She pushed back against him, hands flattened against the wall. Words were impossible; so was rational thought. Every thrust increased the heat pooling in her center, until it burst outward in a white-hot explosion that ran from the base of her spine to the top of her skull.
Dane's thrusting slowed, and she wobbled and leaned back against him. "Good?" he murmured against her ear. His voice was tight with his struggle to keep control—but he did have himself under control, and she had a moment's appreciation for the joys of making love as a forty-year-old woman to a man her own age.
"Give me a minute," she panted. He was still inside her, and she could feel little muscle contractions fluttering against him. "I think I'll be ready to go again in a sec."
He started a slow movement, not heated and urgent as it had been a moment ago, but a gentle, relaxed gliding motion that she could feel slowly building up the tension inside her again. His hand rested on her mound of curls and then began a gentle stroking, brushing across her over-sensitive clit.
The speed of her rise toward a second climax startled her, especially given how overwhelming the first one had been. She could get herself to come twice with her own hand and a vibrator, but she'd never managed to do it with a lover before. But Dane was an incredibly responsive and considerate partner, pacing himself to her moans and the rapidly increasing rhythm of her reciprocal thrusts.
He groaned and came, and that brought her over the edge too. Her back arched, and she gave a low cry. Then both of them shuddered through a pleasant series of aftershocks. Dane wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck.
After a little while, he planted a kiss on her nape and carefully slid out of her.
"Good?" he whispered, as she turned around to put her arms around him.
"Amazing," Mira murmured. There were no other words she could find.
DANE
Relaxed and loose-limbed,they had another quick wash afterwards. Mira put her clothes back on, and Dane wrapped himself in the blanket. They stirred up the fire and sat beside it, sharing a foil bag of hot Hamburger Macaroni from the emergency supplies, while dusk settled over the beach after a glorious sunset. They unwrapped one of the energy bars (Chocolate Peanut Butter flavor) and had that for dessert.
"Desert island day one," Mira said, leaning her shoulder against his. "It wasn't such a bad day, I don't think."
"Not at all," Dane said quietly. He rested his head against hers. She was sweet and soft and pleasant against him.
But his thoughts turned ahead to the future. For himself, there was little danger from being stranded. He could live off the bounty of the ocean, and swim back to shore whenever he tired of it. Mira, though ... Mira couldn't stay here forever. Even if he brought her fish, she would slowly run out of the other things she needed to live. And she wouldn't be happy.
"Mira, what do you think about me swimming for help?" he asked. "I know we're not sure which way land is, but if I just start swimming west, I'm bound to hit a coastline eventually. And then I can follow it until I find somewhere I can summon a boat for you."
Mira wrapped her hand around his and held it. For a little while, she was silent, and then she said quietly, "How long would that take?"
That was the hard part. "It could be weeks," he admitted. "It depends on where we are."
"Dane, I can't live here by myself for weeks."
"I know. But I can't think of anything else."
"Let's not worry about it tonight, all right? Tomorrow we can explore the island in more detail." She gave his hand a squeeze. "We already found our very own bunker. Maybe we'll find a communications array or a shipwrecked boat with a working radio or something. We haven't looked at everything."
Dane didn't share her hope, but it was true that he could see no benefit in dwelling on the worst aspects of their situation while there was nothing they could do about it. The firelight was warm on their faces and reflected off the walls of the bunker. It was strangely cozy.
"Mira," he said cautiously. "Do you want to hear about what happened to me on Black Rock Island?"
"If you want to talk about it." She leaned against him, a warm and comforting presence. "I did wonder. But only if it's not too much."
"I do, I think. I've never discussed this with anyone." The only person who even knew about it was Eren, who had gone through some of the same things with him.
Mira took his hand and laced her fingers through his. "Tell me what you want me to know. I won't pry for the rest, and if you want to stop, then we'll stop."
He nodded against her hair and took a slow breath before starting.
"I guess I'll just start at the beginning. I was an orphan, grew up in a series of foster homes and never really had a lot of people I was close to. Later I realized that this made me a prime target for them, because most shifters are very pack-oriented. They come in groups, and if anyone disappears, the others will look for them. But I didn't have anyone like that.
"I went into the military looking for something like that, I think—something to belong to. I figured I'd just be career Army, and it seemed to be working out pretty well for me. I ended up getting to the rank of Staff Sergeant, which turned out to be a good fit. I liked working with people and I was good at it."
He laughed a little to himself, bitterly. "Hard to believe I used to be a people person."
Mira squeezed his hand. "People change," she said quietly.
