Gage, Ronna - Paradise Mine (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Ronna Gage

  “Yes.” The stress in his voice didn’t cover his agitations.

  “The immediate surroundings are secured,” Kip said and then spread his legs apart to brace himself for the large bag Landy hoisted at him. The bag almost knocked him off his feet, to Landy’s satisfaction. Kip turned to Rae Anne. “Gina has made a makeshift sitting area using tree branches and the umbrella from the outer deck. It’s quite comfortable for the time being, if you are interested?” He extended his left elbow to her and offered a silent escort to the area in which Gina waited.

  Rae Anne smiled that sweet smile that had haunted Landy’s dreams for the last ten years. She looked over her shoulder, and then if Landy didn’t know for sure, he’d swear she intentionally played into Kip’s hands for his entertainment and laughed at him. Rae Anne took the elbow offered to her and walked. “Does she have any coffee made?”

  “I believe she still has a full pot.” Kip shouldered the bag and with Rae Anne on the other arm, he assisted her to the site.

  That woman has caused me nothing but a bundle of confusion and mixed emotions for the last five days now.

  Landy continued to watch her long after he secured the boat and gave her some time to get her bearings. She sipped the coffee with genuine pleasure on her face—and, of course, that particular kind of expression comes from satisfaction, one reflecting that of sex. Landy’s groin itched to be inside her, fulfilling her to the same level of satisfaction if not beyond. A new wave of bruised pride assaulted his senses. He turned away from her to focus on stowing the bits of emergency gear he’d brought back from the ship. He mentally prioritized a list of necessities he and Kip would bring back when they returned with the other things in a few minutes. A movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Rae Anne was walking toward him. He took her in and documented every detail in his mind. Sexy as hell in black. From her cargo shorts to the black tank top, which scooped down so low it revealed the ample valley of her breasts; Landy had a difficult time keeping his gaze off her. A black ball cap embossed with the letter J in silver kept her tucked hair into place.

  “Good morning again,” she greeted with a large smile, and then to his amazed surprise she passed him to disappear behind the area of trees. In her wake, the scents of coconut oil and pineapples wafted in the air. She smelled like a living piña colada.

  “If I could just drink you up,” he whispered under his breath. Landy grimaced at the image. To do so, would I be instantly intoxicated and under her influence? Impaired faculties to resist your charms and desires? He answered his question with little thought. Yes. He had to keep his mind on the duty bestowed on him. You are to keep her from harm.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Kip announced Landy and Rae Anne’s arrival into camp. “Gina, love, look who I happened to find in the trees.” Loaded down with firewood, he stopped and kissed his wife-to-be, who dared a quick look in Landy’s direction.

  “Rae Anne, would you like another cup of coffee? I made more.”

  “I would love another one, thank you. I need to get off this foot.” Rae Anne hobbled to the sitting area and flopped down in her chair.

  “I will bring it right over.” Gina looked at Kip.

  “Can you see him?” he asked.

  Gina nodded at the view she had of their captain. “Playing with fire, aren’t you, darling?”

  Kip shrugged and replied honestly. “Just doing what you suggested, dear. It was your idea to push his buttons, was it not?”

  Gina fidgeted. “Yes, but not to the point of having daggers thrown at your back in some sort of a duel.”

  Kip’s enthusiasm mounted. “Oh, but he’s coming to terms with the knowledge that she still gets under his skin. Trust me.” Kip gave her a conspiratorial wink.

  Gina shook her head. “I earnestly wonder if you, my loving fiancé, are the best matchmaker for this particular couple.”

  Kip placed his hand over his heart. “I am not making a match. I’m just repositioning the obvious.”

  “What’s that?”

  “They are miserable without one another.”

  Gina smiled. “For our jobs’ sakes, I hope so.” She left to take Rae Anne her cup of coffee.

  Kip looked back at Landy, who was pounding on a stake with the ferocity of an ax murderer. “Yep, she gets under his skin, and it bothers the hell out of him.”

  * * * *

  “Here’s your coffee, Rae Anne.” Gina said with a smile.

