What was I thinking dragging her all over the island? I should’ve left her at the house, but if her mind were anything like mine, being pent up inside would make her go nuts. I noticed anytime her mind began to settle, she either fell asleep and had nightmares or she got snarky with me. The more I thought about it, the more I realized her line of thinking was, in fact, similar to my own: in order to keep your mind occupied, keep busy. What were the chances we were two peas in a pod? Two peas about ready to kill one another half the time.
I’d let Erica lead the way at one point but quickly changed my position. The view of her ass swaying back and forth in those tight jeans and the fact that her shirt didn’t hide a thing, only amplified her delectable curves, made me hard enough to drive a nail through a piece of wood. I just couldn’t take it anymore, or so I thought, because my control was further tested when she stripped down to her undergarments. Granted, I’ve seen bikinis that were too damn skimpy, with women trying to flaunt what they thought men wanted to see, but, damn, this woman was a Venus de Milo, personified! Erica had hidden an amazingly curvaceous body from everyone’s sight with those god-awful clothes she used to wear. I guess you could say she tried to dress either older than her age or in a frumpy manner. Maybe it was to blend in, since her family was in hiding. I didn’t know, but it was a travesty, because she had a body to die for with curves in all the right places. The woman was the equivalent of a nineteen-fifties pinup, but prettier.
Feeling the splash of water against my heated skin brought me back to reality, just in time to see Erica’s nearly naked form gliding with ease through the water. I looked away to allow her some modesty, when she asked, “Are you coming in?”
Was she kidding me? Hell, I’d just about come in my pants a few times already. If I stood up now and stripped down to my boxers, I’d be giving her quite a show—one I wasn’t sure she could handle. Maybe my mind and my heart were resisting Erica, knowing we both weren’t in a situation where we could let our hormones speak for us, but my other head had a mind of its own, and right now, it was locked onto target and ready to go after her, to seek out her heat. I hoped I could think of enough things to keep my mind off her figure and on the mission at hand. Thankfully, the backpacks came in handy for more than just carrying things; it was now covering up the massive bulge in my pants. I just prayed she didn’t ask me to stand anytime soon.
Erica swam over to the side of the natural pool and splashed me with a little water. “So?”
I shook my head. “I think I’ll sit this one out. I don’t have anything to swim in, but go ahead and enjoy yourself. We need to leave here in about thirty minutes.”
She countered with an adorable pout. How is it that a woman could bring a man to his knees with a look? I almost said to hell with it and got up and stripped anyway, because I was hot and the water looked and felt refreshing, but logic won the battle. I hated lying to her. “I’m going commando under my pants. You probably wouldn’t like it if I skinny dipped with you.”
A small smile spread across her face, along with a beautiful shade of pink. Erica held her hands up. Maybe she was as naïve as I’d originally thought, who knew? “That’s okay. I’ll just enjoy the water. Maybe when we check out the rest of the island tomorrow, you can bring your trunks or some boxers so we can come back here for another swim?”
I nodded in agreement, but didn’t say anything. There were some swim trunks in the closet at the house; I don’t know who thought to put them in as part of the attire. Regardless, maybe the combination of some skintight workout pants and the swimsuit would be able to hide my physical attraction to her.
I looked up wondering if I was breaking with protocol by allowing us to be seen from any overhead planes, but noted the trees around the edge of the water provided enough of a canopy to shield us from being seen. The only way we could be identified here was with thermal imagery equipment attached to a plane or helicopter.
The splash from her kick hit my face and brought my thoughts and focus back onto Erica. She was quite the swimmer. She kept up a steady pace for about fifteen minutes, going back and forth between the longest distance of the pool, pond, or whatever the heck the actual term was, before finally settling against the side, breathing heavily. I knew what she was doing: she was trying to wear herself out by doing laps, because she was dreading sleep.
I diverted my attention to the surrounding area, taking in the lush vegetation, not wanting to focus on her face. The beauty of her features coupled with the way she was breathing heavily had me thinking of the various ways I’d love to take her breath away in the bedroom. I thought you were trying to keep away from her, keep your libido under control. The doctor warned you that when the right woman came along, you’d know it, and your sex drive would return. But why her? My mind needed to shut the hell up. But it was right: why Erica?
I’d been placed with some of the most stunning women in the sex club to run a scene to help me get out of my head and get past the memories that tormented me. Unfortunately, none of the women had managed to get me hard, or if they did, they couldn’t hold my interest beyond a few moments. So why was Erica so different that I enjoyed talking with her? Why couldn’t I just push her away and be done with it? I’d tried barking orders and pushing her around a bit, but she seemed to deflect my attitude easily. She hadn’t backed down but had, instead, matched my every move and had pushed back with her own wit. I shook my head trying to make sense of it. Maybe if I left her to her own devices and we kept busy and close to the house, we could manage to get along without really interacting with one another.
