Copyright © 2025 by Peach Perfect Publishing

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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permission requests, contact ShonaKnightAuthor@gmail.com.

The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.

ISBN 978-1-0694725-3-3 (ebook)

ISBN 978-1-0694725-4-0 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-0694725-5-7 (hardcover)

First Edition: June 2025

ShonaKnight.com

Dedication

To my rock.

Author's Note

To my lovely readers, I want to thank each and every one of you for picking up this book and giving me a chance. I hope you love reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it!

If you know me personally, please forgive me for avoiding eye contact with you in the future.

If you don't have any triggers, feel free to skip the next page and dive right into the story as there may be spoilers.

Potential Triggers

SPOILERS BELOW

This is a reverse harem romance, meaning the female main character will end up with three or more love interests.

This story explores dark themes and has mentions of past sexual assault and miscarriage. There are scenes of violence and small flashbacks to past events. The sexual assault is not described in detail.

No harm comes from within the harem.

Chapter one

Darla

“Hey Kevin, buddy, you’re looking extra leafy today, how about you do a girl a solid and drop a coconut for me?” I plant my hands on my hips and stare up at him expectantly. But he just stands there, his leaves swaying in the wind like he doesn’t have a care in the world.

“Keviiiiiiiiin,” I whine. “I know you can hear me, stop playing hard to get and give me a damn coconut!!” When he still doesn’t respond, I huff. “Fine! Have it your way, let’s see who has the last laugh when I get Steve to help me. STEVE!” I scream, searching the sand around me.

“Steve, you crab sucker, where did you go—ouch!” I cry out as I stub my toe. Grabbing my foot in pain, I hop around and look down to see what attacked me.

“Damn it, Steve!” As the pain recedes, I bend down to pick him up. Steve, the rock, might be my second best friend on this island, but sometimes he could be a real pain in my foot.

“Alright, Steve, let’s see what you can get me today.” I pull my arm back and toss him at the tree, hoping to knock at least one coconut down. When he makes contact and one of them sways, I squeal, wrapping my arms around Kevin’s trunk and trying to shake him. Of course, that almost never works. Have you ever tried to make a tree move? It’s not easy.

“Hey, Kevin? I’m not trying to cop a feel or anything, buddy, just looking for some dinner,” I tell the palm tree as I wait for the coconut to fall. After about ten seconds, I realize it’s not gonna drop and I let out a huff of frustration.

“Now I have to go and find Steve again. Thanks a lot, Kevin!” Luckily my rock buddy isn’t far, but as I pick him up I’m assaulted by a coconut on the head.

“Dammit, Kevin!” I growl, rubbing the back of my head and looking up at him in anger. “That was attempted murder! I will be filing a complaint with your superiors!”

Grumbling obscenities at him, I pick up the dropped coconut, shove Steve into my bag, and head back home.

The jungle is quiet this afternoon. The ocean is calm and the lack of wind makes the sounds of my footsteps heavy on the dirt floor. I don’t like the silence, it reminds me too much that I’m alone here, it’s why I talk to my surroundings. Even one-sided conversations with inanimate objects were better than thinking about my reality.

Stepping into my clearing, I do a quick assessment and am pleased to see everything looks untouched. Deciding I want toasted coconut today, I assemble some wood I’ve already collected in my fire pit and manage to get it lit, all within five minutes. I can’t help but smile, feeling proud of how far I’ve come. There is no way I would have been able to start a fire that quick when we first crashed on this deserted island.

Luckily, dad had been a boy scout as a kid, and remembered all sorts of useful stuff, like how to build a fire, how to make rope from vines and tree bark and how to tie knots that will hold. It helped that he was smart as a whip, too. If it wasn’t for him, we would have died within weeks of being here.

And if he hadn’t spent the next four months teaching me everything he knew, I never would have lasted the next fifteen years without him.

Once the fire is lit, I grab my coconut. I manage to get it cracked in three hits on the rock, savoring the water inside before I split it in two.

I sigh happily at the refreshing taste, then grab my knife to slice her up. “Sorry, little coconut, this is about to get a little murdery,” I tell her as I make the first slice through the white flesh. “I’d say I won’t make a habit of it, but I’m pretty sure I ate your brother for dinner last night. He was probably a dick anyway, amIright?”

I finish slicing her up and grab my frying pan, a scrap of metal I found washed up a decade ago. I had to bang it into a relatively flat shape with curved edges, but it works for my needs just fine. I toss the flecks of coconut in and place it on the fire, letting them heat, then grab my waterskin and take a sip of water.

I lay back on the jungle floor, staring up at the canopy of trees and my home. The original tree hut that dad and I had started to build together, is in rough shape now. I just used it for storage anyway, but it would be annoying if it collapsed and all my treasures came crashing down to the jungle floor below. Mo-Mo would have a field day with that, he’s always trying to steal my stuff, even though he’s supposed to be my best friend. That’s what I get for choosing a lemur as my island bestie.

“Eep!” I hear his trill and sit up, watching him swing towards me. “Figures you arrive just as the food is heating up,” I chide him as he drops to my shoulder, rubbing his head into my neck in greeting.

“Mo-Mo, you will not believe the day I’ve had. First, Bob almost shit on me again, then I thought I found a cell phone, but it turned out to be a seashell, then I fell asleep on my napping rock and that gang of crabs tried to assassinate me, again. Then I stubbed my toe on Steve and got into a fight with Kevin, and uh… I think he actually won this time.” I frown, rubbing the sore spot on the back of my head.

“Where were you, anyway? I could have used you as backup, you know? You could have climbed up there for me. Why are you always making me hunt on my own?” He grunts and I roll my eyes. “I know, I know, you were busy with your lady and your buddies again, weren’t you?”

I use a stick to move the coconut around, trying to get an even coating of toasty goodness as the smell wafts towards us. Mo-Mo leans forward, his cute little nose sniffing the air. “A little bit longer, buddy.”

“What do you say tomorrow we head to the cliffs? I want to see if Bob’s got any eggs I can steal for dinner. He deserves it after trying to shit on me again.” There are a few seagulls who live on this island, but Bob was the absolute worst.

Mo-Mo grunts and I take that as his agreement to come with me. When the coconut pieces look ready, I use a stick I fashioned into a large spoon to pull them onto a large banana leaf.

I fan them for a minute so they’re cool enough to eat and straight away Mo-Mo’s grubby little hands reach in and snatch up as many pieces as he can hold, jumping up to a waiting vine and climbing to a tree limb where he can eat them in peace.

“Oh, cool, you stole my food. Again. This friendship is a little one-sided, buddy,” I tell him as I eat the few pieces he left me.

When I’m finished, I make sure to put the fire out fully with some dirt, not willing to risk a forest fire or the destruction of my home in the surrounding trees. I put my knife, McStabby, in the sheath I made from boar hide that hangs at my hip, then move over to the tree on my left, untie the rope from the branch and give it a hard yank, releasing my ladder.

“Night, Mo-Mo!” I yell before climbing up to my treehouse deck. I pull the rope ladder back up and secure it in place. It seems pointless, there is nothing on this island that can climb except the lemurs, and they don’t need a ladder to get in my tree. Lucky for me, they live on the other side of the island, so I didn’t have to hear their chattering all day.

Mo-Mo comes to visit me at least once a day, and I really appreciate his company. Even if he is a food stealing little weasel. He’s the only one I have here. The only living being I’ve been able to somewhat communicate with in fifteen years.

I enter my kitchen hut first, making sure that everything’s where it should be. It’s basically all homemade cooking and eating utensils, and some poorly constructed plates and bowls made from wood or hollowed out rocks. I open the basket, made from woven banana leaves, and see I still have a handful of bacon left. I call it bacon cause it comes from a pig, but it’s really more of a jerky, and since it comes from a wild boar, it’s not exactly the same thing.

I grab two pieces and immediately take a bite out of one. “Mmm, Mr. Piggy, you are delicious!” I hum in appreciation as I close the kitchen door and head to my main hut.

I push the wooden door open and step inside, closing it quickly behind me. Immediately, I let my shoulders drop in exhaustion.

Out there, in the jungle, I’m Zee, the forager, the hunter, the survivor. My dad used to call me that, Zee. Short for Xena the warrior princess. But inside here, in my own safe space, I’m just me, Darla. A twenty-eight year old woman who is slowly losing her mind.

I pull Steve out from my pouch and toss him on my bed, which is a pile of boar hides filled with leaves, then strip off my clothes. I found they lasted much longer if I didn’t sleep in them. And after getting used to it, I actually find I prefer it now, it gives my body a chance to breathe. Not that my clothing covered much.

The jungle is hot and humid, so I made myself something that’s a mix between a sports bra and a crop top. It’s all made out of boar hide. On the bottom, I wear a mini skirt. I tried making shorts, but I couldn’t get the inner seam right. I really wanted shorts. Thigh rub was a serious issue here in the beginning. But eventually, my skin seemed to grow accustomed to the constant rubbing just as I got used to the heat.

I lay them out over the back of my terribly made chair, grab McStabby and jump into bed. Laying back, I pick up Steve and study him.

“Did you have a good day today, Steve? What do you mean you just laid around all day? Am I the only one who cares about surviving out here? What? You’re tired? How can you be tired if you haven’t done anything?! Fine, fine, go to sleep.” I place him on the floor by my head and stare up at my roof.

It’s taken me years, but I finally have a roof that doesn’t leak, even if it was pouring out there, I’d be bone dry in here. Turning to my right, I stare at the wall and trace my fingers over the marks, one for every night I’ve been here. There were far more than I could count, over five thousand if my math was correct… Which it might not be. It’s not like I had any form of education past age thirteen. One day dad said we had to go on a little trip. If either of us knew this is how it would end up, we would have never left the states.

I shiver as certain memories press in, the same way they do every night. The hut starts to get dark as the sun sets and I grab one of the hides and pull it over me. I don’t like being out in the jungle in the dark. There’s too much risk of injury as it was. And hurting myself is a serious fear I have. What if I injure myself so badly that I can’t move? Would I starve to death? Would Mo-Mo bring me food? Would I die from an infection?

“Hey, Steve?” When he doesn’t answer, cause, you know… he’s a rock, I continue.

“How many more marks do you think I have in me?” I ask as I use McStabby to start carving a new line.

“Ten? A thousand? What if I become an old lady here, and one day, I trip on you and break my hip? Who’s gonna help me up?” The good thing about talking to inanimate objects is that they can’t talk back. They can’t judge you or tell you that you’re a loser. But it also means they can’t comfort you or make you feel better.

I place my McStabby under my pillow made of more boar hide stuffed with leaves, and get comfortable on my side. I close my eyes and try to think of something, anything, to distract me from the nightmares that plague me every night. I blindly reach out and grab Steve, hugging him close to my chest. Even fifteen years later, the memory of those men and what they did still plague me every damn night.

“I wish Mo-Mo was here,” I whisper into the darkness, knowing that when I eventually do fall asleep, there will be nobody here to chase the nightmares away. And once again, for the five thousand and somethingth time, I will wake up alone, on this deserted island.

Chapter two

Darla

After doing my best to work my fingers through my super long, blonde hair, I braid it back so it’s out of my way. I make sure I have my waterskin and McStabby, then make my way to the kitchen hut to grab my spare pouch. When I see it, I throw it over my shoulder, shove Steve inside and head back out. This bag is a sling and perfect for when I need my balance to climb.

Bob’s home is located pretty high on a cliff, in a cave I scoped out years ago. I’ve climbed it hundreds of times since. Just because I’m afraid of getting hurt, doesn’t mean I take any less risks.

I’m not sure if Bob has a wife that lays eggs or if he is, in fact, a girl, but it's the only place I’ve been able to find eggs on the entire island. And when you’re as limited in choices as I am, you know that beggars can’t be choosers.

Instead of using the ladder to climb down, I grab a nearby vine and swing across the clearing, the bottom of my feet hitting the tree to stop me, then I grab another vine, and swing back the other way, finally ending on the ground. The ladder might technically be easier, but the vines were quicker… and more badass. Plus, now the ladder was still tied up safely.

Besides, with Mo-Mo watching, I need to keep up my street cred or he’ll think I’ve gone soft.

“Morning, buddy! You ready for our hike?” I yell in Mo-Mo’s direction, where he sits on a nearby branch. He trills at me, coming over to sit on my shoulder and give me a morning nuzzle. “Hey Mo-Mo, did you have a good sleep? Did your lady keep you up all night again?” He makes an indignant noise, turning his head away from me and crossing his cute little arms.

“Sorry! Didn’t realize it was a sensitive subject for you,” I tell him as I reach up and give his black and white striped tail a little stroke.

We take a detour through the mango grove for breakfast. As usual, Mo-Mo waits for me to break off pieces for him instead of getting his own. “Lazy lemur,” I grumble, grabbing a second mango before we head towards the cliffs. We walk along the edge of the beach for a short while before we have to detour through the jungle.

This part of the island is thick and it’s not as easy to see your surroundings. It’s one of the reasons we chose not to live in this area. Preferring to see any threats headed our way. The other reason we chose not to build here was because it’s home to a large family of wild boar. And me and Brutus have a long history. In the first five years I was here, it was easy to pick off the occasional small boar for food.

But when Brutus was born and started to grow into the alpha of his pack, he was not happy with letting me get away with that anymore. He seems more intelligent than any of the other boar, meaning I have to be extra careful when hunting these days. Since I had to be in close range to kill one, with only my six-inch blade to aid me, I could only take the chance when I got one of them alone, otherwise I’d be pig chow. Or would it be a boar-kabob? Either way, if Brutus caught me hunting and I was lucky enough to get away, I’d find him in my territory over the next week, looking to catch me off guard. That dude knows how to hold a grudge.

“Eep!” Mo-Mo exclaims, leaping from my shoulder to a nearby vine. Hearing the rustling of the underbrush, even over the sounds of the birds singing and crickets chirping, I quickly jump up to the closest branch. Grabbing it with both hands, I heave my legs up until I can wrap them around it, then pull myself on top of the branch. Glancing down, I’m just in time to see Brutus and two female boar come sniffing through the area.

If he smells me, he doesn’t react, he just walks straight through as I hold my breath. If he knew I was up here, I know he’d sit his fat ass at the base of this tree and try to wait me out. Of course, I could use the trees to get myself out of here without touching the ground, but it would use up a lot of energy, and I have a cliff to climb.

I wait a full minute after he’s gone from sight before jumping down, landing in a crouched position and surveying my surroundings.

“Alright tuff guy, they’re gone,” I call out to Mo-Mo, who comes swinging down from his hiding spot to sit on my shoulder. We quickly move through the jungle until we finally come out into the clearing at the base of the cliff.

I stand at the bottom and look up at its 200 foot height. “Alright, Cliff. You gonna give me any problems today? Or are you gonna be solid as a rock?” I fight down the fear of falling that’s quickly rising in me and try to think about what waits for me at the top. Eggs.

It’s not exactly difficult to climb, there are plenty of good handholds and footholds, but at the end of the day, it’s still a 200 foot climb straight up with no harness or safety rope.

“Eep!” Mo-Mo hollers before leaping to the ground and running back to the jungle.

“Coward!” I yell after him, shaking my head. I look back at Cliff, the giant rock wall, and rub my hands together.

“Come on Zee, you got this!” I say, trying to pump myself up as I begin to climb. “You can have fried eggs, or maybe scrambled… If there are three, you could have one a day for three days. Or…. you could devour them all today.” My breaths start to get labored as I climb, so I keep my egg-cellent motivational pep talk internal for the next 150 feet.

It’s slow going, as I try to be as safe as I can in this situation, and when I finally reach the top, I pull myself over the ledge and sprawl out on my back, arms and legs stretched wide as I let my racing heart calm down.

Climbing up was the easy part. It’s climbing down that I really hated. Being unable to see where you’re stepping was more than slightly terrifying. I have to keep my body as close to the wall as possible, or I’d risk falling backwards and plummeting to my death. Or worse, I would end up crippling myself. It was a miracle I’d survived this long already.

When I finally feel like I can breathe normally again, I sit up and look around, seeing no signs of Bob or any other seagull. I make my way into the cave behind me and to the side where the nest is. Bob doesn’t usually leave any eggs alone, so I worry my trip was for nothing. But as I get closer, his big ugly head pops up from where he’s sleeping in the nest, making me jump back and get into a fighting stance, McStabby in my hand and aimed in his direction.

He doesn’t move, just sits there glaring at me, so I try to reason with him. “Look, Bob, I get it. Father of the year and all that. But I climbed all the way up here and I’m not leaving empty-handed.” He gives his feathers a little shake and sinks down deeper, clearly not planning on going anywhere.

“Bob, you don’t even like kids. I’ve seen you squawk at the younglings. I’m doing you a favor, really. Think of all the free time you’ll have to do bird-yoga and hang out with the ladies!”

When he still doesn’t move, I slip my free hand into my pouch and pull out Steve. I lift him in front of my mouth as I quietly whisper, “Don’t actually hit him, we just want to scare him a little.” Then I toss him towards Bob, aiming for a spot right in front of his nest.

It has its desired effect as Bob squawks and jumps up, flapping his wings before flying from the cave.

“YES! Team Zeve for the win!” I shout out Steve and my couple name, with both arms in the air as I run around in a few celebratory circles.

With a grin on my face, I reach down and grab Steve, returning him to my pouch before turning to the nest.

“Sweet baby boar, that's a lot of eggs!” I exclaim, seeing four eggs in the nest. Normally, I’d be lucky to get two. “I’m feasting tonight!” I say excitedly as I gently place them in my pouch.

I turn around and walk to the edge of the cave, gazing out at the vast ocean that surrounds me. I wonder how far away the next island is? Or is it a continent out there past that horizon? We were pretty positive we crashed in the Indian Ocean, but I had no idea how far we were from anything. Clearly, we weren't under any flight paths, as I’d never seen a single plane since we crashed here.

I shiver, remembering that terrible day we arrived here. You’d think crashing into the ocean and ending up on a deserted island would be the worst day of your life, little did I know, that was still to come. I quickly try to push those memories aside before they take hold. Those are the ones that bring the nightmares and panic attacks.

Luckily, I’m distracted by a flash of movement in the distance. “Steve, did you see that?” I ask, even knowing he can’t see anything from his hiding place in the bottom of my bag. Plus, you know… he’s a rock.

I narrow my eyes, hoping to glimpse it again. And when I see it, I gasp in shock and fear. “What is that?”

The object starts to become clearer as it gets closer, moving fast across the sky, leaving a trail of smoke behind as it gets lower to the water.

“Sweet baby eggs, is that a… plane?” My jaw drops open as it gets closer and I watch in horror as the plane nose dives into the ocean, at least fifteen to twenty miles away.

I wrap my arms around myself and shiver, despite the blaring humidity. Is that what it looked like when we crashed? Were there any survivors? A ball of fear in my gut starts to take hold. I haven’t seen anyone else arrive on this island in fifteen years. Not since the men who came here by paddle boat, four months after my dad and I arrived.

We thought we’d have a chance to finally get off this island, but the strange men chopped their paddle boat up and used it for firewood. They spoke another language, so we weren’t able to understand one another, but we figured out non-verbal ways of communicating, and soon, we felt happy to have three new men on the island. They seemed eager to help us build our hut and hunt. The likelihood of survival for a thirteen year old and her dad had just increased, three fold.

But something about them was a little off. The way they looked at me made my skin crawl. Dad noticed too, never leaving me alone for a minute, not even to relieve myself, much to my embarrassment. I didn’t really understand what he was worried about… until it was too late.

That horrible day, and the ones that followed, will be etched in my mind for the rest of my life. I’m still not entirely sure how I was the only one to survive it, and I’ve never been able to decide if that was a good thing or not.

But as I watch the dark blob of the plane sinking in the distance, I wonder who was on board, and if anybody survived. I’m not sure I will survive another round of stranded visitors.

Chapter three

Darla

Iwatch the ocean, deciding that if there are any survivors headed my way, I want to know about them and not be taken by surprise. That was an easy way to get yourself killed, or worse.

I take a seat in the cave's shade and cross my legs as I watch and wait. I knew it was too far away to see anything as small as a life raft. So I needed to wait, to give it time to get closer to my island.

I huff out a breath after two hours of waiting. There were probably no survivors, right? I’m sure I would have seen them by now.

“What do you think, Steve? I’m getting hungry, anyway. What do you say we go back home and I cook me up some fried eggs and ham? Is it still called ham if it’s a boar and not a pig?” I tilt my head as I consider it. But I don’t know the answer any more now than I did the first time I asked the question.

I stand up and something catches my eye in the ocean, I instinctively hold my breath, hoping not to see it again. My heart sinks when I do. There’s something small in the water, bouncing slowly over the waves as it makes its way towards me.

I squint, hoping that will help me identify it. “Please be a whale,” I murmur. Another hour passes before I’m ninety percent positive it’s a raft.

“Crap shells! What am I supposed to do now?”

Deciding I need to get back home and make a plan, I start the painstaking journey of climbing down.

“Remember, Cliff. You and me are best buds. You don't want me to fall to my death, do you? Who would you have to talk to? Bob? Sheesh, yeah right! That bird brain is a shitty conversationalist.” I step on a piece of rock and it shifts under my foot, making me squeal in terror, my fingers digging in, gripping the wall tightly as my foot tries to find purchase.

“Not cool, Cliff. Not. Cool,” I say, trying to distract myself from that near fall. I carry on climbing down, sweet talking him the whole way so he won’t let me fall. I glance down and see my feet are only about eight feet from the ground, but the movement makes me lose focus and my grip slips.

I scream as I fall backwards, landing hard on my ass with a distinct crunch. I wince, then cringe, pulling my bag around me and checking inside.

“Crab sucker!” I turn my glare to Cliff. “Way to go, you stupid wall! Now that climb was completely pointless!” I grumble, dumping out the gooey contents of my bag. “Awe, Steve, you’re all slimy now! Guess I gotta take you for a bath.”

I glance over my shoulder towards the ocean. I probably had anywhere from two to four hours for that raft to make it here. I had to be ready. There was no way I was getting caught by another raft full of stranded men. “But… they can’t catch you if they don’t know you’re here,” I tell myself as I walk towards the water to clean out my bag and give Steve a quick bath.

“What do you think, Steve? Can I keep hidden long enough for them to kill themselves or be rescued?” Lord knows I gave up on being saved a long time ago, realizing that going back to civilization was not something I was interested in.

I put a cleaned up Steve back in my bag and head back through boar terrain. I’ve been doing this for more than half my life, so I know how to move quickly and quietly through the jungle. Even Brutus doesn’t know I’m here. I smirk to myself when I hear a noise and jump to a tree branch, hiding myself as a couple of boar saunter through below me.

When they’re out of sight, I drop back down and quickly make my way back to the beach. I take off at a light jog. I can’t see the raft yet from here, which is a good thing. I still have time. After ducking past the few large leaves that block my well-worn path from the view of the beach, I jog back to my home.

They're going to know somebody was here at some point. But I want them to think it’s abandoned now. “No humans here!” I yell as I enter my camp. I yank the cord to pull the ladder down, no sense in hiding it, they’d find it and I’d rather they didn’t destroy all my stuff before they leave.

“I’m just going on a little camping trip, that’s all,” I tell myself, trying not to panic. But my heart is racing with fear. They can’t find me. I can’t go through that. Not again.

I stand in my main hut and look around. There’s nothing in here that’s personal, I have nothing left from my old life anymore. Knowing I don’t have much time, I grab my spare hammock from the corner and my large bag, quickly shoving it inside. I really want my pillow and blanket, but I need to pack light. Besides, I could come back for those later, right?

I run along the skywalk to the kitchen, shoving open the door and going straight for my jerky. I have ten pieces left. “Nine,” I say, shoving one in my mouth, feeling hungry after my climb and jog through the jungle.

I grab a few cooking utensils and bowls, placing them in my bag before I head out. I move back towards my main hut, but instead of going inside, I walk around the deck to the large tree trunk behind it. It’s one of the large trees I built the hut into and is one of the biggest on the island. Only the lemur’s tree is bigger.

I jump and push myself between the splitting trunks and brace my feet on either side as I work my way upwards. When I get about six feet higher, I’m able to reach a narrower branch and use that to hoist myself into the tree. I climb higher until the leaves hide me from below.

I consider moving somewhere else to live on the island, far away from here. But there’s something I have come to learn in my life. You can’t protect yourself from an enemy you don’t see coming. And what better place to watch my new enemy from, than above?

I take my time finding the perfect place to hang my hammock, securing it on both ends with some rope made from braided bark. I find a place to stash my large bag so I just have my small pouch with me. I pull Steve out and whisper to him, “You stay here, buddy. I’m gonna go watch for our new tenants. Don’t let anyone touch my stuff, alright?”

I double check I still have McStabby in its sheath at my side, then make my way through the tree, finding another way to get to the ground without being seen by the camp.

When I do make it down, I’m happy with the location, about fifty feet away from the edge of camp. I jog back to the beach to see if the raft has arrived yet. I come up short as I near the end of the jungle path, seeing the yellow raft only a hundred feet from the shore.

“Crab sucker! They’re here already?” I move behind a large palm tree, making sure to stay in the shade, and watch as it moves towards me.

“Eep!”

“Ahh!” I yell, jumping when Mo-Mo hollers from a branch right behind me. “Sweet baby crab, you scared me, Mo-Mo!” I whisper yell at him. He grunts in reply and I turn back to the ocean, pointing at the raft. “Look, Mo-Mo. We’ve got company.”

“Owww,” he coos in interest.

“Mo-Mo, they can’t know I’m here. You can’t give me away. I mean it, buddy. Do you understand me?” I turn my gaze to him in a moment of seriousness, hoping that he will understand what I’m trying to tell him. He seems to be smarter than any other animal I’ve ever met, and I hope he understands me now.

He jumps down onto my shoulder, wrapping his tail around my neck as he nuzzles me.

“Thanks, buddy. I knew you’d understand,” I whisper, turning back to watch the raft. It’s close enough that I can make out the blurry dark forms of two people rowing.

“Two, okay, that’s better than three at least.”

I decide I’m too visible, so I climb up the tree behind me until I’m high enough to be hidden by the foliage. I manage to find the perfect spot as it gives me a sliver of sight down the beach and into the ocean where the raft approaches, but there are enough leaves around me to make me feel well covered.

I lay on my stomach, so my head can be as close as possible to the ocean and Mo-Mo doesn’t hesitate to sit on my back. I feel him rummaging through my bag, so I quickly try to bat him away. “Hey! Mo-Mo, stop that! That jerky is all I have. I need it to tide me over until I can hunt and cook again.” I feel his grubby little hands trying to smack mine away, making me growl.

The noise instantly makes him back away, jumping to another branch. I hate to growl at him, but I need that jerky to last. I’m not sure what’s going to happen with these new people on the island, and I needed easy access to food while I figure them out.

As the raft finally makes its way to the shallows of the beach, I get my first proper look at them. The first man jumps out, grabbing the rope of the raft to pull it behind him. My eyes widen at the sight of him. He’s wearing jeans and a green golf shirt with a watch shining brightly on his wrist when the sun catches it. He has a sharp jawline and messy brown hair that’s about six-inches long. The state of him speaks to the bad day he’s having, although he still looks like some sort of Abercrombie model.

The other person jumps out of the raft, capturing my attention. It’s another man. “Sweet baby crab cakes!” I whisper to myself when I get a good look at him. He is just as mesmerizing as the first guy, although they look nothing alike. His hair is a slightly darker shade of brown but his is much longer, tied up in a messy bun on top of his head. His chin is covered in a short, close-cropped beard that gives him a rugged appearance. He’s wearing a dark gray henley and blue jeans. He’s wider than the first guy, but they both look strong.

Crap shells! This complicates things. They look much stronger than… well, me. I might be well toned from swinging on vines, climbing trees and hunting boar, but I had no idea how to fight someone. Last time I had just got lucky, if you could call what happened ‘luck’.

The two men drag the raft onto the beach, but surprise me when they don’t instantly drop it, instead they head towards me, pulling it behind them. I freeze, wondering what they’re doing, but as soon as they reach the part of the beach that’s shaded from the jungle, they drop the raft and sink to their butts in the sand.

Hmm, they’re smart. I didn’t expect that. I’m going to need to be extra careful.

“Where do you think we are?” guy number two asks.

“I don’t know, Bower. But at least we’re on land now,” the other guy responds. By their voices and appearance, they are both clearly American, like me.

“Yeah, I’m glad to be off the water at least. That sun was brutal. I’d kill for something to drink,” Bower says, his head swiveling back and forth as he assesses the beach.

“Yeah, that’s going to be our first priority. Especially after all that time rowing and being in the sun. If there’s no fresh water source here, we might die.”

My hand instinctively moves to my waterskin as my brows furrow. Why was my gut reaction to give them my spare ones? I internally shake my head. I need to focus, I can’t help these guys. They wouldn’t help me if the situation was reversed.

“Okay, King, let’s just catch our breath for a few minutes, then we can take a look. Should we go into the interior or try circling the island first?” Bower asks his friend.

The other man, King, glances down at his watch before he answers.

“We should have lots of time before the sun starts to set, let's circle it first. If there is any civilization here, they would probably build on the beach, or at the very least have beach access and a dock,” King tells him. He has a good point, but I knew what they’d find. And it would take them hours to circle the island. Not all of it was surrounded by beaches, and they would have to cut through some sketchier parts of the jungle.

Maybe I’d get lucky and they’ll get bitten by a venomous snake. There was a particularly nasty one, Fang, that lives on the north coast. I stay far away from there at all costs. I’m not positive he’s poisonous, but he is big. If he got himself wrapped around me, I’d be snake chow for sure.

“Fuck, I’m starving. You think there is anything to eat here?” Bower asks, laying back in the sand. I duck my head and freeze as he’s now looking right up into the tree I’m hiding in.

“Probably. At the very least we know there are coconuts, “ King says, pointing up at a nearby palm tree.

They sit in silence for another half an hour before finally getting to their feet. I release the breath I felt like I was holding the whole time, afraid Bower would see me.

“Alright, I guess we go this way,” King says, pointing to the north. They head down the beach, and when they are far enough away not to hear me, I quietly jump down to the jungle floor. I peek out of the tree line and see them down the beach still, so I pull back and wait.

“Eep!” Mo-Mo trills, jumping down to my shoulder.

I give his neck a little scratch as I whisper to him. “What do ya think?”

“Eep!”

“Yeah, I’m not sure what to make of them yet, either. Let's just wait until they’re out of sight, then see if there is anything in the raft we can use.”

The beach is long, so it takes a while before I can’t see them anymore and I feel brave enough to move out of my hiding place in the trees. I inch towards their raft and I can’t help the quiet shout of joy I let out when I see the two backpacks inside.

“Sweet baby treasure!”

Jumping in the raft, I immediately unzip the first bag. I’m a little disappointed that it’s mostly clothes, but I find a toiletry bag and stare at the toothbrush with a huge amount of trepidation. I really want to take it, I’ve been brushing and flossing with leaves and twigs for fifteen years. I was super anal about it, never missing a day, terrified of getting a cavity or something worse and having to deal with never ending tooth pain or having to rip out my own tooth. I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to do that, not mentally, anyway.

If I take this, he’s gonna know it’s missing, right? I see a few other treasures in his bag, including two disposable razors and deodorant. I clean myself every day, but having deodorant for a treat would be amazing. However, I know it would attract bugs, so it was better to leave that one. The razor, however… I lift my arm and stare at the ungodly hair there, then glance down at my hairy legs. He was a guy, how much would he really miss it? Besides, he had two of them. I take one and shove into my own bag and keep searching.

I find headphones, a tablet, and a couple of granola bars. “Hmm, what’s the betting he forgot these granola bars are here?” I ask Mo-Mo. I could take them, he’s clearly forgotten since he mentioned being hungry. But something stops me. Instead, I pack his bag back up and place them at the very top, so he’ll see them as soon as he opens it.

I move to the second bag to find similar items. I pull out one of his t-shirts and my breath catches in my throat. It’s black with ACDC on the front. Sadness overwhelms me as memories from my life before the island start to push in. I loved their music, I’d spend hours listening to it with my best friend.

Unable to help myself, I decide to steal it, shoving it into my pouch. It looks long enough to sleep in, and since I was sleeping outside in my hammock now, I really didn’t want to sleep naked anymore.

I zip his bag back up and stare at it. Maybe I should take more clothes? Would they notice? What if I threw things all over the place, I could make it look like the lemurs pilfered their stuff. I stare down the beach in the direction they went. Something about them feels… different. I thought I’d be eager to make their lives difficult here, but the thought of doing it makes me feel… guilty. They haven’t actually done anything to me… yet.

“Ugh, crap shells! Mo-Mo, why do I feel guilty? I don’t owe them anything. If anything, I deserve their stuff. I’ve been here for fifteen years without any of it! Let them learn what it’s like to have nothing!” I don't realize I’m crying until Mo-Mo gently climbs into my lap and snuggles against me, forcing me to hug him as I start sniffling.

“Stupid emotions,” I grumble. I was good at always keeping the tears to myself, only letting them out at night in my hut. I rarely ever let Mo-Mo see me like this. I wanted him to think I was strong and fun. If he knew how dark my thoughts really were, he wouldn’t want to hang around me anymore, and I’m not sure I’d survive losing his friendship. Out here, it’s all I have.

Chapter four

Bower

“Be honest, King. How screwed are we?” I ask as we carefully push our way through the jungle. We had run out of beach and hit a large cliff, giving us no choice but to cut through the jungle as we made our way around the island.

“Do you want the good news or the bad news?” he asks, pausing to look down at his shoes before he continues walking. I cringe, looking at his mud caked shoes. He had a bit of an addiction to footwear, and although I doubt he’ll actually complain out loud, I’m sure seeing his shoes in that state is killing him a little on the inside.

“Lay it on me,” I answer, bracing myself for the inevitable.

“The good news is there’s life here, we saw those lemurs. That means there is food and fresh water… somewhere. The bad news—”

He pauses as we push out of the jungle and back to the beach. Ahead, I see the bright yellow of our raft, making that small ball of hope in my chest shatter.

“The bad news is, our cell phones are broken and I’m pretty sure we’ve landed ourselves on a deserted island.”

“Fuck,” I swear, realizing we’ve made our way around the entire island now.

“Yeah. Fuck, indeed,” he grumbles as we walk towards our raft. “We need water, and soon.”

As we get back to the raft and I spot our backpacks, I realize we were stupid to leave them here. Animals could have got into them, and the stuff in there is all we have.

“Hey, look!” I exclaim, pointing at the two coconuts sitting on the sand right beside our raft. Glancing up, the nearest palm tree seems a couple feet too far away from them to have dropped from there.

“They must have rolled down here,” King says, obviously having the same train of thought as me. We both reach down and pick one up, turning it over in our hands. “This will have water inside we can drink. We need to crack it open.”

“Wish I had a knife,” I grumble.

“Me too. We’ll have to find a sharp rock to hit it with, or to hit it on, let’s look.” We skim the tree line until we find a large boulder. We take turns trying to crack our coconuts open by slamming it down on the surface, but it just results in us exhausting ourselves.

“We need a sharp edge,” he tells me, walking around the boulder to see if there’s a better spot.

“Eep!”

“Fuck!” I jump back and fall on my ass as a damn lemur jumps down onto the boulder in front of me.

King chuckles at my expense. “Did the little lemur scare you?”

“I was just startled!” I say in defense as I get to my feet, carefully watching the little guy. He tilts his head, then lifts up something towards me. “Is that a… rock?”

He pushes his hand closer to me, and I frown.

“I think he wants you to take it,” King says calmly.

“Oooookaaaaay,” I say, dragging out the word as I try to figure out what he wants from me. I slowly reach forward and take the rock from him. He lets out a little trill and jumps on the spot, like he’s happy. But when I just stare at him, he grunts.

Before I know what’s happening, he leaps towards me and I scream, sure he’s about to rip my throat out for taking his precious rock. But when I don’t feel any pain, I slowly lower my arms from where they’re covering my head, and glance at the lemur perched on my shoulder.

“Eep!”

King bursts out laughing, and I turn my glare to him.

“Eep!”

I turn back to my new friend. “You’re not so scary, are you?”

“Actually, he seems extremely easy going around us. Makes you wonder if he’s seen humans before?”

“There might not be any real threats for him here, so he doesn't know to be scared?” I suggest.

“Yeah, that’s possible,” he agrees.

The little guy grunts, pointing at the coconut I dropped. I gently bend down to pick it up, being careful not to dislodge my new friend. When I look back at him, he grunts again, then points to my other hand still holding the rock.

“Holy shit, I think he’s telling you to use that rock to open the coconut!” King says with wide eyes. I examine the rock and see it has a sharp edge.

“I didn’t know lemurs were that smart, did you?” I ask as I set down the coconut, wedging it between a fallen tree trunk and the boulder so it won’t move.

“Not that smart, no. I wouldn’t think lemurs were strong enough to open coconuts that way. But what do I know? I also thought they only lived on Madagascar, and we clearly aren’t there.”

I kneel down to get myself in a good position to strike the coconut and the lemur jumps from my shoulder to sit on the boulder and watch.

After about a dozen hits, it finally cracks open. “Fuck, yes!” I exclaim, tilting it up and letting some of the water quench my parched throat. I pass it over to King, and he takes his fair share, then we pass it back and forth until it’s empty. He takes a turn cracking open the second coconut, and we take turns drinking until there’s only a little left.

“Okay, well, at least we know we can get water that way, even if it is a lot of work,” King says as I take a seat on the boulder beside my new friend.

“You want some, little buddy?” I ask, holding the coconut up. He tries to take it, but it’s clearly too big for him, so I help him by tilting it up and he greedily drinks the rest of it. When it’s drained, he jumps on my shoulder, startling me. He rubs his head into my neck, then immediately runs back into the jungle.

I stare in the direction he went with wide eyes. I can hear him chattering away in there, like he’s talking to his little friends, telling them all about what happened.

“He’s an affectionate little thing, isn’t he?” King asks with a smile.

“Yeah. That was… nuts,” I say, scratching the back of my neck and thinking how strange that whole thing seemed.

“Let’s see what we have in our bags,” King suggests. We move over to the raft and when I unzip my bag and find two granola bars on top, I cheer loudly. “Fuck, yes!”

“Awesome, thanks!” he says when I toss him one. We eat them quickly, it’s been hours since we ate in the Perth airport in Australia.

“The sun’s setting quickly now,” I say, noticing the sky changing color.

“You’re right. I think we should camp here for the night. I don’t know about you, but I’m not exactly ready to sleep in the middle of a jungle where something could sneak up on us from any angle.”

“Good point. Are those rain clouds?” I ask, noticing the gray sky to the west.

“Fuck, I think they’re coming this way, too. We might be in for a wet night.” He looks around the beach and seems to come up with an idea. “Why don’t we flip the raft? We can prop one end up towards the ocean, so we can see and keep the air flowing.”

“Less likely anything will attack from the side, too,” I say in agreement. It doesn’t take us long to get the raft flipped over, but we decide that a strong wind could blow it away or turn it over, so we look for ways to anchor it.

“We need something to sink into the sand, to tie the ropes to,” I say, looking up and down the beach.

“What about something heavy, like a piece of driftwood or a fallen trunk? We could push it through part of the rope if it’s thin enough,” he suggests, and I quickly agree.

The sky starts getting darker quickly now. A combination of the incoming rain and nighttime. We scour the treeline and beach but can’t seem to find anything the right size.

“Shit, we don’t have much time left before it’s here,” King says right as a couple drops of rain land on my head.

A loud thump makes us jump and we whip our heads around, looking for what made the noise. “What was that?” I whisper.

“I have no idea,” he whispers back. We slowly walk side by side towards where we think the noise came from.

“Hey, look, these are perfect!” I exclaim, bending down to grab two thick branches.

“They’re just lying on the ground right here? I swear I checked this area,” he says, scratching his chin as he frowns at them.

“Just help me, it’s already starting to rain.” I pass him a branch and we’re able to make quick work of weaving them through the rope on either side of the raft to help anchor it. They’re decently heavy enough, only a really strong wind would flip it now. We shove a pile of small branches we gathered under the side facing the ocean and climb underneath, laying on our stomachs as we stare out at the sea.

The sun finally sets and the heavens open up, the rain pouring down around us. Thankfully, the raft seems to be keeping us completely dry and there are no heavy winds. I let out a deep breath as we silently watch the rain.

“Do you think he knows yet?” I ask, staring out at the ocean.

“Yeah. I bet he knew before we even made it to shore. You know what he’s like,” King says, sounding worried. He had a right to be concerned. I wasn’t sure Reece could survive losing us, not with his past. “It’s gonna be okay, Bower. You know he’ll never stop looking. He’ll find us. We just have to stay alive.”

“What about Weston?” I ask, a knot forming in my chest at the thought of our pilot. “I—Did we make the wrong call?” I ask, remembering how we shoved the only parachute onto him and basically tossed him from the plane. In our defense, the plane was going down and we didn’t think we’d survive.

Luckily, King’s quick thinking had the two of us strapping into the back row, and we survived the crash with only a few minor cuts and bruises.

“We didn’t know. We’re lucky to have survived that.”

“Where do you think he is?” I ask, knowing we were nowhere near any other land mass. Hell, even this island shouldn’t be here according to the maps we’d looked at before taking off. It was a weird habit, but something Reece always forced us to do. He said we needed to know exactly where we were going and our path there.

“West? I dunno, but I’m sure he’s alive.”

“He would have landed in the ocean, where would he go? There’s nothing around,” I say, worry for him making my gut clench. We didn’t know him well, but he’d flown us a bunch of times and was always busting our chops about flying in his plane instead of some fancy first class jet.

“His pack had an inflatable raft in it. Maybe he’ll end up here, too.”

“That means he’s out there in this storm,” I say, watching the rain pour down outside our dry little cave.

“I know, Bower. I know. There’s nothing we can do for him now. We did what we thought would give him the best chance of survival, so try to get some sleep while we can.” He rolls to his side, using his bag as a pillow.

I do the same, but can’t stop from thinking about what happened today. It was no accident we crashed, but it seemed King didn’t want to talk about it anymore than I did.

Chapter five

Kingsley

Iwake up slowly to the sounds of ocean waves and birds chirping. Is this a new playlist? I roll onto my back and open my eyes. The sight of the yellow raft brings me crashing back to reality. The crash, the island.

“Fuck,” I whisper as the memories flood back in.

Someone had tried to kill us.

About five hours into our flight from Perth, the controls started to go haywire, making it almost impossible for West to control the plane. After about ten minutes of that, a small explosion came from the empty co-pilot seat, taking out half the dashboard. The plane started going down quickly after that.

Bower and I rushed to the storage closet for the parachutes, and when we opened it and saw only one there, we looked at each other and swallowed heavily before our gazes turned to the pilot, West. It was obvious someone had placed an explosive on the plane, something small enough that it would make us crash, but would be hidden from us. I’m not sure why they bothered leaving one parachute, though. Maybe to torment us with the choice of who gets to use it?

But I knew who would be wearing it. So did Bower. We had made some enemies in life. We weren’t bad people, but when you have money, you make enemies everywhere just by existing. So we grabbed West and man-handled him into the parachute. He fought us the whole time, but we didn’t give him a choice. I anchored Bower and I with tight rope before he opened the door and we shoved West out. I can still hear him cursing us, even now. I really hoped he survived, he didn’t deserve to die just because he had the bad luck of being our pilot that day.

At least Bower and I saw eye to eye on that. Reece, Bower and I were closer than brothers. We’d all been through a lot over the years. Bower and I grew up together, and when he was twelve, his parents died, so my parents took him in, adopting him into our family. We met Reece in prep school. He was this angry teenager, ready to fight anyone just for looking at him. He didn’t want anything to do with us. But I could see he was in pain. Bower had lost his parents, and I had lost my own father only a year earlier, so we were no strangers to grief.

When Reece finally opened up, it changed everything between us. The three of us became inseparable and eventually went into business together.

Many people had tried to push us apart, especially any girlfriends Bower or I had over the years. But as soon as they realized we’d choose our friendship over them, they’d bail. They were all after us for our money, anyway. That was if they got that far, most of the time Reece scared them off. He had zero tolerance for women, thanks to his first girlfriend leaving him in such a brutal fashion.

“You awake?” I turn my head to see Bower watching me.

“Yeah.” I glance down at my watch, which was a failed prototype of sorts for a new technology our company had been working on. It didn’t do what we wanted, but it still worked as a smart watch, and apparently it’s waterproof, too.

“Seven-fifteen.” I lift my head and glance out the hole to the calm ocean. “Looks sunny out, too. Ready to go see what this island has in store for us today?”

He groans as he gets on his hands and knees. “Not really, I’m starving though, where’s the breakfast buffet when you need it?”

I chuckle as I follow him out, pushing to my feet from the sand. I turn towards the island and gasp. “Holy shit, what—Where did all of this come from?” I ask, my wide eyes looking at an array of fresh fruit on the ground behind our raft in the shade.

“Maybe it was my little lemur buddy?” Bower asks, dropping to his knees and grabbing a mango. “Fuck this is good!” he mumbles around a mouthful. I sit with him and we feast on the food. I know we should probably ration it, but right now, I’m starving and don’t care. Besides, if fresh fruit grows here, I’m sure there’s more to be found.

There are mangos, something that look similar to a plum, guavas, prickly pears and lychees. We silently feast, watching the ocean for any sign of life.

“Should we build a fire, or make a giant SOS sign out of sticks or something?” Bower asks, as he grabs a fresh lychee and digs in.

“Probably. The fire would have to be huge to be seen from far away, though, and we don’t want to risk burning down the island. But if a plane gets close enough, it could work. We should set it up on the beach here. We could build it pretty big without risking the jungle,” I tell him, considering our options as I speak. “Why don't we investigate the interior a bit first? Hopefully, we can find fresh water and a place to set up camp. I’m not convinced the beach is the safest place to sleep in a storm.”

“I’m pretty stiff from laying in the sand. What are the chances there’s an abandoned five-star hotel out here somewhere?”

“It’d say your odds are slim to none,” I tell him, finishing off the last guava. “We need to thank your little friend for our breakfast.”

“Yeah, I wonder where he is?” Bower asks, turning his gaze to the trees.

When we finally finish eating, we start to gather all the wood we can find at the edge of the jungle. “Do you want to keep collecting more, and I’ll start laying out SOS?” I ask, realizing this is going to take some time.

“Sure, at least I can be in the shade a bit, it’s bloody hot out here.” He pulls off his shirt and throws in on his bag in passing and I do the same. I don’t want to get burned, but at least I wasn’t pasty white to begin with. My shirt was already drenched with sweat, anyway.

It takes us a few hours of hard work, but finally we have a large SOS sign and a giant stack of wood we can light if we see a plane. Not that we had a way to light it.

“I don’t suppose you have a lighter on you?” I ask, staring at it with concern.

“Fuck, no. I didn’t even think about that. Can’t we like, rub sticks together or something?”

“Haven’t you ever watched Survivor? Those contestants practice before going on that show, and most of them spend hours trying to light a fire. If we see a plane coming, we need a flame, fast. This whole thing needs to be blazing within minutes.”

“Maybe we can find something useful in there,” he says, pointing to the jungle behind me.

I sigh before scrubbing my hand through my hair. “We may as well take a look. I’m ready for some shade anyway, I’m gonna put a dry shirt on.”

“Yeah, good idea.”

I kneel down and open my bag, rummaging through, looking for my favorite shirt. “Hmm, where are you?”

“You can’t find a clean shirt?”

“It’s my favorite one, I can’t find it.”

“Do you need to borrow one, I have another?”

“Nah, I got a spare, I was just looking for that specific one. I must have left it… somewhere,” I mumble, frowning as a pull on a clean t-shirt. I know I had it with me, I wore it when we left San Francisco. Did I leave it somewhere in Perth?

I suggest we take our bags this time and Bower agrees. I look around, hoping to find a path that will miraculously appear, but in the end we decide we’ll just have to push through the dense jungle. “Fuck!” I swear, when I’m whacked in the face with a branch.

“Ouch!” Bower cries out, being attacked by the same foliage as me. A small thump to our side pulls us to a stop and we both look to our left. “What was that?” he whispers.

“I’m not sure, we should go look,” I whisper back, unsure of my decision. We carefully push through the hanging branches, vines and bushes and about twenty feet later, I step out into the middle of a path. Looking to my left, I can see it reaches the beach, only a few leaves covering the entrance. “Son of a bitch,” I say in defeat, realizing we missed the path and were pushing through the dense jungle for nothing.

Bower sees what I’m looking at and swears. “Shit. Well, at least we have a path to take now,” he says excitedly, looking in the other direction. It weaves around a corner so we can’t see very far, but we have no choice but to take it. I wasn’t eager to leave this path now we’ve found it.

Eventually, we come to a split in the path but can’t see much in either direction. “Let’s go left,” I say, hopeful there is something there. Bower leads the way and we walk silently as I consider what could have made these paths. They are naturally made. Are there large mammals that walk through here regularly? I suppose smaller mammals could have done it if there were enough of them. It was only about four feet wide, but the perfect width for us.

“Keep your eye out for a good place to make a more permanent camp,” I tell Bower as I look into the jungle beside us, hoping to spot something. A small, vacant cave, perhaps?

“How about that?” he asks as I turn my head back to him. He’s stopped in a clearing and I step up beside him, my jaw dropping open.

“Holy shit! Who built this? Swiss family Robinson?” My eyes bounce around the three huts built into the trees. Three different sizes. The smallest looked really run down, but the other two were in much better shape.

“Did the lemurs build this?” he asks, and I whip my head to him.

“You can’t be serious right now, Bower.”

He laughs, giving me a wink before stepping closer to what appears to be a hanging ladder. “Of course not. But who do you think built it?” And are they still here? “Hello?” he yells up to the treehouse. We wait silently, and when we hear nothing, he shrugs and starts to climb the ladder.

“Be careful, we don't have any weapons to defend ourselves,” I warn him, as my eyes continually scan our surroundings for any sort of threat.

When he makes it to the top and pulls himself to his feet, he looks around before moving to the door of the largest hut. “Honey, I’m home!” he calls, right before he pushes the door open and steps inside. I hold my breath and anxiously wait for him to either say it's safe or call out in fear.

“Holy shit!” He comes out, his eyes bright as he looks down at me with a huge grin. “I think we just found our five-star hotel!” I smile back and quickly climb up, eager to see what has him so excited.

When I step inside the hut, I see a makeshift bed from an animal hide, a hammock hanging across the other side of the room, and a table and chair. The walls are covered with tiny marks that looked like they’ve been carved into the wood, one by one, too random to of been made any other way.

“Look at the roof,” Bower says, pointing up.

“That looks rain proof.”

“Nothing in here is wet from last night's storm,” Bower says, unable to stop smiling.

“Fuck, this is amazing. I wonder who built it.”

“You think they got rescued?”

“It’s either that or..” I trail off, we both know if the person that built this is gone, it either means they got rescued or they’re dead. “Why don't we check out the other huts?” I suggest, looking for a change in subject. I choose to believe the person who built this was saved from this island, which means our chance of rescue is more likely, too.

We carefully walk across the skywalk to the middle sized hut and open the door. “Wow, look at all this stuff,” Bower says, walking around and touching everything.

I pick up an object that could resemble a bowl… If I squinted. Beside it is another one, marginally better. Then I find another. I realize that they progressively get better. Whoever made these spent a lot of time making them over and over, trying to get the design right. The same went for the plates, utensils and bags.

“Hey, look what’s laying right here! Are these for water?” Bower says, stepping up to the table in the center of the room. I move beside him and pick one up, looking it over.

“I think you’re right, they look like waterskins. These are going to be lifesavers.”

“Do you think that means there’s fresh water here?”

“Maybe, they might have filled them with coconut water, though.” I untie mine and give it a sniff. “Doesn’t smell like coconuts.”

“Let’s check the other hut,” he suggests. We throw the convenient straps from the waterskins over our necks and move to the last hut.

The door is a little stuck and we have to give it a good yank to get it open.

“Whoa,” Bower says as we look around. It’s like the junk drawer of the island. It’s filled with lots of handmade items, like furniture, bags and baskets. Most of it, if not all of it, is broken and poorly made. I see more than a few attempts at chairs and tables.

“There’s a lot of stuff in here.”

“Yeah,” I agree, my eyes scanning the jam-packed hut. “Whoever made this stuff was here a long time.” I shiver as I step back towards the door. “This place feels like it’s filled with ghosts.”

“Yeah, let’s get out of here,” Bower agrees. We make sure the door shuts behind us and I decide I’m going to avoid going back in that hut as much as possible.

“Okay, why don't we leave our bags in the main hut, then go back and see where that other path leads?” I suggest.

“Sounds good to me. Maybe my little buddy will pay us a visit and leave us more food!” Bower says hopefully, making me laugh.

“What? Like island Uber?” I ask with a smile. A lemur that delivers food? I shake my head at the thought. Who knows what else this island has in store for us.

Chapter six

Darla

Iwatch from my hiding spot above as they head towards the waterfall. These men confuse me. They speak kindly to one another and when Mo-Mo surprised all of us by jumping out in front of them, I was terrified they’d hurt him. But they were gentle and sweet to him, too.

I itch to get closer to them, to study them. My emotions are battling within me. My head is screaming at me to remember that strange men are bad news, but another part of me is desperate to make myself seen. To step out of the trees and see if they’d treat me with the same softness they gave Mo-Mo.

It was that kindness that had me delivering them their breakfast buffet. I knew they were big men and would be used to eating a lot so they’d be starving by now no doubt. And for some reason, I cared. It’s the same reason I set out my spare waterskins where they would easily find them.

I creep along, high above, all the way to my pond, watching them with rapt fascination as they step into the clearing.

“Holy shit, look at that waterfall!” Bower says with a laugh. It is rather stunning. Something you’d see in Hawaii. A mesmerizing waterfall pouring into a small pond. The water is beautiful, too. A clear turquoise, with an easy to access shallow beach.

My eyes widen and my hand shoots up to cover my mouth, stopping any sound from coming out as I stare down in shock at the two men stripping in front of me. Not that they know I’m watching.

Wait—Does this make me a peeping Tom? A peeping Darla? Am I being creepy?

That question disappears as soon as Bower’s pants drop to the ground, boxers and all. If possible, my eyes widen even further. That can’t be real, can it? It’s not even hard and it’s… huge. He walks into the water and my eyes move to King. He’s slower to strip, making my mouth water as I watch him. Is drooling a normal reaction? He has a tattoo on his left peck that I can't make out from here. I noticed Bower has one too.

King moves over to the pond and then the two of them swim to the waterfall, standing underneath as they use their hands to wash all the sand and grime off their body.

Hmm. I wonder if they’d let me help wash them?

My eyes widen at that intrusive thought. I need to get out of here. I carefully make my way back to my camp, cursing myself the whole way there.

If only these guys would show me their true darkness, then I could easily hate them and stay away. But so far, they haven't done anything wrong. All that will change when they see you. I shake my head and drop into my hammock, high in the tree.

Mo-Mo joins me, pointing at a pear I’d saved from earlier. I roll my eyes and sit up so I can pass it to him. He gives a quick trill before he starts chowing down.

I lay back and stare at the small glimpse of sky I can see through the tree canopy above. I need a safe way to test them. So far, they’ve had no reason to be mean. But what if something didn’t go their way? Would they lash out? A plan starts to form in my mind, and by the time Mo-Mo jumps into my lap, I’m grinning from ear to ear.

