Unintended Love: A contemporary romantic novella

by O'Riley, Harley

  Alex stirred from his spot against the tree, and went to the supply bin.

  “We also have antibiotic lotion, and band aids,” he said, pulling out a small first aid kit. “Let’s get those cuts cleaned up.”

  He helped her back to the tree, where she leaned back and let him minister to her. His touch was gentle and sure, and before long her legs sported six hot pink bandages.

  “So...uh...why pink?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” he said and shrugged, looking at her legs and his handiwork and smiling to himself. “I just liked them. There is green, and blue too, but the hot pink ones seem to suit you the best.”

  He took her foot, pulled off her sandal, and frowned at the raw looking blisters on her heel and between her toes. When he began to softly knead the bottom of her foot, it felt so good that a soft moan escaped her lips.

  “Oh... you are good. I suppose you were a doctor, or maybe a masseuse before you became a pilot?”

  “No,” he said offhandedly, “I’ve only been a pilot, a writer and, oh yeah, an internet millionaire.”

  He winked, and Melanie smiled.

  “Oh yeah,” she said. “Me too.”

  “Really?”

  She shrugged. “No, but I was a nurse.”

  “Was?”

  “I quit working as a nurse three years ago when my husband was in an accident. He became a paraplegic, and I took care of him for a year and a half until his death.”

  She said it simply. It was a painful event from her life and she’d learned to hide the emotions that were tied to it.

  “That must have been really hard,” he said.

  He took off her other sandal, and massaged that foot as well.

  “Yeah, it was,” she agreed quietly.

  “Well, I think blue band aids for these blisters to match your toenail polish,” he said, effectively changing the subject.

  After he applied the band aids, Alex made her sit while he built a fire-pit. Then he gathered wood and made a small fire.

  She admired how capable he was and how quickly there was a cheerful, crackling blaze and a large pile of dry logs and branches to feed it. Then he held up a can and a can opener. “Would you prefer baked beans, or ravioli?”

  Her stomach growled at the thought of food, and she realized she hadn’t eaten since a bite of toast early that morning. “Oh, definitely ravioli, thanks.”

  The sun was shifting downward. Melanie realized that it must be early evening and thought of her cell phone, her usual time-keeping devise. While Alex prepared their dinner, she dug through her purse and found it. The sound of the familiar chime as she turned it on lit a small hope that it might work, and that they could try to let someone know where they were.

  The idea of spending the night there on the ground, with the insects and the rocks was very unappealing. It would be so nice if someone would magically show up in a helicopter to swoop them up and away before nightfall.

  Although she hadn’t really expected it to work, when the out of service area message came up her heart sank a little.

  She read through some of her old text messages, really just to feel a connection to her real world, and found the one from Martin that she’d received that morning.

  Feeling a twinge of guilt, she remembered how when it had come in she’d glanced at it hurriedly and hadn’t bothered to reply.

  True, she had been in a hurry getting ready to leave her mother’s home but how hard was it to reply to a text? And he’d probably texted her instead of calling, because he’d known she’d be busy.

  She read the text more carefully now. It was only a few short lines. Angelo’s tonight at 7pm. I miss you. Love, M.

  Angelo’s was Melanie’s favorite restaurant, and he’d most likely chosen there because he wanted to celebrate their engagement. He probably felt sure that her answer was going to be yes. But she was feeling less and less convinced that marrying Martin was the right thing to do.

  Well, unfortunately canned ravioli would be worlds away from Angelo’s delicious ravioli de Portobello. Still, the company tonight might be more interesting.

  This was a thought that snuck up on Melanie and made her feel very uncomfortable. Appalled at her own thoughts, Melanie tossed the phone back into her purse and jumped up.

  “I’m going to find the bathroom,” she announced.

  Alex was bent over the fire, but glanced over his shoulder and gave her a small wave.

  “Don’t go too far,” he said. Then he added, “The food will be ready soon.”

  She walked a little ways up into the trees, until she could no longer see the fire. The evening air was cooling down quickly, and felt refreshing after the sweltering day. As there was no trail to follow, it occurred to Melanie that she might be the only human to have ever touched the ground she walked on.

  On the way back, she took a wrong turn somewhere, and after a few minutes of traipsing through the forest the way she thought she’d come, she realized with alarm that she’d been walking way too long.

  It was becoming hard to see now; all the shadows seemed to be converging on her.

  CHAPTER 4

  Melanie shivered, partly because it was growing colder, but mostly because the shadows were darkening and blending, making an eerie atmosphere as she walked through the trees.

  It had been foolish not to take the flashlight. The distance she could see was growing shorter by the minute. The forest was noisier too with unseen creatures communicating all around her, and the whispering sounds of things moving in the trees, and on the ground. When something rushed past her feet, she jumped and lost her balance falling hard onto the ragged stump of a fallen tree.

  “Oh, damn!” she cried out in frustration and pain. Now she had a few more scrapes and bruises to add to the others she’d received that day.

  Hugging her shoulders, she told herself to stay calm. She hadn’t walked far enough from their camp to be very lost, and if she had to, she could always shout for Alex.

