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Island Recess, Chapter 11.
With a luxuriant sigh, Helena pushed herself up onto her elbow and gazed smiling
at the contours of Neil’s face, the lines of which were calm in repose. With the
tip of her index finger, she traced a path around his jaw, ending the journey
with a gentle push at the junction of his lips. A flutter of eyelids betrayed
his wakening, and his tongue reached out to the tip of her finger, sucking it
gently into the warmth of his mouth. Against her thigh, she could feel the
length of his member hardening in anticipation. Her heartbeat quickened as the
fog of sleep lifted, and she recalled with a tremble Neil’s loving proclamation
of the previous night. At the time, she had failed to return the simple
declaration, a fact clouded by the sudden and passionate love-making with which
he had sealed his words. As he opened his eyes this morning, Neil’s face broke
into a wide grin. He pushed himself into a seated position, and pulled Helena
toward him. The blue of his irises seemed to deepen as he focused on Helena’s
face. Under his intense scrutiny, she felt a sudden pang in her heart. Before
she could stop herself, she blurted out the words she had tried to rationalize
out of her head and her heart.
“I think I’m falling in love with you, too.”
She flushed, lowering her head, suddenly unsure if his declaration had been only
a passing sentiment, a moonlit impulse that had faded with daybreak. Then, she
felt his fingers under her chin, gently raising her mouth to his. Her lips moved
against the soft wet of his, opening under the probing of his tongue. After a
moment, he pulled back, and regarded her again. His blue eyes held a twinkle as
he responded to her words.
“You’re pretty cool, too.”
For a moment, Helena felt the sting of humiliated tears, which was replaced by a
howl as she threw herself on a laughing Neil.
“Kidding, truce!” he shrieked, as she dug her fingers into his sides, trying to
locate a ticklish spot.
“I’m too embarrassed to stop!” she shouted back, doubling her efforts as she
fought against his writhing body. Suddenly, she felt her wrists in a strong
grip, her body flipping over until she lay pinned beneath Neil’s muscular torso.
Her legs were trapped between his thighs, his calf muscles straining against
hers.
“Stop!” he said with a mock growl. “Listen up.”
Helena gave him her utmost attention as his erection nudged between her legs.
“In approximately one minute, I’m going to make love to you in a manner unknown
to most women’s magazines and romance novels. But first, I have something to
say. I meant what I said last night. I’ve fallen in love with you. I love you.
And, if you mean what you say, well, that means more to me than anything,
especially now.”
With a throaty sigh, Helena breathed the words against his ear.
“I do love you, Neil. And you know what? I do believe that the minute is just
about up.”
Neil laughed gently, warmth in his eyes as he bent to Helena’s mouth. She
pressed up to meet him, conscious of the hardening of her nipples against his
chest. As his thighs loosened their grip on hers, she moaned, feeling the brush
of his hair against her skin as he traveled south along her torso. She reached
out for his hardness, feeling the skin hot and tight against her palm, as he
slipped away from her. The warmth of his tongue against her sex was a probing
first gentle, then greedy. Melting into his touch, Helena’s hips jutted off the
bed, pushing against his mouth, willing him to continue. Tightening the grip of
her thighs around his ears, Helena reached down to twine her fingers in his
hair. Soon, she was awash with her climax, cries of pleasure flowing unbidden
from her lips. Panting, she fell back, legs slipping from the tight embrace. She
reached for him, holding his heavily veined and throbbing manhood tight in her
fist. She hungered for the heat of him, spreading and filling her depths. He
pushed at her teasingly, penetrating her opening with only the very tip of his
member. Grabbing at his hips, she thrust her own upward, wrapping her legs
around his waist and pulling the entire length of him into her. He whimpered
excitedly, lowering his mouth to her shoulder as he thrust against her eagerly,
meeting her escalating thrusts with an urgency of his own. As they moved
together, they were vaguely of an abrupt crackling and hissing punctuating their
lovemaking. They broke their momentum momentarily, ears tuned to the intruding
sounds, but it was the words emerging from the static that caused them to stop
completely.
“Come in, Odyssey, come in. This is the Coast Guard. Over”
Exchanging bewildered looks, Helena and Neil froze for a moment. Then, Neil
separated from Helena and pulled away, stumbling through the cabin toward the
marine radio.
“This is Odyssey, Over.”
Pulling last night’s t-shirt over her head, Helena followed Neil out of the
stateroom, heart pounding with sudden foreboding.
