The waves, still choppy from the storm, grabbed onto the pieces and started dragging them out into the water. It seemed like it happened in an instant, but I didn’t truly know how long I was standing there watching as the pieces disappeared. Soon all that was left was a few bits of debris floating on top.
“I guess I’m not sleeping in the cabin tonight,” I said. I whipped around to face Hunter. “Now what the hell are we supposed to do?”
“Exactly what we said. We clean up. We rebuild. It’s not like that boat was a viable transportation method.”
He walked up further onto the beach and started scooping debris up and tossing it to the side. I watched him as he moved along the sand and noticed that different piles were forming. He was dividing the debris that he was finding and weeding out the supplies, separating them into a pile of items that had been destroyed by the storm and those that could still be used. There had been a hint of anger in his voice when he said that last sentence and I tried to understand what he was feeling, what had changed so drastically. I watched him toss an armful of broken branches toward the pile of tattered shelter remains and saw his jaw twitch, then saw him pick up an empty supply box. He glared at it for a few seconds and then threw it toward the pile of supplies he didn’t think that he could salvage.
Oh, no. Gavin. That’s what was bothering him.
I climbed up the sand toward him and reached for Hunter. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and I felt the electricity between us as my fingertips touched the sun-warmed skin of his back. He shrugged me away, but I grasped his upper arm anyway, turning him around to face me.
“The only reason that I care where Gavin is or what happened to him is because I’m angry that he found a way to get off of here and he just left us. It’s not him that I care about. That’s not what matters to me.”
I saw his eyes scan my body and knew that he was looking at the clothing that I was wearing. I didn’t think of them as anything but the clothes that I had grabbed from the supply chest. It barely occurred to me that they were Gavin’s, that he had once worn them. I tucked my finger beneath Hunter’s chin and tilted his head up, kissing him, then took a step back away from him. I took hold of the hem of the shirt and pulled it off over my head, letting it slip from my fingers onto the sand. Hunter swallowed as his eyes traveled down my body and onto my breasts.
When I could see that I had his full attention, I tucked my thumbs into the waistband of the shorts and eased them down so that I could kick them off.
“Go ahead,” I said softly. “Touch me.”
Hunter stepped forward and lifted one hand to stroke his fingertips along my collarbones the way that I had trailed kisses along his, the night before. He brought them down, tracing the swell of the side of my breast. That soft touch was intoxicating, but I didn’t push him to go any faster. His fingers curved beneath my breast and then up the center of my chest, applying light pressure so that I could feel his touch against the bone. When they reached the soft spot between my collarbones again, he repeated the slow exploration along my other breast. It was barely a touch, yet it had an impact on me that was indescribable. I felt my breath getting shallower, gasping from me raggedly as my skin started to tingle under his fingertips and radiate across me.
He finished the circuit and then ran his fingertips down the center of my chest again, following the bone down until it reached my belly and continuing on to stroke down my stomach and dip into my navel. Hunter brought his fingers across my lower belly from hipbone to hipbone and then rested both hands on my hips. I felt him guiding me down as he lowered to his knees on the sand. He pressed his hand to my chest, guiding me back to lie down the way that I had stretched him out on the pallet. I drew in a shuddering breath trying to quiet my shaking as he continued to explore me slowly and carefully. He touched me with the same patience and reverence that I had touched him and I offered my body to him, not wanting to rush him or to push him to go any further than he was ready to go.
Hunter came down to lie on his side beside me, close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating off of his body. He leaned down and kissed me again, then ran his fingertips down the center of my body again, gliding closer to the apex of my thighs, but hesitating, seeming unsure of going any further. Finally, I rested my hand over his, easing it down toward my core. Before I brought it fully down, I looked up into his eyes. If I had seen any hesitation there, any questions, I would have stopped him, but I didn’t. Instead his eyes were like embers, the middles glowing intrigue, desire crackling at the edges.
I eased his hand down further and parted my thighs to open myself to him. We both gasped as his hand slipped between my legs and his fingers touched the warm wetness of my body. I guided him, easing his fingers through my folds so that he could become acquainted with the curves and dips of my body. Our hands moved together as I taught him how to touch me, showing him where to brush his fingertips and how hard to push to bring my desire up higher and higher. I felt him pulling his hand out from beneath mine and I felt a glimmer of worry, but then I saw him adjust his position so that he was propped up and leaning over me slightly.
Hunter reached up and brushed strands of my hair away from my shoulders. He ran his fingertips along each of my nipples briefly, and then he rose up over me slightly higher and blew a stream of cool air along my skin. My eyes closed and I shivered at the delicious, unusual sensation of his breath dancing across my chest and over the taut peaks of my nipples. He brought himself down further and continued to blow air lightly over my skin. I could feel my muscles trembling in response and the arousal of my entire body reaching an exquisite level that I had never experienced. I wanted to open my thighs, to invite him to touch me, but something held me back. Something told me that I needed to remain just as I was, allowing him to do as he pleased.
The touch of his fingertips was replaced by his mouth and Hunter kissed the valley between my breasts before following the trial that was still tingling with the touch of his fingers. As he made his way down my body, I felt the first waves of high tide touch my toes. The incredible contrast between the cold water and his hot breath sent a shiver of pleasure through me, seeming to cause my mind to sharpen its focus on Hunter’s touch. His hand returned to my thighs. I thought he was going to press them apart, but he didn’t. Instead, he ran his fingers in a feathery touch along as deep in my inner thighs as he could reach. He ran them all the way to my knees and then back to my hips, resuming the progress of tracing his fingers back and forth across my hipbones.
The longer he touched me, the more my desire grew. Though he seemed to be purposely avoiding touching me as I so desperately wanted him to, the way that he was exploring my body felt incredibly intimate, the warmth of his fingers seeming to partner with the cool of the waves that crept ever higher on my body, until I trembled against the sand. The waves were sliding along my legs now, licking at my thighs so that tiny, frothy bubbles slipped between them and danced on my clit. Beside me Hunter brought his mouth down to run across the side of my neck, his lips open just enough that I could feel the heat of his breath. He kissed down to my shoulder and the tip of his tongue traced the bone.