“Damnit,” I growled. “Do you have to fuck up my good time?”
I grinned, and she laughed again. We got up, brushed a lot of sand from our skin and clothes, then I took her hand and led her over to a group of smaller trees with trunks the right size for building our first shelter. I used the knife from the survival kit to cut them down – wanting to keep my jackknife sharp for hunting – then placed them deep into the sand on the top of the dune near the beach. I had six long poles about eight feet apart forked together at the top with a longer, thicker pole over the top of them. Though obviously fatigued and possibly suffering from minor muscle atrophy, Raine helped me place as many straight, long poles as we could find over one side, then covered the whole side with palm fronds.
“It doesn’t look anything like the huts on Gilligan’s Island,” Raine observed.
“I’ll work on that tomorrow,” I snorted. “I’ll see about making one of those bicycle carts as well so you can fan yourself with a palm frond while I drive you around the island. Maybe some bamboo golf clubs, too.”
Raine giggled and placed a few more fronds over the top. I pulled one back and showed her how to lace the top layer together to make a more watertight roof.
“It might not look like much,” I said, “but it will give us what we need for now. I will build you something better in time.”
“I was only joking,” Raine said, looking down at the ground for a moment before glancing back up at me through her lashes. I took a step forward and lifted her chin with my forefinger.
“I know,” I told her. “I’ll still make you something better.”
I placed my lips against hers for a moment and was rewarded with her glorious smile when I pulled back. I toyed with the idea of turning the kiss into something more, but irrespective of my protesting cock, I needed to get her basic needs taken care of before I could consider indulging my baser ones.
“Now we find water,” I said. “I’m going to climb up there. You are going to start digging.”
“Digging?”
“Yeah, you can use the paddle from the raft to dig in the sand. It should make things go pretty fast. We need a hole about three feet across and two feet deep. Find a place on the beach that will be in the sun most of the day.”
“O…kay…”
I winked at her and then walked over to the first of the coconut trees. I took a deep breath, hoping I could remember how to do this. I placed one hand on the far side of the trunk and the other one right in front of me at the same level as my chest. I found my center of balance and then jumped, placing my feet on either side of the tree. I pushed up with my legs, allowing my hands to rise up with me, then held on and jumped with my legs again. Using this method, I quickly leap-frogged my way to the top and started throwing green coconuts down to the ground.
By the time I had cleaned out three trees, Raine had a pretty good start on the hole for the still. I went to the raft and pulled the top part of the collection canopy off the roof. It was clear plastic and exactly what I needed. I collected as much greenery as I could from the edge of the jungle area and brought it back to Raine. Once we had the hole finished, I placed one of the water containers at the bottom of the hole and placed the greenery all around it. Then the plastic sheet went over the top, and I anchored it down with a few rocks. Finally, the last, smaller rock went in the center of the plastic – right above the water container.
“The green plants are full of water,” I told Raine. “Once the sun reacts with it, it will form condensation on the plastic which will then run into the water container. It won’t be a lot, but between this and the coconuts, it will be enough until we find a better source.”
“You really are incredible,” Raine said as she wrapped her arms around my neck and brought her lips to mine.
“And you have been in the sun too long,” I said, forcing myself to pull away from her. I ran my finger over her warm cheeks. “Let’s get you under the shelter. You need to drink, and eat, too.”
Raine protested, but I reminded her she had already appointed me boss, so she had to do what I said. I cracked open two of the coconuts, and we shared the water inside before eating the nutmeat. After our snack, I decided to see what I could find on the reef while Raine rested out of the sun.