Stranded

I didn't really want my eyes to open; in fact I willed them to stay closed. It felt as if I were in a warm little cocoon, and the last thing I wanted to do was disturb the small bit of peace I had on this... Beach. What the hell was I doing on a beach? Blinking rapidly as my eyes adjusted to the harsh light, I fought back panic as I quickly took stock in what was going on.

My brain was having some difficulty functioning, probably due to that bout with hypothermia. Now if I could only remember

why

I was fighting hypothermia... I honestly could not remember. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, pulling off half of a calming meditation technique, trying to calm my heart.

Carefully re-opening my eyes, letting my eyes adjust slowly to that horrible sun, I allowed my gaze to drift along the beach. It wasn't all that sandy; in fact most of it was dirt. The tree line ended parallel to where I was currently laying, so I was partially shaded. It wasn't all that cold—my face wasn't frozen—but it wasn't exactly warm, either. I also took note that I was covered in about four or five blankets, and as I wiggled my arms and legs, I found that I was completely naked... And that I wasn't alone.

Cuddled up next to me was something impossible; a beautiful young woman, her meticulously cared for raven-black locks draped gently against me. The soft skin of her cheek gently nuzzled my bare, well-toned chest. She shifted in her sleep, finding a comfortable position, and I was suddenly extremely aware of her full, bare breasts pressing against my side.

Not to mention her nipples were rather distracting. She must have been having a good dream.

I was still half asleep; my brain working slowly, unable to really grasp what was going on. I don't know what compelled me to gently reach over and stroke her cheek, or why I slipped my arms around her to pull her closer; or the fact that it was sheer bliss to have her naked body pressed against mine. I couldn't really blame my current state for my actions. I had just been through hell, and to wake up with a beautiful naked woman next to me... well, I didn't consider it a bad thing. I cuddled against her closer, enjoying the warmth, the intimacy... her body...

Somewhere deep down, a voice screamed, "You shouldn't be enjoying this you fucking pervert!" and "She's you're fucking sister!!" I honestly didn't care. I vaguely remembered something horrible happening the night before; the terrible, frigid cold. How it felt as if I had been seconds from death. Now I was warm, with a beautiful naked angel pressed against me. I was in heaven.

I let myself blissfully drift back to sleep, my arms sliding around her waist, my hands running over her soft skin. Her hand moved to my chest; and that was my last thought.

The sun had moved almost directly overhead by the time I regained consciousness the second time. I let out a rather unattractive yawn, licked my dry lips, and took a moment to stretch luxuriously.

A small smile reached my face as I remembered where I was and what I had discovered previously. I glanced down at Britt, half-jumping when a pair of beautiful gray-hazel eyes met mine. She was nibbling on her lower lip slightly, and fidgeting as if she were uncomfortable. I found it hard to believe she was physically uncomfortable, as our little nest was rather cozy and comfortable.

Must be because we're completely naked. She was always rather shy about her body.

The sudden thought brought me back to reality. She was my sister... step-sister yes, but I had spent my entire life with her.

Shit. Wasn't I just enjoying feeling her breasts pressed against me?

Swallowing back the unpleasant taste of my own perverseness, I tried talking. What came out sounded a bit like a croak. I tried again.

"Morning." I managed, my voice a dry rasp. I smiled at her, trying to relieve some of that tension I was sensing.

"Uhm... Morning," was the rather timid response I got in return. She did smile, though. She was rather beautiful like that, all timid and shy. So unlike the typical outgoing girl I had grown up with. She chewed on her lower lip a bit harder, looking down at my bare chest, her hand resting gently against it.

Rather awkwardly, she reached behind her for a bottle of water I hadn't noticed, handing it to me. The liter of water was drained in seconds. My throat—which had been completely parched and dry—finally received the essential liquid it had been deprived of. I instantly felt better; my brain even seemed to be able to process thought more effectively. It's as if a fog lifted, and suddenly I was back to my usual clear thinking, rational self.

Finally, she came out with it, "I... I had to keep you from freezing. You were so cold and you wouldn't get up. I was freezing too and our clothers were all wet," She looked increasingly stressed as the previous night's events flashed across her eyes. I could see them shimmer as she continued, "I couldn't feel my fingers, and I had to drag you away from the water as much as I could. I had the blankets, and..." She hesitated, and I saw her blinking away some tears, "I put our clothes on that tree over there. You were so cold when I got the blankets around us... I thought... I thought..."

Tears streamed down her face as the words turned to gibberish. She buried her face in the crook of her arm, but I quickly brushed her arm around me and pulled her close. Her body seemed to hesitate for a moment, but soon she clung to me tightly. I tightened my grip around her, squeezing slightly in support. Her tears dripped down my broad chest as I cradled her in my arms.

