{I have no idea how I'm supposed to start this so let's get it straight (heh) - this is basically pornography. And it's explicit so this is a warning I suppose. Aaaand, if anyone I know finds this, I don't know you and you don't know me.}
FXM!
"Hey, can I take that bag for you?"
Rose smiled at the sound of the familiar voice behind her. Struggling with her heavy backpack she turned to see Jordan's cheerful face as he stepped forward to take the load from her hands. Grateful, she let go of the wide handle as he shouldered the burden. Flexing her fingers, she welcomed the reprieve from her cargo.
"Oh, I hate this thing," she said gesturing to her pack. "It is GONE when I get home! I may actually unpack it, take it out to the yard and set fire to the bastard!"
Jordan laughed. "Oh, you're not so keen to get home yet, are you?"
Rose cast him a sidelong glance. Was that a slight edge in his voice? She couldn't be sure. Then he laughed again, and she supposed she had just imagined it.
"Well I have dragged this bag halfway around the world," she replied with a laugh as she followed him to the luggage drop. "I'm done with it!"
She was on her way back home to Melbourne after her gap year, working and travelling through Europe. Not ready to end her adventures, she extended her stopover on her return flight and booked a nine-day tour from Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi. She had always wanted to visit Vietnam and reasoned that she may never have a chance to come back. And so, six days ago she met up with the assortment of personalities which formed this tour group.
Rose counted herself lucky to be travelling with such an entertaining group of people, but it was Jordan she'd been drawn to from the very beginning. Tall and broad, he was blessed with fierce, grey eyes, raven hair which fell in soft waves just shy of his shoulders, and a thoroughly sun-kissed complexion. However, it was his voice that first captured her attention. The melodic and lyrical Irish lilt brought a gasp to her lips when he introduced himself to her. That accent was very likely her biggest weakness, and most definitely one of her biggest turn-ons.
Under the fierce tropical sun her thin silky singlet was soaked with sweat and sticking to the centre of her back. She was used to the heat, but this oppressive humidity was something else. Jordan looked as though he might spontaneously combust. Rivulets of moisture ran in competing paths down his neck, back and arms, and sweat beaded on his now crimson face.
"Here, drink this before you melt," Rose said as she handed him a chilled bottle of water.
"Jesus, it's hot! I'm soaked more than I've got any good reason to be!"
Flustered and lost for words it was her turn to flush crimson, unable to keep her mind out of the gutter. His eyes glinted mischievously, as though she had passed some test which up until now, she didn't even know she was being assessed for.
The tour guide chose this moment to usher the group aboard the train. Rose followed the others across the platform, grasped the railing and climbed the two steps to board the Reunification Express. At 15.30 on the dot, the train lurched forward with a jerk as it started its slow progress north to Hanoi. The train lumbered in its progress out of Hue and through the countryside. It was to be an unhurried pace; 14 hours to travel almost 700 kilometres.
Rose noticed that she had the compartment to herself, a welcome development considering the two narrow bunks took up most of the space inside. She laid on her bed reading her guidebook, preparing for her arrival in Hanoi, but the tropical heat had sapped her energy and now her eyelids were too heavy to stay open.
