“Look again,” he softly said, leaning toward me.
It was difficult to think with him so close, but I tried my best to ignore his presence and concentrate on the rock. I didn’t want to look like an idiot by not being able to see what he apparently thought was obvious. “I don’t . . . wait . . .” Finally seeing something odd, I stepped toward the wall. “Is that . . . a door?”
What I’d thought was just a huge boulder was much too flat to be a natural rock, and directly in the center of the rock wall, there was a rectangular outline, clearly indicating a door. And beneath it, on the ground, there was an arched line of scraped debris, from where the door had recently been opened. Oh my God . . .
“Yes!” Jake exclaimed. “It’s a bunker. It’s been so consumed by the forest that I’ve missed it every day as I walked by here, but I noticed it today, and yeah, you’re not going to believe this. Close your eyes,” he said with a grin.
I frowned at his need for a dramatic reveal, but I did what he asked. I heard the door groaning open, like the thick metal still wasn’t used to moving. Once the sound stopped, I felt Jake grab my hand. I clutched him tight, excited, nervous, and loving his touch. He started pulling me forward, and I took small, careful steps. Even still, I stumbled a little on the edge of the door. Jake steadied me, reaching around behind me to grab my elbow. His chest was pressed against my back, and I could feel his thundering heartbeat. Or maybe that was just mine.
Not really wanting the sensual moment to end, I asked, “Can I open my eyes now?”
“Not yet,” he said in my ear. Then he left my side. I instantly frowned at the loss of our connection but waited patiently until he told me he was ready. I heard a match light, then the whoosh of kerosene igniting. Were there lamps down here? This was already amazing.
“Okay . . . go ahead and open them.”
I did so slowly, cautiously, like I was either nervous or savoring the moment. Maybe a little of both. My mouth dropped open when I saw just what he’d been so excited to show me. Steep stairs led down to where the bulk of the bunker was carved into the earth. It was a huge room filled with supplies and commodities—everything we’d need to make it here. And with just a quick glance, it seemed like there were enough supplies to last us a few years, especially with only the two of us consuming them.
“Oh my God,” I murmured, wandering down the steps to enter the main living space of the bunker.
“I know, right?” Jake said, following me with the lamp. “It’s incredible. Everything we need.”
Shelves lined two walls of the room. They were packed full of canned goods, clothes, blankets, toiletries, tools, and gear, including actual fishing poles and a couple of axes. Jake set the lamp down on a table, and I marveled that there was a table. That was when I noticed that there was a kitchen, complete with pots, pans, and a kerosene stove. I could actually cook a decent meal again.
Jake was grinning as he watched me. Then he pointed over to a section of the room I hadn’t looked at yet. “Oh my God, there’s a bed!” There was only one, and it looked like it was on the small side, but it had a mattress, and after weeks of us sleeping on hard surfaces, it seemed like the most luxurious thing on earth. I squealed as I ran over and flopped on top of it. The springs squeaked, and the pillow and blanket smelled musty, but even still, it was heaven.
“Wow,” I murmured, my eyes watering with emotion. “You wouldn’t think a bed could make a person cry, but yeah, I think I’m about to lose it.”
I sat up on the bed, and Jake grinned wider as he sat beside me. “I know what you mean. I already did.”
“Jake, this is . . . this is a game changer. I’m so happy you found this place.” Happy didn’t seem like the right word. Ecstatic, thrilled, overjoyed . . . those were much more accurate, but they felt too silly to say. I didn’t need to say them, though. Jake knew; he understood. This bunker was life. There was absolutely no question that we were going to be okay now that the urgency of surviving had been depleted somewhat. Now we could truly focus on being rescued, on going home. It was a new era for us on the island, and it was all thanks to Jake—I never would have spotted this place.
“You’re amazing,” I said, putting a hand on his arm.
Jake glanced down at my fingers, then back up at my face. “I’m not the only one,” he murmured.
The warmth in the air seemed to grow as we stared at each other, and my heart began to race with anticipation. The way he was looking at me was beyond friendship, beyond admiration. His entire soul was showing in his jade eyes, drawing me in, making me long to connect with him. Was it just this morning that he’d seemed so desolate over the fact that he was slowly losing my sister? Because he sure didn’t seem that way now.
