Page 33 of Return to the Island

“We didn’t have enough time,” I muttered.

My eyes drifted down to her. A sheepish grin filled her face.

“We have time now, right?” She’d positioned herself against the tree trunk just under the heart drawn around our initials. Her hand came to the waist of her shorts and she unsnapped the button.

My head tilted. “What are you doing?” My voice lowered with intrigue. Her fingers unzipped her shorts and then her hands reached to her sides and flattened against the thick trunk at her back.

“Up against the tree?” she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“God, I love you,” I said, the words escaping without a thought as I rushed to her. My mouth captured hers, cutting off any response. My lips greedily consumed hers, and I cupped her jaw before slipping a hand to her shorts and hastily pushing them down her thighs. She slid one ankle free, and I stood to glide a finger into her.

“So ready for me,” I muttered, working at my own belt buckle and forcing my shorts to my knees. She reached for me, stroking over the length, tugging me to her. I bent to accommodate our heights and slipped into her. Standing to my full height, she wrapped her legs around my hips and we raced to the finish. This would be hard and fast. A fuck you to this island because it didn’t beat us.

“So wet,” I mumbled as she said, “So hard. So deep.” I jostled her over me and her back fell against the tree trunk. One hand came to the massive expanse of bark behind her, covering the heart I carved two years ago. We rocked in unison, her drawing me into her, me filling her to the hilt.

“I can’t get enough of you,” I muttered into her damp neck, peppering her with kisses there. The pleasurable tension built quickly. Her legs clenched my waist, and her hands fisted in the back of my shirt. She hollered my name and feeling the familiar grip of her around me, I stilled letting my release fill her.

My forehead came to her shoulder as I silently sent up a prayer for a small miracle. Panting heavily, we remained like this only momentarily before her legs slipped from my hips. I bent shaky knees to allow her feet to hit the ground and slipped out of her. I watched as fluid slid down her thighs. My fingertip reached for the drip, pressing it up and forcing it into her.

Stay, I commanded, although I knew it didn’t work that way. She reached for my face, palms against my cheeks and tugged my mouth to hers. With a smile on her lips, she kissed me.

“Let’s clean up,” I said, after a minute of her delicious lips working mine.

+ +

The pressure of time weighed on us, hinting at a finish line. I followed behind her as we headed to the pond. The rustle of water falling filled our ears as we stepped closer. We undressed silently and I walked into the cold water before her.

“Shit,” I bellowed. “I forgot how cold this is.”

She giggled behind me and I spun to face her, watching her descend into the water, not fazed by the chill. Her breasts stood erect, nipples peaked from the cool temperature. Her hands skimmed the surface as she lowered. She was looking at me in a way that made me shiver and it wasn’t the cool pool around me.

“Am I forgiven?” she asked, and the question startled me.

“Forgiven?” I questioned, lowering into the depths of the water, swimming backward for the ledge near the falls.

“For leaving you. For killing your best friend. For everything.” The comment brought me to a halt.

“Juliet,” I exhaled. “I’ve never held you accountable. It was shocking, and I was upset, but I didn’t blame you directly. I told you once I didn’t think he deserved to die for being a dick, but he was a dick. He wasn’t nice. He wasn’t always cruel, and sometimes he was better to me than my family, but I won’t excuse him for what he did.”

She nodded, paddling lazily toward me.

“But am I forgiven?” Her voice dropped an octave. “I never intended it to happen as it did. I was angry, but I never could have imagined I had the strength in me.”

“I think it was more a lucky stab,” I corrected, not mocking her, but clarifying. I didn’t think she had the physical strength either, but she cut him at the jugular, and it killed him. “But yes, I forgive you.”

The ripple of the falls filled a momentary silence between us. I cleared my throat.

“What about me?” I questioned, swallowing a sudden lump in my throat. “I don’t think I’ve forgiven myself completely for being there, for the thoughts I had. For what I’d almost done.”

She nodded, her lips pursing as she looked away.

“I think I’ve come to terms with the fact that you didn’t. You didn’t do anything. You took a horrendous experience and stopped while you could. Do I wish you’d done more? Sometimes yes. I wish it had never happened to me. That you’d stopped Rick before he started. But I think I understand the relationship with him. Once Rick did what he did, and it was your turn, you didn’t follow through. Sometimes I want to know what would have happened next, had you finished your part?”

I pressed through the water, reaching for her, firmly covering her shoulders.

“I would have never let Rory or Smack touch you.”

“You say that now.”