“Mo-Mo, go get your buddies, Sam and Dean. Tell them it’s time to play!”

While the guys were bathing, I picked some more fruit for them. I could have waited for them to do it themselves, but this would execute my plan a little faster. I lay it all on the ground near the fire pit and find a hiding spot to watch them from with the lemurs.

They come back smiling, as Bower gives King a playful shove, laughing as they step into camp.

“Holy shit! He must have come back!” Bower says excitedly, running up to the fruit and immediately sitting down and biting into a pear.

“He seems really generous for a lemur,” King says with a little apprehension, eyeing the fruit before looking into the trees. Finally, he takes a seat and picks up a mango, brushing it off on the side of his pants.

“Okay, guys, go get the fruit,” I whisper to Mo-Mo and his two buddies.

They waste no time, jumping through the trees and swinging down towards the two men.

“Oh, he brought friends!” Bower says, smiling up at them. Sam lands right in front of him, reaches up, and snatches the half eaten pear from his hand before grabbing a pear from the ground and jumping back into the tree. I slap my hand over my mouth to hide my laugh when I see the astonished look on his face.

Sam brings them straight to me and drops them into the basket I had waiting, then he turns around to go get some more.

“What is happening right now?” King asks, when Mo-Mo steals the mango right out of his hand and starts trilling at him.

Alright this is it… I lean forward to watch their reactions. They’ll probably swat the lemurs away or yell at them. I bit my lip, waiting for the unavoidable anger. A small ball of guilt starts to form in my belly. If they hurt the lemurs—

“I think we stole their food,” Bower says calmly, making me frown.

When Sam drops back down in front of them, Bower hands him a guava and my jaw drops open. He’s giving it to him? Bower and King silently hand the fruit to the lemurs, one piece at a time, not even trying to hide any away for themselves, which I would totally understand. I have to do that all the time, hiding food from Mo-Mo.

I was hoping this would show some sort of anger or volatility. I didn’t want the lemurs to get hurt, but they were fast, and I knew the men didn’t have any weapons. But now I’m just confused. Why are they being so nice?

“Well, I guess we’ll have to find our own dinner, huh?” Bower says when Mo-Mo takes the last piece of fruit. “I’m fucking starving, too.”

“Looks like it. I wonder where it all grows. We’ll have to search for it.”

“I vote we take a nap first. It’s bloody hot and I’m tired.”

King frowns at him before nodding. “Yeah, I could actually go for one right now. After that we check the beach, then look for food.”

“Deal, I call the hammock!” Bower says, running for the ladder.

“Dickhead!” King calls after him, shaking his head. I see the small smile on his lips, though. He doesn’t seem to mind Bower’s antics.

Mo-Mo grunts at me and I offer the basket to the three of them. They dive in and start happily eating the fruit. Figuring I need something to pass the time anyway, I grab a mango and take a big bite.

When the lemurs are done eating, they take off and I quietly make my way back to the main hut. The guys left the door wide open and I can hear their snoring from out here. I roll my eyes and climb down to the ground. Deciding now is the perfect time to bathe, I head to the waterfall. Now I have my new razor, I couldn’t wait to use it.

Forty minutes later, I find my hands continually rubbing up and down my smooth legs. “So soft,” I murmur. “Wait until Steve sees them! He won’t even recognize me! Hmm… Where is that stupid rock, anyway?” I glance around the clearing in front of the pond. “Crap shells. Where did I leave him this time?”

I quickly make my way to the beach, keeping my eyes and ears open for signs of the guys. Movement ahead has me jumping into the nearest tree. And my heart beats widely when I hear a man’s voice, one I haven’t heard before. “I’m gonna kill those fucking idiots.”

Crab sucker! There’s someone else on the island and apparently, he wants to kill Bower and King? What am I supposed to do? He storms past my hiding spot and my eyes widen as the sheer size of him.

He’s bigger than Bower, both in width and height, and he’s wearing a tight-fitting green t-shirt and black cargo pants. His short messy blond hair is a shade darker than mine and he has a little bit of stubble on his jaw. He has a tight-set jaw that he clenches, looking angry as hell as he stomps through the jungle in his black military boots.

For a split second, I think about dropping down on his back to stop him. But what good would that do? I don’t know how to incapacitate him.

Climbing higher, I cut through the trees towards home. Somehow, this guy seems to know where he’s going. Although it’s more likely that he’s just following the path.

I make it there just in time to see him climbing the rope ladder. Quickly, I try to think of a way to stop him, but fear of what he’ll do to me has me frozen in place. So instead, I helplessly watch as he steps through the open doorway and speaks. “I’m gonna kill you dipshits!”

Chapter seven

Weston

“West! Thank god you’re alive!” Bower says, surprising me as he jumps up from a swinging hammock and throws his arms around me in a huge hug.

“We were so worried,” King adds, throwing his own arms around us.

I stand there, unmoving, not sure what to make of this. I didn’t expect such a warm greeting, but I didn’t really know what to expect. Definitely not them being alive after they threw the only parachute on me and shoved me from my crashing plane.

I didn’t know why they chose to save me, but I was angry. It was a pilot's job to go down with his plane, and they had robbed me of that by going down with it instead. At least that was what I thought until I saw their yellow raft on the beach.

The second I saw it, my anger doubled, and I was ready to give them a piece of my mind. I didn’t expect them to… hug me.

I have to admit, I’m fucking happy to see they survived. I don't know them well, but I liked them. They came from money but were solid, down-to-earth men who didn’t seem to treat people differently based on their income or occupation. I slowly lift my arms and hug them back.

“I’m glad you guys made it. But I’m furious at you fucking assholes. I can’t believe you pushed me out of my own god-damned plane.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” King says, finally releasing me and stepping back.

“Why did you do it?” I ask, unable to hold back the question that’s been plaguing me for the past day.

“You didn’t deserve to die. Whoever set that bomb was after us, not you.” My eyes widen in surprise. So, they also knew it wasn’t an accident?

I finally take a moment to look around inside the treehouse. “Figures, you two end up washed up on a beach and still find suitable accommodations. Who built this?”

“We don’t know. When we got here, we walked the perimeter, confirming that it does appear to be a deserted island. Then when we started exploring the interior, we found this place. And there’s a pond and waterfall with drinkable water nearby,” King tells me as he settles on the rough-looking chair.

“That’s… convenient. You haven't seen any humans, though?” I ask, furrowing my brows as I take in the space.

“Nope, just a really friendly lemur,” Bower says, dropping to the handmade mattress on the floor.

“What are all these marks?” I ask, pointing to the small lines carved into the wall. Some are grouped in fives, but most just seem random.

“We’re not sure, could be decorative or… a way to count.”

Count what? I wonder silently. There are thousands of the little marks all over the inside of this hut.

I step up to the table and swipe my hand over it, then turn my palm over. “No dust or dirt,” I say with a frown. “I didn't see any vines creeping in here, either.”

“Why does that matter?” Bower asks.

“You think the place cleans itself?” I ask, stepping back outside and walking around the deck. I inspected the outside of the hut, with the others following me. “Look. Right here.” I point to a vine on the large tree trunk. “That has clearly been cut back to stop growing towards the hut, and it looks somewhat fresh.”

“We’re not alone here,” King whispers as his gaze moves to the trees around us.

“No, I don’t think so,” I add quietly, my own eyes searching for… anything.

“We were gonna find something to eat, do you want to take a nap while we get some food? I imagine you’re pretty tired after being out in that rain all night?” King asks me. I was fucking exhausted, but there was no way I was taking a nap with someone out here, watching me.

“I’m fine,” I lie. “Any idea what there is to eat here?”

“Yeah, actually, there are a lot of different fruits. Our lemur buddy left a bunch for us this morning.”

I stop in my tracks and turn around to face them. “You think a lemur left you a pile of fruit? Did you eat it?”

“Well… yeah. He had helped me crack open a coconut yesterday, so we assumed it was him,” Bower says, looking a little embarrassed.

“We ate all of it, why?” King says, looking worried.

“And you feel okay? Did it make you tired? Is that why you were asleep when I got here?”

“You think someone drugged us? Where would they even get the stuff to do that?” King says, gesturing around. “Besides, it was hours after that before we took a nap.”

I press my lips together tightly and grunt at his reply. I’m not convinced, but I need more intel.

I climb down the rope ladder as I try not to lash out at their stupidity. These two were gonna get themselves killed. They were lucky they hadn’t already. My time in the Marines had taught me to study my surroundings, question everything, and be on guard. It was clear I was going to have to use all those skills to keep us alive until we’re rescued.

And I felt somewhat hopeful about that. Bower and King are important men, unlike me. Nobody would notice I’ve gone missing, but those two, they had Reece. That guy was angry as hell at life, but surprisingly kind if you got to know him. He never actually flew anywhere, but I’ve flown cargo shipments for him, or transported people, many times, and he was always there to see me off.

When the three of us left San Francisco, Reece was there to say goodbye and make sure everything went smoothly. The way he hugged his friends goodbye has me very hopeful that he won’t take their disappearance lightly. And he has the funds to put behind a search and rescue mission.

“Okay, so where should we look first?” I ask as we all stand around the small clearing.

“This way,” King says, leading us out to the path.

We pass the firepit and I frown down at it. It’s clearly been used recently. Yeah, there are definitely other people here with us. We’d need to watch our backs, especially since it looks like we’re pushing into their territory. Which begged another question. Why weren’t they here, defending their home? Were they other crash survivors, like us, or were they natives to the island?

“There might be other homes here. There could be an entire tribe of natives living on this island. We need to keep our eyes open,” I whisper to them. They both nod as their expressions grow concerned, their eyes scanning the surrounding trees. I don’t want to scare them, but it would be safer if they were alert and watching for any threats. We have no idea what’s on this island.

Eventually, we make our way to the waterfall, and I’m relieved to see such a clean source of drinking water.

“We found these waterskins in the other hut, we can refill them since we’re here,” King says, pulling it from around his shoulder.

“You just… found those?” I ask to clarify. Is someone going to be mad that they stole them?

“They were sitting on a table in the middle of the room. I guess it was a little convenient, now that I think about it,” King says, frowning down at it. “Someone’s going to be upset we took these, aren’t they?”

“Maybe,” I say, my eyes sweeping the surrounding trees. “Over here.” I motion to a spot in the trees that looks thinner than the rest. “Looks like a path. It’s not as well used as the other one, but it gives us somewhere to start.”

We move quietly through the slightly overgrown path for a few minutes before King speaks. “There, see the green things? Those are guavas.” We each reach up into the tree and pluck some from the branches. I pull out my pocket knife, flick it open, and cut one in half.

“You have a knife? Thank fuck!” Bower exclaims as he watches me cut into my fruit.

“Yeah, at least we have some sort of weapon,” I murmur, my eyes continually sweeping the jungle around us. “Let’s see if there are any other fruit trees around here,” I say, and we all walk around the guava trees in different directions.

When I get to the back of them, something through the trees catches my attention, and I push through a couple large plants aside to get to it.

“Fuck,” Bower curses, coming up behind me.

“Is that…” King’s voice trails off, unable to say it.

“A grave,” I say, finishing for him.

Someone has obviously been buried in the ground in front of us. The grave itself isn’t too noticeable, and it’s clearly been here for a long time. But there is no denying the wooden cross at the head of the raised ground.

“Is there something on it?” Bower asks as I move closer to look at the worn words on the cross. I lean down and rub some of the dirt off it, trying to read out the carved words. “There doesn’t seem to be a name. It just says ‘beloved father’.”

“When did he die?” King asks, staring down at the cross. I move some more dirt to get a better look.

“It doesn’t have a date.”

They lean in to look for themselves.

“Do you think this is the person who built the hut?” Bower asks.

“Maybe, but the bigger question is who buried them, and where are they now?”

Chapter eight

Darla

Isit silently in the tree, watching them stare at my dad’s grave.

I didn’t want them looking at it. I didn’t even like looking at myself, but I still visited him at least once every few weeks. Being here didn’t remind me of all the good times my dad and I spent together, it reminded me of how it ended.

He was too good of a man to end up buried in the woods, where nobody but me, and apparently these three strangers, would ever visit. But I didn’t have a choice, I had to bury him.

The men get to their feet and silently move away, making me relax a little. I don’t follow them, not yet. It’s been a while since I came here and I feel like it’s as good a time as any to talk to dad.

“Eep!” I lift my head as Mo-Mo drops down from a branch, still clinging to it with his left arm and leg, while his right is reaching out towards me with a couple of flowers in his fist.

I smile sadly as I take them from him. “Thanks, Mo-Mo.” This wasn’t the first time I’d come here, and he often came with me, it made it a little easier to have company.

I make my way down the tree, then slowly kneel down beside the grave marker.

“Hey dad. It’s been a while, I know. Things have changed a bit recently. As you just saw, I’m not alone here anymore. But don’t worry, they don’t know I’m here. I’m going to keep myself hidden until they’re rescued, then it will just be me and Mo-Mo again.”

“Eep!”

I tilt my head up and smile at my furry friend, who’s sitting on a nearby branch, watching me.

Looking back down, I place the flowers on the grave. “I miss you, dad. I love you.” Wiping the stray tear from my eye, I stand up and take a deep breath. Then I put my game face back on, knowing I can’t stand around here all day, I have some spying to do.

I climb back into the tree and head in the direction the men went. I’m not really sure where they’re going, but I have an idea that they didn’t know either. They were just walking blindly through the jungle, looking for food. It only takes me about ten minutes to catch up with them, since it’s faster for me to move through the trees than it is for them to move through the untouched jungle.

Finding them is relatively easy since they stomp through the trees, making enough noise to let the entire island know they’re here. I suppose that didn’t matter though, when you were as big as they were, and you weren’t alone, you could afford to be as loud as you pleased.

I climb up higher and move in front of them, trying to figure out where they’re heading. We’re in a part of the island I don’t often visit. When I move a little lower to the ground, I remember part of the reason why I never come here. This area is riddled with strychnine trees. Since the little orange berries are deadly, this area gives me a creepy feeling. And since the other animals know to stay away, this area feels much quieter than the rest of the island.

Realizing those men are headed straight towards this spot, I start to panic. Will they know what they are? I certainly didn’t, but luckily my dad remembered his boy scout training and knew what they were straight away. I’ve stayed clear of this place ever since, just to be safe.

I need something to steer them away from this area. A distraction, perhaps?

Looking around, I try to think. I could build a fire back at camp, but they wouldn’t see or smell the smoke from here, definitely not before they reach the trees. What if I made a noise in a different direction, would they go investigate it?

I hear them getting closer and realize I only have a couple of minutes before they stumble on the first tree.

Deciding I have no other choice than an obvious warning, I quickly jump down to the ground and use my feet to try to clear some debris from the ground in front of the first tree. It needs to be a large enough spot that they will notice it.

I pull a large leaf from a nearby bush and use it to pull a couple berries from the tree, not wanting to risk even touching them with my fingers, then I drop them onto the cleared spot on the ground. I pull out McStabby and carve a large X in the dirt in front of them.

I wish I could carve the mark in the tree itself, but I knew I didn’t have enough time for that. A branch snaps under someone’s foot close by and I jump up to the closest branch, quickly climbing out of view.

I try to stay above the spot I marked, afraid that if I’m too far away, and they don’t see my warning, that I’ll be too late to stop them. But that would mean showing myself to them.

I hold my breath as they come into view.

“Oh wow, look at all those berries!” Bower exclaims.

Damn it, Bower! Look down! I grumble internally.

“Every tree around here is full of them,” King says as he steps right past my warning between a couple of trees and looks around.

“Hmm…” West says, making the other two turn to him in question.

“What?” King asks, but West stays silent, his eyes scanning the trees before turning in a circle.

“It’s pretty quiet here.”

The other two frown at West, but then they seem to tilt their heads, as if listening.

“You’re right, too quiet. I can’t hear any birds. Why?” King asks as he starts scanning the area, too.

Thank goodness for West, he must be able to feel what I do in this grove. It feels almost unnatural compared to the rest of the island.

“Well, would ya look at that,” Bower says. I have to move my head to see him better. He has his hands on his hips and is staring at the ground, at my warning.

Yes! Bower for the win!

“What do you think it means?”

“I think it’s obvious, don’t eat the berries,” King says, moving over to look at my message.

“Maybe they just want them for themselves?”

West shakes his head. “No, there aren’t any berries missing from these branches. It looks like everyone on this island knows to stay away from them… even the birds.”

“You think they’re poisonous?”

West slowly nods. “Yeah, I do.”

“Let’s go back, this place gives me the creeps,” King says, heading back the way they came.

“Yeah, now you’ve said it, I can feel it, too.” Bower follows him and West takes a second to scan the area. When his head swivels up in my direction, I pull my head back and freeze, hoping he can’t see me from where he stands.

After a few moments, I hear his boots crunching as he retreats and I let out a relieved breath as I cling to my branch.

That was too close.

Chapter nine

Darla

Kneeling in the shallow water, I start covering my arms and body with mud. I hate to get this dirty, but I need to get closer to those men without them seeing me. They are speaking so quietly now that West has arrived, that I can't hear them anymore, and it makes me nervous. His eyes constantly scan the jungle, looking for threats. Maybe it was time to find a new home? I shake my head. No, I’m not ready to leave just yet.

These men intrigue me, and I don’t know what to make of them yet. Especially West. He seems cautious and cunning. But he also seems to treat the other two with kindness, despite my initial fear of him.

Last night I slept high up in my tree and my nightmares seemed worse than ever. To top it off, I was afraid of calling out in my sleep and them hearing me, so I tossed and turned all night.

I pull my braid around and cringe as I slop some mud on it, making sure to cover the entire thing, including my head and my face.

“Blah!”

I spit out some mud that gets in my mouth and hear an “Eep!” come from nearby.

“Yeah, yeah. Yuk it up, Mo-Mo! You’ll be next if you’re not careful!” I toss a hunk of mud in his general direction before standing up to make sure I’m fully covered. I step out of the water and throw some mud on my feet before moving around to the side of the pond, where a rock hangs out over the clear surface. I glance down and my bright green eyes stare back at me, surrounded by an unrecognizable blob of mud.

I head to a tree and climb up, knowing I can’t take the paths anymore with these men walking around everywhere. I climb onto a branch and just as I grip a vine, planning to swing to another tree, I hear footsteps and freeze. It’s too quiet to be all three of them. It could be a boar, but the sound has a distinct human gait to the steps.

I crouch down where the branch meets the tree trunk and find a position where I can see the water's edge, where I had just been standing. It’s West, and he’s alone.

He looks around the tree line before he starts stripping off his clothes. Geez, why am I always here when these men decide to bathe? I know I should close my eyes, but I tell myself it’s not wise to take my eyes off my enemy. Nope. Not wise at all, and I’m super smart, so it only makes sense for me to watch him in all his naked glory. I mean his naked—My brain short circuits when he drops his boxers.

Sweet baby penis, he’s big! The girth on that thing is enough to have me sweating as I try to fan my face with my hand, but the mud on my cheeks doesn’t let the breeze penetrate my skin. Stop thinking about penetration, Zee!

I squeeze my eyes shut for a minute, hoping not seeing him will calm my rising temperature. Am I getting sick or something? Why am I suddenly overheating? It must be the mud. Yeah, that’s it.

When I open my eyes, he’s swimming through the water and I let out a breath of relief. For the next twenty minutes or so, I watch, like the perv I probably am, as he cleans himself under the waterfall. I notice he has tattoos on his left bicep and arm, and wish I could get closer to see them.

Finally, he swims back to the shallow end and as he steps on to the dry ground. He stares down at the mud beside him and freezes. His brows furrow and his head tilts to the side. Then his gaze slowly lifts. At that moment, I realize I’m a complete idiot and left a muddy trail for him to follow.

I want to run, but I’m positive he’ll see the movement as he’s facing this direction now, so I hold my breath and watch. He follows my trail around to the rock where I stood to look at my reflection, then his gaze moves along the ground to the tree I’m hiding in.

Slowly, his eyes lift, until they seem to be looking straight at me. I freeze, afraid to even blink. And when he takes a single step towards me, his eyes still connected with mine, I flee. I jump up to the next branch before leaping through the trees, climbing higher and higher as I go, until I can’t see the ground at all anymore. Then I sit on a branch, hug the tree and try to calm my racing heart, listening for sounds of his pursuit.

Can he climb trees like I can? He looked strong, I bet if he knew where I was hiding, he’d be able to climb up here. I listen intently for any movement, but only the normal sounds of the jungle reach my ears. I must have lost him. Releasing my death grip on the trunk, I turn myself to lean back against it. I let out a long breath as I think about what to do next. What was the point in this muddy disguise if he was still able to see me?

I should’ve closed my eyes, they probably gave me away. Did he get a good look at me? I’m not even sure that he tried to chase me, I was too freaked out to see if he was actually in pursuit. Memories of being held by strange men start to creep into my mind and I smack myself in the forehead, trying to snap myself out of it. I can’t afford to have a panic attack right now. I’m high up in a tree and if I pass out, it’s a long way to the ground.

I shiver, despite my best efforts, the feeling of hands all over me makes me scratch at my arms, and when I feel the mud under my fingernails I grimace. I need this mud off me. Now. I rub at my arms, making some of it flake off, but it’s not enough.

“Get off me!” I cry in a panic, the mud reminding me too much of being touched. I quickly realize I can’t get clean this way and head towards the ocean, knowing I can’t go back to the waterfall right now.

I have to head pretty far inland, so I’m not anywhere near their raft when I come out on the beach, in case they’re there. But I’m halfway there when my vision starts to dim.

“Eep!” Mo-Mo chitters from somewhere nearby.

“Mo-Mo! Guide me to the ground! I can’t—I can’t see!” I cry, with tears rolling down my cheeks. I’m terrified. Terrified of passing out, of hurting myself, of someone finding me, of my memories that are pressing in.

A little fuzzy hand grip my fingers, leading me somewhere. I get a glimpse of Mo-Mo’s striped tail and gratefully follow him, blackness pressing into the edges of my vision and I stumble down from branch to branch.

When my feet hit solid ground, I release Mo-Mo’s and drop to my hands and knees, trying to take in deep lungfuls of air. That’s the last thing I remember before everything goes black.

Something touches my face and I slowly open my eyes. Mo-Mo’s head tilts as he stares down at me. He grunts as he reaches out to touch my cheek again and I groan, making him jump in surprise before he starts making a mass of noise.

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” I groan as I roll on to my back and stare up at the trees above me.

I take a few deep breaths as I let myself remember what happened and how I ended up here. Crab sucker, that was a bad panic attack. Remembering part of what set it off, I lift my arms to take a look.

I’m still covered in mud, but where I managed to scrape some of it off, my skin looks raw. It hurts, too. I push myself to a seated position and look around, making sure it’s only me and Mo-Mo here.

When I glance up, three more sets of eyes stare back at me, making me smile. “Sam, Dean, Coco, hey guys. Coco, I haven’t seen you in a while, are your boyfriends keeping you busy?” I ask, making Mo-Mo jump up and down as he trills at me angrily.

“You’re such a prude, Mo-Mo. I know what the three of you get up to with her.”

“Eep!”

“Don’t even try to deny it. Besides, what do you care if I know? I don’t judge, buddy.” I say the next part a little quieter. “Just like you don’t judge me for taking a random nap in the middle of the jungle, right?” I reach my fist out to him and he fists bumps it with his little hand, making me smile.

I push myself to my feet and turn in the direction of the beach. “Well, I guess it’s time for a little swim. Care to join me?” Mo-Mo makes a screeching noise before jumping up to join his family in the tree, making me smile at his hatred for water.

I quietly make my way to the edge of the jungle and carefully step onto the sand, looking down the beach for any signs of the other humans. When the coast is clear, I quickly jog to the water, not wanting to chance being caught by being out in the open any longer than necessary.

As soon as I’m in waist deep water, I dive under. It feels amazing to wash away the mud, but my arms sting, so I stand up to assess the damage.

I hiss when I get a good look. “Sweet baby scratches, you idiot, Zee,” I mumble, looking at my left arm, the worst of the two. I’ve actually broken the skin in my haste to get the mud off. An open wound out here can lead to infection, I need to clean it as best as I can. Now I regret not taking Bower or King’s soap when I had the chance.

But I’ve survived fifteen years without soap, and I’ve had plenty of injuries, many worse than this one. I survived those, and I’ll survive this too. I just need something to wrap around it to keep it clean.

Deciding that will have to wait, as I have nothing handy. I take the time to untie my hair and scrub the mud from every part of me. I keep having to move when the water around me turns brown, but eventually, I feel clean again. I try to finger comb my hair under the water, where it’s easier to work through the knots, then I roughly braid it. Knowing I’ll have to do that all again once it’s dry.

When I’m finally done, I quickly make my way back home. The sun is setting now and there isn’t much daylight left, making me extra quiet as I approach the camp. I make sure to stay high up in the trees. The sounds of their murmuring reaches my ears and I move a little closer so I can see what they’re doing. I glimpse the three of them eating guava near the fire pit and settle in to watch them.

They speak quietly to one another and I shake my head at myself. The whole point in covering myself in mud was so I could get closer to them, to hear what they were whispering about. I wasn’t able to do that once. In fact, doing it was the whole reason I got caught in the first place, stupidly leaving a trail of mud on the ground right to where I was hiding.

Realizing I’m not going to hear anything tonight, I quietly make my way up to my hammock, high in the tree. My clothing is wet and rubbing against me uncomfortably, so I decide to remove it, hoping without it I’ll sleep better tonight. I barely slept at all last night and I’m exhausted.

Once my skirt and top are hanging over a branch to dry, I remember my new possession and smile to myself as I pull out the ACDC shirt. I slip it on and sigh at the feeling of the soft fabric against my skin. It’s been so long since I’ve felt anything like this. I lift the material to my nose and smell.

“Mmm, what is that?” The smell settles something in me as I climb into my hammock. I grab the leaves and twigs I use to clean my teeth and start cleaning them as I stare at the partial sky above me. I’m so high up that half my view is of leaves and the other half is the darkening sky.

I watch as the sky turns black and the stars come out. Something about that makes me feel small and invisible. There is such a large universe out there and I’m a mere speck. A speck nobody even knows exists.

Sometimes I wonder what the point is of me being here. Mo-Mo’s the only one left in existence who cares for me. But even he isn’t here right now. My mind wanders, wondering what he’s up to. Does he ever miss me?

Noises below distract me and I listen carefully to what the men are up to. I hear the creak of my main hut and assume they’re going to bed, like me. It gets quiet pretty quickly and I sit up, tossing my teeth cleaning stuff away and make sure McStabby and Steve are close at hand. Thankfully, I found I hadn’t misplaced him, he was in my bag the whole time.

When I close my eyes, memories flood in, like they always do, so I open them again, seeing Steve staring back at me. “Are you scared, Steve?” I whisper to him.

“It’s okay if you are, I promise I won’t tell Kevin. I know how judgy he can be.” When he doesn’t respond, I reach out and grab him, hugging him to my chest tightly. “It’s okay, you can sleep with me tonight, if that makes you feel safer… What do you mean I’m doing this for me, not you? You better shut your toe trap right now or I’m tossing you from this tree!”

Was it crazy to have a one sided conversation with a rock? Not at all. Crazy was talking to yourself because you were slowly going mad, and that. Wasn’t. Me.

Chapter ten

Bower

Standing in the middle of the beach, I take a slice of guava from West, my eyes scanning the trees in front of us.

“Why are we out here?” I ask around a mouthful of fruit.

“For one, we should keep an eye out for a plane or ship. And two, out here we know for certain we can’t be overheard,” West tells us, nodding to the jungle that’s thirty feet away. “I saw someone.”

King and I whip our gazes to him in surprise.

“What?”

“Who?”

“I didn’t get a good look. But I saw their eyes… in the trees.”

My shoulders drop. “It was probably just a lemur.”

He quickly shakes his head. “No. When I was getting out of the water, I noticed a bunch of mud around the edge, and I saw human footprints in it. Footprints, not shoe prints. I followed it and it ended at a tree across the clearing. When I looked up, I saw the whites of two eyes, human eyes, looking back at me. I couldn’t see anything else, and when I took a step closer, he took off. I followed briefly, but he moved fast and I lost him instantly. Besides, I’d just got out of the water and had no shoes or clothes.”

“Didn’t want to get your dong scratched up?” I ask, unable to help myself. He gives me a humorless glare and I shrug my shoulders. If you couldn’t laugh at a time like this, then you’d probably go mad.

“So we aren’t alone. Do you think there is more than one person out there?” King asks, watching the jungle with trepidation.

“Probably. I think it'd be difficult to survive here on your own, especially for an extended period of time. But considering he was in a tree, he’s probably native to this island.”

“So, what do we do now?” I ask, not sure what to do with that information.

“We have to draw him out. Maybe set a trap of sorts. Leave out fruit for him.”

“I doubt he’ll respond to that if he’s the one that left it for us that first morning,” Kings says, and I agree.

“And why do we want to draw him out? If he leaves us alone, we’ll leave him alone,” I say with a shrug.

“I—” West starts then stops, frowning at the jungle as he considers his next words. “They could be a native, upset we took their home… But what if they’re not? That grave didn’t have a very native feel to it.”

“No, it didn’t,” King agrees. “And leaving us food doesn’t seem like something a hostile native would do.”

“There could be someone on the island who doesn’t belong here, like us. Maybe they’re just scared?”

“Why would a human, who isn’t a native, be scared of us?” I ask, looking back and forth between King and West. Sure, we were big guys, with a few tattoos between us, and I suppose we could look intimidating, but that couldn’t be worse than being alone on a deserted island, could it?

“I don’t know, but we need to lure them out with something,” West says.

“We can’t try to trap him. They haven't done anything wrong and that might make them angry,” King says, shaking his head.

“Fine, no trapping, but we should still try to lure them out into the open. Best to know who we are dealing with.”

“Well, we can’t use fruit as bait, he clearly already knows how to find that,” I say, considering our options. “Oh! What about soap? Or shoes? You said he was barefoot, right?”

“Yeah, he was, but I don’t have a spare pair, do either of you?” We both shake our heads. “But soap is a good idea. If he’s been here a while, I bet it’ll be hard to resist some home comforts. Let’s go back to camp and see what we can find. We’ll need to be quiet so let’s do it without mentioning what we’re doing. We’ll leave it in the middle of camp, on the log by the firepit. Then we split up. I’ll go up to the main hut and watch from there. Bower, you stand in the path that leads to camp, try and keep out of sight. And King, you hide in the trees on the opposite side of camp.”

“What do we do when we see him?” I ask, unsure what our plan is here.

“We’ll just talk to him calmly, and try not to spook him, see if he talks back. He might not even speak English. I speak a few words of Japanese and Spanish, what about you two?”

“Only English for me.”

“I can do a couple words in Spanish and Italian,” King adds.

“Alright. Let’s hope he speaks English then. Ready?”

We both nod and silently follow him back to camp.

As he instructed, we quietly climb up to the main hut where our bags are and search through them for anything we can use to bribe them out. I hold out a bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo. King adds a pair of socks and some face moisturizer. West surprises me by pulling out a silver necklace with a seashell on it.

“Where’d that come from? You got a girlfriend back home, West?” I ask in surprise. He’s never mentioned a girl before, I assumed he was single since he flew around so much.

“No,” he says, staring down at the necklace in his hand while he rubs the back of his neck, looking embarrassed. “I, uh… When we were in Perth, I was grabbing some snacks and it caught my eye. I don’t know why I bought it, to be honest. I just thought it was pretty, and kinda wished I had someone to buy it for.” He looks up at us with a grimace on his face before looking back down at it again.

“Man, this is fucking embarrassing.” He lets out a deep breath. “The store owner saw me looking at it and said something about how my girl would love it. I didn’t want to admit I was looking at it when I was single, so I bought it.” He drops his hand and shakes his head. “Pathetic, right?”

“Awe, hey man, I think that’s sweet!” I tell him honestly.

He looks up at me, searching my face for the truth with a doubtful look on his face.

“Really,” I say, giving his shoulder a squeeze. “You bought it for a future girlfriend, there’s nothing weird about that. She’d probably love that story, too.”

“Thanks, I guess. I thought it might work to…” he trails off, his eyes looking up, even though we’re inside, and we nod.

“Good idea, who knows what will work,” King says, gathering all the items as he exits the hut and moves across to the other one, pushing the door open with his shoulder.

“Hey! There’s another waterskin here now!” West and I quickly move to follow him, and sure enough, a third waterskin is on the same table where we had found the first two.

“I’ll be damned!” I say with a smile. Our native is definitely not upset at us. Unless they just wanted us to lower our guard.

King passes the waterskin to West then places all the items he’s holding on the table. He starts to look around and quickly finds what he’s looking for… a bag.

“Good idea,” I say, as he hooks it over his head so the shoulder bag sits at his side, then he stuffs the items inside. This way, we’ll have our hands free to climb down. Plus, the bag would be useful in the future. In fact… I look around, pleased when I find another spare bag.

“There’s a lot of stuff in here,” West says, looking around.

“We figure it’s stuff the previous inhabitant made. The other hut has even more, but everything looks much older, like it was the trial run stuff. This stuff is much better quality.”

“Fuck, whoever did all this has been here for a while,” West mumbles, following King back out to the skywalk.

I close the door behind me and make my way down the ladder, leaving West to watch from the main hut. King starts to place the bait near the fire and I casually stroll out of camp to my assigned spot.

Eventually, I decide to take a seat, finding a spot where I can just barely see the bottle of shampoo. And I wait… and wait… and wait.

After what feels like a few hours, West calls my name. I stand and stretch as I head back into camp, seeing all the items still sitting there, with West and King frowning down at them.

“Nothing?” I ask, and they both shake their heads.

“I need some water and something to eat, why don’t two of us go get some fruit and refill our waterskins, and one person can stay here and watch?” West suggests.

“Yeah, I just emptied mine and I’m starving. I’ll stay and watch, if you want?” I ask, looking between them. They both agree and I hand them my waterskin and climb up the ladder, deciding to find a spot where I can sit on the deck and lean against the hut for some support as I watch the bait.

The heat of the jungle and lack of stimulation make me yawn as my eyelids grow heavy. I’m determined to keep my eyes open, but the next thing I know, I’m jerking awake, looking around me for threats.

How long was I asleep? What woke me? I notice a coconut sitting beside me and frown as I pick it up. “You weren’t here before,” I mumble. Turning it, I realize it’s been cracked open. I shake it and hear the liquid sloshing around inside.

I lick my lips. I am really thirsty. How much do I trust that this is safe to drink? It’s not like they have access to drugs on this island, right? Knowing what the other two would say, but too thirsty to care, I tip it up and let the coconut water quench my thirst. We probably weren’t drinking enough. With this kind of heat, we should’ve been hydrating way more than we had been.

Lowering the coconut, my eyes move down to our bait. The soap, shampoo, socks and… “What the hell?” I whisper, dropping the coconut and quickly climbing down the ladder.

I stare down at the items and scan them, making sure nothing is missing before leaning down and picking up the rock that’s now sitting in the middle of them.

My eyes scan my surroundings before I flip the rock over and read the name engraved on it. “Steve.”

Chapter eleven

Darla

These men were… strange. Why did they leave their stuff out and then try to hide? Were they trying to trick me into coming out? Did I want the stuff they left out? Sure I did. The thought of cleaning my hair and putting on soft socks was pretty tempting.

But I’m not a total idiot. I’ve managed to survive here on my own because I knew when to be careful and when to take risks. They might have done something to this stuff. They could have booby trapped them somehow or laced them with poison for all I knew. Besides, it didn’t feel right to steal from them. They haven’t done anything wrong… yet.

So instead, I left them Steve. I wasn’t actually going to let them keep him, but I was interested to see what they would think of my rock. I was really tempted to swipe the pretty necklace, but figured it must belong to a woman that one of them knew, and that felt wrong.

I felt bad for Bower though, he was sweating and looked like he was overheating. I noticed he didn’t have his waterskin with him, so when he fell asleep, I left him a cracked coconut to drink.

Watching him drink the gift I left him warmed something in my chest. He liked it. And I liked that feeling. It was the same thing I felt when I left them all the fruit on the first morning, and when they found the waterskins. Or when I got them that wood to hold down their raft or when I helped them find the path.

Maybe that could be my new mission on this island. I could stay hidden, stay safe, and secretly, from the shadows, offer them help, so life here didn’t have to be as shitty for them as it had been for me.

I don’t know why I’m so intrigued by these three. I expected them to act like the last men that crashed on this island. But so far, they are the polar opposites. Even the way they talk to each other and help each other out is… kind. But I knew that could change the second a woman was brought into the mix. And I’m not about to put myself in danger by letting them see me.

Glancing down, I see King and West return and decide this is my chance to go grab them some more food. Quickly making my way through the trees, swinging on vines and jumping from branch to branch, I consider heading to my buddy, Cliff. Has enough time passed for Bob to lay more eggs? Hmm, probably not. And it was a lot of work and danger to climb up there for a low chance of reward.

Deciding fruit will have to do for now, I move closer to Brutus’s territory. The best plums were out there. I bet the guys would love those.

“Eep!” I stop on a wide branch and look back, seeing Mo-Mo swinging towards me.

“Mo-Mo! Hey buddy, where you been?” I ask as he drops to my shoulder, nuzzling my neck. I give him a little scratch behind his ear and hold out my fist as he gives me a fist bump.

“I’m gonna grab some plums, wanna come with me?”

“Eep!” he trills, jumping to a vine to swing forward. I follow along until we finally find the plums. Since this is the edge of boar territory, we have to be quiet and keep our guard up.

“Keep an eye open for the piggies for me, okay?” I whisper to Mo-Mo, making him grunt as I drop down to the ground in the middle of a few lush plum trees. It’s a far drop as the overhanging branch is about fifteen feet in the air, but I manage to do it without making any noise.

I make quick work of grabbing plums and dropping them in my bag. Three each should be a good amount, plus three for me and one for Mo-Mo. With my bag full, I carefully walk through the trees until I can reach a taller one I can actually climb, the plum trees being too thin to hold my weight.

I hear a soft rustling and silently turn in that direction, hiding behind a narrow tree. When two mid-sized boars come into view, I relax. It’s not Brutus, thank goodness. I stay quiet, not wanting them to know I’m here. I’d rather not be chased by any boar today, thank you very much.

“Eep!” I roll my eyes. Gee, thanks for the warning there slowpoke.

When the boar are out of sight, I quickly make my way to the closest climbing tree and hoist myself up. A rustling has me spinning and scanning the area. Nothing. I narrow my eyes and wait another minute, but when nothing happens, I continue climbing up to where Mo-Mo waits.

“Thanks for the help down there, Mo-Mo,” I say sarcastically, passing him a plum and taking one for myself. He just grunts before scarfing down his food. When he finishes, in an insanely fast twenty seconds, he snatches my half eaten one right from my hands.

“Hey! Buddy, what the crap shells are you doing? Didn’t I teach you any manners?” He has the audacity to blow a raspberry at me before stuffing the whole plum in his mouth and jumping onto a nearby vine, swinging away, clearly done with this conversation.

“Rude,” I mumble, standing up and making my way back to camp. A few times I think I hear something below, but every time I look, I can’t see anything. It bothers me. I’m supposed to be the best hunter on this island.

When I finally get back to camp, the guys are missing, so I place the plums down by the firepit, where their stuff had been earlier. It’s all gone now, and I wonder what they’ve done with it.

Deciding I need to know what they’re up to, I head to the beach first. When that comes up empty, I head back towards the waterfall, being careful to stay high in the trees so I’m not seen if they suddenly appear on the path ahead.

Which is exactly what happens. But I hear their voices long before I see them. Why does just the sound of their murmurs relax me? Am I that starved for company?

Suddenly, they all start yelling in alarm, and I swing through the trees as fast as I can, worried about what’s happening. And when I see what’s got them upset, my eyes widen in fear.

Chapter twelve

Kingsley

“Do you think Steve’s watching us now?” I ask quietly as we all take a quick dip in the pond to cool down.

When Bower showed us the rock with Steve etched into it, we were surprised. And the more I think about it, the more confused I become. He didn’t take anything that we left there, he just added a rock to it. He even gave Bower a coconut that he'd open for him to drink from.

Steve’s becoming more and more of a mystery.

West’s eyes continually move through the trees, always watching. He lets out a puff of air before responding, “I don’t think so. I haven’t felt eyes on us for a while.” I nod, knowing what he meant. At camp it was like I could feel eyes on me, but it disappeared when we left, and hasn’t returned.

“Maybe he got tired of us,” Bower says before dunking his head under the water and scrubbing at his brown hair. He must be extra hot with it being so long.

“Maybe,” I mumble, climbing out of the pond and drying off with a spare shirt. As I get dressed, my eyes land on my Amiris, now caked in mud. My favorite sneakers, ruined. I wipe at them half-heartedly, but the crisp white is long gone. I sigh and slip them on. They cost me a thousand bucks, but it wasn’t about the money. Wrecking shoes this nice just… hurt.

Once the others have dried off and gotten dressed, we decide to head to the beach for any sign of a rescue and to check on our SOS and burn pile. Not that it would do us any good without a way to light it.

A loud rustling in the bush beside us has us all stopping and turning to face it. My stomach tightens a little in fear. We have no idea what’s on this island with us, there could be some major predators we haven’t run into… yet.

West puts his arms out to the side, preventing either of us from stepping forward as we all wait and watch.

Suddenly, a massive boar steps onto the trail beside us, the size of a wolf, but heavier. His hide is scarred, his muscles rippling beneath bristled fur. Two curved tusks, each at least ten inches long, jut from his upper jaw like blades, while another pair thrust straight up from his lower lip, glinting like bone knives.

We all freeze, then instinctively step back. His beady eyes lock onto me, burning with challenge. He snorts, a hot, sharp breath that cuts through the humid air, then stomps the ground hard enough to shake the dirt.

“Oh, shit!” Bower says, right before the boar charges at me. We all yell as West pushes me out of the way, the beast's tusks narrowly missing me. I hit the ground hard, rolling onto my side before flipping over to see where it went.

The boar pivots, its massive body turning, and West and Bower grab my arms, hauling me up.

Before I even have my feet under me, the boar is charging at us again and we all stumble. My feet get tangled with West’s and we both fall on our asses, forcing my arm to slip from Bower’s grip as he trips backwards against a tree.

“Shit!” I shout, raising my arms to protect myself as the boar barrels toward me again.

Out of nowhere, a woman comes swinging towards us on a vine like Jane of the fucking Jungle. She lets go mid-swing, pulling out an eight-inch blade from her side as she lands on the boar's back, slamming the knife down through the center of its skull. It instantly drops to the ground, dead, right in front of my feet, as she jumps off to the side.

I can hear West and myself breathing heavily as I stare with wide eyes at the boar that almost killed me. Then my eyes lift to hers. Still crouched down, as if ready to pounce, she stares right back at me and what I see makes me feel as if I’ve been hit by a bolt of lightning.

She’s stunning. Her disheveled blond hair is braided back, and it’s so long I can see part of it swaying behind her waist. She’s only wearing some sort of primitive tiny skirt and crop top that seem to be made out of the same animal hide the bedding in the hut is made from.

Her piercing green eyes speak of such turmoil, I can’t get a read on exactly what she’s thinking right now. Her fingers tighten on the knife she’s holding at her side as her eyes move to West and Bower.

We all just stare at her in wide-eyed silence, too shocked to speak. Of course, Bower’s the one to break the silence.

“Marry me.”

Her narrowed eyes turn to him in confusion.

Deciding I don’t want her to get the wrong idea about us, I try to change the subject. “Thank you.” Her eyes move back to mine as she watches me warily. “For saving me.”

“What’s your name?” West asks, and her eyes shoot to his. When she doesn’t answer, he speaks again. “I’m Weston, you can call me West, if you like. This is Kingsley,” he says with a hand on my shoulder.

“King,” I say with a nod.

“And that’s Bower.”

“Hey there, Tinkerbell,” Bower says with a smile. She swallows nervously and starts to take a few steps backwards. Suddenly, a lemur drops to her shoulder, startling the three of us, but she doesn't even flinch as her gaze bounces between us while she keeps backing up.

“Are y—” I’m cut off as she suddenly turns and runs. We quickly get to our feet and take off after her. “Wait!” I yell as she zips along the path. “We just want to talk to you!”

I’m slightly ahead of the other two guys and round the cover just in time to see her disappear down the path that leads back to camp.

As I run full speed into the clearing, I stop quickly, almost falling over with shock when I see her jump to a low-hanging branch, pull herself up, then leap to another branch. West and Bower come up behind me and we all watch as she swings across part of the clearing on a vine, grabs another one, shimmies up, swings again, then lands softly on the skywalk.

She looks down at us, then darts into the main hut. I reach for the ladder, but as soon as I start climbing, she comes back out with something in her hand, then she runs around the back of the hut. By the time I get up there, I can’t see her anywhere.

“Holy shit, what did we just witness? Who was that?” Bower asks, racking his fingers through his hair before retying it in a bun on top of his head.

“I… have no idea,” I say, running my hand through my own hair as I scan the trees for any sign of her.

“Is she Steve?”

“What did she take?” West asks, pushing past us to look in the hut. I keep scanning the trees, hoping for another sight of the strange, beautiful woman. “What the fuck?” West calls a minute later. Bower and I go inside to see what he’s yelling about.

“What?” I ask in confusion, looking around. I can’t see anything out of place or missing.

“She took the rock.”

I frown, turning to the table where it had been left.

“Hey! That was mine!” Bower says with a pout. I give him an incredulous look and he frowns at me. “What?”

“How do you figure it’s yours?”

“She left it for me while I was sleeping.”

“Are you really upset she took the rock back?” West asks, moving back outside to watch the trees.

“Now I know she gave it to me, and not some guy named Steve, yeah, I do.”

“You’re ridiculous,” I say with a shake of my head. But one thought has me asking the question out loud. “I wonder who Steve is?”

“It’s the rock, obviously,” Bower says. Now he's the one to look at me like I’m insane. I open my mouth to say something but snap it shut quickly, deciding it’s not worth it.

“What do we do now?” I ask as we all look around for any sign of movement.

West turns to face us, a worried look on his face. His eyes move down to the ground, then his eyebrows lift in surprise. “I think she left us more fruit.” I glance down and sure enough, there is a pile of what looks like plums near the fire.

“I don’t get her,” I say, scratching the back of my head. “She doesn’t seem hostile.”

“She’s not,” West says, turning back around to face us. “She’s scared.”

I frown, thinking about the fear I saw in her eyes when she looked at us. What happened to her?

“Is she scared of people or something?” Bower asks.

“I think it’s more than that,” West says quietly. “Remember the grave?”

Bower nods as he recites, “Beloved father. Wait—Do you think she dug that grave? That she buried her own father?”

West nods as he answers. “That wasn’t a fresh grave. If she did…” His concerned eyes meet mine.

“If she did, it means that she might have been stuck here alone ever since.”

Chapter thirteen

Darla

Icurl up on my side in my hammock, hugging Steve tightly to my chest as my mind races.

They saw me.

“Crap shells!” I whisper angrily to myself. Mo-Mo took off as soon as I started running, but I’m not surprised. He might be my best friend here, but he never hangs around for too long. He has his family to get back to.

Family. Crab sucker, it’s been years since I let my mind drift back to mine and yet I’m thinking about my dad all the time now. Mom died when I was a baby, so it was always just dad and me. It didn’t mean there weren't other people I lost when I ended up stranded here, though.

“Steve, you’re my family now, right? You’re all I need.” I sniffle, then cuss myself out for crying over a rock, literally.

“Why did I risk extra time grabbing you, anyway? It’s not like you appreciate my conversation skills.” Silence hangs in the air as my mind drifts back to the three men I don’t want to think about right now.

They saw me. And they didn’t immediately try to attack me. I definitely saw surprise on their faces, or perhaps it was shock. Either way, they didn’t have that evil glint in their eyes like I expected, not like they did.

“Kingsley, Weston, Bower.” I say their names out loud, deciding I like Weston and Kingsley’s full names better than the shortened versions.

Is it possible these three wouldn’t hurt me? I’m not sure I can ever trust people again, but I used to, a long time ago. Before the island, I trusted everyone: women, men, boys, girls, dogs, cats, you name it. I’d never had a reason to be weary before.

Now that these three know I’m here, what will they do? They chased me through the jungle, but it didn’t feel like they would have attacked me if they caught me. It really seemed like they just wanted to talk. Maybe they want to know where I got all those plums from?

Unless I got it for them, I haven’t seen them eat anything other than guava yet. They’ve been here a few days, I bet they’re starving. Big guys like that probably need to eat a lot. Like Brutus.

Sweet baby pig! I killed Brutus!

I quickly sit up in my hammock, moving Steve to my bag as I remember what caused me to make myself seen in the first place. Brutus, that slimy little crab sucker! He followed me from the plum trees. I’ve never seen him do anything so cunning before. If he had got his tusk into Kingsley, it would have killed him. And that would have been my fault.

My stomach churns as guilt fills me. The thought of something happening to those guys, especially because of something I did… It frightens me. Which surprises me. I don’t know them. Just because I’ve been constantly watching them for days doesn’t mean I know anything about them. So why do I feel so guilty about almost getting Kingsley killed?

Maybe I could make it up to him somehow? Brutus's giant body fills my mind and I remember where my previous chain of thought had gone. He could feed them for a while. Do they have any idea how to break down a boar? I know I had no idea before coming here. And it took dad teaching me plus many, many trials and errors on my own before I became efficient at it. But I was only thirteen when I arrived here.

These guys look much older than that, probably around my age, and Weston looks even older.

I slowly make my way down through the trees. It’s not going to be easy to drag Brutus back to camp, I’ll probably have to butcher him where he is. Am I really going to let them see me again? What do I even say? Oh hey, sorry I led that boar straight to you and almost got you killed, I’m Zee by the way, don’t mind me, I just live here alone, talking to rocks and trees… totally normal.

When I climb out of the tree and onto the deck behind the main hut, I slowly peek around and see the three of them down below. I’m pleasantly surprised to see they’ve already dragged Brutus in, but it’s clear they have no idea what they’re doing with his body. Weston is trying to take off one of his rear legs with a small pocket knife while the other two watch.

That’ll take forever.

Fear, apprehension and cowardice keep me in the shadows as I watch them. They speak too quietly for me to hear. And when, after a few minutes have passed and Weston still hasn’t removed the leg, frustration and the need to do it properly overtakes all my other senses. I take a nervous breath in and slowly step forwards, into the waning sunlight.

Immediately, Kingsley turns his eyes in my direction. When they lock on me, he freezes, as do I. When he doesn’t move, I take another step forward. I watch as he licks his lips, then very quietly, whispers something. Slowly, the other two turn their heads to look up at me.

My gaze bounces between the three of them nervously. “Crap shells, what am I doing?” I whisper to myself, wondering why the hell I’m out here in the open. I start to take a step backwards, but Bower speaks, making me freeze mid-step.

“Hey, Tinkerbell. Did you want to come down and join us?”

Is he making fun of me because of my short, five foot one frame? But when I search his smiling face, I don’t see any cruelty there.

Reminding myself why I was doing this, because it’s my fault they almost got skewered, I release another deep breath and take a few quick steps, leaping off the platform towards a nearby vine.

I hear the guys yell in alarm, but as I swing across the camp, they’re all standing, staring at me with wide eyes. I let my bare feet hit the tree, then grab another vine and swing back the other way, letting go in time to land on the ground in a crouch, ten feet in front of them.

My eyes connect with Weston, since he’s the only one with a weapon. I stand up slowly, my hand inching towards my own knife. He sees what I’m doing and puts his palms out, still holding his knife, in a placating gesture. “I’m just going to wipe my knife off, then I’ll put it away, okay? We’re not going to hurt you.”

My eyes narrow at him as I ask, “Isn’t that something my enemy would say?” Surprise flashes across his face when I speak, but then he smiles, making something shift inside of me. I like the way he looks at me. This is a strange and foreign feeling, but not completely unwelcome.

“I suppose it is,” he replies, slowly wiping his knife on Brutus’s side before flicking it closed. He starts to put it in his pocket but then seems to think better of it and says, “Here.” Tossing it to me. I catch it with a frown. Opening my palm, I glance at it, then back at him in question. “We want you to feel safe, and I have a feeling if you knew I had that, you wouldn't.”

My chest tightens at his words. It doesn’t feel like fear, though, it’s something else.

Not sure what to say to that, I place it in my bag, and when my fingers graze Steve, my eyes flick to Bower. I had heard him complaining that I took my rock back. Maybe we could come to a compromise? I didn’t exactly intend to give him away. I wrap my fingers around him and carefully pull him from my bag and cautiously step towards Bower.

His eyebrows raise in surprise, but he doesn't move, he stands completely still as I move to stand two feet in front of him. I stare at Steve as I speak. “I know you like Steve, too. But I missed him. Do you think… Do you think we could share him? You get him during the day, and I get him at night?” I ask nervously as I hold it between us in my palms.

When I finally lift my gaze to his, he smiles softly, which increases his attractiveness ten fold. Something tightens in my stomach as he reaches forward and takes Steve from my hands, his rough fingers touching my skin. My breath hitches and I take a step back. Unsure what just happened or why I feel so strange.

“That’s really nice of you, but you can keep him, he obviously means a lot to you, Tink,” he says, passing Steve back.

“It’s Zee,” I tell him, shoving Steve back in my bag nervously.

“Zee?” Kingsley asks, drawing my attention to him. “Is that short for something?”

“Xena, the warrior princess. It’s what my dad called me.” Kingsley exchanges a nervous glance with Weston, who gives his head a tiny shake.

“Well, Zee, it’s nice to officially meet you. I’m—”

“Kingsley,” I say, cutting him off. “You’re Weston,” I say, pointing to him next. “And you’re Bower.”

“Eep!” Mo-Mo hollers as he comes swinging in to land on my shoulder. I give his neck a little scratch and smile at him before introducing him.

“And this is Mo-Mo,” I say with a smile, turning back to the guys. They’re all staring at me with wide eyes. “What?” I ask, not sure what the looks are about.

“Uh, nothing. Just, we’ve never seen such a friendly lemur in the wild before,” Kingsley says, scratching the back of his neck as he avoids my gaze.

“Eep!” Mo-Mo yells, pointing at Bower.

He chuckles and pulls a plum out of his pocket and holds it out towards him. Mo-Mo snatches it up quickly and takes a giant bite.

“Mo-Mo’s pretty friendly, huh?” Bower asks, slowly stepping closer to us, lifting his free arm towards him. “Can I pet him?”

“That’s up to him,” I say, watching as he holds his hand in front of Mo-Mo for him to inspect. He gives him a little sniff, then takes another bite of the plum and dips his chin, pressing the top of his head against Bower’s fingers, forcing him to pet him.

Bower chuckles, stepping even closer as he scratches his neck. “Eep!” Mo-Mo trills, jumping to Bower’s shoulder and rubbing his head into his neck.

“Awe, you’re a sweet little guy, aren’t you?”

The other two come to stand on either side of Bower, taking turns to pet Mo-Mo. They are all treating him so gently. I watch in surprise and a little awe as Weston passes him another plum, which he takes with a happy trill before jumping up into a nearby tree.

If Mo-Mo isn’t scared of them, then maybe they’re not so bad?

Three sets of eyes turn to me and I suddenly realize how close they all are. They could reach out and touch me right now. I jump back a few steps and my hand moves to rest on my knife.

Why did I come down here again? I glance around, looking for an escape, my eyes catching on Brutus’s body. Right, I almost got them killed.