  “Thank you.” A little too desperate even for her, Rae Anne half smiled at the remark, but at least it replaced Gina’s worried look. “So tell me the truth, how bad is it?”

  Gina shrugged, took a deep breath, and replied. “Not as bad as it could be. We are on solid ground, the Captain and Kip are going to the yacht to salvage what they can to make living on the island better, as per your request. I have suggested we ration out the food to last us longer, and Captain agreed. Kip suggested we hunt some forms of food and pen them to use at our disposal.”

  “That makes sense. Do you have a problem killing and dressing wild game?”

  “Not in the slightest. I don’t view animals as pets. They are sources of food.”

  “I like your view. To be honest, I’m not sure I can kill anything,” Rae Anne admitted.

  “If it came to you surviving on this island, you would.”

  “I would like to think I could.”

  Gina smiled. “I better get back to work. I need to clear out an area for tents and a dinner table in case they don’t get it over here today.”

  “If you need help, let me know.”

  “Captain will have a fit if you walk on that foot today. Or further stress that head injury. If I come across something you can do sitting, I will bring it over.”

  “Sounds wonderful.”

  Gina returned to the open area and cleared the brush and logs. Rae Anne took a sip of her coffee and felt the tensions of the world ease from her shoulders. She looked out over the water. The yacht stood majestically off the shoreline. She could almost imagine an island like this in a different time—filled with natives of a friendly tribe allowing safety to the shipwrecked crew. She wondered if buried treasure would be on the island, and if so would it be that of the legendary Davey Jones? The thrill of the adventure formed goose bumps on her arms.

  Rae Anne took another sip of coffee to stave off the effects of the excitement that suddenly flowed through her. She looked beyond the island’s shoreline at the huge amount of sea. Natives or not, the shipwrecked crew would have to depend on one another to survive until they returned to civilization or they fell victim to some other natural disaster. What exactly? She had no idea.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Landy and Kip boarded the dinghy. “We’ll be back with the first load right away, so be ready for us.”

  Rae Anne nodded. “What will you bring first?” So many things went through her head that would be beneficial to them.

  “Whatever we can salvage before the ship sinks. First things on the list: the food supplies and emergency kits.”

  “I would like to at least have the beds.”

  “That is one of the loads we have planned for today, plus the generator; the fridge, if we can get it out; and maybe the stove.”

  “These items will make it less of a primitive state,” Kip said.

  “Cast off, Kip.” Landy looked at Rae Anne and Gina. “Stay off that foot.”

  Rae Anne’s jaw set taut, with so much pressure on her teeth it almost hurt.

  “She will, Captain,” Gina answered, to Rae Anne’s annoyance.

  The two women watched Landy and Kip until they boarded the boat. “I hope they get everything we need.” Rae Anne remarked aloud.

  “Between the two of us, me too.” Gina walked to the campsite, grabbed two chairs, and brought them to the shoreline. “Here, you better get off that foot.”

  Rae Anne smiled. “I appreciate you not making a big deal out of me staying off my foot.”

&n
bsp; “I didn’t figure you’d leave anyway. Besides, I can use the company while we wait for the food.”

  An hour later, Landy and Kip pulled ashore with the fridge, generator, and several boxes of food. “Let’s get things set up, ladies. Don’t make it permanent by any means,” Landy insisted.

  Rae Anne looked around. “Why? We aren’t going anywhere.”

  Landy set his hands on his hips. “Eventually, Dr. Jamison, we will need to move to higher ground. The changing season would make it inevitable sooner or later. Better shelter options for permanent sleeping quarters.

  “Oh, good thinking ahead.”

  Landy laughed. “This is your first adventure.”

  “Yeah, give me a break.”

  “Well, little buddy, you have one, a small toe in fact.”

  Annoyed and excited, Rae Anne couldn’t wait to get to work. “Shut up. Go and get the rest of the necessities.”

