by C. C. Piper
Resting my hand there but not moving yet, I waited to see what action my lover might take. For a second, he paused, but then he followed suit, stripping off the remainder of his clothing, too. God, he was such a feast for the eyes, his sleek body hard in all the right places. Then he sat, mirroring me, our feet touching, watching me as much as I watched him.
I let my fingers rub against my wetness, and wow, I was so wet. I’d never done anything even close to this before, and it felt wanton and daring. I scooted closer, so that my knees brushed his, then I let him see exactly what I was doing to myself as I let my fingers do whatever they wished.
Slipping and sliding, they flew over me, reaching for the pleasure that I felt growing so close I could taste it. I made noises I couldn’t help, then quit breathing altogether when his hand moved to cover his own length. I’d always wanted to witness this, a man seeking pleasure for himself, and something about the visual made me even wetter.
Wrapping his hand around his thick arousal, he pumped hard and fast, almost roughly, and I matched him, skidding along my folds just as rapidly. Every time one of us upped the ante, the other responded. When I saw a drop of moisture dripping along his tip, I started to pant, and when he saw me pinch one nipple between my finger and thumb as the other hand pushed two fingers inside, he groaned so loud it echoed and scattered on the wind.
I could tell we were both close, and almost as if by unspoken consensus my hand reached to touch his length at the same time his hands moved to caress the slick skin between my thighs. We continued to stare at each other the whole time, as if our gazes were glued together, and as I encircled him with my hand, tightening down each time I reached his base, he flicked that sensitive bundle of nerves at my center.
We both came, simultaneously, our heads thrown back and our eyes drifting momentarily closed before we straightened and snapped them open again. It was as if we each craved the optical stimuli too much to look away in these final explosive moments.
Even though this hadn’t been traditional sex, not that I was any expert since I’d only had one partner prior to this, this had felt somehow more intimate. Maybe it was all the eye contact, I didn’t know. But I now felt as if I knew this man, even though I understood that I actually didn’t.
Our hands remained entwined around and inside the tenderest parts of one another’s bodies, my forehead on his shoulder as our breathing equalized. I was in no hurry to extricate myself. If we could’ve stayed out here like this for hours, I would’ve.
Then it occurred to me that what we’d done was tantamount to a one-night stand. Frenzied, impulsive and passionate, but short-term. Not intended to be taken seriously or for anything other than the carnal pleasure it satisfied. A physical release with no commitment and no emotions involved. I mean, I hadn’t called out this man’s name because I honest to God didn’t know it.
If I’d had any delusions about the connection I felt with him being anything more than skin deep, that was enough to crush them. There’d been a tension escalating between us, and now it’d been sated and should be going away. Our passion, fiery as it had been, was extinguished.
I pulled back.
Once I’d shifted, he came to life, too, standing and retrieving the various pieces of our strewn clothing. He collected mine first, handing them to me, before going after his own. In silence, we dressed, our eyes down. Although the full circumference of the land was in sight, I couldn’t see our residence, such as it was. Was it hidden somehow?
Not that it mattered. I didn’t want to go back yet. Back to my luxuriously appointed cage. I examined the landscape again, this time with a different perspective. While the island was lovely, it also sat alone in the middle of whatever ocean this was, isolated and remote. It was being utilized as a prison, my prison, and as I analyzed my surroundings, I accepted that this place had been chosen because there was no chance of escape.
Why this hadn’t impacted me prior to now I didn’t know, but all at once I needed to understand everything. What was it my father had supposedly done that was so bad I’d been kidnapped over it? How long would this imprisonment of mine last? Would I ever be allowed to go back home? And if so, when?
“Why was I brought here?” I asked Guard, the man who’d seen me naked. The stranger I’d shown my soul to. God. Angry tears pricked my eyes, and I ordered the emotion away. Now wasn’t the time.
“I…” He stumbled over his words and I felt a sense of vindication. Served him right to be flustered. “I told you.”
“You told me it was because my father is guilty of all these crappy business practices. But that doesn’t hold up. Kidnapping is a felony, so whoever did this is playing for keeps. Who hired you? Who has it out for my dad? Is this all about money? A big payoff? Or is my life in danger? Is someone going to show up one day and kill me? Would you protect me if they were, or assist them with disposing my body?”
He looked stricken, totally thrown off his axis.
“Rachel, I…”
“And that’s another thing,” I interrupted him. “I’m here with you. You’re supposed to watch over me, and in my head I refer to you as ‘Guard.’ Nothing more and nothing less. Do you know how absurd that is? We just traded orgasms, but I don’t know your name. I don’t have the faintest of ideas who you really are.”
Three deep grooves marred the skin of his forehead as if he regretted something, but I didn’t care. If he regretted being my keeper, why had he taken on the job? I can admit that being here had been less scary and more of a reprieve. It’d been nice not to have to be the perfect Rachel Brisbane, towing a line that had gotten increasingly heavy over the years.
Here, I wasn’t responsible for anyone but myself. I could spend hours making music in my head without interference or the constant interruptions that came with the family obligations of being a member of Chicago’s elite society. I didn’t care about being a member of that society; in fact, I kind of hated it. I hated all the pretense and putting on of airs. I’d never felt as if I could be myself, just Rachel. Oddly enough, I felt that way here with this guard.