Noticing my gaze, Weston moves towards Brutus. “We were trying to cut it up, but none of us have ever hunted before. Do you know how to do it?” he asks gently. He’s asking for my advice?

I stand up a little straighter. This was something I could do. And it was my self-appointed job to help them.

I nod my head and turn to him. “First, we have to drain his blood by hanging him from a tree branch.”

“He’s heavy, we’ll need a really strong branch and some string or something,” Weston says, looking around.

“I can get us some vines,” I say, moving to a nearby tree, leaping to grab the first branch and pulling myself up.

“Hey, be careful!” Weston calls. I glance down and am surprised when I see him looking up at me with concern on his face and his hands outstretched, like he was prepared to help me.

He’s telling me to be careful? I’ve been climbing these trees for the better part of my life. Instead of arguing, I give him a small nod, which he returns. I turn back and start finding vines to cut, but my chest tightens in that strange, unfamiliar way.

Nobody has been worried about my safety in a very long time. That thought makes my chest ache, and my breathing quickens.

“Zee, calm down. You can not have a panic attack right now. You need to keep your wits about you!” I whisper to myself, hoping a pep talk will help ease my breathing. The last thing I need is to pass out in front of these guys. Not only can I not let myself be that vulnerable in front of them, but I don’t want them to think I’m incapable of doing this.

Shaking my head, I force myself to take deep breaths as I tell myself to focus on Brutus. Once I cut the final vine, I drop down to the ground in a crouch, a few feet from the tree they’ve managed to drag Brutus to.

“Shit! You scared me!” Bower says, jumping back a step from where I land.

“You need to be more aware of your surroundings if you want to survive out here,” I tell him gently as I move past them to start tossing the vines I collected over the branch.

“Why? Is there something more dangerous than you out here?” Kingsley asks. My eyes flick to his and he’s looking at me with a serious expression on his face.

“Well, I would have said Brutus was who you had to look out for the most. He’s the biggest and smartest boar on the island. The others could hurt you, too, but they aren’t vengeful like he was,” I say, pointing at Brutus’s body.

“Brutus?” Bower asks with a smirk.

I nod. “And then there’s Fang. He’s a huge snake, but he lives on the North side of the island. I don’t know if he’s venomous or not, but he’s big enough that if he got hold of you, you’d be done.”

I bend down and start tying one end of the vines around Brutus’s back legs.

“What about other people?” Weston asks gently.

I don't answer straight away. Part of me wants to lie, say there are others here with me. They are less likely to do anything if they think I’m not alone, right?

He crouches down in front of me, trying to make me meet his eyes. “Zee?” I continue tying the knots, refusing to look at him. “Zee, we’re not going to hurt you, I promise. We just want to help.”

I pull the last knot tight and jump to my feet, taking a few steps back from them. He stands slowly as I answer him. “I don’t need your help.”

A flash of uncertainty crosses his face. Why would he think I need help?

“You’re right,” he says with a nod, looking down at Brutus. “But we could definitely use yours.” His eyes return to mine as he tries to read my expression. “We could trade for it?”

He wants to give me something for helping them? I pinch my lips in distaste. Helping someone shouldn’t come at a cost.

I shake my head. “No.”

“You won’t help us?” Kingsley asks, his voice laced with disappointment.

“No, I meant, I don’t want to trade for it. I’ll help you, but there’s no cost.”

“Marry me,” Bower blurts out, not for the first time. My eyes widen in surprise. What’s with this guy?

“Bower…” Weston growls in warning.

“What?! She’s gorgeous and generous? She’s perfect, I need to lock her down.” Bower says with a big smile. My cheeks heat with embarrassment at his words. He barely knows me.

But as much as I try to fight my reaction to him, something about his happy demeanor, especially when it’s aimed at me, makes a smile form on my lips.

“Fuck me, you're stunning when you smile,” he says seriously, startling me into taking a step back, my smile quickly dropping.

His expression turns to alarm when he sees my reaction, and he quickly tries to apologize. “I’m sorry, I—”

“We need to hang him now,” I say, cutting him off and trying to ignore how uncomfortable I just made everything. “He’s too heavy for me to hoist on my own.” I wave at the end of the vines in front of me. “One of you needs to help—”

Before I can finish my sentence, Weston silently grabs all the vines and splits them between himself and the other two. “Ready, and heave… Heave,” he calls as they all pull in unison. I step back with wide eyes to give them room.

I watch his biceps bulge against his dark green t-shirt, wondering if it’s about to split open from the sheer strength of him.

Sweet baby biceps! He’s ripped! I wipe my mouth, afraid I might actually be drooling and my eyes move to Bower. “Fuck,” I whisper quietly when I see his thick thighs pressing against his jeans, which look ready to burst at the seams. Kingsley has his back to me, but his tight shirt also shows the muscles working, not to forget his ass as it moves towards me. “Dear lord!” I whisper, turning around before I make a fool of myself.

You think I’d never seen grown men before. Not since you were a teenager, I remind myself.

“How high do we need it, Zee?” Weston asks, making me turn back around to face them.

“That’s good, he only needs to be a few inches from the ground so the blood can drain out of him, tie it around the trunk, it should be long enough,” I tell them and watch as they follow my instructions and work as a team to tie him off.

“I could have helped hoist him,” I tell them, wanting them to know I was strong enough to do it, too.

“You probably could have done it on your own, but why would you? You’ve got us now,” Kingsley says calmly.

You’ve got us now.

Those words stir something inside of me. I wish that was actually true. I’ve been lonely for so long, I’m desperate to believe them. But I’m not prepared to accept that, I can’t.

Wanting to distract my thoughts, I kneel at Brutus’s head, pull out my knife and slit his throat, stepping back as the blood starts pouring out of him.

“That was bad ass, Tink!” Bower says cheerfully. I turn to him and his eyes dim as they look over my body. “Uh, you got a little…” he trails off, pointing at my chest and face.

I glance down and realize I got sprayed with Brutus’s blood. I touch my face and my fingers come away red. Suddenly, a memory from my past comes flooding in.

I hold my palms out in front of me, watching the blood drip to the jungle floor. They’re dead. They’re all dead.

“Dad?” I whisper, crawling over to where his body lays, unmoving. “Dad, get up, please!” I beg, my hands moving to his cheeks to make him look at me. It only results in covering him with blood. Their blood. “No! Dad, you can’t leave me here all alone!” I scream as I fall on my ass, scurrying backwards, away from the bodies and the blood. My back hits a tree and I pull my knees up, burying my face in my hands as I'm swallowed whole by the sound of my own sobbing.

I don’t know how long I sit like that, crying, covered in blood. But eventually I pass out from exhaustion. When I wake, he’s still there. My stomach sinks as I look around, realizing how alone I truly am. I glimpse at my hands covered in blood and start to panic. I try to wipe it off, but it’s dried. Suddenly, I can feel the dried blood everywhere. On my arms and legs, my face.

Needing to get rid of it, I run towards the ocean. Branches slap me in the face and scratch my skin as I move, uncaring through the island. I finally hit the sand and increase my pace, running straight into the water.

As soon as it’s waist deep, I dive under, scrubbing at every inch of skin I can, only coming up for air when I feel like my lungs are about to burst. I look at my hands, still seeing red everywhere. I let out a pain filled scream as I rub frantically. “Get off, get off!” I scream.

I dunk myself back under, rubbing my arms and my face as hard as I can. I don’t realize I’ve run out of air until I take in a lungful of water. My senses kick in and I’m able to stand up, coughing hard as I hobble to the beach.

When I’m finally free of the water, I collapse on my back and stare at the sky as I cough and breath heavily.

“Ahhh!” I scream as loud as I can, hoping that maybe someone, somewhere, will hear me and come for me. I’m only thirteen. There’s no way I can survive on a deserted island by myself.

Chapter fourteen

Weston

One moment, she’s standing there, staring at her hands. The next, she’s crumbling towards the jungle floor.

“Shit!” Bower exclaims, leaping forward to catch her just before her head hits the ground. He cradles her head in his lap as King and I kneel on either side of her, inspecting her for injuries.

I notice red scratches on her arms that look like they happened recently, some of them looking slightly inflamed.

“What happened?” Bower asks, seeing what I’m looking at.

“I don’t think this has to do with what just happened,” I tell him as I glance at the rest of her body. I can see faint white scars all over her skin. My fists clench in frustration and anger. She’s been here for a while. These marks indicate her having a rough life.

“She just… collapsed,” King says, gently pushing a loose piece of hair away from her face.

“I think she might have had a panic attack,” I say, remembering the way her eyes had glossed over right before she fell.

“But nothing happened. Aren't there normally signs? Staggered breathing, light-headedness, things like that?” Bower asks.

“Panic attacks can look different for everyone,” I tell him. “Back in the Marines, I watched soldiers freeze up, break down… guys you’d never expect. It doesn’t take much, just the right trigger. I’ve even had some myself, before I got help. With Zee, I think seeing the blood on her hands triggered something. She probably stopped breathing and passed out from lack of oxygen.”

“What, like she just forgot to breathe? I didn’t even know that was a thing,” he says, his voice filled with concern as we all stare down at her unconscious body.

“Her panic took over her body.”

“What do we do?” King asks. “To help her.”

“We should try to clean some of this blood off of her. We can't clean her clothes, but we can clean her skin,” I tell them, assessing the amount of blood. It’s not too bad.

“We should take her to the waterfall. I don’t think we have enough in our waterskins,” King says, getting to his feet.

“The sun is setting quickly now. We shouldn’t walk around when it’s dark. Why don’t you run and fill up our water and I’ll grab something to use as a washcloth from my pack in the tree hut?”

“Got it,” King says, grabbing the three waterskins and jogging out of camp.

“Bower, you stay with her, yell if she starts to wake up.” He nods, not lifting his eyes from her face.

It doesn’t take long to grab a spare shirt and some soap and King arrives a couple minutes later, panting heavily, clearly having run the whole way there and back.

“Good job, King. I’m gonna wash her face first, then you can hold an arm up while I wipe.”

As gently as I can, I clean her sun-kissed skin. For someone living outside for who knows how long, her skin was in surprisingly good shape. I suppose the jungle offers a lot of shade.

“There you are,” I murmur, when I get the last bit of blood off her face. Next, I clean her neck and the exposed skin above her top. Then I move to her arms. I make sure to clean the scratches there, wishing I had some clean bandages to wrap them in.

By the time I’m finished, the sun has set, and she’s still out cold.

“Is it this dark every night?” Bower asks, glancing up at the sky.

“Yeah, we’re just usually in the hut, asleep by this time,” King reminds him.

“We can’t leave her out here. I’m going to have to put her over my shoulder to carry her up to the hut. She can sleep in the bed,” I tell them as I stand, hoisting her up as gently as I can, and placing her over my shoulder.

King steadies the bottom of the ladder for me as I climb, it’s more difficult than I expected as I don’t want her to fall, but before long I have her placed in the bed. It’s more like just a mattress, but it’s the closest thing we have here, and a hell of a lot better than the dirty jungle floor.

It’s too dark to see anything, but the thought of losing sight of her scares me. I sit on the ground beside her bed and find her hand, holding it tightly in mine as King settles somewhere close by.

“Hey, guys?” Bower whispers from nearby.

“Yeah?” We both answer quietly, not wanting to wake her.

“Why do you think the sight of blood scared her so much? I can’t imagine that’s the first boar she’s killed.”

“It was probably seeing the blood on her hands,” King whispers.

“It brought back a bad memory for her,” I agree. I think about what that must mean. That something has happened in her past that left her covered in blood and traumatized. My stomach twists with the unwelcome sensation of her being in trouble, and me not being there to help, which is stupid, I didn’t know her when that happened.

I think about the first time I saw her eyes, hiding in that tree. Had she been watching me bathe? I’m not sure if I should be upset by that or not. If I’m being honest, I don’t really mind her watching me. In fact, if the twitch of my dick is anything to go by, I like it a lot. I’d rather she’d have joined me, though.

She’s such a strange contradiction. Somehow she’s fierce and independent and she’d have to be incredibly strong-willed to live out here on her own. But she’s also shy and hesitant. But what resonates with me the most is how she refused my offer to trade for help, saying she’d give it willingly. She knows we’re in over our heads on this island, and yet she’s not taken advantage of that.

In fact, she’s helped us at every turn. Bringing us fruit and waterskins, saving us from the boar, then teaching us what to do with it afterwards. She’s kind and sweet, the type of girl who many would take advantage of.

Someone else had been here, we saw the grave. That has to be her father. Did she bury him? Even though she didn’t answer my question, I’m ninety-nine percent sure the four of us are the only humans left on this island.

When I saw her kill that wild boar to save us, she looked wild and savage, but none of her other actions supported that.

No, this girl is no savage. She’s just lost.

Chapter fifteen

Darla

Something wakes me, but when I open my eyes, everything is dark. As soon as the rest of my senses fully come online, I freeze, my breath catching in my throat. I can hear deep breathing around me, as if there are other people sleeping nearby. Where am I? My fingers twitch and I realize there’s a large hand holding mine.

Crap shells! What’s going on? Why am I holding someone's hand? I try to take stock of the rest of my body and everything seems okay. I can feel my mattress beneath me, meaning I’m in my hut.

My vision starts to adjust to the darkness as the room starts to take shape. Turning my head, I see someone laying in the hammock, and another sitting in the chair, resting their head and arms on the desk. The last is sitting on the ground beside me, holding my hand. Weston. I can see his short blonde hair from where his head’s resting on the bed beside me.

Why is he sitting beside me, and why is he holding my hand? I rack my brain, trying to remember what happened.

I left the safety of the tree, deciding to help them with Brutus. They hung him up, then I slit his throat and—There was blood, I had a flashback. I don’t want to remember anymore right now.

I can’t believe I passed out in front of them. Did they do anything to me? My clothing still seems to be in place, and I don’t feel any different, like I’ve been touched… down there. And the fact that Weston is holding my hand right now eases something in me. Bad guys don’t hold hands, do they?

As hard as I try, I can’t stop thinking about the blood that was on me. I use my free hand to rub my face and I’m surprised when it feels clean, as does my hand. Did they clean me?

Emotions battle within me. I’m hopeful that maybe these guys might be okay, maybe they’re safe. But on the heels of that emotion comes trepidation and fear. Letting my guard down would be dangerous. I don’t know them, and being this close is a stupid risk.

Deciding I need to get to the safety of my hammock, I begrudgingly pull my hand from Weston’s, missing the comfort it brought instantly. As quietly as I can, I make my way out of the hut. I see my bag under the chair Kingsley is sleeping in and decide to leave it, not wanting to risk waking him. Instead, I quickly exit the hut and carefully make my way around the deck to the large tree trunk behind it.

I take my time climbing, since it’s so dark. It’s the reason I make sure to be in bed before the sun sets. Getting injured out here is no joke.

It takes me longer than usual, but when I finally reach my hammock, I curl up on my side and close my eyes.

Somehow, I feel more alone than ever.

“Zee!”

“Tink!”

I wake to the sound of voices calling my name. Do they need my help? The sun has barely started to rise and I groan, sitting up. Were these guys always such early risers? I yawn, leaning over to grab my teeth cleaning supplies. I sit and clean my teeth, listening to them repeatedly calling my name. They don’t sound panicked, so I don’t think they’re in any danger.

When I’m done, I slowly make my way down the tree until I notice Kingsley below me on the skywalk. His eyes are scanning the trees as he calls my name. Why is he looking for me?

I know I spent some time with them yesterday, but today I’m feeling nervous about being around them again. They confuse me. Besides, I’m used to being on my own, it’s familiar, comfortable. Not enjoyable, though.

When I glance down, I realize my clothes are covered in dried blood. “Gross,” I whisper, turning to climb back up to my new home within the branches. I need to clean my clothes and since I’m not alone anymore, I can’t sit around naked while they dry. Luckily, I now have something else to wear.

Grabbing the black shirt from my bag, I make my way high up through the trees where I can avoid the guys, towards the waterfall. When I finally make my way to the ground, I look around quickly, and, satisfied that they aren’t nearby, I leave the shirt on a rock near the edge and wrap my hair up, tying it on itself in a makeshift bun so it doesn’t drop in the water. Then I pull off my skirt and top and quickly carry them into the water, swimming towards the waterfall.

I scrub my clothes against each other to remove the blood, and when they are finally clean, I quickly rub myself down before swimming back to the shallow end. When I get out, I hesitate. I’d rather wait until I’m dry to put on the shirt, but I also don’t want to be caught naked.

I hesitate for five more seconds before fear wins out and I pull it on. It sticks to me in a couple of places, but it's so hot out on this island that it should dry quickly. It hangs down to my mid thigh and the neck hole is so big it falls off one of my shoulders.

I untie my bun and braid, combing my fingers through my hair as I watch the waterfall. Something about it has always soothed me. Some days I’ll sit here for hours, watching the water flow.

“Zee?”

I gasp in surprise, spinning around to see Kingsley standing at the edge of the path. His eyes widen as they move up and down my body. He takes a slow step forward as he licks his lips.

“Is that my shirt?”

I look down at the ACDC logo across my chest, then glance back up at him.

“Umm… Whoops?” I say awkwardly. Because it clearly is his, there’s no way to deny it.

Is he mad?

“I’m sorry I took it. It just looked so comfortable, and I’ve had nothing else to wear in so long—”

“Zee,” he says, holding up his palms towards me as he closes the distance between us, stopping only a couple feet from me. I take a small step backwards and he stops walking. “It’s fine. It looks better on you, anyway.”

“Oh.” I don’t know what else to say, his words surprised me.

He gives me a half smile as he looks me over again. “We were calling you, did you not hear us?”

I shrug, because I don’t want to lie, and look at the ground between us as I resume raking my fingers through my hair.

“Are you hungry? Do you want some breakfast?”

I look up at him with a frown, then I try to hold back my smile as I ask, “You have food?”

“I can make a mean guava, or if you give me enough time, how about a coconut?” He cocks an eyebrow at me in question as I start braiding my hair.

“How about I show you some other fruit to eat? Then we can start prepping Brutus, he should be drained by now.”

He looks at me with surprise before a smile covers his face. If I thought he was attractive before, it has nothing on a smiling Kingsley. I swear my heart just started beating faster at the mere sight of him. “Yeah, I’d like that, thanks, Zee.”

He silently watches me finish my braid, then I tie it with a small piece of vine and grab my clothes. They’ll dry better by the beach.

“Ready?” he asks, as I move in his direction. I nod my head, then he holds his hand out towards me. I frown at the gesture, wondering what he wants, then guessing he wants to carry my clothes for me, I slowly place my wet clothes in his outstretched palm. He lets out a small laugh, transfers the clothes to his other hand, then holds out his hand towards me again.

When I look at him in question, he just smiles and wiggles his fingers at me. Is this how people greet each other now? The new form of a high five or fist bump? I lift my hand and wiggle my fingertips against his, then glance up at him. He twists his lips, as if trying not to laugh, then he turns his hand and grasps mine, giving it a little squeeze.

I stare at our joint hands dangling between us and when I finally clue in to the fact that he’s just trying to hold my hand, my cheeks heat in embarrassment at how long that took me to figure out.

“Oh,” I say stupidly. He thankfully says nothing about my stupidity and gives me a little tug towards the path. We walk in silence for a few minutes as I try to calm my rapidly beating heart.

Why does Kingsley want to hold my hand? And why does it make my stomach feel funny? The even bigger question is, why am I letting him? Am I really so starved for touch and attention that I’ll take any scraps he’ll give me? Even I’m not dumb enough to answer that question.

“What happened to your arm?”

“Hmm?” I look at him and see he’s pointing at my arm. I lift it up and see the red marks I made when I was trying to scrape the mud off. They are looking better today. “Oh, I scratched myself,” I answer vaguely, hoping he won’t ask a follow-up question.

Lucky, as we approach the path that leads to the huts he changes the subject. “You left your bag in the hut, did you want to get it first?”

“Um, sure,” I say, suddenly realizing how vulnerable I am without Steve or McStabby at my side.

As we walk into camp, Bower jumps up with wide eyes from where he’s sitting by the firepit. “Tink! Thank god you’re okay!” He takes a few quick steps, closing the distance between us, then quickly lifts his arms to attack me.

An embarrassing scream leaves me when I drop to all fours, my hand slipping from Kingsley’s as I let Bower’s arms swing through the space I was just standing in. I turn to look up at him as a wave of emotions roll through me. I’m confused by his attack, scared he wants to hurt me, and… hurt that he tried to.

“Shit, Tink. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Bower says regretfully as he takes a step backwards.

I push up to my knees as Kingsley squats down beside me. “Zee, Sweetheart. He wasn’t trying to hurt you, he wanted to hug you.”

My eyebrows slowly rise as I turn to look at Bower as he rubs the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable. He doesn’t look like he wants to hurt me. He looks upset.

“A hug?” I ask quietly.

“Uh, yeah. Last night you… You fainted. I was worried about you, we all were. When we woke up and you were missing, I was worried you had passed out somewhere again.”

“You… You were worried about me?” I clarify, still feeling confused.

“Of course.”

I swallow the lump in my throat as I frown. I turn back to Kingsley and he gives me a sad smile. “We all were.”

“But you don’t even know me.”

“Why did you save me from the boar?” he asks without skipping a beat.

“I—” His question surprises me. We both stand up as I answer him. “I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“It’s the same thing. We don't want you getting hurt.”

“It’s different,” I tell him, wanting him to understand.

“How?”

“I’ve been here a long time, I know how to survive on my own.”

“It doesn’t mean you have to. Not anymore,” Kingsley says, staring at me with an intensity I don’t understand.

“Now you’ve got us, Tink!” Bower says with a smile. “And if you don’t want any hugs, I guess I can try to hold back… but I’ll warn you, I’m a hugger, it’s gonna be hard.”

The thought of him never hugging me makes me feel a loss I don't expect. I haven’t been hugged in fifteen years, and suddenly, I want that more than anything. But I have a feeling, as soon as someone does, I’m gonna lose the calm control I’ve been maintaining all this time. And that control is the only thing keeping me alive.

“I’ll grab your bag,” Kingsley says, probably realizing I’m not going to address the whole hug thing.

“So, what’s on the agenda for today?” Bower asks, rocking back on his heels as he shoves his hands in his pockets.

“I’m going to show you guys where to get some other fruit, and we’ll have to break down Brutus,” I say, motioning to the hanging boar. “Actually, we should probably do that first, it will take a lot of time. But you guys probably need to eat now, right?” I ask, eyeing his large body.

“I’m always hungry, but I can wait if I need to.”

“I don’t have to show you all the fruit today. I can show you mangos and how to retrieve coconuts and break them open.”

“That sounds like a good plan, why don’t we go get West? He’s on lookout at the beach.” Kingsley says as he returns, passing me my bag.

“Lookout?” I ask in confusion.

“Yeah, you know, for a plane or ship? Don’t you do that?” Bower asks as we start walking to the beach.

I watch the ground in front of me, pulling the strap of my bag over my head as I lie. “Oh, yeah, of course.” Totally believable, right?

We walk in silence for a few minutes before Bower speaks. “Hey, Zee? How old—Ah!” he yells as Mo-Mo drops from above onto my shoulder, right beside him.

“Eep!” Mo-Mo trills, looking proud of himself and making me smile.

“Morning, Mo-Mo. You have a good night?”

“Eep!”

“We’re going to get some food.”

“Eep!”

“Yes, of course I’ll give you some, don’t worry.”

“You can’t really understand him, can you?” Bower asks, his eyes bouncing back and forth between us.

“Eep!”

“Mo-Mo! Don’t be rude! He is not a crab sucker!” Okay, maybe Mo-Mo didn't actually say that, but the look on Bower’s face is priceless, making me laugh at his wide-eyed expression.

“Oh, Tink. You’re messing with the wrong guy,” Bower says with a smirk. My laughter dies and suddenly I wonder if I’ve offended him.

“He’s teasing you, Zee. Bower loves teasing people,” Kingsley whispers from my other side. I look back at Bower and he gives me a wink, making my skin flush. Why am I blushing?

Before he can call me on it I start to run as I yell, “last one to the beach is a rotten crab!” I’m not sure if they let me win, or if I’m just that fast, but I hear them running right behind me the rest of the way there. I stop right at the edge line of the trees, so I’m still in the shade as they stop on either side of me, panting heavily.

“Oh shit, that looks like a good idea. I’m sweatin’ now anyway,” Bower says, stomping towards the ocean.

I stare with wide eyes as a shirtless and pantless Weston moves through the water. At least he has boxers on this time. Bower whips off his own shirt and pants and throws them down by Weston’s clothes, then runs into the ocean to join him. He’s a couple inches shorter than Weston, and not quite as big, but he’s still a huge guy.

I try to casually bring my hand to my mouth, to make sure I’m not drooling while giving Kingsley the side eye, to see if he’s watching them, too. But his eyes are on me, making my cheeks redden in embarrassment for getting caught staring at that so blatantly.

“You want to go for a swim, sweetheart? You’re looking a little hot,” he asks gently. Can he tell I’m blushing?

“I’m okay, I don’t have anything to wear anyway—Hey, where are my clothes?” I ask, realizing he doesn’t have them anymore.

“I laid them out at camp so they’d dry.”

“Oh. Thank you.”

“If you don't want to swim, how about you show me how to get a coconut down?”

That thought brings a smile to my face. I haven't talked to Kevin in days. Grinning, I turn to my right and start moving down the beach. “First lesson,” I call to Kingsley as he follows me. “You gotta pick the right tree.” I stop in front of Kevin and plant my hands on my hips as I look up at him with a grin.

“And how do you do that?” he asks, coming to stand beside me and looking up at the giant palm tree.

“Kevin is the biggest asshole on the island, besides Bob. So we always take his nuts first.” I reach inside my bag and pull out Steve. Then I stand in a throwing position as I speak. “Second lesson, throw Steve, hit a coconut, and knock it down.” I throw Steve as hard as I can towards Kevin’s nuts and am pleased when it knocks one loose, sending it to the ground with a thunk.

“Yes! One point for team Zee!” I yell, raising my arms in the air in victory.

Kingsley’s body presses up behind mine as his hands grip my biceps gently. I freeze as he slowly lowers my arms to my sides, whispering in my ear. “I don’t want to stop your celebration, sweetheart, but when you raise your hands like that, everyone can see your ass.”

An embarrassing squeak leaves me as I grip the bottom of the shirt and try to pull it down. I quickly turn to face him and take a step backwards, my cheeks burning with embarrassment… once again.

“I’m sorry!” I say, seeing Weston and Bower walking up behind Kingsley. Oh no, did they see my ass, too?

“I promise, you have nothing to apologize for,” he tells me as he gives me a strange look. Whatever it is I see there makes my lower stomach tighten. “I’d offer you my pants, but they are far too big, they wouldn’t stay up around your waist. I can give you a spare pair of boxers when we get back to camp?”

“I—I’m just gonna go get Steve,” I say, ignoring his question as I motion over my shoulder. Before he can respond, I quickly turn around and dart into the jungle.

I search the ground for Steve as questions rattle around my head.

Why do I feel so strange?

What was that look Kingsley gave me?

Why did I want to stare at them in their boxers?

Should I get away from them while I can?

Are they actually safe to be around?

So many questions that I have no idea how to answer.

I find Steve and pick him up, dusting off the dirt and taking a moment to consider what to do next. I could just go back to my hammock and avoid them, like I had planned. Sure, they might start calling my name again, but I could ignore them, eventually they’d get tired of looking for me.

On the other hand, that would mean being alone again. Weston had held my hand last night, and Kingsley, this morning. It felt nice, it made me feel less alone. Maybe having a little bit more of that in my life wouldn’t be the worst thing.

But only a little… I couldn’t let them get too close.

Chapter sixteen

Bower

“Where’s she running off to?” I ask, coming to a stop beside King as I watch Zee dart into the jungle.

“I think I embarrassed her.”

“She’s a flight risk,” West adds, standing on King’s other side as we stare at the spot where she disappeared.

“What do you mean?” I furrow my brows in confusion.

“The way she gets spooked by the simplest thing. I don’t think she’s used to being around people, at least not for a long time.”

“So, we still think she’s alone out here? There must be others with her, right? She couldn’t have built those huts on her own,” I tell them, thinking about the work it would have taken to build them, high up off the ground.

“Maybe she didn’t. If that really was her dad’s grave, maybe he built them before he passed,” King says looking a bit worried.

“But there could be others here with her. She’s just the only one we’ve seen,” I try to reason, not wanting to think about her living out here all alone.

“It’s possible,” West says with a frown. “Maybe when we arrived, they left the huts so they wouldn’t be found, and are staying somewhere else on the island, but for whatever reason, Zee keeps coming back here.”

“We know she’s been watching us, at least a little bit, we’ll have to try to encourage her to stay close if we want any answers,” King adds.

“It’s not like she can go far,” I tell them, my eyes scanning the jungle for any sign of her.

“You think you can find her out there?” West asks with a cocked eyebrow, gesturing towards the spot where she disappeared. “She’s jumpy, we have to tread carefully so we don’t scare her off.”

I run my hand through my long hair, pushing it back from my face as I turn to look at them. “That’s difficult when we don’t know what will make her run. Why haven’t we asked her how she ended up here yet?” I ask them in slight frustration. I hate guessing, and I’m worried about her. “If she is alone, she shouldn’t be out here by herself, especially now we’re here,” I add.

“I don't like it either, Bower,” West says, giving my shoulder a squeeze. “We just met her, let’s give it a couple days and maybe the truth will come out of her naturally.”

A rustling behind me has me spinning around, ready to face the threat, but my body relaxes when I see Tink’s blond hair walk out of the jungle, carrying three coconuts.

“You only knocked down one, where did the other two come from?” King asks her, as he moves to take two from her, passing them to me and West.

“I saw another tree and knocked them down while I was in there,” she says quietly, avoiding eye contact with us all. “Here,” she tries to pass a coconut to King, but he refuses to take it.

“No, you need one, too. You have that one. I’ll knock one down for myself.”

“We could share this one, if you want?” she asks timidly, looking up at him through her thick lashes.

“Fuck,” I whisper, turning to face the other way, my pants suddenly feeling too tight. She’s too fucking sweet for her own good. If I have to look at that beautiful face, saying something so sweet for a moment longer, I’m gonna do something stupid, like kiss her. And that would definitely scare her off.

I’ve never met someone who’s so wild and strong, and yet soft and sweet. It’s disarming and I find I don’t know how to act around her. Normally I’d be flirting like crazy, but I think I need to be careful doing that with Tink. I don’t think she’d understand it. I saw the way she reacted yesterday when I complimented her and when I tried to hug her.

And by the looks on King and West’s faces right now, they are thinking the same thing as me.

“Bower?” King says, and as I turn towards him I get the feeling it wasn't the first time he said my name, but I was too lost in my own head to hear him.

“Hmm?”

“I asked if you’re coming. We’re going back to camp to deal with the boar.”

“Oh, right. Of course,” I say, nodding my head as my eyes flick to Zee. I give her a small smile and her cheeks turn red, making me grin at how easily she’s affected by something so small.

We walk back to camp quietly. Zee and King pass the coconut back and forth, taking turns drinking from it and the sight eases something inside of me. She’s starting to trust us.

“I’m gonna go change, I’ll be right back.” Zee drops her bag, then squats down and pulls something from it, moving to me as she holds it out. “Here, I know you said you’re always hungry, I had an extra one,” she says, holding a mango out for me.

I take it with a smile, and just like last time, when my fingers brush against her palm, it makes my cock twitch. What the fuck is that about? I barely grazed her, but apparently my body is having a very strong reaction to her touch. “Thanks, Tink,” I say, pretending everything is completely normal.

When she disappears around the back of the hut, King moves closer as he asks, “What did you say to her to get extra food?”

I look down at the mango and feel a warmness in my chest. “Just like she said, I told her I’m always hungry.”

“You might be becoming her favorite.” King states with no expression on his face.

I lift my eyebrows in surprise as I hold the mango close to my chest. “You’re jealous?” I ask in realization. “I saw the way you were looking at her.” My eyes flick to West. “Both of you.”

West turns his gaze to where she disappeared as he lets out a breath, running his hand through his hair. “This is going to be a problem, isn’t it?”

“What?” King asks, looking between us.

“You both feel something for her, too.” My chest tightens at Weston’s words. I barely know her, but the thought of both of them being interested in her, too, scares me.

Weston’s eyes bounce between me and King before he asks, “What have you two done in the past? When you’ve both been interested in the same woman?”

“It’s never happened before,” King answers for us, and I nod my head in agreement.

“What… Never? Haven’t you been best friends since you were teenagers?”

“Yeah,” I admit, as I try to recall a time when we’d both been into the same girl, but nothing comes to mind. “I tend to go for the more independent woman, someone strong and funny, who can keep up with my energy, like Zee.”

“For me, I’m attracted to women who are sweet, kind and empathetic. Who don’t get worked up over trivial things and who takes others feelings into consideration. Like Zee,” King says, his eyes looking at me in concern as he says those final two words. His eyes flick to Weston as he asks, “What about you?”

He rubs the back of his head as his eyes move to where she disappeared. “Zee’s my type, to a tee. I didn’t think I had a type, but everything about her appeals to me. Every trait you both listed are things I see in her and want in a woman. Not to mention the natural instinct I seem to have to protect her and care for her.”

“Dibs!” I yell before either of them get any ideas.

They both stare at me unamused.

“What?”

“Bower, you can’t call dibs on a woman,” King says, exasperation lacing his tone.

“What are we supposed to do, then?” I ask as we all eye each other carefully. “I know I should probably back off and let you two figure it out, but I can’t let her go that easily. If she ever lets us get close enough to, you know, express an interest, do we all just throw in our hat and let her pick?”

“Let’s not worry about it now, I don’t think she’s ready for that yet, and for all we know, she won’t be interested,” King says. “Here she comes.”

She swings down to us dressed in her usual skirt and crop top, then pulls her knife from her bag and attaches the sheath to her side.

“You ready to show us how to prep the boar, Zee?” West asks as he steps towards the animal.

An hour later, I sit staring at the meat cooking over the fire in absolute awe. If I wasn’t interested in Tink before this, which I was, for the record, then I damn sure am now. She skinned and cut up that boar like she’s been a professional butcher her whole life. It was gross, and made my stomach turn more than once. But to see her confidence and skill as she worked, was nothing short of amazing. She even took the time to explain what she was doing.

We were all impressed when she let West take a turn, passing him her knife to use. Even if she did stand far away from him until she got her knife back. That was progress though, she was starting to trust us. We were also impressed with how fast she got the fire started with nothing but her knife and a rock.

She told us we’d cook some meat to eat now, then we had to get the fire smoldering to turn the rest into jerky so it would last a few weeks. When I asked if she learned this before coming to the island, she answered with a simple shake to her head, telling us she’s been here long enough to trial and error every part of this process. I can’t imagine how long it would have taken the three of us to learn this if she wasn’t here to teach us.

“Tomorrow, I’ll show you where the mangos are, if you like?” she asks, standing on the other side of the fire, staring at the cooking meat.

“That’d be great, Tink, thanks. I don’t know what we’d do here without you.”

She gives me a shy smile and shrugs a shoulder.

“Eep!” I look up and see Mo-Mo come swinging through the clearing, landing on Zee’s shoulder and nuzzling her neck. She smiles at him fondly, giving him a scratch on his neck while he makes little noises. Watching her interact with him just reinforces how kind and sweet she is.

Mo-Mo points to the cooking meat and she rolls her eyes. “You know I’ll give you some.”

“He’s asking for some of the meat?” I ask with a laugh.

“Yeah, Mo-Mo loves food, he’s always stealing my meals. And he really likes jerky.”

“You must be a good cook,” King says with a smile.

“I don’t know about that. I don’t think he’s particularly picky. He eats insects, after all.”

“Is he the only lemur that’s friendly with you?” West asks, from where he’s sitting beside me. We’ve given her a wide berth, so that she doesn’t feel crowded as the three of us sit on the opposite side of the fire from her.

“Sometimes his family comes around, they’re friendly, too. But Mo-Mo is my best friend, the others don't come without him.”

“Does he have a big family?” I ask curiously.

“There are probably about a hundred lemurs on the island, I’m guessing. Mo-Mo’s immediate family is his girlfriend, Coco, and his buddies Sam and Dean.”

“Sam and Dean, as in the show Supernatural?” I ask with a laugh.

She smiles at me and nods. “Yeah, I used to love that show.”

My eyes dart to the other two in surprise. What she just said proves she didn't grow up on this island. Not that I thought she had, based on the way she doesn’t act like a total savage, but sometimes it’s hard to tell with her, the way she swings from vines and butchers pigs.

“Do they have girlfriends?” King asks, obviously wanting to keep the conversation light.

“Coco is their girlfriend, too,” she says, making me almost choke on the water I’d just tried to swallow.

“You’re saying, Mo-Mo, Sam and Dean all share a girlfriend?” King asks for clarification as I try to control my coughing.

She just nods, frowning at me, while King, West and I all share a look of surprise. Was it that easy? Three men sharing one girlfriend?

Before any of us can prod her further, she grabs one of her man-made cooking sticks and her knife and starts to cut a piece of meat from the fire. “It looks ready, bring me your banana leaves and I’ll cut you all some to eat.”

“Eep!”

“Yeah, yeah, you too, Mo-Mo,” she says with a roll of her eyes.

We all grab one of the pre-gathered banana leaves and line up beside her.

“Can I do that for you?” West asks, gesturing to where she’s cutting the meat. I have to admit, it did seem weird having her doing all the work for us. I wanted to be able to do things for her, but we have no idea what we’re doing out here.

“After. You need to eat first, you guys are probably starving.”

“Aren’t you?” he fires back.

She shrugs as she answers, “I’m fine.” Liar. I haven't seen her eat anything all day, and she’s been doing far more than we have.

When we all get a big chunk of meat, West stays standing beside her, holding out another empty banana leaf. When she looks at him in question, he explains, “Put some on here for yourself. I’ll cut a piece for Mo-Mo.”

“I can do it,” she says, leaning back in to cut another piece.

“I know you can, but you don’t have to, let me help,” West says. His fingers twitch with the struggle to not take the knife from her. But she’s so quick, cutting a chunk off and handing it up to Mo-Mo on her shoulder, that West doesn’t stand a chance at helping her.

His shoulders sag in defeat as she cuts herself a piece of meat and places it on the leaf he holds out before taking the whole thing from him. “Thank you,” she says quietly.

West huffs in annoyance. “Don’t thank me, Zee. You did all the work.”

Everyone takes a seat around the fire and I watch Zee as she frowns in West’s direction before looking back at her food.

“Are you mad at me?” My eyebrows rise in surprise at her question, wondering who she’s talking to, and when West lifts his eyes to her, she’s staring back at him, looking worried.

“Who? Me?” he asks in confusion. She nods, nervously biting her lip. “No, Zee, of course not. I just wish I could do more to help you.”

“Oh,” she says, her cheeks turning pink as she picks at her food.

West is right, though. She’s done so much for us and we’ve done nothing for her. We need to think of a way to repay her. My mind drifts to our meager possessions and an idea starts to form. How long has it been since she’s used shampoo? When I’ve been close enough to smell her, she had a faint floral scent, so she must be using something natural to wash with, but I doubt anything can beat a good hair wash, especially with long hair like hers.

“How about tomorrow, after you show us the mangos, you let us do something for you?” I ask, smiling at the thought of my idea.

“Like what?” she asks with a tilt of her head.

“It’s a surprise,” I tell her with a grin. She narrows her eyes at me, making me laugh. “It’s a good surprise, I promise.”

“We’ll see.”

“Great!” I say with excitement. King looks at me in question, so I mouth the word later, and he nods.

“Zee, this meat is delicious,” King says right before he takes another huge bite.

“Forgetting the fact that we’d probably be dead or seriously injured if you hadn’t saved us from Brutus,” I say, gaining her attention, “we probably would have starved to death pretty quickly out here. I don’t think we’ve said it yet, but thank you for everything you’ve done for us.”

Her cheeks grow red as she averts her gaze, biting into her meat as she nods in answer.

“Getting us all the fruit on our first day really helped us out,” King adds, putting it out there that we know she’s been helping us before we even met her. “Not to mention those logs you found for us to help keep the raft down.” My eyes move to her in surprise. I hadn’t put that one together yet.

“And you left out the waterskins for all three of us, didn’t you?” I ask, suddenly realizing how much she’s really been helping us since day one. I try to imagine what it would have been like here, without all that fruit, without the waterskins, without the hut. We would be struggling, that’s for sure.

I watch her carefully as she finishes her mouthful of food before she responds. “It’s not a big deal,” she says with a shrug.

“It was to us,” Kingsley tells her. She just shrugs shyly and takes another bite, avoiding eye contact with any of us.

After we finish eating, Zee shows us how to make the fire smolder for the jerky drying process. It’s crazy how much she knows, proving she’s been out here awhile. I’m dying to ask about the grave, and if she knew the person buried there, but this is the longest she’s spent around us and I don’t want to wreck it.

“Tink, I’m going to go fill our waterskins before it gets dark, do you want to come with me?” I ask, hoping for some more time with her before she inevitably runs off for the night.

“Sure, mine’s empty anyway,” she says, shaking her own waterskin.

“You should have told us earlier, Zee,” West says in frustration.

She just shrugs and moves to join me as we exit camp, taking the path towards the waterfall. She tries to take one of the guys' waterskins I’m carrying, but I pull it away from her with a smile and shake my head. “Nope, I can carry them.”

“But I want to help.”

I laugh at her, and without thinking, grab her hand and shake my head. “Tink, you’ve done so much for us already. Let me carry the water. It’s the very least I can do.”

When she doesn’t answer, I glance at her and see her staring down at our entwined hands as we walk along the path. Shit. I’m supposed to be giving her space, the incident with the hug earlier should have me remembering to take things slow. But since she doesn't look like she’s freaking out, I decide to see what she does.

She doesn’t say anything and eventually she gives my hand a tiny squeeze, like she’s trying to figure out if she likes it. Then she turns back to watch the path in front of us, leaving our hands connected.

Somehow, that small victory makes me feel like I’ve just climbed a mountain with her, and I can’t stop from smiling the rest of the way to the waterfall.

As we fill the waterskins, I can’t help but ask her questions, dying to know more about this enticing little creature.

“So, Tink. Tell me something about you.”

“Like what?” she asks, watching the water flow into her waterskin.

“Anything, we barely know anything about you.”

“My favorite color used to be green.”

My eyebrows lift in surprise at the randomness of that fact. “Used to be?” I ask for clarification.

“Before I came here. Now, surrounded by green twenty-four seven… I’d give almost anything for another color. Maybe pink? I haven’t seen anything pink in such a long time,” she says wistfully.

“How long, Tink?” I ask quietly, desperate to know the answer to that burning question.

Her lips press together tightly and she shakes her head.

I’m feeling desperate for answers, so I ask, “Why won’t you tell us anything, Zee? Why keep it a secret?”

She stands up quickly and takes a step back from me. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“But why?”

“I have to go, it’s getting late,” she says as she turns and runs towards the trees.

“Zee, no wait! I’m sorry! You don’t have to answer anything!” When she disappears between the trees, I yell again. “Zee? I’m sorry!” I wait a few more minutes and when she doesn’t return, I gather our three filled waterskins and walk back to camp full of frustration and guilt.

Chapter seventeen

Darla

Iclimb into my hammock and lay back with a sigh, my mind running a hundred miles a minute. I wasn’t even sure what I felt right now. I’m frustrated at Bower for pushing me for answers, but I’m also frustrated at myself for running.

I didn’t really have an excuse for not telling them anything, other than I know that once I start answering, they’ll get to the questions that I really don’t want to answer. I don’t even want to think about them.

The sky quickly starts to darken. Butchering Brutus took most of the day since he was so big. The jerky should be ready in the morning, which gives me tonight to myself, to try to calm down.

It was strange being around people again. I was still wary of them, but I wasn’t terrified anymore. I know I’ve only known them for a couple of days, but they had an opportunity to do anything to me when I passed out, and they did nothing except clean me and put me to bed.

I glance down at the red marks on my arms. Yeah, they cleaned those, too. They’re already looking better.

If anything, I just feel nervous that they are going to think I’m weird or crazy, and for some reason, it feels important that they like me. I roll on my side and my eyes search for Steve. Crap shells! I left him in my bag by the fire. I know I could go down and get it, but after the way I ran out of there, I’m too embarrassed to show my face just yet. I can sleep without Steve for another night.

“Tink!” Bower’s voice has me sitting up in my hammock in alert. “Tink, I have your bag here for you!” My eyes widen in surprise. How did he know I needed that? “I’m gonna put it at the base of this tree, by the balcony.”

I wait a few minutes, then quietly climb down the tree. When I see my bag resting at the first juncture of branches, a wide smile splits my face as I quickly drop down to grab it, snatching it up and throwing the strap over my head.

As I turn to climb back up, my eyes catch on a small movement and I realize Weston is standing outside the hut, leaning against it with his arms crossed as he assesses me. I freeze, wondering if this was some sort of trap. But when he doesn’t move, I slowly reach out to grab a branch and he just watches me silently.

When I turn away to see where I’m going, I hear him whisper, “Goodnight, Zee.”

I leap up to the next branch as I contemplate replying. But by the time I decide that I should say something, it’s been way too long and I’m halfway up the tree.

Why am I so awkward?

“Probably because you’ve been stranded on a desert island for fifteen years, with only a lemur, and a rock as friends,” I tell myself while shaking my head. Even I think that sounds crazy.

When I get back to my hammock, I clutch Steve to my chest and softly smile, thinking about how I ran out on Bower but he still made sure I got my bag back, without having to go and talk to him. My chest warms at the thought.

My mind shifts to Weston’s watchful gaze as I traversed the tree. What was he thinking? Why was he watching me like that? How was it these three were already having such a strong effect on me after such a short time?

Did I need to distance myself from them? To keep myself safe? Or should I give in to the temptation to be around them? I let those thoughts spin in my head as I drift off to another fitful sleep.

I moan as the sun starts to rise, waking me up. The nightmares wake me most nights, but normally I get a nap in during the day to recover my sleep. I didn't have that these past two days and I’m starting to feel the lack of sleep. I’ll have to make sure I get one in today or I’ll be too exhausted to do anything.

After cleaning my teeth, I head down to the ground to check on the jerky. The camp is quiet, so I assume the guys are all still asleep. I feel a little more relaxed without them watching me, so I take my time checking the meat.

“Good morning, Zee,” someone says from behind me. I quickly pull McStabby from its sheath and spin around with it pointed at… Weston. When he sees my knife, he takes a quick step backwards and raises his hands in defeat. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”

I let out the breath and lower my knife, turning back to the meat. “I didn’t hear you come down.” Which was surprising since I normally hear everything. Damn, I was losing my senses already around these guys. That was gonna get me killed, just hopefully, not by them.

“Is the jerky ready?” he asks as he slowly moves up beside me to see what I’m doing.

“No, probably another day.” I stand up straight and look at Weston. He’s just staring at me with an expressionless look on his face. I’d love to know what he’s thinking right now. After a minute of awkward staring, I adjust my bag and break eye contact.

“I’m going to go get some mangos. Do you…” I trail off as I nervously glance back at him. “Do you want to come?”

A small smile graces his lips, then he nods. “I’ll go grab my bag.”

I shake my head. “You won’t need it, mine will carry enough for one each. We don’t want to pick more than we can eat in one day.”

“That’s smart,” he says with a nod.

I lead the way out of camp and we head towards the beach in silence. I’ve spoken to Weston the least of all three of them, and he’s the hardest to read. I’m not really sure what he thinks of me. Sometimes I think he’s barely tolerating me.

The silence between us seems to turn into tension as my hands wring the strap of my bag. I thought he'd say something by now and the silence feels like it will literally kill me, but I have no idea how to do small talk.

I’m saved by the need to think of what to say to him when we arrive on the beach and I immediately spot Bob heading straight for us. “Look out!” I cry, as I try to push Weston out of the way. But as my hands press into his firm chest, he doesn’t budge. Then he surprises me by wrapping his body around mine and turning me away from Bob, giving him his back.

Bob squawks, so I peek out from where I’m pressed against Weston’s chest to see him flying away.

I take a moment to let myself calm down as I realize Weston is still holding me tightly against him. It feels like every nerve in my body is alight for the first time in years. I press my nose against his chest and inhale deeply. He smells of the ocean and a tinge of fire.

The urge to know what it would be like to hug him for real overtakes my brain and I slowly slide my arms around his back. They come nowhere near being able to reach each other, but I press my palms to his back and gently squeeze him, like he’s still doing to me.

His body tenses up and I freeze. Crab sucker! What the hell am I doing?

I quickly pull back and his arms loosen, letting me go as I take a couple nervous steps backwards. I look up at him, expecting to see him look as uncomfortable as I suddenly feel, but I’m quickly distracted by the bird shit on his head.

“Oh my god, Weston! You’ve been hit!” A small smile tugs at his lips and I quickly turn to the beach, taking a few quick steps as I search for the culprit. “Bob!” I yell, looking up and down the beach. “You dirty little crab sucker! Get your ass back here so I can have you for dinner!”

I stomp towards the water as I grumble to myself. “Chicken nuggies would be perfect with some bacon. Where the hell is that damn bird? I’ll teach him!”

“Zee?” I turn, having forgotten that Weston was still here. “Do you actually plan to catch that seagull?”

I frown in anger, seeing Weston covered in Bob’s shit. “Yes! He can’t do that to you and get away with it.”

“It’s okay, I’ll just wash it off.”

“That’s not good enough,” I say, crossing my arms in frustration.

“Why not? Are you really this mad? At a seagull?” I nod my head as I grind my jaw in anger. “Why?”

“Cause he was aiming for me, and you—you protected me,” I admit, dropping my arms to my sides as my anger turns into frustration and confusion about my own feelings.

“Are you mad at him? Or are you mad at me?” he asks, taking a few steps closer, only a couple feet now separating us.

I have to tilt my head up to meet his gaze. “I’m not mad at you,” I say quietly as I stare into his piercing hazel eyes.

“Then what are you feeling right now?” he asks, moving even closer.

“Confused.”

“About what?”

“Why did you do that? I was trying to save you,” I say, trying very hard not to pout.

He lowers himself onto one knee, bringing his face much closer to mine, and slowly reaches for one of my hands. I meet him halfway and he pulls it up between both of his giant hands as he speaks. “Zee, if I had it my way, I’ll always be the one saving you, not the other way around.”

I let out a small gasp of surprise. “You don't even know me.”

A slow smile covers his face as he gives me a knowing look. “And you don’t know me, and yet you just tried to save me from a…” he trails off, clearly unsure of what to call what just happened.

“A fly by pooping?” I offer.

He lets out a small laugh, making my heart leap in my chest and the sound of his husky voice. “Yeah, that. I’m gonna quickly go wash this off. Will you guard my clothes for me from any more seagull assassins?”

I nod my head, my eyes wide as he pulls off his too-tight t-shirt. His naked chest is right there in front of me. If I reached out, I could probably feel his abs. I swallow heavily and he tosses his shirt at me, a small smirk playing on his lips.

Ah crap shells, am I drooling?

When he pulls his jeans off, I discreetly check and am relieved to see I’m not. But that probably won’t last long with this giant greek god of a man standing in front of me in nothing but a pair of tight black boxer shorts.

I try to avert my gaze from his substantial package, but it’s hard not to stare. My eyes catch on his gigantic thighs, then his flexing biceps. He passes his pants to me and I try not to make any noise as my fingers brush his.

What the hell is happening to me right now?

He heads towards the ocean, and I get a good glimpse of his tight ass. “Sweet baby beefcake!” I whisper to myself as I watch him dive into the water. I let out a puff of air and groan. “He has no right looking that yummy when I look like this.”

“I think you look fucking edible,” someone says behind me, making me scream as I spin and throw Weston’s clothes at them.

Bower laughs as he catches them easily. My wide eyes bounce between him and Kingsley, standing only a few feet behind me.

“How long have you two been standing there?” I ask nervously.

“Just long enough to hear you refer to West as a beefcake. I bet he’ll like that, won’t he, King?” He asks with a smirk as he turns to King.

“Oh my god, you can NOT tell him that!” I beg desperately. Then I drop my head and groan. I have never felt so embarrassed in my life.

“Awe, Tink, don’t be shy. You know he’d be flattered.”

“Don’t mind Bower, sweetheart. He’s just jealous.”

I spread my fingers wide so I can peek out between them. “Jealous?”

“Yeah, he wants you to look at him like that. I guess he didn't know you were yesterday.”

“Kingsley!” I cry in frustration, dropping my arms as I turn away from them and immediately bump into Weston’s bare, wet chest. “Sweet baby muscles, kill me now,” I groan as his hands come out to grip my upper arms in support.

“Why is your face so red? Is it the sun? Do we need to get you in the shade?” Weston asks, sounding worried.

“Oh, she’s heating up alright, but not from the sun,” Bower says with a chuckle.

“Can we just go now, please?” I groan, as West lets go of my arms and grabs his clothes from Bower. I avert my gaze, to try to avoid embarrassing myself any further.

“Of course. You ready to show us where the mango grove is?” West asks. I take a peek in his direction and am relieved to see he’s fully clothed. But I frown, realizing he really isn't any less attractive like this. In fact, I still have an urge to climb him like a tree and see what he could do with those big hands of his.

“What are you thinking about right now?” Bower whispers right beside my ear, making me squeak as I jump in surprise.

“Nothing!” I say a little too quickly.

“Hmm, if you say so,” he says with a smirk. I avert my gaze and start heading down to the beach towards the mangos, hoping that if I don’t see them, I won’t make a fool of myself anymore.

I’m not sure what’s gotten into me, or them, this morning, but I’m worried if I spend too much time around them I’ll end up doing something stupid, like licking their abs to see if they taste as good as they look.

Chapter eighteen

Weston

Igive Bower a warning glare as we follow Zee down the beach.

“What?”

“You know what. Stop pushing her, you’ll make her run again,” I warn him as I watch Zee’s hips sway back and forth, practically mesmerizing me.

She might be a flight risk, and still nervous around us, but she’s come incredibly far in the past two days. If that seagull hadn’t tried to dive bomb her, I never would have been able to get that close. And holding her in my arms like that… it cemented something in my mind that my heart already knew.

I wanted her.

There were two problems with that. One was Bower and King’s obvious attraction to her and the other was… much more complicated.

If Reece does manage to rescue us, I’d be putting her in danger by staying close to her. I’m not sure why Bower and King think the plane was sabotaged to get to them, because I know it was meant for me. After all, it’s not the first plane crash I’ve been in.

The first one was when I was in the Marines and was flying a squadron of men out of a restricted zone after they completed their mission. But something went wrong with the plane's electronics, almost like an EMP had gone off, frying the computer system. I wasn’t able to keep the plane up and when it took a dive, it started spinning and hit the ground tail end first. That’s the only reason I was the sole survivor. I had been alone in the cockpit and it was the only part of the plane that didn’t smash into the ground.

I managed to find my way to civilization, and when I was dishonorably discharged for crashing the plane, it confirmed for me that something wasn’t right. I believe those soldiers were taken out on purpose, and the only reason I was still alive was because I wasn't on the ground with them, I hadn’t seen what they had.

It’s been five years, but maybe now they see me as a loose end that they need to tie up. I couldn’t imagine King and Bower having an enemy that wants them dead so bad they’d sabotage a plane to get to them.

