Unseen Messages

by Pepper Winters

  Joking disappeared as we stood, totally silent, utterly immobile, neither breaking the spell. It was unbelievably stupid to get caught up in desire, but in that stolen moon-sleeping moment, reality vanished and I indulged in guilty, desperately needed pleasure.

  Kiss him.

  Galloway sucked in a breath as I swayed closer.

  I didn’t touch him.

  No hands or arms or fingers.

  Just closed the distance, stood on my toes, and pressed my lips to his.

  He froze.

  I froze.

  The world froze as our lips joined, and I forgot what came next. I forgot because every thought in my head erupted into a thousand pieces of confetti.

  His lips, oh...

  They were so warm and firm and masculine and...

  He tilted his head ever so slightly, the tip of his tongue caressing me. His touch wasn’t a seduction more of a question.

  What are you doing?

  I’d kissed him. It was up to me to decide how the kiss would morph.

  Did I kiss him in thanks? In friendship? In desperation for everything I might never see again? Or did I kiss him in lust? In attraction? In hopes of finding my rules on friendship could be stretched to something more?

  Galloway bit back a groan as I parted my lips, accepting everything I couldn’t articulate. His hand swooped up, capturing the back of my neck. His fingers tightened around my nape, pulling me harder against his mouth.

  The possessive pressure undid me; I swiped my tongue into his wet warmth.

  And that was it.

  He snapped.

  His crutch thudded softly to the sand as his arm wrapped tightly around me, lifting me off my feet. A few hops and hobbles and my back wedged against the umbrella tree, my front bowing under the hard lines of his body.

  I gasped as his fingers hooked around my hair, tugging my head back, kissing me harder.

  Oh, God.

  He was everywhere at once. Kissing me with an intensity I worried would devour me.

  Don’t stop.

  His hands ran down my body only to recapture my face. Kissing me harder, faster, wilder.

  Wait...

  I clung to him, letting him do what he wanted because it gave me the freedom to live in sensation.

  Stop.

  I couldn’t stop.

  My lips danced with his; our tongues fought and licked.

  Stop!

  Lust crushed everything in its path. I melted as Galloway grabbed my thigh and hitched it over his hip. I arched my back as his hand skated to my breast. I moaned as—

  “Wait!” I pushed him away, panting hard.

  He growled as I removed his fingers from my nipple. The sharp jolt of liquid pleasure almost made me give in. But this wasn’t real life. This wasn’t some holiday. This was serious.

  This can’t happen.

  Ducking away from the cage of his arms, I did my best to straighten my hair. Conner and Pippa still slept (thank God) and I rubbed my lips to rid the electrical current left by his kiss.

  Galloway breathed hard. “What was that?”

  I paced in front of him. “I—I don’t know.”

  “You kissed me, remember?”

  “I know I did.”

  “Then why did you stop?”

  “Just because I kissed you doesn’t mean I was going to sleep with you.”

  “Oh, no? You were pretty keen on the idea a few seconds ago.”

  The heat throbbing in my core rapidly switched to indignation. “Wow, your ego’s pretty big, you know that?”

  “That’s not the only thing that’s big.” He winked.

  “Really? You’re going to treat this like a sleazy pickup?” Infuriation was a smoking fire in my chest. “That’s low, Galloway.”

  “What do you want? An apology for something I didn’t start?” His jaw ticked. “Look, I’m aware that there are things about me that aren’t...smooth. A lot of me is riddled with flaws. But that kiss...it wasn’t one of them. That kiss—” He cut himself off, whistling under his breath. “That kiss was the best damn kiss I’ve ever had.”

  I shivered with delight even as I stomped on lust with steel-capped boots. “Doesn’t matter. It won’t happen again.”

  “Why not?” His voice was a whip.

  I waved at the warming dawn, lapping tide, and empty island. “Because we have much more important things to worry about.”

  He sighed, bending awkwardly to pick up his crutch. “You’re right.”

  I paused, sensing a trap.

