Chapter 7
Cherish
It’s a little after ten. Breakfast has been prepared for us by the chef and I’m sitting on the veranda, listening to the water crest, enjoying the breeze and watching Monty on his cell phone. He has on a pair of white slacks – the flimsy kind of pants that clings to everything male about him. Dark Versace sunglasses hide his eyes. These days in paradise have him rocking a golden bronze tan. Has him looking like Egyptian royalty. The black hair on his chest provides a contrast that instantly makes me lick my lips. My husband is the ish and he knows it. It should be unlawful to be so freakin’ good-looking. He’s drippin’ with swagger. Drippin’ with an abundance of it.
An appreciative smile grows on my face, but my poor baby…
He’s a little perturbed right now and by perturbed, I mean pissed – the vintage Montgomery-style of frustration. He’s fire-hot mad that he had to take an emergency phone call from Hannah – his secretary – this morning. I knew he was heated but when he snapped and answered the phone with, “What part of DO NOT DISTURB don’t you understand!” it revealed how angry he really was. I instantly felt sorry for Hannah. Somehow she must’ve calmed him down because he’s been talking to her in a more reasonable and rational tone for the last five minutes. He runs a billion-dollar company – this was bound to happen. He’s more bothered by it than I am.
When he’s done with the call, he looks back at me. I can see him struggling, trying to get back into a good mood after being interrupted.
“Sorry about that,” he says.
“It’s fine, Monty,” I say taking a strawberry from a container full of fresh fruit.
“No, it’s not fine. I told them not to bother me.”
“Some things can’t be helped, and the call is over now, so relax, baby.” I bite the strawberry.
He slides his sunglasses from his eyes and places them on the table, hitting me with his green lasers. He narrows his eyes and asks, “Why are you always eating strawberries?”
I giggle and offer a half shrug. “Because they’re good.”
“I think you’re trying to entice me.”
He thinks I’m trying to entice him when he’s walking around in see-through, clingy white pants with no shirt…
“I wasn’t trying to seduce you, but since you brought it up, is it working?”
His fingers twitch.
My mouth quirks up in the corner. Yeah, it’s working…
He takes a breath, still relieving himself from the stress of the call and says, “I have a surprise for you after breakfast.”
“A surprise?”
“Yes.” He takes a plate and places a sample of all the food on it – waffles, fruit, bacon, sausage – and hands it to me.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“So, tell me more about this surprise.”
“If I did that, it wouldn’t be a surprise, now would it?”
“I guess not.”
“When we’re done, you’ll need to pack an overnight bag. The plane leaves at noon.”
“Plane? Where are we going, Monty?”
“To one of the other islands.”
“We’re going on an adventure. Yes!” I don’t know why I’m so giddy all of a sudden. Flying here to Seychelles is an adventure all in itself. Now, we’re heading somewhere else and I’m ready to go.
* * *
We’re on the plane. Monty tells me the flight will be about thirty-five minutes. He presses his lips against the back of my hand then interlock my fingers with his as I marvel at the beauty of this place. Lush green trees, palms, shrubs and low-lying clouds decorate the mountains. The beaches are like postcards – the water close to the shore is crystal clear, then light teal, then dark teal until it gradually becomes a dark blue farther away from the shore.
I squeeze Monty’s hand and say, “Monty, look at that beautiful rock formation over there. It’s so beautiful.”
“It is. We’ll take pictures when we land,” he tells me. He leans closer to me and says, “Let me borrow your lips for a minute.”
“Borrow?” I ask, amused.
“Yes. Borrow.”
I lean close to him and he takes it from there. The moment our lips connect, I feel that instant spark, one that I always feel as his tongue explores and fills my mouth, awakening desire in me. I instantly regret that we’re in the air, almost about to land.
He withdraws from my mouth, then smiles. His smile is dazzling. He rarely shows his teeth when he smiles probably because he’s so used to not smiling. Or maybe it’s because he’s made some women pass out by doing that. That smile of his is incredible. It’s both beautiful and devious all at once.
He points and says, “You see that island over there?”
“Yes?”
“That’s where we’re headed? Curieuse Island.”
I return my attention to the view. It blows my mind how much world there is out here in this universe. There’s so much I haven’t seen. These beautiful islands are just the tip of the iceberg.
After we land, we’re greeted by a private tour guide who tells us all about Curieuse Island. He gives us some history about this place – says a fire destroyed a lot of the vegetation here in 1967 but after that devastating event, the government took measures to conserve this precious land. Looking around, I can’t imagine a place so beautiful being destroyed.
He tells us about the parrotfish, lemon sharks and giant tortoises. And speaking of tortoises, the hike hasn’t begun and there are about fifteen giant land tortoises walking about. It’s mind-blowing.
“Oh my goodness! Do you see this, Monty?”
“Yeah, baby. I see them.”
“They’re beautiful creatures, aren’t they?” the tour guide asks.
“They’re amazing! Come on, Monty. Let’s go greet them,” I say pulling him along.
He laughs at my enthusiasm. “Wait, baby. You don’t know what you’re walking into.”
“No worries, Sir,” the tour guide says. “They’re harmless.”
“See—they’re harmless,” I tell him. “Now, come on.”
We walk right up to a big tortoise. Its shell is huge. His head is bigger than Monty’s hand.
“You can feed them,” the tour guide informs us.
“Seriously?” I ask.
