by Sandra Kitt
Maxwell sighed at her persistence. “No. Just a brat,” he said caustically. Eva smiled at the comment, believing it.
Adam began dropping some of the sails after a few hours, and they were just off the cove of a small key. Eva remained on board as Adam spent an hour in the water with the launch to catch small silvery pencil fish, sometimes diving to gather sea life from the sandy bottom.
She was coming to understand that Adam was not one for a lot of talk. The long silences with him were less awkward, and she did not take them or his glaring looks so personally. And there was also the undisputable knowledge that she wouldn’t be here if he didn’t want her to be. She was beginning to anticipate his moods and actions and sometimes even what he would say. Knowing all of this made it more fun to be with him.
And, too, Maxwell was not one to play games and waste time. He was very direct and straightforward but also much more sensitive than Eva had first given him credit for. It helped her in knowing and understanding him, even as she recognized that Maxwell would not give a damn what anyone thought of him.
When he finally surfaced for the last time, Eva was bending over the side with a widemouthed bucket attached to a line, ready to lower it to him. He put in his last catch and, as Eva pulled the bucket up, made his way to the launch and climbed in. Eva transferred his samples gingerly into the proper water-filled containers Adam had left for her. She expected him to come back on board, but when he didn’t appear, Eva went back to lean over the side. Maxwell was standing up in the slightly bobbing dinghy, hands on his hips.
“Come on down, we’re going to shore…and take off your jump suit. We’re swimming in.”
It was on Eva’s lips to protest, but she said nothing. Apprehensively she did as she was told, climbing down the ladder into the launch. Maxwell’s hands reached up to circle her waist and lift her the rest of the way. Goose bumps raised on her arms at the contact of his still damp hands.
“Maxwell…” she began, frowning at him, “I don’t think I can do this. I can’t swim!”
“Yes you can,” he said positively in his firm deep voice. But he did see the concern on her face and reflected in the wide, appealing depths of her eyes. He squatted down next to her. “Look. We’ll snorkel in. Remember all you have to do is breathe through the air hose and kick your feet. I’ll hold on to you.”
Eva took a deep breath and nodded. With shaking hands she put on her equipment and climbed over the side with Maxwell into the suddenly cold water. He held her tightly around the waist checking her mask and hose. Then he took her hand and pulled her gently away from the security of the boat. Together they headed toward the shore. Eva clutched convulsively to Maxwell’s large hand, and every now and then he’d squeeze hers in reassurance. Her heart pounded in her chest, but slowly she began to relax, realizing that she was not going to sink even though the depth of the water had to be fifteen feet.
They were almost into shore when something rasped over the skin of Eva’s neck and shoulder, causing a sudden burning sensation. Some sound came through her mouthpiece as she reached with her free hand to the tender spot. Maxwell, seeing that something was wrong, began kicking harder until he could stand in shallow water with her.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, pulling off his mask.
Eva gasped for air, pulling off her mask and hose as well. “I—I don’t know. Something scratched me…here,” she said, rubbing her neck. Maxwell pulled her hand away.
“No…don’t rub it. Come on. Let’s get out of the water.”
Once on the sandy beach Adam examined the injured area. His fingers probed gently and slowly, untying the straps of her suit to better reach the skin. Eva held her hand to her chest to keep the loosened suit in place.
“Looks like a jellyfish sting,” Adam murmured, running his fingertips over the slowly rising welt on Eva’s skin. “You okay?” he asked her softly.
Eva nodded, trying to hold the suit up and brush her hair from her face at the same time. Adam moved to stand tall in front of her. He took his own hands to brush her wet hair back.
“You sure?” he persisted.
“Yes, I’m fine.” Eva smiled. She looked up at him so close to her and went still with the look of concern that quickly crossed his face.
“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” he said in exasperation. Eva recognized that it was not directed at her.
“Maxwell, I’m fine,” she said firmly. “It doesn’t even sting so much now.”
