That evening the two men built a fire together in tense, angry silence. Melanie couldn't wait for Strong to go and leave her with Tall. As much as his hot, angry jealousy and desire for her made her almost quiver with excitement, still she wanted Tall to be alone with her first. One of them was lying, and one way or the other he would be punished tonight. If it were Strong, then he would just have to accept the fact the she had chosen his brother over him and take advantage of being alone in the forest to satisfy his needs in some way or other. If it were Tall, then she would punish him by taking her time alone with him to the absolute limit of his self-restraint.
Melanie was sure she could make him crack or reduce him to tears, but she would never give him her permission. If he really didn't want to touch her, if the sensation of her skin against his was so abhorrent to him, then tonight would be his chance to demonstrate it. If he were fighting his own desire, which she believed he was, then he would need every iota of his resolve to hold himself back.
At last, the fire was built and Strong stalked off into the forest to leave his brother alone with the woman of his obsessions for one whole night. He sounded like a wounded jungle cat as he crashed through the leaves, stomping gradually further away.
Melanie looked down at her own legs and arms and the deep hue of honey brown that long days in the tropical sunshine had given her. It was a humid night and she was wearing just a bikini they had salvaged with a mini sarong across her hip. Her bikini top barely covered her nipples; her long, shining, sun bleached blonde hair spilled down her right shoulder seductively covering her right breast.
Alex continued to work with his back to her, preparing their evening meal of freshly caught fish, tropical island fruits, and cracked coconuts. He was as far away from her as he could be without leaving the circle of light from the fire. He seemed tense.
"Alex." She beckoned softly.
He stopped working but didn't turn around.
"Why are you calling me that?"
"Isn't it your name?"
"Of course it is, but why would you use it now?"
She stared at him across the crackling campfire.
"It's your name, so why wouldn't I use it?"
"So you believe me?"
"I didn't say that."
He turned back to the meal he was preparing but only served to provoke her. He was here to 'explain' himself. But he owed her more than that -- a lot more. Melanie would be damned if she was going to let him turn his back on her.