Page 104

Sistine

A fter our day at the cascata , it seemed as if our entire beings were on island time.

Which meant, time still did not touch us.

I did not study the clock. I was able to gauge the time by the sun and its many phases and colors.

The world would turn different shades when it was time for breakfast, lunch, or dinner—then dessert, as my husband referred to me.

“You are fucking delicious,” he said one morning, his head between my thighs, his eyes lowered, his pupils dilated. “Just the fucking right temperature too. Warmed just for me.”

I did not remember much after that, yet all our times were becoming seared into my DNA, as searing as the sun over pristine Fiji beaches.

Some mornings I slept late.

These mornings, Mariano would go for a run on the beach.

These were the mornings when he would tell me not to leave our bure naked.

The men were closer, keeping an eye on the bure when he was not close enough to do so.

Sometimes I would get out of bed to watch him run.

He seemed to have a trail he would follow.

Perhaps a trail the wild island horses ran on.

The trail always led home.

To me.

He would pass in front of our bure numerous times, his eyes always cutting toward our place.

The mornings when I could not sleep after he left our bed, I would dress in a teal-colored silk robe, put my hair up, and take a cool, fruity drink—a healthy smoothie that made me feel refreshed and energized—out on the lanai, waiting for him to come home.

He would come back to me dripping sweat, embers burning beneath his tan skin.

Our eyes would meet.

We would both take a breath—relief and wanting all mixed into one.

Then…

He would come for me, picking me up, wrapping his arms around me, his face pressed to my stomach, and kiss me there. Over and over. Once inside, he would set me down, I would let down my hair, and he would come for me again. This time, taking me back to bed.

Other times, we explored the island.

There was more of it, I was sure, but it seemed as if Mariano was finding things he felt was safe for me to do while pregnant.

We swam with dolphins and spent plenty of time on the fauna and flora of the island.

We found the boobies, truly extraordinary birds with their sharp blue beaks, cigar-shaped bodies, and almost…

goofy looking blue webbed feet. This is why the Spanish word bobo fit them. They were a bit…awkward on land.

I was obsessed with the fiddler crabs and laughed every time Mariano would curl one bicep when I would point one out.

Apparently this was the male fiddler crab’s claim to fame with the female fiddlers. Anywhere in the world, it seemed, females reacted to the strongest males of the species.

“You got that fucking right,” Mariano had said to me, tightening his bicep again.

I did not ever remember laughing so hard.

He was such a…male.

This included being protective of me. Even when we went snorkeling, he told me we had to stay close to shore.

Every so often, he would bring me up, holding me close in the water.

He did not say so, but I could tell he was anxious about me overdoing it.

All that we did, we seemed to do with the strength and determination of languid breezes.

“We don’t have to have a packed schedule, Annie,” he reminded me. “We’re here together. We move together.”

“We go where the wind blows us.” I smiled.

He pulled me close and kissed me in answer.

It was truly bliss. Especially the days we spent out in the water in front of our bure . Mariano had taken me to see the other homes on the island, but I found our place to be…ours. This included the private beach.

Mariano smiled at me when I dressed in my new suit.

It was the one I had picked out on the shopping trip.

Scarlett had given me a knowing look and smiled at me.

The color of the strapless one-piece was…

the same color as my husband’s eyes. I had purchased the same one in leopard print as well.

Magpie had been right. The animal print enhanced the color of my hair, skin, and even my hazel eyes.

She said they were cat-shaped…then she meow ed at me.

“I fucking like that one,” he said.

I laughed, setting my cool palms against his warm chest. “You say that about them all!”

“Yeah, but the ones that’ll get me killed, I only fucking like when it’s us. I refuse to leave you.”

“You prefer me naked as well.” I kissed the spot over his heart.

“Here, all the fucking time.” He shook his head. “All. The. Fucking. Time.”

He was more adventurous when it came to being naked in the water. I was always afraid something would find a way in. He did not seem to even think twice about something swimming inside of his pee pee hole. Perhaps knowing what I was thinking, he grinned and led me out of the bure .

He grabbed my straw cowboy hat from the peg and set it on my head. I set his sunglasses over his eyes, and he set mine on. I had slathered myself in the cream Scarlett had sent over, since it contained sunscreen, and misted Mariano with the spray.

