Forever and a Day (47 page)

Xander washed his hands and looked about, nothing but inky black skies with millions of stars overhead and not a cloud in sight. He scanned around the sea and saw nothing but dark water with dancing sparkles from the starlight. Going around the back of the tent to his suitcase, he met Halo’s eyes as she watched him.

“Getting on some shorts and a shirt.” He mumbled and saw her smile up at him. He quickly went out of her view and changed. He hung his damp khaki pants up to air out overnight. He brushed off what sand he could, climbed into the tent and readied himself to help Halo with her bra.

“Need another bra or shirt?” He asked quietly.

“No thanks. Need to let the girls breathe!” She chuckled, “You worry too much Mr. Mystery man.”

“Ha! Can you blame me?” He gently turned her over and pulled her blanket down to her panties waistband. He then pulled up her shirt and with difficulty got it up past her full breasts.

“You are shaking again.” She reminded him.

“Halo, you are killing me here…” There he said it, he thought, as he unfastened her bra.

“Like I said, you worry too much.”

Xander’s eyes shot wide open as he rolled them skyward, mouthed an obscenity and shook his head, “Uh, the cupping looks good. Let’s do some tomorrow if you are up to it.”

“As long as I get another back rub soon. It still hurts...”

“Oh…” He was looking down at her bare back, he saw the two little dimples down by her bum and he suddenly felt warm. He urgently tore his gaze away, “It does look a little swollen, if we had more light I could tell better.” He really wanted to give her another back rub, but he doubted he could stand it at this particular moment.

“So no back rub?” She asked in a whisper. She felt his face come close to hers and she opened her eyes. She was so close to those soft full lips…

“Fine. No pressing though, it uh takes it out of me…” He lied.

“Oh? Ok, I’m not one to pass up a backrub.” From you, she thought.

He retrieved the baby oil and rubbed his hands with a splash of oil then began gently rubbing her back. He suddenly felt himself get warm and sure enough in a second flat, he was hard and throbbing in his shorts. It would not have been half-bad, but it was caught in a crease in the shorts fabric and in an extremely uncomfortable position. How in the hell is he going to free himself without her knowing? Shit… he would just have to deal with it he decided.

He continued to rub her down, kneading the area gently where her muscles were inflamed. As he continued to massage her, he swore his erection was going to rip through his shorts any second.

Eventually he lost track of time as he was getting into the sublime contact with her. He moved up to her neck and began kneading the muscles of her neck and he felt her sigh, she looked up at him with sultry and glossed over eyes and whispered to him, “You are the man…”

He smiled and gently worked his way down her back and did a few moments of pressing where she hurt. He felt more than heard her moan. He eventually stopped and lightly ran his hands all over her back. He must have been at it for some time, as he looked back to the fire and saw that it was nearly down, along with that thought he wished something else would go down.

He reached up and pulled her shirt down over her back and a dilemma came to fruition when he realized he had to pull her shirt down over her bare breasts. He was going to have to turn her to her side, he looked away as he pulled the shirt over her breast, and in the action of doing so his fingers brushed against her warm soft breast. His hands began trembling again and he took a moment before continuing. When he began on the other side, she tried helping by wiggling, and sure enough, he felt her nipple slip against his fingers as he pulled the t-shirt down.

That memory of the feeling of her erect, soft nipple burned itself into his mind like a white-hot iron. He knew he would never, ever forget it or the feeling of the warring butterflies in his guts and the fire in his pants.

He cleared his throat, “Fire, uh is going down. Be right back.” He saw her look to him with smile.

Exiting the tent he took panted quietly as he danced around working hard to loosen himself within his shorts. With a sigh, he finally got himself free but he was still hard as a rock. He put some more wood on the fire and waited until it caught. Eventually his erection began to thankfully, dissipate. With yet another deep breath, he went back into the tent and quietly laid down next to the sexiest girl he had ever known...

“Oh… you are so warm! Feels good.”

He already knew what she was going to ask, and he was certain he was going to go to hell. By hell, he meant life with Evie after Halo. He scooped her up under his arm and laid her head on his chest. He heard her let out a soft sigh then remembered her boyfriend, Robert. Great… when they are rescued, he will probably come gunning for him… and so much for his talk earlier.