“We have reports of a missing school teacher. Helena Travis. Have you seen her?
Over.”
“Missing?” Helena said quizzically, tilting her head as she regarded Neil with
confusion.
Then, simultaneously, they both breathed the same name:
“Karl.”
Helena’s head shook as if in spasm.
“No, no!”
“Are you there, Odyssey? Over.”
“Here.”
His next words were spoken with slow deliberation, watching Helena’s face
closely as the protective untruth took shape.
“I dropped her off yesterday. The young lady said she needed a ride so I took
her over to St. Thomas and left her down by the docks. She said she was catching
a plane back to the mainland. Over.”
“We’ve had a report made claiming a possible kidnapping. We need all the
information we can get. Please do not leave the area. Over.”
“I’ll be here. Over.”
Neil reached toward Helena and pulled her into his arms. She was trembling, the
alarm of a frightened animal reflected in her eyes.
“We have to go now, Helena” he breathed against her hair. He leaned back, tilted
her chin and gazed at her intently. “If the Coast Guard knows where I am,
chances are Karl will soon as well.”
Together, they tidied the small cabin, securing or stowing objects that might be
broken by the motion of the boat under sail. Then, they climbed into the
cockpit, skin prickling with nervous energy, and fumbling in their haste.
Wrapped in one of Neil’s old college sweatshirts, Helena hugged her knees to her
as she watched him start the engine. Over the noisy clamor, he called back at
her.
“We’ll turn off the engine when we’re farther out. I need to get a head-start on
whoever’s on our tail.”
Helena watched in open admiration as Neil moved sure-footedly about the deck,
adjusting lines and raising the main sail. Like a child released outdoors to
play, the main sheet leapt and snapped as it came alive under the touch of the
wind. It was still early morning, and the sun shone warm through a brisk breeze.
As the craft cut through the azure water, it raised a foamy wake and cast a mist
on Helena’s skin. While the pit of her stomach roiled with worry, she couldn’t
help but be swept away by the beauty of her surroundings, and temporarily
soothed by the gentle rocking of the boat as it skipped lightly through the
waves. From time to time freed from navigational duties, Neil would reach toward
Helena and pull her to him, caressing her damp hair as she nestled into the
crook of his arm. Periodically, he leapt to his feet, checking their direction
and speed with the navigational system, and making the necessary adjustments to
the sails. After a while, Helena heard the motor sputter to a stop, and the rush
of the wind and waves replace the mechanical drone.
“Where are we headed?” she asked at last.
“Tortola. It’s another one of the British Virgin Islands, to the east of Jost
Van Dyke. It’s still a good sail from where we are now.”
“That’s okay,” Helena murmured, wanting to prolong their contact and the feeling
of safety he exuded like a warm blanket. “But…” Her words trailed off into
silence.
“But what then, you mean,” said Neil, catching her thoughts and carrying them
along. “I suggest we lie low for a couple of days, then return to St. Thomas and
give the local authorities the real story about your supposed kidnapping. It
worries me that Karl, or one of his associates, has made a false report so
quickly and what worries me even more is that he might get to us before the
Coast Guard. Helena, how dangerous is he? Has he been more bark than bite where
you’re concerned or has he ever physically hurt you?”
Helena sat up straight, a faraway look in her eyes. She seemed to be mulling
over her words as she began to speak.
“Dangerous? Yes, I think he could be. On the one hand, he’s never been
physically abusive toward me. I told you that he carried a gun for the last few
months we were together, but I was never afraid he’d use it on me. On the other
hand, he was a very sore loser about my leaving him. He said he wouldn’t let go,
like he wouldn’t allow it! Both my friend Julie, and my mom have been warning me
for weeks that he’s been trying to track me down. Apparently, thanks to his
connections, he’s known for some time where I’ve been hiding out.”
She turned to look at Neil, the realization dawning that her choice could be
putting both their lives in danger.
Neil smiled wryly. “Well, he’s persistent, I can say that.”
Helena shot him an inquisitive glance as he continued speaking.
“I didn’t want to frighten you, Helena, but I’ve been monitoring the radio
channels, and there have been several requests for information about you. They
aren’t coming from the Coast Guard, either. How badly do you think he wants to
get you back?”
Helena sat for a moment, lost in thought, and then began speaking.
