Page 26 of Return to the Island

15

Tack

She fell against me, and I enveloped her in my arms, kissing her shoulder before pressing my lips to her hair.

“We’re almost there,” I muttered. My heart hammered in my chest. Not only was it racing from the orgasm she just gave me, but the anticipation of stepping on the island again. Carlos stopped the catamaran a short distance from the beach. A dingy would take us closer to land.

“Is Carlos coming with us?” Juliet asked as I took her bag and then helped her enter the small craft.

“Nope, just us.” We both remained quiet as I motored us to the shore. When she stepped out of the boat, she stared forward.

“It looks so different.”

A new tent had been resurrected, and tiki-torches were lit around the area. A table was set for our dinner. I’d sent a boat ahead of us. The staff was scheduled to return the following day after we left. I wanted our return to be special—romantic—but I sensed her disappointment.

“The original tent was lost to me, along with one other trunk. I wanted to make things nicer this round.” I hesitated. “You don’t like it?”

She turned to face me and smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Something was off.

“It’s beautiful, it’s just not the same.” She walked up the beach and set her bag near the fire ring, newly rebuilt and stacked with wood. She sat in the sand instead of in one of the teak-wood camp chairs. Her eyes searched around her as if she expected to find something no longer present.

“I can’t believe we’re really here,” she muttered.

“With a little map navigation and eventually some help from Colton, I was able to find it again. I waited for you before I returned.” Colton hadn’t been willing to assist at first.

“The island is sacred,” he had said in his Native American accent. “You don’t go for a visit.”

This was not a casual day-trip, though. This was the place to finish what we started. It had to be here where it all began. When I found Juliet, and explained to Colton that I wanted to bring her back, he supported the idea once he met her. Proving she did exist sealed the deal. He gave me the final coordinates after I promised him I would do nothing to harm her.

I swiped a hand through my hair. “Now that we’re here, I don’t know what to do. Do we hike? Swim? Go visit the tree house?” The final question brought her eyes back to mine.

“Not yet,” she muttered as her arms wrapped around her folded knees.

“Is it bad being here?” I said, falling to my knees before her. “Did I make a mistake?” The question was hard to ask. I never imagined the island wouldn’t be as important to her as it had been to me. She told me she loved me here, and while I didn’t intend to drag her off to the cave so she’d repeat the words, I’d hoped being here would remind her of what she said. What we did.

“It’s not bad. It’s not wrong.” Her brows rose in surprise. “It’s just strange.” She sighed. “I’m so different from the girl who came here. I wanted freedom when I arrived. I figured if I was to live alone, I’d do it some place beautiful and reserved. I also had a crime to live with and a rape to come to terms with.”

I flipped my body to sit next to her. I hadn’t forgotten what brought her here. The same things had brought me, and I could never forget the depths of her despair over what Rick had done What I had done. She told me it haunted her, and I wondered if two years later, it still did.

“Do you still think about it? See Rick in your head?” I swirled a hand near my ear and then let it fall to the sand.

“Most of the time, no, but sometimes, a memory flashes or a phrase is said, and it’s like I’m thrown into the past. It comes out of nowhere, or it comes from something purposeful, like when I went to The Front Door.”

“You went to The Front Door?” I interjected, my head twisting to look at her. Her arms remained wrapped tightly around her drawn-up knees. Her head lowered so her chin rested on her kneecap. I’d seen her curled into herself like this on a few occasions—the night of the snake attack, the day after the attack, the night of the thunderstorm. She felt miles away from me, or better yet more like years in the past.

“I did. I went to look, I guess. I just stood there and stared at it, wondering how life could change with one night. Everything was different after that. And yet, there are other nights that changed my life again, pulling me in a different direction.” Her lips curled, but it wasn’t a smile.

“I bought the club.” She released her legs and twisted slightly to face me. Aghast, her mouth fell open. “I bought the club and burned it to the ground. A new building exists in its place. It’s another club, as that’s the district, but it has no private, members-only floor, no hidden agenda, and no secret club initiation. It’s a legit place. I watched the building crumble myself. I vowed it would be the last business I’d destroy. After that, I’d build.”

My arms were loosely draped around my bent legs, mimicking her original position, and it surprised me when she touched me. Her delicate hand wrapped around my forearm. In all the times we’d been together, she had rarely been the one to initiate contact like touches or kisses. It was typically me. Only once did she take advantage of me. I understood why she did it. It was vengeful lust, and I won’t deny I enjoyed it.

In this case, her hand slipped up my arm to my shoulder. My arms released my legs, and they sprang forward. I didn’t speak. Sensing her hesitation, I let her lead. Her hand came to my shoulder and her body shifted, moving closer to mine. With my legs straightened, she climbed over them and straddled my lap. My hands came to her sides.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her voice shaky. She leaned forward and kissed me tenderly, her mouth softly pressing to mine. She quickly shifted to tender sucks of my bottom lip before melding her lips with mine. She took her time, drawing out each connection, pulling back only slightly before pressing forward again. Her tongue licked the seam of my lips, and I opened.

Let me in, she asked. There was no need for the question. I was open to everything from her. My hands rubbed up and down her back as her arms wrapped around my neck. She moved closer, pressing her warm center over the tightness at my shorts. Pushing against me, I lay back on the sand. Evening was falling, the sun dipping lower in the sky, but still brightness encircled us. She sat upward and tugged her tank top over her head, revealing her bikini top. Falling forward again, she returned to kissing me. My hips bucked under her and she began to roll over me, covering the length of me with a deliberate slow drag.

“Mouse,” I muttered against her lips, but she didn’t release mine. It was tender and tempestuous. She was going to break me. She pushed at the hem of my tee, pressing it upward. I sat up, taking her with me and removed it. As she sat in my lap, she pulled the string of her bikini.