by L. A. Fiore
Her head snapped up. “What?”
“My crew and I are leaving.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“I thought…”
“What? What did you think?”
She looked so young in that moment, so innocent. So fucking sweet. Too sweet for the likes of me.
“Did you think we would date? Go steady?” My words were harsh enough the laugh was just cruel. I actually watched as sweet died and disdain replaced it.
Fire burned in her eyes. She really was fucking magnificent. “So this was what? One last fuck?”
“Beautiful, you invited me into your bed when you knew nothing about me other than I was a thief. You gave me the whole night and you did again last night. Yeah it was a fuck, but a damn good one.”
“You’re an asshole.” She turned and stood. Dropping the sheet and grabbing her clothes, she was too pissed now for modesty. It was what I wanted even if it hurt to watch. “You come here and play a fucking game about who you are. And when you finally have the balls to admit it, you pull this? You shouldn’t have bothered. You should have stayed gone. It was easier believing you were dead rather than alive and nothing but a big fucking dick.”
She reached the door, grabbed the chain from around her neck and snapped it off before tossing it at me and walking out.
After everything I had seen and done, guilt and regret were not emotions I had ever felt. Seeing her storm out because of me, knowing she was the best thing that ever happened in my miserable life. Yeah, I felt regret and guilt…a whole hell of a lot of it.
WILLOW
The hot water sprayed down on me, but I still felt cold. A bone deep cold. My heart ached and I was pissed. I was pissed that the man I had spent eight years thinking about, the man I dreamt about, mourned, really was gone. Kace was dead. The man I had spent the night and morning with wasn’t Kace. He was a monster.
I climbed from the shower and dried off before pulling on my sweats. I curled up on my sofa and stared at my painting. His hand on her face, the way he was curled into her. In Cancun, Noah had been that man. He had been rough and dangerous and yet there had been passion. Not once during our night and morning together did he kiss me on the mouth. That first kiss, the wonder of how his lips would feel, the taste of him, the anticipation that caused the hair at your nape to stand on end. The chills when his mouth descended, the second before your lips touched that you closed your eyes focusing all of your energy on feeling so you didn’t miss any nuance. And when your lips touched, that intake of breath as the push and pull you had been doing finally culminated in that perfect moment...like the crashing of a wave. The fall, the thrill. The feel of his hands cradling your face, his thirst for you as his tongue explored, sweeping your mouth to taste you. We didn’t have that moment. We had it once, but not last night. He had shared his body, it had been intensely physical, but it hadn’t been passionate. In retrospect, it left me feeling empty. He dropped me right into emptiness when he destroyed the illusion I had of him.
My phone pulled me from my depression.
“You didn’t call me. How was your date with Sexy 354?”
Zoe, just the person I needed.
“He admitted he was Kace.”
“I’ll be right over.”
And she was. Twenty minutes later she was curled up with me on the sofa. Each of us with a pint of ice cream. “What happened? You look like someone just kicked your puppy.”
“He admitted to being Kace and claimed he pretended because there are people looking for him...said it was safer for me.”
“Okay, but that’s not what has you looking like you want to hurl.”
“We had sex.”
“You’ve had sex with him before. Is he smaller than you remembered?”
Her question caught me off guard and I couldn’t help the smile “No, he isn’t smaller.”
“So?”
“It was hot. He…um…I’ve never had someone play with my…”
“Little ass action? Seriously. Never? Oh, Willow, you’re missing out. I’m glad he’s educating you.” Her eyes narrowed as she studied me. “You didn’t like it?”
“No, it wasn’t that. I did, actually. I didn’t think I would, but it only heightened the experience.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“This morning he told me he was leaving. And like a romantic idiot...well, he was back and I thought he had come for me. He tossed it in my face.”
Zoe leaned forward, her expression was one I rarely saw. She was livid. “Tossed what in your face?”
“My feelings. I let him do things to me I have never done with another man. And I know our entire relationship in days can be counted on two hands, but with him I was okay with that. It was daring and reckless and hot and sweet and I didn’t regret it...any of it. Until this morning. He cheapened it; he made me feel like a whore. And worse, he made me feel like a fool.”
“I’m going to blow up his room with him in it.”
“It doesn’t matter. He’s leaving. Maybe this was for the best. It’s time I realize that fairy tales aren’t real and a love like that...” I looked over at my painting. “A love like that only exists in books and movies and beautiful paintings.”
“Bullshit. It does matter. And love like that does exist. Not with Noah, the dickhead, but it does and don’t you dare let him take that from you too. Fuck him and the fucking ship he sailed in on. Good riddance. And may his ship sink and divers find his sorry ass two hundred years from now after all the critters in the sea have had a taste.”
I stared at Zoe because I had never seen her in such rare form. The laugh just kind of bubbled up and out of me because the visual she painted with her words and the expression on her face were just wonderful. “I love you.”
