Heidi woke first.
The island morning had only just begun softening the edges of the sky outside the apartment windows, pale gold light slipping through the curtains in slow streaks. For a moment she stayed perfectly still beneath the cool white sheets, listening.
The ocean below the cliffs.
A distant gull.
The faint turning hum of one forgotten dryer downstairs.
And breathing.
Lila slept curled against her side, one bare leg tangled lazily with Heidi’s beneath the sheets, dark hair spread across the pillow like spilled ink. Jacques lay behind Heidi, one arm still draped heavily across her waist, warm and possessive even in sleep.
God.
The memory of the night before settled over Heidi slowly.
The dancing.
The laughter.
The bed.
Lila’s mouth against hers.
Jacques’ hands on both of them.
The bite.
The warmth in her chest faltered slightly at the memory of that.
Carefully, Heidi slipped out from between them.
Jacques stirred faintly but didn’t wake as Heidi padded quietly across the apartment naked, gathering her discarded clothes along the way before abandoning them again outside the bathroom door.
The bathroom filled quickly with steam once she turned on the shower.
Hot water pounded against the tile while Heidi stepped beneath it with a long exhausted sigh, tilting her head back as tension slowly melted from her shoulders. The heat felt incredible after the rum and salt and tangled emotions of the night before.
For a few blissful seconds, she let herself forget everything.
No mysterious stranger.
No painful bite.
No strange island stories.
Just hot water and silence.
She squeezed soap onto the loofa and began working it slowly across her skin.
Then the shower curtain shifted open behind her.
Jacques stepped inside without a word.
Steam curled around him instantly, water sliding down bronze skin and dark hair while sleepy morning light filtered through the fogged bathroom window behind him. His eyes found hers immediately.
Soft.
Heavy-lidded.
Still carrying traces of sleep and last night’s desire.
Neither of them spoke.
They didn’t need to.
Jacques stepped beneath the spray and moved into her space naturally, one hand settling low against her waist while the other slid into her damp hair. Heidi melted against him immediately, lips parting softly when he kissed her.
Slow at first.
Morning kisses.
Warm and unhurried.
Nothing like the desperate heat of the night before.
This felt intimate in a quieter way.
Steam wrapped around them while Jacques kissed down the side of her throat, his hands moving carefully over her body like he was reacquainting himself with something precious. Heidi leaned against the cool tile wall, fingers sliding over his shoulders while the water cascaded over both of them in shimmering waves.
God, he was beautiful like this.
Unarmored.
No flirtation.
No performance.
No island prince of the nightlife.
Just Jacques.
Heidi smiled softly when he pressed his forehead briefly against hers.
Water streamed down their bodies while the steam thickened around them, softening everything except sensation itself. Jacques touched her with the same reverence he brought to everything physical, like making love was less about hunger and more about worship.
And Heidi—
For the first time in her life, she didn’t feel rushed toward pleasure.
Didn’t feel like she needed to perform it.
With Jacques, everything unfolded slowly enough that her body actually had time to arrive emotionally too.
The rhythm between them built naturally beneath the hot water, their breathing syncing, movements soft and fluid like waves folding into shore. Heidi’s hands tangled into his wet hair while Jacques kissed her deeply enough to pull helpless sounds from her throat she barely recognized as her own.
The steam fogged the mirrors completely.
The outside world disappeared.
There was only heat and water and Jacques holding her like she mattered.
And when they finally came, Heidi gasped.
Simultaneous.
That had never happened to her before.
Not once.
Jacques rested his forehead against hers afterward, both of them breathless beneath the water while satisfied little smiles slowly pulled at the corners of their mouths.
“Well,” Heidi whispered finally.
Jacques laughed softly.
“Good morning.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“And yet…”
He kissed her once more lazily.
Heidi smiled against his mouth.
They finished the shower mostly in silence after that, passing soap back and forth beneath the water while the intimacy softened into something comfortable and domestic.
Dangerously domestic.
Jacques wrapped a towel low around his waist first before padding barefoot toward the kitchen, still toweling water from his hair.
“Coffee,” he announced sleepily.
“Please.”
“Always.”
Heidi smiled to herself as she stayed behind to finish rinsing shampoo from her hair.
Then the bite flared.
Pain shot through her thigh so suddenly she nearly slipped.
“Ow—fuck!”
She grabbed the shower wall hard enough to steady herself.
The skin around the bite burned violently beneath the water.
“Jesus Christ—”
Heidi twisted awkwardly, angling her leg away from the spray while balancing on one foot.
“Ow, ow, ow, OW!”
Every drop of water near the wound felt like acid against exposed nerves.
“What the hell…”
She hurried through the rest of the shower, wincing every few seconds while trying desperately not to let water touch the bite again.
But the pain only worsened.
