by Kelli Walker
“It shows a lot about your character that it doesn’t.”
“It’ll be hard. I want to offer to pay for the funerals, though I know it won’t help. I’m also preparing the pilot’s severance packages since they were technically on my full-time payroll in the hopes that their families can use the money to help get back on their feet. But I also know that--.”
“It doesn’t bring their loved one back,” she said.
“Right.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me there for those video conferences? I can stand in a dark corner or something.”
“I promise. I want to to them alone. I think that’s important, just me and them. I don’t know how long they’ll take, but I thought about spending a day on the beach. Just relaxing and thinking before we pack up to head out.”
“Sounds like a good way to decompress after something like that.”
“Would you join me?”
“On the beach?” she asked.
“For the day. Yes.”
“Do you want me to?”
“Not what I’m asking. Do you want to join me? Because if you do, I’d love your company, Val.”
Her eyes connected with mine before she sat back and crossed her arms. I got the feeling there was something she wanted to ask me, so I braced myself for the question. But as the silence lingered on, I watched her talk herself out of it. I watched her lips lightly move with the argument raging on inside her head. What was she thinking? What was she debating on?
I wanted to ask, but I also didn’t want to push her too much.
“I think a day in the ocean sounds nice,” she said.
“We don’t have to go in the ocean. We can lounge in the sand. I know you don’t like water unless it’s for survival.”
“Maybe it’s time I got over that, then.”
She panned her gaze over to mine before she took another bite of her eggs.
“This breakfast is really good, by the way.”
“I’m glad you like it,” I said.
“What should I bring for our day in the ocean?” she asked.
“Yourself and a towel. I’ll provide the rest.”
“The rest?”
“Yes. The rest.”
“What’s ‘the rest’?”
“Come swimming with me and you’ll see,” I said, grinning.
Then, I heard my laptop ringing in the other room and my body stiffened.
“Video conferences?” Val asked.
I picked up my coffee and quickly chugged it down before standing to my feet. I picked up my plate, still half-full with food. But when I went to go move from my seat, I felt something warm fall to my arm. I looked down and found Val’s hand on top of my forearm. Pressing lightly to try and get me to stop.
“You cooked. I clean.”
“I’ve got it,” I said.
“You've got two families that need your guidance right now. I’ve got this, Silas. Go.”
Then she took my plate and mug from my hand, turned me around, and guided me to the entrance of the hallway.
Valencia
“So, how do I do this again?” I asked.
“Watch the waves. You have to get used to anticipating before they crash. And just before they crest the peak, you start paddling your way to shore,” Silas said.
“And that’s it.”
“That’s it.”
“Okay. Let’s see how this goes.”
We bobbed with the waves in the crystal clear waters as fish swam around our ankles. After snorkeling out pretty far that morning and having lunch in his cabana, Silas was now teaching me how to body surf. I kept an eye on him, watching as he reacted to the waves. And every time he backed down from one, so did I. One of the more unfamiliar things to me about nature was water. Specifically, the ocean. I knew water insofar as how to filter it so I could drink it, but I didn’t know how to read it. How to feel it like Silas apparently did. It took us a few tries before I watched Silas prepare himself, and when he did I followed his movements.
And I found myself soaring back to the shore.
“Paddle, Val! Kick! Harder!”
One arm over the other. Feet kicking as fast as I could. I felt the wave carry me on top of its back before I went crashing under water. I tumbled and rolled. My back skidded along the sand. I felt the water growing more and more shallow before a current came and swept me back out to sea.
Then, I felt something wrap around my arm before I surfaced.
“Val!”
I coughed as I wiped the salt water from my eyes.
“Val, you okay?” Silas asked.
“No worse for wear. What did I do wrong?” I asked.
“You tumbled with the wave. You never tumble with the wave.”
“You told me to ride it.”
“Ride it, not follow it.”
“Well, next time you try to teach someone, specify that,” I said.
