Decorate My Palm Tree (3 page)

* * * *

It was raining when Doug got to the boat. The craft was in good shape and a couple of crewmembers were standing on the dock under umbrellas, holding out tall glasses of Champaign. He was one of the first to arrive and explained which group he would be joining. He also explained that he was the manager so he wanted to stay with them for a few minutes.

Actually, he wanted to watch for her arrival. The female crewmember was flashing eyes at him as she directed people from the two groups to the different sections of the boat. This, basically was that the big group had the use of the entire boat except the top rear deck. The insurance group, being small, was in that area. The woman with a big smile told him that see-though covers had been zippered down to protect the top deck from the rain and small heaters were already running. She assured him they would be very comfortable and that the captain would keep a close eye on the storm.

Then he saw her running in and out of the lights on the wooden dock. Her long legs flashing below the flipping black skirt. It happened that fast. He had an erection thinking how easy it would be to slide that skirt up to expose whatever he wanted. What he wanted was
her
. This was something that hadn’t happened to him. He had assumed he was born to be a bachelor. Now, he was having sexual thoughts about the same woman all the time. This cruise was going to answer some of his problems.

* * * *

Gigi let Doug help her up the ramp of the boat. She was lucky going up the steps as they were too narrow so that only one at a time could take them to the area set aside for their group.

The party was not too bad for Gigi. She put up with the compliments, ate the food, and tried to keep people between her and Doug. The storm seemed to get pretty rough to her, but to the rest who were taking in a lot of liquor it wasn’t a problem.

It was during the time when they were exchanging their gifts that she found a chance to get down the narrow hall and into the tiny restroom. She was not seasick, but she soon realized she couldn’t stay in this small room with the boat rolling so much from side to side in the storm. She came out of the room backwards, hanging onto the door for support as she pulled it closed.

Before she could turn, she was in the arms of Doug in the dim narrow hallway.

“Are you okay?” His voice was low and close to her ear.

She hesitated, wanting to get away from him, yet uncomfortable with the way the boat was tipping. She leaned against the door with his hands on each side of her head.

“I’m okay, I guess. What do you think? Will the captain be taking us back because of this storm?” She couldn’t see his expression with the dim light behind him keeping his face in darkness.

“I could go and check. But you would owe me a small gift.” He actually chuckled.

So he wasn’t afraid of the storm if he could make a pass at her, but she had to admit, the primitive feeling of a big male backing her up during a force of nature was causing some unusual heat in her body.

Without putting his hands on her, he slowly moved forward and lowered his head. She felt his hot breath and didn’t move. No, that was not true as she tilted her head back enough so that their lips would meet if he were going to kiss her. She didn’t even ask herself why.

* * * *

Doug didn’t hesitate. He knew an invitation when he saw one and, with the dim light over his shoulder, he saw her eyes half closed and her mouth half open. He started slow, but when he tasted that soft mouth along with her response, it made him take over with a need to taste and feel all of her.

He had a gift that he hadn’t expected. She responded fully, pushing her body against him, opening her mouth, and pulling on his tongue. He shoved her back against the door, hoping it held against both their weights as he felt the length of her against his body, especially against his erection that was shoving upward into her stomach. He put his arms around her and turned them both in the small hallway, pushing her against the wood-lined wall.

God he was surprised at how much she gave back. How much she had kept locked up and was willing to unleash to him now. He wondered if they had cabins on this boat?

It was at this moment that the boat groaned and tipped first over on one side and then on the other, deciding to stay and settle as it was rocked and buffered in winds and rain.

Doug reacted on instinct, without thinking. He grabbed Gigi tightly and jerked his feet up, placing one on each side of her hips, pushing his own hips against the narrow hallway holding them both in place as he heard the loud noises around him as the boat tossed.

In the distance, he heard screaming and yelling. An alarm began to sound, drowning out everything. He also heard someone making announcements, but the words were lost with the noise of the boat being tossed and the alarm shrieking.

Gigi spit the salty water out of her mouth as she tried to help Doug keep her afloat. It was obvious even in the rain and wind that he was a strong swimmer. As he pushed so that he could direct her to the back of the hallway, she fell into the water where the back room should have been.

Doug joined her as she struggled to swim, pushing unknown floating items that jumped and rocked as the boat continued to shift back and forth, as it seemed to be falling apart. Suddenly, Doug pushed a floating life jacket at her.

“Don’t worry about putting it on. Just use it to help keep you afloat.” He had evidently found another life jacket as he pushed against her back to direct her towards the only opening from the back of the boat. Under the water, there were small red lights still blinking, evidently lit by separate back-up batteries.

“When we get out of the boat, the waves will be cruel.” Now he spoke with authority and she heard his words over the noise of the storm. She heard voices screaming in the distance, but there was no one in this area. Where were her co-workers?

She wasn’t sure how long Doug had braced them in the hallway as the boat shook around them. She heard the sound of people crying and she knew from the announcements that some had been able to get on either rafts or lifeboats. The wind was so violent that the rain was actually tossing sideways. She guessed the winds would throw any rafts away in the darkness, moved by the surf or the tide.

Doug had them both outside the shuddering boat, but there were still a lot of items butting against them. It had been difficult as the wash of water kept trying to push them back under the canopy that had broken sideways.

“Gigi, hang onto my belt with one hand and your life jacket with the other. It is important we not get separated. In the pitch black of this storm we will never find each other.” He pulled her against him.

She tucked her arm over the life jacket, pulling it to her armpit. With her free hand, she felt along his body as he held her until she found his strong leather belt. She hooked her fingers into it with life-fearing desperation. Nothing was going to separate her from this man in this storm.

“Gigi, are you strong enough to help me swim? We need to get away from the boat and swim across the current.” He was yelling, but his words were torn away by the wind.

