Chapter Seventeen
Eleanor
We worked on the new shelter until the sun had gone far enough under the horizon that we couldn’t see well enough anymore and then walked out onto the beach together. Cool air was rushing in from the ocean, bathing us in its bracing saltiness, and I filled my lungs with it. Over the last two days I had gotten accustomed to being so close to the ocean 24 hours a day and would like to think that the sea monster and I had come to a mutual agreement. I agreed that it could remain imaginary if it agreed that it wouldn’t spit the remains of the boat at me while I was walking on the beach.
We had gone back to the cave and taken up the blankets and clothes that were left there, bringing them down to let them dry on the beach. The sun was so hot that they dried within an hour and I went to work shredding one of the most threadbare blankets so I could fashion some makeshift clothing for myself. After my encounter with Hunter on the beach I never wanted to put Gavin’s clothes on again. Instead, I wrapped a length of fabric around my hips to create a skirt and another around my breasts.
All the rage on this year’s runways from Paris to Milan – Jungle Boogie Chic.
“Do you think that they are looking for us?” I said as my eyes scanned the dark, unbroken line of the horizon in the distance. “Or do you think that they think that we just went overboard and there’s no point.”
I looked at Hunter and he reached his hand out to me.
“Come with me,” he said. “I want to show you something.”
I took his hand much more willingly than I had the first time that he guided me down the beach and followed him as he made his way toward the rocks at the far end of the sand. They were the ones that he had come down when Gavin and I were on the beach, after Hunter had disappeared after our conversation in the jungle. I hadn’t been onto those rocks, sticking primarily to the jungle and the water rather than exploring these frightening-looking jags. I followed him anyway, though, and let him lead me up the easiest path onto the top of the rocks. The bottoms of my feet had gotten tougher in the time that we had been on the island and I had even waved away Hunter’s offer for me to wear his shoes, feeling more comfortable staying the way that I had been since arriving on the island. I was used to it now and part of me worried that if I changed anything I would throw off the balance of my understanding with the beach and the jungle and put myself in more danger.
I was coming to a lot of understandings with inanimate objects and legendary creatures these days.
When we got to the top of the rocks Hunter led me all the way across a small plateau and up onto another ridge so that we got to a high point above the island. He sat down and I came with him, setting onto the rock with my legs hanging over. From that position, it looked as though we were soaring over the ground. Higher than most of the trees, this vantage point let us see far out into the ocean and across the jungle and concealed both the damage from the storm and the dangers that existed within the trees, illuminating the incredible beauty of the space around us.
“It’s gorgeous,” I whispered.
“I know,” Hunter said. “But that’s not what I wanted to show you.”
“What then?”
He smiled and pointed up. I followed his finger and gasped at the sight of a billion stars sprinkled across the deep blue sky like flour thrown across a marble cutting board. There were so many of them that in areas it looked as though they were blending together in pools and I had trouble identifying the constellations.
“Isn’t it amazing?” Hunter asked.
I nodded, not taking my eyes away from the stars.
“I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“I came up here after we talked. I needed some time to myself and when I saw the stars that first night, I couldn’t tear myself away from them. It let me think.”
“What did you think about?” I asked.
“You.”
I straightened my head and looked at Hunter. He was gazing back at me with more in his eyes than his words could have ever said.
We slid closer to each other until our bodies pressed to one another, thigh to thigh, and I leaned against him, allowing my head to tilt so that it tenderly rested against his for just a moment. When I straightened, he mirrored the movement, tilting his head against mine. I felt trembling in my belly as I looked up at him and our eyes met. There was so much electricity building in the ocean-scented air between us I felt as though I could feel the seconds disappearing around us. Finally, it felt as though something between us broke and Hunter smiled and leaned in to kiss me. I moved forward too, ready to feel the softness of his lips again, wanting to taste more of him and to discover what was waiting for me next, to show him more.
What began as a soft, introductory kiss quickly changed. Instead, it was as though that all of the desire that we both had built up sparked and flamed out of us in the same moment. Our mouths parted and I gazed for a moment into Hunter’s mesmerizing eyes. Hunter wrapped his arm around me and pressed his hand to my lower back, drawing me closer across the rocks. I was extremely aware of the edge of the ridge and the steep distance between us and the beach, but the adrenaline only intensified what I was feeling. I pulled myself up onto his lap, cupping the back of his neck with both hands and drawing him toward me to crush our mouths together again. Hunter’s fingers immediately came to my hips and dug into my skin as he dove fully into the explosive moment that was happening between us. He was urgent and full of need, demanding in the passion of the kiss, yet there was still something unsure and questioning about the way that he moved. He was still nervous, still uneasy about this unknown frontier. He couldn’t analyze this. He couldn’t research it or do calculations. This went beyond his mind, to his heart and his body, and I wanted him to learn to listen to them, to trust them. I felt his tongue glide out to tease across my lips and I opened my mouth to welcome him.
