There was a decent-sized outcropping of rocks on the south side of the beach, which served as a home to a variety of potential meals – including crabs and mussels. The mussels were easy – I just pulled them off the rocks and tossed them into one of the plastic bags that previously held part of the raft’s survival kit. When I leaned over to pull some out from in one of the tidal pools created between rocks, the sun hit the water so I could see my reflection. Damn, I looked rough.
Once I had a decent number of mussels, I sat back and looked into the water again while running my hand over the full beard I seemed to be sporting. I released my jackknife from my belt, ran water over my face, and started shaving it off. It took a while since it was pretty long, but I managed to get it done without cutting myself, thanks to the sharpness of my knife. I looked back into the pool, turning my head so I could see different angles. I checked my face with my fingers, found a bit I missed and corrected it. I ran my hands over my cheeks and neck, pretty impressed that I could get such a close shave under these circumstances. My reflection informed me I was at least passable, so I kissed the edge of the blade, folded the knife up, and put it away.
I grabbed two crabs off the rocks and smashed them open before adding them to the bag. I ended up being pinched by one in the process, but it didn’t break the skin. I would have to be careful about that – the lack of antibiotics was probably the biggest concern we would have now. I picked up dinner and started into the green area at the edge of the beach, picking up pieces of wood that would burn well for a cooking fire before heading back. Raine wasn’t at the lean-to shelter when I got back, which pissed me off until I saw where she was.
I looked out over the water and saw her out there up to her shoulders but not out far. She must have been sitting down in the sand in what would have been water up to her thighs if she was standing. She was running her hands all over herself with water and a glob of sand apparently trying to take a bath.
I kept my eye on her as I placed the wood into the fire pit I had constructed earlier, just a few feet from the shelter. Raine was now running her hands through her hair, trying to remove sand with her fingers. When she held her arms up to pull each strand out straight, I could easily see the curve of one of her breasts from the back. That’s when my eyes registered her clothes lying in a pile on the sand not too far from the water’s edge and realized she was out there completely naked. Not surprisingly, my cock was very appreciative of this bit of information, and he jumped up to attention, trying to get a better look as the waves splashed around her.
Lucky waves.
I should have averted my eyes as soon as I figured all this out, but there wasn’t any way in hell I was going to do so. Ultimately, I was still an asshole. Instead of acting the part of a gentleman, I made sure the fire was going well and walked onto the beach, trying to be as quiet as possible. It wasn’t difficult to come up to the edge of the water without being heard since the surf was pretty loud. She was still mostly covered by the water, unfortunately, but she had to come out sometime, so I sat on the sand just a foot from her discarded clothing and watched. After about five more minutes, Raine seemed to finish her task and started to get up, turning as she did. I got a pretty decent glimpse of a beautiful pair of breasts before she saw me.
“Oh my God!” she screamed, dropping back into the water on her stomach.
I knew I was being an ass, but I couldn’t help it. I laughed out loud.
“Need some help?” I offered with a cocky grin.
“You scared the crap out of me!” she yelled back. “Go away!”
“You were supposed to stay out of the sun,” I reminded her.
“I wanted to try to…clean up a little.” She looked up at me with narrowed eyes, and then cocked her head to one side. “You shaved.”
“I figured I was overdue,” I said.
“I didn’t recognize you,” she said.
“There isn’t anybody here but me, babe.” I laughed again, but the look on her face silenced me fairly quickly. She was biting into her lower lip, but not in the inquisitive, shy way I was used to seeing. She blinked her eyes a few times.
“I wasn’t sure…I mean…” She stopped talking and tilted her head down towards the water. Her breathing was faster. I had the feeling her heart rate was probably up, too.
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” I said, and it was sort of true. Startle with the hopes of maybe getting a better look at her naked body, yes, but not actually scare. “Who did you think I was?”
“I didn’t know at first,” she said, and tears suddenly burst out.
“Shit, Raine,” I said as I stood up, but then I didn’t know what to do. If I went out to her…well, she was still naked and obviously a little upset about that, too. If I took her clothes out to her, they’d get wet, which also wasn’t a good idea, and now that she was crying, all I wanted to do was hug her. I growled at myself, took a few steps away, and then turned my back to the water.