Storm
Sinking815
May 19th, 2007
A/N: Just a little Jate muse that wouldn't let me call it a day. Trying out a new style (not permanent, just something different), so let me know what you think. Might be fluffy but as long as it holds us over until Wednesday, I say, "Whatever, man." Reviews appreciated.
Storms on this island are never gentle. They slowly roll in off the horizon, gathering energy from the warm waters of the ocean. The rain falls in sheets as if someone had made Niagara Falls a moving entity of the heavens. It never warns like the soft fleeting drops that drummed against the windows back in Iowa. Storms on this island hit with all the fury of a hurricane. She hears the ominous rumble of thunder before she sees lightning flash and it's enough to make her shudder with nervous excitement.
She knows he can feel her anxiety because he pulls her closer to him and she is thankful that he does. Even though she has long been rid of the storm phobia that tormented her as a little girl, his presence at her back is solid and reassuring. The weight of his arm across her tummy feels like security and she sighs, willing her heart to slow its insane hammering, willing it to match the easy rhythm of his breath on her neck.
The hush-hush of the palms outside are misleading as she stares wide-eyed at the fastened tarp grappling with an invisible foe. The wind beats itself senseless against their tent, a particular gust cracking the taut fabric and she jumps, startled and unnerved. A bolt of lightning bursts through the night with a brilliant white glare and leaves her momentarily blind. Darkness returns with the crackle of nearing thunder and suddenly the surf is louder than she remembers. But he's there and he shifts, whispering something to her hair.
Finding his hand with her own, she turns in his embrace and buries herself under his chin. When he swallows, the stubble along his neck tickles her nose. He's still for a moment; all she can feel is the steady pulse of his heartbeat at the back of her hand. It takes her a minute to realize that she feels safer this way, that he always make her feel secure, but the second she does, the tension in her muscles gives up its fight and she surrenders to him.
He's murmuring soft nothings and she loves the feel of his lips against her forehead and how out of sync their movements are with the motion of his hand pulling gently through her dark waves. She wants to smile, and almost does, when her cold bare feet press to his calf and he jumps from her frigid touch, only to let her use him as a foot warmer. He lets go her hand to wrap the thin airline blanket around her quivering frame and she wonders if he does it as a gesture of comfort or a gesture of warmth.
The thunder is working with the lightning now and it unleashes another roar behind her back. The rain is torrential and assaults the tarp with a smattering that deafens the ears. She can't hear his voice as much as she can feel the vibrations in his chest. She just closes her eyes, sighs contently, and snuggles closer. Storms on this island hit with all the fury of a hurricane, but as long as he holds her like this, she could care less.
Finis
