Lost in Paradise Read online

  Nicole settled into a rhythm, imitating the way Fiona had touched her, which was really fucking good, but frankly, it wouldn’t have mattered what Nicole did at this point. Fiona was so close, she could come from pretty much anything Nicole chose to do to her.

  “Tell me if there’s something you like,” Nicole murmured, spreading kisses over her neck.

  “You’re doing just fine,” Fiona managed, hips moving, breath tangled in her throat as her body spiraled toward release. Her orgasm coiled inside her, hot and tight, making her tremble in anticipation. As much as she wanted to tumble headfirst into release, she didn’t want this to end so soon, and the tiny part of her brain left to rational thought knew that if she came now, it would be over almost embarrassingly fast.

  As if sensing her thoughts, Nicole slowed her rhythm, her fingers ghosting over Fiona’s clit as she focused instead on kissing her, her free hand exploring Fiona’s body while she grumbled in frustration.

  “Patience,” Nicole whispered.

  “Not my strong suit,” she mumbled, breathless.

  Nicole laughed against her neck. “I like seeing you like this. So sexy.”

  “Killing me.”

  Nicole sucked at the pulse point on her neck, swiping one finger over her clit, and Fiona was spinning again. Nicole returned to her previous rhythm with a vengeance, her fingers everywhere Fiona needed them. Pressure built inside her, so hot and tight she could hardly stand it. Her hips bucked, her eyes slammed shut, and then she was coming.

  Release ignited in her core, radiating through her body, pulsing through her in blissful waves that left her limp and breathless, trembling in pleasure.

  “That was, without a doubt, the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Nicole said, sounding awed.

  Fiona cracked open an eye to look up at her. “You’re really fucking good at this.”

  Nicole smiled widely. “Not bad for my first time?”

  “Not bad?” Fiona blew out a breath, her body still trembling with the aftershocks of her orgasm. “I haven’t come that hard in…too long to remember.”

  Nicole lay beside her, one arm sliding around Fiona’s waist to draw her close. “This was amazing.”

  They lay there like that for a while, neither of them moving or speaking, just breathing in the closeness and comfort between them. Well, Nicole’s body was comforting, but the cold marble beneath Fiona’s ass and digging into her skull left something to be desired.

  “As much as I’d like to stay here and discover all the different ways to make you come, we’re meant to be doing something,” she murmured, stroking her hand down Nicole’s back.

  “We are?”

  She nodded. “The sun’s already halfway to noon, and we need to find out if we’re on an island or not.”

  “You’re right.” Nicole drew herself together with impressive speed, sitting up and grabbing her underwear. “Round two tonight?”

  “Count on it.” Fiona grabbed her own panties and followed Nicole to the beach, where they cleaned up before continuing on their journey. Hand in hand, they walked the beach, not a leisurely stroll but walking with purpose, fueled by the desire to be saved, to go home, to share a real bed together at some point in the near future.

  Several times, they had to detour around rocky outcrops and other obstructions to the shoreline, but overall the coast was clear, so to speak. They looped consistently to the right as they walked, so much so that Fiona wasn’t the least bit surprised when the rock they’d slept on last night came into view.

  “Island,” she said matter-of-factly.

  Nicole sighed. “Damn.”

  “It’s okay.” Fiona gave her hand a squeeze. “Someone’s going to find us.”

  “But in the meantime,” Nicole said, her face set in determination. “We need to get a few things done.”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  “We need to start a fire, try our hand at fishing, search again for a source of fresh water, and move our base camp down to the ruins.”

  Fiona frowned at the enormity of the tasks Nicole had set forth. “Yes. Okay.”

  “I think fire and fishing should come first,” Nicole said. “We’ve still got plenty of water in our emergency rations, plus a collector tarp in case it rains, and we can sleep here again tonight if we need to.”

  “I agree. How do you plan to start a fire? Of all the supplies in that boat, there aren’t matches.”

  “Guess they don’t intend for people to start fires at sea?” Nicole said with a smile. “But they gave us a signal mirror, and I’m going to use that to try to get one started.”

