Chapter Text
The rest of the day passed relatively quietly. Having been on a rescue for over 24 hours, four of the brothers were taken off duty and went to get some sleep, whilst the rest of the family relaxed by the pool.
Josie decided to unwind from the strain of doing the flying by seeing how many laps she could swim in an hour and Scott joined her. The alarm on her watch went off and she finished her current length, puffing hard. Scott was beside her in the next lane and glanced at her.
“You all right?” he asked seeing her breathing hard.
“Yeah. That was hard work.” She gave him a small smile and watched as he sidled over and draped his arms over the lane barrier. She moved closer to him. “Thank you for keeping me company.”
They kissed then broke apart and heaved themselves out of the pool, sitting on the edge, legs dangling in the water, mainly because Josie didn’t have the energy to get to her feet at that precise moment. Despite the warmth of the afternoon, she suddenly shivered. Scott immediately got to his feet, went and retrieved a couple of towels and returned, draping one around her shoulders and the other around his own as he crouched down beside her.
“Thank you, my sweet,” she said softly, gazing into sapphire eyes. She really wanted to pinch herself. How the hell had she landed herself with this gorgeous hunk beside her; that perfect, lithe, lean muscled body that she was beginning to become very familiar with; winner of ‘The World’s Most Eligible Bachelor’ award run by some celebrity magazine two years on the trot. Droplets of water clung to his eyelashes, and was dripping down from his hair to land and cling to the sparse covering of hair on his chest and she felt her eyes beginning to glisten.
Scott frowned at her. “What’s wrong?” he asked, suddenly concerned as he carded a hand through her short, wet hair.
“I just can’t believe…well… us.”
He smiled kindly at her and his most deadly weapons came to the fore as those infamous dimples deepened. “I’m yours and you’re mine,” he said simply as he began to rub her arms dry with the towel. He straightened up again, and this time pulled her to her feet and led her to one of the loungers.
She obediently sat down and he handed her a bottle of water, of which she drank a third of the contents before stretching out on the lounger and donning an old rather shabby baseball cap with ‘CVN-65 USS Enterprise’ on it.
“Where on earth did you get that cap?” he asked.
“Um… let’s see, I think my Great Grandmother got it in 1981,” Josie replied.
“You really loved her, didn’t you?” Scott asked softly.
“Yes. Turns out we were kindred spirits. She said I was just like her at the same age.”
Scott pulled another lounger next to hers and lay down on it. They were then asked what they had done whilst away, and Scott listened as Josie animatedly told the women about the horse riding, and going into town, eating out, and her flying lessons and realised she was finally settling in. He let his eyes roam and locked them with his grandmother, who smiled and nodded, making him give her a return grin.
Another hour passed, then Ruth suddenly announced that they’d all better return to the villa and get changed for dinner. Everyone could smell something exceedingly nice wafting down.
“Mmmmmm,” Cas began. “What is that lovely smell that’s making my mouth water?”
“Smells like Hainanese Five-Spice Pork Chops,” Tin-Tin said.
They all eagerly packed up their belongings and returned to the villa to shower and change for dinner. The other brothers had managed around three hours sleep by the time dinner was served.
Sure enough, it was what Tin-Tin said it was and it was devoured by everyone along with crusty bread to soak up the juices left on the plates. For dessert, Kyrano served up Chocolate Cardamom Cake served with condensed milk yogurt. Coffee and tea came next and everyone had an early night due to the rescues and travelling back.
The following morning, Scott, Gordon and Josie were up early. Scott went for a run around the island, Gordon and Josie swam in the pool. John and Ridley rose at around seven and went for a gentle walk on the beach. Penny was up half an hour later, Tin-Tin at eight, Alan at eight-thirty and Ridley and Virgil surfaced around nine.
Breakfast completed, Josie threw everyone out of the kitchen and explained that her contribution to the New Year’s Eve meal was going to be dessert and it was a surprise, so ordered them all to ‘bugger off’ so she could get on.
Scott tried to linger, until she rounded on him too and told him the order included him as well and no, he couldn’t stay and try and stick his finger in the pie (not that it was going to be a pie, but he didn’t know that!), or lick the bowl. So he reluctantly left and went and played water volleyball with his brothers and their partners.
“Miss Josie,” Kyrano asked her, “what are you planning on making?” He was genuinely interested, so she told him.