Despite being trapped, I felt free, too. Crazy as that sounded.
But I had a life I needed to return to. I had parents who were, yes, stressful to deal with, but I also loved them. I adored my brother and missed him terribly. I had a best friend who’d always been there for me no matter how busy and famous she became. I had my music. I didn’t want to be stuck on this island forever.
Being here hadn’t been my choice. For whatever reason, other than that first day, I hadn’t felt particularly frightened. I’d been annoyed, but not terrified. Now, I felt true apprehension because the expression on my guard’s face was filled with dread.
“This is about…You were taken because…. Look.” He huffed out a breath. “As soon as your father makes this right, you’ll be released.”
“What if he doesn’t make ‘this’ right?” I asked. “He’s stubborn and doesn’t like to admit when he’s wrong. In fact, I can’t remember him ever admitting he was wrong. What if time continues to pass and I end up stuck here? How long might this go on? Are the people who took me willing to hurt me over this? How far are they willing to go?”
“No one’s going to hurt you,” he said, his crystalline green eyes intense.
“How do you know? They hired you to keep me here. Who knows what they’re capable of?”
This time, he seized my arm, and I didn’t know if it was because we’d been up close and personal with each other or what, but the electric charge I’d always felt with him had doubled, maybe even tripled. “I swear on my life no one will hurt you, Rachel. I won’t let them.”
“So you’re going to betray those you work for to protect me, a woman who’s basically a stranger to you?”
I didn’t know what it was, but the second I uttered the word “betray” a stoniness I’d never seen before hardened his face. His mouth became a tight horizontal line and his light eyes went icy cold. When he spoke, his voice sounded h
arsh, guttural. “First, I don’t betray anyone ever. Second, do you think that after what we just did together I consider you a stranger?”
Confused, I rubbed the dip in my collarbone, a place his lips had been not long ago. My locket was there as always, so I wrapped my hand around it. “What we shared meant nothing. It was a hookup, just pent-up lust.”
“Then maybe we should cut our field trip short and go back inside.”
I didn’t want to go back inside, but I was furious, so with a snarkiness I rarely used, I barked out, “Yes, maybe we should.”
He blustered off, and I followed him, having to jog to keep up. Within moments, I was back in the bedroom I now despised, slamming my door behind me.
12
Christoff
Once back I strode to the kitchen to pour myself a drink, but I gripped the glass too hard and the damn thing shattered in my hand. Pissed off and injured, I threw the busted shards across the tiled floor, smashing them into vicious slivers sharper than before. I’d made an even bigger mess than I already had.
I was such a fucking idiot.
I’d gone into this unprepared and without thinking it through, and now I was in the middle of a catastrophe of my own making. I should’ve come at Jack Brisbane another way, a more ethical and legal way, but I hadn’t. I’d gone off half-cocked and now I was paying the price for my impatience.
I didn’t usually do this. I was a rational, methodical guy most of the time. Even when inspired with fresh ideas and concepts, I’d put them into action by utilizing my brain. I liked watching everything come together organically, how each piece showed more and more of the puzzle until eventually, a completed product was born.
But that’s not how I’d gone about things this time around. I’d let my fury take the reins and had gone through with what was probably the dumbest decision I’d ever made. I’d hired the Wish Maker to kidnap an innocent college student, someone who had nothing whatsoever to do with corporate spying. Then, and this was the icing on the cake, I’d let my dick lead me into exchanging sexual favors with her out there on that cliff face.
I didn’t even know who I was anymore.
I’d nearly told her everything, every single word, a minute ago. All this had become too much, the stakes had shot up way too high. Rachel worried that she could be in peril. She was frustrated and lonely, and now I’d taken advantage of her. I couldn’t stop the images of our encounter from flashing through my mind like a strobe light at a nightclub, either.
For such a slender frame, she had a voluptuous figure, a curviness to her hips and delectably full breasts I could’ve licked, suckled, and nibbled on for days. I’d touched her heat, felt her moisture on my fingers, had her pulse all over my hand when she’d come. And the whole time, our gazes had been locked together like we’d die if we looked away. It was the most erotic and memorable experience of my life, sexual or otherwise.
And maybe that’s what bothered me the most. It hadn’t been just sex. It hadn’t been just a hookup, as she so eloquently put it. It’d been more, and now I felt like the biggest dipshit in the universe. I cared about Rachel, and yet what I was doing with her here was deplorable. Unforgivable. I kept attempting to figure out how to fix this, to find a way out of this that protected her and salvaged what was left of my honor, but so far, I hadn’t found one.
I didn’t even have a clue whether such a solution existed.
After sitting on the end of my bed with my head in my hands, as if my palms might have some hitherto unknown intelligence I could absorb through osmosis, I glanced up and saw the satellite phone. I needed a second opinion on all this, and I needed it now.
“Hello?” my best friend answered, a question in his voice.
“It’s me, Kit.” I did my best to be patient as the echo and delay meant I had to wait to hear his faded reply.
