by Lucia Jordan
“Yes,” she said. “Am I the only one going to the island?”
“Afraid you are, Miss,” the steward said. “No one’s allowed to land there without first getting permission from the owner of the bird sanctuary. We go there only by advance reservation.”
Marielle didn’t mind the prospect of such complete isolation. After being bombarded for months with movie promo featuring James Raven and Lena Talbot in various provocative positions it would be a relief to go someplace where no one cared about them or Fascination. “How long until we arrive?”
“Once we cast off, about twenty minutes.” He checked his watch and smiled at her. “Should have you there in time for your tea.”
Once the steward left, Marielle opened her briefcase and went over the notes emailed to her by the studio. The documentary she’d be working on at the island still had no director or script but the producer had promised her that everything would managed by the time she reached Dark Haven. The only stars involved in the shoot would be the island’s birds and other wildlife, which was why the project had appealed to her so much. After her disastrous affair with Raven, a month of not having to deal with two-legged actors seemed like heaven.
On the island I won’t have time to miss him or cry over him or wish I’d never met him, Marielle thought. Thirty days of that should completely cure me of my fascination.
Her cell rang. When she checked the display she saw her best friend Jilly Sanders’ number. “Hey,” she said. “How’s the fabulous life of the most sought-after P.A. in Hollywood?”
“Completely crazy. Speak up, I can hardly hear you,” Jilly grumbled. “Vanessa’s trying to find Raven so she can talk to him about a sequel. Do you have any idea where he is?”
“Why would I?” Marielle said. “I’ve been avoiding him for six months, remember?”
“I know, sorry. He’s probably shacked up somewhere with whoever he dumped Lena Talbot for.” Jilly’s voice faded behind a crackle of static, ” — Vanessa said… Lena can’t… unless he signs… you okay?”
“I’m fine but you’re breaking up. I’ll have to call you back when I get to the island,” Marielle heard the call disconnect.
As she put away her cell, she mulled over Jilly’s news. On one hand she was petty enough to be glad that Raven had broken it off with Lena Talbot. Now the other woman would experience a little of the hurt she had inflicted on Marielle. But in another corner of her heart, she felt a familiar ache swell at the thought of Raven being with yet another woman. He’d never belonged to her, of course. They’d only been together for a couple of weeks before she’d caught him having sex with Lena. Even as casual as it had been, their brief relationship had changed everything for Marielle. No man had ever given her so much pleasure or pain.
I will get over him and move on, Marielle thought as she looked out the ferry’s windows and saw the dark blur of the island where she’d be spending the next month. I have to.
Once the ferry docked, Marielle retrieved her rolling suitcase from the luggage stow and walked out on deck. She knew from reading about Dark Haven that the only resident was the owner of the sanctuary, who lived in the large stone house built at the base of the island’s craggy rock formations.
“Here we are.” The steward helped her onto the pier and handed over her cases before glancing over at the big sanctuary house set back in a grove of ancient oak. “Someone coming to meet you, Miss?”
“Apparently not,” she said and picked up her cases. “It’s all right. They’re probably so busy with the production they forgot I was coming today. Thanks for your help.”
“My pleasure. Enjoy your stay.” He gave her a cheerful grin and climbed back on board the ferry.
Marielle walked down the pier and stepped off onto a moss-covered stone pathway leading into the grove and up to the house. She heard engines thrumming and glanced back to see the ferry already sailing back toward the coast.
For the first time since accepting the job as P.A. for the documentary, Marielle felt a twinge of doubt. If she wanted to quit this time, she wouldn’t be able to leave right away. Still, she thought as she walked the rest of the way to the sanctuary house, how awful could things get on a nature documentary? She set down her cases but before she could knock on the front door it opened to reveal a big man dressed in old jeans and a white shirt that looked exactly like her former lover… because he was.
“Hello, Mari,” James Raven said.
