“Excuse me?” I replied, lifting an eyebrow.
He straightened, pinning me with those intense green eyes. He prowled—that’s right, he didn’t walk; he prowled—over in front of me and lifted the hem of the oversized shirt, his knuckles skimming the fronts of my thighs all the way up as he moved. “We need to get that sand off you, bella.”
“Okay,” I said dumbly as the shirt slid up over my arms and then fell to the ground, leaving me standing there in nothing but a little pair of panties. It wasn’t cool outside, but the air felt chilled when it brushed over my fiery skin.
When he reached for the waistband of my panties, I jerked back. “Turn around,” I ordered.
“You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, I’m serious.” Last night had been dark, with nothing but the dying embers of the fire. This was broad daylight. What if he didn’t like what he saw?
“I’ve seen every gorgeous inch of you.”
“Turn. Around.” If he said one more swoon-worthy thing, I was going to turn into his slave. I needed to reclaim some power.
He sighed and turned around. I ignored the way his shoulders shook with silent laughter and quickly peeled away the panties and waded into the water. When it was just past my hips, I froze. “Are there alligators in here?”
“Can I turn around now?” he asked.
“Yes!”
I glanced over my shoulder and around the curtain of hair that waved wildly about. “Alligators? Lochness Monster? Giant man-eating piranhas?” I said, suddenly about to panic.
He picked up something off the ground and walked into the water, shorts and all (how come I always end up naked and he got to keep his pants?) and wrapped his arms around me from behind. “I’ll protect you.”
Okay. I was lame. That totally made me feel better.
Nash took a few more steps into the water, forcing me along until we were chest deep. The sound of the waterfall hitting the lagoon was loud, but I didn’t mind it. It was peaceful. And as it poured, little ripples played over the surface of the water to reach out and lap gently at us. The ends of my hair floated out, looking like a dark, golden halo.
Mist from the pouring falls drifted through the air, creating a translucent curtain around us and dampening all our skin that wasn’t submerged in the water. I felt a moment’s worry about getting my stitches damp with all the mist, but I stopped thinking about that the minute Nash spoke.
He wielded the bar of soap. “I’ll wash you.”
First he feeds me and then he washes me?
Sigh…
He lathered up his hands and started at the tops of my shoulders, smoothing the soap over my arms and neck and upper chest. Then he lifted my hands one by one and soaped from my elbow down. His hands slipped over my skin like velvet, like he was made of silk, and the lavender scent of the soap rose up around us and caught in the mist like a fly in a spider web.
When my upper body was clean, he used a hand to cup the water and pour it over my shoulders, rinsing away the bubbles.
And then there was nowhere to wash but down.
He used both his hands at once, closing over my breasts, groping them skillfully with soap-laden hands. Tiny tingles shot through me all the way down to my toes, and my head fell back because holding it up was just too much work.
The area between my legs began to throb, almost like it had a heartbeat of its own. His hands slid lower, over my abdomen, around my belly button, lower still.
“I’m getting closer to the sand, aren’t I?” he murmured.
I moaned. My knees threatened to buckle.
Instead of continuing straight down, his hands separated and traveled around my hips. He stepped forward, bringing our chests together, and held me close while he washed my back, reaching up beneath my hair and sudsing up my neck. I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his shoulder, tempted to nip at his damp skin.
“Do it,” he growled like he could read my mind.
Or maybe he just read my body.
I hesitated and he shifted, pressing closer. My lips opened automatically and my teeth sank lightly into his flesh. His hands spasmed and he pulled me roughly against him, my body—my very naked body—met with a very hard erection. It strained against the front of his shorts.
His hand slid over the round curve of my backside, slipping down lower… in between my legs, all from behind. He moved his fingers around like he was washing away the sand.
What he was really doing was turning me the hell on.
If I was throbbing before, I now felt like something down there was hammering with rabid force.
I whispered his name. It sounded more like a plea.
His fingers kept sliding, right up to that magic spot. I jerked a little because the jolt of pleasure was so intense. I bit him again. This time a little harder. His finger started to work me with a skill only he possessed… My body was ready to snap.
An approaching sound had us both stiffening. Nash released me and put his body in front of mine. “If I tell you to run, run,” he said, effectively scaring me.
“I won’t leave you,” I whispered furiously.
He gave me a stern look over his shoulder. I ignored it.
The plants rustled; a few leaves and stems quivered with movement. I thought about the gunfire, the rhythm of the drums…
Nash’s body tensed as someone stepped up to the water’s edge.
12
It was Duke.
I wanted to pass out from relief.
He came up short when he noticed we were there. “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were here.”
I peaked around Nash’s shoulder. “No worries. We were just cleaning up a little.”
He nodded, his eyes going straight to me. They seemed strained. It made me feel a little guilty. I’m not sure why.
Nash glanced over his shoulder, looking at me, and then walked onto shore. His shorts were soaked and the weight of the water pulled at them, making them ride incredibly low on his hips.
I tried not to stare… and I failed.
“You’re dressed,” Duke observed, his voice a little more than relieved.
