By Alexis's calculations it was somewhere around 3 or 4 am by the time they dressed and lugged everything back to camp. Negotiating a clear path between the tents in the dark with arms full of bedding hadn't been her idea of fun, but the thank you she got from Josh as a reward for helping definitely made up for it. Truth be told, it nearly started another round, but when one of her gasps was interrupted by a yawn, they both knew it was time to call it a night. Sleep, unsurprisingly, claimed her quickly, and she felt as if her head had hardly hit the pillow when she was being woken by Pi, standing outside her tent and calling far too enthusiastically for her to join the others for breakfast.

They had an uneventful day out in the forest, but Professor Rankowski seemed anxious to get back earlier than usual, about lunch time, and the moment they were back at camp he headed straight for the one laptop they had with satellite internet access. Alexis joined the larger group around the fire - most were happy to have the chance to sit around and chat, although one or two were scribbling notes busily and catching up on their work, and two or three of the guys seemed to magically produce a hacky sack at every available opportunity.

Then suddenly Professor Rankowski was in their midst again, his face alight with enthusiasm. "Gather round, everyone! I have some exciting news!" It took a few minutes for everyone to appear, and one or two had to be ferreted out of their tents, but after a brief headcount to be sure everyone was there, Professor Rankowski continued, "I have just received confirmation from some colleagues in San Jose that Dr. Alejandro Fernandez, arguably the leading scientist on rain forest conservation here in Central America, will be giving a series of special lectures at the Universidad de Costa Rica in our final week here, and I have secured seats for us to attend. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I hope you are all as excited as I am. Unfortunately for our research projects, it means moving our schedule forward by about three days, as next week's location is far more pertinent than this village, lovely though it has been to spend time with the Doctors Without Borders team. Therefore as soon as you have finished eating, everyone needs to pack their belongings up and head to the trucks. We will be leaving by 2pm, giving you a little over an hour to go. I will explain to our translators and the village elders."

Alexis, who had already eaten most of her packed lunch, put the rest aside. She wasn't hungry anymore, although that might change once they were on their way and the shock had worn off.

They were leaving.

They were leaving, and she wouldn't get a chance to say goodbye to Josh.

She stood mechanically, the bustle and excited chatter around her seeming muted and distant somehow, and her gaze roved over to where she could see the makeshift hospital a few hundred yards away. She couldn't not say goodbye, she just couldn't.

Then she was running, racing as fast as she could, and she all but skidded to a stop in the entryway, her eyes roaming wildly.

No sign of Josh.

At all.

"Alexis?"

She turned to find Anna nearby. "J- Dr. Davidson. Is he here?" she asked, sure that she must both look and sound deranged.

"He's in surgery," Anna replied. "I can pass him a message though?"

To her shame, Alexis felt tears welling in her eyes, but she furiously pushed them back. "We're leaving. The scientists, that is. Professor Rankowski found out about some special lectures, and… we're going. In, like, an hour. And I didn't want to leave without…"

Anna put a comforting arm around her shoulder. "Would you like to write him a note? I can pass it to him the moment he comes out. And I'll tell his next patient there will be a wait, so hopefully he can come see you off, but at the very least he will get your note, I promise. Here," she added, handing Alexis a clipboard and a pen and flipping over a form so that the blank back was showing.

She found herself staring at it blankly. What could she possibly say to sum up how much the last few nights - last night in particular - had meant to her?

But she had no time for anything other than a brief message, and she couldn't waste a moment by overthinking.

"Josh,

Professor Rankowski has moved our itinerary forward, and we're leaving today, around 2pm. I didn't want to go without saying goodbye. You will never know what a comfort you have been this week. I will never forget last night.

-Peaches."

Then, as an after thought, she scribbled her email address and her New York phone number on the bottom. If he messaged her before she was back in the US she wouldn't get it, and besides that she had no idea about one night stand etiquette - in spite of both her father's and her Gram's examples in that department - but she figured this way he at least had the option.

