Josie
“See – look there! You can just see the female emerging from the nest!”
Josie was whispering so softly she was surprised that Isaak could even hear her – but somehow, it seemed that he did. He followed her pointed finger to the small, concealed hole in the riverbank, virtually invisible to anyone who didn’t know what they were looking for.
But she could see it. She had trained her whole life to see things that no one else could see.
And now, she was the first person in seventy years to have a confirmed sighting of a white speckled kingfisher.
Well – she and Isaak both.
“She’s tiny,” Isaak breathed as together they watched the little bird hop from its hidden nest and out onto a branch that stretched across the river. “And she’s very colorful. I thought female birds usually weren’t as bright as the males?”
Josie nodded. “That’s true a lot of the time. Males need to be very beautiful to attract a mate.” She flashed him a quick smile, suggestively raising her eyebrow. “But female kingfishers can be just as colorful as the males.”
“So how do you tell the difference?”
Josie slowly reached out a hand, gesturing to the bird’s long, pointed bill. “You see there? The female has yellow along the bottom of her beak. A male would have all black.”
Josie watched as Isaak’s green eyes narrowed, focusing on the bird. Then, he nodded. “I see it. But I never would have noticed it if you hadn’t pointed it out. Incredible.”
Josie could feel her cheeks coloring with pleasure. She had felt a bit silly when she had suggested Isaak come with her to try to find the kingfisher she had lost sight of yesterday, before she’d taken the tumble down the cliff.
She had done fieldwork with a partner before, but she was used to working solo. She liked the peace and quiet. Plus, she wasn’t even sure that Isaak would be interested. Josie had made the offer shyly, unsure what he might say.
They had spent the night wrapped in each other’s arms in his bed at the villa. They hadn’t had sex again, though Josie thought she wouldn’t have minded if Isaak had wanted to. But being held by him was almost as good: his long, muscular arms could envelop her easily, his broad, brawny chest the perfect place to lay her head. She had drifted off listening to the sound of his heartbeat, as if it were a lullaby.
She had woken in the morning to the gorgeous white sunlight of the island streaming in through the wide windows of Isaak’s bedroom, making the azure sea beyond glisten like a jewel.
Like a jewel.
Josie had grabbed at her grandmother’s ring as soon as she’d woken, relief flooding her to find it was still exactly where it should be: on the string around her neck.
She still couldn’t quite bring herself to believe that she’d been carting around such a precious stone all this time, with no idea at all. Her grandmother had never breathed a word to even hint it was so valuable. Could she really not have known?
But something about Isaak’s tone as he’d spoken to her of what the ring was truly worth had made her believe him. He’d sounded so sure – so certain. Such a priceless item belonged in a safe in a bank, not dangling around her neck!
She still felt completely muddled up about it.
Jewels like this belonged to princesses or queens – not to people like her.
While she might have been proud of her accomplishments, a princess she was not!
But even so, I seem to have snagged myself a handsome prince...
Looking at Isaak’s face, Josie couldn’t help but smile. He had kissed her this morning the second he’d woken up, leaving her feeling breathless, thrills of excitement chasing themselves through every corner of her body.
It had taken all her willpower not to just pull him down on top of her and have her wicked way...
... Until the sound of birdsong had broken through the haze of her lust, and she’d remembered she was here to do a job.
Asking Isaak to come with her, she thought, was a decent compromise.
Provided she could keep herself from being distracted by the curl of his dark hair, the smoldering green of his eyes, and the gorgeous bulge of his biceps...
Josie swallowed, quickly averting her eyes.
Get back to work!
“Hopefully she’ll fly into the mist nets,” Josie breathed as the kingfisher chirruped, bouncing on its small log. “If she does, we can catch her and catalog her, make sure she really is what we think she is...”
And prove her existence to the rest of the world, Josie added silently.
The tiny bird fluttered on her perch, stopping to preen herself. Josie held her breath as it seemed for a moment that she was about to return to her home in the riverbank, when she suddenly took off, zooming through the air almost too quickly for Josie to follow her movement.
But the little bird had flown in the direction of the nets.
“Let’s go check on her,” Josie said, standing slowly. They had positioned themselves amongst the rocks and twisted shrubs that grew near the riverbank. As she stood, Isaak grabbed her hand, holding her steady.