As part of her contribution, Josie was treating the family to her home made Cranachan dessert and she ensured she had a good supply of everything to feed all the hungry mouths. Kyrano kindly set mixing bowls, pans and other kitchen tools and the tumblers out in readiness for her after she showed him the recipe and instructions. He had offered to help, but she insisted this was something she had to do herself, but if disaster raised its ugly head, then she would be grateful for his assistance in saving the situation.
Her first job was to toast the oats. Normally she only made the dessert for two people at the most. Today it was for eight times that number, so whereas the toasting would usually only take around five minutes, due to the sheer amount, it took a lot longer to ensure every oat was toasted, and she had to constantly move them around in the large pan so they didn’t get burnt and toasted evenly.
Soon a nutty sort of smell hit her nostrils and she knew they were ready, so she emptied the contents of the pan into a large bowl and set them aside to cool and turned her attention to the raspberries.
She left enough whole fruit to decorate the top of the dessert with three each and crushed the rest of them. That completed, she whipped the cream into stiff peaks then slowly added the whisky (a good one, after all people were going to be able to taste it!) and the honey, having a sneaky taste to make sure it had enough in it and decided to slurp a little more whisky in.
Most of the now cooled oats were then folded into the cream mixture, leaving some behind in the bowl to garnish the tumblers.
Kyrano placed the tumblers out along the work surface in a row and Josie worked her way along, placing a layer of raspberries in first, then the first layer of the cream mixture, then layered again. As she’d been generous and the tumblers were quite deep, she had enough to put a third layer in, finishing off the last of the cream to make the top layer.
The oats left in the bowl were sprinkled over the top and the fresh raspberries added. The tumblers were then placed in the fridge until it was time for dessert
Josie felt a wave of satisfaction at having made dessert and smiled at Kyrano. “Thank you for your help Kyrano,” she said with feeling.
“Miss Josie, I did nothing. I must say I am not familiar with this dessert; it looks most interesting and flavoursome.”
“Well, you got all the utensils out for me for a start which was of tremendous help. And one of those desserts is of course for you.”
He gave a gracious little bow. “I am honoured. Please, go join the family, I will start preparing dinner.”
“Can I do anything to help?”
He shook his head. “Thank you, but no. I completed all the preparation work earlier.”
“Okay, if you’re sure.” She smiled at him, grabbed a bottle of water and left him to it.
Most of the family were now in the lounge. Gordon and Penny were missing as was Alan and Tin-Tin. Virgil was playing the piano and Cass was sitting on the stool next to him. Jeff was at his desk; Parker was relaxing in a chair reading a book. John and Ridley were sitting on one of the sofas reading a book together. Ruth was sitting in a chair listening to Virgil and Scott was sprawled on another sofa, eyes closed.
Josie tapped his knee. “Budge up,” she ordered and sank down next to him a split second after he moved his long legs out of the way. He wrapped an arm around her and placed a kiss on her temple.
“Everything go all right?” he asked, hoping to find out what she’d been up to.”
“Yes, Kyrano kindly helped by getting the necessary utensils out for me, and hovered at a distance ready to help me if things went wrong, but they didn’t.”
“So… this dessert has nuts in it? I couldn’t quite identify what sort of nuts by the smell that wafted up from the kitchen,” he said, fishing for answers.
“Not telling,” came the simple reply and she felt him huff beside her and grinned. “It’s a surprise, Scott! You’ll find out this evening!”
“But I want to know now,” he whined.
“God, you sound like a spoilt teenager! If you don’t shut up you won’t get any!” Josie poked her tongue out at him and then laughed at the expression on his face. “And you can stop pulling the big-eyed little-boy-lost-look as well. It’s not going to work!”
Scott deflated; Virgil and John smirked. “Well, she’s got you sussed,” Virgil quipped.
“Eat me!” Scott retorted.
Virgil simply laughed, then ducked as a pillow sailed towards his head and hit Cass instead.
That seemed to be a signal as all hell let loose and pillows were flying in all directions at the various targets, only to be followed by a very untidy puppy pile as the brothers present jumped on one another, followed by their partners amongst shrieks and laughter and other exclamations of mayhem. The missing members then appeared and another round of utter chaos ensued which Ruth put a stop to with a call of ‘lunch is ready!’
A truce was called and club sandwiches appeared; a mixture of turkey and ham, with salad and mixed dressings, followed by a fruit salad.
Meal finished, Alan and Tin-Tin collapsed onto a sofa, John and Ridley onto another one; Virgil and Cas disappeared, as did Gordon and Penny. Josie disappeared to the bedroom to get changed into a cropped top, shorts and sandals and said she was going for a walk. Scott of course, decided he wanted to go with her. Although nothing had been said, he was expecting her to leave with Penny and Parker the following day, so he wanted to spend as much time with her as he could.
