Chapter 13
Calise lay there in shock. He was gone? That’s it?
A knock on the door jolted her out of bed, still naked. Lucas must have come back. She threw open the door to welcome him back into her bed, but Ron didn’t even seem to notice her lack of attire. She grabbed a towel.
“Hurakan is almost here. Don’t pack. You won’t be leaving tomorrow. Lock the doors and the windows and hold tight. I brought you a basket of food and water. Good luck.”
“Wait, Ron,” she begged. “Who’s Hurakan? Do you mean the hurricane?”
“My ancestors descend from Belize, and we still believe in the influence of many of the Mayan gods. Hurakan, the one-legged, brings great storms and floods to temporarily halt all of god’s creations, both of this world and the other.”
Shall I continue or is it best I don’t know…
“Actually, if you aren’t killed by a flash flood or high wind, a hurricane is actually the safest place to be. Like the bumblebee that cannot fly when it is wet, a hurricane quiets all creatures among us.” He turned, carrying two other baskets to drop off at the other two bungalows.
He’s lost it. Ron said “creatures” like he knows monsters are lurking about. What “creature” is worse than his own demon wife? Doesn’t he realize I’m already terrified?
Calise all out panicked. No other way to say it. She closed all the windows, collected candles and matches, and then assessed the bungalow for safe spots. All she knew from Wisconsin was that to evade a tornado, you were supposed to go in the basement or sit in a bathtub.
No basement. No bathtub.
With nowhere to hide, she sat on the bed and rocked back and forth, lonely and afraid. Thunder boomed nearby.
The longer she sat, the more she became resolved to her own fate, likely her bungalow sliding down the hill toward the ocean. Where was Lucas? He lived in that tiny beach house. She hoped he stayed safe with Carmen.
Just then, the power went off. Alone in the dark, she reached out with a shaky hand to strike a match and light a few candles.
She waited and listened, flinching every time the wind tossed a branch into her bungalow. The thunder and wind howled mercilessly, drowning out the thoughts in her head and rallying her fear whenever it started to fade. Her heart pounded fast so she pressed her palm against it and resumed swaying back and forth on the bed, watching the candle flicker and hearing the storm surge.
Lucas didn’t want her. Now she sat smack in the middle of a hurricane alone, and worst of all, she felt needy.
Me?
The candle flickered unsteadily.
Usually an independent sort, Calise found she missed Lucas with tangible physical ache. She curled into a ball under a cover of fear and hopelessness and eventually fell into a fitful sleep with the wind whipping around the bungalow, thunder and lightning drowning out any sort of previously peaceful jungle existence.
When she woke up, the hurricane was in full swing. I never should have come here.
The whole bed pulsed and heat pressed against her back. She tried to push backwards, but something pushed back. She flew out of bed toward the door.
Stogey—panting violently and causing the bed to shake.
“Stogey, how did you—”
The door clicked shut and there stood Lucas. “I’m sorry for who I am, but I’m not ready to let you go.” His hungry stare searched her face. His gaze penetrated her to the core. Pleasure hummed through her body.
He controlled the situation. Ready to cave to his every whim, her body screamed to have him inside her as much as it screamed to be inside his world.
Inside the world of her soul mate.
Her desire for Lucas went beyond a carnal desire for total connection with him. Or tonight. A deep need ached within her to be with him every moment for the rest of her life. She couldn’t get close enough to this man. If only she could freeze time and stop tomorrow from coming. She already missed the man standing directly in front of her.
Deep breath. Live in the moment instead of crying about the future.
She reached for his face and he squeezed her hands with both of his. “Don’t be sorry for anything. I love who you are. But I can’t handle the thought of you leaving again. Stay. Just one night.” She put her arms around his neck and held him tight.
His body shook, and he handled her gingerly, as if she were fine china. After what seemed like minutes, his arms reciprocated and he held her with a ferocity she savored.
He kissed her gently and every part of her body lit up with sparks and shocks as though she’d touched a live wire. One lone candle still flickered, casting moving shadows on the walls. The thunder clapped while he held her tight. Whatever inhibitions that had stopped him before were gone and she didn’t know why. But she didn’t care.
Pulling him on top of her, she allowed his strong body to mold with hers. He propped himself up on his elbows. She devoured and memorized his every detail.
“Lucas, I…”
“Shh, Cali. I don’t want you for just one night, mi canción.”
She squeezed her eyes shut at his words and while her body ached for him, so did her mind. She wanted to know his every thought. Nurse his every pain. She was wet in anticipation of him.
He caressed every inch of her body starting with a delicate touch on the inside on her arms. Up and down—up and down. He kissed her from fingertip to nipple then descended downward. He stood up and undressed. A beautiful shot of his darkened silhouette graced the wall with a flash of lightning. He crawled into bed next to her. Paper ripped. Every precaution not to hurt her.
She pulled him back on top of her, and they molded together, faces touching, “I want to breathe your air,” Lucas said.
She exhaled. He inhaled. On the brink of shattering without him even inside her, she grabbed his hips, edging him closer. When his tip tantalized her lips, she threw her head back in ecstasy. His body shook as he pushed himself further inside her.
“Are you okay?” He held himself in place, never taking his eyes off of her.
She nodded then pulled her knees to her chest to take more of him inside of her. He released the deep moan of pleasure she’d longed to hear. A sound she’d caused.
They began to rock, and he slid slowly in and out of her. His sly smile told her he would take all the time in the world to make sure she climaxed with him.
When his pace quickened, she threw her head back, and he dove into her neck covering her with kisses and his scent.
When she couldn’t stand the teasing any more, she heard herself pleading, “Lucas.”
He varied his rhythm while they moved in unison together. Their eyes locked on each other. “Lucas,” she said, this time as a warning.
A wave rose within her. Nothing could stop the cataclysmic orgasm that washed over her. He expanded and throbbed inside her. She cried out his name while he whispered “Cali” in her ear at their simultaneous release.
He collapsed on top of her still breathing hard. Still inside her. Sweet sweat glistened on both of their bodies. He nuzzled her neck then came up on his elbows and gazed into her eyes. “Are you ok? Please tell me the truth.”
Should she tell him about the colors? Hues of crimson and gold. Patterns ran through her mind as they came. It was like looking through a kaleidoscope at the fair where the things you were looking at were real but distorted, colors and shapes applied liberally but in all the wrong places. Blood-red eyes flashed in her mind: she smelled putrid flesh while her body felt as though icicles were cutting into every inch of her. Then she saw golden wings and inhaled roses and lavender. She felt wind rushing over her body like she was flying. She knew, deep down, that something indeed had happened to her.
She saw faces. Faces of people she knew, but they were changed. Some were more beautiful and their bodies glowed like molten gold in direct sunlight. Other faces became like hideous monsters with red eyes, razor sharp teeth and the scales of a dragon. They all cycled through her consciousness so quickly she couldn’t register any of them individually.
“Cali…” he prompted, “…answer me.”
She furrowed her eyebrows. “I…I don’t know…yet. I think we should try it again.”
He smiled.
“Stay right where you are, Lucas Rojas. Because I’m fine,” she lied.
She lied because she was better than fine: she’d connected on the deepest possible emotional level with someone she barely knew, and it scared her to death. The mere flicker of the thought they’d ever be apart began to gnaw at her. So she pushed the thought down and rolled him on his back for more.
She didn’t dare take the chance he’d leave.