9. Usher
Usher
Victoria
Josh’s unexpected passing took a bigger toll on me than I initially thought. I was oddly protective of him, maybe because I thought he was a little touched in the head. Knowing his ass went to Heaven because it wouldn’t be right to send him to Hell kept me from sobbing.
The champagne has been doing its job, too.
“I have a confession to make.”
Knox and I had been going back and forth like Usher for the past hour with our confessions—things we never told a soul.
The confessions were nothing too heinous.
They ranged from stealing candy from the convenience store as a child to receiving helpful stock market tips from a business colleague just days before a particular stock crashed.
They did Martha dirty. That’s all I have to say about that.
“Go ahead, Knox,” I slurred, taking another swig from the nearly empty bottle.
“S-sometimes…I buy you jewelry.”
My head swiveled on my neck in his direction.
What did this man just tell me?
“Um…you’re gonna have to run that by me one more time.”
“I’m at the store buying myself a new watch, and then I’ll happen to see the matching Hers watch, and I buy it thinking about how it would look on your wrist.”
This man is insane in the membrane! But I’m kind of living for it. It might be the alcohol talking, but I’ve never had anyone obsessed with me like this, and I don’t think I mind.
“W-what did you do with the watch?”
“It’s in my safe, along with all the other pieces.”
“All the other pieces? How much jewelry did you buy me?”
“You’d think I was crazy if I told you.”
“I got the hint you were crazy when you told the airline I died, so you might as well fess up.”
He sighed and threw back another shot—no grimace.
He’s hammered.
“The first purchase was a pair of diamond hoop earrings. I overheard you speaking to one of your friends on the phone. You mentioned, ‘the bigger the hoops, the bigger the hoe.’ I saw a pair of hoops while shopping and couldn’t resist. From there, I spiraled.”
“How much money have you spent?”
“In jewelry?” he asked.
There’s more?
“Well—” He paused to hiccup. “I saw some dresses that I thought would complement your figure… and some heels that would show off your pedicures you love to get… and—”
Please tell me this man bought me a penthouse. Please tell me this man bought me a penthouse.
“—and some… some lingerie?”
Never mind. This man is weird.
I stared at the ebbing waves, unable to meet Knox’s pleading gaze. I felt like shit for judging him because we were supposed to be in our vulnerable space. “How much have you spent?”
“Well over a million,” he confessed. I sucked in a breath before letting it out slowly. “Say something…please.”
I could hear the fear of rejection in his voice loud and clear.
“I find all of this odd considering how we’re always at each other’s necks. Why do you always go out of your way to make me angry?”
“Because your anger lights a fire inside of me. My blood courses through my body, my heart thumps in my chest, and sometimes I feel like I’m on the verge of passing out.”
I see Knox is going to Heaven, too, along with Josh and all the dogs.
“You’re giving yourself high blood pressure arguing with me all day,” I spat.
He shook his head in drunken defiance. “You’re like an adrenaline rush.”
“You’re a masochist, Knox.”
“My therapist said that,” he mumbled.
“Hmph.”
At least he’s seeing a therapist.
“I fired her.”
Correction: at least he saw a therapist.
“You should think about rehiring her.”
“Do you have any feelings for me, Victoria? Any at all?”
I glanced away and stared at the four hermit crabs that were in a standoff in their makeshift prison cell.
“I don’t appreciate being angry and stressed, Knox.
It may have been fun and exciting for you, but there were some nights I lay awake wondering why the hell my boss hated me.
Sometimes, it was difficult for me to get out of bed in the morning, but I kept at it because I had to pay for my mother’s nursing home rent. ”
“Your mother’s… in a nursing home?” he asked slowly.
I nodded. “She’s in a memory care unit—the one you have to pay the big bucks for.”
“H-how old is she?”
“Fifty-three.”
“My God. Is it genetic? You do tend to be a little forgetful sometimes. We should get you screened.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure we can find an MRI and a CT machine somewhere out here.”
“You know what I meant,” he whispered, pushing his dark hair away from his face. The salt had made the strands a little stiff, and his fingers didn’t glide through them like usual, resulting in him jerking at the tangled strands at the end.
Again…thank God for vacation braids.
“It’s not genetic. A reaction to anesthesia caused the dementia. It later developed into Alzheimer’s. She’s why I get up every morning and put a smile on my face for you despite everything. I hate when we fight—it’s distressing to me.”
The silence grew between us as I stared into the bonfire we made.
“I-I’m sorry, Victoria. I didn’t mean to cause you so much pain. I thought you enjoyed going back and forth with me just as much. It felt like twisted foreplay to me.”
“Twisted is right,” I answered softly.
“And your mother… your poor mother. I’m so sorry. How will you pay—”
“It’s fine. The money you bribed me with will cover her expenses for nearly a year. Maybe we’ll be found by then.”
“We will be,” he remarked with drunken optimism.
Maybe…
I gulped down the last of the warmed champagne and tossed the bottle behind me. It landed with a loud thud in the sand.
“I have a confession to make.”
“Go ahead, Victoria.”
“I, too, ate fried chicken the night after we had pizza.”
He narrowed his eyes at me as if I were a monster. As if he didn’t just confess that he’d gone on a million-dollar shopping spree for me. “I can’t believe you,” he hissed.
I laughed as Knox spent the next five minutes bitching about how guilty I made him feel about the fried chicken comment as we prepared for bed.
We hadn’t gotten around to building a shelter and would sleep in the raft for the time being.
I settled on one side, and he settled on the other.
It was a tight squeeze, and our forced proximity was unavoidable.
