Castaways (10 page)

* * * * *

It seemed forever, but it was only hours before a boat made its way to the island and weighed anchor a ways offshore. It didn’t take long before a small boat was jetting their way with a woman at the helm. The three castaways were laughing and crying as the small boat pulled up to the shore.

Sirena’s stomach wouldn’t stop flip-flopping and she almost couldn’t stop the tears as they stood on the boat. Den had his arms around her shoulders and she leaned against him, so glad for the comfort of his embrace.

On the specially equipped emergency boat, they’d been examined for injuries by a doctor, and a psychologist had assessed their mental health. Both the doctor and the psychologist had been concerned about her amnesia, and suggested that she be examined by doctors and psychologists on the mainland. Both confirmed that yes, her memory loss had to be due to some kind of mental trauma in her life, not physical, and hoped that her memories would come back to her soon.

Once they were checked over, they’d been given enough food and water to satisfy them for the moment. Sirena hadn’t realized just how much thinner they all looked a week after being castaway on that remote island. They’d hoarded their food, and she was certain the men ate far less than was normal for them.

It turned out that the closest island was The Playground Resort. The boat’s captain radioed ahead that they were bringing in three castaways who had been on the missing yacht headed for The Playground last week.

When they finally reached the island, exited the boat down the gangplank and then walked up the pier, Sirena’s heart was beating like crazy. She held tight to Den’s hand. She’d been headed to this island—what if a part of her life was here, too?

As Sirena stepped onto the exotic grounds of The Playground, she could have dropped to her knees in thankfulness. They were truly saved. She almost couldn’t believe it.

She felt grubby, tired, and definitely underdressed in her shorts, button-up shirt and bare feet.

Den draped his arm around her shoulders while they walked up a stone path through rich jungle vegetation, beautiful flowers and thick green grass. They finally reached the commanding entryway of the resort. The front had thick columns of natural stone, large panes of glass and was surrounded by tropical plants.

He squeezed her close and kissed the top of her head. “We’ll get cleaned up and order room service—and sleep on a real bed.”

Sirena couldn’t help but grin up at him. “Room service and a soft, comfortable mattress would be heaven.”

A woman’s shriek startled Sirena and her gaze cut from Den’s to the doors of The Playground. A woman was standing at the entrance, one hand clasped over her mouth, her brown eyes big and round.

The woman dropped her hand and took a step forward. “Katie? Oh, my God. Katie, it’s you!” Sirena went still as the woman flew toward her and wrapped her arms around her, virtually pushing Den away. “You’re safe. You’re here. You survived.” When she drew away there were tears in her eyes. “I thought you were lost with the rest. All they found was some wreckage, but no survivors. But you’re here, you’re real.” She hugged Sirena again, squeezing her so tight that she could barely breathe.

But her mind was whirling. Katie? Her name was Katie? Who was this woman? Why couldn’t she remember her? Why wasn’t her face familiar?

“Jenise.” Den’s voice cut through the woman’s babble, and brought her attention to him.

“Den?” The woman called Jenise looked up and flung her arms around him. “I’m so happy you’re safe! She looked to Mike and went to him next. “I can’t believe you—the three of you—

are here.”

She released Mike and turned back to Sirena and then a little of the sparkle went out of her eyes.

Jenise caught Sirena’s hand and squeezed. “Honey, are you all right?”

“I-I…” Sirena couldn’t get anything out as she stared at the woman. Here was a piece of her past that she couldn’t even remember.

“She has amnesia,” Den said, and Jenise’s gaze shot to his. He sighed. “She doesn’t even remember her real name. We’ve been calling her Sirena.”

“Oh, Katie.” Jenise wrapped her arms around Sirena and squeezed. When she pulled away, her eyes were filled with more tears. “Everything will be all right. It’ll come back to you, you’ll see.”

When she pulled away again, this time Jenise bit her lower lip and looked even more concerned.

“Come in, we have to talk.”

Sirena—she couldn’t bring herself to think of her name as Katie—held Den’s hand tight as they entered the air-conditioned hotel and followed Jenise through the opulent lobby to a hall off to the left. Mike flanked her other side, his hand resting on her elbow as if to support her.

