Apocalyptic Pirates 4, page 10
“I am,” she told me, and she wound her arms around my neck and pulled me down onto her so she could wrap her legs around me. “But I want more.”
“You’re still not satisfied?” My voice was a husky murmur.
“Not yet,” she whispered. “I want your dick inside of me.”
Her hands fumbled with the button on my shorts, and she pulled them down. My cock sprang free from the tangle of fabric, and I pushed my shorts down onto the floor where they joined the pile of Ally’s discarded clothing.
I pulled my t-shirt over my head, and then I jumped as Ally cupped my cock and balls in her hands.
I let out a strangled groan as her pretty fingers played with my balls and gently stroked the head of my cock.
“Fuckkk,” I groaned. “Ally, you’re too good.”
“Your cock feels so good in my hands,” she breathed. “It’s going to feel even better when it’s inside my pussy.”
Her hands moved with expert precision up and down my shaft. She delicately touched the sensitive tip of my cock, and I had to close my eyes and grip my fists tightly in the sheets to keep myself under control.
“Goddd, Ally,” I panted.
There was a quivering bead of pre-cum on the tip of my cock. Ally caught it on the end of her finger, and without looking away from me for a second, she opened her mouth and sucked the droplet off with her pouting rosy lips.
“Mmm,” she sighed as she fluttered her thick eyelashes. “You taste unbelievable.”
The sight of her sucking down my pre-cum like it was the best thing she’d ever tasted was too much for me to handle anymore.
I grabbed hold of Ally’s hips and pressed her legs wide open.
“Wait,” she panted.
She wriggled around underneath me and turned over onto her hands and knees. She presented her glorious ass to me, and threw me an open-mouthed smile over her shoulder.
“Come and get it,” she breathed.
Her luscious red curls were tumbled in sexy disarray all over her shoulders. The smooth creamy vista of her body was calling to me, and from here I could see the pink tinge that was peeking through all different parts of her body from her cheeks to her pert nipples to the glistening promise of her engorged pussy lips.
I knelt down and nudged her thighs open with my knee and spread her pussy even further. I placed my hands carefully and deliberately on her hips, and then ran them down her thighs and over her ass.
“Drewww,” Ally begged. “Don’t make me wait for it.”
“Isn’t the anticipation the fun part?” I murmured.
I pressed the tip of my rock-hard cock lightly against her entrance. Ally breathed in deep and wriggled her hips against me.
“Ohhh, you’re a bastard,” she moaned.
“Am I?” I reached around and brushed the tips of my fingers against the taut pink knots of her nipples. I squeezed them, and Ally writhed in pure animal lust.
I could tell how badly she needed satisfaction, and I wasn’t sure how much more of this delicious torture I could stand. I was about ready to burst. My cock was throbbing so hard it was almost painful.
I traced my hands back over Ally’s body and followed the smooth creamy contours of her back and stomach. When I reached her hips, I dug my fingers into her soft white flesh, and with one smooth push of my pelvis, I thrust deep inside her.
Ally gave a long gasping sigh that turned into short, excited moans as I began to thrust inside her.
“Oh, Drewww,” she gasped. “You’re so big. That’s it, that’s it.”
I plunged in and out of her in long, smooth strokes. I was balls deep inside her, and Ally braced herself on quivering arms to steady herself under the unrelenting rhythm of our lovemaking.
“Fuck, Ally,” I groaned. “You feel so good on my cock.”
My pace increased, and I began to hammer into her with a quicker tempo. Our bodies slapped together, and Ally’s breasts swung up and down with every thrust.
“Ohhh, yeeesssss.” Her arms gave way under the increased pace, so I wrapped my fingers through her red curls and pulled her head up, and Ally braced herself to withstand the rhythm.
I could feel myself getting closer and closer to my finish, and my thrusts came even faster and harder. I hammered into Ally’s sweet wet pussy, and she gasped as our bodies sang to the same tune.
“Drew,” she panted. “I’m going to cum again. I’m going to cum on your cock.”
