Page 24 of Return to the Island

“Yes, she is,” he replied, reaching for his rum punch. “She’s also a friend.” His eyes narrowed pointedly at me. “It’s why I’ve never fucked her, touched her, kissed her.” He took a sip of his drink.

“She sure is friendly,” I added, twirling my finger around the rim of my glass.

“She is and I don’t like it.” He glared at me. “She’s also not here, you are.”

Point made. I smiled weakly and took a hardy drink of my punch. I didn’t like the tension I’d put between us.

“Our next stop isn’t for a while. Want to sit in the sun?” Lunch finished, Tack led me to the bow of the boat where we returned to sit in the netting between the outrigging. Water sprayed up at us from underneath, cooling our skin from the heat of the tropical sun.

“What made you start your own company?” I asked, knowing he’d said a few things at dinner, but I wanted to know more.

“I made a promise to build instead of destroy,” he replied with a wink. I smiled and waited for the details.

“When I returned home, I broke off from my father. Forcing me to the island might have been his greatest gift. I realized how unhappy I was, and I wanted to do more with my life. I wanted to build. I told him my idea. He wasn’t happy about it, he definitely did not approve, but he backed me. I worked my ass off to return his money in the first year and prove it hadn’t been a waste. I wanted to do something more.

The company works in finding sustainable resources and helping third world countries with clean water sources. It’s a constant struggle with governments and geographic cultures, but I love it. We’ve done a lot in a short amount of time.”

Listening to Tack, I thought of the sea turtles, awed by something with a hard shell that looked so poised in the water. Tack had a hard shell, protecting the interior of himself. He wanted what he wanted, he once told me, and he took it. But he was full of beauty and good deeds with his new company. He amazed me.

The conversation shifted to his relationship with his father.

“He didn’t raise his hand often, but it was more his words. He was tough to please, and the more I couldn’t please him, the more I tried to anger him. I’m a little old to still play these games with him, but once I became an executive in his company, the stakes were raised. To prove myself to him, I wanted to prove I could do what I wanted. Now, I own my own company and none of it matters.” He shrugged a shoulder and looked off at the sea.

“Sounds like he loved you, in his own way.” My voice lowered, as I’d lost both my parents before high school. Living with my uncle had proved to be a great challenge and torment.

“Whatever happened to the evil uncle?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows, but concern filled his eyes.

“He went to Lillian for money while we were still on the island. He was another reason I changed my name and disappeared when I returned. Once he learned I hadn’t died on the island and there was no recompense to be claimed, he disappeared as well. Good riddance,” I said, taking a long sip of my rum punch. I didn’t have anyone who loved me enough that I wanted to prove myself to them.

Tack didn’t speak, and I was thankful. Instead, he rubbed up my back again and squeezed the nape of my neck. I closed my eyes and lowered to rest on the netting, the lull of the ocean rocking me to sleep.

+ +

“Juliet, we’re almost there,” Tack whispered in my ear. My mouth felt thick from too much drink, and my body was struggling to recognize I slept on netting.

“Come sit back here with me,” he asked, helping me to stand and work the footing over the nets to the edge of the catamaran. He sat further back on the deck, in a position that hid us from the captain sailing overhead. He patted the space between his legs, and I sat between his knees.

“Lean back. Feel rested?” he asked.

“Mmmm…” I purred, still sleepy and slack from a lazy afternoon in the sun. His hands came to warm skin at my ribs and began massaging me with tender finger tips.

“That skirt is just a strip of material, right? Take it off and place it over your lap.” Something in the deepness of his command made me do as he said. I slipped the sheer yellow panel over my lap, covering the lower half of my bikini. His hands still worked on my middle before one dipped below my draped material.

“Tack,” I whispered as his fingers reached the waistband of my bikini. “Carlos will see.”

“He can’t see us down here. Relax. I want to make you feel good.” Two fingers entered me without foreplay, and I sat forward at the intrusion. Harsh and quick, it took my breath and felt delicious. “So wet already, Mouse. I like that.” His fingers moved in and out with a steady pace, and my hips squirmed, my backside rubbing against the hard length of him behind me.

“There it is, baby,” he said softly over my shoulder, and I thought he meant the sweet pressure building within me, but up ahead was land, the outline growing more visible.

His fingers increased their invasion at my core, and I wiggled with delight. My palms gripped just above his knees. My eyes reassured me that the thin material of my coverup covered my lap. In broad daylight, he was going to make me come.

“That’s it, baby. You’re getting closer. And look at her.” My eyes flashed up to the developing landform.

“Is that…” My voice drifted off as he twisted his fingers, touching something deep within me. I gasped.

“Look at the outline of her. A woman waiting, at rest. See the curve of her hip.” My eyes took in the subtle spike of a hill marking the top of the island and the dip to the right. Tack’s fingers continued to spread me open, his other hand pressing my knee wider.

“The hint of her breast is there to the right and her head is almost level with the water.” He explained as my eyes traveled the image he’d conjured of the island as a female—lying in wait. His free hand massaged up my inner thigh, almost meeting with the one that worked my core.