by Cathryn Fox
Danielle reined in her lust. “I guess I should be getting ready anyway. I have to unpack and get showered before dinner. Mr. Malik invited my friends and me to eat with him this evening. Maybe I’ll catch up with you later.”
And maybe he could tie her up and fuck her silly, too.
Ethan’s mood changed so fast, it caught her off guard. His jaw clenched. Anger sparked in his blue eyes. “I was invited to join him as well, but I hadn’t planned on attending.” When she gave him a questioning glance, he continued. “You see, Malik and I don’t always see eye to eye.” He raised his hand above his head. “And believe me, I’ve had it up to here with all his cryptic words.” Danielle heard the edge of bitterness in his tone. “So help me, if he says one more thing…” His voice trailed off.
Geez, provoke the guy and you couldn’t shut him up. Who knew?
Ethan moved toward the door, and she could tell he was trying not to favor his right leg. “I know, but I truly believe he means well,” Danielle said. “And since you’re the first person I met since I arrived, I’d love it if you came.” The truth was, she liked being around him and wasn’t quite ready for him to walk away. She knew she’d only just met him, but never had a man aroused her so quickly, or had her mind spinning with such wild, erotic scenarios. There was an undeniable spark between them that she’d love to explore further.
When he gave her a noncommittal shrug, she tried to lighten the mood. “Plus I want to make it up to you for rescuing me. You’re my hero.” She suddenly had a lightbulb moment, a very seductive, very scandalous lightbulb moment. “Hey, I wonder what the island customs are. Maybe I owe you my life now that you saved mine. Maybe I’ll have to be your servant.”
That caught his attention. Standing in the doorway, he spun back around to face her, his blue eyes brimming with intrigue. Sculpted muscles bunched as he pushed his hair back. In a low, controlled voice he said, “Servant, huh?”
Excited at the prospect, she felt heat coil in her belly. “Yeah, and maybe I’d have to call you ‘master,’” she rushed out, shocking herself with her boldness.
His palms flattened on either side of the doorjamb, giving her an erotic view of his gorgeous, naked chest. His eyebrows shot up. “You think?”
She nodded and continued to play, knowing she’d never before had the courage to speak her fantasies to any man. There really was something magical about this island that brought out the vixen in her. “And if I was naughty you’d have to—”
“Discipline you.” He cocked his head, the challenging look in his eyes daring her to deny that she wanted him to do just that.
Danielle gulped. Her blood pressure soared. Primal need bombarded her body. Oh. Good. God. He was so very good at reading her.
Deep in her gut she just knew her man of action and few words would have no problem disciplining her. Her gaze moved to his large hands, hands that were more than capable of giving her a good spanking if she needed it.
And dammit, she was pretty sure she needed it.
2
Shoulders squared and body stiff from pain, Ethan circled Danielle’s cabana having promised her that he’d think about joining her at the owner’s table for dinner. He lied. He had no intentions of dining with Malik and conceded only because he had to get out of her quarters. Fast.
Once he was certain he was completely out of sight, he drew a sharp breath and collapsed against the exterior wall. Grimacing, he shifted his full body weight to his left foot. Fuck, even after all this time, his right leg still hurt like a son of a bitch.
He knew if he’d stayed inside her cabana for one more second, his goddamned leg would have given out on him and he’d have ended up flat out on her floor.
Some hero he was.
Carrying her up the beach had taken its toll on him—in more ways than one—and he needed to take the edge off fast. Nothing short of painkillers would help at this point. With pain blurring his thoughts, he glanced around, strategizing his next move, calculating the quickest route back to his cabana.
His head began throbbing, his joints ached already. Ethan drew on every ounce of strength he possessed, pushed off the cabana wall and started down the walkway. As he cut through the footpath, his mind revisited their playful conversation, recalling her suggestive words, and relishing the way her soft body had felt cushioned in his arms, her heat curling around him, arousing his primal needs.
