Chapter 10
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N OAH KICKED THROUGH the water, relief coursing through him. Ten more minutes, and they’d be on the island. He’d have Bailey on dry land.
It was harder swimming with her holding onto the back of his waist, but he wasn’t about to risk losing her in the middle of the Atlantic. Even with her life vest on, he didn’t want them separated. They’d come too far for her to be swept away now.
He gripped his backpack more tightly in his other hand.
His muscles burned from pushing harder for the last stretch.
He didn’t want to worry Bailey, but he had a feeling they were a couple of miles from where the boat had been.
They hadn’t seen this island when they’d left on their fishing trip this morning.
And there were lots of small islands scattered throughout the area.
Logically, the Coast Guard would start searching near where they’d gone overboard.
“We’re almost there, sunshine,” he said, glancing back at Bailey.
She nodded, her green eyes looking frightened.
Her hair was soaked, and she looked so fragile behind him that his chest clenched.
She was holding up amazingly well for not being used to situations like this.
Noah was used to spending hours in the water for training and missions.
It was what he’d been trained to do. It was his job.
But Bailey?
She didn’t have the skill set that he did. Didn’t have practice enduring stressful situations out in the ocean. But he’d do whatever was necessary to ensure her safety. He hoped like hell the helicopters would search this way today, but if not?
They’d spend the night on the island.
They’d set up a shelter somewhere, and he’d hold her close. Keep her safe.
“I’m cold,” she said.
“I know. Just keep kicking your legs and hanging on to me. You’re doing an awesome job, and we’re almost there. You’ve hung on this long. We’ll be drying off on the sand soon and can have something to eat and drink.”
“I can do it,” she assured him. “Just a little farther.”
“That’s my girl,” he said, flashing her a grin.
His girl. She wasn’t his in any sense of the word. But watching her fall off the boat had sent his protective instincts soaring. He’d have rescued anyone, of course, but his blood had run cold at the fact that it’d been her.
“Oh my God, we’re getting so close!” she said a few minutes later. They were close enough to see the waves breaking on shore. “Do you think anyone’s on the island?”
“Hard to say,” he admitted. “It’s not inhabited by anyone, that’s for sure. But someone could’ve taken a fishing trip and stopped here or just gone exploring.”
“Maybe someone will come by on a boat!” she said excitedly.
“Hopefully so. The tide will start to bring us in from here. We just have to be careful of the undertow.”
She shuddered beside him, brushing her wet hair back. “The last thing I want is to be swept back out to sea.”
“Let’s do this,” he said.
A few minutes later, they were crawling onto the shore. Bailey collapsed in the sand, her wet clothes clinging to her like a second skin. She rolled over onto her back, sand covering her body. Noah briefly laid beside her, gripping his backpack as his gaze swept over her for any injuries.
His muscles burned from the exertion, but he could’ve kept going if needed. “Let’s get further up on the beach,” he said. “It looks like high tide right now, and we don’t want our supplies being swept back out to sea.”
Okay,” she agreed. Bailey stood up, stumbling, and Noah hauled her against him. She was wet and cold, but the sun would remedy both of those things now that they’d reached the island. His arm wrapped around her waist, and she leaned against him, exhausted.
“I’ve got you, sunshine. Let’s go up there, and you can rest.”
She took a timid step forward, and then they were closer to the tree line.
“Hello!” Noah shouted, his gaze scanning the empty beach. “Is anyone here? We fell overboard!”
He paused for a moment, listening. A few seagulls swooped through the air, the waves crashed on the shore, but there were no signs of any people.
Picking their way amongst the shells on the sand, Noah gestured to a spot ahead for them to rest.
“Let’s dry out our clothes,” he said. “The temperature will drop later on.”
He dropped his backpack to the ground, rooting around. “Is everything dry?” Bailey asked, shivering as she tugged off her hoodie. Her nipples pebbled against her hot pink bikini top, and then she was tugging down her denim shorts, standing there wearing only that skimpy string bikini.
She squeezed the water out of her hair and then wrung out her hoodie.
“I’ve got a spare sweatshirt or something,” he said. You can put it on.
She nodded, reaching out to him with shaking hands. He handed her the sweatshirt he’d pulled from his backpack. “Turn around, sunshine,” he said, nodding at her wet top. “I won’t look.”
She turned away from him, reaching back to untie the strings of her bikini top. It took everything in him not to walk over and help. Despite all they’d been through, he was still attracted as hell to her. Not that this was the appropriate time to be lusting after her.
Her fingers trembled, working at the tie at the back of her neck. A moment later, she tossed her top to the ground, and as she tugged his sweatshirt over her head, he caught a brief glimpse of the side of her breast.
His groin tightened, and he cleared his throat, rummaging around his bag. Trying to look anywhere but at her.
Pulling his own wet shirt over his head, he laid it out to dry in the sand, weighing it down with some drift wood.
Bailey brought her own clothes over, wringing out her bikini top so that it would dry faster. Warmth flooded through him as he glanced up at her in his Navy sweatshirt. It was massive on her, hanging down to mid-thigh, but she looked cuter than hell. Happier, too, now that she was warm.
