John did in fact think of something. We cobbled together a kind of picnic (complete with wine left for us by the owner of the villa), and made our way down the narrow path to the beach itself. The sea breeze wasn’t too cold, but the cove sheltered most of it anyway. When we’d set ourselves up on the beach, I could finally relax properly. I’d made it here safely, to spend two whole weeks in the sun in a new country, all with John. Presently, the aforementioned was devouring a bowl of crisps.

–“Let’s have one, then,”– I reached for a crisp out of the bowl.

John gave me one of his looks.

–“Oh, you can have ONE, alright,”– he smiled under his breath, then launched himself right at me and seized me by the mouth with his own. I shrieked, completely taken by surprise, but in the best way possible. His hand went to my face to hold me there, and I shifted myself to sit on his lap, which made him pursue me with even more force. John sighed into my mouth. Desperately, I hoped this was a completely private beach, but as soon as he moved his hands under my shirt, I completely forgot about my concerns.

In a cunning way of my own, I found my way up his shirt, and gently teased his shoulders with my fingers, which elicited a groan of pleasure from him. I felt it in my own mouth, and lower too. Were we really going to do it on the beach?

–“John! We’re in public, remember?”– I reminded him.

He stopped in his tracks and broke away.

–“You made me forget,”– he complained in a whiney way. Why did that turn me on more?

–“We should be enjoying the view and the food now, anyway,”– I joked, before moving in close, –“we have plenty of time later, completely alone”–.

He got that lusty look in his eyes again, which I’d so missed over the last week.

–“I think I can manage that,”– he grinned, before unceremoniously dumping me off his lap.

To take my mind off what he’d done (and was still continuing to do) to me, I took a crisp from the bowl that had started our little venture. We sat together, enjoying the view of the white-crested waves lapping at the shore, and listening to the sound they made echoing around the cove. I’d never felt so at ease in my life. John looked happy, too, finally free of his workload for a few weeks - I still couldn’t believe I’d bunked off work, too, and they’d trusted me!

I took a sip of wine from my glass, before laying back on the sand.

–“We should visit somewhere tomorrow,”– I suggested, staring up at the cloudless evening sky, –“we should be proper tourists and go somewhere famous”–.

I couldn’t see John from my position, but he sounded keen from his reply.

–“We passed through a big town on the way here. Caltagirone, was it?”–

–“The name rings a bell,”– I confirmed.

“There must be touristy things to do there,” he said, “we can go there if you want.”

–“I’m cool with whatever, so long as we go together,”– I reached for his hand, which he let me take gratefully. Within seconds, he’d pulled me up so I was resting my head on his lap, much like on the plane, and he ran a hand through my hair. I turned to look up at him - he looked the most content I’d seen him yet. I was so lucky to be here.