We were quiet, but our movement caused a crowd to form. Their eyes peered over books, looking to the side and then away as they quietly caught a glimpse of our escapade. Matteo’s legs tensed against my ass as he sped up, now moving in an erratic rhythm. I arched my back, leaning my hair into his hands, begging him to tug. He pulled, then released his build-up within me before relaxing against the shelf.
He wouldn’t be there much longer; I could feel him fleeting. I straddled his now resting body, resting in the warm sweat of his skin. Hoping to hold him in place I wrapped my legs around him, but he disappeared—and I was alone in the library touching myself with everyone watching. I woke to my finger on my clit, rubbing intently—my mind grasping the last bit of memory as I drove my finger faster, feeling the release of wet heat before opening my eyes.
Matteo was still on my mind every night as I laid down to sleep, though in waking hours, I did my best to push him away. Nightmares still kept me awake most nights, so I would gladly take a sex dream of any sort. However, it came with strong emotional drawbacks… and I was sure I didn’t need that.
I showered quick, threw on a pair of tight blue jeans and a long black sweater. Kevin texted earlier in the week, asking me to hike with him and Sophie this weekend. I was nervous about meeting her as I wasn’t sure if Kevin was romantically interested, or if he was just looking for a friend. I suppose either way, the actions of meeting his daughter would be the same.
When I arrived at the trailhead, Kevin, Sophie, and the two dogs were waiting. She was even prettier in person, wearing jeans with purple-flowered appliques and a sweet pink sweater with a puppy knit into the stitches. I walked towards them, feeling my stomach jolt with anxiety. I hadn’t been around many children, and all I remember is that they have no filter.
Kevin heard my boots popping on the gravel as I neared and his face lit up, “Hey! Sophie, this is my friend Hannah. Hannah… Sophie.”
I bent down, finding eye level with her, “So very nice to meet you, Sophie. I’ve made you my super famous strawberry and chocolate chip cookies.”
She pulled her head back, furrowing her brows. I was sure a strange comment was coming. Instead, she immediately raised them and popped open the tin, grasping a treat. “Thank you. I love cookies and I love strawberries!”
I stood, relieved then greeted Kevin hello with a hug. He wore a soft flannel overlay with a tight white tee shirt and blue jeans, his pecs rippling as he pressed against my chest. He wasn’t big like Matteo, but he was fit, and seeing him in that white t-shirt confirmed a physical attraction.
The trail laid out in front of us, with tall pines gathered on each side of a dirt walkway, a thin strip of grass grown in the center. We walked for some time, hidden from the world by the wall of trees. Sophie stepped with one foot in front of the other as though she were on an imaginary rope, trying to keep her balance, as Kevin and I ambled behind.
“I hope you’re okay with me bringing her. She loves this trail, and I thought—”
“You never have to feel bad about bringing your daughter. I was nervous though.”
He smiled, looking towards me slightly, though keeping his focus on Sophie who was still wandering ahead. “Five-year old’s are quite intimidating. She told me last week how out of shape I was. In her defense, I was heaving pretty hard carrying the dog up to the penthouse.”
I squeezed my eyebrows together, knowing both dogs they owned had to be almost eighty pounds each, “Carrying the dog up to the penthouse?”
“Yeah, the elevator wasn’t working…” he pulled on the lead “… and this one here, she’s got hip dysplasia bad. She’d have been in pain all night. So, I carried her up. Anyway… I was out of breath. Lucy likes her treats.” He leaned down and pat the yellow lab mix on her bottom, exciting her tail into a fury.
“Do you know what these are?” he asked, stopping at a bush covered in purple berries.
“Sierra Currents; you peel off the dead flower and they are good to eat.” Reaching over, I picked a few berries off the branch, offering one to Kevin before popping the other in my mouth. “They’re sweet. Bears love them.”
Noticing we’d stopped, Sophie turned back, singing a made-up song as she ran. “What are you eating? Can I try a berry?”
“Of course, you just have to peel the white flower. That part will make your tummy hurt,” I said, bending the branch of the shrub towards her.
