Castaways (11 page)

* * * * *

After she’d eaten the fruit and yogurt breakfast room service had delivered, Katie headed into the bathroom with the toiletry bag she’d ordered from one of the resort’s boutique shops.

Katie pulled her hair back with a hair tie from the bag and stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Despite yesterday, she had a healthy glow to her cheeks, and she looked well-rested. For some reason the tan she’d acquired during her week stranded on the island made her eyes look even greener.

When she’d finished brushing her teeth and washing her face, she tugged on the new outfit, checked herself out one more time in the mirror and headed out the door.

She wasn’t ready to see anyone yet, she just wanted to walk around the resort, get a chance to breathe in some fresh air and gather her thoughts more tightly. She needed to come to some decisions about her life, and she needed to do it now.

While Sirena—no, wait, her name was Katie—walked down paths winding through the lush tropical grounds of The Playground, every now and then she’d run across couples or more than two people engaged in various activities. At first it shocked her to see a man leading a woman with a leash snapped to a collar around her neck, with the woman wearing a leather outfit that left little to the imagination. But then she remembered what the men had told her—this was a BDSM resort. That was why it was called The Playground.

Why hadn’t Jenise warned her? Katie’s friend had moved away from their Iowa hometown a few years ago when she’d inherited the island and enough money to build a resort that catered to wealthy clients.

Apparently wealthy clients into bondage and domination.

Katie began to feel overdressed as she passed people wearing virtually nothing, or in some cases entirely naked. She couldn’t help but be fascinated, though, and memories rushed through her of her time on the island with Den and Mike. The thoughts brought heat to her cheeks and an ache between her thighs and her breasts.

But it was the thought of Den that made her heart pound. She felt something for him. Something strong and sure. Could it be love—so soon?

Eventually she found herself on a path where she didn’t run across anyone. She enjoyed the relative quiet, the whoosh of wind through the tops of the palm trees and the feel of the breeze across her cheeks. Small branches crunched beneath her sandals as she walked along the stone path, and she breathed in the smells of rich earth and tropical greenery. It all soothed her, made her feel more at peace with herself.

When her mind was finally clear, and she had made her decisions, she turned around to head back to the resort—and stopped cold.

Charles.

On the path.

Right in front of her.

He didn’t say anything, just looked at her with a feral gray eyes. Charles was a tall man, as tall as Den, and that was where any resemblance ended. It was easy for a woman to be taken in by Charles. He was good-looking, had sharp, angled features, and a smile that was easy to fall for.

Until you found out what was really inside him.

“For weeks I wondered where you’d gone, how you’d left me,” he said softly. “I finally realized what I had to do. I let myself into your house and dug through everything I could find.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. When he unfolded it and showed it to her, she could see it was an e-mail from Jenise with Katie’s travel plans. “It took me awhile to hack into your computer, but the other day I got into your e-mail and found this. Gave me everything I needed to know to find you. Two days was all it took, and here I am.” Katie took a deep breath. She wasn’t going to let him intimidate her anymore. “Move out of my way, Charles.”

He gave a smile that she would have melted for—before they were married. “Don’t you know why I’m here?”

She was so angry for his invasion of her privacy, for not taking no for an answer that her vision was blurring. “
I don’t care
why you’re here, I just want you out of my life. I’ve told you that time and time again. Don’t you get it?”

Charles slowly shook his head and it was the calmness in him that made her skin prickle in warning. “I’ve come for you, for good this time.”

She’d had it. Enough was enough.

With fists clenched, Katie marched up to Charles and got right in his face. “You sonofabitch. You are going to leave this island, and you are going to leave me the hell alone. Got that?” For a second he looked stunned, but then his _expression changed back to confident. “Still got that fire in you, Katie?”

He reached for her. With all the strength she had, she drove her fist into his eye, and rammed her knee into his balls with such incredible force that it even surprised her.

The shocked look on Charles face was priceless, just before he dropped to his knees and cupped his groin with his hands.

“Goddammit, Katie,” he growled as he panted and looked up at her. “You’re going to pay for that.”

“I don’t
think
so,” Katie said just before she planted one foot and slammed the other into his jaw.

This time Charles shouted out his pain as his head snapped back and he fell onto his side, his knees nearly curled to his chest.

