“Technically, yes.”
Pippa’s eyes widened. “You mean...we’ll have turtle babies?” Her teeth shone in the gloom. “When? When will they be born?”
“Technically, they won’t be born. They’ll hatch.”
“Okay, hatch. When?”
I looked at Galloway. “Any idea?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Nope.”
I didn’t have a clue. I had no idea what the gestation period was for a turtle egg.
Pippa waved her question away in favour of a much more important one. “Can I keep one—when it hatches? I want one as a pet.”
I laughed. “I don’t think a wild animal would appreciate being kept for your enjoyment.”
She pouted. “But I’d feed it and bath it and take it for walks.”
Conner ruffled her hair. “Turtles don’t walk, Pip.”
“Do too.” She pointed at the sand spray as the hard-shelled creature continued to flap deeper and deeper into the beach. “It walked here from the sea, didn’t it?”
Conner crossed his arms. “I’d hardly call that walking.”
“I do.”
His forehead furrowed, preparing to tease. “All right...what do they eat?”
Pippa paused, beseeching my help.
“Don’t look at me. Seaweed?”
Galloway cleared his throat. “I think, depending on the breed, squid and fish, anemones, shrimp...anything they can find in the reef.”
Pippa’s shoulders fell. “We can barely catch those for us. I guess fishing for a turtle would be hard.”
Something broke inside me. I hated to see her crash from such a happy place. I whispered in her ear, “We might not be able to train a wild animal to be a pet, but if we make it comfortable and protected, it might hang around on its own accord.”
She sucked in a breath. “Really?”
“We can try.”
She bounced on the spot. “Oh, yes. Please. I want to try.”
I knew I shouldn’t, but I indulged in the whim. I missed my cat. I missed having something to cuddle and stroke.
You’ll have Galloway soon enough.
Galloway’s lips quirked, almost as if he’d followed my train of thought. We shared a look—laden with lust and attraction.
My cheeks heated as I dropped my gaze.
Even if we did manage to come to terms with the chemistry between us, it wasn’t the same as caring for an animal. I adored the thought of something friendly and alive to pamper. “What would we call it?”
“Flipper.” Pippa smiled. “Or Fish. I haven’t decided.”
“Fish?” Conner pulled a face. “Stupid name.”
Pippa whirled on him. “Oh yeah. What would you call it?”
Conner puffed out his chest. “Raphael, of course. From the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
Pippa rolled her eyes. “You’re such a boy.”
“Thanks for noticing.”
Galloway drifted off, selecting a spot of sand to sink into a sitting position. We’d all become intrinsically linked in the months we’d lived together. Where one went, the others normally followed.
If we had separate tasks, we were always aware of space between us, time apart, and suffered an almost sixth sense if either of us needed help.
I didn’t know if it was from our forced closeness or because we had no distractions—no outside influences and no other interaction. Either way, the bonds were like ropes, keeping us connected with knots and pulleys.
Without thinking, Conner, Pip, and I joined Galloway on the beach. Shoulders touching, our little bubble of safety was complete.
Together, we fell quiet, watching the turtles dig and prepare, revelling in the beauty of nature.
Chapter Forty
...............................................
G A L L O W A Y
......
THREE YEARS BEFORE THE CRASH
“DID YOU DO it?”
I looked up from my day on cleaning dishes. Two years, eight months, and sixteen days behind bars. I didn’t want to think how many dishes I’d cleaned in that time.
Bruce cocked his head, his arms covered in soapy bubbles.
Every day he asked that question. And every day I gave him the same answer.
“Yes.”
“And you admitted that in court?”
“Yes.”
“And your sentence is life?”
“Yes.”
“For killing a crooked doctor?”
“Yes.”
“Who’d killed a minimum of twenty-two people—that they know of—through malpractice and malicious intent?”
My hands curled. “Yes.”
I waited for the same thing that always happened after I’d answered his questions. Bruce shook his head, his eyes glowing with anger on my behalf. “Life is so fucking unfair.”
All I could say was, “Yes.”
.............................
DAWN TAINTED THE horizon.
The stars refused to give up their velvet darkness, fighting against the ever-lightening sky. But no matter how bright they burned, they fought a losing battle.
And the turtles somehow knew.
All night, we’d watched them dig and position themselves over their crudely made nests. One by one, the shelled creatures settled in to deliver hundreds of leathery eggs until a mound of potential life forms puddled in the sand.
The leader finished first, flapping and scrapping until she covered her loved ones, ensuring the vulnerable eggs were protected by a natural blanket.
My back ached from sitting, and Conner and Pippa succumbed to tiredness a couple of hours ago, resting their heads on Estelle’s and my shoulders, snoozing and snoring, refusing to go to bed where they would be comfy.
The turtles finally deemed their eggs safe and pushed off toward the ocean.
Estelle yawned, raking her fingers through her hair. Her nipples hardened beneath her black bikini, teasing me with the perfect shape as she stretched.
My cock twitched and everything I wanted to say collided in my head. I’d planned to put everything out in the open tonight.
