10. Milly
The sky is robin”s egg blue, and the few scattered clouds above look like delicate lace. When I venture out in the opposite direction of Branch”s home, the sun is directly overhead, and I find myself walking down a twisting, turning path that seems to take me to the Northern side of Corona Cay.
The foliage is lush and green and still sparkles with some of the rainwater from the night before. There are yellow butterflies flittering between the large fragrant pink flowers, and I even run across a pond with small stick-like insects gliding across the water like ice skaters. A warm edge in the air fills my head with the crisp promise of spring and new beginnings.
Waves begin to break through the rustling of leaves and the squishing sound of my flip-flops on the grass and dirt. Then, from out of my leafy cover, I step onto a small, secured beach with pristine white sand and several comfortable-looking beach loungers leading down to a day bed covered with a rainbow-colored sunshade.
I inhale the salty air deeply, already feeling calm and warmth wash over me, and it isn”t until I toss my towel and clothes on the closest lounger that I realize I”m not alone.
”Oh, hi!” I squeak at the man lying nearby. No, he isn”t completely naked; he has a towel draped over his hips, so I can”t see everything, just mostly everything.
His eyes are closed, but he opens them when he hears my voice and sits up in the sandy nook he had created for himself by the lapping waves.
”Sorry, didn”t see you there. Have you been here long?” he asks, studying me closely. He looks a little taller than Branch but not as big and beefy as Archer. He has semi-long brown hair tied back in a tail behind his neck. Blue-violet eyes seem to bore into me, but he doesn”t get up.
”No, I just got here,” I answer. He”s directly in my path to the water, so I either have to step over him to get there, or I”ll need to lay out on a lounger.
What is with this island full of Branch”s friends? Why does everyone here have to be so distracting? It”s like they all want me to be flustered and nervous. How am I going to think my way through this web of lies it took to get here if I”m never left alone?
Not that I minded in the least about my escape from all thought with Branch last night (no regrets there) but I”m really having a hard time focusing on anything with this much man meat hanging around. I haven”t been this distracted since I stumbled upon a romance-themed bookstore once in the city, and I wandered the small store in awe at their toe-curling selection of erotic literature.
”You must be Mildred,” the man says, standing up. He grips the towel with one hand, and while he doesn”t wrap it around him, he at least holds it parallel to his semi-erect junk. His eyes graze over every inch of my body before he looks back at me with his stunning eyes.
”Please call me Milly,” I say, extending my hand and trying not to flinch under his continuous eye contact.
He nearly drops the towel as he reaches over and grips my wrist, bringing it up to his nose. I swear he does a very long inhale before he plants a kiss on my knuckles and releases me.
”Milly it is then,” he says lowly before pulling back and smiling. ”I see you found our little secret beach.”
My body reacts and returns the smile, but my mind whirls at his presence and the lingering recognition in his features.
”You look so familiar,” I say, tilting my head at him. ”What did you say your name was?”
”Colt, Colt Corona,” he says, maneuvering himself to the lounger across from me. He leans back on the palms of his hands and closes his eyes against the sunlight. The towel lays loosely on his lap again, just barely covering a growing erection that I think he”s trying to ignore. I catch myself staring at it when a sudden realization hits me.
”Oh! You”re the owner of the island!” I gasp.
”I sure am,” he laughs. ”And I hope you”re finding everything to your satisfaction.”
”Oh, yeah, I am,” I say, fighting the blush creeping up my neck. It”s warm out and even warmer still with Colt sitting so close to me. It isn”t like me to get so flustered by a man, and here I”ve been bumbling about these two days like some inexperienced college student fresh out of her first human sexuality class.
”Good, I”m glad to hear it. It”s a great island, but I bet it”s going to be brutal on that fair skin of yours. Did you bring any sunblock?”
”Oh, no, I didn”t even think of it. It”s been a weird day and I just needed to get out for a little distraction in the sun.”
”I can help you with that.”
”Wait, what?”
”With the sunblock,” he clarifies, gesturing for me to turn my back to him. Before I do, I see him lean back to retrieve a small bag tucked behind his lounger and bring out an orange bottle that smells of pineapples and oranges. ”Hold still,” he warns, and I shift to a more comfortable position. He stands behind me and squirts some of the white, creamy lotion into one hand.
