“You work there by yourself? That doesn’t sound very secure.” His voice was neutral.
“It hasn’t been a problem before now,” she replied.
His eyes gleamed, but he nodded. “Go ahead.”
“I was working this morning, close to noon, when the door opened. I didn’t pay any attention because I thought someone from the house was bringing me lunch. When I finally looked up, there were two men in front of me. I knew right away that I was in trouble. I screamed, but I’m sure no one could hear me. They threw a blanket over my head and wrapped it around me, then picked me up and carried me out the door.”
He leaned forward. “Doesn’t your father have a security system?”
“He does, but one of the men apparently had worked for my father. He bragged to the other man that he knew how the security system worked and was able to get around it.”
“Then what happened?”
“I bit one of them. Badly. It was through the blanket, but I’m sure I drew blood. He cursed and swore and dropped me. I was able to run a few steps, but then the other one caught me again.”
“Good for you.” Jessica saw approval shining in Marcus’s eyes and felt ridiculously happy.
“It didn’t do much good in the end. They still threw me into their boat and sped away. It was all over in a few minutes. And no one in my parents’ house had any idea that I was gone.”
“Then what happened?” He leaned farther forward. “Did they hook up with this man Simon?”
“No. I heard them talking about him. The man I bit was named Steve, and he seemed to be in charge. Tommy was the man who worked for my father, and Steve told him that Simon wouldn’t be happy if they let me get away.”
“Do you know Simon? Is he someone your parents know?”
“I have no idea who he is. I know my parents don’t know anyone named Simon.”
“You sure you’ve never heard the name before?”
“Mr. Waters, those two men were kidnapping me. Don’t you think I would have remembered if I’d ever heard the name Simon before?” she said tartly.
Slowly he leaned back in his chair. “Did you figure out what Steve and Tommy were going to do with you?”
“I assumed they were delivering me to this Simon, but I didn’t stick around to find out.”
Once again admiration gleamed in his eyes. “How did you get away?”
“They didn’t bother to tie me up. I guess they figured there wasn’t anywhere for me to go. I managed to get the blanket untangled enough to see where we were headed, and once we got close to Cascadilla, I recognized it. I guessed that was where we were going, and I knew I couldn’t let them get me wherever they intended to take me.”
She hesitated, unsure how much to reveal. Finally she said, “I’ve always heard that you have to do anything you can during a crime to prevent being taken somewhere else.” She didn’t tell him that her father’s security force had drummed that into her since she was small. “So I knew I had to get out of the boat. When we were close enough that I thought I could swim to shore, I wriggled out of the blanket and slipped over the side of the boat. Steve and Tommy were too busy trying to navigate to notice that I was gone. Then I just dove under the water and stayed there for as long as I could. By the time I surfaced, the boat had almost disappeared over the horizon.”
“How far away from the beach were you?” Marcus asked.
She shrugged. “Maybe a mile.”
His eyebrows rose. “You were able to swim a mile to shore?”
“I’m a strong swimmer. It’s part of my job.” Her mouth twisted. “And I was desperate. It’s amazing what you can do when your life depends on it.”
Marcus’s mouth softened, then he stood up and came around to her side of the bed. He sat down inches away from her and took her hand. “You’re a brave woman, Jessica Burke.”
His hand was warm and strong around hers, and it sent an unexpected wave of sensation jolting up her arm. She held on to his hand and stared at him, and she watched his eyes darken. She might be naive, but she had no trouble identifying the expression she saw in his eyes. It was naked desire.
A curl of answering desire unfurled inside her, and she stared at him with shock. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. She didn’t know Marcus Waters, she reminded herself. And you were supposed to know someone well before you had sexual feelings for him. That’s what all the books said.
She slid her hand away from his, ignoring the shimmer of regret. For a moment he leaned forward, his eyes fixed on hers, and she wondered with a thrill if he would touch her again. She saw the intent in his eyes. Then he leaned away from her, carefully shuttering his gaze.
“So you swam to shore after you jumped off the boat. What happened then?”
“I have no idea.”
His eyebrows came together in a frown. “What do you mean?”
“I mean I don’t remember much of what happened after I jumped off the boat. I remember swimming for a long time, but the details are fuzzy. I must have passed out once I made it to shore.”
“Did the guys in the boat, Tommy and Steve, notice you were gone?”
“I’m sure they did, eventually,” she said dryly. “But I don’t think they knew right away. They didn’t come after me with the boat, if that’s what you’re asking. I don’t remember seeing it.” She shrugged. “But then, I don’t remember much.”
“Did you hit your head at some point?” he asked, his voice sharp.
“I don’t think so.” She touched her head tentatively. “It doesn’t feel like it.”
Marcus stared at her, an assessing look in his eyes. “So why did Steve and Tommy want to kidnap you? What do you have that they want?”
“I have no idea.”
“You said you’re a scientist. What do you do? Could your work somehow be involved?”
“I doubt it. I study coral reefs. And although I find the subject extremely interesting, I doubt anyone would kidnap me because they had a burning need to know about coral reefs.”
