by Ronna Gage
“You have no idea what you are saying.” He kissed her again feeding the craving he dealt with for the last seven days.
“Why do you say that?” She pouted so prettily.
Roger was taken further with the wiles of this woman. “Your brother will whip my ass.”
“I’m a big girl, Roger. He doesn’t own me,” Lydia assured him as she cupped his crotch.
Roger’s breath caught in his lungs. “I think you should tell him that.” He nodded over Lydia’s shoulder as his voice cracked with pleasure and pain. She turned slowly to face her brother while squeezing Roger’s rod. Julian was not the least bit cordial. She froze.
Julian’s gaze bore down on her. “I don’t like that swimsuit, Lydia.” His eyes narrowed when he pulled his sunglasses off and exposed them to the sun.
“You can’t tell me what to wear, Julian,” she protested. Her hand didn’t move from Roger’s crotch.
Julian kept his place, but his hands balled into tight fists at her defiance. “But there is one thing that concerns me more than your suit.”
“And what is that, Julian?” Challenge rang in her voice.
“Your hand on that man’s dick.”
Lydia looked down. She gripped Roger’s crotch. She blushed and released him.
Roger cupped his pecker. Tears slipped from his eyes. “Thanks.” He breathed out on a pant of pain.
“Oh, my God. I am so sorry, Roger.”
“That’s okay. I’m too old for children anyway.”
Julian stood over Roger. He looked down at him with anything but pity. “At least the blue ring around your lips is turning red again. If you’re done getting a hand job from my sister, and if you’re interested, I think I’ve spotted the yacht. Can you walk?”
Roger’s pride wouldn’t let him bow out gracefully. “Of course, I can walk.” He stood up and adjusted the crotch of his shorts. The crumpled material showed the exact spot Lydia literally squeezed him blue.
“Get your ass up then.” Julian turned to look off the port side of the yacht. He faced Roger and laughed at his discomfort. He looked to his sister. “I hope you know what you’re doing with this one.”
The Pouty Princess bobbed in the water as it moved southward. Roger boarded the boat with great caution with his semiautomatic pistol strapped to his waist. Julian came as backup. Together, they cleared each room.
“Clear!” Julian called from the galley.
“Clear!” Roger called from the observation deck.
They met back at the galley. “Looks like the whole damn ship’s been stripped.” Roger looked around the galley. “The stove, some of the dishes, the food, and the refrigerator are all gone.”
Julian relayed his findings of the middle deck. “I noticed the dining table is gone as well.”
Roger eyed a large door suspiciously. “Did you check that door?”
“No. You?”
Roger gave him a stern look. Both men eased to the door. Roger braced himself for the worst. He could only imagine the bodies of the Pouty Princess crew dead in the freezer. With trembling hands, he opened the door to an empty room. “What the hell?”
Julian rushed to his side. “Looks like it has been cleaned out as well.”
Roger felt a short sense of relief. “Yeah, now let’s go below.”
Julian’s strong hand on his shoulder calmed the shivers of anticipation he couldn’t hide. Roger looked at Julian. “It’s days like that I wish I were stronger.”
“Strength comes from within. You’ll do what needs to be done,” Julian said. He led the passageway to the sleeping quarters. The floor stood in water. A quick search of the area revealed the source and more missing items.
“What do you make of this?”
Julian looked around the rooms. “All the beds are gone, the small dressers, clothes, and bedding. My immediate thought is looters or pirates, but now I’m not so sure.”
“Because of the random things that are missing?”
“Exactly. Well, let’s see what’s missing upstairs.”
Julian turned to shut the door to the captain’s chambers and stopped suddenly. “There’s something in here.” He caught the door before it banged closed. “Roger! Come here and look at this.”
Roger ran up behind him. On the mirror were a series of number. Julian looked at Roger. “Coordinates. He gave us an idea of where they are located.” Julian quickly wrote the numbers down in his palm. “Let’s go to the top deck. I think we can get a map up there.”