  “I’d say your fire-starting skills are top-notch,” Fiona said with a meaningful look. “I suppose I’ll have a go at fishing, then.”

  NICOLE STARED, awestruck, at the tiny flame curling around the dried grass she’d placed in her makeshift fire pit, feeling like a superhero. She hadn’t expected it to be this easy, but the grass had begun to smoke almost as soon as she’d aimed the mirror’s reflection at it. Except, as it turned out, her celebration was short-lived, because the flame evaporated in a puff of smoke a few seconds later. But if she’d done it once, she could do it again, and next time, she’d be better prepared with things to feed it.

  In her mind’s eye, she saw the pile of red fabric Fiona had left inside the lifeboat. A scrap or two from the dress might keep the flame going long enough for it to catch some of her bigger kindling on fire.

  Fiona’s red dress. Nicole couldn’t stop thinking about their encounter in the pavilion, replaying every moment in her head, reliving the pleasure they’d given each other. How had they managed to create something so beautiful out of such an impossible situation? A tingle of anticipation raced through her as she thought of the night to come.

  Fighting back a dreamy smile, she walked toward the lifeboat, stopping dead in her tracks as she spotted Fiona in the surf with the fishing tackle, wearing…not much. She’d tied a strip of red fabric around her breasts and another, larger piece around her hips as a makeshift skirt. And she looked…hot. Like, ridiculously hot.

  “I like the new outfit,” she called.

  Fiona turned, and Nicole lost her breath. The red fabric covered only the most essential parts of her, knotted at her right hip in a way that made it clear she wasn’t wearing anything underneath. A red jewel winked from her belly button.

  “Holy shit,” Nicole spluttered. “I really am shipwrecked with a goddess.”

  “I couldn’t spend another moment in that dress,” Fiona said with a shrug. “This is much more comfortable.”

  “Very nice to look at too.”

  “Help yourself if you want to do the same,” Fiona said, returning her attention to the fishing line in her hand.

  “I just might.” Because Nicole could barely stand her dress after almost four days in it. “Catch anything yet?”

  Fiona shook her head. “Had a few nibbles, though. My bait keeps falling off.”

  “What are you using?”

  “I found some kind of mollusk attached to those rocks over there and smashed it open.”

  “Gross.” Nicole scrunched her face. “But good thinking.”

  She leaned into the lifeboat and grabbed a couple of thin strips of fabric, which she carried up the beach to her fire pit. Luckily, the fabric had caught some sun earlier and dried out. She’d built their fire in the middle of the “O” in their SOS, hollowing out a spot in the sand and filling it with small dry sticks and grass. Determined, she lifted the mirror, aiming it at a fresh section of her kindling. Again, it began to smoke, and after a minute, a tiny flame burst to life.

  Crouching down, she sprinkled more dry grass on it, nursing the flame bigger. Once it had grown about two inches tall, she dangled a strip of fabric so that it just touched the tip of the flame. For a moment, her baby fire flickered as if it might go out, but then the fabric began to burn, and whoa, Fiona’s dress was alarmingly flammable. Flames licked up the strip Nicole held, and she dropped
it into the fire pit, letting it simmer with the rest of the kindling.

  She added the second strip, and then some small sticks, and before long, she had an honest-to-God fire going. She sat patiently, adding increasingly larger sticks until finally, even the tree limb she’d carried over was burning.

  “Impressive,” Fiona said from behind her, and Nicole turned to see her holding two small fish. She held them up. “It’s not much, but they’ll taste better than that god-awful stuff in the food rations, although it turns out the fish quite like it.”

  “You baited them with our food ration?” Nicole couldn’t fight her smile.

  She nodded. “They can have it all, if they keep getting on my line.”

  “We’re really rocking this castaway thing, aren’t we?”

  Fiona lifted an eyebrow. “Indeed.”

  Nicole’s gaze shifted behind her and sharpened. “Holy shit.”

  “What?” Fiona looked over her shoulder. “Oh my God.”

  A boat was visible on the horizon.