By the time she finally shut off the water, her heart was hammering.
Steam drifted heavily through the bathroom while Heidi wrapped herself tightly in a towel and leaned against the sink trying to steady her breathing.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Slowly, she pulled the towel aside and looked down.
The bite had changed overnight.
Her stomach dropped immediately.
Dark purple streaks now spread outward beneath the skin like branching veins, radiating from the center of the wound in delicate spiderweb patterns. The flesh around it pulsed visibly beneath the bathroom light.
Not metaphorically.
Actually pulsed.
Slow.
Heavy.
Alive.
“What did you do to me?” Heidi whispered.
The question came out smaller than she intended.
Fear crept coldly into her chest.
She turned toward the mirror.
The woman staring back at her looked shaken.
Wet hair.
Flushed skin.
Eyes too wide.
And bruises.
Jesus Christ.
Now that she really looked—
Finger-shaped bruises darkened her hips.
Faint marks scattered across her ribs and collarbone.
The inside of her thighs looked almost storm-bruised beneath the bathroom light.
Not from Jacques.
Not from Lila.
From him.
The stranger from the laundromat.
The realization made her stomach twist violently.
A soft knock sounded outside the bathroom.
“Heidi?” Lila’s sleepy voice drifted through the door. “You alive in there?”
Heidi jumped.
“I’m fine!”
A lie.
A terrible one.
Because when she looked back down—
The skin around the bite shifted.
Actually shifted.
The dark branching lines beneath her skin pulsed once harder than before, moving faintly like veins waking beneath the surface.
Panic slammed into her chest.
Heidi stumbled backward so quickly she nearly tripped over the bathmat.
No.
No no no.
Another knock.
More awake this time.
“Heidi?”
“I’m coming out!”
She yanked the towel tighter around herself and hurried into the bedroom just as Lila appeared in the doorway rubbing sleep from her eyes.
Lila immediately frowned.
“You look awful.”
“Good morning to you too.”
“Heidi.”
Concern sharpened her voice instantly.
The apartment smelled like fresh coffee already. Jacques moved quietly in the kitchen while sunlight slowly warmed the floorboards.
Normal morning.
Except nothing felt normal anymore.
A sharp pulse tore through Heidi’s thigh again.
She hissed involuntarily.
Lila’s eyes narrowed immediately.
“Oh, absolutely not.”
Before Heidi could react, Lila crossed the room and caught her wrist gently.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s bullshit.”
Another pulse.
Heidi doubled slightly.
Lila’s expression changed immediately from annoyance to alarm.
“Heidi…”
The softness in her voice nearly undid her.
Lila guided her carefully toward the bed while Heidi clung tighter to the towel wrapped around herself.
“What the hell is going on with you?”
Heidi sat heavily onto the mattress, heart racing.
She didn’t know how to answer that question anymore.
Lila crouched in front of her carefully now, pushing damp strands of hair away from Heidi’s face.
The tenderness in the gesture nearly hurt.
“You’re scaring me,” Lila admitted quietly.
Heidi looked down at her hands.
“I think something’s wrong.”
“Okay,” Lila said immediately. “Then we deal with it.”
Simple as that.
No hesitation.
No fear of inconvenience.
Just we.
Emotion tightened suddenly in Heidi’s throat.
Slowly, she loosened the towel.
Lila’s eyes widened immediately.
“Oh my God.”
Bruises bloomed visibly across Heidi’s skin now beneath the morning light. Collarbone. Hips. Thighs. Dark fingerprints left behind by a night Heidi still couldn’t fully explain.
Then Lila saw the bite.
Her face drained instantly.
“Heidi…”
“It hurts.”
The admission came out small and weak.
Lila reached toward the wound carefully, fingertips feather-light against the surrounding skin. Heidi shivered at the contrast between the tenderness of the touch and the violent heat radiating from the bite itself.
“This is bad,” Lila whispered.
From the kitchen, Heidi heard the coffee mug stop against the counter.
Jacques had heard too.
A moment later he appeared in the bedroom doorway, coffee in one hand, fully dressed now in linen pants and a dark shirt half buttoned.
His eyes found Heidi immediately.
Then the bite.
And his entire expression hardened.
“Still hurts?” he asked quietly.
Heidi nodded once.
Jacques cursed softly in French beneath his breath.
“I have clients coming today,” he said reluctantly. “The yacht’s booked all weekend. I need to prepare the boat.”
He sounded angry about it.
Like responsibility itself offended him suddenly.
Lila looked up sharply.
“You’re leaving?”
“For a few hours.” Jacques crossed the room slowly and crouched beside the bed, one hand settling gently against Heidi’s cheek. “I will come back.”
Heidi hated how relieved those words made her feel.
Jacques kissed her forehead softly.
Then Lila’s.
A strange little triangle of affection and concern.
