by Lili Valente
“I have sunscreen,” he said, amused by her feigned concern. “But the first part of the trail is in the shade. We shouldn’t need it until later.”
Harley nodded, not missing a beat as she slung her pack on her back and bounced lightly on her toes. “All right. I’m ready whenever you are.”
Her grin was a thing of beauty he couldn’t wait to see shrivel as soon as she realized this was no stroll along the beach he had planned, but a grueling ten mile round-trip hike up and down the side of a mountain. Considering she was probably in worse shape now than she’d been six years ago, they would be lucky to make it back to the property before sundown.
But he’d brought a flashlight, too. He was prepared and every bit as eager as Harley to start their day.
“After you.” He opened the door for her and followed her out into the sunny afternoon. “The trail head is at the back of the property. On the other side of the orange grove.”
Harley sucked in a deep breath and titled her face to the sun as they crossed the wide lawn. “Thank you for this.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, unable to keep from admiring how beautiful she was with the sun catching the red in her dark braid and a look of such naked pleasure on her face. “I hope you’ll still be thanking me by the time we get back to the house for dinner.”
She shot him a sideways glance. “Me, too.” She bit her lip, but continued after a moment, “I hope it’s alright that I haven’t been calling you sir. I figured that was only for the bedroom, but…”
“It’s fine,” he said. “But my given name is still off limits. First names are for equals and that’s not something we’ll ever be.”
“Of course.” She nodded and her shoulders wilted, but after a moment her spirits seemed to lift again. As they circled around a fat palm and made their way through the rows of orange trees, the spring returned to her step. But then he supposed it was hard to take anything too seriously on an afternoon like this one, even revenge or captivity.
The smell of flowers and salt water mingled in the air and the sea breeze kept the cloudless day from feeling too warm. The garden was humming with life and exploding with color and when they reached the trailhead the forest seemed to welcome them in with open arms. The feathery leaves of the eucalyptus trees shielded them from the sun and the cool mud beneath their feet smelled pleasantly of earth and the spicy, fermenting scent of plants breaking down to become part of the soil.
For the first half-mile, Jackson shot regular glances Harley’s way, waiting for her peaceful expression to grow strained. But by the time they started up the first incline—a slow but steady gain up the mountainside that granted peek-a-boo glimpses of the waves crashing on the shore below—he was getting lost in the comforting rhythm of one foot in front of the other.
Whether it was jogging in formation during training drills in the Marines or his daily run each morning, Jackson’s mind was never more at peace than at moments like these, when the motion of the body became a soothing meditation, a way to rise above the demons that haunted him. Even before Harley, there had been darkness in his life and a deep surety that he would never feel at home in the world. His father had been a cold, merciless man and his mother far more concerned with her position in society than her husband or only son.
Neither of his parents seemed to consider love or emotion a valuable part of human life. From a young age, Jackson had been plagued by the certainty that there was something deeply flawed within him. He felt too much, too deeply, too often.
He’d been shattered when his dog Petra died when he was seven, so grief-stricken his mother had ordered him to stay in his room until he could stop disturbing the peace with his wailing. He’d spent nearly a week in his room, missing school and having his meals brought to him on a tray by the housekeeper, learning the hard lesson that he’d better keep his pain to himself if he expected to be allowed contact with the outside world.
There had been other hard lessons learned throughout the years, but none as cruel and final as the one Harley had taught him. She had cured him of his fatal flaw, his over-abundance of heart.
If his father could see the cold bastard he was today, he would be pleased.
He will be pleased, when you deliver Harley to his front door and she confesses the truth.
And then you will tell Ian Hawke to go fuck himself and prove just how well you’ve learned your lessons.
Usually thoughts of that final confrontation with his father would send the storm clouds rushing in to darken his thoughts, but the steady sound of his footfalls and the soothing in and out of his breath as the trail grew steeper kept him grounded. His savage beast was so soothed by the walk through the jungle and the stunning view that he and Harley had reached the second mile marker before he regained the presence of mind to realize his companion wasn’t complaining.
In fact, she seemed as Zenned out by the hike as he was. Sweat dampened her hairline and beaded between her breasts, but her lips were curved in an absent-minded smile and her breath remained strong and even. And when they stopped at a lookout to soak in the increasingly dramatic view of the sea, she threw her arms open and sighed happily as if she were embracing the world and everything in it.
“Enjoying yourself?” Jackson asked, irritation creeping in to disturb his calm as he reached into Harley’s pack for a bottle of water.
“Immensely,” she chirped. “Incredibly immensely.”
“You’re in better shape than you used to be.”
“Thanks. I try to hike or swim every day at home,” she said, grinning up at him as he took a drink of the cool water. “It helps clear my head.”
Wonderful, Jackson thought sourly, but his tone was carefully neutral when he said, “So you’ve discovered a love of exercise as well as an appreciation for food since we saw each other last.”
Harley’s happy expression fell, her brows furrowing as she crossed her arms at her chest. “If that’s a crack about the weight I’ve gained, I don’t appreciate it. I had enough of starving myself during high school and college. I’m healthy, happy the way I am, and it’s ridiculous to think a woman only deserves to feel beautiful if she’s a size zero.”
