Return to the Island (Island Duet Book 2)

by L. B. Dunbar

  The company works in finding sustainable resources and helping third world countries with clean water sources. It’s a constant struggle with governments and geographic cultures, but I love it. We’ve done a lot in a short amount of time.”

  Listening to Tack, I thought of the sea turtles, awed by something with a hard shell that looked so poised in the water. Tack had a hard shell, protecting the interior of himself. He wanted what he wanted, he once told me, and he took it. But he was full of beauty and good deeds with his new company. He amazed me.

  The conversation shifted to his relationship with his father.

  “He didn’t raise his hand often, but it was more his words. He was tough to please, and the more I couldn’t please him, the more I tried to anger him. I’m a little old to still play these games with him, but once I became an executive in his company, the stakes were raised. To prove myself to him, I wanted to prove I could do what I wanted. Now, I own my own company and none of it matters.” He shrugged a shoulder and looked off at the sea.

  “Sounds like he loved you, in his own way.” My voice lowered, as I’d lost both my parents before high school. Living with my uncle had proved to be a great challenge and torment.

  “Whatever happened to the evil uncle?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows, but concern filled his eyes.

  “He went to Lillian for money while we were still on the island. He was another reason I changed my name and disappeared when I returned. Once he learned I hadn’t died on the island and there was no recompense to be claimed, he disappeared as well. Good riddance,” I said, taking a long sip of my rum punch. I didn’t have anyone who loved me enough that I wanted to prove myself to them.

  Tack didn’t speak, and I was thankful. Instead, he rubbed up my back again and squeezed the nape of my neck. I closed my eyes and lowered to rest on the netting, the lull of the ocean rocking me to sleep.

  + +

  “Juliet, we’re almost there,” Tack whispered in my ear. My mouth felt thick from too much drink, and my body was struggling to recognize I slept on netting.

  “Come sit back here with me,” he asked, helping me to stand and work the footing over the nets to the edge of the catamaran. He sat further back on the deck, in a position that hid us from the captain sailing overhead. He patted the space between his legs, and I sat between his knees.

  “Lean back. Feel rested?” he asked.

  “Mmmm…” I purred, still sleepy and slack from a lazy afternoon in the sun. His hands came to warm skin at my ribs and began massaging me with tender finger tips.

  “That skirt is just a strip of material, right? Take it off and place it over your lap.” Something in the deepness of his command made me do as he said. I slipped the sheer yellow panel over my lap, covering the lower half of my bikini. His hands still worked on my middle before one dipped below my draped material.

  “Tack,” I whispered as his fingers reached the waistband of my bikini. “Carlos will see.”

  “He can’t see us down here. Relax. I want to make you feel good.” Two fingers entered me without foreplay, and I sat forward at the intrusion. Harsh and quick, it took my breath and felt delicious. “So wet already, Mouse. I like that.” His fingers moved in and out with a steady pace, and my hips squirmed, my backside rubbing against the hard length of him behind me.

  “There it is, baby,” he said softly over my shoulder, and I thought he meant the sweet pressure building within me, but up ahead was land, the outline growing more visible.

  His fingers increased their invasion at my core, and I wiggled with delight. My palms gripped just above his knees. My eyes reassured me that the thin material of my coverup covered my lap. In broad daylight, he was going to make me come.

  “That’s it, baby. You’re getting closer. And look at her.” My eyes flashed up to the developing landform.

  “Is that…” My voice drifted off as he twisted his fingers, touching something deep within me. I gasped.

  “Look at the outline of her. A woman waiting, at rest. See the curve of her hip.” My eyes took in the subtle spike of a hill marking the top of the island and the dip to the right. Tack’s fingers continued to spread me open, his other hand pressing my knee wider.

  “The hint of her breast is there to the right and her head is almost level with the water.” He explained as my eyes traveled the image he’d conjured of the island as a female—lying in wait. His free hand massaged up my inner thigh, almost meeting with the one that worked my core.