Folding up the page, she handed it to Anna.

"I'll see he gets it right away," Anna promised.

Impulsively, Alexis hugged her. "Thank you. And thank you for yesterday. I'm sorry I have to go before we could ever be friends."

Anna hugged her back, then released her. "I understand. You'd better go, though. You don't want to miss your ride."

Alexis fled. It took her very little time to pack her belongings - she was naturally orderly, and had done her best to keep her things inside her pack where possible - and as she packed up her tent, she glanced around, surprised to discover she was by no means straggling. A few were finished with their own gear and were helping the professors pack up the food supplies and their research equipment, but she was still ahead of most of the students.

She was just strapping her little tent to her pack and was about to lug it over to the truck when she heard her name being called.

Josh.

He was panting a little, as if he had been running, although his approach was at a studied stroll - like he was forcing himself to at least attempt to look casual and failing miserably.

"I got your note," he said.

"I didn't want to leave without…" she began, and he nodded.

Both of them glanced around, all too aware of the bustle around them, the lack of privacy, the curious stares.

"You said you were leaving at 2pm? What else do you need to do?" he asked quietly.

"My things are packed. I guess I should help the others load up, and make sure Pi has all his things…" she began.

He rolled his eyes at her last statement, and she giggled. "They won't miss you for a few minutes, then. Come on," he said, guiding her toward the treeline.

"Josh, what -" she began, but he hushed her.

"Try to look casual," he murmured, and she nodded.

As soon as they reached the edge of the forest at the end of the campsite furthest from the trucks being loaded, she felt him take her hand, his strides lengthening, his stature becoming more commanding somehow. She took a moment to admire the breadth of his shoulders, the strength of his arms.

The forest rose thickly around them, and it only took about twenty paces for them to be completely out of sight, if not completely out of earshot, hidden by the underbrush. Josh led her to one of the first forest giants, one with a solid, thick trunk and roots that twisted out of the base to almost waist height. Wasting no time, he spun her around so her back was against the solid trunk - she took a moment to be thankful that this species had relatively smooth bark - and then all conscious thought fled as his mouth descended on hers in a bruising, ravishing, desperate kiss which she found herself surrendering to completely.

His hands tangled in her hair, angling her mouth just so as his tongue demanded entrance, and she found herself scrambling for purchase at his shoulders so that she could just hold on as he plundered her mouth again and again. Then she rallied, nipping and teasing at his mouth, breaking away to run her lips along his jaw, down the stubble at his throat, running her hands over his broad chest and torso, doing everything she could to memorize the taste and feel of him.

They hadn't talked. She had no idea if she was ever going to see him again. She wasn't naive; she knew that what happened in the rain forest would probably stay in the rainforest, that this fling would never be revisited once they were back in civilization. There was too much baggage between them for this to ever work, for it to last. Their age difference, the vast gulf between their life stages, the awkwardness of negotiating his former relationship with her soon-to-be stepmother - so Alexis gave herself over completely to the moment, to the feeling of his body, so tall and broad and hard, pressing into hers, his mouth doing wicked things to her neck, and his hands-

She gasped as one large palm found the hem of her shirt and dove beneath, barely skimming her stomach on its way up to close over one of her breasts, his thumb deliberately grazing one of her nipples through her bra. She arched into him, heat pooling in her belly, and her hands slid down to his waistband.

"Alexis," he panted into her ear as she popped the button on his shorts.

"Do we have time?" she asked.

He lifted his head just enough for her to see his wry smile. "I probably won't last long, if that's what you're asking."

She bit her lip, looking up at him from under her eyelashes, and provocatively lowered the zipper of his fly. "Me neither," she replied.

Then it was a fumble of hands and teeth and mouths and clothes, and he had magically produced a condom from somewhere - the back of her mind registered that he was wearing the same pants as he had been wearing last night, so it kind of made sense that he had some there - and once it was on, he hitched her up so that one of her legs was around his waist, her back supported by the tree.