“Just to be safe,” he murmured, flashing her a small smile.
Josie couldn’t help but laugh lightly. “Honestly, given how we met... I don’t blame you.”
Isaak’s palm was warm against hers as they made their way up to where they’d hung the mist nets earlier that day. Josie felt a shiver run down her spine at the contact, heat flaring in her belly. For about the fifteenth time that day, she realized just how much she regretted not having taken full advantage of having spent the night in Isaak’s bed.
Maybe tonight, she thought to herself, unable to stop a wicked grin from snaking across her face.
Almost as if he’d read her mind, Isaak looked down at her, his gaze heated. She could see hunger in his eyes – hunger for her.
This would take some getting used to, she decided. The idea that a man like Isaak would want her like this didn’t really fit in with her picture of herself at all. She was bookish, nerdy... no one to set anyone’s loins aflame.
Sure, Josie knew she could fill out a blouse pretty impressively, but she’d always been a bit too shy and awkward to really make proper use of her assets.
But it was clear that Isaak didn’t care one bit about how shy, how awkward, or how nerdy she was. His desire for her was sincere – and it was clear he wanted to learn more about the work that had brought her to his island.
Together, they made their way up a slight rise by the riverbank where they’d set up the mist nets. The nets would capture birds without hurting them, and their mesh was so fine that birds, focusing on things in the distance, wouldn’t see them as they flew.
And – sure enough – there was a bird caught in them now.
Josie tried not to feel too hopeful as they approached. There were a lot of birds on the island, after all, and if she’d been doing a study of population trends or survival rates, any bird that flew into the net would have been useful for her. But in this case, she only wanted to know about one bird.
“Is that her?” Isaak asked as they came up alongside the bird, hanging in the nets.
Josie bit her lip. “Yes. Yes, it’s her.”
The bird was a brilliant blue color, with a deep orange breast. The white speckles that gave her her name spread across her back and over her wings. She fluttered in the net, her wings tangled in the fine nylon strands, her bright black eyes darting.
“Can she hurt herself in there?” Isaak asked as they stopped by where the bird was caught.
“No – but you need to be very, very gentle when you’re untangling them,” Josie said. “Only trained professionals can do it – these little critters are pretty delicate sometimes.”
Josie’s breath caught in her throat as she slowly reached out to the trapped bird. Am I really about to touch the creature I’ve spent years of my life searching for? Or will she just disappear into thin air as soon as I try?
It didn’t seem possible. Josie was still worried that the little bird was just a figment of her imagination.
Though at least Isaak seemed to see her too – that was definitely a good sign!
Slowly, gently, Josie unwound the fine mesh net from around the bird’s body and wings. She could feel the tiny buzz of her heartbeat in her deep orange breast, and knew that the bird must be feeling frightened.
How Josie wished there was a way to communicate with her, and let her know they only wanted to help her!
At last, the painstaking process of removing the bird from the netting was complete. Josie held her gently, two fingers resting on her neck, the others around her wings to stop her struggling.
“Well, so far, so solid,” Josie murmured as she turned the bird over, looking at her gorgeous blue plumage – almost the same color as the glittering ocean beyond the island’s shores.
Isaak nodded, as if he’d read her mind. “I know what you mean – sometimes when you’ve wanted something for so long, you almost can’t let yourself believe it’s real when it finally arrives.”
Josie glanced up at him to find him looking at her with an almost palpable longing in his eyes, and swallowed. Is he... is he talking about me?
She felt herself coloring as she slipped the kingfisher into the small cotton bag tied to her belt. It didn’t seem possible – but then, none of the things that had happened to her over the past two days seemed possible. She’d come to Greece, she’d met Isaak, she’d discovered her grandmother’s ring was a priceless treasure, she’d actually found a white speckled kingfisher... and now Isaak seemed to be saying he felt the same way about her as she did about him: namely, that she had every intention of staying with him, and discovering just how deep their connection with each other ran.
What more could happen to a girl? Josie wondered, feeling slightly bewildered. She felt almost as if she’d break out into hysterical laughter if she tried to think about everything at once.
So, best to just focus on one thing at a time, she told herself. And now, I need to make sure I get proof that this bird really is what I think it is.
“She’ll be okay in there?” Isaak asked as they began making their way back along the riverbank, indicating the bag Josie was holding.