“Landy, you smart son of a bitch.” Roger said with glee.
“What?” Lydia called out from the deck.
“Landy wrote down the longitude and latitude as a clue of his whereabouts.” Julian secured the yacht with the anchor, “Lydia, radio the International Port Authority.”
“Got it!” she hollered back.
The three boarded the rented yacht and followed the direction of the coordinates. If time favored them, they would arrive at the exact spot of destination before late afternoon.
Chapter Forty-Two
“Landy? What’s that?” Rae Anne shielded her eyes from the bright sun and pointed out at the sea.
Landy looked down at her. “What?”
“Out there. I saw something.”
He looked out at the open waters. “I don’t see anything.”
“Landy, I just saw a bright gleaming. What is it?”
“Rae Anne, you’re seeing things.” Landy looked out again. “I don’t see anything. Could be a wave hitting the surf?”
“No. I don’t think so.” She worried her bottom lip and stared at the sea. “Come on, show up again.” She hoped it would spark again just to prove him wrong. “Look, there it is again.”
He jumped from the ledge. “Rae Anne, there isn’t anything out—” He did a double take, squinted, and blinked. “It’s a ship! Hurry, go light the bonfire.” He slapped her on the ass.
Rae Anne ran to the tall stack of wood that served to attract passing ships or planes. She stood at the shore breathless, excited, and grateful that Kip and Landy had built that stone path shortcut. After lighting the kindling, she stepped away and watched the approaching ship make its way to the island. Her heart fluttered so fast it almost beat out of her chest. “Soon, we’ll be going home.”
She turned to see Landy, Gina, and Kip clearing the path. Kip and Landy wore weapons. Gina had several knives stashed in her shorts and boots. Landy stood beside her and rested a hand on her shoulder. She looked down at the gun at his side. “Damn, rescue could be dangerous if the wrong people find us.”
He hugged her close. “I will protect you.”
The four waited for the yacht’s landing near the reef before they approached it.
“Landy!”
“That’s Roger Bassham’s voice,” he announced.
The relief in his eyes melted Rae Anne’s heart.
“Roger!” Landy hollered back.
Roger jumped off the yacht to the water below and swam to shore. He ran to meet Landy and Rae Anne. “I thought you were dead,” he said as he picked Landy up in a bear hug. He turned to Rae Anne, lifted her, and spun her around. “I thought she may have killed you and fed you to the sharks.” Roger laughed and gathered each one under an arm and pulled them in for a close embrace.
Landy coughed and rubbed his ribs. “No. As you can see, we’re just fine.”
“Landy, who is this?” Rae Anne asked of the large man hugging her for a third time.
“That is my war buddy, Roger Bassham. Don’t worry. People say he’s like a big, ol’ teddy bear.”
“I see why,” she said with a sharp cry at the man’s fourth hug.
“Landy!”
Landy turned to the voice that called him as did, Rae Anne.
“Julian? Lydia?” Landy hugged each one of them warmly. “What are you two doing here?”
“Roger was hell-bent on getting out here to find you, alone, if necessary. I decided he needed backup,” Julian explained.
“I don’t know what I would’ve done if I found you dead,” Roger said. “I’m not letting the two of you out of my sight.” He looked at Kip and Gina, “Or the two of you.” He grabbed the two staff members and hugged them with the same enthusiasm.
Rae Anne saw a glimmer of passion in Lydia’s eyes when she looked at Landy. She had to divert her gaze. Her heart almost broke in two. This woman loves him too.
“How did you find us?” she asked Roger to break the awkward feelings inside her.
“The coordinates left on the yacht.”
Rae Anne turned to Landy. His wicked smile told her he’d hidden something from her. “How?”
“On our many returns to the yacht in that hectic week, Kip and I wrote a message on every mirror on the yacht.
“He wrote on the windows as well,” Roger said.