  Determination plastered his face as he repositioned himself. “However, this situation is a pretty shitty one. What’s the harm in finding happiness to make it bearable?”

  My breathing slowly calmed. “You’re saying you were happy kissing me?”

  “I’ve never been happier.”

  “Oh.”

  How can he say that with what’s happened?

  “You guys are up already?” Conner yawned, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

  Galloway and I jumped.

  The guilt of doing something we shouldn’t stamped a scarlet letter onto my forehead.

  Galloway managed to set aside our little indiscretion and act completely normal. “Yep. No sleeping in for us.”

  Conner swiped his good hand through copper hair, making it stand up in every direction. He needed a bath (we all did), but apart from the dwindling supply of toothpaste and the aid of our ingenious use of sand as soap, we had nothing else to use.

  Dragging dirty hair over my shoulder, I quickly plaited it—doing my best to hide that it desperately needed a clean. I couldn’t decide if the blonde was darkening with filth or bleaching thanks to the salt and sunshine.

  Rolling from his makeshift bed, Conner jumped a few times to get his circulation going. “Damn, I’m freezing.”

  My eyes flittered to Pippa; she slept in a tight ball with my jacket over her legs. Poor kid needed blankets, not exposure to the sky.

  Would it be possible to make some?

  It might be possible, but bedclothes were far down the totem pole of importance.

  As is making out and all things related to desire.

  “It will get warm in about an hour.” Galloway pointed at the pinking sky. “The sun is about to make an appearance.”

  Securing my plait with a hair-tie from around my wrist, my silver and gold bangles jangled. Every second the sky brightened helped switch my attention from kissing to the plastic-wrapped leaves of our tree.

  I cleared my throat. “I have a question.”

  Galloway looked at me. “Which is?”

  “What exactly is that for?” I pointed at the funnel and the small catchment of liquid. The leaves were cramped in the tight space and condensation only increased as the day grew warmer.

  “It’s a lifesaver, that’s what that is.”

  My throat panged with thirst. “It makes water?”

  Galloway nodded.

  “How does it work?”

  “I’ll show you.” He turned to Conner. “Where did the poncho go that your sister found in Estelle’s pockets?”

  “I’ll get it.” Conner jogged toward the baby-blue packet that I’d bought in Texas. He ducked and touched his sleeping sister’s forehead before making his way back to us. With every movement, he was very aware of his broken wrist.

  Passing the poncho to Galloway, Conner asked, “What are you going to do with it?”

  Galloway clutched the packet, using his crutch to hop to a free branch. “Demonstration time.” He ripped open the packet and shook out the poncho. Passing his crutch to Conner, Galloway stretched and grabbed an armful of the tree, struggling to wrap the thin raincoat around it.

  “Here, let me help.”

  He gave me a dark look as I tugged the branch, giving him room to secure it. Wrapping it tight, he used another piece of my singlet to tie the ends together at the top.

  “Damn, I’ve run out of ties.”

  Thinking quickly, I pulled the elastic from
my hair and handed it over.

  A second passed before he accepted it. Pinching the plastic, he formed another funnel, allowing space for water to slide to the bottom.

  The moment it was done, he nodded with satisfaction.

  Conner asked, “So...now what?”

  “Now, we do nothing.”

  “But I’m thirsty.”

  Galloway chuckled. “You and me both, kid.”

  “What are you doing?” Pippa appeared, her little arms wrapped around her goosebump-decorated body.

  I welcomed her against my side. “Making water.”

  “Really?” Her eyes widened. “Good because I want some.”

  “Galloway was just explaining how it works.” I looked at him expectantly.

  “I’m not sure exactly.” He cleared his throat. “When wrapped in something non-breathable, the leaves perspire and it condenses into fresh water.”

  Wow.

  I cocked my head. “How?”

  “Not sure how. Photosynthesis or something. The man I worked for used this method when we’d forgotten to take the large canteen. We’d gone logging and there were no streams or lakes to fill up our empty bottles. He had some clear tarp in the back of the truck, and after wrapping it like I have, we returned to work. It took a few hours but by the time we stopped for the day, we had enough to keep us going until we got home.”

