New Beginnings

CHAPTER TWENTY

There was no doubt the saplings had been poisoned; many had lost what few leaves they had to begin with while others were turning brown, and Blake counted sixteen trees in total had been poisoned. This area where the trees had been planted was an area which had been cleared of the existing accommodation which had consisted of fifteen motel style units. They were not salvageable, and Alex thought it was a good location to plant the trees, being just outside the perimeter of where previous high tides had come in.

“How long ago do you think poisoning occurred?” Alex asked the ranger who’d met them at the wharf.

“Maybe fourteen days, because they’re young, it doesn’t take too long for the poison to do its job and it might well be that the amount of poison used was a higher dose. I’ve collected three trees from across the affected area and we might get a better idea of what was used.”

“Just to be clear,” Blake began, “There is no way this could have occurred due to salt exposure or lack of water?”

“No. Lack of water would see them droop and while salt can be detrimental to a plant, they would need to be exposed to it over a long period of time. We’ve had rain over the past ten days so that tends to wash excess salt from the leaves.”

Blake processed the information. Fourteen days would coincide with Arlene being charged with breaking the conditions of the intervention order as well as trespass. The thugs who attacked him were in custody as they both had outstanding warrants for failing to appear in court over a range of charges. Royce would never dirty his own hands, so that meant he had others at his disposal who would do that for him. He looked around for Alex and noticed she had wandered off toward the far end of the affected area, kneeling a pile of excess mulch separate from the recently planted trees.

“Blake!” she called, “Over here.”

Together with the ranger, they approached the area where Alex knelt,

“Did you find something?”

“Look,” she pointed to something glinting in the sunlight, “Looks like a woman’s earring and,” she carefully moved the mulch, “Unless I’m mistaken this is a freaking emerald!”

Blake and the ranger bent over to get a closer look. Blake didn’t know a lot about gems, but it was green, and it was sparkling brightly so it was high quality.

“Here,” the ranger held out a small hessian bag, “We use these for seedlings, it’s clean.”

Taking the bag, Blake handed it to Alex who carefully lifted the earring from the ground and dropped it into the bag before getting to her feet. She reached for her backpack and placed the earring in an inside pocket.

“I guess there’s an outside chance this worked its way to the surface with the preparation of the ground before planting,” she said, “But it certainly isn’t covered in soil.”

“Stupid question,” the ranger said, “What are you going to do with it?”

Blake laughed, “Not stupid at all. I have no f*****g idea. Alex?”

“Police? Or you could hang onto it,” she paused, “Yes! Of course! The Motutawa Island f*******: page!” She looked at the ranger, “You could post that it has been found while regenerating the island with new trees blah, blah.”

“Yeah, I can do that. I’ll ask any potentially interested parties to message us?”

“Excellent.”

He pulled out his phone, accessed the page and posted the message. The page was one of the first things Blake had organised and the rangers had the ability to keep followers up to date with how regeneration was progressing and when the island might be open to visitors. To Blake’s surprise the page had over five hundred people following the project and there were about the same on the island’s Twitter account.

“Do you have a potential owner in mind,” the ranger asked.

“I do. I think there might be one or two people following our progress that are not in the least bit interested in rehabilitating a small island back to a haven for native flora and fauna.”

As the rangers were finished for the day, Blake and Alex walked up to the site where the chalets were being renovated and it looked as though the workmen had also gone for the day. As Second Chance was not tied up at the wharf, Blake assumed both the builders and Alex’s team had also called it a day.

“Can we get inside?” Alex asked.

“Only one way to find out.” He climbed onto the small deck at the front of one of the chalets and Alex followed. He smiled, so independent. He was going to be a gentleman and help her up. The door hadn’t been secured and they stepped inside.

“They’ve retained the wood panelling, I like it,” she said, “Nice new kitchen,” she murmured.

“I have an idea.” He reached for her hand, pulling her to him, “Remember how we wanted to make love in as many different places as possible?”

