by Danika Steel
My lovely Denna certainly had everything well in hand and I was insanely proud of her, but I was Captain Seth; the organizer of this trip and it had all gone up in flames, literally. I should be the one taking care of her. I was the man, I should be the rescuer and hero of the day-- not that I was that kind of guy. Truly, my heart swelled with pride that she was so capable, but I think my masculinity was slightly injured at the thought of being so well rescued by a woman I felt the strongest urge to protect. No, I'm not a male chauvinist like Jack, but it's not very often you hear of a woman rescuing a man in circumstances such as these. I would, no doubt have been shark bait if it hadn't been for Denna, so at that present time and probably forever more, I was in her debt, I owed her my life as well as my respect.
Gently but firmly I took her into my arms as I struggled to sit. “Denna, why don't you catch me up sweetheart? I left to search for Jack and obviously, I failed to find him. I remember searching for you, but I couldn't find you and then I think something struck my head and that's the last I remember. I wake up and you're not exactly looking the picture of a ship wrecked damsel in distress.” I chuckled softly. "I'm so proud of you for keeping everything together while I was out. How long has it been, several hours at least?"
“Seth, you've been out for more than a couple of hours, it's actually been nearly three days,” she said gently, reaching to caress my face, probably checking to make sure I was real.
"Oh baby, I'm so sorry," I whispered as I held her. She must have been scared out of her mind out here all alone. "Thank you for saving my life," I added softly.
She went on to explain how she saw the huge piece of wreckage just as it struck my head and she called out to me. She paddled as fast as she could to reach me before I drowned and she pulled me into the boat. Apparently, I was closer to the temperature of a rather cold penguin than a man, and she'd done her best to keep me warm. Then she set about gathering what supplies she could from the wreckage. There were plenty of supplies on board the dinghy in the way of food and water, probably enough to last us a few weeks if we were careful. There was even a pretty substantial first aid kit and fishing supplies, but she went to work gathering what scraps of canvas she could find to keep us warm and she also managed to gather enough wood to build a frame for the sail she rigged that was working quite successfully. She went on to explain that the only way she knew to reach land for sure was to head southeast when the wind began to blow that way with some consistency. Once she had us on course, she set about tending our injuries as we drifted.
"I'm so sorry about Amber Rose," she whispered softly.
"It's very sad, but I'm happy to be alive and with the smartest most capable woman I know. You've done everything I would have done and then some. I would imagine we will reach the southern Alaskan islands fairly soon," I murmured, thinking of the large chain of islands that arched across the Bering Sea. They would act as a net, catching us before we drifted out into the North Pacific where we would surely be lost.
"We have binoculars in the survival kit so I've been checking every hour, just to make sure we don't miss land," she said as she scanned the horizon out of habit.
"Worst case scenario, we make land, recuperate and try to make our way from one island to the next until we reach the mainland and make our way to the outskirts of Anchorage or find some pocket of civilization along the way," I said confidently. It was a terrible plan and it would take weeks to make it that far, but it was the only hope we had, unless we caught sight of a plane or a ship and fired the flare gun. This part of the world didn't see a lot of traffic, but at least the weather was with us for the time being. I was rather confident we could at least find an abandoned fishing village that would provide us with some kind of shelter to rest until we could figure out what to do.
Denna forced me to eat a substantial meal and I protested that we should not waste our resources, but she shushed me, reaching to pull on a string dangling over the side of the boat. She showed me the dozen or more fish she'd caught while I had been out and I saw that she had somehow managed to cook at least five of them with one of those small camping stoves she'd found in the supply kit. We would have to be careful not to waste the fuel, but it should at least get us to land where we would be able to build a fire to cook with.
"You are a woman of many talents," I said appreciatively as we ate our fill, unfortunately we could not drink our fill as the water we had needed to be rationed out very carefully.
“You're kind of a tough nut to crack Denna," I commented playfully as she grew silent.
She shifted uncomfortably and I put my arm around her to offer comfort. “I know I don't really socialize very well. It's nothing personal, I'm just a quiet person who likes her privacy. It's hard trying to open up when I've been so closed off for such a long time. I usually prefer my own company and I’ve never really felt the need for a man in my life. The men I've experienced have all been like Jack and they just can't handle my independence or my indifference…but you are…a very different kind of man,” she added carefully.
I could relate to her feelings, I was accustomed to a solitary lifestyle and I also preferred it that way. I didn't have to answer to anyone and I could do what I wanted, when I wanted. However, it wasn't healthy to ostracize the whole world. Perhaps we both needed to change the way we interacted with others, but at least I had my family where I wasn't certain Denna had anyone. I couldn't be certain, but I felt that Denna had some demons of her own that she was dealing with, especially towards men. It wasn't the time or the place to start questioning her, and I knew she would tell me in her own good time.
“What Jack did," she began tearfully. "Well, that's not the first time that's happened to me. This time I got away…thanks to you, but the first time…” she gasped for air as she spoke, obviously struggling to tell me the awful details of her past.
