Beyond the Tide

by Noelle Marchand

  “My son is sick with fever. I am returning home to tend him. I need more of this leaf to make him well.” She tugged a leaf from the hip of her skirt, then gestured to the hut behind them. “Bring the leaves to me here. I will see you are rewarded.”

  “I will. Right away.”

  Joy handed Ava the link. “Take the healing waters first. They will not last long, but my son will be sick all night.”

  Ava nodded her thanks. Talk about provision. A way out of her corset and a quest all in one conversation. She hurried across the village to the hut with the red hatch roof. A man and woman sat near a fire in the middle of the room. Steam wafted up from a pot on the fire while a large metal tub sat at the ready in the center of the room. The man stood to greet her. “Why are you here?”

  “The healing waters?”

  The woman nodded. “Come in then.”

  Ava stepped inside. The man brushed past her on his way out, then closed the hut’s opening with a large tapestry. The woman added steaming water to the bath before mixing in powder and liquid from several other jars. Her efforts turned the water an opaque white, but whatever she’d used smelled amazing.

  The woman turned away to dig through a woven bag. “You may disrobe now.”

  Ava hurriedly slipped from her clothes and into the bath. She shrank farther into the water as the woman handed her a cloth and some soap. A larger cloth went on a stool nearby as well as what appeared to be the clothing Ava was after. Success!

  She closed her eyes as the heat of the water seeped into her aching muscles Surely, this was paradise. Ava had almost forgotten the woman was there until she said, “You may stay here only fifteen minutes. Maurice and I will stand guard as you bathe. Call me if you need anything. My name is Liani.”

  “Thank you,” Ava replied, but the whisper of the tapestry told her she was alone.

  She soaked as long as she dared before scrubbing herself clean. Not wanting to be caught standing around in nothing when her time was up, she used every ounce of self-discipline she had to pull herself from the warm water. She dried off, then dressed herself in the native regalia.

  As she’d hoped, it was similar to a two-piece swimsuit. Her britches were baggy enough that she should be able to tuck the skirt inside the britches with no one the wiser. She reached for her britches to try out her theory, but they were gone. As was her shirt and corset. No boots either. The leaf was still where she’d left it, but everything else had vanished.

  “Time’s up,” Maurice called from the other side of the tapestry.

  She tugged the skirt farther down her thighs then back up so it covered more of her midriff. “Liani, do you have my clothes?”

  “They are being washed along with the clothes that were in your satchel.”

  Her eyes widened. Every stitch of clothing besides the dresses she’d left on the Intrepid had been taken from her. “Do you know when I’ll get them back?”

  “Before you leave tomorrow.”

  Ava grimaced. “Will the guys be wearing native clothes?”

  “If they take the waters.”

  Which would only be available for a limited time. She wiggled her bare toes in the dirt floor. “What about my boots? May I have those?”

  “If you wish, but you will have no socks.”

  “That’s fine.” It would be uncomfortable. Still, that was better than walking around barefoot and cutting her foot on something or being bitten by a varmint of some kind.

  “Your time is up, miss.” Maurice reminded her. “Someone else is waiting.”

  “Ok.” She took a deep breath, then stepped outside.

  Noah lifted a brow as his gaze swept over her. He choked on a laugh. “Another costume change?”

  “So it seems.” She smiled sweetly. “Enjoy your loincloth.”

  He froze. Glancing at Maurice, he took a step backward. “Actually, I think I’ll pass on this one, guys. Thank you, though.”

  “Chicken.” Ava yelled after him. He waved as he continued to back pedal, but offered no defense. She smiled as she took her boots from Liani and slid her feet inside them. “No sense of daring, that one.”

  Liani shrugged. “So it seems.”

  Ava waved in farewell. She walked away from the hut, staring down at the mysterious leaf she was supposed to find. She’d need to head into the forest and— Someone called out, “Woah!”

  She glanced up and had to stop in her tracks to keep from running into Dash. “Sorry. I didn’t see you there.”

  “You should be more careful,” he said slowly even as he took his time staring at her new clothes—or lack thereof. “Ian can’t always be around to be your guard dog.”

