Tempt (Take It Off)

by Hebert, Cambria

  “Nash?”

  He made a gurgling sound.

  I looked at the mango in my hand… wondering if maybe it wasn’t a mango at all.

  Maybe it was poisoned.

  9

  Alarm slammed into me and I threw down the fruit and reached out for him. “Nash!” I cried, so afraid he was going to die and there would be nothing I could do to save him.

  Seeing my genuine fear, he dropped his hands and caught me by the shoulders. “I’m fine.”

  “Are you poisoned?” I demanded, adrenaline still pumping through my limbs.

  “I was only kidding.”

  “Here, drink some water! Rinse out your mouth,” I said, yanking the water from his pocket and thrusting it at him.

  “Ava!” he said sternly, taking hold of my wrists. “I’m fine. It was a joke.”

  His words finally penetrated my anxiety and I stared at him, astonished. Then anger took hold and I smacked at his chest. “That was mean!” I squealed. “My God, you scared me half to death.”

  His brows drew together. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to scare you. I was teasing.”

  Duke pushed his way between us, inserting his body in front of mine, and gave Nash a shove. “What the hell is wrong with you?” he growled. “Did you see how scared she was?”

  I felt tears prick the back of my eyes and I pushed them away. Any other time I would have laughed. It would have been funny. But not here. Not now.

  “You’re a douche,” Duke said, crossing his arms across his chest.

  I stepped out around him and looked at Nash, whose jaw was working overtime, his back teeth grinding furiously. He caught me looking and pulled me against him roughly, wrapping me in his arms. “I’m sorry,” he murmured, rubbing my back. “I wasn’t thinking.”

  I made a sound against his chest. What would I do here without him? What would I do if he was seriously hurt or worse? I felt my body shake and I tried to control it. I tried not to worry.

  Nash reached between us, titling up my chin with his hands. “I’m not going anywhere,” he promised softly. “I’m an ass. Forgive me.” Then he pressed an ultra-light, ultra-brief kiss to my lips.

  Just that brief contact made me feel better.

  “It’s okay. I didn’t mean to freak out.”

  Behind me, Duke snorted. Nash’s eyes flicked over my shoulder but then back to me as he yanked another mango free and wiped it on his shoulder, pressing it against my lips. “Eat.”

  I forgot all about his joke and tore into the succulent fruit. I ate it in what seemed like seconds flat. Then he handed me another. “You too,” I told him, watching as he grabbed a couple and started chowing down.

  I wandered through the fruit trees, eating and filling up my messenger bag until it was swollen and packed with the fruit. I caught sight of Duke at the edge of my vision and he motioned for me to join him.

  When I stopped at his side, he pointed to a few palm trees reaching up into the sunlight. “There’s your coconuts,” he said.

  I made a sound of disappointment. “They’re so high up.”

  “I’ll get you one.”

  “You can get those?” I asked, doubt lacing my tone.

  “What will you give me if I do?” he asked, a hint of playfulness catching my attention. I smiled.

  “I won’t turn into a cannibal and eat you,” I promised with mock seriousness.

  He threw back his head and laughed.

  “So are you any good at climbing palm trees?” I crossed my arms over my chest and studied him.

  Duke leaned close and whispered. “I’ve got lots of hidden talents.”

  The shot of heat in my belly shocked me. I felt my eyes widen.

  He chuckled and handed me a few mangos he was holding. Then he shimmied up the trunk of the palm tree.

  I stood there and watched in awe. He was like a living monkey. I could tell he was very adept at this and he moved quickly, so quickly that I was amazed by his agility.

  “Look out below!” he called when he reached the top. I shrieked and ran for cover as coconuts rained from the tree.

  Within minutes, he was back down on the ground and I rushed to gather everything that rolled beneath the foliage. I made a little pile beneath the tree and then went after the last one that was deep beneath a broad leaf.

  When I pulled back, he was right there, practically on top of me. I jerked back. “Geesh. You’re quick.”

  “Practice,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

  “Thank you for this.”

  “And now for the payment,” he murmured, his gaze dropping to my lips.

  The bottom of my stomach fell out.

  Did he want me to kiss him?

  “Uhhh,” I said, unsure what to do. My eyes automatically looked for Nash.

  “Right here,” Duke said, tapping a finger to his cheek.

  I grinned in relief. Holding the coconut between us, I leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek. I pulled back, but not all the way, our eyes connecting. Something shifted between us. I could feel his desire, his want for me.

  It was heady and intoxicating.

  “Ava,” Nash called, appearing out of nowhere.

  I jerked and stepped back, rushing to show him the coconuts. I couldn’t help but notice the narrowed-eyed stare he gave Duke when he thought I wasn’t looking.

  “Look!” I exclaimed, motioning to the pile of fuzzy coconuts.

  “Now we just have to crack them open,” Nash said ruefully.

  “I can help with that,” Duke cut in.

  I spun. “You can?”

  He nodded. “Come on.” We each gathered up a couple coconuts and then set off on foot again, following behind Duke. I could feel Nash’s curious stare on me from time to time, but I didn’t acknowledge it. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what he was trying to figure out.