He growled low in his throat, but this growl was from sexual frustration, not pain. His cock hardened inside his swim trunks, and his blood flowed hot and heavy through his veins, a reminder that it had been a hell of a long time since he’d held a woman next to him, since he’d smelled her enticing feminine scent.
From her gorgeous curvy body to her strawberry blond hair and sexy, playful demeanor, Danielle was the epitome of sweet perfection. Her angelic yet seductive voice had quickly pulled him under into a current of need and desire.
He’d never met a more exquisite woman, really. Her creamy, flawless skin and fascinating green eyes had mesmerized him. And that lush ass. Jesus, the woman had an ass that erotic dreams were made of. He’d like nothing better than to take a bite and gobble her up like the big bad wolf. Hunger clawed at his insides, urging him to turn back around, go inside and do just that.
There was no denying the attraction between them. He saw it in her eyes, felt the way her gaze devoured him with sexual need. She in turn aroused him to the point of distraction, making him temporarily forget he wasn’t the strong, commanding officer he used to be.
Ethan took a moment to indulge his wayward thoughts, imagining what it would be like to explore the sparks between them, to taste those gorgeous plump lips of hers while he sank into her damp heat and lost himself in her body for the remainder of the evening. Moisture collected on his flesh and his cock grew another inch. Christ, he’d only just met her, but it had been a long time since he’d wanted to fuck anyone the way he wanted to fuck her.
He was intelligent enough to know that her naughty, suggestive words insinuated that she too wanted to indulge in a few sex games with him. He also felt the way she trembled beneath his touch, and the way her hard nipples pressed against his chest, enticing him to strip her bare and have his wicked way with her.
A year ago he’d have jumped at the chance. He’d have gone all night long, giving her exactly what she wanted. And he was pretty sure he knew what she wanted. He saw the fire in her eyes when she glanced at his hands, and when he mentioned discipline, her entire body quaked with raw hunger.
Damn, that excited him.
Sure, when she first mentioned a little role-playing, the idea intrigued him, but then reality hit him harder than a predawn sneak attack.
Who was he kidding? He couldn’t give her what she desired even if he wanted to. No doubt his fucked-up leg would fail on him and he’d end up making a total ass of himself. Either that or she’d take one look at his scarred, mangled thigh and retreat. The last thing he wanted was to see pity in her eyes. He’d had enough of that. His stomach lurched just thinking about it.
Drawing a centering breath, Ethan banked his desires and trekked forward, working to get the sexy vixen out of his head. Because a bold, feisty woman like Danielle needed a real man, a whole man, a man in control of himself and in control of his world. A man who could give her what she needed, all night long.
What she didn’t need was a shot-up soldier who could barely tie his own shoes, for Christ’s sake. Frowning intently, he felt a burst of anger rush through him and worked to control it. He moved forward, each painful step reminding him he’d never be that man again. As he stepped into the clearing, he spotted Malik sitting on the steps of his temple, deep in meditation, the scent of incense filling the air.
Ethan moved quietly, careful not to disturb him. The reasons for his actions were twofold: one, he had great respect for this man’s or any man’s need for privacy, and two, he wanted to make it to his cabana undetected, knowing that any exchange between them would be less than ple
asant.
“Hello, my child.” Ethan bit back a curse.
He stilled, balancing himself on both legs despite the pain. Malik rose and moved toward him. Dressed in his meditation robe, he folded his hands in front of his chest and nodded. His warm, amicable smile did little to soothe Ethan’s ragged nerves or his aching muscles.
“I haven’t seen you in days, Ethan.”
Annoyance palpable, Ethan indulged him for a moment. He jerked his chin to the right, toward the ocean. “Been busy.” He’d been swimming in the Pacific, attempting to strengthen his leg, but didn’t bother to elaborate.
“Is your therapy going well?” Malik asked.
Ethan scowled. He was sick and tired of their therapy. He wanted to go back to civilization, back to…
Ah, hell, now that his career in the military was over, all he had to look forward to was early retirement. He scoffed and shook his head. Retirement at thirty. That was a first. Ethan had spent the first eighteen years of his life dreaming about serving his government and the last twelve years living that dream, only to be written off. Those fucking insurgents might as well have taken his life when they shot up his leg. Ethan fisted his hands, his anger exploding inside him like shrapnel.
