Not only were they delicious, but they were also rich in vitamins, including vitamin C. Which meant that if we could find something for protein, we had enough fruit to last us several weeks until the season was over.
Looking at the piece of fruit in my hands, my chest suddenly tightened so hard I almost felt like crumbling. The tightness traveled up to my throat, squeezing until I could barely breathe past the lump there, only to become a burning in my nose and the backs of my eyes. My vision blurred, and suddenly tears were pouring down my face.
The adrenaline of my near-death experience, watching two men die, seeing my team and my friends dead, the exhaustion of the swim and the rowing, the fear of the unknown and not being found, being stranded on this island forever, it became too much. The tears became wracking sobs that doubled me over and made my legs feel like jelly. I stood in the middle of the grove, crying, cradling the pear in my hands like it was the most precious thing I’d ever held.
Still sobbing, I sunk my fingers into the soft, ripe flesh, tearing it open. I took a bite, the sweetness moving over my tongue and down my raw throat. The juices slid down my arms to my chest, then down my stomach, but I didn’t care. It was the best thing I had ever tasted, the thing that would help us survive until help could come and we could figure out what to do.
The sudden crack of a branch under a foot startled me so badly that I jumped, my heartbeat skyrocketing. I turned, a scream leaping to my throat where a second ago a sob had been. It only diminished when I realized the Navy SEAL was standing behind me.
He must have woken up, found me gone, and come to find me.
But there was something about the way his gaze was pinned on me, the way he tracked my movements, that made me still. My heartbeat slowed, my sobs disappeared, and so did my rational thought.
We were both still for a long moment, our gazes locked. A ripple ran under my skin, and it became a shiver down my back. I could almost see the way his nostrils flared, his pupils dilating as he watched me like some predator waiting to swoop down onto its prey.
He was dangerous, I knew, the hunter hiding behind a thin veneer, and I felt my body start to respond, warmth beginning to swirl up from the pulse between my legs.
Almost as if he’d sensed it, the man’s eyes dipped down, and mine followed. Sticky tracks of pear juice trailed down my body. When I raised my gaze to his again, his eyes were nearly glowing with moonlight and desire.
We were both still for a breathless moment longer, then he came to me. When he pushed me back against a large rock, I didn’t resist. It was as though my mind was so overwhelmed that my thoughts simply stopped, the rush of adrenaline and overwhelming emotions becoming a desire so strong, it nearly took my breath away.
For a long moment, his eyes wandered over my body, taking in every inch of me, every freckle, every line, and curve of my face, then down lower. I could see the hunger in his expression, in the way his tongue slipped out to lick at his bottom lip. I could feel it in the way his hands circled my arms, his grip constricting and almost possessive.
It had been a long time since anyone had looked at me or touched me that way, and certainly a long time since I’d been this undressed with anyone. Hell, it had been a long time since I’d felt this burning need, but something about the man in front of me, a man whose name I didn’t even know, was driving me so wild that I knew I wouldn’t be able to control myself.
He dropped his head to my chest, his tongue dragging across my skin, following the trails of pear juice until he reached my neck. I gasped as he lapped at the small pool that had stuck at that spot just under my ear, a convulsive shiver rippling through me. My skin suddenly felt like it was on fire, burning me from the inside out, every nerve ending a million times more sensitive than normal.
Then his lips were against mine, crushed against mine, his tongue forcing its way into my mouth, demanding I reciprocate.
I gave in to the moment and wound my free arm around his neck, pulling him closer until we were pressed close, the movement crushing his rock-hard erection into my stomach. My fingers tightened reflexively around the pear, and it imploded, the juice reigning down over us, down his chest and abdomen.
Taking a note from his book, I trailed my tongue down his chest, following the sweet, sticky lines as they traced the deep peaks and valleys of his hard, chiseled muscles, careful to avoid his bullet wound and wrappings. When I was down far enough, I dropped to my knees, licking the juice from his body, my fingers tearing at his boxers.
His erection sprang free, long, hard, and big. Larger than I’d ever seen before. I wasn’t sure I could fit him inside my mouth for a moment, but my desire was too strong—I had to have him.
Dropping the crushed piece of fruit, my gaze followed the trails of pear juice that had slipped from his stomach and down further, grazing the lines of the defined V of muscles, and down even further. Dipping my head forward, I took him into my mouth, my tongue swirling around the tip. I felt the convulsive shiver that ran through him at the same time a bass moan rumbled through his chest. One of his large hands came to rest on the top of my head.
The soldier’s musk and the flowery scent of the pear mixed with the taste in my mouth of musk and salt and sweet juice as I took him further into my mouth, slowly, hesitantly at first. My hand followed, my fingers wrapping around the hot, straining length.
At another shiver and rumble of satisfaction, I felt my heartbeat quicken, the wetness growing between my legs. I moved my head forward, his erection sliding into my mouth, then sucked back up before swirling my tongue around the tip again.
His skin was like sun-warmed silk, and as I moved faster, I took it in deeper until the length bumped against the back of my throat. The man’s fingers twisted in my hair, the pressure painful, but I didn’t care. My hand followed my mouth up and down the shaft until it was twitching, his muscles nearly as tense as his erection.
The man’s hips began to move to the same rhythm as my mouth, his breathing growing rapid, his fingers still threaded in my hair, guiding me forward and back.
Until he stopped me with a heavy hand on my head, his length slipping out of my mouth when I couldn’t move forward anymore.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand as I looked up and back—far up—to see him looking down at me. His shoulders jumped with his rapid breathing, and sweat poured down his face. But without a word, I knew what he wanted because it was what I wanted, too.
When the soldier bent down, I let him pull me up. He did it easily, without strain, backing me back up against the rock again. He stared into my eyes for just a moment, his lips open slightly, desire plain on his face.
And then we lost ourselves in each other.