Chapter 3
"Unexpected Discovery"
Annika
"Now, just wait for him to come to you. That's it. Now... you want one fluid movement, straight through, as if you're aiming behind him." Darian tightened his grip on my waist, his breath tickling my ear and making it quite difficult to concentrate. "The last thing to remember is the reflective quality of the water; it's like a magnifying glass. Compensate by aiming just below the fish, center mass."
He kissed my neck, eliciting a shiver up my spine. "Whenever you're ready, Angel."
A flush burned its way to my cheeks.
I love it when he calls me that.
I leaned back into him a bit.
God, it feels so good having him touch me like this.
Or like last night
... The memory abruptly popped to the front of my mind with vivid detail. Unfortunately, it hadn't ended as pleasantly as it began.
* * *
"Ow..." The word slipped through my clenched teeth.
Darian froze, instantly. "'Nik..."
"No, it's ok. Please don't stop..." I pleaded, despite my better judgment. It hadn't been that painful, not really.
He slowly withdrew the tip of his finger, and I unwillingly hissed air through my teeth. Ok, maybe it did hurt.
He raised a brow, holding his finger aloft, "You were saying?"
A droplet of my blood dripped off his finger, "Most girls bleed after their first time. It's normal Dari."
He kissed me, with incredible tenderness, on the lips. "Sorry 'hon. I'm not into inflicting pain. I can't have any pleasure if you're in pain."
I frowned, "But..."
"No buts," he said very firmly, "You're in no shape to make love again tonight." He stood and lifted himself out of the hot spring, turning to sit on the edge next to me. "There's still daylight left, I'll run back to the boat and grab some supplies -- I'm pretty sure there was some tampons in the small bag."
He can't be serious.
"No, I'll be fine... Don't leave, Dare..."
He'd have none of it, "Look, I'm not ashamed of what we did, Angel. But we're going to have to deal with the consequences. I'll get the supplies, and you're going to soak in the spring 'till I get back... and wear one of the things till you stop bleeding."
He hugged me and stood, padding barefooted and naked over to his boxers. Struggling as he put them on, I couldn't help but look at the rather large, semi-erect organ hanging thickly between his legs. "The exercise will do me good. It'll get my mind off of... things."
That explains his sudden explosion of muscles
. I thought rather smugly. Apparently I wasn't the only one who'd suffered during his year-long absence.
* * *
Smiling at the memory, I stared intently at the fish swimming in front of me. Apparently I'd quite the effect on my brother. He'd carried nearly everything back to our new home. Including the boat.
I stabbed the multi-pronged wooden spear into the water in one fluid motion. My eyes nearly fell out of my head, "I got him!"
Chuckling at me, he helped lift the fish so it wouldn't slip off, "Very good. You have excellent form... for a beginner."
I shot him a look, "'For a beginner?'"
His white teeth flashed, "It was good enough to put food on the table, and that's what's important."
"I'm not complaining; but how do you know all this stuff?" I asked. He'd always been interested in technology, computers, and history. He was the definition of "nerd" in every aspect of his educational and professional life. Only I and a handful of others knew of his healthy living lifestyle, his love of taekwondo and tai chi, the constantly upgraded gym-room at his house.
He just shrugged casually, "Started with the book 'Hatchet,' I think. Plus I've always been interested in technology, you know that."
"Uhm, technology?"
He took the spear from me, walking back to the shore. "This used to be cutting edge, 'Nik... so to speak. Back in the stone age, anyways."
I rolled my eyes and followed him, taking very wide steps as I tried to ignore the soreness throbbing between my legs, "Still. Reading about it is one thing. Mastering it is another."
He knelt down in the shallow water, producing a knife from the small pocket in his trunks, "Dad... I mean Jack, my stepdad, use to take me out all the time as a kid. 'Roughing it' as he would call it. We'd take a couple packs of food and water and stuff, but we'd almost never use them. We'd build our own shelter, hunt and trap with tools we'd make ourselves. Those trips are the best memories I have of him." A vaguely nostalgic, yet bittersweet expression hung heavy on his face.
"Bet he'd be happy knowing what he taught you came in handy one day." I offered, not knowing what else to say. I hadn't known Jack, just like Dare had never really known Peter, our Biological father. My brother had lived with his rather abusive mother until he was sixteen, when he emancipated himself. I'd lived with Dad and my mom until twelve, when Dad passed from cancer, then just with my mom until I was fifteen.
There had been a short time when my brother had lived with the three of us, however. I'd been eight at the time, and it had been shortly after Jack's death for Darian. His physically and mentally abusive mother had forced Dad to take custody -- who'd happily complied. It was my mother who'd eventually forced Dad to give him back, less than a year later.
Darian had a rough childhood, but as soon as he broke free of his mother he'd flourished. He'd graduated high school a year early, had gotten a scholarship to an Ivy League school, and even patented a few programs which completely paid for his house... upfront. By his 20
th
birthday, he had more than enough resources to get me away from my mentally unstable mom, and we'd grown close those first few years. It'd been like living with a really cool, rich uncle.
We'd hardly ever talked about
his
dad though, mainly just ours. I always had felt out of sorts whenever something had reminded him of his dad and he would get that sad expression on his face, even though I'd do the same thing about
our
dad on occasion.
I watched him intently in silence as he gutted and scaled the fish I'd caught. Honestly it was disgusting, but not really all that much more than, say, cooking a turkey (the whole process, that is.) I forced myself to watch every detail, and found he was a fairly decent teacher -- he'd show me how to cut, what to get rid of, the easiest way to remove the scales and entrails.
The sun wasn't strong enough to use as a fire-starter yet, so he used his Zippo to get it going. I was surprised he had one, making a mental note to go through all the supplies later in the day.
Breakfast was a feast, compared to the day before. A dozen of those delicious berries, six full mushrooms each (the white and brown ones were safe) and those were seasoned with salt. Additionally, he sizzled up half the fish and would use the other half as bait for a bunch of snares; and the big black shitake mushroom as big as a small dinner plate to top it all off. Of course the fish and shitake we'd have to test as we had the first mushrooms.
"You caught the fish," He offered, "So you pick."
