by Sara Daniel
A new sexual position or creative location wasn’t going to prove the emotional connection she pretended didn’t exist. She expected him to push her to the edge. What he needed to do was show her he wasn’t the same schmuck who’d dumped her with a single text.
Leaning his elbow against the wall, he lifted his hand to her cheek. Despite promising him she’d enjoy whatever he did, she flinched at his touch. He slid his hand along her jawbone, up her temple and across her forehead. Then he tipped his head down and touched his lips to her eyelids. He worked his way to her mouth, sprinkling tiny kisses on her nose and both corners of her lips.
Her eyes flickered open. “What are you doing?”
“Kissing you.” He moved his hand around her head to cup the back of her neck. She’d kissed and touched him tenderly before, but he hadn’t reciprocated. He hadn’t had much softness in his life, and it wasn’t something he’d ever been comfortable exploring. But he knew he was doing the right thing this time. She expected a hard and punishing round of sex. He’d satisfy her, but then she’d walk away. He had to give her something of himself that she couldn’t walk away from.
He took her hand and led her to the chaise. He released her to take a pillow from the bed, and she reached for the hem of her shirt. He couldn’t just do things differently. He had to make her believe he wanted it to be different. He covered her hands with his and hoped she didn’t notice they were shaking. “We’ll get to that.”
He pressed his lips to her earlobe and gently cajoled her down until she was lying back on chaise. Her brow furrowed as she looked up at him. He sat next to her and put his arm around her. She shot him a dazzling smile and immediately turned to straddle him.
“No. Just sit back.” He could barely hear his voice over the blood pumping through his body. He regretted that he hadn’t taken his time with her before. Neither of them knew what they were supposed to do now.
She sat back and looked at him like she thought he was crazy. “What’s going on?”
“I’m making love to you. What do you think?” He leaned over her and kissed her softly. He was making love to her. He wondered if she recognized the difference. All he knew for sure was he’d never done it before, and if she walked away from him after this, he’d likely never do it again.
Before she could increase the pressure of the kiss, he nibbled his way down her jaw. He swirled his tongue around the pulse at her neck, loving the delicate jump he incited in it. This was his Holly. He’d had sex with her and seen her naked and spent the night in her arms. Yet he’d failed to notice too many things about her—the way her eyes stayed troubled even when she smiled, the way she tried to take control when she was confused.
He slowly worked her shirt over her head and spent a long time caressing and kissing her chest. Eventually she stopped trying to reach for him and take over. Her body trembled beneath him as she accepted and anticipated his touch. He removed her pants and continued his intimate kissing. As she trembled and fell apart against his mouth, he gathered her to him and slid inside her.
Justin had come home. His family was not with the military or in a career fighting a shadowy foe. He belonged with Holly. She’d recognized it, but he’d pushed her away. Now he had to prove that she couldn’t give up on him. He was a man worth fighting for. Her man.
Holly opened her eyes. Justin was half on top of her, half on his side on the chaise, eyes closed and snoring softly. On the other side of her body, his fingers were threaded through hers as he held her hand, palm to palm. She tried to ease her hand free, but his hand automatically tightened around hers.
She needed to put some space between them so she could think. He’d been angry with her, and she’d expected hard, fast, angry sex. She hadn’t expected tenderness. She hadn’t expected each touch and kiss to feel like a love note crafted just for her. He’d never said he loved her, and she wasn’t foolish enough to believe he suddenly did. But he felt more for her than he’d ever shown before.
When he awoke, he was going to want to know whether she was willing to accept the pieces of a relationship he was willing to give or whether she would stick with her end plan. Although she’d meditated and thought she’d arrived at her answer yesterday, walking away wouldn’t be as simple as she led herself to believe. Justin was a wonderful, protective, complicated man, and she was one hundred percent in love with him.
