Escape

by M. K. Elliott

  As she stepped out of the shower, she realized how hungry she was. It must be close to lunch time now and she hadn’t eaten breakfast. She hoped Rudy had some food in the house. It wouldn’t be much fun being trapped here with nothing to eat.

  Trapped here, with Rudy.

  She bit her lower lip in excitement. The stubborn part of her still wanted to be mad at him, still wanted him to pay for what he had put her through, but she knew she wasn’t going to make him. She wanted this.

  She wanted him.

  Lucy reached out to pull the clean towel around her and noticed a t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants sitting on top of the folded towel.

  Rudy must have snuck them in while I was in the shower, she thought with a thrill. Had he seen her in the shower? Had he watched her?

  She was sure he hadn’t—he seemed too much of a gentleman—but she wondered if she really would have minded if he had.

  The clothes hung off of her slender frame and she found she needed to hold up the pants with one hand to stop them from falling down. She walked out into the main part of the house to find Rudy in the kitchen and the scent of bacon and eggs wafting over to her.

  “Smells good.”

  At the sound of her voice, he turned around. He saw her in his clothes and smiled, “They’re a good fit,” he laughed. “You look adorable.”

  She smiled shyly and for the first time in her life she felt adorable.

  Still holding the pants in one hand she walked up to the breakfast bar and climbed up onto one of the stools. Rudy slid a cup of steaming coffee in front of her.

  She saw the mug and nearly fainted with pleasure. “Oh my god, I could practically kiss you right now!”

  The words were out of her mouth before she even thought about them, and their eyes connected. Lucy glanced away, heat coloring her cheeks.

  They ate in near silence, smiling at each other shyly, listening to the sounds of the storm as it raged outside, doing its best to tear up the island.

  “Thank you so much,” she said, clearing her plate. “I needed that.”

  She took a gulp from her cooling coffee and chased it down with a glass of water. She felt like a new person and even the sound of the storm couldn’t bring her down. The only thing bothering her was the constant worry that Rudy was not who he made out to be, and this whole thing was a ploy to get her into bed. She didn’t have any right to question him—she was hardly being honest with him herself—but her big mouth just couldn’t help itself.

  “I saw you with a girl from the dive last night,” she blurted. “You were drinking with her.”

  He frowned in genuine confusion and then his face cleared as he remembered. “She bought me a beer to say thank you for getting them back safely. She just got married out here and most of her wedding party were on that boat.”

  “If that’s true, why didn’t you come up to the room and find me?”

  He frowned. “I did, Lucy. I came up the first chance I got—first thing this morning—but you had already gone.”

  “You could have come up last night.” She didn’t like the annoying whine affecting her voice, but somehow she couldn’t get herself to stop.

  His eyes narrowed and she could see she had pushed him too far.

  “I didn’t have time, I had more important things to deal with.” He realized something. “Anyway, if you saw me in the bar, then you were there, but you never came over to see me. I was late, but you were the one who stood me up.”

  “I didn’t stand you up! I was there waiting for you like an idiot for an hour.”

  “But I asked Rachel and she said she hadn’t seen you.”

  “Of course she saw me. I even asked her if she knew where you were. She told me you were around somewhere and never said anything about the storm.

  “That’s strange,” he said. “She must have forgotten.”

  Lucy snorted her disbelief.

  “For God’s sake, Lucy. What more do you want? Don’t you think you need to start trusting people?”

  She looked at him, astonished. “I trust people!”

  “Sure you do.”

  They stared at each other, the atmosphere as charged as the air outside. Suddenly, he stood up, his stool clattering to the ground, and took two long strides over to her. He pulled her off her stool and kissed her.

  His mouth crushed hers with a passion that was almost fierce. This time she couldn’t stop herself kissing him back, tasting the faint hint of coffee on his lips, wanting to drown in him. His tongue brushed her lips, seeking permission to enter. She opened her mouth to him, melting against the solid muscle of his body, feeling the heat of his skin through her thin t-shirt. His hand slipped beneath her shirt, his fingers radiating the base of her spine, pressing her against him. His other hand was in her hair and she gasped as his lips left her mouth and he gently pulled her head to one side, his mouth tracing kisses down her throat.

  But still his words rang in her ears; Don’t you think you need to start trusting people...

  “I have a boyfriend,” she gasped as he kissed her.

  Rudy pulled away, his eyes seeking hers. “Do you love him?”

  She wanted to cry. “I can’t love him anymore. Not now that I’ve met you.”

  He pressed his hot lips against her forehead, holding her against him.

  “Oh Lucy,” he breathed. “Let me show you how I feel about you.”

  Rudy scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed, gently laying her down on top of its soft duvet. Kneeling above her, he reached down and pulled the oversized t-shirt up over her head, exposing her naked breasts. Rudy stared at her, as if trying to memorize the moment. Then he bent his head, taking her puckered nipple in his mouth, sucking it gently as she gasped above him, her hand against the back of his head.

  He was hard with want, pressing up against her thigh, and now it was her turn to tug his t-shirt off, pulling the material over his head. His stomach was ridged with muscle, and she stroked the swell of his biceps as he held himself above her. She traced the lines of his muscles, the tanned skin, feeling him hard against her.

