The winter had hit hard, and I’d fucking had it with the cold. When it wasn’t snowing, the sky felt frozen and the wind dug at me with icy fingers. When it did snow — and it did, a lot — it came down mercilessly. The city plows were out all the time, but the streets were always a mess.

Getting around on foot was an exercise in masochism. I had to dress like I was going out on a glacier, and even then, the cold still found a way to get to me. Everyone I encountered bitched about stiff joints and numb toes.

The weather affected my sex life as well. I had a nice passel of women who I’d been seeing for naked frolics, but they were feeling less and less frolicsome. The cold put people in a foul mood — myself included.

I woke up in the morning to gray, and it only got grayer and chillier from there. The sun was just a rumor, and the thought of going out without multiple layers seemed like the dream of a madman.

I was miserable and horny, and I needed a solution.

One evening I was grimly channel-surfing and happened on a travelogue show. Some nitwit was babbling about how papayas were grown, but I looked past him to gaze at the surrounding scenery.

The tropics. Glowing beaches, lush greenery, colorful birds. Palm trees reached toward a sky so blue it looked fake. The sun shone down, and I could tell just by looking that the temperature was that of a luxuriant bath.

A dormant part of me stirred. It was the part that remembered warmth, that knew it was feasible to be outdoors shirtless. That the world wasn’t really a frozen wasteland. That somewhere, somehow, it was warm and restful and lovely. I could be happy again, all from a change of venue.

I wasn’t rich, though. I could travel, but I wouldn’t be indulging in luxurious accommodations. Glancing out my window at the dismal, snowy cityscape, I quickly realized luxury wasn’t the point. I’d be happy in the cheapest shack of a motel if I could walk with warm sand underfoot and feel the sun on my skin.

The idea even stirred my cock. They say there’s nothing like vacation sex, and I figured at the very least I’d have fun trying to get some.

So I finagled some time off from work, searched tirelessly for a cheap flight south, and finally set out for warmer climes.

There was a breathless excitement to my venture. I didn’t do stuff like this. Most of my life I’d been cautious, making sure of every step before I made it. The only part of my life, frankly, where I’d shown some balls was with sex. In that arena I’d been adventurous and had lots of happy memories. But I hadn’t flown halfway around the world and made love to a stranger. Maybe it was time I righted that oversight.

On the long flight, I contemplated the notion, and the fantasy took on a life of its own.

Probably it was just my brain unfreezing, but I quickly began unwinding during my journey. My muscles were loosening, my nerves were soothed, and I wasn’t braced for the next blast of frigid air. The place I was going to promised to have a more tolerable climate.

When I, at last, walked out of the airport at my destination, the humidity stuck my shirt to my back, but the sun dazzled me. Heat — not warmth, heat — penetrated me to my core. I let out an unselfconscious sigh, and a few locals laughed at the exhilarated tourist. I didn’t mind at all.

I especially didn’t mind how much bare female flesh was on display. Everyone looked healthy and vibrant and alive. Not getting snowed in for months at a time obviously was good for a person.

It was a beach town, so I checked in at my cheap accommodations and headed for the shore in swim trunks. I was managing the language well enough, and everyone seemed friendly.

The ocean was a sparkling expanse, and the waves came in leisurely. I was walking toward the water in a happy, relaxed daze when I realized no one else was wearing clothes. My steps hitched. All around were healthy, glistening bodies — women and men, everybody at ease.

I wondered if all the beaches there were like this or if I’d stumbled on the local nudie hotspot. It didn’t really matter. But I had to make a decision — join in or go somewhere else. For the first time in my life, I felt embarrassed for being dressed.

So I peeled off my trunks. The sun coated me with its soothing rays. The breeze off the water touched every part me. I’d never been naked in public before like this. It was quietly thrilling, and the nude women all around were a lovely sight.

I knew it would be bad form to get a hard-on in such a situation, so I hurried down to the water and waded out. The sea was warm, and I swam out a little with colorful fish darting left and right.

Someone else was swimming just ahead of me. I saw the lithe female figure in the crystal-clear sea. The woman was beautiful, gliding through the water, her movements graceful and strong. Her hair streamed out behind her, and her body was perfectly toned.

She had on only a snorkel mask. I couldn’t help but take in the lush swells of her ass as she flexed her body. Her breasts were full, and every inch of her had been exposed to the sun — with no hint of a tan line anywhere.

I’d been swimming under the surface, and I finally went up for air. I also didn’t want to be caught ogling her from behind, especially as my cock had started to stir.

When I broke through the water and filled my lungs with air, I saw she’d come up as well. Deftly she treaded water. She took off the snorkel, pushed her hair off her face and gave me a long look. I winced because I felt she must have seen me eyeing her. Nude beach or not, I had no right to stare at her like that.