She took a handful and crammed them in at once, stuffing her cheeks with red currents, the pink juices dribbling down her lips as she laughed. “I love them!”
I glanced at Kevin; he was sincerely enthralled with the antics of his daughter. A wide beaming smile on his face, his shoulders relaxed as he enjoyed small moments of happiness. I could only imagine they weren’t all as peaceful. Sophie finished with the berries then plodded back down the trail, this time with Lucy.
“I like her music. Is she always singing like that?” I asked, trying not to stare at his pecs popping from his shirt as we walked. I’d never been ‘that girl,’ but even if I hadn’t been oversexualizing everything… he was flawless. So flawless, I’d failed to see the tree root branching out in front of my feet, inviting me to trip.
Red heat filled my cheeks as he bent down, helping me off the ground. “Are you okay?”
I wasn’t okay. I was obsessing over flexing arms and popping pecs. Imagining what he would look like without his clothes, imagining how he’d move, how he’d touch me. Gripping my arm, he helped me off the ground, brushing dead pine needles off my pants and shirt, as though I were a child. I stood, letting him feather away bits of the earth, as I pretended to help.
“Thanks… I think… I think we got it all.” The words filtered through my mouth like water in a clogged pipe. “I… I’m such a klutz. I need to watch where I’m going.”
His face had gone red with mine, his hair, slightly disheveled in the madness. “Your mouth, you have a cut.” With his thumb, he brushed my bottom lip, “It’s nothing. Just a streak of red, maybe my eyes are playing tricks.”
“What’s going on?” Sophie asked, now interested in the circus show we were performing.
Kevin regained focus, brushing his hair back. “Nothing Soph, just helping Hannah with something.”
“Do you smell cookies?” Sophie asked, looking towards me, her curly-haired head twisted to the side.
“I do! That’s the pine trees. You know the story, Hansel and Gretel?”
She nodded, focused in on our conversation, as she bit at her cheek.
“Well, the idea came about from the Jeffrey pines—because these pines smell as though there is a bakery hidden in their labyrinth.”
She looked back at me squinting, then towards Kevin. “Dad, is that true? And what’s a labyrinth?”
Kevin smiled, letting only half his cheek rise as he touched the top of Sophie’s head. “A labyrinth is a maze, and if Hannah says it’s true… it’s true.”
“So, you’re saying there is a witch in these woods who eats kids?” Her eyes widened as she pulled back her lips.
“No! Hansel and Gretel is just a story. There’s no witch in the woods.” I was panicked, afraid I’d just said all the wrong things.
Turning to Kevin, I looked for reprieve—though he was smiling, clearly amused by my blunder, “Well Soph, I do hear there is a cookie witch in these woods. A cookie witch that loves…” He grabbed her up, tickling at her as she giggled uncontrollably, “… loves to eat Sophie’s… Sophie’s and Hannah’s!” He beamed, tickling my neck and stomach gently. I burst out, rumbling with happiness. Sophie joined in, tickling me as I tickled her back. We caught eyes and agreed without words that Kevin should be next. He played along, pretending to be attacked by our light tickles—falling to the ground in a dramatic swoop that left Sophie and I piled on top of him giggling, and the dogs overly excited, jumping at all of us.
“You’ve got me. You’ve got me. Take the bag and save yourself Soph.” He threw th
e backpack in her direction, causing the dogs and Sophie to run after it.
“Got it Dad! I’ll go eat some snacks,” she hollered, running towards a grassy patch near the river, sounding thankful her dad had saved her from the tickles. I continued laughing, beaming with light as I lifted off Kevin, but he pulled me back in. His eyes softened from a playful smile to more serious happiness as he narrowed and lifted his head towards my lips, sweeping them lightly against me in the filtered autumn sun. The hair on the back of my neck stood alive as he pulled away, still reviewing my lines.
“I’m sorry if I read that wrong. You… you just… you—” he lifted again, kissing me harder, deeper, his tongue just grazing mine, inviting electricity. He didn’t know his lips were a gateway drug, and that I was a junky. If he had, I’m not sure he would have continued.
