Hello readers. Let me get my usual blah, blah, blah out of the way and then I'll get onto the story.

Firstly, art credit for the lovely cover goes to the talented Tinnies.

Second, this story was started over on my Patreon page and I want to thank my awesome Patrons for continuing to support my work. The Patreon version of this story will be a chapter or more ahead of this version so if you want to stay right up to date and you want to show me some love I invite anyone able to come on over and pledge at the Grimbino level or above. Otherwise sit tight and the chapters will find their way here eventually.

Third, the kinks in this story will be similar to the ones covered in my Runt of the Litter story BUT, because this is primarily a Patreon story, incest and non-consensual fetishes have to be avoided or, at best, teased at. Futanari, femboy, romance, bondage, bisexual, sph, cuckold, and many other of the old RotL faves should be here however. I may add offshoot threads for fun along the way but I'm honestly not sure yet.

Fourth, this story is a bit different from my others. It is written in the first person but the perspective shifts back and forth between the two protagonists. Also, it starts in the past tense then shifts into present later on. I hope this isn't too off-putting.

Finally, as with many of my stories this will be a slow burner. As of when I am writing this I am seven chapters in and the smut still hasn't happened yet.

Thank you for your patience. I hope you enjoy the story.

Grim

***

Tony's Story

To think, not so long ago we were sipping champagne and eating grilled prawns on the deck of our yacht as we lounged and stared out over the calm cerulean waters of the South Pacific. Our days were filled with leisure and luxury, our greatest challenge was combating boredom.

That was all before the storm. The storm that changed everything. The storm that turned our boat and our lives upside down. That we survived it at all is a miracle.

But let's start at the beginning. My name is Anthony Butler. I am a corporate attorney for a large chemical company based out of Michigan. I am a driven and goal oriented man who, at only 38 years old, was only 12 years from retirement. Retire at 50. That was my life's focus, had been since I was a teen, and I was well on my way to achieving it. Thanks to some canny investments I could have retired anytime I wanted, but I would have no compromise in my standard of living post work life. As part of that goal however was a mid-career break. A one year sabbatical to recharge my energies and get a taste of the life that awaited me after 50.

My wife Ashley and I wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of our busy lives as well as the cold Michigan winters. The South Pacific seemed as far away as we could possibly get. A year of tropical sunshine seemed just the thing. My parents, who live in San Diego, had an fine old 69 ft luxury sailing yacht that just sat in the harbor. Her name was “Rose”. I made the arrangements to rent it for a year and things were set into motion.

When it came to sailing and navigating I was at best a dabbler. I'd gone out from time to time on the Great Lakes, nothing more than a day. I really enjoyed the experience of getting out onto the open water but I didn't have the time or interest to properly learn the ropes. Thankfully money solves all problems and I simply hired on a Captain for our journey. Little did I know it at the time but my choice of Captain would prove to be my first and most fateful mistake.

Now, you see, I don't like to admit it but I am a jealous man. A very jealous man. This along with my famously short temper is not a good combination. Even just seeing another man look at my wife causes my blood pressure to rise. And with how gorgeous Ashley is this happened a lot. On a day to day level I am able to hold down this jealousy for the most part but the thought of having another man traveling with us for a stretch of many months was something I wasn't prepared to deal with. It's not that I don't trust Ashley, but I believe it is easier to remove temptation altogether than to have to put that trust to the test day after day. For my own peace of mind I limited my search for a Captain to women and gay men. Given the other constraints of time and location this ended up severely shrinking the talent pool I had to choose from.

When I eventually hired Captain Kyle I knew he had what might be called a “checkered past”. He liked his drink, he'd had scuffles with the law, there were strange gaps in his resume, and there were accounts of him disappearing for days at a time while in port. However, his most recent references were all positive and it seemed at a glance that he'd turned things around. I assumed age had mellowed him. When we met him he was a personable enough fellow and not once did his eye stray to my hot wife's body. He was said to be a quiet man that mostly kept to himself. As peace and privacy was an important aspect of our year long adventure having a loner for our Captain sounded ideal to me.