“Ava is a little less covered,” Nash said tightly. “Turn around.”
Duke immediately turned around, and for some reason I found his eager respect for me endearing. Nash dug into the messenger bag and pulled out one of his T-shirts. The one I’d been using as a towel. I hurried closer, my hair doing a good job of covering my breasts. Nash wrapped the shirt around me as I wrung some of the moisture out of the ends of my hair and then pinned him with a stare as well.
He gave an exaggerated sigh and turned around as well.
When I was sure they weren’t peeking, I quickly put on my panties and T-shirt again. Then I packed up the soap and slung the wet shirt over my shoulder. “You both can turn around now.”
They both paused, then turned. I smiled sheepishly. “Thanks.”
Nash reached out and took the bag from me.
“Wanna hang out with us?” I asked Duke.
“Sure.”
The three of us went back to the plane, the wet tips of my hair a tangled mess around my shoulders. Nash came inside the plane as I was taming the beast that was my hair and grabbed up a couple coconuts and went outside to open them.
Duke hovered at the back opening of the plane. “Come in,” I called out. “There’s some water right there.” I gestured to the bottles. “And fruit if you want some.”
He grabbed a mango off the pile and then moved around, looking at the wrecked plane. “That was some landing, huh?”
“I’ll say,” I agreed as I braided my hair down over my shoulder.
“I’ve never been on a plane before,” he said, still gazing around with interest.
“Really?”
“I always traveled by boat.” His hair was waving around his face, not tucked behind his ears today. It looked soft and it still flipped up at the ends.
“Wanna see the cockpit?”
&nbs
p; “Yeah.” He followed me into the front of the plane with the large windows and the controls. It was messier up here because we didn’t bother to clean up as much, knowing this part of the plane wouldn’t get much use.
“Wow,” he murmured, sitting down in the pilot’s seat. “Look at all these controls.” He pointed at one. “Wonder what this one did.”
I couldn’t see so I stepped forward, and my clumsy butt tripped over the crap on the floor and I fell forward.
Right into Duke’s lap.
“If you wanted to drive, you should have just said so,” he quipped.
I couldn’t help it; I laughed.
To my surprise, he settled me into his lap, both of us facing the window, and looped his arms around my waist.
“Do you miss home?” I asked him softly.
“Every day.”
“Have you tried to get off the island?”
“More times than I could count.”
“Maybe with three of us, it will be easier. Maybe we can figure something out.”
“Maybe,” he said. He leaned his forehead against the back of my shoulder.
“We will.” I corrected him. “You, me, and Nash.”
“Are you two together?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, even though I knew what he meant. I had no idea how to respond to that. The answer was no, Nash and I weren’t together.
A strong man always makes sure his woman is provided for.
But we weren’t exactly not not together either…
I think I just confused myself.
“I mean, like, is he your man?”
Was he? I opened my mouth, interested in what was going to come out, but I never got the chance to see.
Nash chose that moment to walk in. His eyes went right to me… in Duke’s lap. It was completely innocent… but I wasn’t sure he saw it that way.
He stalked over and held out a coconut to me. I started to stand to take it and tripped again. Nash’s hands were full. But Duke’s weren’t. He caught me and eased me up on my feet, his hands lingering on my waist. “Careful,” he murmured as he pulled away.
“Here,” Nash said, handing the second coconut to Duke.
“Thank you,” he said, accepting it.
Nash reached for my arm and held me steady as I walked through the debris and out of the cockpit. Then he handed me the last coconut. “What about you?” I asked, frowning.
“I’ll open another one,” he said, turning his back and going to do just that. I stared after him, feeling like I should have said something… but I didn’t know what he wanted me to say.
“Let’s go down to the beach,” I said to Duke.
When he stood, I couldn’t help but notice his gaze lingering on my legs. I realized then that my long shirt made it look like I wasn’t wearing pants.
Crap. I wasn’t.
“Would you mind holding this outside while I change?”
He took it and disappeared. Quickly, I yanked off the shirt and pulled on my bikini and a yellow cotton sundress I had in my suitcase. It made a good cover-up.
Duke was waiting for me beside the plane, and when I came to the edge, he moved forward to help me down. He glanced down at his full hands and scowled.
“It’s okay.” I laughed. “I jump down all the time.”
He shook his head, but I didn’t give him time to react and try and help me. I jumped down, landing lightly beside him. The last thing I wanted was for Nash to happen to see Duke with his hands on me again, helping me down.
“Let’s go down to the beach,” Nash suggested from somewhere beside the plane. His voice was close by and I felt some relief knowing that my decision to avoid Duke’s touch was a good one.
I tried not to think about why I cared so much what Nash thought.
The three of us wandered down to the sand. My eyes went right to the bonfire pit and my cheeks heated with the memory of what we did there last night. Nash caught my eye and I knew he was thinking the same thing by the way his gaze traveled my body. His stare felt like a laser beam, retracing the path his tongue had made just hours before.
We all sat quiet for a moment as we drank the sweet juice from the fruit. My thoughts turned to the gunshots we heard and the warning Duke gave us just before he left.
