Chapter 233

I silently prayed to the Goddess as we lay motionless, hoping the shark would swim away and leave us alone.

My prayers seemed to be answered when we saw the fin moving away from our lifeboat. But we stayed silent and still for hours as we waited for dawn.

“Do you think it’s gone?” I whispered while trying to ignore that my legs were cramping and I desperately needed a bathroom.

“Yes, but let’s stay still until daylight to make sure there aren't any more of them,” he whispered back. “I read that sharks like to feed at night.”

Victor kissed my forehead, and I began to doze. I was having a strange dream about drifting on the clouds when something slammed into the dinghy.

My eyes flew open, and I screamed as Victor fought to sit up. We were doomed. There was no way the shark didn’t know we were in the lifeboat.

“No, no, no,” I sobbed. “Go away and leave us alone.”

Victor began to laugh. “It’s okay, Daisy. That wasn’t a shark. We landed on a beach!”

I sat up and looked around in the thin morning light. It was true. The tiny rubber boat we were riding in had found land while we were sleeping. We were safe.

“Where are we?” I asked. “It doesn’t look like Hallston Beach.”

“I think it’s an island,” Victor replied. “Maybe the one Captain Burns was going to circle with the yacht.”

Thinking about Captain Burns made us feel sad, but we both wanted out of the dinghy before it was swept back out into the ocean.

Victor and I stepped out of the tiny lifeboat and into the shallow surf. We pulled the lifeboat onto the sand before standing on the beach and looking around.

Standing on dry land felt marvelous. But where were we?

“I have to go to the bathroom,” I said. I had been holding it for hours.

“Go behind any tree,” Victor teased. “Do you need me to stand guard?”

“No. I don’t think there’s anyone around,” I replied. “It’s so quiet.”

We ducked behind separate trees before beginning to explore.

We shifted so we could run faster, and it didn't take long for us to run around the shoreline. The island was small. We found a boat dock not far from where our lifeboat landed and smelled the fresh scent of others.

“It’s being maintained. That means someone visits this little island often,” Victor deduced. “Maybe there’s shelter somewhere or a way to summon help.”

“We better shift human,” I said. “It will be easier to speak to anybody we find.

He agreed, and after shifting, I handed him half of another chocolate bar. “We need the energy to explore the rest of the island away from the water.”

I was starving, and my share of the chocolate bar was gone in a flash. We drank from the other water bottle and set off to explore the island's center.

Victor led the way down the beach. “There was a path near the dock. Whoever uses that dock made the path. Let’s see where it goes.”

The path was easy to follow. It was cleared of rocks and scrub trees, and it was kept weed-free. Thirty yards in, we spotted a large clearing and some kind of structure through the trees.

“Daisy, it's a house.” Victor took my hand and kissed it. “And there are two smaller buildings. Maybe someone is there who can call for a boat to take us back to the beach house.”

The house was made of wide vertical brown boards, and it had windows trimmed with green shutters. There was a small deck for a front porch, two receiver dishes, and many solar panels on the roof.

The two smaller buildings matched the house, but one had just one small window, and the second had none.

We walked up the three steps onto the deck and knocked on the door. After three tries, nobody answered our knock.

“Great, what do we do now?” I said.

“Maybe I can break in,” Victor said. “This is an emergency. I’ll gladly pay for any damages.”

Victor began to look for a way inside the house.

“Is the door locked?” I wondered aloud and turned the knob.

It opened, and I saw a comfy-looking living room, complete with a TV!

“Victor, look!” I began to laugh. “Let’s go in. Maybe there’s food. I’m starving.” I felt like an intruder, but we needed help. Hopefully, whoever lives here will understand.

I let Victor go inside first. “Let me check it out before you come in,” he said.

Victor cautiously went inside, calling, “Hello, is anyone here?”

When nobody answered, he disappeared deeper into the dwelling, still calling for occupants. No one responded to his calls.

“Come on in, sweetheart,” he said. “Nobody is home.

The interior of the house was welcoming and comfortable. It held everything we needed until we found a way back to Hallston Beach and Victor’s beach house.

There was fresh water, food, and blankets, and the solar panels generated enough power to run everything like a regular house.

I looked through the kitchen cupboards and refrigerator and found cans of soup and sandwich fixings. While heating the soup on the gas stove, I made several sandwiches.

We were soon eating our first real meal in over twenty-four hours.

“Do you think it would be okay to take a shower?” I asked Victor.

“We should take one together to save water,” he suggested.

I laughed. “I know what you're up to, but making love is the perfect way to celebrate our survival.”

We went to the only bathroom in the house. It was clean and modern, with a fiberglass tub/shower and surround.

While stripping off my T-shirt and bikini, I watched Victor undress. Every time I saw him naked, it thrilled me to my core. I think it always will.

He caught me watching him and wasted no time turning on the shower. Together, we stepped under the running water.

Our lips met in a blaze of passion that made me forget where I was. There was nothing but Victor, me, and the warm water that rained over us.

I ran my hands over his shoulders and chest, savoring the feel of his hard muscles. When my hands moved lower, Victor’s sharp gasp sent a stab of lust through me that gave me extra courage.

I took his manhood in one hand and felt him grow longer and thicker. It was fascinating, but shyness overtook me, and I moved my hands back to his broad chest.

Victor claimed my lips again, kissing me until I was breathless and panting with need. Then he picked me up, and my back pressed against the tub surround as he entered me.

My legs wrapped around his waist, and we moved together. The sensations were incredible as he thrust deeper and deeper.

I wrapped my arms around his neck when he took a nipple into his mouth and flicked his tongue over the sensitive nub.

Suddenly, an intense climax made me scream with pleasure. That sound sent Victor over the edge. He thrust deeply one last time and groaned low in his throat.

“I love you,” he said as he lowered me onto my feet. “I want to grow old with you, Daisy. I want to be with you forever.”

“I feel the same way,” I said and buried my face in the soft skin of his neck. “I thought our lives were over last night, and I prayed to the Goddess for us to have more time.” I smiled. “I think she said yes.”

“She certainly did,” Victor agreed. He picked up a bar of soap and began to wash. “But I feel strange using this house without permission.”

I took the soap from him and started washing as he rinsed. “It’s not like we have much choice. We survived a yacht explosion and a shark attack. Plus, there are no hotels on this island.”

After the food, shower, and lovemaking, we were exhausted. Neither of us got much sleep the previous night.

“Let’s see if there’s something clean to wear, and we’ll relax in front of the TV for a while,” I said.

One of the two bedrooms was obviously the master. I borrowed sweatpants for each of us and a clean T-shirt for me before grabbing a blanket to snuggle under.

Victor and I dressed in the borrowed clothes and lay on the couch together under the blanket. He found the remote on the end table and turned the TV on.

Before long, the sound of a familiar old movie and our exhaustion put us to sleep.

Hours later, a slight sound made me open my eyes.

Fear shot through me when I realized I was looking into the barrel of a rifle pointed at my head.