Chapter 20

Beach Olympics

After helping Christian haul all of the wine and liquor up to his suite, I learn what happened after he left me on his bed.

He went up to the big house, determined to find someone that could give us a condom. At first, Elliott was going to give him the one out of his wallet. Kate stopped Elliott after she realized that she would not be able to refill her birth control pills while on the island. This led to Christian asking every guy if they could spare a condom. Most of them seemed to have at least one in their wallets. It turns out that Taylor had a whole box. When Taylor was about to leave to retrieve them, Gail whispered something in his ear and then Taylor all of a sudden couldn't find them for Christian. Ok, I'm pretty sure that means that Taylor and Gail are getting it on.

Just as Sawyer was about to give Christian his wallet buddy, Elliott offered to buy it. Christian countered Elliott's offer which led to the two brothers getting into a bidding war. Mia jumped in by offering her own bid which then pissed her brothers off. They turned on Mia and told her that she was not having sex while on the island. Ethan piped in that if Elliott was forbidding his sister from having sex then Ethan was forbidding Kate. Yeah, right!

Growing ever frustrated at the amount of time his condom crusade was taking, Christian threatened that if someone did not cough up a condom, he would seize all of the alcohol. No one headed his warning which led to Christian commandeering Louisa's bike and trailer to show just how serious he was.

Christian thought that if he threatened to take the booze then someone would relinquish at least one condom, but the group called his bluff. They stood at the edge of the boardwalk and watched him pedal away on Louisa's petite-sized bike.

"It's ok, baby," I say, stroking Christian's arm. "We don't have to have sex tonight. We can still do other things," I purr hoping to calm him down. Who am I kidding? It has been over a month. I want this just as much as he does.

"I know. It's just that I really want to be inside of you," he whines, flashing his sad puppy eyes. "You know, I could always pull out..."

My snort cuts him off. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that line leads to, like, 99% of all unplanned pregnancies. Sorry but no birth control means no admission into the tunnel of love," I say with as much resolve as I can muster.

Christian grabs at his hair. "What, no…but that's my tunnel of love," he whines. He wraps his arms around my waist and begins kissing that spot behind my ear.

"Christian, I want you in the tunnel love just as bad as you want to be there. Trust me, I neeeed you in my tunnel of love. We have to be smart about this. Neither one of us wants a COVID baby. Let's not go all Blue Lagoon on this island. You are a billionaire. Can't you go dial up your satellite phone and arrange for a great big case of condoms to be airdropped to us or something?"

Christian perks up at my suggestion and bolts off to arrange Operation Trojan. Sadly, all the king's horses and all the king's men could not bring condoms to Barabai island. I guess that when you are on an archipelago chocked full of bored billionaires, condoms are one of the first resources to deplete. At midnight, I find Christian hunched over his desk unwilling to abort his mission. I gently rub his shoulders and cajole him to join me in bed. Tomorrow is another day…

Kate, Mia, and I laze in the comfort of the beach house's infinity pool. Our perch gives us a bird's eye view to what has digressed into an all-out brother versus brother lagoon-side battle. We have been watching for the better part of the day.

The shenanigans began at breakfast this morning. Elliott's shit-eating grin did not sit well with Christian's combination of sexual frustration and overall inability to get what he wants. Christian and I walked into breakfast holding hands. I felt his body tighten and go into king-of-the-pride mode as he circled the buffet. Christian was unable to stop glaring at Elliott's laid back lounging while wearing the satisfied grin of the cat who got the cream. I picked a spot at the table that was as far from Elliott as possible. Our seating choice did nothing to deter Christian from walking by his brother and kicking his chair leg.

Soon, the Grey brothers were standing nose-to-nose, each willing the other to back down. Just before the guys started beating their chests like gorillas, Jose and Frederic jumped in to diffuse what was quickly spiraling into nothing good. Frederic suggested that the two brothers take their frustrations out in a more productive way. He proposed that he and Jose would arrange for and referee some challenges. The games would be winner-takes-all for the alcohol and the condoms.

Christian only agreed to participate if the stakes included all of the condoms on the island. Oh, Fifty you are such a sexy negotiator! After great discussion regarding how many condoms actually existed on Barabai, a total of 47 condoms ended up in the prize pot. What are these guys thinking? There are only four women on the island (well, five if you include Louisa) and two of us arrived allegedly on birth control since Christian had no idea that I had not gotten my shot as scheduled and Kate is still on the pill until her supply runs out. This leaves 47 condoms and the only single women are Mia and Gail. I mean, am I missing something here? Surely no one is stupid enough to think that they will be able to get in Mia's pants with her two incredibly over protective brothers in such close quarters, right?

