The sky was turning a twilight color. Everything lit on fire with the lowering of the tropical sun. Warm air caressed my bare shoulders, and the scent of salt wafted over me. I glanced in the direction of the island, wondering again about the man who supposedly lived there. Was he as good-looking as they said? What was a young, rich man doing living alone on his own private island?
“Nora!” Valerie called from the other room.
Tearing my eyes away from the view and putting my thoughts away for later, I hurried out into the main room where green eyes and his friend were waiting.
* * *
The bar was stocked, the boat beautiful. It was the kind with large sails, and string lights lit the deck. Valerie and her conquest were at the large wheel, him reaching around her as she tried to steer the boat.
I was standing near the edge, champagne glass in one hand and holding back my blowing hair with the other.
Xander, the bartender with the green eyes, came up beside me. “You cold?” he asked in a sultry, accented voice right beside my ear.
I glanced over my shoulder and shook my head. “I’m good.”
Smiling, he took the flute out of my grip and took a sip of my champagne, then handed it back, making sure our hands brushed when he did.
My cheeks heated with the contact, but otherwise, I felt nothing at all. Maybe Valerie was right. Maybe I was still too hung up on Alan. I wondered if all his betrayals had broken me and I’d never be able to feel anything for another man again.
The boat suddenly lurched, and I pitched forward. Strong arms came around me from behind, firmly pulling me back against a taut body. Even after I was steady, he didn’t let me go. Instead, the other arm came around, and I was encircled from behind.
Timid, I glanced around to that pair of unfamiliar green eyes with seduction practically dripping from the corners.
Fingers tightening on the bubbly, I turned back and took a fortifying gulp.
A rich chuckle filled my ear and slid down me just like the alcohol in my throat. “I’ve had my eye on you all week,” he said, his lips brushing against my ear. “I see lots of beautiful girls, but you are by far the prettiest.”
Really? That was the best he could do?
I wondered vaguely if any girl every really believed that. They probably don’t care enough either way.
Val would have giggled and let herself be charmed. I just wanted a refill on my drink.
The second his lips grazed the top of my ear, I pulled away and turned. Holding the glass between us, I smiled up at him. “How about a refill?”
“That I can do.” He agreed, taking the glass and going off for more.
Turning back to the night sky, I marveled at the way the millions of stars glittered like fine diamonds. A few moments later, a full flute of bubbly appeared before me, and the second I took it, his arms were back around me.
I sipped at the drink, settling a little more firmly against his body. Behind us, Valerie’s laugh carried on the wind, and the boat bounced over the waves gently.
Xander’s lips found my ear, his teeth nibbling at the sensitive skin. I closed my eyes and succumbed to the sensations, waiting for desire and want to crash over me.
A short while later, the boat slowed, and footsteps behind us brought my head around.
“Man the boat,” Xander’s friend said and picked Valerie up off her feet. “We’re going below.”
The second they were gone, Xander pulled me around, clamping his arms around me, his lips crashing down over mine. He tasted like alcohol and eagerness, the combination dampening most of my desire.
Squeezing my eyes closed, I stepped a little closer, telling myself I needed this.
The boat lurched again, and my champagne sloshed over the rim and onto Xander’s shirt. I pulled back and wiped at the spot, but he grabbed my hand and tried to pull me back into him.
“What about the boat?” I asked, feeling it bounce again.
“Just leave it,” he murmured, clamping his lips at my throat.
An uncomfortable feeling slithered around inside me and made me squirm. Xander mistook that for an invitation, thrusting his hips into me.
Another wave rocked the boat, and I shoved away from my date. “I think you should check,” I said, shaky.
His green eyes were glittering, his lips swollen from kissing. Swiping a hand over his lower lip, he nodded once. “All right. Come on,” he said, taking my hand and towing me along behind him.
My bare feet slapped against the deck as we went to the steering wheel and Xander checked all the controls. After a moment, he righted our course, and the boat continued on smoothly.
Barely a second after the course smoothed out, he was on me again. This time he sat down in the captain’s chair and pulled me into his lap. His hands were rough when he pulled the thin strap of my dress down and uncovered my breast. The sea breeze brushed over it unforgivingly, making my nipple harden in an instant.
His thumb and forefinger clamped around it and pinched, making me squeak.
He chuckled. “You like that, huh?”
Actually, I didn’t.
I moved away, hoping he would get a hint. Instead, he grabbed my hips and pulled me back over him, this time grabbing the fabric of the dress and pushing it up toward my waist.
“Hey!” I said, trying to push it down as he pushed up.
“I know you want me. I saw it this afternoon at the bar. I heard your friend saying you needed to get laid.”
Oh, ew. Gross.
“I guess manhandling me is your idea of getting laid?”
“You’ll like it. Just relax.” He bent forward and tried to take my exposed breast into his mouth.
I shoved his head away and stumbled out of his lap.
The problem with a boat is there isn’t much place to run.
So I ran out on the deck, noting how there was nothing but water surrounding us for miles.
Xander caught me. Of course he did. He laughed like we were playing some cat-and-mouse game, like my resistance was foreplay.
