by Lily Harlem
“Really?” Evan frowned and smoothed his hair back from his brow. He held it there and scanned the horizon. “I don’t see it.”
“It was there, damn it.” Harry clicked off the static noise from the radio. “Mayday. Mayday. Come in.”
Olivia held her breath. Praying for a voice to come through the crackling.
It didn’t.
“Get a flare,” Harry said. “Quick.”
Raul dashed off.
“They won’t see that.” Evan shook his head. “Not if they’ve gone from our sight.”
“They might if it goes over the height of the rock Olivia and I just climbed,” Harry replied.
“So it was going west?” Evan said.
“Yes.” Harry nodded.
“So why would they be looking behind themselves? Those boats run on a skeleton crew. Likely there’s only a couple of guys on shift at the bridge. They’ll be watching the way they’re going, not where they’ve been.”
“It’s worth a try.” Harry leaned past Evan. “Fire it off, Raul. Go. Quick.”
“It’s a waste of a damn flare,” Evan snapped, slamming his hands on his hips.
“I don’t think it is.” Harry frowned.
A sudden hiss sung through the air. Then like a small rocket the flare shot into the blue sky.
It burned bright for several seconds, then the orange flame faded and it plopped into the ocean with its trail of dusty gray smoke following it.
“Fat lot of good that’s going to do,” Evan said. “It barely breached that damn cliff.”
“But it did, a bit.” Harry scowled harder at Evan.
“If they’ve seen that, I’ll eat my fucking hat.” Evan tutted.
“You haven’t got a hat.” Harry stepped up to him. He puffed up his chest and mimicked Evan’s stance by jabbing his hands onto his hips.
“Yeah, well I’ll eat that fucking raft. The whole damn thing.” Evan puffed up his chest too.
Mason and Lucas appeared, carrying the water bottles. “What’s going on?” Mason asked looking between Harry and Evan.
Lucas studied Olivia. “You okay?” he mouthed.
She nodded.
“I’ll tell you what’s going on,” Evan said. “Harry’s just wasted a goddamn flare on a boat that’s heading away from us.”
“You don’t know it was a waste. They might be turning round right now,” Harry’s voice was getting louder.
“Yeah, well where the fuck are they?” Evan jabbed his finger at the empty horizon.
“Give them time,” Harry said angrily.
“Give them time.” Evan shook his head. “What like I have to give you time to realize you’re not the fucking captain anymore.”
“Temptress was my boat. I was captain.” Harry was shouting now.
“She’s gone,” Evan shouted back. “She’s in a watery grave at the bottom of the ocean or had you forgotten that?”
“Hey, fellas,” Mason said. “Calm down.”
“Si, this not helping.” Raul hopped from one foot to the other and wrung his hands together.
“No, this whole situation isn’t helping,” Evan said. “Either Harry is in charge or I am. We can’t both be.”
“Of course you can,” Olivia said. “You both have a lot to offer. We all have.”
Evan swung his gaze to her. For a moment his expression softened, then he turned back to Harry. “Stop telling me what to do, Vidal. I can look after myself.”
“You didn’t see the ship,” Harry said. “‘Cause you were sleeping. Is that looking after yourself?”
“Sleeping because I’d sat up all night looking for a fucking boat. And what the hell were you doing that it was so far past the island when you noticed it?”
A rush of heat wound its way through Olivia. “It took us a while to get back here, after we’d seen it from the top.” She pointed at the high rock. “Which is why we need a beacon up there.”
Evan seemed to accept this.
Harry grabbed one of the bottles of water from the stash Mason and Lucas had collected. But instead of drinking it, he shoved it into his pocket and stormed off back the way he’d just come.
“Where are you going?” Olivia called.
He didn’t answer, just kept on stomping ahead, his broad shoulders swinging and his head held low.
“What are you doing, Evan?” she said, holding out her palms and turning to him. “Why are you fighting with him?”
“He wasted a flare.”
“It was good flare,” Raul said. “Nice and bright and high, si.”
“But no one would have seen it.” Evan sighed. “We only had three and they’re best used at night.”
“Si, you are right.” Raul kicked at a lump of sand.
“I know I am,” Evan said. “I’m right about a lot of things, but Harrington Vidal thinks he’s the damn captain of this island. Well he’s not. His credit cards and bank balance don’t buy him anything out here. Not to mention he’s hardly cut out for living it rough, is he?” He gestured to the camp. “No gold plated bathrooms in there. No duck feather mattresses. A definite absence of maids, butlers and porters to rush around after him—”
“Will you stop it?” Olivia walked up to him and jabbed him on his bare chest with her index finger. “You’re being mean.”
“I’m being practical.”
“No, you’re being mean. Yes, you have some great survival skills and we’re all thankful for that, but have you stopped to think, for one minute, how Harry is feeling?”
“No, because I’ve been too damn busy making sure we all have shelter and water and fire—”
“Be quiet.” She gave him a shove.
He stepped backward, surprise crossing his face.