His mouth curled in a tiny smile. “Not only beautiful, but humble, too,” he said in a voice layered with velvet.
Once again she felt the jolt of attraction. This time it shimmered through her whole body, pooling low in her abdomen until she felt like a violin string quivering with tension.
“Just realistic,” she managed to say.
The smile lingered in his eyes as he continued to stare at her. Then slowly the smile faded. “That leaves the other possibility. Money. Would you or your parents be able to pay a ransom?”
She nodded tightly. It was something her father and mother had feared for years. “Yes. My parents would be able to pay a ransom.”
“Even a sizable one?”
“Yes.” Her voice was curt.
“I’m not going to ask them for one,” he said. “I’m just trying to establish a motive here.” He leaned back and watched her. “So you don’t know anyone named Simon, but your parents could pay a ransom. That must mean that they have a lot of money.” He paused. “Have there ever been kidnap attempts before? On you or anyone else in your family?”
“Yes.” She looked away. “Someone tried to kidnap my brother years ago.”
“Did they succeed?”
“No. He managed to get away. But since then, my father has had very elaborate security for both of us.”
“Yet someone managed to get through it and grab you.”
“I told you, one of the kidnappers had worked for my father and had managed to figure out how to get around the security.” She hesitated. “And there isn’t as much security on the island. My family are the only people who live there. We’ve always felt safe on the island.”
Marcus nodded, his eyes unreadable. “Then we have to assume that you were kidnapped for a ransom. Is that what you think?”
“Yes. It’s the only thing that makes any sense.”
“Do your parents have enemies who might try to hurt them by kidnapping you?”
&nb
sp; “Anything is possible, I suppose,” she said slowly, weighing the possibility. “But I can’t think of anyone.” She looked at Marcus. “A wealthy man always has enemies. But I don’t know of any that would do this.”
“Do you have any enemies of your own?”
“No.” The very idea was ludicrous. “I’ve lived a very sheltered life, Mr. Waters. All I’ve done is go to school and study.”
“My name is Marcus,” he said, his low voice strumming across her nerves. “And it looks like you have some enemies now.”
“Yes, it does.”
She was caught in his gaze, held like a deer in the headlights of a car. She couldn’t get away, and she wasn’t sure that she wanted to. Her heart stuttered in her chest and sped up, and butterflies danced in her stomach.
What was happening? She had never felt like this around a man before. The realization that she was attracted to Marcus Waters both thrilled and frightened her. She had no experience with men, let alone a virile, sexy man like Marcus. She had no idea what to do.
To change the subject, she plucked at the T-shirt she wore. “What happened to my clothes?”
“They were covered with sand and salt. They would have irritated your skin, so I took them off and gave you a bath.”
She swallowed, her skin burning beneath the thin shirt. “You gave me a bath?”
“I couldn’t let you stay in those clothes.”
She was uncomfortable, knowing that he had seen her naked. Heat flared in his eyes as he watched her, and she knew that he was thinking about the same thing. A flush started at her feet and swept up her body.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, but she could see that he wasn’t sorry at all. And suddenly, shockingly, she wasn’t sorry, either. Blood pounded in her head, and desire swept through her veins. “Don’t be,” she whispered. “It’s all right.”
What was wrong with her? She shuddered, then buried her face in her hands. It must be the shock of what had happened. She had never felt like this before, never ached for a man to kiss her. For God’s sake, he had seen her naked, and rather than being upset, she was thrilled at the thought!
“It’s all right,” Marcus murmured, and he wrapped his arms around her. “You’re safe now.”
His tenderness, and the comfort she drew from his embrace, opened up a hidden place in her heart. “I hated being so helpless,” she said fiercely. “I’ve never been helpless in my life.”
She could feel him smile into her hair. “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me,” he said.
She raised her head to look at him. “You’ve probably never felt that way. I’m sure you’re always in control.”
The smile faded from his face. “You’re wrong,” he said quietly. “That’s how I know how you feel. You’re only in control when you can’t be hurt. And I was hurt once, a long time ago, by someone I loved. I felt just as helpless as you do now. And that’s one of the reasons I didn’t call the police. I wanted you to know that you were in control again.”
“That’s very thoughtful of you.”
For a moment she saw need and vulnerability deep in his eyes. Then they hardened. “Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not a thoughtful person, Jessica.”
But he was. She had seen the careful way he’d moved around her, trying not to alarm her. She’d noticed how he always left her an escape route. From the moment she’d woken up, he’d tried to set her at ease.
She shuddered, remembering her fear, and he wrapped his arms around her. He held her gently, but her skin burned where he touched her. Her stomach lurched and her heart jolted in her chest. Instinctively she stiffened against him, but he smoothed his hand down her back and held her more closely.
“You’re shivering again. It’s all right, Jessica. It’s just the adrenaline. No one can hurt you now.”
He thinks you’re upset about being kidnapped. She told herself to push away from him, to tell him the truth. She was upset about the way she was reacting to him, a total stranger.
But he wasn’t a stranger any longer. He had rescued her and taken care of her. He was willing to help her. No, Marcus Waters wasn’t a total stranger.
