Ethereal

Chapter 23: Liquid Starlight

  Jax went back down to the cave first, telling me to wait a few minutes before following after him.

I took a seat near the edge of the cliff as I waited, watching as the tide began to pull away from shore and out towards the sea. From my spot on the cliff I could see the tide pools coming into view on the north end of the island, my fingers twirling around the thin branches of the shrubs nestled around me as I relished the feeling of the cool sea air gliding over my skin.

The thought of Jax's lips on mine continued to play back in my mind. The way his hands held me as though I were made of glass, and when he pulled me closer, I felt as though his sunlight was pouring through me. Even with him gone, I still felt the ghost of his touch lingering on my skin, his heat passing over me in waves.

I eyed the ocean waves once more, a vague sense of confusion still pecking at the corners of my mind. When the wind stopped blowing and the sea stopped turning – and Jax himself was frozen under my touch – had that all been a hallucination? Maybe a dream?

I pinched my arm to wake myself up should I be dreaming. But no – I felt the pain as much as I felt the earth below me, and there was no denying that I was awake. Maybe I was caught up in the moment? Being with Jax overwhelming me so much so that I thought the world around me stopped? I've felt like this before when I'm with him. It was the only logical explanation.

My headache was just beginning to fade from my temples when I decided that enough time had passed, and I could rejoin the crew down below. As I neared the tunnel's entrance, I spotted something orange against the black rocks at the base of the island, hidden away between two large slabs of rock.

It was the raft that Jax had been talking about earlier when he offered me a chance to escape to the mainland. It was a life changing offer – one that I would have gladly taken had he told me about the raft not even a week ago. Now, however, the thought of being separated from Jax was more painful than knowing I would be taken back to Camp and I would be a slave once again. At least when I was sailing the sea didn't discriminate – there wasn't a difference between the enslaved and the free – people are just people.

What if I did take the raft? I thought to myself. I could make it ashore, settle in a nearby village and think of an actual plan of smuggling my family out of the Camp. I could get a job farming the land or climb trees to milk bee nests of their honey, or even join and fishing crew and sail the seas. Would our boat ever pass Jax's ship? Would our eyes meet, his honey brown eyes burning into mine as we sailed off into different horizons?

As quickly as the thought surfaced, it sunk back down into the far reaches of my mind. I slid into the tunnel and started my dark descent back into the earth, back to Jax. Was I a fool to willingly give up what might be my only chance of freedom for someone I met not even a month ago? I prayed I wasn't.

Returning back to the main cave, I could see the bright flickering of fire dancing across the cave walls. The fire pits had grown since my adventure to the top of the island, the flames licking and burning the vines that dangled off the roof of the cave. I returned to my original spot by the water, trying to make out Stew and Carlo's forms where a group of men swam in the distance.

Instead, I saw Jax's wavy blonde hair emerge from the far side of the cenote, water dripping off his bare chest as he shook his hair and combed it back out of his face. Feeling a pair of eyes on him, he turned and saw me, a wicked smile playing in the edges of his mouth as he caught me staring.

A daring part of me wanted to strip off right then and jump into the cenote to wipe that smile off his face. I kept myself in check, however, after meeting the eyes of several other crewmates who had been glancing a moment too long at my bare legs. A shiver snaked down my spine at the thought of how many looks I would get if I took off any more clothes. Tempting sex-starved men at sea wasn't a good idea, and I still had several more days to go before the ship would dock again and I would be free of their wandering eyes.