Hunter’s tongue plunged into my mouth as if he was seeking everything that he had been missing. I could taste the remnants of salt on his lips from the breeze that sent a veil of mist over us when we were on the beach. The longer we kissed, the more I discovered until I found something richer and sweeter, something that was purely Hunter. His scent filled my lungs, his tongue filled my mouth, and I lost myself in the blistering fantasy of his hard, straining cock finally filling my body.
Hunter slid a hand down my side and along my thigh making heat sizzle through my chest and tingle along my spine. I raked my fingertips down his bare chest, luxuriating in the feeling of the powerful muscles, chiseled from the work that he had told me that he did with his brother, and then flattened my hands, eagerly seeking out the warm skin of his stomach and back. I broke our kiss again and moved off of his lap. Standing, I stepped back from the edge of the rocks and offered him my hand. Hunter took it and allowed me to lead him back toward the plateau. I turned toward him and Hunter scooped me into his arms, gathering me close so that we could kiss hungrily again. I scratched my nails up and down his ribs and waist, dragging groans of pleasure from him and making my core throb with anticipation. Hunter's hands moved down to roam over my body, finding the ties of the fabric and releasing them without hesitation. I stepped out of the fabric and then pressed up close to Hunter, giving his hands full access to my body. They settled onto my ass and squeezed and I hummed into his mouth. Hunter’s grip tightened and he lifted me off of my feet so that I straddled his waist. I squeezed my legs tightly around him and could feel the hard bulge of his erection nudge into my hot core.
“Show me,” he said. “Show me what I’ve been missing.”
His demanding growl sent a shiver of desire into my heart and body. I pressed myself to him more tightly, lifting up only enough to roll my hips, increasing the connection between us and furthering the tightness of his cock against me.
“Yes,” I gasped.
Hunter bent his knees carefully until he was on the ground and could lay me back on the castoff fabric on the rocks. He gazed down at me for a few moments and his sparkling green eyes glinted as he stood so he could step out of his shoes and pants. His body was sculpted, even more delectable than it had been in the crashing of the storm or the teasing of the tide. My fingers twitched with anticipation and I reached up to trace my fingers along the trail of hair that led through the V of his hip muscles and toward his cock. It stood hard and thick above me and my body shook with need and the desire to touch him.
Hunter lowered himself back down beside me and brushed his lips against mine. He moved to my neck as his hand slid up my body, his palm settling over my breast so that he could tenderly stroke my nipple with his thumb. I gasped as his thigh nudged my legs apart and brushed against my wet core. His mouth found my neck again and then moved down. His lips danced along my breasts before he drew my nipple into his mouth. Hunter flicked his tongue over the sensitive, taut peak and then traced it in slow, languid circles. His pace had slowed and he paid equal attention to both breasts, passing back and forth between them for several long moments. I writhed and whimpered, remembering the powerful effect that his mouth had had on me on the beach.
This time Hunter’s hand slid down my thigh towards my molten center, promising a deeper, more exquisite experience to come. His fingers felt like magic as they found my clit, tracing it softly like a delicate, precious pearl.
“You’re so wet,” Hunter whispered.
The words sounded brazen and erotic falling from his lips and they pushed me further into my arousal. I reached out to find the length of his cock, wanting nothing more than to feel it, to hold it, to explore all that it could do. I gripped it firmly, running my hand along its stiff, hot length. His fingers circled the tip of her clit awakening my muscles and causing them to tighten in anticipation of more attention. I sat up to give myself better leverage and run my hand along his erection in fuller, longer strokes. Hunter leaned forward and our mouths caught so that they played and tangled as we gave ourselves over to each other.
After a few moments, the pleasure that he was giving me became too much and I dropped back away from him. My hand falls away from his erection and I closed my eyes so that I could focus completely on the sensation of his hand swirling through my core. Almost immediately Hunter pushed away.
"What are you doing?" I asked breathlessly.
I opened my eyes to look at him, not wanting the feeling of cold, empty fulfillment that crept in when his hand left my body to continue any longer.
“Looking at you. Thinking.”
I smiled and he kissed me again.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked when our mouths parted.
“Something that I have wanted to do since I saw you under the waterfall.”
I gasped at the realization that he had been watching me, but he didn’t react. Instead, Hunter lowered himself to his knees in front of me and tucked his hands under my legs. He gripped the backs of my thighs and pressed my knees apart to open me fully. I moaned at the deliciously vulnerable feeling the position gave me.
As rushed and urgent as Hunter had been, he was now torturously slow and controlled. I felt him dip his head down and gently blow a stream of air along my hot, wet core. The contrast in temperature between his breath and my waiting body was a more erotic mirroring of the way that the water of the waves had teased me and I arched my back to present myself to him.
One of Hunter's hands slid up my thigh and onto my belly so that he could hold me in. I could feel his breath growing closer to my body and I knew exactly what he had been thinking. He leaned forward and just the tip of his tongue glided up through my folds. His forwardness was so unexpected and his touch so concentrated that the sensation was almost unbearable and I felt myself melting into his touch.