She grinned. “You never knew I could be so ruthless, did you?” She reached for my hand. “He’s a dick and I’m sorry he treated you as he did, but let it go. Now you can move on and not be tethered to a ghost.” Her eyes narrowed. “I know you too well. You’re hurt now, but then you would have been pissed. How did you end it?”
“I told him I would have preferred if he had stayed dead so I could continue to believe he was the man I thought he was and not alive and the dick he really is.”
“That’s my girl.”
“There is something else. He’s a pirate.”
She had a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth that she almost choked on. “What?”
“He’s a pirate. I mean he doesn’t fly a Jolly Roger flag, at least I don’t think he does, but he’s a pirate. Pillages, loots…”
“You’re kidding.”
“No.”
“We need more ice cream.”
NOAH
Snake and I were sitting at a bar; the cold beer was just what I needed. Every once and a while when I moved I caught the scent of Willow, which immediately went right to my balls. Like in Cancun, she was both innocence and willing. She had been an active participant then and now, and not afraid of letting me know what she wanted to make her come. And I had taken what she offered, lapped it up like a cat at a bowl of milk then treated her like a whore.
“Are you even listening?”
I hadn’t been. Hadn’t heard a word he said.
“You got laid last night.”
“Do I even want to know how the hell you know that?”
“Because you’re plowing through that beer without even tasting it. That’s not like you. Are we still sailing out tomorrow?”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t want to keep her?”
I glared at him from over my beer. He knew she didn’t belong in our world anymore than I belonged in hers.
“Just saying, you are here, she’s here and you’ve had her on the brain for a long fucking time.”
I did and that made me weak, which was why seeing the last of this place and her was for the best.
“We’re leaving with the same number we arrived with.”
He emptied his glass before smacking it down on the bar top. “Your call.”
WILLOW
The dive was over and I had never been so happy to be heading back to dock. I had taken down four couples and two men. It was the men I eyed suspiciously. I had double-checked with the event coordinator and they had paid the fee, but something was off about them. For one, they looked like they had just stepped off a chain gang. Big and muscled with tattoos on all their exposed skin that led me to believe they didn’t just have sleeves of tattoos but that their whole bodies were one big mural. One of them had a shaved head; the other had long hair and a scar that ran from his forehead down his face to his chin. What made me uncomfortable was how they glared at me. I had the feeling they knew who I was even though I had never met them. It was possible these were the crazies that came out of the woodwork when my parents made a discovery, but I had never had those crackpots so up in my face before.
At the dock, resort staff was waiting to help the guests with returning their scuba equipment. I cleaned up the boat, watering down the deck and dive platform. It was while I did this that they approached me. They didn’t just approach me, they crowded me, one on each side.
It was the scarier of the two, the one with the scar, who said, “We want to hire you.”
“I’m sorry?”
“A dive. We want to hire you.”
There was no way I was spending any longer in their company than needed. And I certainly wasn’t going to dive with them. “I don’t freelance with diving.”
“Anyone will do anything if the price is right.”
What an arrogant comment. “Not me.”
“Name a price.”
“I won’t because there isn’t one. Now if you’ll excuse me.”
“You’re feisty. I like my women feisty. Maybe we should forget about diving and I’ll just go down on you.”
I went cold as discomfort turned to fear. Luckily one of the guys from the resort interrupted us when he walked over.
“You want help, Willow?”
“Please.”
“Saved by the pretty boy. He reached for me and I jerked back. My savior moved closer. “Tell Noah Isaac says hi.”
They strolled away and I just stood there unable to move. How did they know I knew Noah? The answer was obvious; they had been watching us.
“Do you know them?” the kid asked.
“No.”
“I’ll walk you to the resort when we’re done and call you a cab.”
I usually walked home, but he was right. I didn’t feel safe walking after that.
“Thank you.”
Before I caught the cab I left word at the desk for Noah. I didn’t want to see him, but he had said people were looking for him. It would seem they found him. As much of a dick as he was, it seemed only right that Noah be told Isaac was on the island.
I was jarred from sleep when a hand clamped down almost painfully over my mouth. Panic had me rearing up as my eyes flew open.
“Willow.”
Noah.
I yanked his hand from my mouth and jerked upright. “What the fuck?” I reached for the switch, spilling light into the room. Noah stood over me, dressed all in black. In that minute he looked like the pirate he was.
“There was a time up until quite recently I would have loved the sight of you in my bedroom, but not anymore. You need to get the hell out.”
“I got your message.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? You got my message so you break into my house?”
“What did Isaac say to you?”
“How the hell did you get in here?”
The shadows moved and I realized he hadn’t come alone. Another man with spiky black hair and bright blue eyes stood in the doorway of my bedroom. He smiled then headed into the living room. “You brought a friend? You both need to get the hell out of my house.”
Noah leaned into me and for the first time I was afraid of him. “What the fuck did he say to you?”
“He wanted to hire me for a dive, but I didn’t get the sense he really wanted me for a dive. His purpose was to poke at you so I’m not sure why he came at me. He could have found someone who actually meant something to you.”
