Dangerous Paradise

by Debra Andrews

  Disconcerted by the morning lust she had aroused in him, he asked blandly, “Thirsty?”

  She rubbed her eyes. “Yes.”

  They had consumed the last of the water from the bottles yesterday evening. Alex scooped up rainwater he had collected in the cooler overnight. He handed the cup to Kelly. When she had finished sipping, he slaked his own thirst and watched as she busied herself by arranging the coolers and the trunk in a more orderly fashion. He sighed. He’d never involuntarily spent so much time cooped up in such close quarters with anyone, not even Vanessa. Had Kelly?

  Although grateful they had food and drink for the moment, he feared the sandwiches would soon spoil. How long could two people survive without food on the Pacific Ocean?

  Alex drummed his fingers on the side of the raft, deciding to voice his concerns to Kelly. “If this weather continues, we’ll be pushed even farther from where the accident occurred. We must be miles away by now.”

  “Robert won’t give up trying to find me.”

  At the mention of Hillyard’s name, the hair on the back of Alex’s neck prickled. He gritted his teeth and dropped his gaze to her engagement ring. Hell the sheer size of the diamond irritated him, too. Was that her price? Would any rich husband do?

  “You’ll find out marriage isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” he said coolly.

  Her face paled. “Just because you married your wife for your career and money . . .” She ducked her head. “I didn’t mean to say that.”

  “Oh, yes you did. That’s what everyone thinks. You can believe what you bloody well want about me, but you’ll learn. Marriage is a trap. Since you seem so naive, I’m filling you in on that fact.”

  “And I suppose you’re so old and worldly?”

  He deflected her sarcasm. “I’m twenty-eight. How old are you?” The conversation was ridiculous and more suitable to one they’d have a bar, not in a raft drifting aimlessly in the Pacific Ocean. Their lives were in serious jeopardy, but blast it, sparring with her passed the time.

  Her chin shot up. “I’m twenty-four. Not so young.”

  He reclined against the edge of the raft and studied her. He’d assumed she was a couple of years younger. “Hillyard lusts for you, and I can’t blame him, but there’s something more. What is it about you that brought down this Hollywood icon?”

  “Don’t look at me like that. I’ve known Robert for years. He’s loyal and he loves me, but I don’t know why I’m trying to justify our relationship to you. My marriage to Robert will be perfect.”

  Alex contradicted her words with a smile.

  Her eyes flashed with anger. “You don’t believe in love, because actors can’t care about anybody, except themselves.”

  He frowned. Had there been a time when he’d believed in romantic love? “So you think you’re in love with Hillyard?”

  “Y-yes. He’s the kindest and most wonderful man in the world.” She turned her back to him and hugged her knees. “So keep your opinions to yourself.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest. “Fine with me.” He didn’t know why he liked to torment her either, or why he cared if she married Hillyard. He didn’t want a relationship with her. A one-night stand would be more in his sights . . . a week tops.

  However, he couldn’t deny his strong, mystifying attraction to her. Perhaps it was better to keep her angry while they were alone. Just how much longer would that be?

  His jaw tightened. Where in the bloody hell was the search team?

  They remained silent in the drifting raft until a stray bolt of lightning, far from the receding storm, streaked the sky and boomed like a bomb going off.

  “Oh,” Kelly cried out. She whirled toward him and laid her palms on his bare chest. The jolt of electricity from her touch startled him more than the thunder.

  “Are you afraid of the lightning?” Without thinking, he wound his arm protectively around her.

  “To be honest? A little.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “When I was a kid, my family took a tropical vacation. We were stranded during a hurricane in a house on the beach. I never forgot the storm.”

  With a protectiveness he didn’t know he possessed, he pulled her closer. He cupped her head and pulled it to rest against his shoulder and held her tightly. His heartbeat quickened and when she tilted a puzzled face up to him, he wanted to clamp his mouth down on her full red lips in an almost violent response.

  Good God, he had a mind to test her loyalty to Hillyard and kiss her again, right now. That would certainly be far more enjoyable than arguing. When his body eagerly responded to that idea, he groaned. Why did she affect him so?

