Keeping Secrets (The Castaways Series Book 3)

by Alexa Land

  “You’re always right.” I handed over some cash, then rubbed my palms together in eager anticipation and said, “Now the big question: what color do we want? They’re all so nice and shiny and new!”

  She frowned at that. “Yeah, enjoy it while you can. By August, they’ll all be trashed.”

  After perusing the entire selection, twice, we selected a turquoise boat, and Sarajane forced blue, foam life vests on us before handing over our long, double-ended paddles. Lee was clearly nervous, which manifested itself in looking dead serious. He eased into the seat nearer the back of the kayak, and then he looked up at Sarajane and asked, “Should we leave our phones here, just in case? Not that we’re going to capsize, but…what if we do?”

  “I’ll take it if you want,” she said.

  As he handed over his phone, I climbed into my seat and said, “I’m all set. We’re not going to tip over, but even if we do, my phone is waterproof.”

  “I know you’re not a total noob,” she told me, “but please don’t do anything ridiculous that’ll make me come rescue your ass. I’m seriously in no mood. Also, I love the fact that I can say this to you because we’re friends. It’s so damn challenging to pretend to be cheerful for the tourists.”

  She pushed us away from the dock, and I blew her a kiss over my shoulder before focusing on the task at hand. I explained the paddling technique to Lee, which basically consisted of getting in sync with each other and moving the paddles in a smooth figure eight, and pretty soon we were gliding across the water. “Okay,” he said, after a few minutes, “this is easier than I expected, and that’s a relief. I really didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of you.”

  It was the perfect day to be out on the water. The sky was clear, and the ocean was the color of emeralds and sparkling in the sunlight. It was quiet and peaceful too, especially compared to Avalon, which we left farther and farther behind with every dip of our paddles.

  After a while, Lee said, “That young woman back there was surprisingly candid.”

  “I can see why she’s burned out. She was eleven when she started working at that kiosk on weekends and every summer. After high school, she took over the business for her mom, who now runs a fishing charter. It’s no wonder Sarajane’s over it by now.”

  He asked, “Why doesn’t she do something else?”

  “Any other job she found on Catalina would just be more of the same. It’s a small island, and if you want to live here, you’re pretty much going to end up in the hospitality industry. There just aren’t a lot of other career opportunities.”

  “I see what you mean. I also understand why she wouldn’t want to move away. This is a beautiful place.”

  After a pause, I said, “Can I ask you a personal question?”

  “Of course.”

  “Why would you tattoo your hometown onto your body, when it seems like…”

  “Like I must have nothing but bad memories of that place?”

  “Exactly.”

  He said, “It’s bigger than just what happened to me while I lived there. Greece and the town where I was born are a part of who I am, and I felt it was important to remember where I came from.” While we were talking, we continued to move the paddles in a steady rhythm: right side, left side, repeat. It was actually quite soothing.

  “I wish I had a sense of self like that,” I said. “I’ll never know who my dad was and don’t know anything about my birth mother’s family history, so the best I could do was one of those mail-in genetic tests. All it really told me is that I’m a mutt, because I got hits from all over.

  “Some of the results indicated my family came from Columbia, Cuba, and Mexico, so I tell people I’m Latino, because that percentage was slightly higher than the combined European numbers. I even learned to speak Spanish, but that was mostly to impress my adopted grandmother, who’d emigrated from Mexico. But since I grew up without the culture or traditions, I can’t really take pride in it and say ‘this is who I am’.”

  “I think I latched on to the fact that I’m Greek and let it define me,” Lee said. “I’m not even sure why that’s always been so important to me, especially since I’ve lived in the U.S. since I was ten. Why do I cook Greek food, when I didn’t really grow up on it? The main thing I ate as a child were peanut butter sandwiches, because I could make them for myself. And I cling to the language and pepper it into my speech, but maybe that’s more of an affectation than anything. It’s not as though I can’t think of the equivalent words in English.”