“Yesss,” I groaned. I was determined to hold out until I made Ally cum for the second time, but it was so hard when I could feel the slick walls of her pussy tighten around my hungry cock.
She was getting closer and closer, and as I drove deep inside her, Ally gave a loud moan that I was sure everyone on deck would be able to hear.
“Oh, Drewwwww,” she cried, and then her whole body shuddered and jerked as she reached her orgasm. Her arms gave way, and she sank down into the white bedsheets.
The feel of her pussy climaxing around my cock was too much for me.
I drove into her again and again. My hips were slamming against her ass, and as Ally’s pussy constricted and released another wave of orgasmic fluid, I reached my own climax. The sensation was so strong that for a moment my vision went black. I clung onto Ally’s hips as I emptied deep inside her waiting pussy. My climax seemed to last forever, and each pulse of pleasure poured another flood of my sperm deep into her accepting body. I actually lost track of how much I came, but I was eventually empty, and she was full.
I collapsed down beside her with my heart hammering and my body coated in a thick slick film of sweat.
“Oh, my god,” Ally panted. “Every time it just gets better and better.”
“You’re so fucking gorgeous,” I told her.
“You’re not so bad yourself, mister.” Ally propped herself up on her elbow with a saucy smile. Her hair was a complete mess with curls and waves springing out all over the place, but she’d never looked more beautiful to me than in that moment. Her eyes were sparkling like emeralds, and her cheeks were flushed with the rosy pink of satisfaction coursing throughout her body.
I reached out and tucked a loose strand of her wild hair behind her ear.
“I love you,” I told her.
The saucy attitude melted away, and Ally’s sassy smile was replaced by one of deep tenderness.
“I love you too, Drew.” She snuggled close into my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her. Her body was loose and warm and relaxed, and I could have stayed like that with her for hours.
Then Ally sighed, and I looked down at her in concern.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I was just thinking about Ray and Valerie,” she replied. “How much they love each other, even after all the years they’ve spent together.”
“Yeah.” I played with one of Ally’s red curls. “I keep thinking about them as well.”
“I hope we’re like that when we’re that old,” Ally said.
“You’re assuming we’ll reach that age,” I reminded her in amusement.
“Oh, we will,” she assured me. “I don’t have any worries about that. We’ll get each other through this, no matter what things the apocalypse throws at us. And no matter what happens, I’m not going to leave.”
“You’ll be with me when I’m still old and gray?” I teased with a smile.
“Even then,” she told me. “You’re going to be a stunning old man, Drew, don’t you think I don’t know that. Wrinkles and gray hair and all.”
She leaned in for a kiss, and as our lips touched, an unexpected feeling of peace spread over me. Normally when I kissed Ally, my heart would be hammering in my chest, but now it was a different feeling that I was experiencing. There was still excitement tingling in all of my limbs, but underneath that was something that I recognized as certainty. It was a feeling of safety. As clearly as if I was recalling a memory, I could see our future laid out before us, and the years when we would grow old together, and while our bodies might change, our hearts never would.
Ally brushed back my hair from my forehead and smiled softly. I wondered if she was picturing the same future.
“They remind me of my mom and dad,” she said. “Ray and Valerie. They’ve got that same kind of determination.”
“I know we tease you about your dad and your upbringing,” I said. “But he does sound like he was a great man.”
“He was.” Ally smiled as though recalling some private memory. “He always said similar things about retiring, too. ‘What’s the point?’ ‘What would I do?’ ‘I don’t want to grow tomatoes, Allison.’”
“What is it with retirement being full of tomatoes?” I chuckled. “Do we all know some retirees who just love growing those things?”
“Who knows.” Ally stretched luxuriously. “I do love a good tomato, though, so I for one will be joining the tomato legion when I retire, which I fully intend to do. Long days to do whatever I like with? Sign me up, I’ll have earned it. I suppose I should shower, though.”