“Ooh, Mr Forrester, what on earth are you suggesting?”

“You need to ask? I thought the state of a certain part of my anatomy would have been a big clue,” he laughed softly.

“I’m extremely impressed by the state of that particular item, extremely impressed indeed,” she purred, letting her hand slide between them to massage his c**k which was threatening to break the zipper on his jeans.

His fingertip traced the delicate softness of her lower lip, then trailed kisses down her cheeks, kissing the slender column of her neck, he nuzzled his way up to playfully bite her earlobe. Blake lifted his head, his breathing a little ragged and a small frown puckered her brow,

“Why did you stop?”

“Pacing myself.”

“Ha! You don’t need to do that,” her hand squeezed him, “Do you need an intervention with this?” she asked, squeezing him again.

“I think I might, or perhaps you need an intervention?” he winked at her and watched her grin,

“I think we ought to intervene on one another’s behalf. What do you say?”

“Good idea.”

Taking her hand, Blake led her to one of the bedrooms where a new mattress was leaning against a wall, still in its plastic covering. Blake pulled it away from the wall and brought it down to the floor,

“That is what you call fortuity,” he murmured.

He pulled her t-shirt out from her shorts, lifting it over her head to reveal the creamy perfection of her breasts, he groaned,

“Jesus, Alex! No f*****g bra?  No wonder that bloody ranger was having trouble keeping his eyes up north.”

She laughed, “And you didn’t know I wasn’t wearing a bra?”

“You were wearing a sweater back there and clearly my antenna for picking up the lack of a bra is not functioning.  Your breasts are perfection Alex and, I might add, extremely perky.”

“That’s what we ladies like to hear, perky is good.”

Blake laughed and kissed her, a hard, deep kiss while his fingers made short work on the button of her shorts, pushing them down to reveal white cotton knickers, he ran his fingers along the edge of them.

“Blake,” she whispered, “why am I almost naked and you’re still clothed?”

“Was wondering that very same thing. You can start any time you like.”

 His eyes settled on her breasts, so perfect and proud, ripe, succulent mouthfuls and his mouth closed over one n****e with his fingers working the other. He turned his attention to the neglected n****e, sucking it deep into his mouth. The pressure in his groin was intense and he sure as hell hoped she was going to fix that.

“Babe,” he rasped against her lips, “My clothes?”

She giggled, “I’ll get right onto that.”

Hungry fingers tugged his zipper down, his abs clenching as she opened his jeans. Twisting her hands in his t-shirt she pulled it up over his head before returning to his c**k, which strained against the soft material of his underwear, desperate for freedom. Alex worked at his jeans, pushing them over his hips and finally, finally, her hand reached in to release his c**k which sprang free, and Blake groaned.

“This way,” she husked, falling to her knees on the mattress. She gripped the base of his c**k and lowered her head, drawing him gently into her mouth. Alex flicked her tongue over the tip of his c**k, tasting the saltiness of him then dragged her tongue along the underside while cupping his balls.

“Alex!” he growled, “You don’t need to – oh Jesus!” His hands knotted in her hair, his breath growing ragged while her fingernails scraping his balls. Releasing him from her mouth, she urged him to lie down which he did, and she continued working his c**k into her mouth, sucking him hard, squeezing his balls, his body bucking as she worked her way over every inch of his c**k. Alex met the heat of his gaze with her own before his head slumped back onto the mattress his eyes closed. Releasing him from her mouth she stroked him, marvelling at the hardness of his c**k while his fingers moved through her hair. Blake sat up and pulled her onto his lap, settling her over his c**k,

“The plastic is a little sticky,” he murmured, “Don’t suppose you have a towel in your pack?”

“I do, although it’s not that big.” Leaning over she pulled her pack toward the mattress and opened it, smiling when she saw there were in fact two towels,

“Success times two!” she pulled them out, handing them to Blake and two condoms dropped out at the same time.