They walked down the path to the beach, and Josie rounded on him. “Sooooo,” she began. “Where do you go when you want to get away from everybody? I mean, there must be some place on the island that’s your ‘private spot’ that the others know not to approach, so you can cool off, gather your thoughts, let off steam…. Where’s your special place, Scott? Or is that a secret?”
Scott studied her for a few moments before speaking. “We all have our special places on the island, that none of us invade because you’re right. Although we get on with one another really well most of the time, every now and again we need our space. The only time that space might be invaded if is our comms are giving off signals that indicate some form of medical emergency, like for example when Gordon’s back gave out and he was left writhing in agony in his special place until we arrived to rescue him.”
“Ouch!”
“Indeed. My special place is a partially collapsed lava tube. Vegetation has encroached on it and water has worn the base of it away a little to make a pool. It’s a bit of a walk, if you’re up to it, but we can take a shortcut across the island and get there faster.”
“I’d like to see it, very much.”
“Okay then. It’s this way.” They walked in silence for a little while, then Scott decided to elaborate a little more. “Actually, I did a bit of… landscaping on it,” he finally confessed. “I built a little dam so the pool was deep enough to swim in. If we get a lot of rain, then it overflows into the ocean, but I still keep my dry land around it. I also built a little hut.”
“It sounds beautiful.”
“You can reach it via the coast, but this way is quicker.”
Half an hour of walking and they reached it. Josie wasn’t quite sure what she was expecting, but nothing prepared her for the sight that awaited her. Approximately 20 feet below them was the base of the lava tube. The collapsed tube was about 40 feet wide, a small waterfall cascaded down on the far side into the pool of crystal clear water that was partially surrounded by greenery and filled part of the tube for around 100 feet. Even a few trees were growing. The water had made the whole area rather lush. On the side they were standing, a hut could be seen within the greenery, and there was some exposed basalt making a reasonably wide walkway, come patio in front of it. Further round, what look like black sand edged the pool.
“What do you think?” Scott asked her.
“It’s beautiful, Scott. Truly. And you have your own lap pool! How do we get down there?”
“I cut steps into the rock… here.” There was even a hand rail to hang onto and they made their way carefully down to the bottom of the tube. The view was even better from the bottom. Although it wasn’t very wide, the collapsed tube didn’t seem enclosed because of the amount of light that was let in. “I’ve spent a couple of days here before now.”
“Days? But what did you do about food, light, sleeping?” Josie asked astonished.
“There are solar panels to provide light, and…” he led the way to the hut and opened the door. Inside was a single bunk, a small stove and a fridge, plus a couple of chairs, a small table and an 18 inch deep airtight box, all with protective coverings over them.
“Wow!” Josie exclaimed. “You can do your whole Robinson Crusoe thing!”
Scott chuckled. “Would you like a beer or something?”
“Hey, have you seen me drink a beer?” she asked him.
“No actually. In fact, I haven’t seen you drink much at all.”
“That’s because I don’t… at least not much. I’m a cheap date.” She was grinning as she said it, just in case he got hold of the wrong end of the stick.
It took him a few seconds, then he twigged and grinned back as he used a bottle opener attached to the wall of the hut to remove the top off the bottle.
“What else you got in there?” she asked him.
“A couple of bottles of water, and some cans of soda that were on offer.”
She peered in. “Oh, I’ll have a Snow White fantasy,” she said and Scott frowned deeply.
“A what?” he asked, thoroughly confused. “A Snow White fantasy…. A Seven Up,” she replied somehow keeping a straight face and waiting patiently.
It only took a few seconds, then he cracked up, crying with laughter as he reached for a can and handed it to her. “You… you are terrible!” he finally managed to gasp between laughs.
“I do my best,” she replied.
He grabbed her with his free hand and pulled her in close for a kiss. “I know you do, honey,” he breathed against her lips, then stepped back and handed her his beer. “Hold that,” he said and turned, pulling the covers off the chairs and carrying them outside to place them on the little stone patio. “Might as well make ourselves comfortable and enjoy the scenery,” he said. So they did.
Josie finished her drink first and got up to take a closer look at the pool. Out of curiosity, she knelt down and stuck her hand in the water. It was cool, but not as cold as she expected. Her tongue licked at a finger experimentally. Fresh water. Straightening up she turned and looked at Scott, long legs splayed out in front of him, short-sleeved shirt buttoned up to his sternum.
