by Lucy Wild
WRECKED
LUCY WILD
Contents
ONE - JOY
TWO - RICH
THREE - JOY
FOUR - RICH
FIVE - JOY
SIX - RICH
SEVEN - JOY
EIGHT - RICH
NINE - JOY
TEN - RICH
ELEVEN - JOY
EPILOGUE - RICH
ONE - ISOBEL
TWO - ASH
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I fell out of my boat and into his arms
JoyI almost drowned when my kayak capsized, sending me plunging into the icy cold water. It was worth it when a handsome stranger rescued me, especially when I find out how badly he wants me.
The way he looks at me, the hunger in his eyes when we sit together on his island, my body is melting with desire for him- but does he just want a quick fling?
Rich: I didn't have a choice when I saw her drowning. I had to rescue her. Now she's here, I'm not letting her go any time soon. I'll do whatever it takes to make her mine.
But will she still want me when she learns the truth about who I really am?
© Copyright 2017 Lucy Wild
All characters in this book exist only in the imagination of the author and bear no relation to anyone with the same name or names. They are not inspired by any individual and all incidents are pure invention.
All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part. Excepting in the case of brief quotations in articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or distributed without the express permission of the author.
This book is intended for mature audiences and may contain explicit language and scenes which some readers may find disturbing.
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ONE - JOY
IT WAS JUST ME and the water. I held the oar loose, letting the tide nudge the kayak along, enjoying cutting through the deep blue, the ocean my friend, buffeting me slowly along the coast. I never saw the wave coming.
It was my first time kayaking along the seashore at Amble. I'd spent months on the river and naively assumed that meant I'd be fine setting out to sea for the first time. I was wrong.
It all went smoothly enough at first. I had parked the car up at the end of the road, beside a rusty old camper van and a mountain bike, both next to the steel barrier that barred access for vehicles. Drive any further and you'd be in the sea.
I stood by the barrier, looking down at the golden sand and the sparkling light that played across the azure blue ocean. The waves were almost non existent, the wind barely enough to make the dune grass rustle at my feet. It was a perfect day for my first attempt.
I unloaded the kayak from the top of the car and hefted it onto my shoulder. Once I'd got that down to the shoreline, I returned for my bag. Inside was my phone, purse, car key, and emergency flare, not that I thought I'd need it on a day so calm.
My plan was to follow the shoreline between the mainland and Coquet Island, situated about a mile off the coast. From where I stood on the beach, I could see the island. It was barely a quarter of a mile long. There was a lighthouse with someone just visible walking out of it. Next to that was a clump of trees and a few walls. Not much to describe but beautiful to look at. I'd long said this would be my first destination when I felt brave enough to head out to sea.
I got cocky. That was why it went wrong. Afterwards, as I shivered from head to foot and tried not to pass out from the blow to my head, I ran over what had happened, the parts I could remember anyway. I shouldn't have gone so far from the shore on my first time out to sea, I shouldn't have ignored the growing wind, I should have told someone where I was going. But it had all been a bit spur of the moment.
I'd managed to land myself a new job and it was likely to be pretty full on when it began. I knew this could be my last chance for a while and with the summer coming to an end, the weather was only likely to get worse. I had reasoned that if I didn't get out to sea at least once before starting on my epic career as a conservation trust admin assistant, I might not get chance until next summer and that seemed a very long time away.
So Saturday morning, before anyone was up in my house, I was loading the car to make the drive towards Amble. By the time I got there, the sun was already bright, not a cloud in the sky. I felt blessed. I felt lucky to live in such a beautiful area. There wasn't another soul to be seen. Whoever owned the camper van and bike were presumably off doing their own thing, same as me.
The water was cold but I soon got used to it, pushing off away from the beach before turning south west, easing my way deeper out. I had the entire day free so there was no rush. I had two housemates but they were both night owls so they probably wouldn't even notice I'd gone until the afternoon. I'd left a note for them, just in case.
The lighthouse looked amazing with the sun behind it and I couldn't help but wonder if anyone still lived there. I knew that most of them had been automated, run from some central office somewhere. It seemed a shame to me, there was a romance about the place and I felt sad that it might be left empty and unloved. At least one person was there that morning though, heading down towards the tiny beach where a motor boat had been tied up to a jetty. I gave them a little wave but they didn't seem to notice me.
Once I'd been rowing for a few minutes, the island didn't seem as far away and I took that as a sign that the tide was pushing me away from the shore and towards Coquet. I made the stupid decision to try and reach the bay. Maybe the figure I'd seen would let me have a nosy inside if I was nice enough about it.
I didn't expect the waves to build, the wind funnelling down the side of the island and rocking my little kayak and me. I tried to turn but managed to get caught on the side of a wave. As I twisted away from it, I made the mistake of glancing over at the island, something had caught my eye and I lost concentration. I rocked hard over another wave, almost tipping but managing to right myself.