“We heard gunfire last night,” I said. I didn’t bother looking at Nash. I knew he wasn’t keen on asking Duke about what we’d been hearing, but I didn’t care anymore. We were stuck here, like it or not. We needed to know what we were dealing with.
Duke nodded. “It’s on the other side of the island.”
“Have you been there? Are there people? Civilization?” Hope swarmed up inside me like a tidal wave, thinking this could be our way off this island, that this could help us get home.
“It’s not safe to go there,” Duke said tightly.
“Why not?”
He pinned me with his dark eyes. “It just isn’t. You won’t find help there. Stay on this side.”
“But won’t they come here eventually?”
Duke just gazed off across the ocean, almost like he was lost in thought. Or wistful for home.
“You okay?” I asked him, reaching out and laying a hand on his arm. He looked down, almost like he was startled by the contact.
His eyes slid to mine. “Yeah, I’m good.” So much emotion swam in those eyes of his. They had to be the most expressive I had ever seen.
We sat there frozen for long moments, my hand on his arm and his eyes memorizing every angle of my face (at least that’s what it felt like).
“You gonna tell us what’s out there or what?” Nash said.
I gave him a hard look because he was being rude. He should be nice. This poor guy didn’t have anyone. For months.
Duke hesitated.
Nash sighed and stood, sand sticking to his still-damp shorts. “If you won’t tell me, I’m damn sure going to find out.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, alarmed.
“It means we’re going to the other side of the island. We’re going hunting.”
13
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked for the hundredth time since we started walking.
Nash stopped suddenly, and I bumped into his back, stumbling backward a bit. He turned swiftly and glanced at me. “I don’t know what else to do,” he said grimly. “Do I want to walk into potential dangerous territory… with you right behind me? No. I don’t. But being a sitting duck isn’t safe either. I’d rather know what we’re dealing with.”
I glanced at Duke, who was standing there watching us. “Can’t you just tell us what’s there?”
“I already told you it was no good. I told you to stay away.”
“You won’t tell us why?” I implored.
“Because it is,” was his simple reply.
Nash made a sound and started walking again. “If it’s so dangerous, why are you coming with us?” he tossed over his shoulder.
Duke didn’t reply, but I felt his stare and I turned to look at him. It was because of me. He was coming along because of me. I glanced at Nash to see if he realized, but he hadn’t turned around. He was to intent on our path.
We walked in silence after that, forever it seemed. My feet grew tired and my body was damp with sweat. I was so not the camping/hiking kind of girl. And to make it worse, I kept thinking about the dream. About the two men who were right beside me.
Every so often I would feel Duke’s eyes and I would look at him. He had this way of gazing at me… this sort of longing in his eyes… It made me feel coveted. It made me feel wanted.
But then I would look at Nash, at the way his hips swiveled when he walked. The way his shoulder muscles moved beneath all that olive-toned skin. And his hands were magic. But beyond that… he seemed to care about me, like he thought of me first, even before himself.
I tried to direct my thoughts away from my company and pay attention to the surroundings. The island was lush and beautiful. The greenery was everywh
ere. Palm trees and tall plants full of colorful, blossoming flowers filled the air with a heady scent. Because we were close to the ocean, there was still a bit of a breeze, even this far into the island.
Still, it wasn’t as cool as it was right on the sand because the trees and plants kind of worked as a trap for the heat, keeping it in instead of letting it drift up and away. At least the sunlight didn’t shine directly on us. I wasn’t sure if my fair skin could take the brutal midday rays. So far I had been lucky to avoid a sunburn, but I knew it was probably only a matter of time.
I started to feel lightheaded when we stepped into a particularly cool part of the wilderness. The trees were heavier here so the shade was denser. It felt wonderful against my heated skin, but it also seemed to serve as a reminder of just how hot I actually was.
My thoughts grew thick and it felt weird to walk, my legs feeling like Jell-O.
“Do you think we could stop for a minute?” I asked. “Take a break?”
Both Duke and Nash came to my side, Nash reaching me first. “Of course.” He studied me. “Your skin is flushed.”
“I’m just really hot.”
He led me over beneath a tree where the leaves were bigger than my head. We sat down below it, leaning up against the trunk.
“Here,” Duke said, handing me his untouched bottle of water. I have no idea how he hadn’t drank any. My bottle was already gone.
He must have seen my shock when he handed me the full bottle because he said, “I’ve gotten used to this heat.”
“But you might need it,” I protested.
“You need it more,” he said, giving my hand a squeeze. Then he turned thoughtful. “I think there’s some fruit around here. I’m going to grab some. You should eat something.”
“You shouldn’t be alone.” I worried. “Nash can go with you.”
“I’m not leaving you alone,” Nash said instantly.
Duke nodded. “He should stay. I won’t be long.”
When I frowned, he offered me a smile. “I promise I’ll be okay.”
I nodded and within moments he disappeared behind a beautiful plant with bright-pink blooms.
Tempt (Take It Off) Page 10