Page 20 of Spirit Island
He slid hisfingers out of her and stood straight, pulling her toward him. Ittook a few attempts, but he slid into her, and she groaned andshuddered, clutching his shoulders.
Xo cupped herass, lifted, and eased her over him for a few strokes, and then,the slapping of their bodies frothed the water. She locked her legsbehind his back and dug her nails into his shoulders. This time,when he came, she was with him.
He wasbreathing hard, and he kissed her shoulder. “Thank you, Belle. Therut has lifted.”
“Um.Congratulations?”
He nodded.“Thank you. Your production may now move the catamarans through thestraight.”
She jolted.“Right. Thanks. I will be on my way.”
Xo frowned.“You won’t stay the night?”
She washumiliated. “You thought this was a transaction. I am mortified,and I really want to leave. So, I will.”
He gripped herhips. “It wasn’t?”
“I apologizedand that was the end of my involvement. Serin didn’t pimp me outfor your use.” She squirmed and finally turned to water, moved awayfrom him, and solidified again. “So, it was... interesting, and asyou have taken my participation as payment, there will be acatamaran coming through tomorrow to do a time trial. Please stayaway from it.”
He lookedconfused, but she bowed and then waded out of the pool and ran downthe hill. She dove into the strait and transformed, swimmingthrough the straight and around the island to get back to thetown.
She crept tothe palace and found her bag in the darkness. She got dressed andheaded back to the village.
For the firsttime in years, she was going to get drunk.
Chapter Four
Deno woke up in thepre-dawn and felt odd. “Serin, I think something is very wrong withBelle.”
Serin sat up.“What? Where is she?”
He closed hiseyes. “She’s back at the village. I think she’s drunk.”
“She doesn’tdrink.” Serin got up and got dressed.
“No, shedoesn’t.” He got up and wrapped the sarong around his hips.
They left thehouse and headed down the hill to the village, and in the square,there was Belle, sitting with tears running down her cheeks. Shestraightened and wiped her face when she saw them.
Deno knelt nextto her. “How much did you have?”
“Three.” Shesniffled and looked at Serin. “The strait is clear for the event aslong as no engines are used.”
“You got him toagree?” Serin was cautious as she helped Belle to her feet.
“Apparently, hewas paid for it.” Belle started sobbing, and Deno lifted her intohis arms.
“I will beatthe hell out of him in the morning.” Deno carried his sister backup the hill toward Serin’s home.
Belle sniffled.“You will do nothing. In his mind, Serin summoned me as payment forthe incursion. Payment was rendered. It’s done. I will do therun-through with drones tomorrow.”
Serin paused.“Maybe take a day off?”
“No. I reallyneed to do something. I have never felt something like this before.I don’t like it.” She sighed. “I wrecked your first nighttogether.”
Serin said,“You didn’t wreck anything. Deno and I had our hours together, andthere will be thousands of more nights. You are in pain, and youneed help. That takes priority.”
Belle’s headnodded, and her brother tucked her into a quiet room with a bedrollon the ground. She sniffled, and tears flowed steadily. “Materejection hurts.”