“I agree,” he said, not willing to stoop to petty insults in his quest to break her. “I like you better this way. Your body is stunning.”
She blinked in surprise, her frown giving way to a pink flush that spread across her cheeks. “Well…thank you. I, um…” She glanced down at her feet as she tucked her hands into the back pockets of her shorts. “I don’t know how to act when you’re being nice.”
“I’m not being nice, I’m being truthful,” he said, but her words did give him something to think about. She could be faking this awkward moment, but he didn’t think so. It seemed like she really was caught off guard by his honesty. And if that was the case, this day might not have to end in failure after all, not if he had the courage to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
“All right,” she said, lifting uncertain eyes to meet his. “Then I appreciate your honesty.”
He nodded before holding the half empty water bottle up between them. “A drink before we continue? It’s another three miles to the top.”
“Yes. Thank you.” She took the bottle hesitantly, holding his gaze as she took several long swallows.
The way her throat worked as she drank was sexy as hell and part of him wanted nothing more than to tug her shorts down around her ankles and have her against the nearest tree. To show her just how much he appreciated all the tempting new curves she’d developed.
But sex wasn’t part of today’s agenda. Not in his original plan and not in this new direction he had decided to take. He couldn’t afford to have his focus clouded by the increasingly explosive chemistry between them.
Sex had served its purpose. Her defenses were weakening. He could read it in the glances she cast his way as they started up the mountain, feel it in the way she swayed closer to his side than she had during the first leg
of their journey.
It made him wonder if she’d truly been faking her feelings for him all those years ago. Maybe she had felt something, but it simply hadn’t been strong enough to compete with her driving need to destroy him. Maybe love and hate could co-exist within the same body at the same moment.
But hate would always win out in the end. He knew that the way he knew that the sun would set behind the mountain tonight and that Harley would end her day much less happily than she’d begun it.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Hannah
Something was changing between her and Jackson.
Hannah wasn’t sure what it was, only that the air seemed easier to breathe after their talk at the lookout. The anger that had been his constant companion since they arrived on the island seemed to drift away in the sweet breeze threading through the trees and the silence that fell between them became a shared thing, not a door slammed in her face.
When she cast furtive glances his way, she found his features soft and relaxed. He looked younger, freer than he had since the moment he removed her blindfold, and so beautiful it was enough to break her heart. This was the man she remembered, a man whose sharply angled face and dark eyes were softened by intelligence and thoughtfulness, a man who could be scary but never would be because he knew right from wrong.
She knew it was lunacy to believe a shared love of relaxing walks through the woods and her newer, fuller figure had changed Jackson’s plans or her fate. But her gut practically sang with assuredness that something was different and things were going to be better between her and Jackson from here on out. He’d seen something in her, something that he could respect mingled in with all the things he hated.
It didn’t mean the hard times were over, but it was a start, enough to make her wish this hike would last forever and they never had to go back to the warped world of the bedroom at the end of the hall.
Liar. You like that world and everything he’s done to you in it.
Hannah wrinkled her nose. It was true, she did like what she and Jackson did together in bed, but it would be nice to know that when the games were over she could spend the rest of the night with this man, a person who didn’t seem to resent the fact that she was allowed to draw breath.
They reached the summit at a little after two o’clock and spread out the picnic Eva had packed for them on a large flat rock, staring out at the jagged edge of the coastline far below as they unwrapped their toasted cheese, basil, and tomato sandwiches.
“It’s nice not to have to worry about snakes, isn’t it?” Hannah said, watching Jackson’s powerful jaw work as he took his first bite, finding it fascinating to see him doing something as normal as eating a sandwich.
Maybe the man was human, after all.
“When we first moved to the islands,” she continued, “I was always worried about running into snakes sunning themselves on rocks, until I learned there aren’t any snakes here. Or poisonous spiders.”
Jackson reached into his pack, pulling out a container filled with freshly cut vegetables and some sort of dip in a separate compartment. “So I’m the only predator you have to worry about up here, then?”
“I guess so,” she said, the teasing note in his voice making it clear he was kidding. Besides, she wouldn’t mind being preyed upon right now. It had been far too long since she’d felt his hands on her, and she was curious to learn if this new, easier feeling between them would follow them into the bedroom.
Curious, and a little anxious.
If fear were eliminated from the equation when they were skin to skin, it would be all too easy for another powerful emotion to sweep in and take its place. But she knew better than to think that any affection she felt for Jackson would ever be returned. He would never care about her and anything she imagined she felt for him was the result of a psychiatric disorder.
Better to keep him talking and enjoy the respite from their kinky sexual games as long as possible.
“Can I ask you a question?” she asked, shifting to face him instead of the stunning view. But Jackson was every bit as captivating, especially when he met her gaze with an unguarded look.
“You can,” he said. “But don’t ask if you don’t want an honest answer, princess.”