  To hide his embarrassment, he teased her. He wanted to make her angry because if she remained in his arms, he would kiss her—possibly do more if she’d allow it. “If you don’t want to talk, Kelly, what would you like to do?”

  His strategy worked. She reeled away from him as far as possible in the small raft—about a foot. So much for putting distance between them, but that would have to do until he could leave her behind on the Royal Queen III—with her fiancé.

  “How can you speak to me like this? Here? We’re lost in the Pacific Ocean. We might die.”

  “I’m trying to make a bad situation more pleasant. You can lean on me any time, sweetheart.”

  “And that’s all?” she said with a sarcastic lift of an eyebrow.

  He shrugged. “Well if you want to do more, I’m not opposed to the idea.”

  Glaring at him, she folded her arms over her chest and turned away. That turned him on even more.

  He knew she didn’t return his desire. By her own words, she loved another—a rich man who had had his choice of women. Alex’s mouth twisted grimly. She just didn’t mind returning hot kisses to other men . . . if the occasion arose.

  He sighed. To be fair, it wasn’t her fault his body went into overdrive when she was around. He should apologize to her––but he didn’t.

  They needed to be rescued soon.

  The day slipped into afternoon before she spoke to him again.

  “Where are they?” A worried frown creased her forehead.

  “I don’t know what’s taking so long.” He grew more concerned by the hour, especially with the horizon darkening and the wind whipping the waves.

  He reached into the cooler, brought out two sandwiches and handed one to her. “Eat as much as you can.”

  “No. I’m not hungry.”

  His patience snapped. “Listen to me, the ice is nearly gone. We don’t know how much longer we’ll be out here, and this food won’t be good tomorrow.”

  “All right, but with this rocking, if I get sick, it’ll be your fault.” She took a few bites of a sandwich. All the while, anger simmered in her eyes.

  He shrugged and mentally disregarded her temper. If he wasn’t mistaken, they were in for a huge storm.

  * * *

  Kelly’s attraction to Alex flustered her to no end. He made her feel as if she didn’t have a right to marry Robert at all. However, none of that mattered when the nighttime sky opened for a torrential downpour.

  Wave after wave splashed cool water over the sides. Chill bumps edged her arm. She grasped the flapping tarp and tried to cover herself from the beating raindrops.

  The waves tossed the raft like a toy. Shivering, she clung for dear life to the side to keep from being thrown out. At any moment, she’d lose the precious sandwich Alex had forced down her.

  At the next wave, one of the coolers bounced out and was swept away on the waves.

  Alex hurried and lashed a rope to the raft, then performed the nearly impossible task of securing the remaining two coolers.

  He slid back under the tarp as another drenching wave of salt water sloshed over the sides. The next wave flung her into him and her breasts smashed into his face. He steadied her until she recovered her balance. Another time, she knew he would have remarked on the incident, but tonight they fought for their lives.

  Mortified, she scrambled off him
and groped for a tight hold.

  As the storm intensified and raged, all she wanted to do was survive. Deafening thunder crackled and lightning brightened the sky. In near darkness, the raft rode a relentless onslaught of waves. Her heart pounded in her ears. The breeze slapped the tarp painfully against her skin, while the thin rubber floor rippled and bulged against her backside. Her arms ached from clinging to the raft.

  A huge wave caused the raft to lurch. Her hand slipped from the hold she had on the side. She screamed, “Ahhhh!” then managed to clutch the side again.

  “Hang on to me,” Alex yelled over the roar of the storm. “I have a good grip on this handle.”

  “I can’t,” she choked out as a spray of cool seawater doused her. “You’ll think—”

  “I’ll think what? Don’t be an idiot.”

  Barely making out his outline in the darkness, she stared at him, frozen with fear and irrational thoughts. He held out his hand.

  She shook her head. “But I can’t.”

  The next huge wave dumped gallons of salt water into the raft. Her grasp slipped. She shrieked when she bounced onto the edge of the raft.

