The whole trip was Mike’s idea.

We’ll hire a VW camper, just the four of us, drive on down to South Wales and spend a week somewhere quiet and remote. Somewhere where there are no other people.

It was going to be a treat for completing their finals, four friends on a trip away. Of course, Lucinda and Vin agreed without question, couldn’t wait to put down the deposit on the van. They just wanted to fuck each other’s brains out, all day and all night. They hogged the back of the van whenever they got chance, rocking it so hard the suspension made a noise like an irritated donkey. They were horny and excited about what the future had in store, and the sex made them feel like anything could happen.

And Jasmin knew that Mike was hoping they would soon be doing the same, too. He’d been chasing her since their freshman year, trying to charm her with long gazes and protective bravado. He even brought a separate tent, in case anyone needed some time away from the others. Yeah, right. Jasmin had other ideas.

She played along, of course. Partly it was because she enjoyed the attention. They’d discovered a little cove, abandoned by humankind, and amused themselves by sunbathing and beachcombing along the shore. She knew that Mike would be masturbating over the sight of her tits swinging inside a tiny, clinging wet bikini top for days, and it made her laugh to think of him tugging on his dick while he thought about her. But it wasn’t just that. She was bored. Bored of life, bored of sex, bored of people. None of it seemed to hold any future for her. She felt like a stranger wandering through the world, looking for some sort of purpose to her meagre existence. Tormenting Mike at least gave her something to do, a distraction from the hopelessness.

“What’s that one called?” She crouched by a rock pool, hunched forward. “It’s an ugly bastard.” She giggled and showed him her teeth when he turned.

“That’s a Velvet Swimming Crab,” he said, proudly, his gaze slipping to her chest. She could see the erection bulging inside his shorts. “Don’t touch it, they have a nasty pinch.”

“How do you know all this?”

He shrugged. “I just like to learn about things.”

“I’ll never remember all the names,” she lied, shaking her head. “Who decided to call it a Velvet Swimming Crab, anyway? Were they high?”

Mike laughed. “Come on.”

Jasmin followed him over the rocks. She liked playing the “I’m just a girl” role. She’d quickly learnt that men love it, and that leads to all kinds of treats in the name of flirtation. Friends at college, friends of her investment-banker father, lecturers, train conductors, men of the cloth. There were few people she hadn’t managed to charm with a girly smile and a flash of naked flesh. They were easily fooled, and they rarely stopped to ask questions because they weren’t really interested in who she was. All they cared about was her young, firm body, and thoughts of what it might feel like wrapped around their cocks. She was reading pure mathematics, and had straight A’s from every subject at school, but men preferred to think of her as a dumb blonde.

And that suited her just fine.

Hell, she had an invitation to interview for NASA’s management fast track program. It was just sitting there on her dressing table at her mom’s house. One of her professors had set the whole thing up, because he actually recognised how bright she was. But what was the point in any of it? All she would do is live out her life, then die.

“Hey, wait up,” she called.

Mike turned and held out his hand, and she took it, let him think that he was being a gentleman.

“Where are we going?”

“I want to explore that cave.” He pointed to the other end of the beach. “I heard noises coming from down there last night when I took a walk along the cliffs. I think there might be bats inside.”

This is an excerpt from my new release, Jasmin’s Close Encounter. It’s a mixture of Lovecraftian erotica, tentacle sex and humour, and it’s available right now.