I looked up at him before a smile peeled across my cheeks. He smiled along with me before a giggle started, and soon the two of us were laughing. Silas reached over and plucked some seaweed from my hair as I began to dig the sand out of my bathing suit. I walked back into the water to conceal my movements, but I felt Silas’ eyes on me anyway.
“It itches,” I said.
“I wasn’t complaining about the view.”
“Such a man statement.”
“I can’t help that you’re beautiful, Val.”
I’d never get used to those types of comments. The kinds of things he said to me on a regular basis. My neck flushed all the way up to my cheeks as the ocean surrounded us yet again. I turned around and watched as Silas swam back out to me, and soon we were bobbing once again to the rhythm of the waves.
“Have you thought about what we might do for dinner?” I asked.
“I cooked breakfast and lunch and you expect me to cook dinner?” he asked coyly.
“I mean, I could smoke us some stingray. I seem to be pretty good at that.”
“I have to say, I can’t smoke stingray like you can.”
“I can’t take all the credit. It’s simply a gift,” I sighed.
I felt Silas wrap his arms around my waist and draw me to him while he chuckled.
“A gift, huh?” he asked.
“Yep. Such is life.”
“Uh huh. And what other gifts do you think you have?”
“Other than saving your ass?”
“That’s a pretty big gift.”
“It’s also a pretty big ass.”
“Oh! I’m hurt. Shots fired!”
He gripped his heart as if I had wounded him. I threw my head back in laughter as his arm around me tightened more, holding me to him. I languidly wrapped my legs around him. My arms threaded around his neck. The sun was just beginning to breach the top of the ocean, signaling the official start of sunset.
“On a serious note, if you are hungry I can go fix us something,” Silas said.
“It’s fine. I’m actually not hungry right now,” I said.
“Good. Because neither am I.”
I gazed into his eyes as his skin bathed itself in the warm rays of the sun. I enjoyed my time with Silas. This time we had together. But I knew what tomorrow held for us. We’d be back on some private jet of his heading back to our regular worlds, and I’d soon be back teaching air-headed rich kids how to make fire with a match. I wondered if I would ever see him again. If he wanted to see me again. I wanted him to want to see me, and that was an odd feeling. A confusing feeling. Part of me wondered if all of this was some sort of repayment for helping him stay alive. But there were moments where I thought what we were experiencing was genuine.
Like now, as I gazed into his green eyes and watched the sun set in them.
Either way, I didn’t want to think about any of it. I wanted to enjoy the little bit of time I had left with him. Despite our journey on Montserrat, the island that surrounded us was beautiful. Not my style, but Silas made it bearable. Enjoyable, even. And before I
sank back into the hustle and bustle of New York City, I wanted to finish out my time with Silas.
Even if it meant I didn’t ever see him again.
“What are you thinking about?” Silas asked.
I sighed as my hands played with the small curls at the nape of his neck.
“About our journey home tomorrow,” I said.
“What about it?”
“Just all the things I’ll have to do once I get back.”
“Well, that isn’t until tomorrow afternoon, at best. Right now, take a look at the view.”
His head turned out towards the sunset, but my eyes didn’t move a muscle.
“Aren’t you going to watch the sunset, Val?”
“I am,” I said.
“The sunset isn’t on my face.”
“Then maybe I don’t want to watch the sunset.”
His eyes slowly turned back to me and I felt the moment shift. From playful to somber to sensuous. His eyes fell to my lips before they whipped back up to mine, and slowly his hands migrated to my ass cheeks. The water kept us buoyant as I wiggled my way closer to him, allowing the ocean to guide my movements. My pelvis pressed against his and I felt his cock coming to life. I felt his hands massaging my ass.
“Kiss me,” I whispered.
And I didn’t have to ask twice.
