We head off to find it.
It doesn’t take long to find it, because the rock is huge. It looks almost unnatural, the way it towers off a larger formation of rocks by the shore. But, I can see what Ace means, it could work. It is hanging over enough we can build off it and it has sand below, which makes it softer for all of us. It isn’t too far from the drinking water, and we can see the ocean. It’s a win-win, and it is certainly better than where we were.
“Oh, this could work,” Aggie says when we reach it, looking around. “We can build a shelter off the side of this, once we work out which way the wind blows mostly, then we can make sure we block some of it out.”
I smile at her, not because she is saying anything funny, but because she is acting like someone who is surviving, and I am so proud of that. She isn’t drowning, or sinking, she’s thinking ahead and creating something that works to keep us all safe. That’s exceptional in this situation.
“Let’s do it then,” I say, putting my stuff down.
After a while, the guys join us. Kellen looks exhausted and filthy, Zeke looks ready to throw up. Ace’s hands are red and scratched up, like he has just done a lot of digging. It takes a lot, to do what they just did. To clean up something like that wouldn’t have been easy. On the body or the mind. Adrian hasn’t returned, and honestly, nobody is that concerned about it.
“We buried him, up the ridge,” Ace tells us, sitting down and staring at his hands. “Fuck, I need to wash up.”
“I’ll come with you,” I say, pushing to my feet. “I need to do a water run.”
“There is a box we found, full of cooking items,” Kellen tells us. “I’ll take some to wash now, but there is a pan, a kettle and some utensils.”
“So we can cook fish on a pan and not just sitting in the coals,” Rachel says, pressing her hands together. “If I never have to eat coal-coated fish again, it would be too soon.”
Kellen scowls at her. “Sorry, princess, that your meal isn’t served on the finest china.”
I press my lips together, trying not to laugh.
“Oh, shut up,” Rachel mutters. “You don’t need a response for every damn thing I say, you know.”
“Well, if you didn’t say stupid shit, I wouldn’t need to.”
Zeke mutters something under his breath, and lays down, pressing his forearm over his eyes. Ace glances at Kellen, lip twitching. “Come on, brother. Let’s get cleaned up.”
Kellen gives Rachel another look, and then disappears to get the cooking equipment they found.
“There were also more fishing lines,” he calls, jogging down the beach. “Just in case the princess needs her next meal.”
Aggie giggles and Rachel glares at Kellen’s vanishing form.
I can’t help but laugh.
I follow Ace into the jungle, still smiling long after the sun stops warming my skin.
It has been a while since I have laughed, it felt good.
Right now, we take anything that feels good.
“THERE WAS A LOT OFgood stuff we can use on that boat,” Ace murmurs, swimming past me as we soak in the cool water.
“Oh?” I say, trying to not stare at the way his back muscles flex and pull as he swims.
Fuck.
I face the other way, ducking my head under the water to snap myself out of this obsession. When I surface, Ace is right there and his arm goes around my waist, pulling me close to him. I bite my tongue, so I don’t open my mouth and say something stupid like ‘take me here, right now.’.
God, I need to get it together.
“Just because we’re in water, doesn’t mean I can’t get pregnant,” I whisper, as his hand cups my bottom and I have no choice but to put my legs around him. “I’m not sure if you did sex-ed at school, but sperm can swim...”
He grins.
I am done for. Every time this man looks at me, it feels like the world stops spinning.
