Dangerous Desires

by Tia Siren

  I could smell dog. My heart was hammering so fast now that I felt as if it were going as fast as a hummingbird. Dogs could smell fear. Any guard dogs they had here would be trained to attack intruders.

  But there weren't any barks. I couldn't actually see any dogs moving around. I crept forward, ready to be attacked by a dog at any second. But they weren't there. I had no idea where they'd gone, but I grew bolder and began to run forward. I could see that there was a stone wall in front of me. There was a wooden door that I ran towards, hoping that their security wasn't keeping an eye on me and playing with me like a cat toyed with a mouse. But I got to the door and it was unlocked.

  It let me into a gatekeeper's cabin. There were maps pinned to a corkboard. I could see that the maps tracked the current territories of everyone who dealt drugs in this area. It had the names of gangs I'd never even heard of. I could see that they'd attacked them systematically. The very last one was the one that controlled my neighborhood.

  There was a door that led to the outside.

  11

  Mr. Raymond

  I unlocked the deadbolt and began to run for it. I needed to get to Mr. Raymond's house before something bad could go down. The startling lack of security and dogs at the stronghold could mean only one thing: it was happening now. Whatever was happening was already in motion.

  Within a minute, I was out of breath and resolved to go to the gym sometime soon. I wasn't sure where I was, but as I followed the road, I could see the center of town up ahead. That meant that Mr. Raymond's house wasn't far. I kept running until I was jumping up his porch steps and pressing his doorbell.

  "Mr. Raymond! It's me! Alicia!"

  A light went on inside. "Alicia? What's wrong, my dear?"

  Mr. Raymond was wearing a checked bathrobe and giant glasses. His cane was in one hand. "What on Earth is going on?"

  "I don't have time to explain," I gasped. "Do you know the phone number for the FBI?"

  "FBI?" Mr. Raymond shook his head. "No. What have you gotten yourself into?"

  "I don't know," I said. "But I have to stop something right now." I breathed in deeply. "Do you have a computer with Internet access?"

  "No."

  I almost fell to the ground. I wasn't going to be in time.

  "But I do have one of those fancy smartphones that my grandnephew set up for me."

  "That'll work!" I could search for the FBI's hotline number.

  "Let me get it." I watched him turn away so slowly that I almost asked him where it was so I could sprint upstairs and get it. He took each step as slowly as a maimed turtle. I was about to explode, but I needed to focus on what I'd tell them. My brain was shifting through the options. If I told them that I knew that a drug lord was systematically taking out the other ones, would they even get involved or would they regard him as doing their jobs for them. After all, if he consolidated power in one place, then all they'd have to do would be capturing him if he controlled the whole market. Or he could become a CI and get protection.

  I needed to ask them for help in a way that made sure that Luis went down. How could I phrase it so that they wouldn't ruin this crazy run?

  Mr. Raymond finally shuffled towards me with his smartphone. "Here it is." I snatched it from his hands and began to search for any kind of public FBI number. I saw him looking at my cuffs.

  "It's a long story," I said as I made the phone call to the FBI. The phone rang. It was apparently not a 24/7 hotline, but I could leave a message.

  "Hello! My name is Alicia. There's something really bad going on right now. Something you should know about. I..."

  At that moment, I heard the front door slam open like a big gust of wind had come through. But instead, I could hear Luis talking to Mr. Raymond.

  "What are you doing in my house? Out at this very moment, young man!" Mr. Raymond sounded like he'd hit Luis with a quad cane.

  "Shut up," Luis said. Then he paused. "Sir."

  I turned around and glared at him. "There's no reason to threaten an elderly man."

  "I'm young," Mr. Raymond protested.

  "Yeah, the big tipoff is your snow white hair," one of the guards who accompanied Luis said.

  "Shut up," Luis told him in a casual tone. "I'm here for her." He pointed to me. "You won't escape so easily again."

  "I'm calling the police," Mr. Raymond said. He began to shuffle towards the kitchen but one of the guards grabbed his arm. Mr. Raymond tried to pull away, but he wasn't strong enough.

  "Unless you want this poor old man's death to be on your conscience, you'll come with me. I notice you didn't get your handcuffs off."

  If I'd had more time, I would've figured out how to get them off. I looked at Mr. Raymond, whose face was a scary shade of pale. He was the pure white of a sheet of unblemished printer paper. I didn't want to be the cause of a heart attack.

  "I'm coming," I said, my shoulders slumping forward. "You caught me."

  Luis pulled me into the car and kept his big arm around me. "You made it so easy."

  I fought back tears. I really meant to escape and stop him. But the FBI call I'd made wasn't going to be enough. I'd failed miserably. I thought that I'd had enough time. Maybe if I had run upstairs with Mr. Raymond, everything would be okay now.

  "Cheer up," Luis said. "After this, you'll go to a beautiful island in the Caribbean to live for the rest of your life. It's not all bad."

  "Caribbean?" I asked. "What are you talking about?"

  "Well, I won't keep you here, and you're far too beautiful to just kill."

  I gasped a little bit.

  "So I need to solve the problem of what to do with you. I'll just keep you in my vacation home."