  “That’s amazing.”

  “But what if there’s an easier way?” Conner asked. “Do you think there’s a river or something?”

  Galloway looked at me. “Estelle? You guys have explored the perimeter twice. You know this place best.”

  Me?

  Hardly.

  Crawling around in the storm then foraging for crutches didn’t make me an expert. Yes, I’d walked the coastline, but I hadn’t bushwhacked through the dense interior.

  Could there be a waterfall?

  I wished there was, but I didn’t think we were that lucky. I’d seen no mangroves, no soggy ground, no trickle.

  Three hopeful faces watched me. I had nothing to offer. “I don’t think so.”

  We fell silent, consumed with hunger and thirst and the desire to find some way off this damn island.

  “Anyway.” I broke the nasty silence. “Soon, we’ll have purified water thanks to Galloway.”

  He gave me an awkward smile. He couldn’t take a compliment. He couldn’t allow himself one moment of pleasure for doing something so life changing.

  Why is that?

  My heart swelled at his self-defacing attitude. “This is huge, Galloway.”

  He shook his head.

  “You just kept us alive as if it’s no big deal,” I said. “I would never have known how to do that.”

  He shrugged uncomfortably. “Don’t mention it.”

  “When can I have some?” Pippa reached up and pinched the funnel where a couple of droplets had rolled.

  Galloway touched her head. “Not for a while. The tree isn’t fast like a tap. It takes a few hours for the leaves to sweat.”

  My blood warmed as Galloway tucked hair behind her ear. He came across so angry and gruff but beneath that lurked a man I’d caught glimpses of, a man I wanted to know.

  He was the man I’d kissed.

  He was the man I wanted.

  Pippa squirmed. “But I’m thirsty.”

  “I already said that.” Conner slung an arm over her shoulders, careful not to touch her scabbing wound. “Copycat.”

  Pippa stuck out her tongue. “I’m hungry, too. Did you say that already?”

  He patted his concave stomach. “That goes without saying. I could kill for a lasagne.”

  “Lasagne?” My eyes widened. “That’s your favourite food?”

  He nodded. “That and ravioli. I have a thing for pasta.”

  “Mine is cherries.” Pippa tugged my hand for attention. “Cherries and raspberries and blueberries and—”

  “Every berry, we get it.” Conner rolled his eyes. “Doubt you’ll find them here.”

  “What’s your favourite, Estelle?” Galloway’s soft voice wrenched my head up. He didn’t look away, his gaze intense, as if he could strip aside my outer shell and wrench out my secrets one by one.

  “What?”

  “Your favourite food? If you could have anything delivered right now, what would it be?”

  I bit my lip, flicking through tastes and memories. Once upon a time, my favourite meal was spiced eggplant with grilled halloumi. However, I’d been eating it when the call came about the death of my parents and sister.

  I hadn’t been able to touch it since.

  “Not sure,” I hedged. “I guess a good soup with crusty bread is nice.”

  “Soup?” Galloway pulled a face. “Seriously?”

  I bristled. “I think we have more important things to do than discuss our favourite menus, don’t you?”

  “Unless you’re suggesting ordering me a massive cheeseburger with all the trimmings, then nope.” Galloway’s smile taunted, almost as if he could read my annoyance and understood how much he affected me.

  Well, so what if he could?

  We’d kissed.

  We’d liked it.

  But now, we had to move on and survive side by side rather than lip-locked.

  “I’m afraid I don’t have a cheeseburger, but I do have one last bottle of water and a final muesli bar.” Smiling at the children, I said, “Let’s have breakfast. We can afford to have it now that we have a source of water.”

  I didn’t mention we didn’t have a source of food...yet.

  My eyes drifted to the twinkling ocean. Beneath the surface lived countless molluscs and crustaceans that could keep us alive. We just had to figure out how to catch them.

  Today is fishing day.