“Thank you… that massage felt so awesome! G’night, Mr. Incredible.” She whispered ever so softly up at him and soon he felt her relax and fit perfectly against him. As her breathing deepened, her soft bare leg inched out from under her blanket and settled over his.

Looking down at her blonde hair spread out over his shoulder, then to her naked leg over his, he remembered his recurring dream: He was in a huge black sheeted bed laying upon his back. He looked down and saw blonde hair spread out across his bare chest just like now. In his dream, he was startled when he realized who was asleep on his chest: it was Halo. He would panic, as he did not want to move and wake her, afraid she would scream out finding out it was him. He remembered he would stay motionless for hours and of course, a muscle would invariably twitch and every time it would wake her. With fear rising through him in his dream, he watched her turn up and meet his gaze in the dusky haze. Her look was the same as she gave him when they were on the film set together. Then, in his dream, without a word she would lay her head back on his chest and fall wordlessly back to sleep.

At the time, he thought it was the most wonderful dream he had ever had and nothing could compare. In reality, the comparison to here and now, his dream paled immeasurably… he could feel her breasts, warm and pressed firmly against him, and her soft leg over his—in truth he really felt like he was in heaven. With that, thought sleep finally found him.

Halo woke up to herself wrapped around her Mystery man; she felt his deep rhythmic breathing as her head rested on his chest. She felt his arm wrapped around her holding her close to him, his other hand was over hers. She pushed down the urge to cough and laid there soaking up the warm fuzzy feeling she was experiencing. Feeling his hand on hers sent little zings of pleasure through her. She was right to tell him no one else had ever made her feel like this.

The thought of him being a married man interrupted her reverie. She felt a heavy pit form in her stomach again. She knew he was not hers to have… but she had a most difficult time controlling herself around him. He simply cranked her fire up to full, without him even trying. She wondered how beautiful his wife must be, as his daughter was stunning. She wondered if she had his green eyes as well, as she could not tell from the picture he had shown her.

She glanced up at his dark stubbled face and felt her belly swoon; he really was a handsome guy. Being all rough looking suited him; it rather gave him a bad boy look she thought with a smile.

Looking to his hand holding hers, she felt this was all so unfair. Here is a great guy, who obviously has a great deal of affection for her, takes care of her and asks nothing in return… and his hands—oh my God… felt so incredible on her. When his fingers brushed her nipple? Wow! She could have jumped on him right there. Which led her to the reality of fact once again that she could not have him. “So unfair.” She mouthed silently.

Looking out through the tent to the orange rays of the sunrise, she could not help but notice a bulge in his shorts. It was morning after all… she stared at it for quite some time. The idea of moving her knee gently up to his manhood for a quick brush by filled her mind, her stomach responded by getting really warm as did her naughty bits. Her breathing began to quicken and she felt a cough coming on. She fought to suppress it and passed on the surreptitious reconnaissance of his bulge. She closed her eyes and nuzzled in close, moving her shoulders back and forth trying to get as close as humanly possible to him.

Xander opened his eyes and saw the mess of blonde hair spread across his chest again. He went to move his hand and found that he was holding onto her hand. He froze as he consciously took in the warmth of it in his. The tickle of her hair on his face eventually won out and he slipped his hand away from hers and brushed the errant stands of softness away. He realized he was in the same position as when he fell asleep last evening. He felt the tightness in his back and knew that he was going to be stiff and sore… but it was totally worth it.

He lay there feeling her breathe, her lungs sounded better and her breathing was deeper than before. It was a relief.

Looking down at her, he had the urge to kiss her head before he got up. For how much the thought was appealing, he refused to act on it. Instead, he slowly slipped his arm from under her and got a small groan of protest. He slid out from under her leg and paused as he realized how shapely and finely muscled her leg really was. He quickly reached over and pulled his blanket over her. With a stiff back, he ambled out into the bright sunlit morning.

Soon he had a small fire going and quickly cooked up oatmeal for them both and added the left over breadfruit as well. He dug out two packages of trail mix, one for them to share and the other for his trip into the interior of the island.

He woke Halo as per the routine of late and helped feed her and use the loo. Coming back, he set her back down in the tent and kneeled down next to her.

“Can we talk for a moment?” Xander asked.

“Silly, of course! I’m not going anywhere.”

