by Cara Adams
Seb took off his backpack, laid her swimming things down, and pulled a towel out of his backpack, which he spread out for her to sit on. Then he handed each of them a bottle of cold water.
The men sat on the grass around her, and Leo asked, “What do you do? Do you work?”
“Hell, yes. I have to support myself. Officially I’m the receptionist, but since it’s a very small company and I’ve been there five years now, I pretty much do everything in the office.”
“Who do you work for? What does the company do?”
Aria wasn’t sure how much to say. The three men escorting her were nice and kind, but really she guessed this break was just a little rest time for her before they walked somewhere else and the questions were just them being polite. She stared out over their heads at the lake and the trees, admiring how clean, fresh, and pretty everything was here and then answered. She didn’t want to be rude and appear to brush them off, but she didn’t want to answer so fully she overloaded them with information that would bore them either. So she tried to condense her work into a few brief sentences.
“I work for Steelco, which makes steel fittings for things, like window frames, other frames for buildings, some machinery parts. We’re quite small with fewer than twenty workers, so we don’t do anything particularly complicated, just items that are a standard size and standard pattern, easy to produce and transport.”
Seb nodded at her. “And your working day, what does it look like?”
“That’s the fun part. Nothing is ever the same as the day before or even the hour before. I mean, obviously I do the same things, but I never know exactly what will be next. I answer phone calls and e-mails. Drivers and couriers arrive to collect their steel and some small items we even ship out in parcel boxes through the mail. I really like meeting everyone and talking to them.”
“Does that mean you’re more a people-person rather than task oriented?” Cayden asked.
“Actually I’ve done a few of those tests. I came out right in the middle. They aren’t necessarily opposites, just different skills, and I’m happy with both. I like being with people, but I also like being organized. I hate getting to the end of the day and still having piles of paperwork not dealt with. But I wouldn’t like being alone twenty-four seven either. A little alone time is great to relax, but I’d miss the companionship of my friends and colleagues quite quickly I think.”
Cayden nodded and pointed out some trees to her, and she wondered if she could ask them what work they did. Clearly they were her guides, but she suspected that wasn’t their real jobs.
“What about you three? What work do you do?”
There was a short silence, and Aria was just about to apologize for asking the question, when Seb said, “We all work different jobs, but everyone on the island is part of the community here, so we’re all working for the whole community, not just ourselves, which is why we’re happy to spend some time with you. We don’t have a boss breathing down our necks telling us to hurry back to the office.”
“Ah, but when you do return to the office, will your desk look like mine? Buried under a mountain of items with sticky notes on them saying no one knew what to do with it so they left it for me for when I got back?”
Leo laughed. “Maybe a little. But we do all job share to a certain extent. Our manager always insists that no one person be the source of all wisdom. But some people do seem to have a little more wisdom than others.”
Aria giggled, loving the conversation and byplay between them. After a little while they stood up and moved on. She followed them around the hills to an area where she could see all the way back to the mainland and then to a view where she looked over rows of vegetable plots. Finally they walked into a tiny bay with pristine sand, piles of old, flat rocks washed smooth by the ocean, and waves lapping gently onto the beach.
She ran down the last little section of the pathway onto the sand. “This is beautiful. So clean and pure.”
“That’s the advantage of not having millions of tourists. The island can’t support huge numbers of people,” Cayden said.
“That’s right. You said the lake was your main source of fresh water. Does it ever run dry?”
“Not that I’ve heard of. But we don’t waste our resources at all. We only catch enough fish to eat, and plant the food we’ll use. I think our ancestors knew all about sustainable living before it ever became a catchcry,” Cayden said.
“That’s very wise of them. Can we go swimming here? I bought my bikini with me.”
“Is that what I’ve been carrying around all day? You could have swum naked. I packed a towel,” Seb said.
Her breath caught in her throat. “I’ll skinny dip if you all do as well. As long as you promise me there isn’t going to be someone filming us to put us up on YouTube or Instagram or SnapChat or something.”
These three men were all tall and muscular. She was sure they’d look good naked, although maybe their wives or girlfriends wouldn’t be so happy about that. But hell, they suggested skinny-dipping first. She didn’t introduce the topic.
This beach was really lovely, though. She definitely wanted to swim here.
* * * *
Seb had guessed right from the beginning that the bundle he’d been carrying around all day was Aria’s swimming gear, however he still couldn’t resist teasing her. It was weird. He’d only met her today, but already he could feel a bond toward her and felt certain she wouldn’t mind a little gentle teasing. He was right, too. She’d answered him right back, and he was plenty game enough to swim naked, or in his boxers, maybe. They’d dry on him in no time in the sunshine today.
He handed her the bundle. “Okay get changed then.”
“You need to turn your backs first—all of you.”
Leo put his hands over his eyes. “I won’t peek. Promise.”
