I'd been out of line with the slap, but I'd reacted out of hurt because…… because I'd grown rather close to Colt and it had especially hurt to hear my past brought up against me by him of all people.
I glanced around the jungle environment and not for the first time I admitted to myself how much I wished that he was here.
I heard waves. I was near a beach again?
I was pretty sure that I hadn't gotten turned around when I'd run away from Colt, but that I had more or less run in a straight line. The only explanation for the sound of water was that this was an island or that the landmass was unusually thin here.
Within ten minutes I made my way to the jungle's edge. I'd approached the edge with caution, because I'd heard activity and the last thing I wanted was to end up being caught by pirates.
Peering through the foliage I saw that I had stumbled upon a natural harbor. A harbor with ships in it. Big ships at that and they weren't pirate ships. It was a navy of some kind!
I stepped out of the jungle onto the beach. I walked toward the water debating about what to do.
Something caught my eye down the beach and I saw men in the uniforms of sailors further down its expanse. I raised my hand to wave and I was even about to yell to get their attention, when something slammed into me knocking me to the sand.
The attacking force was that of a man of that much I was sure. I actually felt a momentary relief that it wasn't a dinosaur or some other meat eating beast.
I bit into the hand across my face as I struggled to break free of the oppressive clasp of my unknown assailant. At almost the same moment as I saw the dark curly hairs on the backs of the fingers that I was biting I also smelled him.
I abruptly stopped biting and completely relaxed from my struggle to be free, as I realized that it was Colt that held me. Why had he attacked me like this?
No words seemed to be forthcoming from him as he continued to hold me completely immobile. Was he still mad at me?
He was modulating his breathing to shallow rasps for air and instinctively I matched his breathing.
What was going on?
What had I missed that Colt thought was cause for danger?
Where we lay on the beach was behind a blown down palm tree, but I could partially see under the downed tree at one spot. The sailors I had seen and had been about to call out to had come closer to us.