“To ensure your rescue, he wrote the longitude and latitude coordinates as best as he knew them on the bathroom mirror in the captain’s quarters, and he added approximate coordinates in every direction of the island.” Julian said filling in the extra information.
She looked at Landy with the look of death. “Aren’t you clever?”
“I try.” He smiled in spite of her anger.
“You had a fit when you thought the yacht was gone. You seemed very upset.”
“Kip reminded me of the coordinates and messages that day we went to investigate after the thunderstorm.”
“Then why were you so angry?”
“Well, if the yacht sank, we wouldn’t have been rescued. Our messages would have been underwater.”
Roger interrupted the heated conversation. “I bet the four of you are ready to go home.”
“You got that right.” Landy, Rae Anne, and the crew said in unison, forgetting the argument at hand.
“We can leave first thing in the morning,” Roger announced.
“Rae Anne”—Landy rested his arm around her shoulders, gave her a quick squeeze–“I would like for you to meet Julian Navarro and his sister, Lydia.”
“Rae Anne, it is nice to finally meet you.” Lydia flashed a bright smile and extended her hand. “Landy’s told me so much about you I feel I know you already.” She rested her hand on Landy’s forearm.
Rae Anne kept her eye on the left hand that held onto Landy’s elbow. No ring. No hint of one either. “I see. And what did he say about me? I hope some of it was good.”
The tension mounted among the group, and Landy spoke before Lydia could answer. “Why don’t we go up to the campsite?”
Walking back to the base camp, Rae Anne watched Landy and the others ahead and realized there were so many questions that needed answers. And the one thing she considered necessary was time, but it was running out. A pang of regret pulled at her heart. What would the real world be like now? In the real world, I don’t have Landy Laurent because he was dead. The truth didn’t set me free. It delayed the heartache. She had her father, who wanted to break up her and Landy for good. But why? In paradise, she had no problems, no worries, and, most of all, Landy Laurent was all hers.
Chapter Forty-Three
Standing at the yacht’s stern, Rae Anne watched her tiny spot of paradise become smaller and smaller in the distance. Filled with mixed emotions, she struggled not to shed the tears, which were threatening, and to ignore the looming dread she anticipated in her near future.
You should be happy! Yes, and I will be happy to see Daddy again, to let him know that I’m alive and well. But I’d leave in a heartbeat if Landy asked me to. But will he choose to stay with me or go with Lydia? She bowed her head in defeat. “God, help me. How can I win? We only have a high school romance, the stuff girls’ dream of all their lives. Although Landy was my first love and my first lover, he and Lydia seem to share a history together. Give me a sign to work with here.”
“You’ll have a face filled with wrinkles if you keep that up.”
Rae Anne whirled around, fearing he’d listened in on her prayer. “What?”
“Frowning. It causes wrinkles if you do it too much.” Landy wove his hands through her hair and massaged the creases from her forehead with his thumbs. “So I’ve heard.”
She smiled, and then looked back at the hilly island. “I find it hard to leave. I’m not ready to get back to the hustle and bustle of the world.”
“Maybe we can find out who owns it. Rent a piece of it just for ourselves.”
Rae Anne’s mind filled with fantasies of a secluded spot with Landy and her doing what they wanted. “We could make love any time we want, walk naked like Adam and Eve…”
Landy wrapped his arms around her.
“We can dance naked by the firelight.”
“It all sounds good. Where do I sign?”
She thought a moment. “How about finding the right paperwork first?”
“Sounds fair, but first I have a few loose ends before I get lost in paradise again.”
She leaned back to gaze into his eyes. “Anything I can do to help?”
“Nope, I got this one. It’s been coming for a while now.”
She gave a small grin, but the shielded, guarded look in his eyes revealed one thing; his determination to see it through shone bright and scary.
* * * *
The casual two-day cruise back to reality went along smoothly. The Pouty Princess became the first item to deal with for her return to civilization. Her beautiful yacht still bobbed in the ocean, but at least it floated. Landy and the nautical group called for a tugboat to meet them in route to Spain. The Pouty Princess, safe and secure for repairs, was left in the capable hands of the harbor master.