  “I always liked it when you spoke to me in Greek.”

  He asked, “You know why I did that? Because it enabled me to say all the things to you that I wasn’t ready to admit. When I’d hold you in my arms and ramble on in my native language, I was telling you I cherished you and wanted to be with you always.”

  I stopped paddling and pivoted in my seat, so I could see him. “I understood you.”

  “You did?’

  “Not the words, but your tone of voice told me all I needed to know.”

  “It was cowardly. I should have just told you how I felt. For the record, I was planning to do that eventually. Now I’m ahead of schedule.”

  I said, “There was a schedule?”

  “Oh yes. It wasn’t written out, because that would have been bizarre. But I had it all mapped out in here.” He grinned self-consciously and tapped the side of his head. “I’d just moved on to phase two of my five-year strategy to make you mine, which began with that apartment. I look forward to returning to it someday, because I have so many plans for us and that place.”

  I flashed him a big smile. “I searched the apartment after you left and discovered a lot of those plans. They seem to involve teaching me to play chess, and fucking me on every surface.”

  His grin turned teasing. “Did you discover the sex room?”

  My eyes went wide, and I blurted, “No! There’s a sex room? I’m not even sure what that would involve, but I want to see it!”

  “I suppose most people would call it a dungeon, but that sounds so bleak. Besides, I’m only into the chains, not the whips.”

  “Is it in another part of the building? Because I searched the apartment thoroughly, and I didn’t see anything like that.”

  Lee looked pleased with himself as he told me, “There’s a secret panel at the back of the walk-in closet. Well, it’s not secret, exactly. You just have to know it’s there.”

  “I love that! It’s so I-Spy. I’m curious though, why would you hide it?”

  Lee took off his sunglasses and fidgeted with them as he explained, “I’ve always been a private person, and I hated the thought of putting my sex life on display for the housekeeper, or anyone else who came over.”

  “Makes sense. So tell me, what’s in this room?”

  “A whole array of implements to tie you up, plus some custom furniture. There are padded benches, tables, frames, racks, slings, and various other things to tie you to.”

  As my cock swelled, I murmured, “I really need you to kiss me.”

  “Can we beach this kayak?”

  I glanced at the rocky shore and shook my head. Then I shifted around so I was kneeling on my seat and said, “Meet me in the middle.”

  “What?”

  “Meet me here,” I said, as I patted the enclosed section of kayak between us. “I would just climb into your seat with you, but I don’t think we’ll both fit.”

  He looked skeptical. “As much as I want to kiss you right now, I’d really love it if we didn’t capsize.”

  “Sea kayaks are made to stay upright. Plus, it’ll be perfectly balanced if we’re both sitting in the center, so I think we’ll be fine.” I secured my paddle and used the tip of my foot to push off my sneakers. Then I climbed up and said, “See? Piece of cake.”

  He grinned at me and warned, “This isn’t going to end well.” But then he took off his sneakers, stashed his paddle, hat, and sunglasses, and carefully climbed up to join me, so that both of us were str
addling the hull with our feet in the water. Throughout all of that, the kayak remained remarkably steady as it bobbed on the gentle waves.

  I said, “Come closer.”

  When he slid forward a few more inches, I wrapped my legs around him and draped my arms over his shoulders. His kiss was intense and full of longing, and he nuzzled my ear and whispered, “Tonight when everyone’s asleep, I want to fuck you in the lobby of your hotel.” A soft moan slipped from me as my cock throbbed, and he licked the side of my neck before lightly biting my earlobe and asking, “Do you like that idea?”

  I nodded. His breath caught when I rocked my hips, just a little, and rubbed my cock against his through our clothes. When he kissed me again, it was urgent and demanding, which turned me on even more. I whispered in his ear, “Tell me what you’re going to do to me.”