  Then her braid yanked painfully at her scalp. A sob of relief burst from her throat. He had caught her by her hair. If she’d fallen out, he couldn’t have saved her. She hugged the sides of the raft again.

  He dropped his hold on her braid and grabbed her elbow. “Sorry for that. Come.”

  Her legs quivered as she crawled to him.

  “Sorry I hurt you. Now, put your arms around me and hang on tight.”

  Kelly did more. Trembling, she nestled her face against his chest, slick and cold from the rain. “We’re going to die,” she hiccupped through sobs.

  His heart next to her cheek hammered as rapidly as her own.

  “No, I won’t let us. We only have to make it through this storm. They’ll find us in the morning.”

  He fought the weather for both of them, while she clung to him. She prayed for their survival as they rose on the crest of each wave. Each time they plummeted, an icy knot formed in her stomach. Would the raft capsize?

  Alex counteracted the momentum by leaning into and riding each wave. The motion and the seawater she’d swallowed made her nauseous, but still she hugged him like a lifeline.

  The wind and waves gradually subsided. The rain slowed to a drizzle.

  He tapped her head. “We need to bail out the water.”

  Embarrassed, she nodded, and released the stranglehold she had on him. “Sorry,” she said through chattering teeth.

  As they bailed out the bottom of the raft, he threw a cooler lid full of water into the ocean. “It’s a pity we can’t save this rainwater, but it’s contaminated with salt.”

  When they finished, he rejoined her under the tarp. This time when he pulled her into his arms, she was too shaken and exhausted to care. Their wet bodies were chilled to the bone and the breeze made it even worse. They needed any body heat they could generate so she clung to him once more.

  * * *

  Alex opened his eyes. Kelly’s slender arm lay across his chest. Clad in only the tiny bikini she’d worn, she slept soundly. With each breath she took, her full breasts rose and fell intimately against his chest. The juncture between her legs pressed his hip as one of her thighs straddled him and pressed close to his morning erection. A familiar tremor passed through him.

  Frowning, he scanned her face. Auburn tendrils escaped her braid and framed her face, while her long, dark eyelashes lay against her cheeks. With her mouth only inches from his . . . He resisted the temptation to place a kiss on her lips to wake her—she belonged to someone else.

  And if she didn’t––belong to someone else––would it matter? Kelly was one woman among millions, nothing special. He sighed. Not true. She had spunk. And something else he couldn’t name. And unlike most women he knew, she had taken this disaster in stride.

  He blew out a deep breath. He wouldn’t wake her yet. They weren’t going anywhere until the rescue crews found them. She felt too good in his arms, and he enjoyed looking at her.

  The sun’s rays broke through the morning clouds and a rainbow shimmered across the sky. A glimmer of confidence enveloped him. Today the rescuers would find them. For now, he was content to lie as they were and endure this bittersweet torture . . . and to resist a potent desire to caress her.

  * * *

  Realizing she lay prostrate, and comfortably snuggled against a warm body, Kelly’s eyelids flew open.

  Alex’s smoldering blue eyes gazed back at her, and a cocky grin spread on his face. What must he think of her? It didn’t take long to find out.

  “Sleep well? I did.” His lazy English drawl caused heat to spiral through her.

  “Sorry.” Her heart beat faster as she untangled herself from him, but she refused to let him provoke her this morning. He had been all tenderness last night. She owed him a debt of gratitude for saving her life twice.

  Her gaze slid across his swimming trunks and the arousal he couldn’t hide. She grew even warmer and had to get away. She jumped over the side of the raft into the ocean water to relieve herself, in more ways than one.

  When she climbed back into the raft, dripping wet, and resettled herself, she couldn’t stop staring at Alex. He stretched, limbering up what had to be stiff muscles from last night.

  Overpoweringly male, he had the sculpted body of a Nordic god, combined with movie-star good looks. A strange longing washed over her. For what? A quick roll in the hay?

  What was wrong with her? Even if she weren’t engaged to Robert, getting involved with a self-admitted, fly-by-night lover was sheer lunacy.

