Lost in Paradise

by Rachel Lacey

  Nicole leaned down, illuminating them with her phone screen. “Holy shit. You’re bleeding. Like…really bleeding.”

  Fiona glanced at the blood coursing down her leg. “That must be why I slipped. I didn’t even feel it until now. Okay, let’s get out of here.”

  “But your leg…”

  “I’ll worry about it once we’re free of the ship.”

  “Buckle in,” Nicole called as Fiona stood, looping one arm through a harness, and yanked the release cord. This time when the motor whined to life, the crane swung them out over the sea, lowering them into the darkness below. The lifeboat twisted dangerously in the wind. They hit the water with a bone-rattling jolt that knocked Fiona to the floor.

  The lifeboat pitched this way and that, careening wildly alongside the Cyprus Star, still held tightly to the ship by its moorings. Water poured through the open hatch, soaking them with its icy spray. Fiona struggled to her knees, only to be knocked flat again by the next wave, her body buffeted between the base of the seats and the supply case in the center of the boat.

  “Pull the hook release!” she yelled, feeling like an idiot for not strapping herself in as Nicole had done. “The red lever on the control panel.”

  Nicole reached forward and pulled the lever. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, with a crunch and a clang, the lifeboat lurched free. It slammed into the Cyprus Star’s hull and tipped onto its side. Water rushed in through the rear hatch they’d stupidly left open, pouring over Fiona in a soaking wave. She reached out blindly for Nicole’s hands but felt only cold metal and colder water. Her head slammed into something hard, and she pressed her lips together, willing herself not to lose consciousness before she’d gotten her head above water.

  Lungs burning, she groped for her harness, for air, for Nicole, for anything at all…

  3

  “Fiona!” Nicole shouted as the lifeboat spun endlessly in the ship’s wake. Water washed over her legs, swirling through the darkness. She couldn’t see Fiona, couldn’t hear her, and was terrified that she’d been swept out the open hatch into the sea. After a disorienting minute, the lifeboat righted itself, and everything went quiet as the Cyprus Star left them behind. The lifeboat listed a bit to the side, probably from the foot or so of water that had poured in during their botched launch.

  “Fiona,” Nicole called again as she unbuckled herself, panic gripping her throat in its icy hand.

  “Here,” came her raspy voice from the other side of the lifeboat.

  “Thank God,” she whispered, crawling toward her, feeling her way like a blind woman. “Are you okay?”

  “I’ve been better.” There was something cautious—controlled—in her tone that struck fresh fear into Nicole’s heart. Fiona sounded strange, and that couldn’t be good.

  Nicole’s hands encountered wet fabric, and beneath it, cold, wet skin. She found Fiona’s hands and gave them a squeeze. “Are you hurt?”

  “Just bumps and bruises,” Fiona said, quieter now that they were next to each other. “If you say I told you so, I’ll kill you.”

  Nicole choked on a laugh. “The thought never crossed my mind.”

  “Are we still taking on water?”

  “I don’t think so. All of this came in through the hatch. I don’t think you’re supposed to launch at full speed like that, and you’re definitely supposed to close the hatch first.” Her hands roamed up Fiona’s arms, feeling for anything obviously amiss.

  Fiona’s hands snapped to her wrists, bringing them to her lap. “I’m fine.”

  “You don’t sound fine, and I can’t see a damn thing in here. You’re scaring me.”

  “I feel a bit like I’ve been through a blender, and I’m soaking wet, but I’m okay. Really.”

  Nicole slid onto the seat beside her and wrapped her arms around her. Fiona was indeed sopping wet and shaking slightly. She must have been tossed completely underwater when the lifeboat tipped over. Nicole could only hope she was telling the truth about her injuries. “What about your leg?”

  “If it’s still bleeding, I can’t feel it.”

  “I’m serious,” Nicole said, resisting the urge to shake her. “If you die, you’ll leave me all alone in the middle of the goddamn ocean.”

  “Need me around to save your ass, hm?” Fiona quipped, a bit of her earlier spunk returning to her voice.

  “And, you know, for company.” She gave Fiona a gentle nudge. “I’m going to take a look outside and make sure they haven’t turned the Cyprus Star around to come after us or anything.”