His jaw clenched. I climbed from the bed and moved to the front door. I passed the kitchen to see the other man was brewing coffee. Noah joined him and even poured himself a cup before leaning up against the counter.
“Your front lock is shit.” Casual conversation? Was the man out of his fucking mind?
I made a grand gesture of opening the door. “You both need to leave.”
Neither of them moved. Noah watched me from over his mug and I swear I wanted to hit him. I had never felt compelled to hit another person, but I wanted to hit him...hard.
“Do you mind if I make some eggs? I’m Flynn by the way.”
This was not happening. I slammed the front door closed. “Oh please, make yourself at home.”
“Thanks.” He started rummaging through my fridge. “We should hang back for a few days and see what he’s up to.” I assumed Flynn was talking to Noah.
I headed back to my bedroom, but Noah stopped me when he said, “Willow. Look at me.”
I snapped. “You are giving me orders in my own house. I have got to be having a nightmare.” I felt more than saw as he tensed. “Seriously, the last time we were together you not so subtly asked me to get the fuck out. Now I’m telling you to get the fuck out.”
He didn’t move; frustration made me want to scream because I couldn’t make him leave if he didn’t want to.
“I totally understand now that expression of a fine line between love and hate. Lock up before you leave.” I slammed my bedroom door, locked it and shoved a chair under it. I was tempted to push the dresser in front of it too, but it was too heavy. I was up for the rest of the night thinking about all the ways Noah could come to an untimely death.
“They broke into your house?” I was in bed, getting ready to go back to sleep, but I had to vent to someone about my unwanted visitors from earlier.
“He said my front door lock was shit. I called Bobby and asked him to add more locks.” Bobby was a one-man service center. He was a mechanic, a locksmith and a carpenter. “I had to get someone to fill in for me for snorkeling today. I’m too tired and being tired with ten kids in the lagoon is a recipe for disaster.”
“So true, but tell me about this Isaac guy? Should we be worried?”
“I am worried. Have you seen him? He has a scar that runs from—”
“I have seen him.”
“Where?”
“At the resort.”
“Is he a guest?”
“I don’t think so.”
“So he’s watching Noah, which would explain how he knew about me.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Me either.”
“Get some sleep. I’ll bring dinner later.”
“I will and thank you. You’re the best.”
“I am and my birthday is coming up so don’t forget it.”
I was just drifting off to sleep when that sixth sense kicked in that I wasn’t alone. Noah was going to get an earful, traipsing around my house like he owned the place. But it wasn’t Noah nor was it Flynn. It was the man with the snake tattoo looming over my bed. It wasn’t fear but fury that had the scream burning up my throat.
“You are unbelievable, the whole fucking lot of you.”
“We need to talk.”
“So you break into my house?” He didn’t move. I should have kept the furniture blocking my bedroom door. I had moved it because it was a fire hazard, but I should have taken the risk. “You are not leaving until you say what you’ve come to say, are you?”
“No.”
I pushed the covers back and threw my legs over the side of the bed. “There are other ways you can engage people in conversation that doesn’t require breaking and entering. I’m just saying.” I headed to the kitchen. “I’m putting on coffee. Do you wa
nt some?”
I looked back at him when he didn’t answer. He was standing in the doorway. “Yeah, I’ll take coffee.”
“I’m Willow, but I’m guessing you know that already.”
“Snake.”
Fitting name. “So what is so pressing you needed to...how do you keep breaking into my house?”
“Your front lock is shit.”
Bobby needed to come sooner rather than later.
“We need to use you as bait.”
I was in the process of adding the coffee beans to the machine when he said that. I almost dropped the bag. “Bait?”
“Isaac is a sick fuck and he is slippery. We don’t know where he is but we know he’s close. He’ll come for you because he knows you mean something to Kace.”
“You’re wrong about that. Noah made that very clear yesterday.”
“He only fucks redheads.”
That was like a hit to the gut. I knew the man hadn’t been celibate, I hadn’t either, but I didn’t need to know about his sexual prowess. “Good for him.”
“Before you, blondes, brunettes, redheads, black, white, Asian...he didn’t have a preference.”
How many women had he slept with? He probably had a black book as thick as the yellow pages. Had I known this prior to him coming to me that first time…no, I would have still invited him to my bed. “It’s good to hear that he’s a virile man. I imagine the damsels would be disappointed if after rescuing them they didn’t get a good roll in the hay.”
“Since you, he rarely takes a woman to his bed and when he does she has to be a redhead.”
We were talking about Noah sleeping with other women, but his point was still made. The concession touching in a bizarre way. Still, he was a dick yesterday morning. “I think the next time you go hunting babes he’ll be back to his UN ways.”
“I don’t know what happened, I don’t care, but he has had you on the brain for eight years. That shit doesn’t just go away. He might think he’s doing what is best for you, but I know Kace. You mean something to him and Isaac knows it too.”
Despite myself, my heart squeezed in my chest.
I poured us each coffee. “I have pie from the bakery. Do you want a slice? It’s apple. I can warm it, a little ice cream. This conversation feels like one that requires pie.”