by Elle Casey
Sarah looked at Jonathan, very much admiring his tattoos and the grass skirt he was wearing, which had the same effect on her as a Scottish warrior wearing a kilt. Totally hot. The skirt ended just above his knees. She loved the look of his bare legs at the bottom. He had tied braided cords around his now pretty well-muscled upper arms, the ends of the cords hanging down to his elbows. He had a similar braided cord wrapped around his head. His hair had gotten longer and the cord added to the slightly wild and savage warrior look he had going on. All in all, it was pretty damn sexy. Sarah looked at him with hunger in her eyes, willing him to look over at her.
“She’s going to kiss him,” he said, not even noticing the come hither looks Sarah was sending his way, he was so busy watching his sister and Kevin.
Sarah looked over in time to see it happen. “Wow. And not shy at all about it, either.”
“What was that for?” Kevin asked, looking a little dazed by the passion she displayed in that kiss.
“I don’t know. I like your tux.”
Kevin laughed. “What do you think about Jonathan’s?” He gestured across the fire.
“Yeah, Candi, what do you think about our dates?” asked Sarah.
“Not bad,” said Candi, a smile in her voice.
“Should we show them what we brought?”
“Yep.” Candi moved away from Kevin to join Sarah at the baskets. Her skirt made swishing sounds as she moved and Sarah noticed that Candi couldn’t help but put a little extra sway in her walk.
Sarah held up the first basket. “First, we have, of course, a fruit salad, made up of bananas and guava. Everyone please hold your applause. We also have some smoked fish, compliments of Candi and Kevin, our chef and smoker builder, respectively.”
Candi and Kevin took a bow.
Then Candi took the lead. “And last, but not least, we provide coconut wine for your drinking pleasure!” She held up two very large bamboo cups filled with the fermented juice.
“What?” asked Kevin, as if he hadn’t heard correctly.
“Did you say ‘wine’?” asked Jonathan.
The guys went over to take a look at what was in the cups. Candi explained, “Yeah, it was kind of an accident. I tried to make coconut guava drinks a few days ago, but it tasted awful, so I just kind of left it sitting there and forgot about it. A few days later, poof, we had alcohol.”
“Wow, that is so cool,” said Jonathan. “Natural fermentation using wild yeasts and fruit sugars – of course.” He was staring into the liquid when he absent-mindedly wondered aloud, “I wonder how many hydrogen dioxide atoms that released into the atmosphere?”
Kevin shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Never mind the science, Jon. We have wine at our island prom. What could possibly be cooler than that? Good job, girls.” He took a breath and then continued, “And now, I will present to you our entertainment for the evening. What would you girls like to do? We have a choice of music or games. Or both, it’s up to you. You have already seen some of our amazing percussion skills. We have instruments for you too.”
Candi set down the drinks. “What games?”
“Well, first there’s limbo, just over there,” Kevin gestured to his right. “And then, here on my left, we have a game that neither of us can remember the name of, but we remember playing in gym class in seventh grade.”
Candi and Sarah looked over to where Kevin was pointing. There were two long poles, laying parallel to one another, each resting at the ends on short poles that held them slightly off the ground.
Sarah smiled. “I remember that game. You bang them first on the thingies and then you slide them towards each other and bang them together, and whoever is not banging the poles is in the middle jumping in and out of the poles trying not to get their ankles smashed.”
Candi grimaced. “Yeah, I remember that game too. I’m the one who always had the smashed ankles.”
“Limbo it is!” announced Kevin. “But maybe we should eat first.”
“Yeah, let’s eat,” agreed Jonathan.
They sat down around the roaring fire and passed the food baskets. The girls had brought bamboo mini-troughs for everyone to eat out of. The boys had discovered days earlier that they could hack one of their bamboo cups in half, making a pretty good plate in the shape of a trough for their dinner meals.
Candi poured the coconut wine. They each took a sip from their cups, grimacing when the wine hit their tongues.
“Whoa,” said Jonathan, “that stuff is potent.”