Aria shook her long black braid over her shoulder and crossed her arms. Making a play at obedience, he turned and faced out over the ocean. He knew his brothers would as well. He sensed Leo start undressing beside him. He wished he knew if Leo would go naked or leave his underwear on. Still, he could remove his shoes and shirt while he waited. That would be a start. Cayden must have agreed because he heard the thunk of Cayden’s boots landing on the rocks.
There was a lot of rustling and then a lithe flash as Aria ran past them into the water. Damn, she was lovely. She had long, straight legs and a cute little ass barely covered by candy-pink bikini bottoms. He didn’t know what color her top was, but the strings tying it around her back were turquoise.
Seb dropped the rest of his clothing fast, leaving only his boxers on, and he followed her into the water, with Leo right behind him. The water around the island was warm, and swimming was possible for a lot longer than in many places. Besides, they’d been brought up to swim, and even in winter, the water temperature seldom bothered them much. Leo ran past him and dived shallowly into the water, swam out farther than where Aria was standing, and turned to face her. Seb looked back and saw Cayden standing on a rock watching her.
Seb shrugged and walked into the water. She was digging her toes into the sand as the gentle waves lapped over her feet. He held out his hand to her. “Come a little deeper. The water’s quite warm.”
She smiled up at him, her dark eyes sparkling in the sunshine. “It’s a lot warmer than I expected. It’s not summer anymore.”
“The Atlantic is a warm ocean. We can swim ’til October.”
“Really? I might have to move here. We can get snow by the end of October in my town.”
Seb wished she would move to the island and be their mate. But he really couldn’t say anything about that yet. Still he could encourage her in her thoughts. “It almost never snows here. I mean really, really seldom. Like maybe half a dozen times in my life.”
“Wow. That’s a statistic I like.”
She walked slowly deeper into the water, and then, in a flash, she was gone, sliding under the current and swimming fast underwater the len
gth of the tiny bay. He had two seconds of terror, wondering if she’d drowned before he realized that she was quite competent in the water. By then Leo was following her anyway, and Cayden had stepped off his rock and into the water.
Seb relaxed and enjoyed watching her, staying close but trying not to crowd her. After a while she went and sat on a rock, wringing out her braid and then unplaiting it and leaving it down to dry in the sun.
Her hair was beautiful even after being in the saltwater. It was shiny black and rippled in waves down her back and over her shoulders. Several times she started braiding it, and then undid it, and he wondered if it was just something she did or whether her hair was too wet to fix yet.
But none of it mattered. They talked and laughed and drank sodas while they sat on the rocks until it was time to return to her cottage. She pulled her clothing on over her bikini, and this time she did braid her hair properly.
Cayden led the way and took them by a roundabout route along various small paths. Seb wondered if she was smart enough to realize what Cayden was doing. It wasn’t obvious. They didn’t go around in a circle or anything that simple. But they were making the hike a lot longer than it genuinely was.
Seb guessed that it was not just to confuse her and make it difficult for her to find her way around by herself but also so that when they abducted her for her fantasy, she wouldn’t know what they were doing. They were planning to lock her in her own cave under her own cottage. That was much simpler to do than it was to take her to their own house, which had a lot of other furniture and possessions in the cave. They couldn’t put her in one of their other minor caves in case she decided to wander around and explore them. It’d be too easy for her to get lost or even stuck in one of the tiny entries that went nowhere. So it had to be in her cave, which was why they’d kept the door locked so she hadn’t seen it at all.
Damn, he couldn’t wait until they collected her and enacted her fantasy. He was so glad, so very, very glad that she hadn’t changed her mind about wanting her fantasy. And he was the lucky man to help her play it. Damn, he was fortunate.
When they returned her to her cottage she smiled at them all. “Thank you for a wonderful day. I really enjoyed seeing everything. You’re all amazingly good company. What time should I be ready to be taken to the restaurant for dinner?”
Seb was more than happy to let Cayden answer that question.
“I don’t know what time the staff have been told. It’s not quite six yet. I’d suggest you be ready by seven, but they might not arrive until seven thirty.”
Seb liked how Cayden had made it all disassociated from them, as if it was all about someone else. That was a good answer.
“Thank you.”
They shut the door behind her and walked silently back to their own house across the island. They’d done a fair bit of walking already today, but they were used to it. Walking was the only way of getting around here, apart from by boat.
* * * *
Leo raced downstairs and used the basement shower. He knew his brothers would probably use the one on the level with their bedrooms, and it’d be faster to shower down here than to wait in line for the large one. He had no time to waste. He needed to be dressed and ready to move on bringing Aria’s fantasy to life.
His dick grew every time he remembered the boxes she’d checked on her contract. He’d been terrified she’d change her mind and go home, or even just change her mind about some of the items she’d chosen. But she hadn’t. She was here, and she was theirs for the week. They’d done their very best to make her feel welcome and at home on the island today, and he knew he’d really liked getting to know her.
Of course, he wouldn’t really know her until he saw her in the dungeon and learned her likes and dislikes. But she was smart and pretty and had a sense of humor, and all those things made her very desirable indeed.