She saved my life, I was sure of that. While technically I had saved her life too (the details were slowly coming back to me) it didn't seem all that grandiose to me. All I had done was swim back to the plane to get her out, and she did the rest. Here, I had been completely helpless, dying, and she literally kept me alive. First dragging me to safety, then sustaining me with he own body heat (which had probably been dwindling as well).

Tears stung my eyes as she continued to weep in my arms;

she saved my life.

I would be dead without her. As she calmed slightly, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I would have been dead. Frozen to death, not breathing. Dead. And she would have been left alone in this damned place.

It's an odd sensation, knowing you could have died. Lots of people have written or spoken about near death experiences, and while I hadn't seen any light at the end of a tunnel or seen any long lost relatives, it did remind me just how fragile humans could be. A little too cold, a little to hot, and you were gone. And that was that.

I looked down at her, suddenly aware of her eyes on me. She was laying atop me now, clinging to my body. Regardless of the situation, it was rather difficult not to become aroused. She

was

a beautiful naked young woman, and her lightly tanned skin felt amazingly silky against mine. The fact that she was practically my sister didn't bother my body any.

Willing a certain part of my body not to become troublesome, I slipped my arms around her tightly and gave her a long, loving hug.

"Thank you Britt." Was all I managed to say. The words simply weren't enough... I loved her. I always had, really, but this was different. She had saved my life; she had risked her own life to save mine (getting naked at night while half frozen generally isn't good for your health). As I gazed into her still-shimmering hazel eyes (overcast mostly by gray, as they were whenever she was sad) I could only think how much I cared for her... I wanted to protect her. I wanted to-

She kissed me. Not a peck on the cheek, or a playful pouted lip kiss. No, she

kissed

me...her full, soft lips pressed against mine very softly, almost cautiously. I could feel her trembling (

in fear? In anticipation?)

and I instinctively pulled her closer, covering her in my arms as I tilted my head, and parted her soft lips with the tip of my tongue. I was rewarded with a soft moan, and the slightest touch of her tongue to mine. Her manicured nails slowly traced their way along my shoulder, my neck...

I fought against my instincts, not deepening the kiss any further. The logical part of my mind was still reeling from this rather unexpected turn of events. This kiss—this amazing kiss—was as far as I was allowing my body to take this. At the moment.

The illogical part of mind... That was the part of me screaming to take it further. To not only deepen this kiss, but to adjust ever so slightly and guide my cock deep inside her tight little pussy (She was hot, too... I could feel the warmth coming from between her legs). However, the only thing the illogical part of my brain cared about was having her scream my name, her body convulsing in tremors on top of me.

My eyes were half-closed, her tongue was gently lapping at mine, soft moans were escaping her lips. I was completely lost in the moment. No logic (well maybe the shred that was keeping me from taking her). No thoughts, other then how good her tongue tasted, how warm her body felt, how hot her mound felt pressed against my thigh. I could only hold her, kiss her, love her.

We shared that tender kiss for what seemed an eternity, and seemed to end all to quickly nonetheless. We cuddled against each other afterwards, completely relaxed and at ease, completely content—for the moment—no longer feeling awkward about our nakedness, or worrying about how we would survive. I think we both really needed the break from reality.

We stayed there, lying in each other's arms. I pushed every other thought in my mind away. All that mattered was right here, in my arms. Life could wait.

Her stomach grumbled. Surprised, I let out a startled laugh. She looked up at me, both embarrassed and a little annoyed with the fact I was laughing at her. I just sighed, not in annoyance, but in resignation. I would pay her back for saving my life, by keeping her safe and getting her out of here. Somehow.

I tried not to think about how the amazing kiss we just shared, or how it would probably change everything between her and I. Yes, we were family. Yes I cared for her like a big brother. Yet...

I gazed back down, finding her eyes half closed, not sleeping yet not fully awake. Her cheek was pressed against my chest, right next to my heart. Perhaps the sound of my heartbeat had lulled her to sleep the previous night. I smiled at the thought. She could be so damned adorable.

I gently rolled her onto her back, grinning a bit at the disagreeable grumble that came from her. She didn't want me to leave any more then I did. But she was hungry... and I was going to take care of her.

I really did love her.

I unraveled myself from her, allowing her the luxury of staying under the blankets. She bashfully turned away while I dressed, or perhaps she just rolled over to fall back asleep. Either way, it was cute.

