by Kira Ward
“Do you know where there’s a library or anything that we can use?”
“No…” he waved his hands again.
We left the shop, and Kendra looked up at me with concern on her face. “That didn’t go so well.”
“Well, it is a strange request. Only thing we can do is keep trying. Someone is sure to have a phone that we can use.”
For the next 30 minutes we approached 5-6 different people from fishermen, to dock workers, to boat owners, and none of them had any interest in letting us use their smartphone. In fact, most of them seemed absolutely astounded by the request. But just as we were about to leave the docks and try walking to a different part of the town, an American couple came strolling towards the docks, the man smoking on a cigar and the woman checking herself in her makeup mirror as she walked.
“Excuse me, sir,” I said.
The couple stopped, and the man blew out the cigar smoke from his mouth. “Yeah?” he asked.
“Is there anyway that we can use your phone?”
The man appeared like he was about to protest, but before he could speak, the woman had snapped close her makeup and was rummaging through her purse. “Oh yes. Of course you can. Just give me a minute to find it,” she said.
The man rolled his eyes, but a few seconds later the woman pulled and iPhone from her purse and handed it to me.
“This is going to sound weird, but is there any way we can use Skype on your phone? I actually need to talk to my friend on Skype. It’s a really urgent matter.”
“Skype? Well, I do have that app. I use it to talk to my sister in Louisiana. Sure, you can go ahead and use it.”
“Don’t do anything weird now,” The man of the relationship added.
I breathed a sigh of relief and opened the lady’s Skype app, then logged in to my own account.
“Kim Jenkins has a birthday today,” was the first popup that appeared, and I immediately felt warped back into reality. I was back to the land of technology and a world where everyone knows everything about you.
I scrolled through my contacts to find my assistant, and as expected she was online.
Me: Samantha...
It took her a couple of minutes to reply.
Kim: Who is this?
Me: It’s Alex… I need your help immediately.
Kim: Is this a joke? Alex? Where are you?
Me: I’m in Italy… No passport, no money… nothing. I need you to help get me and my sister back home.
Immediately the Skype program started ringing, and it was a face to face video chat request. I quickly accepted, and within seconds she could see my slightly scraggly face on the screen. She placed her hand over her mouth and made an audible gasp when she saw me for the first time.
“Oh my god… Alex,” she said. “We thought you were dead.”
“I’m alive. It’s a long story, and I’ll tell you all about it later. I’m using someone else’s phone. Can you Western Union me $5,000? I’ve got no ID, so tell them to setup a password or something.”
“Give me 15 minutes. Password Rubber Ducky. Okay?”
“Okay…”
“Are you sure you are okay, Alex? I’m … shocked to see you. There’s been a lot going on since you’ve left.”
“I’m okay… We’ll talk later. Money now.”
“Okay okay… I’m so happy you’re alive. Please call me back as soon as you get the money.”
“No worries.”
I ended the call and handed it back to the woman, and the couple looked even more confused than before. “Are you two okay?” the man asked. “She said she thought you were dead.”
“We just had a little boating accident,” I said. “Lost our identification is all. No big deal.”
The man scanned us up and down, but didn’t question us further. “Okay, well best of luck to you both. Other than the boat accident, I hope you’re enjoying your time here.”
If they had any idea…
The next hour we spent trying to find a Western Union office, and when we realized that the closest one was nearly 5 miles away, we turned to begging Taxis to take us there with the promise of payment and a huge tip upon arrival if they would wait for us to get the cash.
Several taxi’s turned us down before we found one that was willing to take us. 10 minutes was about the length of the ride before we rolled into a small postal office in the middle of nowhere. We gathered a few suspicious looks and questions, but after providing the Rubber Ducky passcode, we walked out with $5,000 to get us where we needed to go.
Kendra looked exhausted between the boat ride, finding a phone, and getting the money, but I could see the wonder in her eyes as she settled back into civilization. She rubbed her fingers across the leather in the taxi, and every time we entered a building it seemed like she was admiring the architecture which was in stark contrast to the self-made, no-tool shelters that we were living in on the beach.
“Now what?” she asked.
“Let’s get the important stuff out the way. We need to visit the Embassy to get emergency passports, and then we should check in somewhere, grab a bite to eat, and buy some clothes.”
“Can we do the clothes buying first? And then the food?” Kendra smiled “Chicken parmesan perhaps…”
I laughed and rubbed her on the top of her head. “Of course… Whatever you want.”
Chapter 3
Kendra
Reality began to set in when we started to get things in order. At first it was great, enjoying my first kitchen-cooked meal in two months. The chicken parmesan was excellent, an the Coca-Cola they served with it sent me to a place in heaven. Sugar… high-fructose corn syrup. It was something that I hated eating before being deserted, but was basking in at that moment.
But when we got to the Embassy was when things got a lot more real.
“Alex Conner? The Alex Conner?” the US representative heckled. “I just can’t believe it. I mean, everyone thought you were dead. And now you’re here. It’s just hard to believe.”
