Illusion

by J. S. Cooper

  “But how will we know how long that is?”

  “I have no idea.” He shook his head. “I have absolutely no idea.”

  “I wish we had some answers.” My hand pressed against his chest, and we stared at each other silently for a few seconds. I could feel his heart beating beneath my fingers, and I tried to ignore how warm and silky his chest felt. “Or at least some clues.”

  “We do have a clue though.” His left hand moved down my back, and I swallowed as it stopped on my lower back. “We have that note that you read earlier, and we know that you were being followed. Let’s swim back to shore and see if we have anything else in common. We’re obviously both here for a reason.” His mouth moved closer to mine, and I was positive that he was going to kiss me. I tilted my face up and waited to feel his lips on mine, but instead he let go of me and floated on his back. I watched him for a few seconds, staring at his magnificent body as he moved through the water like Michael Phelps. An image of the note I’d seen on the beach flashed in my mind as I watched him swimming away from me. The last line read your bodies are now one, but they’re not as united as they will be when I’m done. I needed to figure out what that line meant. Did the note refer to our bodies being one because we were tied together? Or did it refer to something more intimate? The man in the coffee shop had been staring at me for quite a while. Maybe he’d seen the look of lust and appreciation when I’d glanced at Jakob at the table. Maybe Jakob really had been at the wrong place at the wrong time. I started swimming back to shore as I continued to think about why Jakob was here. Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that he was here. And maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that he’d been at the coffee shop either.

  We swam back to the shore and walked out slowly, suddenly deflated. We’d solved our first problem, but now everything else seemed insurmountable.

  “So.” I stood there awkwardly and ran my hands through my drenched hair. My clothes clung to me like weights, and I had a feeling that I looked like the second coming of the Loch Ness Monster. “What now?”

  “I think we should take our clothes off and let them dry.” He spoke matter-of-factly and undid the top of his pants. “We’ll only get sick if we keep them on. We can lay them out on the sand. The sun should dry them fairly quickly.”

  “I guess.” I hesitated as my fingers gripped the bottom of my shirt. “Maybe they’ll dry with us wearing them?”

  “I doubt it.” He undid his zipper and pulled his pants down. “And I don’t want to be walking around feeling uncomfortable either.”

  “Yeah,” I mumbled as I stared at him, mesmerized, as he stood there in just his boxer briefs. His soaked, leaving-nothing-to-the-imagination boxers. I made myself avert my gaze and looked farther down his body. His legs were hairy, stocky, and tan. Shit, he was just getting hotter and hotter. I swallowed hard as my eyes worked their way back up and saw his package sitting there in his white boxer briefs.

  “I suggest you take your clothes off as well.” He gave me a look as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him to tell me to get naked.

  “Don’t look.” I blushed as I started removing my top.

  “You do realize you’re not changing, right?” His eyes twinkled at me. “I’m going to see you in your underwear in a minute. Do you really need me to close my eyes now?”

  “I guess not.” I wrinkled my nose and quickly pulled my shirt off. I looked down at my chest self-consciously, thanking God I hadn’t worn my see-through white lace bra. The bra I had on had pretty full coverage, albeit with some sexy black lace that I thought was cute.

  “Your bra looks wet.” He frowned. “You should take that off as well.”

  “There is no way in hell I’m taking my bra off.” I glared at him.

  “Hey, I had to try.” He grinned, and I shook my head.

  “You’re a pervert.” I narrowed my eyes at him and ignored the rapid beating of my heart as I went to take my pants off.

  “Aren’t we all?”

  I tried to remember what sort of panties I had on. At least they weren’t a thong. I wore those only when I was going on a date, to make me feel sexy. They were way too uncomfortable to wear on an everyday basis. I unzipped my pants and let out a sigh of relief as I realized that I had on a pair of plain white briefs and not my Hanes granny panties with the green and yellow flowers.

  His eyes narrowed as he watched me pull my pants down quickly. I stared at the ground as I stood there in my bra and panties. “Nice.” His voice was soft.

