Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The clouds had yet to part, but the rain had stopped, so they began their trek toward the ranger station, planning to stop at one of the caves on the way for water and rest. It was probably a little past noon on Sunday, not that any of them knew for sure.
Did her parents know she was missing? Jesse? Ella? Surely, A.J. and his coworkers were trying to track them down.
Rory’s stomach contracted when hunger pains struck her, and she banded an arm over her abdomen, hoping it wouldn’t draw Chris’s attention.
The small amount of food that had been on the lifeboat was barely enough for one person to survive on for a day, but both Chris and Roman had forced Harper and Rory to eat the granola bars that morning.
Literally forced. The guys wouldn’t take no for an answer despite protests to share.
Rory had secretly hidden half of her bar in the drawstring bag on Chris’s back and had every intention of forcing him to eat later.
But still, she was famished. All the calorie-burning walking wasn’t helping either.
Thankfully, Roman and Chris had created makeshift shoes for Rory and Harper out of supplies from the emergency boat. The terrain was rocky and full of holes with spiny branches, cacti, and biting insects at every turn. But she wasn’t about to let Chris carry her for miles.
Chris was on Rory’s left, carefully watching over her as they walked. Not that he’d admit it. He was probably worried she’d roll her eyes at his overprotectiveness given how she’d expressed her ability to protect herself with karate skills and four firearms.
But honestly, after he’d saved her from those goons on the boat and kept her from drowning, she was more than happy to have this man keep an eye on her. To steer her away from the potential dangers that lurked on this island.
For the last hour, they’d been traveling along the edge of the plateau, the top part of the island, with a view of the Atlantic and the coral reefs down below. The water was clear as Bombay Sapphire gin and the same azure blue of the bottle it came in.
Now that the sun was out, the rock walls were probably dry. If it became necessary for them to descend rapidly, there’d be less chance of slipping.
The cliffs were maybe twenty feet high. Scalable without a rope. And every so often, sand dotted the base of the cliffs. Not enough space for sunbathing, which meant they probably wouldn’t encounter any guests they could holler out to for help.
The three disposable phones had been totally worthless without a signal, and the batteries had died in two of them anyway. So, their best hope would be the ranger or visitors arriving for an adventure now that the storm was gone.
“We call these ‘tourist trees’ back home in Florida,” Roman spoke up for the first time in a while and set a hand to the bark of a gumbo-limbo tree.
“Because of the red peeling bark that looks like a sunburn?” Harper asked, keeping pace with Roman when he began walking again.
“Yeah.” Roman smiled Harper’s way. Even from Rory’s vantage point as she walked behind them, she noticed Roman’s gaze lingering on Harper.
“What?” Harper asked him, scurrying to keep pace with his rapid steps in her homemade shoes. “I still have raccoon eyes, don’t I?” she asked teasingly. “I thought we cleaned all our makeup off this morning.”
“You look perfect.” Roman smiled at her before returning his focus straight ahead but came to an abrupt stop a moment later. “Guess we’re going to need to change directions and head inland a bit.”
Rory followed his line of sight and spotted a cactus forest. Yeah, she wasn’t eager to come out of there looking like a porcupine.
“At least we’ve made progress.” Chris wiped his brow and scanned the terrain. It had to be at least eighty degrees, and with less than two water bottles left, they’d be needing fresh water by dinner.
So far, they’d only encountered two feral cats, one pig, and a goat that had nipped Harper in the ass and produced a hearty laugh from Roman.
“We’ll need to hunt,” Rory said once they’d chosen a new path and were on their way again.
With what? But she kept that to herself. Maybe they knew how to make weapons out of—sticks? Was that part of SEAL training?
“I’m not shooting an animal with a pistol,” Chris spoke up.
Right. She nearly forgot the guys had grabbed weapons from the yacht before they disembarked, and yeah, she was on board with Chris’s decision. A pistol to an animal made her cringe.
“Maybe we’ll make a spear and fish. That sounds manly,” Chris added as they navigated the ground littered with leaves, dangerously hiding rocks beneath them.
The sounds of wildlife became more prominent upon leaving the perimeter of the island. A few yellow butterflies crossed Rory’s path, followed by a green iguana. She gave the little guy passage before moving forward.
“Chris won’t hunt,” Roman announced, and no surprise there given Chris’s love for animals. How could she forget? “I’ll probably have to do it.”