He spun me around, planting his mouth over mine. His tongue pushed against my lips, demanding entrance, and I wanted to gag.
I pushed him off me, chest heaving. “Stop! I don’t want this.”
Confusion rolled over his handsome features. “You were just kissing me five minutes ago.”
Yeah, and I could barely fake that.
“I know. I’m sorry. Look, I didn’t mean to lead you on. I just… I changed my mind.”
He laughed and rubbed a hand through his hair. “Are you serious right now?”
I nodded.
He grabbed his crotch and jerked it. “And what do you suppose I do about this?”
“I’m sure if we go back to the bar, you could have a replacement for me in two minutes flat.”
Anger lit up his eyes. “No one ever turns me down.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” I said again, then pressed a hand to my stomach. “I think I-I’m seasick… This is my first time on a boat. I think I might throw up.” To prove the words, I ran toward the railing and leaned over, making retching sounds.
I wasn’t actually seasick, but, hey, it seemed like my best option right now.
Valerie was never going to let me live this down, but I didn’t care. Xander was not the guy with the ability to cure my Alan hangover.
As I fake retched, Xander cursed and stomped back toward the steering wheel. I breathed a sigh of relief, thankful he was at least a nice enough guy to take me back to shore.
The sound of the motor speeding up and the boat propelling forward gave me a great sense of relief. I dared a glance over my shoulder at Xander and nearly squealed when I saw him glaring daggers in my direction.
I leaned back over the railing, once again pretending to puke. I was pretty sure he wouldn’t actually come close enough to know if I was truly sick or not because this guy wanted sex tonight, not to hold back my hair.
The boat cut through the water more quickly th
an before. Unease trickled down my spine when I looked up and realized Xander hadn’t turned the boat back to shore.
Clutching the rail, still leaning slightly over, I looked back to where he was. The second our eyes connected, he smiled.
Gave me the finger.
Then cut the wheel sharply to the left.
My scream got lost out at sea as my body pitched over the rail like a feather in a strong gust of wind. I hit the black waves with a splash, the cold temperature a shock against my bare skin.
My eyes sprang open as my body sank under the surface, and panic gripped me like never before when all I saw was black. It felt as though I sank forever, like my body was no match for the endless inky black of the night sea. It had the arms of an octopus, skillfully dragging me under, turning me around until I wasn’t sure which way was up.
I struggled and fought, screaming against the current. Eventually, my head broke free, and sweet oxygen filled my burning lungs. Just a few gasps in, a wave crashed over my head, and I was tumbling upside down all over again.
Coughing and sputtering bitter salt water, I found the surface again. Nearly gagging, water dripping in my eyes, I tread water, looking for the boat.
“Help!” I screamed. “Help me!”
In the distance, I caught the twinkling of the string lights on the sailboat.
“Valerie!” I yelled. “Valerie!” I screamed so loud my throat ached.
Panicked but unwilling to give up, I started swimming toward the boat. My arms and legs moved furiously through the heavy water, dragging me backward with every stroke I took.
When my arms were quaking with exhaustion and my legs felt like rubber, I finally slowed. I was no closer to the boat than before… If anything, I was farther away.
“Help!” I cried out again, my voice much weaker than before.
I didn’t bother calling out again because I knew they wouldn’t be coming back.
Carter
Through the high-powered telescope, I watched the good girl and the bad girl step onto a sailboat.
Even beneath the twilight sky, even only after seeing her once, I recognized her. It had nothing to do with my photographic memory and everything to do with the way she made me feel.
Even with the distance between us, she still affected me, still intrigued me.
Good girls are just girls who haven’t met the right man yet.
True, I said I was going to leave what might be between us up to fate.
But sometimes fate needed a little help.
Nora
Overboard. I’d just fallen overboard from a boat that left me in the middle of the ocean.
Correction.
I hadn’t just fallen; I’d been purposely tossed.
I’d be really freaking pissed right now if I wasn’t so terrified.
What did a person do when they were cast overboard? How long could I tread water until my arms and legs gave out and I sank like a rock to the bottom of the sea?
It was cold out here. And dark. There were no signs pointing in the direction I needed to go. When I looked around, all I saw was vast darkness and nothing… absolutely nothing.
I wanted to cry, but crying would only expel energy I so desperately needed. The only way out of this was to swim to shore. After settling on the way I thought land might be, I started out, trying not to let my teeth chatter, trying not to think about all the things swimming around beneath me.
Sharks!
The thought made me whimper and stop pushing through the waves. My body floated, carried by the moving water as I stared anxiously down, trying to see below me.
I could be eaten at any moment. A giant shark could be circling.
Would being eaten by a shark be better than drowning? Both seemed like cruel fate, but unbelievably, I was leaning toward getting eaten alive vs drowning.
Floating silently in the endless black sea seemed imminently more depressing and lonelier than being chewed up by Jaws.
“You’re losing your mind, Nora,” I muttered, then spun around, looking to see if my voice had brought out any predators.