  “You’re perfect,” she whispered.

  He bent down and kissed her, long and deep. His hand ran down the length of her body, his need still pressed up against her.

  “Is this okay?” he asked, his fingers paused at the waistband of the oversized sweatpants.

  “Absolutely.” For a moment she wished she wore a slightly sexier outfit, but then Rudy pulled the sweats off so quickly, leaving her wearing only her panties, and she realized it didn’t matter what the hell she was wearing. Rudy clearly didn’t have any intention of keeping her clothed for very long.

  His kisses trailed down her body, his lips soft and firm against her flesh. He traced his way across the shallow dip of her belly. Then his mouth was on her, his breath hot through the flimsy material of her panties. She groaned as his tongue probed against her sex, and he pulled the wisp of material away, and pushed his tongue deep inside her. Her fists balled the bed sheets either side of her head, lost in the flow of pleasure coursing through her body.

  Just as she was on the brink, he pulled away from her and rose up her body. His mouth found hers again and she could taste herself on his lips. Now it was his hand he used to work her, slicking her moisture up over her most sensitive nub and she gasped again. Gently, he pushed a finger insider her and she clung to his shoulders, her mind swimming with pleasure.

  Rudy kicked off the remainder of his own clothes and her hand found his hard length, her fingers circling him.

  “Wait,” she whispered. “I don’t...have anything.”

  He grinned down at her and quickly leaned across the bed, pulling open the drawer on his bedside table and pulling out a condom. He ripped the wrapper with his teeth and deftly sheathed himself.

  “There,” he said, kissing her again. “All better.”

  He slipped his hand back up her body, pinning her wrists to the bed, and shifted his position, probing her.
There was just the briefest moment of resistance before he pushed inside her and her head swam. Her fingers laced with his as he thrust inside her, both their orgasms close now. She held onto him as though he could save her, as though he could anchor her in the wave of pleasure in which she was drowning.

  He jerked inside of her, losing his rhythm as he came, and she clung to him, her own orgasm powering through her body.

  Exhausted and panting, they curled up within each other’s arms, certain the comfort of each other was enough to protect them from the storm.

  The storm continued to rage for the rest of the day.

  Outside, the wind battered against the glass, shaking the huge floor to ceiling windows in their frames. In the distance, something crashed, and there was a strange skittering sound as the wind dragged whatever it was along the ground.

  Rudy was distanced from the storm, barely noticing it, caught up in the little bubble he and Lucy had created.

  He could barely believe he had this beautiful, intelligent, (if slightly crazy), woman in bed with him. He couldn’t stop himself touching her skin, running his fingers down the impossible length of her limbs. After they made love, she had fallen asleep in his arms, exhausted by the antics of the day, and now her hair lay like a silk sheet across his shoulder.

  Guilt bubbled beneath his post-coital glow. He had told her to trust people, yet he was the one who hadn’t trusted her enough to tell her the whole truth.

  It wasn’t as though he had cheated on her, or even lied to her. He’d simply omitted the truth.

  But hadn’t she done the same?

  He thought about her sudden revelation about the boyfriend back home. He couldn’t pretend the news didn’t worry him. He didn’t want this to just be another casual fling and it hurt him to know that when she got on the plane to go back home, she would be going back to another man. It didn’t matter that she said she couldn’t love him anymore. Once she was away from this place and went back to her old life, the memories would quickly fade and she would go back to what she knew.

  Lucy shifted in his arms and exhaled a slow, steady breath. Rudy brushed his lips against her hair, inhaling her scent. She had used his shampoo in the shower and he felt good to smell the scent, as though some little part of him had been left on her.

  This storm was one of the worst he had experienced on the island. The damage he’d seen at the resort earlier already had him worried. He didn’t even dare think what damage would be caused by the time the storm ended. One comfort: as long as the storm raged, he had Lucy all to himself. He hadn’t asked her yet if she still planned to go home, once she was able to get off the island, because he hadn’t wanted to hear the answer. Obviously, if her father was really sick, then she didn’t have much of a choice. But if there was any chance she was leaving because she thought he had stood her up, then he would do his best to talk her out of it.

  Carefully, he slid his arm out from beneath Lucy’s head. She curled up on her side beneath the white sheet, looking much younger than she did when she was awake.

  Rudy walked over to his desk in the corner of the area he used as his living room and sat down at his computer. It was getting late now, and though he did not have a landline, he was still able to hook up to the internet via a mobile link to the satellite.

  He checked the forecast and frowned. The storm was supposed to get worse during the night. He hoped his little house would hold up. The place had been specially built with reinforced foundations and shatter-proof glass, but nothing was immune to these sorts of storms. Even more worrying was the resort. Thankfully, all of the guest rooms were up high, but the bar and restaurant could easily be washed away, as could the beach.

  Hearing Lucy stir, he twisted around on his chair to see her pushing herself to sitting. She smiled sleepily at him and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand like a child.

  “How long have I been asleep for?” she asked. “You should have woken me.”