  7

  Fiona lifted the flare above her head and fired. With a sizzling sound, it soared into the sky above, leaving an arc of red sparks in its wake.

  “Please please please…” Nicole chanted, hands clasped in front of her chest.

  The boat was far enough away that Fiona couldn’t see it clearly, but it seemed to have the shape of a small fishing vessel. Was it close enough for the fishermen to see the flare?

  “Get the mirror,” she said, and Nicole dashed up the beach to grab it.

  She stood beside Fiona, aiming it this way and that, attempting to create a flash of light that might catch the fishermen’s attention. Overhead, the flare fizzled into a trail of gray smoke that drifted with the sea breeze.

  “I can’t tell if they’ve seen us,” Nicole said.

  Neither could Fiona. She stood there quietly, hands at her sides as Nicole moved the mirror, but the boat didn’t appear to change course. Nicole kept going, waving tirelessly as the boat wavered and disappeared over the curve of the horizon.

  “Maybe they’ve gone for help,” she whispered.

  Fiona shook her head. “They’d have come this way if they saw us.”

  “Dammit.” Tears shimmered in Nicole’s eyes. Her shoulders slumped, and she sat down in the sand.

  “Go make yourself a new outfit with the spare fabric,” Fiona said quietly. “Take a bath in the ocean and change your clothes. You’ll feel much better. Trust me.”

  With a quick nod, Nicole stood and headed in the direction of the lifeboat.

  Fiona clenched her jaw against her own disappointment. They’d wasted one of their two flares. Next time, they’d have to be certain before they fired. Maybe they ought to wait for a boat that passed by during the night. Certainly, the flare would be more visible then, but would fishing boats pass by this area during the night?

  She knelt at the fire pit Nicole had made in the middle of their SOS, relieved to see the fire burning steadily despite them abandoning it to chase untouchable ships on the horizon. The fish she’d caught lay on a rock beside it. She rose and carried them to the shore, where she’d left her supplies. Steeling herself, she took the knife and sliced open the fish to remove the nasty bits, making herself gag in the process.

  With that accomplished, she strung them on a stick and extended it across the fire. After piling a few nearby rocks beside the fire pit, she was able to leave the fish roasting just above the hungry flames.

  “Nice work.” Nicole knelt beside her, one arm coming to rest around Fiona’s shoulders.

  She smiled at the sight of Nicole wearing strips of her dress. “You too.”

  “It doesn’t look nearly as good on me as it does on you,” Nicole said with a rueful smile, a hint of sadness still lingering around her eyes.

  “I disagree.” She let her gaze linger on the swell of Nicole’s breasts, barely contained beneath the red fabric she’d tied there, before admiring the swath of fabric around her hips and all the skin and curves left exposed by her new attire. Fiona wanted to lick her from head to foot, with particular attention to the places in between.

  “My boobs are going to fall right out of this thing.” Nicole tugged at it self-consciously.

  Fiona grinned. “I don’t mind if they do.”

  It was true that Nicole had a lot more to contain in that area than Fiona did. Nicole’s curves were as endless as they were beautiful, while Fiona was built like an athlete—lean and petite. They sat together as the sun settled low in the sky.

  “We’ll stay here tonight,” Nicole said drowsily, staring into the flames.

  “Yes. I’m going to build us a better bed up on that rock before the sun sets.” Fiona stood and walked to the lifeboat. She took six of the thermal suits and carried them up the beach to the rock where they’d slept last night. There, she unzipped them all and spread them out like a makeshift blanket.

  Good enough.

  Carefully, she took the two she and Nicole had slept in last night and zipped them together to make a bigger sack for them to share. Satisfied, she headed back to the beach.

  “Let me have a look at your leg before it gets any darker,” Nicole said.

  Rather than protest, Fiona stopped in front of her to let Nicole inspect it. Fussing about Nicole’s fussing only made it worse. It was better to just let her look at the wound and move on.

  “Does it hurt?” Nicole asked.

  Fiona kept her eyes on the horizon. “Not much.”