Chris walked in stride with Rory, and Roman and Harper were now a few feet ahead of them.
“I feel like we’re on an episode of that show Naked and Afraid.
You know, alone on a deserted island, having to find food, water, and shelter.
Craft shoes out of whatever we can find. Just need the naked part and—”
“And you know what Wyatt would say right now if he were here.” Roman stole a look back at Chris.
“You probably jinxed us,” Harper singsonged, not turning back.
“Oh, sure. You think we’ll wind up naked? How would that happen?” Chris went on, and this time Harper did look back and swatted the air as if she were hitting his arm.
“Who knew my words could be so powerful,” Chris joked, catching Rory’s eyes, and she smiled.
“Says the guy who quotes Nietzsche,” Rory joined in on the humor because why not?
“He does what?” Roman blurted out, clearly shocked.
“Not just a pretty boy from Boston,” Chris replied in a smug voice.
But Rory knew Chris was so much more than his movie-star looks now that she’d gotten to know him.
He’d opened up to her, and if only she’d done the same, maybe they wouldn’t be stranded on this island. “Got a few tricks up my sleeve.”
“Never doubted ya, brother.” Roman slowed at the sound of rushing water.
“A waterfall?” Rory spoke her thoughts aloud as they continued to what was indeed a waterfall.
The jump was probably only twenty feet, but at the base of the waterfall was a serene pool of blue water surrounded by greenery. It was tantalizing. And although it was quite warm out, the water would probably be chilly.
“Here’s our chance to be naked without the afraid part.” Chris pointed to the water. “And maybe my words do carry power.”
Rory briefly allowed herself to conjure up images of her and Chris. Alone and swimming in the water. Sharing a kiss. Bodies tangled. Making love by the spray of the waterfall. It was a nice distraction from their reality.
“We don’t have time to turn this day into a vacation.” Harper lifted her chin, motioning to get a move on. As much as Rory would have loved to stall a little before dropping some serious truth bombs on them, Harper was right. They didn’t have time.
Rory turned toward Chris, whose focus went from her face straight to her chest.
She looked down to see her nipples on display again. What was she supposed to do, though? She’d pass out from heat exhaustion if she wore that rain jacket while they continued hiking.
Harper must have felt the same because she’d wrapped hers around her waist. They were in the same nipple-showing boat.
“When I chose what to wear to the gala, I had no idea we’d be gassed, kidnapped, drugged, tossed on a yacht in the middle of the Atlantic where we had to jump ship and make our way to this no-man’s-land of an island.
So, you’ll have to do your best to tuck away your naughty thoughts right now, boys.
They’re just boobs. And I am too hot and sweaty to wear the jacket.
” Harper flicked her wrist in the universal signal for “drop the subject.”
Rory forced a laugh instead of allowing herself to drown in a sea of guilt for the laundry list of insanity Harper had mentioned.
When she peered at Chris, he was focused on her face and staring at her mouth with that intense gleam in his eyes like he needed to steal another kiss.
Then suck her nipple like he’d done Friday night before his mouth had traveled down to her center and stolen her breath by giving her the most intense orgasm of her life, which she assumed would be knocked down to second best once he buried himself inside her.
Chris finally acknowledged Harper’s casual boob comment by rolling his eyes, then started moving again.
Rory kept her focus on the ground, making sure she didn’t step on an iguana or trip over a boa.
The snakes on the island might not be venomous, but she still wasn’t a fan.
The last time she came face-to-face with one, she’d been bitten.
It hadn’t been venomous either, but it had suffered death by way of a machete.
The guys had cooked it for dinner later after her bite had been treated, but she didn’t have the stomach to eat it.
“Hate snakes,” she said under her breath. Even if I’ve saved some before. Eek.
“Finn and I opened a door to a room full of snakes not too long ago. I’m surprised I didn’t have nightmares after that,” Chris said, and his words pushed her heart into her throat.
El Salvador. Santiago. That wretched man was still on the loose, and was he connected to what happened to them?
“What’s something else you can’t stand? I mean, aside from snakes and, um, needles,” Rory asked, trying to distract herself from the pain she felt from her makeshift shoes.
Chris had given her his dress socks, but overall, the padding wasn’t enough to deal with the rough terrain.