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.
.......................................
Tom, as I'd decided to call him, came back out of the water smiling with that same unrestrained smile he'd had on the first day. He just seemed to enjoy being a part of nature. I watched him greedily as his muscular body emerged from his morning swim. For a second it seemed as though he might bring the entire ocean with him, he moved with such confidence and purpose, the tide followed him as he made his way towards me before accepting defeat and retreating back into the sea. He'd definitely been working out at whatever this island's equivalent of a gym might be, though I suspected that his broad shoulders and muscular arms came from hard and productive work rather than pointless repetitive lifting of weights.
Tom seemed to only have the most basic grasp of language, I'd been unable to ask him much about where we were, or where anyone else was for that matter. It wasn't that he spoke a different language....he just didn't speak much. It left me to try to work out the situation for myself.
It seemed that after the storm, by chance I'd washed up on a small island. I could see the extent of it from a small hill we'd mounted one day. The opposite end had a much bigger hill, with lowlands between the two. We hadn't encountered any other people, and by now I didn't expect to - this was it, me and Tom.
Tom spread himself on the large black rock which I was sitting on, admiring the view in all its glory. Easily big enough for two, the rock's smooth surface made it comfortable to lie on, and being dark it absorbed the heat beautifully for drying a body off after a swim.
I watched him, his chest rising and falling, his face a picture of uncomplicated bliss, the moisture leaving the little loincloth and running seductively down his legs.
He opened his eyes and looked at me, and smiled. I was already totally in love with him, it would be impossible not to be - he'd saved me from the ocean only a few days ago, and we'd spent almost every second together since, sleeping, eating, bathing together. He'd caught my food and made me a place to sleep near to him. In my weakened state I could only accept what he gave and acknowledge that he was keeping me alive. I was very grateful.
Tom rolled his hips to one side and undid the wet loincloth, removing it altogether in one swift move and slapping it onto the rock to dry. Instinctively I looked away, unsure of what he was doing, but looking out of the corner of my eye. His hands moved down his body massaging where the loincloth had been tied briefly before he let out a satisfied moan and adjusted his body again to get more comfortable. I guessed his eyes were closed again and returned my gaze to him. His eyes weren't closed, he was watching me with a smile, his hands wandering down his body again to where the loincloth had been.