Anything He Wants: Castaway (#6)

by Sara Fawkes

  “Kolya,” Lucas said in a sharp voice, and the man I recognized as Lucas’ driver stepped forward. “Please translate.”

  “Fuck you.”

  Lucas glanced at the tattooed Russian, then snorted. “I figured as much. Tell him to please let Ms. Delacourt go.”

  The big driver translated, but Alexei shook his head and let loose another round of angry words. “He said no,” Kolya translated, obviously paraphrasing.

  “Ask him why he sabotaged this ship.”

  “Sink everything.” The words this time came from Alexei, who again spat at Lucas. “Especially you.”

  “Ah, the boy speaks.” Lucas gave a grim smile. “And what, may I ask, have I ever done to you?”

  “You kill my family,” the boy snarled. “Your guns, slaughter them.”

  Lucas’ smile slipped. “Who told you that?”

  I realized he wasn’t even bothering to deny the claims.

  “I set bomb, but it not go right.” Alexei ignored Lucas’ question. “You at the bottom of the sea, then I see my family again.” He indicated the room with the knife, shouting something else I didn’t understand.

  “That was for us,” Kolya said when Lucas glanced at him. The driver’s eyes were on Alexei. “For working with you.”

  “Ten years.” Alexei’s body tense with rage and pain, “I wait for revenge ten years. And now, I fail.”

  Lucas’ head shot up. “Ten years was before my time,” he said, face deadly serious. “I didn’t sell those weapons that killed your family.”

  Against my back, Alexei’s body began to shake. “You lie,” he murmured, and I felt the tension in the room escalate.

  Something in my pocket bumped against my thigh, and a bulb went off in my head. The knife! I pulled it out slowly, lungs quaking with the fear of being caught, and unfolded it close to my body where I prayed Alexei wouldn’t see.

  When it was open I gripped it tight in my hand, but paused when I saw Lucas’ hand make a patting motion in the air. Don’t make me wait. I held off, hoping the gunrunner knew what he was doing. I tried not to swallow for fear the blade would cut deeper into my skin.

  Lucas shook his head at Alexei. “Whoever told you I was the broker ten years ago is the liar, not me. Tell me, boy, who gave you that information?”

  Alexei seemed to struggle with an answer, and my hand trembled around the knife. A tickle flowed down my neck right where the blade sat, and I knew I was bleeding. An inch deeper, and there would be a whole lot more blood.

  “But you sell more weapons.” The boy seemed to rally with this revelation. “You kill more families.” The hands holding me tightened. “Why should I not kill yours?”

  I wasn’t waiting on Lucas any more; I heard my death in those words. You had your chance, buddy. Shifting sideways, I plunged my knife backwards until I felt the sickening jolt of it hitting flesh. Alexei’s cry rang out in my ear and we tumbled to the ground. The arm holding the butcher knife to my neck relaxed enough to let me push it away, but I still felt the tip graze my neck as we hit the ground.

  In the tangle of bodies, I lost my grip on the butterfly knife, and panic scorched through me. Scrabbling along the floor, I glanced back to see Alexei still gripping the kitchen knife. He grabbed my ankle, pulling me back towards him. I slipped on the dirty surface as he raised the blade again, looming over me. Then gunshots filled the air and Alexei fell backwards, crashing back against the refrigerator.

  Whimpering, I skittered across the floor away from the body, then beat at the hands that tried to help me up. “What the hell,” I screeched, jumping to my feet. Adrenaline coursed through my body and all I could do was pace, heart racing and body jittery. “Why does this always happen to me,” I demanded, unable to stand still.

  Kolya reached down to the boy, checking for a pulse, but I already knew the big man wouldn’t find anything. I dug my hands into my hair, pulling at it in frustration. At that moment, I needed to get away, be anywhere but on that ship.

  Then Lucas was in front of me, blocking any escape. “Hold still.”

  I fought to get around him, and he grabbed my shoulders. “You’re bleeding, let me take a look.” His eyes narrowed when I still pushed him away. “Would you feel better if I slapped you?”

  “Don’t you dare,” I said, glaring at him. The threat did manage calm me down enough for him to press a dishrag against the wound. I winced at the sting, and prayed the cloth was clean.