  It did hurt, a lot if she let herself think about it, but she’d had plenty of practice separating her thoughts from the more painful aspects of life. Physical pain wasn’t so different from emotional pain that way. The more she ignored it, the easier it became, like strengthening a muscle, and she’d been strengthening this particular muscle most of her life.

  “It still looks really red and swollen,” Nicole said. “Let me clean it again with one of those disinfectant wipes.”

  “After supper,” Fiona said.

  Nicole acquiesced with a smile. “I’m looking forward to supper.”

  “Me too.” Her mouth watered as she looked at the fish, crispy now that they’d hung over the flames for a while. “I’m so hungry right now, I could eat the whole thing, bones and all.”

  “Same.” Nicole lifted the fish clear of the fire. She waved them around for a minute to cool them off before tugging them off the stick one at a time. She handed one to Fiona. “Cheers.”

  It was a messy business eating whole fish with nothing but their fingers, but neither of them much cared about manners at this point. They poked and picked their way through their meal, licking their fingers shamelessly. Fiona had never been a big fan of seafood, but after three days of lifeboat food rations, it was her favorite thing.

  “God, this is so good,” Nicole said with a groan of appreciation as she crunched on a crispy fish fin.

  “It is,” Fiona agreed, sucking the last bit of meat off her finger. The fish had been small, barely larger than the palm of her hand, but either her stomach had shrunk from lack of food or she was in worse health than she realized, because she felt comfortably full after eating it.

  “We’ll catch more tomorrow,” Nicole said cheerfully, a full belly seeming to have displaced the last of her disappointment about the ship they’d seen earlier. “Lots of fish. We’ll find water and boil it over our fire, and we’ll relocate our camp. We’ll be living like goddesses in those ancient ruins until the next fishing boat passes by and spots us.”

  “That’s the spirit,” Fiona said with a half-hearted smile. As much as she enjoyed Nicole’s company, she really needed some time to herself right now. If they’d been safely on the Cyprus Star, she’d have retreated to her cabin or found a quiet nook somewhere. She’d run out of conversation, was too tired for pep talks, and really wanted a hot bath.

  Now that Nicole had brought attention to it, the wound on her leg throbbed in time with her pulse, steady and obnoxiously persistent. Combined w
ith her other scrapes and bruises, she could hardly breathe past the scream building in her throat. She was suffocating in her own misery, and she needed to get herself together before she took it out on Nicole.

  “Let’s pick up this mess, and then I want to clean your leg,” Nicole said, as if she’d read Fiona’s mind.

  “Fine,” she said irritably.

  Nicole reached over and squeezed her hand in quiet apology. They stood and gathered the remains of their fish, which they buried beneath a pile of small rocks to use as bait tomorrow. There didn’t seem to be any animals on the island, but no sense leaving it out to attract scavengers, just in case. They rinsed off in the water before making their way to the lifeboat. Nicole got the flashlight and an antiseptic wipe and gestured for Fiona to sit.

  She did, turning her head as Nicole knelt to examine the wound. While she felt foolish about the rest of her bruises from her needless fall when they launched the boat, this one had been acquired while she scaled the railing after releasing the safety pins, so at least there was no guilt to harbor about it.

  “It’s definitely infected,” Nicole said, worry in her tone. “I don’t know what else to do but keep trying to clean it. Salt is good for wounds, right? So maybe wash it in the ocean more often tomorrow.”

  “Okay.” Fiona glanced down, seeing the wound clearly in the beam of the flashlight. It was red and swollen, just as Nicole had said, and the area between the adhesive strips looked yellowish with pus. Fiona’s stomach curdled, and she cursed herself silently for looking. She’d never had a very strong stomach for these things, particularly on her own body. She gritted her teeth when Nicole rubbed at it with the antiseptic wipe, fingers clenched around the edge of the seat to keep herself from screaming in pain and frustration.

  “All done,” Nicole announced, patting her thigh as she stood.

  Fiona turned and snagged a packet of aspirin out of the first aid kit before Nicole closed it, again grateful when she said nothing while Fiona swallowed the pills.