Either way, it meant Zee was at risk after we get rescued. I wonder if she has family out there waiting for her? She’s old enough she could have children, or a husband. The thought has my stomach dropping with worry. We really know nothing about her, she could have an entire family waiting for her back home.

But as I watch her bare feet step off the beach and onto the jungle floor, it reminds me that she isn’t someone who’s been here a short time. I just can’t figure out exactly how long she would need to be here to be able to accomplish what she has. The way she butchered the boar and made the jerky like a pro tells me she’s been here at least a year.

Did she build those huts herself? That would have taken a really long time considering her only tool seems to be her knife. And the way she climbs trees and swings on vines. I’m betting she’s been here for a couple of years at least. And then there’s the grave. If it is, in fact, her father, it looked like it’d been there awhile, too. How long has she been on her own?

I notice Zee’s stopped walking as she waits for us to catch up to her. “We are heading into boar territory,” she whispers quietly to us. “We need to pass it to reach the grove. Brutus was the main one to look out for, so it shouldn’t be so bad now he’s gone. But there are still plenty of other aggressive ones out here. How are you guys at climbing trees?”

She glances at each of us and I shrug. “I’m sure I could climb.” The other two nod in agreement.

“Good, if we hear one coming, you need to get yourself off the ground as quickly as possible. Preferably without being seen, as some of them will stick around, hoping you’ll come back down. They might be holding a grudge now that Brutus is gone.” Her eyes take in each of us again and she frowns.

“Try to be as quiet as possible, I’ll yell ‘up’ when I hear any coming.” I nod in agreement as she glances at me, her lips twisting in thought before she looks down at her bag.

The tension hums between us, thick and silent, as she reaches in and pulls out my knife. I’d forgotten I’d given it to her as a show of trust and safety.

“Take it,” she says, handing it out to me. My brows lift slightly in surprise. I slowly reach out to take it from her, waiting to see if she’ll suddenly snatch it away, but she doesn’t. As my fingertips brush her palm, her hand trembles almost imperceptibly, a small shiver rippling through her, making my chest tighten in enjoyment of her reaction to me.

“Thank you.” I put it in my pocket as she nods, then turns and starts walking cautiously through the jungle.

I glance at the others and King nods in approval while Bower gives me a thumbs up. They both seem to understand how huge that action was as well. Giving me back my knife, the only real weapon besides her own on this island, was a big step forward. It meant she trusts me. Not just a little, but enough to give me her back, knowing I’m armed.

We walk in silence for about ten minutes before she calls out, “Up!” Jumping onto a nearby branch so quickly, I barely see her move. The three of us quickly try to find branches at the right height and thickness, but we clearly take too long, as we’re all still on the ground when three boars suddenly appear in front of us.

All six of us freeze, locked in a standoff. Everyone’s trying to figure out who the real threat is. Then, out of nowhere, Zee drops from above, landing in a low crouch between us. Knife in hand, she lets out a fierce scream at the boar. “Ahh!”

The sound cuts through the clearing like a war cry. The boars jerk in surprise, then quickly turn, running off the way they came. I let out the breath I was holding as she stands up straight and turns to face us with a frown. “You guys were way too slow.”

“Can I offer an alternative?” King asks, and she looks at him in question. “I understand why you’ve needed to hide when they come, especially with that big guy, Brutus, out here, but you aren’t alone anymore. I think the four of us together are probably pretty intimidating to them now.”

I nod my head in agreement. “It’s unlikely we will be able to climb up even a quarter as fast as you can. And I admit, I don’t really know anything about wild boar, but the three of us aren't exactly small, I imagine most of them will turn away unless they are defending their young.”

She tilts her head to the side as she listens to our idea and we wait patiently as she seems to consider it. “I see what you’re saying. And you are pretty slow…”

“Hey!” Bower complains indignantly. “I can be pretty fast when I need to be, just maybe not when it comes to climbing trees.”

“Hmm…” she says, tapping her closed lips with her finger as she considers us. “Okay, it’s probably our best shot. We’ll try it your way.”

“Thanks, Tink, now how much further? I’m starving.”

“You’re always starving,” King says with a roll of his eyes.

“Only a couple of minutes, come on.” She motions for us to follow her as she starts walking again.

This time, I’m a little more on guard as I realize if she’s not going to jump into a tree when faced with danger, that puts her at risk.

What are the chances I can convince her to still climb to safety while we stay on the ground? I have a feeling she won’t like that. That means I need to be more aware so I can keep her safe. Has she ever faced a group of them head on before? It seemed like she knew what to do.

It’s only a couple minutes later when she stops walking and calls, “Incoming!” I don’t hesitate to move in front of her as the other two move to her sides.

“Hey!” she exclaims in annoyance from behind my back. I don’t get a chance to answer her before two boars, larger than the previous ones and sporting massive tusks, emerge from the trees in front of me.

I mimic the way Zee handled the previous ones, shouting “Ahh!” as I hold my knife in one hand and raise both arms in the air, taking a quick, threatening step towards them.

They seem to freeze for a moment before they turn tail and run. Once I’m sure they aren’t coming back, I lower my arms and turn to face an angry Zee. She has her arms crossed over her chest and an adorable pout on her face. It’s ridiculous and cute at the same time, and it takes everything I have not to smile.

“Why did you do that? I could have handled them!” she says in frustration.

I lean down towards her so my face is in line with hers. When I stop with only a foot between our faces, her arms drop to her sides and her eyes go wide with surprise.

“Baby, just because you can protect yourself doesn't mean you have to. Not now we’re here to do it for you.”

She swallows heavily before she speaks, her voice quiet and uncertain. “I wasn’t protecting myself, I was protecting you.”

I finally allow myself to smile at her before I slowly reach out and cup her cheek. She inhales sharply, but doesn’t pull away, so I let my thumb stroke over her soft skin. I lower my voice as I tell her, “Regardless, from now on, we’re always going to make sure you're safe.”

“But, why?”

“Because we like you.”

“And you deserve it. You’ve been nothing but kind, helpful and sweet since we arrived here, even before we knew you existed,” King adds from beside her.

“You better get used to it, Tink. We aren’t budging on this,” Bower tells her with an unusually serious look on his face. I lower my hand and stand up straight as her eyes bounce between us.

Finally, she shakes her head and lets out a breath of air. “Let’s just get going, we’re almost there.” I catch King’s eye and smirk. She didn’t argue, that’s something.

A couple minutes later, we arrive at the mango grove and she shows us how to pick ripe ones.

As we sit side by side, quietly slicing mangoes, I can’t stop glancing at her out of the corner of my eye. Zee peels fruit with fast, steady movements, like she’s done this a thousand times before.

I chew slowly, my mind drifting. She’s like an engine running with a few misfires, steady one moment, then jerking in a direction I didn’t see coming. If her brain were a carburetor, I’d have it dismantled by now, every piece laid out and examined, then cleaned and put back together, making it run like new. But with Zee… I don’t know which pieces need fixing, not really, but I keep trying to figure it out, anyway.

“Hey, Zee?” King asks cautiously as he waits for her to look at him. “Do you think when we get back to the beach, you could try to teach us how to light a fire quickly?”

“You want me to show you at the beach?” she asks in confusion.

“Yeah, we need to be able to light the woodpile as quickly as possible if we see a plane or boat.”

“Oh, uh, sure,” she says, dropping her eyes to look at her last slice of mango. Frowning, I glance over at King. He shakes his head and shrugs, telling me he doesn’t know what that’s about either. Does she not want us to know how to do that? What possible reason could she have?

“Should we take back some mangos for later?” Bower asks, getting to his feet.

“Yeah, just four though. Zee said not to take more than we can eat in a day,” I tell him as the rest of us stand.

“That’s smart,” King says, his eyes roaming the trees for the best ones to pick.

“I’ve got one,” Bower says, pulling one down.

“Here, I’ll take it,” Zee says, reaching for it.

But he quickly pulls it to his chest and shakes his head. “Nope. I’m carrying them, I brought my bag, see?” He points to the bag at his side. I’m relieved to see he has that, she hadn’t let me get mine earlier, and I felt weird about her carrying all of them back. I knew they weren’t heavy, but four mangoes weren’t exactly light either.

King and I quickly pick three more between us and pass them to Bower before she can get any in her bag. When she realizes what we’re doing, she narrows her eyes at us, making Bower smirk. “Sorry, Tink. It’s in our nature to take care of you, don’t take this away from us, okay?”

She rolls her eyes and walks past us. “Come on, let’s get out of here before you decide to carry me, too.”

“Don’t tempt me,” I whisper under my breath.

When we make it back to the beach, I notice the yellow of our rafts up ahead. I considered myself incredibly lucky that my parachute pack came equipped with a small raft. It was almost a quarter of the size of the one Bower and King rode in on, but it saved my life and got me here. The night I spent out at sea had been the most terrifying of my life, and I hope to never have to go through anything like that again.

I scan the sky and sea and see no sign of rescue. I wonder how often Zee is out here, looking for help? The guys built the woodpile and SOS sign, so I wonder what her plan was if she ever saw a passing boat.

“Zee?”

“Hmm?” She waits for me to catch up to her, so we can walk side by side.

“Have you ever seen a plane or ship?”

“I saw your plane,” she says, surprising us. For some reason, I hadn't considered that.

“You saw it crash?” I ask.

“Yeah,” she says quietly as we continue walking.

“Do you see many planes or boats?”

“Only one other.”

“I know you aren’t ready to talk about what happened yet or how long you’ve been here.” Her body tenses up, so I continue quickly. “But will you tell me, were you in a plane crash, too?”

She’s quiet for a minute and just when I give up hope of an answer, she speaks. “Yes.”

Driven by the need to comfort her, I gently wrap an arm around her shoulders and ease her against my side. When her head rests lightly against my chest, I finally let out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Across from us, Bower catches my eye and flashes an approving smile, forming an ‘okay’ with his fingers.

My lips twitch in amusement as I gently rub her arm.

“We’re in this together now, Zee. Everything’s going to be okay.”

Chapter nineteen

Darla

Icrouch down on the sand, clearing a small patch with my hand before placing the bundle of dried moss I collected in the center.

“You want something dry and soft like this moss, to catch the spark.” I tell them as I pull out my knife and a small rock.

Weston kneels beside me. I get a whiff of his scent as he leans forward, resting his arm across his knee. He smells like the ocean and mangoes, and I lick my lips, my mouth watering in approval.

What the hell, Zee?

I shake my head of that thought and notice he’s watching my hands like he’s trying to memorize every twitch of my fingers. “And the knife?” he asks, his voice lower now.

I hand it to him, my fingers brushing his. My pulse jumps, betraying me. “Strike it hard and fast against the rock. The angle matters,” I say quickly, pulling back like I’ve touched something hot. He nods, eyes flicking up to meet mine for half a second before dropping to the blade again.

I think about how he wrapped his around me on our walk here. I almost flung it off, but then the strangest thing happened, I started to feel… safe. It was a strange and welcome feeling, although not completely foreign to me. There was a time I felt like that, back before I arrived here.

I’m not sure what to think about the fact that I’m starting to feel safe around these men, starting to trust them. What’s the end goal here? It’s clear they plan on doing everything they can to be rescued, but leaving this island is not something I’m interested in, not anymore.

This is my home now, I know how to survive here and who my enemies are. The same can’t be said if I were to leave this island.

Weston strikes the rock again. Sparks dance, but the moss doesn’t catch. I reach over, placing my hand on his to adjust the angle. My fingers tremble against his knuckles. “Like this,” I murmur. His eyes lift again, slower this time, and the look he gives me makes my stomach flip.

I snatch my hand back. “Try again,” I say, trying to act like the way he’s looking at me doesn’t make my body react in a way that I don’t completely understand.

Kingsley and Bower hover nearby, quiet for once, and I can feel their curiosity pressing in around me. I don’t think they even realize how loud their presence is. After fifteen years of silence, three men just existing nearby feels like a thunderstorm under my skin.

He tries again, this time exactly the way I showed him. Sparks jump, the moss quickly catches, and a thin thread of smoke rises up. I lean back, heart thudding louder than the tiny crackle of the budding flame.

Bower grins, crouching on the other side. “That was hot.” My eyes dart to his, unsure of his meaning, but he just smirks like he enjoys making me squirm.

Kingsley claps Weston on the back. “Look at you, Mr. Survivalist.”

Weston glances at me instead of responding, like he's gauging my reaction.

I quickly look away, telling him, “Good job,” then focus on coaxing the flame bigger, feeding it with twigs and dry leaves until it’s steady. The warmth brushes my skin, but it does nothing to ease the chill running down my spine. My body’s confused. Too many new sensations. Too much attention. I’m not used to it.

Kingsley crouches nearby, eyeing the small flame with a nod of approval. He nudges a stick toward the edge of the fire, then pulls it back with a faint scowl as a spark flies towards his foot. “That almost got my shoe,” he mutters under his breath.

Bower laughs, shaking his head. “They were doomed the minute you got off the plane.”

“They’re Amiri,” Kingsley replies quietly, like that should explain everything.

Bower snorts. “Don’t worry, man. Give it a few more days and we’ll all be barefoot and wearing shorts made from boar hide.”

“As long as Zee makes them,” Kingsley replies. “If it’s up to us, we’d probably end up wearing coconut shells and leaf fronds. Or worse—Weston gets creative and we end up in loincloths that fall off when we sneeze.”

Weston raises an eyebrow. “I’ll remember that when your ass is hanging out of a leaf skirt.”

That sets them off. Their laughter blends, bouncing across the sand, filling the space around me. The warmth of it brushes against me like sunlight, and for a breath, I almost lean into it.

But then the sound swells, and something inside me snaps.

That sound. The deep, easy laughter of men.

It hits me like a slap.

Suddenly, I’m not on the beach anymore. I’m thirteen again, heart pounding as the laughter of strange men echoes around me in the jungle. My body remembers before my mind does. The panic climbs fast. Cold sweat breaks out on my neck. I can’t breathe.

I stumble to my feet and the laughter cuts off abruptly. But it’s too late, I need to get out of here, I need to breathe.

“Zee?” Weston asks, his voice softer than usual. But I can’t hear it properly over the roar in my ears.

“I have to go,” I choke out, already backing away. My feet move on instinct, the way they always do when the world starts closing in.

“Wait—” Kingsley starts, but I don’t stop, my feet pound on the jungle floor as I race back to my hammock, to my safe place.

I need space. Air. Distance. Anything to stop the storm breaking loose inside me. I’m aware that I’ve left McStabby at the beach, but right now, I don't care, I just need to be alone so I can breathe again. Being around them right now reminds me too much of the past and I can’t handle it.

I blink and find myself lying in my hammock, Steve clutched to my chest. I don’t even remember making it back here, my mind mostly blacking out as instinct drove me to run.

The sun is still bright in the sky, but I feel emotionally exhausted. That, combined with my lack of sleep lately, has my eyelids drifting closed.

When I open them again, the sun has moved. It looks like it will be nighttime soon. I put Steve back in his resting spot between branches and make my way down the tree.

I don’t want to see anyone right now, but there are some things I need to do before it gets too dark. Food, water and a bathroom break.

I move through the trees for a long while before I make my way to the ground. I stand there for a minute, listening for any signs of them, and when I’m sure they aren’t here, I move to the pond and scoop up handfuls of water, quenching my thirst and making sure that I drink enough to last me until morning. My waterskin was in my bag that I stupidly left at the beach. Maybe I should go back and get it? They probably aren’t there anymore, anyway.

But when I see where the sun is, the jungle already starting to darken, I decide I don’t have time. I find a few guavas, as they’re the closest fruit, and eat one straight away, before slowly making my way back to my hammock.

When I reach my tree, I debate which way to go. Up to the safety of my hammock, or down, towards where the guys probably are.

“Just a quick peek, to make sure they’re okay,” I whisper, trying to convince myself this is for them, not me.

As I get lower I see my bag, sitting in the same place Bower put it last time, at the base of the trunk, behind the hut. Knowing they left it for me, even after I ran out on them so rudely, makes my chest constrict with guilt, but there’s something else there, too… hope.

I hear murmuring from inside, so I quietly make my way around the hut and closer to the door, where their voices are loudest.

“... No idea.” I recognize Kingsley's voice and strain my ears to try to pick up more of their conversation.

“Did I do something wrong?” Bower asks, making the guilt in my chest intensify.

“No, she’s suffering. Something clearly triggered her, but I don’t think it was anything we did, “ Weston tells them. “That’s the thing about trauma. The smallest thing can set it off; a look, a gesture of the hand, a laugh.”

I suck in a sharp breath. Is that what this is? Trauma?

My mind races and I, once again, flee from them. “We need to give her time and space, but I don’t think we should stay…” Kingsley’s words trailing off as I loop my bag over my head and climb back up to the safety of my hammock.

I clean my teeth and change into the black ACDC t-shirt. Grabbing Steve, I lay back in my hammock as their words bounce around my head.

Trauma.

Of course, I know what trauma is, but I never associated the word with myself before. It feels too… big, too important. What I went through was awful, but was it traumatizing?

I think about my reaction to blood on my hands, to the way I mistook a hug for an attack, to how their laughter sent me running, to my nightmares and how thunderstorms give me panic attacks.

Yeah… maybe it was trauma. How do people deal with this on the mainland? I try to remember if I’ve seen anything on a tv show, but I only recall people having trauma, not what they did to help with it.

Well, I’ve survived fifteen years by trying to ignore mine and burying it deep inside. That’s worked for me so far, so there’s no need to change things now.

The next morning, I’m groggy again, the nightmares constantly waking me up.

I feel guilty for making Bower think he did something wrong yesterday, so I decide to bring some breakfast as a peace offering, hoping they don’t ask me about what happened.

I don’t hear them calling my name this morning, so they’ve either given up on me, or they’re still asleep.

I climb down and the soft sounds of their snoring reach my ears, making my lips twitch in amusement. Some people might hate the sound of snoring, but I find it comforting, it reminds me that I’m not alone.

I continue down to the ground, fill up my waterskin and pick a handful of plums, all before they wake up. So when they finally emerge from their hut, they find me sitting around the unlit fire pit, flipping the jerky.

“Zee! You’re here,” Bower says excitedly as he makes his way down with his backpack on his shoulder. I stand and when he gets closer, he seems to stop himself short a few feet from me, his hands clenching at his sides.

“Good morning, Bower. Breakfast?” I hold out two plums and a leaf with several pieces of jerky, it's not quite ready to package, but it’s definitely edible.

His eyes widen in surprise, but he takes my offering quickly. “Thanks, I’m starving.”

Kingsley snorts, coming up beside him. “When are you not?”

“Good morning, Kingsley.” I hold out his breakfast and he hesitates a second before taking it, then sits on one of the rocks around the fire pit beside Bower.

The two of them eat silently, both offering me small smiles of reassurance.

“Did you eat?” I spin around, not having expected Weston to be standing right behind me.

“What?” I ask, his large presence making my mind go blank.

“I asked if you’ve eaten yet.”

“Oh, ah, not yet.”

“Sit,” he says, pointing at one of the rocks. I open my mouth to argue but he narrows his eyes at me. I remember what he said when I first cooked the boar, and how he wanted me to eat before himself. It seemed to genuinely upset him that I wouldn’t eat first.

With guilt about last night still driving me, I sit down where he’s still pointing and pull out two plums, offering him one as I bite into the other.

He watches me for a moment, then takes the fruit and sits beside me, taking a bite himself. I offer him some jerky, making sure he sees me take a bit of a piece first.

“Eep!”

My little buddy finally decides to make an appearance as he jumps down onto my shoulder and grabs the half eaten plum from my hand.

Weston frowns at him but doesn’t comment. It’s not like I could stop Mo-Mo from stealing from me, even if I wanted to.

I pull out two more plums and toss one at Weston so he can’t refuse it, biting into my own quickly. These guys need a lot more food than I do, so I’ll have to take that into account next time I gather food.

He stares at me, his intense gaze bouncing between my eyes and my mouth. It’s strange, having him watch me like this, not eating anything until I do. He’s like the opposite of Mo-Mo.

I turn to my friend and run a finger down his striped tail. “What have you been up to?” I give the spot behind his ear a little scratch. He doesn't reply, just shoves the plum into his mouth and takes another bite.

“Hmm, that busy, huh?” When he finishes, he trills a little at me, maybe telling me exactly what he’s been up to for all I know, then he jumps off my lap and runs back into the jungle.

I finish my plum, throwing the pit into the fire and taking a sip of water as I look around at the others.

Bower rubs his hands together, grinning at me with excitement. “Are you ready, Tink?”

“Uhh… ready for what, exactly?” I ask in confusion.

“Your surprise! Remember? We were going to do it yesterday, but…” he trails off, obviously not wanting to call me out on running away.

I do recall him saying something about a surprise, but with everything that’s happened in the past day, I completely forgot.

“Right, so… what is it?” I ask, glancing around for a clue, but all I see is his backpack on the ground, which looks full.

“I’ll tell you when we get to the waterfall, come on.” He reaches for my hand, but stops before he makes contact. Then he just holds his hand there and waits, giving me the chance to say no.

I try to stop myself from smiling at his attempt to not freak me out but end up twisting my lips in what I’m sure is a strange expression. I take his offered hand, and a full-blown smile covers his face, once again reminding me how handsome he is. His hair is pulled back in a messy bun and the stubble around his jaw just adds to his rugged good looks.

He grabs his bag and swings it over his shoulder, then pulls me with him down the path, the other two right behind us. Sometimes he seems so relaxed here, it’s hard to imagine him doing anything else. Unlike the other two, he seems much more calm about being stranded on a deserted island.

“Bower?”

“Yes, Tink?”

“What do you do, you know, back in the real world? Did you have a job?”

I see a spark of surprise in his eyes before he nods. “I do, King, Reece and I created our own tech company, Titan Tech. We specialize in advanced AI.”

“AI?” I ask in confusion

“Yeah, you know, artificial intelligence?”

“Oh, right, of course.” I try not to let him see the confusion on my face, because I have no idea what that means and I’m afraid that by asking it might make him question how long I’ve been here, and that’s just not something I’m ready to talk about yet. Instead, I shift the conversation in another direction.

“Who’s Reece?”

“He’s King and my best friend. We’ve known each other for most of our lives. We own Titan Tech together, and we live together.”

“Oh. Ohhh. You guys are like together, together?” I ask as a pang of jealousy goes through my chest.

“No! God, no,” he says with a chuckle. “Nothing like that. King and I are definitely only attracted to women.” I sense him look at me out of the corner of my eye, but I choose to ignore him as heat creeps up my neck.

“And Reece?” I ask, since he didn’t include him in that statement.

“Reece doesn't like anyone.”

“But, I mean he must be attracted to some people?” I ask in curiosity.

“I’m sure he finds women attractive, but he has no interest in relationships. Casual or serious.”

“That sounds lonely,” I say from experience.

“That’s why King and I befriended him. He was an angry kid, but we saw he was dealing with grief. I had lost both my parents a couple years earlier and King lost his father the year before, so we understood him. We wouldn't leave him alone until he agreed to befriend us.”

“I’m sorry you lost your parents.”

“Thanks, Tink. Anyway, when we met Reece, we understood him, even if he didn’t, and we refused to let him suffer alone.”

I smile. Considering how much they were pushing to be around me, I could see them doing that to some grumpy kid on the playground, too.

“Here we are!” he says as the waterfall comes into sight.

We stop near the edge of the pond, and he drops his bag and opens it up. Only then do I notice the other two holding some of my other, weaker attempts at bags.

“What are you doing with those?” I ask in confusion.

“Well, Tink, how do you feel about having a shower and washing your hair?” Bower asks as he stands up, showing me a bottle of shampoo and conditioner in one hand and a bottle of body wash in the other. I lick my lips at the thought of finally washing my hair… with shampoo. It’s tempting, that’s for sure.

“We can’t use that in there, it’ll contaminate the water,” I tell him, gesturing to the pond.

“That’s why we have these,” Kingsley says, holding up a bag to show me.

“Alright, Tink. You have two choices,” Bower tells me as he sets down the bottles and pulls some clothing from his bag. “You can wear this spare shirt and boxers to shower in, or you’re more than welcome to shower naked and we will do our best not to look. But I’ll warn you, we’ll have to keep filling up our bags with water so we can’t exactly do it with our eyes closed the entire time.”

As nice as it would be to clean my body, my hair is way more important right now.

“I’ll wear these,” I tell him, taking the offered clothes.

“We’ll all face the waterfall and give you a chance to change,” Kingsley says as the three of them move between me and the water, giving me their backs.

I don’t hesitate to quickly strip off my skirt and top and pull on his clothes. I let out a moan as the soft fabric touches my skin. The boxers, in particular, feel amazing. I’ve been feeling my thighs rub together for the past fifteen years.

“You okay there, Tink?” Bower asks, reminding me that they can hear me.

“Ah, yeah, sorry, you can look now.”

They all turn around and Bower eyes me up and down, a smile slowly covering his face. I’m more covered up than I was a moment ago, but the way he’s looking at me right now says something about this outfit is to his liking. I lick my dry lips and glance at the others, who are also looking at me in a similar fashion.

“What? Why are you all looking at me like that?” I ask, glancing down at myself, worrying I’m wearing it wrong somehow.

“You look good in my clothes,” Bower says, surprising me. “Real good.” We stare at each other for a moment and I sense something spark between us.

“Alright, why don’t we get started?” Kingsley suggests, breaking the tension.

We pick a spot close enough to the pond for the guys to repeatedly fill the water, while making sure none of it would flow back in.

“I’m gonna go in the pond to get my hair wet first,” I tell them as I pull my hair free from its braid. Once in, I submerge my whole body and use my fingers to make sure all of my hair is wet. When I get out, I feel the weight of my hair pulling on my scalp, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I’ve tried cutting it with McStabby before, but it ended up being more hassle than it’s worth.

I get in place and Bower holds up the first bag of water over me, then Weston uses his knife to stab a few small holes in the bottom, essentially creating a shower head. A giggle escapes me as it starts to rain down over me.

“Can I?” I open my eyes and see Kingsley holding the bottle of shampoo and pointing to my head.

“Oh, I can wash it,” I tell him, reaching for the bottle, but he pulls it out of my reach.

“I know you can, but you have a lot of hair and we want you to enjoy this. You’ve helped us so much already, please let me wash it for you?” He asks it like it's a simple question and not one that has my heart fluttering in my chest like I’ve just been asked to prom by the cutest boy in school. Not that I knew what that felt like.

Finally, I nod and watch as he moves behind me. I close my eyes again and tilt my head back as Weston replaces the first empty bag with a second as Bower goes to refill his.

The moment Kingsley’s fingers press against my scalp, I let out an embarrassing moan. But I don’t even care, feeling his fingers work the shampoo through my head is the most amazing thing I’ve felt in my life. “Sweet baby fingers, that feels amazing.” Bower chuckles, reminding me they’re all watching me.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it, sweetheart,” Kingsley says quietly from behind me. My cheeks heat, even through the water raining down on me, but I keep my eyes shut, afraid if I do anything, he’ll stop.

After a couple of minutes, the water stops flowing over me and his fingers move away from my head and down my mass of hair.

“We’ll resume once King’s finished washing your hair,” Bower tells me from my side and I nod in understanding. They’d probably have to refill the bags thirty times before Kingsley gets through all my hair.

Bower’s fingers press into the side of my head, surprising me. “Wha—” I cut myself off when Weston does the same on the other side, making me moan instead. I should probably feel embarrassed at the noises I’m making, but having the two of them massage my head while Kingsley washes my hair is the most magical thing I’ve ever felt.

After a few minutes, they all stop, and the water starts to rain over me again. Fingers work through my head and hair continuously. It puts me in such a relaxed state that I literally fall asleep, only a strong arm around my waist stops me from falling over.

“What happened?” I ask, blinking up at Bower’s smiling face.

“I think you were so relaxed you fell asleep for a second there.”

“Crap, sorry,” I say, trying to stand up and push myself away from his chest. His very hard, firm chest that I find my palms plastered too. I stare at my fingers as they dig into his wet shirt. I realize he hasn't let me go, but I’ve also stopped trying to push away.

I glance up at him and the fire I see in his eyes has my breath hitch. In this moment, I want him to kiss me, and that scares me. I don’t know if I’m ready for that. The last time I kissed a boy, I was only thirteen, and I have a feeling kissing as a twenty-eight year old was very different. I drop my head before I do something stupid and he slowly releases me, letting me take a step back.

“Thank you,” I say, glancing up at him with a small smile before I glance at the other two. “All of you. You have no idea how good that felt.”

“Glad we could help,” Kingsley says, looking at me with the same intensity.

“We better get back and pack up that jerky,” I say, taking a step back from all their heated gazes.

They all nod, and after I change, we head back to camp.

It takes a while to eat and properly store the jerky, and we end up sitting around the extinguished fire pit for a while, as they tell me stories about their pasts.

I notice the sun starts to dip in the sky and decide it’s time for me to go to sleep. I spent the entire day with them so far, and as much as I enjoyed it, my mind needs time to process everything that’s happened today. The way my body reacts to them, the lingering glances.

I also didn’t get a nap in today and am genuinely exhausted.

“It will be dark soon, I’m going to bed now,” I tell them as I stand and head to the ladder.

“Wait, don’t go out there alone!” Bower says, jumping to his feet, a slight panic in his voice.

I frown at him. “Why not? I literally do it every day.”

“Yeah, but you have us now. You don’t need to be alone.”

“Besides, is it not your hut we’ve been sleeping in while you’re… god knows where?” Weston asks, crossing his large arms over his even larger chest.

I shake my head, trying to not get distracted by his drool-worthy body. “It’s fine,” I say, turning back to start climbing the ladder.

“It’s not fine, Zee,” Kingsley says as I start to climb. “Please, stay with us? Or we’ll stay down here and you can have the hut to yourself.” I climb onto the skywalk, and my eyebrows pinch together in confusion as I look down at their concerned faces.

“Why do you suddenly want me to stay down here so badly?”

“It’s not sudden, it’s been bothering us since we met you.” Kingsley says in frustration. “That’s your home, and you’re off sleeping where? On a tree branch somewhere up there where we can’t help you if something were to happen?”

“Nothing’s going to happen, I’ll be fine,” I say in frustration, turning away so I don’t have to look at them anymore.

“Tink! Please!” I quickly move to my tree trunk and start climbing. I’d love to stay down here with them, I really would. But they’ll hear my nightmares, and I’m not prepared for that. These men are already getting through my carefully constructed walls and I’m not sure what will happen when they break them down completely. It might take me down, too.

Chapter twenty

Reece

Istare at the glass full of rum as I remind myself for the hundredth time that drinking isn’t the answer. Then I lift it and down the whole thing, slamming the cup on the bar and waving the bartender over for another one.

“I think you’ve had enough for one night, mate.”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion,” I growl, pushing my glass towards him.

He sighs, before grabbing it and filling it only a quarter of the way full this time. “This is your last one, and I’m only doing it because I can tell you’re going through something right now and you’re not bothering anyone but yourself.”

“I’m not paying you for small talk,” I grumble, grabbing the glass and pulling it between my hands as I stare down at the amber liquid.

I count down from ten, then take a deep breath, trying to calm my frazzled nerves. What the fuck am I doing? Bower and King are lost out there somewhere, and I’m sitting in a bar, drinking. I’m such a fucking screw up.

But I couldn’t stay in our house a moment longer. The quietness of the space without Bower’s booming voice or King’s sharp wit was more than I could bear. They’ve been missing for an entire week. A week. They left Perth and hours later, they just vanished off the radar. No distress call, nothing.

I’ve paid the top search and rescue team in the world to look for them, but they are coming up empty-handed. Now they are just flying all over the Indian Ocean, looking for any sign of them or their plane.

The thought of losing them brings up too many memories. Ones that still haunt me to this day. Combine them with what’s happened now, and I’m not sure I’ll ever recover.

The thought has me grabbing the glass and tipping it up and swallowing the entire thing. I pull a hundred from my wallet and push it towards the bartender as he passes by.

“I’ll grab your change.”

“Keep it,” I grumble.

“Are you sure? That’s like a fifty-dollar tip.”

“I said, keep it,” I say in frustration, not wanting to talk to him any longer as I turn on my stool, planning to stand and get out of here. But I’m stopped by a tall blonde woman who eyes me up and down, a smirk on her lips.

“What?” I say gruffly, not liking the way she’s eyeing me.

She raises one of her perfectly shaped brows at me, as if I’m the one being weird.

“Move,” I try again, ready to leave.

“Hey buddy,” the man on the bar stool next to me says as he stares at her with wide eyes. “Don’t you know who she is?”

I glance back at the woman, but she doesn’t look familiar to me.

“No, and I don’t care.”

“Dude! That’s Clarissa Parks.” When I continue to stare, he huffs in disbelief. “The porn star! Do you live under a rock or something?”

I eye her carefully, trying not to show my distaste. I didn’t want to be cruel, and I don't care how anybody chooses to make money, but I believe sex should be between two consenting adults who care for one another. Which is exactly the reason I was celibate.

“I don’t watch the stuff,” I finally answer and he reels his head back in disbelief.

“I could give you a private show. You are pretty hot, you’ve got this whole grumpy thing going for you,” the woman, Clarissa, says as she tries to trail her finger up my arm. I immediately push her hand away and, as gently as possible, push my way past her.

“No, thanks.”

“I guess he’s gay,” I hear the man say as I head for the exit. Let them think whatever they want, I don’t care what people think about me.

I was in the limelight enough as it was, so my name was constantly thrown around the tabloids. ‘Benson Jr: CEO or Kingpin?’ or ‘Benson’s Business Under Fire’ or my personal favorite, ‘Titan Tech Triple Threat’.

My stomach tightens at the thought of my business partners, my best friends, and my brothers. We might not share blood, but I was closer with them than anyone in my family. They were the ones who saw a grieving teenager and pulled his head out of his ass long enough to make something of himself.

If it wasn’t for them, who knows what would have happened to me. My father’s idea of helping me was to yell at me or ignore me, there was rarely a middle ground.

I step outside and spot my driver waiting. “Hey Arnold, take me home, please,” I tell him as he opens the back door for me.

“Of course, sir,” he says kindly before closing my door and moving to the driver's side.

My phone buzzes in my pocket and I pull it out, groaning when my dad’s name flashes on the screen.

“Dad, to what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Have you been drinking, son?”

“Why do you care?”

I hear his heavy sigh over the phone. He’s been trying to get me back into his office for the past five days. Apparently, two days was plenty of ‘grieving’ for the two men so close I considered them brothers.

“Look, son. Tomorrow it will be eight days. You’ve got men out there looking, there’s nothing more you can do. Get a good night’s sleep, then come into the office with me tomorrow. Working will help distract you.”

He means well, but the last thing I want is to be distracted. If anything, I needed to be more focused on a solution. I owned a god damned leading AI company, and I still didn’t have any tech to help me find them.

“Dad, with all due respect, if I do make it into the office it won’t be yours. It will be to Titan Tech.”

“Now, Reece, I know you love that company, but why don’t you give that a little rest while you heal?” Even though the three of us had made Titan Tech a billion dollar company, my dad was always pressing for me to continue with him and drop the ‘computer nonsense’ as he so eloquently put it.

I stare out the window at the passing buildings and when I see Black Diamond Sushi, a pang of anguish hits me. That was our favorite place to eat. Bower would always drag us there to celebrate an accomplishment in the business or even just to celebrate the weekend.

If there was anything Bower was good at, it was living life to the fullest. Fuck, I missed him. That reminds me I haven’t eaten anything since this morning.

I lower my phone as I lean forward. “Arnold, can you swing us by Burger King, get me my usual and whatever you want for yourself.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Reece?” I hear my father’s voice and raise my phone from where I had it pressed into the seat, forgetting he was still on the line.

“Not tomorrow, dad, I’m busy. I gotta go now, talk to you later.” I hang up before he can respond. Letting my head rest back on the seat, I let out a deep breath.

How am I supposed to navigate my business, my dad and my life, without them? I’d do anything for them and if I knew how to find them, I’d literally do whatever it takes for that information. Even getting on a plane, despite my paralyzing fear of flying.

If it’d bring them back, I’d even try to be nicer to the girlfriends they brought around. But they had terrible taste. Every last one of them was either a gold digger, a liar or a homewrecker, and there was no way I was going to let my brothers get hurt by a woman.

I couldn’t even fathom being in a relationship since my first girlfriend left me in such a terrible fashion. The heartbreak that had given me made me realize that the saying was wrong. It was not better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

But Bower and Kingsley weren’t bitter like me. They had big hearts, and I knew they both wanted a woman to cherish and care for. Someone to come home to each night. But therein was part of the problem. We had agreed we wanted to keep living together, even if they got married. So then their wives would have to get along with each other and, the hardest part, me.

It wasn’t that I didn't get along with women. We had plenty of female employees. It was girlfriends that I had a problem with, even when they belonged to Bower and King and not me.

Arnold passes me my food as we pull back onto the road and I shove fries in my mouth as I contemplate what to do tomorrow.

I could try contacting another search and rescue team, but I already told the first one to hire as many additional guys as they needed to comb every inch of that ocean.

Maybe my dad was right, and a bit of distraction would do me good. I could head into the office and see what progress has been made on the latest project. Maybe taking my mind off of the guys for a little while will help me see the problem with new eyes.

Biting my burger, I swallow heavily, everything tasting like lead these days. I wonder what they’re eating right now? Are they stuck on a raft out there somewhere, slowly starving to death?

I refuse to think that they’ve already died. It’s not something I can even let myself consider, despite knowing the odds of finding them at this point are about five percent, thanks to an earlier online search. They’ve defied the odds plenty of times before, and they are going to do it again.

Because if they didn’t, then what the fuck was I going to do?

Chapter twenty-one

Darla

“Mo-Mo, stop stealing it all, I already gave you plenty!” Grumbling, I gently swat him away from the basket of fruit. Once again, I woke up feeling bad about how I left things the previous night, so after listening and ignoring their morning calls for me, I heard them say they wanted to check the beach for any signs of rescue. So I got to work collecting breakfast for them.

The jerky will last for a long time, so there was no need to hunt for rabbit or boar for a while, thankfully.

“Eep!” I roll my eyes at Mo-Mo’s demanding trill, while his fingers make grabbing motions towards the fruit.

“Fine, this is your last one, you’ll get sick if you eat anymore,” I say, passing him a guava, which he snatches from my hands and quickly makes his departure.

“Love you, too, buddy,” I say with an amused shake of my head.

I stand and look around camp. Is this enough to make them forget about me running off last night? I just can’t imagine what they’d think if they heard me screaming from my nightmares. I can’t even think about the cause of the nightmares without hyperventilating, so how could I possibly explain it to them?

I glance up at their hut and decide to go check it out while it’s empty.

I stand inside and study their belongings. It looks so different now, like it’s filled with life. Bottles of shampoo and soap sit on the desk, along with some other things that came from their bags. I glance at the wall and see thousands of marks covering it, the ones I spent a lifetime making.

Pulling McStabby from my sheath, I find a spot to add in the few marks I’ve missed since I’ve been sleeping outside. When I finish, I turn and look at the hammock. That’s when I realize that they’ve been sleeping here every night with only two beds.

“Crap shells, I need to fix this.” I quickly make my way to the oldest hut, the one filled with my previous attempts at furniture and other things. I have to push my shoulder into the warped door to get it open.

When I step inside, I take a minute to look around and a chill goes down my back, making me shiver, despite the heat. This place is full of memories and a depressing reminder of how long I’ve been stranded on this island.

I shake my head to rid myself of those thoughts and remind myself why I came in here in the first place. After only a couple minutes of searching, I find what I’m looking for, one of my earlier attempts at a mattress. It’s not huge, but it will work for one of them, maybe Kingsley, as he has the narrowest frame.

I drag it back to the main hut to assess it. It’s in pretty good shape. The only reason I had upgraded was to make a bigger one, and I had learned better binding techniques since I made it. Deciding it will work, I move the table and chair until there is room against the wall for it.

After that, it’s a matter of finding material to put inside of it. Leaves tend to make the softest stuffing, so I grab two bags and head to an area with the softest leaves and start harvesting them. It takes me a while to fill it, and as I head back with what I think will be my last haul, I’m surprised the guys haven’t come back yet.

Unease starts to prickle at the back of my neck. Are they okay? Did they get injured somehow? Were they in danger? Had they spotted a rescue ship? Have they already been rescued? Am I alone, again? My stomach twists uncomfortably at the thought of them leaving.

Isn’t that what you wanted? To have them leave so you could be alone again?

“Shut up, Steve,” I grumble, choosing to blame my pet rock for those thoughts instead of myself. “Maybe it’s what I wanted before I got to know them. But now…”

But now, I’ll be devastated when they leave.

As I get closer to camp, the sound of Bower’s voice reaches my ears and a smile crosses my face in relief.

They’re still here!

I silently drop onto the skywalk in a crouched position as I watch them munching on the food I left for them. Kingsley is smiling at something Bower just said, and Weston is staring into the trees across the clearing. Is he looking for me? Why do I hope that he is? If I wanted him to know I was here, I could just tell him.

Unsure what to do about these new feelings, I quickly move into the hut and dump my bags on the ground, taking a seat beside the mattress. Slowly, I continue stuffing the remaining leaves into it as my mind jumps from thought to thought.

What do I do after I finish this? Are they still mad about last night? What happens if a rescue ship arrives to take them away?

“Zee?”

A surprised yelp escapes me as I twist around and see Weston standing in the doorway. His piercing hazel eyes stare at me with so much intensity it makes my body heat.

“What are you doing?” he asks softly, his eyes darting to the mattress beside me.

“I, uh, I realized you guys only had two beds in here.” I look up at him, feeling nervous for some reason, like I’ve done something wrong. There’s a sudden heat rising in my chest, something fragile and uncertain fluttering in my stomach. A myriad of emotions flick through his face so fast I’m only able to pinpoint two; surprise and frustration.

I swallow heavily, unsure if I’ve done something wrong. He rubs his hand through his scruffy beard as he takes a deep breath. Then he slowly moves towards me, his eyes glued to mine. I’m unable to move or look away from the strength of his gaze. It pins me in place, not with fear, but with something deeper… expectation, maybe. Or hope.

He squats down right in front of me, his eyes searching my face. For what? I’m not sure. Maybe he's trying to read what I’m not brave enough to say out loud. Then his eyes flick to the mattress, a small frown pinching between his brows as he looks it over.

“You don’t like it?” I can’t help but ask, worried he’ll think it’s too small for them to use.

His eyes snap back to mine and I take in a sharp breath at the intensity I see there.

“Don't like it? Fuck, Zee… You made us a bed, you gave us your home, you made us breakfast. Of course I fucking love it, I love everything you do.”

“You do?” I ask in surprise.

“Yes, why would you think otherwise?”

“Because you’re frowning.” My finger points to the center of his brow where he still wears the pinches expression. As soon as I make contact with his skin, the pinch disappears and his hand shoots up to grab my wrist, making me gasp in surprise.

I stare at him with wide eyes, unsure what he’s going to do next. My heart is thudding against my ribs like it’s trying to reach him before I can.

When he doesn’t move, my fingers twitch, grazing the side of his face, and he slowly moves closer, letting go of my wrist. I let my fingers trail over his cheek before moving them down into his stubble. It prickles my skin and makes me shiver. I like the roughness of it in contrast to his soft skin and I can’t help but wonder what it would feel like against my face if he kissed me.

I lick my lips as I trace his jaw, his eyes following the movement of my tongue. I bite my lip nervously as I grow bolder, using my whole hand to explore his face.

He reaches up tentatively, making me freeze my movements. Then he cups my face with one of his hands, his thumb runs over my lower lip, pulling it from my teeth and my tongue darts up to trace where he touched me.

“Mango,” I whisper.

He groans, the sound desperate and rough, causing me to feel wet between my legs. Before I can decide what to do next, we’re interrupted by Bower’s booming voice.

“Tink, you’re here!” I jump back on my butt, quickly pulling away from Weston as my gaze moves to Bower.

“Hi, Bower,” I say shyly as Weston and I stand up.

Bower starts to head towards me, his arms opening wide, but he stops short, his eyes going wide in alarm, as if he suddenly realized what he’s doing.

“Shit, sorry, Tink. I forgot you don’t like hugs,” he says sadly, his arms dropping.

His somber tone has me deciding to be honest with him. “I never actually said that. You just surprised me before.”

He and Weston look at me with a mix of surprise and hope.

“Are you saying… that I can hug you?” Bower asks carefully.

I shrug, biting my lip again, and Weston surprises me by reaching out and tugging my lip free.

“Don’t hurt yourself,” he says quietly, making me swallow heavily. The tension feels thick and I glance back at Bower, deciding that I don’t just want him to hug me to make him happy, I want him to hug me to know what it feels like.

Unsure of how to say the words, I decide to show him. Stepping around Weston, I move right in front of Bower, who looks down at me with wide eyes. Slowly, I lift my arms and wrap them around his waist. He waits all of two seconds before his arms wrap around my shoulders and back. He squeezes me tightly against him as I rest my cheek on his chest, well it’s more like his abs due to our size difference.

His embrace is warm and solid and I find I like it, I like it a lot. It makes me feel safe and cared for, something I haven’t felt in a very long time.

After a couple minutes, I hear someone clear their throat and I let go, taking a step back to look up at him. He smirks down at me, looking pleased. “I hope we can do that again, Tink.”

“Me, too.”

His smirk turns into a full-blown smile, but before either of us can say anything, Kingsley speaks, bringing my attention to the fact that he’s here, too.

“Is that another bed?” he asks, eyeing the mattress behind me.

“Yeah,” Weston says, sounding a little frustrated again. “She did this while we were at the beach.”

Kingsley looks at me with a similar, disgruntled expression. “You did?”

“I don't understand. Did I do something wrong?” I ask, feeling frustrated myself at their reactions.

“Sweetheart, no,” Kingsley says, his expression softening. “We just hate that you’re doing so much for us and we’re doing nothing for you.”

“I told you I’m not doing this to get something in return,” I tell them, my eyes bouncing between all three.

“We just wish we could do more,” he explains. “We’re not used to taking a backseat, especially when it comes to women and relationships.”

“I don’t need you to do anything, though. Honestly, I’m just glad for the pleasant company. Steve, Kevin and Bob aren’t the best conversationalists.”

“Who’s Kevin and Bob?” Bower asks.

“Kevin’s the palm tree she hates,” Kingsley says, surprising me with his memory.

“Bob is the seagull who tried to shit on her,” Weston adds.

“Are you sure there’s nothing you want from us as a thank you?” Bower asks from behind me, placing his hand on my shoulder as I look up at him. His warm hand reminds me of the hug. Hmm… I did love being held by him, maybe there was something they could give me.

“What about a thank you hug?” I ask, my gaze moving between the three of them. Kingsley's smile is slow, but as I watch, it covers his entire face. His hair falls down into his left eye as he takes a step towards me. Bower gently pushes me forward with his hand on my shoulder and I step up to Kingsley and wrap my arms around his waist, as his own come up to encircle me. He gently sways me back and forth, causing me to let out a quiet, contented sigh. He wasn’t as big as Bower, but his embrace is softer, and as he rests his chin on my head, letting out a deep sigh. Maybe he needed this hug almost as much as I did?

I step back, giving him a shy smile, which he returns. Then I turn to face Weston, who’s frowning at me again, and I’m starting to realize that it’s just his normal expression. When I step up to his giant six-foot something frame, he bends down and wraps his arms around my waist, hoisting me off my feet.

“Weston!” I gasp in surprise, my arms flying up around his neck. He presses his face into my neck as he holds me close and takes long, deep breaths. My legs feel awkward dangling, but I have a feeling if I try to lift my legs, I’ll flash the other two behind me.

I drop my own face to his neck and inhale his intoxicating scent of ocean and mango. He holds me like that for a couple minutes before his lips press to my neck gently, making my breath hitch. He kissed me! Even if it was just my neck, it makes me feel special. Important. Like a silent promise to take care of me.

Eventually, he sets me down. He no longer looks frustrated, now, a completely different look covers his face. Something deeper, more intense. Something that makes my own body heat with awareness at his close proximity to me.

Bower claps his hands once, making me jump in surprise. “Okay, so what’s on the agenda for today? You want to show us where some of the other fruit is?”

“Yeah, sure. I can do that,” I say, nodding my head like a stupid bobble head toy. “Let me just seal this up.” I turn back to the mattress and use the small vines I had brought with me to sew it closed.

The guys are silent as I work, and when I glance over my shoulder at them, they are exchanging looks with one enough that I can’t decipher. It’s like they are having an entire conversation in silence.

“Okay, all done.” I stand up and gather all my supplies.

“How’d you learn to do that?” Kingsley asks, looking down at the mattress.

“Trial and error, mostly.”

They follow me as I return my supplies to the other hut, asking me questions the entire time. In all honesty, I don’t mind. Talking about this stuff doesn’t bring bad memories, and it’s nice to have an actual two-sided conversation for once in my life.

We spend most of the day with me showing them the best places to get fruit, and pointing out things to look out for on the island.

As the day goes on, I start to feel more relaxed around them. Ever since I hugged them all this morning, it feels like we’ve broken down one of the invisible barriers between us. I notice them standing closer to me than they did before, like they’re no longer worried they will scare me off.

Whenever Kingsley walks beside me, he instinctively seems to reach for my hand. I don’t say anything, but secretly, I love it. It’s been a long time since I held anyone's hand and the action makes me feel like he wants to keep me close.

Throughout the day, they make sure one of them checks the beach for signs of a boat whenever possible. Each time, the thought of rescue makes my stomach twist. I’m not sure how to tell them that I can’t leave this island. So instead, I decide to enjoy their company while it lasts.

That evening, while we sit around eating dinner, I decide I want to know more about them. Kingsley already told me about the company he owns with Bower, so I turn my gaze to Weston.

“Weston?”

“Hmm?” he asks, chewing a piece of jerky as he turns his hazel eyes to me.

“What does the tattoo on your arm mean?” His eyes flick down to his bicep, swallowing his mouthful of jerky.

“It’s a compass, it represents my time in the Marines.” He pulls up his sleeve so I can see it fully.

“The Marines? Like, the army?” I ask, trying to remember what I knew about them.

“It’s a military branch, yeah. I was a pilot with them for ten years.”

“Was? You’re not anymore?”

He shakes his head, his eyes dropping to his hands. “No, not for a few years. I’m a private pilot now. I have my own plane… Had my own plane,” he corrects himself, his eyes flicking to the other two before they drop again. “Sometimes I fly cargo, and sometimes people… like these two idiots.” He jerks his head in their direction, but they both just smirk at him.

“Wait—were you flying the plane that crashed?” I ask in shock. For some reason, I had assumed the pilot hadn’t made it, and these three were all passengers, just like my crash.

He nods his head without lifting his eyes.

I frown, my gaze darting to Kingsley who looks at him and sighs.

“It wasn’t his fault. There was an explosion, he was lucky he didn’t get injured, but it took out all the systems.”

“How—How did you guys get separated?” I ask curiously. I’d wondered why they’d arrived in two different rafts on two different days, but at the time I was too preoccupied to ask.

Nobody answers and I glance around, realizing I’ve said something wrong.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked. I don’t like to talk about it either.”

I feel three sets of eyes on me as I stare down at my dirty feet, feeling dumb for bringing up this topic.

“Zee…” Kingsley says softly. Too softly. If I so much as look at him, and see his kind blue eyes staring at me, I’m likely to break, and I wasn’t ready to talk about the crash yet, because then I’d have to talk about him. My dad.

I jump to my feet, avoiding their eyes as I head for the ladder. “I’m getting tired now, goodnight.”

“Wait! Tink, you have to give me a goodnight hug!” Bower says, stopping me in my spot as I grip the bottom of the ladder and contemplate what to do. I really wanted a hug, but I didn’t want to talk. Not right now.

“Zee,” Kingsley says from right behind me, making me stiffen at his nearness. He places a hand on my shoulder and tugs me gently to face him. “Zee, you never have to tell us anything you aren’t ready to share, okay? Even if we ask, you don’t have to answer. We’ll try not to pressure you, but we may ask from time to time. Just tell us if you don’t want to answer. Is that fair?”

I lick my dry lips and nod before finally looking up to meet his eyes. He gives me a tight-lipped smile, and I feel guilty for making such a big deal about this. But I can’t help it. “Thank you,” I whisper before wrapping my arms around his waist.

He presses a kiss to the top of my head, and I sigh in relief.

“Are you sure we can’t persuade you to stay in the hut tonight?” he asks after a few moments of silence.

I shake my head and step back. “Goodnight, Kingsley.”

I turn to Bower, and he bends and lifts me into a hug like Weston had given me earlier. He kisses my neck and I giggle, his beard tickling my skin. “Tink, I could listen to that giggle all day long.”

He places the next kiss a little higher, near my ear, and it has a completely different effect, making me suck in a sharp breath, my body heating instantly.

“Say goodnight, Zee,” Weston says from behind me.

“Goodnight, Bower.” He slowly sets me down, but doesn’t instantly let me go. He watches me for a moment before taking my face in his hands and tilting my head so he can place a kiss on my forehead. My heart leaps in my chest from the touch.

“Goodnight, Tink.”

He turns me around and I hear him and Kingsley walk back over to the firepit area, leaving me alone with Weston. He stares at me for a moment, and I can’t tell what he’s thinking, but it looks like he has a hundred things he wants to say.

“Stay in the hut with us tonight?” he asks.

“I can’t,” I whisper, shaking my head. He looks resigned, like he expected that answer, and nods once in acceptance.

“Alright, give me a hug then,” he says, pulling me into his giant frame as I wrap my arms around his waist. “Zee?”

“Hmm?”

“Will you come down in the morning when we call? It always scares me when we can’t find you.”

“You were worried about me?” I ask in surprise. Although I’m not sure why, I’m still surprised by them. They have repeatedly shown that they care about me.

“I’m always worried about you, baby. I hate that you aren’t by our sides all day and night. I hate that you had to be out here for who knows how long without anyone, and I hate that you’re obviously going through something on your own and you won’t let me help you.”

“West—”

“I know, baby, you aren’t ready. But we’ll be here for you when you are, okay?” I let out a deep breath and nod against his chest.

“Okay.”

We say goodnight and I climb up to my lonely hammock, grabbing Steve and clutching him to my chest.

I stare up at the small patch of night sky above me; the stars are shining brightly tonight. Maybe I'll finally be able to sleep without nightmares. Maybe images of the guys would invade my dreams instead.

Unfortunately, I had another fitful sleep. But when I heard them calling my name in the morning, I headed straight down to them after cleaning my teeth. I was greeted with three big hugs that all seemed to linger a little longer than the previous ones.

And that becomes our routine for the next two weeks. I wake up and am greeted with smiles and hugs, two of them head to the beach as lookout while me and the other one go and pick some fruit. I spend that time getting to know them, asking them about their life outside of the island.

Weston tells me more about his time as a pilot for the Marines, which makes me wonder why he left it. When he’s not working, he apparently spends a lot of time tinkering with small engines as a side business. He also loves watching action movies and has read every Stephen King novel at least once.

I teach him how to hunt and prepare rabbits and boar, and quickly learn that he’s a natural, unlike the other two.

Kingsley told me more about AI and what his company does. I think he’s actually a tech whiz, but doesn't like to boast about it. He shared his love for tennis, apparently, having even won some tennis championships in his youth. The part that amuses me most is his extensive shoe collection. Why a grown man needs over fifty pairs of shoes, I have no idea.

