Page 21 of Hooked by a Hero (Tales from the Brotherhood #4)
Eleven
T he rain continued for a few more hours, and by that time night had fallen, so the survivors of the Fortune did little except for seek out shelter and safe places to sleep for the night.
Elias wanted nothing more than to find an accommodating bush that he could lie under through the night, preferably with Caspian, but as the survivors clustered together at the top of the beach, assessing the island’s vegetation and what might provide enough cover for the night, he quickly noted that anyone from the Fortune with any rank or position was gone.
“All of the ship’s officers have perished,” Brunning pointed out as he, Elias, Caspian, and Hunt, along with Ruby, stood watching the others collapse into whatever beds they’d been able to make for the night.
“The only people remaining with anything close to authority are Dr. Hunt here and you, sir,” he nodded to Elias.
“Me?” Elias balked. Perhaps it was his exhausted mind and sore body after the effort of surviving the storm, but he could not comprehend that he should be in any position of authority.
But Brunning nodded and said, “You’re a physician. You demand more respect than most. Unless you want to count Lord Osterley as a leader.”
They all turned to the middle-aged viscount who had been all but silent throughout the journey so far, mostly because he was fleeing England in shame after bankrupting his family and apparently marrying his only sister off to a man far beneath her.
“He’ll never do,” Caspian said grinning at Brunning and then Elias.
Perhaps it was the exhaustion again, but Elias frowned curiously at Caspian before he could conceal the wariness of his feelings.
His sweetheart had been so ill that he could not stand just hours before, when they were still on the ship.
Then he’d been tossed overboard by a drunken and raging Tumbrill and Dick.
Elias did not see how anyone could survive a plunge into the churning sea during a storm, but there Caspian was, as hale and fit as ever.
If anything, he looked better for his dive into the ocean.
“Is it necessary to have any leader?” Ruby asked, rubbing her smeared and tired face with one hand. “I do not feel the need for a ruler to tell me to make a bed in the sand, cover myself with branches from those palms, and sleep until the rain ends and the sun rises.”
Hunt smiled proudly at her and slipped an arm around her waist. “Perhaps you should be appointed governor of us all, my dear,” he said. “You certainly have the wits and the fortitude to lead men.”
Ruby laughed tiredly, then leaned into Hunt, closing her eyes and resting her head against his shoulder.
Hunt pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head, then glanced up at the others. “Ruby is right. The discussion of leadership can wait until morning. Right now, we all need to sleep and recover.”
He was correct, but more than his suggestion that they all disperse to find a place to sleep for the night, Elias was struck by how sweet the couple was.
Hunt was miles beneath Ruby in station and income, but the two seemed so much in accord.
It made Elias smile and extend his arm enough to touch Caspian’s hand, even though he was uncertain whether the gesture would be noted negatively if he grasped his lover’s hand.
“I say we delay any major discussions or decisions until tomorrow,” Caspian said.
“Agreed,” Elias sighed, exhaustion gripping him harder.
Their small group disbanded, and Elias and Caspian joined the others farther up the beach, where the vegetation grew thicker and stretched back into some sort of thin jungle.
“I could sleep for a fortnight after everything we have endured this day,” Elias said, rubbing a hand over his face.
Caspian pointed to one of the clusters of bushes that seemed prevalent along the edge of the beach, and like several others from the Fortune had done, they dropped to their knees to dig into the sand and dirt directly under the bush, then curled together in the somewhat sheltered dip they had created.
“You deserve to sleep,” Caspian said, boldly pressing his body against Elias’s back and taking him into his arms. “You were a hero today. You saved everyone who made it to this island.”
Elias grunted, feeling as though he should resist the heavy sweetness that came over his body as he snuggled in Caspian’s arms and separate from him for the sake of propriety.
“You are the hero,” he said, his words hazy as sleep descended quickly over him.
“Though I’ve no idea why you aren’t dead now. ”
If Caspian replied to those words, Elias never knew. He was asleep in seconds, and despite the awkwardness of his bed and the mountain of troubles that still loomed over them all, he embraced oblivion wholeheartedly.
