Page 58 of Wild Life

“You’re going without me?” The expression of pleading washed away and was replaced by the grumpy forehead creases that he had worn like a uniform for the first weeks after we’d met.

“Well, you said that you needed to go fishing to replenish our stash that Poaka ate, so I figured I’d do that while you were busy. Divide and conquer?” Fishing would take him a while, and I was too excited to start my search.

“No,” he said plainly, all lightness from earlier vanishing.

I must’ve heard wrong because it had sounded like he was ordering me. “No?”

“You’re not g-going.”Fuck.The stutter was back, which meant he was furious.

“Okay, then come with me,” I said, trying to calm whateverthiswas down.

“I can’t, I have to go fishing,” he said, unwilling to budge.

“That’s why I was going to go alone.” I wasn’t understanding his issue.

“I forbid it.” His tone was firm, as if I were his property. Sure, he owned my pussy, but he didn’t own me as a person.

I pinned my fists to my hips, our combined arousal dripping down my thighs. “Um…you’re not the boss of me.”

“I am when it comes to your safety. You’re coming fishing with me.”

I wasn’t going to give in to his unreasonable behavior. I was perfectly capable of finding my own way without falling into danger. “Like I said, you’re welcome to join me, but I will be searching for the roost.”

“S-stubborn,” he chided.

My gaze narrowed in on him. “What did you call me?”

“You heard m-me.”

“You must not value your life. No one tells me what to do.”

All I saw was red. How dare he call me stubborn when he was the one who wouldn’t let me move about of my own free will? He had no idea who he was messing with. I wasn’t some doormat who would obey his commands. Hell no. I was a grown woman with multiple degrees to my name, author of numerous research papers, and the owner of a townhome that I had paid for with my own hard-earned money. I was an independent woman, and I didn’t take orders from any man.

“You know what?” I said. “I think I will come fishing with you.”

“Good, glad you came to your senses.” He rose from the hammock.

“Yeah, I’ll be able to drown your misogynistic ass in the ocean on my way to search for the roost.”

He let out a sigh. “Maris. You’re not familiar with the geography of the island. S-suppose something happens to you and you go m-missing? What will happen then?”

I crossed my arms over my chest and gave him the most severe side-eye ever recorded in history. “And you say I’m the dramatic one. I can walk without falling to my death, you know. I’ve been doing this kind of stuff for a living for years.”

“Yes, but you’re always with a team and you have t-technology to help you find your way if you’re lost.”

I tossed my hands in the air, completely frustrated. It was like arguing with a wall…a solid wall…a solid wall of rock covered in a sheen of sweat that smelled like dominance.

Stay focused, Maris.Fuck the wall and his dominance.Fuck the patriarchy!

“Aleki, can you relax a little bit? I’ll be fine.”

“I know you will be because you’re not going.”

“Ugh, why are you such a caveman daddy, and not in a hot way right now?!”

“I have no idea what that means, and I don’t think I want to know.”

Without warning, I bolted before he had time to argue with me again, making a naked run for the thicket.

---