“And I should change these sheets.” I sat up and looked around ruefully at the rumpled bedding. “I came down here to find bedding for Ray and Valerie, but it’s going to be even harder to convince them to take the bed if they knew what had just happened here.”
“I’m sure they’d congratulate you on a job well done.” Ally gave me a cheeky wink and then slid off the bed with a laugh.
While Ally showered, I stripped the bed and remade it with clean sheets. Then I got myself cleaned up, shoved the sheets into the washing machine, and together with Ally we went up on deck.
Ray was in the middle of recounting some anecdote, and while Valerie listened with a nostalgic smile on her face, Letty, Shannon, and Dia were hanging on his every word.
“And then what happened?” Dia gasped.
“Why, I shot the bastard,” Ray said with a chuckle.
“Oh, my god,” Shannon breathed.
“What did we miss?” I asked.
“Ray and Valerie were telling us about the time they worked as fellmongers in Oregon,” Dia explained.
“What’s a fellmonger?” I questioned.
“A person who deals in hides,” Ray explained. “But we didn’t just deal in hides, we were cowboys, too. We’d go out there and live in the mountains with the cows.”
“Now those were cold nights,” Valerie remembered with a shiver. “When the coyotes and wolves would come out. Bears, too.”
“We had a friend who lived out there,” Ray said. “Pierce Rheingold, his name was, like the cocktail. Anyway, Pierce had a little ranch near a crop of trees we used to call Old Man’s Bluff. And one winter, Pierce starts losing cows from his herd.”
“That was a rough old winter,” Valerie reminisced. “What was it, ‘77? ‘79?”
“Thereabouts, I think. Anyway,” Ray continued. “Pierce’s herd is getting smaller by the night, and he’s convinced that it’s a bear taking his cows. Now Pierce, he’s a stubborn old soul, bless him, and he has a mighty fine opinion of the cows under his care. Says they’re too smart and too tough to be picked off by just any old predator. So what does he do? He gets it into his head that it’s a grizzly.”
“But the thing you have to understand,” Valerie chipped in. “Is that grizzlies ain’t been seen in Oregon for over twenty years by this point. Brown bears, sure, but there ain’t no grizzlies.”
“But Pierce won’t listen to reason.” Ray shook his head with a little smile hovering over the edges of his mouth. “And he sends off to the city for the latest and greatest bear traps. Takes a while for them to arrive, but when they do, Pierce sets them all up around his property because he’s that damn determined to catch this bear.”
“The last grizzly remaining in Oregon.” Valerie snorted in quiet laughter.
“And did he?” Letty asked with her eyes wide and eager. “Did he catch the grizzly?”
“Nope, he did not.” Ray laughed. “Pierce spent all that money and all that time setting up those traps, and he stayed up night after night to catch the thing. But soon as he had it all set up, the attacks stopped. No more dead cows.”
“So, what was it?” Shannon demanded. “What was the thing that was killing his cows?”
“We never found out,” Ray said with a grin. “Hell, coulda been a damn dragon for all I know. But that didn’t stop Pierce bragging ‘til the day he died about how he almost caught the last grizzly in the state of Oregon.”
We laughed, and Valerie stood up.
“My word,” she said. “Just look at the sun. Reckon we should be heading down to the kitchen now, Ray.”
“You’ve already caught enough fish for all of us?” I asked in surprise.
“Sure have,” Valerie said, and she leaned over to haul up one of the fish stringers that was dangling over the side. It was full of fish in all shapes and sizes.
“Whoa,” I said.
“Water’s been good today,” Ray said. “Fish were biting.”
“This is incredible,” I said. “Thank you.”
“This is just the start,” Ray told me with a slow wink. “You just wait ‘til we’re done with these fellers.”
“Let me take you down to the kitchen,” Letty said and got to her feet. “I’ll show you where everything is.”
“And so we don’t mess up the system you got going too, right?” Ray teased her.
“Well…” Letty’s cheeks flushed dark red. “Maybe.”
“Never yet met a cook who didn’t have a system in the kitchen,” Ray said with a laugh. “You lead the way, darlin’.”