His lips connected with mine and I melted into his embrace. My ankles locked around his waist and his arms cloaked my back. My head tilted off to the side. His heat encompassed the whole of me. His hand came up and fisted my hair, drawing my head off to the side so he could access my neck. His lips kissed down my cheek. Down my neck. His teeth drew along my pulse point while I trembled against him. I clung to his arms as his lips worked their way down to my shoulder, then he pulled me back. Forcing my bosom to his lips.
“You have no idea what you do to me, Val. You've got no fucking clue.”
I moaned at his words as his nose nuzzled my bathing suit top off to the side. My nipple came charging out, puckered and ready for his attention. His warm lips wrapped around it and I jumped against him, rolling my hips against his throbbing girth. His tongue lapped at it. I panted as the waves drenched the ends of my hair. His hand cupped the back of my head as my body splayed out for him, keeping a delicate balance of my body against his and my body against the surface of the water. He kissed and nibbled. His teeth sank into my breast and sucked until I groaned out his name. My legs trembled as he nuzzled my other breast from my bathing suit, and soon my top was lost to the waves.
“Whoops,” he said.
“Something tells me that wasn’t an accident,” I breathed.
His hand brought my head back to his and our foreheads connected. I felt his hand between our bodies as he undid the tie of his bathing suit, and soon his shorts were lost to the waves as well. His hand gripped the fabric of my bathing suit bottoms, and without any struggle he ripped them from my body. Thank fuck we had a private beach.
Because if people had been around us, I wasn’t all that sure it would have stopped me.
I reached down for his cock and guided it into my body, moaning out into the sky. The sun set behind me as I clung to Silas, feeling his hips pump with the unrushed motion of the waves. I kissed him repeatedly. Puckered my lips and covered him in them. His cheek. His neck. His shoulder. Every ounce of exposed skin as his cock filled me to the brim. His hands fisted the globes of my ass, rising my body and sinking it as the waves rolled against our bodies. He commanded every part of me as my breasts pressed into his chest, and with each pump his heart rate beat faster against my skin.
I panted into the crook of his neck. My walls fluttered around his cock. Silas groaned out against my ear, a sound that sent a shockwave of goosebumps down my spine.
Then, I felt him turn me towards the sun before he started walking to the shoreline.
Our bodies fell to the wet sand and my heels dug into the soft surface. The waves lapped at our toes as my lips rose up to meet his. He pressed my hips into the sand, holding me still and imprinting my body upon the island forever. The heat of the sun and the cool, refreshing waves mingled for an exponential experience as Silas rolled his body against mine.
And as I opened my eyes and looked up into his, I knew I was done for.
I knew I’d never be the same once I went back to the city.
“Silas. Go faster. Harder. Please.”
“Anything for you, beautiful.”
His rolls turned to thrusts, and his thrusts turned to pounds. I bucked up into his body as his tightly wound curls grazed my clit. My nails dug into his back. Raked down his skin as his chiseled muscles rolled for my viewing pleasure. I locked my legs around his calves as skin slapping skin filled my ears and the smell of our sex permeated my nostrils.
“Fucking hell, Val. So tight.”
“Don’t stop, Silas. I’m not ready.”
“Neither am I,” he said.
His hands found mine and threaded our fingers together before he pinned them over my head. I laid there underneath him, helpless against his wondrous assault. His eyes never left mine as the sun sank beyond the endless horizon of water, and soon the stars of St. John twinkled overhead. My juices poured down his cock before the ocean washed them away. My walls fluttered around him, grabbing him within its vice grip and pulling him deeper. I reached up and captured his lower lip, sucking on it as a growl fell from his throat.
Then, I wrapped my legs around his waist and rolled him over.
“Oh, shit. Val!”
I slammed down onto his lap and swiveled my hips. My salted hair fell into my face as my hands pressed against his chest. I ground into him. I felt his hands fist my hips. I bounced on his pulsing cock as his hair tickled my clit. I lost myself in him. In his eyes. In the feel of him. In the strength Silas possessed. His hands dwarfed me in every way and his cock grew, threatening to split me in half.
