Kingdom of Salt, page 8
As long as no-one questioned us too closely about where we found materials to fix the boat, that should work.
And as long as no-one found out what Finn was.
I sat up suddenly and banged my head on the low ceiling. It hadn’t occurred to me before, but now I realised I might have put Finn in danger.
What if someone discovered his secret, that he could breathe underwater? Would he be seen as a freak? Or worse, something to experiment on?
“Shit,” I muttered, rubbing my head. I hadn’t thought this through.
I should have let him go back to his island. Instead, I was bringing a merman to meet my friends.
I’d have to make it very, very clear to him that he couldn’t let anyone know that he could breathe underwater. And he definitely couldn’t let anyone see his gills.
Thank God he couldn’t talk, I thought, lying down again and trying to get comfortable. At least he wouldn’t say the wrong thing.
Next morning, the captain woke me with a mug of steaming tea, and I went to find Finn. He was standing at the prow alone, looking broodingly into the distance.
When he saw me, he cleared his throat.
“Good morning,” he said.
I dropped the mug.
Chapter Twelve
“Wha… what the actual fuck?” I spluttered, staring at him in shock. He cocked his head to one side.
“Did I not say it correctly?” His voice was warm and husky as he sounded out every vowel and consonant. “It took me some time to learn your language.”
“Learn the… you mean to tell me, you learned English in a few days?”
“Yes. Is that not a reasonable length of time? I apologise if I took longer than anticipated, Ash Mitra. Some of your idioms were a little hard to fathom. I expect your people learn languages in a much shorter space of time.”
“No, no, a few days is, um, perfectly acceptable,” I replied faintly. My mind was whirling. He’d learned to speak English because of me? “If you didn’t know English, how did you understand what I was saying?”
“I am uncertain.” He pondered for a moment. “But your meanings were always clear to me. Almost always.” He shot me a glance. “Sometimes I found them a little ambiguous.” I flushed.
“I apologise if I wasn’t entirely clear all the time,” I said stiffly. “But I will always be grateful to you for what you did for me.”
“You are most welcome, Ash Mitra.”
We stood in silence for a moment. I felt awkward and shy, his sudden ability to speak leaving me disorientated.
“Um, so do you have a name? A real one?”
“Yes. But it is unimportant. Finn is fine. I like it.”
“And where do you come from?” I lowered my voice. “How come you can breathe underwater?”
“I am a Cetaean,” he said simply, as if that answered everything.
“A what now?”
“Cetaean. We are an ancient civilisation.”
“So why don’t I know about you?”
“We keep our distance. As a rule, Cetaeans do not trust humans. Many blame them for our ever-decreasing numbers. Some fear we will die out altogether.”
“Why?”
“We have been pushed into ever smaller areas by human expansion. And we are not a united people. There is discord among us.”
I had a billion questions to ask him, my curiosity spilling over, but at that moment the captain yelled across to us.
“Land ahoy! We’re coming up to Sandy Cove!”
I looked over Finn’s shoulder and saw the island in the distance. There seemed to be a lot of activity in the harbour, and several speed boats were zooming towards us. The captain came to stand next to us.
“Better warn you, little miss. Some of those boats have journalists on them. There sho’ is a lot of interest in your miraculous survival. Just make sure you give the Sea Beam a mention!”
He wandered off, chuckling, as the first speed boats approached. Urgently, I grabbed Finn’s arm.
“I didn’t realise the media would be here. If you don’t want Cetaea crawling with press by the end of the day, you’d better let me do all the talking.”
He frowned.
“They have that power?”
“Clearly you’ve never met a journalist. Just go along with whatever I say. Trust me, Finn, I’m trying to keep you safe.”
He looked at me gravely.
“I do trust you, Ash Mitra.”
I bit back a smile, and made sure his shirt was covering his gills.
“Say as little as possible. You’re good at that.”
We watched as the first speedboat pulled alongside, accompanied by flashes of light and camera clicks. There was a contingent of press on board, all yelling questions at me.
But my attention was fixed on just one person. A distinguished looking man in his fifties with dark skin and a lion’s mane of greying hair.
It was my father, laughing and crying at the same time.
*
It was hours later. The media had finally been thrown out, peace had descended, and I was exhausted. My throat was sore from all the talking I’d been doing – to reporters and to the police.
I’d managed to keep Finn more or less in the background. In my version of the rescue, I’d washed up on an island and survived by eating fruit and coconuts, and he was a backpacker on an adventure who’d found me a couple of days later after a storm blew his boat aground. We’d fixed the boat and sailed off before being picked up by the Sea Beam.
Admittedly, I couldn’t keep him out of the media glare completely. He was too good-looking for that, plus the whole stranded-together-on-a-desert-island story was tabloid gold.
One female reporter in particular kept bombarding him with questions, obviously smitten with him. I watched her flutter her eyelashes at him, and he treated her to one of his slow sunshine smiles. I looked away, pretending not to notice.
But he’d kept his answers as brief and boring as possible, just like I’d told him. And after all, I was the heiress, the famous billionaire’s daughter who’d gone missing for more than a week, so most of the questions were directed at me.