Letty, Ray, and Valerie headed below, and I joined the other women who were still sunbathing on the deck.
“You were a long time down there,” Shannon said to Ally with a mischievous grin.
“Drew was making up the bed for Ray and Valerie to sleep in,” Ally said in a dignified voice.
“I bet he was,” Shannon teased. “And did you help him make up the bed?”
“Nope,” I said, and flashed both of them a smirk. “I had to do alllllll the work by myself.”
Shannon snickered as Ally’s face went pink. Dia was looking down at her hands with a little smile on her face, and then she looked up and caught my eye. Her smile broadened, and I winked at her, which sent a pretty rosy blush spreading across her olive skin.
Before too long, the most delicious smells began to waft up from the kitchen, and Letty poked her head out of the hatch.
“Dinner’s ready!” she sang out.
We all hurried downstairs to where Letty had laid out the table. It was a bit of a tighter squeeze than usual for us all to fit around the table, but with the delicious smells that were coming from the covered dish on the stove, none of us were complaining.
Ray took the dish to the table and removed the lid with a flourish.
“Roasted red snapper,” Ray said proudly. “With herbed butter and roasted potatoes.”
“Mm-mm.” Ally took a long appreciative sniff. “This smells amazing, Ray.”
“Just so long as it’s passable,” the old man said with a modest wave of his hand.
“Ray’s being humble,” Valerie said as her partner took his seat next to her. “The first time he cooked me this meal, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.”
“Pshaw,” Ray said, but his eyes lingered tenderly on Valerie’s smiling face, and then looked around hopefully at the rest of us as we took our first bites.
“Oh, my god,” I said. “I think I agree with Valerie.”
“Goddamn, this is heavenly,” Shannon declared.
Dia and Ally’s mouths were too full for them to make any noise other than an enthusiastic mumble.
“To Ray and Valerie,” Letty announced as she lifted her glass in the air. “The new king and queen of the kitchen.”
“Oh, no,” Ray protested. “We ain’t about to take away your throne, Letty. We had them biscuits of yours earlier, and they went down a real treat.”
“And the iced tea!” Valerie reminded her. “I’d never had anything that good before.”
“Okay, maybe it can be a kitchen with three monarchs,” Letty laughed.
“Yeah, Letty,” I added. “Don’t sell your own cooking short.”
“Why, thank you, Drew.” The Southern woman inclined her head graciously. “But I still have to say, I could never cook fish as tender as this.”
“It’s all in the juices,” Ray explained. “You just throw a little bit of lemon in there, and it pretty much takes care of itself.”
“It’s a shame you’re not coming with us all the way to Hawaii,” Letty mused. “I’m sure Drew’s parents would love to hear all your tips and tricks.”
“We told Ray and Valerie about where we’re going,” Shannon explained to me.
“That’s quite a journey,” Ray said in admiring tones. “Especially for a crew with not much sailing experience.”
“They told you about that part of it too, did they?” I shook my head ruefully. “Yeah, I won’t lie, it’s been a learning curve. But we seem to have settled into a good rhythm here. We all have strengths that we bring to the crew.”
“You’re certainly doing well for yourselves,” Valerie acknowledged.
“I can’t take all the credit,” I said. “We’ve had some real strokes of luck, too.”
“Now you’re the one selling yourself short,” Letty told me with a smile. “We told Ray and Valerie all about you, you know. How you and Ally rescued Shannon from both a dragon and the sharks, how you went out of your way to help me get my medication, how you helped General Rojas and the islanders.”
“Yeah, but I couldn’t have done it all without you guys,” I insisted. “Imagine if it was just me on my own– how could I have done all that without your help?”
“I don’t know.” Shannon shook her head with a little smile on her face. “I’m sure you’d have done better than you think you would.”
“You seem like a very capable young man,” Ray told me. “And Valerie and I are right glad you stopped at Isla Providencia when you did.”
“I’m glad we were there, too,” I said. “I just can’t believe that you were left there all alone. None of your co-workers thought to check that you were safe?”