  His voice was low and sexy. “First, I’m going to strip you naked. Then I’m going to bind your wrists and walk you downstairs.” I moaned again and reached between us to adjust my cock, which was straining against my briefs. “Once we’re in the lobby, there are so many possibilities. I could bend you over the back of the couch, or take you on the reception desk, or hell, why limit ourselves? Why not lead you outside, tie you spread-eagled between two palm trees, and play King Kong?”

  I laughed and ran my hands down his back. “I’ve always appreciated your creativity.”

  He grinned and said, “I love the fact that we have so many options now. Granted, we used to do pretty well in those hotel suites, and I was looking forward to all the new opportunities in our apartment. But now we have an entire ranch—scratch that, an entire island—to enjoy each other.”

  He kissed me again, and I let myself get totally caught up in it. But after a while, he pulled back and said, “I need to calm down, or the tourists on that boat that’s passing us are going to get a very graphic lesson in gay sex.” It was some distance away, but he had a point.

  “I need to calm down too, but I’m really looking forward to tonight.”

  He took my hand and kissed it, and after a few moments, he said, “I have a question for you. Please answer it honestly, even if you think it’ll hurt my feelings.”

  “Alright.”

  “Do you want to change anything about our sex life? For the past year, we’ve always done things my way in the bedroom, but I want to know if there’s stuff you’ve wanted and haven’t brought up.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m not shy about speaking up, and I absolutely love the way you take control. It’s exactly what I want.”

  “I’m glad to hear that,” he said. “Making the switch from your client to your boyfriend seemed almost too easy, so I wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something.”

  “You know why it’s been so easy? Because you always treated me like a lover, not a prostitute.”

  “That’s what you’ve always been to me, along with a friend, companion, and my favorite fantasy.”

  I asked, “You’ve fantasized about me?”

  “I had to do something to get through those long days between our weekends together,” he said. “Just so you know, not all of them were sexual.”

  “What were the nonsexual ones about?”

  He seemed adorably shy as he admitted, “I’d daydream about the most mundane things, like just imagining you were beside me when I was trying to fall asleep. It sounds foolish, I know. But I missed you like crazy when we were apart, and those little fantasies made it slightly more bearable.”

  “That’s actually really good to hear, since I used to daydream about you constantly.”

  “Did you really?” When I nodded, he asked, “Will you give me an example?”

  “Well, there was a recurring daydream that involved you, me, and a yacht on the Aegean.”

  “Instead, you got a plastic kayak in the Pacific. That seems like a pretty major step down.”

  “No way. The fantasies were fun, but this is priceless.” I kissed him and said, “It’s my fault that we had to resort to fantasies to bridge the gap between visits. I’m sorry I always turned you down when you asked to see me more frequently.”

  “You don’t have to apologize for that. I know how busy your life is and how much responsibility you have at the ranch. The fact that you were able to give me an entire weekend at a time was remarkable, and I was grateful for it.”

  “Everything’s different now though, and I can’t see you only one weekend a month, Lee. But how are we going to fit your life and mine together? It’s not even the distance between L.A. and Catalina. The real issue is that we live in very different worlds.”

  “We’ll figure it out. And in the meantime, I’m going to enjoy every single minute I have with you.”

  He started to kiss me again, but a splashing sound nearby caught our attention. A sleek, brown sea lion was bobbing in the ocean maybe twenty feet away, and I exclaimed, “Oh, how cute!”

  Lee pulled his feet out of the water and asked, “Is it friendly?”

  “Well, within reason. It’s friendly enough to come this close to us, but I’d advise against trying to pet it.”

  “There’s absolutely no chance of that happening.”

  I grinned and said, “I’m beginning to think you and nature have a bit of a strained relationship.”

  “That’s a fair assessment. I guess it’s because I’ve spent very little time outdoors, so I’m out of my element.”

  “Why is that?”

  “I’ve been running a business since I was fourteen and never take vacations,” he murmured, never taking his eyes off the sea lion.

  “I’m curious, is everything you do to earn a living illegal?”

