Escape (17 page)

Rudy was distanced from the storm, barely noticing it, caught up in the little bubble he and Lucy had created.

He could barely believe he had this beautiful, intelligent, (if slightly crazy), woman in bed with him. He couldn’t stop himself touching her skin, running his fingers down the impossible length of her limbs. After they made love, she had fallen asleep in his arms, exhausted by the day
’s antics
, and now her hair lay like a silk sheet across his shoulder.

Guilt bubbled beneath his post-coital glow. He had told her to trust people, yet he was the one who hadn’t trusted her enough to tell her the whole truth.

It wasn’t as though he had cheated on her, or even lied to her. He’d simply omitted the truth.

But hadn’t she done the same?

He thought about her sudden revelation about the boyfriend back home. He couldn’t pretend the news didn’t worry him. He didn’t want this to just be another casual fling and it hurt him to know that when she got on the plane to go back home, she would be going back to another man. It didn’t matter that she said she couldn’t love him
anymore. Once she was away from this place and went back to her old life, the memories would quickly fade and she would go back to what she knew.

Lucy shifted in his arms and exhaled a slow, steady breath. Rudy brushed his lips against her hair, inhaling her scent. She had used his shampoo in the shower and he felt good to smell the scent, as though some little part of him had been left on her.

This storm was one of the worst he had experienced on the island. The damage he’d seen at the resort earlier already had him worried. He didn’t even dare think what damage would be caused by the ti
me the storm ended. One comfort he took was that
as long as the storm raged, he had Lucy all to himself. He hadn’t asked her yet
if she still planned to go home
once she was able to get off the island, because he hadn’t wanted to hear the answer. Obviously, if her father was really sick, then she didn’t have much of a choice. But if there was any chance she was leaving because she thought he had stood her up, he would do his best to talk her out of it.

Carefully, he slid his arm out from beneath Lucy’s head. She curled up on her side beneath the white sheet, looking much younger than she did when she was awake.

Rudy walked over to his desk in the corner of the area he used as his living room and sat down at his computer. It was getting late now, and though he did not have a landline, he was still able to hook up to the internet via a mobile link to the satellite.

He checked the forecast and frowned. The storm was supposed to get worse during the night. He hoped his little house would hold up. The place had been specially built with reinforced foundations and shatter-proof glass, but nothing was immune to these sorts of storms. Even more worrying was the resort. Thankfully, all of the guest rooms were up high, but the bar and restaurant could easily be washed away, as could the beach.

Hearing Lucy stir, he twisted around on his chair to see her pushing herself to sitting. She smiled sleepily at him and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand like a child.

“How long have I been asleep for?” she asked. “You should have woken me.”

“Don’t be silly, you obviously needed to rest. All that wandering around the island must have worn you out.” Then he remembered something he meant to ask her. “Who took you to port anyway?”

Lucy frowned, trying to remember the boy’s name. “Yan?” she said. “Or was it Yong?”

“Yang?”
Rudy said, and Lucy nodded.
“The idiot.
He should have known better.”

He was furious with Yang for not only taking her to the port, but abandoning her there as well. What the hell had he been thinking?

“It wasn’t his fault,” she said, reading his thoughts. “I was a bitch to him. I don’t blame him for leaving me there. I would have done the same thing.”

That wasn’t good enough for Rudy, but he would have to deal with Yang later.

“And what about you,” he dared to ask, crossing the room to slide back into bed with her. “Are you still planning to go home after the storm is over?”

Lucy groaned and buried her face in her hands. “I don’t know. I feel as if I should because my mother will be worried, even though my dad’s illness isn’t exactly life threatening, but I don’t want to, not now.”

“So your decision to leave was partly because of me?” he said, teasing her.

She jabbed an elbow in his ribs.
“Yeah, al
l
right.
Maybe a bit, but don’t go getting all big headed on me.”

He grinned.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Rudy pulled Lucy in closer and she nuzzled in under his chin, her lips touching his throat.

“I don’t think I even want to go back,” she said against his skin, unable to hide the sadness in her voice. “I’ve built a life in London only to turn around one day and find it’s not the life I wanted.”

“But what about your job?
What about being a doctor?”

Lucy sighed. “I still want to be a doctor. I like being able to help people, but I just don’t know if I can do it in London. The thing is
,
if I don’t work there, where do I go? My life is in London.”

Rudy felt for her.
             

“You’re a great doctor,” he said. “Even I can see that. What is it they say—when all around you are losing their heads? You were the only one who stayed calm when Leanne had that accident.”

She smiled against him. “I love being a doctor. I love being an emergency doctor. It’s just that I can’t seem to figure out how to detach myself from all the awful things I see every day. I never thought they would affect me so much.”