“Guess not.” Ray shrugged.
“You’re still not satisfied?” My voice was a husky murmur.
“Not yet,” she whispered. “I want your dick inside of me.”
Her hands fumbled with the button on my shorts, and she pulled them down. My cock sprang free from the tangle of fabric, and I pushed my shorts down onto the floor where they joined the pile of Ally’s discarded clothing.
I pulled my t-shirt over my head, and then I jumped as Ally cupped my cock and balls in her hands.
I let out a strangled groan as her pretty fingers played with my balls and gently stroked the head of my cock.
“Fuckkk,” I groaned. “Ally, you’re too good.”
“Your cock feels so good in my hands,” she breathed. “It’s going to feel even better when it’s inside my pussy.”
Her hands moved with expert precision up and down my shaft. She delicately touched the sensitive tip of my cock, and I had to close my eyes and grip my fists tightly in the sheets to keep myself under control.
“Goddd, Ally,” I panted.
There was a quivering bead of pre-cum on the tip of my cock. Ally caught it on the end of her finger, and without looking away from me for a second, she opened her mouth and sucked the droplet off with her pouting rosy lips.
“Mmm,” she sighed as she fluttered her thick eyelashes. “You taste unbelievable.”
The sight of her sucking down my pre-cum like it was the best thing she’d ever tasted was too much for me to handle anymore.
I grabbed hold of Ally’s hips and pressed her legs wide open.
“Wait,” she panted.
She wriggled around underneath me and turned over onto her hands and knees. She presented her glorious ass to me, and threw me an open-mouthed smile over her shoulder.
“Come and get it,” she breathed.
Her luscious red curls were tumbled in sexy disarray all over her shoulders. The smooth creamy vista of her body was calling to me, and from here I could see the pink tinge that was peeking through all different parts of her body from her cheeks to her pert nipples to the glistening promise of her engorged pussy lips.
I knelt down and nudged her thighs open with my knee and spread her pussy even further. I placed my hands carefully and deliberately on her hips, and then ran them down her thighs and over her ass.
“Drewww,” Ally begged. “Don’t make me wait for it.”
“Isn’t the anticipation the fun part?” I murmured.
I pressed the tip of my rock-hard cock lightly against her entrance. Ally breathed in deep and wriggled her hips against me.
“Ohhh, you’re a bastard,” she moaned.
“Am I?” I reached around and brushed the tips of my fingers against the taut pink knots of her nipples. I squeezed them, and Ally writhed in pure animal lust.
I could tell how badly she needed satisfaction, and I wasn’t sure how much more of this delicious torture I could stand. I was about ready to burst. My cock was throbbing so hard it was almost painful.
I traced my hands back over Ally’s body and followed the smooth creamy contours of her back and stomach. When I reached her hips, I dug my fingers into her soft white flesh, and with one smooth push of my pelvis, I thrust deep inside her.
Ally gave a long gasping sigh that turned into short, excited moans as I began to thrust inside her.
“Oh, Drewww,” she gasped. “You’re so big. That’s it, that’s it.”
I plunged in and out of her in long, smooth strokes. I was balls deep inside her, and Ally braced herself on quivering arms to steady herself under the unrelenting rhythm of our lovemaking.
“Fuck, Ally,” I groaned. “You feel so good on my cock.”
My pace increased, and I began to hammer into her with a quicker tempo. Our bodies slapped together, and Ally’s breasts swung up and down with every thrust.
“Ohhh, yeeesssss.” Her arms gave way under the increased pace, so I wrapped my fingers through her red curls and pulled her head up, and Ally braced herself to withstand the rhythm.
I could feel myself getting closer and closer to my finish, and my thrusts came even faster and harder. I hammered into Ally’s sweet wet pussy, and she gasped as our bodies sang to the same tune.
“Drew,” she panted. “I’m going to cum again. I’m going to cum on your cock.”
