you the lodge offers the best safari experiences, didn’t I?”
“Is this normal?” I asked with a nod to the twenty or so animals.
“We’ve had animals come close before, but they usually don’t hang around like this. Especially not the giraffes.” He nodded to his left and only now did I see two giraffes nibbling from some nearby trees.
“It’s ironic because we sent off the other guests on an early morning safari to see game, and then they’ll see this magnificent sight when they return for breakfast in a few minutes.”