  She didn’t want to do that though, because it was humiliating to be lost the very first time she’d walked away from him. It seemed almost pathetic. And for some reason, it was important to her that he didn’t think of her as the type woman who needed a man to get her out of foolish situations.

  But her concern was growing into fear. All the greens and browns in her sight were now shadowy greys, and although there were slices of daylight showing through the tops of the trees, that wouldn’t last long.

  She was about to give up and call out when she spied the orangey glow of their fire, small but clear, flickering through the dense trees. She sighed with relief, and keeping the flames in sight as much as possible and frequently stumbling over rocks and tree roots, she walked back.

  The first stars were out by the time she came to the small clearing, and Alex didn’t look happy.

  He handed her a plate of steaming ravioli. “It’s not much, but if you’re as hungry as I was, it will taste good.”

  She took the plate gratefully. “Thanks. I’m sorry it took me so long. I got a little turned around.”

  “No problem...,” he said.

  Then he frowned. “Actually, I guess it is a problem, Melanie. This is dangerous country. We have to be smart, or we may not make it out of here. Don’t wander off again.”

  She knew he was right, but was a little miffed at his implication that she wasn’t being smart. She couldn’t stop herself from putting up a weak defense. “I didn’t ‘wander off’ and I do know that it’s dangerous.”

  He looked at her skeptically. “So you know about the bears and the wolves?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  She felt the heat rise to her cheeks. He didn’t need to be like this, so doubting of her.

  “And the snakes, and the cougars? What about hypothermia?”

  “Okay! You’ve made your point.”

  She heard her voice rise and felt bad, remembering that she had actually been lost. And she hadn’t told him, but her ankle was throb
bing from her fall. “I’m sorry. I won’t wander off again. I promise.”

  Alex’s expression softened. “Good.”

  While he put together a makeshift tent from the parachute material, Melanie rummaged through her bag and found blue jeans, a sweat shirt and some running shoes. She walked to the other side of the plane and slipped them on, feeling grateful for the warmth they offered.

  When she returned and saw Alex laying out blankets and the one sleeping bag, it struck her how lucky she was. Not only was she still alive, but her companion for this adventure was...well, thinking of some of the other pilots she’d flown with through the years, things could actually be a lot worse.

  For a long while they sat around the campfire in a comfortable silence. To able to sit quietly with Alex seemed normal, but the fact of it struck her as odd, as they had only met that morning.

  A full moon rose above the trees. Melanie stared into the flames and for a few minutes was able to put all the thoughts and fears of the day on hold. Alex broke the silence first.

  “You said earlier that you had something to cheer us up?”

  “Oh yeah, my blisters stopped me before. It must have survived in my bag, because my clothes weren’t all wet.”

  She went to her bag and produced a bottle from where she’d carefully packed it, cushioned between layers of clothes. She brought it to Alex and held it out.

  “We’ve both had a trying day. Would you join me in a glass of wine?”

  “Sure, I like wine even when it hasn’t been a trying day.” He looked at the label. “Ah, Baby Smiles, pinot grigio, a fine wine.”

  “I paid a whole six dollars for it. It better be good. But I don’t have an opener.”

  “I do.”

  Once again he pulled out his Swiss army knife.

  “We don’t have glasses,” she said when he handed her the open bottle.

  “That’s ok. I don’t mind trading a bit of spit if you don’t.”

  In the look he gave her Melanie saw a small challenge, as well as amusement.

  She took a long drink, and handed it back. “Well, I usually don’t ‘trade spit’, as you so elegantly put it, with people until I know them a little better.”

  “By the time we are out of this situation, we may know each other quite intimately.”

  The way he said the word ‘intimately’ made her heart jump and she turned away from the dancing flames to stare at him. He met her eyes then passed the bottle, smiling in such a friendly way that Melanie felt herself soften inside. It was the beginning of a melt.

  She took the bottle from him, and focused on the taste of the wine and the melting sensation that was quite pleasant.

  There was something about Alex that felt a little dangerous to her. But, she decided definitely now, it wasn’t the man that was perilous, it was what she was beginning to feel for him.

  “So, why did you become a pilot?” she asked.

  “Oh, I was obsessed with flying as a kid. It seemed like a natural thing.”

  “So, did you want to be like Superman, or whoever, Wonder Woman- who else flew? Thor?”

  “Why yes, yes I did, as a matter of fact. Maybe not Wonder Woman exactly...”

  Alex smiled, and then his expression grew serious, as if he’d remembered something troubling. “There should have been two parachutes. I’m not sure what happened.”

  He looked into the flames. When the silence lengthened between them, Melanie found herself searching for something to lighten his mood.

  “Well, who knows, maybe that was for the best. If there had been two, I probably would still be stuck in some tree. If I’d jumped out by myself I might have landed anywhere.”

  “But I should have checked before we took off. I let myself be distracted.”

  “Why were you distracted?” she asked softly.

  Alex picked up a long stick from the pile of firewood next to him, and poked at the fire. The flames grew, illuminating his features. The worry line between his eyebrows was there; he seemed deep in thought, and he ignored her question.

  “Do you think you’ll go back to nursing?” he asked.

