Chapter Two
Erik
“She’s pretty, isn’t she?”
The cool morning breeze whips past my face as I pound the wet ground.
The air, crisp with the briny scent of the ocean, fills my lungs with each deep inhale.
I focus on the rhythmic crash of waves, a soundtrack to my run, ignoring the other voice that has become a permanent fixture in my mind for all eight of the years I’ve lived on the island.
He's dead. I left the mainland, yet his voice followed me, taunting me. Teasing me.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had a pretty girl on the island.”
“You’re not real!” I pant, and fuck if I can’t see my brother’s smug look in my head.
He’s been gone for so long that I should have forgotten how he looks by now.
But I haven’t. Running away didn’t help with the memories.
Not when he decided to follow me here. Sometimes I hear him so clearly in my head that I swear he’s here with me, unwilling to let me wither away on this nearly deserted island.
I’m not crazy, I tell myself. Sure, I have conversations with him sometimes—the island can get lonely—but that doesn’t mean I’ve lost my mind. I haven’t. At least not yet.
“You should talk to her.”
Goddamnit.
I shake my head and propel myself forward, the muscles in my legs burning as I try to outrun that nagging voice I can never seem to escape. Even in death, he comes back to nag me as he did when we were younger.
Now at thirty-six, I’m older than he was.
Goddamnit!
“Erik!”
The startled cry snaps me back to the present, but it’s too late to stop.
I don’t see her until it’s too late. My foot catches, momentum carries me forward, and I’m barreling straight into her.
There’s a sharp intake of breath, a startled cry, and I instinctively throw my arms out.
My hands find her waist with surprising firmness as I pull her close, stopping her fall before she can hit the rocky ground.
“Shit,” I curse out, glancing down at the cracked mug she dropped in the collision. “Fuck, are you okay?”
I lift my eyes to hers, and the force of those wide brown irises hits me like a sucker punch. They’re a warm, rich brown, and when they blink up at me, flashing with an innocence I wasn’t expecting, my heart does a little flip.
For once, my brother is quiet in my head. For several seconds, it’s just the two of us.
"I'm fine," she whispers, gripping my shoulder as she straightens. "It's my own damn fault for getting in your way. Sorry, I assumed you would stop. It's clear you were lost in thought and didn’t see me."
More like trying to ignore the ghost of my brother, but I don’t think this pretty scientist will appreciate hearing that.
“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” I ask, giving her a once-over, and I can’t help but notice how the T-shirt she’s wearing curves around her braless tits. I move my eyes quickly away when my cock twitches curiously. “I didn’t think anyone would be up so early.”
“Yeah, well…I’m a morning person. I was hoping to catch the sunrise.”
This is my cue to offer another apology and leave her to it. I'm not one for casual chatter, not with the scientists who come to the Island. Forming any kind of bond or friendship is stupid, considering most of them rarely return.
“Ma’am…”
“Astrid,” she offers. “Please call me Astrid. I’m not yet used to the whole ‘ma’am’ bit. Makes me feel like I’m the same age as my college professors.”
“Right, Astrid—”
“I can call you Erik, right?” Those stunning brown eyes blink up at me, flooring me with their beauty, and I find myself struck mute for a moment.
“We weren’t properly introduced when we arrived yesterday, but Clark told me your name is Erik Osgood.
Unless you prefer I call you Mr. Osgood, that's fine too, but I figured Erik would work.”
“It works.”
“Perfect,” she beams, and there is another moment of silence, an opportunity for me to apologize again and excuse myself, but she grabs the chance before I can. “So, what exactly do you do around here?”
“I’m responsible for a variety of tasks; I won’t bore you with the details.”
“There’s no way you could bore me. I’ve been thinking about you all night…I mean,” she flushes, a pretty pink that seems to light up the freckles sprinkled around her nose. “Not you— you , but like, what caretakers do on an island.”
She’s not looking at me and seems to have taken a sudden interest in the rising sun.
I feel the edges of my mouth tip up with humor I haven't felt in so fucking long. With her eyes shifted, I finally allow myself to take her in. She’s a beautiful woman, albeit petite, with long brown hair held in a ponytail.
Her baggy pants and the T-shirt don’t reveal much of her body, and yet, I find my eyes lingering on her tits and the small nipples pebbled behind the fabric, no doubt from the morning’s chill.