Not that I minded, considering a light breeze had settled in, and the blankets we retrieved from the wreckage were still damp.
It was the forced proximity that made me trail my fingers down his chest through the wispy black and silver hairs.
He cleared his throat.
“Victoria? What are you doing?”
“I believe it was you who mentioned fooling around,” I answered, trailing my fingers further. “I agreed, and I always keep my promises,” I whispered, squeezing his impressive bulge. My lips cut off Knox’s soft moan.
Knox
It had all been a dream. The airport, crash, beach, Josh Jayden McClure—all of it.
It was the only explanation for why Victoria Caldwell’s lips were on mine.
She moved them veraciously as if we were longtime lovers, and she knew exactly what I wanted and needed.
She knew that I enjoyed being teased with soft nibbling.
My bottom lip was trapped between her teeth, and I didn’t want her to let go for fear the dream would be over too soon.
Her lips were enough to send every drop of blood in my body south, and when her tongue slid across mine, giving me a taste of the dry sweetness of the Brut, my balls tightened in preparation to come as if I were a trigger-happy teenager again.
Not yet.
She reached into the waistband of my boxers.
“Is this okay?” she whispered against my lips.
In my dreamlike state, I managed a consenting nod and groaned deeply seconds later when her hand wrapped around me. My dick pulsed and twitched excitedly in her hold—simultaneously appreciating her touch and wanting more—wanting to be buried inside of her.
My brain short-circuited at the first long and languid upward stroke and completely melted by the downstroke.
Dream or not, it’d been nearly a year since I’d been with a woman.
All thoughts of being with another woman went out of the window when Victoria entered the picture.
As soon as we met, she consumed me, and I knew just any woman wouldn’t do.
I was convinced that no woman could satiate me like her.
I rolled my hips at the same sluggish pace as her tongue and smoothed a hand down her side to her ass.
I squeezed her firmly and dug my fingers into the soft, malleable flesh.
I’d spent countless working hours stealing glances at Victoria’s ass every time she walked past in one of her pencil skirts. It always looked so damn appetizing.
I broke our kiss, hitched her leg over my hip, and buried my face in the crook of her neck. Her skin smelled of sea salt and the faintest hint of her vanilla perfume that I couldn’t get enough of. I licked a long stripe across her neck before gently sucking at the base of her throat.
“Oh…fuck, Knox.”
The waves in the background were resounding and threatened to drown out her tender moans, but my name on her lips pierced through, muffling the background noise.
I need to be closer….
I rolled her onto her back in a swift motion and wedged myself between her parted thighs.
She embraced me, circling her arms around my neck and her thick thighs around my lower back.
I rocked against her once, pulling another moan from her, and paused to unbutton my dress shirt that she’d commandeered for herself.
A kiss trailed every loosened button until I reached her navel.
I dipped my tongue in her belly button to tease her a little before sucking her piercing into my mouth—imagining it was her clit.
I traveled back up her generous body and peeled away the shirt, exposing her ample breasts.
I latched onto her dark nipples as my dick hung heavy between us.
I grabbed myself and nearly winced from the sensitivity and tugged her nipple between my teeth for a quick nip before laving it with my tongue.
“That feels so fucking good,” she murmured, sinking her fingers into my hair. Her nails scratched against my scalp, sending a chill down my spine.
“Of course it does,” I replied with a playful taunt.
She responded with a roll of her eyes before kissing me.
I abandoned myself and slipped a hand between us.
My fingers met the warm wetness that soaked through her panties.
I brushed against her clit and marveled at how her thighs clamped around me from the slight contact.
“May I?”
She nodded frantically, peering at me with the most seductive eyes ever.
With a crooked finger, I tugged her panties aside, exposing her glistening folds.
Like the lustful man I was, I couldn’t prevent my tongue from moistening my lips in anticipation of finally getting a taste of Victoria Caldwell.
I always imagined we’d be in my office when I’d indulge in my first taste of her.
In my fantasy, she was bare-bottomed in my executive chair, spread wide with her legs crooked over the armrests.
I’d be on my knees in front of her, servicing her while emails and phone calls went ignored.
“Actually,” she said, pressing her hand against my forehead, preventing me from face-planting in her pussy. “Let’s not.”
“Why not?” I queried.
“I’m big on hygiene, and I feel disgusting.”
“You don’t look disgusting, and you certainly don’t smell disgusting.”
“Knox Neveah Ramsey—”
“You know god damn well that’s not my middle name,” I seethed.
“—I haven’t had a proper shower in 24 hours.”
“We bathed at the waterfall,” I reminded her.
“That’s a typical response from someone who thinks swimming in a chlorinated pool is the same as taking a bath.”
“It’s not?” Victoria kissed her teeth loudly as I chuckled. “I’m kidding. I’d have you know that I use washcloths, too,” I boasted, climbing back up to be face-to-face with her.
She smiled tiredly. “I’m impressed.”
“As you should be,” I said, returning King Dong to my boxers.
Victoria’s words, not mine.
“Honestly, we should rest. It’s been a long, eventful day,” I suggested, buttoning up her shirt.
“It has,” she mumbled, slapping at a mosquito on her arm. “I know what I’m doing tomorrow.”
“What’s that?” I asked, settling beside her.
“Looking for something in the jungle that’ll be a natural mosquito repellent.”
“That’ll be lovely,” I replied, yawning and wrapping an arm around her.
Moments later, I realized that Victoria had fallen asleep when I didn’t receive a response.
We had our first day stranded on a remote island in the books.
Unfortunately, we lost a soul, but I prayed we’d continue to thrive until rescue came for us.