Page 38 of Hooked By a Hero
“A settlement?” Caspian said, his brow lifting and his smile widening. “So you Englishmen are intent on colonizing this little island, too, are you?”
Fortunately, Elias took the teasing well and laughed gently. “Colonizing things is what we Englishmen were designed for,” he teased in return, bumping his arm against Caspian’s.
Caspian nudged him in return, keeping his arm flush against Elias’s as he did. If not for the two dozen other people surrounding them, he would have entwined his hand with Elias’s and tugged him close for a long kiss.
“We brought some of the ship’s carpenter’s tools back with us,” Brunning spoke up, snagging Caspian’s attention just when he could have spent hours gazing into Elias’s eyes and losing himself in the swell of affection between the two of them. “They should be helpful in building shelters.”
“It is a shame Mr. Felton was killed in the mutiny,” Hunt sighed, lamenting the ship’s carpenter. “We could have used his expertise not only to remake theFortune, but to build huts.”
“I know carpentry,” one of the survivors spoke up, raising his hand. “I can lead a team in constructing huts out of the materials we find on the island.”
“Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Salisbury,” Hunt said. “What other hidden skills and talents do we all have?” he asked.
Mr. Cartwright laughed and said, “Clearly, you have the skill of leadership.”
“Hear, hear!” one of the middle-aged passengers called out. “I nominate Mr. Hunt to be our leader whilst on this island.”
“Agreed!” Elias called out, sending his friend a smile.
Hunt grinned back at him. “I would not wish to do the job entirely on my own. I will need the council of wise men to assist me. I will listen to anyone who has suggestions for how we might survive as efficiently and comfortably as possible.”
“Yet another reason why you will make the best leader among us,” Caspian said.
Everyone else seemed to agree. Hunt accepted the role of leader graciously, and by the time the meal was done, he had improved the spirits of the survivors to such an extent that they were all enthusiastic about foraging or fishing for that night’s meal, marching back to the spring to collect more water in the casks that had been quickly emptied by the thirsty encampment, or collecting materials that could be used to build shelters.
“You see?” Caspian teased as the two of them joined Hunt near the fire. “We will be quite happy here, I think. You will never want to leave.”
Elias laughed. “I do not know about that,” he said. The strange, thoughtful look he had whenever contemplating Caspian pinched his face. “Something tells me you truly would be happy to live the rest of your life somewhere such as this.”
Caspian shrugged, making light of Elias’s curiosity. “I would be happy to make my life wherever you are,” he said. And thesooner the two of them could find a moment alone so that he might confess everything, the sooner that could come to be.
Thirteen
They were stranded. Elias had once been a prominent physician in London with a newly inherited fortune that would grant him access to the highest social circles in England. If he’d been so inclined, he could have married into any number of aristocratic families. Lady Eudora had pursued him relentlessly for his wealth and status.
Elias wondered what she would have thought of him now if she could see him sleeping in a tiny hut made of brush, jungle debris, and crates pulled from theFortune’scargo. He wondered what his friends in The Brotherhood would have said if they knew he had only two changes of clothing recovered from the ship that already bore smudges and stains that no washing in a barrel of water, beating on rocks, and leaving out to dry in the sunshine could ever remove. He laughed when he thought about what Grayson and Charlie would think if they knew he was considered one of the leaders of their tiny band of survivors.
“I do love it when I awake to find you already smiling,” Caspian said in a groggy voice, rolling to his side and pulling Elias into his arms.
Elias sighed and made a low, happy, laughing sound as he twisted to embrace Caspian. “Good morning.”
“Good morning to you,” Caspian replied, then kissed him briefly. They had recovered a stock of tooth powder from theFortune, but even that fortunate discovery could do nothing to improve one’s breath first thing in the morning, before there was a chance to use it.
Although, all things considered, Elias had done a terrific job of maintaining basic cleanliness on the island, even without every convenience life in London or on the ship would have offered. They had built their small camp around the freshwater spring, after all, and even sand could be used to bathe in a pinch.
All of which came in quite handy when Caspian moved his lips from Elias’s own to Elias’s neck and the top of his shoulder. He brushed his hand up Elias’s side as well, bringing his fingers up to play with Elias’s nipple.
Elias laughed low in his throat and relaxed into the sweet touch. “Have a care,” he whispered. “The others believe we are sharing this hut out of convenience. If they were to overhear anything untoward?—”
“The others know where things stand between us,” Caspian chuckled, then shifted all the way over Elias, nudging his thighs apart and settling himself between them. He looked down at Elias, his eyes dancing with mirth. “They know.”
Elias grunted uncertainly. While he was certain that he and Caspian had been unable to hide their affection for each other in the fortnight that they’d been living on the island, he still did not feel it was wise to press the matter. Not everyone was as tacitly accepting as Hunt or Ruby.
Although when it came to pressing things, not everything was objectionable. The way Caspian pressed their hips together, making Elias fully aware of both Caspian’s and his own morning tumescence, and rubbing them together to bring both of them to greater fullness.
“Have a care,” Elias whispered again, then gave up any efforts to resist.
Caspian kissed him, and even their less than fresh states did not inhibit Elias from kissing him back. The kiss was quick, however, and Caspian hurriedly moved on to draw his lips down Elias’s neck to his chest, licking and teasing one of his nipples for a moment, before descending lower to trail kisses down over his belly to the waistband of his drawers. Elias would have slept in the altogether and urged Caspian to do so as well, and not only because of the humid heat of the island, but with so many of the other survivors so close by, there was no telling when they would be suddenly roused and called upon.