Shock made her stare at him for a moment without speaking before she spun around and ran for the pier. By the time she reached it, however, the ferry had disappeared from sight. She stood there staring at the empty ocean, her stomach knotting and her head pounding until she heard footsteps approaching behind her.
“I can’t believe this.” Slowly she turned around and looked up into Raven’s handsome face. “Why are you here? You don’t do voice-overs… oh, now I see. There is no documentary.”
“After six months of trying and failing to see you, I had to get creative,” Raven said. “I thought if we could spend some time together alone — “
“I’m sorry, but I’m not interested in that,” she told him flatly. “Now please call the ferry back so I can get out of here.”
“It’s not coming back. You’re staying.”
“I’ll just have the owner call them.” She pushed past him, but he caught her arm. “Let go of me, or I will scream my head off.”
“Don’t, Mari.” He released her. “I own the island. There is no one else here but you and me.”
*
Raven led Marielle back to the terrace where he had tea and sandwiches set out for her. She accepted the steaming mug but didn’t touch the food. As she sipped her tea she stared at the view of the north side of the island with unseeing eyes.
He shared the silence with her, knowing she needed time to process the shock of encountering him and the abrupt change in her situation. Once she regained her composure, he planned to tell her everything. For now he simply watched her and noted how thin and pale she was and how she’d given up her sleek ponytail for a French braid so tight it looked almost painful.
“What do you want from me?” she asked him.
“What you didn’t give me before you ran away.” He saw her expression and sighed. “A chance to explain.”
“All right.” She set down the mug and faced him. “Go ahead.”
Although she sounded calm, almost pleasant, he saw anger smoldering in her eyes. “You won’t believe me.”
“That’s true.” She stood up, her hands clenched into tight fists at her sides. “I’d like to leave now, please.”
“I’m going to show you to your room, where you can wash up and rest until dinner. Then we’ll talk.” He stood and held his hand out to her. When she didn’t take it, he said, “It’s better if you don’t push me. I don’t know how dependable my self-control is right now.”
Marielle ignored his hand and brushed past him. “Then by all means, please show me to my room.”
As he took her upstairs Raven decided that his lover was unaware of the real reason she was provoking him. She might believe her anger was responsible for her show of chilly indifference and the little acts of defiance but he saw them for what they were: subconscious lures. Marielle didn’t have enough experience to know that by challenging his authority and denying their connection she was responding to him as a submissive in terrible distress and need. He had to hold back on his own, equally ferocious sexual response for now, but he hadn’t lied to her — he wasn’t sure how long he could.
In the guestroom Raven had prepared for Marielle, he placed her cases at the foot of the bed and opened the curtains to show her the view. “This is an old house, so the bath is two doors down. Dinner will be at six.”
She went to the window and stood there with her back to him. “Where are you sleeping?”
He nodded at the door. “I’m across the hall.” Being in the same room as Marielle and a bed was putting all sorts of imagery
in his mind. “Is there anything else you need?”
She didn’t answer or look at him.
Raven wanted to drag her away from the window, toss her on the bed and take out all the frustration that had been roiling inside him for the last six months. On some level, that was what she wanted, too. But as much as he wanted to fuck her until she couldn’t think of anyone but him, he first had to tear down all the walls she’d built between them.
“I’ll see you downstairs at six,” he told her and left her silently hating him and watching the sea.
*
Shortly after Raven left her Marielle discovered just how isolated she was on Dark Haven island. Her mobile phone couldn’t pick up a signal.When she booted up her laptop she found she had no internet access. She searched the guestroom for a phone but found none there or in any of the adjoining rooms. Raven didn’t even have one in his bedroom.
After taking some aspirin for her now-massive tension headache, Marielle sat down on the bed to think through her very limited options. Raven had to have some way to communicate with the mainland — probably some type of radio. If she couldn’t find that she was sure there had to be a boat somewhere close by. All she had to do was remain calm and play along until he went to sleep tonight — assuming that she didn’t drop from jet-lag first.