“You came prepared?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“I think I dropped a handful in there the last time we were here.”

“A handful, my, my, Ms Porter you were certainly being ambitious.”

Alex giggled and with the towels on the mattress, Blake pulled her down and covered her with his body, his hand sliding between her legs, reaching for the apex of her thighs. She wanted him or at the very least his fingers inside her and positioned herself, so his fingers could work their magic on her.

“Blake, please!”

He gave a soft laugh, blowing warm air across her n*****s. She moaned when his thumb sank into her ready wetness she clenched her thighs around his arm.

“Babe, you like that?”

“God, yes!”

“What else do you like?” his breath fanned her cheek, his mouth close to her ear, “Do you like this?” he parted her folds and drew lazy circles around her c**t.

“I do,” she panted, “Don’t stop, please don’t stop!”

 His mouth came down on hers, smothering the scream that burst from her the moment her orgasm hit, the intensity so extreme she continued arching her body against his hand, wanting more.

“Want something better in there?” he whispered, “Something big and hard?”

“Yes.” It was more of a whimper than anything.

He reached over and picked up a condom,

“I’d get you to do this, but I’m pretty far gone because watching you come like that was hot to say the least.”

Blake rolled the condom over his c**k, pushed her knees up and nudged the tip of his c**k at her entrance before sliding in deep, filling her completely. Groaning, she wondered how the hell she had gone so many years without this? Pulling back so that his tip was just at her entrance he then thrust into her, burying himself deep and repeating the motion, so that within minutes another orgasm was building inside her, she was on fire! Lifting her hips to meet each of his thrusts, Alex locked her legs around his waist and clenched him hard inside.

“Alex! When you do that…I want to come so hard inside you.”

She clenched him again.

“Are you close?” he asked.

Alex nodded and watched him smile as his big body thrust into her again and again. When they came, they came hard, each fuelling each other’s climax.

For a few moments neither of them moved. Alex’s own body was consumed with the most delicious shock waves. Finally, Blake rolled off her to snake out an arm and pull her close. For a few moments they lay face to face, their breathing slowly returning to a normal rhythm.

Alex wasn’t sure how long they remained like, and she must have dropped off to sleep because she opened her eyes with a start and found Blake clothed, leaning against a wall, his eyes full of heat and desire.

“Did I fall asleep?” she asked, suddenly self-conscious over her nakedness.

“You did.” There was an odd tone to his voice, despite the obvious lust in his eyes.

“Is something the matter?”

“The condom broke.”

The condom broke, she echoed in her mind,

“Oh, right.”

Blake laughed, “Alex, the condom broke.”

“I know, I’m not deaf.”

“Sorry. I didn’t know how you would react. I’m sort of stunned to be honest because that has never happened before.”

Reaching for her clothes, she began dressing,

“Thank you for reminding me of the legion of women who have warmed your bed over the last sixteen years,” she grumbled, pulling on her t-shirt, and buttoning her shorts.

“Hey, did I ever say there were a legion of women in my life? I’m sorry this has happened, Alex.”

“Sorry, I’m being a b***h and you gave me two orgasms.”

He crawled over to her and sat on the mattress beside her,

“I think we’ve already established my understanding of these matters is lacking, but I do know there are safe times and not so safe.”

“I’m probably edging towards safer than not. Besides there are things I can do, so you don’t need to worry.”

“Wrong answer, Alex. We’re in this, not just you and aren’t those tablets like mini abortion pills?”

She laughed, “It’s more about stopping something happening, Blake.”

“If you say so. I’m pleased you liked the two orgasms and I enjoyed mine.”

She rested her head on his shoulder, being pregnant wouldn’t be a huge problem would it. Okay, having another child wasn’t exactly in her plans, but then neither was having Blake in her life.

“I’m going to stop the clenching and squeezing, maybe condoms aren’t designed for that sort of behaviour.”

