by Rinelle Grey
This couldn’t go anywhere.
But he couldn’t stay away. Something about her fascinated him, even if he couldn’t quite put his finger on what exactly.
Even her hesitation and the fact that she kept her distance enticed him. Admittedly he’d rarely had to work hard to get a woman’s attention before. He’d had more than enough women interested in a holiday fling, and he’d never been looking for anything more than that.
So why did he want something more now? Why was his heart thinking of mating, especially when his head knew it couldn’t be? He was acting as foolishly as Damrian had, and he’d teased his brother mercilessly about that. Luckily Damrian wasn’t around to see, or Hayrian would be teased back just as pitilessly.
It made no sense. This was the worst possible moment for Hayrian to fall for someone, and yet, his heart didn’t seem to care about any of that. It had latched onto Audrey, and was resisting any efforts to change that.
What was it that was so different about Audrey? What was it about her that sent his heart and body wild?
Was it just that he had this urge to help her. He’d been able to sense her pain right from the first moment she’d walked off the ferry. He wanted to see her smile. To see her enjoying life. If he could achieve that in the few days she was here, then he’d be happy.
If he had a little loving along the way, more the better.
And yet, he was sure it was more than that. Because when she smiled at him, it wasn’t just satisfaction he was feeling. It wasn’t just the thrill of the challenge. This was more than that. A deeper feeling that he wasn’t quite game to examine too closely, even if he also wasn’t ready to step back from it.
But he was going to need to tread lightly. He could see that she’d be ready to run at the slightest provocation.
With that thought in mind, he kept the conversation light for the rest of their dinner. He told her some funny stories about the resort and some of the guests they’d had over time, careful to only mention couples or families. She seemed to relax a little.
When they were finished eating, he walked her back to her bungalow.
The closer they got to the room though, the more agitated she became. Her movements became jerky, and her conversation short. Hayrian stopped even trying to talk, and they walked in silence until they reached her door.
Audrey fumbled with the keycard, taking a couple of tries before she could get the door open. He heard her drawing in a deep breath, then she turned to him, and said, “Do you want to come in?” Her voice was shaky, uncertain.
Hayrian found the sound endearing. And tempting. Oh so tempting.
It wasn’t easy to force his mouth into a friendly smile and give a causal laugh. “I’d better not. I think I’m going to need an early night. Who knows what disasters will befall me tomorrow. Resort management isn’t for the faint of heart, I tell you.”
Her face fell, and her shoulders slumped.
He wanted to take it all back. To sweep her off her feet and kiss her disappointment away. Not to mention making love to her into the early hours of the morning.
She was inviting him in, why was he refusing?
But the reality was, he knew she wasn’t ready. If he went with her tonight, she’d be doing it to prove she could. Not because she wanted to.
And he wanted her to want to.
He could wait. He wasn’t just after tonight. He wanted her to still be happy about this tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that. Which meant he needed more than her wanting to. He needed her to be sure. And he could wait for that.
But there was nothing wrong with a little taste right now.
He took a step forwards, closing the distance between them.
This time, her indrawn breath was from excitement, not summoning courage. He reached out, and gently brushed her hair out of her face. She tilted her face up, her lips parting slightly, inviting him.
He stared at her for a long moment, giving her a chance to back away, but she didn’t move. In fact, she swayed closer to him.
He could smell her sweet scent, citrus mixed with ocean spray. His favourite. Or it was now.
Unable to resist any longer, he bent and touched his lips to hers, gentle as a feather.
She gave a soft gasp, her lips fluttering against his.
Heat shot through him, and every muscle in his body cried out for him to throw caution to the wind and claim her now. But he resisted. He focused on the feel of her mouth under his, the heat he could feel emanating from her body, how delicious it would be when she gave into this willingly.
He let his lips linger just for a few seconds, drinking in the taste of her, then he pulled back.
“Eight o’clock.” He reminded her
She stared at him, her expression an endearing mix of confusion and delight, then nodded. “Eight o’clock.”
When she said the words, they sounded like a promise.
Chapter 10
Audrey waited near the helipad to the north of the resort, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. No matter how much she tried to focus on the fact that she was about to fly in a helicopter and see a breathtaking view of the island, all she could think about was the fact that soon she’d be seeing Hayden again.
It didn’t matter how many doubts she had over whether or not this was a good idea, her heart and body were refusing to listen. They were both loud in their proclamation of support for Hayden and of this second date, but not a ‘date’.
He had meant that he was coming with her, right?
The memory of his lips on hers, of that light, teasing, tempting kiss set her blood racing.
He’d better be.
She was beginning to wonder though, if she’d mistaken the time. It was nearly eight now, and there was no sign of the helicopter pilot or Hayden. The helicopter, at least, was present, but she certainly couldn’t fly it herself.
She’d give him fifteen minutes, then she was leaving. She wasn’t going to hang around here all day looking silly.
She only had to wait five. Then she caught sight of Hayden jogging across the sand.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said, a little breathless. “We were missing a shipment of butter, and I had to find it before there was a breakfast riot.”