  “I have a first aid kit in my bathroom. Kolya, take care of the body and figure out how Alexei got a bomb got onto this ship.”

  I slapped away Lucas’ hands again, determined to walk by myself. Then the world tilted and I screeched again as he lifted me up in his arms. All I wanted was to be left alone, but he carried me kicking and screaming back to the room, dumping me on the bed before shutting the door. He rummaged through the bathroom, and then came out holding a big red box. “Hold still. I need to look at that.”

  Still grumpy, I complied, flinching away with a hiss when the alcohol hit the wound. “My life was so boring before I met you and your brother,” I muttered, holding pressure to the cut as Lucas rummaged through the first aid kit. “Is this some cosmic payback for being the dullest girl on the planet?”

  “Perhaps,” Lucas quipped, and at my dark look he laughed. “Go take a shower. I wouldn’t touch anything that’s been on those cafeteria floors, even you, without a thorough decontamination first.”

  I agreed: the kitchen had been disgusting, and I doubted the floors were any better. Closing myself into the bathroom, I stripped out of my clothes, started the shower, and then examined my neck in the mirror. Lucas used enough tape so water wouldn’t get inside, but the area was tender. A faint red line trailed over one breast, leftovers from the knife wound. I shivered, partly from how close to death I’d come and the adrenaline leaving my body. Jumping into the shower, I let the warm water just flow over me for several minutes

  The bathroom door squeaked open, and I heard Lucas enter. “Go away,” I snapped, but he only chuckled. I heard him take his clothes off too, then he pushed the curtain aside and stepped in the shower. To hide my nervousness, I turned away and started soaping my body.

  “Finish with that, then hand me the soap.”

  The commanding tone made my belly quiver, but I didn’t reply. Handing the thin bar back to him, I rinsed off quickly, trying to ignore the man behind me. Lucas kept his hands to himself, which was a relief, but I couldn’t face away from him forever. Finally I turned, closing my eyes to block out the view as I rinsed my back and hair. I heard Lucas make an appreciative noise and, despite the warmth of the water, my nipples pricked up in response.

  “My turn,” he said, and when I opened my eyes he handed me a soapy rag.

  I frowned at him. “I’m not your slave.” I gingerly took the washcloth despite my protest.

  Lucas waggled his eyebrows at me. “Do you want to be?”

  I rolled my eyes, trying for nonchalance, but it was difficult. Refusing to look down, I started scrubbing away around his neck and upper chest and was surprised by how much grime came away. “You’re filthy.”

  “That’s what happens when you’re working on a boat engine all day long.”

  Indeed, the little rag I held was woefully inadequate for the job at hand. I rinsed it off twice, adding soap each time, before finishing with the front of his torso. Having the job helped me not focus on the feel of his muscles beneath my hands, or how I was naked with a strange, beautiful man in a shower. There was something intimate about showering together, and I wasn’t sure my brain could handle more complications. I stopped scrubbing before his groin, but didn’t miss the stiff shaft poking out toward me. “Turn around.”

  “Heh, bossy little slave.”

  He obliged and I scrubbed at his neck and shoulders, working my way down. This side wasn’t nearly as bad, and as I reached his lower back I bit my lip in appreciation. He had a gorgeous backside, and my fingers itched to touch him, but I st
epped back. “Okay, rinse off.”

  We squeezed past one another in the narrow stall, my heart skittering as our flesh met and slid. He washed the soap off, giving me a full and unabashed view, and this time I couldn’t look away. Lucas was not as tall or muscular as his brother Jeremiah, but he was just as beautiful to watch in his own way. I came close to touching him a couple times, always snatching my hand back at the last minute. My heart was hammered and a dull ache throbbed between my thighs.

  His eyes opened as he pulled his head out from under the stream of water and smirked when he saw me staring at him. “You going to wash your hair?”

  “I, um.” At a loss for words, I looked for a shampoo bottle then froze as Lucas took a step toward me. He cupped my breasts, thumbing the nipples, and I shivered. I didn’t know what to expect with this man. He was alternately a gentleman and a rogue, but my body came alive at his touch.