  “No. For the record, I don’t steal things anymore, or fence stolen property. My two main sources of revenue are real estate, which is totally legal, and the gambling operation, which isn’t.”

  “What are you betting on?”

  “Not me, I never place wagers. But my clients bet on sports of every variety.”

  I asked, “Aren’t you afraid of getting caught and going to jail? Well, wait. Is sports betting even against the law? Or is it illegal just because the IRS doesn’t know about it? Actually, don’t answer that. I think I’d rather remain in the dark.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  “Tell me this, though: if someone places a bet, loses, and then can’t pay up, do you break his kneecaps?”

  Lee chuckled at that. “You’ve been watching too much TV. And no. I don’t extend credit, ever. If they don’t have the cash up front, they don’t get to place a bet. It’s that simple. Conveniently, it also eliminates the need for broken kneecaps.”

  “You must deal with a huge amount of cash. What would happen if someone tried to rob you?”

  “People try pretty regularly. That’s why there are some very big, tough people on my payroll.”

  “I don’t get it,” I said. “You don’t need the money, and it sounds like there are plenty of risks that come with that line of work. So why do you keep doing it?”

  “Because I find it interesting, and because it makes me feel close to my uncle. I feel like I’m honoring his memory by continuing what he started.”

  I brushed Lee’s dark hair off his forehead and said, “You know, there are probably a lot of great ways to keep your uncle’s memory alive besides illegal gambling. What about building a library and naming it after him?”

  “That would be an odd choice, since my uncle never read a book in his life.”

  “Then name a bar after him.”

  He smiled at me and asked, “Are you trying to get me to clean up my act?”

  “Hey, you do you. But if you wind up in jail, I’m going to miss you.”

  “We’d still have conjugal visits. Might be fun, actually.”

  I was about to provide a snappy comeback when the splashing intensified, and we both turned our attention back to the sea lion. She’d managed to catch a large fish, but it wasn’t going without a fight. As she sunk her teeth into it, Lee wrinkled
his nose and exclaimed, “Ugh, nature is disgusting!”

  He kind of had a point. The fish versus mammal fight went on for several gory seconds. Surprisingly, the predator then apparently gave up and disappeared beneath the water’s surface, and Lee said, “Well, that was horrible.”

  “Yeah, but I’m happy for the fish. Way to fight back.” It was only a few feet from us and definitely the worse for wear, but it started to swim away.

  In the next instant, enormous wings swooped overhead, and a pelican dove beak-first into the water not five feet from us. Lee shrieked like a victim in a slasher film and jerked back, which made both of us tumble into the water. Our life vests bobbed us to the surface a moment later, just in time to see the pelican land on our kayak with the fish.

  As I retrieved my ruined hat, which was floating nearby, I started laughing and said, “That scream, though.”

  “It was scary! That thing must have a ten-foot wingspan, and it splashed down inches from us. Also, look at the disgusting thing it’s doing now.”

  The bird tilted its head back and began choking down the fish. At one point, it opened its beak so far that it looked like it was about to turn itself inside out. I made a gagging sound, and Lee let loose with a stream of disgusted-sounding Greek expletives.

  I would have thought there was no way it could swallow something that big, but over the next two minutes, the pelican proved me wrong. Once it finally got the fish down, I started laughing again, and then I turned to Lee, who was treading water beside me, and exclaimed, “That was the worst thing I’ve ever seen!”

  He smiled at me and asked, “Why are you so happy about that?”

  “Because it was so awful that it looped all the way around and became awesome.”

  “That’s an entirely unique perspective.” The pelican strode across the kayak, hopped into the rear seat, and got comfortable, and Lee said, “The pterodactyl has to go.”

  We both spent the next couple of minutes yelling, splashing, waving our arms, trying to rock the kayak, and generally causing a commotion, but the bird just stared us down. Finally, I said, “I give up. I’m going to call Sarajane to rescue us before we freeze to death.”