  She blinked, then frowned. “I don’t need a guard dog. I can handle myself.”

  His gaze finally flickered up to her eyes with interest. “Can you now?”

  Recoiling slightly, she glared at him. Why was he being such a creep?

  He lifted an eyebrow as though daring her to say something. Where was this veiled aggression even coming from? Panic began to freeze her from the inside out, spreading through her body. She couldn’t let it win. Not now.

  She rolled her eyes, then brushed past Dash and kept walking until she entered Joy’s hut. It was empty except for a little boy stretched out in a hammock. He stashed the video game behind his back. She gave him a shaky smile. “You were the governor’s son, weren’t you?”

  “You’re the pirate lady.”

  “Yep.” She nodded at him. “You can keep playing your game. I’ll only be here a second.”

  “Cool.”

  She peered out the doorway. Dash was nowhere to be seen. She should have paid attention to where he’d gone. He could be anywhere. Meanwhile, she was supposed to head out to the woods in search of a leaf by herself.

  She spotted Ian as he exited the hut across the path from her. She rushed out to meet him. He stopped to stare at her in surprise. Whether that was due to her change of clothes or merely her sudden appearance, she couldn’t tell. Nor, did she give him a chance to comment.

  Instead, she smiled and grabbed his arm. “Hey, let’s team up. I’ll help you with your quest if you help me with mine. We’ll get them done twice as fast. Deal?”

  He hesitated. “Sure.”

  “Great. I need to head into the woods to look for a plant.” She lifted the leaf as if that explained everything. “What about you?”

  “I don’t have a quest yet. I was taking care of sleeping arrangements. You’ll have a hut all to yourself.”

  “Oh. Really? Great! Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” He tilted his head to survey her. “Are you ok?”

  “I’m fine.” Well, close enough to fine. For some reason, she didn’t want to tell him about Dash. Didn’t want to think about it. She offered a quick smile. “You wouldn’t happen to have an extra shirt lying around that I could borrow, would you?”

  His gaze swept over her. An instant later, he pulled his shirt off and offered it to her. “You can have this one. It’s clean. I just changed into it a few minutes ago before they took the rest of my laundry.”

  Her heart melted a little. “Ian, you don’t have to give me the shirt off your back.”

  “I don’t mind. Besides, it’s the only one I’ve got at the moment.” Before she could protest further, he slipped it over her head. She slid her arms into the sleeves. They stretched past her hands while the hem shot past the native skirt by several inches. So much better. “Thank you, Ian.”

  “You’re welcome.” Ian rolled up the sleeves for her, then eyed the leaf in her hand. “Is that from the plant we’re supposed to be looking for?”

  “Yes.” She frowned at the leaf. “I have no clue where it might be.”

  “We’ll find it.”

  He was a gem. An absolute gem. Unable or maybe just unwilling to stop herself, she placed a steadying hand on his shoulders and rose on her tiptoes to place a quick kiss on his cheek.r />
  He stilled. Something warm flared in his eyes. His hands slid up her arms, easing her slightly closer. A smile tilted his lips. “What was that for?”

  “Being wonderful.” With a blush warming her cheeks, she broke away from his grasp and took his hand instead. “Maybe we should try to find a quest for you now. Mine doesn’t have a strict time limit, but others might.”

  Ava spent the next few hours working with Ian to complete their individual missions. The near panic she’d felt as a result of Dash’s odd behavior was all but forgotten until darkness stole across the camp and she was tucked into her own private hut. Strange, wasn’t it? How private also meant isolated?

  She valued the privacy she’d been allotted on the Intrepid, but this was different. There was no lock to ensure her safety. No wooden planks to announce the footsteps of someone’s approach. Nothing but a yawning black hole where a door should be.

  The village itself felt empty with most of the actors and the production crew having left for the night. Perhaps she shouldn’t have antagonized Dash at the pirate council. Maybe if she’d kept her mouth shut, then he wouldn’t have behaved so strangely later. If only she kept an eye on her clothes instead of letting Liani spirit them away, Dash wouldn’t have had anything out of the ordinary to ogle.

