Chapter 5
Chapter Five
In the morning Leonie woke and wondered why her immediate first impression of the day was pure happiness and then the little aches and pains and soreness in her body reminded her of what she’d been doing all night. She was literally afraid to turn her head to see if he was still there.
“Hey,” he said softly, kissing her on the lips. “I’m not going anywhere.” Derius pulled her closer and she felt his morning wood against her stomach, hard and ready for more.
“You left me traumatized,” she said reluctantly. “It’ll take a while for trust to rebuild.”
“I’ll earn it,” he vowed. “Are you sore?”
“A little. It’s been three years since I slept with anyone.”
“We’ve ended our mutual drought,” he said with a laugh. His stomach rumbled. “Guess I should order room service for us. Are you hungry?”
“Definitely. I think I’ll take a shower first, while we wait for the delivery.” Seeing the gleam in his eye she added, “Alone, this morning.”
Derius didn’t protest or try to talk her into anything, which she appreciated.
She needed a few minutes alone to organize her thoughts and try to think through how this renewed relationship between them could work for the future, after the IDA date ended and they had to leave the resort planet. It was her nature to analyze and plan.
When she came out of the bathroom freshly showered and with clean hair, Derius was seated at the small table in the sitting room and he eyed her in the hotel’s fluffy white robe appreciatively.
He was bare chested, wearing only low slung gray sweatpants.
He rose to greet her with a kiss and pull out her chair for her.
“So gallant,” she said with a chuckle.
“Breakfast should be here any minute.” Resuming his seat, Derius had an air of excitement. “I have had an inspiration,” he announced. “It gutted me to know your first thought this morning was whether I’d stayed.”
Leonie raised one finger. “Point of fact when I woke I was deliriously happy.”
“But afraid to open your eyes in case I wasn’t in bed.”
“Well, yes, but only for an instant.”
“What would you say if we sailed off to a private island today, just you and me? Would it put your mind at rest about me leaving if we were on a desert island?”
She stared at him, trying to figure out if he was serious.
A robo server interrupted the discussion, bringing the huge breakfast Derius had ordered and it was a few minutes before Leonie sat with a cup of tea and a plate full of eggs, bacon and pancakes and could return to the topic he’d raised.
“You realize of course there’d be the boat that brought us to your mythical island? ”
He seemed genuinely insulted, flinching and a muscle ticking in his jaw.
“I wouldn’t sail off and leave you—or anyone—on an island alone.
And if you’re genuinely concerned, I’ll give you the boat’s initiator.
I just—I just want to remove the shadow from your eyes that I know I put there.
I don’t want the past getting in the way of what we’re trying to build now. ”
His earnestness was sweet and Leonie found she couldn’t resist his enthusiasm. “All right, say I indulge your fantasy about the two of us on an island, which does sound enticing and adventurous I have to admit, how do we make it happen?”
Derius waved his handheld. “I already did. I remembered from the brochures and promo holos that IDA has a few luxury cabins built on individual islands out in the ocean not too far from here. One cabin per island. I called Mr. Delain and told him what I wanted and he was so happy to hear we’d gotten back together he agreed to comp us a one night stay and the boat to get there.
It’ll be ready for us at the dock in an hour. ”
“You’re kidding?”
“Totally serious. I want this time together to be memorable in a happy way and this is the most different experience I could create for us to share.” He reached across the table and took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. “Say yes.”
“I have a hard time with spontaneity,” she admitted. “I like to plan everything out and think it through but this sounds like so much fun, I say to hell with the infinite details. Yes.”
Derius swept her out of her chair and whirled her around, which probably wasn’t a great idea after she’d consumed a big breakfast but she’d deal with a bit of dizziness to see him so happy and proud of himself. She was touched he’d gone to so much effort to craft a truly unique adventure for her.
Leonie’s doubts hit her hard when they arrived at the dock with their shared duffle bag, which Derius carried and she saw the trim little boat included with their ‘rental’ of an island. She studied the vast ocean and swallowed hard. “We’re going out there on this tiny thing?”