  Alex’s eyes mocked her. He knew she was attracted to him, as he probably knew most women would be. She couldn’t let him remain too sure.

  She lifted her chin. “While I thank you for saving my life, Alex, I’m not interested in what else you have to offer.”

  With a shrug, he slipped over the side of the raft and swam a few yards in the ocean.

  When he climbed back into the raft, the salt water dripped from his hair and beaded on his muscular body. If it were possible, he looked more incredibly sexy wet.

  “Not interested, Kelly? Your eyes tell me differently.”

  “Do you think every woman has to be interested in you?”

  “No,” he said with a grin, “but you’re not one of them.” He could tease her all he wanted, but she’d never admit to the feelings he inspired in her, and they weren’t all from his sex appeal. He’d been amazingly kind to her last night. There was more niceness to Alex Drake than he would have a woman know. However, she was engaged.

  She turned her back to him. “I can’t be the first person to tell you that you’re conceited.”

  He laughed, but the sound died in his throat.

  “Land,” he shouted over her shoulder, startling her. A small mass was on the horizon in the distance. He reached for the oars. “Move back. I’ll row. We might be in luck as the current is with us.”

  Hope welled inside her. Tonight, if things went well, she’d be back on the ship and safely away from the tempting allure of Alex Drake.

  Chapter Six

  Robert Hillyard stepped off the search helicopter and shoved past the nosey press. The crew he’d privately hired had been over the vicinity ten times in the last six hours. They’d found mangled body parts and circling sharks . . . no sign of survivors. If the Fijian resources had been the equivalent of the U.S., and organized enough to start a full-blown rescue immediately, Kelly might have been found alive.

  After entering the large dining room, Robert made his way to one of the tables where Vanessa and Susan sat, surrounded by other somber passengers waiting for information. He dropped into a chair beside Vanessa.

  The Royal Queen III’s captain strode in with two other men. The room fell silent. “We’ve arranged this meeting to answer all of your questions to the best of our knowledge.”

  After the captain stepped aside, a
middle-aged Fijian man took over the podium. “The dive boat exploded. I’m sorry to say no survivors were found. While we think the cause was accidental, we will start a criminal investigation.”

  Robert’s stomach clenched. The more time that elapsed, the less chance they’d find someone alive, or find out what had caused the explosion. “My fiancée was on the boat. You’re not quitting?”

  The investigator sighed. “Sir, we’ve called off the search. With the severity of the storms hampering our earliest efforts, it’s unlikely we’ll find any of the nineteen missing.”

  “But we can’t leave them out there.” Robert leapt to his feet.

  The captain walked over and took Robert aside. “Mr. Hillyard,” he said in a low voice, “I don’t want to upset the other passengers, but we’ve done all we can. In the past three days, we’ve thoroughly combed the area. Your crew has been out as well. I don’t want to alarm you, but we have accounted for enough bodies to know sharks attacked the victims.” He raised an eyebrow. “Do you understand?”

  Robert flushed. “The remains?”

  “We will attempt to identify the passengers. Our sincerest sympathies are with you, Mr. Hillyard.”

  Robert returned to the table and sat beside Vanessa.

  Her eyes red-rimmed, Vanessa grabbed Robert’s hand and dug her nails into his palm. “I can’t believe it either.”

  He squeezed her hand. “If only Kelly had listened to me and not gone.”

  Susan pressed a crumpled tissue to her eyes. “I just can’t believe Alex is dead.”

  The investigator signaled the end of the meeting and opened the door to the press. Robert led Vanessa out to the lobby, keeping one arm around her. She might grieve, but he knew she’d get over Drake soon enough.

  Why in the hell did Kelly disobey his order, and why was she with Drake that day? Had she been about to betray him? He didn’t want to think so, but none of that mattered now.

  When Tammy walked up, he said flatly, “Kelly’s dead.”

  “I’m sorry.” She held out her hand, but he refused to grasp it. He had the distinct feeling she wasn’t a damned bit sorry Kelly was dead. In spite of what he had told Kelly, Tammy was a jealous bitch over their relationship.