“Thank God. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you, but the calls keep going straight to voicemail.”
“I know, bro. I’m not in a location with good cell reception at the moment.”
“So, what’s going on?”
There was so much going on I didn’t know where to start. Instead, I focused on what he could tell me. “Has Brisbane made any announcements? Have any recent developments come out of his offices or anything?”
“Funny you should mention that,” he said, and I felt a surge of hope. “There was an article online about him backing out of a corporate takeover that had been in the works for the past six months. It caused his stock to take a pretty disastrous plunge this morning, leaving it down by thirty percent. He hasn’t made any public appearances, though, so I can’t tell you much about his state of mind.”
His news should’ve made me feel better, a lot better, but it didn’t. “Well, at least we know it’s having an impact.”
“Is that where you are right now? With the Brisbane girl?”
“Yeah.”
“Is she behaving herself?”
Her behavior wasn’t at fault, mine was. “It’s not like that.”
“Were you able to glean any details out of her?”
“No. She’s not directly involved in Jack’s dealings, though that’s what her parents have been grooming her for.” Even though she wanted to be a cellist rather than a mogul. “She’s actually an interesting person. She’s different than how I’d imagined her to be.”
Kit paused on his end, then he issued a quiet but vulgar curse. “Uh oh.”
“Uh oh, what?”
“You like her.” He said this like an accusation.
I did like her. “So?”
“Jesus, Chris, you can’t do this. Not again. The last time you fell for a woman, she took you for everything you had.”
I clenched my jaw hard enough to crack both my molars. “Under the auspices of Jack Brisbane.”
“Yes, exactly. And the woman you’re with now is his kid. His daughter. Do you honestly think she’d be less loyal to her father than Hannah Lawrence was? This was supposed to be about punishing him, not putting yourself in a place to get your heart stomped on for a second time.”
“That’s not what I’m doing,” I told him, but without much conviction.
Was that what I was doing? Setting myself up?
Hannah had been my lover, but there’d always been something a bit aloof about her, a bit calculating. I’d passed it off as a basic part of her personality while we were involved, but now I saw how blind I’d been. Yet, I could only describe Rachel as Hannah’s virtual opposite. Rachel was innocent yet expressive, motivated by loyalty but also by doing what she loved. When she talked about playing music, her eyes would light up and her face would take on this euphoric expression. I could see everything she was thinking and feeling right there on her face.
It’d been the same as when we’d been on that cliff together. She’d shown me all of what she’d felt without holding anything back. And the scariest thing was, I’d reciprocated. I’d been as open and vulnerable out there as she had. The fact that she could slip past my barriers without any effort at all was as unnerving as hell.
“I’m not going to tell you how to live your life, but whatever you’re doing with Brisbane’s daughter, be wary, okay? I know you started this, but expecting her to do anything but run crying back to Daddy once she’s been released is unlikely. I want you to keep that in mind. I mean, you haven’t told her who you are, right?”
“No. She doesn’t know who I am.”
Only after I’d said the words did I realize how untrue they were. Rachel Brisbane may not know I was Christoff Green, her father’s business rival, but she did know me. She knew who I was inside. The real me.
“As long as she can’t determine that and rat you out, you should be all right. When this is over, you’ll have everything you want. Just be smart about this. Don’t let her weasel her way under your skin.”
But it was too late for that. Far too late.
The next three weeks passed without any repeats of what had occurred on the bluff—
or the argument that had happened afterwards—but I did start leaving the main door open so she could go out at her leisure. I didn’t want her to feel cornered and defensive, even though I didn’t feel like I could return her home just yet. I kept an eye on her every time she went exploring, following her at a discreet distance.
I had to make sure she stayed safe.
Despite this new relative freedom, Rachel seemed down. Depressed, even. When I’d tried to talk to her about it, she’d merely shrugged and either walked away or stayed quiet and introspective. I knew being here couldn’t feel awesome, even though the place was as nice as my own penthouse. Yet I sensed that it was about more than the kidnapping.
I’d catch her stealing glances at me, only to turn away when I looked to confirm this. She’d managed to close herself off from me, which drove me insane. I wanted back in her good graces, for her not to be upset. I wanted to see her smile and laugh like she had before.
Every night at five o’clock, I received our evening meal by drone. Tonight, observing the craft as it hovered over the launch pad gave me an idea. As soon as Rachel returned to her room, I contacted the Wish Maker, making a special request without taking the time for any pleasantries. She agreed without hesitation, and I made my plans, hoping this would help to repair the rift between Rachel and myself.
The next night, when I was unable to sleep, I went outside to take a walk. I’d brought a flashlight I’d found—again, the old woman and her staff seemed to think of everything—but there was a huge full moon along the horizon, so I’d almost not needed it. While strolling along, I’d heard a high-pitched sound like a whistle or something similar. I’d followed the noise until I came close to the rocky shoreline. There, not far from the surf, was a miraculous sight. Thinking it might cheer Rachel up, I’d raced back inside.
She was asleep, and I nearly turned around, but this was too rare and special to ignore. “Rachel? Wake up.” I shook her gently. “I have something to show you outside.”