The tension in the air grew even higher, and my heart began to race. I wasn’t sure who started the movement first, but before I knew it, we were both moving toward each other. My eyes drifted to his lips just as his fingertips touched my cheek. God, I’d dreamed about this for so long. But even still, it wasn’t right. I should stop it from happening.
But before I could gather the strength to move away, our lips connected, and my breath completely stopped. A flicker of guilt washed through me, but it was instantly swept away by a tidal wave of desire. Months. I’d wanted this man for months. His mouth gently moved against mine while his hand cupped my cheek. I felt like I was floating or dreaming or stuck in some other reality, one I never wanted to leave.
Only I had to . . . because he wasn’t mine.
Kylie. She loves him; she needs him. And there’s still hope for them . . . if we’re found soon.
Guilt and loyalty made me break away from his lips. I searched his eyes. “We should stop.”
My words instantly snapped him out of his trance. He shot up off the bed and ran a hand through his messy hair. “God, Val, I’m sorry. I just . . . I got carried away. I didn’t mean to . . .”
“It’s okay,” I said. “It’s just . . . not a good idea. We could be picked up at any time, and you and Kylie . . .”
Jake scrubbed his hands over his eyes. “I know; I’m sorry. This island, all the stress . . . and you, you’re so goddamn . . . everything was already so confusing, and now it’s just . . . so much worse.” He sighed as he looked at me. “I honestly don’t know what’s going on with me anymore, and I’m so sorry if I’m hurting you. I don’t mean to.”
“It’s okay,” I repeated, a little dazzled by what he’d said.
He shook his head. “No, it’s not. It’s not fair. We’re just supposed to be friends, but I keep pushing against that line.” Giving me a reluctant smile, he shrugged and said, “I’ll do better to not be such a sucky friend. I promise.”
I could only give him a tiny, awkward grin in response, since a part of me didn’t want him to just be my friend anymore. I just had to keep suppressing that part of me. Then we’d be fine.
Chapter Twelve
Life was so much easier in the bunker. Now that we weren’t struggling to survive every second of every day, we had time to talk, time to play. The break from the extreme did wonders for our mental health. Not to mention the fact that we were getting a good night’s sleep every evening now, although sleeping in a small bed with Jake brought its own problems—especially after that kiss, a kiss that haunted my dreams.
Jake was keeping his word and just being friendly, but it wasn’t stopping me from falling even harder for him. If anything, it just made it worse. He was such a good person, and being alone with him for all this time but forcing myself to not act on my feelings was torture. Sheer torture.
But we were making it through, and time was speeding up on us. Before I knew it, Jake’s new makeshift calendar that he’d scratched on the wall in chalk had us on the island for three whole months.
“Wow, three months. I can’t believe it’s been that long already,” Jake murmured, making a new hash mark.
“Yeah . . .” And we were no closer to being rescued. We’d been lighting that damn fire e
very day, and not one single ship had passed by. “You know, Jake, it might be time to consider the fact that we aren’t getting off this island.”
He snapped his gaze to mine, annoyance and reluctance on his face. He didn’t want to admit that, not even to himself. “It hasn’t really been all that long. Not in the grand scheme of things.”
I nodded and didn’t argue my point further. He wasn’t ready. And maybe he was right. Three months wasn’t all that long.
After a hearty fish-soup breakfast, Jake went down to the beach to light the fire. I debated joining him, going fishing, or going to our watering hole/bathtub. In the end, I decided on a nice relaxing swim.
It was a bit more of a hike to get to the waterfall now, but I didn’t mind. It helped to clear my head, if not my heart. It started lightly sprinkling while I walked, and I found the cool droplets refreshing. Maybe I’d visit our old camp today, relive the “hard” days. Or maybe I’d spread out my towel and lie out in the sun—something I’d never thought I’d do again.