I gathered myself, brushing off the infusion of desire, though my eyes stayed dreamy in response. “No, I liked it.”
He smiled widely, then glanced towards Sophie, who was busy eating her snack with the dogs. “I drop Sophie off with my Mom after the hike. She goes to church on Sunday morning. I can meet you back at your place after. I’ll bring some records.”
Forwardness was something I liked, and I wasn’t hesitating, but I did wonder how much he needed to know. Did he need to know how I used sex as an escape, how I was a vampire who felt faint for his blood? How at any moment I could tear his clothes off without warning… that the only thing holding me back was the child fifty feet away.
Instead, I helped him up, brushed off, and said, “Sure… I’ll be home, so anytime works.”
Chapter Eighteen
Matteo
A light wind blew across my face as I sat against a waving palm — the sand biting at my wet skin upon contact. Hannah looked like a goddess in this light. As though she’d been painted by the heavens. I reached out to lift her, feeling her sun-bleached curves beneath my fingertips.
“You look bored my Bella. We will be off this island soon; we have to keep our strength up just a bit longer.”
Hannah stayed quiet. It had been like this since I found her washed up on the east shore this morning. She looked good despite the treacherous journey she’d taken to get here. One in which I wanted to ask about, but figured she needed time.
Leaning in, I tasted her warm lips against my own. “I’m so sorry, my Bella. After you left, I cracked. I couldn’t live knowing I caused you so much pain. I couldn’t live with knowing I’d ruined everything. I couldn’t live without you. And you deserve to feel safe. Safe without fear. So, I did what any person would do, had their life been taken away. I went to get it back.” I wanted a reaction from her, anything to let me know she was listening, that she forgave me. But she stayed silent.
“My Bella, less than two hours after you left, I was on the jet back to Ireland. But the people at Kings Ranch were three steps ahead. They’d tracked my phone. They knew when and where I was going. So, when I finally reached the ranch to ‘take them down,’ they were ready—throwing me in the same basement you had been in.” I paused my ramble, hoping she would comfort me, but she stayed silent. “Then, when they got tired of feeding me, they left me for dead in the middle of the ocean: no mess to clean, no wrapped-up bags with DNA and evidence. Just dropped me, left me to bob. A disappearance the news would say. No trace. If I hadn’t been swimming every day for the last ten years, I’d have drowned. Instead, I struggled, swimming and floating for days along with the current until I found this island.”
Pushing my head against the rough bark of the palm tree, I looked up towards the sun that filtered through the leaves. She was upset. I needed to give her time.
“I’ll go get dinner. You’ll see… things will be back to normal in no time,” I said, wandering down towards the beach.
Less than a mile wide, rising from the shore five or so feet, with a gaggle of palm trees, and a small grove of bamboo, my new home. From here, the water stretches out a bright clear blue. Over the past few weeks, I’d given myself to the island. I’ve weaved together tall grass to build fishing nets, I’ve lifted rocks along the shore for crabs and snails. I’ve created a small shelter with palm leaves and bamboo, and after two weeks of trying, I made fire with the glass from my watch and the reflection of the sun. Now, I would check the traps for fish.
I’d planned to leave until I found Hannah, but now… in her state. I’m not sure we’d make the trip. We’d have to wait it out, let her regain strength. Her texts had been incessant the day she left, and I wanted to answer, but I didn’t want to confuse her. I didn’t want to make her worry more.
Bending down, I lifted a few lines of fishing wire that had washed up, then checked the traps — four decent-sized fish. I had no idea how to identify fish and had no clue what was edible and what wasn’t, so I’d taken to trying small bites, then waiting to see if I got sick. So far, the gray and black ones seemed to be fine.
I lifted the basket from the water and carried it back to Hannah. This would be enough for tonight. “It’s not pizza in Italy, but it’s fresh!”
A smile widened on her face. She was coming around.
“That’s my Bella, that beautiful smile I missed so much.” Using a stick sharpened by stones, I pierced the fish and pushed it into the fire. “It will be ready soon my love, and you will get your strength back.”