Candi wiped away some that had spilled onto her chin. “Yep. Nothing but the good stuff for my peeps.”
“I can’t remember when I’ve had something that tasted this bad,” added Kevin.
They all started laughing.
“I don’t know what your problem is,” said Sarah, “I think it’s pretty good.”
“Well here, you can have mine,” said Kevin. He poured his portion into her cup. She finished it in several long gulps.
After they finished eating, they put their dishes in the baskets and began the limbo game. The ones who weren’t limboing played out beats with the instruments. As the alcohol began to work its way through their bloodstreams, those who had drank more of it, namely Candi and Sarah, really started to feel the effects. They weren’t able to limbo very well because they kept losing their balance.
They tried the bamboo pole game next, but the girls either fell next to the poles, got their ankles whacked, or couldn’t keep a rhythm for the boys to do their jumping. The guys gave up, calling it quits after the two girls collapsed in giggles and then tried to pick up the game poles and use them as javelins.
“Okay, I think it’s time we wrapped this prom up,” said Kevin, holding onto Candi’s shoulders to keep her from wandering off.
“Oh, poo, I haven’t even had a chance to dance yet,” said Candi, pouting.
“I’m not going anywhere ‘til I’ve had a dance,” insisted Sarah. “Jonathan, dance with me sweetie, I’m beggin’.” She looked at him and started batting her eyelashes, sticking out her lower lip.
“Fine, one dance. Then you’re going to bed,” said a very sober but tired-sounding Jonathan.
“Whatever you say, mister bossy cow.” She held out her arms.
He walked over and stepped into them, putting his hands around her waist.
“We don’t have any music,” he said, a little bit self-consciously.
“We don’t need music, just come here.” Sarah pulled him close, putting her head on his chest. She could hear his heartbeat and feel the warmth coming from his skin. He smelled so good ... like smoke and sweat and ocean ... like ... Jonathan. She inhaled deeply.
“You’re not going to sleep are you?” he asked. She could tell he was smiling when he said it.
“Nope. Just smelling you. You smell nice. Sexy. Like Jonathan.”
“I thought normal people didn’t smell other people. That’s what you told me on the cruise ship, anyway.”
“Shush.”
“You smell nice too.” He rested his chin on her head. “I love the feel of you in my arms. When I’m all dressed up like this, I feel like a warrior or something. Wild. Protective of you, even though you really don’t need protection.”
“That’s nice,” said Sarah, feeling all warm inside. Any other time or place, his words might sound corny. But here, they were perfect and exactly what she wanted to hear.
***
Kevin looked over at his sister and Jonathan and decided that they needed some privacy. “Wanna go for a walk?”
“You’re one of those guys who likes long, moonlit walks on the beach?” Candi asked teasingly.
“Yes, under certain circumstances, I am.”
“And what would those circumstances be?”
“When I’m with my hot girlfriend, she’s tipsy, and I want to get her alone.”
Candi’s eyes opened in mock offense. “Well, then, let’s go, since you’re going to be all romantic like that.” She smiled, taking the sti
ng out of her teasing.
Kevin reached around and smacked her on the butt as she tried to run away. He caught up to her just a few yards later and grabbed her hand. They walked together, hand in hand, down the beach until they could no longer see the firelight.
Candi was feeling brave. “Now that you have me out here in the middle of nowhere, what are you going to do with me?”
“This,” was all he said, before pulling her into his arms and leaning down to put his lips against hers.
Her body instantly responded. She pulled herself in close to him, feeling his need and moaning happily. He was kissing her deeply, dancing his tongue across hers, while his hands roamed all over her body.
“Do you want to lie down?” he asked. “I don’t want to scare you away, but I’m going to keep going until you say stop.”
“Yes,” she gasped out. “Let’s lay down.”
They lowered themselves together down to the sand. Kevin was on top of her, between her legs. He began kissing her neck and then her chest. She was breathing heavily.