  Fiona made a sound of agreement, but the fact that she didn’t offer to get up herself only reinforced Nicole’s worry about her condition.

  She felt her way to the hatch and leaned out. The night around them was still and black, gentle waves glistening in the moonlight as they lapped at the boat. “I can see the Cyprus Star, but it looks pretty far away.”

  “That’s good news,” Fiona said quietly.

  Nicole tightened her grip on the side of the lifeboat, leaning farther out. She watched in silence for a few minutes until she could be certain that the Cyprus Star was getting smaller, not larger. “It’s moving away from us. I think we’re in the clear.”

  She left the hatch, sliding her hands down the row of seats until she found Fiona. She sat, shivering against the chill of the night air.

  Fiona rested her head on Nicole’s shoulder. “What now?”

  “You said there’s a motor on this thing, right?”

  “Yes, but it’s probably wet now, I suppose.”

  “I have no idea,” Nicole said.

  “The sun will be up soon. Maybe we should wait until we have some light before we do anything else.”

  Nicole nodded, her cheek pressed against the top of Fiona’s head. “We need to bail all this water out, and I’m sure there’s something in here to do it with, but we’ll never find it in the dark. My phone’s battery is almost dead, so I want to save it in case we come into a signal.”

  “Fuck.” Fiona’s head lurched up, narrowly missing Nicole’s jaw. “My phone.”

  With a sinking feeling, Nicole remembered the way Fiona had stuffed it down the front of her dress before she climbed out to release the safety pins. “Yours is soaked, isn’t it?”

  “Almost certainly.” She moved around beside Nicole. “I can’t find it. It’s probably floating around in the bottom of the boat somewhere.”

  “Well, while you were pulling the safety pins, I put both our purses inside the storage chest. Hopefully, it’s watertight and the rest of our stuff is okay.”

  “That was good thinking,” Fiona murmured, her head again falling against Nicole’s shoulder.

  “Together, we make a pretty good team.”

  Fiona hummed in agreement. They lapsed into silence then, holding on to each other as the lifeboat rocked and swayed to the rhythm of the ocean. Nicole shivered endlessly. She was freezing, and her body ached from various bumps and bruises. Nausea roiled in her stomach from the movement of the lifeboat, and she still had to pee. Her only comfort was the feel of Fiona’s body warm and alive next to her.

  Sleep was the furthest thing from her mind, but the next thing she knew, Fiona stirred beside her, and her eyes snapped open. Pale light filtered through the interior of the lifeboat, allowing her to get her first real look at it. Having crawled inside in the dark, it was jarring now to see herself sitting in this weird plastic-looking room.

  The interior of the lifeboat looked almost like what she imagined a compartment inside a submarine would be like. The outer wall had a long, continuous seat lined with black harnesses for passengers to wear. The middle of the boat was taken up with a big storage compartment that hopefully contained lots of survival equipment. There was a seat behind them that faced a steering wheel and several other controls. Their feet were still submerged in water, and in fact, Nicole couldn’t feel her feet. They seemed to have gone numb from the cold.

  “Fuck me,” Fiona mumbled, rising on unsteady le
gs.

  “Be careful.” Nicole stood too, gripping one of the harnesses to keep herself upright.

  Fiona ignored her, sliding one hand along the wall as she made her way to the open hatch. She sat beside it, leaning her upper body out into the morning light. “Water, and nothing but water.”

  “No land?” Nicole felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach, settling heavily against the nausea that had plagued her since they’d boarded the lifeboat.

  Fiona looked over her shoulder at her. “Remember how the kidnappers had the engines going full speed all night? I think they were taking us as far out to sea as possible. Easier to keep hostages that way, right?”

  “Shit,” Nicole murmured.

  “We could see the coastline when they boarded, but we lost sight of it almost as soon as they took control of the boat. God only knows where we are now.”

  Nicole blew out a breath, wishing she didn’t feel like she was about to puke. “Well, I mean, the Mediterranean isn’t that big, is it?”

  Fiona arched a brow. “Big enough.”