I made my way to the lake that had caused so much trouble for us the night before, scooping up handfuls of water. It had been so cold the night before, but now I just found it incredibly refreshing. After I had downed about of gallon of water and took care of some biological necessities behind a tree, I returned to find Brittany fully clothed, sitting on a fallen tree, looking out toward the horizon.

I followed her gaze. It

was

quite beautiful here, or would have been under different circumstances. Now, it simply signified just how far away from home we were, and how hard it would be to get back.

"We'll be ok, Britt." I told her softly. I didn't know that for sure, I did know that I had training and experience in survival situations; it was a bit of a hobby of mine actually. I had enough tools in my bag to make the best of the situation, but there was always the x-factor. Illness, Injury, a wild bear wielding a chainsaw, who knows.

She just nodded, a strange expression on her face. Not really sadness, not really shock. Just... Something else. Worry flashed through my mind, I would have to take care of her, both physically and mentally. And I figured that I should probably start soon.

You'll take care of her all right.

I practically growled at myself, I seriously needed to get that wild part of my mind under control. I idly wondered if it was possible to lose your mind due to traumatic circumstances.

While she was preoccupied with her thoughts (and I was preoccupied with my own), I went to retrieve my bag. It was still kind of wet, but all the clothes had been removed, so all I had to worry about was my gear getting rusted. Carrying the gear away from the sandy dirt, I found a nice clear spot to take inventory.

My multi-tool that had been attached to my belt was still here, so I set that down. First aid kit, along with all my hygiene stuff, was neatly kept in a waterproof case. I wondered if that was what made the bag float the previous night. Probably not, there was a bunch of heavier things inside it.

Such as my hatchet. I know, it's rather cliché but whenever I go out to Canada I bring my gear with me. I love camping, or "roughing it" as I like to say, but it's always for a couple of days and I always have plenty of food on hand. Here, I had a week worth of energy bars (for a single person, mind you) and a single water bottle. That doesn't sound all that bad, but that severely reduces the distance I would be able to travel from the lake. I had no idea how abundant water was out here, but without any way of holding it, I would have to rely on local (perhaps nonexistent) water sources.

Setting the pack of food on the side I dug around a bit more. My blackberry cell phone, destroyed. Three hundred and fifty dollars well spent. Various bits of paperwork, all wet and sticking together. Dried out I could use it for kindling, so I set it aside. A couple pocket knives (I always had several on hand) my buck knife, which had a serrated edge on one side, which would come in handy as a saw, and finally, my emergency kit. Inside was a small amount of food, matches, lighters, fire starters, fish and snare line, complete with hooks. Even some oxytetracycline and water purification tablets. Even condoms... Why the hell would there be condoms in a survival kit?

Duh, Survival 101, anything that can be used to carry water. They were small, expanded, could carry water. Actually, that was a damned good idea. If I ever managed to make it out of this situation, I'd be sure to thank the guy who thought of including it into that kit.

I stowed my gear, attaching the knives and hatchet to various places on my belt, just as Brittany walked over

"I just wanted to thank you, Jet." She said solemnly, her voice low, her head down.

I tried to place her expression again, failing. "Nothing to thank, you saved my life last night... I would have died on that beach." Suddenly, she was in my arms again, hugging me fiercely.

"And I would have died in that plane Jet. You came back and saved me. Thank you." Her body shook slightly, her grip tightening.

The urge to kiss her was almost overwhelming. It seemed the most natural way to get her to feel better. I looked into her eyes, her lips parted, her eyes shimmered.

I pulled back. It took every ounce of willpower I had. I could not take advantage of her emotional state again.

"I..." She began, looking down.

I shook my head, "No. It's... It's ok. Let's just get something to eat and I'll see about building us some sort of shelter."

She nodded quickly and left, almost eager to leave. She probably was. Hell I was eager not to have her so close to me, Her scent still hung in the air... a flowery, feminine scent that only she possessed. I never really noticed it like that before.

Shaking my head in a futile effort to clear it, I gathered up the rest of my gear, pulling out two energy bars. I would have to get to work on a shelter while I still had my energy. Water wasn't going to be a problem, so technically we had a few weeks to find alternative sources of food. A few weeks of caring for Brittany, spending every waking moment with her, kissing those soft lips...

Oh, My, God. What the hell am I thinking?

I shook my head with disgust. I had no idea what was going on inside her head, but I knew all I felt was... Weird. Maybe it was the whole situation, I saved her life, She saved mine. Maybe that was something that brought people together, no matter what they were to each other.

Or maybe I just wanted her. I wanted to kiss her, to hold her. To love her.

I sighed. This isn't what I needed to be focusing on. I needed to focus on shelter. Then fire, then food.

All I really wanted to focus on was... Her.