“You smell so good. I can’t get enough.” He stopped for a second and looked her in the face.
Candi could see him in the light of the moon and wanted to faint from how gorgeous he was.
“I don’t want to do anything you don’t want me to do. If you want me to stop you have to tell me. I’m serious.”
“I don’t want you to stop at all, I want to do this.”
“Do you mean ... ”
“Yes, that’s what I mean. It. I want to do it.”
“Are you sure? Have you done this before?”
“Yes, I’m sure, and no I haven’t, but I really want to. With you. I have for a long time. I’m just worried about ... you know ... getting pregnant.”
“Me too. But I’m having a hard time stopping. What do you want me to do? I can’t guarantee you won’t get pregnant. We don’t have any birth control out here, other than just me pulling out, which isn’t the most effective way, as you probably know from sex ed with Mr. Tanner.”
She could hear the teasing in his voice and smiled at the memory of that uncomfortable class. “Just um ... finish ... um ... outside ... like you said. I think it will be okay.” She tried not to let her embarrassment ruin the mood.
“I’ll do my best.”
Kevin was gentle with her, and Candi was carried away by the passion and feelings that rushed through her body and mind. She knew she would never forget this moment, never regret it.
Later they stretched out on their backs in the sand, staring at the stars above their heads. Neither one of them said anything. The night was too perfect to spoil with talk right now.
But soon enough, Candi started to worry about getting caught. “Come on, we’d better get back. We don’t want Jonathan and Sarah to worry and come looking for us.”
Kevin chuckled. “I don’t think you need to worry about that. I’m sure they’re keeping each other busy. But come on, we can go. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty tired.”
“I am completely covered in sand,” said Candi.
“We’ll take a shower when we get back.”
“But it’s so late,” whined Candi.
“Yeah, but it’s our island. If we want to take a shower in the middle of the night, we can, right?”
Candi smiled back. “Right. Showers it is.”
“No, not showers. Shower. Singular. We’re going in together.”
Candi felt herself get all warm again. She didn’t say anything; she just kept walking back to the treehouse, hand in hand, with her boyfriend, Kevin Peterson.
***
“What do you think they’re doing out there?” asked Sarah. She had moved to sit next to Jonathan on the log next to the fire. After they kissed, they took some time to clean up the dishes and put everything back in the baskets. They disassembled the limbo game and stacked all the poles near the tree line to put away when it was light out again.
“I don’t know, taking a walk?” suggested Jonathan. He really didn’t want to think about what his sister was doing right now. He knew she was safe with Kevin, but the thought of her and him together? That was, just, eww. He didn’t want to go there.
“Well, we’re here together. All alone, you and me. What do you think we should do?”
Her suggestion was undeniable. She got off the log to kneel in front of him, scooting over so that she was between his legs. She reached up and ran her hands from his knees, slowly up his thighs towards his hips.
Jonathan inhaled sharply. She was barely touching him, but it was making him crazy already.
This was nuts, he decided. She was hot for him, he was hot for her ... I have no idea what I’m doing, but I might as well figure it out.
Jonathan put his hands on either side of Sarah’s face and drew her towards him. Their lips met and it was instant passion. Their kisses turned feverish. Jonathan didn’t have a plan, all he knew was that he wanted to be with her right then, right there in front of the fire. He didn’t even think about being seen by his own sister. Something about Sarah made him forget to worry.
“Oh my god, Jonathan, I want you so bad!” Sarah gasped desperately.
“Me too,” he said breathlessly.
Sarah pulled him down on top of her and within seconds, they were both caught up in the frenzied pace of their lovemaking. They were both crying out, unable to stop the freight train that was leading them over the edge.
Jonathan felt a piece of his life force ebb out of him and into the warmth that was Sarah beneath him. His breath was coming in gasps, the sweat pouring off of him. Some of it dripped from his face and landed on Sarah’s.
“Sorry about that, I’m sweating on you.”
“Mmmm, I like it.” Sarah wriggled a little under him.
