Chapter Seven
Two Weeks Later
Astrid
“Astrid, are you sick?”
The voice sounds far away, almost like it’s coming from the end of a deep and very long tunnel. I ignore the cool hand that brushes my forehead, even when it contrasts with the heat shimmering beneath my skin. My eyes remain on the blue waters that remind me of his.
“You don’t feel warm.” Ruth’s voice is gentle, maternal, as she runs the back of her hand over my cheeks and jawline. I let her fuss over me, and when she turns my head to face her, I read the concern in her eyes.
I should tell them. Tell them that I am not sick, at least not in the way they think. I should explain the ache that's settled deep in my chest, making it hard for me to breathe, but has nothing to do with a fever. But the words catch in my throat in a tangled mess of sobs and pain.
Instead, I just close my eyes and lean into the comforting touch, the salty air doing little to soothe the storm raging inside me. In fact, it does the opposite.
It reminds me of my time with...him.
“I think something’s wrong with her.” Clark’s voice penetrates my consciousness, but I keep my eyes closed. “We should take her to the hospital. She’s been this way since she came back. Do you think she caught something on the island?”
Yeah, I caught something alright. Love, and now I’m heartsick.
I shut them out, focusing on the gentle rocking of the boat, but even that reminds me of all those excursions I took with him.
God.
I feel the sting of tears gathering behind my eyelids and fight hard to keep them at bay. It would be mortifying to cry in front of my colleagues despite our closeness. Hell, even Clark didn’t cry when he broke his leg, and that, no doubt, hurt more than a heartbreak.
“Alright, we’re heading back,” Ruth decides, and I realize I’ve missed most of their conversation. “We’ve tagged all the sharks we’re going to tag today. We need to get you to a doctor.”
I turn away from the couple again, tuning them out once more, and stare into the water when the boat begins to move, heading back to the harbor. I want to feel guilty for pulling them away from work, but I can’t think beyond the ache in my chest.
God, I miss him.
I wonder what he’s doing right now. Probably on his afternoon run, maintaining that body so he can seduce the next researcher that stops by his island. Will he be charming with her too? Make her fall helplessly in love with him?
Damn him.
And yet, I can’t erase him from my mind. He occupies every corner of it, so that everything around me becomes static.
“Is that... oh my God, is that who I think it is?”
Ruth's startled voice pulls me back to the present, and when I turn to her, her jaw is slack, eyes wide open with shock.
“What?” I ask, my voice coming out in a whisper that barely makes it to her.
Clark’s reaction catches my attention even more. “Well, color me surprised,” he guffaws. “Who would have thought the island keeper would leave his island?”
“What?” I ask again, louder this time, as I turn to follow their eyes, and my own jaw drops as I make out the figure standing on the wooden dock.
“What the hell is Erik Osgood doing here?”
Despite my company, I run my eyes greedily over him, a man I haven’t seen for two weeks but never left my mind for one second. He looks so handsome in his blue jeans and white shirt, tight over all those delicious muscles I’ve thought about licking for an unhealthy amount of time these past weeks.
Christ, I missed him. So much. Even now, my chest aches longingly at the sight of him, but then I remember his parting words.
“Astrid, take care of yourself.”
The jerk!
I manage to school my expression when the boat docks, fighting hard not to show longing when the man approaches as we file out of our boat.
“Clark, Ruth.” He nods towards my colleagues before turning those intense blue eyes to me. “Astrid, how’ve you been?”
Oh, so now he cares. After tossing me out like I meant nothing, he wants to pretend that he cares now? Well, he can turn around and go right back to his damn island and leave me alone.
“Erik, what are you doing here?” Clark cuts in smoothly when I don't respond. His raised brows tell me that even he can feel the tension bubbling between us.
“I quit my job.” Everyone’s jaw drops at his proclamation, but then he moves on as though he didn’t just shock us all. “How is your leg, Clark?”
“I...oh, my leg. Fine. I had surgery, got a cast, and with enough luck, I should be back to hopping on wet rocks in a few months.”
“That’s great to hear,” he says before turning those eyes back to me. “You guys don’t mind if I steal Astrid for a moment, do you?”
“Can it wait? She's sick, and—”
“She’s sick?”
Erik moves before Ruth is done speaking, and his hand is on my brow, caressing my cheek and jaw, but it has a different effect than when Ruth did it. His touch lights a fire inside me and stirs a deep yearning that makes my chest ache and my nipples tight with need.
“I’m fine,” I say, reaching up to push his hand away, but he doesn’t budge. “I’m just tired. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” I say, taking a step back and away from him. “Just go right ahead and do whatever it is that brought you here. I’ll go home and—”
“You brought me here.”
“What?”
“Can we talk?” he asks, his voice pleading.
I turn to the couple watching us curiously and bite back a sigh. I’ll never hear the end of this, I’m sure. “Okay, fine.”
“I brought my boat. We can talk in my private cabin.” Then he turns to the couple without waiting for an answer. “You guys can go ahead, I’ll take her home when we’re done.”
“Why—” Clark starts, but his wife is already pulling him away. “Hey, aren’t you curious about—”
“Shut up, Clark. We have an appointment to keep.”
I watch them leave, Ruth taking slow steps and her husband hobbling beside her with his crutches. Then I turn to Erik, swallowing hard when I find those eyes locked on me.
