“You were a very naughty girl last night, Victoria.”
“I was not.”
“Yes, you were. And I’ve half a mind to give you a good sound spanking.”
“Only half?”
“Shh, here comes my savior! Betty! Over here! Get out the oranges. Those are her favorites.”
Vicky could hear the big pig meandering through the scrubby palms. The pig made loud snorting sounds as she emerged onto the beach and headed in their direction.
“She’s huge,” Vicky said, shrinking back from the beast. “And hairy. I thought pigs were soft and pink. And small.”
“Betty is a very well-fed animal. She has many admirers. Hold out an orange in your hand. She’ll take it from you.”
Vicky did, and Betty immediately gulped it down whole.
“Terrible manners,” Vicky said.
“She’s a pig, for heaven’s sake.” Hawke patted Betty’s snout affectionately. “A blind pig at that, aren’t you, Betty?”
“A blind pig who saved your life, apparently.”
“If not for Betty, I would now be, to use a favorite Americanism, toast,” Alex said while he patted and nuzzled the pig.
“I know you two are close, but is Betty going to be joining us for the entire picnic?”
“No. She just wanted to stop and say hello. Watch this.”
Hawke grabbed the sack of oranges and apples, got to his feet, and strode down to edge of the surf. Betty followed him. Hawke threw all the oranges out beyond where the waves were forming, and all the apples, too. Betty trotted out through the surf, swimming just as a Labrador might, her nose leading her to the nearest oranges.
Hawke looked back and smiled, then sprinted through the sand and returned to Vicky.
“That ought to keep her busy for the better part of an hour,” Hawke said, dropping to the towel.
“More wine?” Vicky asked.
“No, thanks. Wine and sunshine make me sleepy.” He lay back on the towel and closed his eyes.
“Me, too,” Vicky said, lying down beside him. “It is a lovely little bay.”
“Isn’t it?” Alex said, yawning. “I call it the Bay of Pig.”
Vicky smiled. She rolled toward him, then propped her head up on her hand and stared at this man she’d come to love. He’d closed his eyes and there was a contented half-smile on his face. His thick black hair was wet and shining. His chest, beaded with salt water, was rising and falling rhythmically. What saved him, she thought, was that he had no idea how good-looking he was.
She sat up and unhooked the top half of her red bathing suit. Then she put her hand over his heart.
“Are you asleep?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Then I don’t suppose you would mind terribly if I licked your shoulder?”
“What?”
“You heard me. Just a lick, lollipop. I love salt. I think I don’t get enough of it, the way I eat. It’s essential to the body’s fluid balance, you know. Sodium. Chloride. Yummy.”
“Lick away then, darling. Dine to your delightful sufficiency.”
“Thank you.”
“How am I?” he said, after a few moments of feeling her tongue dart about his neck and shoulders.
“Yummy,” she said. “Can’t get enough.”
“You could always pour some olive oil and vinegar into my hair and make a small side salad to go with the entree.”
“I’ll stick with the main course, thank you.”
“Suit yourself, then.”
She started with his shoulder but soon moved to his chest and then to his belly. She immediately noticed a marked increase in his breathing rate.
“Sorry to bother you. I wonder if you would mind pulling down your bathing suit?” she asked, brushing the tips of her white, coral-tipped breasts across the deeply tanned skin of his belly.
“My bathing suit?”
“Here, I’ll help you.”
She took the bow of little white strings that held up his navy blue bathing suit in her teeth and pulled them apart.
“There you go,” she said. “Now, will you please pull it down?”
“Why should I do that?”
“Because you’re my lunch and you’re covering up my favorite part. The piece de resistance.”
He pulled both knees to his chest, lifted himself off the towel, and removed the bathing suit in one motion.
“Well done,” she said.
“Happy now?” he said.
“Oh my, that does look good,” Vicky whispered in his ear, and then her lips were everywhere, causing him to arch his back upwards involuntarily as he felt her mouth close around him.
They made love there on the beach with the blind pig swimming to and fro in the blue sea, chasing the apples and oranges. Vicky was astride him, riding, rocking, her hair matted to her forehead with the heat of both sun and passion, her eyes locked on his right up until the instant when she cried out and arched her back, raising her arms to the sky with both hands outstretched, reaching for something she’d never quite touched until this very moment.
She lay in his arms for a time, her head on his chest, listening to his heart pumping, feeling him fall slowly away from inside her and drift down into what she hoped was the bliss of a peaceful dream.
He began to snore softly. She got up and put on her bikini, looking down at him, smiling. The she dropped to her knees once more and stroked the damp black ringlets of hair on his chest.
“Alex Hawke,” she whispered to him, “you can’t hear me, but you know what I wish more than anything? I wish I’d become a surgeon instead of what I am. I wish I could take a little scalpel inside that brain of yours and find the exact little furrow of gray matter where whatever hurts you is hiding. Snip, snip, snip, I would cut it out. And you’d never have those terrible dreams, ever again.”
She sat up and brushed the hair back from her eyes. She sucked deep gulps of tangy air deep into her lungs, feeling totally invigorated, bristling with sharp, kinetic energy. She got to her feet and stood there, shielding her eyes with her hand, scanning the blue horizon. A flock of white seabirds was circling the pretty little island of pines beyond the channel.
Pine Cay, Alex had called it. It couldn’t be more than a mile from where she stood. She was a strong swimmer. A competitive swimmer. She could swim across and explore the pine forest while Alex slept. She could probably be over and back before he woke up, he was sleeping so soundly. The water was such a lovely shade of light blue it seemed to be begging her to plunge in.
She swam out toward the delicious river of dark blue that ran between the two islands.
Alex had no idea how long he’d been asleep.
He sat up with a start, realizing Vicky was no longer beside him. He looked around, but didn’t see her swimming or anywhere along the deserted beach.
He called out her name. No answer.
He leapt to his feet and ran along the line of scrub palms. Maybe she went exploring. He called her name repeatedly, thinking, she’s barefoot. Why would she go back among the rough and prickly palms?
His heart started pounding. That’s when he heard something that sent an arrow of fear through his heart.
Alex…Alex…Alex!
