“Now that’s a view,” he said. “Come over here.”
“I’m not sure I should,” she replied, but she shuffled across the boat all the same, settling herself comfortably between Ben’s thighs, her back against his chest, her head resting beneath his chin.
“Mmm, this is cosy, isn’t it?” he crooned into her ear. He reached for the basket of strawberries and took one, then popped it into Vanessa’s mouth. She returned the gesture and he took the fruit from her fingertips, sucking on them a little before he let her withdraw.
Vanessa twisted her neck, presenting her mouth for a kiss, which Ben was only too happy to provide. They smooched like that for a while, the boat rocking gently, the trees whispering overhead, until Ben moved his hands down to her breasts, cupping them, fondling her nipples. She shimmied her hips, pushing back onto his erection, confined for now in his jeans, enjoying the sensation of his fingers delving inside her bra cups.
“Ben,” she whispered warningly when their kiss broke off for a moment. “Don’t get carried away.”
“Why not? I want to get carried away. I want to carry you away.”
“You’re a naughty boy.”
“I know. That’s why I’m here, isn’t it?”
He squeezed her breasts together, pushing his fingertips into the soft flesh. Vanessa felt a damp heat in her knickers and she pressed her legs into one another and tried to squirm it out, but she had crossed the line now, too aroused to turn back.
What was more, her lover’s fingers were taking a slow walk down across her stomach towards the source of that damp heat. It wouldn’t be long before they found it.
“Anyone could come past,” she hissed, trying to push his wrist aside, but he persisted, reaching the very edge of her knicker elastic.
“Look—no,” she said, trying to stand and escape his attentions. “This is too public.” She jerked herself forward, staggering to her feet. He tried to stand too, stretching out his arms for her. The boat lurched violently, side to side.
Vanessa began to sway, reaching out to steady herself, but there was nothing to hold on to. Inexorably, as if in slow motion, she toppled forwards, and so did the boat.
In less than a second, it had tipped both its occupants, not to mention the basket of strawberries, into the shallows. A pair of ducks made a panicked escape, quacking loudly, while Vanessa screamed for a moment. Then, when Ben emerged, dripping, from the waters, she began to laugh.
They both collapsed into hysterical laughter, chasing each other around the lake bed, trying to retrieve their dress and shirt from the water. Once the boat was righted and the sodden clothes piled into it, they left it to drift while they played a waterlogged game of chase, yelping and giggling as they tried to wade quickly. Ben was the hunter, Vanessa the hunted, and she tottered around, her sandals sinking into the soft mud of the lake bed, until Ben caught her and dragged her down with him into the sun-warmed, but still chilly, waters.
“Come on,” he said gruffly, leading her towards the shore. “These jeans are dragging me down to the core of the earth. Let’s get out of the water.”
“Oh, God,” shivered Vanessa. “What are we going to do? Our clothes?”
Ben tied the boat to a tree then reached in for the wet clothes.
“Nothing else for it but to wait until they dry out,” he said. “Let’s find a likely spot.”
They were on a small island in the lake’s centre. It was gently wooded, mainly with weeping willows. Ben found a bush on which to drape the clothes, then he removed his jeans, with some difficulty, and went to lie down on a patch of springy grass. Stretched out in his underpants and water-speckled sunglasses, he looked like an elemental creature of nature.
“How long will it take?” asked Vanessa, looking doubtfully at the makeshift washing line. Her bra and panties were soaked through. She took off her sandals, which were suede and consequently ruined, and felt the softness under her feet.
“I don’t know. Couple of hours. If the sun stays out.”
She sat down beside Ben, hugging her knees.
“More like three,” she said. “What are we going to do until then?”
Ben propped himself up on an elbow, grinning.
“I’ll give you three guesses.”
“Ben. I’m soaking wet.” She rolled her eyes.
“I know you are. You were before you ever fell in that lake.”
“Stop it. I’m cold.”
“You need warming up, then.”