“I don’t know.” He shook his head and reached out to me. “I looked for him in the jungle, but I didn’t see him.”
“How could he just disappear?” I shivered.
“Like I said before, he seems to know his way around quite well.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed. “That’s why I’ve been telling you to stay close to me.”
“You’re the one that left me this morning.” I was indignant at his authoritative tone. “It’s not like we’re in the Twilight Zone; nothing’s going to happen. Like you said before, monsters aren’t coming and I’m sure the Last Mimzy isn’t coming either.”
“Stranger things have happened.” He looked away from me, and I gasped as I saw a cut on the side of his face, right next to his ear. There was a large bloody gash that looked like it was quite deep.
“Are you okay?” I frowned as I stared at the dried blood on his face. My fingers gingerly reached up to his face. “You’re cut.”
“I’m fine.” He stepped away from me and ran his hands through his hair. I looked at his hands carefully. They looked dirty and bruised. I shivered as I remembered his fingers touching me the night before.
“What have you been doing?” I questioned him, not wanting to think about what had happened the previous evening. “Why do you have a cut on your face? Why are your hands bruised?” I whispered. My brain was screaming the question I was too scared to ask: Did Steve really just go on a long walk by himself or did you do something to him?
“I was in the jungle, looking for branches. I thought you’d like to have proper shelter tonight.” He shrugged and walked away. “Apparently I was wrong.”
“Don’t tell me—you found a Marriott?” I attempted a joke to diffuse the tension in the air, but he gave me a derisive look that made me shut up.
“If it rains tonight, we’re going to get soaked.” He spoke matter-of-factly, and I stared at him silently. “I thought we could create a makeshift rooftop for shelter with some palm and coconut branches that are lying on the ground.”
“Where?” I looked over to the bushes and shivered. There was something about the jungle behind us that scared me.
“We can set it up in the sand.”
“How?” I frowned, not really seeing how that would be possible.
“Come with me and I’ll show you.” Jakob started walking away from me.
I couldn’t stop staring at his strong, muscular legs. They were so tan and hairy. The white of his boxer shorts complemented his skin tone, and I swallowed hard as I stared at his butt. It looked firm, and I wondered if it was as tan as his legs. Or maybe it was pasty white like a baby’s bottom. The thought made me giggle, and Jakob turned around and gave me a glance. He raised an eyebrow as if to say Come on, and I laughed even louder. It was hard for me to take him seriously as an autocrat when all I could think about was the whiteness of his ass.
“What are you laughing about, Bianca?” He didn’t look amused, and I tried not to roll my eyes. He seriously was the most annoying man I’d ever met. He just did not seem to have a sense of humor.
“Do you really want to know?”
I gave him a quick smile, and he paused for a second. I saw a flash of something pass through his eyes as he stared at me. He looked unsure of himself for one split second, and then he frowned. I could feel that I was starting to lose it. Part of me was scared to death and the other part of me couldn’t stop thinking about how sexy he was.
“What I want to do is get this shelter ready.”
“I’m coming.” I sighed and ran to catch up to him. “I was going to try to wash the sand off my body.” I mumbled as I caught up with him.
“Oh.” He looked at me, and there was a gleam in his eye. “I suppose you have sand in all sorts of cracks and crevices.”
“I’m not an old house, Jakob, but yes, I do.”
“So do I.” He grinned. “And yes, it’s a bit uncomfortable. If you want, we can go in the ocean and clean ourselves off before heading into the jungle.”
“I suppose.” I frowned. It sounded like a good idea, but I knew that I had to go completely naked to get the sand out of everywhere.
“What’s wrong now?”
“I was just thinking that it’s going to be hard to get the sand out everywhere.” I shrugged and looked away from him. I didn’t want him to see me blushing, though, I supposed it could be mistaken for sunburn.
“That’s not a problem.” He grinned and ran back to the ocean. “Just take your clothes off.” I watched as he ran and pulled off his briefs. My breath caught as I stared at the creamy-white paleness of his taut bottom. I laughed at the contrast it made against his deep golden tan. “What’s so funny?” He stopped and turned around and my breath caught as I realized he was facing me completely naked.
“Nothing.” I called back to him and stared at his face. Do not look down, Bianca. My brain was screaming at me. Do not look down. Of course, my eyes didn’t listen. I looked down and gasped. His penis was slightly erect and standing at attention. I looked back up at his face and he was grinning.
“Like what you see?” he shouted at me, with a slight laugh in his voice.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” I looked down at the ground. “I didn’t see anything.”
“Pity.” He laughed and turned back and ran into the ocean. I walked up to the water behind him and watched as he jumped in the waves and splashed himself. My eyes narrowed with jealousy as I imagined how good it would feel to strip off my underwear and go into the ocean as well. I hadn’t been lying before. I literally had sand everywhere.
“What are you waiting for, Bianca?” Jakob turned around to face me. “Come on in.” I stared at his silhouette in the ocean and tried not to fall in love with him then and there. He looked like Poseidon, king of the ocean, god of the sea, protector of all waters and me. His chest was built and strong, and it glittered like gold in the sunlight. I watched the water drops clinging to his chest and felt envious. In that moment, I would have liked to be a water drop, clinging to him for dear life.
“I can’t come in.” I shook my head. “I’m not running in naked.”
“Don’t be scared, Bianca.” He teased me. “I won’t bite.” His grin showed off his perfectly white teeth, and of course now all I could think about was him biting every little part of my body. “Unless you want me to.”