Leo dressed in black jeans, black boots, and a tight black sweater. He laid out thin black gloves and a black hood on his bed. He really needed to disguise his voice as well. He stood and thought for a moment and then rummaged through a box of items that he’d kept on the grounds that they “might come in useful one day.” Well, today was the day. He finally found some cheek pads. They were part of a disguise designed to make a person’s face look fatter. But they also altered the way the person wearing them spoke, making their voice sound different, which was what he wanted. He added a bandana to put over his mouth to muffle his voice even more, and he was done.
He walked down into the kitchen and saw Cayden, showered and also dressed in black, putting a pizza in the microwave. Leo opened the refrigerator and pulled out iceberg lettuce, some tomatoes, and peppers, decided they’d do for salad, and then collected plates and cutlery. Cayden handed him the hot coffee and mugs, and he set them on the table as well, putting the coffeepot on a thick magazine they used instead of a placemat. Hmm, once they had a mate they’d need to stop their bachelor ways. But it’d be worth it to have the luscious Aria in their lives.
“Hurry up, Seb. The pizza will be cold,” Leo yelled as soon as the microwave oven beeped.
Seb raced out of his room, wearing nothing but a towel, and sat at the table at the same moment Cayden carried the pizza across to the table.
“Liar,” Seb said.
But Leo knew he wasn’t angry. They were all eager to talk through the next few hours. Nothing was more important than bringing Aria’s fantasy to life in a way that would send her racing into their arms for their love and affection—and maybe their punishment and games as well.
For the next half hour, they talked their way through every possible thing that might happen with Aria’s scene. Once Leo finished eating his pizza he chewed pieces of lettuce as he worried about every tiny thing that might derail their project. He knew most of them were unlikely, but he felt more comfortable once he’d planned a way to respond to any scenario he could imagine.
Finally Cayden held up his hand. “Enough, Leo. Harness your paranoia. It’s organized. Go and get dressed, Seb. We’ll be ready to leave in ten minutes.
At last it was time. Now maybe all his dreams would finally come true.
He looked across the room at Cayden, but Cayden was staring at his cell phone. Why was he doing that? There was no cell phone reception in their house. They had to go to the office to send e-mails or make calls. Once again he began to worry. Something must have gone wrong. There was no other possibility.
Cayden looked at him and must have read his mind. “There’s a hurricane heading our way but it’s not very likely to bother us. Nevertheless the Alpha is going to keep in contact with us.”
“Is he going to send out regular updates?” asked Leo, wondering what the fuck they were going to do now.
“He’ll beep me if the hurricane is upgraded. He’s lifting the telecommunications shield for one minute each hour starting at six thirty-one and moving in five-minute increments.”
Leo nodded. The Alpha never did anything obvious, which was why he’d picked an odd number. That was for the protection of them all. “A hurricane? Fucking hell.”
Seb was back pulling a sweater over his head. “Relax, little bro. It’ll go away or diminish to rain. They always do.”
But they didn’t always go away, and Seb knew it. There’d been a hurricane when they were teenagers. No one had been killed, but it wasn’t an experience Leo wanted to repeat.
“So is the fantasy still on? What if…”
“Of course, it’s still on. Aria is only here for a week, and we can’t wait until it stops raining, or starts raining,” Cayden said.
But Leo was no longer excited. He had too many things to worry about. What if the hurricane did come? What if Aria was hurt?
Chapter Three
Aria had showered and shampooed and conditioned her hair. There was no hair dryer in her room, which surprised her. Once again it was something she hadn’t brought with her in the interests of fitting everything into a single small piece of luggage. Still, the evenin
g wasn’t cold, and after she toweled her hair dry, she brushed it and left it down to finish drying while she chose a dress and sandals to wear to dinner and got out her only jacket as well for if the evening did get cool.
It wasn’t quite seven yet, so she sat on the side of the bed and turned the TV on. Channel after channel the TV was either blank or filled with white static. The brochure about the Caves of Correction had said that telecommunications here weren’t fantastic, and judging by the TV reception and the fact that she’d never yet had a signal for her cell phone, they weren’t exaggerating.
After flicking through a dozen channels with no result she turned the TV off again and began braiding her hair. It was what she always did when she had nothing to do. Her fingers could braid by themselves as her mind wandered through her thoughts. She didn’t have any idea about what sort of meal she’d be eating tonight, but the fish had been delicious so she wasn’t concerned about what might be on offer. She was more interested in thinking about catching up with Piper, Kenz, and Maddy and hearing what they had been doing. Not that she planned to ask which boxes they’d requested on their contracts. She knew roughly what they wanted. They all wanted to try out BDSM, but any more detail than that would be prying, although if they wanted to tell her, she was as sure as hell willing to listen.
She crossed the two braids she’d made over at the back of her head, wound them around her crown in a sort of coronet, tucked the ends under the braid itself, and pinned them there.
Now she had nothing to do.
She leaned over and picked up the remote control again, sighing. “I hope I don’t have to wait until seven thirty. I’m actually quite hungry.” Likely that was from all the walking she’d done today.