“I’m docked right over there,” he says, pointing at his boat. I nod and start toward the boat, following him on board and into the small cabin. I start to speak, only to find myself backed against the wall, his lips on mine.
“Astrid,” he chokes out, emotion heavy in his voice as he runs his hand up and down my arms. “You’re mad at me. I know. I hurt you, baby, and I’m so fucking sorry.”
I lift my hands to his chest, ready to push him away, punish him as I’ve felt punished these past couple of weeks, but when he drops his forehead against mine, and I feel his heart race underneath my fingertips, all the heat rapidly cools.
“Why are you here?” I demand.
“For you, baby. When you left, I couldn’t… Goddamnit, Astrid. I love you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you when you were on the island, but I love you so fucking much, angel.” His breath is labored against mine as he pours out his heart. “I don’t want to be without you, baby.”
“B-but you love the island.”
“I love you more.”
And isn’t that what I wanted to hear on that Island when I told him how I felt? Gave him my heart, body, and soul.
“You’re sure?” I ask, afraid to hope. “The island—”
“Doesn’t need me, and I don’t need it anymore.
” His lips brush mine softly. “I ran there to hide from my pain, but I don't want to hide anymore. I have no reason to run when you mend the parts of me I thought were broken.” He pulls back, brushing the stray hairs from my face. “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided to change my position from year-round to seasonal, but I’d already made up my mind before I read the letter. I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner.
The season was coming to an end, and I wanted to wrap things up properly. ”
“You didn’t have to leave completely. If it’s seasonal, then maybe—”
“No. My time on the island is over, and I don’t have any regrets.
” His lips feather my nose and cheeks. “You know, I stopped by the cemetery to talk to my parents and brother before I came here.” He pauses and takes a breath.
“I went to visit them for the first time in eight years. I told them about you.”
“You did?”
“When you’re ready, I’ll take you to meet them. They would have loved you, Astrid. The same way I love you.”
“Then love me,” I breathe, tears rolling down my cheeks even as I take his face in my hands and rub my lips with his. “Show me just how much you love me, Erik. Prove it.”
“I love you so much,” he rasps as he pushes into the kiss, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me hard against him until I'm surrounded by his delicious muscles. He slips a hand beneath my shirt, massaging my sides as he moves up. “I’ve been thinking about you since you left the island. I spent my nights jerking off to the memory of you.”
“Me too,” I confess, sliding my hand underneath his shirt and sighing at the feel of his solid muscles. “Sometimes…I touched myself thinking of you.”
Heat curls through me at the possessive look in his eyes, and the way he rips my clothes off only makes me wet and sends excitement coursing through my body.
“If you break my heart again, I’ll…oh!” I cry out when he slides his middle finger into me so fast it knocks the breath out of my lungs.
He’s not gentle, and I realize I don’t want gentle.
Not when my blood boils for him and my skin trembles for his touch.
“You are mine,” he growls, thrusting his finger in and out of my tight, wet sex, fingering me like a man seeking to possess. “I won’t share you. You belong to me.”
“Yours,” I cry out, gripping his shoulders as I find myself drawn closer and closer to a feeling I haven’t experienced in weeks. “Oh God…close…”
I whine when he pulls his finger out, robbing me of the sweet release I’ve craved for the two weeks he stayed away. When his hands fly to his pants, I move mine, tugging down his zipper as he unbuttons his jeans.
“Now,” I sob, lifting my leg to his waist and whining like a bitch in heat, but I can’t help it.
It’s been so long, and every day was torture.
I cry out when he enters me, burying my face in his neck when he starts moving without missing a beat.
His entire body trembles against mine, desperate as I am for the connection.
I hold onto his shoulders as he drives his heavy shaft into me, taking me fast and hard against the wall, so that I don't have any warning for the orgasm.
I scream when pleasure pierces my core, spreading deliciously through my body and down to my toes where they curl. I pant against his throat, drowning in that masculine scent even as his thick cock sends me over again.
His massive hands grip my ass cheeks as he pumps into me, faster and harder until he finds his own release. His cock jerks against my sensitive walls, coating them with his heat. And it’s perfect. The moment, the man, all of it.
We cling to each other, afraid we’ll tumble to the floor if we let go, and it takes a while for my muscles to regain strength.
“I love you,” I say for the first time since I left the island, and this time, my heart is not in my throat when I push back to look at him. “I love you so much, Erik.”
This time, I am not met with a blank stare, but one of pleasure.
His adoring eyes make my heart skip. “I made another stop,” he whispers, stroking my cheek with his thumb before reaching down to grab his discarded jeans.
He dips a hand into the back pocket and pulls out a small box.
My eyes widen when I realize what it is.
“I planned on doing this with a little more finesse, but I can’t wait.
I can’t wait to make you mine forever.” He pops open the box, and in it is a beautiful diamond ring with tiny sharks engraved on the white gold band.
“How did you get this made in less than two weeks? You must have paid a fortune for it.”
“You are worth a fortune and more,” he says, plucking the ring from the box and taking my left hand in his. “Marry me, Astrid. Make me the happiest man in the world and be my wife.”
I sniff back the tears that threaten to cloud my vision, and even without speaking the words, it’s clear what my answer is. “Yes,” I whisper, letting the tears fall as he slides the ring onto my ring finger. “I’ll marry you, Erik. I’ll be yours. Forever.