“Wish I’d brought my swimming gear,” she said wistfully.
Scott glanced up at her. “Hey honey, you don’t need a swimming costume, we can swim in the buff.” His eyebrows rose as she blushed.
“But… we’re in the open,” she spluttered.
“We’re down 20 feet, no one’s going to see us.” He put his empty bottle down and stood up, towering over her.
“I er… I’ve never done anything like that before.”
“Really? Well, it can feel very liberating.” He smiled kindly at her. “Would you like me to turn my back whilst you do the necessary and get in the water?”
“Would you mind?”
“Of course not. Just yell out when you’re in.” He promptly turned his back on her and began disrobing, shrugging out of his shirt. Josie observed the fine white lines that meandered across his shoulder blades and back. Then quickly turned away, stripped and carefully lowered herself into the water, giving a little gasp at the temperature.
There was a bit of a ledge, and then the level dropped off, but she could see the bottom about 8 feet below her. She turned round to see he had stripped, that really cute, tight backside of his facing her. She swam a little distance away, turned her back on him and shouted that she was ready.
He turned, saw where she was and that she was facing away from him, ran and dove in cleanly, to surface right beside her. They swam and dove together for about an hour and it was as he described, rather liberating to swim in your birthday suit.
Scott swam towards the shore then stopped and turned to face her. “This is a gentle slope out if you’d prefer.” He stood up and Josie saw he was in hip deep water, so she swam towards him and stood up too. “Do you know what I’d really like,” he suddenly whispered in her ear as he leant over her.
She swallowed nervously, wondering what on earth he was going to say. “W – what?” she finally asked.
His lips kissed the base of her neck making her shiver. “I’d like to hear you scream with passion, like you wanted to in the kitchen at the farmhouse. “There’s no one to hear you here, you can scream as loud as you want… and I’d like that very much indeed…”
His hands were suddenly all over her, his lips kissing and sucking her skin, tongue licking and she surrendered herself to him. She didn’t have any choice, she couldn’t think straight as fire consumed her. They were in very shallow water now, as he brought her to the brink then took her down again, switched positions and did it to her again… and again until she begged him, sobbing for release. He flipped her over and obliged and she screamed long and loud as she fell off the cliff into a multiple orgasm that had her shuddering beneath him as he exploded within her.
He groaned loudly as he came; the loudest she’d ever heard him and realised that he’d wanted to make more noise as well.
Scott was still kissing her as they both came down from the high and she was moaning softly. He finally stopped and stood up, holding out a hand. She looked up at him and felt a fresh wave of heat engulf her, but quashed it down. It was criminal. All the brothers were incredibly handsome, but there was just something about Scott. She couldn’t explain it and in a way it also scared her because she had a horrible feeling that if he said ‘jump’ she wouldn’t even ask ‘how high’, she’d just do it. Coming to her senses, she took the offered hand and he pulled her to her feet. It was then she realised her legs didn’t want to hold her, so he literally swept her off her feet and into his arms and walked back to the chairs and placed her down on one.
He then disappeared into the hut and returned after a few seconds with a beer for him and another soda for her. They sat in silence for a number of minutes admiring the view of the pool and the vegetation, then Scott turned to face her. It was going to be an interesting conversation with them both sitting there with no clothes on!
“Josie, I… I guess you’ll be leaving tomorrow, with Penny?” he asked.
“Yes.” She sounded rather sad. “I’ve really enjoyed the majority of my time here, Scott.”
“I’m sorry about dad, but I think it’s sorted now. You’re my girlfriend and I want to see you as often as I can, but my job makes it difficult to get time off. I’ll stay in contact but actually getting to see you is going to be—”
“They say absence makes the heart grow fonder,” she interrupted taking hold of his hand.
“Will you let me know where you get posted to. I need to make sure you stay safe and I’ll stay in regular contact. We’ll sort something out; you need to finish your hours for flying!” He glanced at his comms unit. “Guess we’d better think of getting back we’ve been gone a few hours and it’ll soon be time for dinner. Have you dried off yet?”
“I think so. Scott, I’m beginning to feel like I don’t want to leave, but I can’t see how I can stay…” there were tears in her eyes. “What are we going to do?”
“Well, first we’re going back to get some dinner.”
“Scotty, be serious!”
“I am. I don’t want you to go, but I guess needs must. How easy is it for you to get time off?”
“Well, I’m pretty much free to come and go as I please, except when called out for a mission. The rest of my time, I’m doing research.”