I rested my hand on her arm, “You don't have to talk about it you know, not yet.”
Denna's face relaxed, “I don't mind talking about it, there's not that much to tell really. I was raped for the first time not long after my father died. I was only thirteen and he was a boy who lived next door. I thought he was my friend, but he was brutal and it happened repeatedly for over a year. He would climb in through my window and do whatever he wanted, and my mother didn't believe me when I told her even though I know she could hear me screaming and she could see the bruises. When he grew tired of me, he started passing me around to his friends and their fathers, but he charged them for it. It was impossible to hide it from my mother, but her only course of action was to put me on birth control. As soon as I was able to support myself, I ran away and never looked back, but I'm afraid I left my sister to the same fate."
As I listened, I held her close, the bile rising in my throat threatening to overwhelm me, but I knew she needed to get it all out and she didn't need me to tell her it was all going to be okay.
"It's not a big deal anymore, although it was at the time. I've learned to cope with it and it's something I've used to make me stronger. Unfortunately, my experience with sex is limited to rape. I've never felt the need to have real intimacy with a man-- until now." She flushed as she rushed on. "When Jack attacked me like that, it just took me back to the days when I was so helpless. I have too many unpleasant memories in my past, but that's all they are now, memories. Jack didn't succeed in his attempts and I am no longer a victim like I was back then. He didn't hurt me…I'm not damaged and I won't let him or his actions affect what is happening between us. He is a bastard and he got what he deserved."
For the first time throughout her startling revelation, she turned to face me and from out of nowhere, I leaned forward and kissed her, drawing her closer to me. I wanted so badly to erase all of those bad memories, I didn't think about my actions being predatory, but it startled me when I realized what I'd done. I half expected her to slap my face, but she didn't. In fact, the expression on her face was gentle and slightly flushed. How could I have done that knowing wha
t she'd just revealed to me? I was someone she trusted and here I was doing the same thing her attackers had.
“I'm so sorry, I don't know what I was thinking," I said, completely horrified as I faltered, which seemed to amuse Denna all the more.
"You are nothing like them Seth," she said carefully, placing her hands on either side of my face. "You are the most gentle, caring man I have ever known and I have never felt safer in my life, despite our current circumstances."
Before I could embarrass myself any further, I smiled and changed the subject. “Alright then, what's our plan for today?”
Denna laughed, “Try not to bake in the sun?” I was relieved by her laughter and appreciated her attitude.
The first thing I did was rig up some shade for us with the canvas she'd used to keep me warm while I was out cold. It wasn't exactly hot, the temperature was actually quite comfortable, but we could easily succumb to the sun without even realizing it if we weren't careful.
The second thing I wanted to do was check out the map in the survival kit. I needed to figure out a general idea of where we were, based on the location I knew us to be when we had to abandon the Amber Rose. From there I made a few educated guesses as to our current location. Most likely we were not far from mainland Alaska, but unfortunately that part of the state was mostly wilderness and wouldn't help us, but the closer we drifted to the outlying islands, the better chance we had to stumble upon a fishing village. We'd still have to wait for someone to come and rescue us because the villages would be deserted this time of year, but surely we wouldn't have to wait too long once my mother had realized we were late returning. We only needed to catch sight of a search plane flying overhead, shoot off our flares and wait for rescue.
Hesitantly I took a few grateful sips of our precious supply of water and I watched as Denna did the same. It was torture, knowing we easily had a few gallons of water on board, but we had to make it last as long as we could. There was no way of knowing if we made land that fresh water would be readily available to us.
Denna and I talked all afternoon, taking turns scanning the horizon for the sight of land. We fell into a comfortable routine as we got to know each other better and I was amazed by this woman. How she could maintain such a positive attitude after the hell she'd been through was humbling. She laughed and joked, and made this experience far more enjoyable than it would have been otherwise.
After hearing the painful events of her past, I wanted to share some of myself with her as well. I told her more about my life with Amber, even revealing the events of her own near rape with Trey when she was just a girl. I think she felt a sense of justice when I told her he was still rotting in prison for taking her life with his careless actions. I went on to tell her about losing my dad only two months later and how I poured my grief into restoring the Amber Rose with my own hands. When I talked about my son, I know my smile told her more than my words could and I worried what it would do to Will if I didn't return. She must have read my thoughts because she assured me we would make it home and she promised to cook dinner for Will and me so we could all get to know each other.
Despite our jovial attitudes on the surface, there was a desperate heat between us. Our eyes would momentarily meet and I would feel a quick burst of excitement in the pit of my stomach. It struck me by surprise, but it was a pleasant surprise, one that I'd not experienced in a very long time, by the twinkle I noticed in Denna's eyes, she felt the same.