  He peered down at me, a lopsided smile on his face. “Once with you isn’t nearly enough,” he murmured, stroking my cheek. I couldn’t stop the needy sigh that came out of my mouth, and saw an answering spark in his eyes. My hands sought out his body, tracing the lines of muscles along his torso.

  Lucas thrust the shower curtain aside. “Out,” he ordered, and followed me as we stepped onto the small rug beside the tub. He didn’t bother with towels. I was swept off my feet and taken to the bed, his long strides covering the distance quickly. We fell onto the bed, each of us seeking out the other’s mouth, hands moving across wet skin.

  Our kissing wasn’t the frenzy of earlier, but that didn’t make it any less intense. I gasped again as his mouth slid to my neck, teeth nibbling and biting. A hand moved down the side of my body, opening my legs so that he lay between them. His lips came back up to mine, teasing and promising, and I moan inside his mouth.

  Once again he brought my wrists above my head, but this time I felt something loop around them. I broke off the kiss to look upwards at my bound wrists, then back at his cheeky grin. “I have a feeling you like this sort of thing,” he said, grinning as I pulled unsuccessfully at my new restraints. I didn’t even know where he’d gotten the cord, and certainly hadn’t noticed it on my way to the bed. The rope he used was thick, half as wide as my wrists but with enough slack for my bound hands to have some freedom of movement.

  Lucas seemed satisfied with his handiwork. “Now I can do what I please.” He winked at me and lowered his mouth to suck one nipple. A rush of air escaped my lungs and I arched my back, craving more. He moved to lick the other nipple, teeth grazing the tip, then trailed his lips down my quivering belly. Slinging my knees over his shoulder, he gazed at me as I tried mightily to maintain some dignity, to no avail.

  “I love the way you taste,” he murmured, igniting a flame in my heart. Spreading my knees apart, he lowered his head, and at the touch of his tongue my hips surged off the bed. I strained against my bonds, thrashing and trembling as his tongue probed at my entrance. Fingers pressed against the sensitive tissue, opening me farther as he pressed his face against me, and I let out a loud moan.

  “Ooh, a screamer? Let’s make the boys below jealous.”

  I clamped my lips tight, clenching my jaw, as Lucas dipped his head again. My body jerked and spasmed at his ministrations, small grunts and cries still working their way free, but nothing loud enough to make their way past the door. Lucas did his very best to work my body, pressing all the right buttons and secret places until I was a tense, shaky mess.

  He pulled his mouth away then raised himself up suddenly, lifting my hips off the bed. Twisting me sideways on the bed, he lifted one leg to rest on his shoulder as he pushed my body into position and thrust up inside me. I pulled against my restraints, a loud cry coming from my lips before I clamped them shut again. He didn’t seem to be in any hurry, thrusting slowly and deliberately, hitting a point inside that sent shivers up my spine. The new position hit all the right places, and my orgasm rose quickly toward the surface, but Lucas wasn’t ready to be done so soon.

  He pulled free and spun me over again so I was laying face down on the bed. Grabbing the lobes of my backside, he gave them a little shake, then a teasing smack at my annoyed look. “I like playing with your ass,” he said, giving me a cheeky grin. “Almost as much as I like plowing it.”

  His thumbs traced the crease, spreading me open as I pulled my knees up under me. I pressed my face into the pillow, tensing as one finger slid over my rear opening, but he bypassed that and moved to the sensitive flesh below. He positioned himself behind me, the thick tip pushing slowly inside. My belly clenched in anticipation and I heard Lucas hiss, his hands pulling my hips back until he was sheathed fully inside me. His forehead pressed against my shoulder blades, hands moving up to my waist as he pulled out then back inside, repeating the movement more forcefully a second time.

  I grabbed the extra length of rope, holding tight as the thrusts grew quicker and more forceful. Moaning loudly into the pillow, I tilted my backside higher, nerve endings screaming at the pleasurable friction. Teeth grazed the skin behind my neck, and when the first bite came the sharp pain only added to the pleasure.

  “God, you’re sexy,” he breathed into my hair. The compliment made my heart sing and I clenched around him, pushing back against his hips. He cursed and I grinned, doing it again. He plunged forcefully inside and I groaned into the pillow. So much pleasure, with my release just out of reach.