She leaned over him, her hands still balled into fists. “I’ve had it, Charles. You want a piece of me, I’ll give it to you, and you’re not going to like it.” Katie whirled to head back down the path when Charles’s hand shot out. He grabbed her ankle and jerked her feet out from under her. She landed so hard on her backside that her head struck the hard earth of the path and stars sparked behind her eyes.

She tried to push herself up, but then Charles was straddling her, pinning her with his greater weight. His jaw and eye were already swelling and his _expression was beyond furious.

He snatched both of her wrists in one of his hands and she screamed as she fought to get her hands free and to push him off. He raised his hand, his palm open, ready to cuff her head. “So this is how you like it?” She could almost see a laugh coming to his face. “That’s why you’re here at this BDSM place, because you like to slap around and be slapped around. I can take care of that.”

Katie braced herself for the hand swinging toward her face when his arm was stopped in midair.

In the next second his weight was off her and Charles was jerked to his feet by an equally furious-looking Den.

“You will never touch Katie again, Chuck,” Den growled in a voice so rough and deep that Katie barely recognized it. “Or so help me, I’m going to beat the living shit out of you.” The obvious surprise on Charles’s face at seeing his brother vanished as he swung his clenched fist at Den’s face.

Den’s hand snapped up and he grabbed Charles by the wrist. At the same time he slammed his own fist into Charles’s jaw, the same jaw Katie had kicked just moments before.

Charles stumbled back and started to come at Den again when Mike moved in between the two.

“One move, Johansen,” Mike said, “And you’ll be in that infirmary for a good week. I won’t pull any punches.” He looked to Den. “I’ll take this one to security and get his ass off this island.” While Mike shoved Charles down the path toward the main building, Den helped Katie to her feet.

When she was up he gently brushed her face with his hand. “Are you all right, sweetheart?” Katie couldn’t help trembling from the adrenaline still rushing through her body, but mostly from the tender _expression on Den’s face. No matter what his response might be, she knew that he at least cared for her.

She’d already made her decision, and she was damn well going to make it clear.

“I think I’m starting to love you, Den.” At his incredulous look, she smiled, reached up and cupped his stubbled cheek. “I really think I am.”

Den couldn’t help a huge grin. He grabbed Katie by the waist, lifted her up high. She shrieked with surprise as she braced her hands on his shoulders and he spun her around in a circle.

“A wedding here, on the island.” He brought her down and began raining kisses over her cheeks her mouth, her forehead. “Today, tomorrow, just sometime soon. Anytime. I know it seems too soon, but I’m crazy about you. Just marry me, Sirena.” Katie laughed and drew away so that he could see her beautiful green eyes, and she flashed a smile that nearly drove him to his knees. “Whoa, mister. You hardly know my name.”

“Katie. Damn.” He hugged her close, enjoying the feel of her warm body flush against his. “All I know is that you are the most wonderful woman I’ve ever met, and I’m falling for you hard. At least say you’ll think about it.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him so intensely he swore his head spun.

When he could breathe again, he caught her face in his hands and studied her. “Is that a yes?” Katie’s smile broadened. “I’ll think about it a lot. All the time.” Den picked her up and spun her around again, and Katie giggled. When he brought her to her feet, he took her by the hand and tugged her toward the resort’s main building. “This time I’m going to make love to you in a real bed, and I’m going to do it now.” By the time they reached her suite, Katie was breathless with laughter, lust and love. She couldn’t believe that Den was truly hers.

She’d made the decision to move on with things and would take whatever steps were needed to turn her life around. Getting rid of Charles for good, finding a new job, working through her grief…it would all come in time. The fact Den was Charles’s brother didn’t seem important now.

The two men had virtually no contact, and obviously, that wouldn’t change.

But she’d taken a step toward reconciling one more part of her life, and that had been to tell Den she loved him. He could have said anything—he didn’t feel the same way, maybe in time, anything at all. One way or the other she could take pride in the fact that she was moving a step toward being the person she once was, before her life had fallen apart.

Now she was a stronger person, and nothing would change that.

The fact that he’d proposed to her—she hadn’t expected that. She had hoped he’d feel the same way, or at least grow to love her, but she never imagined he was falling in love with her, too.

