it in as he walked backward toward the shore.
Picking the bundled rope net up out of
the surf, he turned and deposited a net full of fish of various colors and
sizes at my feet!
“Yes! That’s it!” I said with
enthusiasm, gripping his arm.
He opened the net and tossed a few of
the smaller fish and some other creatures back into the ocean. He picked three
of four of the largest fish out, threw them onto the sand, and peered at me for
validation that this is what I’d meant.
“Fish. Yes! Those are fish!”
He picked them up, dispatched them
quickly, then smiled at me. We were having fish for supper tonight.
~***~
It’s a good thing I like sushi.
Micah knew very well how to filet a fish.
I shook my head as I watched, wondering where he’d learned to do it.
He certainly was an enigma, my Micah. I would
have to be content that there were some things I would never know about him,
but he still left me scratching my head sometimes.
The fish was raw, but delicious. I
thought the addition of a little protein to both of our diets would be good for
us. I wondered if we could somehow roast the fish next time.
“Micah, do you know how to build a
fire?” I asked, turning around on the deck to look at him. “Do you have
anything out there we could use to build a fire?”
He was out in his junkyard sorting
through some things. He picked his head up and gazed back.
“Fire? Do you know how to make a fire?
If we could cook the fish next time, it...”
The horrified look he got on his face
stopped me in mid-sentence; in fact, it made me instantly wish I could take the
statement back. He ran across the sand, snaked an arm around my waist, and
clamped a hand over my mouth.
His eyes, wide with fear, darted all
over my face; he wasn’t in any hurry to remove his hand. He didn’t want me to
say the word again.
Fire. Something about fire terrified him.
I put my hand on his chest and tried to
reassure him. He relaxed, took his hand away, and drew me into a gentle
embrace. I hugged him back; he was shaking. Without meaning to, I’d hit on a
serious nerve. Something from his past? I’d have bet money on it.
“I won’t say it again. I promise,” I
said against his shoulder, a little shaken myself.
Chapter Ten
I love him.
There. I said it.
I wanted to stay here with him forever.
I was willing to give up pizza, roasted fish, rib-eyes, and designer shoes and
purses. I didn’t ever want to go back to cruelty, greed, violence, and lack of
compassion. Everything Micah did made my heart happy.
I couldn’t believe I felt like that
already. I’d been here...what?...six days? This was so not me. I never give my heart away that fast.
I was pretty sure he felt the same way
about me, though he didn’t know exactly what he was feeling. I could tell when
I looked in his eyes that I meant something to him, and it wasn’t just
because we’d made a sexual connection.
I hadn’t taken him all the way yet. I didn’t
know why I was holding back. He was just so...innocent. Maybe I wanted to keep
him that way for a while? It’s such a rare thing...innocence.
Yet I knew it would be the greatest gift
I could ever give him. The gift of me, my body, my soul. Everything, no holds
barred. I wanted to bind the two of us together with that most intimate and
sacred of acts. It wasn’t just lust now; it had turned into love and trust. On
my part, anyway.
I resolved to do it that night.
~***~
We had a very nice supper of fish and
pineapple before we took ourselves off to the pool for a drink and a splash.
He towed me around the water by my ankles for a while, then I wrapped my legs
around his waist and just held him.
I couldn’t seem to stop touching him. It
was that magical time in all new relationships, that moment when you know
you’ve found the one. That whole thing with Calvin and Dolph had been
horrible, brutal, but it’d led me here, to this island and this man. I
Picking the bundled rope net up out of
the surf, he turned and deposited a net full of fish of various colors and
sizes at my feet!
“Yes! That’s it!” I said with
enthusiasm, gripping his arm.
He opened the net and tossed a few of
the smaller fish and some other creatures back into the ocean. He picked three
of four of the largest fish out, threw them onto the sand, and peered at me for
validation that this is what I’d meant.
“Fish. Yes! Those are fish!”
He picked them up, dispatched them
quickly, then smiled at me. We were having fish for supper tonight.
~***~
It’s a good thing I like sushi.
Micah knew very well how to filet a fish.
I shook my head as I watched, wondering where he’d learned to do it.
He certainly was an enigma, my Micah. I would
have to be content that there were some things I would never know about him,
but he still left me scratching my head sometimes.
The fish was raw, but delicious. I
thought the addition of a little protein to both of our diets would be good for
us. I wondered if we could somehow roast the fish next time.
“Micah, do you know how to build a
fire?” I asked, turning around on the deck to look at him. “Do you have
anything out there we could use to build a fire?”
He was out in his junkyard sorting
through some things. He picked his head up and gazed back.
“Fire? Do you know how to make a fire?
If we could cook the fish next time, it...”
The horrified look he got on his face
stopped me in mid-sentence; in fact, it made me instantly wish I could take the
statement back. He ran across the sand, snaked an arm around my waist, and
clamped a hand over my mouth.
His eyes, wide with fear, darted all
over my face; he wasn’t in any hurry to remove his hand. He didn’t want me to
say the word again.
Fire. Something about fire terrified him.
I put my hand on his chest and tried to
reassure him. He relaxed, took his hand away, and drew me into a gentle
embrace. I hugged him back; he was shaking. Without meaning to, I’d hit on a
serious nerve. Something from his past? I’d have bet money on it.
“I won’t say it again. I promise,” I
said against his shoulder, a little shaken myself.
Chapter Ten
I love him.
There. I said it.
I wanted to stay here with him forever.
I was willing to give up pizza, roasted fish, rib-eyes, and designer shoes and
purses. I didn’t ever want to go back to cruelty, greed, violence, and lack of
compassion. Everything Micah did made my heart happy.
I couldn’t believe I felt like that
already. I’d been here...what?...six days? This was so not me. I never give my heart away that fast.
I was pretty sure he felt the same way
about me, though he didn’t know exactly what he was feeling. I could tell when
I looked in his eyes that I meant something to him, and it wasn’t just
because we’d made a sexual connection.
I hadn’t taken him all the way yet. I didn’t
know why I was holding back. He was just so...innocent. Maybe I wanted to keep
him that way for a while? It’s such a rare thing...innocence.
Yet I knew it would be the greatest gift
I could ever give him. The gift of me, my body, my soul. Everything, no holds
barred. I wanted to bind the two of us together with that most intimate and
sacred of acts. It wasn’t just lust now; it had turned into love and trust. On
my part, anyway.
I resolved to do it that night.
~***~
We had a very nice supper of fish and
pineapple before we took ourselves off to the pool for a drink and a splash.
He towed me around the water by my ankles for a while, then I wrapped my legs
around his waist and just held him.
I couldn’t seem to stop touching him. It
was that magical time in all new relationships, that moment when you know
you’ve found the one. That whole thing with Calvin and Dolph had been
horrible, brutal, but it’d led me here, to this island and this man. I
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