Locked (Savage Men 2)

I can’t.

Even though I want to, so badly, more than anything.

I want to give in to my heart, but my moral compass won’t let me.

If I truly am pregnant, then I should get off this island.

Right now.

Not for myself, but for that baby.

If it is real, and I am pregnant, there’s no way I can have it on this island.

That wouldn’t be right for the baby. Or for me.

I have to make the right decision.

So I push Lock away and say, “No.”

He frowns as I get up and walk to the door. “No, what? You’re not my woman?”

“I can’t, Lock,” I say, glancing over my shoulder, tears filling my eyes. “Don’t ask this of me, please.”

Before I burst into tears, I run outside and slam the door shut.

I do what I always do. What I’m used to.

When I’m suffocating in my own emotions … I shut people out.

Accompanying Song: “Come Say Hello” by SuperHumanoids

Lock

For the entire day, she works on some kind of long wooden thing next to the campfire. She toils away with my tools, not even asking if she can borrow them, but sure. Every time I ask her what she’s doing, she ignores me and throws me a look. Like I’m the bad guy for asking her why she’s so upset.

Maybe I am. At this point, I honestly don’t know anymore.

We’ve all done bad shit, but does that make me the only one around who’s selfish? No.

She doesn’t think about me or anyone else while she’s attempting to do fuck knows what. I don’t know why she’s still so pissed off at me. She got what she wanted; I told her about me, and then we made up with sweet, rough sex. And it’s still not enough.

What else can I give her to make her happy?

She won’t accept the drinks I offer or the food. Kisses or hugs are out of the question, and talking won’t work either.

The moment she became sick, everything went downhill again. Is it because she’s afraid of being down on the ground with no way to recover? Or is it because she thinks she might be pregnant?

If that’s the case, I can’t be happier.

My woman … pregnant with my baby. That’s like a dream come true.

But it doesn’t seem like that to her. Is having my baby so bad? On this island?

I sit down in front of her with a cup of water in my hand and try to offer it to her again, but she doesn’t even look at it.

“Jules … c’mon,” I say, holding it under her nose.

She pushes me away and part of the water splashes all over the ground. “Don’t.”

“What’s your problem?” I ask.

“This,” she says. “Everything.”

I sigh. “You still want off the island?”

“Yes.” She says it within a heartbeat. As if it doesn’t mean the world to me if she stayed.

I bite my lip and say, “No.”

Her face contorts as she lowers the tools for a second and stares at me. “You have no right to decide that for me.”

“You want to get away from me?”

“I never said that,” she says.

“No, but it’s the same.”

“It’s not. I just … never mind.” She shakes her head. “If you’re not going to help me, just let me work.”

“What are you making?” I ask.

“You’ll see,” she mumbles as she toils on.

I shrug and chug the last bit of water before placing the cup on the ground. “Suit yourself. I’m going to hunt.”

Accompanying Song: “Believer” by Imagine Dragons

Lock

When I come back from my hunt at sundown, I drop off all the meat and fish in my hut, which I’ll smoke later. When I look around, Jules is nowhere to be found. I thought she’d be inside, but there’s no one here but me. Where the fuck did she go?

“Jules?” I call out her name several times outside, but there’s no response.

Fuck.

Did she disappear on me again?

Where did she go this time? Back to the helicopter? Up the hills into the deep jungle? Fuck, I hope not.

Did she not leave any tracks? Nothing’s missing … except for that thing she was making.

That long wooden thing. What could it be used for? It was carved out enough for it to fit her body. She kept on sitting down inside and then getting back up again.

And then it hits me.

It must be … a boat.

Fuck.

Of course, she would build one.

I immediately grab my spear and a lit torch and march through the jungle. I know where she is. We always come back to that same place … where our love gets torn apart between our different worlds.

The beach.

The moment I get there, I stare out into the distance. There’s a tiny speck in the water. I can barely tell because it’s already getting dark, but it has to be her.

It has to be.

I throw the torch and spear down on the ground and rush through the sand toward the water, but the closer I get, the farther the boat seems to go. It’s definitely her. The short hair and curvy body give it away.