  I looked up at him. He wasn’t smiling as he stared at me in silence. There was a very primal feel about everything. All of a sudden we weren’t just two strangers kidnapped on an island. We were the last two people on earth. My stomach roared as I stared at his almost naked body. This time my hunger wasn’t for food, it was for him. He took a step toward me and his fingers brushed water off of my shoulder. My skin felt like it had been branded by his touch. His eyes narrowed as he stared at my body, giving me the once-over, leaving every inch of me tingling at his glance. The water was starting to dry on his skin and I could see the faint remnants of dried salt on his arms and chest. I wanted to lean forward and lick him to see just how salty he tasted.

  “You’re beautiful.” His voice was husky as his fingers ran down my stomach. I knew that I should breathe, but the moment felt so surreal that I didn’t want to do anything to stop it. We both stood there for a few minutes looking at each other and then around at our surroundings. The sun was starting to set, and the silence around us reinforced how alone we were, how cut off we were from civilization.

  “We’re going to be okay, Bianca.” He reached down and took my hand. “If anyone tries to harm you, they’ll have to go through me first.”

  “I’m scared.” My voice shook as I looked up at him. “We don’t know what’s going to happen.”

  “We don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m willing to bet that no monsters are going to attack us.” He reached down and rubbed his hand against my back. I jumped slightly at the feel of him against my bare skin.

  “Yeah,” I whispered. “That’s something.”

  “I think we should wait until tomorrow to locate food and water if you think you’ll be okay. It’s going to be night soon, I think, and I don’t know what time the sun sets here. I’d rather we not go exploring and find ourselves stuck somewhere in the dark.” He sighed. “I can go and get some coconuts for now. We should be good for tonight with the jelly and water.”

  “I guess so.” I sighed. “We won’t dehydrate already, will we?”

  “I think we’ll be okay.” His expression was serious. “The coconuts will tide us over for the night. Hopefully I’ll find some with soft jelly.”

  “How will you crack them open?” I frowned at him.

  “I didn’t think about that.” He sighed, and I could see a flash of anger in his eyes.

  “You’d think those assholes would have left us with some food and water,” I muttered.

  “Yeah.” He looked toward the ocean, his face obstinate and his fists clenched. “If I had an opportunity to speak to those two bumbling fools, I’d kick their asses.”

  “Yeah.” I sighed. “And then we wouldn’t be here, but I don’t blame you for not trying, Jakob. They had a gun. A gun is mightier than the fist.”

  “I would never knowingly put your life at risk, Bianca. I hope you know that. I know we don’t really know each other, but you have to know that I would never want anything to happen to you.”

  “Thank you, Jakob. I appreciate it.” I nodded at him and smiled briefly. There was something about the look in his eyes that made me want to trust him, but there were too many unanswered questions. I needed to figure out why we were both here before I could fully trust him. “I’m glad I’m not here alone.” I said the words to be nice, but I knew that they were true as soon as I uttered them. Being on this island all by myself would have been a nightmare.

  “I’m glad I’m not here alone as well.” He smile
d at me weakly. “Now let’s go find some coconuts and then get some sleep so that we can get up early and explore by sunlight.”

  “Sounds good to me.” I yawned and gave him a quick smile.

  “I just hope I can fall asleep.” His eyes darkened when he looked down at my body. My body trembled at his gaze, and I tried to ignore his innuendo.

  “Let’s worry about sleep after we find some coconuts.” I mumbled and walked away from him and toward the trees. I heard him behind me as we walked away from the ocean. “So what book were you reading?” I stopped and looked back at him curiously.

  “Huh?” He looked back at me in confusion and I smiled at him gently.

  “In the coffee shop you were reading a book. What was it?”

  “Oh yeah,” He nodded. “I was reading A Tale of Two Cities.”

  “Oh, interesting.” I wasn’t sure why I was surprised by his answer. “You interested in the French Revolution or just a Dickens fan?”

