Jade by Olivia Rigal Read Free Book Online

try to think of something witty to say; something to hint that I would like him to take the initiative. The words that come to my mind seem inappropriate. I can’t really say that I’d rather have a delivery than a pick-up… that would sound really creepy.
    He puts me out of my misery and comes to my rescue reaching out for me.  
    “So here we go, this is Kissing 102.” 
    He puts a foot on the rock for support. His lips reach mine, and I now know for a fact that he doesn’t have a bathing suit on. I don’t back away, but I need to fight my impulse to lean into him. His kiss is a delicious tease, and his tongue flickers between my lips.
    Suddenly, all those expressions that did not make sense to me take on new meaning. Good heavens, I do need to remind myself to breathe, and it does feel like heat is pooling between my legs. 
    The scientist in me wishes there was a way to stop the clock or maybe do a replay. That would be cool: I could just savor the moment and then do it again to dissect every single delicious sensation.
    He pulls away, and says, “Now you show me. This is not figure skating, it’s free-style. You choose what you want to do.”
    It’s funny to use an ice skating metaphor when it’s so hot, but it’s a good image.
    I take his face in my hands and give it a try. I caress his lips with mine, and then I nibble on his lower lip. His mouth opens, and I go in for a visit. I’m so absorbed by my exploration that I lose my footing. He catches me by the waist but the moss is slippery, and I drag him down with me. We both fall. I continue to kiss him underwater until I run out of air, and need to come back to the surface. I’m out of breath, and I’m feeling giddy. It’s so unlike me that I hardly recognize myself.
    “You’re a fast learner.”
    “That’s because I had an exceptional teacher.” 
    He seems happy with this answer. He lightly brushes my lips with his, and says, “Come on, let’s go for breakfast. I’m famished.” 
     
    ❦
     
    After breakfast Oliver goes into town. 
    I visit the kitchen, and Cook gives me sticky rice and coconut chicken wrapped in a leaf before I run away to the Xieng Thong temple. I spend my afternoon contemplating the tree of life wall painting, reading a novel on my tablet, and daydreaming about Oliver. 
    I realize I’m humming Mika’s song, Underwater, while questions collide in my head, and I can’t seem to put them in any form of articulate order. 
    I remember reading an article on the result of an MRI study about the incidence of a blossoming romance on the frontal cortex activity. It showed that the part of the brain that plays a role in judgment can be deactivated to the point that the subject loses some of its sense of fear and capacity for rational decisions. The conclusion of the author of the study was that this brain over-ride process serves a biological purpose: the perpetuation of the species through reproduction.
    Now, obviously, I’m not that far gone. Hey, I don’t want to reproduce, per se, but I’d like to learn a little more about the reproduction process. 
    Don’t get me wrong, I don’t need a refresher course about the theory. That’s something I have down pat. Hell, I can even describe with great details the mating process of numerous mammal species. 
    What I need is “hands on” experimentation. I think it would be a shame to run into another leopard and die a virgin! 
    I just decided that Oliver’s the right guy to try this out with. It’s perfect, because he seems to know what he’s doing and also because it shouldn’t get emotionally messy. In a few weeks I’ll be back halfway around the world. I just need to figure out the logistics for this to happen.
    Oh crap, where is Agatha when I need her?
     
    ❦
     
    On my way back to the camp, I make a house call to my first local patient. I find the cow and the boy downstream again, a short distance from where I had met them initially. The boy does not shoot up the