“It’s 30’ long, fully seaworthy, has a big engine that can crank out 40 knots per hour, a luxury cabin, an adequate galley, an enclosed head—that’s a bathroom to you—and her manufacturer has a top notch reputation,” Derius informed her. “The Wave Dancing Lady will get us there in style.”
“And no offense but you can drive this? Or does it have an AI pilot?”
“I’m fully certified as a Master Captain on this ocean or any other,” he said, not sounding at all annoyed by her lack of confidence. “I had to send Delain a copy of the certificate. But yes, there is also an AI option, which we won’t be using, I can assure you. Ready to go?”
He helped her up the gangplank which seemed terribly unsteady under her feet and Leonie tried not to look at the deep water a few feet under the board.
Derius gave her a tour of the boat before casting off and she was surprised at how luxurious but cozy the accommodations were.
The tiny bathroom made her laugh. She looked at Derius and pretended to measure his shoulders with her hands spread apart.
“Guess we won’t be having shower sex in here. ”
“The cabin on the island is fully equipped,” he said, corner of his mouth turning up in amusement. “Or so Delain assured me. He said there’s never been a complaint from any couple who stayed there.”
The galley appealed to her—like she’d be playing house if she used it but guessed there’d be no need on the short trip to the island.
Leonie went on deck to watch Derius cast off with help from the IDA dockside crew and then maneuver the Wave Dancing Lady smoothly out of the harbor, avoiding the various tourist fishing boats and excursion boats setting out for the day’s amusements, loaded with guests.
There was one extremely large yacht heading to sea, which Derius yielded the right of way to and then followed behind for a short time.
She stood next to him on the bridge for a while and then made her way carefully to the seats at the stern.
The waves appeared imposingly big to her although Derius assured her this was normal and not a problem.
She’d been afraid she might get seasick but thankfully no symptoms raised their ugly heads.
Derius was plainly in his element and she enjoyed watching him at the old fashioned wheel, steering the course to the private island.
This was a different side of him she hadn’t seen before and she found it fascinating.
He turned and gestured to the port side and when she followed his direction she saw an entire school of large, silver marine mammals pacing the boat.
They were leaping out of the water, doing somersaults and cavorting, sometimes racing ahead of the boat to her amazement.
She could have watched them for hours but eventually the whole pod dove as one and were gone.
The vast expanse of ocean seemed lonely and intimidating to her after the liveliness of the animals and their sheer joy.
Deciding to rejoin Derius on the bridge, she climbed the short ladder, clutching the rail for dear life as the boat responded to the waves under the hull. He gave her a hand up the last foot or so and looped his arm around her waist. “Want to steer?”
“Do you want to get lost at sea?” she joked but placed her hands on the wheel where he indicated.
“What do you think so far?” he asked as she handled the wheel.
“I loved the show those animals put on for us—their sheer joy was infectious— but now they’re gone, it emphasizes to me how huge and empty the ocean is. It scares me to be honest.”
“There’s other life here, believe me but the ocean itself simply is.”
“What do you mean?” she asked after the silence extended.
“The ocean doesn’t care about puny humans or our toy boats, not one way or the other.
The ocean exists and will do what she pleases.
We have to give her our respect and keep a watchful eye out but she’s neither good nor evil.
Her winds and her waves and her quirks are her mysteries and we can only study them and hope to gain a bit of insight to keep ourselves safe.
She doesn’t mean us harm, she doesn’t wish us good fortune, she does not care. ”
“You speak of the ocean as if it’s a sentient being,” Leonie said, staring at the waves and trying to take in what Derius had told her.
“It could be for all we know. The most important thing is to have proper appreciation for her power.” He gave her a hug.
“My family has always been closely tied to the ocean on Ardanna Prime. We’re fishermen and cargo haulers and adventurers, only now many of us travel the ocean of space instead of water. ”
“You’re more poetic on this topic than I would have expected but I like it.”
Derius shrugged as if he’d revealed too much of himself. “Thank my legacy from all my ocean going ancestors.”