Chapter Twelve
Trent helped Reynard unload his family’s possessions from the truck and into the house.
“Are you sure it’s OK we’re here?”
Trent hoisted one strap over his shoulder and picked up another sack. “I won’t hear another word about it, Reynard. Like I told your wife, I’m going to be leaving soon. I have little to worry about here if the house is taken care of while I’m gone.”
The stress behind Reynard’s eyes started to fade. “I will pay you.”
Trent shook his head. “You’ll save your money and rebuild your home.” However, Trent wasn’t sure how possible that would be or how long it would take. The economy on the island had never been great. It would be even worse now.
He turned to walk back into the house. Reynard’s hand grasped his shoulder. “Thank you.”
“I’ll keep my room until I leave,” Trent said as they walked into the house. “And keep you informed about my plans while I’m away.”
“When will you go?”
Trent thought of Monica and shook his head. “I’m not sure. Week or two at most.” He’d told Jack Morrison he’d keep an eye out for his sister-in-law and Trent didn’t go back on his word. He’d be lying to himself if he said he was sticking around only for his promise to a virtual stranger. The fact was, he wasn’t ready to see the last of his nurse.
Not yet anyway.
Back in the house, Monica was in the kitchen again, this time heating up soup from a can. Reynard’s children were sitting up at the counter talking obsessively about living in such a big house and how theirs had fallen down. It was as if their duty in life was to relay a play-by-play of their life to Monica as she cooked their lunch.
“A house this big is going to take your help to keep clean,” she told the kids. “Your mom has to be in bed for a few days.”
Micha puffed out his chest. “We’ll help,” he said.
Monica removed bowls from the cupboard and ladled in the soup. Reynard carried the bags into the second guest room while Trent watched the kids and Monica talk. Tanya, the oldest daughter, was ten and she held the youngest in her lap. “Mother needs to sleep so we need to keep quiet,” Tanya told the kids.
Trent moved behind the brood and offered his advice. “There’s lots of room outside to play. Just keep an eye on each other.”
Monica offered Trent a smile, her eyes lighting up.
In short order, she had the kids eating lunch and worked her way to Kiki’s bedside to make sure she had something to eat as well.
Trent felt guilty for the work Monica was doing on what was supposed to be her afternoon off. Within a half an hour, she was removing clothes from the dryer and folding them into her backpack. It appeared as if she was packing to leave.
He wasn’t sure they’d ever have another opportunity to get away, so instead of staying in his house, which had been overrun with kids and excitement, Trent packed a few bottles of water and an attempt at a picnic into a bag. He grabbed a beach blanket and a couple of towels as he passed his linen closet.
Monica cornered him in the hall. “Maybe you should just take me back to the clinic. I might as well—”
He silenced her with a finger to her lips. “It’s your day off,” he reminded her. “We still have half of it left.” He slid his hand to her shoulder and down to her arm. “How about I show you a quiet place on the beach where tourists don’t play and the waves hardly touched?”
She leaned against the wall and sighed. “Sightseeing?”
No, more like procuring a secluded spot away from kids and chaos so they could pick up where they left off. “Sure, we’ll call it sightseeing.”
“All right.”
Trent loaded their day’s provisions in the Jeep and encouraged Ginger to stay at the house. The last thing he wanted was another interrupting bark.
He informed Reynard that he’d be back later that night after dropping Monica off at the clinic and then the two of them drove away.
“You surprise me, Barefoot,” Monica said as they turned out of the driveway.
“Oh, why’s that?”
“One minute I think maybe your personal walls are high since you live here alone, and then you invite an entire family to move in with you.”
“I have other options. Reynard and his family don’t.”
Her window was rolled down and the warm air rushing past them blew her hair in different directions. Most of the time he’d spent with her, those blonde locks were bound into a ponytail or some kind of clip. He liked what he saw. It gave Monica a wild look that made him think of warm nights and hot passion.
“You’re really going to leave the island?” she asked.
“For a while anyway.”
“Will you go back home? The East Coast?”
He shrugged. “I haven’t seen my brothers in a while. I’ll probably start there.”
Monica gripped the edges of her hair and stared out the window. “I can’t imagine not having any ties and the whole world open to explore.”
“What ties do you have?”
“My job, for one. Although that might not be the case when I get home.”
He pulled off the main road and onto a dirt one. The locals knew of the secluded beach and even more private cave within, but the road wasn’t often traveled. The overgrowth told Trent there hadn’t been a car there in a while. Not since the last rain anyway. “Jack said something about your job being in trouble. What’s up with that?”
“My boss is a bitch. I’m not being catty about that either. She’d always looked for a reason to write me up or in some way move me on. I don’t get it either. It’s not like I’ve ever done a thing to her. A friend from work called me the other day to tell me she took me off the schedule. Said I didn’t fill the holes my coming here left. Claimed I abandoned my patients.” Monica air quoted the last words and her smile fell into a thin frown line.