And I know more about Bower than any of them, thanks to his constant nattering. He loves food, which is no surprise to me. He’s constantly talking about what he wants to eat when he gets back to civilization. The funny part is that he’s apparently a terrible cook, everything he craves is either from a restaurant or something their cook makes for them. He also has a pet Siamese fighting fish named Seymour that he hopes Reece is feeding for him. But most of the time, when he isn’t working, he’s just relaxing with Kingsley and Reece, playing video games.

The more he talks about Reece, the more intrigued I become. They describe him as grumpy and angry and yet also super loyal and would do anything for them. It’s why they are so convinced he’ll eventually rescue them. Even Weston, who doesn’t know him as well, is sure he’ll find them soon.

Each day, after we’ve gathered the fruit, the four of us eat in the shady part of the beach near the jungle, where Mo-Mo joins us, sometimes with his family in tow. Then the guys go swimming while I guard their clothes. Sometimes we head back to the waterfall to swim there instead. I don’t have a change of clothes, so I often hang back, choosing to bathe when they’re done, sending them back to camp so I can be alone, something that really bothers them. They constantly grumble about it not being safe for me to be alone, which makes me roll my eyes in annoyance since I’ve been doing it for so long.

They are always offering me soap, shampoo and clothing, which I refuse, not wanting to take any of their few possessions from them. But when Kingsley gave me his spare toothbrush, I think I hugged him for five minutes straight.

They don’t ask me anything about my life before the island, something I appreciate. Each day I feel myself growing closer and closer to them, and I’m terrified that any day a boat or plane is going to show up and whisk them away. I have a feeling they won’t take it well when I tell them I’m not leaving. I know I won't take it well when they leave. The fear of being alone again keeps me up almost every night now.

But what really has my mind preoccupied is the fact that I think we’re heading into the rainy season any day now. I won’t be able to sleep in my hammock when that happens, and I’m still not ready to share my nightmares with them. I know I have two choices; the cave at the top of the cliff or their raft.

Considering how dangerous the cliff is, especially when wet, I’m leaning towards the raft. But I have a feeling they aren’t going to be happy about that and I’m not sure what to do about it yet. So far, I’ve been lucky, and it hasn’t rained once since the first day Bower and Kingsley arrived.

But I know it’s only a matter of time before everything I’m keeping from them comes spilling out.

Chapter twenty-two

Kingsley

Itug at the collar of my golf shirt, the material starting to feel rough against my skin. I let out a deep breath as I stare out at the never ending ocean, empty as always. This morning it was Weston and my turn to look out for any boats, and I was feeling more agitated than usual.

We’ve been here for almost three weeks now, and every day that passes without sign of rescue, I start to worry more and more. Surely Reece should have found us by now? Our radio was fully working until the plane started going crazy, it was ten minutes later that the explosion went off and then we went down within eight minutes. How far off course could we have gotten in that time?

So where was he? I didn't expect Reece, the man who was terrified of flying, to actually be on the plane that finds us, but I did expect him to have hired a search team. So where were they? Better question, where were we?

I don’t want the others to know how worried I am, so I keep playing the part of being hopeful and optimistic, when inside, the knot of worry grows bigger every day.

The only saving grace out here is Zee. The way she walks and swings around this island like she owns it, makes me feel like we could survive out here without too much hardship. I’m not an idiot, though. Without her, this whole thing would have gone completely differently. We probably would have died or starved to death by now. At the very least, we’d be sleeping on the hard ground, miserable and hungry.

But her knowledge of this island wasn’t the only captivating thing about her. No, she also has this raw, primal energy that was infectious. It made you want to be around her all the time. Then there were the times her sweetness and vulnerability peeked out. With her big green eyes and pouty lips, sometimes she reminds me of a stray puppy, just wanting to be loved but not knowing how to trust someone enough to do it.

Whenever I hug her, it calms my racing mind and everything else fades away. It’s as if nothing else matters when she’s close. I’m desperate to move to the next step with her and kiss those plump lips, but I’m terrified of scaring her off. The way she seems to melt into my hugs, to all of our hugs, makes me think she might be ready, but the truth was, I’m not sure who she would choose.

And worse, if I wait too long and we’re rescued, she’ll probably have a family to go back to, one that’s likely nowhere near ours, and we may never see her again.

“Did you hear what I said?” West asks, bringing me out of my thoughts.

“Sorry, what?” I ask, turning to face him.

He smirks and shakes his head. “You were thinking about her again, weren’t you?”

I sigh, turning back to the ocean from where we sit at the back of the beach, in the shade by the edge of the jungle.

“Yeah, it’s hard not to.”

“Is that because you haven’t had sex in three weeks? Cause you know she’s worth more than that, right?”

“What?” I look at him with surprise and a little hurt. “Why would you even think that, West? First of all, it’s been at least six months since I’ve dated anyone. And no, it’s not about sex at all. I mean, yeah, I’ve pictured what it’d be like with her, but it’s because it’s her. It’s Zee. But she’s special, you know?”

“Yeah, I do,” he says with a sigh. “And sorry, I had to ask. I feel so protective of her.”

“Why do you think that is?” I ask, my eyes scanning the horizon.

He shrugs and is silent for a minute before he speaks. “I dunno. I’ve had girlfriends before, and I guess I’ve been a little protective of them, but it’s nothing like I feel for her. With Zee, it’s like an obsession. I tell you, King, I’m not sure I can take many more nights of her sleeping alone in that tree. If I had some rope, I might have tied her to me by now, so I can always keep an eye on her.”

I let out a small laugh as I try to picture that. “I don’t think she’d like that very much.”

“You never know, maybe she’d be into bondage.”

I chuckle as my eyes catch on Bower and Zee heading towards us from down the beach. “Here they come.”

We watch them approach, their joined hands swinging back and forth between them as Zee laughs at something Bower says.

I love seeing her like this. Relaxed, happy and enjoying our company. She’d probably be fine living here with us for the rest of our lives. I just hope that doesn’t happen. As enjoyable as she’s making what should be the worst weeks of our lives, we had to get home. My mom and sister are back in the states, along with Reece and our company. I had a life there waiting for me, for us.

“Hope you guys are in the mood for some pears,” Bower says as they approach, holding up his bag and giving it a little shake.

“Where’s Mo-Mo?” I ask, since he normally joins us for breakfast.

“The little bugger already took a few from us on the way here and took off,” Zee says with a roll of her eyes before she drops down in the sand on her knees in front of me, sitting back on her feet.

Bower passes us each a pear and West pulls out his knife to start cutting his up. “Here, you can use McStabby.” I look up to see Zee offering me her beloved knife.

“Really?” I ask, my eyes wide in shock. She just nods, and I tentatively reach out and take the offered handle. I expect her to watch me carefully, but instead she turns to watch West cut a slice from his own pear. He holds it out to her, and she gives him a warm smile, taking the offered piece and nibbling on it as she watches him cut another one.

Her attention on him makes my stomach clench with nerves. Would she choose West over me?

I focus on what I’m doing and take a moment to properly assess her knife, since I’ve never held it before. It definitely isn’t handmade, and it has seen better days. The handle is well worn, and the blade is blunt. I run my thumb across the blade and it does nothing to my skin.

“I think I can sharpen this for you,” I say, turning it side to side to take it in.

“Really? I tried using Steve, but it didn’t seem to do anything.”

I shake my head. “No, I believe you need to use a finer-grained rock that’s wet. Like something found in the pond.”

“Oh, how do you know all that?”

I shrug as I reply, “I like to read. A lot is useless, some is helpful.”

“What else you been hiding from us, King?” West asks with a raised eyebrow before he bites into a slice of pear.

“I haven’t really had to rely on my knowledge since we’ve been here, since Zee is the island expert.”

We all glance over at her as Bower asks. “Well, Zee? Anything you need that you haven’t been able to figure out for yourself yet?”

“I don’t suppose you know how to make underwear? It’s been years since I’ve had any.”

I swallow heavily, my eyes darting down to where the short skirt is barely covering her. Does she mean to tell me that she isn’t wearing anything under there? I mean, I caught sight of the bottom of her bare ass weeks ago, when she was wearing my shirt, but I assumed she had some, somewhere. Given that her top and skirt are clearly island made, I’m not sure why it didn’t occur to me to think about her undergarments too.

Nobody says anything as we all stare at her, the tension growing thicker by the second.

“What happened to the clothes you arrived here in?” Bower asks as he tries, and fails, to stop looking at her thighs.

“They’re long gone,” she says so quietly, I almost don’t hear her over the sound of the ocean waves crashing against the shore.

I finally tear my gaze away from her legs to look at her face. Her eyes are filled with pain and her skin’s turned pale.

“Zee? What is it?” I ask in worry.

She quickly jumps to her feet and takes a step away from us. “Nothing, I just need to get some air. I mean…” she trails off, her panicked eyes bouncing between us as we all get to our feet. “I need a bath, I’m going to the waterfall, don’t follow me, please.”

She turns on her heels and practically starts running back through the jungle.

“Zee! Wait!” Bower asks, but it’s too late, she’s long gone. “Fuck! What did I say?” he asks as he tries to run his hand through his hair, but it gets stuck in his bun, so he pulls it loose.

“I’m not sure,” West says, frowning in her direction. “We really need to get her to open up to us. Her way of coping is not healthy.”

“Maybe not, but it’s all she knows. And it’s kept her alive this long,” I tell him as I scratch my chin, my beard getting longer each day.

“Let’s give her an hour, then we’ll go check on her,” West says as we all sit back down and watch the ocean before us. My eyes catch on some dark clouds in the distance, and a sense of unease grows within me.

“Where is she?” West asks as we scan the pond and the surrounding area for signs of Zee.

A few more rain drops hit my head as I try to stop myself from panicking.

“I don’t know. But remember, Zee has survived plenty of rain and thunderstorms out here on her own before we arrived, I’m sure she’ll be fine.” I say the words, hoping to reassure myself, as well as them.

“Yeah, but she had the hut then,” Bower says, pulling at his hair. “Maybe she’s there now? Let’s go check.”

With lack of a better solution, we jog back to camp, hoping to find her waiting for us in the dry hut. The rain starts to pick up speed and when I push open the door and find it empty, I swear in frustration. “Fuck.”

“She’s not here?” Bower asks, stepping into the room last. I try to think about where she might be and I can only think about the place she spends every night, high in the tree above us somewhere.

“You guys wait here where it's dry, I’m going to climb up and find where she’s been sleeping, she’s probably there. Knowing her, she has a secret hut up there, just as dry as this one.”

“No, I’ll go,” West says, grabbing my shoulder to stop me from leaving.

“No offence, but I’m smaller than you, it’ll be easier for me to climb up there.” He narrows his eyes at me but he must agree as he squeezes my shoulder then lets go.

“Be careful, King.” It sounds more like a command than a request, so I give him a mock solute before leaving the hut and moving around to the tree trunk behind it, the one we see Zee climbing into each night.

She made it look way easier than it is. It takes a lot of effort just to get up to the first branch. Luckily, after that it becomes a little easier and I slowly climb as the rain makes its way through the branches to reach me.

After a few minutes, I glimpse something above me that doesn’t belong, and I make my way up to it. When I finally find a branch I can sit on beside her stuff, my eyes widen as I take it all in.

“She’s been sleeping in a freaking hammock seventy feet from the ground?” I grind my teeth in anger at how dangerous this is. If she fell out while asleep, she’d break her neck.

There’s not much up here besides the hammock. I see one of her small bags and take a peek inside. I find the toothbrush I gave her, my ACDC t-shirt and a razor that looks awfully familiar. Did she take this from me when we first arrived? That explains her lack of hair on her legs and armpits.

I pull the shirt to my nose to smell it. It smells like pine and fire with a floral undertone, just like her. I haven’t seen her wear this in weeks. Was she sleeping in it at night? I’m not sure why that thought makes my cock twitch, but I quickly shove it back in the bag and throw it over my shoulder, deciding it will be best to keep it dry in the hut.

I came up here to look for her and it’s clear she’s not here, so carefully, I make my way down, noticing how the rainfall is picking up.

When I make it back to the hut, the other two look at me hopefully, so I shake my head and drop her bag on the table. I want to tell them what I saw up there, but that will only fuel their fire right now. That can wait.

“Where the hell is she?” West asks, as he tries to pace the tiny hut.

“Okay, let’s think. Where could she go to hide out from the rain?” Bower asks from his spot seated in the chair.

I take a moment and try to think if I’ve seen any caves or overhangs, but nothing comes to mind. “I don’t know,” I say, shaking my head as I frown in thought.

“Wait—” West turns sharply to face me, his finger pointed at my chest. “Did you guys stay in here the first night you arrived? It was raining that night, right?”

My eyes go wide in realization. “The raft!” Turning, I run through the door, getting drenched instantly. The wind howls and the sound of the rain beats down on the jungle floor, drowning out my grunts as I climb down the ladder, almost slipping twice.

I don’t wait for the others as I take off in a run towards the beach. Is she seriously hiding under the raft? She wouldn’t choose that over being with us in the hut, would she? I thought we’d grown close over the past few weeks. But her incessant need to sleep on her own was the one routine we couldn’t seem to break her from.

As I step out onto the beach, the ocean roars angrily, and the rain hits me ten times harder out here.

“Zee!” I try to call out to her as I shield my eyes and turn towards the raft, but my voice is drowned out by the storm.

As soon as I reach it, I can see it’s been tethered down, the same way Bower and I had done it on our first night, but we had unhooked it since then. Which means she’s definitely under there. I search for an opening but can’t find one. I try to pull up a side, but it won’t move.

Damn, she really knows how to secure this from the storm.

I give up looking for an opening and sink down to my knees and start digging. The sand is wet and heavy and it’s no easy task.

I jump when West and Bower drop down on either side of me and silently start to help me dig. It takes us a few minutes, and when it looks big enough to fit through, the guys try to lift the raft a bit to give me an extra inch to slide in. Since I’m the thinnest of the three of us, it makes sense for me to go through first.

Not wanting to get sand in my eyes, I close them tight as I wiggle my way inside. At some point, I get stuck and I feel the guys pulling the sand out from around me, giving me more room. When I manage to get my arms free, I wipe the sand off my face before finally opening my eyes.

“Zee!” I rasp, the word tearing from my throat as fear slams into me. I don’t know what I expected to find, but it wasn’t this. She’s curled in on herself like a wounded animal, her entire body trembling with silent agony. The sight stops me cold, hollowing out my chest.

She’s always been so strong and brave. To see her like this feels so wrong, like the world’s been knocked off its axis. It physically hurts, a sharp ache spreading across my ribs as I wiggle harder to try and get my hips through the hole, and, with help from the guys, I finally pull free. I try my best to wipe the dirt from my body before quickly crawling over to her.

Her head is buried in her arms, so I touch her shoulder first and she jerks back, her red-rimmed eyes meeting mine in panic and fear.

“Sweetheart, it’s okay, we’re here now.” I don’t bother asking what’s wrong or if she’s okay, I can clearly see she’s not. As I speak, her face turns from fear to anguish so I do the only thing I can and reach my arms around her, pulling her against me as we lay sideways in the dry sand.

Even over the sound of the rain hitting the vinyl of the raft, I hear her sobbing against my chest, so I hold her tighter, one hand holding her head against me as I kiss her hair.

“Everything’s going to be okay, sweetheart. We’ve got you.”

A couple grunts has me turning to see West wiggling through the hole. Although the raft was big enough to hold the three of us under it, it doesn’t have any space to spare. It’s already getting tight.

When West sees her shaking against me, he swears and works faster to pull himself free.

“Do you know what’s wrong?” he asks as he starts to move around me. I shake my head as I watch him move behind her, spooning her tightly as he presses his lips to the back of her head. He pulls strands of her hair away from her face, tucking them behind her ear before his hand finally ends up on her stomach between us.

“Baby, I’m here now, we’re here. You’re okay, you’re okay.” It felt like he was saying that to reassure himself almost as much as her.

We watch silently as Bower enters next, his eyes wide when he sees the position we’re in. He doesn’t say anything though, he just moves above us and strokes her head gently.

As the rain picks up again, she whimpers. I hold her tightly as my chest constricts with pain. I fucking hate this. I wish I knew what was wrong and how to help her. There’s no way this is her first storm out here, was she always this terrified?

That first night we arrived here, were we hiding under here while she was alone and terrified in the hut?

Wanting to do something to distract her, I start humming the tune to ‘Lean on Me’. When I get back to the chorus, Bower starts singing the lyrics. At the next verse, West surprises me by joining him, and soon all three of us are singing the song on repeat, our voices rising with each verse, trying to drown out the sounds of the surrounding storm.

Chapter twenty-three

Darla

Hands reach for my clothes as I struggle to get away. But no matter what I do, I can’t get free.

He grunts when I land a solid kick to his ribs. “Kaa tuli, wewe bitch mdogo!”

“Stop! Get off me!” I beg, as tears stream down my cheeks. Pain explodes in my face as he punches me and my body sags in defeat.

Suddenly, I find myself alone and I glance around to see nobody around me. Slowly, I sit up as a soft melody starts to whisper in my ears. As I strain to hear it, I realize the voices sound familiar, and yet… I don't know who they are. Only the occasional word breaks through the fogginess surrounding me.

“...all have pain… sorrow… lean on… not strong… I’ll be… help you…”

The world around me starts to come into focus as I blink my eyes open. Weren’t they already open? I realize I’m laying in the sand, surrounded by several large, warm, albeit, wet, bodies.

Their voices carry through the storm, the familiar words of ‘Lean on Me’ wrapping around me like a warm embrace. Speaking of warm embraces, there are definitely multiple hands touching me right now.

Instead of feeling scared, like I was from the hands in my dream, I feel comforted and my body starts to relax against them. I know these men, and they’ve done nothing but make me feel safe since the moment we met.

Someone strokes the top of my head while someone else strokes the back of it. I feel a large warm hand on my bare stomach, their thumb gently moving back and forth. I’m pretty sure that one’s attached to the large body at my back. Is that Weston?

I tilt my head up and am greeted by a beard covered chin. “Kingsley,” I whisper. He immediately tilts his head down until his blue eyes connect with mine, and I see the worry there.

“There you are, sweetheart. Are you feeling a little better?” He moves his hand from the back of my head to wipe my cheeks and under my eyes. Was I crying?

I give him a small nod as I try to figure out what’s going on. I move my head around to see Bower laying above us, his fingers on the top of my head. He gives me a tight-lipped smile. He also looks worried.

As I turn, I notice the yellow of the raft above me and memories start to click into place.

I try to look over my shoulder and when I can’t turn anymore, Weston lifts his head, his eyes scanning my face, concern written all over his.

He slowly leans forward and presses a soft kiss to my cheek, making my breath hitch in surprise. My cheeks heat and my reaction makes his lips twitch in response.

I turn my head back to Kingsley and let it drop back down to his arm I’ve apparently been using as a pillow.

I blow out a breath as I try to remember what happened today. We were eating breakfast, then… Then what? I remember wanting to get away from them because I felt a panic attack coming on.

They asked me about my clothes.

Crap shells. That question had single-handedly unraveled me. I had run straight back to my hammock as I tried to stop myself from panicking. It took me a while, but I finally started to calm down, and that’s when the rain started. And not just rain, but thunder and lightning, and that brought back a different memory, one I’d sooner die than have to relive.

I wanted to get out of the rain and remembered thinking this was where I needed to go. But being inside here made the rain echo even louder. And although I was dry, the sounds drove me into a panic attack.

“Zee?” My eyes meet Kingsley’s again as he frowns down at me. “I know you don’t want to talk about anything, but you can, okay? We won’t judge you, I hope you know that? No matter what it is, we’ll be here for you.”

I shake my head, trying to stop the tears that want to shed from his sweet words. “It’s not that. It’s just that I don’t want to remember,” I say with a sniffle.

“Baby,” Weston says against my ear from behind me, his hand pressing into my stomach to hold me closer. “Holding it in isn’t doing you any good. You need to let it out so you can deal with it.”

“I can’t,” I sniffle, shaking my head. “Not now.”

“How about later, after the storm is gone and you’re feeling better?” he bargains. Part of me wants to argue, to tell him I never want to share my stories. But a bigger part of me knows he’s right. It’s been well over a decade and I still have nightmares, there’s no way that's healthy or normal. I assumed I would have to live with nightmares for the rest of my life, but maybe there’s a better option.

“Okay,” I whisper, turning my head so my eyes meet his. “Later.”

He gives me a soft smile and kisses the edge of my forehead. “There’s my girl. So brave.”

I huff, turning back to Kingsley. “Yeah, right.”

“He’s right, you know?” Kingsley says, using his thumb to tilt my chin up so he can look me in the eyes.

“You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met.”

“Hardly,” I say, trying to turn away from his intense gaze.

“Sweetheart, you jumped on the back of a two hundred pound wild boar and killed it with one strike.”

“You swing from vines and climb trees without fear of falling,” Bower adds.

“And you’ve been surviving here for who knows how long all by yourself. You’re not just brave,” Weston says, his lips brushing the back of my neck as he speaks, “you’re fucking amazing. I’m in constant awe of you.”

I swallow hard, my heart pounding at their words. “Even when I’m in here crying like an idiot?”

“Just because you get scared or upset doesn’t make you any less amazing,” Kingsley insists, his thumb tracing the curve of my jaw.

My breath hitches at the intensity in his eyes. Is that really the way they see me?

A crash of thunder makes me jump, but Weston and Kingsley just hold me tighter.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. We’ve got you,” Kingsley murmurs, tucking my head beneath his chin. “You’re safe with us.”

His words wrap around me like a warm embrace, sinking deep into my bones, easing the tremble in my limbs. A shiver runs through me, not from fear, but from the way his voice coats every raw, aching part of me. Because, with them, I’ve finally found a place I feel safe, and I never want to let that go.

We lay there for hours while the storm rages outside. All three of them offering me words of reassurance that I’m safe, while taking turns holding me. Hugging me? Cuddling me? I’m not sure what this is called, but whatever it is, I love it. The longer they hold me, the more my body seems to relax. The surprising and confusing part is that none of them feel better than the others. My body seemed to respond to each of them equally, which is confusing and a little worrisome.

Am I only responding this way because I’m so starved of attention? Would I be this grateful with any random three men who could have washed up on my shore? The truth was that I didn’t think so. There is something so unique and special about all three of them that draws me in, wanting to know more.

Weston’s fingers gently massage the back of my head, pulling me out of my thoughts and into the present, and I snuggle further into his chest as the rain pelts down on the raft above us.

Of all the ways I’ve spent my time while raining on this island, this is, by far, my favorite. Luckily, it seems to have stopped thundering now, only the sounds of rain reaching my ears from outside our little cocoon.

Weston’s fingers lightly stroke the back of my head where he holds me against him, tucked under his chin. A contented hum leaves my throat as I try to wiggle even closer. I wish I could sleep like this, wrapped up in their arms, but I know my nightmares would ruin any hope of a peaceful sleep for them. So right now I’m just going to enjoy their closeness while I can.

“I wonder how long it’s going to rain for?” Bower says, breaking the silence.

“It doesn’t sound like it’s slowing, it could go on all night,” Kingsley whispers from where he’s pressed against my back.

“Should we go back to the hut or wait it out here? This isn't exactly comfortable being crammed in here.”

Feeling bad that they are stuck in here because they came looking for me, I pull my face back so I can see Bower. “You guys don’t have to stay here because of me. You can—”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” Weston practically growls at me, making my eyes go wide as I look at his angry face. “We aren’t leaving you. If we decide to go back to the hut, you’re coming with us.”

“Zee, do you think you’ll be okay out there in the rain?” Kingsley asks softly, his hand gently rubbing my back.

“Uh, I guess it’s fine… if I’m with one of you? It’s really thunder and lightning that I, uh, don’t like.” I swallow heavily, a small knot forming in my stomach at the realization of how much I just revealed to them. I know it’s just a matter of time now before they break through my tightly formed walls, to find the real me—a broken, scared, and sad Darla.

“I say we head back, what do you two think?” Bower and Weston agree and before I know it, I’ve been released from Weston’s warm embrace as the three of them manage to push the raft up enough for us to make an easy exit without crawling through the wet sand.

Bower grabs my hand and pulls me with him as we start to jog through the jungle back to the hut. It’s darker than it normally is at night and yet, somehow, instead of being full of fear, I have a smile on my face as we run, hand in hand, trying to jump over puddles and avoiding large spouts of rain coming down. Bower’s laughter is infectious and soon I’m laughing right alongside him, especially when he runs through a particularly large puddle that splashes us both.

When we reach the ladder, Bower encourages me to go first as he holds the bottom steady for me. When I get to the top and look back down, Bower is climbing up and the other two are looking up at me, trying to shield their eyes from the rain.

“Zee!” Weston yells, trying to be heard over the rain. “You better get that pretty little ass of yours into the hut!”

He thinks my ass is pretty?

“And what if I don’t?” I yell back, deciding to ignore the unusual compliment.

“You don’t want to find out what happens, Tink. Now get in there,” Bower says as he climbs up beside me and grabs my hand, pulling me into the hut.

The relief of being out of the rain is immediate, and my shoulders instantly relax. I look up at Bower as he pushes his hand through his wet hair that’s hanging down to his shoulders. “Your hair looks good like that,” I tell him, reaching up to touch a strand that falls in front of his eye, pushing it behind his ear.

A smirk covers his gorgeous face as he gently grabs my waist and pulls me closer to him. “Oh yeah? You like my hair, Tink?”

My eyes latch on to his grinning lips, and I lick my own and nod in response. I’m suddenly filled with the wonder of what it’d be like to kiss him.

I press my hands against his wet shirt, feeling his firm stomach as I swallow heavily. His eyes explore my face and his smile turns into something much more heated. His nostrils flare slightly, then he starts to dip his head towards me.

“Wow, that’s one heck of a down pour out there,” Kingsley says, popping the intimate bubble Bower and I had found ourselves in. I try to take a step back, but Bower grips my waist, turning me and pulling me against him while he wraps his arms around me. I grip his forearms and rest my head on his bicep as I watch the other two close the door and try to shake off some of the rain.

“I wish we had towels,” he says as his eyes bounce around the space, landing on me standing in Bower’s embrace.

“Sorry, I never learned how to make those,” I tell him with a quirk of my lips.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you had though, you seem to be pretty resourceful out here.”

“At least we all have a change of clothes in here,” Bower says, releasing me to point to the table. I glance over and see my own bag there.

Frowning, I move over and peek inside, confirming it is, in fact, mine. “How did you get this?” I ask in confusion.

“Kingsley went up the tree, looking for you,” Weston says, pulling off his wet shirt and throwing it into the corner of the room where it lands with a plop. My eyes widen as I take in his bare chest. I’ve seen it before, but this time, the sight instantly makes me wet between my legs as I clench my thighs tight.

Why does that keep happening to me? I’ve never wanted underwear so badly in my life.

“I saw your bag so thought it’d be a good idea to keep it dry,” Kingsley explains as I turn to him to find him in a similar state of bare chestedness. When he starts to undo his jeans, I quickly spin around, just in time to see Bower push his own jeans and boxers down to the floor.

“Sweet baby penis!” I gasp at the sight of his naked body as my hands fly to my heated cheeks. Kingsley laughs loudly as Bower narrows his eyes at me.

“Tink, sweetheart. Please never use the word ‘baby’ and ‘penis’ in the same sentence again when referring to me. A guy's ego can only take so much.”

“I—” I cut myself off as I stare at his definitely not so baby package.

Fingers snap in front of me, making me jerk back. “What? I—” My wide eyes find Bower smirking down at me as he points at his eyes.

“My eyes are up here, Tink.”

“Ohmygod, I’m so sorry!” I blurt out, covering my face with my hands as I try to find somewhere to turn that isn’t full of naked men.

“Just give us a minute to air dry, then we’ll put boxers on,” Kingsley says gently, taking pity on me.

“You’re welcome to look if you want, Tink. I was only kidding,” Bower says right before I feel the heat of his body press against my back. “Would you like to take your wet clothes off, too? You can stay right where you are, so we can’t see much.”

I hesitate before answering. I really don’t want to get naked in front of them, but I’m drenched and a change of clothes would go a long way to making me feel better. “Okay,” I whisper hesitantly.

“Arms up,” he commands, and I lift my arms above my head. Bower grabs the bottom of my top and carefully pulls it up, tossing it into the corner with their wet clothes.

I lower my arms, crossing them over my chest as his hands slide down my sides until they reach my skirt. He slowly pushes it down my hips and when he bends down, he places a quick kiss on my ass cheek, making me gasp in surprise.

I lift my feet, stepping out of the skirt, and he tosses it away. As he stands, his hands glide up my legs, ending on my hips. He moves closer, chest pressing against me, and his hard cock presses against my lower back, making me suck in a sharp breath at the reminder that he’s just as naked as I am.

His fingers flex on my damp skin as he inhales against the side of my head. Is he smelling me? A shiver rolls down my spine as I lick my lips, unsure what to do or say.

Weston’s arm reaches in front of me as he grabs my dry t-shirt and shakes it out, then in one swift motion, he turns and pulls it down over my head, his eyes never dropping from my face, something I’m grateful for. He helps me push my arms through as Bower takes a step back to put on his own boxers.

I realize Weston and Kingsley have theirs on now as well, and I’m not sure if I’m upset by that or grateful, but it does make me feel a tad bit more relaxed.

“Shit, we should have grabbed the jerky from the kitchen before we took off our wet clothes,” Bower says as he stretches his arms above his head. I try and fail not to stare at all the skin on display, and when he sees me looking, he winks at me with a smirk, so I quickly turn away.

“Zee, here, you can wear these,” Kingsley says, offering me a spare pair of his boxers. I gratefully take them, not wanting to be stuck in here without anything underneath this loose fitting t-shirt, especially with how wet I was still feeling down there.

“Thanks,” I say, quickly pulling them on. “Bower, I don’t think you’ll have to go hungry,” I say as I rummage through my bag and pull out a bundle of jerky wrapped in a banana leaf. “I’ve got some jerky you can eat.”

I toss him the whole bundle, and his eyes widen in surprise. When he unwraps it and sees all the dried meat, a huge smile covers his face as he pulls me into a side hug. “This is why I’m gonna marry you, Tink. You’re always thinking two steps ahead!” He takes a piece and offers it around to everyone while I try not to freak out at his words. He’s obviously kidding, didn't he say that the first day we met, too?

Yeah, he’s obviously just joking around.

We nibble away in silence as the rain continues outside. How am I going to get out of here, and where am I even going to go? I can’t fall asleep here, it’s too risky.

“Zee, you take the bed,” Weston says as he grabs a spare pillow and lays down right in front of the door. I eye the exit as the sounds of the rain penetrate my fog. Crap shells, I’m stuck in here for the night, aren’t I? The way he’s looking at me right now tells me he’s expecting me to try to leave, and he’s not willing to budge.

I can’t sleep here, I’ll just have to try to stay awake until the rain stops. There is no way I want to risk falling asleep where they’ll hear my nightmares. I’m not so much afraid of how they’ll judge me, since they’ve done nothing to make me feel that way since they arrived. It’s more worry of having to relive what happened by explaining the nightmares to them. It’s something I’ve been trying, unsuccessfully, to bury for the past fifteen years, and I’m afraid if I allow myself to fully remember, I won’t be able to hold myself together anymore.

Bower gives me a kiss on the forehead before climbing into the hammock. I grab Steve and McStabby from my bag and move to sit on the bed, but not before Kingsley stops me, grabbing my hand gently and turning me to face him.

His eyes scan my face, a small frown pulling at his eyebrows. “You okay, sweetheart?”

“Yeah,” I say with a nod, the knot of unease growing in my belly.

He watches me for a few more moments before placing a gentle kiss on my forehead. “Alright, get to bed.” He moves to the other mattress as I climb into my old bed, hugging Steve to my chest.

Bower kissed me on the cheek, and the butt, and Kingsley kissed my forehead. They were becoming more affectionate with me every day. I can’t say I mind it, in fact, it stirs something in me I haven’t felt in years. But I remind myself that family often kisses each other on the cheek or forehead, so maybe they just see me like a sister.

But the way Bower had held me briefly while we were naked, and the fact that he kissed my butt cheek, makes me think that isn’t entirely accurate. The biggest problem is that there are three of them, and one of me. And I care for all of them equally. And not as brothers.

I glance around again and a shiver rolls through me. Suddenly, I wonder why none of them wanted to lie with me.

Under the raft they were all too eager for cuddles, but now… Had I done something wrong? Nobody seemed upset. Was that just a one-time thing?

Crab sucker, did they just do that to ease my panic? None of them offered any sort of declaration of commitment or intentions.

I squeeze my eyes tightly shut as I roll to face the wall. I’m such an idiot. They were being nice, helping me calm down from my irrational state. Of course it didn’t mean the same to them as it meant to me. If it did, someone would be cuddling with me now.

My fingers roam the wall until I find a small unmarked piece of wood and start to carve marks into to count all the nights I’ve slept in the tree.

And as a few stray tears roll down my cheeks, I wonder how I always end up like this at night. Alone, upset, and scared.

It takes about thirty-two hours for the rain to stop, according to Kingsley’s watch. Thirty-two long hours of being stuck in the hut with three annoyingly tempting men and getting zero sleep. The only relief I have is when I leave to relieve myself. I’m tempted to make a run for it, but Weston makes it clear I’m not to go off on my own or they will not stop searching for me.

I decide it’s not worth the hassle of getting them worried and drenched. However, it does give me the rather large problem of being completely sleep deprived. I don’t think I’ve slept in about forty hours now. Although with the fogginess of my mind, I’m not really sure if I’m doing the math right.

After my realization the first night that they wanted to help me and be my friend, but nothing more, I made sure to keep my distance from them. It was for the best anyway.

One day, they would leave this island.

I would not.

It didn’t mean that my heart wasn’t already wishing it could keep them, though. And it only hurt more when they hugged me or kissed my head, blurring that line between friendship and something deeper, making me think there could be something more there.

I had wondered if they perhaps weren’t sure which one of them I wanted to be with, so they were waiting for me to make it clear. Well, they’d be waiting a long time for that to happen. I’d sooner chew my arm off than have to choose. And I’d rather have all three of them as friends, than hurt two of their feelings.

The fact that they hadn’t mentioned any sort of future just reassured my assumptions. I mean, we were stuck on a deserted island and I was the only woman here. Offering their commitment would be easy. But I appreciate that they didn’t give me false words of hope or affection. It’s part of the reason I care for them. Because even if they didn’t want me that way, at least they were honest about it.

Maybe they knew there was no way we could make this work off the island, and they were still pretty convinced they were going to be rescued any day. I wasn’t sure how likely that was, but all three of them seemed to have unfathomable confidence in their friend Reece. A man I was both terrified of and intrigued by.

“Zee?”

“Hmm?” I lift my head from where it rests in my hands as I sit in the chair, waiting for the all clear from Weston.

“I said, the rain’s stopped now.”

“It has?!” I jump to my feet excitedly, throwing the strap of my bag over my head and moving to the door, eager to get out of this tiny hut.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like being around them, it was that their presence pulled at me so intensely that I found it hard to focus. It wasn’t just their looks, either. It was the way they acted and the things they said. Each of them was so different, and yet, I was completely smitten. And that thought angered me, knowing it was one-sided.

“Whoa, hold on there,” Weston says, as I try to move around him to push open the door. I’d tried to stay away from their touches for the past day and a half, but that was hard in such close quarters. And when someone did reach out to hug me or sit beside me, I couldn’t always convince myself to pull away. Nor did I want them to think I was upset with them.

Combine my exhaustion with my struggle to stay away from them, and you could say these past few days have been utterly draining. All I want to do now is take a nice, long nap.

I take a step back from Weston and wait for him to push the door open, and it takes everything I have not to push him out of the way and do it myself. I tightly grip the strap of my bag, feeling more on edge than I ever have before.

“You okay, Tink?” Bower asks from beside me, making me jump at his closeness.

“What? Oh, yeah, fine.” He frowns at me, but I turn back just as Weston finishes opening the door and steps outside. I quickly follow and take a second to inhale the fresh air.

“We should go check the beach, our SOS sign and woodpile probably needs to be fixed,” Kingsley says as he steps out beside me.

I use that as my excuse to get away for a nap. “Okay, well, I’ll leave you guys to it, I’m gonna go take a bath at the waterfall.”

“I’ll come with you,” Bower says instantly. Crap shells.

“Oh, that’s okay, I’d rather go alone so I can do a full clean.”

“I don’t mind.” He smirks at, then gives me a wink, but it immediately drops as Weston gives him a small whack on the back of his head. “Ouch!”

“Don’t push her.” They lock gazes for a second before Bower’s shoulders drop in defeat and he looks over at me, running his hand through his long hair.

“Sorry, Tink. Of course, you can go alone. Come find us when you’re done, yeah?”

Wanting an excuse to be away for a longer time so I can sleep, I quickly come up with a lie. “I’ll need to go check on Mo-Mo and some other things, I’ll catch up with you at some point though.”

“We can help you,” Kingsley says, but I’m already shaking my head as I descend the ladder. I’d rather climb straight up to my hammock, but they’re expecting me to go to the waterfall.

I suppose I could just tell them that I want to take a nap, but we haven’t been awake long, and that will probably land me with more questions I don’t want to answer.

“I’m fine, see you later!” I yell up at them before jogging off down the trail. I get halfway there before I find a spot where I can start climbing back up. It takes me about ten minutes to stealthily climb back to my hammock.

The material is a bit damp, but I don’t care. I pull Steve from my bag and hold him to my chest, closing my eyes and letting sleep overtake me instantly.

Chapter twenty-four

Bower

“That was weird, right?” I ask as we all head to the beach.

“Yeah, she was acting a little strange, but she’s probably not used to being stuck inside for so long, and not with all of us around her either,” King adds insightfully.

“I’m not sure if that’s it,” West mumbles. “I felt like she was more anxious around us than she had been the previous few weeks.”

I nod my head as I think about the way she was acting in the hut. “Yeah, she wasn’t exactly pulling away from me, but she felt more hesitant. Do you think…” I glance up at them nervously. “Do you think we pushed her too far? Do you think she wasn’t ready for all that cuddling under the raft?”

“It’s possible. But she definitely seemed to enjoy it at the time.” King frowns as if he can’t quite figure her out. “Maybe she regrets it.”

“But why?” I ask in confusion. He just shakes his head as we step out onto the beach.

The storm really did a number on our giant SOS sign and our large pile of firewood. The wood is everywhere, scattered up and down the beach, many pieces floating in the shallow water.

“This is gonna take a while,” I groan, pushing my hair back and tying it into a bun.

“I guess Zee will get that alone time she wanted after all.” King sighs, then bends down and picks up a piece of wood.

It takes us a few hours, and when we’re done, we see no sign of Zee in camp, which makes me worry a little about where she is. I know she can take care of herself, but this island isn’t exactly safe or small. Who knows what could happen to her when she’s out there alone?

With nothing else to do, we decide to grab some fresh fruit, since we’ve only eaten jerky for the past two days. The sweetness barely cuts through the unease gnawing at us. It’s after that, when we’ve been sitting in camp for almost an hour, that I start to sense the tension grow thick around us.

We’re all starting to really worry about where Zee is, but no one has said it out loud in hours, too afraid that speaking the fear might make it real. Every now and then, someone glances toward the path she took, hoping to get that first glimpse of her, walking back into camp with a smile on her face. I keep trying to tell myself she’s fine, but the silence is starting to feel like a warning.

West can’t seem to take the tension any longer. He abruptly gets to his feet and starts pacing the clearing. “What is taking her so long?”

“I’m starting to think that Mo-Mo has the right idea,” King says, making me turn to him with a frown.

“What are you talking about?” West asks in agitation.

“Mo-Mo’s girlfriend, Coco, right? She has three boyfriends, and I’m starting to wonder if that’s because she needs the three of them to tame her.”

“Are you—” I start, but he cuts me off.

“Zee… she has such a wild spirit. She’s restless and reckless. It’s like she can’t sit still and she dives head first into danger every chance she gets. Maybe what she needs, is the three of us. Not just to keep up with her, but to steady her, to look out for her, to give her something solid to hold on to.”

I stare at him in confusion as a series of thoughts stampede through my head.

Three guys with one woman?

How would that even work? I try to picture her kissing King or West and where I would expect to feel anger or uncomfortable, I instead feel a twitch of my dick in my pants.

Huh… isn’t that interesting?

Am I really turned on by the thought of watching her with these two? What would that be like? To sit aside and watch her be pleasured by another man? But it’s not just any man, it’s these two. King is basically my brother, and West, although I didn’t know him well before the island, I have known him for a few years, and I do know he’s a solid guy.

It’s clear that Zee is a handful, but a handful I wanted with every fiber of my being, even if I had to share her with these two.

“Bower,” King says, getting my attention. “We always wondered how we’d get two girlfriends to coexist in a house with us and Reece. This would make that easier.”

“You’re talking about moving her in with you after we get rescued?” West asks with furrowed brows. “Doesn’t Reece hate women? How would that even work?”

“I’m sure we’ll get him to come around to her eventually. Besides, with the three of us there to take care of her, we wouldn’t give him a chance to scare her off.”

I nod, agreeing with King’s assessment. This could work.

“Wait—you’d want me to move in with you, too?”

“Right now this is all speculation, she might not have any interest in—”

“AHH!” A piercing scream shreds the air, sending a jolt straight through my chest. I leap up, heart pounding like a drum in my ears, and spin toward the tree, desperate to see what’s happening. My mind races, gripping for any clue, any sign of her. That scream, there’s no mistaking it. It’s raw and terrified, slicing through the quiet like a flare in the dark.

Zee.

For a fraction of a second, everything freezes. Then the panic ignites, raw and fierce, pushing me forward. We all race for the ladder, each step pounding beneath me like a countdown. West is already ahead, his urgency fueling the rest of us. The scream cuts off abruptly, and the sudden silence feels worse than the sound, like the world is holding its breath, waiting for something terrible to happen.

“ZEE!” The shout bursts from my lips, raw and trembling, mingling with the others. I scramble up the ladder, hands shaking, and my mind spinning with every possible horror. Behind the hut, I strain to catch any movement, any sound, anything that tells me she’s still there. Fear claws at my throat, but I push it down, desperate to be the one who finds her.

As I try to follow the other two into the tree, my mind races with a million reasons she could have screamed, none of them good. The thought of her being hurt sends an unwelcome tightness to my chest, making it hard to breathe and leaving me with only one thought.

When did she manage to sneak her way into my heart and how do I keep her there?

Chapter twenty-five

Darla

They won’t stop touching me. Their fingers feel like daggers against my skin, digging in and dragging me across the ground as I scream at the top of my lungs. Panic tightens in my chest, raw and suffocating.

They laugh, like this is all some big game to them, their cruelty twisting the air around me into something heavy and dark. I manage to twist an arm free from their grasp. But as I try to free the rest of my body, I’m slapped across the face, making me cry out in pain.

A bitter sting blossoms across my cheek, but worse is the helplessness clawing at my gut, threatening to break me. I try to breathe as another hand comes speeding towards my face…

I gasp, my eyes snapping open wide as something slips from my fingers. I watch in horror as Steve slides off me, out and out of the hammock, heading straight for the ground.

“Steve!” I cry, lunging to grab him, but instead I lose my balance and twist right out of the hammock.

Before I can even process what’s happening, I start falling, face first, towards the ground. A scream catches in my throat, strangled and desperate, as I reach out, desperate to grab a branch. But I’m moving too fast and at too awkward an angle to catch anything.

Leaves and branches tear at my skin as I fall, the world flying past me. Then suddenly, a sharp, searing pain shoots through my ankle, ripping a scream from my throat as I come to an abrupt stop. “AHH!” I tilt my head up and see my foot is caught tight between a couple of branches. I’ve never felt anything so painful in my life.

I try to grab hold of a branch to get the weight off my foot and get it free, but my arms are twisted up in a few vines.

I scream again, the movement causing pure agony in my ankle. “Crap shells,” I whisper, as tears roll up my forehead and drop to the ground below. My breathing quickens as I start to panic. I can’t stay here, but my ankle hurts too much to move.

How the hell am I supposed to get out of this?

Suddenly, previous fears of dying alone on this island from an injury come crashing back into my mind. This can’t be how it ends, strung up, upside down in a tree like a damn boar!? Just when I thought things might be getting a little better, I have to go and get myself killed.

I don’t want to die alone.

“Mo-Mo, where are you?” I whisper, wishing my best friend could be here with me. He’d know how to get me out of this mess.

I sniffle as the tears start to fall heavier. I’ve either been upside down for too long, or I’m starting to have a panic attack, because my vision is starting to darken around the edges, making my breaths come in quick sharp gasps.

No, no, no, this can’t be happening!

“ZEE!”

“Zee, where are you?”

Relief floods me at the sound of their voices.

They came.

“Can you see her?” I hear Kingsley ask.

“No. ZEE!” Bower yells from somewhere close by.

“I’m here!” I yell, my head turning in every direction, unable to tell which way their voices are coming from.

“Zee!” They all yell at once.

“Over here!”

A noise to my side has me turning to see West in the tree beside me.

Did he climb up here?

When he locks eyes on me, a range of emotions seem to go through him at once. I see relief there but also something else, something a little closer to fear.

“I’ve found her!” He calls towards the ground before his eyes travel up my body to my foot. “You’re stuck.” He doesn’t ask, so I don’t answer.

His eyes snap back to mine as he finally seems to take a good look at the state I’m in, gasping for breath with a tear-stained face and what I presume is puffy, red eyes. I try to wipe my tears away, but it’s too late to hide it from him. He knows I‘ve been crying.

His eyes soften as he asks, “Are you hurt?”

It’s on the top of my tongue to lie, to shrug it off as no big deal. After all, I’ve survived this long on my own, haven’t I? But even I can’t deny that I need his help, as much as it pains me to admit that.

Unable to speak the words aloud, I give him a simple nod of my head. His jaw tenses for a moment before he looks towards the ground and yells, “Get up here, I’m gonna need your help!”

His eyes find mine again, and he reaches towards me. “Don’t worry, baby, we’re gonna get you out of there in no time, okay?”

I reach my hand out towards him, but our fingers don’t quite reach. I try to sway towards him, but the movement makes the pain in my ankle flare. “Ah!”

He manages to grab my hand as he whispers, “Baby.” I open my eyes to see his pained ones looking back at me. “Try not to move, I’ve got you now.” I nod my head, feeling tears roll down my forehead again. I don’t dare try to move, so I just let them fall as Weston watches me, looking almost as pained as I feel.

“Geez, Tink, what have you got yourself into here?” Bower asks, suddenly appearing behind Weston in the tree as he glances at my predicament.

“I think she’s hurt her ankle or foot. We have to extract her… very carefully.”

“Fuck,” King says, peering up from below them.

I stay silent as they make a plan to get me out of the tree. Luckily, it appears I’m not that far from the skywalk, but I’m also not close enough that it helps them get me free.

West and King move to where my foot is stuck, and somehow they manage to lift me by my calf and free me without letting me drop. Honestly, with all the blood rushing to my head and my need to focus on breathing properly, I have no idea what’s happening until I suddenly find myself the right way up in Bower’s arms.

“Tink, did you hear me?”

“Huh?” I ask, my fingers reaching up to feel the scruff on his face.

God, he’s handsome.

He chuckles at me. “Glad you think so.”

“Did I say that out loud?” I ask in confusion. “Why does my head feel so weird?”

“It’s from being upside down for so long. You’ll be okay in a few minutes,” Kingsley says, making me turn my head towards him. He guides us into the hut and I’m set down gently on the bed.

They both grab all the pillows in the room to prop up behind me, so I’m not laying flat on my back. Weston sits by my feet, gently propping my sore one up.

“We need to keep your head above your heart for a bit,” Kingsley explains.

“Here, take a drink.” Bower passes me his water skin and I take a few long sips before passing it back and wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

We all silently watch as Weston looks over my right foot without touching it. Even from where I’m sitting, I can see my ankle starting to bruise.

“It’s clearly your ankle, can you wiggle your toes at all?” he asks, his eyes flicking to me before watching my foot again. I take a deep breath, gearing myself up for the pain, then slowly try to move them. Relief fills me when I’m able to do it with barely any additional pain. I move them more and let out a deep breath of air as I smile. “That doesn’t hurt?”

“Not really.”

“Good. That’s really good. Without imaging, it’ll be hard to know if you’ve broken your ankle or just sprained it. What we really need is ice,” Weston says, pushing his hand through his hair in thought.

“I think the ocean water is the coldest thing around here, unless you know of anything, Zee?” Kingsley asks, and I shake my head. It’s been a really long time since I’ve had something cold to drink, let alone ice.

“Okay, I’m on it,” Bower says, passing me my own waterskin. “Drink up, we’ll use two for drinking water and two for cold water packs.” I finish it off and he throws the strap over his head as Kingsley does the same with Weston’s waterskin.

“We’ll be back as soon as we can, you good here, man?” Kingsley asks, looking at Weston, who gives him a curt nod. He and Bower say a quick goodbye to me before leaving me alone with the fuming giant.

We just stare at one another for probably about five minutes without either of us saying a word. I can see he’s working through something, and I decide to let him work it out in his head. I was pretty exhausted as it was and wasn’t exactly looking forward to this inevitable conversation.

Finally, he moves closer, reaching out and taking my hand with his, his thumb stroking over my knuckles. “When I heard you scream, I don’t think I’ve ever been so fucking scared in my entire life.”

“Not even when your plane crashed?”

He immediately shakes his head. “No, not even then.” He pulls my hand to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on my knuckles. “I could face death, but losing you, Zee... that’s a pain I can’t survive.”

My breath hitches at the sentiment. That’s an awfully bold statement for someone who just wants to be my friend. Have I got it wrong, did our moment under the raft mean more to them than I thought? Did they see something more with me?

“I can practically see the gears turning in your head.” My eyes snap back to his. He gives me a tired smile before continuing. “You don’t have to say anything right now, just take it easy and try to relax. But I think, when the others get back, it might be time for you to tell us a bit more about what goes on in that pretty little head of yours.”

I swallow heavily, the weight of the words not helping me to relax at all. But holding onto this pain isn’t helping anything, either. Keeping it to myself hasn’t spared me from my constant nightmares, panic attacks, or fear of storms.

When I first met them, I was weary of them, unsure of their intentions. But now… Now, I feel like I really know them. I may be uncertain about what they want from me or our relationship, but I don’t believe they would ever intentionally hurt me or use my trauma against me.

So, knowing that he’s right, that it’s time to let them in, I give him a single nod and squeeze his hand, before resting my head back against the pillows. I see some tension leave his shoulders as he kisses my knuckles again.

“Close your eyes, Zee. I’ve got you now.”

Chapter twenty-six

Darla

Amixture of hushed voices wakes me, and I try to catch my bearings to figure where I am. Normally I wake up alone, in my hammock, but I’m definitely not on my own now.

“What are they doing?” Kingsley whispers quietly.

“Mo-Mo showed up, and straight away he went to her ankle and sniffed it, like he knew it was injured. Then he left. A little while later, he and his buddies started coming in, with all that,” Weston replies, making my eyes open as I turn to the desk in surprise. Sure enough, it’s covered in more fruit than the four of us could eat in three days.

I see the lemur himself placing two plums down, as Sam, Dean and Coco do the same thing.

“Mo-Mo?” I ask, lifting my head.

“Eep!” He hollers when he sees me awake, running over and jumping on my chest before nuzzling his little head into the crook of my neck. I run my fingers over his fur and close my eyes, a smile playing on my lips at his genuine love for me.

“Worried about me, little guy?”

“Eep!”

“Eep, eep!” The other three chirp, bobbing their bodies up and down in excitement from the desk.

“Awe, thanks, guys, and gal. Don’t worry though, I’m gonna be okay.”

“She sure is. We’re gonna take good care of her. We appreciate the food drive though,” Bower says, holding out his fist towards Sam.

We all watch in silence as Sam clenches his hand then reaches out and bumps his little fist against Bower’s, making us all laugh in delight.

“Is this Sam or Dean?” he asks me with a grin.

“That’s Sam, he has more white on his face.”

“Well, Sam, my man, you’re my favorite now,” he says, aiming a finger gun at him. Sam jumps in excitement, like he understands exactly what he said, then leaps onto his shoulder and wraps his tail around Bower’s neck.

“Wow, he’s never sat on my shoulder before, he must really like you,” I tell him. He gives me a huge smile and reaches up for another fist bump, which Sam gives him enthusiastically.

Kingsley grabs a mango and my knife, and sits down beside me as he starts cutting pieces. For once, Mo-Mo actually lets me take the first piece.

He must really be worried about me.

Weston starts cutting pieces, too, and the two of them hand them around as we all have a feast of fruit.

My eyes catch on my foot, only now noticing that there are two bags sandwiching it. The coolness of them tells me it’s the cold water the guys had gone to grab before I fell asleep. I hadn’t meant to sleep, but the second I closed my eyes, Weston’s warm presence and the sense of safety enveloped me and before I could stop myself, I was out. Thank goodness I didn’t have a nightmare.

After the lemurs are full, they take their leave and the guys take seats around the room. Bower sits on the other mattress, Kingsley sits on the floor beside me, and Weston sits in the chair.

Almost in sync, they all turn their eyes to me, making me swallow heavily from their attention. When I say nothing Kingsley grabs my hand and gives it a small squeeze.

“How’s your ankle feeling?” I try to move my foot but wince from the pain. “No, don’t move it yet, it’s swollen and we need to get that down before we can assess it any further.”

“It’s not so bad when I don’t move it.”

“It’s settled then,” Weston states, making my brows furrow.

“What’s settled?”

“You’re staying here now.”

I take a second to consider, licking my lips as my eyes bounce between them. I can’t fight them on this any longer, there’s no way I’ll be able to climb anyway while my ankle is still hurting like this.

“Just until I’m better.”

But he shakes his head.

“Sweetheart,” Kingsley says, averting my attention back to him. “I think it’s time you tell us what happened. And maybe, a little more about yourself. We don't want to push you, but I think by not telling us it’s doing you more harm than good, don’t you think?”

“After all,” Bower adds. “You know so much about us, and we don’t know anything about you besides how you’ve been surviving on this island.”

Knowing it’s inevitable, I chew at my lower lip nervously. “I don’t know where to start.”

“How about we each take turns asking you a question? You can be as vague or detailed as you like?” Kingsley suggests and I nod feeling relieved at not having to give my entire life history to them.

“What happened today, did you fall?” Weston asks, wasting no time with the first question.

“Yeah,” I answer, cringing at how vague I’m already being. It’s not that I don't want to explain, it’s that I've gone so long keeping things to myself that I‘m not even sure how to explain personal details anymore.

“How?” Bower prods.

“I was asleep, in my hammock, up there,” I say, pointing above us. “I had a… a nightmare. I woke up suddenly and Steve fell from my lap, I reached for him and sort of… tipped out and fell.”

“Shit, Zee. You’ve been sleeping up there in a hammock every night, when, at any time, you could have rolled the wrong way and fell to your death?” Weston asks, his fingers pushing aggressively through his hair.

“Umm… I guess?” I answer, worried about his reaction.

“You three stay here, no more questions until I get back, I don't want to miss anything.” He abruptly stands and storms out of the hut.

“Where’s he going?” He seems angry and I’m worried about him going off on his own.

“Just give him a few minutes.” I turn back to Kingsley when he gives my hand a small squeeze.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Bower reaches into the bag at his feet and turns back towards me. “I think you dropped this.”