  “Right.” She sucked in another big breath and blew it out, pressing a hand against her stomach. “First things first, we need to bail out this water, and I need to check you over now that we have enough light for me to see your injuries.”

  Fiona’s expression immediately hardened. “I told you, I’m fine.”

  “And I saw the blood pouring down your leg last night. You’re still standing, so obviously you’re not bleeding to death, but you at least need a damn Band-Aid!” Nicole’s voice rose. She felt like crap. She was cold and scared, and this was no time for Fiona’s foolish pride.

  Fiona’s chin went up, her jaw flexing for a fight, before she tucked it and acquiesced. “Fine.”

  “Okay, then.” Nicole unlatched and pulled open the supply chest in front of her. She and Fiona busied themselves sorting through its contents, plus the storage bins beneath the seats. The lifeboat, as it turned out, was designed to hold eighteen people. It had food and water rations for that many passengers, plus protective gear that looked like metallic sleeping bags they could zip up in to keep warm.

  In even better news, they found a large plastic scoop to bail out the boat, fishing tackle, a first aid kit, a heavy-duty flashlight, and various other survival supplies. And their purses had stayed dry. As Nicole continued to inventory their supplies, Fiona sat by the open hatch and began bailing them out.

  “This is going to take a while,” she commented without a hint of complaint in her voice.

  “We’ll take turns. Do you think we can start the motor now?”

  “We can try,” Fiona said with a shrug.

  “The only thing this damn boat doesn’t have is a bathroom,” Nicole grumbled.

  Fiona held up the plastic scoop with a wry smile. “I was thinking about that too. Best I can come up with, we use this and pour it overboard.”

  Nicole scrunched her face. “That sounds…awkward.”

  Fiona’s eyebrows crawled up her forehead. “Unless you’d rather hang your bare ass out of the boat and hope for the best?”

  “Um, not really.”

  “I’ll be the guinea pig, if you like.”

  “Fine.” But discussing their options had only made her more aware of just how uncomfortable she was. She’d had to pee for hours…the whole night, really. She resisted the urge to squirm like a child who’s waited too long to ask someone to take them to the bathroom.

  “Privacy, please?” Fiona said sweetly, already reaching under her dress to remove her underwear.

  Nicole turned and made her way to the back of the lifeboat. She hummed slightly to herself to keep from listening to whatever Fiona was doing behind her.

  Finally, Fiona called out. “All finished. It’s easier than you think.”

  “Good.” She was too desperate to complain at this point, so she walked to the hatch and took the plastic scoop Fiona held toward her.

  “I rinsed it in the ocean, don’t worry,” Fiona said with a half smile as she turned her back to give Nicole privacy.

  She squirmed out of her panties and took care of business as quickly as possible, and sweet Jesus, she felt so much better, it was almost laughable. “Well, that’s a relief,” she said after she’d leaned out of the boat to rinse their bailing scoop, careful not to drop it.

  “There are seasick pills in here,” Fiona said, her head popping up from behind the supply chest. “Did you see?”

  “I could really use one of those, actually.”

  “Thought you looked a bit green.” Fiona handed her a tablet and a silver water pack.

  Nicole took it, twisted open the cap to the water, and swallowed the pill. Then she sat down and leaned her head back, waiting for the churning in her gut to settle. After a few minutes, it really did get better, or maybe that was just wishful thinking. “I feel a hundred percent better than I did ten minutes ago.”

  “Good,” Fiona said, sitting beside her. “I don’t want you to die and leave me to fend for myself all alone out here.”

  “Hey.” Nicole took the jab with a smile. “I guess I kinda like you for more than just your ability to help me survive this ordeal, anyway.”

  Fiona laughed, the first real laugh Nicole had ever heard from her. “Well, that’s good to hear.”

  “Okay.” Nicole turned toward her, grabbing the first aid kit off the seat. “Let me have a look at you.”

  Fiona snatched the case from her hands. “I’m perfectly capable of patching myself up if anything needs patching.”

  Nicole saw the defensiveness in her eyes, the way her shoulders had hunched beneath the straps of her red dress. Damn, but Fiona really had a hard time accepting any kind of caretaking. Nicole leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to her cheek as she slid the case from her fingers. “You could, but you don’t have to, because you have me. I’m no doctor, but I have two younger brothers. I’ve patched my share of skinned knees.”