“Being a doctor
doesn’t automatically stop you being human, Lucy.”

“I know that, it’s just...” she hesitated.

“What is it?”

“Something happened the week before I made the sudden decision to up and leave. I was working and it was a regular night, but then this young boy—he was twelve—was carried in by his older brother. The boy had a knife buried in his stomach.”

“Oh, Lucy, that’s terrible
.”

“Yeah, it is. The boy got caught up in some gang related violence, the same gang his brother—who was only fourteen—was involved in.” She sighed, her body tense beneath his arm. “But that wasn’t the reason I left.”

“No?” he said, wondering what could possibly be worse.

She hesitated again, “While I was treating the boy, I thought to myself, what’s the point? This kid is only going to grow up to be exactly like his older brother, get into his own gang and go around terrorizing people. It probably wouldn’t be th
e last time we’d see him in Accident and Emergency
with some kind of violent injury. And then, even if he did manage to survive into adulthood, what would he ever give to society? I thought he’d only end up having kids who were exactly like him.”

Rudy shook his head.
“I don’t know what to say
.
Many people in your situation would think exactly the same thing.”

“Yeah, maybe, but those thoughts didn’t sound like me. All of a sudden, I found myself being hard and cynical—as if I’d discovered a dark part of myself—and I didn’t like it. That’s why I left. I left because I didn’t like the person I was becoming.”

Her
hand
slipped
across his waist and
she
hugged him closer. They fit perfectly, their bodies slotting in together. In front of them, the floor to ceiling windows gave them their own private performance of the storm. The sky was dark, thick and heavy with cloud. Tree branches lashed around them.

An aerial clattered and clanged on the top of the house, torn loose from its metal bracket. A gate swung in the wind, slamming as though some angry ghost had hold of it. The whole time, the wind howled and shrieked. Something unseen squeaked relentlessly.

At five-fifteen the power went out.

“Oh shit,” said Lucy. “Is it going to come back on?”

Rudy frowned. “I doubt it. The cables run below ground, so something must have happened. Don’t worry, I’ve got candles and I guess we’ll just have to make our own entertainment.”

She reached out and pulled him toward her, kissing him again.

“I think I can live with that.”

But despite her bravado, she couldn’t hide the nerves beneath her voice and Rudy broke away from her.

“Just let me get the candles. Things will look better with some light.”

Quickly, he ran around the small house, pulling open cupboards and drawers, gathering together a motley assortment of candles. As soon as he had them set up—on the dresser, the floor, his desk—the place was filled with a romantic, flickering light.

He climbed back into bed with her and they snuggled down under the covers, face to face.

“That’s better,” she said. “I can see you now.”

He pulled her
close
, and
his desire
stir
red
against her.

“Ready to go again?” she said, with a cheeky grin.

“You bet.”

Slow and sweet
, they made love again, taking their time this time, learning every inch of each other’s skin. When they finally fell apart, sated and sweaty, Lucy curled up into the crook of h
is arm, her head on his chest.

This would be very easy to get used to
, Rudy
thought.

But she didn’t belong here. In a matter of days she was due to fly home.

Chapter Eleven

From the depths of sleep
, Lucy felt Rudy’s arm wrap around her waist and pull her close. She was smiling before she even opened her eyes, relishing the feel of skin on skin, of knowing he was there, waiting for her, when she decided to open her eyes.

The howling of the wind had subsided. The only sound was the gentle rustling of the palm fronds surrounding the house. To Lucy, their movement sounded like the ocean.

We could be underwater
, she thought, still half-asleep.
Trapped in this little house together, deep under the ocean.

Then Rudy kissed the spot just behind her ear, sending a little thrill of excitement through her body, pulling her out of her dream-like state.

“I have to get up,” he whispered against her ear, and she turned to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Why? Can’t we just stay here?”

He kissed her on the mouth, firm but definite. “I can’t. I have to get back to the resort. There’s going to be so much to organize, and we have to find someone to take one of the trucks and go out and find your bag. If we don’t do it soon, someone will steal your stuff.”

“I don’t care,” she said, sliding closer to him, but then she remembered her Jimmy
Choo
sandals were in the case, along with all her underwear and her mobile phone. Reluctantly, she sat up.

“There’s still no electricity,” Rudy said, “so there’s no running water either because the water runs off a pump from a well. Hopefully, the backup generators are working at the resort, so we can get ourselves sorted there. I’ll get you your old room back.”

“Thanks,” she said, hoping she wouldn’t have to spend too much time in the room. Even with no electricity
, she would much rather be here
with Rudy.

She watched as he climbed out of bed, stretching and flexing the muscles in his back. She could hardly believe only a few hours ago her fingers had been tracing those muscles, touching that skin. Even though she still lay in his bed, she felt as if those things had happened to another person.