Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 104729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Once I’m done, I hand it off to her.
“You go over there. Scream if you catch something.”
It’s not long until I hear grumbling from where Phoenix stands. She looks flustered. She’s screaming at the water. When I hear curses, I can’t help but laugh.
“Problem?” I holler across the distance. The look she gives me is so stern I feel like a little child just reprimanded by a parent.
“You can say that.”
“Want help?” I ask, but she doesn’t answer, so I take it upon myself to go help her.
My foot steps off the rock, and once it’s submerged into the warm ocean, I stride toward her. The water is shallow where we are, so only my legs get wet.
When I’m almost upon her, she looks up, an angry grimace still present on her face.
Angry Phoenix is almost as beautiful as a sleeping one. I prefer her peaceful, but this is my second favorite look. Heated eyes.
I wonder what she looks like in the throes of passion.
What her eyes look like as she comes.
I have to use all my strength to stifle a groan as I push back the desire forming inside me. Keep your head in the game, man.
“Let me help you,” I say again. This time, I step up behind her.
“You have a spear in your hand. How are you going to help me?” She scoffs.
Wanting to show her I can, I throw the spear like I’m in the Olympics. It flies through the air, landing on the beach.
“Show-off,” she mutters, and I have to try everything in my power not to laugh.
“You’re right, I am,” I say in my most asshole voice yet. “But I sure can throw a stick.”
“You are incorrigible,” she says over her shoulder.
“That might be the case, but I’m also a damn good fisherman. All jokes aside, let me help you.”
“Fine, but I’m telling you, there are no fish here. They must’ve swum away. You won’t have any luck.”
“Let me be the judge of that.”
“Fine.”
With no more resistance from her, I step closer. My arms reach around her, my hands wrapping around her forearms.
Her body shivers at the contact.
That makes me smile. It’s not cold enough for her to shiver unless she is affected by my touch. Seeing as I can feel the goosebumps that form on her arm, I know she is.
Here we are, dancing around an obvious attraction, but knowing how all this started, I’ll need a verbal confirmation before I ever breach the divide between us.
With my arms around her, I position her in the correct position, and then we drop the net I made into the water.
“Now what?” she asks.
I move her body closer to mine. “Now we wait.”
She squirms at the contact. “For how long?”
“However long it takes for you to feel the net get heavier.”
“Wait, seriously?”
“I rarely joke,” I say, even though that’s not true anymore. With her, it seems I’m always joking, always laughing. Hell, I’m basically a different man on this island. My father would have never appreciated this new me.
My brother would have laughed at me.
But since neither of them is here, I’m fine.
With our bodies still touching, we wait.
Her inhales make me inhale.
When she exhales, I exhale.
It’s very peaceful.
I don’t think she realizes when she was doing this on her own, she was moving around too much. You can’t move when trying to catch fish.
“Why are we just standing like this?” Her voice cuts through the silence.
“Because this is how we catch fish.”
“How do you figure?”
“You moved around too much before. You were basically dancing for the fish. They swam away because of it. They saw the threat and left.”
“You’re full of shit.”
“Am I?” I step in even closer, and now my bare chest hits her back. She inhales, and I feel the vibration from where our bodies touch. “Then let’s do an experiment.”
Time passes slowly as she weighs my words with each pull of oxygen she takes, in each deep breath she expels at my proximity.
“How?” she finally croaks, probably because she thinks if she humors me in this, I’ll let her go.
But I don’t want to. Even if I wouldn’t do this, I like how small she feels in my arms, and I’m not ready for her to leave yet. So instead of just teaching her, I will milk this for all it’s worth.
I pull her close, leaning forward so that her head is in the crook of my neck. Her body trembles as my lips softly whisper in her ear to calm down.
“Inhale. Slowly and be still.”
She does. Her shoulders rise and fall softly so as not to scare off the fish.
“How much longer?”
“I’ll say this one time, dove. And I know you want to get angry with me, but trust me. Calm your heart. In life, this is an important message to learn. Every action has a consequence. If you are rash, it can have dire consequences.”