STORY 1: CLAIMED

Chapter 1: The Small Boat

The boat smelled like salt, diesel, and this faint sweet thing Isa couldn’t quite place, maybe old fruit, or engine oil mixed with something floral from the mainland. She’d been on research boats before, sure, but never anything this tiny. Never one where the walls were so thin she could literally hear the other person breathing just two feet away on the other side.

Zamir was in there now. She could hear the shuffle of his camera equipment, the soft curse when something clattered to the floor.

Isa spread her charts across the narrow galley table, weighted down the corners with coffee mugs. Her hands moved in practiced strokes, pencil scratching across paper. The archipelago took shape slowly. Patience was her skill. Precision.

“You still use paper?”

She hadn’t heard him come out. His voice was low, accent soft around the edges. Nigerian, she’d guessed, though she hadn’t asked.

“Digital fails,” she said without looking up. “Paper doesn’t.”

He leaned against the doorframe. She could feel him watching. Her pencil slipped, left a mark where there shouldn’t be one.

“Can I see?”

She moved her arm so he could look. He smelled like coconut sunscreen and something darker, like coffee grounds. His shoulder nearly touched hers as he bent over the map.

“Beautiful,” he said.

She didn’t know if he meant the archipelago or her work. Didn’t ask.

The first dive, she couldn’t stop watching him.

Underwater, sound disappeared into something thicker. Her breath loud in her ears, the hiss and bubble of the regulator. Zamir moved through the water like he belonged there, camera in both hands, body twisting to follow a school of silver fish.

She was supposed to be measuring depths, checking coordinates. Instead she watched the way his legs kicked, slow and easy. The way his wet suit pulled tight across his shoulders.

He turned, caught her staring. Even through his mask she could see his eyes crinkle. Smiling.

Her face burned inside her mask.

She forced herself back to work. Numbers. Measurements. Things that made sense.

But when his hand brushed her ankle, steadying himself against the current, every nerve in her body woke up.

**Chapter 2: Close Quarters**

Three days in, the cabin felt smaller.

She couldn’t move without bumping into him. In the galley, reaching for the coffee. On deck, coiling rope. Their hands would touch and she’d pull back too fast, like she’d been shocked.

“Sorry,” she’d say.

“Don’t be,” he’d answer, every single time.

At night she lay in her bunk and listened to him move around in his. The creak of the mattress. The rustle of sheets. She wondered if he slept in his underwear or nothing at all, and hated herself for wondering.

“Why maps?” he asked one evening.

They were on deck, the sun turning the water gold and pink. She had her notebook out, sketching coastline from memory.

“Why photos?” she countered.

“I asked first.”

She sighed, set down her pencil. “I like knowing where things are. What’s real and what’s not.”

“And maps tell you that?”

“Maps don’t lie.”

He laughed, soft. “Everything lies a little. Even maps. They’re just someone’s version of the truth.”

She looked at him. Really looked. His profile against the sunset, the line of his jaw, the way his locs were tied back with a piece of blue string.

“What do your photos tell?” she asked.

“That the world is worth saving.” He turned to meet her eyes. “Even the parts we haven’t mapped yet.”

Something in her chest pulled tight.

**Chapter 3: The Storm**

The storm hit on day nine.

It came fast, the way they do out here. Sky going green-black, wind whipping the water into something mean. Zamir helped her secure everything on deck, both of them soaked through in minutes. Rain so hard it stung.

“We need to find shelter,” he shouted over the wind.

She checked her maps, squinting against the rain. There. A small island, half a mile east. Uninhabited, just a crescent of sand and rock.

They made it, barely. Beached the boat in a tiny cove, dragged their emergency kit onto shore. By the time they reached the tree line, Isa was shaking. Not from cold. From adrenaline, from fear, from the way Zamir’s hand had gripped hers as a wave tried to take her feet out from under her.

The island had a cave. Shallow, but dry. They spread out a tarp, sat with their backs against stone. Outside, the storm screamed.

“You okay?” he asked.

She nodded. Didn’t trust her voice.

He shifted closer. “You’re shivering.”

“I’m fine.”

“Isa.”

The way he said her name. Soft. Like it mattered.

She turned to look at him. His face was inches away. Water dripped from his hair onto his shoulders, his chest. His wet shirt clung to every muscle.

“We should get out of these clothes,” he said. “Dry off.”

Her mouth went dry.

He pulled off his shirt, casual, like it meant nothing. Wrung it out. She tried not to stare at his stomach, the dark skin slick with rain and salt. Failed completely.

“Your turn,” he said, and there was something in his voice now. Something that made her skin feel too tight.

She peeled off her shirt with shaking hands. Sports bra underneath, thank god. But his eyes tracked over her anyway. Slow. Hungry.

“Zamir.”

“I know.”

“We shouldn’t.”

“I know.”

Neither of them moved away.

The air between them felt electric. She could hear her heartbeat, his breath, the rain outside. Everything else disappeared.

“Tell me to stop,” he whispered.

She couldn’t.

His hand came up, fingertips brushing her collarbone. Feather-light. Tracing the line of water that ran down from her throat. She gasped.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said. “Do you know that? I’ve been trying not to touch you for nine days.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“You keep running away.”

She had been. Every time he got close, every time she felt the pull.

“I’m not running now,” she whispered.

His thumb stroked along her jaw. Her eyes fluttered closed. She’d never been touched like this. Like she was something precious. Something worth taking time with.

“Look at me,” he said.

She did.

“I want to kiss you. Can I?”

The fact that he asked. That broke something open in her.

“Yes.”