Following the tense negotiations at breakfast and some well-timed goading by Kate and Mia, Frederic and Jose set out to create and execute a series of what would become increasingly ridiculous physical competitions. Elliott accepted Ethan's offer to serve as his coach in exchange for a cut of the spoils. I am not exactly sure why, but Sawyer turned up as Christian's personal coach. Hum, maybe there is something to Ethan's paranoia about Mia and Sawyer…

Kate, Mia, and I determined the beach house pool to be the best perch from which to watch the two very strong men competing in exceedingly childish games. Just a few minutes into our sunbathing Mia and I worked out a lovely trade. She offered sleeve of fluorescent pink condoms in exchange for some of the rum that I smuggled out of the treehouse wrapped in a beach towel. Look at you Mia, packing your own condoms. That's my girl, thinking ahead. Kate offered Elliott's wallet condom in exchange for a bottle of her choice from Christian's treehouse stash.

"Kate, are you sure that you want to give this up? Won't Elliott be pissed when you run out of your birth control and he finds out that you gave it to me?" I ask.

Kate roars with laughter. "Puh-lease! I brought twelve months of the pill with me. I'm not returning to civilization to be a knocked-up bride. If we are still here when I run out of pills then Elliott can knock me up for all I care! We'll be so bored by then that a baby will be a welcome distraction."

"But, last night…Christian said that you wouldn't let Elliott have his condom because you wouldn't be able to get your birth control refilled…"

"Yeah, about that," Kate cackled. "I was lying. I just wanted to see what Mr. Moneybags would do if he couldn't get laid. I mean, you didn't let him slide it in without one, did you Steele?" And cue the Kavanaugh inquisition…

I avoid answering Kate's question for just a moment too long. Mia shrieks, "SHUUUUT UP! You went unprotected with my brother? What were you thinking, Banana? Oh my god, I'm gonna be an Au…"

"Be quiet," I hiss at Mia and Kate. I shoot a nervous glance down to the beach to make sure that Christian can't hear our for-ladies-ears-only conversation.

Kate gives me a little splash punctuated with "Spill it, Steele. Did you and Christian do some baby making last night?"

"No," I giggle. I am totally blushing at the intimate nature of this discussion. "We, umm, uhr, remained safe, ok!"

"Define 'remained safe'," Kate air quotes. "Did you abstain or did you POAP?" Detective Kate's eyebrow hitches above the rim of her sunglasses.

"POAP? I don't even know what that is so I'm pretty sure that we didn't do that," I giggle back.

"Pull Out and Pray," Mia explains while adding her own cocked eyebrow. Geez, my friends need to get back to their celebrity gossip sites ASAP. They are positively jonesing for some scoop.

I giggle as I replay in my mind the many things that Christian and I did do last night. I will never spill the tea on what we did or didn't do. Mia and Kate know that there are some secrets that I will never divulge. The three of us clink our glasses together and look over the edge of the pool down at our foolish men.

"Baby, you got this! Woot! Woot!" Kate yells down to Elliott. He breaks his concentration from the current game long enough to flex his muscles and blow Kate a kiss.

Currently, Christian and Elliott are competing to see who can get the most coconuts from one side of the lagoon to the other side. Elliott's strategy is simple. He loaded up a beach towel with the green and brown fruits (or are they nuts?) and fashioned a sack over his shoulders a la Santa Claus. About every 10 feet or so, a coconut escapes the sack and now Elliott is kicking several along as he runs down the beach with a rapidly dwindling sack full.

Christian is attempting a more complex strategy. He loaded one of the kayaks full of coconuts. He tethered the kayak to another one so that he could paddle and tow the boat full of coconuts quickly across the water. This strategy promised to be vastly superior until the boats came uncoupled half of the way across the lagoon. In his attempts to save the boat full of the coconuts, Christian managed to fall out of his own kayak. After a few unfruitful attempts to get back into his capsized boat while hanging onto the other boat, Christian abandoned his original plan. He is now swimming while trying to pull the coconut boat along with him. The tow rope is short and every time Christian takes a stroke, the kayak rocks and releases another coconut into the water. No matter what stroke he attempts, Christian only succeeds in leaving more green and brown orbs floating in his wake.