“Harry feels like shit,” she said. “We’re all here because of him and that knowledge is flashing like a damn flare in his mind. If it wasn’t for the challenge his father set him to help him overcome grief, the loss of a friend, we wouldn’t be stuck on this island. None of us. And now he has all of our lives on his conscience. He’s bossy, taking charge, because he needs to try and take action. Find some way to get us off here, save us. Don’t you see, that’s a commendable way for him to behave, not one you should be shouting him down for.” She was on a roll. “If he was sitting in the shelter crying, then yes, kick his ass. But he’s not, he’s doing his damn hardest to be proactive.”
She pulled in a breath.
Evan opened his mouth then closed it again.
She swung her gaze to Raul, Mason and Lucas.
None of them spoke.
Chapter Twenty-One
“I’m sorry,” Evan held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I hadn’t looked at it like that, and I didn’t… you know, have any idea about his grief, about his friend.”
“Well no. Why would you?”
“Maybe I should…” He looked up the beach. “Go and…”
Harry had gone from view.
“Apologize. Yes, you should.”
“I’ll go find him.”
“No, don’t. I’ll go. I know where he’ll be.” She thought of the cave. “I think you two guys could do with some time apart, this is all pretty intense.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Evan stepped closer. He cupped her cheek and stared into her eyes. “I am sorry, to him and you.”
She melted at his touch and the regret in his eyes. “It’s okay, I just know he gets misinterpreted sometimes.”
“So go and find him.” Evan leaned forward and brushed his lips over hers. “I’m sure you’ll be able to interpret him just fine.”
She pulled in deep breath. “Okay. Mason, can I have some water, mine’s empty.” She held up her bottle.
“Sure.” He smiled and tossed her one.
It span twice in the air then she caught it. “I’ll be back soon.” She dropped her t-shirt on the rock, next to the radio.
“Be careful, Olivia,” Lucas said. He nodded at the scratch on her arm. “And clean that up.”
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She nodded at him. “I will, with this water. And I’ll stay on the track we just took, it hugs the cliff face.”
“You need a knife?” Raul asked.
Without waiting for an answer he rushed to the raft. With a flourish he unraveled his knife roll. “Mierda, where are my knives? Where they gone?” He swung his gaze around them all. “Half have gone. These are special knives. Not for hacking trees, they precision tools, the best in the trade.”
“I’ll be fine without one,” Olivia muttered, then turned and set off at a brisk pace up the beach. She didn’t want to hang around while the guys tried to explain to Raul why they’d taken his knives.
As she headed off, she guessed Harry would have gone to the cave. It was the only other place he knew apart from the camp. Though he might have stomped to the top of the rock again, to see if the container ship was turning back or to start building a beacon
But she doubted it. She had to agree with Evan. It had been a wasted flare. It was worth a try on the radio because that cost them nothing, but the flares were precious.
After a few minutes of walking on the soft white sand, she turned into the treeline. It was easy to find their route as splintered branches and trampled shrubs marked the way.
Before long the cliff face loomed in front of her and she headed west alongside it.
When she came to the vines Harry had hacked to create an opening to the cave, she paused. Her heart ached for him. He’d been through so much. Grief. Being in the spotlight constantly. And now this… shipwrecked. She hoped she could make it better for him.
“Harry,” she called.
Nothing.
“Harry?” She parted the vines and stared into the gloomy cave. “Are you in here?”
He didn’t need to answer, she could see him.
He was standing by the wall with the drawings. He had his back to her, his arms outstretched, palms on the rock and his head hanging down.
“Hey,” she said, stepping into the cooler air.
Still nothing.
“Evan is sorry,” she said. “He regrets what he said. He asked me to pass that on to you.”
“But it’s true.” He shook his head and continued to stare at the ground. “I did waste that flare.”
“Raul fired it, he thought it was a good idea too. And I didn’t stop either of you from sending it up. There’s three of us are to blame if it’s wasted. We all made the decision.”
“It is wasted. Evan’s spot on. The crew on that ship won’t be looking backward.”
She stepped closer to him. He looked so big and desolate standing there with his broad back cast in shadows. But still she reached out and rested her hand in the dip between his shoulder blades.
He snapped in a breath, and his body hitched.
“Harry,” she whispered.
He blew out the breath, as if using that to control himself.
“None of this is your fault,” she said. “We’re all adults, we all chose this.”
“I know.” His voice was quiet yet tense.
She slid her hand down the groove of his back, so it sat just above his shorts. She traced the waistband with the tip of her finger from left to right, over each of the small indents at the base of his spine.
“Olivia,” he said on an outward breath. “What are you doing?”
“I want to touch you.” She paused. “I want to make you feel better.”
He spun, suddenly, and reached for her.
The next thing she knew her back was against the cool wall and he was looming over her. A shard of sunlight caught on his face and his eyes flashed. “You really want to make me feel better?”
“Yes.” Her belly tightened, and her heart rate picked up. “I do.” There was something dangerous about Harry in this mood. The rigid set of his jaw, the way a tendon flexed beneath his cheek and the flat serious line of his lips. She trembled with a combination of lust and anticipation.
“Damn it.” He grasped her wrists and hoisted them upward, grabbed them in just one of his hands and pressed her arms into the wall.
“Harry,” she gasped as his chest pushed up against hers.