Hannah wouldn’t eat much, though I begged her. We couldn’t leave food in the shelter for fear of animals. Not that I’d seen any or could imagine any living here more dangerous than a bird. But I was playing it safe, finishing up Hannah’s meal, then tossing the bones back into the ocean.
“You’ll eat tomorrow. Today has been busy for you, Bella.”
Since the rains came heavy in the evening, water was easy to come by. I’d managed to find enough junk on the shore to store enough for days. I grabbed a few extra bottles, then retreated to our hut for the evening, holding Hannah in my arms as we picked away sandflies. I’d been sick the last seven weeks knowing Hannah thought I didn’t want her, and spent countless hours wondering if she’d moved on with someone new. It was almost too much to bear. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t want her here to starve with me, punctured with the weakness I felt. I didn’t want her to struggle, but having her in my arms again was incredible. I just hoped she was feeling the same.
Chapter Nineteen
Hannah
I’d been repeating the chant on replay since I’d left the trail. “I am in control of my own body. I am not a slave to my emotions. I can control my cravings.” I said this, as I slid on the tightest, most revealing dress I owned and twisted my hair to the side, spraying on a light perfume before leaving the room to answer the door.
He showed up with a bouquet of sunflowers tied with a cornflower blue ribbon. His blonde hair slightly blown from the wind that had picked up. His biceps, dancing beneath the flannel shirt he’d hiked in—the scent of pine still rough on his skin. I wasn’t proud of what happened next, though I’d decided in the brief moments between his knock and my opening the door that this would never work if I weren’t honest about who I was. So, I decided to be unapologetically me.
Narrowing my eyes, I pulled him in from the wind by his tight white shirt, closing the door behind us with my foot. Kevin’s eyes had locked with mine, his hands now wrapped around my waist, the sunflowers fallen to the floor, his lips anchoring towards mine.
He reached down, cupping the sides of my face. “We don’t have to do this; we can go slow. I’m not here for sex.” The words melted out of his mouth as I continued to bite at his lips, rubbing at the bulge in his jeans as I slid my way down to my knees.
“Stop me if you don’t want it,” I said, unzipping his pants, letting them fall to the ground with his boxers, his rock-hard sword now buoyant in the air. I looked up at him as I licked his balls, sliding my tongue up the shaft of his long cock, and onto the thick head. He shuddered, rolling back his eyes, letting out a sound that told the story of how long he
’d gone untouched.
His head leaned against the wall, his mouth slightly agape as burrowed a suction, gagging on his length. A pulsation began, building with intensity, causing my skin to crawl with anxiety. I pulled away and lifted my dress, hauling down the lacy pink thong I’d hidden underneath.
Bending onto the antique trunk in front of the couch, I exposed my red, swollen, pussy for his taking. He hesitated, walking towards me so slowly I had to turn to make sure he was coming.
When he finally arrived, he sat on the trunk next to my eager body. “Can I take you to the bedroom?”
I nodded in agreement, but really, I just wanted him to bend me right then.
Taking me by hand, he led me to the master suite where he lifted the tight dress off my body and unclasped my bra, following each breast as it fell slightly with gravity. Running his fingers through my hair, he began kissing me softly—concentrating warm heat on my collarbone, as he danced up to the lobe of my ear. “You are so beautiful; I am so lucky to be here with you right now.” He was soft, sweet, and kind. But I’d wanted to be fucked—I’d wanted to be taken. A stray tear fell from the corner of my eye, catching on Kevin’s thumb as he held my face. I was mortified.
“Hannah, what’s wrong? Let me hold you.” He spoke the words kindly as he sat me on the bed, curling me into his chest with his strong arms.
Tears continued to fall, though I quickly wiped them away. “No, it’s okay. I’m fine. I want to feel you. I really need to feel you.” I did, I needed him to touch me. I needed him to scrub me clean—brush away the last of Matteo’s scent on my body.
Kevin leaned back into the headboard, pulling me in with him. “Let’s just be here together. Let’s just be.” He continued to tickle my back as I laid on his firm chest, rising and falling as he took in air.
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