Using the same graceful strokes as before, she swam toward me. When she got close enough, I was relieved to see she didn’t look angry. She said something in the local tongue, and I brokenly asked her to repeat it slowly.

A grin cut across her face, her teeth dazzling in the sun.

“You’re American?” she responded in perfectly clear English.

“How can you tell?” I replied as I treaded water. The beach was distant enough that no one there could see us clearly. We likely appeared to be two bobbing heads to anyone observing us from the shore.

She laughed, and it was a lovely sound. Then she said, “You look like you’ve come from somewhere cold.” She paddled nearer and said, “I should give you our traditional welcome.” Laughing again, she reached boldly toward me and closed her hand around my cock.

I absolutely froze, as if I was back in my snowbound city, cast out naked into the icy streets. But there was no cold, and my blood pumped fast and hot. Desire bloomed in me with all the heat of the surrounding tropics. My dick grew helplessly hard in her grip.

But my arousal didn’t make the situation any less outrageous. How brazen she was! Even so, I didn’t sense any malice. She wasn’t making fun of the visitor; I didn’t think her action was some kind of trick on her part. And damn, her hand felt good on my now fully engorged shaft. She tugged on it gently.

Fighting to keep my voice steady, I said, “You have wonderful customs here.” I would play along. If this was just some playful teasing, so be it. But if she was serious, I was, too.

“I would like to kiss you,” she confessed and waited for my response.

I didn’t point out that it was strange to ask permission for a smooch when she already had a fistful of my cock. Instead, I simply said, “Then you should kiss me.”

She leaned toward me, and I put my mouth against hers. I tasted sea salt on her lips, which were lovely and full and smooth, and she moved them against mine. Slowly our tongues tangled; it was a long kiss — wet and deep like the sea.

She let go of my cock, but the intimacy and connection remained between us. I introduced myself by saying, “My name is Kevin.”

“I am Marta.”

“That’s a beautiful name, and you’re a beautiful woman.”

“Ah, a flattering American. How wonderful. Perhaps you would like to join me for a meal. My home isn’t far from here.”

It sounded marvelous, but I didn’t want to go back onto the beach with a flagrant hard-on.

“I’d love to,” I said. “But, um, could we wait a few minutes?”

She reached out and brushed her fingers along my cheek as she said, “Time is leisurely here, Kevin. We’ll go whenever you are ready to go.”

It was all a bit backwards. However, I couldn’t help but grin at the whole situation. Later that day, we ate a fine, civilized meal at her home. We talked about ourselves. She’d gone to school in America. Yet, just a short time ago she had held my hard cock in her hand. It was like we’d started out with the sexual antics and were circling back around for the romantic date.

Marta was a lovely person, through and through. I realized with a start that I could actually fall for this woman. Not only had my bones thawed out in these torrid tropics, but apparently my heart was unfreezing, too.

After night had fallen, we went for a walk together, barefoot.

“It’s a beautiful night,” I said, looking up at the incredibly bright stars. “But I guess most nights are here.”

She laughed softly, her voice a musical tinkling in the gentle dark. We walked along a dirt path with greenery overflowing on either side of the road. I heard waves splashing in the distance and smelled the salty air.

“Perhaps we should finish what we started earlier,” she said as we walked out onto the vacant stretch of starlit beach. She sounded almost shy. Again, everything seemed backwards.

My desire swelled as I took her into my arms. We kissed, and it was as delicious and electric as the first time. She pressed her body against me. She wore only a thin dress, and I felt the swells of her breasts and the rising hardness of her nipples through the material.

Our tongues swirled together. Her hands moved on me, tugging at my clothing and stripping me naked. There was no one else on the beach, so my inhibitions were nonexistent.

I slipped the dress off her shoulders, and it pooled around her ankles. Her body was bare beneath, her skin gleaming and smooth. My cock surged to full hardness. My flesh tingled as I felt the sweet currents of arousal flowing between us.

Earlier, when we were in the water she’d boldly reached between my legs. Now, I did the same to her, slipping a fingertip along her slick groove. She made a mewling sound of pleasure, and I pushed my cock against her belly.

Sexual energy crackled between us, so intense I wouldn’t have been surprised if we’d given off some sort of radiance. I stroked her ready cleft, sliding a finger into her up to the first knuckle. She ground her hips against me as her body undulated. She nestled her face against the hollow of my throat and moaned loudly.

I snaked my finger further in, feeling her wetness. I was thrilled by her interior silkiness, and she murmured something breathless in her native tongue. The syllables were like musical notes, but their meaning was plain. This was clearly pleasing her.

Emboldened, I slipped a second finger inside her and stirred both digits deep within her. Withdrawing, I stroked her clitoris, and the swollen bud pulsed with need. She writhed in my arm’s embrace as I repeated the motions of my hand.