Daddy had finally called time and shooed the media circus away, saying the family needed privacy. He closed the door behind the last of the reporters and I collapsed into an armchair.
I hadn’t even had a chance to get out of these ridiculous clothes. The photos of me in tomorrow’s papers were going to be awful, I thought glumly.
We were in the villa, one of several homes daddy kept around the world. For someone who enjoyed designing hotels, he had a deep dislike of living in them while he was working.
Sandy Cove was his newest project, and had barely been started. The hotel reception area was the only bit so far which had been completed.
Later on there would be a private marina and a five star restaurant. Bungalows would be dotted around the beachfront, and a small number of ultra-exclusive sea villas would be built on floating pontoons for celebrities and royals. The Mitra Resorts were the last word in luxury hideaways.
Daddy hugged me for the umpteenth time.
“I can’t believe it, beti,” he said again, using the Hindi word for ‘daughter’ which had been his nickname for me since I was little. “They called off the search yesterday, they said you could not possibly have survived. I am going to sue the rescue services, they assured me they were looking in the right place!”
“No, daddy, don’t sue them,” I said hastily. “It was just chance that I got swept out the other way. They couldn’t have known.”
“But surviving by yourself on an island! I am so proud. And you, young man, I have much to thank you for.” Daddy turned to Finn and grabbed his hand, shaking it vigorously. “If you had not come along, she would still be lost.”
“I am happy I could help,” Finn said politely.
“Tell me, son, where are your family? We must bring them here to celebrate.”
“I do not have any family, but thank you for the offer.”
“But where are you from? Why were you sailing in that part of the Caribbean?”
I butted in.
“Daddy, enough with the interrogation. Finn’s had enough of answering questions.”
“Of course, of course! But your complexion, I wondered if your background was Scandinavian?”
I was about to head off daddy’s curiosity when the door crashed open. My heart stopped as I saw a familiar figure, hair more tousled than usual, as if he’d been dragging his fingers through it.
“Josh!”
His blue eyes lighted on me, and in two quick strides he was by my side, sweeping me into his arms and kissing me passionately. His urgency left me breathless. He pulled back, his face a mix of relief and elation.
“I thought I’d lost you! Christ, Ash, I was so worried.”
Daddy cleared his throat, and Josh hurriedly let me go.
“Sorry, sir. I was overcome.”
“That’s quite alright, my boy. She is back, it’s a miracle. And this is the man who found her.”
Daddy gestured to Finn, who hadn’t moved a muscle since Josh had kissed me.
“Josh, this is Finn,” I said loudly. “Finn saved my life. Finn, I told you about Josh. My boyfriend, remember?”
I put emphasis on the word ‘boyfriend’. Josh held out his hand.
“Finn, man I owe you so much. Thank you for bringing Ash back to us.”
There was a long, awkward pause as Finn simply stared at him. Josh’s smile faltered.
Shit. I grabbed his outstretched hand and smiled.
“Finn’s really tired. It’s been a long day. Why don’t we all get some rest? Daddy, can Finn stay in one of the guest rooms?”
“Yes, of course he…”
“That is not necessary.” Finn spoke for the first time since Josh had entered the room. “I prefer to sleep on my boat.”
“That tiny thing?” Daddy’s forehead wrinkled. “We have an entire guest villa at our disposal, surely you’d be happier there?”
“I would be more comfortable on the boat. Buildings make me feel claustrophobic.”
“Well, of course. I’ll have some bedding sent over if you wish. And all food and drinks here are on me.”
“They are on you?” Finn sounded puzzled.
“He means they’re free,” I explained. “Just ask for whatever you want.”
“You know what I want. I want drawing materials. And tools. And candles.”
“You want what?”
Now it was Josh’s turn to look bewildered. I hurried over to Finn and grabbed his arm, pulling him to the door.
“Let’s talk later. Go get some rest, I’ll see you in the morning. Bye now!” I hustled him out of the door, and turned to face daddy and Josh with a weak smile.
“He’s foreign,” I explained.
“He’s a little strange,” said daddy. “But he rescued you, so he’s a hero in my book.”
“I expect he wants a big reward, does he?” Josh’s voice was casual, but I detected the hidden barb.
“Actually, I think he’d prefer to get his boat fixed. Daddy, can you help him with that? It floats, but that’s about it.”
“Of course, Ash. It would be my pleasure.” He hugged me again, and I smelled his Old Spice aftershave. Old Man aftershave, I used to call it teasingly. But it was comforting. He held onto me for a long time.
“Daddy, I’m fine, really.”
“I thought I’d lost you, like I lost your mother,” he murmured, and I got an inkling of just how worried he’d been. I squeezed his arm reassuringly.
“Not going anywhere, daddy. I’m your feckless daughter, remember? Can’t get rid of me.”
He laughed, and let me go.
“I love you anyway, feckless or not. Now, I have taken the liberty of inviting your friends here. Cordelia and the others returned home when it seemed all hope was lost, but they will be back tomorrow. They’ll be staying in the guest villa across the way.”
“Cordy?” My eyes shone. I’d missed her, frenemy or not.
“And now I will leave you in peace, beti. I know you have a lot of catching up to do with Josh, and you certainly don’t want your father around.”
