Four

"REALLY? You've been to New York but you've never been to Palawan?"

Adam and I were already in Palawan port. We left Manila before lunch and traveled one hour by plane. After traveling by car for almost half an hour, we reached a port. From here, Adam said that we would ride a mini boat to reach the private island that Adam was talking about.

I was excited and nervous. This was the first time I'd ride a boat. Damn. My life has been really boring in the past years.

I turned to Adam who was beside me. He was a complete stranger to me. I don't usually trust strangers but I trust him. But even if I knew nothing about Adam, I could feel that he was trustworthy. Besides, if he planned to do something to me, I could very well defend myself. Marcus and I took jiu jitsu classes in New York before.

Earlier, before I agreed to go with him, I suggested that we refrained from asking personal questions to each other. We were strangers to each other and I would like to keep it that way.

Adam said he had no problem with that. Well, I felt like he had no interest in my personal life. Since last night, he hasn't asked anything about me. Well, it seemed like he also didn't want to be asked about his personal life. It's no that I wanted to ask him something about his life. What happened and whatever's going to happen between us on the island would just be purely physical.

I couldn't deny what he said earlier. I was sexually attracted to him. Whenever he kissed me, I felt like I was going out of my mind. He was sooo good with his mouth.

Damn. I shouldn't be curious about him.

"We'd ride a boat thirty minutes to the island," Adam turned to me as we waited for our boat that would bring us to the island. He was holding a travel bag. Earlier, we dropped by the mall to buy some clothes.

"If you want to call someone, do it now. There's no cellphone signal on the island."

"Really? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

He pursed his lips. "It's a private island. Of course the place has no cellphone reception." He arched his brow. "Is that not okay with you? You didn't think I'm sort of a killer, are you?"

I almost chuckled. "If I thought you're a bad person, then I wouldn't be here with you right now."

"You trust me that much?"

"Let's just say that I trust my instincts." I shrugged my shoulders then raised my hand to show him my phone. "I… I just need to contact my parents. I didn't inform them that I'd be gone for the weekend."

He slightly cocked his brow. "You're already twenty-nine. You still need your parents' permission for this?" His lips twisted. "Are your parents' that strict?"

My cheeks heated. "No. I just… don't want them to worry. They're old, you know."

He nodded at me. "Call them now."

Well, I wanted to call my mother, but I didn't want to lie to her. I decided to just call Marcus instead. Before I could even dial my cousin's number, my cell phone rang.

It was my Marcus. I excused and distanced myself from Adam as I hit the accept button.

"Ches! I just woke up. Where the heck are you?" Marcus' concerned voice welcomed me. He sounded like he just woke up. "What's with your text? You didn't answer my calls last night."

"I didn't go home last night," I told him. "And I won't go home for the weekend."

"What?" I could hear the shock in his voice. "What's happening? Where are you? Did you get yourself checked yesterday?"

"Yes…" I bit my lower lip. "I went to the doctor yesterday. Don't worry, the doctor said it's just acid reflux." My face winced with the lies I was threading. "Anyway, I just called to inform you that I'm going on a vacation, Marcus."

"Wait, what? Is this for real?"

"Yeah." I twisted my lips. "I just realized I've been so burned out. You're right. I need to de-stress."

"Wow." I heard him whistle on the other line. "That's a surprise. I can't believe I'll be hearing this from you, Ches." He said with a chuckle.

Yeah. Me, too. "Just tell my parents I can't go home for the weekend. Tell them not to worry."

"Wait. You didn't tell them?" I could imagine his frown right now. "Claire, who are you with?" he inquired. I wasn't even wondering why he was questioning me. This was not me.

"I'm alone," I lied again.

"And where are you going?"

"Somewhere in Palawan." I remembered Adam told me this was in El Nido. But I didn't tell Marcus the exact place.

"The heck, Claire," his voice got louder again. "You're going to Palawan and you're alone?"

"I'm gonna be safe, okay? It was you who kept on telling me to go on a vacation, right? Well, this is it."