“So, I want to check out the interior of the island today. I’m worried about leaving you alone here…” He pulled the gun from behind his back and set it down in front of her. He watched her look from the gun back up to him, “Halo, I would feel better if you kept this close by. Do you know how to use it?”

Halo smiled, reached down to pick it up and demonstrate her deft ability, but it felt insanely heavy and she quickly set it back down, “I was going to say yes, but I’m still so damned weak. I’m not sure I could point it at anyone.”

Xander smiled and nodded, “I think with a burst of adrenaline you could. I will leave it here, the safety is on and a round is chambered, which leaves six more in the clip.”

“You really think someone is going to come by and bother me?” She asked jokingly.

“No. I’d rather have the peace of mind. Besides, if you need me you can always fire off a shot, I really don’t want you firing off a flare from inside the tent.”

“Oh, yes that could be bad. What about you, what if you get hurt?” She asked as she picked at the fuzz on her blanket.

“I’ll shoot flares off in the evening. The island isn’t all that big, it took me under an hour to walk around it. I don’t want you trying to leave camp unless you have no choice. You can hardly stand, but adrenaline in a fight or flight situation may get you crawling, ok?”

“Yes, sir!” Halo smiled, “Try and not to worry so much, I’m already tired and sleep sounds good… although it sounds better with you next to me.”
 

“Yeah… ok then! I am going to take my bag with me. My phone is in my suitcase and is fully charged as well as my tablet. My book reader is in there too, I have a few hundred books loaded on it. My phone is loaded with hours of music too, so help yourself.”

“I don’t think I’d feel right using your phone. I’m afraid I might come across something you might not want me to see. Can you charge mine?”

“I’m not worried, feel free. I’ll get your phone on the charger before I go. I can also charge your iPad too.” She nodded to him, “I don’t see any rain clouds but I’ll keep them in a plastic bag just in case.”

“Thank you Xander.” She repled and yawned then coughed a few times.

“You are sounding better, maybe one more cupping session tonight?”

“Oh! Of course!” She said with a happy smile.

“Ok… well here is a package of chips and a protein bar as well as water.”

“Thank you Mr. Explorer, come back safe…please?” Halo asked and stuck her lower lip out at him.

Xander’s heart skipped a beat as she looked so adorable, “Yes ma’am!”

Once again, he felt like he should kiss her, but instead gave her a little wave.

She watched him as he gathered his things then with a look back to her and another wave he set off up the beach. She waited until he was out of view then placed the earbuds in her ear and turned on his music. She found a comfortable position, and with thoughts of his lips on hers, sleep found her.

Xander headed off in a clockwise direction to where he saw the path in the jungle. Along the way, he picked up a reasonably straight tree branch as his walking stick. Soon he found himself standing at the entrance to the overgrown sandy path to the interior of Halo’s Island. He turned to look to the other island and still saw no indication of people, with a shrug he slowly began down the darkening and sandy path. The trees were filtering out the sun’s rays and it felt cooler underneath the shady canopy. He walked slowly along examining his surroundings, he noted more breadfruit trees as well as some others types of flowering trees. One in particular looked promising as a fruit-bearing tree.

He continued walking and realized he was beginning to head up an incline. He had the urge to pick up his pace but maintained a slow deliberate walk as he examined his surroundings. As he neared an open sunlit area, he noticed a large area had been cleared then suddenly froze in his tracks. Before him was once a large, but now overgrown, garden.

“Oh my God.” He whispered as he noticed the once orderly rows of plants. He came closer and his worries of food were now much diminished. Out in the garden he recognized pepper plants and tomato plants whose fruit were small and green still. He saw onions growing as well as garlic. Off to the side of the garden were what looked like potatoes. Off at the end he saw little red hot pepper plants as well.

He could tell that it must have been unattended for at least a year, maybe two. He noticed the drainage ditches were filled with detritus. He took several moments marveling at what he found. Walking down an open row of plants, he saw what looked like zucchini growing. He let out a laugh as he bent over and indeed saw tiny flowering zucchinis.

He knew he would have to clear it up and make sure enough water was available to the plants. He would have to start collecting wastewater to bring up here. He smiled excitedly as he turned and went back to the path wondering what else he might find.

Following the path upwards, he soon found a flat rock outcropping up ahead. He walked up it and soon was nearly level with the tops of the palm trees from down below. The vantage point was perfect, he thought. He turned and could see the sea in three directions. Looking towards the northern most part of Halo’s Island, he could see the beach. He turned south to see if he could see their camp, but the trees hid it from view.