Nonetheless, he continued to search her face, and when he was finally assured that she told the truth, he patted her cheek. “All right…let’s sit for a while.”
They moved with their equipment up from the shore into the shadow of nearby low-lying palms.
“Leave that untied…” Maxwell pointed to her when she would have adjusted her suit. “It’ll irritate the sting.”
Eva nodded, holding the suit tightly to her chest, aware now in some embarrassment that her nipples were erect against the latex fabric. She sat on fallen dried leaves, bringing her knees up to her chest and hugging them to her so that her knees held the suit against her body. Maxwell stretched out beside her, leaning back until his powerful torso was supported on his elbows.
“You did okay out there,” he said, without looking at her.
“Not bad for someone who can’t swim,” Eva joked nervously. “I must have been crazy to let you talk me into that!” But there was a smile in her voice.
“Were you scared?” Adam asked.
“A little at first. But as long as you held my hand I was fine,” Eva readily admitted. Maxwell looked over his hunched shoulder at her.
“And except for the jellyfish,” he added.
“How come you didn’t get stung?” she asked indignantly.
Adam rolled onto his stomach, still supporting his body on his elbows. “A jellyfish with good taste…. What can I tell you.”
“Baloney!” Eva said caustically. Adam looked up at her, his eyes dark and unreadable. They dropped to her raised thighs, to the exposed undersides.
“Jellyfish aren’t the only ones you know…”
Eva frowned, not understanding his meaning.
“There’s also gecko…”
“What’s a gecko?” Eva asked suspiciously.
“A lizard,” he answered casually. “It’s about that long”—he held up the thumb and index finger of one hand to indicate three inches—“and it’s brown and green, just like the one crawling up your side…”
Eva’s eyes popped open and she gasped, pushing her legs straight out and looking down. Sure enough, a small creature slithered across her stomach and hopped onto the sand fleeing into the bushes.
“Maxwell!” Eva shouted in alarm, but Adam was chuckling softly in his bass voice. “It’s not funny!” Eva said, kicking sand at him.
Adam grabbed her ankle and pulled suddenly, bringing her off her bottom and flat on her back. Eva started to struggle in earnest, but she sputtered, went momentarily still, and pulling her leg out of Adam’s grasp, she began to laugh.
Adam grabbed her other foot. “I thought you said it wasn’t funny?”
“Maxwell…don’t! That tickles!”
Adam looked down at her feet and back to her face. “Are you ticklish?” he asked in mock surprise.
“Yes!” Eva got out. Then she looked at him. “I mean, no!”
He began to crawl toward her.
“Maxwell, if you so much as touch me…”
“What? What will you do?” he asked as one of his hands moved and tickled along her arm. Then it moved to her throat.
“Maxwell…” Eva pleaded, but she was already laughing helplessly, trying to ward off his hands, which seemed to be so fast and suddenly everywhere. In self-defense Eva grabbed a handful of sand to throw at him. Seeing what she had in mind, Adam quickly captured her wrists and was half across her body holding the dangerous sand-clutched hand straight out.
Suddenly Eva stopped laughing and gasped again, looking
down at her struggling body. The loosened swimsuit had been worked downward until her small high breasts were almost exposed. Maxwell looked, too. His clear brown eyes raised to hers, and Eva recognized at once a light in them she’d seen twice before. Eva was breathing hard from their tussle, and her chest rose and fell in agitation.
Adam let go of her wrist and slowly brought the hand to her heaving chest. Eva grabbed hold of his wide wrist with her own small hand with the intention of stopping him. But Adam was already moving the suit slowly lower until her breasts with their erect brown centers were completely visible.
Her other arm was under him and Eva couldn’t move. But in that moment she never really thought to. This was the other thing happening inside her for days, the strange uneasiness that she was reluctant to put a name to. With it here again, about to happen, she knew it as a desire for Maxwell to touch and hold her again.
His fingers brushed across the tautly raised buttons of her breasts, and the touch sent a curling tension through her, warming and melting her.
