Chapter 19
19
E zra
As we walk back to the shelter, I keep thinking about her words. And how her body trembled in my arms. Even though she was right atop my dick, it didn’t feel sexual. Even though I have to admit it felt very good.
What I did feel is her breaking apart. It broke me too. I don’t know how to comfort anyone, let alone a woman. Yet it felt natural to wrap my arms around her and just hold her while she let it all out. I held her until her body stopped shaking and her breathing became normal again.
I wanted to hold her longer, but she pushed away. Gently, yes, but it was a sign to let go. At least one of us has a working head on their shoulders.
Somehow, in this span of a few days, she’s shifted from being the menace of my existence to someone connected to me for the time being. No matter how long or short it might be. And I must take care of her until then .
“How do you know about chickens?” She walks ahead of me, so she has to keep glancing back at me when she talks.
It’s nice to see someone paying attention to me when they talk and not being stuck in their own business. Is that how people around me usually feel? I’ve been focused on my work for so long, my phone has become an extension of myself, so my attention to anyone is never one hundred percent.
“We spent summers with my grandma on a farm in Arkansas,” I say, feeling a sudden ball of warmth in my chest. Those were the times when my brother and I were seen . When our father noticed that we were like any other normal kids every time we came back to New York, he quickly stopped our visits, saying that we were becoming too soft for what he had in mind for us.
“Really?” She squints like she’s searching for something on my face. “I didn’t take you for a country guy.”
“I’m not,” I snort.
She throws me a funny look. “I beg to differ. You seemed very knowledgeable when you dove right under those birdies.” She demonstrates how I picked up the eggs, looking way more dramatic than I was. “And you knew they had more eggs there and all that. I mean, wow. You’re Superman in my eyes.”
“Have I been upgraded from Tarzan to Superman?” I smile back. Am I… flirting? What the fuck? A week ago, I wanted to strangle her, and now I’m turning into some mushy shit ready to talk nonsense just to see her smile. Who the hell are you, Ezra King?
“Is it Friday today?” She suddenly pauses mid step. “Or is it Sunday? We should celebrate it.”
“Celebrate Friday?” I ask with a raised brow.
“Yes,” she replies in a duh tone. “Or Sunday.”
I want to ask her to elaborate on the celebration of a day of the week, but she’s already moved on .
“If we don’t get rescued by then, of course.” She snorts at herself like the idea of staying here for an extra two days sounds too absurd.
“We might,” I suggest hopefully.
“Or we might not.” Her enthusiasm is quickly dying. “You know, the last time I checked, I think forty-six out of one hundred and twenty or so islands in French Polynesia are uninhabited.” She glances at me, waiting for an answer. When I shake my head, she continues. “And we landed ourselves on one of those.” The way she says it doesn’t sound very sad.
“Are you that type of person with a half-full glass?” I can’t help but ask. Because since the moment we met, she’s been one big bubble of joy. A very annoying one sometimes.
“And you,” she taps her finger on her chin, “let me guess, no water in the glass at all?”
“I’m a realist,” I repeat, in case she’s forgotten.
“Okay, realist ,” she says mockingly. “Tell me your ideas.”
“I don’t have any,” I deadpan. “Just stay alive until rescue arrives, that’s it.”
“Sounds good to me. We need food. And water. We already have shelter, but we might need to reinforce it. Well,” she giggles, “ you might need to reinforce since I’m pretty much useless in this department.”
“You seem very knowledgeable in other ways.” I’m not even trying to stroke her ego as I say it. I’ve never been to these islands and know nothing about them. “Is there anything poisonous here?”
“No-o-o,” she says a bit defensively, like I’ve personally offended her. “These islands are a true paradise. Nothing is poisonous. Nothing is big enough to eat us either. No big sharks, only little reef guys and sting rays. Totally harmless. They’re like cute pets. Wanna pet them?” Her eyes light up. “We can. ”
I wince, not agreeing with any type of shark being cute, but she continues, not noticing my face.
“I’m sure there’s a lot of other stuff we can eat. I’ve seen chickens on the big islands but didn’t know they live here too. I have no idea how they even got here.” She points toward the ocean. “We can fish and make sashimi.” Turning to me, she smiles sheepishly. “If you know how to fish, because I don’t.”
I nod with a smile, and she lets out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness I’m stuck here with you.”
My smile grows wider because I’m slowly starting to feel the same about being here with her as a companion. The world must be ending if this is happening.
“We,” she clears her throat, and it sounds awfully like she just laughed, “ you need to reinforce the bungalow. If the rain gets stronger, the water might get through. We got lucky that the sun came out because when the real wet season hits, the humidity will be insane.”
“Yes, ma’am.” My cheeks are starting to hurt from smiling—I haven’t used these muscles for a long time. My brother wouldn’t recognize me if he saw me right now.
“That’s what I can think of.” She shrugs. “They’ll find us eventually. It might take some time, as I said. But they will. There’re a lot of islands, and some of them are spread far apart. And I definitely will be late to get where I needed to be!”
One might think being late somewhere is not a good thing, but she sounds very happy at the prospect. And I suddenly become curious what sort of an event makes her want to miss it.
Am I imagining it, or is she really happy about that? I sure as fuck am. I’m treating this stranded situation as a vacation. My brother should be able to hold the front for now.
“We can celebrate Friday. Or Sunday.” Then I add hurriedly, trying not to sound that enthusiastic, “I mean, if you want.”
Her face brightens with the most beautiful smile. “I’d love that very much.”
“Deal then.” I point toward the bungalow as she called it. “Shall we?”
Maeve bends down to remove a blade of grass from between her toes. Her tits nearly fall out of her bra which covers pretty much nothing. I’m suddenly painfully aware that I don’t have a blazer to cover me. Just like I didn’t have it back in the shelter when I woke up with her body so close to me. I didn’t even have pants, for fuck’s sake. All I had was my boxers, and it’s not enough to contain what I have in there. I’m six-foot-three, and my dick follows the proportions to a T. Not that I’ve ever complained about that—or anyone else for that matter—but now it feels very uncomfortable.