  “Honestly? I never want to see another bed pan or thermometer again.”

  It was true. Sam’s accident had left him needing constant nursing care, and because it was her profession he and everyone else, including her, had assumed that she’d be the one to care for him.

  It was the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life. And it had drastically changed their relationship, even though they’d grown closer in some ways. But after he died, even though she’d grieved and missed him terribly, she hadn’t missed the day-to-day drudgery of taking care of him.

  She had felt lonely and sad, but also free. And very guilty for feeling a sense of relief that his helpless tyranny over her days and nights was over. It was clear to her that she never wanted to go back to nursing.

  “Why?”

  Melanie shrugged, but his simple question dredged up a truth from deep within.

  “Even before the accident I was becoming burned out. I don’t think I was ever really cut out for it.”

  “Why not?” He leaned forward, listening.

  “I don’t know... I guess I was too empathetic. Nurses need to be able to distance themselves a bit. I could do it, but it drained me. Then taking care of Sam...well I’m just lucky I guess that I don’t have to go back to nursing. I can take my time to figure out what I want to do next.”

  “What do you think you might want to do?”

  “Oh, I have a few ideas. I want to work with children and literacy but I haven’t decided yet the best way to go about it.”

  “What about becoming a teacher?”

  “No, I think I’d like to get books and computers into the hands of disadvantaged kids. My other idea is for a literacy-focused summer camp.”

  She looked over to gauge his reaction. She hadn’t ever expressed this particular dream to anyone before and felt a warm glow to see his eyes shine with admiration.

  “That sounds great,” he said, “but you hate camping!”

  Melanie burst out laughing. “Hmm, maybe I haven’t thought that through- What was I thinking?! But I haven’t done anything yet.”

  “When you’re ready, you will.”

  He sounded very sure. Melanie thought how much she liked this man who had been thrust into her life in such a dramatic way.

  “Another thing to add to the list: pilot, doctor, masseuse, writer, internet millionaire...and now, prophet,” she said.

  Then she yawned.

  Alex laughed. “I think it’s bed-time.”

  That night, Melanie quickly fell asleep next to Alex under the makeshift tent. She lay down next to him warmed by the fire and the wine. Exhausted by the events of the day she slipped easily into sleep, but soon after something woke her up.

  There were the sounds of crickets and other insects buzzing, and a night breeze blowing softly through the trees. Then she heard the sound that must have awakened her, and a chill ran down her spine and she was suddenly wide awake.

  It was the low, mournful howl of a wolf, closer than she’d ever heard before.

  “Alex?” she said hopefully.

  But there was no answer except the sound of his soft rhythmic breathing. She still felt chilled, and she realized the temperature had dropped like he had warned.

  Her feet were like blocks of ice and in the pale light of the full moon shining right over her head, she could see her breath.

  She looked at Alex lying next to her on his back breathing quietly, and moved a bit closer under the sleeping bag seeking out his body heat. She pushed up next to the length of him and sighed as she began to feel his warmth. Her feet were still cold though, and being so close was not making her sleepy.

  No, she decided it was not going to be possible to sleep because either she was too cold, or he was too hot.

  It was better to be warm, awake and turned on than cold and awake, so she snuggled even closer.

 
; She was so near that she could smell him. His scent was warm in her nostrils, a mixture of his sweat with something underneath that was lighter and reminiscent of ... what was that? The closest that Melanie could come to was cinnamon. She liked it. His scent was comforting and sexy and she had to resist a strong urge to taste him.

  Still sleeping, Alex turned on his side facing her, so there was more of him available to get close to. The heat that emanated from him tantalized Melanie, until she couldn’t resist any longer. She turned so her back faced his front, and wiggled up next to him so they were spooning.

  The sleeping Alex didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he brought his arm around and rested his hand between her breasts. It felt so good to be wrapped up in his arms that she stopped thinking for a while and just luxuriated in the sweetness of the moment. She had goose-bumps as small waves of pleasure swept over her. Alex sighed in his sleep.

  Or was he asleep? The hand that was between her breasts was now cupping one of them, circling softly over it with his thumb.

  Melanie stayed still, and just let herself feel the intense pleasure that radiated downward. With his other hand, Alex reached up, moved her hair away from the back of her neck and softly kissed her neck. When he got to her ear, he took her lobe between his teeth.

  Her breathing grew quick, and she yearned to turn around and face him, and all that was being offered to her, but knew there would be no turning back if she did. So she forced herself to resist him and the pleasure he was giving her.

  She brought his hand away from her breast, and up to her lips. She kissed his knuckles then moved his arm away, scooting over so that there were a few inches between them.

  He seemed to fall back asleep quickly, but it was a long time before Melanie could quiet her thoughts and senses enough to drift back into sleep.

  CHAPTER 5

  The next morning Melanie woke first, her muscles tight and sore from a night on the cold, hard ground. Since Alex was still fast asleep, she crawled out from under her half of the sleeping bag, and stretched in the chill morning air.

  She searched through the plastic bin, feeling a rush of gratitude when she found a small jar of instant coffee. The embers from last night’s fire still glowed, so she added a little wood building up the fire enough to heat water to make coffee in the one small pot.