He drained the rest of his coffee in one swallow before standing again.
“Do not let her be alone,” he told Lila quietly.
“As if I was planning to.”
Good.
Something eased slightly in Jacques’ expression at that.
Then he looked back toward Heidi one last time.
Something protective flickered again behind his eyes.
Dangerous.
“I mean it, chérie,” he said softly. “If anything changes, call me immediately.”
Then he slipped quietly out the apartment door.
The silence he left behind felt enormous.
“There’s a med kit in the hallway cupboard.”
Without another word, Lila immediately stood and disappeared into the hallway.
Heidi remained sitting on the edge of the bed wrapped tightly in the damp towel, heart hammering so hard she could feel it in her throat. The apartment suddenly felt too small. Too warm. Every sound seemed heightened—the distant crash of waves outside, the hum of the ceiling fan overhead, the faint clink of bottles in Jacques’ kitchen sink from where he’d left his coffee cup behind.
And beneath all of it—
The bite pulsed.
Slow.
Heavy.
Wrong.
Heidi pressed trembling fingers against the towel covering her thigh and winced instantly.
Jesus Christ.
What the hell had happened to her?
Not just physically.
Something deeper felt off too, like the stranger from the laundromat had left behind more than bruises and teeth marks. Ever since that night, she’d felt strange inside her own skin. Hot one moment. Ice cold the next. Emotionally raw. Hyperaware of everything around her.
Like her nerves no longer belonged entirely to her.
Lila returned moments later carrying the faded white medical kit beneath one arm.
The second she saw Heidi sitting there pale and frightened on the edge of the bed, her expression softened immediately.
“Okay,” she said quietly, kneeling down in front of her. “Let me see.”
Heidi slowly loosened the towel.
The morning light pouring through the windows illuminated everything now.
The bruises along her hips.
Finger-shaped shadows against her ribs.
Faint marks scattered beneath her collarbone.
Lila’s eyes flickered over all of it.
Not judgmental.
Concerned.
Then she saw the bite fully again.
“Jesus fucking Christ…”
The wound looked worse by the minute.
Dark purple streaks spread outward beneath Heidi’s skin like branching veins, the center swollen and angry, the shape unmistakably human and yet somehow not entirely human at all.
Lila carefully spread Heidi’s legs a little farther apart to inspect it better, her touch gentle despite the tension radiating from her body. Sitting exposed beneath her gaze should have embarrassed Heidi.
Instead, she felt strangely safe.
Which was terrifying in its own way.
Lila opened the med kit on the floor between her knees, fingers moving deftly through gauze, ointments, alcohol wipes.
The practical intimacy of it nearly undid Heidi emotionally.
Lila glanced back up at her.
“This is really close to your…”
Her sentence trailed off as she leaned closer.
Then her entire face changed.
“Wait.”
Her fingertips hovered carefully near the wound.
Heidi swallowed hard.
Lila looked up sharply now, dark eyes wide with disbelief.
“Who the fuck bit you like this?”
“I don’t know.”
“That is not a normal answer.”
“I know.”
Lila sat back slightly, staring at her.
And suddenly the memory hit Heidi all over again—
Her back against the washing machine.
Saltwater dripping onto tile.
The stranger’s mouth between her thighs.
Pleasure sharp enough to make her dizzy.
Then the bite.
The overwhelming mix of pain and arousal that crashed together so violently she still couldn’t untangle one from the other.
Heat flooded Heidi’s face despite herself.
“I think…” she whispered shakily. “I think it happened when we…”
Lila’s expression softened slightly as realization settled in.
“With the laundromat guy.”
Heidi nodded once.
Silence stretched between them for a moment.
Then Lila cursed quietly under her breath.
“Heidi, this man either fucked you or attacked you. I genuinely can’t tell which.”
The horrifying thing was—
Neither could Heidi.
Lila exhaled heavily and grabbed antiseptic spray from the med kit.
“This is gonna hurt.”
“Fantastic.”
“It already hurts.”
“Also true.”
The second the antiseptic touched the wound, Heidi nearly launched herself backward off the bed.
“FUCK!”
“Sorry!”
“No you’re not!”
“Okay, fair.”
Despite herself, Heidi laughed breathlessly through the pain.
Lila smiled faintly.
The tenderness in her voice hit Heidi straight in the chest.
Lila continued cleaning the wound carefully, one hand steady against Heidi’s thigh while the other worked with slow concentration. Every now and then her fingertips brushed Heidi’s skin accidentally, sending strange warmth spiraling through her despite the pain.
It would have been easy for this to feel clinical.
It didn’t.
It felt intimate.
Dangerously intimate.
“You’re not staying alone today,” Lila said firmly while securing fresh gauze over the bite.
“You have your shop.”
“Fuck the shop.”