“Yesss,” I groaned. I was determined to hold out until I made Ally cum for the second time, but it was so hard when I could feel the slick walls of her pussy tighten around my hungry cock.
She was getting closer and closer, and as I drove deep inside her, Ally gave a loud moan that I was sure everyone on deck would be able to hear.
“Oh, Drewwwww,” she cried, and then her whole body shuddered and jerked as she reached her orgasm. Her arms gave way, and she sank down into the white bedsheets.
The feel of her pussy climaxing around my cock was too much for me.
I drove into her again and again. My hips were slamming against her ass, and as Ally’s pussy constricted and released another wave of orgasmic fluid, I reached my own climax. The sensation was so strong that for a moment my vision went black. I clung onto Ally’s hips as I emptied deep inside her waiting pussy. My climax seemed to last forever, and each pulse of pleasure poured another flood of my sperm deep into her accepting body. I actually lost track of how much I came, but I was eventually empty, and she was full.
I collapsed down beside her with my heart hammering and my body coated in a thick slick film of sweat.
“Oh, my god,” Ally panted. “Every time it just gets better and better.”
“You’re so fucking gorgeous,” I told her.
“You’re not so bad yourself, mister.” Ally propped herself up on her elbow with a saucy smile. Her hair was a complete mess with curls and waves springing out all over the place, but she’d never looked more beautiful to me than in that moment. Her eyes were sparkling like emeralds, and her cheeks were flushed with the rosy pink of satisfaction coursing throughout her body.
I reached out and tucked a loose strand of her wild hair behind her ear.
“I love you,” I told her.
The saucy attitude melted away, and Ally’s sassy smile was replaced by one of deep tenderness.
“I love you too, Drew.” She snuggled close into my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her. Her body was loose and warm and relaxed, and I could have stayed like that with her for hours.
Then Ally sighed, and I looked down at her in concern.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I was just thinking about Ray and Valerie,” she replied. “How much they love each other, even after all the years they’ve spent together.”
“Yeah.” I played with one of Ally’s red curls. “I keep thinking about them as well.”
“I hope we’re like that when we’re that old,” Ally said.
“You’re assuming we’ll reach that age,” I reminded her in amusement.
“Oh, we will,” she assured me. “I don’t have any worries about that. We’ll get each other through this, no matter what things the apocalypse throws at us. And no matter what happens, I’m not going to leave.”
“You’ll be with me when I’m still old and gray?” I teased with a smile.
“Even then,” she told me. “You’re going to be a stunning old man, Drew, don’t you think I don’t know that. Wrinkles and gray hair and all.”
She leaned in for a kiss, and as our lips touched, an unexpected feeling of peace spread over me. Normally when I kissed Ally, my heart would be hammering in my chest, but now it was a different feeling that I was experiencing. There was still excitement tingling in all of my limbs, but underneath that was something that I recognized as certainty. It was a feeling of safety. As clearly as if I was recalling a memory, I could see our future laid out before us, and the years when we would grow old together, and while our bodies might change, our hearts never would.
Ally brushed back my hair from my forehead and smiled softly. I wondered if she was picturing the same future.
“They remind me of my mom and dad,” she said. “Ray and Valerie. They’ve got that same kind of determination.”
“I know we tease you about your dad and your upbringing,” I said. “But he does sound like he was a great man.”
“He was.” Ally smiled as though recalling some private memory. “He always said similar things about retiring, too. ‘What’s the point?’ ‘What would I do?’ ‘I don’t want to grow tomatoes, Allison.’”
“What is it with retirement being full of tomatoes?” I chuckled. “Do we all know some retirees who just love growing those things?”
“Who knows.” Ally stretched luxuriously. “I do love a good tomato, though, so I for one will be joining the tomato legion when I retire, which I fully intend to do. Long days to do whatever I like with? Sign me up, I’ll have earned it. I suppose I should shower, though.”
“And I should change these sheets.” I sat up and looked around ruefully at the rumpled bedding. “I came down here to find bedding for Ray and Valerie, but it’s going to be even harder to convince them to take the bed if they knew what had just happened here.”