My cock hardens, and I shove my hands into my pockets when thoughts of touching her surface.
It’s been so long.
Fucking hell, but it’s been so long since I was close to a woman as stunning as this one. Since I’ve allowed myself to be tempted by someone.
And tempt me, she does.
“I monitor wildlife and report any unusual observations,” I start, forcing my eyes away and following her gaze to the rising sun.
“I also maintain facilities like the cottages, assist researchers when necessary, and handle record-keeping. I document weather conditions and any other relevant data. I’m also trained for safety and emergency response. ”
“You handle all that alone?”
“Not always,” I respond, staring out into the water and willing my erection to go down. “I’ve had people join me, but they rarely last. Most are seasonal. I’ve been here for eight years. This island isn’t for everyone.”
“Oh, I would go crazy here.” She chuckles a moment before turning toward me, those brown eyes alight with panic. “I don’t mean to say you’re crazy or anything. It’s just…well, there’s nothing to do here.”
“I'm not offended." I say it reflexively, but realize that it’s true.
Nor am I in any hurry to leave as I was moments ago.
I don't do this, ever. I don't stand by the ocean and watch the sunrise with pretty little scientists or talk about myself in any capacity. It’s easy to get attached to people when you’ve had minimal human connection in nearly a decade.
So here I am. Loving every expression that crosses her face and the sound of her voice. Something about her keeps me rooted in place.
“I mean, it’s admirable that you’ve been here for as long as you have. You do leave sometimes, right?” She waits for my nod to carry on. “I would get bored, but I’m anxious to see Moon before he continues his migration toward Mexico.”
“You’re here to observe the moon?” That would be a first.
She turns to me, eyebrows furrowed adorably, before she lets out a soft chuckle.
“Not the real moon. Moon is my shark. Well, not mine since he belongs to the ocean, but I've been tracking him for weeks. I'm a marine biologist and specialize in the study of Great White sharks,” she quickly adds at my blank look. “I’ve been tracking shark migration patterns from birth to adulthood along the coast of California. I got attached to this particular shark, and I’m hoping I’ll spot him when we start tagging them. ”
“How can you tell them apart?”
“Oh, every shark is different. Like people. Moon has this half-circle mark on his fin that looks like a crescent moon. It’s like a beauty mark if you think about it, and I’ve grown to think of him as my baby and…now I sound like a crazy person.”
For someone who speaks to their dead brother, I would be the last person to judge her for practically adopting a shark. “You’re care about this shark.”
“I guess I do,” she says, brushing the back of her hand over her flushed cheeks. “I probably shouldn’t go around telling people this. They’ll get me committed, no doubt.”
“I knew a guy with pet rocks.”
“Those are pretty common, actually.”
“More common than pet sharks?”
“Maybe,” she giggles, grabbing the tail of her ponytail and running her fingers through the strands. “So, you don’t think it’s weird?”
“I don’t.”
She nods, something shifting in her eyes as she looks up at me, and I wonder if she can feel it too.
The tension that flares between us. For one long moment, neither of us says a word.
The pull is so strong, and when she licks her lips, my eyes trace the movement.
When my eyes move back to hers, I read something that calls me to close the distance between us, but before I can, the spell is broken.
“Astrid!”
The desire I read in her eyes only seconds ago gives way to panic as her head turns to follow the voice. I don’t immediately shift my gaze from her, taking in the flush on her cheeks, the dusting of freckles peppered on her nose, and the wild fluttering of her eyes.
“Oh, good morning, Clark. Ruth.”
I wonder if the couple approaching us notice the nervous look on Astrid's face, but when I turn to look at their sleepy faces, I decide they probably don’t.
“It’s a rare sight to see Erik engaging with guests,” Ruth says, and I turn to find her eyes studying me. “And it’s awfully romantic, isn’t it? Watching the sunrise on the beach with company.”
“W–what, it’s nothing like that,” Astrid sputters, a panicked look on her face. “I was…um, he just bumped into me on his run and stopped to apologize.” She points to the mug still lying on the wet ground. “See, I even dropped my mug.”
I bite down a laugh at the panic on her face, choosing to leave before I embarrass her further. “I hope you enjoy the rest of your morning. Clark, Ruth,” I say to the couple with a nod before turning to carry on with my jog.
“So, what did you think of Erik?”
Ruth’s words follow me down the beach, but I don’t pause to hear Astrid’s answer.