He looked cute, all puffed, his hair rumpled. Audrey couldn’t help giving him a smile. “That’s okay. You’re not the only one who’s late. We don’t have a pilot yet.”
Hayden flashed a smile. “Yes you do. I’m the pilot.”
Audrey shouldn’t have been surprised. He seemed to do everything else on the island. But she was. “You can fly a helicopter?”
“Sure,” Hayden said easily. “I’m excellent at flying.” He gave her a grin, his eyes crinkling at the corners as though she was missing a joke. Just what was he up to?
She looked at him suspiciously. “You do have a licence, don’t you?”
“Sure. I don’t have it on me though. I can take you back to my office and show you, but that will eat into our flight time.” He raised an eyebrow at her, grinning.
Feeling a little silly for even asking, of course he had a licence if he was offering to fly her, Audrey shook her head. “No, I’ll trust you.”
It was funny, saying those words. Audrey thought they’d be harder. Of course, she was only trusting him when he said he had a pilot’s licence. She did that every day with taxi drivers or doctors. It wasn’t like she was laying her heart bare in front of him. But the theory was the same, wasn’t it?
“Let’s go then,” Hayden said, gesturing to the helicopter.
He climbed in and started putting on headphones with a microphone attached. He handed her a pair. “Here, you’ll need these to hear me over the engine.” He reached across and helped her fasten her belt, the closeness only accentuating the adrenaline rush she was feeling.
Hayden didn’t seem to notice. He was focused on the complicated dash in front of him, checking things and flicking switches, a frown of concentration on his face.
Audrey decided it would be safer if she didn’t interrupt him.
Eventually, he flicked one last switch, and the engine roared to life. A few moments later, the rotors over their heads began to spin, slowly at first, then speeding up, until they were thumping the air.
“Are you ready?” Hayden said, his voice raised over the sound of the motor, even though the microphone in front of his mouth relayed the sound directly to her earphones. Without them, she wouldn’t have been able to hear him at all.
Audrey nodded. She felt like she should grip the armrests, but there weren’t any. There wasn’t even a door to the helicopter. It was open on either side with a big glass dome in front of them.
It felt far more dangerous than the jet ski had. And even more thrilling.
It wasn’t like she hadn’t flown before. She’d spent more than her fair share of time on jets, and even a few smaller, private planes, going back and forth between cities. But here she could actually see the ground they would soon be leaving. Her heart thudded in her chest as the helicopter wobbled a little, then lifted into the air.
They rose higher, level with the palm trees, then above them. They tilted to the left, and Audrey felt her heart jump into her mouth as the top of the trees rushed past. She was almost close enough to reach out and touch them.
Hayden looked over at her, a big grin of joy on his face. “Having fun?” His lips moving were out of sync with the muffled sound coming through the headphones, making the whole experience feel a little surreal.
Shouldn’t he be looking where they were going? But he just stared at her, waiting for an answer. “Yes,” Audrey shouted back. The sound outside was so loud she could only hear her own voice through the headphones. It was very strange.
But Hayden looked back out the front of the helicopter, and Audrey looked too.
They were higher now, circling around, passing over the resort. The few people Audrey could see below them, mostly resort staff going about their business, seemed small and insignificant. Then they were past the resort, leaving the buildings behind. A ribbon of golden beach stretched out in front of them, the azure ocean on the left, and deep green bush to the right. Audrey couldn’t help gasping. It was breathtaking.
With the resort behind them, there was nothing to mar the pristine coastline as they soared above it, following the beach. Audrey kept looking all around her, not wanting to miss anything.
What she really wanted to do was take pictures, but she hesitated. She knew it was silly, but she still felt very reluctant to share her photography with anyone. It had been so long since she’d done it, not only did she feel that her photos were probably no good at all, she was almost too afraid to talk of the joy just recording the beauty around her had given her yesterday.
She hung there for a moment, drinking in the beauty, torn between the fear of revealing something and the need to fill her own desire to capture the scene.
She’d said earlier that she trusted Hayden. She’d been talking about a licence then, but really, was this any different? If he made fun of her photos, of her art, then at least she’d know that she needed to distance herself from him before she got too close.
If he didn’t like her for who she was, then she was out of there. She’d already wasted too much of her life pretending to be something she wasn’t.
Still, pulling out her phone felt almost as risky as taking off in the helicopter. She glanced over at Hayden, but he was looking straight ahead, not at her. So she turned back to the view and began snapping photos.
Once she started, all the fear melted away. She was far too busy capturing every moment, every single metre of coastline, as they flew over it. This was amazing. Excitement filled her as well as an energy she hadn’t felt in a long time.
After following the beach for a while, Hayden swung inland a little, over the trees and a rocky promontory. For the first time, it occurred to Audrey to wonder where they were going. She glanced over at Hayden, who grinned at her as though enjoying her amazement.
Then the ocean was below them again, deep and blue. There was no beach here, the rocky cliffs reached all the way down to the water, waves crashing against them. Hayden turned away from the island and out over the water.