As a cry rose in her throat, I felt its increasingly strengthening vibrations. Her voice started low, almost guttural, then ascended to a soaring pitch. She shook against me as her pussy tightened around my fingers. She seemed to come with every part of her being as she was overwhelmed by joy.

She sighed and stepped back. I was about to suggest we lie down on the sand when she dropped to her knees. I moved to follow, but she stopped me. When she cupped my balls and released a hot breath against my cockhead, I grinned with pleasure.

I wondered if this was another of her “traditional welcomes” for visitors. If so, this place had some sweet conventions.

I caught the wet flash of her tongue as I gazed down in anticipation. Then I felt her lick my swollen knob. A muscle jumped in my right leg, and I had to wheel my arms to keep my balance. I planted my feet in the sand.

She sealed her lips around me and sucked my crown into her mouth. The wetness and pressure sent bliss rocketing through my veins. She made another mewling sound. This time the vibrations went straight to my cock, and my balls stirred in her gentle grasp.

Slowly but without pause, she sucked her way down to the base of my rod. I gasped as I felt my cockhead enter her throat. She held me like that a moment — maybe adjusting her throat muscles, maybe just showing off. Then she repeatedly lifted and dropped her mouth in smooth, fluid motions.

They say there are no bad blowjobs, which is an untruth. But there are some great blowjobs. This was one of them. Marta had a flawless technique, and her head bobbed on my dick. She gently squeezed my balls, and the ring of her mouth rode my staff as hungry slurping sounds escaped her lips.

The intensity redoubled as she sped up. Before long, I was nearing the brink. In a shaky voice I said, “Hold on, I’m gonna shoot!”

But she didn’t stop, and I didn’t have the willpower to end things. My climax hit me. It seemed to start in the soles of my bare feet and race up through the middle of my rod. My jizz began to gush in heavy spurts, but Marta didn’t take her mouth off me. I heard her swallowing my load as ecstasy rang within me.

Afterward, I staggered and dropped to the still warm sand. My desire hadn’t left me, though my cock was now at half-mast. I felt an overwhelming urge to reciprocate the pleasure she’d given me.

I crawled toward her and motioned for her to lie back. She did. I lay between her legs, and her smooth thighs closed around my shoulders. Her pussy glistened in the moonlight. I inhaled her enticing aroma, then I put out my tongue and licked my way up her furrow. Her flavor instantly flooded my mouth. I was sure I could still taste the sting of the salty sea. She sighed extravagantly, a sound which translated easily across every language. I delved deeper, probing her, but again wanted contact with her lively little clit.

The sweet nub awaited me. I lavished it with my tongue tip, gently batting and softly stroking it. Marta’s legs flexed against my shoulders. I felt the muscles in her thighs tightening as her ass bunched beneath her.

She took hold of a handful of my hair and mashed her pussy harder against my mouth as her hips danced. I feasted on her, and as I did, my cock stirred again. It was a record recovery for me. Then again, I didn’t often fulfill a fantasy on a tropical beach.

Her fingers tightened in my hair as her whole body went taut. I felt her climax shudder through her, and I tasted her juices as they flooded my eager mouth. As she’d done with my cream, I happily swallowed her flowing honey.

When I sat up, my cock was fully hard once more and lust danced over my flesh. The beach was still empty around us, but if we’d gathered a crowd, I probably still would have wanted to screw her.

Amazing. I’d travel half a world away and found a true connection, so far from home. But I didn’t need to remind myself that home was like the frozen tundra. The heat of this place was in my blood. With my face dripping with Marta’s juice, I climbed onto her where she still lay back on the sand.

She was ready for me with eagerness written on her beautiful face. She pulled me onto her. I slotted my cock into her cunt and felt the luscious grip of her internal muscles. I rocked on top of her, and she flung her legs around my waist. She was so nimble, so perfectly toned. I felt her excitement humming just beneath her skin. Her eyes glittered, and her mouth was open.

I stroked into her, plunging deep and savoring each movement. We were in sync as only two mutually attracted humans could be. The ultimate pleasure rose within me once more, the crisis taking its time as it built slowly.

Marta squirmed and writhed as she whispered soft words in one language, then another. Overhead the stars whirled. They began to blaze, their fire erupting over us and the illumination between us breaking free in the world at last. We couldn’t contain it.

The night sky burned, the ocean thundered, and our voices joined the cacophony. She was crying out, her body wriggling crazily. Those final orgasmic throes seized me suddenly. I didn’t try to resist. I gave in and shot jet after jet of spunk into her as rapture flared within me.

Afterward, we clung to one another. The sky became the sky again, and the sea quieted. But we had shaken the earth, and we both knew it.