She slowly inched her body out from under his as he continued to sleep. She dressed quietly, then took the elevator to the lobby. She didn’t need to take a breathing or meditating class this time. She could work her issues out for herself. The island air was good for clearing her mind.
The lobby was a buzz of activity, people scurrying back and forth, speaking to each other in low, urgent tones.
“Holly,” Myron called from the front desk. “What are you doing down here?”
She waved but didn’t stop. “Just going for a walk.”
“No. No, you mustn’t. You must stay on the third floor. The cards say so.”
Cozy in Justin’s arms. She didn’t need a deck of cards or a slightly batty woman to tell her that’s where she should have stayed. No one with a lick of sense would have walked away from him. “I have to figure this out on my own.” She walked outside.
Behind her, she heard Myron shouting for Rekkus, but she ignored the harried staff. She had her own problems to think about. She avoided the path to the hot springs. She didn’t need to think about sex. She knew that part of their relationship was pure gold.
She walked across the lawn to the rocks overlooking the ocean, and climbed up. The rocks were steep, and she pulled on a tree trunk to keep her balance. She was glad the difficult climb would keep Justin away for the sake of his knee. She needed to be alone. Whenever she was with him, she wanted him by her side forever.
The waves crashed against the rocks below and then receded, crashed and receded. She sat on the ledge, her knees drawn to her chest. One thing was as certain as the constant ocean waves; she was never going to get him out of her system, no matter what kind of sex they had or how many times.
A tree branch snapped behind her. She turned around to see who was approaching but didn’t see anything or anyone. Justin hadn’t followed her here to pick up their argument from last night.
Yet, remembering Myron’s warning made her uneasy. Instead of soothing her, the relentless pounding of the ocean made her aware of how much other sound it drowned out.
She stood up and brushed off the back of her pants, ready to return to the Haus. A gloved hand clamped over her mouth. It pulled her backward to the ground, less than two feet from the edge of the cliff, a cliff that went straight down to the rocks and waves below.
“Do as I say, and you won’t get hurt,” a man’s voice said roughly against her ear. She tried to get a look at his face, but his arm was around her neck, tight against her windpipe.
In her gut, she knew who he was. The awful man who’d been after Justin was back. How could she have forgotten how dangerous he was? Tears sprang to her eyes. She couldn’t breathe with his arm around her neck, and she was terrified that if she struggled he could strangle her, shoot her, or push her off the cliff.
Oh God, there were so many ways she could die. She had to think positive. No one had ever died on the island before. That was a good sign, right? He hadn’t shot her yet. That was an even better sign. Last time he had been shooting first and talking later.
He took his hand slowly away from her mouth and loosened his hold around her neck enough that she could breathe.
“What do you want?” she whispered, too panicked and shaky to scream.
“With you? Nothing,” he scoffed. His voice left little doubt she meant less than nothing to him. She was completely disposable. “But Justin will come for you.”
Two days ago he’d left no doubt he wanted Justin dead. She prayed and hoped to every god and goddess that would listen that Justin was still safely sleeping on the third floor or at least that Myron and the Wiccan Haus
security had stopped him from leaving the lodge.
She might be disposable, but if she was very lucky, maybe Tom wouldn’t be interested in bothering with the effort it would take to kill her. Once she got back to the lodge, she’d use her entire savings if necessary to hire a helicopter to take her and Justin home to safety. “That’s where you’re mistaken. He doesn’t want me around. He dumped me out of his life.”
“He pushed you away as soon as he was in danger, to keep you safe.”
She had to restrain herself from trying to push Tom off the cliff. If she thought she’d have a chance of surviving, she’d have risked it.
This man—not even a man, he was some un-human being—had put Justin through hell. He should have counted his blessing that he’d earned Justin’s rarely given trust. Instead, he’d violated it without a second thought. Not only had he destroyed Justin’s ability to trust others, he’d destroyed Justin’s faith in his own judgment and worth.