Sirena was so overwhelmed she didn’t know what to think. Her mind was on overdrive and she felt as if she would collapse at any moment.

When they entered a spacious, richly decorated office, Jenise had them sit in the plush chairs in front of a large mahogany desk. The woman remained standing as she rested her hip against the desk and focused her gaze on Sirena. She was a lovely woman with long dark hair, an olive complexion and big eyes that were a gorgeous shade of chocolate brown. She was wearing tailored black slacks, and a vivid orange blouse that made her look like a beautiful tropical flower.

“Sirena—Katie—has to take things slow,” Den cautioned, gripping Sirena’s hand tighter. “The docs said she shouldn’t receive too much information too fast.” Jenise nodded. “I understand.” Her tears had dried and she offered Sirena a small smile. “Honey, we’ll talk more later. I know you need to rest, to freshen up. You’ve been through so much trauma these past couple of months, and then to go through this…it has to be more than any one person can take.”

Sirena couldn’t even move to nod her acknowledgment. She was frozen, feeling as if the slightest tap of a hammer would shatter her into countless pieces.

Trauma. Last couple of months. More than any one person could bear…

Den released her hand to put his arm protectively around her shoulders. “Maybe this should wait

—whatever it is you think you need to tell her.”

“It can’t.” Jenise visibly swallowed. “You probably won’t remember him yet, but your ex-husband, Charles Johansen, arrived on the island not long before you did. I’m trying to get him off the island as fast as possible, but a boat won’t be leaving for at least a couple of hours.” Sirena—Katie—barely heard Jenise’s last sentence through the buzzing in her ears.

“He was stalking her,” Jenise was explaining to the two men.

“Charles?” Den’s voice sounded incredulous. “My
brother
?” Everything came crashing down on Katie at once. Memory after memory bombarded her. The loss of her job, her ex-husband stalking her…the deaths of her parents and sister.

What she’d done with these two men on the island—and that Den was her ex-husband’s brother.

Katie screamed. She wrenched herself from Den’s hold and stumbled back into the center of the room. Every part of her body was shaking and she looked from Den to Mike to Jenise, her eyes wild, her heart pounding like it was going to burst from her chest.

Oh, my God.
What had she done?

“I-I…” She couldn’t find her words, but when Den got up from his seat and started toward her, she shouted, “Stay away from me!”

He halted like she’d slapped him, and didn’t move. Just looked at her with something akin to pleading in his eyes.

“Katie—” Jenise started, but her mouth snapped shut at the obvious terror written on Katie’s face.

She wrapped her arms around herself and couldn’t stop trembling. “Jenise,” she said through chattering teeth, “get me out of here.”

Jenise tried to touch Katie, but she jerked away. “Just get me out of here,” she repeated.

Jenise’s gaze shot from Den to Mike and she pursed her lips. “You two. Stay here.” Den looked like he wanted to go to her but Katie shrank away from him. “Don’t touch me!” She felt like she’d been dumped into a huge pool of ice water. She couldn’t stop shaking, couldn’t stop her teeth from chattering.

Jenise led her straight to the island’s infirmary and instructed her to sit down on one of the beds.

Katie raised her chin. “I’ve already been examined—on the boat.”

“But then you didn’t know who you were,” Jenise said softly. “This is putting your body through a whole new stress level.”

One more time, Jenise tried to reach out to Katie, but Katie shook her head. “Not now. I can’t take anything right now.”

Briefly Jenise explained to the nurse-practitioner about Katie being shipwrecked on an island, her memory loss and the shock she’d gone through when she’d heard her ex-husband was on the island, obviously triggering her memories.

“Take care of her, then have her escorted to the Orchid Suite,” Jenise said to the nurse. She gave one last look at Katie, tried a smile, then left the room.

Katie remained rigid as the nurse practitioner examined her, holding back the urge to scream and tell the woman to get away from her. Katie answered questions in short clipped words, wanting to get out of that room as soon as possible. But the exam seemed to last forever.