  We came to a little area that seemed to have more dense foliage than the other places around us. Duke ducked inside a little area of palm fronds that had grown together closely, making a sort of shelter. Seconds later, he appeared carrying a machete.

  “Here, you can use this.” He extended it to me.

  “Really?”

  He nodded. I took the handle, surprised at the weight. “Thank you.”

  “Where did you get that?” Nash asked.

  “Found it.”

  “But if we take this, what will you use?”

  He shrugged. “I can use that one. It will give me an excuse to come visit you.”

  I smiled.

  “We should probably start back.” Nash cut in quickly.

  “I’ll show you the way,” Duke offered and started out ahead of us, leading us back the way we came. On the way through the mango trees, I grabbed a couple more and feasted.

  By the time we arrived back at the plane, the sky was darkening and the cicadas were starting their evening song.

  “Where did the day go?” I asked, placing all the food beside the plane.

  “You’re on island time now.” Duke reminded me with a grin.

  I picked up a coconut, studying it and wondering how hard it was going to be to break into.

  “Here,” Duke said, taking it from me and retrieving the machete from where Nash had leaned it before going off to the men’s room (aka: over behind a tree).

  I wasn’t surprised when he used the tool expertly. I was beginning to realize that Duke was a wealth of skill and information. He could very well help us survive out here.

  A minute later, he handed me the coconut. The top had a few layers peeled away and a gash in the tip. “Drink the liquid first. Then I’ll split it open and you can eat the flesh inside.”

  “Would you like one too?” I gestured toward the mini mountain.

  He shook his head. “You keep them. I ate a couple earlier.”

  The slightly sweet, creamy liquid of the coconut hit my tongue in a burst of flavor. I groaned in appreciation and tilted it back farther, taking more into my mouth.

 
Duke chuckled. “That’s good, huh?”

  “You have no idea,” I murmured and then went back for more.

  He watched me like I was an entertaining show on TV, and I found that his gaze didn’t make me uncomfortable. I didn’t feel self-conscious around him like I sometimes did with people I just met. I already felt like he and I were bonded. And maybe we already were. After all, we all had one very big thing in common. We were survivors.

  When all the liquid was drained away, he took the coconut from me and split it in half, revealing layers of pure-white fruit.

  Nash came to my side and I offered him a bite of the fruit I was already gobbling up. He scooped a little onto his fingers, but he didn’t eat it. Instead, he offered it to me.

  I opened my mouth and he placed his fingers inside as my lips clamped down. Slowly, he slid them out. Then he looked at Duke pointedly.

  Was that some kind of message?

  Was he… was he jealous?

  I sighed and walked away. I wasn’t interested in being the prize in any kind of macho game. Part of me was tempted to yell back that whoever “won” me would end up with a faulty prize, but I thought better of it and kept my mouth shut.

  I carried my snack down to the beach where I kicked off my shoes and sat down in the sand. One nice thing about being stranded on an island: the sunsets were awesome.

  A few moments later, Duke and Nash joined me, one sitting on each side of me. The three of us sat there quietly, watching the sun turn the waves a burnished gold.

  When darkness became heavier, Duke looked at the little place we had a bonfire the night before. “Want me to help you get a fire started?”

  Nash paused. “I’m not sure it’s safe.”

  Duke considered his words for a moment. “It’s safe. Just don’t make it too big.”

  I glanced at him, thinking surely he must know what we were talking about.

  “Are you sure?” Nash said.

  Duke glanced at me, then back at Nash. “Yeah. I’m sure. It gets chilly here when the sun goes down.”

  The two guys worked side by side and soon had a small fire crackling. Nash called to me and I got up, wandering closer to the flickering flames, drawn to their warmth and comfort.

  “Well, I should be going,” Duke began, turning to me. “You going to be okay?”

  I nodded. “You don’t want to stay?”

  I felt Nash’s stare, but I refused to acknowledge him. If Duke wanted to stay here, then he was welcome. I wasn’t sure what Nash’s problem was, but he could get over it. We needed to stick together. Maybe the three of us could figure out a way off this island and back home.

  Duke gave me a half smile that melted my heart a little. There was a flash of longing in his eyes and I thought he might agree. But then he shook his head.

  I frowned, automatically reaching out and taking his hand. “You’re welcome to stay here with us. The plane is good shelter.”

  “Thank you,” he said, giving my fingers a light squeeze. “But I’m used to where I sleep. I’ll think about it though, okay?”

  I nodded. He released my hand and stepped back, glanced at Nash, and nodded a good-bye.

  “Wait,” I called when he would have walked away.

  He glanced over his shoulder, his dark molten eyes sweeping my face. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”

  I nodded and he departed. Just as the darkness was about to conceal him completely, he turned back. “Whatever you do, don’t go on the other side of the island.”

  Chills raced up my back and they weren’t the good kind.

  Then he stepped through the cover of night and completely disappeared. I let out a shaky breath and looked at Nash. He was staring after him with an unreadable expression on his face.

  “All right,” I began. “What gives?”

  His eyebrows rose halfway up his forehead and disappeared beneath the dark curls. “What do you mean?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Don’t give me that innocent act,” I intoned. “You know exactly what I mean. Duke was nothing but nice to us. He helped us find food and he gave us that machete.”