“Oh, yes,” Josie laughed. “Wild birds are a lot more resilient than people think. She won’t like it in there, but she won’t be affected by it after we release her. She’s probably more mad than upset!”
Isaak laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “I suppose I can’t blame her for that. I wouldn’t like being plucked from my home and put in a bag!
His gorgeous smile was infectious, and Josie found herself laughing too. “That’s a fair point – so let’s get her back out into the wild as soon as possible. Who knows – she might have a boyfriend she was enjoying a day out with too! Oh – uh – I mean –” She stuttered as she realized what she’d said, biting her lip. But when she managed to look up at Isaak he was simply smiling, his green eyes peaceful. He didn’t even seem to have noticed her slip.
“Of course,” he said, eyes warm and soft. “How can I help you?”
Josie sucked in a shaky breath. “Well – you can write down some information about the bird for me, while I measure her wings, check her age, and whether she’s part of a breeding pair,” she said. “All of that stuff’s important information for us to have, but it’s a little awkward for me to write and hold the bird at the same time – not to mention that I’ll need to band her leg, so we can keep track of her.”
“Well – sounds like we have plenty of things to do, then,” said Isaak as they made their way back to where she had her notepad and equipment set up.
The next ten minutes flew by like a dream. Josie still couldn’t quite bring herself to believe she was actually holding a white speckled kingfisher in her hands, even as she gently stretched out her wings and measured them, reading out her wingspan for Isaak to record.
The bird had been thought extinct for the better part of one hundred years! What next? Josie thought as she checked the bird’s feathers to determine her age. Dodos coming back to life? Dinosaurs? Oh, maybe the Loch Ness Monster... or unicorns! Oh, how about dragons?
“Well, she was born more than a year ago,” Josie told Isaak. “So we can put her down as an adult.”
“How can you tell?” murmured Isaak as he wrote down the information in the correct column.
“The color of her wings,” Josie replied as she turned the bird over in her hand to look at its belly. “She’s lost all her baby feathers, so they’re brighter than they would be otherwise. But since no one’s seen this species for so long, it’s just a guess. I don’t have anything to compare her to, except drawings from long ago. There’s one other way I can check, too.”
“Oh?” Isaak asked, looking up from the notepad.
“I can check if she’s a mom,” Josie said, lifting the bird up and blowing gently on her belly. The feathers ruffled back, revealing a bald patch on the kingfisher’s stomach.
“And is she?” Isaak asked.
Josie felt almost dizzy with happiness. “She is! She’s bald on her tummy, where she’s been incubating her eggs. That must mean she does have a man friend out there somewhere – and maybe some kids, too.”
“Only maybe?”
Josie licked her lips. “Baby birds have a high mortality rate. They can live for a long time if they get to maturity, but...”
Isaak nodded. “I understand.” He looked down at the little bird sitting almost docilely in her hand. “You seem to have a way with her. I think she likes you.”
Ducking her head, Josie laughed lightly. “Honestly, it’s just experience. You get to know how to do it.”
She made a few more measurements, before pointing to where her cell phone rested on her pack.
“Now, I just need you to take a few photos of her for me,” Josie said. “And then we can put her back where she belongs – flying free.”
Isaak nodded, his eyes turned toward the blue of the sky, an almost wistful expression crossing his face.
In a flash, it was almost as if Josie understood his thoughts. She could feel in her heart a deep desire to do what only birds could do – to take to the sky and fly, to feel the wind rushing by and to be free, utterly, completely free.
Hadn’t she always had the same wish, though? Ever since she was a child watching the birds in her mother’s garden, she’d wanted to fly – not only to fly, but to soar...
Sighing, Josie held out her hand to position the bird clearly as Isaak grabbed her phone. It was pointless to think about these things. Humans couldn’t fly. They were stuck here on earth.
Isaak quickly took the photos as Josie moved the bird about to show off its colors and distinctive markings, as well as its wingspan and the length of its legs.
At last, they were done. It was time to set their new discovery free.
Josie stared down at the little creature in her hand as they walked to the riverbank. The bird looked up at her with her bright, beady eyes, as if she was studying Josie right back.