The nurse practitioner was an elegant black-haired woman with a name badge that read
Cara
, who wrapped a blanket around Sirena’s shoulders. “You’re in shock, and you need to see a specialist to deal with the trauma you’ve been through. That kind of memory loss—it’s something like a fugue state. I’d like to prescribe some anxiety meds until you can get to a specialist.”

“No drugs.” Katie shook her head and pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. “Just get me to a room. I need to be by myself for awhile.”

When Jenise left with Sirena—Katie…dammit, he was never going to get used to that name—

Den looked at Mike. “My fucking brother,” Den said. “I’d heard he’d gone through a divorce and had ended up in trouble a time or two, but I never imagined…” Mike ran his hand over his bald head. “She isn’t taking things well.”

“If that isn’t the understatement of the fucking year.” Den groaned and tipped his head back to look at the ceiling. “I’d hoped…” He shook his head and looked at Mike. “I was an asshole. I never should have touched her.”

“Then we’re both assholes.” Mike sighed and settled back in his chair.

Den leaned forward, his forearms resting on his thighs, his hands clasped between his knees.

Damn. He had known better than to take her like he had when she had no identity. But he’d felt like she was a part of him long missing. That she was his.

And he’d kill that sonofabitch brother of his. He remembered now hearing Katie’s name and of the attempted restraining order against Charles. But not in his wildest, wildest thoughts, could he ever have imagined that the brother he’d had no use for was Katie’s ex-husband.

He scrubbed the stubble on his face with one hand. “Fuck.”

“That’s what you did, wasn’t it,” Jenise stated as she came back into the office and slammed the door behind her. “You had sex with Katie when she didn’t even know who she was.” Jenise’s eyes were blazing and her hands clenched at her sides as she stood before them.

Den pushed himself to his feet and started pacing the length of the room. “How is she?”

“Do you really care?” Jenise asked, anger still in her tone.

Heat burned Den’s chest as his gaze shot to Jenise. “Goddammit, don’t fuck with me. How is she?”

“I don’t know.” Jenise gave a frustrated sigh and leaned against her desk, her arms folded across her chest. “I took her to the nurse practitioner and instructed her to take Katie to the premier suite when she was finished with her examination.” Her gaze drilled into him. “She was coming here to recuperate from all the horrid things that have happened to her over the past few months.” That stopped Den cold. “She wasn’t coming as a member of The Playground?” Jenise slowly shook her head. “She doesn’t even know what it is. I’d intended to explain it once she was here, but…”

“Shit.” Den’s eyes met Mike’s before returning to Jenise’s. “So she wasn’t into BDSM…

before?”

“Not that I know of.” Jenise narrowed her brows. “What do you mean,
before
?”

“She had a fair introduction to it on the island,” Mike crossed his legs at the ankles and folded his arms across his chest. “We thought because she was coming to The Playground—”

“It doesn’t matter what
we
thought,” Den cut in. “I knew better. Even though she thought she wanted it at the time, I should have refused her. Told her we’d wait until her memory returned.”

“Damn straight you should have.” Jenise walked around her desk and braced her palms on the desk. “Just exactly what happened?”

“What you think happened,” Den snapped. “She was our submissive on the island—and she took us both.”

Jenise threw herself back into her leather desk chair and shook her head. “No wonder she’s freaking. You two should be shot.”

Den nodded. “Right after I kill my Goddamn brother.”

Jenise was quiet for a moment before she said, “Was Katie just a good fuck to you?” Mike didn’t answer, but Den stared at her head-on. “I’m falling in love with Sirena—Katie—and I think she is—was—falling in love with me. But now… I’ve probably screwed that all to hell.” Jenise nodded, and there was no sympathy in her eyes. “You’re probably right.” Den clenched his hands into fists. “Where’s that bastard brother of mine?”

“Charles?” Jenise’s mouth twisted in distaste. “He’s being detained in the security office, unless a boat has already left for the mainland. Let me call down and find out.” Jenise picked up her handset and dialed. “Is Charles Johansen still on the island, or did you get him off yet?”