“Maxwell…” Eva whispered, watching the muscles in his jaw, neck, and shoulders. Unbelievably, Maxwell lowered his mouth to completely cover one jutting breast in a moist, warm caress. His tongue moved erotically over the tip. Eva’s eyes closed and she sighed deeply from within. Her hands closed into fists with the excruciating pleasure his touch suddenly brought. Her chest rose and fell, now in rising excitement.
Maxwell raised his head to look into her brown face to see her parted lips and closed eyes. He shifted positions to lie almost completely on her. His hands reached to cradle her head while he bent to kiss her waiting mouth. Eva answered his kiss with her own, letting him plunder delightfully the recesses of her mouth. Her arms came up around his neck to hold him to her. Adam let out a low groan and kissed her even deeper, more completely, like a hungry man.
She felt desire building within her until she thought she would faint. Adam was heavy across her body, and she could feel sand granules pressing into the skin of her shoulders, back, and legs.
Adam lifted his head to nibble playfully at her lips, to let his breath mix with the warmth of her own before once more settling on her mouth with his own little moan of pleasure. A fiery passion and a growing flame of need licked up and down Eva’s spine, and for long delirious moments she was unaware of anything else.
He moved his mouth to her cheek, dragged it to her ear, down to her neck. Between them, his hands forced the black suit down further, and Eva did not resist. Briefly, boldly before she realized, Adam caressed her intimately and moved again up her stomach to her breasts. He slid his body down so that his mouth again could cover a breast, and Eva sensed it was too late to stop him. She wasn’t sure she wanted to, but suddenly she was very scared. She began to tremble as his mouth explored her skin.
The trembling grew steadily, even as she was beside herself with a need she hadn’t known for a very long time. Her hands clutched convulsively at Adam’s shoulders. He was kissing her again, probing deeply with his tongue and pressing hard against her stomach. He released her mouth to kiss her throat and neck.
“Don’t say no,” he growled against her hot skin as if anticipating resistance. “We’re not kids. We know what this is about.”
“I—I know,” she murmured breathlessly. But the shaking continued. Her worst insecurities surfaced, and she began to close down her feelings.
“We’re both experienced…”
“No!” Eva shook her head.
Adam suddenly stopped his movements. “What?” he asked raising his head.
“I mean…I’m not experienced. I—I haven’t…oh, Max! I haven’t been with anyone since Kevin. This—this is my first time since my husband. You’re the first.” Eva closed her eyes, turning her head so as not to see his disappointment.
Adam did look into her face a very long time, his eyes sweeping over her features. Slowly he lay to cover her, the only thing separating their pulsating bodies was Adam’s swim trunks. His hand cupped her face.
“Do you want me to make love to you?” he asked hoarsely.
Eva nodded, her eyes still closed. There was a pause.
“Are you afraid?” Adam asked her. She nodded again. He let out a strained sigh and gave her a light reassuring kiss. “Don’t be…. I won’t do anything you don’t want me to.”
Eva began to relax. She knew that Maxwell was not generally given to bending. That he would be so understanding now made her feel as though she’d turned an important corner in their chaotic relationship. Now she felt she could trust him, and she warmed toward him as she never had before. It went beyond the physical warmth of their mutual attraction for each other, and therefore it was much more intimate and personal.
Adam stood, bringing her naked form with him. He handed her the black suit. “I’m going to swim out and get the launch. You wait here.”
And he turned away as she dressed, but then he tied the halter straps himself. It reminded Eva of her first day sailing with him when he helped her in and out of the life jacket.
It was midafternoon when they got under sail again. The wind was down and erratic, and Adam stayed at the tiller during the entire trip back. Eva felt awkward and didn’t know what to say to ease the silence between them. Was he thinking of her as unsophisticated and slow? But he said nothing to indicate what his feelings were. He was the same unreadable Maxwell again.
