Page 44

Chapter 44

Right of Way

Sam

Even over the rush of noise from the waterfall, I hear something. Haley! I drop the bucket and race down the path. Did she follow me? There’s no way I could hear her from all the way back at camp. Dante told me to be quick and that the waterfall was far, so it would be best if I just got water from the first bend.

My legs strain as I race toward Haley’s cries. I see the light brown-blond of her hair in the distance through the trees. “Haley.”

“Sam, stop. Don’t come any closer. There’s a boar.” Her voice is calm now. “It’s staring me down. Or I’m staring it down. I don’t know.”

I keep going. What in the hell is she thinking? She’s got a stick in one hand and a log in the other.

“Haley, Sugar... back up toward me. Slow steps. You’re doing great.” She’s right: if I get too close, whatever trance she has the wild animal in is all over. I move slowly and take the knife out of my waist holster. I’ve only thrown knives once with my brother when both of our boats happened to be in the same port in the Bahamas. But this is a whole different level. I keep it on me in case I have to cut a line more than anything. I’ve used it mostly for opening bags of potato chips.

“Sam, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but we need to climb a tree. I’m going for the one to my right. I think I can grab the lowest branch.” She pivots and takes a small step backward.

The boar grunts.

“I’m going to run on three. Are you ready?” Haley asks.

It’s not much of a plan, but me actually killing a boar on the first throw with the knife doesn’t sound like a good plan either.

“I’m good. There are two branches. I’ll push you up.” Which means I have to put my knife back in its sheath.

“Okay.” Haley’s whispering. “One. Two. Three—” She flings herself toward the tree, and I make sure I’m between her and the boar. She’s right; the beast is on us. The sky lights up, and thunder claps as Haley reaches the tree. She jumps for the branch, her fingertips barely ringing the thin tree. I push her ass up as the boar comes at me. With another shove, she’s straddling the branch. I, however, am not. And if I turn, he’s going to gore me from behind. His tusk grazes the side of my leg. Pain shoots up my calf. The rain sheets to the ground.

Thunder cracks, and lightning hits the top of the island. The boar squeals, running toward the waterfall.

“Fuck.” I reach up for Haley. “Let’s get out of here.” She takes my hands and slides out of the tree into my arms.

“Sam, did it get you?” Her eyes flick to my leg.

I look down too. “It’s a scratch.” It’s more than a scratch, but it’s not horrible.

“Right.” The tone of her voice lets me know she doesn’t buy it at all.

“It really isn’t bad,” I say.

“Why did you come out here on your own?” She’s shouting into the storm, her arms crossed over her chest. Her discarded stick is back in her hand.

“I wanted to see the waterfall that you all talk so much about. I thought I’d make it back before it started storming. Why did you come after me? Wait, don’t answer that. First, let me say thank you. If that boar had come all the way to the waterfall, there wouldn’t have been anywhere for me to climb, other than jumping into the pool. Not only that, but I was mesmerized by the beauty of the place. I wouldn’t have noticed it. And I was crouching. It could have hurt me badly. So, thank you.”

“Are you mad at me? No, wait. I’m going to do the same thing you did and say don’t answer that. I get it, you’ve gone back into captain mode. You want to get the Rock Candy up and running. Get us back to safety.”

“Get you. I want to get you back to safety. And I suppose I wasn’t avoiding you so much as keeping you safe.” I laugh into the rain. “And somehow I imagined the beach camp as safe.”

“It is, besides the boars. And that’s only the second one I’ve seen down here. But then Calvin said their pattern would change as the rainy season drags on.” There’s a clump of wet hair stuck to the side of her face. “I’ve missed you.”

Lightning flashes across the sky, lighting up the dark clouds, and Haley jumps. “Sorry, I’m not a fan of storms.”

“I know. Let’s get you out of here, Sugar.” I wrap my arm around her, and we huddle our way back to camp. I’ve been warned about how much she hates storms, but this is the first time I’ve been with her during a big one. By the time we get close to camp, the rain is slashing our sides. Calvin and Easton are standing under the kitchen tent. I’m not sure who is holding who back. But there’s definitely a debate verging on a fight going on between them. So much so that they don’t notice we’re here.

“Where the hell did you two go?” Somehow, Calvin appears even taller than normal.

“I went to the waterfall like I told Dante,” I say.

“He told you to go to the stream.”

I mimic his stance. Arms crossed, feet shoulder-width apart.

“Calvin, it’s fine. We’re back.” Haley places her hand on his arm, water dripping from her fingers. Calvin glares at me as if I’m the reason it rained.

“It’s storming. We were worried that you might be scared,” Easton says.

“I wasn’t worried, Sassy,” Dante’s voice booms from the top platform in the treehouse. “I know you can take care of yourself. It’s the damn stream, not the red-light district in Karachi. You’re sweet, but you’re not going to melt.”

