Page 21 of Chasing Paradise

What it couldn’t go without was water.

And that was one thing the guidebooks had been very clear about. Most of the islands didn’t haveanynatural water sources. Locals relied on either bottled water imports or reverse osmosis filtration systems for the seawater.

I had exactly one bottle of water to my name. If that wasn’t enough, I’d drunk half of it while sitting looking at the waves, comforted by the boat just a few yards away with several more bottles available.

I sucked in a deep breath, fighting back the rising panic.

Animals survived on the islands.

And while, sure, reptiles didn’t need a whole lot of water to survive, they needed some source of hydration.

Even in the most arid of climates, reptiles could rely on… cactus.

Further down the island, there was an outcropping of funky little cacti that looked almost like trees.

Prickly pear, that was what the book said. The islands were rich with prickly pear in the arid climates. Cacti were notorious for storing water inside their pads. If I could just find a way to get the little bristles off of the pads or fruit, I could break them open and drink.

I wasn’t going to be stranded forever, I reminded myself.

True, this seemed to be one of the more remote islands. And no one on our little trip had chosen to visit. But that didn’t mean they wouldn’t eventually.

I could just sit tight.

Drink cactus juice.

Make one of thoseHELPsigns with sticks from the more wooded area of the island.

I wasn’t going to die here, dammit.

Even if that was what Wick wanted.

In fact, I was going to get back to the mainland, turn over every rock, look behind every tree, search every goddamn city in South America, if needed, find his ass, knock him over the head, bind and gag him, then drag him back to the States stowed away like illegal cargo. Then I would gladly turn him over to authorities, collect my paycheck, and never think about him again.

Panic averted and motivation secured, I moved away from the shore, not certain about how far it might come in.

I lowered myself down on the hard ground, fished in my duffle for another shirt, finding it surprisingly chilly without the sun baking down on me.

Then I lowered myself down, using my duffle for a pillow again, and willed sleep to come. If for no other reason, than to silence the swirling thoughts that were moving across my mind at warp speed, making me feel almost dizzy from them.

I forced myself to focus on the crashing of the waves. And before long, I felt my eyelids fluttering shut and sleep claiming me.

The only problem was my dreams were full of being stranded on the island. Only… not alone.

And we’d found some inventive ways to pass the time. Hands roaming over sun-kissed skin, sand biting into my back as Wick’s body came over mine, as he surged into me, making us rock against the shore in time with the waves, our breaths mingling, moans combining, desire surging…

I jolted awake, blinking at the yellow morning sun overhead, its heat warming my body.

“What the…” I said, shooting upward when I saw something on my shirt.

The little lizard was unfazed, though, scuttling up my body instead of away, watching me with little black eyes.

“Ah, hi,” I said, looking down at his black and brown body. Under his neck, there was a patch of bright red.

A lava lizard.

Little insect-eating natives to the islands. While they weren’t dangerous or anything, they weren’t usually so… friendly.

“You’re pretty cool,” I told him. “You, ah, got any ideas on what I can use to skin those cactus pads? No? Well, it was worth asking.”

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