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“Are you planning on leaving me there?” The question came out of the blue. I knew better. The man had far too much loyalty to my father to do something so stupid.
“Only if you’re a very bad girl and continue not obeying my order.” He laughed, the sound tantalizing in its huskiness, keeping my body aching more than before.
“What are you doing?”
“Perhaps I have a surprise for you. Now, swim before I change my mind. Trust me, little lamb.”
I turned in a full circle, more than curious by what he had in mind. I did trust him, with my life.
But the problem was I wasn’t certain I could trust either him or myself with my heart.
CHAPTER 15
Zoe
“Can I take a walk?” I asked without looking behind me. That was strictly forbidden.
“Nope. You’re not going anywhere,” Maddox answered rather gruffly since both of us were nestled in a secluded cove.
“And what if I do?”
“Then I’ll hunt you down. I think you know what will happen if you try to make me capture you.”
Capture. I shuddered at the thought of him doing exactly that, filthy images sparking the darkest parts of my mind. I had to shove away my lurid thoughts or I’d go mad from them. I folded my arms, the warm sun unable to prevent a chill from coursing through me.
Breathtaking wasn’t the correct word for what I was seeing. Being able to stand on the shore, pearlescent sand between my toes, soft waves of aquamarine water lapping at my feet as Istudied the once active volcano only a few hundred yards away was like a dream come true.
I was an ocean girl, even if I’d rarely visited a tropical location. I was more comfortable standing on a deserted beach than I’d been anywhere in my life. Part of the reason was that I was with Maddox, a man who’d stop at nothing to ensure my safety.
Even if it meant losing his life.
But there was more to the way I was feeling, the intensity of emotions sweeping through me like a tsunami. The truth haunted me, pushing me into an entirely different level of serenity, even if my feelings could never be expressed.
I was in love.
There was no doubt, no denying the way I felt about the man. He was my everything. I’d heard that said before in love songs and poems, celebrities and singers shouting it to the world only to break up with the man of their dreams weeks or months later. The way I felt about Maddox was for all eternity. Of that I had no doubt. He was the storm that kept me alive and awake, the sunshine that I could feel kissing my skin. And he was the rapid beating of my heart every time he was in the room.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to have him. What did they call it? Unrequited love? I wasn’t entirely certain what the phrase meant other than I wasn’t allowed to taste the forbidden fruit more than once for fear of being poisoned. This had to be what Romeo and Juliet felt. I wanted to laugh at all my analogies, but I was trying to make sense of the rush of sensations, the electric vibrations that neither time nor distance had squelched.
Maybe that was impossible.
What I knew without a shadow of a doubt was that there would never be another man for me. I’d never find a replacement and likely wouldn’t bother. No wonder I’d all but saved myself for him, pining away for the impossible. I wanted to laugh but here we were together on a dangerous mission. All alone.
Yet we were both locked in a cage.
I heard crackling sounds behind me but resisted turning, enjoying the waning afternoon sun. My back and arms were slightly burned from the powerful sun, but it didn’t matter. The day had been… perfect. Enlightening. Fantastic.
Oppressive.
But I wouldn’t change the experience for all the rubies in the world. I bit my lower lip as I swayed back and forth, still shocked that Maddox had brought a picnic with all the goodies with him, swimming with the waterproof box to the shore while I’d been waiting for him.
He was still embroiled in the surprise, forbidding me to turn around. I was trying to be a good girl while he worked but the curiosity was killing me.
“How much longer?” I asked, maybe a little bit too loudly.
“Not long. Good things come to very good girls who are patient and obedient,” Maddox mused, the sound of his deep voice skittering through me like rocket fuel.
“You obviously have me mistaken with some other chick.”