Fast forward and it was mid-April and we were sailing the South Pacific. The journey thus far had been everything I dreamed it would be and I had no reason to believe the remaining months would be anything but more of the same.

We were a few days West of Pitcairn Island, or at least that's where we thought we were. I knew something was up the moment I saw that lone palm tree in the distance seeming sticking out of the middle of the deep ocean.

Ash and I were sitting out in the shade of the aft deck reading when I spotted the anomaly.

I tapped her foot. “Hey, pass me the binoculars.”

“Hm?” She looked up from her book, startled by my sudden motion that interupted what had been a solid hour of silence. I could see myself in her large sunglasses as she looked at me.

I motioned for her to pass them over. “Come on.” Reaching back and behind her she handed them to me. Standing up I brought them to my eyes to look over the out of place tree. It was roughly 500 yards off starboard and jutted up out of the water at a sharp angle. I could see by the single dangling branch of brown and wilted fronds that the tree was surely dead. Around it the water was a much paler shade of blue than the deeper waters beyond. I could barely make out dark shapes just below the surface in that area.

“What is it?” Ash asks as she spotted what I was looking at.

“A sunken island by the looks of it.”

“Out here?” She said dubiously. Her confusion was well founded as we shouldn't have been anywhere close to an island at that moment, sunken or otherwise. We obviously weren't where we were supposed to be.

While this fact annoyed me to no end it was also a welcome opportunity to break up the monotony. It was something to explore. Looking at my wife I said. “Let's check it out.”

She smiled and nodded at the suggestion.

I looked once more to the tree then turned toward the open door that lead inside the cabin. I could see within Kyle sitting hunched to the side in the pilothouse. “Hey!” I called out. “Kyle, come to. Stop the boat.”

He looked over his shoulder with bloodshot eyes, pauses as he processes the order, then sets about bringing our ship to a full stop. As he did so Ash leaned in and whispered what we were both thinking. “I think he's been drinking.” She then got up and hurried below deck to go grab our snorkeling gear.

We both knew Kyle had been hitting the sauce since our stop at Adamstown. During the whole trip the man's mood continually darkened. He had gone from quiet and standoffish to downright gloomy in his disposition. We weren't sure what demons he was wrestling with but there was true anguish hidden in that hard gaze of his. The booze did nothing to help this. He had been even more sullen since Pitcairn and though he tried to hide the drinking it was impossible to miss his sloppy movements and the smell of whiskey on his breath whenever you were close. We hadn't said anything yet as he seemed to function well enough, but seeing this out of place island had me regretting that decision. I was as annoyed at myself as I was with him for not calling it out sooner.

When we'd finally come to stop I pointed out toward the tree with an accusing finger. “What's that?” I asked our Captain, letting my displeasure come though in my tone. “What the hell is that?”

He rubbed his eyes and squinted out toward it then simply shrugged.

“You drunk bastard. You've gotten us lost. How is that even possible anymore?” I said as I pointed to the computer screens and gauges laid out on the panel in front of him. He grumbled something under his breath but I cut him off. “Listen Kyle, we're going out to check out the island. While we're gone you figure out where the hell we are. You hear me?”

He nodded but gave no indication that he recognized why I was so angry.

“What the fuck have you been doing? You have one fucking job! Drive the fucking boat.”

He blinked. His lifeless eyes seemed to stare through me, which only ended up pissing me off more. I was paying this man very well for his services, the least he could do is fess up to his incompetence. I was someone accustomed to being listened to and his complete lack of reaction combined with his dead expression triggered something in me.

“Don't you have anything to say for yourself?” I barked, trying to goad him into any sort of reaction. “Huh!?”

Ash was just then coming back up on deck. She looked nervously between the Captain and myself. “Calm down Tony.” She said softly, trying to calm me.

“Explain yourself!” I shout.

Kyle said nothing, did nothing, he simply stared straight ahead.