“I’m sure they’d congratulate you on a job well done.” Ally gave me a cheeky wink and then slid off the bed with a laugh.
While Ally showered, I stripped the bed and remade it with clean sheets. Then I got myself cleaned up, shoved the sheets into the washing machine, and together with Ally we went up on deck.
Ray was in the middle of recounting some anecdote, and while Valerie listened with a nostalgic smile on her face, Letty, Shannon, and Dia were hanging on his every word.
“And then what happened?” Dia gasped.
“Why, I shot the bastard,” Ray said with a chuckle.
“Oh, my god,” Shannon breathed.
“What did we miss?” I asked.
“Ray and Valerie were telling us about the time they worked as fellmongers in Oregon,” Dia explained.
“What’s a fellmonger?” I questioned.
“A person who deals in hides,” Ray explained. “But we didn’t just deal in hides, we were cowboys, too. We’d go out there and live in the mountains with the cows.”
“Now those were cold nights,” Valerie remembered with a shiver. “When the coyotes and wolves would come out. Bears, too.”
“We had a friend who lived out there,” Ray said. “Pierce Rheingold, his name was, like the cocktail. Anyway, Pierce had a little ranch near a crop of trees we used to call Old Man’s Bluff. And one winter, Pierce starts losing cows from his herd.”
“That was a rough old winter,” Valerie reminisced. “What was it, ‘77? ‘79?”
“Thereabouts, I think. Anyway,” Ray continued. “Pierce’s herd is getting smaller by the night, and he’s convinced that it’s a bear taking his cows. Now Pierce, he’s a stubborn old soul, bless him, and he has a mighty fine opinion of the cows under his care. Says they’re too smart and too tough to be picked off by just any old predator. So what does he do? He gets it into his head that it’s a grizzly.”
“But the thing you have to understand,” Valerie chipped in. “Is that grizzlies ain’t been seen in Oregon for over twenty years by this point. Brown bears, sure, but there ain’t no grizzlies.”
“But Pierce won’t listen to reason.” Ray shook his head with a little smile hovering over the edges of his mouth. “And he sends off to the city for the latest and greatest bear traps. Takes a while for them to arrive, but when they do, Pierce sets them all up around his property because he’s that damn determined to catch this bear.”
“The last grizzly remaining in Oregon.” Valerie snorted in quiet laughter.
“And did he?” Letty asked with her eyes wide and eager. “Did he catch the grizzly?”
“Nope, he did not.” Ray laughed. “Pierce spent all that money and all that time setting up those traps, and he stayed up night after night to catch the thing. But soon as he had it all set up, the attacks stopped. No more dead cows.”
“So, what was it?” Shannon demanded. “What was the thing that was killing his cows?”
“We never found out,” Ray said with a grin. “Hell, coulda been a damn dragon for all I know. But that didn’t stop Pierce bragging ‘til the day he died about how he almost caught the last grizzly in the state of Oregon.”
We laughed, and Valerie stood up.
“My word,” she said. “Just look at the sun. Reckon we should be heading down to the kitchen now, Ray.”
“You’ve already caught enough fish for all of us?” I asked in surprise.
“Sure have,” Valerie said, and she leaned over to haul up one of the fish stringers that was dangling over the side. It was full of fish in all shapes and sizes.
“Whoa,” I said.
“Water’s been good today,” Ray said. “Fish were biting.”
“This is incredible,” I said. “Thank you.”
“This is just the start,” Ray told me with a slow wink. “You just wait ‘til we’re done with these fellers.”
“Let me take you down to the kitchen,” Letty said and got to her feet. “I’ll show you where everything is.”
“And so we don’t mess up the system you got going too, right?” Ray teased her.
“Well…” Letty’s cheeks flushed dark red. “Maybe.”
“Never yet met a cook who didn’t have a system in the kitchen,” Ray said with a laugh. “You lead the way, darlin’.”
Letty, Ray, and Valerie headed below, and I joined the other women who were still sunbathing on the deck.