He leans forward and passes me Steve, my rock. Instinctively, I take it as a small whimper escapes me and I cough to cover it up, hoping they didn’t hear me. I pull Steve to my chest and close my eyes tight. I’m not emotional because he found it for me, it’s that the sight of him reminds me of what just happened. That my nightmare woke me so suddenly that I’d knocked Steve to the ground and almost killed myself trying to grab him.

“Zee?” I open my tear-filled eyes to look at Kingsley. “You know that Steve is just a rock, right?” He looks nervous about my response.

“Dude!” Bower says, slapping Kingsley’s shoulder with the back of his hand. “Shut up.”

I try to stop myself from laughing, but a small laugh escapes me anyway, making both their eyes snap to mine.

“It’s okay, Bower. I’m not crazy, I know it’s just a rock. But he’s been with me for years. I know I have Mo-Mo, but he’s not with me all the time. Steve has been there with me since the beginning. Someone to talk to about how I’m really feeling, someone to cling to at night when the nightmares get bad.”

“I told you no questions until I got back,” Weston says, dropping a bundle of stuff on the ground and making me jerk in surprise at his presence.

As my eyes roam the items he’s just brought inside, I frown, recognizing it. “Hey, is that my—”

“Yes. That’s everything that was there. Now you have no reason to go back up there.” He sits in the chair and leans back, lifting an eyebrow as if daring me to argue.

I stare at my stuff as a jumble of thoughts go through my head, but one main thought keeps pushing to the front. I turn to Weston as I ask, “You want me to stay in here with you guys that badly?”

His cocky expression instantly disappears as he leans forward on his knees. “Of course we do, isn’t that obvious?”

“Not really. I don’t think I’m very good at reading between the lines with you guys. If you don’t tell me something directly, there’s a good chance I’ll misinterpret it.”

“What do you think you’ve misinterpreted?” Kingsley asks, his thumb rubbing over my knuckles.

I swallow heavily with the knowledge that once I say it, it’s out there. And I could be so off base with my assumptions. I consider my words carefully when I answer him. “I don’t understand what you three want from me.”

“Want from you?” Bower asks, looking confused. “We don’t want anything from you.”

My heart drops, realizing I was right, that the cuddling hadn’t meant the same thing to them as it did to me.

“Zee, what are you thinking right now? Your face just dropped,” Kingsley asks, trying to catch my eyes as he dips his head.

“Nothing,” I answer instinctively.

“No,” Weston says, shaking his head. “None of that, no more lying or omitting. Explain. Please?” His last word softens as I sit there uncomfortably under the intense gazes of the three men who have stolen my heart, knowing that I feel way more for them than they do for me.

“I thought, after the way you were, uh, cuddling me the other night, during the storm, that maybe you wanted something more from me. But I understand now,” I tell them quickly when I see several of them go to speak. “You were just doing it to calm me down and stop my panic attack. And I appreciate you helping me with that.”

Kingsley's eyes widen in panic as all three of them swear. “Shit, sweetheart, no that wasn’t why we did it. We did it because we care about you. We definitely noticed that the closer we got, the calmer you became, but that wasn’t the main reason for holding you.”

He squeezes my hand again before he continues. “I don’t think we understood your first question properly, but I don’t think you understood Bower’s answer either.”

I lift my head fully now, confusion swirling in my mind as I wait for him to continue. So they do want something from me?

“Sweetheart, we don’t want something from you, we just want you.”

“Me?” He nods. “Like… how?”

“We want to be with you.” I lick my lips as I try to make sense of his words, but a lack of socialization and dating since I was thirteen has me confusing everything he says.

“Kingsley, you need to spell it out for me.”

“We want to date you, Tink,” Bower says. I stare at him with my mouth parted in surprise. I’m not sure what I expected him to say, but that wasn’t it.

Before I can respond, my mind catches on something, and my eyes widen. “Wait—all three of you?”

“You don’t have to choose right now,” Weston says as my heart starts to beat faster in panic. Choose one? That’s impossible.

I shake my head at the mere thought of having to choose, having to reject two of them sends a wave of panic through me. Minutes ago I’d thought they were rejecting me but this somehow feels worse.

“You aren't obligated to choose any of us, Zee,” Kingsley says, giving my hand a small squeeze of reassurance. “Whether you like us like that or not, there’s no pressure, okay? We’re not forcing you to pick any of us. Do you understand?”

I nod my head slowly, but he doesn’t understand my dilemma. It’s not that I don’t know who to choose, or that I need more time. It’s simple that I don’t want to choose one… ever. I want them all.

Does that make me greedy? Probably.

Is it completely unrealistic? Definitely.

But my heart doesn’t seem to care.

I lift my eyes and let myself look at each of them. I can see none of them are going to push me into anything I’m not ready for. I also don’t want them pulling back from me. Having a busted ankle meant I was going to be spending a lot of time with them in close quarters, and I didn’t want it to feel as awkward as it did last time I was stuck in this hut with them.

They might be stuck on this island with me for a long time, and so far they have been completely honest with me, have kept me safe and shown that they care about me. It seems only fair that I return the favor.

“I don’t want to choose,” I say quietly, refusing to drop my eyes as they bounce between them. I see a flicker of confusion on their faces before they seem to mask it and give me small smiles of reassurance.

“That’s perfectly fine—”

“No.” I shake my head, cutting Kingsley off. “You don’t understand. I like all three of you, a lot. As more than… friends. I won’t ever be able to choose between you.”

There. I said it, I told them the truth.

They exchange glances as they seem to have some sort of silent conversation. Bower and Kingsley nod, then Weston turns to me, his expression serious as he asks, “What if you don’t have to?”

“What… what do you mean?” I ask in confusion, my heart pounding heavily in my chest.

“It works for Coco, doesn’t it?” Weston asks with a smirk. I open my mouth to respond but nothing comes out, so I snap it shut as my eyes bounce between them. They all watch me with varying degrees of hope.

All three of them? I mean, it’s a dream come true in many ways, but I didn’t expect them to say that. I don’t think I can start a relationship with anyone without telling them what they’re getting themselves in for.

When I’m silent for a while, lost in thought, Kingsley lightly shakes my hand, getting my attention. “Zee? What do you think?”

“I think I need to tell you guys some things before you decide you want to… date me.”

“We’d love to hear everything about you, but nothing you say will sway me,” Bower says, a grin on his handsome face.

“Me either,” Kingsley adds.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Weston says, leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees as he waits for me to speak. But that just reminds me that they are going somewhere. They’re hoping to be rescued and when that happens, I’ll be left here alone… again.

But what if it’s another fifteen years before they’re rescued? Nothing’s guaranteed here, so what’s the harm in enjoying life a little before it all inevitably comes to an end?

“Do you want us to ask you questions again? Is that easier for you?” He asks when I don’t speak. I’m grateful for the suggestion and nod my head.

“Were you in a plane crash?” Bower asks, and I nod.

“Were you the only survivor?” Kingsley asks next.

“No,” I shake my head. “It was me and my dad.”

“Shit,” Bower whispers under his breath. His sad eyes meet mine and I nod.

“When was that?” Weston asks, and I turn to him.

“Hmm?” I ask, not understanding the question.

“How long ago did you crash here?” I squeeze my eyes shut tight, this being one of the hardest questions to answer. I’m not sure why I don‘t want to tell them, but I know it’s a big deal. And I don’t want them fearing they'd never be rescued.

“That depends, what’s today’s date?”

Kingsley glances at his watch before answering. My eyes widen slightly, hearing the date steals the breath from my lungs, even though I was pretty close with my tracking over the years, it’s different to hear the actual date after being stranded for so long.

“Zee? How long ago did you crash here?” Weston repeats his question, locking eyes with me, like he’s afraid of the answer.

“Fifteen years ago.”

Chapter twenty-seven

Weston

No, I must have heard her wrong. This sweet, kind girl has not been stranded on this island alone for fifteen fucking years.

Everyone is silent as we take in the enormity of what she’s finally confessed to us. I knew it must have been more than a year, but I had guessed maybe two, not fifteen.

A sudden thought has my eyes widening. “How old were you?”

“Thirteen,” she answers, biting her lip nervously. She was still a kid.

“At least you had your dad with you. When did he pass?” Kingsley asks gently, because we all know he’s buried on this island, having seen the grave marker, and knowing she’s alone now, it’s easy to put two and two together.

Her eyes drop to her lap at the question, the answer clearly making her uncomfortable. When she speaks, it’s barely a whisper. “I’ll tell you, but I’m not ready to talk about what happened yet.”

“That’s okay, you don't have to tell us the details unless you want to,” Kingsley reassures her. I’m glad he does because I feel like I can’t speak right now, that anything I say will come out sounding angry and upset. Because I am. I’m fuming that she’s been stuck out here all this time. But I’m not mad at her, I’m mad at the situation.

“It was four months after arriving here.”

A pained groan leaves my lips and I drop my head into my hands. It’s all so much worse than I expected. Four months? Four god-damned months? That means she’s been alone for over fourteen and a half years. How is she so normal? She missed her entire teenage years and most of her twenties. While we were in high school and college she was out here on this island with only a lemur and a rock for company. How is she not raging at the world right now? How is she not a crazy savage?

Unable to hold myself back anymore I stand and move over to her as I not so gently grumble for King to move out of my way. I help her sit up and move most of the pillows to the side before slotting myself in their place. I’m careful not to jostle her propped up ankle as I get her situated between my legs, her back to my chest. I wrap my arms around her tightly, dropping my head to her shoulder and closing my eyes.

Her hands come up to grip my arm as she tilts her head against mine. “Weston?” she asks softly.

“I just need to hold you right now, baby.”

“Okay.”

Okay. That one word crushes me even more. She’s the one that should be falling apart right now, and yet she easily concedes to what I need without a second thought.

Bower comes to sit beside King, his hand resting just above her knee as he gently rubs his thumb back and forth over her skin. King regains her left hand, and we all sit there, silently holding her as we try to come to terms with what she’s admitted. She’s barely told us anything, and yet, its magnitude isn’t lost on any of us.

After a while, I press a kiss on the soft skin of her shoulder. “I can’t believe you’ve been out here that long. I knew it had been awhile, but fifteen years? It’s unimaginable.”

She reaches a hand out towards the wall and strokes a finger down one of the marks. I realize now there is a heavy concentration of them around this height, with far fewer at the top of the wall, and my heart clenches, realizing what they are.

“Tally marks,” I whisper in anguish.

She nods ever so slightly. “One for every day I’ve been here.”

Everyone is silent for a moment as we glance around the room. Seeing the physical enormity of every day she’s laid in this treehouse, completely alone and scared, is almost too much to fathom.

“Was there a reason you didn’t want to tell us sooner?” King asks, breaking the silence.

“I don’t like thinking about it. But I was also afraid it would kill your hope of being rescued.”

“Tink, you don’t have to worry about that. Reece is out there right now, trying to figure out how to find us. He’s probably hired a team of professionals to search for us.”

She doesn’t say anything in response and I wonder if it’s because she doesn’t believe she’ll be rescued after all this time.

“Reece is a good man, he won’t stop until he finds us,” I tell her, giving her a little squeeze of reassurance.

“Zee, did you build these huts yourself?” King asks as his eyes scan the room.

“My dad and I built the first one, the small one I just use for old storage now. After he… died, I built the second one, and a year later, I decided to build a third one so I could use one as a sort of kitchen and storage room and live in the other one.”

“Tink, how did you possibly build this on your own? That’s incredible,” Bower says, his wide eyes looking at the hut as if he’s just seen it for the first time.

She would have had to find and cut every piece of wall and roof in here, then carry them, one at a time, up here and secure them.

“It must have taken you ages,” King says, mirroring my thoughts.

“It’s not like I had anything else to do. It gave me structure, a routine to keep me going and a goal to work towards. Wake up, get food, water, work on the hut, break for food, work on the hut, bathe and sleep.”

“Once it was done, what was your new goal?” I ask, my thumb stroking over the soft skin on her shoulder.

She shrugs as she answers. “Surviving. I tried to find better ways to hunt, working on my techniques for building furniture, making better bags, a more comfortable hammock. Anything to pass the time and make me feel like I was doing something besides just… existing.”

“We saw the old hut and can tell how far you’ve come. I still can’t believe you made everything in here by hand,” King says with a warm smile directed at her.

“You looked inside the old hut?” she asks, her body becoming tense.

“Briefly, when we got here. We could see you had many attempts at some of the furniture, but we didn’t look too much, it was a little eerie, to be honest,” Bower says, making her relax.

“You’re incredible, baby,” I whisper, placing a lingering kiss on the side of her neck.

“I probably would have starved to death by now if I was on my own,” Bower says with a quirk of his lips.

“I’d be boar food,” King says, pulling a small laugh from her.

“I’d be miserable and angry,” I admit. “Probably do something stupid to get myself killed within the first week.”

Her free hand grips my arm and she turns her head, looking at me as she responds, “You might be a little grumpy sometimes, but you’re always worried about our safety. If I had to vote, I think you’d last the longest on your own.”

I shake my head. “No. I care about your safety, about their safety,” I say, nodding my head towards the other two, “But if I was on my own, I wouldn't worry so much.”

“But you’re just as important as the rest of us.”

“Not to me.”

“Well, I guess it’s good you have us here then, huh?” she asks, a smile teasing at her lips. I stare at her beautiful face as my admiration for her blossoms even more. Laying here with an injured ankle, talking about how she crash landed here, lost her dad and has been alone for fifteen years. And she still has a fucking smile on her face.

“You amaze me, Zee. You’ve been through so much, been stuck alone here all this time, and yet, you’re still… you. You’ve got the biggest heart in the world. You should be raging at the world and falling apart, but you’re not.”

“Most of the time,” she whispers, “I feel like I’m falling apart, like one small thing could break me completely.”

“That’s not what I see,” I tell her, leaning forward to press a kiss to the tip of her nose. She licks her lips, drawing my attention there. I haven’t kissed her yet, and the need is growing stronger by the second, especially now after so much has been revealed.

“I’m good at hiding it,” she whispers in response. As I stare into her piercing green eyes, I can sense something there. Something that she’s holding back.

“You haven’t told us everything yet, have you?” I ask, placing another kiss on her neck.

She shakes her head once, swallowing heavily as her eyes bore into mine, as if she really is holding on by a thread.

“Tell us when you’re ready, okay? For now, why don’t you let us help you forget?” I lick my lips, and her eyes track the movement.

“H-How would you do that?” I turn to glance at the others, who both give me nods of approval before they turn to her, their gazes heated.

When King brought up the idea of us sharing her, I was surprised, to say the least. We couldn’t possibly share her, could we? But the more I thought about it, and thought about Coco, the more I realized that we are exactly what Zee needs. Not just on this island, but when we get back to civilization. She’s going to need us, and I might need her even more, even if that means sharing her with these two.

She starts to squirm in my embrace. “Zee?” I ask, slightly shifting her to the side to give me better access to her.

“Hmm?” She bites her lip as her eyes bounce to my mouth before looking up at me again. I slide my right hand to her neck, wrapping my fingers around it as my thumb strokes her pulse point.

“I’m going to kiss you now.” I don’t wait for her to respond before pulling her towards me and leaning down to press my lips to hers. The moment we connect, my entire body comes alive beneath her and I moan against her lips. A flame ignites beneath my skin, my heart beats like crazy against my ribcage and in this moment, I know that she’s it for me.

I kiss her repeatedly and slowly, and as if in perfect synchronization, our lips part and my tongue finds hers. She groans against me, her hand coming up to my cheek, her nails scratching through my overgrown beard.

My fingers flex against her neck as I get lost in the kiss. I’ve never felt such a deep connection to someone before. It might be because we’ve developed such a strong emotional connection before doing anything physical, but I think it’s more than that. I think this is simply due to the fact that she is Zee. My Zee. I love everything about this amazing woman.

Love? Surely it’s too soon for that, isn’t it? But I can’t deny how strongly I feel for her, how much I want her. I don’t even mind sharing her with the other two. In fact, now that I've had time to consider it, I think I prefer it. Zee has missed out on so much, she deserves the world. I don’t think there is any way for me to give her everything she needs. But between Bower’s fun-loving nature, and Kingsley's softness and intelligence, the three of us could take care of her properly, giving her everything she needs. If she’ll have us.

“Weston,” she moans against me, her voice pleading for me. I love the way she says my full name, it makes my cock swell in approval.

Wanting to give her everything she’s missed out on, I pull back with a smile as I look down at her beautiful face. With her lips swollen from our kiss and as her eyes open, I can see the need there for something more.

“You trust us, baby?” I ask, my thumb stroking her cheek.

“Yes.” She nods without hesitation, warming my heart.

I glance at Bower, a plan forming in my mind. “You hungry?” I ask him.

He slowly smirks, his eyes moving to Zee as he looks up and down her body. “Starving.”

“Lift her left leg up. Zee, try to relax, but don’t move your right foot.” Bower bends her left leg and manages to get his front half situated between her legs, his face right by the apex of her thighs, making her gasp in surprise.

“Zee,” King says, gaining her attention. “Are you okay with this? With us touching you? We know this is all new for you and we’ll take it slow. But we can stop now or at any point along the way. Just say the word, and we’ll stop. You understand?”

She looks at him as she seems to consider his words. I’m pleased, I want her to be sure of what she wants and not be blinded by lust when she makes that decision. None of us move as we wait for her to respond.

“Yes, I… I want this. And I’ll say stop if I get scared.”

Scared was an interesting choice of words, but it’s forgotten as Bower’s hands start sliding up her thighs, a grin on his face as she squirms against me.

“Let’s get this out of the way,” I whisper, my hands moving down her sides to pull up her skirt to her waist. Bower lets out a growl of approval as her glistening curls are fully revealed to him.

“Tink, baby. You’re soaked.”

“I—I’m sorry,” she says, as her cheeks turn pink with embarrassment.

“It’s a good thing,” King reassures her, stroking her thigh. “It means you’re turned on, that you’re enjoying this as much as we are.”

“Really?” she sounds so hopeful it pulls at my heart, knowing that she has no idea that’s a normal reaction.

“Yeah, baby,” I tell her, turning her chin towards me. “And it’s fucking hot.” I kiss her again and a moment later she cries out, pulling her mouth from mine as we peer down at Bower, his face buried in her pussy and his hands gripping her hips as he seems to make a feast of her.

“Sweet baby tongues, Bower, Oh my god!” she cries out, making us chuckle. He moves against her harder and she tries to thrust her hips against him, but he holds her still.

I reach down and pull her top up, exposing her chest to King, who greedily licks his lips before reaching out and massaging them. She gasps the second his hands make contact, then her moans increase in volume when his thumbs stroke over her nipples. I turn her face to mine and kiss her more firmly. Two seconds later, she pulls away and screams her release, her body trembling as we push her over the edge.

I don’t think any of us expected her to get there so fast, so when Bower and King slow their actions but don’t stop, I’m not surprised. She clearly has some pent up energy that we are all too happy to help expel.

I turn her head back to me and start kissing her again, this time taking complete control, my tongue wrapping around hers and showing her what it means to be worshipped by the three of us.

Slowly, her moans grow louder and more frequent. Her body tries to move, seeking more, but Bower gently holds her leg down, and it limits her movements. When she screams her release against my mouth again, a sense of pride fills me. We did that. We were able to give that to her on the cusp of her breaking her ankle and almost crumbling from whatever fears plague her.

I place one final kiss against her lips as Bower and King pull back, helping redress her as best they can. I wrap my arms around her, kissing the side of her head. “Baby, I hope you understand now that we want you to be ours, that we’ll do anything to take care of you.”

“If I’m yours, does that make the three of you mine?” she asks softly. Her head resting against my chest as exhaustion seems to take hold of her.

“Yeah, baby,” I agree.

“We’re all yours, sweetheart,” King adds.

“You’re stuck with us now, Tink.”

“Mmm, good,” she murmurs right before she starts breathing heavily, a clear sign she’s already fallen asleep.

I’m not sure what this means for our time here, or once we’re rescued. What I do know is that I don’t want to go back to my sad excuse for a life, barely living. I’ve never been as happy and content as I am right now, with this amazing woman in my arms. And it’s not lost on me how insane that is, considering I’m stranded on a deserted island.

The only thing that worries me is the plane crash. If there is someone out there trying to take me down, I’ll have to make sure I get to the bottom of it before they make another attempt and endanger Zee. I hope Bower and King will help me. It’s clear they’re protective of her, too, and when I explain the situation, I have to hope they don't tell me I’m a danger to her and ask me to leave.

Now that I’ve come this far, there is no way I could live without her.

Chapter twenty-eight

Darla

Agiggle escapes me as I take another step with no pain at all.

“See!” I say, turning to face the three sexy men who block the doorway and my exit from the hut I’ve been stuck in for the past two weeks. “No pain at all!”

“Would you tell us if there was?” Weston narrows his eyes at me.

“Yes, I promised I would. Now, are you going to hold up your end of the agreement?”

“Fine, but you’re on my back until we’re down on solid ground.”

A squeal of excitement leaves me as I crash against him, my arms wrapping around his waist in the biggest hug I can manage. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

He hugs me back, and I sigh in contentment.

The past fourteen days could have been terrible, but these guys didn’t only make them bearable, they made them the best of my life. Not that there was much competition for that.

They had dragged the other mattress over and I constantly had at least one of them laying beside me. When I slept, I was always sandwiched between two of them, making me feel safe and cared for, something I hadn’t felt in years.

The best part is that I haven’t had a single nightmare since I started sleeping beside them. I’m not sure if it’s because they made me feel safe, or because they seemed to occupy a large part of my head at all times. But considering how much I struggled for weeks to keep my nightmares a secret from them, it’s a relief to know that I don't seem to have them when I’m with these guys. There were worse ways to spend my nights.

They constantly changed the cold water packs, and when the swelling went down we were all really pleased to discover nothing seemed broken and was likely a sprain or strain. They demanded I stay off it completely until I had zero pain. And since it’s not easy to get around, I agreed to stay put in the hut until that happened. I expected to heal in half the time, but I’d never injured myself that badly before.

I was so thankful for them, I’m not sure how I would have survived on my own. It was good to know that Mo-Mo and his family were willing to help me, too. They brought fruit every day for the first nine days until he showed up one day when I happened to be standing up and stretching. Then I think he decided I was better, so they stopped bringing fruit after that, although he still visited every day.

I tilt my head up to Weston and press up on to my toes, and when he tightens his arms around me and lifts me off my feet, planting his lips on mine, I hum in approval. Probably the best part about the past two weeks has been how physically affectionate they all have been with me.

After our conversation on the first day, when I told them how long I’ve been here, I think they realized that holding back from me was actually causing harm. Being unable to decipher social queues and hidden meanings of their words and actions had left me confused and upset. But now I feel like I finally understand where we stand with one another, and we’re all on the same page. They like me, and I like them.

What does that mean for after they get rescued? I decided to ignore that thought and shove that worry deep down inside.

Much to my dismay, there has been no more orgasms since that first night either. They claimed it was too risky for my ankle. I didn’t disagree, but it was hard to lie in a bed all day, snuggling with them and watching their drool-worthy bodies, without wanting more.

They had been very generous with their hugs and kisses, though. Although Kingsley and Bower hadn’t kissed me on the lips yet. I’m not sure why, but I decided not to ask. It was clear they liked me and that was good enough for now.

Weston hadn’t kissed me like he had that first night, but he did give me small pecks on the lips, which I was all too happy to receive.

The problem was all the snuggling and affection has left me worked up and needy. Which might be the main reason I’m so happy to finally be free. Would they give me more orgasms now? And what about them? I hadn’t seen any of them get off yet, and I was sort of dying to see what that would be like.

It wasn’t that I hadn’t seen a guy reach completion before, but never has it been someone I cared about so deeply.

Weston pulls back and turns around, squatting down in front of me. I don’t hesitate to jump on his back, wrapping my arms and legs around him.

“Hold tight,” he commands before he climbs down the ladder to the ground.

When he bends down and lets me step on to the ground for the first time in weeks, I dip my head back, spread my arms wide and sigh in contentment. “I’ve never been so pleased to be standing on the ground.”

“What do you say you and I go get clean at the waterfall while the others check out the beach?” Bower asks, reaching out a hand to me. I take it instantly, noticing the mischief that seems to shine from his eyes.

“Alright, meet us there when you’re done, I’ll grab some food and we can eat on the beach,” Kingsley says, making me nod my head in excitement. A picnic on the beach is just what I needed after being cooped up for so long.

“Come on, Tink.” I give Kingsley a quick hug goodbye, then move to Weston, who surprises me with a playful smack on the ass and a grin. “Get going,” he says. I giggle at the gesture and reach for Bower’s hand again. We start down the path, our fingers laced together, hands swinging easily between us.

I start humming as I happily march to one of my favorite places on the island.

“You seem awfully happy,” Bower says with a smirk.

“Of course I am! I’m free!” I throw our joined hands up in the air as I laugh.

“I love seeing you like this.” His eyes soften as he looks at me. “Happy and relaxed. I want you to always look this content.”

“Me, too,” I admit with a smile of my own.

When we reach the water, I take a deep breath and pull my clothes off. He’s technically seen me naked before and I don’t need to clean my clothes as they had done that for me while I was stuck in the hut. I had changed into my pilfered shirt and a pair of Kingsley’s boxers on the second day. I had to admit they were way more comfortable, especially for lying around all day in.

Now I’m back in my crop top and skirt, the outfit I feel most comfortable in out here.

I stare unabashedly as Bower strips off all his clothes. I lick my lips as my eyes take in every inch of his naked skin. From the tattoos covering his chest, to the semi hard cock that’s pointing towards me.

“Fuck, Tink. If you keep looking at me like that…” he trails off, taking a step closer.

“Then what?” I ask, unable to move my eyes any higher.

“I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep my hands off of you.”

I finally rip my eyes away from his now very erect cock to look into his beautiful green eyes. “Did I give you the impression that I don’t want your hands all over me?”

“Tink…” he growls, grinding his jaw as his eyes trail down my body. “I don’t think you know what you’re asking for.”

“I know exactly what I’m asking for,” I say, taking a step closer, my hand coming out to grip his cock. “You.”

That seems to be the word that cracks his resolve. His arms encircle me as he lifts me up. My arms wrap around his neck, as my legs hook around his waist and then… he kisses me.

His tongue sweeps in to take control instantly. I’ve been fantasizing about what it’d be like to kiss this man, and it’s nothing like I expected. It feels like he’s consuming my body and my soul as he kisses me senseless.

I moan against him and only realize we must be moving when the water touches my feet. Within seconds, we’re in the deep water and he no longer needs to hold me up. Instead, his hands glide down my back, then he squeezes my ass and pulls me tighter against him.

The way this man kisses is in complete contradiction to how he speaks. There is no humor here, just pure passion as he ravishes my mouth, making me moan as my entire body comes alive from his kiss.

I reach down and find his very hard cock and shift back to allow it to spring up between us, then he pulls me tightly against him. The moment I feel his hardness against my core, a whimper escapes my throat.

“Bower!” I exclaim, my teeth biting down on his shoulder as my hips seem to have a mind of their own, thrusting against him, seeking release.

“Mmm, baby, that’s it. Take what you need from me.” I tilt my head towards him and he eagerly gives me what I want, kissing me hard as I get closer and closer to my release.

“Bower, I want to make you feel good, too.”

“Trust me, I’m feeling amazing right now.”

“Can you come like this?” I ask, not exactly sure how this works for men.

“If you keep rubbing your hot little pussy against me like that while making those sexy noises, I’m not going to be able to help myself.”

His words send a jolt of desire through my entire body, making me gasp as I try to get even closer to him. “Whoa.”

“Do you like it when I talk dirty like that?” he asks, pulling me closer and nibbling on my earlobe. “Do you like to hear about how hard my dick is for you? How every day after snuggling with you, I had to go into the woods to beat one out?”

A gasp escapes my lips at his confession, and he licks the shell of my ear, pushing me closer to the edge.

“I can’t help it, Zee. Just being around you turns me on. You’re so fucking amazing and sexy. I keep picturing you as my wife, and it’s taking everything in me to take things slow and not shove my cock so far inside you right now that you’d be feeling me for a week.”

“Bower!” I scream as his words push me over the edge, my mind picturing him doing just that. He lets out a low grunt, his hips jerking against me and I realize he’s just come, too. Satisfaction fills me, I pull back to smile at him.

“You look awfully proud of yourself,” he grins.

“I didn’t know guys could come like that. It makes me feel… wanted. Is that weird?”

He places a soft kiss on my lips before he answers. “No, not weird, sweetheart. It’s true, you are wanted.”

We sink down a little in the water as our hands gently explore each other’s bodies. After a few minutes, he looks over at the waterfall. “Well, shall we go get clean? I’m sure the others are wondering what’s taking us so long.”

I bite my lip nervously as I think of the other two men who have captured a piece of my heart. “Do you think they’ll be jealous?”

A huge smile covers his face as he answers with pure joy. “Oh yeah, they’ll be green with envy.”

Chapter twenty-nine

Darla

“Mo-Mo, you little booger! I already gave you more than enough!”

“Eep!” he trills, running back off into the jungle.

“Nice friend you got there, Zee,” Bower says with a smirk.

I turn to where he’s sitting beside me on the beach, taking a moment to appreciate how his growing beard makes him look even more rugged, like he belongs out here in the wild. “I think he likes to take extra for Coco,” I admit before turning back to the ocean.

“You can’t blame the guy then, can you?” Kingsley asks as he leans forward and wraps his arms around me. As soon as Bower and I had arrived, he’d pulled me down to sit between his legs as they offered us pieces of fruit.

Something about that action, about him wanting to be so close to me, made my heart swell a little more for him. Kingsley is such a sweet man, always making sure that everyone has what they need, especially me. And when he wants something for himself, like me in his lap, who was I to deny him? Besides, he makes a great beach chair.

I lean back against him, my eyes catching on the giant pile of wood. For them, it seems to be a symbol of hope, but for me, it’s a reminder that this could all end one day. It’s not like I could actually leave this island, it wasn’t worth the risk. Although every day I was starting to feel less and less confident in that decision. For the first time in over a decade, I was starting to imagine what life could be like off this island.

Not wanting to look at the wood anymore, I turn in Kingsley arms, my legs wrapping around his back as I look up at him with a smile. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he says with an amused smile. I stare up into his blue eyes. “What’s your last name?”

“Oh, you want to play the question game, do you?” he asks with a grin. It’s a game they kept asking to play while I was recovering, but I often had to call an end to it, as there were too many questions I still didn't want to answer. Especially those about my life before the crash. It wasn’t something I liked to think about anymore. Not because it was bad, but because of the opposite. It was full of happy memories that just made me sad for what I’d lost.

I nod my head and he answers. “Voss.”

“Kingsley Voss,” I say, trying it out loud. “It suits you.”

“Thank you. Now my turn. What did you and Bower get up to at the waterfall?”

My eyes widen, and my cheeks heat as Bower laughs beside us.

“You walked right into that one, Tink.”

“I… uh… we…”

“Go on, Tink. Tell him what happened. Tell him how I kissed you while you rubbed your naked little pussy against my cock until you made us both come.”

I squeeze my eyes shut tight and drop my forehead to Kingsley’s shoulder, groaning in embarrassment. “You did not just say that, Bower!”

He laughs as Kingsley rubs his warm hand up and down my back, sliding it under the back of my top to soothe me.

“Are you embarrassed?” he whispers in my ear. I nod my head and he pulls my body tighter against him. “You shouldn’t be. I’m just jealous I didn’t get to see you come undone again.”

I tentatively lift my head. “Really?”

“Really. Now, do you want to keep playing the question game? Just you and me?” I lick my lips and nod my head, thankful for the change of topic.

“Alright, it’s your turn.”

“Um…” I wrack my brain for a question to ask. “How old are you guys?”

He smirks. “Trying to get three answers in one, huh?”

I bite my lip, trying not to smile at how easily he sees through me sometimes.

“I’m twenty-nine, same as Bower. West’s thirty-eight.”

My wide eyes turn to Weston. “You’re ten years older than me?”

“Does that bother you?”

“Does it bother you?” I counter back.

He shakes his head, looking unfazed by my question.

“Not in the slightest. Age is just a number, and ten years isn’t a lot. Not at our age.” I considered that for a moment. He’s right, of course. Ten years would have been too much if I met him when I was a teenager. But now, it doesn’t mean anything since we’re both grown adults.

“Then it doesn’t bother me either,” I tell him with a nod of determination. A rare smile tilts the edge of his mouth as he leans forward, grabbing the back of my neck and pulling my lips to meet his.

He pulls back with a whispered, “Good girl.”

Oh. I like that.

“Fuck,” Kingsley swears, making me break Weston’s intense stare to look at him in confusion. His eyes bore into mine as he bites his lip. “Zee, sweetheart, I’m trying to be gentlemanly here, but you’re making it very difficult.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, trying to pull back from him, but he holds me tighter. “I shouldn’t have kissed him while I’m sitting on you.”

“No.” He shakes his head before squeezing his eyes tightly shut and tilting his face to the sky. “It’s not that. When he called you a good girl, you… got very wet where you’re pressed against my stomach.”

My wide eyes glance down, only now realizing that because of the way I’m sitting, my bare pussy is pressed right against his abs. “Ohmygod!” I try to get off of him, but he only hugs me tighter, making Bower laugh.

“Tink, it’s not a bad thing, he likes it. But it’s making him want to do more with you. He’s having trouble holding back.” I appreciated Bower explaining it to me, I was still lacking some social queues, especially when it came to intimacy.

I reach up and grip the sides of Kingsley’s face, tilting it back down until he opens his eyes to meet mine.

“Is that true?” He nods silently, a pained expression on his face.

I bite my lip as I consider my next step. He’s obviously leaving it to me to decide where to go from here. He’d let me walk away right now if I wanted to. But I don’t. I might want him just as bad as he seems to want me. But mostly, I wanted to show him that I care about his happiness, too.

I consider how I could bring him pleasure. I could pull his cock out and stroke it. I could rub against him like I did with Bower. But then I suddenly remember how Bower had made me come with his mouth. Is that something I could do?

Feeling nervous and a little adventurous, I ask, “Can I… can I touch you?” My eyes flick down to the bulge in his pants, hoping to convey what I mean.

“Fuck, sweetheart, you never have to ask, you’re always welcome to my body.”

“Will you teach me how?” Three groans surround me and I frown, wondering what I said to make them sound like that.

“Sit back a little and undo my pants,” he instructs, the sound of his heated voice sending a bolt of desire through me. When I get his jeans open, he lifts his hips giving me a silent command, so I pull them and his boxers down a few inches.

I can see his cock is caught inside his boxers so I reach down and carefully grip it, helping to release it from its prison, making him hiss as I make contact. I gently squeeze it as my eyes bounce up to his face.

“Is that a good noise?”

“Yeah, sweetheart, real good, you can start stroking it now.” I gently do as he says, working my hand up and down the shaft. “You can squeeze it a bit harder. Fuck yeah, just like that.” Friction starts to build due to the humidity out here, and I realize I need a lubricant of some sort, but a better idea comes to me.

I release his hard cock, and it swings up, hitting him in the stomach as I move backwards in the sand between his legs until I have enough room to lie forward.

“Sweetheart, are you…” he trails off as I grab his cock and pull it down to my mouth, taking a tentative lick of his tip where it’s glistening with pre-cum. “Fuck, Zee!” he cries out, so I do it again. His hands find my head but he doesn’t take control, he allows me to explore.

I start to get bolder with my tongue, taking long licks up his entire shaft. He groans in approval and I move the head of his cock to my lips, gently swirling my tongue around it before sucking it into my mouth.

I didn't expect it to feel so soft and hard at the same time. Eagerly, I push myself down further, his fingers tightening in my hair. “Fuck, Zee, that feels incredible.”

I lift my head up before pushing back down, and soon his fingers thread in my hair as he takes control of the movement, something I’m grateful for. I have no idea what I’m doing and am completely driving on instinct. But I want to learn what he likes. What I didn’t expect was for this to turn me on so much.

Making him feel good, hearing his moans of pleasure, makes me grow even wetter between my legs. I moan myself, unable to keep my arousal in any longer and that just seems to make his pace increase.

Hands on my hips make me jump, but before I can turn around, Weston’s rough voice skates over my skin. “It’s just me, baby. Lift your hips and move to your knees.”

I have no idea what he’s doing, but I obey as I continue blowing Kingsley, his constant grunts and words of approval washing over me, only adding to my arousal.

My skirt is slowly pushed up until a warm breeze caresses my bare skin. Weston’s large hands grip my ass and squeeze, only heightening my desire for something more.

His thumbs slowly rub up and down, slowly getting closer and closer to my core, and when he finally skims over my clit, I practically buck against him.

“Hmm… so sensitive and wet. You feeling needy, baby?”

I mumble in agreement around Kingsley’s cock. “Fuck! Sweetheart, I’m gonna come soon if you keep that up,” Kingsley grits out.

Weston’s finger circles my entrance before he slowly presses one inside, my body heating at lightning speed. I’m so close to the edge, one small movement could push me over.

Excruciatingly slow, he pumps his finger in and out of me, only driving my desire higher, feeling my orgasm just out of reach.

“Zee, I’m so close, you need to pull off now,” Kingsley says as he pulls me up. I thought he would have wanted to cum in my mouth, but I obey and let him guide me off of him.

He grabs his cock and starts stroking it at the same time Weston’s finger picks up its pace to match Kingsley, and when his thumb starts rubbing firmly against my clit, I cry out, my orgasm exploding out of me, my eyes connecting with Kingsley’s. His eyes turn molten as he reaches his own peak, his cum shooting out of his cock and covering his abs and chest.

I watch with rapt fascination as my own orgasm slowly fades. I lean towards him, the desire to know what he tastes like urging me forward. He breathes heavily as he watches me from where he’s perched on his elbows. I maintain eye contact with him as my tongue darts out to take a quick taste. It’s warm, tangy and a little salty. But the way his eyes light up is what does it for me.

I lean down again and lick right up the center of his abs before pulling my tongue in and swallowing. Not bad. After some of the terrible things I’ve eaten on this island, this doesn’t even come close to bad.

I lick my lips clean and sit back on my knees, my pleased eyes meeting his wide ones.

“Was I not supposed to do that? Is that gross?” I ask, suddenly afraid I’ve done something wrong. I glance over at Bower, who’s also staring at me with wide eyes, but when he sees me looking at him, he shakes his head quickly and smiles.

“Gods, no, Tink. That was just… not what we expected. It was fucking hot, though. Did you enjoy doing that? With your tongue?”

I nod my head feeling a little embarrassed by their reactions and Kingsley seems to take pity on me as he sits up and pulls me back into his lap. I gasp as my bare pussy pulses against his semi hard dick where it presses between us.

His hands grip my cheeks as he looks deep into my eyes, a warm expression on his face. “I can’t believe you’ve licked cum off my chest and I haven’t even gotten to kiss you yet.”

I look at him in surprise, realizing he’s right, and as I open my mouth to say something, he pulls me to him, his mouth taking mine in a heated kiss. His tongue sweeps in, uncaring what I just had in my mouth, making me moan as I melt against him. He moves one hand to the back of my neck and the other wraps around my back as we hold each other tight.

He feels completely different from Weston and Bower, and yet the same feeling of desire floods my system, even though I just came. Now I’m pleased he never kissed me while I was stuck in the hut for weeks, I wouldn’t have been able to handle this desperate need without being able to come.

I start to rub against him and feel his cock twitch against me. But he pulls me back, his hand quickly moving to my hips to stop my thrusting. “Oh, no you don’t. The next time you come, it’s gonna be with my tongue inside you.”

“Wha—” Weston’s strong arms wrap around me and pull me backwards so I’m leaning back against his chest. Kingsley grabs my calves and spreads my legs, his eyes zeroing in on my soaked pussy.

Weston slides his arms up my sides and moves my hands behind his head. “Keep your hands here, baby.” As Kingsley starts to move onto his stomach, Bower comes up beside me, his eyes watching as Weston pulls my top up, exposing my chest to them.

He places his hand on my thigh, gently stroking me as Kingsley gets in place and firmly licks right up my center, making me cry out as pleasure shoots through me. “Ah!”

Weston’s hands cover my breasts and my breath hitches. He gently squeezes them before pinching my nipples, making my hips buck. “Ohmygod!” I cry out, already so close to the edge.

“Fuck, Tink. I’ve never heard of a woman who can come so quickly. You’re almost there already, aren’t you?”

“I can’t help it,” I cry out as Weston’s large thumbs flick over my stiff peaks. Kingsley presses a finger into me before he sucks on my clit and I cry out, unable to hold it in anymore.

“You know, you’re fucking gorgeous when you come apart like that,” Bower tells me as we stare at each other. My heavy breathing and the sound of the waves crashing against the shore are the only things I can hear.

Suddenly, I sense my body slowly heating up again and realize neither of them have stopped touching me. Kingsley takes that moment to pull his finger out of me, causing me to whimper at the loss, but he immediately presses two fingers in, making me push back against Weston as the stretch causes me to moan.

“That’s a good girl, taking him like that. How many orgasms do you think you can give us? Three? Four?”

“Four?” I ask in alarm, before crying out as he pinches my nipples again.

“Alright, four it is. Boys, let’s get to work.”

“Wha—” My question is cut off as he moves his left hand down to my pussy, spreading my folds wide and giving Kingsley better access. “Holy crap!” I whisper at the sight.

Bower takes that opportunity to lean in and latch onto my breasts, his tongue and teeth tugging on my nipple as I arch into him, wanting more.

Weston’s other hand keeps flicking over my other one while Kingsley’s fingers press in and out of me, quicker and quicker, and when he sucks on my clit, I lose all hope of control, another orgasm escaping me as I convulse between the three of them.

Instead of slowing their actions, this time they all start increasing their tempo, and before I’ve even finished my second orgasm, a third rolls through me and I scream out my pleasure at the top of my lungs, grateful that we’re alone on this island.

Thankfully, they finally slow their actions to a stop and just gently stroke my skin as I come down from that intense high. After a few minutes, Weston whispers in my ear, “Are you ready for number four?”

“What? No! I can’t handle another one.”

“I don’t think you understand how fast you’re coming, baby,” he tells me as his hands explore my body. “Women normally take a lot longer than that to come, especially when it’s their second and third one.”

“Am I… weird?” I ask, unsure how to feel about it.

“No, not at all, sweetheart,” Kingsley rushes to reassure me as he sits up. “It’s amazing, actually. It means we get to pull more pleasure from you, which we love doing.”

“Speaking of which, are you ready for more?” Weston asks. I pull my arms down from where they’ve been stuck around his neck and turn to face him.

“Only if I can make you come, too.”

“I’m not sure I can say no to that,” he admits as he licks his lips.

“Then don’t.” I push him until he’s laying on his back, then take my time undoing his cargo pants and pulling them and his boxers part way down his thighs until his hard cock springs free.

“Crab sucker, you’re huge,” I whisper, eyeing the beast in front of me. Hopefully, I can fit that thing inside my mouth, and I am more than eager to try. I lean forward and lick his tip, making it twitch in approval.

Slowly I press my mouth over him and am happy to know I can, in fact, fit him in my mouth. I move my head up and down, as I did with Kingsley, until Weston’s hands move to my head and he takes control. Instantly, wetness leaks down my thighs and I groan as the need for more starts to hit me.

Kingsley grabs my hips and moves me to my knees with my ass in the air. He pushes my legs further apart until I’m completely exposed.

“Fuck, baby, your hot little mouth feels so good on my cock,” Weston hisses out just before I feel Kingsley latch onto my clit from behind. I moan around Weston, not even realizing that was possible from this position.

Something grazes my nipples, and my eyes fly open, seeing a grinning Bower reaching underneath me. “You gonna come like this, Tink? With Weston’s giant cock in your mouth and Kingsley’s mouth on your dripping pussy?”

I whimper, making Weston swear. Kingsley starts thrusting his tongue into me, and I buck my hips back against him, seeking more. He pinches my clit between his fingers at the same time Bower pinches my nipples and I scream my release on Weston’s cock.

“I’m gonna come, baby!” he cries out as he tries to pull me off him, but I don’t budge and he takes the hint, his fingers moving to hold my head as he thrusts himself up into me three more times. Then I feel his cock hit the back of my mouth and his cum shoots straight down my throat.

I swallow him down greedily, not wanting to lose a drop as my own orgasm sends little sparks of pleasure through my entire body. I realize I haven’t collapsed because Bower’s got an arm wrapped around my waist, holding me against him.

When Weston is done, I pull back and let my body sag against Bower. He manages to undress me and settle me sideways in his lap, gently rocking me back and forth.

I blink my eyes up at him, a feeling of warmth and contentment like I’ve never felt before enveloping me.

“Hi. You feeling better?”

“Mmm, much,” I mumble, leaning my head against him. “Why did you take off my clothes after we did… all of that?”

“I figured you’d want to clean up in the ocean, but no rush, let’s wait until you get some energy back.”

“You might be waiting a while,” I murmur as I close my eyes and sigh.

I’ve never felt so relaxed before. At least not on this island. Spending time with them in the hut was great, we got to know each other on a deeper level. But this level of intimacy was something I never knew was possible. The fact that we hadn’t even had sex yet was actually unbelievable.

I couldn’t imagine anything being better than what we just shared.

Chapter thirty

Kingsley

Itry not to laugh as Bowers slips down the vine, landing hard on his ass with an “Oomph!”

Zee, as usual, rushes to his side to make sure he’s okay. When she isn't looking directly at him, he sends us a quick wink, making me roll my eyes.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” West groans from beside me, where only I can hear him. “He’s doing that on purpose.”

Bower’s been begging Zee for days to teach him how to swing from the vines like she does. And today, she finally agreed. When he fell the first time, Zee was all over him, making sure he was okay, and it was clear he liked the fussing. What’s not clear is if he’s continuing to fall on purpose or not.

Zee runs her hands all over him, looking for injuries. “Can you really blame him?” I ask, knowing it’s not the worst idea he’s ever had.

When she decides he’s fine and wraps her arms around his waist in a big hug, West practically growls beside me in frustration. “I can’t take this anymore.” He stomps over to them, demanding, “I think Bower needs a break, it’s my turn.”

She releases Bower and turns to West in surprise. “You want to learn, too?”

“Yes,” he says with a nod of his head.

“Alright, Bower, you can take a break and rest your hands while I teach Weston.” I can’t help but smile at the glare he gives West before he walks over to join me near the fire pit.

He stands at my side with his arms crossed over his chest as he stares at the two of them while she explains to West how to hold on to the vine.

Glancing at him out of the corner of my eye, I see a look of frustration on his face, making me chuckle. “You aren’t really pouting right now, are you?”

Immediately, he drops his frown and looks at me, feigning innocence. “No, of course not.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

“I was just enjoying my time with her.”

“You’re gonna have to get used to sharing, if this is going to work between us all. Besides, you were clearly putting on an act for her, and I wouldn’t want you to accidentally lie to her about your capabilities.”

He rubs the back of his neck as his expression turns sheepish. “Yeah… I might have not tried too hard when I saw how she reacted to my first fall. I can’t help it, though! Now she’s freely giving her affection, I just want to soak it all up.”

“I get it, but you need to come upon it honestly.” A loud thump has us turning to see West on his ass, clearly having just fallen.

“Oh no! Are you okay?” Zee asks, kneeling between his outstretched legs as her hands roam over his body. I’m not sure why she expects the front of him to be injured and by the surprised look he sends our way, West doesn’t know either.

Without saying anything, he wraps his arms around her and pulls her against him, kissing her senseless. She lets out a squeak of surprise before her body visibly melts into him.

“I think I was doing it wrong,” Bower mumbles, making me laugh as Zee and West pull apart.

She glances at us before she says something too quiet for us to hear. West says something in return, then starts tickling her sides and she lets out peals of laughter as she tries to get away from him.

“West, stop!” she squeals.

“She’s something else, isn’t she?” I ask as she lets out a loud giggle.

“She sure is.” He lets out a small sigh as we silently watch them.

Somehow I doubt I’ll be any good at swinging on vines. I wish there was a way to play tennis here. With her physicality, I’d bet she’d be amazing at it. I’m always trying to get Bower or Reece to be my doubles partner, but they just don’t enjoy it. Teaching Zee to play would be a great way for us to spend time together back in the real world.

Once they go back to her lesson, Bower speaks again. “Do you think Reece will like her?”

I let out a long breath, scratching my overgrown beard. “I wish I knew.”

Reece hasn’t gotten along with a single girlfriend either of us has brought home. Not the sweet ones, the funny ones, the smart ones. He didn’t approve of anyone, and it’s been bugging me for days, wondering how he will react to Zee. She’s been through so much, if Reece is mean or cruel to her, it will probably create a rift between us. I don’t want to have to pick between him and her.

Thinking out loud, I finally tell Bower, “We’ll have to do our best to help ease her into his unique personality. Maybe the fact that we are sharing her will make him more accepting.”

We know he rejected some of our past girlfriends because he didn’t think they’d mix well with the rest of us. We’ve taken that hurdle out of the equation, this girl wasn’t going to split Bower and me up because we were both in this together.

“King?”

“Hmm?” I respond, trying to rein in my thoughts.

“Why hasn’t he found us yet?”

Shit. I’ve been dreading this question for weeks. Because the truth is, Reece should have found us within a week, and we’ve been here for over six. Why couldn’t he find us? We couldn’t have possibly gone that far off course in such a short time. Part of me wonders if he’s stopped looking, but I immediately push that thought aside.

“I dunno, Bower. But I can guarantee you he won’t stop searching until he finds us.”

Chapter thirty-one

Reece

My hand throbs as I throw another punch at the bag, but I can’t stop. Every day I don’t find them, I become more and more on edge. After breaking every coffee mug in our office kitchen, Arnold suggested I try going to the gym to relieve some of my pent up stress. It’s saved the coffee mugs, but I don’t feel any calmer. It just gives me somewhere to throw my frustration and anger.

After all, it’s my fault they went on the trip in the first place. If I wasn’t so chicken shit of flying, I would have investigated the lead myself. But I couldn’t fly, and they understood that. And like the best friends they are, they volunteered to go check out Frank, the man who runs the charity division of the Danver’s Group, a man I was starting to have deep suspicions of. Trouble was, he lived in Perth, Australia, so questioning him wasn’t easy.

The last call I had from them was after they had confronted him and he denied everything. We had decided they needed to go check out the warehouse in Kenya to see for themselves if the rumors were true or not. But they never made it there. The plane took off from Perth, and a few hours later it disappeared from radar.

My search team has been scouring the area that they went radio silent in with no luck, and I don’t understand why. Were they actually diverted somewhere completely different, landing in some foreign country, and are currently being held by someone?

I punch the bag again as my frustration boils. A plane can’t just go missing, there has to be some way of tracking it. But I’ve been told by multiple people that if the black box is damaged, and they have no radio, there is no way to find them.

I can’t believe that to be true in this day and age. I tried using find my phone on both of them but their phones just show their last location as Perth, meaning they probably switched them off before take off.

Wiping the sweat from my brow, I head to the showers to clean myself off. I’m in here a minimum of twice a day now, trying to keep my anger in check. But everyday it gets harder. They’ve been gone for over six weeks now. Six god-damned weeks.

I’ve failed them. But I refuse to give up, I’ll never stop looking for them until I find out where they are and what happened. Was it related to what they were looking into? I had a few private eyes follow Frank for three weeks, but they found no indication that he was somehow holding them somewhere.

What would King do if he was here, and I was the one missing? He’d probably be at the office non-stop trying to invent some new tech to help. He wasn’t a computer engineer himself, but he knew how things worked and was enough of a tech whiz to help found our company. He could take Bower and my crazy ideas and figure out if they were actually possible or not. Then we’d take the viable options to our team to build out fully.

But without his critical thinking skills and Bower’s wild card ideas, I was just left with me… and what good was I?

I finish showering and get dressed in my slacks and light blue dress shirt with a navy tie. At least dressed like this, I felt like I was wearing my own form of armor, keeping the rest of the world from knowing what was going on in my head. Fake it till you make it, as they say.

Outside, Arnold is waiting for me and after a slight detour through the drive thru for some food, he drops me off at Titan Tech.

I push open the glass door and am immediately greeted by our receptionist, Lisa. “Mr. Benson! I didn’t realize you were coming in today.”

“Do I need permission to come to my own company?” I ask, not bothering to look at her as I swipe my ID card and it buzzes me through the turnstile.

“No! Of course not! If I knew, I would have had coffee waiting for you.”

“That’s fine, Lisa. Just send one up to my office when it’s ready. Actually—” I stop before I reach the elevator and look at my watch. One o’clock in the afternoon. Finally, looking at her. “Has anyone left for lunch today?”

“No sir, they’ve all been working hard since eight this morning. Some of them were already here when I arrived.”

My team worked incredibly hard, and even more so these past six weeks as they tried to figure out a way to track down Bower and King.

“Can you call Luigi’s and order their Italian Feast, enough for the whole team, including yourself?” I want to give my team something to show my appreciation. I paid them well, but it didn't mean I didn't appreciate the extra efforts they were taking to find a solution, even if I didn’t show it most of the time.

“Of course, sir! I’ll get right on that, then I’ll bring you your coffee.” She picks up the phone and I nod my head, pressing the call button for the elevator.

Our building was only four floors, but we owned the entire thing. The top floor was where the three of us had offices, along with a few other admin staff and several meeting rooms.

Floors two and three were where most of the team worked. They were wide open spaces filled with tech and computers.

The first floor, besides reception, had an additional meeting room, storage and a large kitchen and dining area. The building wasn’t nearly as large or ostentatious as our competitors, but that’s what I liked about it. Just because we could afford a forty story monstrous tower, didn't mean we needed one. The building was perfect for us, big enough to house our team comfortably without having wasted space.

After stashing my bag and jacket in my office and taking a quick glance at my emails, Lisa enters with my coffee. “The food will be here in thirty minutes, I’ll have it taken to the dining hall and message the team once it’s arrived,” she tells me as she saunters up to my desk.

Instead of placing the coffee down, she holds it out to me, waiting for me to take it. I sigh, I hate when she does that. I don't enjoy physical contact with women, it sets me on edge and makes my skin crawl.

“You can put it there,” I tell her, pointing to an empty spot on my desk without lifting my gaze from my computer screen. She sets it down, but I notice out of the corner of my eye that she doesn't move, she just stands there, twiddling her thumbs like she wants to say something.

I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself down so I don’t snap at her. “Was there something else?”

“Oh, I… I just wanted to say it’s admirable how much you care about your business partners, and how hard you are working to try to find them.” I can’t stop the frown from covering my face. They weren’t just my business partners, they were my best friends, my brothers. They were my family. “If you ever need someone to talk to, you know you can always come to me?”

So that’s what this is about? She wants me to cry on her shoulder? She’s always hinted at wanting more than an employee-boss relationship with me… and my brothers, but I have zero interest, nor do Bower or King. They know to keep things professional and not mix business with their personal lives. I’d love to get rid of Lisa but she hasn’t crossed the line of being inappropriate yet, she just skates it enough that we know what she wants without saying anything that could get her fired.

“Let me know when lunch is here,” I say in dismissal. I sense her shoulders drop in disappointment, but it says how much she really doesn't know me if she expected me to give any reaction to her offer. Being closer to her would be no comfort to me, in fact, it would make me feel worse.

“What is that?” I ask, looking over Hendrix's shoulder at the monitors full of what looks like ocean currents combined with data streams. “Is that Siren?”

Siren was one of the many AI interfaces the team has been working on over the years. It was originally designed for climate and environmental modeling, disaster prediction, and real-time global monitoring, it’s still a work in progress but has come a long way in five years.