  “She even has a hole in her, where I can make love to her.” His wrist twisted, forcing his fingers deeper, rougher, and I sat forward with the pressure. Juices trickled from my core, and the slick sound of him entering me increased. My backside pressed against the thick length of him, rigid between the crack of my ass.

  “Is that…” I gasped again. It couldn’t be, but as we drew near, it became even clearer.

  We were returning to the island. Our island.

  “She wants to hear you. Tell her,” he demanded, his thumb flicking over the pearl outside my entrance, that precious, sensitive fold of skin. He circled with his thumb as his fingers slipped inside me.

  “The captain will hear,” I whispered, my fingernails digging into the skin above his kneecaps, my hips working over his length, and my center fucking his fingers.

  “Tell her,” he snapped.

  “I’m coming,” I gasped, my voice catching in the wind as I felt the orgasm barreling up my legs, racing for my thighs.

  “Louder,” he demanded. “So close, baby. Let her know.”

  With that, the orgasm detonated at my center. Spots danced before my eyes and more fluid seeped from me. I clamped my thighs to hold his fingers inside me as I screamed, “I’m coming!” My fingertips pressed into his thighs. I leaned forward a bit, raising my hips so I sat firmly over his lap. I rocked on his fingers, clenching my ass cheeks over him.

  “We,” he snarled, and he moved my hand to squeeze him over his swim shorts. “Like that,” he growled.

  “We’re coming,” I yelled as he bit my shoulder and stilled under me.

  We’re coming together, I whispered to the wind.

  15

  Tack

  She fell against me, and I enveloped her in my arms, kissing her shoulder before pressing my lips to her hair.

  “We’re almost there,” I muttered. My heart hammered in my chest. Not only was it racing from the orgasm she just gave me, but the anticipation of stepping on the island again. Carlos stopped the catamaran a short distance from the beach. A dingy would take us closer to land.

  “Is Carlos coming with us?” Juliet asked as I took her bag and then helped her enter the small craft.

  “Nope, just us.” We both remained quiet as I motored us to the shore. When she stepped out of the boat, she stared forward.

  “It looks so different.”

  A new tent had been resurrected, and tiki-torches were lit around the area. A table was set for our dinner. I’d sent a boat ahead of us. The staff was scheduled to return the following day after we left. I wanted our return to be special—romantic—but I sensed her disappointment.

  “The original tent was lost to me, along with one other trunk. I wanted to make things nicer this round.” I hesitated. “You don’t like it?”

  She turned to face me and smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Something was off.

  “It’s beautiful, it’s just not the same.” She walked up the beach and set her bag near the fire ring, newly rebuilt and stacked with wood. She sat in the sand instead of in one of the teak-wood camp chairs. Her eyes searched around her as if she expected to find something no longer present.

  “I can’t believe we’re really here,” she muttered.

  “With a little map navigation and eventually some help from Colton, I was able to find it again. I waited for you before I returned.” Colton hadn’t been willing to assist at first.

  “The island is sacred,” he had said in his Native American accent. “You
don’t go for a visit.”

  This was not a casual day-trip, though. This was the place to finish what we started. It had to be here where it all began. When I found Juliet, and explained to Colton that I wanted to bring her back, he supported the idea once he met her. Proving she did exist sealed the deal. He gave me the final coordinates after I promised him I would do nothing to harm her.

  I swiped a hand through my hair. “Now that we’re here, I don’t know what to do. Do we hike? Swim? Go visit the tree house?” The final question brought her eyes back to mine.

  “Not yet,” she muttered as her arms wrapped around her folded knees.

  “Is it bad being here?” I said, falling to my knees before her. “Did I make a mistake?” The question was hard to ask. I never imagined the island wouldn’t be as important to her as it had been to me. She told me she loved me here, and while I didn’t intend to drag her off to the cave so she’d repeat the words, I’d hoped being here would remind her of what she said. What we did.

  “It’s not bad. It’s not wrong.” Her brows rose in surprise. “It’s just strange.” She sighed. “I’m so different from the girl who came here. I wanted freedom when I arrived. I figured if I was to live alone, I’d do it some place beautiful and reserved. I also had a crime to live with and a rape to come to terms with.”