“How can you abandon anyone you’ve not taken care of?”
“I have no idea. Walt will raise holy hell when we get back. But the truth is, the doctors on staff don’t work for the hospital. They work either for themselves, or in the case of the emergency room, they work with a doctors’ group. The rules for Walt don’t apply to me. I work for the hospital and they don’t have to grant time off. I had vacation time coming and arranged for someone to take my shifts.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“My replacement called in sick and staffing didn’t fix it.”
It sounded to Trent like Walt was the name he needed to pass on to Jack.
“Nurses are needed everywhere,” he said, hoping to put her at ease. Her hand on the edge of the door had gripped the side as she spoke. “What else is waiting for you in California?”
“My apartment.” She laughed as the word came out of her mouth. “I guess that doesn’t count. My friend Katie and her husband, Dean, are there… although they talked about moving back to Texas.”
“Your sister’s in Texas, right?”
Monica grew silent. “Yeah. I guess that would just leave me and my mom.” She shivered.
The conversation faded. He’d obviously made her think a little harder about where she was living and why she stayed.
The road came to an end with barely enough room to turn the car around. Trent rolled to a stop and pulled the parking brake under the shade of trees.
Monica sent him a confused look.
“We’re here?”
He lifted his sunglasses enough for her to see the gleam in his eye. “We walk from here.”
She jumped out of the car and grabbed her backpack. “You’re going to make me work for a day at the beach?” she teased.
“It’s worth it,” he told her.
Monica patted her back pocket and removed her phone. “Mind if I charge this while we’re gone? It’s running out of juice.”
He leaned over the seat, pulled the charger from the center console, and plugged it in. Then he led her down the overgrown path, his feet sinking into the damp soil left behind from the rain. He’d flown over this spot after the tsunami and was happy to see that it hadn’t been destroyed by the wave. The cove was on the opposite side of the island from where the wave hit, and had some protection from the walls of rock on both sides.
“We’re in the middle of nowhere,” Monica said as they picked their way through the path. “How did you find it?”
“One of the locals pointed out the trail. I saw it from the air but couldn’t find the road.” Large ferns brushed against his legs. He pulled a few aside to give Monica room to pass. He glanced at a banana tree and saw a bundle of green fruit hanging from the stock. “Hold up.” He stepped into the brush and removed a pocketknife from his pack.
“Bananas?”
“Yeah. Look on the ground for any that are yellow. I’ll pull these down and take them back with us when we leave.”
Monica scouted the forest floor and managed a few pieces of fruit that were ripe enough to eat. He left the green ones on the trail to gather on the way back.
Trent took Monica’s hand in his as he started down the steep trail. Halfway to the sand the view opened up and Monica hesitated. “Wow.”
Yeah, he got that. Small white-capped foam sat atop bright blue water that turned turquoise green and then dark blue. The sand in the cove was pristine white with some debris left over from the small wave that hit this shore. But it wasn’t enough to take away from the beauty.
“Worth the walk?” he asked.
Monica’s smile caught him in the gut. “Finally. I see something here that helps me understand why anyone would live here.”
“There’s more,” he promised.
They reached the sand and Monica dropped her pack to the ground. She kicked off her shoes and ran toward the water. “It’s so warm.”
“I thought you knew it was.”
“I’ve only seen the airport and the clinic. When I ran on your beach I never touched the water.” She leaned down and picked something from the ocean. “We should swim.”
He picked up her pack and waved her down the beach. “Let me show you something else first.”
Trent heard her run up behind him. “What is it?”
“It’s a cave,” he told her when they stood before the entrance. The opening was about five feet tall and six feet wide. He kicked away a log that had washed up next to the opening. He could feel the air rushing out from inside.
“This is so cool,” she said as she ducked inside. He followed behind her. The wall above them opened up after a few feet and light filtered through a break in the ceiling of the cave a good thirty feet above their heads.
“How far does it go back?”
“Not far. There’s a tunnel off to the left, but it narrows to the point where I couldn’t get through.”
Monica walked over to a small pool of water that dripped from above. She brought the liquid to her lips. “It’s fresh.”
“It’s probably runoff from the rain. I’ve searched above and couldn’t find a lake or even a stream.” His voice echoed inside the cave.
The air inside the cave was ten degrees cooler than the air outside. It was a perfect refuge on a hot day after a cool swim.
And it was private. More so than his house at the current time.
“This is amazing. I’m glad the wave didn’t destroy it.”
The light from above lit up half her body. His angel nurse. A smile found his lips and she grinned back.
“What are you up to, Barefoot?”
He walked toward her and dropped their things in the sand. “Bad things,” he warned her with a laugh. “Really sweaty things.”
Monica caught her lip in her teeth and held her ground as he approached.
“Sweaty, huh?”