“Yes. Grab a handful of leaves and go for it. They’ll instantly become your new best friends.”
“Monty, go get me some leaves,” I say, excitement filling my request.
“Cherish, settle down, baby.”
“I can’t settle down. I’m too turned up. I’m shaking.”
“See what you’ve done,” Monty tells the tour guide.
Monty walks over to a tree and plucks a helping of leaves. I take one and hold it in front of this beautiful creature’s mouth and he grabs it! I give his rough skin a touch and pat him gently on the head.
“I knew my flower girl would enjoy this,” Monty says. “But I didn’t think you’d fall in love with tortoises.”
“I can’t help it. They’re so beautiful, Monty.” I’m still feeding my new tortoise friend when two others approach me. “Aw…they want some, too. Monty, get me some more leaves.”
Monty grins and takes out his phone. Snaps some pictures of me. “You can’t feed them all, superwoman.”
“But they’re so cute,” I say throwing a hand on my heart. “This is insane. I’ve never seen so many tortoises in my life and definitely never seen any this big.”
“Cherry, baby.”
“Yes?” I say, not even looking at Monty. I’m obsessed with these tortoises. To be so big, they’re gentle, docile creatures.
“Baby, we have a hike to go on. We’ll see more tortoises along the way.”
“I know, but not one this cuuute. Look at him, Monty,” I pout. “We should adopt him.”
He chuckles. “Baby, we’re not adopting a tortoise. Now, bring your pretty lil’ behind on here. We have to go.”
“Okay, okay…give me a few more minutes.”
I feed one of the tortoises the last leaf, then I feel myself being lifted from the earth. Monty throws me over his shoulder like a burlap sack and tells the tour guide to proceed.
“Monty,” I say laughing. “Put me down.”
“No. You might fall in love with another tortoise.”
“Are you jealous?”
“I am. I want all your attention.”
“Whatever. You’re funny, babe.” My giggles echo through the dense mangrove tree forest that’s interestingly beautiful. I’ve never seen trees like this with spikey branches and roots growing up out of the white sand. It looks kinda creepy and magnificent at the same time.
Monty lowers me to my feet when we come upon more tortoises. We feed them leaves, then continue to a beach that’s so magnificent, so spectacular it rivals the one by our vacation home. The water is crystal clear and undisturbed. You can see straight to the bottom. It looks unreal. Who would think water this clear could exist anywhere?
The tour guide tells us we’re at Baie Laraie and we get another thrilling surprise – an up-close look at some hump-head parrotfish. I take pictures with my cell, then I get the tour guide to take pictures of me and Monty together.
We end the tour with a dip in this ocean. The water’s so perfect, I don’t want to get in, but Monty ain’t having that. He coaxes me in when he pulls his shirt over his head and trust me – that’s enough to make me follow him right on in.
“This is the best day ever,” I tell him.
He smiles. Doesn’t say a word. The water does weird things to his eye color – exciting things, like makes a prism of colors illuminate from them. He walks further away from the shore until he’s knee-deep. I follow and wrap my arms around him from behind. He turns to look at me.
My heart does cartwheels.
My, my, my…
I don’t think I will ever get used to this. The shape of his nose, his beard, his lips, his eyes – he’s everything. He bites his lip then splashes water on me. The playful side of him appears. I love this side even though I’ve come to appreciate all sides of him, even the side that houses the grenade in him.
I chase him through the water. He runs further away from me then leaps into a dive. So freakin’ sexy. Monty’s an expert swimmer. He swims further away then just as quickly, he’s back, all wet and standing in front of me. He tilts my chin upward and sucks my lips like he wants to eat them, then parts my lips with his tongue. One of his hands settles at the nape of my neck. The other grips my butt cheek. He plunges his tongue inside of my mouth something fierce.
“Mmm,” he hums. “So good.”
For a brief second, I think about how we’re not the only ones out here but Monty doesn’t care about that. I’m learning not to as well, but I’m not as comfortable as him. Still, I latch on to his tongue and kiss him with as much passion as he’s kissing me. He releases me just slightly, our nose touching when he whispers, “I could take you out here right now.”
“Montgomery St. Claire, behave yourself.”
“I am behaved. If I wasn’t, you’d be naked and screaming right now.”
“Okay, you got a point.”
“You will be naked tonight, though.”
“Is that right?”
“It is.”
“Where are we staying?”
“At the Acajou Beach Resort on the island of Praslin. We’ll have dinner and then I’ll have you.”
He kisses me again and then we relax on the beach for a while before a jet boat whisks us off to Praslin where we visit a museum there to get some insight on the culture and traditions of the Seychelles. We see more tortoises. There’s a display of traditional artifacts, photographs and caged fruit bats. We try our hand at husking coconuts. Monty proves to be a lot better at this than me. One of the locals hacks the coconut to reveal its milk. Monty’s holding it and tells me to open my mouth. I’m hesitant to try it at first so he drinks from it – sells the taste and the experience. I open my mouth while he pours. I catch the flavor – it’s different – doesn’t quite taste like water but it’s still a refreshing treat from the tropical heat.
After we leave the museum, we hit the shops. We stop at a place called Black Pearl where Monty buys me a pair of earrings. Then we visit an art shop and purchase multiple pieces from a local artist – souvenirs for us to put around the house to remind ourselves of the fantastic time we had on our honeymoon when we’re home.