She reached in her purse and took out the bottle of sleeping pills she’d gotten back in the states to help with her occasional insomnia. Or I could make sure he does, she thought and then threw the bottle across the room. Even if she could bring herself to do something as despicable as drugging Raven, she didn’t know how to use a radio or drive a boat. Until he decided she could leave, she was well and truly stuck here.
Marielle flopped back on the bed and stared up at the Irish lace canopy. Everything about this reminded her of the screenplay for Fascination. Like Melanie, she’d run away. And like Maestro, Raven had brought her back. Now would he tie her up somewhere and lash her again? Did he have any idea how much it hurt her to see him? That just looking at his face brought back every horrible detail from her memory of finding him in bed with Lena?
What am I going to do?
Her eyelids drooped. She drifted into a strange dream of Maestro and Melanie wearing bizarre blank-faced masks and being chased down a long dark hall by a huge, slavering beast. When they reached the end of the hall, the monster pounced on them and ripped off their masks to reveal they were Raven and Marielle.
A gentle shaking of her shoulder wrenched her out of the dream. Without thinking Marielle hurled herself at Raven, clutching his arms as she buried her face against his chest.
“I don’t want to be Melanie anymore,” she sobbed.
“Oh, baby, you’re not,” he said, holding her close and stroking her back. “You never were.”
As she struggled against the tears, Marielle breathed in his crisp scent and felt it spread through her like an invisible caress. She hadn’t felt this safe since the last time they’d been together. Every inch of her skin seemed to hum with relief. She could feel herself growing damp between her thighs, something that should have horrified her but instead seemed perfectly natural.
What’s wrong with me? Marielle didn’t understand why she was reacting this way to a man who had cheated on her and broken her heart. But her body didn’t care. It wanted Raven and it wanted him now.
His big hand stroked her braid. “You okay?”
“No. Yes.” She wiped the tears from her cheeks and looked up into his warm copper eyes. “I had this awful dream that you and I were Maestro and Melanie.”
“Seeing me must have brought back old memories from working on the set.” He touched her cheek, stroking his thumb over her cheekbone. “You were never Melanie to me, you know. She’s nothing but a bunch of words in a screenplay.” He rested his hand on her shoulder. “You’re the most genuine woman I’ve ever known.”
She covered his hand with hers, intending to pull it away but instead holding it between her own. “What about Lena?”
“I don’t want to talk about her right now,” he said and started to rise.
“No. Don’t leave me.” She brought his hand to her aching breast so he could feel her nipple pebbling under his palm. “Raven.”
“I know, sweetheart. I feel it, too.” His eyes darkened as he gently massaged the mound of her breast and then he drew his hand away. “Which is why I’d better go.”
“I don’t want you to.” The words burst from her lips. “Please. I don’t care about Lena or the past or anything. I can’t stand feeling this emptiness anymore.”
“I can take care of you,” he said as he tugged the elastic from the end of her braid and began freeing the soft pale strands. “I can make it all better. Just be sure you want this, Mari, because I do — too much to stop if you change your mind.”
“I won’t.” She lifted her trembling hands to the front of her blouse, releasing the buttons until she revealed the ivory lace bra she wore beneath it. “Touch me, please.”
Raven nodded and cradled her face between his big hands before he touched his mouth to hers. The kiss he gave her began soft and sweet but as they tasted each other Marielle felt the hunger behind his gentleness. He wants this as much as I do. With a sigh of relief, she parted her lips for his tongue and wound her arms around his neck.
Raven peeled away her blouse and unhooked her bra before he lowered her onto her back, leaning over her as he rubbed his hand over one breast and then the other. “I never forgot how pretty these are,” he murmured as he pressed his mouth to each nipple, using his tongue to caress them before he sucked lightly while he stripped off the rest of her clothes.
Marielle slid her hands down his back, urging him on top of her and spread her legs so she could clamp her thighs around his hips. That made the thick, heavy bulge of his erection press against her crotch and she slipped her hand between their bodies to stroke it with her fingers.