  I flipped my body to sit next to her. I hadn’t forgotten what brought her here. The same things had brought me, and I could never forget the depths of her despair over what Rick had done What I had done. She told me it haunted her, and I wondered if two years later, it still did.

  “Do you still think about it? See Rick in your head?” I swirled a hand near my ear and then let it fall to the sand.

  “Most of the time, no, but sometimes, a memory flashes or a phrase is said, and it’s like I’m thrown into the past. It comes out of nowhere, or it comes from something purposeful, like when I went to The Front Door.”

  “You went to The Front Door?” I interjected, my head twisting to look at her. Her arms remained wrapped tightly around her drawn-up knees. Her head lowered so her chin rested on her kneecap. I’d seen her curled into herself like this on a few occasions—the night of the snake attack, the day after the attack, the night of the thunderstorm. She felt miles away from me, or better yet more like years in the past.

  “I did. I went to look, I guess. I just stood there and stared at it, wondering how life could change with one night. Everything was different after that. And yet, there are other nights that changed my life again, pulling me in a different direction.” Her lips curled, but it wasn’t a smile.

  “I bought the club.” She released her legs and twisted slightly to face me. Aghast, her mouth fell open. “I bought the club and burned it to the ground. A new building exists in its place. It’s another club, as that’s the district, but it has no private, members-only floor, no hidden agenda, and no secret club initiation. It’s a legit place. I watched the building crumble myself. I vowed it would be the last business I’d destroy. After that, I’d build.”

  My arms were loosely draped around my bent legs, mimicking her original position, and it surprised me when she touched me. Her delicate hand wrapped around my forearm. In all the times we’d been together, she had rarely been the one to initiate contact like touches or kisses. It was typically me. Only once did she take advantage of me. I understood why she did it. It was vengeful lust, and I won’t deny I enjoyed it.

  In this case, her hand slipped up my arm to my shoulder. My arms released my legs, and they sprang forward. I didn’t speak. Sensing her hesitation, I let her lead. Her hand came to my shoulder and her body shifted, moving closer to mine. With my legs straightened, she climbed over them and straddled my lap. My hands came to her sides.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, her voice shaky. She leaned forward and kissed me tenderly, her mouth softly pressing to mine. She quickly shifted to tender sucks of my bottom lip before melding her lips with mine. She took her time, drawing out each connection, pulling back only slightly before pressing forward again. Her tongue licked the seam of my lips, and I opened.

  Let me in, she asked. There was no need for the question. I was open to everything from her. My hands rubbed up and down her back as her arms wrapped around my neck. She moved closer, pressing her warm center over the tightness at my shorts. Pushing against me, I lay back on the sand. Evening was falling, the sun dipping lower in the sky, but still brightness encircled us. She sat upward and tugged her tank top over her head, revealing her bikini top. Falling forward again, she returned to kissing me. My hips bucked under her and she began to roll over me, covering the length of me with a deliberate slow drag.

  “Mouse,” I muttered against her lips, but she didn’t release mine. It was tender and tempestuous. She was going to break me. She pushed at the hem of my tee, pressing it upward. I sat up, taking her with me and removed it. As she sat in my lap, she pulled the string of her bikini.

  “Mouse,” I croaked, questioning her intentions, but not wanting to stop whatever direction things were headed in. “I didn’t bring you here for this,” I said, reaching for her nearly naked back and rubbing upward over her sun-kissed skin.

  Although the top of her bikini was slipping, she wasn’t fully exposed yet.

  “You don’t want to have sex with me,” she stated, her tone hesitant, almost hurt.

  “No, baby, I want to make love to you, but when you’re ready. No pressure. I know—” I stopped abruptly. She’d reached behind her back and pulled the second string to her suit. Then she tugged the material forward.