She tried to nod at first, but realized he couldn’t see her unless a brightness of lightning hit just at the same time.

“Yes, but shouldn’t we stay with the boat?” She screamed the words, catching both rain and sea water in her mouth. She felt the pull as he began to kick in an attempt to swim away from the boat that was breaking apart. She kicked also, but finally heard his words.

* * * *

“In a small boat, yes, stay with it even if it tips over.” He took a breath, careful to keep his face away from the wind. “In big boats, it might pull you under. It can ram you with debris.” He paused for a clean breath as he kicked with strong legs, pleased that she was also kicking. “Its fuel floating on the water can eventually catch on fire. There can be an explosion in the engine room.” Another breath. “No, we must get away from this wreck and away from where the water might carry the fuel.”

So they kicked in the blackness of the storm, interrupted only by lightning high in the clouds. He had no way to tell how long they made their way through the up and down of the waves, but he did feel his legs tiring. He knew she had to be giving out also. He felt they were far enough from the boat, so now they just had to hang on until the blasted storm faded.

“Relax, baby, just hang on. We need to save ourselves and hopefully wait out the storm or get blown into something larger to hang onto.”

* * * *

She actually sighed as she just hung onto his belt and her life jacket. If she got out of this, she was going to have this jacket put in a glass case for her office on display. She put her head against his shoulder and spoke loud. “I want to let my legs drag downward. Do you suppose there are sharks here?”

* * * *

Doug started to chuckle, but coughed as he swallowed water. “Baby, you are more likely to drown than to be eaten by a shark in bad weather. They go to the bottom to wait out the water turmoil.”

He felt her shivering. “If you are getting cold, you may need to move your legs.”

She coughed against his shoulder. “Cold in Florida. This is so stupid. I am going to drown and I have so many regrets.”

“Hey, don’t get down now, baby. Talk to me. What kind of regrets would a beautiful girl like you have?” He looked around, trying to avoid the wind and salt water in his eyes, but hoping to see something. Unfortunately, there was nothing but water blowing sideways with the tops of the waves being pulled off adding to the moisture in the air.

* * * *

She leaned in against him more, letting her toes down in the water. It seemed the deeper in the water the warmer it felt. Maybe talking would help.

“Well, to start with, I have wasted three years of my life grieving for my dead parents and they wouldn’t have wanted that.” She turned into him more as she closed her eyes against the rain. “My fiancé killed them. He was driving when drunk, and hit them broadside, crushing their small sedan with his big SUV They were strong religious people. They would have wanted me to go on with my life. When I meet them, I will have to tell them how sorry I am for wasting that time.”

* * * *

Doug pulled her tighter, hoping their bodies would create heat. “Well, just consider that we will get through this so it will be a long time before you have to apologize to them. Hold me, baby.”

She hesitated, then asked him, “So what do you regret?”

“Oh, sweetheart, that I never had the chance to make love to you.” He felt her shiver, trying to look at him. “At first, I was attracted and just wanted to fuck you, but the more I saw you, the more I saw that you kept so much hidden, I realized it was deeper. I wanted to make love to you, to bring back alive all of your feelings.”

* * * *

“Oh, Doug, before this storm, I would have stayed hidden and refused you. It was so stupid of me, and now it is too late.” She held onto him, but she felt her strength going. She just let her legs drift down longer.

Suddenly, her toes touched something and she let out a yelp and jerked her knees upward, almost tipping over.

* * * *

Doug tried to settle her and keep them above water. “Hey baby, easy. It’s okay.”

She gasped into the wind. “I felt something with my feet.”

* * * *

“No, baby, I told you, the fish stay on the bottom. Look, I will stretch my legs down to—”

Then she felt him jerk.

“Shit, sand, baby you found the bottom. We must be near a beach or island. Come on, we need to figure out which way to walk, we need to walk upward if it gets shallower.”

Gigi was not sure she understood him in the confusing storm, but she went where he pulled her. She was aware that he was standing and walking. She realized he was so exhausted, he couldn’t drag her, too, so she slowly placed her feet down and found wet sticky sand. She still wasn’t going to let go of him or her friend, the life jacket, but she went with him and found they were coming out of the water and into the wind and driving rain. This was worse as the rain stung her skin and flung her clothes and hair.

Doug was pulling her in the knee-deep water, not going further up on the beach. He seemed to be just wading and she was confused until she was aware that the wind wasn’t as strong.

“Baby we are on one of the barrier or interior islands. We have moved so that the island and all its wild growth are shielding us somewhat from the wind. Now, we can move up on the beach to see if we can find any type of shelter.”

Gigi held onto his belt, but let a little room slip between them. “What do we do?” She finally could speak without swallowing seawater.

“Well, when the flash from the lightning bolts hit, look around at the ground and see if you recognize anything. Each time, look a little further away. We aren’t going to move yet until we recognize something. We are looking for bushes, trees, old wood, washed up debris, anything.” The whole time Doug was talking, he was facing away from her, ready to look around.

Gigi decided to look in the other direction. She didn’t turn away, just moved her head a short way to see over his shoulder. The next flash just blinded her so she was no help, and evidently, Doug didn’t see anything either as he didn’t move. But there was another flash right behind it and she saw a dark shape against the pointy leaves of the underbrush by several palm trees that were bending in the wind above them.

“Doug there is something stuck up under those two trees in the bushes.” She tugged on him to turn him in just the right direction.

* * * *

“Okay, baby, let’s take a few steps in that direction and see if the next flashes will show us anything.”

It turned out to be a couple of pieces of damp plywood that had probably been brought here by campers. All Doug could do was put one on the ground and lean the other one at an angle against the wind and rain side to give them some more protection. He even pulled in some of the dead palm fronds and had Gigi sit on the life jackets that he spread out flat on the bottom board.