Raven lifted his head and rolled his hips, rubbing his bulge against her palm. “Unzip me.” When she did, he reached down, pulled out his shaft and clasped her hand around it before he rolled onto his back. “I’m all yours, Mari. Do whatever you like with me.”
She gave him a few strokes as she watched his face and listened to him groan. A big pearly bead of come waited on the crown of his cockhead and she bent down to lick it away before she enveloped him with her mouth.
“Ah, fuck.” Raven arched his hips and watched her through narrowed eyes as she bobbed her head, sliding his shaft deeper. “That’s so good, sweetheart. Take all you want, oh yeah, like that. I love seeing your pretty lips on my cock.”
Marielle rubbed his shaft with her tongue as she worked it in and out. The smell and feel of him fucking her mouth made her sex swell and go slick. She wanted to keep sucking him until he came but her pussy throbbed with the ache of six lonely months. She couldn’t deny it another second.
Raven helped her as she climbed atop him, grasping her waist with his strong hands and lifting her over his hips. The moment the straining bulb of his cockhead touched her folds Marielle began to tremble. She had to brace herself with her hands on his shoulders as she lowered herself onto him, his girth stretching her to the limit.
“You feel so tight on me, baby,” he said. “Go slow or I might hurt you.”
You already have, Marielle thought. A new wave of self-hatred crashed over her and she pushed herself off him to curl over in a miserable huddle.
“Mari.” Raven gently turned her onto her back and knelt between her thighs, lifting her hips and guiding his penis to her sex. “Don’t think. Just feel. Okay?”
Too upset to speak, she nodded.
“That’s it.” He worked his cockhead into her, taking in a sharp breath as he pressed into her tight wetness. “Oh, Mari. You feel like a virgin.”
She gasped as he gave her a short, hard stroke, making her take more of his thickness. “I think you got bigger.”
“No, you’re just fighting it.” He reached for her breasts,
splaying his hands over them as he worked his penis deeper into her pussy. “It’s okay. Relax and let my cock inside. Submit to me, baby. Let me fuck you the way you need it.”
The moment Marielle stopped clenching against his penetration, Raven slid deep. His cock abraded her softness as it forged into her to the hilt. He held himself there for several moments, letting her grow accustomed before he drew back and thrust again.
The friction and jolt sent heating spreading through Marielle’s pelvis, bringing a gush of new wetness inside her pussy as her clit knotted and throbbed. She watched Raven through half-closed eyes as he began to ravish her pussy, his cock stroking and then pistoning her softness, his fingers plucking at her reddened nipples harder and harder.
“It’s so good,” he muttered. He dragged in a deep breath as she tightened around him. The short, hard strokes he was giving her made her breasts bounce under his hands. He squeezed them before he reached down and lifted her hips, jamming her against him each time he pushed in.
Marielle arched her back. “Raven, please.”
“I know, sweetheart, I’ve got you,” he crooned. He pressed his thumb into the top of her sex to rub it back and forth over her clit. “Feel that hard cock pounding you, yeah, just like you need it. I want to feel your pussy squeezing me when you come, baby.”
Marielle struggled to reach that pleasure she needed. “I don’t think I can.”
“You’re still fighting it.” He pulled out of her, turned her onto her side and then slapped his hand against her ass. “I am done indulging you and your bratty temper. You submit to me, you slut, this minute. You hear me?”
He punctuated every word with another slap. Marielle felt her whole body tense as the pleasure of the pain sizzled through her. While she was wrestling with the new sensations, Raven lifted her leg and made her take his penis again. He shafted her hard as he worked his way into her.
“That’s right, baby,” he panted as he slapped her and fucked her at the same time. “I know what you need. I’m going to give it to you.” He grunted as he pushed her onto her back and caught her nipples between his hard fingers, pinching them until she let out a thready shriek. “Now you come on my cock or I’ll paddle your ass for an hour,” he ordered.