But that had been before the turtles.
My eyes shot to the sky, contemplating the time left before a new day stole whatever privacy we might find.
It’s still possible.
We still had time. Time to give into each other. Time to stop bloody fighting the inevitable. Because one thing I was sure of, I was in love with her. Irreversibly, indescribably, completely, madly in bloody love with her.
Estelle caught my attention. Her voice mimicked a husky whisper. “You tired?”
“Not in the slightest.” I lowered my eyes. “As far as I’m concerned, the night hasn’t ended yet.”
The pulse in her neck hammered as she swallowed. “Oh?”
“It’s not over, Estelle. Not until we talk.”
Colour painted her cheeks. “You just want to talk?”
My heart pounded at the shy desire on her face. “Do you want to talk?”
“I think...I think talking might be secondary to something else I had in mind.”
Christ.
I stifled my groan. “Goddammit, Estelle—”
“Hey...you said you’d wake us when they were leaving.” Conner pushed off my shoulder, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
He shook Pippa. “Wake up, Pippi. They’re going.”
Pippa jolted upright. “Oh, no. I don’t want them to go.”
I laughed quietly, never looking away from Estelle. Damn kids and their interruptions.
She smiled, understanding exactly what frustrated me.
For once, we were on the same wavelength.
Long may it last.
Rubbing aching muscles, we all stood and followed the turtles down to the water line. Not one of them paid us attention. We weren’t important, apparently.
Conner reached out to touch the closest one.
I held him back. “Don’t disturb her. You don’t know i
f it will break whatever schedule they’re on.”
Estelle agreed. “He’s right. We can watch but don’t interrupt.”
Pippa’s face softened as the first lumbering beast hit the sea, immediately transforming from uncoordinated oaf to graceful swimmer. “I’ve changed my mind.”
Splashing a little, the turtle floated for a second in bliss. Happiness at her bulky weightlessness obvious after a long night.
Estelle asked softly, “Changed your mind on what?”
“What I’ll call my baby turtle.”
“Oh?”
Pippa’s face melted with affection. “I want to call mine Escape.”
I froze.
Damn kid had the power to make me choke up and want to build a bridge back to society all at once. She was so brave, so aware. I often thought she didn’t truly understand our situation because of her age.
But she understood everything. She understood too well.
Estelle gathered her close, kissing the top of her head. “I think that’s a brilliant name.”
“Know why?” Pippa hugged her stuffed kitten.
Don’t.
I didn’t think I could stomach more of her desolation.
“Because they can swim and escape while we’re stuck here.”
I sucked in a breath.
Even Conner remained quiet with no quip or tease.
We stood there as time ticked on, saying goodbye as each turtle vanished into the aquamarine tide, leaving only their tracks, flipper marks, and newly dug nests.
When the last had disappeared and the sun had risen enough to scatter away the stars, Conner laughed loudly. “I just realized something.”
We turned to face him.
I asked, “What exactly?”
He waved at the empty beach. “We had years’ worth of food and we just let it go.”
Pippa gasped. “You can’t mean—”
“How could you—” Estelle’s voice dripped with disbelief. “I could never—”
Conner grinned. “I know...but still.”
I hid my thoughts behind a careful mask. The moment the first turtle arrived, I’d thought the very same thing. Food...copious amounts of food. We could kill a few, salt and preserve it, and use their shell for numerous things.
We wouldn’t have to fish or hunt for a while.
But the instant I’d considered it, I’d discounted it. It would’ve come down to me to kill and prepare it and...I didn’t have that in me anymore.
Not after what I’d done and the price I’d paid.
I’d killed for the right reasons. I’d killed a bad person.
But it didn’t mean it hadn’t screwed me up inside. If I could barely tolerate eradicating someone who deserved his fate...how could I handle slaughtering an innocent animal about to grant life?
Pippa squealed and hit Conner with her stuffed toy. “You’re a butthead.”
“And you’re a fish scale.”
“Am not.”
“Are too.”
He struck out, tickling her in the perfect spot to make her explode into giggles. Slapping him away, Pippa charged away.
Conner chased after her.
“Well, seems like the lack of sleep hasn’t deterred their energy levels.” Estelle drifted closer. The tide lapped around our ankles and my skin heightened to smouldering sensitivity.
I couldn’t stop staring at her, caring for her, killing myself slowly with desire for her.
She annoyed me and confused me but something about her also soothed, healed, and centred me. She erased my festering past, heinous guilt, and monstrous rage at injustice.
Prison bars might no longer cage me, but the ones around my soul did. However, Estelle had the power to blow apart the lock, decimate the gate, and hand me the keys to fight for my freedom.
My lips ached to kiss her. My body strained to hold her as if she was the perfect ending to my unhappy tragedy. My body wanted her (that I couldn’t and wouldn’t deny), but my lust went deeper than that. Deeper than bone and flesh and it was those reasons that bloody terrified me.
I wanted her; not because she was the most incredible woman I’d ever met (a non contestable conclusion) but because of what I wanted to give her in return.