  And tonight, we would eat something substantial for the first time in days.

  Please...

  The children cheered, but Galloway shook his head. “This isn’t a fix to our dehydration problems, Estelle. It will take all day to get a single pint. Sure, it will tide us over, but we need more.”

  “Oh.” My heart fell. A single pint between four of us...that wasn’t enough. “We have two funnels. Does that make two pints?”

  “Yes, but it’s still not enough.” He squinted at the new sunshine. Not one cloud in the sky. Not one threatening rainstorm. “We need rain. But before it does, we need to have things ready to store as much as possible.”

  Once again, I imagined weaving waterproof baskets.

  Don’t be ridiculous.

  I could barely mend a hole in a sock, let alone weave a water goblet. How would we store it? What could we possibly use?

  Galloway followed my concerns. “For now, we’ll dig a trench and waterproof it somehow so we can catch large quantities—if and when a storm comes.”

  “What about the helicopter? We can use some of the metal as a large dish.” Conner piped up. “And the life-jackets can line a hole in the sand, too.”

  A smile split Galloway’s face. “Good thinking.” Ruffling the boy’s hair, Galloway hitched his crutch under his arm. “We’ll head over after breakfast and see how easy it is to dismantle the fuselage.”

  I padded behind them. “Correction, Conner and I will head over. You will rest with Pippa.”

  Galloway spun around. “No way. I’m not being a bloody invalid anymore.”

  I couldn’t breathe as he glowered with blue intensity.

  I swallowed. “Fine.”

  Not fine.

  I’d just leave without his permission.

  I was the one least hurt.

  It was up to me to do the most work until the others healed enough to participate.

  We didn’t speak as we huddled around our belongings and slowly savoured the last of our food and water.

  I licked my fingers, savouring my final mouthful.

  That’s it.

  No more.

  From here on out...we would have to hunt.

  Chapter Twenty


  ...............................................

  G A L L O W A Y

  ......

  I THOUGHT SOLVING our water crisis would make me feel better about myself.

  It did the opposite.

  Estelle was so damn grateful it made me feel like swine flu. She’d done so much for us, yet she treated me like a bloody king for the one minuscule thing I’d achieved.

  Yes, I’d remembered how to snatch water from thin air. But that wasn’t my geniusness—that was my mentor back in the States.

  I couldn’t take credit.

  Estelle was the one who’d cast my leg, Conner’s wrist, and dressed Pippa’s back. She was the one worrying about us at night, giving us fresh leaves to line our damp sandy beds, trying to forgo her last mouthful of muesli bar so the kids had more to eat.

  She was the saint on this island.

  Not me.

  And for her to treat me like one...well, it pissed me off.

  Made me angry.

  Made me so bloody livid that I couldn’t get over the pain in my system and the break in my ankle to be better for her.

  Not to mention that kiss between us.

  What the hell was that about?

  My cock had hardened to a damn palm tree, desperate to get inside her even though I didn’t deserve the kiss, let alone anything else.

  I accepted my ration of food as Estelle broke apart the last muesli bar and nibbled hers with determination. I inhaled mine in one bite. I wouldn’t taunt my system with tiny tastes. It wouldn’t do me any better to eat fast or slow.

  But I did know what would make me feel better.

  Being productive and helpful.

  My eyes landed on Estelle’s exposed arms and legs. She still wore Conner’s black t-shirt and cotton shorts. Conner wore similar attire of chequered board-shorts and a grey t-shirt, and Pippa wore a pink skirt and frilly tank top.

  Instead of unblemished skin, they were all pink from being in the sun and swollen bumps marked our forearms and legs from mosquitoes.

  The freaking bugs had killed us. We didn’t have coverage and were easy blood sacks.

  That needs to be rectified.

  How? I had no freaking idea.

  Estelle finished her breakfast and tucked the empty wrapper and bottle into the pile of belongings so it didn’t litter the sea. I couldn’t tear my eyes away as she grabbed something from her handbag and turned her back on all of us.