He took her around her waist and pulled her close. “Steamy, sweaty…” He kissed the side of her neck. “Hot.”
He felt the moment she melted in his arms and he placed his lips on hers. She could have her swim, but not until he dove into her.
Trent pushed his tongue alongside hers and lost himself in their kiss. Her lithe body pressed against him, her pert breasts felt soft against his hard chest. She accepted his kiss, his touch, without hesitation. Her hands traveled down his back and over his ass. He groaned. His shorts were already confining, but now they needed to go altogether.
Monica squeezed his ass again and laughed when he growled. She tugged at his shirt until it was off his back and in the sand. Her tiny fingers spread over his chest as she leaned in for another kiss. Hot, wet kisses that promised more steam as they grew.
“Tell me you brought a blanket,” Monica said when she pulled away. “Sex in the sand is overrated.”
He wanted to ask her how she knew, but thought better of it. He peeled himself away from her long enough to remove the beach blanket he’d packed. He spread it beyond the light reflecting off the pool and farther away from the entrance of the cave. The ground was solid there without copious amounts of sand to interfere.
Monica helped him finish spreading the blanket out and sat in the center. “I’m starting to think you planned this,” she said.
He dropped to his knees, placing a hand on each side of her. “I did.” He leaned over, kissing her again, and pushed her back onto the blanket. He lapped up her kisses and pulled her shirt over her head. Creamy white breasts peeked out from under a pink bra. He liked the pink, he decided, and wondered if her panties matched. Something about a woman’s lingerie made his blood boil. The way a woman cared for clothes so few actually saw made it that much sweeter when he had the opportunity to peel them away. His lips trailed down her throat and his tongue dipped beneath the fabric of her bra to find a tight nipple waiting.
She wiggled beneath him, sending shock waves straight to his cock. He pushed her bra away and lapped her nipple in soothing strokes. He caught the tip in his teeth and she squealed. “Do that again.”
He smiled and complied. Her hips came off the ground and pushed against him.
Trent reached behind her, rid her breasts of her bra, and continued to explore his Caribbean present. He’d always wondered what it would be like to make love to a beautiful woman inside the cave. Her moans vibrated off the walls and filled his head with satisfaction.
She whispered his name and arched into him when he moved away enough to pluck at the fastening of her shorts. Her trim frame wasn’t from a lack of food, but a fit body with enough curves to make his mouth water.
Damn if her panties didn’t match her bra. The scent of her sun-kissed skin, the slight taste of salt on his tongue, made him want even more of her.
Monica kicked her shorts free and leaned up on her elbows. “Your turn, Barefoot. Those shorts look very uncomfortable.”
He liked the nickname, found it endearing.
She helped his shorts down his hips and smiled. “Commando?”
“Panties are for girls.”
She giggled and traced a fingernail down his hip.
His entire body shivered and his sex reached for her.
Monica hesitated. “Condom?”
He reached for his shorts, removed his wallet.
She released a breath and traced his skin to the tip of his cock. When her hand gripped him fully, his head tipped back and he closed his eyes. So good. She felt so f*cking right.
Monica sat up. Before he knew what she was about, the tip of her tongue sought him. “Christ.” His hand caught the back of her head. He should be more of a gentleman, this being their first time, but he couldn’t push her away. The warm cavern of her mouth took him in. He pushed back the instant desire to release and focused on the pleasure of her touch.
He hadn’t been this ready to go since he was a high school kid with his first girl behind the bleachers at the school.
“Hold up, Monica.” He was panting.
She released him with a slight pop and smiled up into his eyes.
“What’s the matter, Barefoot? Too much for you?”
He eased her back to the ground and wedged his knee between her thighs. The moist center of her body rode his thigh. “I’m not going without you.”
His finger caught the edge of her panty and dipped inside. His angel, his white light, was more than ready for his touch. Pink underwear skidded across the cave floor and Monica was reaching for his wallet.
He laughed and helped her find the condom. He rolled it on and nestled between her legs. “Please, Trent,” she begged when he leaned close but didn’t move within her. He met her lips again instead and kissed her until she squirmed. When her hand moved between them, placing him where she wanted, he held his breath as he sank into her.
The soft blue of her eyes, which always seemed cold, now melted into the dim light of the cave. She gave him more room and sighed when she took every inch of him.
“So good,” she murmured.
It was. She was.
Her hands moved over his hips, his ass, guiding him closer. There was no slow pace, no easy dance. This was where passion removed all thought except the ultimate goal. He kissed her hard and felt her legs crawl up onto his back and wedge him in. The fast staccato of their breaths matched their pace. Her body squeezed him inside, out, long before he heard the change in her breathing.
He forced back the wave of release again, waiting, moving inside her so deep he wanted to crawl inside and never leave.
When she called his name and her body gripped him hard, he released the wave and allowed the warmth to rush over him.
This was what heaven tasted like.