“Sit down,” he said, patting the sand beside him. “Let’s eat something, and then I’ll see if I can light a signal fire. The driftwood on the beach is soaked from the storm. Hopefully we can find some dry wood or something to use in the wooded area.”
“Do you think someone will be able to see it?”
“That’s the hope. If we can build the fire high enough, they should. We’ll have to light it out on the beach though so we don’t catch the trees on fire.”
“Well they’d definitely see that,” she said wryly.
“Yeah, but we’re stuck here. We don’t want to burn things we could potentially use.” He grabbed two bottles of water from his backpack, handing one to her. Bailey’s hands shook as she tried to twist the cap off, and Noah opened it for her.
She took a few gulps, and he held a hand up, indicating for her to slow down. “Easy, sunshine. Just go slow.”
“I feel kind of sick,” she admitted.
“We were out in the sun for a long time. You shouldn’t drink the water too quickly. Just eat a little bit to settle your stomach. Besides, you need to keep up your strength.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
He took a long pull from his own water bottle before replacing the cap and setting it down beside him.
“I’ve got two more water bottles, and an empty canteen.
Hopefully we can find some water—a pond.
A waterfall. I’ve got enough purification tablets to last a week—not that I expect to be out here that long. ”
She nodded, swallowing. He searched her face. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“Just tired,” she said, stifling a yawn. Her hair was beginning to dry in the warm sun, and she looked completely exhausted.
“All right,” he said, rummaging through his backpack. “I’ve got protein bars and two MREs.”
“Just two?” she asked. “That won’t last very long.”
“Hell, we can fish if we have to, sunshine. Maybe look for some fruit trees. I’m hoping to get the hell out of dodge today though.” He glanced down. “Your choice—spaghetti with meat sauce or cheese tortellini. Let’s start with these, and then have the protein bars later.”
“Cheese tortellini, I guess,” she said.
“Excellent choice,” he quipped, passing it over to her. She opened the package, wrinkling her nose. “Ever had an MRE before?”
“Nope. Why would I?” she asked in surprise.
He chuckled. “Don’t suppose you would.” He pulled a KA-BAR knife from his backpack, neatly slicing open the top of her plastic pouch.
“Wow, that thing looks deadly,” she said.
“It is. We carry them on missions,” he said. “Plus I bring it with me on hiking trips.”
“Or fishing weekends.”
“Hey, it’s coming in handy already.” He watched as she pulled out small packets from the MRE bag, opening a small pack of crackers. “You can start with that, but you need to eat more later.”
“I will,” she said, nibbling delicately on one cracker.
Noah dug into his spaghetti, not even bothering to heat the meal. He was starving. And Bailey might be feeling slightly seasick from being out in the ocean all that time, but he was used to the choppy waters.
“Remember the swim in Coronado I told you about?”
“The five miles?” she asked, taking another small bite of cracker. Her face looked slightly red, either sunburn or irritation from the wind and storm earlier.
“Five and half miles. And yeah, that’s the one. We were so hungry after swimming for hours, they had MREs waiting for us on the beach when we were through. Never tasted anything so damn delicious in my life.”
“I can’t imagine swimming for that long,” she said, shuddering.
“It’s what we’re training to do. I couldn’t ever sit at a desk job from nine to five every day. Something like that would just about kill me.”
“Me too,” she agreed, stifling another yawn. “That’s why I bartend. The tips are good, the people I meet are interesting, and I can set my own hours to some extent. I’m a night owl, so getting to work early every morning just wouldn’t do it for me.”
“You’d never make it in the Navy then,” he said, smirking.
She glanced over at him, her green eyes looking amused. “I admire the hell out of what you guys do, but no, that definitely wouldn’t be the career for me.”
“Why don’t you rest, sunshine. I’ll look around and try to make a fire. Even if the driftwood is too wet, I should be able to find something. You can use my backpack as a pillow. Are you still cold?” he asked.
“No, I’m okay.”
“Lie down and close your eyes, sunshine. I’ll be right here on the beach.”
“Maybe just for a few minutes.”
He rooted around in his backpack, pulling out an emergency blanket. It was made of mylar foil and would reflect Bailey’s heat back to her, keeping her warm. The fact that it was metallic would help them on the beach. The sun would gleam off the foil, helping them to be spotted from the air.
He scrubbed a hand over his jaw, wondering briefly why there’d been no signs of the Coast Guard yet. He hadn’t seen any helicopters even off in the distance.
“What’s that?” Bailey asked, looking at the blanket in his hand.
“Lie down,” he said, unfolding it and covering her with the blanket.
“Oh man, now I feel plenty warm.”
“You just got chilled out in the water for that long,” he said, brushing her hair back from her face. Her eyebrow ring gleamed in the sunlight, and he trailed his fingers over the tiny studs in her ear. “Rest. I’ll be right here.”
“Thanks for rescuing me, Noah,” she said softly.
He opened his mouth to answer, but she’d already fallen fast asleep.