“You were a long time down there,” Shannon said to Ally with a mischievous grin.
“Drew was making up the bed for Ray and Valerie to sleep in,” Ally said in a dignified voice.
“I bet he was,” Shannon teased. “And did you help him make up the bed?”
“Nope,” I said, and flashed both of them a smirk. “I had to do alllllll the work by myself.”
Shannon snickered as Ally’s face went pink. Dia was looking down at her hands with a little smile on her face, and then she looked up and caught my eye. Her smile broadened, and I winked at her, which sent a pretty rosy blush spreading across her olive skin.
Before too long, the most delicious smells began to waft up from the kitchen, and Letty poked her head out of the hatch.
“Dinner’s ready!” she sang out.
We all hurried downstairs to where Letty had laid out the table. It was a bit of a tighter squeeze than usual for us all to fit around the table, but with the delicious smells that were coming from the covered dish on the stove, none of us were complaining.
Ray took the dish to the table and removed the lid with a flourish.
“Roasted red snapper,” Ray said proudly. “With herbed butter and roasted potatoes.”
“Mm-mm.” Ally took a long appreciative sniff. “This smells amazing, Ray.”
“Just so long as it’s passable,” the old man said with a modest wave of his hand.
“Ray’s being humble,” Valerie said as her partner took his seat next to her. “The first time he cooked me this meal, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.”
“Pshaw,” Ray said, but his eyes lingered tenderly on Valerie’s smiling face, and then looked around hopefully at the rest of us as we took our first bites.
“Oh, my god,” I said. “I think I agree with Valerie.”
“Goddamn, this is heavenly,” Shannon declared.
Dia and Ally’s mouths were too full for them to make any noise other than an enthusiastic mumble.
“To Ray and Valerie,” Letty announced as she lifted her glass in the air. “The new king and queen of the kitchen.”
“Oh, no,” Ray protested. “We ain’t about to take away your throne, Letty. We had them biscuits of yours earlier, and they went down a real treat.”
“And the iced tea!” Valerie reminded her. “I’d never had anything that good before.”
“Okay, maybe it can be a kitchen with three monarchs,” Letty laughed.
“Yeah, Letty,” I added. “Don’t sell your own cooking short.”
“Why, thank you, Drew.” The Southern woman inclined her head graciously. “But I still have to say, I could never cook fish as tender as this.”
“It’s all in the juices,” Ray explained. “You just throw a little bit of lemon in there, and it pretty much takes care of itself.”
“It’s a shame you’re not coming with us all the way to Hawaii,” Letty mused. “I’m sure Drew’s parents would love to hear all your tips and tricks.”
“We told Ray and Valerie about where we’re going,” Shannon explained to me.
“That’s quite a journey,” Ray said in admiring tones. “Especially for a crew with not much sailing experience.”
“They told you about that part of it too, did they?” I shook my head ruefully. “Yeah, I won’t lie, it’s been a learning curve. But we seem to have settled into a good rhythm here. We all have strengths that we bring to the crew.”
“You’re certainly doing well for yourselves,” Valerie acknowledged.
“I can’t take all the credit,” I said. “We’ve had some real strokes of luck, too.”
“Now you’re the one selling yourself short,” Letty told me with a smile. “We told Ray and Valerie all about you, you know. How you and Ally rescued Shannon from both a dragon and the sharks, how you went out of your way to help me get my medication, how you helped General Rojas and the islanders.”
“Yeah, but I couldn’t have done it all without you guys,” I insisted. “Imagine if it was just me on my own– how could I have done all that without your help?”
“I don’t know.” Shannon shook her head with a little smile on her face. “I’m sure you’d have done better than you think you would.”
“You seem like a very capable young man,” Ray told me. “And Valerie and I are right glad you stopped at Isla Providencia when you did.”
“I’m glad we were there, too,” I said. “I just can’t believe that you were left there all alone. None of your co-workers thought to check that you were safe?”
“Guess not.” Ray shrugged.