Malik held his hands out in front of him, palming an imaginary bubble around Ethan. He gave a slow side-to-side shake of his head. “You still hold so much anger, Ethan. You need to release your destructive emotions.”
Ethan clenched his jaw until the muscles ached. “I’m not angry,” he shot back. Okay, so maybe he was angry. Who could blame him? His goddamned government had sent him to this island in the middle of Buttfuck nowhere to heal.
In other words, they wrote him off.
He knew the military mantra when he signed on—if he wasn’t deployable, he wasn’t employable. So what the fuck was he supposed to do with his life now? He’d grown up in a military family, and even though he’d been disgruntled lately, disgusted and completely fed up with all the bureaucratic bullshit that went along with the job, it was his way of life. It was all he knew.
“Why don’t you sign my damn release papers and let me get back to civilization?”
“Ahh, but you’re not ready.”
“I’ve been here for two months. I’ve tried all your therapeutic methods. There isn’t anything else you can do for me. All I want is to be left alone to heal on my own.” Ethan cursed under his breath, hating that this medicine man had the ability to hold him, along with a dozen or so other injured comrades, until he felt they were healed, inside and out.
Malik stroked his goatee. “There is one more thing I can do for you.”
Ethan straightened to his full six foot three. “Like I told you, I don’t believe in magic water from your private spring.”
Malik bowed his head slowly. “Very well, then, but I planned on serving it at dinner this evening, and it just might be what you need to facilitate your progress.”
When Malik turned to leave, Ethan blew a resigned breath, compartmentalizing his emotions. “Look, if I drink it, can I go home?”
Ethan’s strongest desire was to feel in control again, of his life and everything around him. And that was never going to happen. Magic elixir or not, nothing would ever give him full use of his leg, and without the use of his leg, he’d never feel in control. And he needed his control. He thrived on it. He was shaped by it.
Malik turned back to face him, and in a soft but commanding voice he said, “Your destiny is in your hands, Ethan.”
After a good show of exasperation, Ethan drew a breath and let it out slowly. “Just tell me, if I drink it, can I go home?”
“It’s in your hands, Ethan,” he repeated. With that, he walked away and returned to his temple, to his meditation position.
Jesus, if he kept talking in riddles, the only thing that was going to be in Ethan’s hands was Malik’s neck.
3
After pulling on a soft, cotton, cranberry-colored sundress decorated with big white flowers, Danielle knotted her long hair on top of her head, applied a light layer of makeup and made her way to Abby’s cabana to gather her friends for dinner. Of course, prettying herself up had nothing at all to do with hunky soldier Ethan Sharpe, or those big, deft hands of his. Or all the delightful ways he could discipline her lascivious body with them.
Nope. Nothing to do with that at all.
Flip-flops snapping against her heels, she followed the sandy footpath to Abby’s secluded cabana which was located in a private cove flanked by tall hills and foliage. As she knocked on the door her mind raced, wondering whether her hard-core military man would show up for dinner tonight. It occurred to her just how excited she was at the prospect. Then again, she still wondered whether her mind had simply conjured up the perfect fantasy man, meaning she’d imagined the whole bizarre, yet stimulating, encounter.
“Come in,” Abby yelled, pulling Danielle’s thoughts to the present.
Blinking her mind into focus, Danielle stepped inside the cabana. She took a moment to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. Squinting, she found her friends sharing a bottle of wine, both grinning like village idiots.
She shot them a questioning glance. “What’s up?”
“I think the better question is who’s up,” Lauren piped in. “You’re here for five minutes and you have some beautiful sea god carrying you to your cabana. A beautiful sea god who looked like he’d gotten all kinds of things up for you. Damn, girl, you work fast.”
Danielle couldn’t help but grin. She widened her eyes in delight and adjusted the straps on her dress. “So he was real,” she whispered to herself.