“Yeah, well… It’s been a long ride. We just want to get passports so we can get back home.” It was strange seeing Alex dressed in a shirt and jeans. We had gone shopping after dinner and picked up some necessities. I settled on a sunflower dress.
“This is going to be big news back home… Do you mind if I take a picture with you?”
I rolled my eyes as the annoying lady continued on being star struck. She had hardly acknowledged that I was in the room, aside from giving me a few pieces of paperwork to fill out.
After nearly everyone at the American Embassy introduced themselves to Alex and shook hands, asking for as much information as possible about the event, we were told to come back in 24 hours, and they would most likely have temporary passports ready for us. Alex managed to get away with only telling them that our passports were lost during a “boating accident” without going to too many details or hinting anything that might reveal how we bonded while together.
The Embassy helped arrange us a hotel for the night, and Alex insisted on paying extra so that we could stay in a 5-star hotel. After another short taxi ride, we made it to the Monte Carlo, one of the finest hotels on the Riviera.
Walking into the Monte Carlo was surreal. Several large chandeliers dangled from the ceiling, and a man wearing a tall cap held the door as we walked in. Even wearing the clothing that we had just bought, I felt severely underdressed, and for a moment I almost laughed at the thought of if we had showed up dressed in the swimsuits that we had been wearing on the island the whole time.
“Alex Conners, I presume?” said the man at the reception counter. “We got your call from the Embassy. You’re all setup.” The man slid the my stepbrother the key as soon as he nodded at the question, and we headed off to the room without even having to speak a word.
“Do you get that kind of treatment all the time?”
“Anywhere that recognizes me, I suppose. But for $4,500 per night, that kind of treatment is expected.”
The room at the Monte Carlo was astonishing to say the least. It was a penthouse that must have been at least 1500 square feet with a large California-king sized bed, a fully stocked bar, and an unobstructed view of the ocean. It was the by far the best room that I had ever been in, but it also felt very strange and foreign since the night before we had slept in a room that Alex had basically built out of sticks.
I flopped on the bed and let out a big sigh after getting over my initial shock reaction of the new room. Alex soon walked over to join me, sitting at the foot of the bed.
“I think you know what time it is,” he said softly.
I sat up on my elbows and gulped before giving a soft nod. I knew exactly what he was talking about. It was time for us to talk to our parents.
Alex began unboxing an iPad Mini that he picked up at an electronics store while were shopping for clothes. We bought it specifically for that moment– A moment that we were both looking forward to and dreading at the same time.
Out of the box, the device was halfway charged, so after setting up user settings and logging into the hotel’s wifi, all that was left was to download Skype and make the call. We both watched anxiously as the download box slowly filled up and then blinked with a notification that it was finished.
Alex logged into his Skype account and then scrolled through his contacts. His call history showed hundreds of his previous calls and many of them were to Mom and Dad.
“You ready?” he asked?
I grabbed his arm while his finger hovered over the call button. “Wait… What are we going to say?” My heart was racing.
“Say whatever you want Kendra. They will find out everything eventually. But I think it would be best if we gave them news of everything slowly. We don’t know what they’re thinking right now, so just finding out that we’re alive and well could be overwhelming.”
“Okay,” I nodded again. “I’m ready.”
The Skype program beeped and blurped a few times before before we got a ringtone. It rang and rang, and my heart rate grew more and more intense with each second. Eventually, it went to a generic voicemail that I heard many times before.
“That’s weird… Daddy isn’t answering.”
I looked at the clock on the counter and it was around 11pm, so back home it would have been in the early evening. We had both expected and answer.
“Let’s try Mom’s number,” Alex said and clicked the dial button again after finding Mom’s contact in his history.
1 ring… 2 rings… 3… rings. “Hello?” my Mom asked in a muffled, husky voice. For a quick moment there was silence as I was expecting Alex to speak first, but then Alex nodded in my direction.
“Hi Mom…”
I heard my mom make a slight gasp noise. “Who?…. Kendra?”
“Yes, Mom, it’s me.”
“Oh my God! Kendra is that really you? How? Where? Where are you?! What is going on?!”
“I’m with Alex in the Monte Carlo…”
“Hi Mom,” Alex added.
“You’re with Alex? Oh my God! Thank heavens. Where have you been? What happened? Everyone thought you two had been killed.”
The sound of my Mom’s exasperation was making feel emotional, and I started to fight back tears. “Everything is okay Mom. It’s a long story, but we got caught in a a huge storm on our way to the island. We lost the boat and were stranded the whole time. We finally made it home when a fishing boat discovered us.”
My mom was now crying, sniffling hard, and I could hear her yelling for Dad in the background. “They’re alive!” she bellowed. “It’s Alex and Kendra. They’re Alive!”
There was sound of a click, and suddenly we were on speakerphone. “Alex? Kendra? Where are you?” Dad asked.
“Don’t worry Dad. We’re okay… in the hotel Monte Carlo,” Alex reiterated.