Both brothers are grunting and racing to arrive to the finish line before the time on the clock runs out. Ethan is running alongside Elliott and cheering him on. There really is not much coaching that can help this hot mess. Not to be outdone, Sawyer is on the far side of the lagoon yelling (un)helpful missives to Christian about swimming in a straight line and what not. Frederic and Jose offer frequent updates from the finish line about how much time is left on the clock.

None of the participants have any idea that we shave been sharing the smuggled alcohol with Frederic and Jose all afternoon. While Christian, Elliott, and their coaches huff and puff through game after game, Jose has been periodically tossing his and Frederic's re-usable water bottles up to us for refills. The participants are too invested in besting each other to realize the increasingly obvious intoxication of the referees.

"Go! Christian!" I yell down. I suppose I must look as though I am interested in what is happening on the beach below. "You've got this babe!" I cheer with as much enthusiasm as I can muster.

"Ok, can we talk about Taylor having an entire box of condoms?" Mia asks, changing our topic of conversation. Good to know she is as bored with the Beach Olympics as Kate and I are.

"I know, right? Who brings that many rubbers when there is no one to bone?" Kate replies.

"Well…" I giggle.

"Spill it, Steele!" Kate demands. Mia has removed her sunglasses so I can fully receive her laser-like glare demanding the details.

"It's just that, I kind of think that maybe Taylor and Gail are you know…" I stutter.

"Taylor and Gail are what?" Mia demands.

"Ehrmahgawd! You think Taylor and Gail are doing the grownup, don't you?" Kate spits out.

I giggle and nod, unable to say my suspicions out loud. This type of gossip is so out-of-character for me.

"Noooo…really?!" Mia squeals. "Tell us what makes you think they are together. Have you caught them doing it?"

"Shhhh!" I whisper-shout. "They will hear you. It's just that a couple of times at Escala, I thought that I caught the two of them giving each other a look."

"What kind of look?" Kate punctuates with her own drunk-girl giggles.

"I don't know, just a look that was too intimate for them to be just co-workers. Like, it was full of unspoken words and it would last too long to just be casual."

"Oh…the look," Mia adds, nodding her head in understanding. We sip our cocktails in silence as each of us allows our minds to wander to what things might be like for Christian's head of security and housekeeper. Could Gail and Taylor really be a thing?

We are snapped out of our ponderings when the sounds of whooping and hollering skim across the lagoon from the coconut race's finish line. Looking down, it appears that both Elliott and Christian made it across the line within the allotted time. Now, the two teams are counting the number of their bounty. It seems that in an unbelievable turn of fate, this final match has ended in a tie with both guys producing an equal number of coconuts.

Needing a break from the beach fiasco, Frederic and Jose tell the competitors and their coaches that they will need a few moments to themselves before deciding on how to resolve this stalemate. Frederic and Jose discreetly sneak off the beach and up to join us in the pool. They slip into the water with Kate, Mia, and I. The five of us line up along the edge looking down onto the beach. Elliott and Christian have both crashed onto the sand – spent from an afternoon of ridiculous displays of masculinity. Ethan and Sawyer glare at each other with arms crossed in loyalty to their players.

"Is it really a tie?" Mia asks.

"Fuck if I know," Jose responds. "I stopped keeping score two hours ago." Jose looks to Frederic for insight.

"Let's see," Frederic says using his fingers to count. "Christian won the sand sprints and the kettle bell toss. Elliott won the conch shell call and the blind-folded bike race."

"The blind-folded bike race, is that what y'all were doing on the running path?" Kate asks.

"Yeah, that didn't go as well as we had planned," Frederic laughs.

"Nope, did not go as planned at all," Jose agrees with a chuckle. Jose and Frederic clink glasses and take sips of their refreshed cocktails.

"Oh my gosh, y'all need to drink more water," I say. "Christian is going to figure out that I shared the hooch. He will murder me." I giggle.

"Just show him all of the condoms that you scored. He will be just fine," Kate teases. "The only thing that Christian will want to murder is your sweet little vajayjay, Steele."

The five of us are laughing so hard that we don't notice the guys have left the beach until Elliott's cannonball rains water upon us.

Something grabs my ankle. I squeal only to realize that it is Christian. He emerges from the water to wrap his arm around my waist. He pulls me close and nibbles on my neck in just the right way to set my lady bits a tingling.