With a smile glued to his face, he explored around and eventually found a flat spot down from the high point. He stared at it for a moment as an idea formed in his mind. With a laugh and a spring in his step, he went back down to the path, which is when he noticed a fork in the path. One went southeast and the other northeast. He chose the southeast path and began down it.

A few minutes of walking led him to another open area with numerous plants growing in rows. Excitedly he picked up his pace at what he saw, “Pineapples!” He yelled out as he came into the grove. He did a quick count realized there were hundreds pineapple plants that were fruiting.

With a chuckle he searched around through the rows and immediately was pricked by the spiky tall leaves. Moving more cautiously he saw many different sizes of pineapple. Some were beyond being ripe, but there were at least three rows of plants that were ready to be picked. Looking over to the other rows, he saw smaller and smaller sizes of pineapple. The last row in the distance looked nearly fruitless. Retrieving his knife, he cut away the largest pineapple. He hefted the heavy fruit in his hand and smiled, placing it in his bag he continued looking around the little grove. He would have to clean up the area too, he noted. Wondering what the other path led to he moved carefully out of the pineapple grove and headed northeast on the other path.

“Oh wow…” Xander exclaimed loudly when he came across more fruiting trees: papayas, mangos and bananas. “Jackpot!” Xander yelled happily. He felt like he won the lottery or he really must be dead and in heaven. If that were the case, he was going to enjoy it as long as he could. With that thought he hurried down and checked out the fruiting trees, the bananas were small and green, the papayas would be the first to ripen, and then the mangos he guessed. He wished Halo were here to see this with him, with that thought he checked his watch and realized he was already gone a good two hours.

With a smile on his face, he began his trek back. Passing the nearest breadfruit tree, he picked a couple larger ones and headed to camp at a brisk pace. Coming down towards camp, he checked on the SOS in the sand and made a mental note that he would have to replace the palm leaves, as they were turning brown.

Xander set his bag down and peeked into the tent, he saw that Halo had his earphones on with his phone by her and she was fast asleep. With a smile spread across his face, he retrieved the pineapple from his bag and quickly cut it up. He portioned it out into two bowls, keeping the core for later. He crept into the tent and kneeled quietly next to her, noticing the gun above her he moved it out of her reach. Picking up a piece of freshly cut pineapple, he held it close to her lips.

She felt something sweet and wet brush across her lips and she fought to open her eyes then she heard his voice.

“Halo!” He called out sweetly to her.

“What’s that?” She blurted out and licked her lips, “Oh my! Pineapple!” She gave him a smile then clumsily took off the headphones. He smiled and held the pineapple out for her to eat, with a smile she took it in her mouth and closed her eyes as she savored the sweet flavor. “Oh my, so sweet! Are there more?” She asked in a loud whisper.

“Oh yes. You wouldn’t believe what I found! I wish you were there with me!”

“Tell me!” Halo said with her eyes wide open in expectation.

“A garden! It’s full of plants! Tomatoes, peppers, onions! All sorts of things!”

“Oh!” She paused for a moment and furrowed her eyebrows at him, “Does that mean people are here?”

“No, I don’t think so, the garden is overgrown. I don’t think anyone has attended it for a long time. Guess what else I found!”

“A hut?”

“No, no hut… but there are bananas, mangos as well as papayas!”

Halo enjoyed the sparkle in his eyes, he looked happy again, “Well at least… we will have food!” She smiled up at him.

He held out another piece of pineapple for her and she eagerly accepted it into her mouth, “Halo, I’ll have to do a lot of cleanup of the area as things are overgrown… I have to be honest and tell you how eager I am to get to the other island. I won’t go until you can at least go to the loo by yourself, if that’s ok with you?”

“Of course, my Mr. Explorer man!”

He smiled happily as he fed her the rest of the small bowl of pineapple. After her last bite, he wiped a piece of pineapple from the corner of her mouth with his finger. That is when he noticed her hair was starting to get matted and needed a desperate wash. He gave her a silly grin, “Halo, I have an idea.” He pointed to her unkempt hair, “Would you like me to wash your hair for you? I can spare some of the rainwater for a final rinse, I can use heated up salt water for the wash.”