Suddenly, Tom’s arm tightened around her neck again, and he tugged her up the final slope to the very top of the rocks before the sheer drop-off down to certain death. “I know you’re watching me,” he shouted. “So, here’s what’s going to happen. If Justin comes with me, I’ll let the girl go. No Justin, and the girl goes over the cliff in five minutes.”
Holly’s stomach pitched as she looked down. The rhythm of the waves and rocks was no longer comforting. In fact, it sounded like a death march. She tried to remember what Tom had yelled to Justin as he’d shot at him last time. Something about governments, assassins and Cyrus. A lot about Cyrus. “What do you want with Justin? You’ve already ended his career. Cyrus is the one you should be after. Why not go straight for him?”
Keep Justin safe. That was her only goal. The scary guy dressed all in black and his tiger sidekick seemed more than capable of taking care of themselves.
She caught a flash of movement straight ahead. Something looked out of place to the left, as well. Other people were in the trees. She hoped they were from her team and not Tom’s.
She couldn’t tell if any of the movements were Justin. Part of her desperately needed him to be her knight in shining armor. But the smart, practical part of her that cared about him more than herself didn’t want him anywhere near here.
“I’ve decided to allow Justin to join my team, instead of kill him. Together we can take down Cyrus, and I’ll be a hero to my people.”
She wasn’t just captive to an evil villain. Oh no, she had to be held hostage by an insane, evil, non-human villain. She gave him a confused look. “Justin with his torn up knee? Give me a break. You don’t need him. I mean, you’re so strong. You could take Cyrus down on your own.”
He looked at her, considering. “You think so?”
Her heart thundered, waiting for him to call her bluff and push her over the cliff. “I know so. You wouldn’t just be a hero. You’d be a legend to your people.”
Justin pressed to the other side of the tree, listening to the Para who held his girlfriend prisoner, waiting for what seemed like eons for everyone else to get into position.
He risked another glance to make sure Tom hadn’t cut off Holly’s breathing. She was smiling, using the same false cheeriness she’d leveled on him last night when she’d encouraged him to take the security job offer.
Just like she was lying through her teeth now to do what she thought was best for him, she’d been doing the same thing for what she thought was best for him earlier. It had taken him a while to figure it out, but he now knew that job wasn’t it. Having Holly in his life on a permanent basis was.
To the right of Justin, Cemil’s foot caught on a tree root as he moved into position.
“Who’s out there?” Tom demanded.
No one said a word.
“Probably a ground squirrel,” Holly said. “I saw a whole family of them before you joined me.”
“No, someone’s there. Show your face or the girl goes over the cliff,” he shouted, pulling Holly in front of him, shielding himself so no one could take a shot at him.
All Tom had to do was nudge her to the side and she was lost forever, dashed upon the unforgiving rocks. Justin couldn’t take that chance. “I’m here.” He stepped out from behind the tree with his hands up. “Let her go, and you can have me.”
From the corner of his eye he saw Cyrus’s jaw clench in frustration. Justin wasn’t following the plan. He never veered off strategy and attempted to play superhero. It was a guaranteed way to get killed. But keeping a single person safe had never matter more to him than the overall mission before. Holly was the only thing that mattered.
“Walk forward slowly,” Tom said. “Keep your hands where I can see them.”
Justin took a small step, following his instructions exactly. He wouldn’t do anything to startle Tom and cause him to do something that would hurt Holly. Tom still hadn’t shown a weapon yet, but that didn’t mean anything.
Holly had thought she was helping him by showing Tom he didn’t need Justin on his team, but if he wasn’t needed, Tom would go back to his original plan to put a bullet in Justin’s head.
“Closer,” Tom said.
“Let her go first.” He needed Holly safely away. Once he gave up control to Tom, he wouldn’t have any leverage to get her free.
“Not yet. Three more steps.”
Justin took them, never letting his gaze waver from Tom.
The Para let go of Holly as promised. She stumbled.
“Run.” Justin shouted at her.
