CHAPTER 4
Saric arrived on the beach for the evening meal and was surprised to see Duran already there. His eyebrows rose; it was unusual to see Duran working with others like this.
He wouldn’t tell it to his mate’s face, but Duran was completely anti-social. Usually he kept to himself and his fishing crew, but not tonight. Tonight he was helping wherever he could. Saric watched as he helped set up picnic tables (usually used by the older residents), and laid out large blankets for others to sit on.
Saric shrugged off his mate’s out-of-character behavior, and scanned the growing crowd. His eyes immediately fell to Adi. She wore her work clothes, and had her hair in a high bun to keep it out of the way while she molded dough into loaves. She worked quickly, efficiently, and not without skill.
Seeing her was a pleasant torture. The last few weeks spent away from her had been difficult; he longed to be near her… even for something as innocuous as an evening meal. But, he and Duran always ate with Duran’s crew of fishermen and their friends and/or family. How could he strategically maneuver himself closer to her?
His answer same when he saw Bilal, Ian, and Lauren getting into line for food. He headed their way. If he wanted to spend more time around Adrianna, they were a perfect catalyst for that.
“Evening, Saric,” Bilal greeted when he neared. Saric inclined his head in respect towards the higher-ranking Arathian, and stepped into line behind the trio.
“Good evening, Bilal. Ian, Lauren.” Saric inclined his head to Bilal’s mates.
Ian offered him a genuine smile, while Lauren’s was a bit forced. He tried to not let that bother him. Lauren and Adrianna were as close as sisters, so she knew what had transpired between them, and obviously still held onto some of her ire. He didn’t blame her. It actually showed highly on Lauren that she was still protecting her friend. Loyalty—he could respect that.
“How was the catch for you today?” Saric asked the males. Bilal had been working on Ian’s sailboat as a freediver ever since they’d begun their relationship.
“Not as good as your mate’s!” Ian exclaimed, and reached to pat him hard on the back. “We heard about Duran catching an eel-shark today.”
“Yeah, I’m sure he was excited about it,” Saric replied with a smile. There weren’t a lot of things Duran got excited about, but succeeding at his job was one of them.
“We haven’t had one of those in… what?… over a year?” Bilal asked.
“It was about eleven months ago,” Ian replied as he took plates from the pile and handed them to each of his mates. “They only come this close to shore about once a year when the currents shift.”
“Are they dangerous?” Lauren asked with concern in her voice.
“Only if they sink their teeth into you,” Ian retorted in jest.
Lauren blanched, and Ian leaned to give her a loud kiss on her cheek. She wasn’t placated. Saric didn’t blame her; her mates spent their days dividing deep into the ocean to gather the creatures at the bottom. There was plenty of time for them to become prey, instead of predators.
“Don’t worry, kitten,” Ian reassured her. “Bilal and I dive together, and won’t let anything happen to each other.”
“You’d better not,” she grumbled unhappily.
They moved down the line, and Saric snagged a plate for himself. He quickly scooped some eel shark, a couple skewers of vegetables, and a roll onto his plate, eager to keep up with the trio. He was hoping that if he continued to engage them in conversation, it’d be natural for him to sit with them at dinner.
Saric fully admitted that his motives weren’t exactly innocent that evening; Adrianna always sat with them at dinner, and he was hoping to sit nearby. Even being in the same social group for a meal was progress.
“Too bad ventecrabs aren’t in season any longer,” he remarked to the other males.
Ian groaned. “Right?! I could eat those all year long!”
“They moved south to stay ahead of the colder ocean currents we get this time of year,” Bilal remarked as they walked. Saric kept up with them.
“What’s coming into season then?” he asked.
“Urchins,” Ian answered. Saric remembered them from previous years. They were delicious, but could be dangerous if anyone was stung.
“You taking extra precautions with those?” Saric inquired, genuinely interested.
“Yeah, of course,” Ian answered. “We use those special tongs you replicated for us two years ago.”
“That’s right,” Saric replied. He remembered designing the specialized tool for the freedivers after one of them had come back to shore after being stung. His hand had been triple its natural size. Doc Maggie had been forced to drain the excess fluid from it with a huge needle. Saric wasn’t squeamish, but even he’d had a hard time watching that.
They arrived at the freedivers’ usual eating area, and Ian invited him to sit.
“Thanks,” Saric replied as he sat carefully. Bilal courteously took Lauren’s plate from her before she settled onto the mat, then handed it back to her, reducing the risk of spillage.
“How has the replicator been functioning lately?” Bilal asked as he sat beside his mates, and they all began to dig into their meal.
Saric went into detail about rations, usage, and the repairs he’d made lately around the colony. Bilal asked a lot of questions; he was genuinely interested to know how it was going, since he was going to be taking over the mayorship when Rex left for Arath. Hopefully, the ship that took him and the others to the planet would be one person less: Adi. Since he and Duran had talked, Saric had more reason than ever to think positively.
As he conversed with Bilal, he couldn’t help but notice Adi and Kaitie make their way towards them with their dinner. They sat across the large blanket from him and the trio, but Saric didn’t mind. Her position allowed him to watch her.