Eva put on her jump suit against the sea breeze and sat alone away from him struggling with depression. Finally they were back in Hawksnest, but instead of taking her home as she thought he would, they headed for the Annenberg ruins. It was almost as if he were indicating that they couldn’t separate for the rest of the day without some other action to change the mood.
The Annenberg was an old sugar mill, somewhat restored and now operated by the National Park Service. Tours were conducted there and along seashore walks to identify plant and sea life indigenous and transplanted to the area. On occasion natives of the island would demonstrate their age-old technique for basket weaving, or someone else would talk about how things used to be done on the island when they had only themselves and nature to rely on. But that afternoon the ruins were deserted.
Eva was glad because it meant she would not have to pretend an interest while her attention was really elsewhere. On the other hand, it placed her and Maxwell alone again.
In his usual knowledgeable way Adam told her the history of the sugar mill and the ongoing fight to preserve the remains. He talked by rote, and Eva had the impression that he spoke for want of anything else to do.
She was looking through a low arched stone window to another section of the ruin, conscious of Maxwell right behind her, talking in a low methodic tone. She wondered how he could be so calm and in control while she felt so tense inside. He stood with one hand in the pocket of the drawstring pants and the other arm braced on the wall over her head.
“These ruins are part of the history here, very much a part of how things were done not so long ago…the burning of sugarcane and the extracting of the juices used in producing rum…”
Eva moved away from the deep vibration of his voice so close to her ear. She stood in a narrow doorway looking at the odd ovenlike openings on the walls.
“You can still see the carbon burned off on the stone walls. There are dozens of ruins like this one all over the island…” He was right behind her again. His breath stirred the hair at her temple. If she turned around now, he’d be right there, ready to…
Eva moved to a low wall, most of the stone brick eroded away. She looked over the edge out to the beautiful sea with its fantasy colors, dotted with small islands in the distance. Her back was warm. Adam was very close to her, his broad chest wall behind her. He braced his hands on the wall on either side of her. She was, in essence, trapped.
“Eva…” his deep voice mumbled. She felt his mouth at her neck, moving feather-light up to her ear, bringing with the movement a tingling sensation down her spine. Her heart thudded, and
she brought her hands up to her chest trying to stop the racing. Adam took her suddenly by the waist and spun her into his arms, kissing her with an urgency that startled her.
Her hands were trapped between them and she spread them open on his green shirt feeling the padding of chest hair underneath, feeling the powerful working of his heart. Then her hands slipped down to his waist, and encountering his hard, firm naked skin beneath the hem of the shirt, she was brought to awareness of where they were once again headed. She pushed to separate them.
Adam let her go and turned away cursing under his breath. Eva watched him with consternation, somehow aware that he was being pushed beyond his own limits. But she was still confused, not fully understanding what was holding her back. Adam paced for a minute, a space of three or four feet, before stopping in front of her. He started to say something, then clamped his mouth closed. Eva watched him with concern. Finally he shook his head impatiently and turned away.
“Come on. We have to go back.” And he went off through the ruins toward the Jeep with Eva behind him.
The Jeep pulled up on the familiar road below the house. They sat in silence when the engine was turned off, surrounded by summer darkness.
“Will—will you take the boat out tomorrow?” Eva’s voice came quietly through the night air.
Adam shifted positions in the seat so that he was almost facing her. He bent his right elbow over the back of his seat. “I’m not sure. Would you come with me if I did?” he asked.
Eva sighed in a shaky little voice. “I don’t know. I’m not sure if I should.”
There was a long pause before he responded. “I know…”
Eva then gathered her things and climbed out of the Jeep. She was surprised when Adam followed.
“Eva…”
She turned to him. He walked over to her, towering over her, setting her pulse to race again.
“You aren’t like Lavona Morris,” he informed her distinctly. “And I won’t treat you as if you are.”
She didn’t know how to respond to that. She lowered her eyes nervously and shrugged. “Lavona is so—so beautiful. So sensual.”