Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 104729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
“I-I …”
“Don’t.” I lift my hand to stop. “There is nothing you can say, so please don’t. Not now.”
She surprises me when she finally speaks. “I’m sorry.”
No words leave my mouth.
“I’m so sorry,” she says again, and this time, she raises on her tiptoes and places a kiss on my back. “It might not be the same, but I know what it is to lose your only family. To not have anyone in the world who belongs to you.”
Her words have me turning. When I’m standing in front of her, I look into her large blue eyes. Like the endless ocean, I could get lost in those eyes if I let myself, and right now, that’s exactly what I want to do. Get lost in her.
I lean down.
Our mouths meet, but unlike every time before, this isn’t rushed. This isn’t a frenzy of kisses. No, this is soft. This is me bleeding in front of her. Me finally letting go of the guilt and hurt I have felt over the years, and this is her showing me the light.
She wraps her arms around me and gently pulls me to the ground. Neither one of us even attempts to rid ourselves of our clothes. We just kiss, and somehow, it’s exactly what I need.
When I wake up the next day, we are both dressed and still lying entangled with each other.
She moves in my arms and then lifts up to see me. She looks like a goddess looking down from Heaven, and after last night, I’m not sure she isn’t. “Hi,” she whispers.
I rise and place my lips on hers.
“Morning,” I groan against her mouth. “Are you hungry?”
“Has it stopped raining?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Should we find out?”
“We should, but first, I want to do what I didn’t do last night.”
“And what pray tell is that?” she jokes.
“I want to ravish you one more time before we get to work.”
She removes her clothes and looks up with sultry eyes, spreading her legs to give me a perfect view.
She’s breathtaking, captivating, ethereal.
The need to consume courses through my veins.
A sweet elixir tempting me.
One taste will never be enough.
I don’t know how long I devour her, or how long I find peace in her body, but by the time we are both spent, I know it’s time for us to both eat food and get dressed.
We don’t talk while we nibble on fish, or when we walk out of the cave. Nor do we speak as we head back to the beach.
The landscape around us has changed since the storm. Tipped over trees. Scattered branches. The ground is soft with mud. We would never have survived this without the cave’s protection. We keep walking while I cut through the debris with my knife.
It takes longer than usual to make our way back to the lagoon where I taught her how to fish.
The weather isn’t great, and the water is choppy, but we are running out of food, so we have no choice.
Phoenix stays to the shallow parts, and I go deeper.
The sun still isn’t out. The sky is still darker than what I would like, but we should be able to leave in the next day or two.
A part of me wants to stay after last night and live in this bubble a little while longer. But it’s time to go home.
Across the water, there is a small pile of fish forming near where Phoenix stands. It’s a bigger pile than one would imagine for a newer fisherman. Impressive actually. She’s right.
She is a phoenix. It doesn’t matter what happens to her or what challenges life throws at her, she rises.
The pile of fish is a testament to that.
“You ready?” I shout from my position.
My pile isn’t large, but my catch is bigger.
“Yep!” she hollers back.
The fish are still on my stick as I walk over to her.
“Are you done for the day, or do you want to look for fruit?”
“Since we are out, we might as well. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?”
Again, she’s right.
The future isn’t certain.
We could face a war on the ocean. And as Damien used to always say, “Only the dead have seen the end of war.”
I hope that’s not the case.
37
Phoenix
Six days have gone by since that night with Alaric. The night he told me everything. The night he purged his guilt.
It wasn’t his fault that his brother died, but I’ll never be able to tell him that.
He would never let me say that.
A part of me doesn’t understand the story. My father might be a lot of things, but if he called for a meeting, he is not the type of man to double-cross you.
He reminds me of Alaric in that sense.
Alaric was honest about my part in this from the beginning. He was even honest with my father when he brokered what should have been the trade of my life for his. My father is the same way.