“Well, Mom, it’s time to get you back out there,” Josie whispered to her. She glanced up as Isaak came up alongside her. Suddenly, Josie’s heart was filled with warmth that Isaak had been here with her as she had made this discovery – the most important one of her career to date. This could be earthshattering news: the confirmation that a species long thought extinct was actually alive, living here on Calauria.
While she had often worked alone in the past, Josie was happy she’d had someone to share this moment with.
And the fact that that someone was Isaak...
“Would you like to release her?” Josie blurted, without stopping to think. “I can show you how to hold her so you won’t hurt her. But you helped me – in fact, you’re the reason I ever discovered her existence. If you hadn’t let me come here...”
Isaak blinked. “Josie, I –”
“No, it’s true,” Josie continued. “You didn’t have to say yes. Do you know how many times I’ve been turned down for things like this? But you saw the value in it. And for that alone, I’m grateful. And as for everything else... well, that has been beyond an added bonus.”
She saw at once that Isaak understood what she meant. Heat flared in his eyes. Josie had never wanted to kiss anyone so badly before in all her life – but first, they had to get their little discovery back out into the world.
Josie extended her arm, holding the bird out to him. “Just gently put two fingers either side of her neck,” she said, as Isaak lifted his hand almost nervously. It was strange to see it – not that Isaak had been anything other than gentle with her, but he was a big, strong guy, and his physicality was one of the most attractive things about him. He looked as if he could pick her up with one hand if he’d wanted to – as if she weighed no more than a bird herself!
“Like this?” Isaak asked, as he took the bird from her hand, cradling it gently between his fingers.
“Exactly,” Josie said, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
He isn’t a monster.
The thought was in her head in an instant – not that she had ever thought he was. How could he be? Regardless of what he had said yesterday, she simply couldn’t bring herself to believe it.
She could see how someone might come to believe such things about themselves, after the life Isaak had had – no matter that his adoptive parents were wealthy, he had clearly had a difficult early life, growing up in an orphanage. Maybe he had never even known who his real parents were. And then, after that, the people who had taken him into their hearts and into their home had died when he was still only nineteen.
How would a person cope with so much tragedy?
Josie herself knew she would probably want to retreat from the world too.
Could she really blame him for seeing himself the way he did?
I’ll help him to see how wonderful he is, she decided suddenly. How kind. How gentle. The opposite of a monster!
“Well – here she goes,” Isaak said, opening his hands.
To Josie’s surprise, the kingfisher didn’t immediately spring out of his hands and into the air. She stayed where it was on Isaak’s palm, blinking, and seeming perfectly content to take her time.
Josie had never seen such a thing before – unless a bird was too surprised at its sudden freedom to take off, they almost always leapt straight into the air, eager to be away from their captors, even if the captors had meant them no harm.
This... this was different.
The kingfisher cocked her tiny head, regarding them, before calmly preening down a feather on her wing that had become disarrayed. Then, and only then, did she take off, fluttering onto a nearby branch, before disappearing into the forest.
“Wow,” Josie said, once she was gone. “Someone’s made a friend!”
Isaak stared reflectively after the bird for a long moment, before turning to her with a somewhat wistful smile.
“Josie, that was amazing.” He reached out, taking her hand. “You’re amazing.”
“Me?” Josie started to say – until suddenly Isaak’s lips were on hers, caressingly at first, but then with increasing hunger.
He tasted like nothing she’d ever known before: spices, honey, and heat.
And in that second, she knew she wanted more.
If she could have gone on kissing him forever, Josie was certain she wouldn’t have minded one bit.
How could anyone who can kiss like this be a monster?
The thought might have been naïve, Josie thought – but it wasn’t only that Isaak seemed to know just how to angle his head, just how to curve his tongue to make her see stars of desire.
It was also the connection between them – the strange, smoldering connection – that made her feel as if they were joined by a golden thread, their hearts beating as one.
What is this? Josie thought breathlessly as Isaak pulled back slightly, his green eyes looking directly into hers.
She’d never felt anything like this before.
How was it that he could make her skin tingle with desperate need?
How was it that he seemed to know exactly what she was thinking at every moment – and vice versa?
How was it that she had come to care so deeply for him in such a short space of time? Leaving him would be like cutting off a limb – or worse.
Ordinarily she might have felt melodramatic for having such a thought.
But with Isaak, it didn’t seem like an exaggeration in the slightest.