I caught a glimpse of someone on the shore waving at me. They were shouting something but I was too far away to make out what it was. I shifted my oar to try and hit the next wave full on but I wasn't fast enough. I went over.
I'd done plenty of Eskimo rolls in my time, I knew how to right myself. I didn't panic, at least at first.
But as I tipped, just at the point where I was ready to spin back around and emerge into the air, my head slammed into a rock jutting upwards from the sea bed. Either it was shallower than I'd thought or I was running too close to the island. I was wearing a helmet but the blow was still enough to turn my entire world dark. The last thing I saw before I passed out was a quizzical looking crab scuttling away down the side of the rock, then I saw nothing at all.
TWO - RICH
I DON'T LIKE TO think about what might have happened if I hadn't gone for a swim. If I hadn't needed to be on Coquet that morning. So many ifs. None of them to the point. I was there and that meant I saw her go under.
I was out there because there was a glitch in the computer that ran the main light. As I was based in Amble, it made sense to call me. I was out there last night as soon as the news reached me, headlight of the boat illuminating the way as I sailed across from the mainland a little after three in the morning. It felt odd seeing the island without the reassuring sweep of the light passing over the waves, only the bulb on the front of my boat keeping me from losing my way in the dark.
I got to work straight away, hoping to get things back online quickly. It wasn't to be and I had to message Trinity House to warn them this was a bigger job that they'd thought.
They sent out warnings to the coastguard and to any boats in the area while I got to work, trying to fix the battered old processors that ran the place. The w
hole thing needed upgrading of course but budgets being what they were, it wasn't likely to happen until the system died completely.
I'd been working on the problem so long, the sun came up without me even noticing and an hour after that, I was able to step away, let the rebooting do its thing. I was exhausted, having had to concentrate solidly for so long.
I knew from experience I had an hour to wait. I decided to have a gentle swim to pass the time, though I got distracted by bird watching on my way out of the door.
There were huge colonies of puffins and gulls on the island, a consequence of me being the only person to set foot on there. It was pretty relaxing to watch them from time to time, each of them having their own little idiosyncrasies if you observed long enough.
An hour to go and then I could get back to it. Once the reboot was done, fingers crossed the system would be up and running again. One night without the light was one night too many, no one would be happy if the problem continued into a second.
I'd have to stay there and run the thing manually if that was the case and I had enough of a backlog of things to be doing. Staying much longer would make my life a hell of a lot more difficult.
Better that than anyone getting into trouble in the water though. I'd never have guessed it wouldn't be the dark that would cause a shipwreck, it was in the glorious morning air.
I first saw her through the binoculars. I was looking out at the puffins on the edge of the island, standing by the kitchen window in the lighthouse, peering out through the glass as they waddled about over by the cliff edge.
I happened to look her way, seeing her setting off from the shore. I hadn't seen her kayaking here before and I'd grown used to seeing the regulars. Did she know about the current? I hoped so.
That question was replaced by another as I looked closer. Did she know how beautiful she looked? I felt something stirring inside me, something I hadn't felt for a long time. I ignored it, after all, it wasn't like I was ever going to actually meet her in person. I put the binoculars down, refusing to watch her any longer, it was feeling too much like I was spying on her.
Leaving the computer to do its thing, I walked out and looked across the bay. She was closer, getting too close to the sandbar in fact.
It was a tricky bit of water if you didn't know what you were doing. The beach sloped down into deep water from the mainland but then about two hundred yards from the island there was a sudden rise, a sandbar which at its edge was topped by rocks. I'd scraped the boat on it a couple of times in my youth before getting to grips with its location and she was heading straight for it.
I was at the edge of the jetty when she reached it. I shouted, waving in her direction, doing my best to warn her. She looked my way but she didn't seem to respond.
Then she went over. A couple of the big waves caught her and the kayak just tipped.
I thought she'd right herself but she didn't. Her boat stayed upside down. Why wasn't her life jacket bringing her back to the surface?
I didn't wait any longer. I had to make a spilt second decision. Untie the boat and get it started or swim out to her? It was near enough for swimming to be the better option. By the time I got the engine on the go, she'd have long drowned.
I kicked off my boots, throwing my jumper to one side as I leapt off the jetty. I swam hard, ignoring the cold of the water, getting to the kayak in under a minute. I was sure it was too long though. She couldn't have survived.
I took a deep breath before diving down, I saw the problem at once, the strap of her helmet had caught on the rock. Her eyes were closed and she was rocking back and forth in place, her arms floating free.
I got my finger to the strap, tugging it free away, shoving her upwards, the life jacket doing the rest of the work. She shot towards the blue, leaving me to follow. Another second and she was up. I surfaced beside her, looking for her oar. It was nowhere to be seen.