Audrey was distracted by a pod of dolphins leaping out of the waves below them as though trying to greet the helicopter. Even though she knew she was too far away for a decent photo, she took some anyway.
When she next looked up, a small island was just ahead of them. Mostly sand, it had only a clump of rocks and trees in the middle. When Audrey glanced back over towards Dragon Island, she realised they weren’t too far off the coast, although they must be quite a distance from the resort now.
Hayden flew out towards the island, hovering over the beach for a few moments. Audrey took several more photos, more than a little entranced by the idea of this miniature island all by itself out here, until the helicopter began to lower towards the beach. They were going to land.
Audrey felt a flutter of excitement as she slipped her phone back in her pocket, her photography forgotten. Even though she knew they weren’t far from the main island, this felt kind of like an adventure. Just her and Hayden, alone together on a tiny island. Suddenly, she was remembering that kiss again, feeling the warmth flowing through her.
Would he kiss her again?
Did she want him to?
Silly question, of course she wanted him to. Her whole body trembled in anticipation at the thought.
She’d decided last night that she was going to try this, whatever it was, with him. She’d even been disappointed when he hadn’t come in after dinner.
But that disappointment was gone now, in the face of this exciting adventure. This was better. Much better. A few hours out here with Hayden were far more worthy of a holiday fling than a boring resort room.
The helicopter touched down on the sand. The rotors continued to thump overhead for a few moments, then Audrey could hear the engine winding down. When it stopped, the silence was deafening.
Hayden removed his headphones, then undid his seatbelt and waved for Audrey to do the same. Then he jumped out of the helicopter and reached behind the seat for something.
Audrey climbed out a little more slowly and carefully. Her body felt a little numb and strange from the vibration from the flight. It took a little while for the feeling to dissipate.
By then, Hayden had come around the helicopter and taken her hand, a wicker basket in his other hand.
“Where did that come from?” Audrey said, staring at the basket.
Hayden grinned. “I had the buffet restaurant make something up for us, and someone dropped it off before you arrived. I thought we’d have breakfast on the beach. I hope you haven’t eaten?”
Audrey shook her head. The butterflies in her stomach hadn’t agreed with the idea of food before she’d left, though thankfully they seemed to have settled now.
They walked away from the helicopter, hand in hand, along the pristine beach. Audrey stared around in wonder. No other footsteps marred the sand, though it was littered with seashells.
“Is this part of Dragon Island? Is it yours too?” she asked curiously.
Hayden nodded. “Yes, this is part of the island. And yes, it’s owned by… my family. It’s not part of the resort though, so no one comes here. It’s the perfect place for a private getaway.” He stared at her as his voice emphasized the word ‘private’, sending a shiver up Audrey’s spine.
“But surely other people can come here by boat? Or helicopter, like you did.”
Hayden shrugged. “Technically, it’s possible, but not likely. This is the only helicopter on the island, and it seems unlikely that anyone would come from a neighbouring island. They’d be trespassing if they did. Boats mostly go the other way, there isn’t much of a beach on this side of the island. We’d see and hear them coming long before they were close enough to see us anyway.”
“That’s pretty private then,” Audrey said slowly. The idea was
delicious and enticing, but she couldn’t help feeling a little nervous. Her only way off this island was with Hayden. If she freaked out, she’d have to rely on him to get her home.
She looked at him, smiling easily at her, one eyebrow raised in inquiry, and realised that her fears were unfounded. He’d taken her on a fun adventure. Enjoying this was what she wanted. What she needed. She needed to stop seeing problems where there were none.
“Sounds magical. What did you bring for breakfast?” At first she had to force her voice to be cheery, but after the first few words, it became natural.
The sun shone down on the beach, not yet at its blazing hot, unbearable, going to be sunburnt in two minutes heat. Hayden spread out a tartan picnic rug and began to unpack the food. “I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I asked them to give us a bit of everything,” he said as he unloaded dishes.
He wasn’t joking about that. There was a huge selection. Perfect mini pastries, bowls of fruit salad, cereal and small bottles of milk, toast with jam and vegemite, stacks of pancakes with packets of maple syrup, coffee in a thermos, and orange juice in another.
Audrey stared at it wide eyed. “We can’t possibly eat all this.”
“Speak for yourself,” Hayden said with a grin, sitting cross legged opposite her on the other side of the picnic rug and reaching for a stack of pancakes. “I’m starving.”
Audrey stared at him for a moment, then laughed. She was pretty hungry too. She poured herself some orange juice and spread jam on a slice of toast.
Somehow, everything tasted so much better out here, and she found herself eating far more than she should have, but still nowhere near as much as Hayden. Audrey had no idea where he’d put it all. Audrey thought they’d had way too much food for them to even come close to eating it all, but there wasn’t much left by the time both of them finished.
“Oh dear, I don’t think I can move,” she said with a groan, leaning back on the rug.
“Aww, you’re not going to come have a swim with me?” Hayden teased.
“Shouldn’t swim on a full stomach,” Audrey reminded him. “Cramps or something.”