As his hands came up to clasp her back, Josie couldn’t help but gasp.
He was so powerful – so masculine –
The circle of his arms around her was irresistible, and she fell against his chest willingly, wanting to taste him, smell him, feel him...
Josie didn’t know how long they stood there together, lost in their kisses and each other.
And between them, somehow, she could feel the sapphire of her grandmother’s ring, burning, glowing, like a hot coal – that somehow didn’t hurt her.
Gasping, Josie pulled back, glancing down at it where it rested between her breasts... but it didn’t look any different. Its deep blue depths were calm. It wasn’t burning or glowing at all.
But even so, Josie felt she could detect some kind of... power emanating from it, something that throbbed deep within her core.
This is too strange, she thought, feeling dizzy.
“Whoa – are you okay?”
Josie didn’t realize she had swooned a little until she felt Isaak’s arms holding her up, her knees wobbling like Jell-O.
Swallowing, she shook her head, trying to get her thoughts together.
“Yeah, I – I’m fine,” she said, though Isaak’s expression remained doubtful. “I guess I... well, the last couple of days have been a lot. I guess I’m just a little overwhelmed.”
For a moment, she considered trying to explain the strange feeling from her ring... but in the end, decided against it. How would she even go about explaining something like that? She didn’t even think she had the words to describe it.
“We... should go check the nets and take them down,” Josie said once she felt a little less breathless. “I don’t want any birds being stuck in there for long. And I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”
She hadn’t realized until that moment just how hungry she was. As if to emphasize her point, her stomach let out a long, low growl.
Isaak laughed softly. “So I hear.”
They were making their way back to the mist nets when a wild idea came into Josie’s head.
Maybe if he weren’t so isolated here... she thought suddenly, glancing across at Isaak’s face as they walked. Maybe if we went on a normal date... he could see there’s nothing monstrous about him at all.
“Isaak,” she said as they reached the nets and began taking them down. “Can I ask a favor?”
“Anything.”
Josie licked her lips. “Will you take me to the mainland?”
Isaak glanced across at her. “I can arrange a boat to come and pick you up, if this is what you wish.”
She shook her head. “No, that’s not quite what I meant. I meant... will you take me to the mainland. I want for us to go there. Together.”
Isaak stopped what he was doing and stared at her for a long moment. “Anything except that.”
“But why not?” Josie asked, the words bursting from her lips before she could stop them. “When was the last time you went there?”
Isaak was silent for a long moment. “Four years ago.” He wouldn’t meet her eyes.
“That’s a long time to be alone,” Josie murmured, wanting to reach out to him. Finally, she put a hand on his arm, only to find him practically vibrating with tension.
“You know why I had to do it,” Isaak said softly. “I told you about –”
“I know. But I’m telling you that that’s not how I see you. You’re not any of the things you said you were.” Josie licked her lips, leaning into him. “Please – let me show you just how far from a monster you are.”
Isaak’s brilliant green eyes at last flicked up to meet hers. No matter how many times she saw them, Josie thought, she didn’t think they would ever fail to take her breath away. She’d never seen eyes so green.
“I don’t know, Josie... if only you knew... if only you could understand...”
“I do understand,” Josie said firmly. “I understand that you’re kind, and gentle, and birds like you, and you’re an amazing kisser, and amazing at... uh, other things too.” Josie felt herself blush to the roots of her hair, but she kept going. “And... and I’d like you to take me on a date.”
Isaak’s lips quirked into something that might have been the beginnings of a smile. “A date?”
Putting her hands on her hips, Josie mock-glared at him. “Yes! A date! Is that so weird? Just because we took things fast yesterday doesn’t mean I don’t want to be treated like a normal girl today. And I’d like to go on a date.”
“Are you sure about this?” Isaak asked, turning back to the nets, slowly unslinging them from the poles. “I have a... a reputation, you might say.”
“Maybe so,” Josie replied as she too began to take down the nets. “But I didn’t get any chance to go exploring before I came out to Calauria. Maybe you could show me around.”
Isaak didn’t answer her for a long time. Josie instinctively knew to keep her peace until he had finished thinking it over. At last, when the last of the nets were rolled up and the poles taken down, he looked her in the eye.
“All right, Josie. You know I can’t refuse you. We will go.”