"Why is Christian going to murder Banana's vagina?" Elliott asks Kate as he grabs her in his own manly display of possessiveness. He devours a laughing Kate with a kiss that borders on foreplay. Pulling away from the kiss, Elliott grabs Kate's beverage.

"Let me see just what has you tasting so good, Katie girl." He takes a long swill and drains her rum punch. He lowers the glass and cocks an eyebrow at his fiancé. "Have you been drinking?" He teases her.

As if the whole lot of us is not within a 6-foot radius of the them, Kate shushes Elliott and loudly whispers, "Hush, baby! Steele, Mimi, and I did some bartering while you boys were playing on the beach. Don't tell Christian, but I scored us some al-co-hol."

Elliott scoops Kate up by her ass and she wraps her legs around his waist. He gives her an "Atta Girl," before taking their PDA to a whole new level of obscenity.

While Kate and Elliott nearly give her birth control pills a test drive in the pool, the other sober guys realize the swim-up bar has been re-supplied with liquor. Ethan and Sawyer make fast work of mixing themselves some cool beverages.

Everyone has a cocktail except for Christian who continues to hold me by my waist. I do everything in my power to avoid making eye contact with my man.

"Anastasia, what did you do?" Christian growls at me as one would a puppy caught chewing a favorite slipper.

I let my eyes meet his. Unfazed by how dark his irises glow, I giggle and pull his head down to mine. I slowly run my cheek along his until my lips meet his ear.

"I made a trade baby. A very good trade…" I whisper with all of the feminine wiles that I can muster. "I think that you will be very pleased." I say before I begin a slow assault of kisses from the back of his ear down his neck.

"What kind of trade," Christian moans. I can already feel his mood shifting from grumpy to aroused. His bulge begins to harden against my thigh. Only his swim trunks and my bikini separate us. My plan to seduce Christian into forgetting that I gave away some of his locked-up liquor is beginning to work.

I run my fingers down his neck. I wrap my legs around his thigh and begin to slowly rock up and down to create friction at my apex. Christian hums with approval. The grey of his eyes begins to dance with excitement.

"Answer my question, Anastasia. What kind of trade?" This time, Christian's voice hums with something different. Is it pleasure? Excitement? A bit of both, I think.

"Well, it turns out that a few more condoms suddenly became available. I simply negotiated a trade that you will find most satisfactory," I purr.

"Condoms, you got us condoms?" Christian demands.

I bite my lower lip and nod my head. Christian's hands tighten around my waist. I look up through my eyelashes to see the smuggest grin ever given.

"God, baby. You are fucking incredible," he pants as his lips smash into mine. His kiss is filled with passion and gratitude. "Where are they?"

I glance over to my beach towel on a chaise lounge. "There?" Christian asks, following my eyes. I nod yes.

Christian tosses me over his shoulder and makes a run for the steps exiting the water. Before I can stop laughing long enough to catch my breath, Christian has grabbed my towel and secured the treasure that it hides. Upon seeing the pink condoms, Christian whoops, "HELL YEAH!", smacks my ass, and heads off towards the path to the other side of the island.

"Wait," Frederic calls. "Don't you want to finish the games?"

"ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY NOT!" Christian bellows as he raises his arm to flip the bird to everyone left in the pool. "Laters, assholes!" He takes off in a jog with me still over his shoulder and cheers and applause from the pool.

Once we are out of sight of the beach house, Christian stops long enough to slide me down his chest. He clasps my cheeks in his hands and says, "I love you so much," as he peppers my lips with kisses.

"I love you, too, baby," I get out between kisses.

"Let's go back to my room," Christian says and grabs my hand to head to the treehouse.

"Wait," I tug at Christian's hand. "Let's go to the big house first."

He raises an eyebrow. When he sees my giggles, he acquiesces and lets me lead us in that direction. I pull him towards the stairs up to the second floor and into Kate and Elliott's amazing suite. I break away from Christian and hop up to jump on the bed.

"Ana, what are you doing?" Christian laughs.

"Getting my revenge."

"Revenge? What did Kate do?" He asks.

"She LIED! She brought a whole year's worth of birth control pills. She lied to Elliott last night so that he wouldn't give you a condom. She is a liar, liar, pants on fire!" I sing as I bounce up and down.

"And you are paying her back by jumping on her bed?"

"By jumping on her bed with sandy feet!" I laugh.