  "That doesn't sound bad." I frowned. Maybe he was just spinning me a line to keep me quiet and compliant. On the other hand, he definitely could've killed me already.

  "It has no phone or Internet access, although we have some solar panels for basic electricity."

  "Can I have books and movies?" I wasn't sure if I believed him, but in for a penny, in for a pound.

  Luis laughed a little. "Sure."

  "Will you buy me more books?"

  "If you want them." His guards were giving each other looks like they couldn't believe what they were hearing.

  "Then I'm cool with it." Now I didn't have to be worried that he'd gotten me back only to kill me. The best-case scenario was that he was planning on hiding me away from the world. Maybe I was weird, but being on a tropical island for the rest of my life didn't sound horrible, unless he didn't supply any food. And even then, I could probably catch enough fish and stuff to keep myself alive. My whole body relaxed now that I knew I was basically home free.

  "Don't escape again," Luis said. "Or you won't be going to the island."

  "Fine." I didn't know if he'd keep his promise, but I certainly hoped so. I understood that he'd be nowhere near as lenient the second time around. If he wasn't planning on taking me to an island or selling me into slavery or something, he would've killed me before now. He was on high alert right now, picking me up from Mr. Raymond's house, but I'd have to wait for the right moment and a real plan. I needed to learn more instead of waiting for him to isolate me on a Caribbean island or sell me off to someone else.

  "Night," he said and motioned with his hand towards one of his guards. As smooth as silk, a needle jabbed into my neck. He'd drugged me for a second time. My vision darkened and I felt as if I were falling backwards.

  12

  Island

  When I woke up, the first thing that I saw through the open doorway was white sand and a palm tree with its branches gently swaying in the wind. I could smell the scent of the ocean in the humid air.

  "Where the fuck am I?" I asked. My neck felt weird, as if I'd slept in a bad position for a long time.

  "My island."

  I jumped about a foot off of the bed. In an inner doorway attached to this room was Luis, dressed in a white polo shirt that set off his skin and made me drool. I checked my
chin to see if I'd drooled while I'd been knocked out.

  "Is it done?"

  "What?"

  "Whatever your plan was."

  Luis shrugged, "Maybe."

  That non-answer was infuriating. "So where's the library you promised me?"

  "In here." I got out of bed. I felt all crumpled and disoriented from waking up where I hadn't gone to sleep. I followed him inside.

  "Wow." All around me were books.

  "I told one of my contacts that you were a young lady and to stock anything that you might conceivably want to read for a year."

  "He did a great job."

  "She." He crossed his arms and grinned at me. I wished that the flash of white teeth in his tan face wasn't so sexy. I could see the defined muscles in his forearms, which made my heart beat faster. I told myself it was the books, but I didn't like lying to myself.

  I felt in my pocket for my phone. I didn't have it.

  "Don't you think that my family back home will freak out?"

  "No." Luis shook his head. "Do you want to know why?"

  "Yeah."

  "Because you've already texted everyone that you contact in a normal week that you're off on a vacation."

  "What about Mr. Raymond?"

  A hint of guilt crossed his face. Then it was gone. "Mr. Raymond didn't survive our little encounter."

  My jaw dropped. "You murdered Mr. Raymond?"

  "He had a bad heart," Luis said. "But I don't answer to you."

  "You're despicable," I spat at him.

  "But you're wondering what I look like with my clothes off." He lifted the hem of his shirt so that I could see his washboard abs with that perfect V pointing downward. I was at a loss for words. He smirked at me before taking his shirt off.

  "Just because you're really hot doesn't mean that..." I trailed off. It was hard to think when faced with one of the hottest men I'd seen in my life.

  "Doesn't it?" Luis said smoothly. "It's not like you've left behind very much. You're on the go, living in your truck. Who knew that you'd trade your truck for a new way to live?"

  "What about your job as a police officer?" I threw at him as I backed out of the library with bookshelves instead of walls.

  "I don't need to do it anymore. It was a brief thing."

  I squinted at him. "Whatever scheme you had was successful, wasn't it? How much time do you even spend on this island?"

  "Considering how well it's situated, a fair amount." He shrugged. "I have a normal house on the mainland, but this is where I spend most of my time. The only way on and off is a boat."

  I looked around. "This is beautiful, even if it isn't gigantic."

  "Nena," he laughed, "sometimes looks can be deceiving."

  Luis gave me a tour of the house. I ate my words almost immediately because the house was actually gigantic.

  "Is that an underwater observatory?" I asked when I saw funny-looking doors.

  "Yes." He spun the circle in the center of the doors. "Come in." He darted down a short flight of stairs. I looked inside. He must be next to a coral reef, because I could little structures of coral outside.

  "Wow!" I exclaimed. "You must be loaded."

  He laughed. He was much more carefree than he had been when I'd fled. "Not a bad prison, eh?"

  I remembered that I was a prisoner here. "Not a bad prison at all," I said, forcing a little bit more cheerfulness than I actually felt into my voice.