Tom pulled a gun from his waistband.
Holly screamed and rushed at Tom. She diverted his aim as the gun fired, once again saving Justin’s life and proving she was a hell of a lot better as a superhero than he was. She grabbed for Tom, and he spun, hitting her side with the barrel of his gun, sending her sprawling.
With a deep growl, Rekkus in tiger form leapt through the air at Tom.
Justin watched in horror as Holly fell toward the edge of the cliff. He lunged, grasping her waist. But it wasn’t enough. Their momentum was pulling both of them over the edge. He didn’t have the strength or balance to save her. If he let go, he could save himself but not them both.
Justin held her as tightly as he could. If he couldn’t save her, he would die trying. “I love you, Holly. I’m never letting you go.”
The final shred of balance deserted him, and he began to free-fall.
Except he didn’t fall. A hand locked around his left leg and pulled. An arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him back from the brink, until he stood on the rocks again. “Gotcha,” Cemil said. “Dang, that was a little too close for my taste.”
“Are you okay?” Justin kept his arms tight around Holly, not trusting that she wouldn’t slip away and be lost forever.
Her face was pale, her hair strewn across her face. In answer, she turned to him and buried her face in his chest, shaking uncontrollably.
Justin lifted her in his arms and carried her down the steep hillside.
“Your knee,” she whispered, lifting her head.
“Is fine,” he said. He would have carried her one-legged, if necessary. But in truth, his knee was fine. It didn’t twinge once. His heart, on the other hand, was ready to explode.
Even inside the lodge with the door firmly closed behind them, he couldn’t let go of Holly. She pulled away from him enough to stand, but he kept his left arm tightly around her.
Attempting a coolness he didn’t feel, he held out his right hand to Cemil. “Thank you. I owe you my life, both our lives.” He couldn’t allow himself to think about how he hadn’t been able to stop Holly and she would have plummeted off the cliff.
Cemil accepted his handshake. “Let’s call it a team effort. I couldn’t reach her in time. Holly, I think we have to name you team captain. He got a shot off, and we all know where the bullet would have ended up if you hadn’t knocked the gun aside.”
She shuddered as she shook his hand. “I’d say I’m happy to help, but I can’t stomach do
ing this again.”
“You’re never doing it again,” Justin said emphatically. “I can’t take it.”
“What happened to Tom?” Holly asked. “He’s going to keep coming back for Justin.”
“He’s never coming back,” Cemil said. “Rekkus and Cyrus have him locked up and will hand him over to his government when the portals open. His crimes will keep him locked up longer than you will ever have to worry about.”
Justin’s last mission to keep the world safe was over. His life was now all about Holly. He just had to convince her that he belonged in her life.
Justin still had his hand around her waist, which was a darn good thing, because Holly didn’t think she could stand on her own. Her legs had worked just fine on the hill when she’d needed them to, but once Justin had pulled her from the edge of the cliff, they’d started shaking and wouldn’t stop.
“Why don’t you sit down?” Cemil gestured to the cozy sofa in the middle of the room. “I’ll have Sage fix you a shake.”
He left her and Justin alone. Justin walked to the sofa. She started to collapse on it, but he sat down first, pulling her onto his lap and wrapping his arms around her. The tenderness of his gesture made her want to cry. He’d nearly died because of her. She’d almost watched it happen.
“I don’t think I can walk away from you when this week is over.” She tried not to cry, but she was sobbing uncontrollably.
“If you do, I’m going to follow you wherever you go anyway,” Justin said. “I suggest you don’t even try.”
She wiped her eyes and tipped her head back to look at him. “What are you saying?”
“I don’t have any family, job, civilian skills, or even an apartment. I’m pretty much a bum. But I’m a bum who’s never going to leave you again.”
“You are so not a bum.” She couldn’t help smiling at the thought. “You have amazing protective instincts and security credentials that perfectly match what I’m looking for in a security director for my company.”