“Yes. I don’t know if it will work, but I had an idea.” I can hear the excitement he’s holding back. He has what he thinks is a good idea, but is afraid to show too much enthusiasm and have it fail.

But it doesn’t matter because his excitement is infectious, especially when it comes to finding my brothers, we’ve had no solid ideas in weeks.

“Explain.”

“Okay, so you know how we tried to create that weather mapping program to see where the plane could have been pushed off course to?” I nod and he quickly continues. “Well, I was thinking that maybe we’re looking in the wrong spot. We’re looking in the air when we should be looking in the water.”

“Currents,” I say, trying to figure out where he’s going with this. “That would explain not finding the wreckage, I suppose…” I trail off, still trying to piece it together.

“Yes. But we integrate it.”

“We looked at current charts the first week, they didn’t help,” I say, feeling deflated.

“Remember the Pulse watch prototype?” he asks. “The biosensor we built for long-term vitals monitoring? King was wearing it.”

“Yeah,” I say slowly. “It didn’t work the way it was supposed to, though. No real range. It stored data but only pinged satellites every few hours, and even then, half the time, the signal got lost. He only kept it on because he liked the design and it functioned as a normal smart watch just fine.”

“Exactly.” He clicks over to another screen showing logs of satellite data dumps. “I told Siren to start scanning for analog signals that don’t match current registered devices. I wasn’t expecting much, but... I got this.”

He zooms in. Beneath the distortion, I can see it, a faint, repeating signal.

“It’s not location-tagged,” I say, feeling my mind skate the edge of hope and disappointment.

“No,” Hendrix agrees. “Too damaged. Whatever happened on that flight likely fried most of the transmitters. But the watch’s fallback mode is analog. It’s trying to ping. Not often. Not strong. But it's there.”

My breath catches. “And if it’s still pinging…”

“Then King is still alive,” Hendrix says. “Or at least… he was, recently.”

I lean in. Hope prickles sharp and sudden along my spine. “This doesn’t give us coordinates,” I say, trying to stay grounded. “We still don’t know where the signal is coming from.”

“Right,” he nods. “But we know what to listen for now. That watch has a unique rhythm, slight variances in the biometric readout, plus a time-stamped transmission loop. It’s like a fingerprint.”

I meet his eyes. “And if we build a listener net through satellite APIs, low orbit backscatter analysis, and sub-oceanic reflectivity patterns,” I finish, my voice picking up, “we can triangulate it.”

“Exactly.” He grins now, the excitement breaking through. “We can’t find the location yet, but we’ve got the algorithm to do it. Siren just needs time and access to the right feeds.”

I nod, already running calculations in my head. “We’ll need private satellite access. High-altitude relay points. Maybe even partner with DeepSeaComm, see if their sonar buoys picked up anything unusual.”

“We’ll get it,” Hendrix says. “One way or another.”

For the first time since the plane vanished, we’re not chasing shadows. We have something real. Not a location… yet. But a path to get there.

“Keep that signal locked,” I say, my hand clamping on his shoulder in approval. “Tell me what you need.”

Hendrix nods, turning back to the screen. “I’ll send you a list right now. And get Jackson and Peters in here so we can rotate.”

“I’ll get Lisa to set up break room two for you guys to sleep in, and we’ll make sure to have food deliveries coming at every mealtime. This is our main focus now, you have every resource at your disposal, plus you’ll all be paid triple time for as long as it takes to find them.”

He shakes his head. “You don't have to do that. Bower and King are as much a part of this company as you are. Everyone loves them and we would do this for free to get them back.”

I give his shoulder another squeeze in thanks. “Regardless, you’ll be compensated.” I turn to leave and call back over my shoulder, “Send me that list asap.”

“I’m on it,” he says without turning away from his screen.

As I head back to my office, the knot in my chest loosens for the first time in over six weeks.

I don’t know where they are. But now I know how to find them.

Chapter thirty-two

Darla

Weston watches the boar meat cook with a satisfied look on his face. We ran out of jerky two days ago and I said I’d catch us a smaller one, but Weston refused to let me go alone, saying he wanted to learn how to hunt and survive here like I had.

So I agreed to show him how to properly take one down, causing the least amount of pain and suffering. My dad had taught me that, and I was grateful for it.

“So West, I guess you’re a real hunter now, huh?” Bower asks as we all watch the meat sizzle on the fire.

Weston looks over at him with a smirk. “When are you gonna learn how to hunt one?”

“With you two expert hunters, who needs me?” Bower asks. The truth is, I think he knows he couldn’t actually make the kill.

“That’s okay, foraging is important, too.” I pat Bower’s knee in support, which earns me a glare from him.

“Are you making fun of me, Tink?”

“Of course not, we all have our strengths, and yours isn’t hunting, that’s okay.”

“While you’re at it, go forage me some eggs,” Weston says with a small sigh. “I’d kill for some eggs and bacon right now.”

“Mmm, yeah, I haven’t had an egg since we left the states,” Kingsley adds with a dreamy look in his eyes.

I haven’t gone climbing for eggs since these guys arrived on the island. Bob’s bound to have some new ones by now.

Deciding this will be a fun surprise, I jump up and grab my bag. “I’ve got to go do something, I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Wait, Zee, you can’t just run off like that!” Kingsley yells, halting me in my tracks.

“Why not?” I turn around, seeing them all frowning at me.

“I thought we talked about this, no wandering off alone,” Weston all but growls at me. “If you need to go somewhere, I’ll come with you.”

“You can’t!” His eyebrows lift in surprise at my tone. “I just mean… it’s girl stuff.”

His face turns to a look of understanding as he sits back down. “Oh, I guess that’s okay then, don’t be long.”

“Yes, sir!” I salute him with a smirk and turn before he changes his mind. I understand that they worry about me being on my own, but it’s what I’ve done for fifteen years and is second nature to me still.

I take off on a quick walk towards my old friend, Cliff. When I finally reach him, I take a moment to drink some water as I gaze up to the top. “Were you always this tall?”

I swallow heavily, feeling a little nervous. I’m doing this so they’d have eggs, and the pleased looks on their faces will be worth it.

Letting out a deep breath, I move closer and find a handhold, being careful as I slowly make my way up the 200 foot rock wall.

When I’m about twenty-five feet up, someone yells my name, startling me. “ZEE!” The small jerk of my body is enough for my foot and hand to slip, my other grip not enough to keep me tethered as I start falling backwards.

A scream tears from my throat as I blindly fall backwards towards the ground. The wind is knocked out of me as I’m caught by a strong set of arms. I gasp, taking in big lungfuls of air and turn my head to Weston.

He looks furious as he stares down at me, where I’m cradled in his arms. “Weston,” I ask nervously. “Are you okay?”

“Am I okay?” he asks, grinding his teeth. “Of course I’m not okay! I followed you to make sure you didn’t get into any trouble, and I find you climbing up a goddamned cliff! What were you thinking, Zee?!”

My eyes start to blur the more he speaks. The last thing I want is to disappoint him, that’s the complete opposite of the reason I’m out here. “I’m sorry,” I mumble as I try to wipe away my tears before they fall.

His face softens as he watches me. “Baby, what on earth were you doing climbing that thing?”

“You remember Bob, the seagull?” He nods and I continue. “He has a nest up there and I was going to get you some eggs.”

His brows furrow as he scans my face. “You were risking your life to get us… eggs?” I nod, feeling stupid. Now he puts it like that, it does seem a little crazy.

I reach my hand up to stroke his cheek. “I’m sorry, don’t be mad at me,” I say, hoping my touch will help him go easy on me. His face slowly changes from frustration to something softer, something that makes me squirm in his arms. And as if he feels the same tension I do, he leans down, pressing his lips to mine.

I thread my fingers behind his neck and pull him closer, moaning as he takes control of the kiss. Without lifting his mouth from mine, he turns me so my legs are wrapped around him, my back pushed against the wall.

“Weston!” I gasp, his hard cock connecting with my core through his cargo pants. He pushes his hips against my bare pussy, grinding himself against me, licking and sucking my neck as I beg for more.

With one hand on my ass, he moves the other one lower and manages to sink two fingers inside me from behind. “Fuck, baby, you’re so wet for me right now.”

He pumps his fingers in and out in rhythm with his thrusting hips, making me whimper in pleasure. His mouth moves up my neck, to my cheek, before finally landing back on my mouth. I hold him to me as he kisses me deeply, sending warmth through my entire body.

“Can you take another one, baby?” I nod my head eagerly and he grins. He leans his forehead against mine then pushes a third finger into me and I gasp at the fullness. “Fuck, baby. You’re so tight. You’re taking me like such a good girl.”

I moan loudly, his words and actions bringing me closer to my release. My entire body is on fire, as if I’m being completely consumed by him. “You gonna come for me, baby? You gonna soak my pants with your release?”

“Yes!” I gasp, bucking my hips to take his fingers deeper. And when his thumb finds my clit, I scream loudly, my entire body shaking as I come on his fingers.

He covers my mouth with his, swallowing my screams of pleasure as he helps me ride it out. When I finally feel the last of my orgasm fade, I melt into his arms as he holds me against him. He places a kiss on my neck as he sways us from side to side.

“You’re so beautiful, Zee.”

“Mmm,” I reply, not being able to say much, my body feeling like jelly.

He takes a seat, his back to the wall, as I straddle him, my head resting on his chest, listening to his heart beat while he rubs my back.

“Zee?” he asks after we’re both quiet for a few minutes.

I lift my head to meet his gaze.

“Promise me you won’t try anything like that again. I can’t imagine what would have happened if you fell and I wasn’t there to catch you.”

“I only fell because you startled me.” His eyes narrow, making me roll mine. “Fine, I promise, no more cliff climbing without supervision.”

He reaches up and cups my cheeks, his thumb softly stroking my skin as his eyes explore my face. “You know I’m only like this because I care so much about you?”

“I care about you, too.” I give him a small smile, which he returns.

He reaches down and pulls something out from one of his side pockets. Gripping it tightly in his fist, he brings his hand up between us. “There’s something I want you to have.”

“Oh?” Intrigued, I eye his hand and wonder what it could be.

He opens his palm, and my eyes widen at the beautiful necklace. The one I’d seen them with when they first arrived. I’d forgotten about it.

“This is for me?” I ask, stroking my finger over the seashell charm.

“If you want it.”

“I do, Weston. It’s so pretty.” I pick it up and admire the delicate silver chain. “Where did you get it? You’re sure it wasn’t meant for someone else?” A small ball of doubt starts to form in my gut. Did these guys have girlfriends back in the real world? Do they just see me as some island fling? Nobody had actually clarified that one way or the other.

“It was always meant for you,” he says, taking it from me and clasping it around my neck.

“What do you mean? You had it before you even knew I existed.”

“You’ll think it’s dumb,” he whispers, avoiding my eyes as he lays the charm against the top of my chest.

“I’m sure I won’t. Tell me?” I ask, lifting his chin so his eyes meet mine.

He lets out a deep breath as he rubs his finger over the seashell. “I saw it in the Perth airport.”

My eyes widen at that piece of info I somehow haven’t heard before. “You flew out of Perth?” I ask, unable to hold my question back.

“Yeah, why?” His eyebrows furrow as he looks up at me.

“Oh, no reason, just curious. Carry on,” I say, hoping he doesn’t dwell on my question any longer. I’m grateful when he picks his story back up quickly.

“Something about it drew me in. I picked it up, and the owner said something about it being a great present for my girlfriend. I didn’t want to admit I didn’t have one, so instead I bought it, hoping that one day I would find someone I cared about enough to give it to.” His eyes finally lift to mine as he gives me a small smile. “And I did. Like I said, it was always meant for you.”

“I love it, thank you!” I wrap my arms around his neck and he pulls me close for a big bear hug. That story just makes the gift so much more special.

“Zee,” he whispers against my neck, holding me so tight I can’t turn to see his face.

“Yeah?”

“Will you be my girlfriend?”

“I—”

He cuts me off before I can answer. “I already feel like you’re mine, I just wanted to officially ask you. And I hope you know this isn’t just while we’re here. When we get back to the real world, I’m not giving you up.”

It’s like he looked into my head and read my mind. But I couldn’t commit to life off this island with him, not when I’m planning to stay.

“Weston,” I whisper, tears forming in my eyes. “There's nothing left for me out there, not anymore.”

He pulls me back and stares at me, a look of worry in his eyes. “Your family?” he asks, and I shake my head.

“It’s just me now,” I finally admit.

“You’re not alone anymore, Zee. You have us, we’re your family now.”

I don’t have the nerve to tell him that I don’t want to leave, but part of me also wonders if I could. If I have him, and Bower and Kingsley, maybe leaving this island would be possible.

As we walk hand in hand back to camp, I consider everything Weston said to me. He called us a family. It’s been a long time since I’ve had one of those. Which makes me wonder about his parents, and Bower and Kingsley’s, too.

“Weston? Do you have any family? Back on the mainland? Parents, siblings?”

“My parents are still alive, but we don’t speak. And I have an older brother, Brian, but he wants nothing to do with me either.” My heart clenches in sadness for him. Unlike me, his parents are alive, and yet, they don’t talk to him?

“Why don’t you talk? If you don’t mind me asking.” He glances at me, his eyes dropping to the seashell around my neck before he lets out a deep breath.

“I suppose, as my girlfriend, you should know the truth. But you might think less of me.”

Butterflies take flight in my stomach when he calls me that, but I think he’s going to finally open up about his past, so I hide my reaction as I tell him, “I won’t judge you, Weston. You can tell me anything.”

“We won’t judge you, either,” Bower’s loud voice catches our attention, making me jerk in surprise. I hadn’t realized they were sitting on the beach.

“Fine, why don’t we take a seat?” Weston directs me to sit beside him and we sit facing the other two in a sort of circle. “You all know I was a pilot in the Marines.” The three of us nod and he continues.

“On my last mission, I picked up a group of soldiers out of a restricted zone, where they’d just completed their assignment. We were maybe a quarter of the way home when the plane’s electronics just stopped working, like an EMP had gone off and fried everything. The plane spun out of control and hit the ground, tail first. Which is the only reason I survived. None of the soldiers made it.”

I gasp, my hands flying to my mouth in shock. “You’ve survived two plane crashes?!”

“Technically, I wasn’t in the second plane when it crashed, but yeah, you could say that.” He narrows his eyes at the other two as he speaks.

“Why are you looking at them like that?” I ask as my hands lower to grasp my new necklace, its presence bringing me comfort.

“Because those idiots pushed me out of the plane.”

“What!?” I gasp, turning to the other two in surprise. Their sheepish expressions show their guilt. “You didn’t, did you?”

“The plane was going down and there was only one parachute. So we forced it on him and pushed him from the plane. We thought we were saving his life.”

My eyes widen in surprise. They’d never explained the details of their crash before, and I’d always wondered why they didn’t come to shore together. “You two sacrificed yourselves for him?”

They nod slowly, their eyes moving from me to Weston and back again.

A million emotions go through me at once. I’m angry they would sacrifice themselves, but proud that they would even consider doing it, and for a man who wasn’t their family. Unable to contain myself any longer, I lurch forward, wrapping an arm around both of their necks and pulling them into a three-way hug.

“You two are so brave, I can’t believe you did that.” Their bodies relax against me as they hug me back. The sound of Weston clearing his throat has me releasing them to sit back beside him.

“Why are you mad at them for trying to save your life?” I ask him in confusion.

“It’s a pilot's duty to go down with his plane.”

“Well, I think that’s dumb. If you ever have to make the decision to go down with a plane again, please make the choice that’ll have you survive to come home to me, okay?” I ask in frustration, not wanting to lose him over his perceived duty.

His eyes soften, and he hugs me, stroking my back as he whispers, “I promise to always do my best to come back to you. Besides, when we get out of here, I might have to take a break from flying for a while.”

“That’s right, you didn’t finish your story,” I say, pulling back from him. “You were explaining about the first crash and why your parents don’t talk to you.”

“Right.” He takes a deep breath, grabbing my hand and holding it in his lap. “I crashed into the wilderness and it took me a few hours to reach civilization. By the time I got in contact with my superiors, local news channels had already played footage of me emerging from the jungle, looking like a complete wreck. Some locals took the footage on their phones and sold it to the media.”

He takes a second to gather his thoughts before he continues. “My superiors were furious with me for crashing and I was dishonorably discharged.”

“What the fuck? The EMP wasn’t your fault,” Bower says angrily. “They can’t do that.”

“They can, and they did. I didn’t even get to make a statement. The entire thing was suspicious and strange. I had a feeling someone in our own government wanted that plane to go down, and I was just a loose end. I decided not to fight it and be thankful that they didn't seem to be sending anyone to finish off the job.” He glances at me before looking at the other two again. “Well, until now.”

“What do you mean?” Kingsley asks in confusion.

“The way our plane went down, that was no accident.” My eyes widen in shock, but from the looks on Bower and Kingsley’s faces, this isn’t news to them.

But I can’t help the way my heart starts beating rapidly in my chest. That can’t be a coincidence, can it? What are the chances that two planes go down in the exact same spot, both having departed from Perth?

“Anyway, after that, my parents said I was a disgrace and refused to hear my side of the story. Even my older brother, Brian, who’s a captain in the army, refused to talk to me, and we used to be really close.”

“Well, you don’t need them, you have us now,” I tell him with a squeeze of his hand. He gives me a thankful smile as I turn to the other two.

“Bower, I know you lost your parents, do you have any siblings?”

“Yeah, Kingsley's family took me in. I was twelve at the time. He has a younger sister, Hazel, she’s become a little sister to me, too. And his mom became a second mom to me.” He speaks of Kingsley’s family with such affection, it’s clear to see he cares for them.

“That’s amazing that they took you in like that. Kingsley, your mom must be amazing?” I ask, turning my gaze to him.

He smiles warmly in memory of her. “Yeah, her and Hazel are great.” He sighs, his smile disappearing quickly. “I hate to think about how worried they are right now.”

“Don’t worry, King. Reece will find us soon,” Bower says, giving his shoulder a firm squeeze in comfort.

“So… do you two want to know what our girl here was actually up to when she ran off?” Weston suddenly asks, changing the subject. My head whips to him as my eyes widen in fear.

“You wouldn’t!” He smirks at me and turns back to them, waiting for an answer. “Weston!”

“If you’re going to do reckless things, I think all three of us deserve to know, so we know how to properly handle you.”

“Handle me? I’m not your pet!” I grumble in disapproval.

“No, but you’re our girl, and you’re a little… shall we say… wild? It’s our job to take care of you, and part of that is making sure you don’t get yourself into trouble.”

“I—” He raises an eyebrow at me, as if begging me to try to argue his point. My shoulders slump in defeat.

“Oh, this must be good, what’d she do?” Bower asks, rubbing his hands together like he’s about to hear some juicy gossip.

Weston glances at me before he answers. “She was climbing up that giant 200 foot rock wall. When I told her to get down, she fell from about twenty feet up, luckily I caught her.”

Bower and Kingsley look at me with a mix of surprise, fear and frustration.

“Actually,” I say, glaring at him. “He yelled and startled me, making me lose my grip.”

“Is that any better?” Kingsley asks, making me turn to him in confusion.

“What?”

“Why were you climbing that to begin with? You could have killed yourself!”

“She was trying to get some eggs for us,” Weston tells him.

“Zee…” Kingsley says in disapproval.

“I’m sorry, okay? I’ve climbed that wall a hundred times, I didn’t think of it as being particularly dangerous or unnecessary,” I tell them, my voice rising in frustration as I get to my feet, unable to sit still any longer.

“I’ve been living here for fifteen years on my own. If I played it safe the entire time, I wouldn't have the huts, I wouldn't have anything made from the boar, nor their meat.”

I start pacing as my anger at the situation boils over. I’m no longer upset at them for questioning me climbing that wall, I’m angry at being stuck on this stupid island for so long that I need to do things they might think are reckless, that I need to talk to trees and rocks just to keep sane.

“Zee, I know it’s been hard, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” Kingsley says as they all get to their feet and try to stop my pacing, but I just walk around them, unwilling to stop moving.

My heart is beating wildly as my mind races at all the near-death experiences I’ve had over the past fifteen years.

“You don’t understand. Living here’s been easy for you, it wasn’t like this for me. I had to do things to survive. Dangerous things… things I didn't want to do.”

“Tink, W—”

“No!” I yell, tears slipping from my eyes as I turn my frustration towards Bower. “This place was a nightmare! I had to learn to survive here. On. My. Own.” I punctuate each word with a finger pushing against his firm chest.

“I was thirteen!” I yell as I start pacing again. “I only had my dad for four months before everything was taken from me by those… those assholes!”

“What did you just say?” Weston asks, stepping in front of me and grabbing my forearms, his eyes filled with concern.

I pull my arms free and continue pacing. “Do you have any idea what it’s like for a thirteen year old girl to be stranded on a deserted island after watching her own father get murdered?!”

“Murdered? Zee, what are you talking about?” Kingsley says, as they try to make sense of my rambling.

But I’m too far gone to try and explain the entire story to them, so I just let my mouth spew whatever it wants, hoping that by getting this out, it will make me feel better, because right now, I can't stop myself from talking even if I wanted to.

Suddenly, I’m yanked into a hard chest as firm arms wrap around me. I inhale Bower’s intoxicating scent as tears roll down my cheeks.

“Tell us what happened, Tink. Let it out.”

And for the first time in fifteen years, I allow myself to relive those horrible memories as I finally share the truth I’ve kept hidden from them since the day we met.

“They made my own father watch as they raped me. Then they slit his throat. So, I killed them.”

Chapter thirty-three

Bower

My entire body freezes at her words and I clutch her even tighter against me. My wide eyes meet King’s and West’s as we all stare at each other in shock.

I’d always thought there was more to her arrival on this island than she had told us. She refused to talk about the crash or her father. But I never imagined this. All three things she just told us are enough on their own to warrant some serious hours in therapy, but to have all three happen to her at once? And when she was only thirteen?

Perhaps the worst part is that she was left here on her own to deal with the aftermath of that entire situation. Nobody to help bury the bodies, nobody to help her grieve, nobody to be there for her and help her recover.

I kiss the top of her head as I gently sway her back and forth. West and King step closer and wrap their arms around us, offering her their silent support in a giant group hug.

Her body starts to shake as she erupts into sobs, damn well breaking my heart as she does. I hate seeing her like this. I hate that she’s been holding onto this pain for fifteen years. This could very well be the first time she’s ever let herself truly feel the pain of what happened. She’s been running in survival mode this entire time.

“Let it out, baby,” I whisper against her head as we all continue to hold her. Her fingers clutch my shirt tightly where her hands are trapped between us as she continues to cry.

I start humming a soft tune as I think about what set her off. I hate to see her upset, but in many ways, this was necessary. She needed to tell us what happened to her, and I’m pleased it happened now before things got any more sexual. This is vital information that we, her boyfriends, need to know so that we can properly care for her and make sure we don’t trigger any bad memories.

She stirs beneath me, and we all pull back to let her lift her head. Her eyes are red and puffy and her cheeks are wet. I gently cup her face and try to wipe away her tears with my thumbs.

“I’m just going to go splash some water on my face, can you guys give me a minute… please?” She gestures over her shoulder towards the ocean.

“Of course, take all the time you need,” I say, reluctantly letting her go. She whips at her face as she walks away. West and King move to my sides as we all stare at her in silence.

She doesn't go far into the water, just up to her calves as she starts scooping it up and splashing it on her face and arms.

King lets out a long breath beside me. “This explains so much.”

“What do you mean?” I turn my head towards him.

“The nightmares, the fear she had of us when we first arrived, how she tried to stay hidden. I… I thought there might be more to her story, but I never imagined anything like that.”

“And she hasn’t even told us the whole story yet,” West adds.

“She might not want to,” I say with a frown as I turn back to watch her, not willing to let her out of my sight for more than a few seconds right now. Dark clouds gather in the distance, telling me we’re due for another storm.

“She might open up more now she’s told us the worst of it,” King says.

“Fuck!” West lets out a deep exhale, running his hand through his short hair. “I wish there was a gym here, I’d love to punch something right now. I just keep thinking about her going through all of that, and then being stuck here alone… for fifteen fucking years.”

“She’s faced more pain and loneliness than anyone should have to endure,” King says, sounding frustrated and angry on her behalf.

“That’s why she needs all three of us,” I tell them. “So she never has to be alone, and we can all help make up for everything she’s been missing for the last decade and a half.”

We watch as she heads back towards us, her eyes downcast as her fingers fidget in front of her.

She stops in front of us and finally lifts her head, looking at each of us with hesitancy written all over her face. “I’m s—”

“Nope!” I cut her off, pressing my finger to her lips to silence her quickly.

“Don’t even think about apologizing for what just happened, Zee,” I tell her, moving my hand to cup the back of her neck as I step closer to her.

“You should know by now that no matter what happens, past or present, we are here for you,” King tells her, grabbing her left hand and holding it up to his chest.

“And, baby,” West says, grabbing her free hand, “What you went through is terrible. You have every right to get upset. And just know that when you do, we’ll all be here for you. Every time.”

She pulls a hand free to wipe at her eyes. “You guys are too much. I don’t deserve you.”

“Tink, are you kidding me? You are amazing, and you deserve every good thing in this world. I’m not sure that the three of us will ever be enough to make up for what you’ve been through, but we’re sure gonna try.”

I tilt her head up so she meets my eyes and give her a crooked smile, which she returns, easing the tightness in my chest.

“Do you want to talk about it? What happened fifteen years ago?” I ask her, wanting to give her the option of getting it all out.

She shakes her head and licks her lips. “No, I… I don’t think I can get through that right now. But one day, I promise I’ll tell you guys the whole story.”

King puts his arm around her shoulders, and she leans against him. “There’s no rush now. We just ask that you let us know if you have any triggers or if anything we do starts to freak you out or upset you, okay?”

“We can’t read your mind, baby. This is really important. You have to communicate with us, especially when we get more physical. Understand?” West asks before placing a soft kiss on her knuckles.

“Yeah, I understand. I don’t know if I have any triggers, but maybe… don’t hold my arms and legs down?” A small grunt leaves my throat at the reason she’s asking that.

Before I get the chance, West pulls her into his chest and wraps his arms around her, sinking his face into her neck. I look at King and he looks as pained as I do. This is going to take time to get used to. The thought of someone doing that to her literally causes my chest to ache.

I look out towards the ocean and suddenly realize how dark it’s getting. “We should head back, it’s gonna rain soon.”

West and King each take one of her hands and I lead the way back to camp. We’re all silent as everything we’ve learned swarms through our heads. In some ways, this changes nothing between us, but it also changes everything.

Now I know what’s happened to her, I just want to cover her up in bubble wrap and never let the world get close to her. But she is far too wild and independent to allow that to happen, which is part of the reason I love her.

My eyes widen, and I freeze with one hand and foot on the ladder. Holy shit, I love her!

“Bower?” she says softly. I let go of the ladder to spin and face her. “Are you okay?”

Unable to stop myself, I step forward and push a few stray strands of hair behind her ears, then clasp her face in my hands and lean down, kissing her hard. I try to hold myself back, but the sudden realization that I love this woman has my body begging to be close to her.

It takes her a moment to relax, but when she does, her lips move against mine and I groan in appreciation. When I pull back to look at her face, she slowly opens her eyes, looking at me with heat, happiness and maybe… love?

I smirk as I swipe my thumb across her lower lip. She looks as if she’s trying to figure out what just came over me.

A drop of rain hits my nose, breaking me out the trance her eyes were holding me in. I glance up and my face is hit with a few more rain drops.

“Alright, up you go, Tink, quickly now, before you get wet.” I guide her to the ladder and she quickly climbs up with me right behind her.

When all four of us are in the hut, West closes the door just as we hear the rain start to come down hard. I look at Zee, who’s staring up at the ceiling, listening to the rain. Remembering how scared she was during the last storm, I grab her hand and pull her towards the hammock.

“Come here, Tink, lay down with me.” I lay in the hammock first and she sits on the edge before carefully turning and laying down beside me. I help position her with her head against my chest and her leg pulled up over mine. She’s on the outside of me so she can see the other two while we lay here, swaying slightly as we listen to the rain pour down outside.

West and King sit on the mattress, their back against the wall as they face us.

“You’re not scared,” West states. It’s not a question and a glance down at her and realize she’s not trembling. And there’s not a sign of fear on her face.

“No… should I be?” she asks in confusion.

“It’s just that last time there was a storm…” King trails off, not wanting to relive what happened when we found her under that raft.

“It’s the thunder. I’m okay if it only rains.”

I consider that for a moment, several questions screaming to be answered.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask instead.

“Not today, if that’s okay?” she asks shyly.

“Of course it is. You don’t ever have to tell us if you don’t want to. But we want to know everything about you, and everything you’ve been through. When the time is right,” King tells her. She nods against my chest.

I gently glide my fingers up and down her bare arm and close my eyes. The warmth of her body against mine, along with the soothing sounds of the rain, has me relaxing as I drift off to sleep.

I groan as my cock twitches, and soft fingers tentatively glide up and down my shaft. I must be dreaming. I know I was wearing jeans when I fell asleep, but these fingers are clearing touching me over only my boxers.

Suddenly, a full hand wraps around my cock, and my eyes fly open. Zee looks up at me, mischief written in her eyes, as she squeezes me through my boxers.

“Tink,” I groan, my voice rough from sleep. “What are you doing to me?” I hiss when she squeezes me again, and from the way she smiles as she bites her lip, she knows exactly what she’s doing. “Don’t tease me, baby,” I warn her.

“It’s only teasing if I don’t follow through.” She says the words quietly, her eyes quickly looking past me to the other two. I glance at West and King and see they’ve fallen asleep. West is still leaning against the wall and King has fallen to the side, asleep on the mattress.

“You don’t have to do this.”

“I know,” she whispers, her eyes filled with heat. It’s clear she wants this, but after everything she revealed, it feels like it’s too soon.

I place my hand over hers, stopping her from moving it on my shaft. “Tink, I think we should wait. After what you told us, it’s probably wise to take things slow.”

“Bower, I may have told you about it today, but it happened fifteen years ago.”

“You still have nightmares.”

“Not when I’m with you. You chased the nightmares away.”

My heart clenches in my chest, her words calming a part of me I didn’t even realize was holding its breath. I’ve been so afraid of hurting her, of pushing too far too fast. The moment I learned what she'd been through, something inside me locked down.

But hearing her say that... it breaks something loose. Maybe this isn’t about taking something from her. Maybe this is about giving. Giving her a space where she can explore this side herself, where she can feel safe and loved.

She’s not broken. She’s laying right beside me, choosing me, trusting me. And I won’t let that trust go to waste.

“I want to. Please, let me touch you Bower.”

I close my eyes tight and take a deep breath. This perfect being should never have to beg.

I look back at Zee and grin as I let go of her hand. “Better be quiet, or we’ll wake them.” She nods excitedly as she starts to stroke my cock through my boxers.

To muffle my own moans, I grab her chin and tilt her head towards mine, fusing my lips to hers. She accepts me eagerly, opening for me the second my tongue touches her lips. I wrap my tongue around hers as my hand glides up her thigh, over her hip, and up her side. I stop right below her top, pulling back to ask, “Can I touch you?”

“Yes,” she begs eagerly. I claim her mouth once more and push up her top until I find her perky nipple.

I give it a soft pinch and she gasps against me. I take my time rolling it between my fingers until she starts rubbing herself against my side. She squeezes my cock harder and strokes faster, which only increases my own arousal, spurring my movements on. My free hand, that’s wrapped underneath her, glides down her ass before yanking up her skirt. I move my hand to squeeze her bare cheeks, groaning as my fingers sink into her soft flesh.

“Bower,” she whispers against me, heat and desire lacing her voice.

“You want more, baby?”

“Please!” she begs.

Gliding my fingers down her ass, and between her legs, I find her slick with arousal. I rub my fingers through her folds, circling her clit and making her whimper against me. I toy with her for a few minutes, making her rub against me harder, clearly seeking more. And when I’m finally done teasing her, I sink two fingers into her heated channel, curling them slightly and making her gasp.

She slides her hand up to my stomach, finding the top of my boxers and sliding her hand beneath. The moment her soft skin touches my dick, it jumps in approval, wanting more of her.

“Fuck, Tink. That feels so good,” I murmur as my fingers start pumping in and out of her faster. She matches my speed with her own hand as I try to hold in my groan, not wanting to wake the others so we can keep this moment all to ourselves.

“Bower, I’m going to come,” she whispers, her voice ragged and desperate.

“Yes, come for me, Zee. Come all over my fingers, I want to feel your slick pussy squeezing me tight.”

“Bower!” she cries out right before I press my lips to hers and she starts convulsing around me. Somehow, her hand doesn’t lose her rhythm and I find myself quickly edging towards my own release.

“Fuck, I’m gonna come,” I warn her. She pulls her lips away from mine, then dips her head down to my cock. The second her lips seal themselves around me and her tongue flicks along my tip, I let go, unable to hold back any longer.

I throw an arm over my mouth to muffle my groans as I spill into her mouth. I feel her swallowing around me, and it only spurs me on more. My other hand moves to the back of her head and I gently massage her scalp as my body starts to relax. She takes her time cleaning me before lifting her head back up to rest on my chest.

She looks up at me with those piercing green eyes, a relaxed smile on her plump lips.

I run my fingers through her hair, but they quickly get stuck. “Will you let me comb your hair out for you? It’s been a few days since we’ve done it,” I ask her as I stroke my hand down her long braid.

“It takes so long,” she whines, making me smile.

“But it feels better afterwards, right?” I say, placing my hand on her still bare hip and giving it a squeeze. Her clothing is still all disheveled, and as I look down, I see her bare breasts pushing against my chest, making my cock twitch again at the mere sight of her.

I quickly look up at the ceiling, hearing the soft sound of the rain outside as I try not to think about her practically naked body against mine right now.

There is nothing I’d love more than to pull her on top of me and fuck her hard as she rides out her own release. But I know we need to take things slow with her. What just happened between us felt natural and amazing and there’s no need to push that any further today.

“Yeah, it does. Will you let me comb your hair afterwards?” she asks, reminding me of what we were talking about.

“Of course, will you French braid it for me?”

She tilts her head and smiles. “We’ll have matching braids.”

“I wish we had a camera, we could take a photo.”

“About that,” she says, carefully sitting up as she adjusts her clothing back into place. “I haven't heard any of you mention cell phones, did you lose them in the crash?”

“I did,” West says, startling us. He stretches as King sits up and yawns. I don't think they saw what we got up to, not that it would matter if they did, but it’s nice to have something between just the two of us. I catch Zee’s eye and give her a wink, which makes her blush an adorable shade of pink.

West stands up and stretches as he speaks. “I think mine was somewhere in the cockpit, it went down with the plane.”

“Bower and I had ours on us, but they died before we even reached the shore. Besides, they had no signal at all. They'd be useless now,” King explains to her.

“I figured it was something like that. We lost ours in the crash, too.”

“Were you in the plane, when it crashed?” I ask her, my hand stroking up and down her back where she’s sitting up in the hammock beside me, while I stay lounging on my back.

“Yeah. I’m not really sure how we survived when the other two didn’t. It’s all a blur now, really.”

I sense her mood turning, so I quickly jump in with a change of subject.

“I think we should make a bucket list of all the things we want to do when we get off this island.”

She tilts her head as she looks at me, like she’s considering the idea. “Things like… eat a giant bowl of ice cream?”

“Yeah, that can go on the list. But I also think you missed out on a significant time in your life, and when we get out of here, the three of us are going to help you experience everything you missed.”

Her eyes start to water as she stares at me with such intensity that I reach out and pull her against me, my arms wrapping around her.

“Why would you guys do that for me?”

“Don’t you get it yet?” I whisper into her ear. “There’s nothing we wouldn't do for you.”

Chapter thirty-four

Darla

The rain stays persistent for the rest of the day. We take quick bathroom breaks and grab food and water quickly, otherwise we stay in the hut, where it’s dry.

“Let’s play a game,” I suggest from where I’m perched on the desk, fiddling with my necklace and seeing everyone looking just as bored as I am.

“What did you have in mind?” King asks from where he lounges in the hammock.

“I don’t know, I haven’t played a game with other people in a long time. You guys have any suggestions?”

“If we had alcohol, I’d suggest a drinking game,” Bower says from where he’s laying on the mattresses beside Weston.

“I’m adding that to my list,” I say, pointing to Bower in approval.

“Your list?” King asks.

“Yeah. I’m working on a bucket list of everything I want to do when we get off the island.”

Warm smiles spread across all of their faces, and something in my chest loosens. “I love that idea, sweetheart. Tell me what you got so far?”

“Well, there’s things like eat a cheeseburger and a giant bowl of ice cream. Take a shower, cut my hair. Then there’s the stuff I missed out on. Like learning to drive, going to parties and clubs, playing a drinking game.”

“I can teach you to drive,” Weston says, surprising me.

“Really?”

He nods and Bower adds, “We know some great clubs we can take you to.”

“You guys would go with me?”

They all lightly laugh, making me frown in confusion. “What’s so funny?”

“Baby,” Weston says, sitting up and draping his large arms over his bent knees, “There’s no way we’d let you go to a club or party without at least one of us. And you sure as shit aren’t playing a drinking game with anyone but us.”

“Why not? Isn’t that something people do at parties?” I ask, unsure what I’m missing here.

“Have you even seen anyone drunk before?” Kingsley asks. I furrow my eyebrows as I take a minute to think about it.

“I… I don’t think so, I can’t remember seeing anyone drunk, anyway.”

“Men have a bad habit of taking advantage of girls when they're drunk, especially at clubs. They can get very handsy.”

“But you guys wouldn’t do that,” I say immediately, knowing that they aren't those types of men.

“Of course not. But if you were around other men who are drinking, they might try to touch you or take advantage of you if you’re drunk, too. You might be too drunk to stop them.”

“Oh.” Dread pools in my belly as I mentally note to remove going to a club from my bucket list. “Maybe I don’t want to play a drinking game then. That doesn’t sound fun.” I frown at the ground, unsure which part of that unsettles me the most.

“They can be fun, but we’ll play them with you.”

“Can you teach me one, even if we don’t have any alcohol? So I’ll know how to play?”

They glance at each other as they try to think of one we can play here.

“If we had a deck of cards, we could play a modified version of Kings Cup,” Bower suggests.

“I don’t suppose either of you have a deck of cards in your bags?” Weston asks, and they both shake their heads.

I grin eagerly as I tell them, “I do.”

“What? Really?” Kingsley asks in surprise.

“Yeah, it’s really dingy, but it’ll work. My dad had it in his bag to play on the plane. I’ll go grab it from the other hut.”

“I’ll come with you,” Weston says, standing up. I’m about to argue that I can do it on my own, but by the look on his face, I realize he’s not going to let me. And can I really complain if this giant hunk of a man wants to stay close to me?

I grab his hand and lead him through the rain, across the skywalk, to my original hut. It’s where I keep things I don’t use anymore or have no need for. I push the door open and just stare inside from the safety of the surrounding deck. The rain gently hits my head as I contemplate going inside.

Weston pushes his chest to my back, placing his hands on my shoulders and giving them a small squeeze. “Tell me where they are, I’ll grab them.”

“No, it’s safer if I go. This hut isn’t in the best shape, and I’m much lighter than you.”

“You calling me fat, baby?”

“What?! No!” I spin around, afraid I’ve offended him. But by the smirk on his face, I realize he’s teasing me.

His hands move to my neck and his thumbs slowly stroke up and down my cheeks. Instantly, the air thickens around us and my body heats, despite the rain pouring down around us. The smirk drops from his lips as his gaze turns molten, and he licks his lips eagerly.

“Don’t look at me like that, baby. It’s not safe to do anything out here, we’re too high up.” That’s my Weston, always thinking about safety, even when I’m seconds away from jumping him.

He uses his large hands to forcibly turn me back around and face the hut. “Now,” He bends down so his warm breath tickles my ear. “Do you know where the cards are?”

I nod my head slowly, trying to remember what we’re doing here. “Yeah, I think so, in one of my poor attempts at a bag, over there.” I point to the side, actively avoiding looking at the back corner, where there are things that I never want to lay my eyes on again. “I’ll be quick.”

Weston doesn’t say anything as I step forward and to the side where I had pointed. I quickly find the bag I’m looking for but when the floor groans beneath me, I freeze.

“Zee…” Weston says slowly. “Get back here, now.” I slowly step towards him and as soon as I’m in reach, he grabs my arms and pulls me out onto the skywalk and crushes me in a giant hug. “Okay, nobody goes back in there.”

“Agreed,” I say easily against his chest, my heart hammering quickly. Not only was it clearly not safe anymore, but there were things in there I didn’t want them seeing.

After a few more seconds pass, he lets go and carefully pushes the door closed.

“Did you get the cards?” he asks, gesturing to the bag I’m holding.

“Oh, I’m not sure,” I open it up and look inside, a smile quickly covering my face. “Yes!” I cheer, pulling them out and holding them high in the air in victory.

We go back to the main hut, where we find Kingsley and Bower watching us from the open doorway with frowns on their faces.

“Nobody goes back there, it’s not safe. Consider it condemned,” Weston tells them and they nod, stepping aside, letting us in.

“I got the cards, will you teach me to play King’s game now?”

“It’s King’s Cup, and yes, let’s all sit on the mattresses and we’ll explain.”

“I’m gonna change first,” I tell them as I grab my bag from the floor and pull out my pilfered ACDC shirt and boxers. Feeling a little self conscious with them at my back, I pull the shirt on first and manage to pull off my other clothes under it before stepping into the boxers, keeping what modesty I have in check.

When I turn around, they’re all grinning at me, like they find something amusing.

I decide to ignore it as I join them, sitting in some sort of circle, facing each other on the mattresses as they scatter the cards face down in front of us. Weston places half a coconut shell in the middle.

“Basically, a task is assigned to each card value. For example, five is guys, so all the guys take a drink. Six is chicks, so if someone flipped that card, all the girls would take a drink,” Bower explains. I nod along.

“Everyone plays the game differently, and you can make up different values for each game, if you want,” Kingsley adds. “Since we don’t have alcohol, we could assign a different task to each card.”

“Like what?” I ask curiously, hoping we can figure out a way to play the game without any beer, it kinda sounded like fun. Although I suppose any game would after so long in isolation.

“I have an idea,” Bower says with a smirk. “How about the first person to flip a new number, has to assign its value? So if I flip a nine, I could say that means everyone who flips it has to tickle the person on their left.”

I frown for a moment before he suddenly lunges for me, his fingers digging into my sides. I squeal, laughing and twisting away. “Stop, stop!” I cry out, scrambling into Kingsley’s lap in a desperate attempt to escape.

Luckily, Bower backs off, but I wedge myself firmly between Weston and Kingsley, still catching my breath and not trusting him not to try again. I shoot him a glare and stick out my tongue. “Not funny, Bower.”

He smirks back at me. “I thought it was.”

“Just wait until I get to make up a rule, I’ll make you go stand in the rain while we finish the game.”

“You wouldn’t!” he gasps in mock horror.

“I guess you’ll have to wait and see,” I say with a smirk of my own.

“Alright let’s start, we can explain more as we go. King, why don’t you start?” Weston suggests.

King flips over an eight before tossing it in the coconut shell and sitting back. “An eight, okay let's see.” He glances at me and grins. “Eight means mate, so whoever flips it, gets to have Zee in their lap until the next eight is found.” He reaches over and grabs me by the hips, easily lifting me into his lap.

“What if I flip over an eight?” I ask, turning my head to look at him over my shoulder as I get comfortable, wiggling my ass against him.

His fingers dig into my hips, trying to keep me still. “You have to move to the next lap on your left.” I nod as Bower reaches forward for a card, flipping over a nine.

His eyes meet mine as he smirks. “Don’t even think about it,” I warn him with a glare.

“You have to marry anyone who flips over a nine.”

“Bower!” Kingsley and Weston both hiss at him as my eyes go wide. He keeps bringing that up. And at first it was easy to think it was just the way he flirts. But now… with so many feelings involved, that word has a lot more meaning behind it.

Kingsley is still chastising him, and he holds up his hands in surrender.

“Okay, okay. How about nine is rhyme. So I start with a word and we go around saying rhyming words, the person who can’t think of one or repeats one… well, normally they’d be the one to take a drink, but we need a different punishment.”

Once again, his eyes find mine and he smirks. “The loser has to take off an article of clothing.”

“Bower,” Weston says in warning. “I don’t think that’s a wise idea.” His concerned eyes take me in before he turns back to him.

“Actually,” Bower says, leaning back on his palms, “I think it’s a perfect idea. Right, Zee?” He smirks at me and I swallow heavily. After what we shared in the hammock, I felt like something vital had clicked between us. Like he gets me on a deeper level now, he understands my need to keep moving forward and not stay stuck in the past.

“Bower and I spoke about this, after I told you guys about my past.” I look at Weston as I speak, as I’m in Kingsley’s lap and can’t see his face. But my words are meant for him, too. “I know you’ve just found out about it, but for me, it happened a very long time ago. Yes, it was still giving me nightmares… until I started sleeping in here with you three. But I don’t want to let it hold me back any longer. I don’t want to let them have any control over what happens between us. So please, don’t hold back because you think I’m not ready. Instead, can you just ask me, and trust that I’ll tell you if I’m not?”

I take a deep breath, realizing I said a lot more than I meant to. But I wanted them to understand where I’m coming from and stop worrying so much. It gives the assholes that assaulted me power, and I’m more than ready to leave them in the past.

Weston doesn’t respond, he just nods, seeming to understand my request.

Kingsley kisses my head. “Of course, sweetheart. Whatever you need, we’re here for you.” I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding as he speaks again. “So this is like strip King’s Cup now?”

“Any better ideas, smart guy?” Bower asks with the rise of an eyebrow.

“No, no, it’s fine.” Kingsley wraps an arm around my waist, his large, warm hand resting against me. Even though he isn’t touching any skin there, it still sends a tingle of awareness through me.

“Hut,” Bower says, starting the game.

“Gut,” Weston says next, then looks at me.

“Butt!” I say excitedly.

“Shut.”

“Cut.”

“Rut,” Weston says, looking at me.

“S—” my eyes widen when I realize shut was already used. “Fut.”

“Fut?” Kingsley asks with a chuckle.

“Sorry Zee, I think you lose this one,” Weston tells me as I look at him with wide eyes.

Looking down at my body, I realize I’m at a huge disadvantage here. They’re all wearing pants, boxers, socks and a shirt. All I have on is a long t-shirt and a pair of boxers.

Swallowing nervously, I stand up and quickly slide them down my legs, tossing them on the desk before carefully placing myself back in Kingsley’s lap, being very careful to keep my legs together, and not flash anyone.

They might have seen me naked before, but it feels different this time. Not in a bad way. It was like there was a level of tension in the air that was thickening with each glance.

Weston breaks the weird haze I’m in by flipping over the queen of hearts. “Hmm, the queen,” he says, his lips twisting in thought. “I think the queens should represent our little queen.” He stares at me intently as he speaks. “Whoever flips it has to say one thing they love about Zee.”

I inhale a sharp breath of surprise. “And if I flip it?”

“You have to say something you love about yourself. As for me, I love how big your heart is. How, after everything you’ve been through, you still helped us survive here, even when you knew nothing about us.”

My cheeks heat at his praise, and unsure what else to say, I give him a small smile. “Thanks.”

He nods, then points to the cards. “Your turn.”

I reach forward and flip over a King. “Okay, whoever flips this over, I will tell you something that I love about you.”

“And if you flip it over?” Kingsley asks, his arm around my waist giving me a small squeeze.

I smile over my shoulder at him. “Then I have to say something about each of you. Kingsley, I love how caring you are, how you always make sure that I’m taken care of.” I turn my head to Bower next.

“Bower, I love how you can make me smile and laugh, even when I’m upset. You can turn my mood around in a single heartbeat.”

Lastly, I look up at Weston. “Weston, I love how you take care of me, and always make sure I’m okay, that I’m safe.”

I glance around at each of them. “I haven’t had anyone like you three in my life for a very long time.”

They give me sad smiles, as if they hate that I went so long without that sort of care, then Kingsley reaches forward and flips over a three, breaking the tension.

“Three… I want a kiss, for three seconds.” He turns me sideways in his lap, his hands cupping my face as he tilts my chin up towards him.

“You sure you don’t want a kiss from Bower?” I whisper. Bower chuckles behind me as Kingsley grins.

“No, sweetheart, you’re the one that I want.” He tilts his head down and my eyes slide shut right before his lips press against mine. His kiss is so heated and passionate I can almost feel tears forming in my eyes at the emotion it stirs within me.

All too soon he pulls back with a smile, placing one last quick peck on my lips, then turning to Bower, gesturing for him to pick a card.

Bower grunts, adjusting himself in his pants, which makes me bite my lips to hold in the laughter.

He flips over an eight, then looks over at me with a big smile on his face. He reaches his arms in my direction, making grabby motions with his hands. “Come to daddy.”

I let out a burst of laughter as I gently climb out of Kingsley's lap and knee walk towards Bower. “Please never call yourself that again.”

When I’m in range, he grabs my hips and drags me into his lap so I’m sitting sideways and can keep my legs closed.

“Is it cause Weston is clearly the daddy here?” he asks.

I glance over to Weston, who’s glaring back at Bower. “Weston?” I ask, making him look at me instead. “You want me to call you daddy?” I ask with a straight face.

He groans, running a hand down his face as he stares up at the ceiling. “Lord help me.” He drops his hands, and his eyes meet mine again. “Unless that’s something you want, Zee, no. West or Weston is fine.”

“What about sir?” I ask, tilting my head. The name just popped into my head and it feels fitting for him since he’s always telling me what to do.

He stares at me without blinking for what must be a full ten seconds before he finally nods. “Yeah, you can call me that, if you want, baby.”

For some reason, the thought of doing that makes my cheeks heat and by the satisfied look on his face, he loves my reaction to it. He turns his eyes to the cards and flips up a six, tossing it into the coconut in the middle, along with the other used cards.

“Six can be strip. Normally I’d make it drink, but since we seem to be playing a strip version of the game, I think it’s fitting.” He reaches down and pulls off a single sock, tossing it onto the desk with my boxers.

I frown, realizing if I reveal a six now, I’m done for.

Reaching down, I flip over a jack, letting out a sigh of relief. Leaning back against Bower I admit, “I don’t know what to do.”

“Well,” Bower starts. “You could have it make the person do something, like give a lap dance.”

“What’s a lap dance?” I ask, trying to picture exactly what that means.

“Hmm, another first for you, Tink. How about whoever flips the jack has to give you a lap dance, and if you flip it, whoever’s lap you’re in has to give you one?”

“So I never have to do one?” I ask in relief.

“No, I don’t want you doing something you aren’t comfortable with or don’t know what it is. Let us do this one for you.”

I take a second to think about it, but don’t see any downside, so I nod. “Okay, let’s do that.”

“Great, now stand up,” he says, giving my hips a squeeze. He follows me to standing then places the chair in a way that it faces the other two, then guides me to sit in it. I frown. Is he going to sit in my lap? I’m not sure the chair will take the weight of both of us.

“This is a little hard without any music, but I’ll do my best,” Bower says, coming to stand in front of me.

Without warning, he starts rolling his body in a way I’ve never seen someone do before. My eyes widen in shock as he continues, his hips rolling in a seductive dance as his hands slide down his tight shirt, highlighting his strong abs.

Wetness pools between my legs and I snap them closed, afraid that something might leak out. His hands land on my knees and he slowly slides them up my thighs. When he starts to push the bottom of my shirt up, I gasp, pleasure shooting to my core.

He smirks at me, then lowers his hands back down to my knees before standing up tall and stepping over me, one leg on either side of mine.

I swallow heavily as I try to figure out where to look. His jean-covered crotch is inches from my face as he starts rolling his hips again and I freeze, unsure what to do.

He reaches down and gently grabs my hands, placing them on his abs. “You can touch me, baby. If you want.”

I let my fingers slide down under the hem of his shirt before pushing them up underneath so I can feel his heated skin. I grow even wetter as he continues his seductive dance and my hands explore his body.

“What is happening right now?” I whisper, more to myself than anyone.

“You like my dance, baby?”

“Uh huh,” I say, nodding my head like I forgot how to speak properly.

Finally, he comes to a stop and I just blink up at him as he steps back. “That, my dear Tink, was a lap dance.”

“And…” I trail off, needing a second to get my brain working again. “This is something people do out there, in the real world?”

He helps guide me back to the floor in his lap as Kingsley answers for him. “Yes, and no. It’s not like people would do that out in public, but you might see it a little at certain clubs.”

“Definitely at strip clubs,” Bower adds.

Ohhh. I get it, it’s something an exotic dancer does. I’d heard about those before I was stranded here. My eyes move to Kingsley, then Weston, wondering what their lap dances would be like. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to do one for them. Silently, I add that to my list, too.

The rain hammers on outside as we continue our game through a few more rounds. I’m lucky enough not to have to strip anything else off, but the same can’t be said for them. I think they are assigning values to try to make it easier on me, which I appreciate. When Bower loses a round of the rhyming game, he ends up in just his boxers and shirt, and I have to wonder if he really couldn’t think of another rhyme for beer, since I could think of at least four more without even trying.

Kingsley has lost both socks, and Weston, who’s lap I’m currently sitting in, is only in his boxers, thanks to some new values assigned to cards that seem to only disadvantage them, and not me. Which I can’t say I’m mad about, considering he has his strong naked chest and arms wrapped around me right now.

I lean forward and flip over a six, my hand freezing the second I let it drop into the coconut.

I stare at it in disbelief, somehow I didn’t think it would actually come to this, me having to strip naked in front of them.

Weston's arms tighten around me, his mouth moving to my ear as he whispers, “Baby, you don’t have to do it. We only want you to do things you’re comfortable with.”

His willingness to concede to my worry makes me relax against him. This was part of the reason I loved these guys, they never pushed me beyond my comfort level.

My eyes widen and my fingers dig into Weston’s arm. Did I just say love?

Crap shells, when did that happen? But… It's not a bad thing, is it? Not unless they didn’t feel the same. Of course, there was the whole ‘them getting rescued while I stay here’ thing that I was actively trying not to think about anymore.

Wanting to push that train of thought away, and suddenly feeling bold in a way that sends heat curling through me, I slowly ease Weston’s arms off my body. I stay seated, letting the anticipation build between us. Then, keeping my eyes on the other two, I lift the shirt over my head in one smooth motion and toss it onto the desk with the rest of our clothes.

Now I’m completely naked, except for the shell necklace I never take off.

Bower and Kingsley eyes trail down my body and I slowly reach out and grab Weston’s arms, pulling them back to wrap around me, using one to cover my chest, giving me a small sense of modesty back.

“So brave,” he whispers in my ear, his voice low and warm, as his fingers slowly trace along my sides, right where his palms rest against my heated skin.

“Kingsley,” I say breathily, nodding to the remaining cards. “Your turn.”

He clears his throat, tearing his eyes away from me. “Ah hem. Right.” He flips over a two, it’s the first one we’ve seen so he needs to make a new rule.

“Two…” he says, his eyes moving to where Weston’s arm is wrapped around my chest. I lick my lips nervously, wondering what he’s thinking about.

“I want to—” A crash of thunder suddenly erupts above us and I scream, my hands shooting up to cover my ears.

I squeeze my eyes shut tight as Weston moves me. I know they’re all talking, but I can’t make out any of their words as a memory fills my mind.