Shortly after, Duran joined him. He nodded in greeting to the others, and handed Saric a bottle of water, which he’d forgotten in his haste to keep up with Bilal, Ian, and Lauren. He smiled in gratitude at his mate, loving that he was always looking out for him, and continued his conversation.
After she finished eating, Lauren got up from her place and joined the other females. Saric noted how Adi’s face lit up when her friend sat at their side. The three bent their heads and began talking together quietly. He was extremely curious as to what they were saying, but couldn’t quite hear over the surrounding conversations. The other freedivers were sitting together at the other end of the blanket, and were loudly retelling a story about the catch that day.
One freediver’s voice rose louder than anyone’s: Sam.
“I can’t imagine ever leaving this place, unlike Kaitie who can’t wait to get offworld.”
The last part was said louder than the rest—an obvious attempt to get a rise out of Kaitie. She took the bait, as Saric was sure Sam intended. Her blonde head snapped up, and she glared at Sam.
“Some of us aspire to do more than treat our lives like a tropical vacation,” she retaliated. Sam laughed.
“Says the woman who spends her time with her head in the clouds.” Kaitie’s eye narrowed as her glare intensified.
“Climbing takes skill and stamina. It’s certainly better than sunning myself on a boat all damn day, like a lizard. How’s the tan coming, Sam? Is your skin nice and leathery yet?”
“My tan’s great, thanks for asking,” he retorted. “Even my ass has been kissed by the sun. Wanna see it later?” A few people laughed, but she just scoffed.
“Show me your bare ass and I’ll do a hell of a lot worse than kiss it.” Everyone else laughed, while Duran leaned his head close to Saric.
“I thought they were intimate with one another?” he whispered.
“They were,” Saric replied low, only for Duran’s ears. “But I think he’s mad that she’s leaving for Arath.”
“So he’s antagonizing her?”
Saric shrugged. “Who knows why some Earthers d
o what they do.”
The two still weren’t done baiting each other. Sam’s voice rang over their small group.
“I know Kaitie’s just about bursting at the seams to leave, but what about you, Adrianna? Are you just as excited? You’re going to have to continue to put up with that one.” He pointed his fork at Kaitie, and she glared at him. If looks could kill, Sam would be a puddle at her feet.
“I…” Adi didn’t finish her reply. Her eyes shot from Sam to Saric, then back. He could sense her unease and was about to step in for her, but Kaitie beat him to it.
“That’s none of your damn business,” she told Sam. “You just worry about yourself and your harem.” She pointedly looked at the other freedivers sitting around Sam, and everyone got her meaning. The others laughed—Sam didn’t.
Conversation resumed naturally. Sam did a male version of a pout, while Kaitie and Lauren talked and laughed. Adi sat quietly, listening, and smiling occasionally, but Saric could tell that Sam’s comment had turned her more contemplative than usual.
He wanted to go over and whisk her away with some lame excuse. He wanted to take her and Duran back to their cabin, and spend the evening with just the three of them. He wanted a lot of things that weren’t going to happen that night.
Maybe soon, he told himself. Duran promised that he’d try, and I have to have faith in him.
The thought was the only thing keeping him in his seat the rest of the meal.
After most people were done eating, thunder rumbled over the colony, the accompanying lighting flashing on the ocean to the west. A storm was moving in, so everyone helped to gather the supplies from dinner and move them under cover. The clouds coming their way were fairly ominous, so Saric wasn’t surprised when the patter of rain began to fall. Thankfully, they’d managed to get everything secured before then.
When they were finished, he looked up to see Adi throwing him a small wave before heading home with Kaitie. Saric was a little embarrassed at how the small gesture warmed his heart.
*****
Adrianna excitedly headed back towards the colony after a fruitful morning of gathering. The recent rain storm and high tide had created the perfect conditions for rare mushroom-like edibles to begin blooming in the far eastern jungle, just as they had previously at this time of year. That morning, she’d hiked east, and was delighted to see large patches of them growing amongst a grove of trees. The hovercrate that now followed her was overflowing with them. The delicacies only sprouted a few times a year, so finding them was always a challenge.
The best part was that there were even more where she’d been picking! All she needed to do was walk back to the shed where the gatherers kept their gear, and exchange the full hovercrate for an empty one. At least the terrain was downhill as she walked west.
It was the middle of the afternoon, so the other gatherers were all out in the jungle, working to fill their own crates. She didn’t spy anyone as she walked closer, and was so excited to head back out into the jungle that she didn’t notice the prone person on the roof of the shed.
“Afternoon, Adi!” a voice called.
She jumped back, startled at the suddenness of the voice, a hand going to her chest as her heart leapt. On the roof of the shed was Saric. He had tools in his hand, and had apparently been working on the solar panels that charged the hovercrates when they were attached to their dock.
“I’m sorry!” he quickly told her. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s alright,” she consoled, but her pulse still hammered as adrenaline coursed through her. “I just didn’t see you up there.”
“You looked pretty lost in thought.”
He got up from his prone position, dusted off his hands on his pants, and leapt from the roof of the building. Adi gave another little start, but he landed on his feet with a heavy knee-bend. It was far more graceful than she expected from a male his size, and caused a flutter of appreciation. An unwanted flutter.