  “Sweet Jesus,” I cursed, dipping my mouth as I cupped one breast and latched onto her. Her hips rocked forward as I lapped and sucked at the heavy globe. My teeth grazed over her nipple, and she yelped. I smiled and paid the other breast the same attention. After another minute of savoring her, she pressed me back and lay flat atop me. The moment her ripe nipples brushed my chest, I sighed. Her mouth captured the noise, kissing me again.

  I rolled her to her back and worked at untying the skirt she returned to her waist after I’d made her come on the boat. I wanted to make her come again on every surface of this island—sand, rock, water, tree. Her hand came to my short’s button.

  “It’s time for me to touch you,” she said, confidence streaming from her voice. I laid back and let her tackle my shorts, helping her press my swim trunks down with the outer layer. I lay fully exposed in the sand, but when her hand gripped my thick dick, I lost all thought of anything but her. She stroked, and she tugged, working me to be the hardest I’d ever been. My toes curled, and her thumb rubbed over my head. Moisture seeped forward, and she spread it over my tip. Then her mouth descended, covering me in the heat of her. Her cheeks caved inward, and she dragged the hollow of her mouth to my tip. My eyes rolled back in my head, and my hand came to her hair.

  “Like that, baby,” I tried to say, but the words were stuttered and rattled together as her teeth gently scraped up the ridges of my shaft before she lowered, engulfing me in the warmth of her mouth. She sucked upward again, and her hand cupped my balls.

  “F…” I couldn’t complete the word. Her tongue rolled around my length until she reached the tip. Slipping it over the slit at the top, she sucked only the head for a moment before drawing the rest of me in. My hands slipped under her armpits, and I dragged her off of me. Her mouth was covered in moisture.

  “Not like this,” I muttered, tugging the ties at the side of her string bikini.

  “Why not?” she asked, looking completely confused.

  “When I come for you, it’s going to be deep inside you.” She blinked down at me before stretching her leg over my hip.

  “Can they see us from the boat?” she asked, not bothering to look over her shoulder.

  “Fuck if I care,” I said, guiding her hips over mine. I gripped my dick and held it upright, allowing her to balance on the tip before she lowered herself over me, and we both exhaled. Burning liquid came to my eyes. She felt amazi
ng, and a string of mutterings fell from my lips.

  “So warm. So wet. So tight.” I had to close my eyes as the emotion was too intense. She lifted and lowered in a steady rhythm, her hands balanced on my chest to hold herself upright. My hips pressed upward in short, sharp bursts while she rolled over me. Opening my eyes, her tangled hair was falling loose from her ponytail, and I reached for the band, freeing the strands to tumble kinky and wild over her shoulders. Her hips increased their rhythm, but the movement was measured, as if she were dancing over me.

  I’m not fucking dancing, I’d told Garvey over and over and over again. Some spiritual ritual to bring me in tune with nature was not going to happen, but this girl wiggling her body over me, this dancing I would do every night of my life if it brought me in tune with her.

  She pushed back at her hair and looked down at me. Her eyes were a glazed violet and she looked lost in her rhythm.

  “Take what you need, baby,” I encouraged. “Take everything,” I added lower. She rolled faster, the pace harsher. Her hands rose to her own breasts. She squeezed them together, pinching her own nipples, and her head fell back. Her eyes closed.

  “Like that, baby,” I said, watching her touch herself while she rocked over me. “So like that,” I mumbled, hardly coherent. My hands twitched to join her massage, but I stared in awe instead. She was a goddess over me, an island queen. “Getting close,” I choked, knowing I couldn’t keep watching her, feeling her wrapped around me, sucking me into her, without reaching the brink soon. Too soon.

  Her hands lowered to my chest and she shifted, hammering up and down on me, dragging herself so I was in and out of her in a rush of intense friction.

  “You make me wild,” she gasped, choked and smoky sounding.

  “I want to tame you,” I said, and she slammed down on me. Her head fell forward, chin to her chest and the clenching over my dick set off the release in me. Powerful and rushed, I erupted inside her, holding her at the hip so nothing escaped. I wanted it all in her, deep in her channel, filling her with only me. She cried out, a guttural sound of relief, and one hand fisted while it rested on my chest.