I kick off the covers so that I make sure to get sand in between her sheets. This might just be the single meanest thing that I have ever done. Christian takes a running leap to join me on the bed. He rubs his own sandy feet all over the covers. We jump and laugh and make a complete mess of the lovers' bed. Out of breath, we collapse into a pile of delight and merriment. Christian rolls over on to me. He begins kissing my neck and running his hands up my sides. My fingers find their way into his hair, pulling and grabbing.

Christian pulls off my bikini top. He moans at the sight of my alabaster breasts framed by my island tan lines. He lowers his mouth to kiss and lick one and then the other nipple. His bites and nips elicit my moans. I run a hand down his shoulder and pull at his arm to bring his mouth back up to mine.

"What do you want, Anastasia?"

"I want you…here…now. I can't wait any more." I pant between moans. Losing all control, I grind into his enormous bulge. Christian throws his head back and gives a laugh at my uncharacteristically bold demand.

"What my baby wants, she shall have," he declares with his panty-dropping grin. Oh, how I love this playful side of my man! With great gusto, he swipes off my bikini bottom and tosses it across the bed. He makes quick work of untying his swim trunks. I yank them down and he kicks them off. We are the model of undressing efficiency.

Christian's hand snakes its way down over by chest and abs. He finds my slit and slides a finger into my folds.

"Damn," he exhales. "You are so wet. You never disappoint, sweet Ana."

His finger strokes me from the inside while his thumb rubs my nub. He grinds his hardness against my thigh. I press my leg up against his cock while I run my finger nails up and down his back. He growls with desire and slides a second finger inside my folds. I thrust against his hand in search of more friction. My walls begin to quiver, but I don't want to come until he is inside me. With his insane super powers of mind reading, Christian reaches over to where he dropped the length of pink condoms. He rips the first package open with a hand and his teeth. I grab it and roll it down his full length with focused precision. I give his shaft a few firm pumps and guide it to my entrance. We thrust together with a frenzied need. I throw my head back and let out the guttural sound of satisfaction as he enters me to the hilt. Our thrusts and moans build in synchrony. I am overcome with his smell, the way he tastes, and the feeling of him thrusting deep inside me. My body tightens around him in that familiar quake as I prepare to free fall into the blissful abyss.

In the seconds before I surrender to my release, our eyes lock in a soul-piercing gaze. "I. LOVE. YOU. ANA!" Christian pants. The power of his words changes the trajectory of my orgasm. Instead of freefalling into the silky darkness of previous times, I feel like I am soaring up and off the bed. I am surrounded by the most holy of fireworks exploding all around. My body spirals higher amongst a dazzling display of lights and sounds. Every inch of my body feels alive and full of a new and life-affirming electricity. The air tastes sweet. The quaking between my legs detonates into explosion after explosion of pure and unadulterated ecstasy. I yell out in joy and satisfaction. From the heavens, I hear myself scream the words, "I LOVE YOU!"

From above our bodies, I watch as Christian has his own religious experience as he cums over and over inside of me. When he has finally released all that his body has to offer, he does not collapse on top of me as he usually does. No, he hovers over my body still buried in my apex. He props himself on his elbows and showers me with kiss upon kiss. Between each tender offering, he murmurs my name repeatedly, "Oh, Ana! My Ana!" Slowly, I float back down to rejoin my body. Every cell is alive with an energy that I have never felt before. I kiss him back as I rub my hands upon his chest. Never one to kiss and tell, I will never divulge to Kate that I very nearly found God in the sheets of her bed.

When Christian and I regain our wits and float back down to earth, we disentangle. I begin to search for the top and bottom of my bathing suit. He stops me. Grabbing both my swim suit and his, he tosses them and the empty condom wrapper on the disheveled bed linens.

"I want Kate and Elliott to know who was here and what we did. It's the least I can do to thank Kate for cock-blocking me for her own entertainment last night," my sex god states with defiance.

Giggling, I snatch my bikini back but leave the wrapper. I don't have enough clothes on Barabai to afford the loss of any of my wardrobe. I wrap my towel around my body and carry my swim suit in my hand. Christian looks from my hand to the bed and decides to grab his swim trunks, too. He carries his shorts and we walk back to the treehouse hand-in-hand. I am wrapped in the towel, and he is as naked as a jaybird. We keep looking at each other and smiling the happiness of two puzzle pieces snapped together to make something greater.