Hunter drew another long, deep lick through me, and then focused the tip of his tongue on my taut clit. He glided his tongue around the edge of the pearl that he had coaxed forward, before flicking his tongue across it directly again. The deliberate, feathery pattern started me toward climax. I felt delicious, tight pleasure building throughout my belly, thighs, and hips, and let my eyes drift closed again so that I could luxuriate in the feeling. I hoped I wouldn’t finish too soon, not wanting to lose any of the delirious pleasure. Hunter's other hand left my thigh and slid toward my center and two fingers slipped inside of me and I lost all control.
I cried out and surged up. Hunter hovered over me so that I could wrap around him. I clung to him, gasping into his neck as I rode the final waves of my climax.
“Hunter,” I panted, “that was amazing."
Hunter kissed along the side of my neck and into the curve of my shoulder, and I could feel him smile against my skin. The tongue that had just brought me tumbling into oblivion slipped out and glazed across my skin. I felt safe and protected in his arms, as if all of the danger that we had faced together no longer existed, but I didn’t want to fall asleep yet. I didn’t want to let this be the end. I needed to continue, to push him beyond this place and into everything that I knew he was capable of.
I turned Hunter around and pushed him down onto his back. His thick, impossibly hard cock rose up and I accepted it eagerly. Wrapping my hand firmly around the base, I stroked his erection a few times until his eyes closed and I felt his hand clench on my thigh. I didn’t want the chance that his desire was lessening, and I reached forward to run my other hand down his body, appreciating every exceptional cultivated inch. I wanted to please him as much as he had just pleased me, and I dipped my mouth down to run the tip of his cock over my lips as I had fantasized about in the water. I indulged myself in the smooth, silky feeling of his soft, spongy head and the salty-sweet taste of the fluid that dripped from the slit onto my tongue. Hunter drew in a shuddering breath and I grinned.
I opened my mouth and brought Hunter's cock in to glide against my tongue and settle at the back, nestling at the entrance to my throat. As I explored every ridge and vein, I sought to memorize the feeling of him, wanting to be able to call back this very moment whenever I longed for him, which I knew would be far more frequently than I wanted to admit to myself in that moment. I sucked him deep, allowing him to dip into my throat as I reveled in the rumbling, primal sound of his groan.
Hunter's back arched up off of the rocks and he let out an even deeper growl. His hand cupped the back of my head and I felt him hesitate. I paused, wanting him to guide me, to direct me into the pace that he wanted so that he could achieve the exact pleasure that he desired. I wanted to empower him, to show him the strength and beauty of his body, and the way that he could give and receive such exceptional delights. He seemed to understand and began to direct my head so that my mouth slid up and down his cock in a smooth rhythm that I knew he wouldn’t be able to handle for very long.
Just as I expected, it was only seconds before he pushed back on my shoulder to stop me and guide me away from his body.
"Are you alright?” I asked.
He sat up and I leaned out of the way as he clambered to his feet. He crossed the plateau and I watched as he ducked behind a large boulder near the edge. A second later he reappeared, the metal box from the beach tucked under his arm. He brought it over and set it on the ground beside me, flipping the top open to reveal the collection of condoms inside. Hunter reached in and grabbed one of them. He met my eyes and I smiled at him encouragingly. He glanced down at his cock and then back at me. I reached out and plucked the packet from his fingers, peeling it open and slipping the condom from inside. I sat up and nestled the condom on the tip of his cock, then gradually rolled it down to the base of his shaft.
When it was in place, I released him and lay back. Hunter positioned himself so that he was in between my legs and reached for my hips, pulling me toward him. I gasped as he tilted my hips up so the tip of his cock nuzzled my core. With only a brief moment of hesitation, Hunter sank inside me, his eyes closing as he savored the feeling. He held himself still, getting accustomed to the experience, then eased forward more. My body welcomed him, but I suddenly felt my heart surge and break at the same time.
I didn’t want to think. I didn’t want to let the emotions and thoughts of all that I was hiding from Hunter take over. I just wanted this, all of what he was offering me and all that I could give him. Hunter’s hips rolled against me so that he sank deeper until finally he was settled as far as he could. When my body had opened fully to him, he sat back on his knees and held my hips. The position gave him greater control and leverage so he could increase his speed and intensity.
The fresh, salty air around us began to fill with Hunter’s deep, unbridled groans and I could see that he was losing control. I reached up and ran my hands down his body, giving in completely to the pure sensual pleasure of his muscles. His thrusts became harder and faster, pushing me into my own spiral, and soon I was gasping for breath, crying out as my body clamped down on him and I tumbled into an orgasm even more powerful than what he had already achieved in me on the beach.
As my body pulled his deeper into me with my intense spasms, Hunter let out a strangled cry. I felt his cock give a hard pulse and then cascade of throbbing within me. He remained poised over me as the most powerful rush of his climax flowed over him and then he fell forward, swallowing hard as his body began to relax. I wrapped my hand around the nape of his neck, stroking it tenderly with my thumb as I held him to me. I cherished the delicious weight of him, making me feel blissfully encapsulated, distanced from everything else, able, if only for the time, to pretend that this world could truly be mine.