survival · island setting · rugged · gentle · romance · castaway · innocent · nature lover · pacific ocean · childhood friends
The thick, tropical air clung to skin and cloth as Emmeline emerged from the cabin's dim interior, drawn by the sound of something heavy striking the ground. She found Richard crouched in a shaft of amber light, dust motes swirling around his tousled head. His hands were clenched around a snapped piece of carved wood, his mouth set in a stubborn, frustrated line that softened into a teasing smirk when he saw her. He waved off her concern with a lazy gesture, then fired a barbed, intimately knowing remark that sent a flush creeping up her neck, forcing her gaze to the tangled green of the jungle.