  Gina plugged the refrigerator into the generator and let it run to cool off. Rae Anne sorted through the boxes of food, separating canned goods and spices from the cold foods stuffs and perishables. Gina stuffed the refrigerator with meats, eggs, and other cool-storage necessities. Rae Anne stacked the boxes end over end and formed a nice pantry. The women prepared lunch while Landy and Kip ventured to the yacht for a quick load.

  “Too bad we can’t move the yacht to the island and secure her there.” Kip complained. “It’d be a heck of a lot nicer to have the girls aboard at night and not on the island. Gina hates bugs. The ideas of snakes—well, let’s just say it’s not in the snake’s best interest.”

  Landy laughed. “I don’t know how Rae, uh, Dr. Jamison, would react to snakes, but bugs never really bothered her. I remember throwing a bug on her…”

  “You did not.”

  “Yep, anyway, she took the bug and threw it back at me. That damn bug went down the front of my tank shirt and crawled on me. All I really remember is me running and squealing like a little girl until I jerked off my tank top and the bug crawled away.”

  Kip and Landy laughed until their sides hurt at the one moment Landy admitted to having a past with her.

  “What did you do to her for throwing the bug on you?” Kip asked.

  “Nothing, I threw it first.” Landy answered. Only Rae Anne Jamison could get away with something like that, but Rae Anne Carmichael? Landy just as soon she stayed away from him.

  On the last trip of the day, Landy and Kip pulled out beds, blankets, pillows, and a couple boxes. “That is a little better than a hard ground, but not much.”

  They set the top mattresses from the bunks onto the ground in four piles.

  Rae Anne rushed over and gushed. “This is great. Will you be able to bring the bedrails back tomorrow?”

  “We’ll try, but no promises. I’d like to find better shelter right away.”

  Rae Anne decided she wouldn’t argue or complain. That wasn’t the time. She looked out over the setting sun. “Paradise,” she whispered. Having Landy close by, alive and safe, she rephrased her earlier statement. “My kind of paradise.”

  Mine, too.” Landy replied, his voice thick with desire.

  Rae Anne smiled. He still cares.

  Chapter Thirty

  Three days of salvaging cleaned the yacht of the necessities for life on the island, and the luxuries as well--changes of clothes, shampoo and other toiletries, extra blankets, and pillows. “Well, I guess that’s about it,” Landy said after one more look around.

  “Here, what’s this?” Kip asked of a hidden panel in one of the seats. He broke the lock, opened the door, and to both of their delights they found several useful items, including a small air conditioner, an extra large canopy, and four tarps.

  “This is great. When we settle at our new location, we’ll build a nice two-room sleeping hut.”

  “With a roof and a floor,” Kip added.

  “Yes, we have to save Gina from the snakes.” Landy said.

  “Or, the snake from her.”

  * * * *

  Every day, the routine started each day with Gina and Rae Anne cooking rationed out meals and planning the menu for the day. Breakfast usually consisted of a piece of toast, an egg, a sausage, and two cups of coffee. The plentiful food storage would probably last them for three to six months, but until they found another shelter, food source, and a way to get off the damnable island, they made do with little meals.

  Rae Anne grew impatient and distanced herself from Landy on most occasions. Only God knows what would set him off, or me, for that matter. She reflected on the last week’s events.

  Landy and Kip piled the luxuries under a tarp until the big move to the new campsite, when Landy figured the best time to begin the search to find such a spot.

  “What’s the big rush to get the necessities off the boat?” she asked innocently about the mad dash to clean out the yacht.

  “Because, Dr. Jamison”—his sarcasm made its thirtieth appearance that day, and it grated on Rae Anne’s nerves—“if the tide comes in and takes the ship out to sea, then our survival will be harder without the comforts of home.”

  Rae Anne set her arms over her chest and glared at him with mounting frustration. She gritted her teeth. “Landy, I am not an idiot, you know.”

  “I never said you were,” he said heatedly. His ignominious grin said otherwise.

  “Stop acting like I am. I’ll have you know that I am a smart, resourceful woman, not some air-headed princess.”