Setting sail again, the last leg of the journey could have been better described as the last walk to the gallows. Every day she watched Lydia and Landy together. His demeanor was very different with his former lover than it was when he came around her. He opened up to Lydia, talked about the sea and other silly memories they shared. She compared his treatment of her and that of Lydia. Landy sometimes treated her like some airheaded bimbo with money, a stranger he happened by one day. With Lydia, he was approachable. Even his stance looked relaxed. Why not me?
Face it, girl, Landy may not be yours after all! He still attended to her, but several times he pulled back from her and distanced himself.
Landy interrupted her thoughts. “What’re you thinking about now?” He bent down and placed a firm kiss on her cheek.
“I was wondering…” She looked up at him and saw everything that held meaning in her life.
“What are you wondering?” Landy took the seat next to her in the air-conditioned stateroom.
“We’ve spent quite a bit of time alone in this room.”
Landy looked around and gave a wolfish grin. “Yeah, great times too.”
Rae Anne gazed deeply into Landy’s eyes, searching his looking for answers to her question. “Will this end?”
“Will what end?”
She lied, hoping to break the barrier of shackled emotions. “You know what I am talking about. I see it in your eyes. You can’t hide what you’re feeling.” The silence moved them. Their lips touched, and his hands explored her body as hers did his. The hunger intensified. “Tell me,” she whispered in his ear.
“This won’t end.”
The breathy whisper compounded the goose pimples on her arms. The quickening of her clit oozed her need. “Say it again.”
“We…won’t end.”
His desperate need for her controlled his emotions. She could feel it in his touch. “I need you too much.”
He literally ripped the thin camisole from her body, leaving her in the thin matching stringed thong. Her exposed nipples puckered to the abrupt change in temperature. Landy looked into her eyes.
“I won’t let you go so easily this time,” he vowed and then took one nipple in his mouth and sucked it until she moaned in pleasure.
Rae Anne tore the white shirt from his jeans. “I want to see you.”
He rose up, giving her the view she asked to see. She ripped the shirt open, sending buttons flying everywhere. The dark hair on his chest curled around her fingers, caressing each one lightly. With her tongue, she followed the thin line that hid behind the waistband of his jeans. She pulled at the button of his jeans until it gave, exposing the entrance she craved. Softly, she pulled at the zipper. With each small measure, the opened fly lay open, and the tip of his cock peaked out at her. She bent and kissed it. “I have been thinking of you all day.”
The sudden friction from his lips confirmed his pleasure. She stripped him of the pants, tossed them to the floor, and then settled herself between his knees. She tasted his shaft with her tongue, and it flexed in reaction. “I will never let you let me go,” she promised, and then took him fully into her mouth.
Landy dug his fingers in her hair as she brought his pleasure to the surface. His cock throbbed against her lips. She grazed her teeth against his thick rod, and he hissed on a sharp breath.
“Come here.” He pulled her up, rolled with her, and settled on top of her in one swift move. “My turn.” He opened her legs and penetrated her hot, wet cunt with a finger.
“You feel so good.” He breathed in the scent of her. “You smell good enough to eat. I want to taste you.” His lips nibbled delicately on her bud. His finger repeatedly entered and withdrew from her. She trembled with the quaking orgasm and moaned. He stroked over the tender bud once more just as he slammed his long cock into her. She screamed with the resulting release. She shook as the orgasm racked her. He withdrew at the height of her orgasm and then slammed his cock into her. She bucked, meeting him stroke for stroke, and then screamed while another wave of climax rippled through her. Her legs clamped close around his waist, which gave added force to her thrusts, until in a suspended moment of time, their mutual climatic embrace gained frantic levels of need. They held on breathing in the ardor of each other, committing to her memory that very moment when they at last broke the barriers of regret and what-ifs and reclaimed a future for themselves.
He pulled her closer. “You are now a part of me,” he whispered.