And even though she told herself to move away from him, she leaned into his embrace. He stroked her hair and murmured in her ear, and she quivered in his arms. He was trying to comfort her, and she was becoming aroused.
He would be appalled if he knew, she thought. But just as she told herself to move away, to put some distance between them, she felt the tension in his arms, heard the thundering of his heart against his chest. Was it possible that he was feeling what she felt?
She raised her head to look at him and was stunned at what she saw in his face. Need, naked and raw, glittered in his eyes. For her. She drew in a sharp breath, unable to look away.
The look in his eyes changed to one of fierce possession. He held her gaze for a moment, then bent his head to hers.
Chapter 3
The first brush of his mouth was tentative. She could feel him holding back, hesitant. And she knew that the smart thing to do was lean away from him, murmur thanks for all he’d done, then slip quietly away from Marcus Waters.
But a part of her she didn’t recognize, a wild, untamed part that had lain dormant for all of her twenty-one years, pushed aside the rational voice in her head. Instead, Jessica curled her arms around his neck and pressed against him.
He felt solid and tough, his chest and legs hard and unyielding against her softness. It felt as if his heat would consume her until there was nothing left of her but the aching at her core. She felt helpless in his arms, completely overwhelmed. But she trusted him, she realized. She had connected to Marcus on some level, and she didn’t want to move away. Instead of frightening her, his heat and desire thrilled her, increasing the throbbing deep inside her. She twisted against him, not sure what she wanted but knowing that she wanted more.
He groaned and crushed her lips beneath his, devouring her mouth. When she gasped with surprise, he plunged into her mouth, tasting and caressing her with his tongue.
She tightened her arms around him, and he groaned again. Pulling her closer, he pressed her more tightly against him until every part of her was touching the hot, hard length of his body. Pressure coiled deep inside her until she squirmed against him, searching for something she couldn’t name.
“Jessica,” he groaned, tearing his mouth away from hers. “Tell me to stop.”
“I don’t want you to stop,” she whispered. She wanted to be joined to him, to know everything possible about Marcus Waters.
He swept his hand down her back, lingering at her hip, shaping the curve of her buttocks. She could feel his hand tremble against her. “I want you,” he muttered. “I don’t want to stop, either.”
“Then don’t,” she said recklessly, throwing all caution to the winds. She was lucky to be alive tonight. And suddenly she wanted to know what she had been missing all those years she’d spent in the lab doing nothing but working and studying. Knowing she might have been killed, she wanted to know what it felt like to be fully alive.
He pulled back a little, and she felt him staring at her. She opened her eyes with an effort. The desire that glittered in his blue eyes made her feel drunk with power. She had done that, she thought. She had made this man want her. And holding his gaze, she reached up and kissed him.
He kissed her with his eyes open, watching her, seeing her response to him. And as he kissed her, as his hands roamed over her back, she saw his eyes darken, felt his muscles harden even more. He reached up and brushed the hair out of her eyes, and she realized he was trembling.
Suddenly he picked her up and laid her on the bed. “You’re so beautiful,” he murmured as he leaned above her. He traced the curve of her cheek to her neck, and his hand lingered at the top of the T-shirt. “I didn’t bathe you very well, you know.”
“Why not?”
He stared at her, his eyes hot and dark. “Just looking at you made me hard. By the time I put you in this bed,
all I wanted to do was touch you.”
Jessica swallowed. “You can touch me now,” she said, her voice husky and low. She hardly recognized herself. This wasn’t Jessica Burke, the woman whose middle name was cautious, who had never had a serious relationship.
The neck of the T-shirt gaped between her breasts, and he let his fingers linger there, sending fire shooting through her veins. “Are you sure, Jessica? It’s not too late to say no.”
“I don’t want to say no.” A part of her was appalled, but her body throbbed wherever his fingers slid over her. And the ache inside her was too urgent, too all-consuming to be denied.
He watched her for a moment, then bent his head and pressed his mouth to her collarbone, his hand still between her breasts. His lips and tongue tasted her, teased her, until her hips moved restlessly beneath him.
When he lifted his head his eyes gleamed. “You taste wonderful. But I’ll bet there are other parts of you that taste even better.”
Slowly he pulled the neck of the T-shirt down until her breasts were exposed. She jerked when she felt the cool air brush across them and instinctively reached to cover herself.
He stared at her hand for a moment, then looked at her again. His eyes were almost black, and tension vibrated out of him. He held her gaze as he bent and kissed her, and she felt all her muscles go slack.
“Move your hand,” he whispered. “Wouldn’t you rather have me touching you?”
Her hand fell to the bed beside her, and he kissed her again. Then he raised his head to look at her. She felt her nipples getting hard just from his gaze.
He propped himself on one elbow, and his hot gaze swept her body. Then he lightly traced the curve of her breast with one finger. When she shivered, he cupped her with one hand. “They’re just as beautiful as the rest of you,” he whispered.
The throbbing was almost unbearable. She felt like Marcus was slowly winding a spring tighter and tighter inside her. When she twisted toward him, he closed his eyes briefly, then opened them to stare at her. He drew one finger across her nipple.
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