Just as I was weighing my options, the sprinkling turned into a decent rainfall. It was enough to make me stop in my tracks and look up at the sky. I was deep in the forest, but the rain was heavy enough to penetrate the canopy and start to soak me. Giving up on all my ideas, I tossed the towel over my head and headed back home to the bunker.
It was a monsoon-level downpour by the time I got there. “Jake, you in here?” I said, drying off my hair as I walked down the steps. “It’s so crazy outside. I’m glad we moved.” Pausing my hands, I looked around the very empty bunker. “Jake?” Was he still outside in that mess? I couldn’t imagine he was still trying to light a bonfire in this. It would never ignite.
I set down the towel and made my way to the door. The rain was loud when I opened the door; it reminded me of a rock concert. The wind had picked up, too, and the trees around the entrance were being bent at vicious angles. It was getting bad out there, and for some reason, Jake was still in the thick of it. “Jake?” I yelled, knowing he probably wouldn’t be able to hear me through this noise.
Every second that passed, the storm seemed to worsen. If he wasn’t back yet, there was a reason for it. He was hurt and alone and about to be stuck in some crazy tropical storm. He’d risked everything to save me from the ship; I couldn’t abandon him in his hour of need. Mind made up, I closed the door on our shelter and headed back out into the woods to find him.
The wind flicked my hair around my head, and the rain made it sting like thousands of tiny whips. Within a minute my clothes were soaked, and I was shivering as more icy drops assaulted me. I wanted nothing more than to be back in our warm, safe home, but there was no way I was going back without Jake. I kept calling his name, hoping he’d hear me somehow. Overhead, lightning crackled in the sky, and mere seconds later, thunder reverberated through the heavens. Damn, it was close. Outside was not the place to be right now.
“Jake!” The ground around me was slick with mud and running water. I had on shoes that we’d found in the bunker, but they weren’t providing enough traction, and I kept slipping. More than once, I had to grab onto the branches around me to stop myself from falling on my ass.
“Jake!” I repeated, feeling desperate. God, where was he? The storm was so loud I couldn’t even hear the ocean. What if I was going the wrong way? What if I got lost out here in this mess? So many things could go wrong right now, but I couldn’t stop, couldn’t turn back. I had to find him. “Jake!”
“Valerie?”
His voice was quiet under the wind, but I heard it and spun in that direction. “Jake! Where are you?”
“Over here! Down the ridge!”
I spun again until I saw the hill he was talking about. I carefully ran to the edge of it and looked down. Jake was on the ground there, pants covered in mud, holding his leg as he tried to stay as much out of the storm as he could. “Hey,” he said, looking up at me. “What brings you to this neck of the woods?”
“You,” I said, a relieved laugh escaping me. “What happened?”
He indicated the muddy trail beside him. “Slipped coming up. I think I tore something. I can’t put any weight on my ankle.”
Well, crap. How would I get him home, then? He was way too heavy for me to lift. “Okay, hold on . . . I’m coming down to you.” As carefully as I could, I made my way down the slippery trail to him.
He cringed as I sat beside him. “It really frickin’ hurts.” He let out an annoyed sigh. “I’m sorry you had to come get me in this.” He tilted his head up to the rain; he was just as soaked as I was and was shivering just as badly. We both needed to get out of here; the only question was how.
“Don’t worry about that. Let’s just get you home.” I looked around the jungle, hoping against hope that I’d find something I could use. Or maybe a friendly gorilla who’d kindly offer to lend a hand. Not likely.
“Hey,” he said, bringing my attention back to him. “Just leave me here and get back to safety.” As if to punctuate his point, the lightning crackled again. And again, it was instantly followed by thunder.
“No way,” I told him. I couldn’t sit in our nice, warm home knowing he was out here suffering. “I’m getting you out of here.” One way or another.
I started looking around again, hoping to be inspired by something. Cool fingers touched my cheek, turning me back to him. “Valerie, please. Leave me.” Jake’s eyes were wide, worried . . . for me, not him.
“No,” I sputtered. “We survive together. You remember that?”
He shook his head. “I won’t be responsible for you getting hurt.”
“And I won’t leave you to die.”