  At the very least, she could have asked to speak with Logan or the director after that weird conversation. Instead, she’d focused on fulfilling her quest and helping Ian with his. Well, it was too late to change any of that now.

  It had to be the middle of the night, which meant she’d been staring at the door for hours. Knowing she needed to at least try to sleep, she closed her eyes and imagined she was back in the healing waters. Her tension began to fade. Exhaustion stole over her, dulling her senses. She jerked awake.

  Heart racing in her chest, she grabbed the sides of her hammock to keep from falling out of it. She stared into the blackness, trying to determine what had awakened her. She heard movement. Soft, subtle, getting closer. Jumping from her hammock, she ran out the door into the night.

  Nothing followed her. She stood in the middle of the camp, gasping for breath. She was overreacting. Probably. Definitely.

  But, she had heard something. Going back into the hut seemed impossible. She could hardly stand out here all night though. It wasn’t any safer than being in the hut.

  Ian. She wanted Ian. He’d check the hut for her. Of course, awakening him would mean awakening the rest of the guys. She didn’t want to disturb them. Or, worse yet, accidentally awaken the wrong guy and only the wrong guy—assuming that person wasn’t lying in wait for her to return to the hut.

  She shivered, then flinched at the sound of twigs breaking. Was someone walking in the woods behind the huts? Decision made, she bolted toward the guy’s hut and stopped outside the doorway to call, “Ian? Ian, I need your help.”

  R

  Ian ignored the groans and mumbled complaints as he slid from his hammock and stumbled out of the hut into the darkness. Before he could so much as blink, Ava was in his arms. He froze. She was shaking. “Ava, what’s going on?”

  Brian followed him out the hut. “Is everything ok?”

  He sent Brian a bewildered look. “I don’t know. Ava, talk to me.”

  “There’s something moving around in my hut,” she mumbled into his chest. “And, I heard someone in the woods.”

  Ian surveyed the woods. He spotted a green pinprick of light before a man emerged with a wave and walked toward them. “The person in the woods is a cameraman. As for what’s in your cabin… We’ll find out what it is and get it out.”

  Brian nodded. “I’ll grab a torch.”

  Will Hutton finally met up with them. The thirty-something year old cameraman looked more like a pirate than any of the contestants with his shaved head and pierced ear. With the camera already filming, Will asked, “What’s going on?”

  Ian automatically eased Ava slightly closer as if that would protect her from the camera. “Ava got spooked by something prowling around in her hut. Brian is going to grab a torch so we can investigate.”

  Ian fully expected Ava to pull in a steeling breath and turn to face the cameras with her normal aplomb or perhaps even make a joke to lighten the mood. Yet, by the time Brian returned with the torch, Ava still hadn’t moved. She really must be upset to show that much vulnerability on camera.

  Brian must have come to the same conclusion. Compassion softened his features. “How about I check it out while you two stay here?”

  Ava nodded.

  Brian strode toward Ava’s abandoned hut. Will glanced back and forth between Ava and Brian’s retreated form before asking Ian, “You two staying here?”

  “Yep.”

  Without another word, Will followed Brian. Ava relaxed slightly as their footsteps faded away. Alone with Ava. Well, as alone as he could get with a hut full of pirates sleeping only ten feet away. She seemed content to stay tense and quiet with her face hidden in his chest.

  Ian’s concern battled dawning awareness as it became harder to ignore how wonderful it felt to hold her in his arms. He couldn’t let himself so much as think in that direction with Ava. Their friendship was too important to ruin it by focusing on physical attraction. The fact that his mind was straying in that direction at a moment when she’d trusted him to be a source of comfort made him feel even worse.

  He’d always been weak in that area. Maybe it would be best to start putting some distance between them when it came to physical affection. No more hugs, less hand holding, whatever it took. He released her just as Brian returned with Will at his heels. “That was fast.”

  “Barely took me any time at all to find your prowler, Ava.” Brian grinned and lifted a gray and white cat for Ava’s inspection. “He’s a friendly little guy.”