I was lost in thought, still pondering my body’s reaction and whether it was feelings or just a passing interest I had for Erica, knowing she was forbidden, when she asked, “How does this island operate?” I wasn’t exactly sure what she was asking, so I requested that she elaborate.
“How does the house get water, power, and the like? While we were on the ATV, I noticed there were translucent solar cells interspersed amongst the shrubbery, trees, and other areas where sunlight broke through the vegetation to gather power, but there has to be more, right?” Her crystal-blue eyes were alight with inquiry, waiting for me to respond. I’d been avoiding looking her directly in the eyes up until now and realized she held a great deal of emotions in her expressions, especially the eyes. While the water she was swimming in looked enticing, I would rather swim in the depths of her gaze.
I ran a hand through my short hair—I still hated how they’d cut it; I felt like a soldier again—and tried to clear my mind and force myself to focus on answering her questions.
I’d totally underestimated Erica’s powers of observation. Gathering my thoughts, I leaned forward and began explaining. “You’re quite attentive, but I guess it comes naturally with your parents being top-of-the-line operatives. You’re right; the majority of the power comes from the solar cells. We’re using up a portion of it with the house, but there are other solar-run generators located around the island to power the various docks and security equipment. What we don’t use gets stored in reserves for a short time.”
Her brows furrowed in thought. “But what happens when you have storms in the summer months? Some can last several hours, while others, especially those tropical in nature, can last several days.”
Laughing and shaking my head at her keen sense of detail, I pulled out the map and showed her the locations of the generators. “See these marks here? They indicate the ones that power the security systems on the outer rims of the island, and here,” I pointed to the very pool of water she was swimming in, “there’s a hidden waterwheel, only visible if you’re looking in the right area.”
I stood up, thankfully no longer sporting the wood in my pants, and extended a hand. “Here, let me show you; it might explain things better. Besides, it’s time for you to get out and dry off so we can head back to the house.”
With the use of my hand to give her balance, she didn’t hesitate to pull herself out of the water. Once out, she ran in place a bit to shake the water from her body. I quickly diverted my eyes, because I didn’t want to have the vision of her in a skimpy outfit with those luscious breasts bouncing up and down with each step. I could imagine my hands wrapping around her succulent, naked breasts, while I… Stop it! Don’t go there with your mind. Think of a block of ice down your pants. What was she trying to do, kill me with a massive set of blue balls? Though I will say that being hard for someone wouldn’t be a bad way to go.
“Lead the way, captain.” Her words rang out, causing me to spin around quickly and grab her arms to stop her in place.
“Don’t EVER call me that again. I left the military for a reason. I don’t need you reminding me of my…” It was the fear in her eyes and the shaking of her body that made me realize what I was doing. I was taking my frustrations out on her. I’d had a flashback to my last mission, of the fine soldiers I’d lost, to all the civilian lives lost, to the sounds of people crying out in pain when … Get your thoughts together quickly. You’re ruining this. You are the one in control of your life, not the visions of your past.
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and pulled Erica close. “I’m sorry. I know there’s no excuse for yelling at you. Let’s just say that I’d like to leave my past behind me, so please don’t refer to me as captain again.”
Erica pulled back to look up at me; noticeable tears rimmed her eyes. She looked defeated, which was all my doing. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t know. I’ll try to watch what I say around you.”
The playful and inquisitive moment between us had ended, and with it, I felt a piece of my heart might have been crushed too. Why did I have to be such a fucking jerk? Why couldn’t I just work past my hang-ups and live life again? I didn’t know when the answers would come. Hell, I didn’t know what one second to the next would bring, but one thing was for sure: I didn’t want Erica scared to talk with me.
I grabbed her hand. “Let’s go check out the top of the rock formation and the waterfall. I believe you seeing it in person will answer your questions.”
As we headed up the path to the top, I mumbled an apology. “Hey,” I playfully bumped into her arm to get her attention. “I’ll try to do better about controlling my temper, so don’t worry about what you can say or do around me. We can sit down later tonight or tomorrow and discuss what sets each of us off and try to establish some form of peace between us, since we’re going to be stuck here a while.”
She didn’t answer at first, only good-naturedly bumped me back in the arm, but then admitted, “I’d like that.”
At the top of the rock formation, I showed her a small opening that had been marked on the map. “See right there? If you push the flowers aside, you can see right down into it. There’s a huge waterwheel inside that’s building and storing energy into a hydraulic powered generator. It uses the falling water of the waterfall to power the wheel and store the energy to be used later. A portion of it stays here for the safe room, while the rest is transported to other generators located around the island.”
She started to ask why the wheel was hidden but got halfway through and realized the answer: so no one could see any inhabitants from the air.
Erica walked along the top of the formation like she was looking for something; although, I didn’t know for what. I admired how the sun made her hair shimmer, as if a halo were surrounding her in its warm glow. Her demeanor was definitely angelic, but her body was sin in that makeshift bikini. Dude, remember your promise: no touching that.
She stopped here and there several times taking in the environment, before finally pointing to something and asking, “This is a spring-fed waterfall and natural pool, isn’t it?”