“I promise you, we’ll sort something out, if you still want to make a go of this?”
She looked at him in shock. “How can you ask that? You’ve just made love to me, made me scream with the intensity of it and ask me if I want us to continue?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I want us to continue, I don’t want to lose you, but I need you to be sure this is what you want.”
“Is it what you want, Scotty?”
“Yes! How could you have any doubt?”
“I don’t, but you’re such a self-sacrificing idiot, I need you to be sure!”
“Hey!”
“You know that’s true.”
“Yeah, I know. I want us to work, Josie. I really do.”
She smiled at him. “Me too.” She rose from the chair, grabbed her clothes and started to get dressed.
He took pleasure in watching her and when she had finished, rose from his own chair and got dressed as well. They quickly tidied up, put the chairs back, covering them over again, then left their sanctuary and returned to the villa.
o0o0o0o
Every single member of the family and friends were sat at the dining table. Parker and Kyrano served the main course, then joined them to eat the meal, which consisted of coconut and lemongrass roast chicken. Kyrano had actually started it the evening before to allow the marinade to do its work. He had taken precautions and not made it too hot, just in case. As usual it was well received and compliments paid, then the two men got up, cleared the plates away and returned with Josie’s dessert.
“What is this, Josie?” Virgil asked.
“This is called Cranachan. It’s a Scottish dessert, made with toasted rolled oats, honey, whisky, thick double cream and raspberries. You could use rum or even brandy instead of whisky if you prefer.”
All the brothers’ ears pricked at the word whisky, apart from Alan, who wasn’t sure, but he gave the dessert a go and was hooked.
“Oh Josie, this is really nice!” Penny exclaimed.
Scott caught Josie’s eye. “It’s positively… orgasmic,” he said and took great delight when a mouthful of cream flew across the table as she choked… again. She’d never thought he’d use that word at the dining table!
There were other exclamations at Scott’s words and a lot of snickering. Jeff gave his eldest a look which was totally ignored. Ruth snickered quietly behind a hand, Alan and Brains blushed, but his other brothers all howled, along with Ridley and Cass. Tin-Tin and Penny did their best not to smile and in the end had to discretely put their hands over their mouths to disguise the fact they were.
Josie was pleased that she’d made the portions twice the normal size, knowing the types of appetites the brothers had. They had coffee and tea, cleared the table, loaded the dishwasher with the first load, then retired to the lounge with wine, spirits and soda.
“What time do you think you’ll be leaving tomorrow, Penny?” Jeff asked.
“We’ll have to leave after breakfast.” She glanced at Josie. “I hope that won’t be too early for you, Josie?”
“No, I’ll be ready.” She in turn glanced at Scott, her expression sad then looked round at her other female companions. “When is everyone else leaving?”
The responses were nearly enough identical. It seemed they were all leaving after breakfast.
Virgil played the piano for a little while, then some music was put on and the brothers and their partners danced. Midnight approached, and Brains had rigged bells to chime out at midnight.
A chorus of, “Happy New Year!” rang out and multiple kisses and hugs were exchanged. Penny got everyone to stand in a circle and cross hands. Josie immediately knew what she was doing and helped by singing Auld Lang Syne with her and shaking hands as they sung it. Tin-Tin recognised it from her time in Oxford, as did Scott although it had been quite a number of years ago. A toast was drunk to the New Year, then gradually people said goodnight and retreated to their rooms.
Many didn’t get much sleep that night. Almost everyone wasn’t sure when they would next see one another, apart from Tin-Tin and Alan, and Ridley and John, but they all made the most of the time left.
Breakfast the following morning was a rather subdued affair and finally it was time. Virgil flew out with Cass after saying goodbye to everyone. John and Ridley ascended to Thunderbird 5 in the space elevator. Gordon and Scott went down to the runway to see Penny and Josie off. It was a rather passionate goodbye between the two pairs.
“Call me when you get home,” Scott insisted.
“Okay, but it’s going to be a few hours. I’ve got a four hour drive when I get back to Penny’s.”
“Understood,” Scott replied. He sighed. “I don’t want you to go.”
She sniffed, suddenly feeling tearful. “I don’t want to leave, but I have to.” Her next words were whispered. “Love you, Scotty.”
“And I love you.”
They parted reluctantly, as did Penny and Gordon. Parker held the door open as the two women climbed into FAB 1. Scott and Gordon stood back out of the way and waved as the car took off.
Inside the car, Penny handed Josie a handkerchief as she lost the battle and tears fell unheeded down her cheeks.
o0o0o0o0o0o