  Ava glanced up, caught sight of the cat, and smiled a little. Her voice still sounded small and strained. “Thanks for your help. I’m sorry. I…”

  She lifted a helpless shoulder in a shrug as if unable to complete the sentence. Worry wrinkled Brian’s brow. “No problem at all. Ian, there are several hammocks in Ava’s hut. I was thinking you and I could bunk there for the rest of the night. That way we don’t disturb the other guys.”

  “Sounds good to me. Is it ok with you, Ava?”

  She nodded. “That’s fine.”

  The situation might be, but she still seemed shaken and uneasy. Explaining away the noises hadn’t helped. Promising to stay the night with her hadn’t either. What else was going on here? He tilted his head to capture her gaze. “Walk down to the beach with me?”

  “Ok,” she whispered without hesitation.

  “Brian, we’ll be back in a little while, but don’t worry about waiting up for us.”

  Brian nodded. “Take your time.”

  Ava didn’t say a word as they walked down to the beach with Will filming their every step. Ian was just about to ask the cameraman to give them some space when Ava pulled off her blousy white shirt to reveal the native clothing beneath it. She folded the shirt and set it on the sand.

  Ever so calmly, she met Ian’s gaze as she walked backward toward the sea. There was an outright dare in her voice. “Well, are you coming with me?”

  Realization filled him, and he nodded. It was a good plan. Will obviously didn’t have the bulky waterproof camera casing that would allow him to follow them past the beach. They’d have a moment of almost complete privacy out there in the dark waves.

  Of course, swimming in the ocean at night wasn’t exactly the safest thing to do. However, Ian had been in far more dangerous situations in the water than a little night swimming. They should be fine as long as they kept their bearings and stayed relatively close to the shore. Besides, the hint of desperation on her face told him she needed the escape.

  He caught up with her and stayed by her side as they waded into the water until the swells reached chest-high. She slipped under the water during a lull, then slid her
hand over her hair to slick it back out of the way. A sigh shuddered through her. “I’m sorry, Ian.”

  “You’re sorry?” Confused and almost certain he’d heard her wrong, he drifted closer to her on the next swell. “Why are you sorry?”

  She met his gaze, her turquoise eyes somehow seeming all the more vibrant with so much darkness around them. “I’ve been so clingy today.”

  Clingy? Seriously? She was apologizing for being clingy? Sure, she’d stuck closer to him than usual today, but he hadn’t minded. In fact, he’d loved every bit of it. That was his problem. Not hers. “Ava—”

  “Then I stole your shirt, made you take me on your quest—”

  “You don’t need to apologize.”

  The ocean pulled her even closer to him. “I awakened you in the middle of the night acting like a crazy person, and—”

  “Please, stop.” He was about two seconds away from kissing her just to shut her up and show her how little she had to apologize for. “Seriously. Stop.”

  “But—”

  A sudden wave broke over them. It pulled them underwater and wrenched them apart. He let it pass, then shot to the surface. Ava popped up several feet away. She sputtered a little as she pushed her hair out of her face again. Swimming closer, he heard her mutter, “Ok, Lord, I get it. I’ll shut up.”

  If there was a message in that wave, it had been for Ian. He needed to keep his distance. After all, he and Ava had an agreement. It definitely excluded kissing.

  Guilt crashed over him with nearly as much force as the wave had. They weren’t here to make out. They were here to talk about what was bothering Ava. Besides, the more time they spent in the water, the greater the chance of finding themselves in a dangerous situation.

  Catching her arm, he guided her closer so they could hear each other more easily over the waves. “Ava, what really happened back there at the hut? I know it was more than being spooked by a cat.”

  She grimaced. She rubbed the nape of her neck as she glanced down to the ocean swelling between them. “The truth is… I…”

  She met his gaze full-on. “I have panic attacks sometimes. It’s simply a leftover response from trauma. Usually, I’m able to calm myself down when I feel one coming on. This time, I didn’t even realize what was happening until I saw that silly cat.”