“If you’re done with the interrogation, can you let them come up?” Zane says.

“Fine,” Calvin and Easton grunt together.

I see Haley’s eyes flick to my leg. It’s bleeding, and I want to clean it up. But I get that she doesn’t want to tell the others about the boar, not now. Letting them cool off will be better for all of us. I follow her and take the rungs built into the tree, doing my best not to show off my glorified scratch.

Zane’s holding open the flap to the sleeping platform. And I’m taken aback. I’d forgotten how nice the place is. It’s dry, comfortable, and even smells good. Clean earth with citrus. They’ve added so many cushions that the whole floor is practically a bed. Penny’s lying on a towel in the corner of the room, nosing at a box. A box with two blue eyes glowing out of it.

“Has Penny caused any problems with Pepper?” I ask.

“No, she wants to lick her. Which Pepper isn’t sure about.” Calvin runs his fingers around the cat’s head, and it purrs loud enough to be heard over the rain. Penny looks at me and drops her head. It’s Penny’s overtired look, her I’m-going-to-sleep-for-ten-hours look, and I couldn’t be happier.

“You’re bleeding,” Easton says, and he smacks the side of my calf.

“I got a scratch. It’s nothing.”

“Take off your wet clothes. They go in the box by the door.” Zane points. “I brought your pack up. It’s over there. You want anything out of it?” He lifts it.

I reach for it and take it from him. “Thanks. This is a really well-built treehouse. It’s amazing what you did with so few tools.” They really surprise me—every person here. Without their talents and grit, we wouldn’t have lasted as long as we have.

“Thanks.” Zane pulls the rain flap around the door closed. “It’s even nicer on a clear night when we open the windows.”

Easton’s got one of the medical kits out. We’ve split a lot of the supplies. When the rainy season kicked in, I was worried that the reef could rip another hole in the hull and we’d have to risk getting enough supplies off the ship. But the more I heard of the pirates, the more I wanted to keep the surplus safe.

Haley takes my hand in hers, and I kiss it. “I’m fine.”

Thunder booms in the distance. Haley shudders.

The storms are rolling over us, but we’ve all been here long enough to know there will be another one right after the first one. The rainy season can’t be over soon enough.

I hold her eyes long enough for the two of us to make a silent pact of not telling the rest of the guys about my wound.

Easton glares at my leg, then Haley, then me. “A little scratch? So how did you get this little scratch?”

“Things happen. I’m fine.”

Haley puts her hand on his knee, and Easton purses his lips at me. “It’s not bad, Sam. You don’t need stitches, but it’s going to leave a scar. Let me get it cleaned out, well, because things happen with bacteria.”

“Scars are sexy, right, Sassy?” Dante’s lying down in the middle of the bed already.

“As long as you’re healthy, you’re sexy to me.” She leans over and kisses the side of my ear.

Easton has my leg bandaged up quickly, and then the dance of moving around the space to get to the right position in the bed begins. Having the three of us return from the ship has set the normal routine into a tailspin, apparently. Not that I’ve been part of the rotation since the night of Haley’s birthday.

I clear my throat. “I’m pulling rank and taking my turn next to Haley.”

“Ho,” Dante chortles. “Rank, is it? Well, how about we let Sassy decide? I’m also not moving. I’m comfortable.”

Haley smiles at Dante. “Ready?” she asks.

A chorus of “Yes” and “Always” fills the treehouse. From a small tub, Haley finds dry clothes. She doesn’t put them on; she places them on a shelf at the center of the bed. Then she strips off her wet clothes and hangs them on the line above the tub. All eyes are on her. Mine, too. And I wonder how I could have stayed away. I’m a damn fool who has to learn things over and over again.

Haley lies down next to Dante, her back to his chest. His arm pulls her to him. When she tilts her chin up to me, it’s like the first time I kissed her in the butler’s pantry—the one kiss that sealed everything for me. I’m drawn to her. Fighting it is pointless. I want her, and if they come with her, so be it.

I strip my shorts off; they join my shirt in the bin by the door. And then I walk up to the mattress and wedge myself between Easton and Haley.

“Shouldn’t I have rank over you?” Easton laughs, but he rolls over.

“There’s no rank, not with me.” Haley’s blue eyes blink at me in the soft light. She leans forward, and her soft lips hit mine. I’m lost. My brain blurs, and all my responsibilities are washed from my skin. This girl, this woman, does it for me.

Dante pulls on her shoulder, and Haley lands flat on her back. Easton’s up on his knees and has positioned himself at the head of the mattress. With my eyes closed and Haley’s lips controlling my brain, I turn off my natural desire to pick out where everyone and everything is on the platform.

Her fingernails run through the hair at the nape of my neck. It’s my favorite thing. My cock twitches between us.