by S. C. Daiko
“Not Captain Hussain?” I balled my hands into fists.
“No, a scrawny dude with beady eyes and crooked teeth.” She shuddered. “He gave me bad vibes.”
“Come here,” I held out my arms. “You’ve been through a lot over the past thirty-six hours. I’m proud of you for coping so well.”
I’d been surprised she’d held it together so long.
She shuffled into my hold. I kissed the top of her head, in a brotherly fashion, although there was nothing brotherly about how hard I was getting.
Don’t go there, Brash! Just, don’t!
The feel of her soft skin against my bare chest was beyond enticing.
I tilted her face.
Her turquoise eyes hooded with need, and I brought my mouth down.
Fuck, she tasted divine. Sweet like the mangoes we’d had for supper.
She moaned and slid her tongue along my bottom lip, making me grow even harder. “Christ, Aly.”
We switched our heads from side to side, our tongues sliding, our lips pressing, the chemistry between us sparking.
She clutched at my hair and tugged.
I dug my fingers into her firm hips, pulling her closer.
Fuck!
She whimpered as I reached down to slip a finger inside her panties.
Fucking wet for me.
Without warning she wriggled out of my hold. “There’s something you should know.”
“Oh?” I caught her worried expression. “What?”
“I’m a virgin.”
I leaned away from her, shocked. “Thank God you told me in time.”
“It’s not something I thought would come up,” she rasped.
I blurted out a laugh before composing myself. “Well, that’s one way of putting it.”
Disappointment panged in my belly. No way would I be responsible for taking her v-card. Her first time should be with someone who loved her.
I adjusted my pants and returned to my bed. “Good night, little girl.”
“I’m not a little girl,” she gritted out. “You’re such a douchebag…”
I bit back a sarcastic response.
A virgin?
In this day and age?
She wasn’t a teenager for fuck’s sake.
My lumpy bed had become fucking uncomfortable, the leaves clammy beneath my sweaty body. Cock-blocked, I tossed and turned for what seemed like hours, listening to her soft breathing. Then, finally, I fell into a fitful sleep.
Chapter Sixty-Six
Anaan
I lie in the life raft, tossing on the waves. The cover protects me from the scorching sun, but there’s nothing left in the bottle of drinking water.
I jamb my hands into my armpits and hug myself.
How had it all gone so wrong?
Shaking uncontrollably, I try to piece together the events which had brought me to this terrible juncture.
When the seaplane’s fuel gauge showed empty, I made every effort to land safely on the ocean.
But, without power, I couldn’t control the speed of descent and we hit the water tail-first.
Mr. Collins and the photographer lady are almost certainly feeding the fishes at the bottom of the sea.
The current separated them from me so quickly. I’d been focusing my attention on inflating this raft, thinking they were right with me. When I turned around, poof, they’d disappeared.
“O Subduer of Winds.” I invoke Allah, bending my body in prayer.
My lips are cracked, and my throat is parched with thirst. Rain falls and I catch as much of it as possible. Fear makes my chest tighten. I haven’t eaten anything in days and the personal locator beacon, part of the survival kit, doesn’t appear to be working.
If no one finds me soon, I will die.
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Alyona
I sat in the shade at the side of the house, twisting coconut husks and staring at the empty sky. A week had gone by since we’d arrived on the island. A week of trying to stay positive, trying to believe we’d be rescued at any minute. “We’ve got to keep faith,” Brash had repeated on several occasions. “They’ll still be looking for us.”
Taking a deep breath, I lowered my gaze to where he was fishing. He stood thigh-high in the water, facing away from me, dressed in his boxer shorts. We only wore underwear during the day now, saving our clothes for the evenings. His corded back rippled in the sunshine as he raised his spear. I touched a finger to my lips, remembering that kiss on our second night. The slow, wet slide of our mouths, the drumming of my pulse and the heaviness between my legs.
My nipples pebbled and my eyes hooded as I imagined us kissing again, my hands pulling at his hair, his skin hot under my fingertips and his spicy male scent burning my nostrils…
I gave my head a shake.
It was only by accident we were spending time together.
That kiss had been a mistake on his part; he’d made it clear enough with his reaction when I’d told him I was a virgin.
God, how I’d wanted to slap him when he’d called me little girl. Wasn’t my fault I’d had a sheltered upbringing and hadn’t met Mr. Right yet.
Stop lusting after Brash, Aly.
He isn’t gonna pop your cherry and he sure isn’t Mr. Right.
I sighed and thought about our life on the island. We’d fallen into a kind of routine. After a breadfruit breakfast, we’d clean our teeth using the ends of sticks we’d softened by chewing on them. I’d build up the fire and strip coconut husks while he fished before the sun rose too high in the sky. His prowess with the spear had improved and he usually managed to catch a couple of herrings for our lunch, which we grilled on a rock at the edge of the fire.