Jonathan looked down at her face, glowing in the flickering flames of the campfire. “You’re really sexy, you know that?”
She suddenly seemed very vulnerable and shy. “Really?”
“Hell, yes.”
“You just said a bad word.”
“Yes, I did. Something about you makes me want to do bad things.”
“Oh reeeaaallly ... ”
“Ah, don’t move,” he said, “or you’re going to have to do that all over again.”
“Man, do you have staying power, or what?” she asked, sounding impressed.
“Sarah, I’ve been storing up this energy for about, oh, maybe six years or so; so whenever you’re ready to go, just tap me on the shoulder, and I’ll be ready to go too.”
“But what do I do when you’re all tapped out?”
“I’m pretty sure that couldn’t possibly happen when I’m with a girl as beautiful as you.”
Sarah said nothing, but lifted her head up to give him a kiss on the lips.
“What was that for?” he asked.
“Just because. Now let me up so I can go rinse myself off. I have sand in every crevice, and I mean every crevice. Plus, we got a little nuts there and failed to take one little detail into consideration. And I’m not sure there’s anything I can do about that, but I’m going to try.”
“What’s that?”
“Failure to employ any method of birth control.”
“Oh, crap,” said Jonathan, the heat rising up in his face. What have I done? “I can’t believe I didn’t even think about that until just now.”
“Well, I thought about it, but decided to say what the hell. Hopefully we won’t regret it later. I’m going down to the water to rinse off.”
“Are you sure you’re okay? You had a lot of that wine. I could go with you.”
“Yes, I’m tipsy, I admit it, but I’m fine. Stay here, I’ll be back in a few.”
Jonathan eased back onto the sand, watching her walk out of the ring of light, heading towards the water. He tried to keep his eyes open, but the little bit of alcohol he’d drunk, the warm fire, and the contentment of losing his virginity to the most beautiful girl he had ever known was a very potent sleeping pill
, even more potent than the thoughts of having unprotected sex. He fell asleep within seconds, the waves breaking against the shore the last thing he remembered hearing.
***
“Jonathan, get up. Get up, Jonathan.”
He could hear Candi’s irritated voice in his dream. He wished she’d go away so he could keep on dreaming about his beautiful girlfriend, Sarah Peterson.
Then he was jerked awake by the feeling of cold water tossed in his face.
“Sorry, buddy, but you need to get up.” This voice was Kevin’s and it sounded stern.
“What the ... ?” Jonathan sat up and looked around him. “Where am I?”
“You’re still at the prom, now where is Sarah?” demanded Kevin.
“Sarah?” He was momentarily confused. Where is Sarah? How should I know where Sarah is?
Then it all came flooding back to him. Sarah at the campfire. Sarah underneath him. Sarah so beautiful. Sarah going to rinse off in the ocean ...
“Oh my god,” he jumped up in a panic. “Last night she went down to the water; I was supposed to wait up for her, but I must have fallen asleep!” Jonathan started running his hands through his hair in agitation. “Do you mean she didn’t come back to the treehouse last night?” He was hoping for an answer he knew he wasn’t going to get.
“No, Jonathan, she didn’t. That’s why we’re here with you asking where she is.” Candi was pissed. “How could you have fallen asleep and left Sarah, who was drunk, to wander around by herself? This is so unlike you.”
“Don’t get angry just yet, Candi, let’s think this through,” said Kevin. “Sarah wouldn’t just walk into the water and disappear. Maybe she tried to get to the treehouse and then got lost; you know there was no moon out last night, and it was very dark.”
“Yeah, okay, that makes sense,” said Jonathan, taking deep breaths to calm himself. “We just need to find her trail and follow it.”
Candi nodded her head in agreement, frowning in obvious disapproval at her brother.
“Let’s split up, see if we can find her footprints anywhere on the beach,” said Kevin. “Focus on the tree line area.”
They all walked down the beach, Kevin and Candi going one direction and Jonathan going the other. After less than a minute, Candi yelled out, “I think I found something!”