Fire...Ammon’s throat was on fire.
With a groan of panic, Ammon thrashed as the smell of burning filled his nostrils. Was he still in the airplane? Was his skin melting off? He squirmed, letting out a cry of panic.
He heard somebody with a deep, husky voice speak to him in a foreign tongue.
A person was here. Ammon opened his eyes, and he stared straight into a tan face. It was the man he’d thought he’d imagined on the beach.
“Y-you,” Ammon said hoarsely.
The dark-haired man inspected Ammon, his unusual golden eyes narrowed with what looked like concern. Despite his sympathetic gaze, Ammon found himself feeling intimidated by the man’s hulking body. He tried to sit up, but pain shot through his torso. He gazed down at himself, half expecting to see a giant blade wedged in his chest.
“You’re injured,” the man said with a thick accent. “You shouldn’t move.”
Ammon stared at the stranger, wondering who the hell this person was. Dizzy from both confusion and his injuries, he settled back down and realized that the burns on his hands and arms were covered in dark green leaves. The man must have covered his wounds.
“Who are you?” Ammon stared at the golden-eyed stranger. “Where am I?”
The man sat on the dirt beside him. For the first time, Ammon realized that he’d been dragged off the beach and was now hidden in the bushes. A fire crackled in front of him, which explained the smell that had frightened him into awakening.
“My name is Kohana,” the man said.
“Kohana.” What a strange name. Ammon had never heard anything like it.
“Yes. And you’re on Delshay Island.”
“Delshay Island.” He’d never heard of Delshay Island. Why couldn’t he have crashed near someplace he knew, like Hawaii?
Kohana nodded. “In your tongue, this place is called Walking Bear Island.”
Walking Bear Island didn’t ring any bells either. “I’ve never heard of it before.”
“You wouldn’t. This island is supposed to remain a secret. Very few know where it is. Your government knows our whereabouts, but even they want this place to remain undiscovered.”
Oh, bloody fantastic. “Why is it a secret?”
Instead of responding to his question, Kohana looked away and peered between the trees. Ammon followed his gaze and saw the ocean in the distance. Even looking at the water gave Ammon the chills. He could still imagine the feeling of pain when the plane crashed, and he could practically taste the salt water upon his lips. Ammon wrapped his arms around himself, all concerns about the secret island forgotten.
“I saw the plane hit the ocean,” Kohana said as if reading his mind.
Ammon’s heart ached as he nodded. The screams of the other passengers still echoed in his ears. Despite his agony, he had the urge to go back to the beach to look at the wreckage.
He tried to sit up. Pain seared through his chest yet again, and he let out a cry.
Kohana placed a large but gentle hand on his arm. “Lay down.”
“But I want to see if anybody else is out there.” Ammon thought of the nervous blonde who’d sat next to him, and his heart went out to her. “What if there are other survivors?”
“I’m sorry, but no one else survived. I already looked.”
Ammon had never heard more agonizing words in his entire life. “Are you sure? Maybe I should go in the water. Somebody could still be out there.”
“I swam out to the crash site already. Trust me, you’re the only one who made it.” Kohana gave a sad sigh, as if he’d witnessed the deaths of the other passengers firsthand. “You’ve been asleep for a long time. If there were any other survivors, they would have resurfaced by now.”
Though Ammon had never been an emotional man, his throat grew thick with tears at the thought of all of those other people who’d never make it home.
As he stared at the ocean, he said, “Why me? Why am I the only one who survived?”
“You were blessed by the gods.”
For a second, he thought that Kohana was joking, but then he realized he wasn’t. “The gods? What?”
“You’re not only the lone survivor of a plane crash, but you also swam out to shore the moment I was heading toward the beach. If somebody else had arrived instead of me, you would have been killed. The gods must have wanted you to live. It’s the only explanation.”
The hair on the back of Ammon’s neck stood on end. “Wait a second. You make it sound like there are people on the island who’d want to kill me.”