When I nodded, she asked, “This is where we’re getting water for the house?” She had a question for everything and, somehow, figured out most of the answers before I could even elaborate. Most people would hate that, but not me. I was actually getting into her excitement. It was kind of cool how Liam had set his whole system up. The man was a freaking genius!
“Yes, but anything we use from taking a bath, flushing the toilet, or even from doing laundry goes into a septic system where the solids are removed to a separate tank where enzymes take care of most of the solid waste that sinks to the bottom. Anything chemical in nature along with grease, oils, and fats, float to the top and are purified with a system Liam created and is trying to market. Anything in the middle layer is sent through a leaching system and back into the ground. I don’t know all the ins and outs of how it all works, but I did do a lot of reading about the house while you were asleep to get the gist of it.”
To be honest, I’d read as much as I could about the place we were staying, not only to get an idea of the security measures in place and how to use them, but I wanted to know how an off-the-grid house in the middle of nowhere had all the amenities of one on the mainland. The breeze was definitely plentiful on the island, so Mr. Teckraff could easily harness the wind, but that would be hard to conceal. The man was definitely talented in his ability to design and create things. During my conversation with Rick, he revealed that most of the technology used on the island wasn’t available on the market, with exception of the advances he made with the septic system. Liam was holding on to it for his use only and maybe a select number of friends or members of Titan.
We were taken by surprise with a crash of thunder coming from the south of us. I looked above the tree line and noted dark clouds rolling in quickly. We had a nice summer storm headed our direction and needed to get back to the house before it hit. The idea of being amongst trees during a lightning storm didn’t sit well with me. For that matter, the bright fulmination mixed with the loud clap of thunder brought back bad memories of war zone noises over in Afghanistan. I needed to get somewhere safe and do anything that would keep my mind off this freaking storm. I couldn’t let Erica see my weakness. Thanks to Dr. Bradford’s sessions, the severity in which I reacted to the storms had lessened considerably, but the noises still triggered PTSD issues if I didn’t keep my mind occupied.
I looked over to where Erica last stood, but she was gone. “Hey, where did you go? We need to get out of here and fast.”
Her words were rushed and muddled as she quickly climbed down the rock formation and ran over toward her clothes. She seemed nearly out of breath and was shaking like a leaf. I didn’t think I’d ever seen a woman dress so quickly. I wondered if she had issues with storms too?
Walking up next to her, I grabbed our packs, slinging one over the back of me and one over the front. Just then, another flash of light and rumble of thunder crisscrossed the quickly darkening sky.
We both startled and ducked, as if we could actually escape nature’s elements. My hand fell to Erica’s lower back as I pushed her along. “I need to get you back to the house quickly. Keep moving in a straight line until I tell you to change directions. Now go; I’ll be right behind you.”
Without delay, Erica took off running. I followed a few steps behind telling her, when necessary, to watch out for the tree limbs in front of her or to watch out for the rock coming up on her left. She took direction like a pro and jumped over things while keeping up a good pace.
Normally, I wouldn’t have placed her in front of me where I could see her heart-shaped ass bouncing along the trail, but at this moment, I wanted the hell out of these trees. I knew she’d be able to run faster without the weight of the backpack, and it wouldn’t slow me down any, since I was used to running with a full pack through rough terrain in the military.
We made it to the house in record time, right as the rain started pouring down, soaking us completely through. I shucked off my shirt and boots, leaving them by the door, before taking off for the downstairs bathroom to see if I could grab a couple of towels.
I came back with a couple of oversized beach towels and found Erica—only wearing boy shorts—bent over at the waist removing her hiking boots. She started to turn around, so I held up the towel and turned my head. “Here’s a towel for you. Please wrap it around yourself quickly.” I hated that my voice came out husky and low. Hopefully, with the noise of the rain coming down, she wouldn’t notice my tone. I hastily wrapped my towel around my waist, not even bothering to take off my pants, since I was now sporting another erection, thanks to her tantalizing body.
She moved past me, brushing against the front of me with her back, on her way into the kitchen. Was she trying to kill me? Did she feel my hardness as she glided by me?
“I’m going to go change into something dry. Would you like me to cook something for dinner or maybe play a game while we wait for the storm to pass?” Her eyes looked down toward the floor; her hands fidgeted in front of her. “I’m not good with storms. I was nearly hit by lightening once, and I…” I noted any time her eyes dared to lift toward me, they seemed to focus in on my crotch, leaving me no doubt she felt how much her presence turned me on.
We might have come to this island for different reasons, but I suddenly realized we were more alike than I wanted to believe. I just shook my head and smiled. “Dinner and a game sounds good, but let’s cook together.” I swallowed hard, not wanting to let her see the cracks that were just below my surface, as they were plentiful, but I finally admitted, “I have my own reasons, but I’m not a fan of storms either. Anything to keep us both busy is okay with me.” I hope she didn’t read into my last statement, since there was a double entendre.