We snacked on coconuts whenever we wanted; there was a plentiful supply on the island. Our second day here, while Brash was improving his fishing skills, I’d started playing around with the husks. I discovered that the strands next to the shells were incredibly strong. After separating the fibers to fashion three bundles of roughly equal size, I wound them together until they could coil no more, adding more strands to achieve greater length. As an experiment, I began making three-string braids out of the twisted husks, braiding them tightly into cords. Brash had said he was proud of me and was already making plans to build a raft once we had enough rope. He was going to salvage wooden planks from the house and lash them together. I couldn’t help basking in his praise, but I thought his idea of setting sail on the ocean a tad risky.
Typical Brash.
There were other uses for the husks, as well. On the third day, I’d gotten my period, nearly dying of embarrassment when I’d had to explain to Brash why I couldn’t go into the lagoon. He’d told me there were reef sharks in there, but they’d leave us alone unless we cut ourselves. Apparently, they had extremely bad eyesight but a strong sense of smell. Blood meant prey, to their way of thinking.
I’d needed to improvise coconut husks into sanitary towels. Thank God, my flow had been light and of short duration. I’d stopped bleeding yesterday and had never been more thankful to be able to swim and wash in the sea again. I’d had to use some of our precious drinking water to keep myself clean.
Today, I was attempting to make a basket out of some of the cords. Not for the first time, I wished I had my cellphone and could google instructions. But, if I had my phone, we wouldn’t be stuck on this island, would we?
I gazed up at the sky, hoping against hope.
Where were the freaking rescue planes?
Why hadn’t they found us yet?
In the week we’d been here, not a single boat or plane had passed by except the one on our second day. It was as if the world had come to an end and we were the only people left alive.
A shout from the lagoon alerted me Brash had caught a fish, and I went to take it from him to descale and clean while he fished for another.
He waded out of the water and handed it to me, our fingers brushing.
My breath caught and heat spread up the si
de of my neck.
Physical contact between us had been non-existent since the kiss.
“Thanks.” The word exited my mouth like a croak.
“You okay?” He cocked his head to the side.
I swallowed hard. “Yeah, just wish I could make a basket to put the herring in.”
“Remember I told ya you weren’t just a pretty face?” he smirked. “You’ll figure it out.”
“Hope so.” I held the fish by its tail and dropped my eyes to Brash’s treasure trail. A vertical line of dark hair extending down the middle of his abs. I sucked in a sharp breath.
Brash coiled his insanely beautiful body away from me, picked up his spear and waded back into the lagoon.
What did he think about while he was fishing? Not about me, of course. I bet he was planning more business coups for when we got back to civilization.
I glanced up at the clear blue sky; it would soon cloud over and rain. Happened every afternoon, and I was glad of it or we’d have nothing to drink.
Making a noise partway between a groan and a sigh, I set off across the sand toward our campsite.
After lunch, we rested in the shade after making use of the latrine Brash had dug three days ago behind the house. We kept a mound of sand beside the pit to act like a flush, and leaves functioned as improvised toilet paper.
A sudden thought occurred to me, and I asked Brash, “What happens to all the poop in your resort?”
“We have our own sewage treatment plant. Then it’s pumped far out to sea.” He picked up a couple of coconut husks and began to coil them like I’d taught him.
I chewed my lip. “Wonder what the people who used to live on this island did with theirs?”
“There’s probably a septic tank somewhere under all the undergrowth.” He snorted out a laugh. “Can’t believe I’m discussing poop with you, Aly…”
I wrinkled my nose and laughed with him. “Do you ever think about what could have happened to them? To the people who lived on this island, I mean…”
He rubbed the beard growing on his chin. “My guess is they didn’t have the resources to rebuild after the cyclone, or whatever, destroyed everything. So, they simply left.”
I nodded, slowly. “What’s gonna happen to us?” I asked for the umpteenth time.
And he replied, also for the umpteenth time, “Don’t lose hope. Our families will find us.”
“What if they don’t?” I scratched a mosquito bite on my thigh.
“Then I’ll build that raft and we’ll sail away.” A reckless glint lit his indigo eyes. “Remember Tom Hanks in the movie Castaway?”
“I never saw it.”
“He built a raft and was discovered floating on the ocean by a passing ship. We’d have a better chance of being found like that, maybe.”
“Yeah, maybe” I wasn’t convinced, but now was not the moment for arguments. I’d make my feelings known if and when the time came.
After we’d made a few more cords, slow and painstakingly, Brash left to pick breadfruit and mangoes while I went to wash in the sea.
I stripped off my bra and panties and dropped them on the shingle. I waded into the calm clear lagoon, exhaling as I lowered my body beneath the surface. The tepid water flowed around me, tiny fish swam between my legs and salt stung my eyes. I pushed myself upward and took in a deep breath.
If we hadn’t been marooned here, it would be like paradise on earth it was so lovely and peaceful. I floated for a few minutes, then made my way to the shoreline. There, I scooped up a handful of sand and used it to scour my body, scrubbing until I felt clean.
The sound of splashing echoed behind me.
What the…?
I spun around and my mouth fell open.
A giant turtle had poked its head out of the sea and was gazing at me with a curious expression.
“Wow,” I exclaimed, taking a step toward it.
Sudden sharp pain pierced the sole of my foot.
“Owww!!!”
I stumbled out of the water, yelping in agony.
Still naked and with tears streaming down my cheeks, I sat on the shoreline, bent my knee and examined the ball of my foot.