  “Don’t be silly, you obviously needed to rest. All that wandering around the island must have worn you out.” Then he remembered something he meant to ask her. “Who took you to port anyway?”

  Lucy frowned, trying to remember the boy’s name. “Yan?” she said. “Or was it Yong?”

  “Yang?” Rudy said, and Lucy nodded. “The idiot. He should have known better.”

  He was furious with Yang for not only taking her to the port, but abandoning her there as well. What the hell had he been thinking?

  “It wasn’t his fault,” she said, reading his thoughts. “I was a bitch to him. I don’t blame him for leaving me there. I would have done the same thing.”

  That wasn’t good enough for Rudy, but he would have to deal with Yang later.

  “And what about you,” he dared to ask, crossing the room to slide back into bed with her. “Are you still planning to go home after the storm is over?”

  Lucy groaned and buried her face in her hands. “I don’t know. I feel as if I should because my mother will be worried, even though my dad’s illness isn’t exactly life threatening, but I don’t want to, not now.”

  “So your decision to leave was partly because of me?” he said, teasing her.

  She jabbed an elbow in his ribs. “Yeah, alright. Maybe a bit, but don’t go getting all big headed on me.”

  He grinned, “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

  Rudy pulled Lucy in closer and she nuzzled in under his chin, her lips touching his throat.

  “I don’t think I even want to go back,” she said against his skin, unable to hide the sadness in her voice. “I’ve built a life in London only to turn around one day and find that it’s not the life I wanted.”

  “But what about your job? What about being a doctor?”

  Lucy sighed. “I still want to be a doctor. I like being able to help people, but I just don’t know if I can do it in London. The thing is, if I don’t work there, where do I go? My life is in London.”

  Rudy felt for her.

  “You’re a great doctor,” he said. “Even I can see that. What is it they say—when all around you are losing their heads? You were the only one who stayed calm when Leanne had that accident.”

  She smiled against him. “I love being a doctor. I love being an emergency doctor. It’s just that I can’t seem to figure out how to detach myself from all the awful things I see every day. I never thought they would affect me so much.”

  “Just because you are a doctor, doesn’t automatically stop you being human, Lucy.”

  “I know that, it’s just...” she hesitated.

  “What is it?”

  “Something happened the week before I made the sudden decision to up and leave. I was working and it was a regular night, but then this young boy—he was twelve—was carried in by his older brother. The boy had a knife buried in his stomach.”

  “Oh, Lucy, that’s awful.”

  “Yeah, it is. The boy got caught up in some gang related violence, the same gang his brother—who was only fourteen—was involved in.” She sighed, her body tense beneath his arm. “But that wasn’t the reason I left.”

  “No?” he said, wondering what could possibly be worse.

  She hesitated again, “While I was treating the boy, I thought to myself, what’s the point? This kid is only going to grow up to be exactly like his older brother, get into his own gang and go around terrorizing people. It probably wouldn’t be the last time we’d see him in the Emergency Room with some kind of violent injury. And then, even if he did manage to survive into adulthood, what would he ever give to society? I thought he’d only end up having kids who were exactly like him.”

  “I don’t know what to say,” he said. “Many people in your situation would think exactly the same thing.”

  “Yeah, maybe, but those thoughts didn’t sound like me. All of a sudden, I found myself being hard and cynical—as if I’d discovered a dark part of myself—and I didn’t like it. That’s why I left. I left because I didn’t like the person I was becomin
g.”

  She slipped her hand across his waist, enjoying the feel of his hard body beneath her hand, and hugged him closer. They fit perfectly, their bodies slotting in together. In front of them, the floor to ceiling windows gave them their own private performance of the storm. The sky was dark, thick and heavy with cloud. Tree branches lashed around them.

  An aerial clattered and clanged on the top of the house, torn loose from its metal bracket. A gate swung in the wind, slamming as though some angry ghost had hold of it. The whole time, the wind howled and shrieked. Something unseen squeaked relentlessly.

  At five-fifteen the power went out.

  “Oh shit,” said Lucy. “Is it going to come back on?”

  Rudy frowned. “I doubt it. The cables run below ground, so something must have happened. Don’t worry, I’ve got candles and I guess we’ll just have to make our own entertainment.”

  She reached out and pulled him toward her, kissing him again.

  “I think I can live with that.”

  But despite her bravado, she couldn’t hide the nerves beneath her voice and Rudy broke away from her.

  “Just let me get the candles. Things will look better with some light.”

  Quickly, he ran around the small house, pulling open cupboards and drawers, gathering together a motley assortment of candles. As soon as he had them set up—on the dresser, the floor, his desk—the place was filled with a romantic, flickering light.

  He climbed back into bed with her and they snuggled down under the covers, face to face.

  “That’s better,” she said. “I can see you now.”

  He pulled her against him, and she felt him stir against her.

  “Ready to go again?” she said, with a cheeky grin.

  “You bet.”

  Slowly and sweetly, they made love again, taking their time this time, learning every inch of each other’s skin. When they finally fell apart, sated and sweaty, Lucy curled up into the crook of his arm, her head on his chest. Hearing the steady thump of his heart, she closed her eyes.