Watching her in such close quarters, I wanted to kiss her again, but I was fighting myself thinking she couldn't possibly be ready for anything physical with the terrible past experiences she'd had with men. I thought about it more and more throughout the day, in fact, most of my day was consumed with thoughts of Denna. She was a mystery, a challenge in some ways but that wasn't really what it was about for me. I knew there were some barriers to clamber over and it would probably take some time but I was willing to be patient, it had been a long time for me as well, and I wasn't used to sharing my thoughts and experiences with anyone either. We had all the time in the world. In some kind of strange way, what had happened and how we'd ended up together was surely going to be a great test for us in the long term. Surely this experience had driven us further along than we would have been had everything gone according to plan.
I found myself wondering what would have happened if Jack has been the well-behaved cowboy I expected. Would Denna have ever opened up to me on our trip? Probably not. I felt a pang of sadness at the thought that we might have had an uneventful trip, never having gotten comfortable with each other before we returned home where she would have walked right out of my life without ever knowing what we could have had. In some perverse way I had to thank Jack for the trouble he had caused, although I could have done without the storm, the lightning and the shipwreck on top of the Jack drama.
Momentarily my mind flicked back to Jack, I never spoke ill of the dead and certainly wouldn't wish that kind of death on anyone but the bastard had deserved to meet his maker, not just because of what he'd tried to do to Denna but I was relatively certain he was a danger to any woman he might encounter. He was a rapist; surely Denna hadn't been his only victim.
"Seth! I see land!" She gasped as she perused the horizon through the binoculars. She quickly passed them to me and pointed in the distance and sure enough, I saw trees looming far ahead. We were heading right for a chain of several islands no more than a mile apart. It was nearly sunset, we wouldn't reach land before morning and we had a long cold night ahead of us.
"Let's take our shade down, have some dinner and get some sleep, we've got a long day ahead of us." I suggested. It would be a long night too. To stay warm we would have to huddle together under the canvas and the thought of Denna's body pressed against mine sounded like sweet torment.
As the last rays of the sun sank beneath the horizon, I guessed we would have our choice of islands by daylight. I was certain we would have a long morning of paddling to reach land and we would both need our rest. We huddled under our canvas blanket and I watched as Denna fell asleep. I imagined she hadn't slept much over the past few nights and I knew she was exhausted. I rested off and on, but I was worried we might somehow miss landfall sometime in the night and I spent most of the night trying to watch for trees in the dark.
I felt soft hands caressing my body as I woke to a cool breeze blowing across my face. "Wake up Seth," Denna crooned softly, "we've got work to do."
I moaned softly as she shifted beside me, her hip brushing against the erection pressing tightly against my jeans. "Sorry." I flushed, embarrassed by my reaction to her touch.
"Don't be, we'll have time for that later." She grinned wickedly. "Right now we have to choose which deserted island will be our refuge. I already know which one I want."
I sat up quickly, prepared to see land in the distance, but I was surprised to see we were within a few hundred yards of several small islands with one larger island far in the distance to the east. That would probably need to be our ultimate destination over the coming weeks. I didn't know how we would manage trekking across island after island, but for now I wouldn't mind a few nights on solid ground before tackling our next set of problems.
I studied each island carefully, taking the binoculars when she offered them. Two of the islands were obviously winter fishing villages, surely abandoned for the summer, possibly abandoned many seasons ago from the looks of the deselect ice shanties. A third island to the west showed a lot of storm debris and wreckage washed up on the beach, but the fourth island, directly in front of us was the most promising as well as the closest. The beach was clean and free of rocks in what appeared to be something of a lagoon that would offer protection from any storms that might come our way, but the thing that caught my attention was the carefully constructed shack set back into the shade of the forest down a wide path a little ways from the beach. A clear stream flowed not far from the house, offering easy access to fresh water. It looked like paradise to me after the hor
rors of the past few days. I scanned the coastline looking for boats as an indication if someone called this home, but I didn't see any, nor did I expect to find anyone here this late in the summer. It would be at least three or possibly even four months before the ice fishing traffic picked up in this area
It didn't take long to paddle ashore. We quickly dragged the boat onto the pebbled sand and we both ran for the stream to quench our thirst, steering clear of the small house in case someone was home. I doubted anyone was here but I wanted to proceed with caution.
After we had our fill of water, Denna and I tried not to be too nervous, but we hardly spoke, drowned by the anticipation and concern for our findings. We could be entering a dangerous situation; there was no indication of who or what was inside the little house. Being the gentleman that I am I felt it necessary to protect Denna but if she turned back into the woman she was when I'd first met her then I pitied the poor soul who came into contact with her, unless they were fully armed or in possession of a full set of teeth.
On the plus side, judging by the noises coming from the forest, there were plenty of birds and possibly game that would provide us with some much-needed variety in our diet. It would have been foolish to leave the boat without some kind of weapon, and I was happy to at least have the flare gun for protection, but I didn't want to risk one of our precious flares unless I absolutely had to. We had no knowledge of the inhabitants here; human or animal, so we approached the house with the utmost caution.
