Chapter 10 #2
Mac gasped in shock and turned to Burt. “Burt,” she stuttered before looking away. “Bye, Burt,” she said louder than necessary, being more embarrassed by Burt’s words than getting caught kissing Barry.
After all, they were adults and not doing anything wrong, though she had wanted to keep her and Barry private.
“Hi, Burt, I’m Barry,” Barry introduced himself and held his hand out.
“Nictomeya.” Burt shook his hand and tipped his head at Mac. She felt her cheeks turn crimson from embarrassment and stared straight at Barry’s chest.
“Uh…” Barry seemed at a loss for words. Burt got that reaction a lot from people that didn’t know him.
“He said nice to meet you,” Mac interpreted for him.
“Oh, likewise.” He turned to Mac. “Did you want to get a drink and have some dinner, or did you want to go home and shower first?”
It took Mac a moment to figure out he was talking to her. She wanted to be alone with Barry, and a shower was required first to get the smell of shark off of her. But once she went home, she wouldn’t want to go back out. “I desperately need a shower. I smell like shark and sea water.”
Barry leaned closer and sniffed.
“What are you doing?” Mac reared back.
“Trying to figure out what sharks smell like. Smells like fish,” he commented after a moment.
It was pretty close, but still not an attractive smell. “Well, don’t get too close until after I’ve cleaned up.” And run a comb through her hair to get the windblown effect under control. She’d been in such a hurry to leave this morning, she had forgotten her hair tie.
“Shower first.” Barry turned to address Burt. “Burt, would you like to join us for dinner later?”
“No, he would not,” Mac answered for him. Burt would do nothing but embarrass her the whole evening.
Burt gave Mac a look that said he was going to contradict her before he turned to Barry. “No tang. Neta tim.”
“Okay.” Barry nodded. Mac wasn’t sure if he understood or just assumed the answer.
“Night, Burt,” Mac muttered then took Barry’s hand and dragged him away.
“Alright, lovely, let’s go to your house then to dinner.” Barry held his hand out for Mac to take.
“Let’s.” She led the way to her house.
“He seems like a nice guy,” Barry remarked on the way.
“Burt’s great.” The best really. She didn’t know what she would do without him. His knowledge of the island had been indispensable.
“Is he part of your team? Crew? Biologists?” He seemed to be struggling for the right word. “What do you call yourselves?”
“We’re researchers, but Burt is the captain of the boat.”
Barry looked surprised. “He’s a captain?”
“Yes,” Mac chuckled. “He’s lived on the island pretty much his whole life. He knows everything about it.”
“I can see why you made him your captain then.”
“I didn’t make him. He had a boat, I asked him to charter us around, and he agreed,” Mac explained.
“I feel there’s a story there,” Barry replied.
“Not really. When I was a student on another boat, someone told me about Crazy Burt.”
“Crazy Burt?”
“It’s what some people call him. Anyway, they said he knew everything about the island. I talked to him a few times, and eventually we became friends. After I graduated, I asked him to be part of my team, and he agreed.”
“Does he always talk like that?”
Mac winced. Poor Burt and his thick accent. She got a lot questions about it, and it wasn’t like she had any answers for it. “Yes, many can’t understand him which is probably why he got his nickname. People just assumed he was drunk or crazy.” Probably both.
“But you understand him?” Barry asked, looking at her questionably.
“It took some time. Most times, I just interpret as best as I can, but it’s worth the language barrier for his knowledge about where to find the sharks around here.”
“Speaking of sharks, did you find any today?”
Mac grinned ear to ear. “We did. Even a new one I’ve never seen before.”
“Oh…” Barry sounded intrigued and leaned closer. “And what do you do when you find a new shark?”
“You can’t honestly be interested in this.” No one outside of other biologists cared about her work. She didn’t understand why Barry would care, unless he was just being polite and trying to make conversation.
“I am, or is there something else you want to talk about? We can discuss the weather.”
Mac rolled her eyes. “Definitely not.” Talk about the most boring subject. Plus, on an island, it wasn’t a very exciting conversation. It was hot and humid. End of discussion.
“What do you want to talk about then?” Barry stroked his thumb over the top of her hand and leaned in close to kiss along the side of her neck every few seconds. Mac almost tripped when one of those kisses went higher and his teeth caught her earlobe and tugged. “You okay?”
“Just fine. Still have my sea legs. Takes a few minutes to adjust to land again,” she lied, trying to regain her composure, but it was in vain.
Barry kept up an all-front assault, never giving her a chance to cool down.
She couldn’t wait until they were out of sight from the public and behind closed doors.
She would have him writhing like a worm on a hook.
“Even after all of these years?” he asked with a look that said he didn’t believe her, and he was right not to. She was so used to walking on a boat and land now, she rarely could tell a difference.
When she was a student, she would find herself swaying while she walked down the street as if she were still in a boat. After a few weeks, she stopped.
“The waters were rough today.” They weren’t.
“Huh, they looked calm when I met you near the dock.”
“They were rough earlier,” Mac amended quickly.
“Huh.” Mac knew he was having a laugh at her. He was enjoying making her squirm. Soon it would be his turn. “I can carry you, if you’d like,” he offered and reached for her.
“My legs work just fine thank you.” She evaded his hands and squirmed away from him. It wasn’t that she didn’t want his touch, but she didn’t want everyone seeing them touching.
“Yes, they do. I remember feeling them wrapped around my waist last night as I slid my cock deep inside of you. How they would tighten and shake before you would come.”
“You really don’t play fair,” she scolded, looking up at him.
“Would you prefer if I did?”
Honestly? “No.”
Barry grinned and leaned closer as if to kiss her.
“But just know, your reckoning is coming.”
“I consider myself warned.” Barry chuckled, not seeming at all concerned.