The Masada Faktor Read Online Free Page A

salt on them and licked them again. Then we drank the tequila.
     
    I apologized for not having lemon or lime and we laughed about that. And then we repeated the process and had one more shot. Suddenly I felt a wave of vertigo, I wasn’t sure if it was the stress or that I was overheated.
     
    “I just need to lay down and close my eyes for a moment,” I told Monique.
     
    She followed me over to the airbed and sat down on it next to me. We kept talking about our beach experience and then she slowly put one arm under my back, causing the airbed to ripple and then her other arm reached under my rear.
     
    I was surprised but receptive and before I could even think about consequences we were face to face. My arms went around Monique and undid her bikini top, pulled it off of her. I was still wearing my one piece swimsuit and cotton shorts. She pulled off my shorts and I wriggled out of my suit.
     
    I wanted to kiss her to see what it would taste like. I did, and her tongue tasted salty and we stopped talking as she kissed me back. We began to slowly make out and our fingers started touching each other in those places that are private, and then she flipped around so that we could taste each other’s crown jewels. Hers was sweet and my tongue went deep.
     
    She was using both her tongue and her fingers on mine. Then she started to get wild and reminded me of a panther. It was my first time with a woman and it was magic.
     
    I woke to find Monique gone and the sun setting. I had no idea how we would face each other in class but I didn’t want to think about it then. I decided I wouldn’t speak of it unless she did first.
     
    I didn’t regret being with Monique, I only hoped that it wouldn’t make me desire more of the same. After all, she was engaged to be married.

CHAPTER FIVE
    I tried to power up the laptop but it wouldn’t work. It was new, purchased immediately before leaving the United States. I phoned the manufacturer’s help line to find out about service. I was assured that my laptop would be picked up by a messenger service and promptly fixed, not knowing then that I’d be without a computer for two months in Haifa.
     
    I didn’t know what I was in for and due to my stubbornness of wanting the laptop fixed under the warranty, I didn’t expect to have to buy a new one. It was a living hell not having my laptop, the main tool that I needed.
     
    It became more important than ever to document my travels with photographs. I told myself that I would forget details, and if I could refer back to photos then at least I’d be able to refresh my memory. I snapped endless photos with my camera, which I had dropped prior to leaving California for Israel, breaking the viewing screen. I would need a few SIM cards due to not being able to do a nightly download to a computer.
     
    My spiral notebook began to get filled up with notes. I needed to guard this notebook with my life. No electronic backups, at least for the time being.
     
    One night soon after, I heard gunfire. I was on edge anyway, thinking that someone had been in my home. Well, I thought it was guns. It turned out to be firecrackers.
     
    I knew that I had moved into a mixed Arab and Jewish neighborhood but wasn’t exactly familiar with the practice of Arab celebrations. Every happy day involved gunfire, firecrackers, or fireworks of some sort. It was unnerving for me.
     
    When I asked the other expatriates that I knew in town, they just shrugged it off. When in Rome? I didn’t like it. After all, what goes up must come down.
     
    I was hanging out on Masada Street a lot. I would put my laundry in at the hip Washomatic, then drink coffee or beer at the trendy Arabic Elika Café and groove to the interesting Middle Eastern music that gave the place a beat. Coming home I didn’t want to happen upon an Arab celebration as I was getting back to Gid’on Street after dark.
     
    At about the same time I noticed all the foot traffic at my next door