I heard his deep breath from the other line. "This is just so sudden. It's not you. I feel there's something wrong." I heard him sigh. "Are you really okay?"

I pursed my lips. Marcus… he really was like this with me. Always acting like an older brother. "Marcus, I'm really fine. You have nothing to worry about."

"But are you sure you're going alone? Just tell me who are you with? You're with a guy, aren't you?"

I parted my lips. Shit. "What guy are you talking about? I told you I'm alone." I denied. I tried to calm my voice. I even tried to laugh at him.

"I don't even have a boyfriend, Marcus.

"

"I don't know. Maybe—"

"Everything's fine with me, Marcus," I told him. "I have to go, my boat's already here. See you at the office on Monday."

Before Marcus could even answer me, I already cut off the call. I chewed on my lips as I went back to Adam.

"Everything okay?" he asked me.

I smiled and nodded at him. I just had to remember I was doing this for myself. I wanted to be happy. I wanted to experience new things.

"Our ride's already here. Let's go."

He pointed out a mechanical boat on the shore. It was enough for at least three people. A middle aged man welcomed us and guided us to the boat.

After thirty minutes on the water, I already spotted a small island. I saw a cottage house, and behind it, there was a small forest of mangrove trees. The sand was powdery white.

"Wow," I mumbled as I stepped foot on the island. I couldn't hide my amazement as I roamed my eyes around the place. This was like a little paradise in the middle of the blue sea.

"Like it?" Adam asked beside me.

"How did you know this place exists?"

He smiled and winked at me. "One of my friends owned this paradise."

Before we even reached the cottage, I saw a woman coming towards us. He looked like she was in her fifties. Maybe she was the caretaker of the cottage or something.

"Sir Adam, everything's already prepared. Just call me if there's a problem or if you need something."

Adam smiled at the middle aged lady. "Thanks, Cory."

I saw the woman go straight to the boat. Then together with Peter, they sailed away from us.

"They're husband and wife. Cory and Peter," Adam said beside me.

I just nodded at him.

"How will you contact her?" I asked him. Didn't he tell me there's no reception here?

"We have a two way radio on the cottage. That's what the guests are using to contact them. The caretakers are just residing on the neighboring island, anyway."

I nodded. We went inside the cottage. I looked around as I admired the rustic vibe of the place. Almost everything was made of wood.

There's only one room but it was big enough for two of us. Well, I don't think we'll be needing another room. Wasn't the reason I went with him was for us to have sex? Aside from the king sized bed, there was a big wooden cabinet and a night stand.

There's also a big window beside the bed where I can see the view of the sea.

"There's no cellular signal but we have electricity here, thanks to solar panel."

I looked at the cellphone in my hand. He was right. There's really no reception here. Well, what should I expect, we were literally in the middle of the sea.

After inspecting the bedroom, Adam brought me to the kitchen area. Everything was complete. There was even a water dispenser beside the fridge. Impressive.

Adam opened the ref. It was filled with food supplies that I'd bet would last a week. "You can cook anytime you want."

I pursed my lips. "But I didn't know how to cook."

"Really?" He cocked his eyebrows. "Oh, right. You mentioned last night that you wanted to learn how to cook." He grinned. "Don't worry, you won't get hungry with me." Then he winked.

My cheeks flushed the same time I felt something hot travel my spine. Was he throwing me an innuendo? Or was it just me thinking dirty?

"Your friend must be really rich to be able to own a place like this…" I commented as I kept on looking around the cottage. The whole place was like a paradise.

"It was an inheritance from his gramps." He shrugged at me.

"What a nice friend you got there…" I mumbled.

He just chuckled before he lowered into me. His lips almost touched the shell of my ear. I gasped when I felt him licked the side of my ear. "I suggest you take a rest for now. You'll be needing energy for later, Claire."

Heat traveled at the base of my nape. My cheeks flushed. I felt the rush of excitement move on my skin.

"A-alright, I'll go to sleep first." I bit my lower lip. "But then stop seducing me."

His sexy laugh filled my ears. "Hmm, fair enough."