“It’s not a serious question,” she assured him, not wanting to mar the peace of the afternoon. “Well, maybe a little serious.” She bit her thumb, second-guessing herself now that the words were on the tip of her tongue.
“Spit it out,” he said, nudging her boot with his. “I won’t bite. Not until we’re back at the house, anyway.”
The thought made an unhealthy wave of longing sizzle across her skin and she was suddenly shy about the nature of her question, but she pushed on anyway. “I was just wondering when you knew you were Dominant?” she asked, keeping her eyes on her sandwich. “Were you always that way or was it something someone taught you to enjoy?”
He hummed thoughtfully beneath his breath as he took another bite of his sandwich. She glanced over to find him gazing out at the sea, seeming to seriously consider her question.
“A little of both I guess,” he finally said. “Control was always important in my family. I learned how valuable it was to possess and costly to lose at a young age. But I think the first time I realized I was turned on by it was when I used to play jewel thief with the little girl who lived next door. She would pretend to be a cat burglar and I was an American spy working for the CIA.”
He smiled softly to himself. “There was nothing more exciting than catching her with a sack of her mother’s jewelry and tying her to a tree.”
The unexpected confession made her laugh. “That’s cute. A little twisted, but cute.”
“There was nothing twisted about it,” he said, smile widening. “Laney enjoyed it. I could tell. Even back then.”
His words made Hannah’s thoughts turn back to the night she’d awoken with her arms tied above her head and Jackson hovering over her in the darkness, smelling like rain, sex, and temptation. The memory made her nipples tighten and a flush of arousal sweep through her.
“I bet you could,” she murmured, reaching for the chilled bottle of guava juice, hoping it would cool her off.
“How about you?” he asked. “Did you ever live out those submissive fantasies of yours with anyone else?”
She swallowed the juice, grateful for the extra moment to think. She didn’t know how Harley would have answered that—whether she had lovers before Jackson who were Dominant or not—but she figured she was safer sticking to her own truth. “No. There hasn’t been anyone since we moved. At least, nothing serious. I dated a couple of men a few years ago, but I’ve been too busy for that kind of thing.”
“Too busy for a fuck buddy?” He lifted one brow. “I find that hard to believe.”
“It’s the truth,” she said. “Seems like we’re both into honesty today.”
He met her gaze and something flickered behind his eyes.
“What are you thinking?” she whispered, even though she knew she shouldn’t push. She shouldn’t crave the intimacy of knowing his thoughts any more than she should crave his touch. He was the enemy, but it was hard to remember that on such a seemingly normal afternoon, when she felt more like she was on a first date than enjoying a brief break in her captivity.
“I am very interested in honesty today,” he said, his voice rough with an emotion she couldn’t decipher. But it wasn’t anger and whatever he was feeling made it impossible to pull her eyes away from his. “But this isn’t the place for it. We should finish up and start back soon so we’ll have time to clean up before dinner. The cook is making something special.”
“Her name’s Eva,” Hannah whispered, feeling it needed to be said. Names were important. Names helped strangers become friends.
If only she could tell Jackson her real name.
She wondered what would happen, if maybe he would understand why she’d lied…
“I know,” Jackson said, leaning closer. �
��But she wasn’t supposed to tell you her name. She wasn’t supposed to talk to you at all.”
Fear whispered through Hannah’s chest. “She was just being polite. She didn’t say anything else, except that she didn’t speak English. Please, forget I said anything. I don’t want to get her in trouble.”
Jackson reached up, grabbing the back of her braid and giving a gentle tug, forcing her to tilt her head back, bringing her lips closer to his. “If I didn’t know better I would think you cared.”
“I do care,” she said, heart racing as Jackson’s mouth moved closer and the spicy, masculine smell of him swept through her head.
“Maybe,” he murmured. “Maybe you do.”
Hannah’s pulse stuttered and her lips burned. She was so certain he was going to kiss her—and so eager for the feel of his tongue stroking against hers—that when he suddenly pulled away her fluttering heart plummeted into her stomach, making it clench.
“You should eat,” he said, motioning toward the lunch forgotten in her lap. “I don’t want you giving out halfway down the mountain.”
She reached for her sandwich with an unsteady hand. “It would take more than a missed meal. I’m tougher than I look.”
“That’s one thing I’ve never doubted,” he said, the mixture of frustration and admiration in his voice making her unsure how to respond.
So she said nothing. She turned her attention to finishing her sandwich and juice and watching the waves curl into the rocks far below.
Silence fell between them once again, but it wasn’t the same as the comfortable silence they’d enjoyed before.
This silence was electrified, simmering with potential. Something had been set in motion, something was going to happen that would change both of their fates. Hannah wasn’t sure what it was, but she sensed it wouldn’t be long before she found out. This might not be the place for honesty, but they would find that place soon and then truths would come out.
Maybe the entire truth.
Slowly but surely, being hated by the man next to her was becoming as unbearable as the thought of her and Sibyl ending up on the streets. There was always a chance that with a mixture of hard work and a little luck that she could claw her way to a better life for her tiny family of two.