The Secret Island
CHAPTER 39: The Sun

Celine woke up in the middle of the night. The sounds she heard were the same sounds as the past few days-the strong wind from outside and the consistent breathing sound from the man lying next to her. But she sensed the temperature was much colder than usual. The much closer sound from the waves reminded her where she was.

She was groggy from just waking up, and looking around trying to make sense of the space. Martin was still deeply asleep. He looked younger in his slumber. And the painful pang in her chest started to grow. The voice in her head whispered the reality she had to face in a few hours. It pushed her to face the inevitable.

Because today was the last day.

She didn't know how long it would take until we meet again, the day he will be hers again.

But Martin must know it...she hoped he knew it that she will not change her mind.

He was sleeping so soundly that she couldn't help herself but kissed him. Under the moonlight, the time in our world stopped. She was in love with him and willing to take the risks.

She had been through multiple relationships; falling in love and lost in the fantasy without a way out more times than she could count. And she thought this time was just one more time in the string of many. She thought this relationship may just end in the same way.

Love. Depart. Falling out of love. Just the same way.

But when she was with Martin, nothing about her was the same.

She started to dream.

The dream of him although he was still lying close by and the daydream of the future with him being with her.

The dreams that she knew wholeheartedly that they were all that was. Just dreams.

If she wasn't illusional or too biased, she would hope that he thought the same-Martin might dream that we can be together always. She looked at his sleeping face and smiled. That was only if she wasn't biased, perhaps he was dreaming of her.

Celine rummaged in the dark for her clothes that were scattered all over the floor. She wore them back on when the weather was getting torturously cold.

Celine thought of Martin. He couldn't ensure this weather for long with just a blanket. She picked up his shirt and walked back to the bed. She was afraid that he would catch a cold. The blanket we had on the yacht was also not as thick as the one we had at the villa.

"Martin, wake up. Wear this. I don't want you to catch a cold." She didn't want to disturb his sleep. But she hoped he could understand her good intention.

But it didn't turn out as expected.

"No..." The man who was seven years her senior denied in a groggy tone.

"Please, just wear this shirt. It will only take seconds." She reasoned with the sleepy man who refused to listen.

"...I'm sleeping..." His answer was definite and ignored her reason.

It was quite funny to witness him at this stage.

"Aren't you cold?" She assumes he was because she saw he hoarded as much blanket and shivered. The change in temperatures was significant. "...cold..."

"Then just get up and wear more clothes. It doesn't take long. Hurry." "No..."

"Oh, come on. And you accused me of being stubborn? Now, who is the stubborn one? You are acting like a kid." She had woken up for quite a while and started to feel fully awake. So, she wanted to play with this childish and stubborn sleeping man.

"Ahh...no...Celine." This time, Martin covered his face with a pillow as if to shield her away from her and back to his sleep.

But it didn't work.

Celine pulled away that pillow and tried to put a shirt on him. But the sleepy man surprised her by pulling her into his embrace. In his arms, she blushed because he didn't wear a single piece of clothing.

"I don't want to wear it. If you want me to feel warm, just hug me."

"Are you really sleeping?" He was always unpredictable and sometimes even Machiavellian despite his quiet demeanor. And this time, Celine was uncertain of what he truly wanted.

"What do you think?" She looked into his eyes. Those gleaming teasing eyes. Although sleepy, she suspected she guessed his unspoken message correctly.

"Aren't you tired?" It was Celine who asked this time and snuggled against him who chuckled softly. Then her world turned upside down. He was once again on top of her. He definitely pretended to be sleeping. His hand slipped inside her shirt and his lips on her neck.

"I'm not tired." A short answer was uttered. He moved up so we were face to face. He smiled at her. A smile that warmed her heart.

"How can we wake up in time for the sunrise if you are doing this?" Her shorts had ended up on the floor again.

"Do you know there is one quote I really like from Anna Karenina?" He asked her between kisses, making her skin turn hot every place his lips touched. She couldn't answer as she remembered nothing about Russian Literature.

"....."

"He stepped down..." Martin cupped her face and looked deep into her eyes. His eyes hypnotized her to see only him and him alone. The whole world disappeared, and she saw only him.

"...trying not to look long at her, as if she were the Sun..." He closed his eyes and smile broadly.

"...yet he saw her, like the Sun, even without looking." He kisses her again. A long, deep, passionate kiss that touched her soul.

And for someone who barely shared his emotions, he made her heart beat faster with his words.

"Is it too dramatic for me to say that you are the light of my life? Like the Sun."

".

"So.... I think if we don't wake up in time for the sunrise, we won't miss out on anything."