Chapter 21 Villain
Villain
We take the long way to Ari’s ocean today. She’s still jumpy about that damn snake. But I don’t mind. I’ll walk miles around this whole damn island if it keeps her calm.
Once we break through the trees, she goes straight to the HELP sign. It still looks decent after we fixed it yesterday, but she squats down anyway, tidying up the letters, making sure they’re crispy like it’s her job and the rent is due. I head the other way to see if I can’t find us some crabs.
My search only yields a tiny one hiding under a large grey rock. I let it scurry away, thinking I’ll come back tomorrow and watch for patterns in the tide. That way, I’ll know exactly when to hunt for them.
If we’re still here tomorrow.
Ari calls to me as I’m approaching her. “I think we should add a big arrow,” she says. “That way if anybody flies over, they know to look past the tree line.”
“That’s a good idea.”
She smiles and inclines her head for me to follow. Together, we gather more seaweed, dragging it across the sand until we’ve shaped it into an arrow that points back into the forest.
We make a good team together.
When we’re done, I point to the ocean. “Hair time.”
I don’t know why I’m so geeked about this shit.
She lays everything out on the sand—body wash, conditioner, a comb, a hair circle thing, and a little flip-up mirror. The setup makes me laugh. “What you want me to do with all this?”
“All you have to do is wash it,” she says. “I’m gonna do the rest.”
I watch as she pulls her t-shirt over her head.
My eyes snag on the white bra underneath before I force myself to look away.
I sit sideways in the cold surf, waiting for her to come over and get situated.
Like yesterday, she lays across my lap, but face-up this time with her hair draped over my thigh.
I inch further and further into the water until it covers most of her hair.
I cup her ocean in my hands and pour it gently over her scalp while she stares at the big blue sky, flicking her eyes to mine every now and then. Those small looks make me feel lighter than I should. I’m lowkey giddy.
“My hair’s gonna be so fried after this,” she mutters.
“Why you say that?”
“Salt water. It’s not a friend to anybody’s hair, especially ours.”
“So after it’s washed, what then?”
She sighs. “Probably braids.”
I pour more water gently over her scalp. “You should loc it.”
She laughs. “We won’t be here long enough for that.”
I’m glad she said that. She sounds more sure every time.
“I know one thing,” I say. “I need a fuckin’ lineup.”
“Facts,” she smirks. “And a shave.” She reaches up, her fingers wiggling playfully through my bushy beard.
“Aye. Don’t do that,” I say as I twist my face out of her reach.
“What?”
“You just ran your fingers through my beard.”
“So?” Then the surf recedes, her eyes shift left, and she sees what’s happening inside my trunks. “Oh.”
The silence is awkward as hell.
She just discovered my kryptonite.
After a few minutes, she clears her throat and breezes past it. “I wish there was a way to wash my scalp without getting my hair wet.”
There ain’t, so I don’t respond. I lather the body wash between my palms and work it onto her scalp.
No suds form, but she looks like she likes how it feels.
Her eyes close slowly. Soft moans hum in her throat.
The sound tickles my brain and hardens my dick, but I push through, careful and slow, trying not to think about how much I want her to make that sound while I’m inside her.
I use my nails on the third lather, gently scrubbing her scalp until it feels clean. A few rinses later, I tell her, “I think you’re good.”
She sits up and thanks me as water drips down her back.
“Not a problem.” Without thinking, I stare at her body, her wet skin, her big, luscious hair, and say, “You so damn beautiful.”
When she turns to face me, my eyes can’t help but drop a few inches to her bra, which is basically see-through now that it’s wet. Dark nipples strain against the white fabric, and I shift in the water, hard again.
Her gaze drops. Her eyes catch what I’m trying to hide, and her lips part slightly.
“Sorry,” I blurt. “It’s…your…” I trail off gesturing toward her chest.
She covers her breasts with her hands, but only for a few seconds before she decides otherwise—and lets her hands drop.
It feels like her eyes are daring me to make a move, while my pulse kicks up until I’m so hard, I can’t even think straight.
I can’t tell where her head is at. Shit is a mystery.
A sexy mystery that makes me wanna fuck.
“I’m not trying to be disrespectful,” I mutter as her eyes rake over my body. “I just don’t know how to turn it off.”
She smiles. “I don’t feel disrespected.”
I stand, watching her eyes as she watches the water cascade down my body past the tent my dick is making in my trunks. That cold ass water didn’t stop nothin’.
“How do you feel?”
She stands and takes a step toward me. “Do you want the positive version or the realistic one?”
I grin. “Both.”
She’s opening her mouth to speak when a bird squawks loudly over our heads. That little bitch came outta nowhere. Ari jumps, hand over her heart, then laughs as she watches it fly away.
I clear my throat. “I got work to do. I’ma be…down there.”
I leave her there, because I ain’t tryin’ to get my hopes up again.
I walk, grabbing my bag along the way. When I get to a spot far enough away from her that my dick can calm down, I pull out shoelaces, a safety pin, and some string, all items I scavenged from the suitcases.
It’s a long shot, but maybe it’ll work. I rig it up, bait it with a golden raisin, and lower it into the water.
Minutes drag. Fishing always been boring as fuck to me, but it’s cool right now. Ain’t shit else to do.
I feel a tug.
I yank hard, pulling in a small fish.
“Oh, shit!” I grab the shoelace and hold up my prize. “Ari! I got one!”
She runs toward me, braids swinging. Looks like she put her hair in pigtails, but as she gets closer, I see it’s two French braids. That makes me smile. “Damn, you look cute.”
“Thanks.” She claps her hands together, smiling at the fish. “I can’t believe it was that easy! High five.”
I give her one.
“You know what?” she says, “this deserves a kiss.”
Before I can think, she leans up and presses her lips to mine.
I drop that fish so damn fast, wrapping my arms around her and yanking her to me.
I press her body against mine, trippin’ off how soft and warm she feels.
My lips go straight to her neck, tasting salt, licking and sucking and biting at her skin.
My hands go to her ass, gripping two soft, thick cheeks that fit perfectly in my hands.
I shouldn’t have done that.
Now I’m hungry for more. Way fuckin’ more.
She wraps her arms around my neck, bringing her face closer to peck my lips again. Then, again. Over and over, each one slower and softer than the last. She finally pulls back, eyes blazing, but I ain’t done.
“Nah, come here,” I murmur, brushing my lips against hers. “I want your tongue this time.”
She shakes her head. “I don’t like tongue kissing.”
“Cuz you ain’t tongue kissed me yet.”
“No,” she whines. “I’m obsessed with hygiene, remember?”
“Yeah, and you seen how serious I am about mine.”
She’s thinking about it, I can tell, but then she drops her hands and takes a step backwards.
“We shouldn’t…we both have people waiting for us back home.”
For a half a second, a picture flashes in my mind of me running over to that HELP sign and kicking the shit out of it until it’s just a big brown pile of seaweed that won’t get us saved, because how I’m feeling right now, I don’t wanna get saved.
I wanna lay her on this fucking sand and go in.
I want her pussy on my tongue. I want it around my dick.
I got a snake for her ass, a big one. I want her to sit on that muhfucka and ride it ‘til we both tap out. I don’t give a fuck about no back home.
Ain’t no back home. It’s just us. Right here.
But that’s impossible, I know, cuz she ain’t on the same time I’m on. And if she is, she’s better at controlling it. So I just nod and pretend her words didn’t sting me.
“It’s cool,” I say. “I respect it.”
She blows out a sigh. “Thank you.”
“Yeah. For now.”