Then, I felt his thumb press between my folds and find my clit.
“Silas! Yes!”
I threw my head back as my tits bounced. My body jolted as pleasure crashed through my system. His thumb held steady to my clit as I rode his cock. He allowed my hips the ability to grind against his skin. My toes curled and my legs locked up. It became hard to breathe as every muscle in my body hummed for him. I felt his cock throb one last time before a growl slipped from his lips, and soon I felt him spraying against me. Marking me as his own. Coating my walls with his cum as pump after pump filled me until I couldn’t hold any more.
“Val. Val. Oh. Fuck. You’re just--. It’s--.”
His broken sentences filled my ears as I collapsed on top of him. Juices gushed from between my legs, giving the ocean yet another mess to wash away. His arms wrapped around me instantly, drawing me in as my trembling body shook against his chiseled form. We laid there, his cock sheathed inside of me, as the waves rose to wash our debauchery away.
But it would never be able to erase the memories I had. The experiences I experienced.
Or the feelings I had developed.
I pressed a mindless kiss to Silas’ shoulder and felt his cock jump inside of me. My body tilted, falling into the sand before I was rolled onto my back again. My arms fell out to the sides as my eyes hooded themselves in salacious ecstacy. I felt a warm pair of lips fall against mine before Silas pulled out from between my legs.
Then, he slowly slid back in.
“Oh, shit,” I moaned.
“I’m not done with you yet,” Silas said.
He slid all the way out again before inching back in.
“Fuck,” I whispered.
“You look so beautiful in the starlight, Val.”
I managed to open my eyes and take in the way he was looking at me. There was a reverence there. A respect. Not just a carnal, primal desire. But a tenderness I had never attributed to Silas. I knew he was capable of it. But it wasn’t something I used to define him. Not until I saw the soft look in his eye. The soft grin on his face.
Not until he pre
ssed his lips to mine and held his form, waiting for my approval.
“Take me any way you want,” I whispered.
And as his teeth nibbled on my shoulder, he worked his way out of my body and slammed back in. That night, I painted the island with his name. Called out for him time and time again, until my body ached from the pleasure he bestowed upon me. We forever marked that shoreline as ours. Painted it with our juices and our bodies and our sounds. But the best part of it wasn’t the way he moved or the way he sucked on my clit. It wasn’t the way he ate my pussy until I begged him to stop or the way he fisted my hair and pounded into me from behind.
Oh, no.
It was the way he picked me up into his arms. It was the way he carried me back into his cabana. Even though his legs wobbled and even though he was spent from our time together, he still found the strength to carry me back. To carry me home. He still found the strength to settle me into bed next to him so I wouldn’t have to sleep alone.
I was going to miss the hell out of waking up next to him.
Silas
The plane ride from Antigua to New York was silent. Dead silent. I looked over at Val every now and again and watched her look out the window. She had chosen the seat furthest away from me, and I didn’t like it. But, that was how Val coped with things. She pulled herself away and emotionally shut herself down in order to process things. It didn’t mean it wasn’t frustrating, though. I wanted her to talk with me. I wanted her to open up to me about what she was thinking. Her eyes screamed with how full her mind was. Even though we had woken up together and even though we had shared a lovely breakfast with lively conversation, it was as if we had never met.
Val had completely pulled away and retreated back into her shell.
I knew this was affecting her the way it was me. I knew that leaving the island and leaving our perfect little bubble meant answering a lot of hard questions as to what happened between the two of us. But if she didn’t talk, I couldn't talk back. If she didn’t ask her questions, I couldn’t provide her with answers.
She cared for me. I knew she did. It was obvious with how she had come banging on my door that night. It was obvious with how closely she curled up to my side at night. It was obvious by the way we made love on the beach underneath the moonlight until she breathlessly told me she couldn't take anymore of it. Val cared. I watched this cold, closed off woman come to care about me, and I cared for her in return.