I wanted to give her me.
Everything.
The good, the filthy, and the fuckedupness.
But what right did I have to take so much and force her to take me in return? She deserved someone so much better than I was. Someone whole...
My mind quietened as Estelle's gaze met mine.
Suddenly, my worries didn’t matter.
The only thing that did was the fact that dawn was only moments away.
I wouldn’t let another day disappear without doing what I needed.
It was now or never.
Grabbing Estelle’s wrist, I hollered up the beach. “Conner, Pip. Go back to the camp. Relax, nap, do whatever the hell you want. But do not come to the other side of the island. Do you understand?
Estelle and I need to discuss something.”
Chapter Forty-One
...............................................
E S T E L L E
......
What is life? Is it a breath or a smile or a marriage to the perfect mate?
What is fate? Is it a predestined script or a fluke in time or the apex of chance and circumstance?
What is death? Is it everlasting sleep or forever loneliness from those you love?
I don’t know what life is. I don’t know how fate works. But I do know death.
Death is found in pleasure.
Death is found in sex.
And the ultimate death is found in the purest of orgasms.
Taken from the notepad of E.E.
...
WHAT IS HE doing?
What am I doing?
What the hell was going on?
Galloway hadn’t uttered a word but every footfall held entire conversations with their thunderous intent.
I’m done.
I can’t stop it.
I don’t want to stop it.
His fingers branded my wrist with fiery irons, and his limp was ignored in favour of storming through the wooded area to the tip of the island where the beach met ocean almost by the treeline, no matter high or low tide.
Breathing hard, he let me go, dragging both hands through his hair before pinching the bridge of his nose.
For a second, he didn’t move.
I didn’t move.
But then he spun to face me, his eyes more alive than I’d ever seen, his heart more visible than I’d ever hoped.
“Estelle.”
I waited for more.
It never came.
“Galloway.”
His gaze searched mine. Uncertainty fogged their depths like a tropical storm. His hands opened and closed by his sides. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
My lips parted. “I didn’t think you would.”
“Good because I would never hurt you. Ever. Do you understand?” He took a step closer.
My toes glued themselves to the beach. “I—I understand.” His blue eyes turned into torpedoes tearing into me, whizzing around my body.
“No matter what you read, who you speak to, what my past indicates...I. Will. Not. Hurt. You.”
Goosebumps broke out like a cape of worry. “I know that, G. Why...why are you saying this?”
His throat worked as he forced back the discomfort and anger he never managed to shrug off. “I just needed you to know that. That I’m not all bad.” He splayed his hands. “Actions don’t define us. Isn’t that what some stupid quote said? Well, I don’t agree. My actions do define me, and I can’t get away from that definition, no matter how hard I try. I don’t want it to ruin what we might have. I don’t want you to hate me—”
I stepped forward, the sand whisper-hissing beneath my feet. “Galloway...stop.” I stopped within touching distance, within kissing distance. “I could never hate you.”
“You could. If you knew what I was.”
“Wrong.” My hair slid over the bow in my bikini, tickling my back. My hand hesitantly landed on his chest. Immediately, his gonging heart slammed into my fingertips. Thud-thud, thud-thud.
He sucked in a breath, covering my hand with his.
I struggled to focus on words when all I wanted was his touch. “I know I could never hate you because I know who you are. This island doesn’t allow us to hold secrets, no matter how hard we try. I know you’ve done something. And I know it was something big. If you want to tell me, you don’t need to be afraid that I’ll turn away from you. I’d never judge you that way. But if you don’t want to tell me, then don’t be afraid that your past will ruin your future. I don’t know if we’ll ever get off this island. But what I do know is I’d like you to be in it. No matter where we end up.”
His body tensed as if Medusa herself had frozen him. “I want you, Estelle.”
“I know.” My voice thickened. “I want you, too.”
“So you don’t want to run?”
“I don’t want to run.”
“That night I asked you if you wanted more than friendship. You said you didn’t.” His voice lowered. “Did you lie?”
“Yes.” I struggled to admit. “You were right. I don’t just want to be your friend.”
“You want me more?”
I blushed. “Do you really need to ask? The night I took your splint off...I haven’t stopped thinking about it. I wish...I wish...”
His eyes narrowed. “You wish?”
“I wish I hadn’t stopped.” I licked my lower lip. “I wish I’d taken your hand and led you away from the camp to finish together. I want you, G. I’m sick of trying to deny it.”
I didn’t make a sound as his lips touched my hairline. His breath warmed my scalp. And his body unravelled every fear and restraint I had left.
Sighing heavily, I gave into him, melting into his embrace.
“I’ve never wanted anything as much as I want you.” He kissed my eyelids. “Never been so bloody desperate to be with anyone as much as I am with you.” He kissed my cheeks. “I’m going to have you, Stel. I’m going to claim you, satisfy you, corrupt you.” He kissed the corner of my mouth. “I’m going to seduce you, and once you’re thoroughly seduced, I’m never going to let you leave me.”
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