“Are you hurt? We’ll fly back out to Italy right now if you need us to.”
Alex glanced at his shoulder as he replied and then rubbed his head where he had banged it in the control room of the yacht. “We’re both fine. Just a few scratches here and there. And you two just stay put. We’ll be back home as soon as the Embassy gives us replacement passports.”
“I knew that you were alive,” mom huffed. “I just knew it. The coast guard found the wreckage of your boat and insisted that no one could have survived. Even sent a diving team out. When they couldn’t find any bodies, I knew that you were out there somewhere.”
“We’re survivors, Mom,” Alex said assuringly and threw a sneaky wink in my direction.
“It’s been tough,” Dad said. “Mom’s been a wreck. We haven’t had a funeral yet. We weren’t ready to give up on hope just yet. But everything has been arranged. Your company even had a memorial day in your honor.”
“I’m sure Jake misses you Kendra,” Mom added. “You should give him a call.”
My stomach turned. I hadn’t thought about Jake all day, and to some degree it had felt almost as if he no longer existed until my Mom brought his name up.
“I will,” I lied and turned my head away slightly, not able to make eye contact with my brother.
“We’re going to try to get some rest,” Alex said. “Hopefully, we can head out tomorrow. We’ll send you the flight info as soon as we have it. There’s so much we have to tell you, but let’s save it ’till we can share some big, family hugs.”
“Okay guys,” Dad said.
“We love you and miss you so much. You’ve answered my prayers tonight,” came from Mom.
“We love you too,” Alex and I said almost in unison.
“Love you guys,” Dad added.
“See you soon,” Alex finalized, and then he clicked off the phone call.
We both let out a deep breath as soon as the call was over.
“Well, that went relatively well. I feel really bad that they’ve thought we were dead.” Alex frowned.
“That’s just the first talk though. The first hump… Let’s hope that they still love us after everything else that we have to tell them.” I looked down to my belly and rubbed a motherly hand over my barely visible hump.
Alex leaned over and kissed me on my belly button. “They will,” he whispered. “They’ll love all three of us.”
Chapter 4
Alex
I woke up early in the Monte Carlo, hoping to get a fresh start and make it to the Embassy early enough to pick up our passports and still book a flight out of Italy for the same day. Kendra was still sleeping, looking as beautiful as ever laying beside me in her birthday suit.
“Good morning,” I whispered in her ear when I saw her beginning to stir. Her eyes opened slowly, and for a moment she seemed shocked and unaware of where she was. He eyes turned towards the morning glow seeping through the window, then a soft grin creeped across her face. She turned and bit down on her pillow, kicking her feet like a child.
“It’s so good to wake up in a real bed!” she squealed.
I wrapped my arm around her and began pelting her neck with soft kisses. “It’s so good to wake up in a bed with you.”
Kendra rolled back over and her eyes locked in with mine. For a moment, I lost my breath as I stared into her beautiful, blue pupils, so kind and so innocent. It killed me to think that I had spent so many years with the women that I loved, living in the same house, barely interacting together, having no idea how great we would be together.
I closed in on her eyes, and eventually my lips met with hers. First a light, caring kiss, and quickly escalating into heated passion and erratic, wild kisses. I wish I could explain what it was that Kendra did to me, but the pain that was shooting through my shoulder became a distant memory when we were touching. All that I could think about was that moment. All I could feel was her.
I rolled on top of her and slowly started marking her body from top to bottom with more kisses, starting on her chin, and then her neck, down to area between her chest and then right below her bellybutton. I could smell her arousal when I was inches
away from her flow, and I wanted nothing more than to rush down, bury my face in it, devouring her flavor for as long as she would let me. But another part of me… a different voice, was missing her lips, her eyes, her beautiful face. I could hear her panting, and even when I was so close to her, I felt so far away.
I slid back up the bed until I was face to face with her again and we both smiled. I don’t know what she was saying, and I don’t know what I was saying, but it felt like we were talking, saying unspoken words to each other that we both could understand but couldn’t possibly explain to each other.
Her hand was already on my cock by that time, stroking me slowly while I looked down into her eyes. My stepsister’s body was amazing, but something else about her turned me on now: LOVE. It used to be that sex became boring with the girls that I would meet, no matter how hot they were, as I got used to their bodies. I needed something different to keep myself satisfied. But it was all because I didn’t love them. With Kendra, my cock had been harder than ever before the last few times we had made love, and I didn’t even have to be look at her tits or ass to get turned on. Just knowing how much I cared about her, just looking in her eyes, just smelling her or holding her in my arms made me rock hard. Harder than I thought possible.
I had no idea that sex with someone you loved was so much more intense and gratifying than sex with someone you’re just physically attracted to.
Kendra propped her knees up and relaxed her legs, pulling me down until I was flush with her opening, while I descended my upper-half to once again find her mouth. My tongue twirled around and explored the inner section of her lips as I slowly sunk inside of her.