Page 36 of Stranded with a SEAL

Not that he’d complained when he’d spread her out before him like a feast he couldn’t wait to devour.

His whiskered jaw brushing up against her bare sex had been exhilarating. He’d been careful with her, gentle, but there was something totally erotic about his very male hands and face up against her most feminine parts.

“What do you know?” he asked gently.

“If we can’t spell out the word ‘help’, let’s put one of those emergency blankets out. The reflective material will show up from the air, right? They’ll know that we’re down here!”

Noah reached down, wiping away a stray tear rolling down her cheek. “Yes, they will, sunshine. That’s a great idea.”

A few minutes later, they’d secured one of the blankets with some soggy pieces of driftwood. Stretched out on the sand near the tree line, it would be visible if a helicopter flew over. “Do you really think someone will see it?” Bailey asked, hope rising within her.

“They will if they fly close enough,” he said.

“Oh.”

“They might come this way, sunshine. They’ll be doing a grid search from where the boat was yesterday, starting close to the coordinates and then spreading out. We’ll build a fire in a couple of hours. They’ll definitely see the smoke from miles away once we get that lit. And the good news is the sky is clear today. There shouldn’t be any more rainstorms to put out a fire. We’ll find enough driftwood and debris to keep it burning all day.”

“Okay,” she said, a feeling of calm washing over her. Her idea of the blanket was a little silly now that she thought about it. That would only work if someone was directly above them. Still, she felt like they had to do something. They had to leave something on the beach in case they fell asleep or were at the waterfall.

It would just kill her if someone did come and assume it was just another small deserted island.

They sat down on the beach under the palm trees, Noah pulling a few protein bars from his backpack. He tossed her one, and she ripped it open and took a bite, frowning. “This tastes awful.”

He chuckled. “It’s loaded with calories, sunshine.”

“Normally I’d be against eating something like that, but when in Rome…” She took another bite, trying not to gag.

Noah handed her a bottle of water, and she twisted the cap off. “These are the last ones,” he said ruefully. “We’ll fill the empty bottles and my canteen at the waterfall. Luckily, it’s not far, so we can go back and forth if needed.”

“Is the water safe to drink?” she asked.

“I’ve got water purification tablets. We’ll drop those in to be safe.”

She watched as Noah wolfed down one of the protein bars. He was a big, muscular guy and had to be hungry with only that for breakfast. “How many more protein bars do you have?”

“Just a few,” he admitted. “We might have to fish today if we don’t see signs of anyone searching for us here.”

“Ironic since we already caught plenty of good fish.”

“That it is,” he agreed. “We’ll see what we can catch. It’ll be tricky without a fishing pole. I don’t think I have anything to make a net out of in my backpack either—just a few basic supplies.”

“Do people ever fish with their hands?”

“It could happen,” he said, taking a long pull of his water. “It’d be hard to do unless a big school of fish swims close. We’ll investigate after we head to the waterfall.”

“There are coconuts up in the trees, too,” she said, glancing up at the palm trees.

He nodded. “We can drink the coconut water if we can manage to get any down. Maybe if we’re lucky, we’ll find some that fell down in the storm.”

She eyed the rough bark of the tree. “I don’t think we can climb it. The coconuts are all the way at the top.”

“It’ll be hard without climbing gear. Or shoes. I can attempt it if we have to, but let’s see what else is around and hope like hell we see signs of the Coast Guard today.”

Bailey rose from where they sat, walking over to the remains of yesterday’s fire. It was a soggy, disappointing mess full of waterlogged driftwood and wet ashes. “This doesn’t look like it would catch fire at all,” she said.

Noah followed her over. “Nope. That’s why I said we’ll have to wait a few hours for everything to dry. The waterfall’s not far, but I’ll bring my backpack full of supplies. If we hear a helicopter or small plane, we can hurry back to the beach and shoot off the flare gun.”

“All right,” she said. “I guess there’s not much else we can do. I’d kill for a cell phone right now,” she muttered.

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