The loud, disruptive sound of a blaring horn cut through the night, and I screamed. Water splashed everywhere in the force of the way I jumped, and I sputtered and coughed when a mouthful of salty sea filled my throat.
The horn blasted again, and I spun, spotting a hulking craft moving into sight.
“Help!” I screamed. “Help me!” I waved my arms over my head, slipping a little beneath the surface as I did.
The second I burst upward, I yelled again, squinting against a suddenly bright light. Flinching away, I threw my arm over my face to shield my eyes.
Wait. There was a light!
Smacking the surface of the water, I blinked at the blinding beam focused right on me. I couldn’t see anything or anyone beyond it, but really, I didn’t care who it was. It could be pirates from hell, but at this point, I’d take my chances with Blackbeard over Jaws.
“Please help me!” I cried, my voice watery and hoarse.
Something hit the water close by, and more splashed into my eyes. Eyes stinging from salt, I saw a life preserver and dove at it. The second my arms clamped around it, I was towed out of the bright light, through the waves, toward a giant white boat.
This was a different kind of boat than the one I’d just been on. This one was bigger, whiter… and I didn’t really care. It could have been a raft with a hole in it and I’d have been grateful.
“Hang on,” someone yelled down.
“Like I have any other choice,” I yelled back.
Muffled laughter reached me, but I scarcely paid attention because as I watched, a figure climbed over the side and started down a ladder attached to the boat.
It seemed to take forever for them to get to me. Anxious, I swam over and grabbed the bottom of the ladder and started to pull myself up. My arms were weak and my fingers stiff from the cold. I couldn’t grip the metal rungs solidly enough to help myself.
I tried again and fell back into the water, a wave of hopelessness washing over me.
“Don’t give up,” a low voice said, and a hand appeared before me.
The second my hand grabbed his, my lack of strength no longer mattered. Instead, I was hoisted up onto the back of someone with enough muscle for both of us. Standing on the ladder, he pulled my arms around his neck and reached around to lift me higher.
“I need you to hold on,” he said.
I nodded against him, my cheek pressed firmly against his back. He was warm. Like the sun. Like a sun that didn’t disappear even when the moon came out.
I don’t know how he did it, but he climbed up the ladder with me on his back. The feel of his muscles working under me imparted a serious sense of security.
The second we were at the top, hands grabbed us both, pulling us over the side and onto the deck. I collapsed there, trying to grip the floor, wishing it wasn’t so solid so I could take a handful and never let go.
I coughed and heaved as salt water expelled from my lips and dripped off my limbs. The black dress I’d been wearing was saturated and clinging to me. My fingers and toes were numb.
When I felt my body being lifted off the floor, I struggled because nothing was more reassuring than a firm surface beneath my quivering limbs.
“Shh…” The voice drifted over me, and I was cradled against a wide chest.
Automatically, my arms wound around his neck and my cheek pillowed against his shoulder. I let my eyes drift closed, knowing I might have left one danger and dropped into another, but I couldn’t find the energy to care.
I felt safe right now.
Safer than I had been in a very long time.
I could let myself have that, right? Even if it was only fleeting.
The sounds of his heavy footfalls were like music to my ears, and the gentle swaying of the boat was so much kinder than the buoyancy of the sailboat I’d been cast off.
The sound of rain met my ears, and my fingers clutched
against the shirt of the man holding me. “You saved me just before the rain,” I whispered.
A second later, warm spray cascaded over me, and my eyes sprang open.
“You need to get warm,” a low voice assured, carrying me a little farther beneath the spray.
Looking up, I saw the giant silver showerhead and sheets of marble all around. The warm, gentle spray of the water seeping into me felt like heaven, and my cheek fell back against his chest.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “Thank you.”
And then I promptly passed out.
Carter
Fate often provides opportunity. We just have to be paying attention to see it. Fate saw me watching, so she delivered.
A faint knock on the other side of the door made me look up in time to see Aaron step inside, carrying a wooden tray with two large black mugs. He didn’t glance at the bed or even at me sitting in a chair beside it. Instead, he focused on sliding the tray onto the bedside table, lifting one mug, and handing it over to me.
“I know this is the tropics, but you should warm up with something hot.”
“Thanks,” I said, taking the offered drink.
“Should I call for the doctor?” he asked, still averting his eyes from the girl in my bed.
“No. Steer the boat back to the island.”
He didn’t offer any reaction or opinion on my decision, just nodded and left the room.
Setting the mug back on the tray, I adjusted my position from the chair to the side of the mattress. She was sleeping, as if she had no clue what trouble she could be in.
I didn’t get the impression earlier today that she was a stupid girl, but after tonight’s events, I might have to revise my previous appraisal.
“You need to wake up,” I told her, reaching out to jostle her shoulder.
She didn’t do anything other than sigh. Just that contented sound tightened my groin, and my hand fisted in my lap.
“Hey.” I tried again.
Clearly, she had no intention of listening, which just wouldn’t do. Planting a hand on either side of her, I leaned close, intently staring at her smooth, pale skin.
“Good girl.” I beckoned. “You need to open your eyes now.”
Mr. Fantasy: (A standalone romance) Page 2