  “Both, I suppose. I’ve always been interested in fiction and nonfiction that talks about revolt. Or more specifically humans going to any extremes to right wrongs or seek answers.” He spoke causally, but a part of me froze inside. Did he know more than he was letting on? “What do you think?” He touched my shoulder, and I jumped. He gave me a concerned look, yet I didn’t know what to say.

  “What do I think about what?” I looked him dead in the eyes, ready to find out what he knew.

  “The book? Have you read it? When you mentioned the French Revolution, I assumed you’d read the book. I’ve always been fascinated with social structures and the power balance between the aristocracy and plebeians, if I may call them that.”

  “Oh, yeah.” I ran my hand over my forehead, trying to calm my overworking brain down. “I’ve read it. I studied history in college.”

  “Interesting, you’ll have to tell me more about that later.” His eyes widened and he pointed at something eagerly. “Look, there are some coconuts on the ground.” He ran ahead of me, and I watched him pick up the coconuts and shake them. “They’re soft inside.” He shouted back at me and grinned. “I can hear the liquid inside of them.”

  “That’s great!” I shouted back.

  “At least we know we’ll survive one night at least.” He ran back toward me and I nodded in agreement. He stopped in front of me, his azure eyes sparkling with genuine excitement, and I knew at that moment that whatever the reason Jakob was here, it wasn’t to kill me. I also knew that I was going to find it very hard to resist him, if he continued giving me looks that turned my limbs to jelly.

  four

  “So tonight we’re just going to sleep on the beach?” I looked at Jakob with horrified eyes.

  “Sorry, princess. There won’t be any eight-hundred-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets.”

  “I don’t care about luxurious sheets. I don’t even have luxurious sheets at home.” I ignored his surprised expression and continued. “What if a wild hog comes and tries to attack us?”

  “Wild boar.”

  “What?” I looked around.

  “A wild boar might attack us. Not a wild hog.”

  “Do you think I really care about the semantics of the situation?!” My voice rose, and he laughed gently. I watched as his face transformed from its more natural mature look into a lighter, more boyish expression. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling back at him. “It’s really not that funny,” I continued softly.

  “Don’t worry, Bianca. I’ll protect you.”

  “Uh-huh.” I stared at his bare chest and bulging biceps and then looked away. “How do you intend to do that?”

  “I’ll watch out for you”—he shrugged—“in case anything tries to attack.”

  “Thanks,” I muttered softly, then sat down on the sand, lay back, and closed my eyes. I heard Jakob lie down as well, and we drifted off to our own thoughts.

  The sound of silence is deafening, especially to someone like me, who’d grown up with the constant buzz of traffic and sirens in New York City. The sand was coarse and hard, and I was incredibly aware of how close Jakob and I were to each other. I shifted in the sand a few times and sighed.

  “You can’t sleep either?” he whispered, and I considered pretending I was asleep. He didn’t wait for me to respond but continued talking. “When I was younger, all I wanted was silence. Now I wonder why.”

  “I used to want silence as well. Silence made me feel safe. I mean, yes, sometimes, the silence makes you feel all alone,” I responded, and stared at the clear, dark sky. “But sometimes you want that quiet space to just be with your thoughts. Other times—times like this—well, you don’t really want to be alone with your thoughts, do you?” I paused and then attempted to change the direction the conversation had taken. “I’ve never seen so many stars before.”

  “Neither have I.” His voice was gruff. “The sky is beautiful tonight.”

  “I feel like we’re in a whole new world.” I nodded as I stared up. “A whole new beautiful but completely desolate world.”

  “Why didn’t you read to me everything that was in the note?” His tone changed, and I froze.

  “What note?” My breath caught.

  “The note you read earlier.”

  “I don’t understand,” I mumbled, as he sat up and looked down at me with questioning eyes. How could he know there was another line? I’d watched as the note had blown down the beach.

  “You didn’t read all of it, did you.”

