I woke up face down in warm sand, the tide washed and foamed beneath my body, gently tugging me back towards the sea, the wet sand pulling away from beneath me as it was sucked back into the water. It wasn't entirely unpleasant, until I remembered the storm, and being thrown from the small boat I'd hired for a week, ending with me face down on a beach.
Lifting my head and trying to open my eyes, I realised they were crusted with salt which stung and made me close them again. I rubbed it away and managed to get a peek. The smell of the sea and ozone filled my nostrils....and something else. Something raw and masculine, animal.
Then I noticed the shadow and with a jolt rolled over to see a man standing over me. Had he just been here watching....for how long? As my eyes quickly adjusted I could see he was holding something in his hand, holding it out towards me. A coconut?! He nodded his head without saying anything, clearly he wanted me to take the coconut,to drink out of it. Carefully, and unsure of myself I took the coconut from him. My body ached with every movement. I didn't feel like I'd been badly injured, more that I'd been in some kind of washing machine with a number of small boulders.
I took the coconut - there was a rough hole in the top of it, and hearing the juice splashing around inside I realised just how dry my mouth was. I threw my head back to take a taste, aiming to pour it into my mouth, but clearly hadn't come around fully yet. I overbalanced and a big glug of coconut water splashed across my body, and I braced myself to reconnect with the sand, but it never came. In a flash the manimal had his hand on my back and held me up. As he held me, he crouched down and brought his face level with mine. "Thanks... " I tried to say, but only managed to croak.
He smiled and with his other hand guided the coconut towards my lips and I breathed in that animal masculine scent again.
It was at this point I began to wonder if I had in fact died and managed to get into some kind of paradise. I hadn't been a 'bad' person in life, but I also didn't think I'd been conventionally 'good' enough to deserve this.
The man was incredibly beautiful. His soft eyes met mine and his uncomplicated smile conveyed nothing but warmth and affection, free of any hint of reservation or formality.... maybe even civilisation? His features were manly but youthful, it was hard to guess his age, he could have been in his late teens or early twenties I suppose. His skin was deeply tanned, his face showed a little hint of a thin beard and moustache beginning to appear, but not yet fully grown.
Now that he'd moved closer, the masculine smell I'd almost unconsciously picked up on earlier was clearly his. He smelled of the sea and of days spent working outdoors. Not unclean, but not washed with soap and perfumed either. He smelled like a man.
As he was crouched down close to me, I couldn't really see his body, not without it being obvious that I was checking him out! I did however notice that while he wasn't wearing much at all, his modesty was hidden by something.
After a pause to take in what just happened (and to take him in as much as I dared), with his hand at my back and helping me hold the coconut up to my lips, I took a drink, this time managing to get most of it into my mouth. It tasted divine, creamy, sweet and minerally. I drank it all until there were only drops left to shake out.
It was then I realised just how closely he was holding me. His scent was intoxicating, and the thought flashed through my brain again that maybe this was paradise. Normally I would feel uncomfortable with a stranger in my personal space, but it wasn't like I'd had a choice, I'd been totally at his mercy until this point. He took the coconut from me and tossed it casually away into the waves. I noticed a defined and muscular arm and a thick but lean torso. Unlikely for a teenager, I revised my guess on his age to be in his early twenties.
Coming to my senses a little more, I looked out to sea, at the waves a little way off crashing against the rocks at the outside edge of the cove I'd landed in. Little plumes of spray were tossed into the air. Bits of flotsam were being thrown about among them, and more drifted in the calmer water closer to us. Not the kind of thing you'd expect in paradise I thought....so this probably isn't. A familiarity with the look of some of the floating pieces and it dawned on me that they had until recently been the boat I'd unintentionally arrived upon.
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