“You know, I don’t believe he is pursuing me out of love or need. He’s rich and
successful, and accustomed to getting everything he wants. I think he wants me
back because it was my choice to leave, and not his. If it had been his idea, I
think he would have let me go without a backward glance. It’s almost like I’m an
object to him: something he wanted, acquired, and doesn’t want to lose, not
because I’m worth much to him, but because it’s important to him to only let go
when he is good and ready.”
Her words faded away, replaced by a pensive stare as she perused the waves
stretching into the distance. Neil’s next words jolted her back into the thread
of conversation.
“Why, Helena? I just don’t understand. How could someone as gentle and loving as
you tie yourself to someone so empty and unloving?”
When she responded, it was with slow deliberation.
“You know, I’ve spent the last six months trying to justify my actions to
myself. Of course, he was different in the beginning, or at least he pretended
to be. I believed him to be clever, and witty, and exciting and passionate and
with that belief, I fell in love. Others saw his best side as well and our
relationship had such a sure stamp of approval from everyone I knew that it was
hard at first to see any different. Then, there was the lifestyle that he
offered me and my friends and family as well. The things we did and the places
we went to were like something out of a magazine, or a movie. Maybe it wasn’t a
better life he offered, but it certainly seemed to be a Technicolor one. As ugly
as it is to admit this to myself, I half wonder if I wasn’t in love with the
idea of Karl, or maybe in love with what Karl had to offer. I mean, I was raised
with great love, but without much money, and by a single parent who has worked
her fingers to the bone every day of her life just for the bare necessities. The
potential to have anything I wanted, whenever I wanted it, bought freedom from
worry. I could finally help my family, treat my friends, have and to share. It
was, for a time, at least, exhilarating.”
“Hard to compete with a rich man,” laughed Neil. Helena, caught up in her own
emotions did not catch the bitterness in his tone, and dropped once more into
quiet reflection.
For a time, they sailed on in silence, Helena quietly berating herself for all
she had brought upon them, and Neil caught up in the duties of sailing, and his
own private thoughts. Helena, glancing up from her reverie, caught a glimpse of
a furrowed brow, and reached out to him. His eyes, meeting hers, seemed
saddened. Neil extended his hand to her, cupping her chin, and gently stroking
her jaw line. It was several moments before he spoke.
“You know, try as I might, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fall out of love
with you, Ms. Travis.”
Why would you try? thought Helena with a twinge of alarm.
She said nothing, tucking the ambiguity of his words into the back of her mind,
as she struggled to focus on the situation at hand.
They made landfall just as the sky was turning lavender with the lowering of the
sun over the horizon. Dropping anchor on the outskirts of a heavily-populated
marina, they stayed on deck to watch the myriad hues of the tropical sunset.
With Neil’s arm slung protectively around her shoulders, Helena was physically
relaxed but wary. Something had changed, she felt, something almost
imperceptible, but something, all the same. They were still snuggled together
when the cackling of the marine radio made itself heard again. This time, Helena
did not follow Neil, but remained above deck, reading the names of the boats
bobbing near theirs to distract herself from whatever was to come.
Within minutes, Neil returned, a grave look clouding his blue eyes.
“It appears Karl has been busy. The Coast Guard has been contacted again and
this time by your mother, who is also apparently under the impression that you
may have been kidnapped.”
For a moment, the boat, the water, and the sunset seemed to fade, wavering like
a mirage as Helena’s mind spun with confusion. “Oh Neil,” she groaned, dropping
her head into her hands. “What am I going to do?”
Neil’s face was grim as he weighed their options. After a few minutes, he spoke
again, passing his hand tiredly over his forehead.
“First, we need to contact your mother and assure her that you’re all right.
Then, Helena, I think we need to go back to St. John. It’s the only way for us
to prove to the authorities that you haven’t been kidnapped. If we leave
tonight, we can make it back by morning. Hopefully, Karl won’t be expecting us,
and we can get some kind of protection for you before he does track us down. If
we can’t, then we may have to get you back home in a hurry.”
Helena’s face was somber as she nodded in agreement. It was beginning to look as
if the only way for them to evade the poisonous touch of Karl’s games was for
her to return to the mainland, and put as much distance as she could between her
and Neil. Helena’s breath caught in her throat as she fought back tears. She had
spent the past few months trying desperately to mend a heart that seemed beyond
repair. Now, she stood to lose what she thought she’d never again find.
Chapter 12
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