  “How did you know?”

  “I didn’t until just now.” He leaned back. “I had a feeling that there was more to what you read. It was the way you read it and then paused and said that was it. I was pretty sure that that wasn’t all there was.”

  “Yeah.” I made a face. “Sorry.”

  “So what did it say?”

  “Something about our two bodies being one, but we might not always be so united.”

  “You didn’t have to hide that from me.” He shifted closer to me and ran a finger down my cheek. “I want you to trust me, Bianca.”

  “I want to trust you, too.” I stilled as his fingers brushed my lips gently, and then he withdrew his hand and ran his fingers through his hair. I wanted to reach over and touch his lips and see if they were as soft as they looked.

  “You have a thing about intimacy, don’t you.” He changed his line of questioning, and I looked away from him and frowned. “Humans are such funny creatures.” His voice was soft.

  I looked back toward him. His face was illuminated by the moon, and there was something inscrutable about his expression.

  “I’m not sure what you mean.” I shivered.

  “In the trunk, you made a comment about us being intimate. Then you were so agitated by us being tied together.”

  “Who wouldn’t be agitated?”

  “I’m just saying that I noticed. You have intimacy issues.”

  “I don’t have any issues.” My voice dropped, and my hands lay like wooden blocks at my side.

  All of a sudden, I became aware of just how little I had on—and how little he did. I wanted to cover myself but didn’t want to prove his point any further. I knew that part of this game we were playing was mental as well as physical. He was trying to test me and push me, to see if he could break me by making me uncomfortable. He wasn’t sure if he could trust me either. I wasn’t going to let him see any weakness. I couldn’t. Not when I didn’t know what his agenda was. I was attracted to him in a way that I’d never been attracted to another man. The animal magnetism I felt toward him made me want to push him down on the sand and kiss him. I had to keep reminding myself that I didn’t know why he had been put on the island with me. If the reasons were nefarious, I was going to have to be on high alert. I couldn’t allow my body to fool me into trusting him too much. Not yet.

  “You look naked.” His voice grew husky as he gazed down at me. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were a siren trying to seduce me.” His voice drifted as he looked out to t
he water. “Or a nymph. You could be a water nymph.”

  “I’m not trying to seduce you.”

  “I know.” He scratched his chest. “What would you say if I touched you right now?”

  “I wouldn’t say anything.” I moved away from him slightly. “I would slap your hand away.” I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves.

  “There’s no need to be scared.” His voice dropped. “I only touch women who want me to.”

  “That’s good.”

  “Do you find me attractive, Bianca?”

  “I haven’t thought about it.”

  “They say the devil dresses in leather and his mistresses dress in satin. . . .” His voice trailed off. “It’s a strange thing, the two of us being here.”

  “It is indeed.” I sighed, my head spinning and my eyes drowsy. I wanted to sleep so badly, but I didn’t want to let my guard down around him. Not now that he was acting all funny.

  Silence befell us again, and he stood and stretched. His stomach muscles rippled as he flexed, and I watched him carefully. I felt an odd thrill as I stared at him. Part of me was scared by his obvious strength, and another part of me was turned on by how hot he was. I was disappointed in myself for my base attraction to him. He was sexy, and my body was taking notice even though my brain was screaming out that it didn’t trust him. I wanted to feel the strength of his body holding me down as he kissed me all over. I wanted to feel the touch of his tongue on my already ultra-sensitive skin. My head felt hot with fever, at the memory of his body pressed against mine in the water. All he had to do was reach down and grab my arms, and I would be like putty in his hands.

  “How limber are you, Bianca?” His voice was suddenly above me, and I blinked up at him and swallowed hard.

  “Why?”

  “I have an idea.”

  “What’s your idea?”

  “Do you trust me?” He kneeled down and looked me in the eyes. “It won’t work unless you trust me.”

  “I don’t know.” I stared into his clear, open eyes, and I could feel a part of me weakening. “What’s the idea?”