Illusion (Swept Away #1)(21)
Author: J.S. Cooper

I tried to remember what sort of panties I had on. At least they weren’t a thong. I wore those only when I was going on a date, to make me feel sexy. They were way too uncomfortable to wear on an everyday basis. I unzipped my pants and let out a sigh of relief as I realized that I had on a pair of plain white briefs and not my Hanes granny panties with the green and yellow flowers.

His eyes narrowed as he watched me pull my pants down quickly. I stared at the ground as I stood there in my bra and panties. “Nice.” His voice was soft.

I looked up at him. He wasn’t smiling as he stared at me in silence. There was a very primal feel about everything. All of a sudden we weren’t just two strangers kidnapped on an island. We were the last two people on earth. My stomach roared as I stared at his almost naked body. This time my hunger wasn’t for food, it was for him. He took a step toward me and his fingers brushed water off of my shoulder. My skin felt like it had been branded by his touch. His eyes narrowed as he stared at my body, giving me the once-over, leaving every inch of me tingling at his glance. The water was starting to dry on his skin and I could see the faint remnants of dried salt on his arms and chest. I wanted to lean forward and lick him to see just how salty he tasted.

“You’re beautiful.” His voice was husky as his fingers ran down my stomach. I knew that I should breathe, but the moment felt so surreal that I didn’t want to do anything to stop it. We both stood there for a few minutes looking at each other and then around at our surroundings. The sun was starting to set, and the silence around us reinforced how alone we were, how cut off we were from civilization.

“We’re going to be okay, Bianca.” He reached down and took my hand. “If anyone tries to harm you, they’ll have to go through me first.”

“I’m scared.” My voice shook as I looked up at him. “We don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“We don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m willing to bet that no monsters are going to attack us.” He reached down and rubbed his hand against my back. I jumped slightly at the feel of him against my bare skin.

“Yeah,” I whispered. “That’s something.”

“I think we should wait until tomorrow to locate food and water if you think you’ll be okay. It’s going to be night soon, I think, and I don’t know what time the sun sets here. I’d rather we not go exploring and find ourselves stuck somewhere in the dark.” He sighed. “I can go and get some coconuts for now. We should be good for tonight with the jelly and water.”

“I guess so.” I sighed. “We won’t dehydrate already, will we?”

“I think we’ll be okay.” His expression was serious. “The coconuts will tide us over for the night. Hopefully I’ll find some with soft jelly.”

“How will you crack them open?” I frowned at him.

“I didn’t think about that.” He sighed, and I could see a flash of anger in his eyes.

“You’d think those assholes would have left us with some food and water,” I muttered.

“Yeah.” He looked toward the ocean, his face obstinate and his fists clenched. “If I had an opportunity to speak to those two bumbling fools, I’d kick their asses.”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “And then we wouldn’t be here, but I don’t blame you for not trying, Jakob. They had a gun. A gun is mightier than the fist.”

“I would never knowingly put your life at risk, Bianca. I hope you know that. I know we don’t really know each other, but you have to know that I would never want anything to happen to you.”

“Thank you, Jakob. I appreciate it.” I nodded at him and smiled briefly. There was something about the look in his eyes that made me want to trust him, but there were too many unanswered questions. I needed to figure out why we were both here before I could fully trust him. “I’m glad I’m not here alone.” I said the words to be nice, but I knew that they were true as soon as I uttered them. Being on this island all by myself would have been a nightmare.

“I’m glad I’m not here alone as well.” He smiled at me weakly. “Now let’s go find some coconuts and then get some sleep so that we can get up early and explore by sunlight.”

“Sounds good to me.” I yawned and gave him a quick smile.

“I just hope I can fall asleep.” His eyes darkened when he looked down at my body. My body trembled at his gaze, and I tried to ignore his innuendo.

“Let’s worry about sleep after we find some coconuts.” I mumbled and walked away from him and toward the trees. I heard him behind me as we walked away from the ocean. “So what book were you reading?” I stopped and looked back at him curiously.

“Huh?” He looked back at me in confusion and I smiled at him gently.

“In the coffee shop you were reading a book. What was it?”

“Oh yeah,” He nodded. “I was reading A Tale of Two Cities.”

“Oh, interesting.” I wasn’t sure why I was surprised by his answer. “You interested in the French Revolution or just a Dickens fan?”

“Both, I suppose. I’ve always been interested in fiction and nonfiction that talks about revolt. Or more specifically humans going to any extremes to right wrongs or seek answers.” He spoke causally, but a part of me froze inside. Did he know more than he was letting on? “What do you think?” He touched my shoulder, and I jumped. He gave me a concerned look, yet I didn’t know what to say.

“What do I think about what?” I looked him dead in the eyes, ready to find out what he knew.

“The book? Have you read it? When you mentioned the French Revolution, I assumed you’d read the book. I’ve always been fascinated with social structures and the power balance between the aristocracy and plebeians, if I may call them that.”

“Oh, yeah.” I ran my hand over my forehead, trying to calm my overworking brain down. “I’ve read it. I studied history in college.”

“Interesting, you’ll have to tell me more about that later.” His eyes widened and he pointed at something eagerly. “Look, there are some coconuts on the ground.” He ran ahead of me, and I watched him pick up the coconuts and shake them. “They’re soft inside.” He shouted back at me and grinned. “I can hear the liquid inside of them.”

“That’s great!” I shouted back.