  “I don’t like him,” he said simply, sitting down in one of the chairs by the fire.

  “Why not?”

  “Besides the fact that he just alluded to the fact he knows there’s something bad on the other side of the island and didn’t tell us?” he said, making chills race up my spine once more.

  “Yeah,” I said dryly. “Besides that.” Because that just happened. Nash had been acting like Duke was trying to kill us since we first laid eyes on him.

  “He wants you.”

  I made a startled sound. “What?”

  He stared at me intently. “You can’t honestly tell me you didn’t see the way he looked at you.”

  “He’s just lonely,” I said. “He’s been here all alone.”

  He made a rude sound.

  I tossed my arm out to smack him. He caught it, folding it across his chest and holding it there. “He wants you, Ava,” he rumbled. “But he can’t have you.”

  “He can’t?” I asked, my voice shaky.

  He shook his head slowly. “No. He can’t. You’re already taken.”

  10

  My tongue jetted out, wetting my lips. “You think I’m taken?” Never mind the fact my words sounded breathless and I could barely hear myself speak over the pounding of my own heart.

  “I know you are. You just haven’t realized it yet.”

  “You’re not going to want me when we get home and there are a lot of other options,” I said, surprising myself with the comeback. Usually, I didn’t just blurt out those things. Even so, it was true. Maybe if I had been more assertive with my thoughts in the past, I wouldn’t have gotten so hurt. The only reason I looked so good right now was because I was the only girl within a hundred-mile radius.

  He turned his head away from the fire and pinned me with his jade stare. “You said certain parts of you are broken.”

  I didn’t say anything. I just held his gaze.

  “What parts are you talking about, Ava?”

  I reached up and played with the ends of the thick braid falling over my shoulder, twisting the strands around my finger. I wasn’t really sure I wanted to have this conversation. It wasn’t something I cared to talk about—to even think about. Of course maybe if I told him, he would decide he didn’t want me after all and it would save me from the pain later.

  Because Nash had the power to hurt me.

  He was the kind of guy that would steal away my heart when I wasn’t looking. He was the kind of guy who would love me so well that when he left, no one would ever be able to take his place and so I would walk around the rest of my life with a huge chunk of myself missing because it would always belong to him.

  I turned in the crappy aircraft seat that was now a makeshift beach chair. I drew my knees into my chest and rested the side of my head against the seat, looking at him through the orange glow of the bonfire.

  “I dated a guy once,” I began, speaking only loud enough so he could hear. He didn’t look at me but stared straight ahead out over the waves as the breeze ruffled through those dark, touchable curls. “He was sweet, funny, the kind of guy that my mother approved of. Everyone liked him. I liked him. After a couple months of dating, he wanted to take our relationship to the next step. I said no. So we kept dating. He sent me flowers, took me on dates… Sometimes his touches would linger a little too long or his hands would be a little too rough. He told me I was just being a prude, that every other girl liked it. Every other part of our relationship was great. I just couldn’t seem to get into…” My voice faded away. I wasn’t sure how to explain it.

  “He didn’t turn you on,” Nash said, putting it simply. It seemed much simpler when he said it than how it felt when I was living through it.

  “I guess.”

  “What happened?” he said, still not looking at me. I couldn’t help but notice the way the muscles in his shoulders bunched, the way the side o
f his jaw ticked every so often.

  He probably already figured out which parts of me didn’t work.

  “Long story short, I gave in. I slept with him. It was awful. He broke up with me the next day and told everyone I was cold.”

  He turned his head and looked at me.

  His expression was unreadable.

  “I haven’t dated anyone since.”

  “How does that make you broken?”

  I paused. “Clearly there are parts of me that don’t work the way… the way men want them to. Not to mention the skewed view I now have about dating.”

  He stood. He was going to walk away. This conversation was over.

  But he touched me.

  He started at my shoulder and trailed his finger down my arm and then cupped my elbow, gently tugging me out of the chair and onto my feet.

  We stood at the edge of the crackling bonfire, facing each other. Everything in our little circle was bathed in a yellow and orange glow, the shadows reaching into the complete darkness beyond—like nothing else existed at all.

  Slowly he tugged the tie around my braid, tucking the scrap of fabric in the pocket of his shorts. Using just one hand, he unbound the weave, then pulled his fingers through the waves, spreading it out around me so it cascaded over my shoulders and covered up my chest.

  “Did you feel that?” he murmured, releasing my hair and trailing his hands down my arms until he came to the hem of my T-shirt.

  Oh, I felt it.

  I felt it deep into my bones. All he had to do was look at me and I felt everything times ten.

  His eyes looked deep into mine as he lifted my shirt, the cooling night air brushing over my waist. “Up,” was his soft command.

  I lifted my arms and he slid the cotton over my head, making sure it didn’t come into contact with my stitches. He tossed it away, out of the golden bubble we were in, the blackness swallowing it as if it ceased to exist.

  He stepped forward, eliminating the distance between us. The only thing separating our chests from contact was the fabric of my bikini top. He took my hand and lifted it, placing it right over his heart, flattening my palm and holding it there.