He always laughed when I did. “Mamma does the same thing. I don’t know why she wastes her girlie stuff on us.

You too. You waste it on me.” He sniffed my neck, then himself, and said, “I smell like you. Your scent. Here on the island. The one you wore on the mainland. All of it. It’s inside of my lungs for the rest of my life.

I can even smell the apple, pear, rose, citrus scent on you, even through the coconut. It somehow fucking works.”

“You should always wear sunscreen. Even Fausti men are susceptible to the elements.” I made a no-no gesture with my finger at him. “You should not burn. Ever.”

He dived underneath the water, coming between my legs and setting me on his shoulders after we entered the ocean.

He walked around this way for a while, and when he thought I was getting burned by the sun, he set me down and we floated. The water always felt like a cool hug.

After a time, I took cover in the hammock over the Pacific, a wooden arch shading me from the intense sun.

On the shaded side of the arch, a holder protected hats, books, and our sunglasses when we were diving.

Magpie had snuck a few romance tales in my suitcase before we left.

All cowboy romances, or small town. I was lost in one when Mariano’s head popped out of the water.

His eyes narrowed on my face.

I sighed, and it sounded soft as I closed my eyes, the anticipation hitting me straight in the heart.

His cool fingers played connect-the-dots with the scatter of freckles on my nose and shoulders.

Every day he counted them.

He said because he knew they were going to disappear. He was counting his blessings.

“I was thinking—” I stopped when he narrowed his eyes at me. “What is that look for, Mariano Fausti?”

“Thinking can be a fucking dangerous activity,” he said, and when I splashed him with water, he chuckled. He set his fingers between the ropes, pulling me in, and kissed my thigh. “I’m going to fucking regret this. Tell me your thoughts.”

I sighed. “Nino and Dr. Musa.”

He got a serious look on his face and nodded.

Some…tension existed between them. Whenever we ventured to the mainland, Nino or Oscar was always close, a herd of Fausti soldiers with them.

The men did not get close, the ones that were supposed to keep to the shadows, but I always felt them nearby.

Only on the mainland. The island had them as well, but not as close.

However, whenever Nino and Dr. Musa were around, I sensed the tension and noticed their behavior.

Space. Always too much space between them.

“We—I—should do something nice for them. Perhaps send them out to a romantic dinner?”

He shook his head. “Stay out of it, Annie. They’ll work it out amongst themselves.”

“I feel bad for Nino.”

“Oscar too.”

“ Sì .”

“Sense a pattern, Annie?”

I narrowed my eyes at him.

“It’s the grouch effect,” he said. “All the men fucking see it. These are Fausti men. No pity fucking allowed. We don’t operate that way. Nino must man up. Take care of his woman.”

“Nino was hurt on the job,” I argued. “He is not...” I used my pointer finger to tap my temple, meaning, all there anymore.

Mariano took my hand, and cool water fell on my hot skin, causing goosebumps to rise. “You’re baking, Annie.”

“Do not change the subject, Mariano.”

He promptly tipped me over and caught me in his arms. I held the book above my head. “I do not want to ruin my book!”

He took it from me. “What’s got you so fucking enthralled in this anyway?” He let me go, turning the page, soaking it some.

I went to grab for it, but he started to read it aloud. I was not ashamed, but when he started to laugh, my cheeks flamed.

“ Jesse turned to me, his eyes heated, and I melted .” He sighed wistfully. “ His powerful thighs controlled that horse, and now, I wanted to ride him…” His eyes cut to mine. “Annie,” he breathed. “I had no idea this kind of thing…” He could not finish.

He was laughing so hard, he was shaking, especially when I went after him. I jumped on his back, nibbling at his neck. He set the book back in its protective case, shivering again.

“Keep doing that, Annie,” he said, “and we’ll see how good it feels to fuck on a hammock above the water.” He pulled my wrist to his mouth and kissed over my pulse.

We floated around for a bit, and I breathed against his skin, even if I loathed to breath out. He smelled…divine.

“Will you think about it?” I whispered.

“Hah?”

I grinned. “The date for Nino and Dr. Musa.” I kissed his neck.

He growled low in his throat. “Fucking can’t say no to you.”

We quieted again.

He cleared his throat. “You want them to date.”

“Perhaps,” I said. “I simply want them to be…happy again.”