“Bianca!” He shouted my name as if he knew I was thinking of him.

“Yes?” I answered, glad to be away from my thoughts.

“Where are you?” he called, his voice sounding closer.

“I’m at the shoreline!” I shouted back, staring once again at the ocean.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he ran toward me and then hissed, annoyed. “You can’t just disappear like that.” He slowed his pace as he walked up to me, and I could see the displeasure in his stern face.

“We’re on a deserted island.” I rolled my eyes. “I wouldn’t worry so much.”

“We don’t really know where we are.” He grabbed my hand roughly and pulled me toward him. “Steve came out of nowhere; we don’t really know if anyone else is here with us. We need to be careful.” His fingers dug into my skin and I glared up at his face. I could see that his stubble was thicker today. Without thinking, I reached up and ran my fingers across his jawbone. His hair was prickly beneath my fingers, and he stilled as I touched him. He released his hold on my other hand, and I reached my other fingers up to touch his lips. I gasped as he opened his mouth slightly and sucked my finger in like a vacuum. He bit down on my finger and then nibbled it gently, his eyes never leaving mine. My other hand moved from his jawline up to his hair. I pulled my finger out of his mouth slowly, and he grabbed my head and tilted it up to him.

“Taste me,” he grunted, and I looked up at him with a perplexed expression. Then he nodded toward my finger. I looked down and suddenly understood his comment. I reached the finger that had been in his mouth up to mine and slowly parted my lips and sucked on it. We stood there staring at each other as I sucked on my finger slowly and intently. I was mesmerized by the look of lust in his blue eyes. I took a step back from him, hoping that a little distance would stop my legs from trembling and my heart from beating so quickly. After a few seconds, I removed my finger from my mouth and then licked my lips slowly.

“The tide’s coming in. You could have gotten stuck.” He finally spoke and grabbed my arm again and pulled me toward him. “And I have no idea where Steve is. I was worried about you. Don’t just disappear like that again. Are you stupid?”

“Let go of me.” I looked up at him, annoyed, and tried to ignore the burn on my skin where he had touched me. “I’m not a little kid.”

“You could have fooled me.” He stared at me lips. “I ought to kiss you and show you that you can’t go around just doing what you want.”

“Did you come to harass me?” I sighed and crossed my arms. His eyes fell to my chest and lingered there, and I could feel my insides burning up at his stare. “I woke up, and you weren’t there. I thought we were going to get up early so we could explore before Steve woke up. But I woke up, and both you and Steve were gone.” I gave him an accusing look. “So I decided to take a walk.”

“You should have waited for me.” He crossed his arms. “What if something had happened?”

“What’s going to happen?” I rolled my eyes. “At least we know where the rocks are.” I shivered as I stared at the sharp treacherous rocks as the waves crashed into them. The water definitely was not as calm down here.

“For the record, when I woke up, you were still asleep. I didn’t want to wake you, because you looked peaceful.” He sighed and his eyes narrowed. “And Steve was already gone when I woke up.”

“What?” I frowned. “Gone where?”

“I don’t know.” He shook his head and reached out to me. “I looked for him in the jungle, but I didn’t see him.”

“How could he just disappear?” I shivered.

“Like I said before, he seems to know his way around quite well.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed. “That’s why I’ve been telling you to stay close to me.”

“You’re the one that left me this morning.” I was indignant at his authoritative tone. “It’s not like we’re in the Twilight Zone; nothing’s going to happen. Like you said before, monsters aren’t coming and I’m sure the Last Mimzy isn’t coming either.”

“Stranger things have happened.” He looked away from me, and I gasped as I saw a cut on the side of his face, right next to his ear. There was a large bloody gash that looked like it was quite deep.

“Are you okay?” I frowned as I stared at the dried blood on his face. My fingers gingerly reached up to his face. “You’re cut.”

“I’m fine.” He stepped away from me and ran his hands through his hair. I looked at his hands carefully. They looked dirty and bruised. I shivered as I remembered his fingers touching me the night before.

“What have you been doing?” I questioned him, not wanting to think about what had happened the previous evening. “Why do you have a cut on your face? Why are your hands bruised?” I whispered. My brain was screaming the question I was too scared to ask: Did Steve really just go on a long walk by himself or did you do something to him?

“I was in the jungle, looking for branches. I thought you’d like to have proper shelter tonight.” He shrugged and walked away. “Apparently I was wrong.”

“Don’t tell me—you found a Marriott?” I attempted a joke to diffuse the tension in the air, but he gave me a derisive look that made me shut up.