Kohana stood. “You should drink. Your throat sounds dry. And you’ve been sleeping the entire day. Some food will help you regain your strength. If the gods are so intent on keeping you alive, I don’t want to anger them by letting you die.”
Ammon panicked. “Wait. Tell me about the others on the island.”
Kohana took a step away from him. “I’ll be back in a moment.”
“Please tell me what’s going on.” Ammon glanced over his shoulder, imagining deadly men wielding spears. “Am I in danger?”
Kohana gave him a long look. Because of his unusual eye color, his prolonged stare was eerie. “You don’t need to worry about the others on the island. I’ll make sure that nothing happens to you.”
Without another word, Kohana darted through the trees with the swiftness of a wild animal. Ammon stared after him, stunned, then realized he’d been given his answer. He was in danger. There were other people here who wanted to kill him. A chill ran down his spine. Oh God, what if he’d ended up on an island of cannibals? Sure, he should have counted himself lucky that he’d managed to survive the plane crash, but if he had the choice between being eaten alive and drowning, he would have chosen drowning.
He experienced a rising urge to scream but forced himself to remain calm. He needed to think things through. Yeah, he was in a pretty shitty situation right now, but he could live through this. All he had to do was survive until somebody came onto the island to rescue him. After all, it was only a matter of time before the United States sent out people to search for survivors. And on top of that, he knew from watching the in-flight map that the plane had to have crashed somewhere near Spain. Maybe wreckage would wash up on the shores of a populated beach, and somebody would figure out where he was.
Ammon took a deep breath—and still felt like shit.
Before he had too long to dwell on his problems, Kohana reappeared with a large fish and a coconut. The sight of an attractive naked man bringing him food was disorienting. Still, when Kohana bent down to offer him the hollowed-out coconut full of water, he accepted it and drank greedily. The moment the coconut was empty, he let out a sigh of relief. The water sloshed around inside him. Unfortunately, it must have awoken his stomach, because it let out an angry growl.
“I really must have been asleep for a long time.” His stomach hadn’t rumbled like that in years.
Kohana nodded and bent down in front of the fire, revealing that his ass was as hard as the coconut Ammon was drinking from. It was the first time that Ammon could ever remember examining another man’s body so closely, and he found himself feeling embarrassed by his actions. He glanced away, despite the strange urge to keep looking.
“By the way, I should thank you,” Ammon said, and he was relieved to hear that his voice wasn’t as hoarse. “Without you, I probably would be dying right now.”
Kohana nodded and impaled the fish with a stick. He thrust it into the fire. “I’m just glad that I found you when I did. I suppose it was fate.”
Whatever Kohana’s strange religion was, he appeared to believe fiercely in it.
“You have strong faith,” Ammon said.
Kohana searched his face. “Don’t you?”
Ammon considered the question. He was a Christian, but to his mom’s horror, he’d stopped going to church once he came to America. “No, I don’t.”
“Well, maybe you should.” Kohana turned his attention back to the roasting fish. “Somebody up there saved you.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Yet somebody up there had also let hundreds of other people on the plane die...
Ammon’s heart throbbed at the thought. He was submerged in silence, praying that the deaths of the other passengers had at least been quick and painless. The idea that some people might have slowly drowned or been burned alive made him queasy. He squeezed his eyes shut and realized that what he wanted most was to fall back asleep again. That way, he would have respite from his anguish.
Kohana touched his face, surprising him. “Are you in pain?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
He heard the sound of something snapping, and he opened his eyes.
Kohana offered him a long twig.
“What is it?” Confused, Ammon accepted the branch.
“It’s a branch from a...a...I’m not sure what you’d call the tree in your tongue. In my language, the trees are called kai. But this branch will help with your pain. I promise you.”
Ammon hesitated, then took the branch from the other man. Though he doubted that a twig would help with a bruised heart and a confused mind, he didn’t want to make his only ally unhappy by turning down the man’s kindness. Still, he wasn’t sure what to do with the twig. He stared down at it, confused.