“I won’t die. I’ll be fine. Valerie, please . . .” His hand on my face clenched me tighter. “Please go.”
My heart was racing as I stared at him, his green eyes wide with worry, his lips wet with rain. Every instinct inside me told me the situation was dire, that I should be doing something to help him, but all I could focus on was his face. “I’m not leaving you,” I whispered. “I’ll never leave you . . .”
His face softened as he stared at me. “Valerie . . . I . . .” His eyes drifted to my mouth while his hand shifted to my neck. My mind had just a fraction of a second to comprehend what was happening as I felt him pull me toward him. I went willingly, eagerly.
Our mouths met, cool from the rain. My pulse was pounding in my veins as we moved together. I could hear myself whimpering with need as the storm raged on around us—thunder and lightning rattling the heavens. Jake’s hand tightened in my wet hair, pulling me in deeper. His tongue brushed against mine, and every nerve ending in my body charged to life. I wanted him, so much. But I needed to get him to safety. That took precedence over physically connecting with him.
I broke away from his passionate kiss to see his eyes blazing with need. Then he blinked, and realization made his expression completely change. “Oh God, I’m so—”
I cut him off with a shake of my head. “Not now. We need to get home. It’s getting bad out here.” Lightning crackled in the sky, as if to punctuate my point.
Jake glanced at the sky, then nodded. “Okay . . . but how?” he asked, still looking guilty and confused.
How. That was a good question. “How’s your other leg?” I asked him. “Maybe if you use me as a crutch, you’ll be able to hobble your way back?”
Shrugging, he said, “I don’t really see any other options at this point. I still think you should just leave me, though.”
“Not a chance.” I smiled, squatting down to help him up.
Getting underneath him and getting him to his feet was a battle. We both fell several times, and I was pretty sure I bruised my tailbone. But we finally got him standing. Then we had to fight our way up the steep, slick hill through severe wind and rain. I could see why Jake had fallen with two good legs; it was hard staying upright, and even harder supporting someone. But together, we managed to get through it. By the time we both made it back to the bunker, we were sodd
en, freezing, sore, and in pain. I helped him sit down at the table and prop his injured leg on a chair, and then I grabbed a blanket from a shelf and wrapped it around his shoulders.
After wrapping myself with another blanket, I squatted down by his leg to take a look at his ankle. He cringed the entire time I took his shoe off, and I cringed when I finally saw his ankle—it was really swollen. This was going to put him out of commission for a while.
“How is it?” he asked, face contorted in pain as he tried to sneak a peek at his injury.
“It’s . . . not good,” I told him. “You’re going to need to stay off it for a while.” And we’d both have to hope that it was just a sprain. Once again, it reminded me just how vulnerable we were out here. We might have found an unbelievable shelter full of much-needed supplies, but we didn’t exactly have access to a doctor. We both needed to be very careful.
Jake sighed as he leaned back in the chair. “I don’t have time to stay off it for a while.”
I raised an eyebrow at that. Ever since we’d moved over here to the bunker, life had been easier for us. I didn’t even need to fish every day. “I can handle the extra workload. I’ll light the bonfire and gather water and wood. It will be fine.”
Jake pursed his lips but nodded. “We should . . . probably talk about the fact that we kissed . . . again.”
God, no, I didn’t want to talk about it. Didn’t want to tell him it was a mistake, didn’t want to hear him apologize for being more than just friends with me. Not when my lips were still burning with the taste of him.
Wishing I had ice for his ankle, I poured some cold water from a canteen onto a towel. “I don’t really think there’s anything to talk about. Yes, it happened again, but my sister loves you . . . and you . . . you love her too. When we get back home, the two of you will be together again, so that kiss . . . it doesn’t matter, so why talk about it?”
Jake let out a weary sigh, and as I moved away from him to sit on a chair nearby, he quietly said, “I care about Kylie . . . a lot. And there are times when that feels exactly like love, but . . . I don’t know anymore, Valerie. Being out here with you . . . it’s opened my eyes. Things are changing between us. Can’t you feel that? Everything we were before, it’s just . . . more now.”
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