  "You can be happy here," he said, moving into my personal space. He was still shirtless, but maybe I was immune now. But as he moved towards me in the dimly lit space of the underwater observatory, I rethought that position. I looked behind me, but I fell on my butt as I scrambled backwards. He put his hand on the seat back behind me.

  "You'll learn," he purred. "I'm not a very patient man, but I love the chase." He put his face only an inch away from mine. "And you're very fun prey."

  "Back off!" I told him.

  "Feisty," he said.

  I shook my head. "In your dreams, buddy."

  "You say that now, but I can smell how aroused you were."

  I knew that my panties were soaked, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of telling him. "Just because you are attractive doesn't mean that you can toy with me on your secret private island. I know what will happen when you get tired of me."

  "Oh?"

  "I'll end up on the bottom of the ocean."

  He laughed. "What an active imagination you have, cariña."

  I glared at him. "It's true."

  "I'm not going to kill you," Luis retorted. "It'd be an insane waste." He backed up a foot and I took a deep breath. I'd been hovering on the edge of just grabbing him and kissing him. I didn't know why or how I felt this way about a man who had drugged me twice, handcuffed me, and captured me to keep on a private island. But I did. "I feel like I've been waiting for you a long time," he continued. "And you're going to be the mother of my children."

  I felt like the top of my head was going to blow off. "Are you joking?"

  "Not about something like this." He just smiled down at me. "You'll come around."

  "You're crazy," I spat. "I don't even want to be on this island with you, let alone raise your children."

  "You might change your mind," Luis said. "After all, I have nothing but time."

  I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise but I also felt some wetness leak down my thigh. He was suggesting that he was going to persist until I let him have his way.

  "Is that what you do to all the girls? Capture them and talk them into carrying your children? How many kids do you have? One? Two? A dozen?"

  "None," Luis replied. "But I have a feeling that'll change soon."

  I put a hand on my stomach and thought about what it would be like to have a baby with Luis. It made my heart beat a lot faster. "Out of the question," I snapped.

  He only smiled. "Are you hungry? I had my cook prepare some grilled fish."

  My stomach rumbled. "I guess."

  "Let's go up." Luis motioned for me to walk in front of him so he could stare at the motion of my ass while I climbed the stairs. Some perverse instinct in me wanted to make it look good. By the time that he got to the top, Luis looked at me and licked his lips. I shivered under the force of his gaze.

  I followed him to the kitchen. "Where's your cook?" I could only see two plates covered with the silver domes so common in food service.

  "Somewhere else," Luis said. He sat down and waited for me to begin eating before he did. We dug into grilled fish and vegetables, which were extremely filling. I leaned back and groaned, "I'm so full."

  "Do you want to eat dessert?"

  "What do you have?"

  There was a glint in his eye. "I'd prefer to eat you for dessert, but I don't think we're there yet."

  Before I could respond, I heard the sound of a siren. "Is your island being raided?"

  "No," Luis replied, getting to his feet. "That's the tornado warning signal."

  My heart beat a little faster. "There are tornados here?" I had no idea where we were.

  "Sometimes on the outer edge of a hurricane."

  I had zero clue where we were still — if we were near the US or next to Mexico. "What should we do?"

  "Shelter in place," Luis said. "But out here, we don't get any help from anybody else. It's just us."

  I looked out the window. "I can see it." I pointed outside.

  Luis began to run. "It's heading towards our power generator."

  "Wait! Don't go towards it!" He was nuts. I was even more nuts because I was following him as fast as I could.

  He got to the barn before I did. I watched as the tornado lifted the barn completely in the air and then let it go, slamming it down. Wooden boards were falling everywhere. One of them hit him in the head. He was out for the count. The tornado seemingly lost interest in us and began to go towards the shore. I watched as it entered the water and turned into a small waterspout.

  "Luis!" I screamed. He'd alre
ady told me that the cook was gone, so right now I was the only one who could take care of him. I could see a giant mark on his forehead. The force of that blow had seriously injured him. I anxiously felt his body all over, but nothing seemed to be broken. He'd just been knocked out next to a barn that'd fall apart with the next breeze since most of the boards had flown away.

  Luis was much bigger than I was. He probably outweighed me by at least 50 pounds and he was so tall. I didn't know what I should do. I might be on a beautiful island, but being stuck there with an injured man and no way to get help was a nightmare.

  I could run. The thought popped into my head. Luis was knocked out. There was nobody else here. I looked down at my unconscious captor. I couldn't do it. This man needed medical attention. I was afraid of moving him, so I knelt next to his body and told him, "I'm going to get a blanket, okay?"

  He didn't respond.

  I ran towards the house to get a blanket to wrap around him. It was dumb, but I also grabbed a pillow. I raced out there to put the pillow under his head and wrapped the blanket around his body. Ice. I needed ice. I ran back towards the house and cursed myself for not thinking of that to begin with. When he woke up, he'd have a huge goose egg on his forehead. I grabbed a package of frozen berries from the freezer and ran back out there with a book and another blanket for me to sit on.

  13

  Forever

  When he opened his eyes, they were confused. "Who are you?"

  "I'm...Alicia," I said. I didn't know if I should say "your captive" or "your friend." I was definitely experiencing a little Stockholm Syndrome.