“Um, what do I do?”
Kohana chuckled as if Ammon was a little kid asking something obvious. The sound of the other man’s laughter was deep but heartfelt, and if Ammon hadn’t been suffering so much, he was certain that he would have enjoyed the sound. “Chew on it.”
“Okay.” Ammon stuck the branch between his teeth.
He chewed on the twig and watched the fire. Minutes passed. The pounding in his head began to dissipate, and he became more and more surprised as the pain dissipated. And what surprised him even more was that when Kohana touched his face, some of the pain in his heart began to ease too.
Kohana searched his eyes. “Feel any better?”
“Yeah.” He was nowhere near normal, but he felt saner. And at that moment, he found himself thanking Kohana’s strange gods for keeping him alive.
* * * *
Ammon awoke with a dry mouth. Groaning, he opened his eyes. Where the hell was he? Why was he so thirsty? And what was poking him in the back? He sat up and experienced a searing pain in his chest. The agony reminded him of the plane crash, and he remembered all the awful things he’d experienced. Frustrated and wanting to see how extensive his injuries were, he grabbed the bottom of his tattered T-shirt and pulled it up to his chest. Even in the dark, he noted that massive bruises covered his body. Shit. No wonder he could barely sit up. His entire torso was black and blue. Still, the back of his hands were in worse condition. Even flexing his fingers was painful.
But it could be worse, he thought, gazing into the distance. I could be dead.
The pain in his chest sharpened, and this time, he knew it had nothing to do with his bruises.
As he massaged his chest, he heard a deep snore coming from beside him, and he looked down. Kohana was lying close, a solid arm draped over his head. Now the mystery of what had been prodding Ammon in the back was solved. The man’s meaty, veiny cock was erect, and Ammon knew it had been nestled against his lower back while he slept. Instead of feeling disgusted, his core tightened from pleasure, and he hated himself for having such a reaction. He was stranded in the middle of an island. Hundreds of people had just died. What was the matter with him?
Disgusted with himself, Ammon moved away from the other man and lay back down, trying to ignore the fact that he was in pain and dehydrated. He shut his eyes, willing himself to fall asleep. Unfortunately, despite how exhausted he was, he was so thirsty that it was impossible. He realized that the only way he would fall asleep without having something to drink first was if he knocked himself unconscious with a rock. He sat up and glanced at Kohana, who was sleeping at his side. The man was snoring up a storm, and he hated to wake him, especially since there might be some embarrassment over his hard-on.
Ammon hesitated before looking through the trees. Earlier, Kohana hadn’t taken long to grab him some fresh water. Probably there was some sort of spring just out of sight. Surely the island wasn’t so dangerous that he couldn’t walk a couple of feet to grab some water... Well, assuming that he could manage to stagger to his feet in the first place.
Gritting his teeth, Ammon stood for the first time since the plane crash. Every muscle in his body screamed in agony. He knew it was sheer stupidity, but the pain only made his determination to remain upright even stronger. After all, he wasn’t the sort of person who enjoyed being served water when he was more than capable of taking care of himself.
As his chest tensed in pain, Ammon took one step forward, then another, and another. Luckily, after he pushed through the thick green underbrush, he stumbled upon a spring brimming with glorious clear water. His mouth had never been drier, and he fell to his feet in front of the pool, grunting in pain as he did so. Without even tasting it first to make sure that the water wasn’t salty, he buried his head under the surface of the pool.
Yes! he thought, gorging himself on the glorious liquid.
He knew that water was supposed to be flavorless, but at that moment, he’d never tasted anything so sweet. Ammon drank until he was certain there wasn’t an empty spot in his stomach. Relieved, he sat back and wiped his damp mouth on his sleeve.
Now that his thirst was quenched, Ammon stood up, trying to ignore the burning pain that still shot through his chest. Once he was certain that he wasn’t going to topple to his knees again, he placed his burned hand on his aching pec, wincing as he did so. Shit. I wonder how long this is going to hurt. He hated how much it pained him to move.
