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My woman.
“What’s funny?” she asked.
“You look like you’ve been well bedded,” he ventured.
“That’s an understatement,” she replied with a grin.
Resisting the urge to strut about like a rooster, he stretched out beside her and took her into his arms.
“Thank goodness for the mattress,” she whispered.
He pulled down her skirt and drew the edges of her blouse together. “Do you need your bloomers back?” he teased.
They laughed together until they fell asleep.
This Changes Everything
Life fell into a pattern. They scored a mark on the wall of the cave every night before they fell asleep. A month passed quickly.
Their diet consisted of the fish Maximiliano was now proficient at catching. He’d also mastered the skill of spearing ocean fish with his dagger lashed to a pole. They ate crabs from tidal pools and continued to harvest the plentiful fruits and fallen coconuts. Heidi expected to lose weight, but it was a forlorn hope, and Maximiliano insisted he loved her curves.
He began an attempt to make a raft from odd pieces of wood salvaged from the wreck, but it was difficult without tools and nails, and she often had to remove splinters from his hands with the needle.
He lashed random planks together with plaited vines and rope from the ship but wasn’t confident such a flimsy craft would hold together in the open sea.
After one particularly violent storm that kept them confined to the cave all day, they discovered theJuanahad completely disappeared, dragged off the rocks by the tide.
They stood hand in hand on the beach, scanning the horizon for any sign of the vessel. For Heidi it was an unsettling event, but she knew the ship’s demise meant much more to Maximiliano. She had no words to console him.
He climbed the mountain once a week, always returning with the same news—nothing as far as the eye could see.
They swam naked in their pool every day, and made sweet love every night. Maximiliano found ways to carry her to new heights. She became bolder, even taking him into her mouth.
They took to wearing less clothing in the tropical heat. Heidi cut her skirt short and went about topless most of the time. She fashioned a loincloth for Maximiliano from the fabric of her skirt. Bare feet became the norm. The sun darkened his bronzed skin; his beard grew until he finally allowed her to shave him with his dagger.
Her fear they would never leave the island ebbed away. She’d never been happier, living in paradise with a man she adored.
She sensed contentment in him too. Perhaps he’d found his haven from the international navies that hunted him.
They shared memories of very different childhoods. She recounted Danish folktales; he told stories of narrow escapes from Spanish navy ships and British gunboats.
They piled wood on the beach to serve as a signal fire in the event of a passing ship. In the early days, Maximiliano religiously repaired damage done by wind and waves, but gradually seemed to lose interest in maintaining the beacon.
* * *
“Do you get bored here alone with just me for company?” Heidi asked one night as they lay sated in each other’s arms.
Maximiliano had worried he might tire of Heidi; he’d never committed to anyone since his wife’s death, and his vows to Juana had been uttered mechanically. However, he couldn’t imagine life without his Danish castaway. His body reveled in the sexual delights they shared, and he enjoyed her company. Her smile brightened his days, her sense of humor kept him entertained. The answer was that she was in his blood, and he would never tire of her.
But he decided to tease. “Let me see,” he mused. “Do I miss dealing with members of my family in Puerto Rico who prosper through bribery and corruption, but who looked down on me because I am a pirate?”
She giggled. “No.”
“Do I miss my malodorous crew?”
“Probably,” she conceded.
“They were loyal,” he agreed, nibbling her earlobe. “I hope they managed to start new lives somewhere. But I prefer your company. You smell better.”