It wasn't easy getting her to shore and I kept picturing the seconds slipping away. "Stay with me," I shouted, hoping I wasn't too late. I had to kick hard, working against the waves until I was in the relative shelter of the bay. I was worn out but I couldn't stop yet, I had to reach either the jetty or the shoreline. I aimed for the jetty but the tide pushed me off to the side. By the time I could stand in the shallows, I was exhausted but I had more to do. She was slumped to one side in the kayak. I was sure she was dead.
THREE - JOY
I WOKE UP TO a man kissing me. In the normal run of things, that might be a pleasant way to end a deep sleep. It had been a long time since it had happened, being woken with a kiss. Two things prevented me from enjoying it. One, I had no idea who the man was who was kissing me. Two, I had a lungful of water that came spurting out of my throat an instant later and sprayed all over his face.
"Get off me," I tried to say, pushing his arms away. I was being attacked. He'd kidnapped me and I was being attacked. I fought him off, shoving at his hands as he tried to get hold of me.
I blinked, the sky fading as I lost consciousness again. I felt myself coughing and heard a deep voice saying something but I couldn't figure out the words, it was too hard. Then there was nothing for I don't know how long.
I woke up a second time to find myself floating. No, not floating. I was being carried. That was it.
I looked up. It was the same man. He was carrying me across the grass. Where was he taking me?
"What's going on?" I asked, surprised by how weak my voice sounded.
"Don't try to talk," he replied, looking down at me. I was blown away by how rugged he was. When he turned his eyes down to me, it was like being noticed by a God. He didn't seem to struggle with the weight of me at all, though his features were set hard as he kicked open a door and then I was out of the open air.
"Sit there," he said. "I'll get the fire going. It'll be faster than the heating."
I was wearing a life jacket. Why was I wearing a life jacket? Where was I?
I watched him go before my eyes closed again. It came back to me slowly as I lay there shivering, my head slumping down on the sofa.
I had been kayaking. In a flash, I was in the water again, my head once more catching on the rock. I'd come to on the beach. I could feel the sand under my fingers. What had happened there? He'd given me the kiss of life. That was it. That would explain why I spat water into his face. But what had I done? Something bad?
I'd pushed him away. I'd thought he was attacking me. Then nothing, then carried into here. Where was here? It was the lighthouse. I was on Coquet island and he had to be the man I'd seen waving on the shore.
He reappeared in the doorway a second later with a bundle of kindling. Shoving it into the fireplace, he set it alight swiftly, confidently. He'd clearly done it many times in his life.
When he turned around to face me, I was again taken by how good he looked. He pulled off his top as he faced me. "Soaking wet," he explained, slipping his socks off a second later. "So are you."
I couldn't speak. I was staring at the broad muscles on his chest, those wide shoulders, the thick arms of his, the ones that had carried me out of the water. "You saved my life," I muttered. "Thank you."
"Buy me a coffee sometime," he replied. "Now we need to get you into some dry clothes. You were in the water too long."
My wetsuit was great at keeping me warm when I was in the water but sitting there dripping on his sofa, I realised just how cold I was. My teeth had begun chattering and I hadn't even noticed. I reached behind me for the zip but my fingers wouldn't work.
"Do you need a hand?" he asked, walking over.
"Have you got anything for me to change into?" I asked, trying not to look at the top of his wet jeans as the weight of them tugged them towards his hips. Suddenly I felt shaky and not because of the cold. I knew what was inside there. I could picture it, as big as he was, as hard as he clearly was. I felt as if he were towering over me, like he could toss me up into the air or over his shoulder and I wouldn't be able to do anything about it.
"There might be something in one of the lockers. If not I've got a change on the boat you can have."
He left the room and a second later I heard the clang of a metal door opening. He came back in carrying a bright orange boiler suit. "It's this or a tea towel," he said as he saw my expression.
"Could you give me a second?" I asked, taking the boiler suit from him.
"Sure, I'll be out here," he replied, leaving the room once again.
I tried my best to get the wetsuit off but my arms were too weak, my fingers refusing to respond. "All right in there?" he shouted as I swore to myself.
"I need help," I admitted.
He pushed the door open and I gasped. He had taken his jeans off and was only wearing a pair of black boxer shorts. They were soaked to his skin, giving me a perfect outline of his cock. My insides tingled at the sight.
"Come on," he said, walking over as I forced myself to look away from his crotch. "Let's get you changed."
He stood me up and I faced the fire, not that it was warm yet. I felt his hands on the back of my neck and I almost melted into the floor. Then he slid my wetsuit from my shoulders.
FOUR - RICH
My INTENTIONS WERE HONORABLE, at least at first. I was only thinking about getting out of my wet things and doing the same for her.
When I'd pressed my lips to hers and breathed air into her lungs, I didn't expect it to do any good. I thought she was too far gone. But she surprised me. She was a fighter. That much was clear from the strength of her shove when she tried to push me off her the second she regained consciousness.