As soon as they crossed the threshold of her suite, he kicked the door shut, swept her up into his arms and carried her to the bedroom where he promptly bounced on the bed with her so that he was in between her thighs.

Katie smiled up at him and he kissed her, so hard, so sweet. He tasted so good. Of man and wildness. He smelled good, too, of the resort’s rosemary shampoo and his own musky scent. In the short amount of time they’d been on the island, he’d obviously had his own shower and had changed into a fresh pair of jeans and a white button-down shirt.

He shoved her blouse up above her breasts at the same time she grabbed his shirt and yanked it apart. Buttons went flying everywhere, and one even popped her in the nose.

Den gave a hungry growl and yanked down her bra, his mouth finding one of her nipples as his hands cupped her breasts. She moaned and arched into his touch, into the feel of his mouth on her nipple. She pushed his shirt so that it was around his shoulders and ran her hands up and down over his taut muscles while he licked and sucked her breasts.

“You don’t know how much I care about you.” Den captured her mouth with his before she could respond and then drew away to look into her eyes. “I was afraid you wouldn’t forgive me. And I deserved that.”

“No.” Katie reached up and kissed him before drawing away again. “You freed me. Allowed me to be the person I was born to be. Helped me to regain my strength, my courage.” He brought one hand to her face and rubbed his thumb over her lips. “You had it all along, Katie.”

She smiled beneath his touch. “But you helped give it back to me.” She gave him her most wicked grin. “Now fuck me.”

Den growled again and helped push her shirt up over her head. When he couldn’t undo the fastening on her bra he ripped it apart. In moments he had her completely naked and he shed his own clothing.

When he slid between her thighs, his cock nudged the entrance to her core and then he stopped.

“Shit. We don’t have a condom.”

Katie grinned. “Now that I have my memory back, I remember that I have an implant. I can’t get pregnant.”

Den held himself above her. “I can’t wait any longer to get inside of you.” She dug her nails into his ass and wrapped her legs around his waist. “Then don’t.” With one hard thrust, Den buried himself deep inside her. Katie cried out at the incredible pleasure of being filled with him, the feel of his skin against hers, the scent of their lovemaking.

He began pumping his hips slowly, driving himself in and out of her pussy.

“Faster,” she cried. “Fuck me harder.”

Den continued his slow pace. “I’m making love to you, sweetheart, not just fucking you.” Katie gasped as his words sent a thrill straight from her belly to where they were joined. She was already spinning, already so close to coming she could felt it barreling toward her like a thunderstorm.

“I’m so close, Den,” she scraped her nails across his back. “So close.”

“Then come, baby,” he whispered in her ear. “Come for me.” Her orgasm started out as little ripples, growing larger and larger until her whole body was shaking with the power of them. Every stroke Den took drew them out, made her whimper, made her cry out.

He increased his pace, his thrusts coming harder and faster, driving deeper into her, touching that place deep inside her that made her crazy. Her orgasm became more forceful, more powerful until she was crying, begging him for more, begging him to stop. She wanted all of him, didn’t want this moment to end, but didn’t know how much more her body could take.

Den slammed his hips into hers
hard
, two, three, four times, then shouted with the force of his climax. His cock pulsed inside her, emptying into her. He braced his hands to either side of her face. His breathing was hard, his eyes almost black from his desire.

For a long moment she looked up at him, trapped in his gaze. Her body continued to clench and unclench around his cock, mini orgasms rippling through her.

Then Den wrapped his arms around her, rolled to his side, keeping his cock inside her. Their bodies were hot, their breathing heavy, the smell of sex strong in the air. It was unlike anything she’d ever experienced with him. Such closeness, such a powerful connection that went beyond it all.

“I can’t believe you’re mine.” He grabbed a handful of her hair and brought it to his nose and inhaled. “From the first moment I saw you, I wanted you. I knew there was something special about you.”

She cocked her head. “On the deck, when I caught you watching me.” He grinned. “I thought you had the sexiest ankles I’d ever seen. Still do.”

“Now come on.” She raised her eyebrows. “Even with me wearing those god-awful sunglasses, you still were interested in me?”

“Especially with those damn sunglasses.” Den kissed her nose. “I love you, Katie, sunglasses and all.”