Page 27 of Castaway Heat
“Damn, I hope I didn’t leave it too close to the water. The tide might’ve pulled it out. All my hard work gone.”
Ronin smiled as he slowly slid out of bed. “You’re the only student I know who gives himself homework on his summer break.”
“It’s hardly summer anymore, no matter how hot it is here. Since I’m missing the first semester, I figured I’d work on thesis ideas—turn my time here into something productive.”
Ronin pointed at his omega’s belly. “You’re doing something productive at all times these days.” He leaned over the bed and stole a kiss. “I’ll go see if I can find your notebook.”
“The last place I remember laying it was under my sitting tree.”
Ronin chuckled.His sitting tree.Shiloh had use coconut husks and fibers to fashion himself a pillow of sorts for when he sat against a palm tree and jotted his thoughts in that damned notebook of his. The notebook itself had been found insomeone’s luggage, partially used. Shiloh had carefully dried the pages in the sun and then rewired the notebook’s spiral binding through the holes. They’d stumbled over a pencil in a junk drawer and he’d turned trash into treasure.
After six months, it was packed with beautiful, lifelike sketches and copious notes. If Shiloh hadn’t become a marine biologist, he should’ve become an artist. If they ever made it home, he planned to keep Shiloh stocked with all the art supplies necessary for that creativity to find its way out. He ambled down their well-worn path to the beach and found the notebook exactly where Shiloh had suggested it would be. He leaned down and picked it and the pencil up—and noticed an amazing sketch of their island.
Ronin smiled, awed by Shiloh’s talent. He turned a few more pages and stopped on one where his omega had drawn him numerous times. Figure studies, he thought they were called, but most where just him from the shoulders up. One was of him frowning in deep thought, looking down. Another was of him smiling, looking in Shiloh’s direction with love in his eyes. Another was larger—his entire body in profile with his hands gripping the net in the water, attempting to catch their dinner.
They were so masterful, they almost resembled photographs. When he turned another page and saw a sketch of Shiloh’s growing belly and their hands entwined, fingers linked over the swell, tears burned the backs of his eyes. It had to be one of the most beautiful things he’d ever seen. He closed the notebook and carried it like precious cargo. It was the story of their lives there on that island, a history they could look back on someday. Soon, the pages might just be filled with a baby’s sweet face.
As he strolled back to the house, Ronin wondered which of them their baby would favor—or would it be an equal share? He couldn’t wait to find out.
And was equally terrified of finding out. He returned inside the cooler shade and handed over the notebook. “Safe and sound.”
“Ah, perfect,” Shiloh said, relief in his voice. “Thank y?—”
Shiloh was cut off by the sound of a plane’s engine flying over the island. Ronin froze for a split second before spinning on one foot and racing outside the house. He moved in the direction the plane flew. He raced, digging his feet as fast as he could in the sand. When he came to a halt on the middle of the beach, he scanned the sky, looking for the aircraft.
And found nothing.
Disappointment—and the run—left it hard to breathe. They’d been so close. Had someone seen their sign? He spun in a circle, searching the sky again. Finally, the plane appeared, flying even lower over the island. Ronin waved his arms and jumped up and down, screaming at the top of his lungs as if the pilot could hear him over the roar of the engines. It was a small prop plane, and he thought he saw a wave from the pilot, but it was hard to see with the glare from the sun.
It did one more circle overhead before flying away.
“No, no, no!”Ronin screamed as he watched the plane disappear from sight. He pulled his hair, desperate to know if they’d truly been seen.
“It’s not like they can land here,” Shiloh said behind him, waddling nearer. “If they saw you, hopefully they’ll send word to someone who can come pick us up.”
Ronin supposed Shiloh was right, but he wanted to know. Not later, but right then. He needed to know his mate and child were safe. He lifted a hand and urged Shiloh closer. He dropped to the sand on both knees and pressed his forehead against Shiloh’s belly. The pilothadto have seen him. If not, the lives of his omega and their child might hang in the balance.
Shiloh gently ran his fingers through Ronin’s hair. “We sit back and wait, I guess.”
Ronin pressed a kiss to the center of Shiloh’s belly before rising to full height. He hugged Shiloh close and kissed him. “I just hope that wave I thought I saw wasn’t just a figment of my desperate imagination.” He gazed about the island. “Should we pack up?”
“What are we taking with us? The only thing I plan to take is my notebook,” he said, lifting it.
“Well, we should try to leave the house somewhat like we found it, I suppose. I’ll go straighten things up in there. Do you mind sitting under your thinking tree and keeping watch for any boats coming our way?”
Shiloh nodded. “It’ll likely be awhile before anyone can get here by boat. We can both tidy the cabin up together.”
Ronin lifted a brow. “If I catch you lifting just one item over ten pounds, I will banish you to your tree.”
Shiloh mimicked a monkey’s call. They’d heard enough of the little beasts screaming in the night to know the sounds by heart. Two cheeky little ones kept stealing slices of papaya Shiloh had been trying to dry in the sun. Shiloh grumbled about it, but Ronin thought he was leaving the slices out thereforthe two babies since they already had enough dried fruit to last for years. He wasn’t sure what Shiloh had been preparing for, but they were ready, nonetheless.
Ronin grabbed Shiloh and pulled him close, trying not to get too excited and hopeful. “He had to have seen me. I’m huge. He passed several times. If he didn’t see me, maybe he saw the sign.”
Shiloh didn’t say anything.
Ronin paused, pulling Shiloh to a stop. “What’s wrong?”
Tears shimmered in Shiloh’s eyes. “Nothing.”