“Lila—”
“No.” She glanced up sharply. “Absolutely not. Somebody bit you hard enough to leave bruises halfway across your body and now your leg looks possessed.”
“That feels dramatic.”
“The wound is literally pulsating, Heidi.”
“…fair.”
Lila pressed the bandage down gently and sighed.
“I’m serious. I’m staying with you today.”
The fierce protectiveness in her voice made Heidi’s chest ache unexpectedly.
Nobody had taken care of her like this in a very long time.
Not since before her father died.
The realization stung almost as badly as the wound itself.
“Thank you,” Heidi whispered.
Lila paused.
Their eyes met.
And suddenly the atmosphere shifted again.
Softer this time.
Quieter.
Lila remained kneeling between Heidi’s knees, one hand still resting lightly against her thigh while morning sunlight poured gold across both of them. Heidi became hyperaware of everything all at once—
Lila’s warm fingers against her skin.
The smell of saltwater still lingering in her hair.
The softness hiding underneath all her sharp island sarcasm.
“You don’t have to go through this alone,” Lila said quietly.
Something inside Heidi cracked a little at those words.
Because she had been alone for so long.
Even surrounded by people.
Even loved by people.
Still alone.
Lila rose slowly from the floor then, bringing herself level with Heidi on the edge of the bed. Their faces hovered inches apart now.
Neither moved away.
Heidi could feel the warmth of Lila’s breath against her lips.
The tension between them no longer felt confusing.
Just inevitable.
When Lila kissed her this time, it was softer than the night before.
No rum.
No music.
No crowded bar.
Just morning light and vulnerability and fear wrapped together into something unexpectedly tender.
Heidi melted into the kiss immediately.
Lila’s hands slid carefully around her waist, grounding her there while Heidi tangled trembling fingers into the dark waves of her hair.
The kiss deepened slowly.
Patiently.
Like neither woman wanted to rush what was happening between them.
And for a few perfect seconds, the pain in Heidi’s leg disappeared completely beneath the warmth spreading through her chest.
Lila kissed like comfort.
Like safety.
Like coming home to somewhere Heidi hadn’t realized she’d been searching for.
When they finally pulled apart, neither moved far.
Lila rested her forehead briefly against Heidi’s, both of them breathing unevenly.
“That,” Lila murmured softly, “was probably medically inappropriate.”
Heidi laughed unexpectedly.
A real laugh.
“I don’t think the first aid handbook covers this.”
“No?”
“Pretty sure kissing the patient voids the warranty.”
Lila smiled then.
God, that smile.
Warm.
Crooked.
Dangerous in entirely different ways than Jacques.
Heidi looked at her sitting there between her knees and thought suddenly:
I am bruised and bitten and falling apart…
…and Lila kissed me anyway.
The thought settled deep in her chest.
Carefully, Heidi stood and rewrapped the towel around herself before crossing toward the dresser. But when she reached upward to pull open the drawer, the towel loosened unexpectedly and slipped to the floor completely.
For one suspended moment, she stood there fully exposed beneath the morning light.
Bruised.
Barefoot.
Bandaged.
Vulnerable.
Lila looked at her quietly from the edge of the bed.
Not hungrily.
Not even sexually, not entirely.
Just… seeing her.
Really seeing her.
And somehow that felt far more intimate than nudity itself.
Heidi’s cheeks flushed softly, but she didn’t scramble to cover herself immediately.
Because for the first time in years, being looked at did not feel dangerous.
It felt honest.
Lila’s voice softened.
“You’re beautiful, you know.”
Heidi looked down, suddenly overwhelmed by emotion.
“Even like this?”
Lila stood slowly and crossed the room toward her.
“Especially like this.”
God.
Nobody had ever said things like that to her and meant them.
Not really.
Heidi quickly pulled the navy-blue linen sundress over her head before she started crying for reasons she couldn’t explain.
The light fabric settled softly against her skin while Lila disappeared into the kitchen to pour coffee.
A few moments later she returned carrying two mugs.
Heidi accepted hers gratefully.
“What about your surf shop?” she asked quietly.
Lila waved dismissively.
“Closed today.”
“You can’t just close your business because I got mysteriously assaulted by Aquaman.”
Lila nearly spit out her coffee laughing.
“Oh my God.”
“I’m serious.”
“You’re insane.”
“Probably.”
Lila’s smile faded into something softer.
“I’m not leaving you alone today, Heidi.”
Simple.
Certain.
Final.
And again, Heidi felt that warmth spread quietly through her chest.
Maybe this island was changing her.
Or maybe it was simply placing people into her life capable of reaching the parts of her she’d buried long ago.
Either way—
When Heidi slipped on her flip-flops and grabbed her keys a little while later, the world no longer felt quite as frightening as it had an hour earlier.