Then he paused, teasing the tip through her wet folds, up to her clit, back to her entrance, a maddening glide that had her moaning into his shoulder.

"Always so wet for me." He sounded smug, and she reached up blindly kiss the smirk off his face, whining as he made no further move to enter her, seeming content to continue his tease.

"Josh," she frowned as his name came out in a whine. She had been shooting for sexy and seductive. He laughed.

"Consent is sexy, remember, Peaches. I'm never going to go further than this with you without your express permission," he said as his mouth dipped to her collar bone, then moved to the swell of her breast. He had removed her shirt and shorts, but her bra was still on, and he sucked and nipped at first one breast, then the other, leaving a pair of matching marks.

Still he hadn't moved the tip of his length from her entrance, even as she felt her body weeping for him.

"Josh, please," she moaned, clawing at him.

"Please what?" he smirked, although she could see the strain around his eyes. His tease was getting to him, too.

She waited until he lifted his eyes to meet hers, and held his gaze, arching an eyebrow in a tease of her own. The knowledge that he was into this as much as she was was empowering.

"Please fuck me," she replied, and he groaned. She felt his cock twitch at her words, and then she was the one smirking - until he plunged into her. She was still a little tight and sore from the night before, and he was well endowed, so she couldn't help crying out as filled her completely, forcing her body to stretch to accommodate him.

"You okay?" he asked, and after a moment she felt herself adjust to his size and she nodded. He took a moment to guide her other leg up around his waist so her ankles could lock behind him, before pulling out and sliding back in again. This time she groaned, nodding, and then they found their rhythm, bodies moving together, and the perfection of how they fit, the love which he poured into her with his thrusts, made tears well in her eyes. This was the best sex of her life, and she would never get to do this with him again. She clung to him, trying somehow to get deeper, to crawl inside him as he moved within her, touching him everywhere. Her kisses became desperate and sloppy, and then he was cupping her cheek, kissing away her tears. He slid one hand down between them, his thumb finding her clit.

"Alexis," he gasped even as she felt her body tightening, "Peaches. Let go. Come for me one last time. I've got you," he whispered, using his other hand to grasp her thigh, pushing her legs apart even further, changing the angle of his thrusts so he pounding into her a little deeper, his thumb on her clit moving in time with his strokes. Her body constricted around his and she was arching, flying, crying as waves of pleasure crested over her. A moment later she felt him pulsing within her, groaning out his own orgasm.

He lowered her feet to the ground, making sure she was somewhat supported by the tree behind her before leaning bonelessly into her, both of them panting and simply holding each other closely.

He reached for her, tilting her face up so that he could kiss her, again and again and again.

From the far side of the campsite, a truck engine roared to life.

She clung to him.

"You need to go," he said, kissing her again before stepping back from her, handing her her shirt.

They dressed in silence, then linked hands as they walked back to the tree line.

"You got my number, right? You don't have to call or anything, but if you want to…" she began.

He turned to face her one last time. "I'll message you as soon as I'm back in New York," he promised.

She nodded, reaching up to press her lips to his for one last hot, hungry kiss, before turning and fleeing, grabbing her pack and scrambling in to the waiting truck just as it was about to pull away.

The last glimpse she got of him was as he stood at the tree line, watching the truck rumble out of sight.

How the hell was she going to explain this once she got home?

THE END

A/N: I would like to thank everyone who took a chance on this story, especially those who weren't too sure but came in with an open mind. I knew this fic would be controversial when I wrote it, but some of you have gone above and beyond in your reviews and tweets, so please know that those of you who engaged in nuanced discussion and sweet encouragement - you're all my heroes and I appreciate every kind word. Thank you.

Thanks again to Team Beta - Lindsey, Katherine, and Anja, (and Joan who was always loitering in the background) without whom this would never have been completed. You girls are amazing and I don't deserve you.

Brain and I are still arguing about whether or not to write a sequel. No promises, but we shall see ;-)

-Lou