Ammon took a step forward, trying not to bitch and moan like he longed to. Just when he passed through the bushes, something dark darted between the trees. He froze, wondering whether it was one of the murderous islanders that Kohana had mentioned. Shit, shit, shit. Maybe he could fight a man if he was healthy, but right now, he would be sure to lose. Hell, with how he felt, he wasn’t sure he could win a fight even if he was armed with a machine gun and a hand grenade.
“Kohana,” Ammon cried, hating the fact that he had to call for help.
Leaves crackled, and the dark figure shifted. For the first time, Ammon realized he wasn’t looking at an islander after all. No, he was looking at some sort of animal. He groaned. That was even worse. After all, he was well aware that islands had wild boars, water buffalos, and boonie dogs. There was a good chance that he was about to die. Why, oh why had he wandered off without Kohana? Of all the ridiculous things he’d done throughout his life, this had to have been the stupidest. Right now, he could barely walk. He should have been more careful.
“Uh, Kohana,” Ammon said again, praying that Kohana was a light sleeper.
He heard groaning, luckily, and he knew that Kohana had woken up. The unknown beast shifted in the underbrush. Before Kohana could appear, more foliage crackled, and the creature disappeared. Ammon breathed a sigh of relief. Okay, so he wasn’t going to die, after all. Maybe he’d been an idiot about the whole thing. The so-called wild boar could have actually been a curious sloth, and now he’d woken up Kohana over nothing.
He hung his head in shame as Kohana stumbled through the trees toward him.
“What are you doing?” Kohana glanced around and sniffed. His eyes narrowed. “You shouldn’t have wandered off alone. I told you, this island isn’t safe.”
Ammon glanced at the spring. “I was thirsty.”
“Next time, tell me. I’ll bring you water.”
“You were sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you.”
Kohana held his gaze. “I don’t care. If you need something, ask me.”
The man was so insistent that Ammon was wary. “Why? Is it because you’re worried the other natives are going to hurt me?”
Kohana didn’t say anything.
“Well, I saw some sort of animal, not a person.” Ammon looked in the bushes where he’d seen the animal. “It wasn’t an islander.”
“The wild animals on this island are just as dangerous as the men. Even if you weren’t injured, you wouldn’t stand a chance against the beasts here. You have to understand that.”
“What?” Ammon whispered. “Do you mean wild boars or—”
“Wild boars are nothing compared to what lurks out there.” Kohana gave him a hard stare. “Earlier, you asked me why this place is kept a secret. Well, I’ll tell you. Walking Bear Island is one of the most dangerous places in the world. Tonight you’re lucky that I was nearby. Chances are good that whatever you saw would have killed you if it hadn’t smelled me.”
The warning made Ammon’s heart beat faster. “One of the most dangerous places in the world?”
Kohana grabbed his arm and started to pull him forward. “I was trying not to tell you because I could tell you were uneasy, but I didn’t expect you to wander off on your own.”
“But I’m used to doing things on my own. I’m a full-grown man.” A full-grown man who’d had to defend himself in fights more often than he could count. Nevertheless, he was injured, and he didn’t like the sound of this “one of the most dangerous places in the world” business.
Kohana’s shoulders slumped. “I know that you’re a man, but you’re only a man. That’s your problem.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean? “Huh?”
“Come on.” Kohana led him back into the area where they’d been sleeping. “For now, just lie down and rest. Since you’ve already been spotted, we’ll have to move someplace safer tomorrow morning. I hope you’ll be strong enough to walk.”
“Spotted?”
Instead of answering, Kohana lay down and curled up. Ammon hesitated before lying down beside him. As Ammon stared into the dark sky, every sound alarmed him. It was only when he focused on Kohana’s deep breathing that he began to relax again. It’s okay, he told himself. Kohana has lived here his whole life. This may be one of the most dangerous places in the world, but he knows how to navigate it. With that thought in mind, Ammon shut his eyes and once again began to drift off to sleep.