Hello my faithful readers! Today I’m coming to you with a tropical short story written by Marquessa Matthews!
I recently did a Q & A with her and I couldn’t wait to share this with you all! As I mentioned before, she has a great gift and her stories leave you wanting more!
Enjoy and be sure to check out her other fiction pieces!
Rock The Boat
Photo credit: killerfemme / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA
“It’s almost time to pack up and go, sleepyhead,” I heard someone whisper.
I slowly opened my eyes and was greeted by the sight of Delaney’s face upside down. Au naturel and from this vantage point, she was still stunning.
It had been the perfect day in Culebrita.
Emme and Delaney had spent a lot of time snorkeling together as if they had known each other much longer than just that weekend. And since Nate had insisted, we had also scouted out sea turtles with her since it was her first time. It was a perfect day in perfect company.
“How long was I out?” I groaned and squinted from the sunlight.
When my lounge chair had broken, I had wedged myself between Delaney’s sandy legs, leaning back so that my head rested comfortably on her stomach. She had tried to playfully shove me off but before I knew it, she was running her fingers though my hair, her nails grazing my scalp over and over again, putting me into such a relaxed state that I fell asleep.
“Over an hour. You were even snoring.”
From the glint in her eye, I knew her well enough to know that she was lying. I immediately looked around for Nate and pushed myself up from the chair. Emme and Ric were laughing as they watched Nate and Adrian demolishing the sandcastle they had spent so much time building just a few hours before. Boys being boys.
“I don’t snore. But you do,” I teased back. “What have you been up to?”
I propped myself up and scooted down to the lower part of the chair. I started brushing the sand off my arms and my legs.
“Let me help you.”
Delaney grabbed a towel and started dusting off my chest. I noticed her eyes trail slowly across my tattoo which always seemed to intrigue her. Her touch against my skin electrified me and I was immediately turned on. As always. My level of control was at its limit. I wanted her so badly. If I could, I would take her right then and there on this beach. But I had no choice but to wait for her signal. I took a deep breath and reigned in my thoughts of peeling off her bikini. When it finally happened, I just hoped that I could keep it together to savor the moment completely.
“I’m looking forward to a long hot shower as soon as we get back to the house. I’ve got sand in places where it really shouldn’t be.” Delaney laughed and swung her leg from around me. She jumped up and stood directly in front of me.
I grabbed her waist with both hands and gazed up at her. “I’ve got an idea. You, me, a shower…”
She tried to hold back a smile, knowing exactly how I’d wanted to finish that sentence.
“Alejandro…” she cut me off, trying to change the tone of where I wanted this conversation to go.
I pulled her in closer and kissed her soft stomach. “Laney, do you know how hard this is?”
In the distance and with Delaney’s back turned to them, I saw Emme and Ric raising their eyebrows and nodding at me like teenagers. It shouldn’t have mattered but it felt good to know that they approved of her. To distract the boys from us, Emme ushered the boys to start gathering up their toys to take back to the boat.
“I know, in more ways than one.” Delaney made a joke of it, a little embarrassed. “While you were napping, I was catching up on news feeds from home,” she said, getting back to my initial question. She placed a hand on my shoulder to steady herself as she took off her sandals.
I was confused. That didn’t sound right. “There’s no cell service out here.”
“I know. I downloaded it before we left.” Delaney readjusted her bikini. “I’m going for one last dip in paradise. Are you coming?” She dropped her cell into her beach bag and looked down at me with those pretty brown eyes.
“No, you go on ahead. You know, this doesn’t have to be our last time here. We can always take a trip back and visit a different beach.”
“I would love that.”
Delaney took off down the beach and into the water. Before I realized what I was doing, Delaney’s cell phone was in my hand. My instincts told me that I had nothing to worry about. But what if deep down I was wrong? It wouldn’t have been the first time. Marisol’s condescending and booming voice played over and over in my head – gold-digging women, don’t you trust them, especially around your son…
I kept her cell low to the ground as I scrolled through its contents. Basic emails, text messages from her friends, her brother and one from a Tyler. Who was Tyler?
I’m sorry. I understand. But we need to talk when you get back. Ty.
Was he the reason Delaney was holding?
Just as she had said, there was no Facebook or Instagram on her phone. The only social media icon was Twitter and just she had said, it was mainly of headlines from Montreal, Toronto and San Juan. I hesitated a moment before I clicked on the photo icon and surfed through. Pictures of the plane ride to Culebra, the views from Ric and Emme’s place, shots from today with all of us in a variety of poses around the sandcastle we had all built together…The last pictures were cute ones of our feet together hanging off of the very chair I was sitting on, which she had to have taken while I was asleep – nothing that would really be worthy of selling to the media.
I instantly felt better and sighed in relief. Now, I felt stupid about having doubted her and I really wished I hadn’t snooped through her cell. Without even really realizing what I was doing, I continued scrolling through older pictures until I realized that someone was casting a shadow at my feet.
“Alejandro, what do you think you are doing?”
©2015 Marquessa Matthews. All Rights Reserved.
Coming back down, she realized time was against her, the sounds of a bustling home would come too soon.
With a twist, she expanded her lungs and closed her eyes before letting it go. Twisting to the other side, she reached her fingers up to the sky, shooting for the clouds, feeling her body respond with ease when a sudden cry brought her back down to her mat.
Stephanie Cardozo 