  He pulled free and flipped me over onto my back. There was no pausing this time; he was back inside me within seconds, face only inches from my own. I couldn’t hold in my cries but he covered my mouth with his, swallowing my moans and sounds. My legs wrapped around his narrow waist, locking behind his back. I sobbed as I felt the orgasm rise slowly toward the surface, threatening to overwhelm my senses. Pulling at my bonds, I ached to touch him, hold him against me.

  “Let me see you come.” Lucas’ voice was breathless, his face inches from mine. Those gorgeous eyes were a deep blue, darkened with lust and need. The pale scar stood out, an angry slash on his beautiful face. Then my world was consumed by the whirlwind ripping through my body, every muscle tensing as I exploded. Even Lucas’ lips couldn’t hold my cry this time as I moaned and thrashed.

  The scarred man continued to hammer into me, his breathing ragged, and every stab only made the waves continue longer. I closed my eyes, body beyond spent, as Lucas finally came deep inside, collapsing atop me. My heart thundered in my chest as we both struggled to catch our breath. “I didn’t think it could get much better than earlier today,” Lucas murmured, not even bothering to lift his head.

  I didn’t answer, my mind too blown to formulate a proper response. After a moment, Lucas pulled out but kept me close, his warm body a comforting weight bearing me down on the mattress. He released the rope from around my wrists, and my arms dropped limp to the pillow above my head. We lay there for a moment, struggling to breathe normally again.

  “Why is it,” I asked after a moment of silence, “that most of your men are Russian?”

  The non sequitur comment drew a startled chuckle from Lucas. He folded his arms across my breasts and rested his chin atop one wrist, looking at me in amusement. “Many of my early associates were from Eastern bloc countries. Also, while Anya was with me, I had an easy translator for certain segments of that population.”

  His eyes clouded at the mention of the Russian girl, killed by an assassin not even a week before. “Did you love her?” I asked bluntly, aware of the awkward direction our conversation was taking.

  He started to speak, then paused. “Maybe once,” he murmured, apparently not thinking this was an odd discussion topic given our current position. “When I first met her, she was young and naïve. I was angry and selfish; stealing her away from my brother was a way to get back at him for taking over my life.” He sighed, staring blankly beside me. “Times change. People change. I didn’t do enough to keep Anya sheltered from this lifestyle, and now she’s dead.” He met my eyes again. “What about J
eremiah? Do you love him?”

  “I…” My heart clenched painfully. “I thought I did.” Right now, my opinions about Jeremiah were all jumbled, due in no small part to the man lying naked atop me. “He saved my life.”

  “I saved your life too. Twice.”

  I winced at the reminder, hand going to the bandage at my throat. “Yeah,” I mumbled, dropping my gaze. A lump formed in my throat and I screwed my face up against tears. “When I told him I loved him, it was the first time I’d said that to anyone since my parents died.” The memory was powerful enough to pierce my heart again. “He just called the words ‘platitudes’.”

  “My brother is an idiot.” Lucas said it in a matter of fact way, as if the phrase was as common to his lips as breathing. Then he sighed. “Love is a fickle and cruel mistress. Confusing as hell too.”

  “Yeah.”

  We stayed in amicable silence for another moment, then I put my hand up to my hair. “I should probably finish my shower,” I muttered, grimacing as I felt the damp, tangled locks spread out over the pillow.

  “I think you look fantastic,” Lucas said with a straight face, and I swatted him on the shoulder. He grinned down at me. “In fact…”

  He nudged my thigh and I realized, with some shock, that he was hard again. His amusement grew at my surprise. “I want to taste you again.” His throaty voice set fire to my insides.

  I ran my fingers in his hair as he gave me a soft kiss, and then closed my eyes as his lips trailed down my body once again.

  We made love twice more before falling asleep curled up around one another. Time meant little in that dark room. No sunlight pierced the gloom, and nobody disturbed us.

  Made love. When Lucas touched me, fingertips burning brands into my skin, I tried hard not to think about what those words meant to me any more.

  A loud hammering on the door jolted me awake. “Lucas, we need you outside,” Frank’s voice shouted through the door. “Captain swears he saw a boat coming up on us. Might be pirates.”