I snapped.

“You drunk son of a bitch.” I growl. “When we get back I expect you to turn over whatever booze you've got stashed away...” I noticed his eyes hardened at the threat but still he said nothing and moved not an inch. At that point I was determined to get a response from the grizzled old drunk by any means necessary. “...and if you don't shape up you can be sure your ass will be fired the moment we get to a port big enough for a faggot bar or whatever you people...”

“ANTHONY!” Ash exclaimed.

The only thing our Captain did is narrow his eyes ever so slightly

I blinked and shook my head as my anger subsided. I hadn't meant to say that. “Christ, sorry. I didn't...mean... Shit, just...just find out where we are, okay?”

He nodded slowly and turned back to face forward.

“We'll talk about this when we get back.” I said as I spun away from him.

Ash hurried to walk up beside me. In a whisper she berated me. “YOU people? Faggot bar? What's gotten into you?”

I felt terrible by my outburst but I was still plenty annoyed. I shook my head again. “I just lost my temper. I didn't mean anything... Besides, he's the one that fucked up here, don't lecture me.”

Ash let out an annoyed huff but dropped the subject.

We carefully stepped down the steps of the transom and open the large hatch. We pull our dinghy out of its stowage aft first and let it drift out into the smooth waters. Ash threw our gear in and I held the line so that it didn't float away from us.

I noticed my wife shielding her eyes from the sun and looking off into the distance. “Dark clouds.” She said.

I looked. At the horizon was a barely visible line of dark gray. Everything between here and there was sunny blue skies. “It's ages away, probably not even heading our way. Even if it does we'll be back way before then.”

If only I knew then how wrong I was.

Ash's Story

To think, not so long ago we were sipping champagne and eating grilled prawns on the deck of our yacht as we lounged and stared out over the calm cerulean waters of the South Pacific. Our days were filled with leisure and luxury, our greatest challenge was combating boredom.

That was all before the storm. The storm that changed everything. The storm that turned our boat and our lives upside down. That we survived it at all is a miracle.

But let's start at the beginning. My name is Ashley Butler. I work as a part time freelance accountant but what I really want to be is a full time Mom. I've been patient with my work obsessed husband Anthony thus far but at 35 years old I am starting to feel my biological clock ticking. Tony and I have a good thing together. A good house, good friends, a good social life, and we were financially comfortable. From the outside looking in we had everything. Yet there was a gaping whole right through the center of that good life. Too often, especially lately, it felt like we were glorified roommates, cozy friends with benefits. Tony was so focused on the future and his goal of retiring by 50 that he was sacrificing our life in the present.

I wanted a change. I NEEDED a change. Having a family could not wait another 12 years.

But this year, this wonderful vacation year of ours away from work and other distractions, he promised me we would at last start trying for a child. This year long voyage symbolized so much more to me than relaxation and fun in the sun. It was to be the occasion where we would truly build our future together. It was to be the beginning of becoming a real family. I counted the agonizingly slow days as our departure date approached.

At last we had set sail! My mood was over the moon. The whole first week I was as giggly and flirty as I'd been back in high school. This was everything to me.

With joy in my heart and lust in my eyes I broached the subject early on into the trip...only to be put off yet again! My heart sank. No! Not again! Not this time! This was THE time!

He told me that we shouldn't try for a baby early in the trip as it would be difficult and potentially dangerous to have me pregnant while living on a yacht traveling the world. He swore to me we'd do it later on, that we had plenty of time. But I had heard these promises before. I tried desperately to bargain with him, not wanting to put it off any longer. I told him that we could fly home anytime we wished and have that sketchy Captain he hired sail the ship back alone. I told him that there were more important things than vacation. I gave a slew reasonable and rational suggestions.

He would not be swayed. There would be time for that later he said. I was overreacting he said. The condoms stayed on. That was three months ago.

As it turned out his prevaricating was a blessing in disguise. With the ordeal we were about to go through I was relieved I was not “with child” as it all happened.