I haven”t tied my hair back yet, so with his clean hand, he bundles my hair and grips it tightly to hold it up and out of the way. Then, with the lubricated hand, he begins deeply massaging the moisture onto my back and arms.
His hand is big and rough and makes me feel small under him as he moves rhythmically from shoulder to shoulder. From the corner of my eye, I notice his towel has fallen forgotten to the ground, and when he presses against me to get a better angle at my clavicle, I feel his hot, pulsing length press against my back.
I let out a small gasp of pleasure at the scorching contact it brought, and he pulls back startled as he felt the same electric shock. The break in contact sends a jolt of coldness through my body, and I suppress a shudder.
”Sorry about that,” he says forcibly and hands me the sunscreen to finish applying myself. His face is a deep crimson as he sits on the lounger and repositions the towel to his hips once again. He tucks the sides underneath his ass this time, but I can still tell his massive boner is straining against the fabric as he sits there with his eyes closed as if he”s fighting his internal monologue.
Just the sight makes me squirm in my own lounger, and I do a poor job of applying the rest of the lotion to my body before laying down. It”s hard to catch my breath now, and I flip around on my stomach so I can prop myself up on my elbows and look over at Colt.
It”s that same pulling feeling again, the one I felt with Branch. I tentatively reach a hand over and run a finger down his shoulder, and the electric shock that sizzles between us is hard to miss. His eyes pop open and bore into mine as he jumps up, gripping his towel tightly as if I offended him.
”I”m so sorry,” I stammer, jerking my hand back as he backs away.
”Nice seeing you again, Milly, I mean, nice meeting you! I need to get going, but please let me know if there is anything that myself or my staff can do to make your stay more pleasurable... um, comfortable!”
I watch wide-eyed as he leaps from the lounger and disappears down the twisting path with unmatched speed, his bare ass disappearing into the leaves and leaving me alone, confused and really, really cold.
Laying back down, I close my eyes and try to focus first on that pulling feeling I”ve been feeling. I need to figure out what”s going on with me. I”m not normally like this. Sure, I”ve twisted in the sheets with several men before, but never felt anything on the levels I did with Branch. Even this brief interaction with Colt is making my head swim.
What is wrong with me?
After disappearing in thoughts about being pulled in several directions, I must doze off because when I open my eyes again, it”s suddenly mid-afternoon, and my stomach is grumbling for some lunch.
Getting up from my lounger, I stretch my arms overhead and look out at the crystalized water. I probably have enough time for a quick dip before I head back inside for something to eat. I re-tie my bikini bottoms, briefly exposing myself to the waves as I make sure they”re on tight enough not to float away from me in the water. But just as I dip my toes into the gentle surf, a throat clears behind me and I turn to find another of Branch”s friends watching me, the pilot from the plane ride here. He”s watching me from a few loungers down and eating a submarine sandwich. Or at least I think he might be looking at me because I can”t see his eyes through his reflective sunglasses.
”Hi,” I say, a little too high-pitched as I attempt to keep the surprise out of my voice. ”Sorry, I, uh, thought I was alone here.”
”You were alone, but then I showed up around ten minutes ago,” he chuckles in a low, smooth, and seductive voice. I still can”t tell if he”s looking at me, but my face flushes that he might have been there watching me retie my bikini strings.
”Flint, right?” I ask, splashing my toes in the water to test the temperature.
”That”s me,” he says slowly, now sitting straight and leaning towards me. ”I”m guessing you”re Milly? Do you want part of my sandwich?”
”Um, sure?” I say, laughing as he holds out the second half of what looks like turkey and Swiss cheese on wheat. I come over and accept the offering and realize how hungry I am after biting into the crusty bread.
”Missed lunch, huh?” he chuckles, licking crumbs from his lips as I demolish my half in several large bites.
”MMm-hmmf,” I mumble through stuffed cheeks.
Flint hands me his orange soda to wash it down with, and I take a grateful swig before looking down at him. There”s a familiar tingling sensation building in my core at his deep voice and mysterious vibe, and the last thing I need right now is to be pulled in the direction of a third guy, but that something is pulling me...
”The water”s warm,” he suddenly says. ”I was just out there.”
”Oh, yeah, it felt... nice,” I say awkwardly, rubbing my hands down the sides of my arms. The typical island breeze has kicked up and left a cooling sensation along my skin, making me wish I was back inside my bungalow under a blanket.
