Page 24 of Into the Blue
I take a mouthful of ice water, as though it might tame the fire inside me.
It doesn’t even come close.
ChapterFifteen
Jade
Water tumbles past us, a small waterfall plunging into a nearby ravine. Light and shade carve shadows in Axel’s beautiful face, along his muscular forearms. I try not to watch his hands as he eats, tearing apart fresh bread and dipping it into garlic-infused oil. Dominic returns with a platter of sizzling seafood, crisply breaded, so light it melts in the mouth. It’s as good as anything I’ve had, and I’ve eaten at some of the best restaurants in the world. Another course, traditionalnasi goreng, is perfectly flavoured, light yet satisfying, utterly delicious.
The island seems to hold one surprise after another. But by far the biggest surprise is Axel. I have so many questions, but I don’t want to pry. Something is building between us, and as we sit and talk and laugh, I don’t want to break it by being pushy. But it seems as though he reads my mind.
He sits back, dabbing his mouth with the linen napkin. “So. I guess you have questions. You know who I am. And what I used to do.”
“Uh, I do. But…” I pause, wanting to get it right. “It’s none of my business. It seems to me that people come here because they want to get away. The last thing you need is someone like me poking my nose into things.”
He says nothing, but one corner of his mouth curves slightly, his grey gaze warming.
“It’s why I came here,” I continue. “To get away. The world knows too much about me, and I wish they didn’t. So there’s no way I’d want to pry into what happened to you.”
“What happened to me?” His grey eyes shutter.
“I’m assuming something did, to make you shut everything down. But like I say, it’s none of my business.”
His gaze clears, his lips parting, and it’s as though he’s on the verge of telling me. But the moment passes. “I came here to heal,” is all he says.
“And did you?”
Again that half-smile, which is utterly kissable. “I don’t know yet.”
Dominic returns, this time with what looks like crème caramel, but there are slivers of lime peel and coconut shavings on the top. Axel digs in his spoon, then pauses. “What about you? Are you… I don’t want you to share anything you don’t want to, but I hope this place helps, a little.”
“It’s helping. Oh my god.” I’ve taken a bite of the dessert. “This… This is helping. It’s heavenly.” I wave my spoon at him. He grins.
“Dominic is a legend around these parts.”
“Deservedly.” I moan a little as caramel cream laced with hints of coconut and lime dissolves on my tongue. Then I blush. Shit. I feel so comfortable with Axel, I kind of forgot we just met. Me making sex moans over my dessert is maybe a third-date kind of thing, at the very least. Not that this is a date.
Axel Black is not your rebound.I feel like I should write the words in pen on my arm or something. This is ridiculous.
“Would you like coffee, or do you want to get going?”
“Get going?” Oh god. Please don’t let this be the end of our outing.
Axel shrugs. “There are some other places I want to show you.”
I try not to show how relieved I am. “Maybe we can skip the coffee, then. I definitely want to see more.”Of your abs, my mind adds. I dig my fingernails into my wrist, under the table. Axel is my host, not my boyfriend. And this trip is supposed to be about me figuring myself out, not jumping the next available man, despite how utterly jumpable he is.
“Good.” Axel’s gaze lingers on my mouth, then he blinks, looking away. Huh.
A short while later we’re on the scooter again, my arms wrapped around Axel like he belongs to me. Which he does not, I remind myself. We turn down a side road, past more houses half-hidden in green leaves, each one idyllic looking. This place really is magical. I wonder what it must be like to live here.
The road rises and we pass a large circular building with shuttered sides. I feel Axel tense briefly, and I file it away to ask him about once we’ve stopped. We keep heading upwards until the ocean is reduced to glimpses of blue through the treetops, the road narrowing. We slow down, Axel turning along a gravelled track before pulling to a stop.
“Wow.” I take off my helmet, shaking out my braid.
A mountain rises to a peak behind us, the slopes green with vegetation laced with streamers of misty cloud, darker soil close to the jagged summit. I assume it’s volcanic, or was once, part of the vast chain of mostly underwater mountains that make up the Indonesian archipelago.
But it’s not the mountain, spectacular as it is, that’s making my jaw drop. We’re on a natural shelf, edged with huge boulders, looking straight out across the island to the sea. It’s beautiful. I can see the peninsula, like a little pot handle sticking out from the island, waves breaking on the rocky point. Further out are more islands, shadowy green shading to deeper blue the further away they are. There are tiny yachts and sailboats with red sails like miniature triangles, the ocean glittering and moving as though alive. I feel like I’m flying, like I could take off from here and keep going forever.