“Alex, if a condom can’t stand up to a bit of clenching and squeezing, there isn’t much hope for the world of condoms. Are you still mad at me?”

“Mad? No! You are not responsible for an equipment malfunction.”

“If I owned and operated a Ferris wheel which fell to the ground injuring people, I would be responsible for the malfunction of the equipment.”

“I don’t think condoms are in the same category. I mean nobody has died of a broken condom have they?”

“To the best of my knowledge, they have not and if they had I’m sure it would be on somebody’s YouTube channel.”

They laughed together and Blake pulled her to her feet,

“We’re not talking about this until you miss a period, I do know about those things. Instead, as we walk back down to the wharf, what are we going to do if someone responds to the f*******: post?”

Blake placed the mattress back against the wall and she returned the towels to her backpack.

“Is it possible Genevieve owns that earring?” she asked jumping off the deck onto the grass below.

“She’s the most obvious choice. I guess there’s an outside chance someone lost it years ago, but it seems to be in good condition, especially if you think about the fact the area a has been underwater due to high tides. That earring shows no evidence of discolouration due to salt water.”

They walked hand in hand down toward the wharf, while the regret of what she’d said to him in the chalet kept replaying in her head. It wasn’t a fair comment, was it? The crushed expression on his face had twisted her heart and the moment the words were out she wished she could take them back.

“You know, I suppose someone could have come ashore here, party people, that sort of thing which could explain the earring,” she said.

“Sure, that’s entirely possible as well. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing when the earring and its owner parted company. The ground itself was prepared about a month ago and the mulch went down, when?”

“A week after that, once the first trees were in.”

They came past the old administration building,

“Don’t forget we still have to do the desk fantasy once we clear the dust away,” he remarked dryly.

“Yeah, I won’t get in the mood if there are spiders or too much dust.”

“Or Ma and Pa rat,” he added.”

“Do you want to check the storage shed before we leave?” she asked him.

He checked his watch, “We have time, although I don’t want to get the turning tide, so it’ll have to be quick.”

She smiled, “Just remember I don’t want a quickie on the desk, mister.”

He stopped walking and faced her, holding both her hands,

“We’re good then? I must admit to being a bit concerned back there, and for the record Ms Porter, I wouldn’t mind if you’re pregnant, I want you to know that. I know it has been a long time between drinks but if Marron and Xavier can do it, I’m sure we can.”

“A long time between drinks?”

“Well, you know what I mean. Now, the shed.”

Alex watched him check the security codes on both doors, the new security door looked extremely solid and with new runners and wheels, the large door was much easier to move across. Blake took a step back from the shed, frowning and she knew that look. There was a problem.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Somebody has tried to access the code but after two incorrect attempts it locks out any further attempts until twenty-four hours have passed.”

“Can you download the CCTV footage?” She pointed to the cameras which had been placed in such a position that to a casual observer, the cameras were virtually obscure.

“I’ve downloaded them to my phone and will send them to my laptop. I’m going to key in a new code for this panel and reset it just in case whoever tried this tries again.”

“God, will these people just give it a bone!” she exclaimed, “Is this about you being here with Jack and me? Is it because you have disconnected yourself from them completely? What the frick do they want? Or, is it something else totally unrelated to you and the evil duo?”

Leaving the shed he muttered, “Buggered if I know. I thought it was just because I was here; that I didn’t want to know them, or that I have removed Winchester from my name. To be honest, Alex, I’m beginning to think this is something bigger because all of those things are not worth the trouble.”

“I know, but what if it was someone getting to me through you?”

He roared with laughter, “You, Alex? I doubt that very much, you have done everything right in your life, you have a successful business, an incredible son and most of all, you are a genuinely wonderful human being. Who, on this entire planet would want to harm you in any way?”

Put like that it didn’t add up. Why then was there a persistent niggle at the back of her mind that somehow she was the connection?