  His eyes flashed with a quick spark of contempt. “Not air-headed, darling, more like…pouty. You are no different than the other women who use Daddy’s yacht, or hubby’s, to spend your time in some solitude from the world that has taken a dislike to your whining ways.”

  She heaved her chest in controlled anger, which broke free of the fragile restraint. “Go to hell, Landy Laurent. You don’t know anything about me.”

  “You got that right. You used to be fun to hang out with, but now you are just another political brat vacationing on Daddy’s money.”

  With the anger of three days’ stress, Rae Anne slapped him hard across the face. “I told you to keep my father out of our conversations.” Her final words hung tense in the air while she limped away toward the campsite.

  Rae Anne sat under the umbrella and sighed. Exhaustion overcame her, but it wasn’t the kind that came from hard work of physical labor. It was the kind that usually accompanied boredom and the emotional battle she had earlier with Landy.

  I wanted that to feel like an adventure. But since our shipwreck, it has become more of an experience of sitting on my ass and waiting for Lord Landy to hand out his next round of mental abuse or orders. She looked out into the ocean and saw the yacht floating in the water. How majestic it looked. That side of the vessel looked in perfect condition, but the other side had damage, and the water leak grew faster, according to Landy’s daily updates.

  It doesn’t make sense.

  “If the furniture and other accommodations made the boat lighter, then why did the leak get faster?” Rae Anne got up and walked along the edge of the forest pondering the very question. What causes a water leak? Halfway along the perimeter of the trees, Rae Anne found a break in the tree line. Looking over her shoulder, she found no one paying attention to her. “Figures.”

  Quiet and unhurried, she walked through the small gap. Dark green leaves on the treetop canopy darkened the forest bed. The cool, still air enveloped her. “That would be a nice place to build a hut. Nature’s air conditioning all around.” The soft forest floor caught her attention with its decomposing leaves and bark cushioning her footsteps. The air was filled with a musty scent. She flapped her hand in front of her face. “Rotting foliage.”

  She wandered farther inside the forest, away from the security of the base camp. If Landy finds out that I wandered alone. “There’s some good news.” Today, she didn’t care. She planned to see what that island had to offer for herself. Maybe there would be a more suitable place for the camp.

/>   Rae Anne picked up a big stick, looked at the collected spider webs and dead leaves on it, and shrugged. “Sorry, guys, but I need this stick.” She beat it against the nearest tree trunk to test its durability. “Good and solid.” Satisfied, she beat a path through the thick foliage. After a few steps, she looked back at the progress she’d made. The brush looked well tamped down. A blind man could use it. She pressed on listening to the calls of birds. “Probably a canary of some kind,” she commented aloud of the unrecognized but exotic bird call.

  She didn’t know why she talked to herself so much—maybe to ease her anxiety or to voice an opinion without an argument—either way, she continued her nature walk with the ever-growing thrill of anticipation. She heard a roaring. Stopping to listen she tried to decipher its source. It doesn’t sound like an animal, or even a form of transportation. Water! “Could it be a waterway?”

  She walked through the wooded area at a quicker pace. A tree limb snapped near her. She froze, looked up into the tree branches, and just about wet her pants. She found something she hadn’t counted on seeing in the forest, but what did she expect to find? A large brown and green snake with its thick body—about the size of Landy’s arm, if she had to guess—coiled around an even thicker limb. She counted the coils of the green and brown stripes. Five! Terror lodged in her throat, and her imagination got the better of her with realistic pictures of the massive snake wrapping its long, cold body around her legs and then up to her throat to cut off her air supply. She gulped in huge amounts of air to fill her lungs, and with slow steps so she didn’t agitate the resting viper, she backed out.

  “I really don’t want to stick around to make your acquaintance,” she said with each step. “Nor am I looking for a pet. I really must run.” She turned around and ran as fast as she could. She looked back to gauge the distance she’d made between her and the snake. Out of nowhere, she ran right into the crushing stronghold of a predator. There’s no way on earth that there are two of them. She turned to find an angry and surprised Landy before her. His glare made her fear freeze in her veins, but her relief to see him eased the tensions of the potential mishap.