“I keep thinking,” he said, his mouth brushing her lips. “Of what we were about to do, up there.”
“On the rock?”
“Yes. Your taste, I want it. I didn’t get it. Not all of it.”
Delight gripped her. Desire and need was coming off him in waves. He filled her vision. He was all she could see. All she could feel.
“So take it,” she said, her words heavy as her breath came in short pants. “Take what you want.”
“You sure about that?” He slid his free hand down the column of her neck, to her chest and cupped her through her bikini top.
“Yes.” She clenched her internal muscles. It was as if an injection of lust had flooded her veins.
“Fuck,” he muttered then ran his hand downward, over her belly and to the juncture of her thighs. He didn’t linger, he tugged the material out of the way, nudged her right ankle to widen her legs, then slid two fingers to her pussy. He pushed in, deep, the heel of his hand catching on her clit.
“Oh, Harry…” she gasped, fisting her hands and her nails stabbing into her palms.
“Fuck, you’re hot,” he said. “And so damn tight.” He pulled out a little, then drove back in, higher this time, creating a more intense sensation in her pussy.
She groaned and her head fell back against the wall.
He stooped and kissed her neck as he repeated the action with his hand.
She surrendered and was happy to be possessed by him. He was fucking her with his fingers, his way eased by her natural lube. The scent of her arousal drifted up, and small moist noises filled the air.
The pressure was building, he was catching her clit just right, the tension in her pelvis was mounting.
“You make me forget everything,” he murmured, then placed his mouth over a new patch of skin on her neck and sucked.
She knew he was giving her a hickey, claiming her, but she didn’t care. She relished the sensation, the nip of pain. The fact she was pinned to the wall and could go nowhere—she was his captive and he was doing what he wanted—only heightened her need for more
“Oh, God,” she groaned. “Harry.”
He came up for air and stared down at her, his right shoulder shifting as he worked her pussy.
“Don’t stop,” she said, her mouth was slack and she was struggling to keep her eyes open. She was going to come.
Suddenly he stopped. He pulled out and placed his damp hand on her face, cupping her chin. “Keep the feeling there,” he said. “Hold it in.”
“No,” she wailed. “I was going to…”
“Come. I know.” He grinned. “And damn you’re a responsive little thing, aren’t you?”
“Hard not to be… with you… doing that.” She was breathless, her chest heaving against his.
“Let’s see how you cope with this then.”
He released her wrists and gripped her waist.
She dropped her arms, placed her palms on his shoulders and watched as he sank to his knees.
A small whimper escaped her lips as he pressed a kiss over her bikini bottoms. “Harry.”
“These are in my way, again,” he said, tugging at the material.
He dragged them down, then tossed them to the other side of the cave.
Olivia grasped her right breast and squeezed, needing as much sensation as she could get.
He pushed her feet farther apart then stroked over her intimate folds.
“Please,” she gasped, slotting her fingers into his hair.
“Please what?” he asked, looking up at her with a wicked glint in his eyes.
“Please, do it.” She paused. “Taste me, Harry.”
He grinned. “With pleasure.”
She had a feeling the pleasure would be all hers, and as he arrowed his tongue at her clit and rubbed over it with perfect pressure, she knew she was right.
“So sweet,” he murmured.
Her head was spinning. The hunger for him to take her further was a drug in itself.
He connected his mouth to her again and worked her with his tongue, adding fingers into her pussy at the same time.
Her spine was weak, and she locked her knees to stay standing. “Keep going… like that.” She yanked his hair and canted her hips forward.
Damn he was good with his mouth. Working the exact spot to get her climax within reach again.
Her pulse thudded in her ears. She closed her eyes. “Oh, oh… Harry.”
Again he stopped and pulled from her. He sat back, gripping her hips and keeping her pinned to the cave wall.
“No,” she wailed. “Why?”
“Because I want to feel you come around my cock,” he said, standing. A devilish grin played with his mouth as he undid his fly.
“So get your damn cock in me,” she said, clenching her fist and hammering it against his biceps.
“Don’t worry. I will.”
He scooped her up. She had no choice but to wrap her legs around his waist and cling to his shoulders.
Again she was rammed up against the rock behind her.
His mouth found hers at the same time his cock nudged into her entrance.
She shoved her tongue in to touch his and tasted her own musky flavor. A wildness had taken hold of her. It was Harry’s fault. He’d teased her, taken her to the brink then retreated. Now it was out of her control—this need for him.
He must have sensed that, because he surged into her, filling her pussy and shunting up against her clit.
She cried into his mouth. A blissful stitch of discomfort burned for a second then it was good, so good.
“Hold on to me,” he said and kissed her again. He almost withdrew, then drove back in. He repeated this, over and over. Their bodies barging into each other. He seemed to be dragging her down onto his cock as he forged up into her, increasing every sensation.
She clung to him. Her mind was bright. Her skin hot and tingling. Harry’s scent, his taste, his body had overwhelmed her.
“Ah, yes, like that, come, come,” he gasped, gripping her right buttock.
“Oh… I am…” she wailed then gave into the pressure in her clitoris. It held her on the precipice of ecstasy for a few sweeter than sweet seconds then she toppled into release.