Daddy shook Josh’s hand and left, tactfully closing the door behind him.
Immediately, Josh gathered me in his arms again.
“I was so worried, princess.” He nuzzled my ear, his lips searching out the sensitive hollow. “God, I missed you.” He kissed my eyes, my cheeks, finally claiming my lips.
I felt a glow as his hands stroked my body, tugging at the knotted T-shirt I was still wearing. His kisses grew more urgent.
I pushed his hands away, laughing.
“Seriously, you need to wait till I’ve had a shower. I’m still crusty from sand and sea water. I have salt in places you don’t want to know about.”
“Oh, but I do,” he said wickedly, his eyes sparkling. “I do want to know about them. In fact, I want to re-acquaint myself with them. Slowly and intimately.”
I closed my eyes his lips trailed down my neck, kindling a fire in my stomach. He brushed his hands over my curves, his expert touch through my clothes making me shiver.
He undid the knot at my waist and slid his hands under the T shirt. My breath caught as I pressed against him, waiting for his long, cool fingers to explore further.
But his hands felt different. They were warm.
With a start, I realised I wasn’t thinking about Josh.
He bent to kiss my collar-bone, his mouth hot against my skin. This is Josh, I reminded myself. He loves you, and you love him. I arched my back, trying to get back into the moment.
“What’s wrong, baby?” He was always intuitive about my feelings.
“Nothing. I think I’m just tired. Sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about. It’s my fault, I shouldn’t be rushing you.” He straightened my T shirt and kissed the top of my head. “You’ve been stranded on an island, and here I am trying to jump your bones. Forgive me, princess.”
“I just need some rest. And cocktails. Lots of cocktails. But absolutely nothing flavoured with coconut. Okay?”
“Okay. I promise, tomorrow you won’t be able to move for cocktails.” He slid into an armchair and pulled me into his lap. “So what was it like? On the island? You were alone, what, four days?”
“Something like that. It’s hard to keep track.”
“It’s a good job you found water and food. What did you eat?”
A memory of banana-leaf wrapped fish flashed into my mind.
“There were mangos and papayas growing in the forest. Coconuts which had fallen off the trees.”
“And then Finn came along.” He paused, and then asked casually, “Did you feel safe with him around?”
“Safe?”
“Yeah, you know. He looks like a strong lad, and you’re gorgeous, and you were all alone with him on the island, so did he behave himself?”
“You mean, did I behave myself?” My voice came out sharper than intended, and Josh looked startled.
“No, I didn’t …”
“For your information, I told Finn all about you. And he spent most of his time trying to fix his boat.” Both facts technically true, I added mentally.
“Okay, okay, I was out of line, I apologise.” Josh tried to mollify me. “Now why don’t you have a long, hot bath and grab some sleep, and I’ll check on you in the morning. Your father has put me in the guest villa. Smart man, obviously trying to avoid his little girl getting ravished too quickly.”
He kissed me gently and set me on my feet. “Good night, princess.”
I watched him leave, my stomach in knots. Okay, I hadn’t been entirely honest with him. But Josh could never know what had really happened. That I had kissed Finn.
It was a lapse, I told myself. I had been marooned, separated from everyone and everything I knew. I was scared, and Finn had been a… a comfort. Plus he’d helped me overcome my worst fear. I was just grateful, that’s all.
Now we were back in civilisation. Finn and I kissing… it should never have happened.
And it most certainly would never happen again.
Chapter Thirteen
I woke just after midnight, and couldn’t get back to sleep.
The bed was too soft, the room was too warm, and I felt hemmed in by the four walls. A few days living in the wild and I’d turned into a tree-hugger, I thought grumpily.
Maybe I should check on Finn? I hadn’t seen him since last night.
My luggage from the cruise liner had been brought to the villa for me. I sorted through my clothes, discarding bodycon outfits and designer skirts one after another. None of them seemed practical.
I held up a bright red Jimmy Choo pump, eyeing the heel critically. How on earth had I ever walked in these?
Eventually I slipped on a simple lightweight cotton dress and flip flops.
I twisted my hair into a bun to keep it off my shoulders. Glancing into a mirror, I saw my skin had darkened considerably while I’d been on the island.
Normally I kept out of the sun, unwilling to go browner than I already was. But now I didn’t mind so much. I looked healthy, my bronzed face making my grey eyes stand out even more.
I let myself quietly out of the villa. It was humid outside, the sounds of chirruping nocturnal insects overlaying the gentle lapping of the sea.
Most of the island’s population lived in the central town, or down by the harbour on the west side. Daddy had secured the rights to build on the east side. It was largely deserted on this part of the island, because it was more exposed and the sea was rougher. But daddy intended to create a sheltered bay using reclaimed land, where millionaires could swim and sunbathe in peace.
Right now the only thing there was a short stretch of beach and an old wooden jetty where Finn’s boat was moored.
I walked along the rickety platform, hearing the gentle slap of waves beneath it. There was a solitary lamp at the end to stop people sailing into the jetty, but other than that there wasn’t much light. I swore as I narrowly avoided stepping onto an ancient boathook, kicking it to one side.