**Chapter 4: Mapped and Claimed**

His mouth was soft. Careful. Tasting. His lips barely brushed hers once, twice, before pressing harder. She made a sound in her throat and his hand slid into her hair, tilting her head back.

The kiss deepened. His tongue traced her bottom lip and she opened for him, let him in. He tasted like salt water and something sweet. She couldn’t get enough.

Her hands found his chest, his shoulders, mapping the muscles there. He groaned against her mouth and pulled her closer, until she was in his lap, straddling him. The position made her dizzy.

“Too fast?” he asked, pulling back just enough to search her face.

“Not fast enough.”

He smiled against her mouth. “We have all night.”

“The storm.”

“Exactly.” His hands slid down her back, fingers tracing her spine through her sports bra. “We’re stuck here. Might as well make the most of it.”

She couldn’t argue with that logic.

His mouth moved to her neck, kissing the tender spot below her ear. She arched into him, her breath coming faster. Every touch sent heat spiraling through her.

“Tell me what you like,” he whispered against her skin.

“I don’t know.”

He pulled back, studied her face. “You don’t know?”

She bit her lip. “I’m usually too in my head. Thinking about what I should be doing, if I’m doing it right.”

“Stop thinking,” he said. “Just feel.”

His hands slid around to her stomach, palms flat, warm. He moved them up slowly, so slowly, until his thumbs brushed the underside of her breasts through the fabric. She shuddered.

“Like that?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Tell me.”

“I like that.”

“Good girl.”

The praise made her melt. She pressed closer, feeling him hard against her through their wet clothes. The knowledge that he wanted her this badly gave her courage.

She reached for the waistband of his shorts.

His hand caught hers. “Not yet.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m going to take my time with you.” He laid her back on the tarp, gentle. Braced himself above her. “I’m going to learn every inch of you. What makes you gasp. What makes you beg. And when you’re so desperate you can’t stand it, then I’ll give you what you need.”

Heat flooded through her. She’d never heard anything so filthy, so perfect.

“Okay?”

“Okay,” she breathed.

He smiled. Then his mouth was on her stomach, kissing a line down to the waistband of her shorts. His hands worked them down over her hips, taking her underwear with them. The night air hit her skin and she shivered.

“Cold?”

“No.”

“Nervous?”

“A little.”

He pressed a kiss to her hip bone. “We stop whenever you want.”

“I don’t want to stop.”

“Then relax.” His breath ghosted over her inner thigh. “Let me make you feel good.”

His mouth on her was nothing she’d ever felt. Soft and warm and perfect. He moved slowly, learning her, listening to the sounds she made. When she gasped he did it again. When she gripped his hair he hummed against her and the vibration made her cry out.

“That’s it,” he murmured. “Let me hear you.”

She couldn’t stay quiet. Couldn’t stay still. Her hips moved and he held them down, strong hands on her thighs, keeping her where he wanted her.

The pleasure built and built. She was right on the edge, desperate.

“Zamir, please.”

“Please what?”

“I need…”

“Tell me.”

“I need to come. Please.”

He gave her what she needed. His mouth, his fingers, everything working together until she shattered. The orgasm rolled through her in waves, so intense she couldn’t breathe. He didn’t stop, drawing it out until she was shaking.

When she finally came down, he was watching her. Eyes dark, mouth wet.

“You’re perfect,” he said.

She reached for him, pulled him down into a kiss. Could taste herself on his tongue. It should have been strange. Instead it made her want him more.

Her hand found him through his shorts. He was so hard it had to hurt. She stroked him and he groaned into her mouth.

“Isa.”

“I want you.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything.”

He kicked off his shorts, reached for his pack. Pulled out a condom. She watched him roll it on, her mouth dry. He was beautiful. All lean muscle and dark skin.

He moved back over her, settled between her legs. The head of him pressed against her and she held her breath.

“Look at me,” he said.

She did.

He pushed in slowly, watching her face. The stretch was perfect, almost too much. She breathed through it, her hands on his shoulders.

“Okay?” he asked.

“More than okay.”

He sank in all the way and they both groaned. He gave her a moment to adjust, then started to move. Slow, deep strokes that hit something inside her she didn’t know existed.

“God, Isa. You feel so good.”

She wrapped her legs around him, pulling him deeper. The angle changed and she gasped.

“There?”

“Yes, there. Don’t stop.”

He didn’t. He moved faster, harder, his breath ragged. She could feel the tension building in him, knew he was close.

“Touch yourself,” he said.

She slid her hand between them, found the spot that made her see stars. The combination of him inside her and her own fingers was too much.

“I’m going to come again,” she gasped.

“Do it. Come for me.”

She did, clenching around him. He followed her over, her name on his lips, his body shaking.

They lay tangled together afterward, breathing hard. Outside the storm still raged. Inside the cave, Isa felt calm for the first time in years.

Zamir’s hand traced lazy patterns on her skin. Her shoulder, her arm, her ribs.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Mapping you,” he said softly. “Learning the territory.”

She smiled against his chest. “Find anything interesting?”

“Everything about you is interesting.”

They made love twice more that night. Once with her on top, learning how to move, how to take what she needed. Once with him behind her, his mouth on her neck, his hand between her legs.

By the time the storm passed and dawn light filtered into the cave, Isa felt mapped and claimed and completely undone.

They sailed back to the boat in silence. But it wasn’t the uncomfortable kind. It was the silence of two people who’d said everything that mattered without words.

On deck, Zamir pulled her close. Kissed her like he had all the time in the world.

“Two more weeks,” he said. “Think you can handle sharing this boat with me?”

She looked up at him. At this man who’d taken her apart so gently and put her back together better.

“I think I can manage,” she said.

He grinned. “Good. Because I’m not done exploring yet.”

Neither was she.