I stare down at my hands, they’re stained red even though the rain is crashing down loudly around me. I feel so utterly lost and hopeless. What am I supposed to do now? How does one get past something like this? Something so utterly devastating that it feels like a part of you has died?

Thunder crashes above me, making me jump. Where’s Mo-Mo? Fuck, I’ve never needed him more than I do in this very moment. He’d know what to do. Me? I have no idea how to survive this.

The sky flares white with lightning and another boom shakes the ground beneath me. My body jerks and my eyes land back on the ground in front of me. I can’t just leave this mess here. I dig my fingers into the mud, clawing at the ground until I’ve made a shallow hole. Every time thunder cracks the sky, I flinch like it’s inside me.

When it’s finally covered, I can barely stand. The pain is too much, both in my body and in my chest. I stumble forward, aimless, until my foot catches on a root and I fall hard to my hands and knees. Another crash of thunder tears through the sky and I drop to my side, curling into a ball, covering my ears with both hands.

“Please, stop,” I whisper to the wind. But it doesn’t listen. It rages on, wild and merciless, just like the storm in my head.

Chapter thirty-five

Bower

One moment Zee is looking at Kingsley, her eyes filled with heat and excitement, the next, she’s curled in a ball, her hands covering her ears as she whimpers and cries out in pain.

“Please, stop!” she cries out, fear filling her voice. Seeing her like this causes a literal pain in my chest and when my eyes meet King’s, I see the same heartache reflected back at me.

We already managed to get her clothes back on her, hoping that would help calm her from whatever memory she’s trapped in, but it hasn’t helped one way or the other.

“Let’s lie her down so we can hold her between two of us,” West says softly, easing them into a lying position without letting go of her. I quickly move in front of her and wrap my arms around her as well, holding her close. King settles beside me, reaching over to gently rub her side, his touch comforting and steady.

I watch her face. Even though her eyes are tightly shut, I can see an array of emotions move through her, none of them good.

A few tears start to trail down her cheeks, and I use my thumbs to quickly wipe them away, wanting to see no sign of sadness on her skin.

She whimpers again, and the sound twists deep in my chest, pulling at something raw and helpless inside me. Watching her in pain feels unbearable.

“Come on, Tink, come back to us.”

West kisses the back of her head. “Baby, you’re safe now, we’ve got you.”

King starts humming a tune. It takes me a minute to figure out what it is, Lean on Me. The same song we sang during the last storm. I quickly join in, hoping it will bring her out of this faster, and West joins us a moment later.

We sing the song through several times before I finally see the tension in her face start to fade, easing a bit of my own.

A few minutes later, she blinks her big green eyes open and as soon as they connect with mine, her confusion turns to relief. She whimpers as she lurches forward, throwing herself against me, her head against my chest, her fingers digging into my shirt and a choked cry in her throat.

I hug her tightly to me, slightly swaying us as I promise, “You’re safe, Tink. I’ve got you. We’ve all got you.”

I kiss her temple as the other two rub their hands up and down her back and side in a soothing motion while she cries against me. I hate to see her cry, but it’s a step up from her being stuck in a memory like she was.

I start singing again, and soon her cries turn to sniffles before they stop completely.

I pull back a little so I can see her tear-stained face, her eyes are red and puffy and she looks so lost and broken, it damn near kills me.

“You feeling a little better now, Tink?” I ask, cupping the side of her face. She gives me a little nod and I attempt a smile for her, but it’s difficult after witnessing that.

“Do you want to talk about it?” King asks from behind me. “It was a flashback, about them, right?” he asks carefully.

Her eyes drop and her fingers play with the front of my shirt. “It was a flashback, but it wasn’t about them, not exactly. I—”

She cuts herself off, pressing her forehead against me. “I don’t think I can ever talk about it.”

I frown, looking up at West to see the same confused expression on his face. If it wasn’t about the men that raped her, what else had happened to her? If she didn't want to talk about it, we couldn’t force her too, even if it was likely the best way to help her get past it.

“We’ll just have to figure out better ways to spend time during the storms,” King says, clearly thinking along the same line of thought as myself.

“Tink, do you know any songs?”

“Umm, yeah, I know a lot of ACDC.”

“Why don’t we sing one? How about Thunderstruck?”

“Really, Bower?” West asks with a raised eyebrow.

“What? It’s perfect!”

“I don’t think she—”

“No, it’s fine, we can sing that one,” she whispers, pulling back to give me a small smile.

I start us off, and we all try to sing together. It’s terrible. It’s clearly not a good karaoke song, and even worse without music. But it has its desired effect. Zee starts chuckling whenever a part sounds particularly bad or we try to sing different parts at the same time.

And when the next boom of thunder crashes above us, she only freezes for a few seconds before she continues singing.

And that’s how we spend the next two hours; singing poor renditions of all the ACDC songs we can think of. By the end, our throats are a little hoarse, but since Zee didn’t slip back into any panic attacks, it was well worth it.

Although the storm’s stopped, the rain hasn’t, but some things can’t wait. So we decide now is as good a time as any to take a bathroom break and gather some more fruit and water.

We go off in pairs, West refusing to let Zee go with anyone but him, so King and I collect the fruit together, going as fast as we can.

By the time we make it back to the hut, we’re drenched, but I’m pleased to see West and Zee have already made it here and she’s back in her dry clothes, having gone out in her island outfit.

Instead of playing a game, we take turns telling her stories about our past until we all drift off to sleep.

We were stuck in that damn hut through three days of rain. But as we wake up on the fourth morning, with the sound of birds chirping, I jump up and race to open the treehouse door.

I take a deep breath, the scent of damp earth still lingering. The sun hasn’t reached my face yet, but I can feel its presence above, warm and steady, with no sign of rain in the air.

“Fucking finally!” I stretch my arms over my head and yawn, then bend side to side to stretch out my body.

“It stopped?” Zee asks, scrambling out after me and turning in a circle as she surveys the jungle.

“Looks like it.”

“We should go check the beach first,” West says as he and King exit the hut to join us. “All of us,” he says, eyeing Zee as if he doesn’t quite trust her not to go running off somewhere again.

“Okay, I’m gonna get changed first,” she says, running back inside to put on her island wear.

The rest of us follow and get our boots on and as the four of us exit the hut, Zee laughs as she yells, “Let’s go!” and before any of us can stop her, she leaps off the skywalk.

“Zee!” We all scream, trying and failing to reach for her. All we can do is watch as her hands grab onto a vine, then she wraps her body around it as she swings through the clearing.

My heart pounds wildly. I press a hand to my chest as if I can keep it from breaking free.

“Fuck, that girl is gonna give me a heart attack!” I exclaim as West stomps down the ladder angrily.

“Me, too,” King says, climbing down next.

I can hear West and Zee arguing below, and I shake my head as I join them.

“I’ve been doing it for years, I can’t just stop!” Zee says, like asking her not to leap from the skywalk is the craziest thing she’s ever heard.

“Zee, sweetheart. You scared us,” King explains, always the voice of reason.

That gives her pause. She glances around at each of our faces before her shoulders slump in defeat. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you worry. I’ll try not to do it… when you’re watching,” she says with a bite of her lip.

“I’d rather you didn’t do it at all,” West grumbles down at her. He looks like he doesn’t know what to do with her right now.

I step up behind him, my boots squelching in the mud as I look at her over his shoulder and a mimic giving him a hug then point to her. Her eyes flick back to his, then her expression softens instantly. She bats her long eyelashes at him then steps forward, slowly wrapping her arms around his waist, as far as she’s able to reach.

The tension leaves his body as he hugs her back. “I just want you to be safe, baby.”

“I know, big guy. I’m trying.”

“Thank you.”

“Should we go check out the beach now?” King asks, making them pull back from their embrace. She takes his hand and West’s and I lead us down the path.

The jungle floor is particularly muddy today, making the trek more difficult than usual, and by the time we get to the beach, Zee is covered in mud up to her calves.

“I’m gonna wash off in the ocean,” she says as she walks through the sand.

I tilt my head up to the sky, letting the sun warm my face for the first time in days.

“Didn’t think I’d miss the sun,” I murmur as I untie my hair and comb my fingers through it, before retying it again.

“Tell me about it. I’m sure we’ll be boiling again within a couple hours, though,” King says as the three of us head to our large SOS sign in the sand.

It’s still in pretty good shape. It must not have been very windy because nothing has moved too much. We shake the sand off a few pieces and make sure our large burn pile is still in good shape.

Zee joins us, a smile on her face and hands on her hips. “Well, boys. What are we doing now?”

“Ever since you told us you thought you saw a pineapple here, it’s all I’ve been able to think about,” King says, surprising me. While we were stuck in the hut the past few days, Zee told us how she came across what she thought was a young pineapple plant, her first year here, but hasn’t seen it since.

“But I don’t know where it is,” she says with a frown.

“But you have an idea?”

“Sort of, I guess. I think it’s closer to the northern edge, which is where Fang lives, so I stay away.”

“He’s that big snake?” I ask, and she nods in reply. “It’s four against one now, and hopefully we don’t have to go that far.”

“I don’t know if this is a smart idea,” West says with a frown. “We shouldn’t go looking for trouble.”

“Where is your sense of adventure, huh? Zee has handed everything to us so far. This time, we can help explore and find something new. We’ll all stick together, what’s the worst that could happen? We see the snake, we’ll turn around straight away.”

He gives me that intense stare of his, eyes sharp and searching, as if he’s trying to unravel every layer of the situation.

“We should vote on it,” King suggests.

And after a three to one vote in favor of our pineapple adventure, we set off. First, we stop to fill all our water canteens and grab a little jerky for the road. Then Zee leads us down a path I’ve never seen before, overgrown and nearly hidden beneath tangled vines and leaves.

After two hours of walking we take a break to eat and drink. Zee sits in front of me and I notice how muddy she is again.

“We really need to get you some shoes, Tink.”

She shrugs, as if it isn’t a bother to be traipsing through the jungle barefoot. “I’m used to it. I can’t even remember what it feels like to wear shoes anymore.”

I give her a tight smile, but inside my stomach knots. I hate that she’s been out here so long she doesn’t remember something as simple as wearing shoes. Something you’d do everyday back at home.

Home.

What the hell is taking Reece so long, anyway? I suppose the storm would have kept him away, but he must be closing in on us now, right?

I can’t wait to take a real shower, sleep in a real bed and eat a nice big juicy cheeseburger. But more than that, I want to get Zee off of this damn island. Every day here is a day too long. Every day here is a day she could be back at our home enjoying life the way she should have been all this time.

West suggests we get going, so I try to shake my thoughts free as I get to my feet, helping Zee up even though she doesn’t need it. She smiles up at me though, and that helps to cut a little bit of the sadness that’s starting to penetrate my usual bubble of happiness.

I don’t usually let things bother me. I know Reece will find us. I know we‘ll get out of here. But Zee brings something new to the equation. Caring so much for another person leaves me feeling vulnerable and on edge. Though I wouldn’t change it for the world.

I love having her in my life, she doesn’t make it harder, she makes it better, bigger.

We march forward, and I decide to take the lead, hoping it will help clear my head. We go through some parts that are extra muddy and have to slow our pace to get through them without losing a shoe.

I start to wonder if we perhaps chose a bad day for this when Zee suddenly yells, “Bower, look out!”

But it’s too late, my foot lands heavily in a puddle of mud. Except it’s not a puddle, it’s fucking quicksand, and I immediately sink into it, right up to my armpits.

“Fuck!” I yell, trying to claw my way out. They try to reach out to me, but somehow I’m out of reach of any of their outstretched hands.

“Stop moving! You’ll sink faster!” Zee yells in a panic. With only my head, shoulders, and arms out of the water, I look up at their panicked faces.

“What do I do?” I ask, trying to stay calm, but internally freaking the fuck out.

“Hold on, we’ll toss you some vines!” West yells, and they all scramble to cut some down. It doesn’t take more than thirty seconds for them to toss me a vine, and I luckily haven’t sunk any further. I wrap the vine around my knuckles and the three of them pull.

“Ahh! Stop!” I yell. “It’s not working, it feels like it’s gonna rip my fingers off!” I unwind it, breathing heavily as we try again with just my grip to hold on, but it keeps slipping through my fingers.

“It needs to go around your waist,” King tells me.

“Okay, I’ll try.” I don’t feel good about putting my arms underneath the mud, but I lower them anyway, and as soon as my elbows touch it, I start to sink faster. Everyone yells for me to stop and I lift my arms back out. But I’ve clearly sunk another two inches. “Fuck.”

“Stay still, Bower,” West calls, watching me intently. “We’ll get something for leverage to lay across the pit.”

“Okay, try to hurry though, I’m… not sure how long I can stay above it. I can feel myself sinking.”

“Hold tight, we’ll get you out of there,” he says with a determined tone. I watch as he and King start looking for downed branches or trees, but nothing they grab seems long enough.

Where’s Zee?

I slowly move my head, trying to see where she’s gone, and catch her in a tree to the side, cutting down handfuls of vines. Then she jumps to the ground and begins to braid two long vines.

What is she doing?

I decide not to bother asking, she seems frantic and we don’t have time for explanations right now.

“Shit, they’re all too short!” King yells in frustration. His panicked eyes meet mine, and the fear I see there has me realizing that I’m probably not getting out of this.

I swallow the lump in my throat. “Take care of them,” I say, just loud enough for him to hear me.

His eyes go wide with fear, then he narrows his gaze and points angrily. “You do not fucking give up on me right now. We are getting you out of there! You need to stay positive, I can’t deal with your defeat on top of your rescue. You will stay alive so we can get home to Reece. You can’t leave him. It’d destroy him. You hear me, brother?”

I nod my head, trying to stop myself from panicking even further. King and Reece have been my best friends for most of my life, I couldn't imagine losing them, either.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you guys home if it’s the last thing I do!” Zee yells. My eyes turn to her and I watch in absolute fear as stares at me with a determined glint in her eye, her legs bent as if ready to jump.

What on earth is she doing?!

“Zee! No!”

She takes one step then leaps into the air, landing right in front of me, as mud splatters across my face.

She’s already waist deep in the mud as I try to grab her. “Zee! What have you done?!” I say in a panic, trying to keep her up.

“Stop moving, you’re making it worse!”

“What are you doing?” I ask again.

“I’m getting you out of here.” It’s only now I notice she has one of the braided vines she made around her waist and another one in her hands. I follow the other ends of them and see they’re tied to a tree near King and West. They seem to notice at the same time I do and quickly move over to them, getting ready to pull.

I watch in horror as she lowers her hands between us and the mud starts to swallow up the rest of her body. My hands shoot out to her neck, holding her head above the surface.

“Zee, stop! You’re going to go under!”

“I can do it. I just need to get this around your waist. I have to move closer.”

I don’t even think her arms can reach all the way around me.

What the hell is she thinking?

She pushes her body right up against mine, and I feel her arms moving around me as I try to keep her head up. Mud covers her where I’m holding her face and it makes the panic in my chest grow.

“You guys need to pull her out! She’s sinking!” I yell to King and West.

“No! Not yet, I can do it!” she yells back with a determined scowl on her face as her arms keep moving around me.

“Tink,” I whisper, making her look at me as she continues working. “Don't make me watch you drown here. I can’t handle that.” I shake my head as tears fill my eyes.

Her scowl softens and she gives me a pained smile that hits me hard in the chest. “You think I could handle watching you drown? Bower, you need to get out of this pit and get off this island. You have a whole life out there waiting for you. I’ve known for a long time that I was going to die on this island. And if it’s my time now, at least I got a little bit of happiness in my final days, and get to die saving someone I love.”

My eyes widen at her confession and as I open my mouth to respond, she yells, “Pull!”

Her chin starts to lift from the mud, and her eyes widen in fear, confusing me. “Not me! Pull the other one!” she yells. But they, thankfully, don’t listen. They keep pulling on the vine tethered to her waist, dragging her from the mud, one long drag at a time.

I watch in relief when they finally get her entire body safely on the ground. They kneel beside her and look her over. “Are you okay?” King asks as West grabs her face, making sure she’s breathing and awake.

“Yes, I’m fine,” she says, batting them away and getting to her feet. “We need to get Bower!” She moves to the end of the vine wrapped around me and they immediately place themselves in front of her, taking the brunt of my weight.

“Okay, together now, ready and heave!” West calls. I finally feel the hard tug of the vine Zee wrapped around my waist. The next time they pull, I move, just an inch, but it’s something.

“I think it’s working!” I yell. West keeps commanding their synchronized efforts, as I’m slowly pulled, inch by inch, towards the edge. When my arms are close to reach, they drop the vine, and West and King run over to grab my arms, pulling the rest of me free. They don’t let go until we are twenty feet back from the pit, then they both sink to the ground beside me, exhausted.

Before I can even catch my breath, Zee is on me, literally. She drops down onto my lap, straddling my outstretched legs, and wraps her arms tightly around my neck. I pull her close, relief flooding through me that she’s okay. That we’re okay.

We sit in heavy silence for a few minutes, the weight of what just happened pressing down on us. My mind races with a million thoughts; how close I came to dying, how Zee risked her life to save me, the terrifying idea of dying here, and the revelation that she loves me.

As my adrenaline starts to fade, I pull back and grip her face in my large mud covered hands. Her eyes are filled with tears, making my anger at her self sacrifice fade… just a fraction. “Tink, now isn’t the time, but you and I are going to have words about what you said out there.”

Her eyes widen slightly in fear, and I lean forward, gently pressing my lips to hers for a quick kiss. “I don’t know why you think my life is worth more than yours, but that is not how this works. The three of us,” I say, motioning to me and the other two guys, “aren’t leaving this island without you.”

“But I—”

“Shh.” I cut off her rebuttal, pressing my fingers to her lips. “Let’s talk about this later. Right now, I just want to get this mud off of me, what do you say we head back and go for a swim?”

Her shoulders sink in defeat and she nods. A squeak leaves her when West scoops her up from my lap, carrying her in his arms back the way we came.

King offers me his hand and helps me stand. He pulls me into a quick hug. “I’m glad you’re okay, man. You really scared me for a minute there.”

“I scared myself, too,” I admit, pulling back to give him a lopsided smile. Then we turn and follow West and Zee back to the safer part of the island.

Chapter thirty-six

Reece

Istare at the blinking dot on the screen, Hendrix, Jackson and Peters all frozen with wide eyes.

“It’s… it’s a location,” Peters finally says, breaking the silence.

“It’s a fucking location!” Jackson yells, throwing his hands in the air in victory. “WE HAVE A LOCATION!” He screams loud enough for the entire building to hear. And from the cheers I hear in return, I think everyone did.

“Zoom out,” I tell Hendrix, not willing to take my eyes off the flashing dot for a second. The dot is blinking over water, and he slowly zooms out until we spot the first piece of green.

“What land is that?” I ask, but he just shakes his head, unknowing. As he continues to zoom out, what I thought would be a small island grows bigger and bigger.

“Holy shit, that’s Madagascar!” I say, when it finally comes into view. “They’re South East of Madagascar? I didn’t think there were any islands there.”

“There aren't. At least not any on our maps.”

“Shit, we weren’t looking that far South, no wonder we didn't find them.”

“They might not be on an island, they might have been in the raft this entire time, floating around.” As soon as the words leave his lips, I feel all the color drain from my face.

Fuck. I hope they aren’t laying dead in a raft out there right now. They wouldn’t have survived without food and water this long.

I flip open my phone and call Arnold. He’s not just my driver, he’s my assistant, and he was about to get a lot of overtime hours.

“Sir?”

“We got a hit. Book me a flight to Madagascar, as soon as possible.”

“A flight, for you, sir? Are you sure?”

My hand tightens on the phone. I don’t like being questioned, but I understood why he did. I don’t fly. I’m deathly afraid of it. But this rescue mission wasn’t one I was about to let happen without me. Not now we had a location.

“Yes.”

“I’m on it.” I hang up and run my hand through my hair, letting out a deep breath.

I can’t believe it, our first real lead since they went missing. My mind rushes through a million scenarios of how I find them. What if we only find King? What if they’re badly injured? What if this breaks them? What if I don’t get there in time? What if the signal stops?

My phone vibrates in my hand, knocking me out of my thoughts. I see my father’s name and groan. I better answer this now, I’d have to let him know I was leaving, anyway.

“Dad, I’m glad you called,” I lie.

“I find that hard to believe,” he says, sounding exasperated.

“I found them.”

There’s a beat of silence before he speaks. “What did you say?”

“I found them, dad. My program worked. We got a ping South East of Madagascar. I’m heading there as soon as I can.”

“Son, now you know how you are with planes, do you really think that’s a good idea?”

“They’re family, dad. I have to go.”

I hear him sigh on the other end, like he’s disappointed in me, which is nothing new. I’m never living up to his expectations of me. And yet, I don’t seem to care too much anymore. I tried. For years, I tried to appease him. But he doesn’t understand me and my need to blaze my own trail.

“Alright, son, I understand. Send me the location and info and I’ll do everything I can to help.”

“Really? I ask in surprise.

“Of course. Like you said, they’re family.”

“You haven’t been exactly helping me search for them these past two months.”

“It’s not that I didn’t want to, son. I honestly thought they didn’t make it. That their plane crashed into the ocean. But if they are alive, then of course I want to help recover those boys and bring them home where they belong.”

I let out a deep breath of relief. Finally, we’re on the same side. “Thanks dad, I’ll have Hendrix send everything over to Pauline for you right away. I’ve got to go make travel plans now, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yes, of course. Oh! And, son?”

“Yeah?”

“Good job.”

“Thanks, dad.” We hang up and I stare at my phone, a frown on my face. I can’t remember if he’s ever said that to me before.

“Reece?” Hendrix calls from his computer.

“What is it? Did we lose it?”

“No, no, nothing’s wrong, I just had a question.”

I nod and make my way back over to him. I can’t believe after two months of searching, I’m finally going to find my brothers and bring them home.

I can’t fucking wait.

Chapter thirty-seven

Darla

Ilie back in the sand and close my eyes, enjoying the sun on my face.

“Zee! Don’t lie like that for too long, you’ll get burned!” Weston yells from his spot in the shade behind me.

“Yes, sir!” I call back, saluting the sky.

“Don’t make me come over there and spank you, brat.”

I gasp in mock horror, sitting up and turning to face him. “You take that back! I am not a brat!”

He just narrows his eyes on me, so I turn to look at Kingsley, sitting beside him. “Kingsley?” I ask with wide eyes, a small pout on my lips. “You don’t think I’m a brat, do you?”

“Fuck me,” Weston groans, running his hand down his face as Kingsley stares at me with wide eyes.

“I think you broke him, Tink,” Bower says, coming to drop down beside me.

I turn my eyes to him. “Do you think I’m a brat?”

“What’s wrong with being a brat?” he asks, tilting his head as he waits for my response.

“Brats are annoying and immature. I don’t want any of you to think of me like that I want to be…”

“Our good girl?” he asks, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

I lick my own lips as I let that thought flow through me. Their good girl? Yeah, that’s exactly what I wanted them to call me.

I nod my head as my fingers play with my necklace. “How do I do that?”

“Do what?”

“Be your good girl?”

He drops his head back and groans. “Tink, you’re killing me with these questions today.”

“I… I don’t understand,” I tell him honestly, feeling like I’m missing something.

“Zee, come here,” Weston calls, beckoning me with his finger.

I stand up and walk the fifteen feet back to the edge of the beach where he and Kingsley are sitting in the shade.

He spreads his legs and points in the sand between them. “Kneel.” I drop to my knees, eager to see what else he’ll ask of me.

“Tell me, why did you just do that?”

“Do what?”

“Kneel.”

“You asked me to,” I tell him in confusion.

“But you didn’t even question it or hesitate.”

“I—Was I not supposed to do that?”

“The point I’m trying to make,” he says, reaching out and grabbing my hands. “Is that you already are our good girl. You don’t need to do anything differently.”

“And Bower was groaning because hearing you call yourself that is making us hard as steel,” Kingsley adds, making my eyebrows raise in surprise.

“Oh,” I say eloquently. “All of you?” All three of them nod. “Maybe we should do something about that?” I ask nervously.

“Did you have something specific in mind?” Kingsley asks, his eyes growing heated as he scans my body. I shake my head. “Come here, sweetheart. I need to touch you.” He reaches for me and I climb over Weston’s outstretched legs as Kingsley takes my hand and guides me over to kneel in front of him.

His hands move to my thighs and he slowly glides them up, pushing my skirt as he goes. And when it pushes up over my ass, exposing all of me to them, I suck in a sharp breath.

He squeezes my ass cheeks for a moment before pulling me close, positioning my knees on either side of his legs so there is no space between our bodies. His hardness rubs against me, making me drop my head back and moan.

Multiple hands touch me, making my skin prickle with need, then my top is lifted clean off of me, leaving me topless. When something warm and wet touches my chest, I gasp, my eyes flying open to see Kingsley’s mouth, sucking on my nipple.

“Oh my god,” I whisper as the feeling shoots straight to my core.

“You like that?” Bower asks from beside him. His hand snakes down the front of me and soon he starts rubbing my clit, making me whimper as I nod in answer to his question.

“Look at me, baby,” Weston says. I turn to the other side just as he grabs my chin and presses his mouth to mine. He doesn’t waste a second before plunging his tongue in and devouring me.

I moan as I grind myself against Kingsley, seeking my release. But I want to make them feel good, too.

My right hand slides down Weston’s firm chest until I find his pants, I fumble to undo them and he helps me, freeing his hard cock from their confinement. As soon as I wrap my hand around him, he hisses out, as if in pain. But I know enough by now to know that’s a good noise.

I start stroking him as my other hand moves towards Kingsley’s pants, but he stops me. “Sweetheart, don’t.”

“Why not?” I ask in confusion. “Am I doing something wrong?”

“It’s not that, it’s just… with you sitting on me like this, you’re too close, I don’t want to accidentally… you know…”

I think I know what he means. He doesn’t want to accidentally penetrate me.

What about purposefully?

I haven’t shared the full story of my assault with them yet, and I’d always thought I’d never be able to have sex, even with someone I love.

But sitting here, grinding against his hard length, the thought of having him inside me is something I’m craving more than anything else in the world right now.

“Not yet, sweetheart. Don’t worry, though, I’m gonna take good care of my good girl,” Kingsley says quietly, right before he sinks several fingers deep into my pussy, making me cry out in surprise. “Mmm, there she is, such a good girl for us, isn’t she boys?”

“The fucking best,” Weston grits out as I continue to stroke him.

“She’s perfect,” Bower says with a smile. “Now let me taste her.” He pushes Kingsley’s body back a little, grabbing my breast and sinking his mouth onto me.

I cry out as pleasure zings through me. I wish I could touch Bower, but I’m twisted towards Weston and can’t reach his cock at the same time. But I can certainly see it.

He undoes his jeans and pulls it out, stroking himself as he sucks and licks at my chest, seeming to get off from it as much as I am. The sight has me moving even closer to the edge.

I glance up at Kingsley and he kisses me deeply. I grin against him as I continue stroking Weston. One of their hands is on my other breast and someone's finger is circling my back entrance, sending jolts of pleasurable lightning through me.

“Kingsley, how do I make you come?” I ask, wanting him to come with the rest of us.

“Just keep grinding against me like that. Feeling you come on my fingers will be more than enough to make me jizz my pants.”

I bite my lip and rub against him faster, making his fingers speed up to keep pace.

I turn my head to Weston and glance down at his cock. The tip is glistening and suddenly all I can think about is tasting him.

So I lean down and lick him clean, before sinking my mouth over him completely. He groans, his hand moving to my hair as he guides my movements.

I’m not even sure who’s touching me where anymore, my body is alight with sensation as my core heats to an inferno before I completely explode, screaming my release are Weston’s cock, and I taste it the moment he finds his own release, the others grunting and groaning tells me they came as well. I swallow down everything Weston gives me. The taste isn’t unpleasant, but the fact that it’s Weston’s makes it feel like I’ve won something by capturing it for myself.

I sag down, resting my head on his thigh as he runs his hand through my hair, our collective heavy breathing the only noise I hear.

Slowly the sound of the waves gently crashing on the shore fills my ears, followed by birds chirping and a faint and distinct whup-whup sound.

I frown, trying to place it. I can’t think of any animal that makes that noise. Slowly rolling over, I face the ocean and scan the sky. There’s nothing there, but still the sound continues somewhere in the distance.

I sit up and grab my top and my bag, pulling them on as I get to my feet. I make sure McStabby is still in its sheath as my gut starts to clench uncomfortably.

“Zee?”

“Shh,” I whisper, taking a few steps towards the water and away from the noises of the jungle.

My eyes keep scanning for something. It’s coming from out there, right? Weston comes to stand on my left, Bower and Kingsley to my right and I’m not sure if they hear it too, but they’re scanning the sky and ocean just as I am.

Looking towards the left, I squint, sure that it’s coming from that direction.

And then… I see it. It’s just a tiny dark spot in the sky, but my heart leaps in my chest all the same. The sound grows louder and I take a step towards it.

“Holy shit! We’ve gotta light the fire!” Bower yells. I hear them running around behind me. But I just stare in shock and fear in the direction of the plane.

If this had happened before I met the guys, I would run and hide, not wanting anyone to know I’m here. I know the guys won’t understand, but I’ve known I would live out my days on the island for a long time now. The real world terrifies me more than staying here.

We’ve been joking about what we’d do when we’re rescued and back on the mainland, but I never truly thought it would happen. I have no idea how to exist in that world anymore. The old Darla, she’s gone. Only Zee exists now. And how can she… can I… possibly exist in a world filled with people?

“Zee! We need you!” I turn and see them attempting and failing to light the large pile of wood they’ve had prepared for the past two months for this exact occasion.

Knowing that even if I’m scared about leaving here, and unsure if I can actually do it, these three have to go back to the mainland. It’s their home. They have their family and their whole lives there.

I run towards them, dropping down on my knees and pulling out McStabby from its sheath at my side, and Kingsley passes me a rock. It takes me seconds to get a spark and only a few seconds more before the kindling catches fire.

I slowly nurse the wood until more and more start to light up. Weston grabs my hand and pulls me to my feet as we move away from the flames. Confident that the whole pile will be alight shortly, we turn back in the direction of the noise, which has become more distinct as the minutes pass.

“It’s a chopper,” Weston announces from my side. “There’s only one reason a chopper would be way out here, they’re searching for someone.”

“They’re here for us,” Bower whispers quietly, as if he’s afraid saying it too loud will make it turn away.

We watch from the beach as it gets closer and closer. Soon its distinct helicopter shape takes form and Bower cheers in excitement as it heads straight for us.

He and Kingsley run a forward, waving their arms wildly over their heads as they scream, “We’re here!” The joy I can hear in their voices helps cut some of the fear in my chest, but I can’t help the gut feeling that this isn’t going to end well.

I look up at Weston, who’s still standing beside me. His expression is neutral, not smiling, but not upset either.

“Aren’t you happy they’re here?” I ask, making him glance down at me and frown.

“I’ll be happy when I see some insignia on the side of that chopper, telling me who they are.”

I furrow my eyebrows as I glance back at the sky. “But I thought you said there’s only one reason a chopper would be out here?”

“I said they were searching for someone, I didn’t say they were on our side.”

My eyes widen as that fear takes full hold of me. My gut’s been in a knot since I first heard the sound of that chopper. I thought it was from fear of leaving this island, but maybe it’s something more. Maybe it’s my instincts telling me something isn’t right here.

“Guys…” The chopper gets even closer, almost on top of us now. “I think we should—”

Pop pop pop pop.

The sand flies up in front of Kingsley and Bower as the chopper suddenly turns sideways and starts shooting at them. I scream their names and Weston wraps his arms around me, quickly carrying me as he runs towards the jungle.

From my position, I can see Kingsley and Bower running full speed towards us, and when they reach the jungle, untouched, a small amount of relief fills me.

The sound of firing stops and Weston puts me down on a part of the path with a lot of cover from above. Kingsley and Bower stop beside us, heaving heavily. I quickly run over to them, running my hands over their shoulders and backs, making sure they weren’t hit.

When I’m inspecting Kingsley’s front, he grabs me and pulls me against his chest, holding me tight as he breathes heavily. “That wasn’t Reece.”

Bower shakes his head. “No, it wasn’t.”

Realizing it’s time to admit something I’ve been hiding from them, I pull away from Kingsley so I can see them all. “They’re here for me.”

But Weston overlaps my words with identical ones, making us frown at each other in confusion.

“You?” he asks before I can. I nod my head slowly.

“They’re here for us, obviously,” Bower says, gesturing to Kingsley and himself.

“Uh… I think I’m missing some vital information here,” Weston says, still frowning. “I told you guys about my previous plane being taken down. Why do you three think this is about you?”

“We found some shady shit in Australia, it’s why we were headed to Kenya,” Kingsley explains. “I think someone is trying to silence us.”

“What about you, Zee?” Kingsley asks, turning to me.

I stare at him in surprise. How had I not known where they were going when they crashed? Both our flights had the same trajectory, and both went down in the same spot. That can’t be a coincidence… Can it?

“Zee?” Bower prods before I can think too much about it.

“I—” My voice cuts off as my eyes bounce between them. I’ve tried not to think about this for fifteen years, bringing it up brings back things I’d rather not remember.

“Zee, you need to tell us, it’s important.”

“My dad said our crash wasn’t an accident. Someone sabotaged the plane. Someone who wanted the two of us dead.”

“Do you know who would want to do that?”

“Not exactly. I think it has something to do with my grandfather, but my dad never spoke about it. I just know when we left Perth, he seemed really nervous and upset.”

“Perth,” Kingsley says, his furrowed eyes staring at me like he’s trying to see into my head.

“Well, fuck. What do we do? We don’t even know which of us they are after!” Bower says as we listen to the sound of the chopper circling the island, looking for us most likely.

“First of all, they can’t be here for Zee, it’s been too long,” Weston says, giving my shoulder a squeeze of reassurance. “But either way, it doesn’t matter. It’s not like we can bargain with them. Their orders are clearly to kill first.”

He pushes his hand through his hair in agitation. “Fuck! I wish we had weapons, I don’t know how we can fight against men with guns.”

“I might be able to help with that.”

Chapter thirty-eight

Darla

“What did you say?” Weston asks, looking at me in confusion.

“I said, I might be able to help with that. The only problem is, we need to travel along part of the beach to get there, and we’ll be out in the open.”

“That’s okay, if they are still in the air we might be able to time it right, will you take us there?” he asks, bending so he’s eye level with me. I nod my head and he smiles, cupping the side of my face. “Good girl.”

I lick my lips and quickly turn away, heading down the path towards a place I haven’t stepped foot in for fifteen years.

We barely speak as I lead us silently through the jungle. Thankfully, the chopper is still circling the island when we arrive at the edge of the beach where we need to sprint to our destination.

The smoke from our fire is high in the sky, and I hate that we wasted it on assholes trying to kill us.

“Okay, we need to make a run for it, it’s maybe… 400 feet or so, the cave is around the corner there,” I tell them, pointing to our right.

“We’re ready, Zee, lead the way,” Kingsley whispers from behind me. I take a moment to make sure the chopper sound isn’t getting closer, then take off running. The sound of their boots hitting the sand is heavy around me as I sprint forward.

When we’re only a hundred feet away, the sound of the chopper grows louder, vibrating through the air. I push myself to run faster, and so do my guys. But as we reach the edge of the cave, I suddenly stop dead in my tracks while the three of them race ahead, disappearing into the safety inside.

A soft whimper slips from my lips as I stare into the cave. My body is frozen in place, no matter how much I know I need to follow. But it’s like my body isn’t listening, refusing to respond.

Arms wrap around me and I’m dragged inside as I gasp in surprise. I look up and see Bower’s concerned face staring down at me. “Are you okay? Why’d you stop?” I shake my head, unable to speak. My hands come out to grip his biceps as I try to ground myself in the present, and not think about the last time I was in here.

I lean my forehead against his chest as I whisper, “I… I thought I could be in here, but I can’t. I can’t look.”

He hugs me tightly, pushing my face into his chest and covering the side so I can’t see anything. “You don’t need to look, Tink. Just tell us what we’re looking for, we can get it, don’t even open your eyes for a second.”

I take a deep breath as my fingers dig into his chest. I’m so thankful I have them here with me. I think I’d still be frozen at the entrance if it wasn’t for them.

“This is where I put them… and all their stuff. The ones… I killed.”

His arms tighten around me.

“They had weapons. I took a knife, McStabby, because I needed it, but I didn't want anything else that belonged to them. I don’t know where the weapons are, exactly, but I put their bodies at the back of the cave.”

“West and King are looking now, we’ll just stay here while they search.”

“Thank you,” I whisper, a small amount of relief filling me, knowing I don’t have to see them again.

“You don’t have to thank me, Tink. I’m impressed with how strong you’re being.”

“I don’t feel strong, I feel weak,” I tell him honestly as my body relaxes into him.

“I can only imagine what you’ve been through, and being back here, after all this time, is incredibly brave. Thank you for bringing us here. Any weapons we can find can only help us.”

We stay silent as we listen to rustling and movement from the other two, and I wonder if they’ll find anything useful. I don’t really remember much about their possessions, I was in a fog when I dragged their bodies in here, refusing to give them a real burial. It took a damn long time to do it, too.

“We got a few things that should help,” Kingsley says, startling me. He and Weston move to stand between us and the cave entrance, so I can look at them without seeing what’s behind me.

Weston’s holding a sword and a gun as he smirks down at me. “This will definitely help, assuming it works.” He opens it up and checks the chamber. “I’ve got two shots in here, but I have a handful of bullets to reload it with.

“There’s another one here,” Kingsley says, holding up a second one and passing it to Bower. “You should take it, I haven’t shot a gun before. I’ll take the sword.” Weston passes him the sword, and all three of them inspect their weapons.

It gives me a small amount of relief to see them with some way to defend themselves. Although I’m not sure what good it will do against machine guns.

“I saw a small notebook in one of their pockets,” Weston says, and I realize he’s staring down at me with concern in his eyes. “It was written in Samoan.”

“What does that mean?” I ask, unsure what he’s trying to tell me.

“They were pirates, Zee. Thieves or smugglers, most likely. They were probably aboard a bigger ship that sank, we’ll never know. But I thought you’d want to know who they were.”

I stare at the ground as I think about that. It doesn’t change what happened, it doesn’t make it any less or any more painful. All it does is help explain their presence and lack of rescue. Finally, I look up at him and nod. “Okay, thanks for telling me.”

“Now we need a plan,” Kingsley says, thankfully changing the subject.

“We’re sitting ducks in this cave, so we need to get back to the jungle,” Weston says as he slowly moves to the cave entrance. Bower grabs my hand and along with Kingsley we follow him. “They’re going to land soon. Our best bet is to stay hidden and try to take them by surprise. We’ll take them out from the ground. How’s your aim, Bower?”

“I’d say average. I’m not terrible, but I’m not a marksman either. And with an unfamiliar gun…” he trails off and shrugs.

“We should use the trees,” I say, bringing three sets of eyes to me. “We can hide in the trees and attack from above when they pass under us.”

Weston slowly nods as he thinks about it. “Yeah, that’s our best bet. Maybe we hold up near the main path, near where you took down Brutus? There’s lots of coverage there.”

I nod and we all move to the edge of the cave. The chopper is disappearing around the far end of the island, giving us the perfect opportunity to get back under the cover of the jungle.

“Alright, three more seconds…” Weston says as we all prepare to run. “Go!”

He leads the way as we all jog down the beach. Bower keeps hold of my hand as we run behind the other two, and it doesn’t take us long to be back in the protection of the trees.

We decide to walk through the jungle instead of running, as the faster movements might be more noticeable if they can see us through the canopy of trees at all. We walk silently, listening to the sound of the chopper as it circles the island.

As we reach the main path, the chopper gets louder and we all freeze, turning our faces to the sky as we listen.

“It’s landing,” Weston announces. “On the beach, let’s move!” We start running down the path until we reach our destination.

“Zee, climb! We’ll be right up behind you,” Weston instructs, and I do as he asks, wasting any time as I leap to the closest branch and scramble up.

I find a few good spots to look over the path with maximum coverage and as they slowly make their way up, Kingsley and Bower on the other side of the path and Weston on my side, I start to grow more and more worried that one, or all of us, are going to get hurt, or worse, killed.

I double check that I still have McStabby in my sheath and my bag is slung over my shoulder with Steve in it. I’m grateful I carry both everywhere.

“Eep!” I jump in surprise and Mo-Mo lands on the branch in front of me, waving his arms as he freaks out.

“Mo-Mo!” I snatch him up and hug him tight to me, quickly pulling back so I can talk to him. “The people who have arrived, they’re bad. You need to go back home and stay there, okay? Make sure all the others do the same. It’s not safe for you out here.”

“Eep!” he trills quietly, his hand reaching out to touch my cheek gently. I push my face into his touch and smile at him.

“I’ll be okay, buddy. My friends here are gonna help protect me. But you gotta go, you’ll give me away and it’s too dangerous for you, understand?”

He holds out his hand for a fist bump, which I return with a tight smile, then he drops down a few branches, landing in front of Weston. I watch with wide eyes as he seems to give him a stern talking to, waving his hands at him as he trills, then waves up in my direction before he goes silent, looking like he’s waiting for an answer.

Weston seems to understand him though, because he nods. “Okay, buddy, don’t worry. I promise to protect her with my life.” My heart jumps in my chest at such bold words, and Mo-Mo lets out a small trill before swinging away, back to his home.

Weston looks up, his eyes meeting mine. He gives me a wink and I give him a tight smile in return.

A noise down the path has us both turning back to watch for our pursuers. Slowly, I lower myself onto my stomach along the branch as I gaze down and wait.

They walk in silence, but I can still hear the sound of their boots crunching on the jungle floor as they head towards us.

This isn’t the first time I’ve spied on men from the trees, but this time, a terrible knot of anxiety twists in my gut. My hands tremble against the bark, and every breath feels too loud, like even the jungle can hear my fear.

When the first man comes into view, my heart pounds so heavily in my chest, I’m sure they’ll be able to hear it. He’s dressed all in black, in what looks to be some sort of tactical gear. He holds a large looking gun, likely a semi-automatic, based on my limited knowledge, as he scans his surroundings, his gun moving with his eyeline.

I try to quiet my breathing, and as he moves, I realize, to our luck, he’s not looking up. He thinks we’re on the ground. Maybe we have a chance after all.

A second man enters my sightline, and I wonder how many of them there are.

I hope it’s only two.

Movement has me glancing down at Weston and I watch as he holds out the gun and takes aim at the first man. I hold my breath and the entire jungle seems to grow silent, waiting for the sound of the gun to fire.

But it doesn’t come. Instead, all I hear is the distinct click on the gun. I watch in horror as Weston tries again, but it makes the same noise. The gun isn’t working.

It’s done one thing, though, it’s alerted these men that we’re here, in the trees. Their guns swing upwards in our direction as they look for us.

Suddenly, Bower drops from where he was hiding, right onto the back of the other man. As he yells out, the first man swings around, giving Weston the chance to drop on top of him.

Unsure what to do, I start to scramble down the tree as the four of them roll around below me, each pair fighting over the gun, and trying not to get shot. I stop on the branch Weston had been perched on to survey the scene and realize Kingsley’s there too. He lifts the sword, then takes a punch to the jaw, falling backwards, the sword flying to the side, making me gasp in fear.

The same man swings the butt of his gun around, knocking Bower to the ground at the same time the first man yells, “Don’t move!” Aiming his gun at Weston’s chest, as he stands there, breathing heavily, his fists clenched at his sides as he glowers back at him.

“Where’s the other one?” The man asks, but nobody speaks. The second man is aiming his gun at the other two as they all stare at each other. “There were four of you. Where is the other guy?” he asks again, his voice taking on a warning tone.

“We’re the only ones here,” Weston growls back.

“Stand up!” The second man yells. Kingsley and Bower quietly get to their feet. “Walk, to the beach.” He gestures with his gun in that direction. They narrow their eyes at him but do as they’re told. “Hands on your heads, you make one wrong move, I shoot. We don’t need three of you to get an answer,” he warns them.

Their hands go up and the first gunman has Weston do the same, following behind them after grabbing the discarded sword. I breathe heavily, my fingers digging into the branch so tight I’m surprised I haven’t cracked it yet.

I have no gun, no sword, no real way to take down two men, both larger than me and armed with weapons that could cut down all four of us before I could even throw a single knife. My pulse thunders in my ears as panic claws at my throat.

What the hell am I supposed to do now?

Chapter thirty-nine

Reece

“Not far now!” I yell to the pilot. “Keep going straight.” I watch the blinking dot on my phone, knowing that at any moment, we’re going to see… something. An island, a raft, something to indicate where they are.

I’m praying it’s an island, but until I see it, and see them… safe, I’m not sure I’ll be able to breathe properly.

The chopper blades are the only sound I can hear as my eyes lock on the horizon, waiting for the first glimpse of them.

Then, I see it… a dark blur in the distance that can’t be a raft.

“That looks like an island, sir!” The pilot says loud enough to be heard over the sound of the chopper blades spinning above us.

“Thank fuck for that!” I say, a small smile gracing my lips. The first smile I think I’ve had in two months.

I thought flying in this chopper would be far worse than the plane ride here, which was terrible, but the knowledge that I’m so close to King and Bower has me almost forgetting my fear of flying.

I watch, barely blinking as the island gets larger and larger, until it’s right there in front of us. It’s not huge, but big enough for them to have survived on.

A stream of smoke reaches up from the beach, making me wonder if they saw us coming and lit it.

“Look! Down there, another chopper!” I divert my attention to the beach where he’s pointing and see a chopper sitting there.

“What the fuck?” I ask, wondering what they’re still doing there if someone else found them already.

“Maybe it just arrived?”

But what are the chances of that? They’ve been missing for two months, and are found by two different choppers on the same day.

“Oh, it’s still running. Is it one of your search teams, sir?”

I shake my head, also noticing the other chopper still has spinning blades. “No, I spoke with them all before I left, none of them could get here for another week, they were held up. That’s why I’m here alone.”

It was annoying that the moment I found them, both my search teams seemed to have technical malfunctions with their equipment, grounding them from getting here before I could.

I scan the beach but don’t see any movement.

“Land beside the other one,” I instruct him, my eyes continually scanning for signs of life. It takes a few minutes, but finally, we set down on the beach as he switches off the engine.

“I’ll wait here in case you need a quick getaway. But let me know if you need me out there with you,” he tells me and I nod before jumping down to the beach, my black leather loafers instantly filling with sand.

I probably should have dressed more casually than dress pants and a dress shirt, but it’s how I always dress and I didn’t even consider anything else.

There’s a large pile of wood burning on the beach, or what’s left of it. It looks like it’s been going for a while and is starting to die down. I scan the line of the jungle for any movement, but it’s eerily quiet.

I pass the other chopper, seeing nobody in it. Why would anyone leave this running?

There’s no name on the side. I can’t even tell what country it belongs to. My stomach starts to tighten with worry.

Who the hell is here? And where the fuck is everyone?

As I take a few more steps forward, movement catches my eye. I suck in a sharp breath, getting my first glimpse of Bower and King. Seeing them after all this time is shocking. Not only that, but West, our pilot, is with them.

I open my mouth to call out to them, but that’s when I realize they’re being led by gun point. Two men, who look like mercenaries, have rifles aimed at their backs as they march them out onto the beach and force them to their knees.

I freeze, not wanting to alert them of my presence, but unsure what to do. I don’t have a gun. I didn’t consider any scenario like this in my rescue plans. The enemies' backs are to me and I decide I have no choice but to try to sneak up on them. Weapon or not, I didn’t come this far to watch my friends get executed right in front of me.

Slowly, I move forward, trying to be as quiet as possible as I approach them. When I’m close enough to make out their faces, Bower’s eyes flick to mine and they widen in shock. He tries to hide his expression, but it’s too late, one of the mercenaries swings around and starts firing. I dive towards the jungle, managing to make it behind a few trees without getting hit.

I take a few deep breaths as I try to decide what to do. I turn around and look out from behind the tree trunk. I can see one man still pointing his gun at my friends on the sand, the other man is walking along the edge of the beach, looking for me in the jungle.

“If you don’t get out here in the next two minutes, I’ll shoot your friends!” he yells, making my blood turn cold.

Fuck, what do I do now? What are they even after?

Watching him scan the jungle, something on the beach captures my attention, and I realize it’s my pilot. He must have gotten out of the chopper and got shot when they were shooting at me. Fuck, he’s dead because of me.

The first gunman joins the other as he yells towards me, “Thirty seconds!”

Deciding I can deal with the grief of the pilot's death later, I take a deep breath, knowing I don’t really have a choice.

I take several steps towards them, and as I get to the edge of the trees, I freeze as something comes swinging out of the jungle, right beside them, crashing into the man who was just yelling.

He goes flying onto his back, and the distraction is enough for West, who grabs the end of the second man’s gun and points it away from them, trying to pull it from his grasp.

I run towards them, my eyes pulled toward the first man. He’s on back with a tiny wild woman on top of him. She’s trying to take the gun from him, but he smacks her in the head and she falls sideways.

“Zee!” Bower yells, as he and King try to get to her.

But before they reach her, the man has her on her feet in front of him, a small pistol suddenly in his grasp, aiming under her chin as he holds her tight against his front.

She struggles in his hold as the others yell at him to let her go. Weston yanks the gun from the other man’s grasp and steps back, aiming it at him. “You shoot, then I shoot.”

I can’t see the woman from this angle where I stand at the edge of the tree line, but I can hear the laughter in the man’s voice who’s holding her. “Nice threat. But I don’t care about his life. Besides, our mission was to get rid of you men. They said nothing about a woman. So I guess after we kill you, we can have a little fun with her. What do you say, wild thing? Wanna know what it’s like to be with a real man?”

His free hand slowly moves up from her waist towards her chest as all three guys scream at him.

“Keep your fucking hands off of her!”

“Don’t touch her!”

“Leave her out of this!”

He laughs as his fingers dig into her. “I bet you’re a real firecracker in bed, hmm?” he asks, his mouth moving towards her ear. I clench my fists as my fingers dig into my palms. Over my dead body would he touch her any further. I couldn’t think of anything worse than a man who murders, rapes and molests people.

I find a branch and pick it up, figuring it’s better than nothing as I stomp forward. As I step onto the sand, his head turns in my direction and the woman makes a jerking movement, then he screams, his arm loosening and she spins to face him, taking a step back as he clutches at a knife sticking out of his thigh.

Did she just stab him?

Before he can aim his gun at her, her arm flies through the air, smacking him across the face, blood flying from his mouth. I can sense a scuffle happening between the others, but I can’t take my eyes off this wild woman as I quickly move closer, ready to help.

He hasn’t even turned his head back to her, when she hits him again, a scream escaping her lips, and it’s only then that I realize she’s holding a rock in her hand. Losing his balance, he drops to his knees, his gun falling to the sand. She strikes him again from the opposite direction.

Blood covers his face. It’s brutal, and savage, but she doesn’t stop. He falls backward as she screams again, a raw, furious sound. She jumps onto his chest, straddling him. She uses both hands to hold the rock high and swing it down violently against his skull.

His body shakes for a second before it stills, but she strikes him again. And as she goes to do it once more, I drop my branch and grab the rock while it’s above her head.

“Easy there, Killer. It’s over.” She lets me pull the rock from her hands and I drop it in the sand, glancing over and seeing the other man lying dead, clearly having been shot by West. I somehow missed the sound of the gunshot in all the excitement.

I look down at the back of the woman’s head, gently placing my hands on her arms. “Let’s get you off of him, okay?”

“Zee!” King yells, and her head snaps over to him, a whimper leaving her lips as she scrambles up and lunges for him, wrapping her little body around him as he hugs her tightly.

Who is this little mystery woman who swung in and saved the day?

“Reece?” I look up at Bower’s wide eyes. “Fuck, you’re here. You’re actually fucking here!”

His shock melts into a wide grin as he strides toward me and pulls me into the biggest hug of my life. I hug him tightly, patting his back, unable to believe that I’m touching him right now.

“I can’t believe I finally found you,” I tell him.

“We knew you would,” West says as Bower pulls back. I give him a quick hug and a slap on the back as I smile at him.

“I’m really happy to see all three of you. Are you injured at all?” I ask, finally trying to take in their current states. Apart from some overgrown hair, and a lot of dirty and worn clothing, they all seem to be in one piece.

“We’re fine, thanks to Zee here,” King says with a smile as he glances down at the woman still hugging him tightly.

“Zee?” I ask, glancing down at her back.

“Sweetheart, do you want to meet Reece? He came for us, just like we said he would.”

She pulls her hands between them, clearly wiping her tears away as she takes a few seconds to compose herself.

“Reece?” Bower whispers from my side. “Go easy on her. She’s been through a lot and she’s special to us.”

“Special?” I ask in curiosity as I watch her turn in Kingsley’s arms to face me.

The second those piercing green eyes meet mine, it feels like the air is ripped from my lungs.

A ghost stands in front of me. That’s the only explanation my brain can grasp in this moment.

I take a hesitant step toward her, my heart hammering against my ribs. My eyes search her face, desperate for it to be real but terrified of what it might mean if it is. I quickly note all the familiar features; those big green eyes, the pouty lips, the delicate curve of her cheekbones.

It’s her… it’s… “Darla?” I manage to croak out, my voice trembling in shock.

She gasps, her wide eyes suddenly searching my face for recognition as she takes a step towards me.

I reach up and cup her cheek as she whispers, “Mo-Mo?”

Hearing my childhood nickname on her lips, the name only one person in the world ever called me, hits me like a lightning strike. It confirms what my heart already knows. She’s here.

My Darla is… here.

My best friend, the girl who knew every piece of me, who became my first love. The girl I lost when she vanished with her father on a flight that never made it home when we were only thirteen.

Losing her shattered something deep inside me. I’ve never stepped foot on a plane since. Never looked at another girl the way I looked at her. No one else ever came close.

And she’s been right-fucking-here for fifteen years.

“W—”

BOOM

A large explosion behind us has me instinctively diving on top of her, our bodies landing in the sand as I try to shield her from any flying debris. Just as I think we’re in the clear, another explosion erupts and I tighten my hold on her.

After a minute, West lets out a curse. “Fuck.”

I lift my head and look back where the explosion came from.

“That’s both of them,” he says. “They’re gone.”

Staring at the burning remains of steel from both helicopters, I suddenly realize why he’s so upset.

We’re stranded.

To be continued…

Read the conclusion in Hunted, The Desert Island Duet - Book 2. Releasing Aug 2, 2025.

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Dear Readers,

Thank you so much for reading Stranded! I hope you enjoyed Zee’s story so far. I’ve always been a fan of Tarzan, and survival shows and thought how fun would it be to combine some of the elements, add some twists and make it a reverse harem romance?!

For Mo-Mo the lemur, I took a lot of inspiration from my mini schnauzer, who loves to ask for food, and then runs away with her prize, no longer interested in me.

Zee’s rock, Steve, is more than just a result of her loneliness. He’s a symbol of comfort, stability, and the person who keeps you grounded when everything else falls apart. For me, that person is my husband, Steve. He has been my rock through every storm, and this small part of the story is a tribute to him. Just like Zee never lets go of her Steve, I’m forever grateful for mine.

Are you ready for a lot more Reece? Want to know why Zee is afraid of thunderstorms? And ready to find out the truth behind their plane crashes and mercenary attack? Well, you won’t have to wait long!

Pre-order Hunted now and add to your TBR list.

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