I counted six dark spikes embedded in my skin like needles in a pin cushion. Nausea filled my throat. “Brash,” I called out, “Help!!!”
I reached for my bra and panties, but he ran up before I could put them on. “Jesus, Aly, what happened?” His forehead creased in concern.
I covered my nakedness as best I could with my arms and turned my foot toward him. “Look!”
He examined me. “You’ve stepped on a sea urchin. I need to remove those spines, or they’ll poison you.”
My heartbeats pounded in my ears. “How? We don’t have any tweezers.”
“There is one way.” He bent and lifted me like I weighed nothing. “I’ll have to pull them out with my teeth.”
I choked on a sob— the pain was so acute. “Please hurry. It fucking hurts.”
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Brash
She trembled in my arms as I carried her back to the campsite, her face pale and a sheen of sweat on her brow. “Ow, it’s killing me,” she sobbed.
Her eyelids fluttered and her body turned limp. I could see she was in danger of passing out from the pain. “Hang in there, Aly. I’ve got you.”
She gave a soft moan.
I laid her down on a soft nest of warm sand and checked her pupils to make sure she was still with me. “Gonna soak the ball of your foot in some hot water to soften the spines.” I grabbed a tin cup I’d found a couple of days ago and filled it from the cannister. Then I stoked the fire and put it on the embers.
“Hurry.” The desperation in her voice panged in my chest.
I fetched my t-shirt and slipped it over her head to cover her nakedness. With a grunt, I slid the ball of her foot into a coconut shell and filled it with hot water from the tin cup. “We’ll leave it in there for about ten minutes,” I said, stroking the wet hair back from her forehead and giving her a confident smile.
She frowned. “How do you know what to do?”
I couldn’t tell her I was only guessing. “I’m not just a pretty face,” I quipped. “And softened spines shouldn’t embed themselves in my tongue.”
“Okay...”
I stoked the hair back from her face again. “Breathe, Aly. Breathe through it.”
She did as I asked, squeezing her eyes shut and puffing out quick breaths. In. Out. In. Out.
I lifted her foot from the shell. “Good girl. Keep breathing.”
She opened her eyes, leaned back on her elbows and watched me with a wary expression, her lips pursed.
Carefully, I used my front teeth like tweezers and spat the spines onto the sand one after the other.
She winced with each extraction.
“Finished,” I flashed her a grin. “You did good.”
“Thanks.”
She let out a huge breath.
I poured more water into the cup and put it by the fire. “We don’t have any disinfectant, but this is the next best thing.”
“Can I have a drink?” She cleared her throat. “I’m thirsty.”
“Sure.” I lifted the plastic bottle to her lips. She placed her hand over mine and tilted her head back while I poured the liquid into her mouth.
Brutal, dirty caveman thoughts whirled though my head. I wanted to lie her back, spread her legs, and fuck her senseless. Her warm, salty scent as I’d tweezered out the spines had gone straight to my balls.
“Is the water hot enough now?” She squirmed a little.
“I’ll check.”
After I’d bathed her foot, she rested against the side of the house while I cut breadfruit into strips to make our version of fries. We’d toast them and eat them later with crab meat.
If I manage to catch a fucking crab; they’re elusive as hell.
“I feel so stupid,” she said, staring down at her foot.
“Hey, not your fault,” I stop
ped myself before adding little girl. “Sea urchins are usually attached to something. You stepped on one that must have been picked off the coral and dropped by a predator.”
She gazed across the lagoon to where breakers were kicking up white surf as they spilled over the surface of the reef. “I’ll be more careful in the future. I saw a sea turtle and it distracted me.”
I cracked a smile. “Amazing, aren’t they? The gardeners of the oceans. They eat algae off the reefs and keep them clean.”
“Wish we had masks. I’d love to snorkel out there…” She was still staring out to sea.
I raised a brow, surprised by her bravado. When I took a scuba diving course a couple of years ago, they taught us how to trap air around our eyes with our fingers, to see clearly underwater for a short while. I’d show her the trick when her foot was better, but I’d go down there first to make sure it was safe.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, scooting over to her.
“Doesn’t hurt nearly as much as before.” She unleashed a heart stopping smile. “Thanks again for taking care of me.”
“My pleasure.” I raked my eyes over her face. Cute little dimples I hadn’t noticed before had formed at the corners of her mouth.
“There is something that would make me feel even better, though,” she said in a husky tone. “Can you give me a hug?”
It seemed an innocent enough request. She probably asked for hugs from her brother all the time. A bitter taste filled my mouth as I thought about the brotherly hugs that I used to give my stepsis. I would live up to my reputation, however, if I refused Aly. And something stopped me from doing that.
Our eyes crashed.
Blue on blue.
Deep pools of need.
Here we were, stranded in the middle of nowhere. Was it so wrong to want to console one another?
I wrapped my arms around her and breathed her in.
I was playing with fire, and I knew it; I was horny as fuck.
Sexual frustration wasn’t something I’d had to deal with since I was in my early twenties. Billionaire status came hand in hand with available pussy, and it had been a couple of weeks since I’d sunk my dick into a willing woman.