Caspian was awake before him and sitting up when the morning light woke Elias.
The sandy bed was not as uncomfortable as it could have been, and though the air was thick and humid in the aftermath of the storm, the clouds had mostly gone and the rays of the sun stretched toward them from the eastern horizon.
“Have you been awake long?” Elias asked groggily, pushing himself to sit. He was covered in sand and his clothing was still damp with salt water. He immediately wished for a bath in clean, fresh water, but knew the likelihood of having one anytime soon was nil.
“For some time,” Caspian answered with a smile.
That smile sparked one in Elias as he stood to brush as much sand off his person as he could, along with a few ants, then went to sit beside Caspian.
As strange and mysterious as the man was, there was something about him that made Elias feel as though all were right with the world and that the two of them would survive and thrive.
Those happy, cozy thoughts melted as Elias worked some moisture into his mouth and realized how thirsty he was. “Water,” he said. “Fresh water. Do we know if there is any on the island?”
“Brunning and a few of the passengers set out into the jungle at first light to see what rainwater could be collected from leaves and puddles,” Caspian reassured him.
Elias shook his head. “Rainwater alone will not be enough. We need to ascertain if there is a source of fresh water on this island and if it is truly clean or contaminated in some way.” His thoughts rushed on from there.
“We will need to feed ourselves. We need to determine whether there are edible fruits or plants on this island, what sort of fauna it contains, and whether any of the plants or beasts here are poisonous or venomous. Islands such as this may appear to be paradise, but they are rife with a thousand dangers. We must?—”
Caspian rested a hand on Elias’s leg, silencing his increasing panic. “All will be well, Elias,” he said, still smiling, as if they were enjoying the comforts of some tropical holiday spot.
Every suspicion Elias had about his sweetheart rushed to the surface.
“How do you know that?” he asked, meaning the question genuinely.
“Who are you, Caspian? Where are you from that you have such knowledge of tropical islands and that you could survive being thrown into the ocean in the middle of a storm?”
Caspian grinned at him and laughed gently. “I have not proved that I know much about tropical islands at all yet,” he said.
Elias gaped at him. That was the bit of what he said that Caspian latched onto?
He opened his mouth to ask even more questions, but before he could get a single word out, Caspian shifted to face him more fully, cupped the side of Elias’s face, and leaned in to kiss him tenderly.
Every word that had almost been on Elias’s lips and every thought in his head was blasted clear away by that kiss.
Caspian slanted his lips over his and teased his tongue into his mouth.
Elias’s shock quicky gave way to all the desire that had been building within him for weeks.
He hooked a hand behind Caspian’s neck and pulled him closer, deepening their kiss as though he could gain sustenance from communion with Caspian alone.
It was only when some distant person cleared their throat that Elias remembered they were in the open and that not every person among the survivors was still asleep.
Even though they had made many friends throughout the journey, there were just as many from the Fortune who had never looked approvingly on their attachment and never would.
“We cannot,” he whispered, pulling away from Caspian and glancing around.
Still, Caspian smiled and chuckled, shaking his head. “I will never understand you lot and your prescriptions about who can love whom.”
Elias whipped to face Caspian again, his heart pounding with hopeful excitement. “I swear to you, Caspian. If we are saved from this island, if we are returned to some sort of civilization and allowed to live on to old age, I will spend every moment of the rest of my life with you.”
Caspian didn’t just smile, he beamed. “I would like that,” he said, reaching for Elias’s hand as it rested on the sand between them.
Elias could see in his eyes that he wanted another kiss, but there was an increase in activity around them as their fellow passengers awoke.
“I would like much more than that,” he said, shifting to a lighter tone.
“But for now, we have an island of survivors to see to.”
He winked, then pushed himself to stand.
Elias followed as they made their way down the beach a bit to where Hunt, Ruby, and a few of the other survivors stood near the edge of the surf.
“Look,” Hunt said, pointing out into the ocean. “The Fortune survived the night.”
“So it did,” Elias said, pushing a hand through his sticky, matted hair.