Damn it! She silently cursed herself for still feeling giddy and enamored when he was near, but she couldn’t help it. He was just so… tempting, especially today. All that muscle encased in a dark blue t-shirt, his skin slightly sweaty from the sunshine, his hair disheveled and hanging in his eyes ever so slightly. His green eyes fixated on her with a familiar intensity that she’d missed. And then there was his voice…
“It’s good to see you,” he greeted with a smile. It was infectious, and she couldn’t help but reciprocate with a smile of her own.
There was an awkward moment of silence before she asked, “What were you doing up there?”
“One of the solar panels went out, so I’m trying to fix it before I’m forced to replicate a whole new one.”
She nodded, knowing that he was the male to go to when anything electronic wasn’t working properly. He worked miracles on anything with wires and circuits.
“Are you having any luck?” she asked.
“I sure am. Should have it good as new in another hour or so.” His eyes went to her overflowing hovercrate waiting behind her. He whistled low. “Wow. Did you pick all of these?”
She smiled. “Yes, I found a large patch that sprouted after the last full moons and the rainy weather we’ve been having.”
He walked over to the crate to get a better look.
“They’re my favorite.”
“I know,” Adi replied softly.
She was proud of herself for keeping the tone of the words lighter than she felt. She didn’t want to know that about him; she wanted to forget that he liked them best pureed in a creamy soup, with a roll on the side smothered in butter.
His expression fell slightly at her words, so apparently she hadn’t hidden her tone as well as she’d thought. He stepped towards her, and stopped a foot away—closer than they’d been in months. The air began to crackle between them, and her breath caught at the intensity in his eyes.
What is he going to do? She couldn’t move, and felt like she’d die if she didn’t find out.
Slowly he raised a hand, and trailed a single finger down her cheek, his eyes following the movement.
“Adi,” he breathed.
“Yes?”
She felt like she was in a trace. He must have been too, because he kept leaning down towards her, as if to kiss her. Please, she thought. Please kiss me.
Even if nothing ever came of it, she wanted to know what Saric’s lips felt like on hers. She’d fantasized about the touch for as long as she’d known him. Even if he broke her heart all over again—and she was sure he would—it would be worth it to feel the touch… Just once. Such a masochist she’d become.
I shouldn’t let him do this! a corner of her mind shouted. Adi consciously ignored that corner (it was probably her self-preservation trying to save her) and held very still, barely breathing, while Saric shifted nearer to her.
She couldn’t seem to muster the will to retreat; she’d missed him—missed even being in his presence. She hadn’t thought to be alone with him ever again, and now here he was, lowering his head. His thumb glided across her lower lip, and her mouth parted slightly, unconsciously inviting him. His eyes moved to her lips. For a second, he paused, and she held her breath, praying that he’d continue, that he wouldn’t suddenly realize that this was a mistake and pull away from her.
He didn’t pull away. He closed the last few inches separating their lips, and Adi sent up a silent thank you to whomever was listening as their lips met.
Saric was gentle at first. He moved his lips slowly, reverently, along hers. She leaned into him when her head went foggy, and braced her hands on his chest to steady herself. His breath caught at her touch.
Emboldened, she ran her palms up his chest, over his shoulders, one hand onto his neck, the other in his hair. She pulled him slightly to increase the pressure of the kiss, causing him to groan. His hands came up; one anchored at the base of her spine, the other threaded into her long hair, and brought her more fully against him.
She moane
d at the sensation of his body against hers. He was solid, his hands were urgent, and he began taking her mouth aggressively, as if this was what he’d wanted all along. She actually felt his need, his pent-up arousal for her, through their touch.
He licked the seam of her lips, and she opened on an inhale. His tongue met hers, sending a spark of arousal through her body.
She’d imagined kissing Saric so many times (more than she could count), but her imagination hadn’t been able to conjure his intensity, nor the feeling of him.
Adrianna ran her hands over the planes of his chest, shoulders, arms, his head… wherever she could reach while still in the confines of his embrace. Her touch seemed to fuel his passion. His hands began moving up and down her back, and over her hips.
He finally pulled back to let them catch their breath, cupping her face with his palm, but she worried that he would pull away from her completely. She didn’t think she could stand it if he walked away as if nothing had happened—as if he hadn’t just rocked the very ground beneath her feet with his kiss.
She gripped his shirt, their heavy breathing mingling in the scant inch separating their lips. Passion crackled in the air between them while they caught their breaths.
He smiled warmly at her, and she knew he wasn’t going to run. Not yet, anyway.
“Were you saying something about the mushrooms before I interrupted you?” he asked.
“I don’t remember,” she told him honestly. “I can barely remember my own name.” He stroked his thumb along her cheek.
“Me either,” he whispered.
She closed her eyes and tried to commit everything to memory. The feeling of his hands on her, the texture of his hair and the solidness of his muscles, the smell of the jungle mixed with his natural scent, enhanced because of his time spent outside in the sun… the taste of him still on her tongue. She wanted to be able to hold onto this moment, and relive it over and over again.
Tropical Temptation Page 4