”You just gotta do it,” he says, laughing and getting up from the lounger and dragging me with him to the water.
He”s about as tall as Archer, though not as muscular, and looks like he spends a lot of time out in the sun. I catch my reflection in his aviator glasses as he stands beside me.
”Well, I guess it doesn”t feel as cold now,” I say truthfully, taking a few tentative steps forward. The warm salt water slaps at my calves and upper thighs as I creep forward. When it finally reaches over the sensitive skin of my waist, I gasp at the incredible feeling. It”s like one giant warm bath.
Flint lets out a hiss through his teeth, and I turn to see if everything is okay, but he”s standing stone-still and looking in my direction. His glasses reflect my confused look back at me.
”See?” he says, recovering from whatever happened and folding his hands over his chest. ”It”s not too bad.”
The further I wade out, though, the colder it gets, and I find myself tip-toeing back through the water toward the shore. The sandy pebbles beneath my feet squish between my toes, and the tickling sensation makes me laugh. Flint raises an eyebrow at me and watches carefully.
I don”t make it all the way past the water line and decide to sit in the sand amongst the small waves. Sitting down, I scoot my ass around to make a small nook for myself and lean back on the palms of my hands. The sun feels glorious on my face and chest, and while not as nice as the warm bath water from before, it”s still strong and comforting.
I have my eyes closed, but I feel and hear Flint sitting down next to me.
”You”re right,” I say to him. ”The water isn”t so bad.”
”You just have to be confident,” he says. ”The sharks only come around in the summertime.”
”What?” I stutter, and he laughs.
”They”re harmless, you”ll be fine. Just, uh, don”t go swimming alone. That”s how it always happens in the movies, you know? It”s always the pretty girl who decides to go skinny dipping in the middle of the night that turns up half eaten on the beach the next day.”
”Oh my... what a delightful image,” I say, rolling my eyes at him. ”But I guess you are right, that does always seem to be the case in those kinds of movies. Maybe you should expand your horizons and get some experience with romantic comedies, some of those involve beaches and not everyone ends up as shark bait.”
”Naw, I”d rather live my own romantic comedy style of life.”
”And how does that work?” I find myself giggling at our odd conversation, and he gives me a quirky grin, his eyes crinkling under those reflective glasses.
”Oh, I think I”m doing an okay job at it. You”re a pretty girl laughing, at least. Do you think I”m funny?” he says, putting a hand on my shoulder, tilting his head down, and looking up at me from over his sunglasses. ”Serious answers only, please.”
His hand on my shoulder is like a delicious fire, and I subconsciously find myself leaning into his touch; the pull that I noticed from earlier intensifies and draws me closer to him.
”I think you”re cute but funny? Eh....” I wave my hand from side to side, and he reels back comically as if I”ve just landed a hard blow. I laugh so hard at his reaction that I almost fall over in the sand.
”Good thing you”re cute and funny, or else I”d have to fly you off this island and drop you back on the mainland,” he says, laughing, but his comment draws an icy circle around my mind, and I freeze.
The thought of leaving here makes my whole body ache, and while I know he made the comment in jest, the thought is painful enough to make me sick to my stomach.
”Whoa, hey, sorry, was that too far? Are you okay? Please say you”re okay?” Flint flips around and kneels in front of me. He actually takes off his sunglasses and, holding them off to the side, he looks into my eyes and smiles. ”Hey, Millycakes, talk to me.”
”Ew, please don”t call me Millycakes. It makes me sound like a gas station convenience food.”
”Aww, but those are the best! Especially when you”re in the air. Have you ever had a hand pie while soaring through the clouds? If not, you haven”t lived the dreams I have.”
”I don”t even know if I”m living my own dreams,” I say softly, turning my head. He rubs a finger down my cheek to make me look at him.
”There”s no time like the present, do you...”
I don”t know what he”s about to ask because a sudden, loud sound breaks through the quiet beach, and we both look up to see a small water plane crossing over the island. Flint eyes it before putting his sunglasses back on.
”Hmm, not one of my planes or crew. I wonder why Colt”s security teams would send someone else now?”
The color drains from my face as I watch the small plane fly away from us, but I know it doesn”t have far to go until it lands on the opposite side of the island and docks there. It will be closer to the main office, where they”ll regroup and then... and then...
They”ll come find me and take me away.