Chapter 12 - Epilogue

Some experiences are so profound that you struggle to believe they actually happened, until they settle deep in your bones. We had arrived here sluggish, clutching each other's hands like we might get separated if we let go.

Now it felt like the whole place runs on horny energy.

My mind kept flashing back to everything. From being eaten out by Vuyo's incredible tongue, to the first night when Mandla pressed me against the pool and we came together in the warm water. The way I'd sobbed and screamed on Sifiso through the wall, while Mandla did the same on the other side. The hours on the beach, taking anyone who walked toward me with a smile.

I thought about what some of the guides had said, their comments about the boldness of letting go entirely. Those comments were true. We had nodded along whenever it came up, because we knew. This place had clearly done something to both of us, and we were beyond grateful for it.

"This whole weekend has been insane," he said simply, his hands brushing mine beneath the table, present and soft and warm. "Not just the sex. All of it. I feel like we've actually rediscovered what we were. And that's so much more than I thought we needed."

I smiled, feeling the truth of it in my chest. "I know. I keep thinking back to that first night and how nervous we were. If you'd told me then what we'd end up doing, I wouldn't have believed it."

"But here's the thing," he continued, "it doesn't actually surprise me. I always knew it was in us. Watching you come alive this weekend, watching you be so free, I think I loved you even more with every moment of it."