Forbidden Sensations: A Dark Romance Savannah Rose (readnow TXT) 📖

The ocean breeze pushed against the flames, sending a smoky haze across the air, as the waves continued their relentless assault against the shore. The smoke grew thicker – a sooty, gray gauze enveloping the air, veiling the stand of trees beside the alcove.

Over and over again, the roar of the surf crashed into the sand, as if it were hungry for it, but would never be sated.

Yet, for all the noise, it was eerily quiet.

Maybe whoever the fire belonged to was taking a piss. Well, fuck 'em. It was my fire now.

I took a step closer. And another.

It was then that I noticed something behind the trees. A twig snapped, the frawns rustled, and she burst forward – wielding a branch like a goddamn baseball bat.

“You stay the fuck away from me!” she screamed.

Her eyes were wild, barbarian wild. It made me wonder if I’d actually lost my shit and miscalculated how much time I’d been out here. With her wide eyes and rabid sneer, she looked like she’d been out here for a month at least. And the way she was holding the branch... definitely practiced. At least I think it was.

My eyes scanned her body quickly. And damn, did she look nice in my shirt. Hmmm… where did she get my shirt from?

“Hey, easy, girl,” I said, holding out my hands in an I-Come-in-Peace gesture. The tip of that branch looked sharp as hell, honed to a potentially lethal point. “Honey, if you couldn't off me with a loaded gun at five paces, what do you think your chances are with a stick?”

“Fuck you.”

She was wearing the skirt I'd appropriated for her, showcasing those lovely legs spread out in a power stance, and one of my shirts. It looked sexy on her, and the way she was brandishing her homemade weapon like an island warrioress? Nice.

“I'm not going to hurt you, alright?” I said, feeling a little like I was trying to reason with a rabid dog. “Damn, I thought you were dead, Sofee,” and started to lower my arms, slowly.

“You should be so lucky. And keep 'em up, where I can see them,” she pointed her stick at my hands. “Shit head.”

“I saw footprints going into the ocean. Thought they were yours. That, I dunno, you drowned yourself or some bullshit,” I said, casually stuffing my hands in my pockets, trying not to grimace as I swallowed over an increasingly dry lump in my throat.

Her eyes darted to my pockets, then back to me as a sad realization washed over her. She absolutely knew there was no way she was going to tell me what to do, no order she could give, no request she could make.

“What you should have done, Sofee, is waited until my back was turned, then clobber me with your branch thing.” I nodded toward her only line of defense. It was desperately pathetic, to be honest.

The branch began to tremble. Her hands, shaking wildly. And, yes, there they were – tears welling behind her big, brown eyes.

“Whatdya got there, Sofee?” I pointed behind her.

Apparently, she'd salvaged some bottled water from the boat. She managed to grab a few protein bars, tool. All of it was from the ship's emergency stash which meant all of it was mine.

I inspected the items. One of granola bars was opened, a small bite taken from it. Smart girl. Rationing the food.

My stomach growled, and my mouth went moist. Protein bars were fucking awful, like hard tack Tootsie Rolls, but, you don’t get to be picky at moments like these.

“Okay, let's knock off the bullshit,” I said, and started to push my way past her.

She drew back her branch like a major leaguer in the batter's box, and swung. I caught it mid-air, and grinned at her. Just from the one side of my mouth, though. Also her fault. I wrenched the stick away, not a terribly difficult effort, and snapped it in half across my knee before tossing it into the shrubs. She tried, I'll give her that. I expected it, though. Saw it coming.

“Whatcha got for dinner, babe?” I sashayed over to her little stockpile, took up one of the waters, and drank it down in two gulps. “Ahh,” I remarked, smacking my lips then wiping them with the back of my hand.

Her tears were falling now. Exactly like I knew they would.

“You son of a bitch,” she said. Or, to put more fine a point on it, she wept.

“You've got more,” I pointed to the bottles, almost a six pack's worth, then helped myself to her protein bar. Yeah, it was awful. A dried, almost petrified Tootsie Roll.

I chewed through it, the bitterness making it nearly unpalatable, making me wonder how often Atlantic Charter swapped out their emergency rations. Probably not often.

“If we're going to be a couple, sweet face, you're really going to need to learn how to cook.”

All she was capable of was crying. Poor little thing. Looking up to the starry, starry night, most likely asking God why He would do such a thing to her. She forgot that as forgiving as God was, he still had a lot of good people to help before he got to almost murderers and their issues.

There could be worse things for Sofia, most definitely. For instance, with me here, she'd be protected. From what, I didn't exactly know, but every woman wants a big strong man to keep her from harm, to be her hero. I'd be her hero, alright, just in an anti sort of way.

“Y'know what, Sofee? I think this may be fun,” I said, and took a seat at the base of a palm tree.

I was tired as shit, and sitting down was alleviating. I helped myself to another bottle of water, and choked down another bite of