  “Fine, then,” Fiona said, shoulders slumping. “Make it quick, would you? We need to get back to bailing so we can try to get the engine started.”

  “I’ll be quick.” Nicole kissed the corner of her mouth, loving the way Fiona visibly softened every time she touched her.

  “Not playing fair,” Fiona whispered, closing her eyes.

  “I never promised to.” She gave her another quick peck before turning her attention to the business at hand. She knelt in the cold water that swirled around their feet, lifting Fiona’s sodden skirt to reveal a red gash below her right knee. “This looks pretty deep, Fi.”

  “Mm,” was her only response.

  “You probably needed stitches, but it’s too late for that now, even if we had a way to get you to a hospital. There are some adhesive strips in here. I’m going to use a couple of them to hold it together after I clean it.”

  “Get on with it, then.”

  Nicole grinned at the false bravado in her voice. “I really love your accent. Did I tell you that last night?”

  “No, you didn’t.” Fiona’s tone softened again, the ghost of a smile on her lips.

  “Well, I do.” She ripped open an antiseptic wipe and swabbed the wound with it. Fiona hissed out a breath, pressing a hand over her eyes. “Sorry,” Nicole whispered, reaching for one of the adhesive strips.

  “Want me to talk dirty to you?” Fiona managed a teasing tone despite the pain, choosing to keep the conversation on her accent rather than her injury.

  “Later,” Nicole said, giving her uninjured knee a squeeze. She placed three strips along the cut and sat back on her heels, satisfied with her work. “Okay, where else are you hurt, or are you going to make me do a full body search?”

  Fiona narrowed her eyes at her, leaning forward so that her cleavage was inches from Nicole’s face. “I can think of a few body parts I’d like you to search.”

  “You’re impossible,” Nicole said, grinning at her. After hours of endless fear and stress, it felt good to laugh, to banter and flirt, to do some
thing normal. Even though they still faced an uncertain future, the immediate danger had passed, and Nicole was feeling downright euphoric.

  Fiona’s lips curved in a soft smile.

  “Seriously, is there anything else I should know about, or am I going to have to strip-search you?” Nicole rose on her knees, leaning in so that her hands bracketed Fiona’s waist.

  Her breath hitched, breasts spilling over the bodice of her dress as she leaned toward Nicole. “Later, when we’ve got our feet on dry land.”

  Nicole’s heart was beating so hard, she could barely breathe. Heat flooded her body, sweeping past the numbing cold from the water sloshing around her. She closed the distance between them, crawling forward so that her hips met Fiona’s, letting the heat between them provide a needed distraction as she ran her hands up and down Fiona’s arms, feeling for bumps and wounds as much as she was thrilling herself with the freedom to touch her.

  Fiona sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, chest heaving, blue eyes locked on Nicole’s. “I know what you’re doing.”

  “I’m giving you the PG version of that strip search.” Nicole almost didn’t recognize her own voice, it had gone so soft and breathless. Fiona watched quietly as Nicole inspected a bruise by her elbow before running her hands down her sides, squeezing here and there to check for injuries.

  “Tease,” she whispered, but Nicole supposed since she didn’t wince or draw away that none of her ribs were broken.

  “You left me no choice.” Nicole slid her skirt farther up her thighs, revealing an enormous black bruise. “Shit.”

  Fiona clamped her thighs around Nicole’s hips. “Kiss it and make it better?” she murmured, drawing out each syllable in a way that accentuated her accent, which was certainly not an accident. She was trying to distract Nicole, and she was doing a damn good job of it, because Nicole was so turned on, she could hardly concentrate on the task at hand. And since the sight of the bruise had tears swimming in her eyes as she imagined how badly it must hurt, she bent her head and kissed it.

  Fiona arched her back, one hand in Nicole’s hair as if she might pull her in for a kiss. Here they were, adrift somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea, Nicole crouched between Fiona’s thighs, lips against her skin…as water lapped around them in their not-yet-bailed-out lifeboat. She looked up at Fiona, and for a long moment, neither of them said a word.