She listened for a moment and first her eyes widened and then fury marked her _expression. She punched off the phone and slammed it onto her desk. “Charles ditched security. He’s somewhere on this island, but we don’t know where.”

“Sonofabitch.” Den headed for the door. “I’m going to find the bastard and knock the shit out of him.”

Mike stood. “Right behind you, mate.”

When she shut the door behind her, Katie leaned back against it and stared at the luxury suite, but barely saw what was around her. She couldn’t stop shaking. Couldn’t stop
thinking
.

Everything pounded at her at once. Her parents’ and her sister’s deaths, the loss of her job, her divorce, her stalker ex-husband who was here,
now
.

And then what she’d done on the island with two total strangers. She’d submitted to them.

Fucked them both. She didn’t even begin to know what to think about that. Not now. Not after everything else that had happened.

Tears filled Katie’s eyes and she wrapped her arms tighter around her chest. Trying to force every thought from her mind, she ran through the suite, to the bed, and flung herself on it. With shaking hands she gathered the covers around herself and curled up into a tight ball.

For a long time she cried, trying not to think about anything at all.

When Katie woke, the room was dim, and she could see that it was early evening from the strength of the light coming in through one of the picture windows.

She rolled from her side to her back and stared up at the ceiling. Her head felt thick and heavy after crying for so long. Her eyes felt heavy and swollen and she took a deep, shuddering breath.

Lisa, her niece, must be sick with worry. Katie and her niece were so very close. Lisa had already lost her mother and grandparents. To lose her aunt would be devastating, too. She hoped that Jenise had called Lisa to let her know that Katie was safe.

Her mind worked through everything she’d experienced over the last couple of months, including her week on the island. And after thinking it over and over and over, she couldn’t regret her time with Den and Mike.

She’d
loved
every minute of it. She couldn’t deny how much she had enjoyed it, and she didn’t know what that meant. Should she be ashamed? The part of her that had always been reserved sexually told her that she shouldn’t have been so…wanton.

But another part of her said it was the best thing that had happened to her in a long, long time.

She’d been able to completely turn over control, completely give herself to two men who’d taken care of her every need.

Could she even begin to think that they’d taken advantage of her? Den had given her the choice.

He had acknowledged that he didn’t want her to do anything against her will, and that she might regret later.

But she didn’t.

She bit her lower lip. Images of the incredible sex she’d had with Den and Mike flashed through her mind and she felt a stirring in her belly. They’d been good. So very, very good. The entire time she’d spent with them, she hadn’t wanted to remember who she was. She’d wanted to continue to forget and to enjoy every minute she had with them.

No regrets.

And she’d totally started falling in love with Den. She couldn’t begin to deny that, either.

Gradually Katie’s head began to clear. Okay, she was a strong woman. At least she had been, before her life had been turned into shambles and her mind had gone bye-bye.

With a sigh of exhaustion, she pushed off the covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

For the first time since arriving, she actually
looked
at the room. She was in the bedroom of the most luxurious suite she’d ever been in. Vases of fresh orchids and other exotic flowers filled the room, and the scents were soothing, relaxing.

Katie got to her bare feet and the carpeting felt plush beneath them. Her soles had toughened during the week on the island since she hadn’t had shoes, and it felt so good to be standing on carpet again.

Intent on heading to the bathroom, she paused to glance back into the sitting room and saw two boxes sitting on the table. Funny, she hadn’t remembered seeing those before, but then she’d been pretty distraught.

She went to the table and lifted the lid off of one box. Wrapped in tissue paper was a beautiful green set of silk pajamas that matched the color of her eyes, and a matching pair of panties.

Another box held white shorts and a matching boat-neck top, along with another pair of panties, a bra and a pair of sandals.

Everything was in her size. Jenise and Katie were the same height and build, so no doubt Jenise had ordered the clothing from an on-site store and had it sent up while Katie was asleep.

Katie let clothes drop back into the tissue paper and reached for the silk pajamas and panties. It was going to feel so good to have a real bath, to scrub herself from head to toe, and to sleep away her troubles until she was ready to face them head-on. Tomorrow.