On my way past the bar, I poured myself a glass of wine and then sat in one of the chaise lounges. The air was warm and humid, and I opened my robe to cool off. I felt so wonderful I couldn’t really imagine what I’d done right to deserve this kind of reward. I felt as healthy and happy as I’d ever felt my entire life. I also had a kind of satisfaction deep inside me that I’d never felt before.
I sipped my wine and let it warm my insides as it smoothly invaded my bloodstream. The ocean was calm, but the slow rocking of the boat soon lulled me into a comfortable sleep. Something about the lapping waves against the hull and the total absences of the noises of civilization were an intoxicating brew. The rest of the inhabitants were also asleep down in the bowels of the enormous ship, so I didn’t feel concerned about my nakedness, and I laid there, enjoying the feel of the briny ocean air against my skin.
I have no idea how long I’d been asleep, but Amir’s presence woke me. He was settling into the chaise lounge next to mine. “You okay?” he asked, but I could tell he was unconcerned.
“Yeah, never better.”
He smiled and then picked up my hand. “It’s a stunning night,” he offered.
“This whole trip is amazing, Amir. I’m in heaven.”
“Perhaps I will purchase this ship. I am enjoying the seclusion more than I imagined.”
“I’d live on this thing if I could. What a wonderful life.”
He squeezed my hand harder, and then we laid there in silence admiring the moonbeams sparkling on the ocean. About half an hour later, Amir went to the bar and refilled my wine glass and got one for himself. He opened a hatch and produced a large, two person inflatable bed, and with some nearby covers, we made a little camp spot up on the helicopter pad. We giggled together and cuddled and acted like lovesick teenagers who couldn’t get enough of each other. I continued to tell him how happy I was. I also confessed how excited I was at the prospect of having another child with him.
“I am surprised you are not already with another.”
“Me too, after being your sex goddess for the past month.”
He snorted at my lewd comment. “You are so crude at times. But I suppose it is something I will just have to try harder to achieve.”
I toasted him and sipped my wine, “Yeah, keep making deposits. I’ll enjoy the free drinking time.”
“This is true,” he absently commented as he pulled me up closer.
He then growled and gripped my hip, “I want you up here, in the night air, Julie.”
I giggled, “Okay!”
He rolled up on top of me and settled himself between my thighs, prodding into the soft skin of my apex. I touched his face and then dug my fingers into his thick hair, holding his face to mine while I kissed him passionately. He entered me slowly, and I felt everything inch of his heat as he spread me out and inhabited my core. My newly healed skin was tingling with feeling, and I rolled my pelvis to give him a better angle. He groaned and held my hip with one hand as he began to take me slowly on the helicopter pad of the yacht. The air tickled our bare skin, and the night air swallowed our moans of delight.
I clung to him and rolled with his movements, and we became one person. I lost track of where I ended and he began. He was drained from our earlier session, so he could take his time, which he did, and it seemed as if we made love for hours. He lifted my woozy body—both from the liquor thick in my system and the sex-induced endorphins he was now producing in multitude—and thrust into me, bruising me with his grip and his strength. My head swam, and I climaxed over and over until I almost passed out and again felt as if I were down in a deep well. My vison blurred and my hearing echoed, and he didn’t cease. I heard my own voice, but it seemed as if from a great distance, “Oh God, oh God—AMIR!”
“Mine—mine—you are mine!” My huge warrior husband growled at my ear.
We collapsed in a pile of parts, and I remember nothing of the time between him releasing deep inside me and the span until I woke up, smothered by his body. It was still dark, darker than earlier since the moon had traveled across the sky and disappeared into the ocean. It must have been near dawn, and the ocean was picking up as well and the boat was rocking more than it had in the days previous. I pushed on Amir’s shoulder and he groggily rolled away from me and then promptly fell back asleep with a loud snore. I sat up and my head swam. I picked up my glass and downed the last of my whiskey and waited for it to warm my throat. When I stood, I swayed with the boat and staggered to the railing, hoping it would support me. For a moment, I thought I was going to throw up, so I leaned over and began gaging. I hated vomiting and scolded myself for drinking so much on an empty stomach.
My eyes teared, and I took my hand off the railing to wipe at my cheeks, which turned out to be a huge mistake because the boat was hit by a large swell and rocked dramatically. The ocean below sped towards me as the boat swayed and then we rebounded, and like the recoil of after a bungee jump, the railing of the boat flew up and away from the dark water. My head really swam then, and I lost the battle to remain conscious. I don’t remember the fall. I do remember the feeling of oneness with the water and the darkness.
Chapter Eleven
I remember the darkness most of all. And the quiet—the dead silence full of soundless music. It was the strangest experience of my short life. Looking back, I guess I was near death. I’d thought I’d been dying when I almost lost Amsi and lost so much blood. But, I guess that was not the case. Now though? Now was an entirely different matter and this time I know I heard my grandmother’s voice. I turned and tried to find her, but she was nowhere. It was just complete darkness.
Nana? Is that you? I can’t see you. I hear you. Where are you?
Then everything crashed in on me—so much sound—too much sound! My head felt like it was about to explode. It hurt. Amir was frantic. Why was he so hysterical?
“Julie! Julie! Come back to me!”
Ouch, that hurts. Stop pressing so hard on my sternum. Too hard. I can’t take a breath. Stop sitting on me. What is happening?
“Julie! Oh Allah in the heavens do not take her! Julie!”
Take me? Oh there, my husband’s lips to mine. Oh shit, I need to cough. Amir, move. I’m sick.
I rolled to my side and gaged through an ocean of water as it evacuated my lungs and stomach.