“Oh, yeah, he was real all right. A gorgeous Greek god straight out of a fairy tale,” Lauren added.
Abby grabbed her key card and stuffed it into her beach bag. “Come on, we’re running late. You can tell us all about him on the way to dinner.”
“Maybe I’ll skip dinner and go for a swim,” Lauren said, grinning. “I wouldn’t mind finding myself a sea god.” She frowned and added, “Then again, I’d probably end up with the likes of Hades, overseer of the underworld.” She stopped walking and shuddered. “Like I need another greedy man solely concerned about his own needs.” She put her hand on Danielle’s shoulder. “Honey, I’d give anything to find a guy who sees me for who I am. Someone who doesn’t need to be looking at my body to appreciate and want me.” She paused to gather her breasts into her hands. “The men I’ve been with only care about how much they can fit into their palms, or their mouths.”
Chuckling at her friend’s antics, Danielle nodded in agreement. Too bad men didn’t see Lauren for the wonderful person she was. All they wanted was to get their hands on her luscious body. Danielle glanced down at her own chest and was thankful that she was of average size. Getting men to like her for who she was wasn’t her problem. They liked her and her body. They just didn’t know what to do with it, or how to satisfy her. Of course, she wasn’t entirely without fault there. It just wasn’t easy for her to tell a man how she wanted it. Honestly, she didn’t know how to come right out and ask a guy to tie her up, spank her and have his wicked way with her.
As they walked to the dining lodge, Abby said, “Hey, did you know that not only is this place an elite singles spa, it also houses a rehabilitation center for soldiers injured overseas?”
“Really?” Lauren asked.
Danielle’s thoughts raced to her military man.
“Yeah, while Danielle was busy making time with her sea god, and you were busy spying on them, I familiarized myself with the facility,” Abby teased.
As Abby and Lauren chatted back and forth, Danielle recalled her conversation with Ethan. He’d said he was here because of his job, but he hadn’t elaborated. Obviously he was here because he’d injured his leg, but she sensed there was more to it than that. She remembered the way he tried to hide his injury, and the way he seemed so restless, so deeply troubled about something. And when she’d brought up dining with Mr. Malik, he’d damn near explo
ded. Danielle couldn’t help wondering about her soldier, and what secrets he held close.
A few minutes later, the three girls made their way inside the dining room. They were greeted by a maitre’d and led through the restaurant. Danielle glanced around the dimly lit room, absorbing the romantic ambience and Asian decor while taking note of the patrons, wondering about each and every one of them and what brought them to this magical island.
As she rounded the corner to a private outdoor dining area overlooking the ocean, she glanced at Mr. Malik, who was seated at the head of the table, his hands folded in front of his chest. He’d changed out of his white robe and now wore some sort of ceremonial red kimono decorated with mystical symbols. He stood as the girls entered.
“Welcome,” he said, a smile lighting his face. Danielle scanned the table, her gaze coming to rest on the two men already seated. Disappointment settled into her stomach when she noticed that Ethan hadn’t shown up. “Please have a seat,” Mr. Malik added with a wave of his hand. “I’d like to introduce you to Ryan Thomas and Cody Lannon.”
As the girls all introduced themselves Danielle’s gaze panned over the two guys, wondering whether they, too, were military men. She studied Ryan Thomas first, noting that his face seemed pale, making a stark contrast against his dark hair. Come to think of it, it looked like his skin hadn’t been touched by the tropical sun at all. He wore mirrored sunglasses, which camouflaged his eyes, but the snarl on his lips spoke volumes. The other man, Cody Lannon, had lighter hair and was sporting a gorgeous tan. He stared off into the distance, as if he too had somewhere else to be. Outwardly they didn’t appear injured, or if they were, they tried to hide it like Ethan.
Once they were all comfortably seated, a waitress served crisp greens and bread. The fresh scent of herbs and garlic made Danielle’s stomach grumble. After the waitress left, Mr. Malik cut his hand through the air. “Please eat, my children. Enjoy the food that has been prepared for you.”