Island of Dragons (3 page)

The flight was longer than Miley had expected, and she struggled to stay awake as the plane landed on the main Galapagos Island.

“Ma’am,” a woman’s voice broke through her dreams.

Jumping slightly, Miley looked up to a stewardess staring down at her. “Ah…” Miley mumbled.

“The plane has landed and…” the stewardess began.

“Oh!” Miley said jumping up until she realized her seatbelt held her down. Her body slammed back into the chair. “Ouch,” she groaned. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, ma’am. It happens with a lot of people,” she shrugged making her way for the baggage hold above Miley’s head.

Miley unbuckled the seat belt and accepted her bag sheepishly from the woman. She
could not believe she had fallen asleep in such a short time. She pushed herself out of the plane and through the corridor to the terminal. Unsure of what to do next, Miley slowed her pace and looked around nervously. She had never traveled outside of the United States, and she certainly hadn’t travel alone.

Then she noticed him. He was a tall man with long dark hair dangling over his eyes. A thick black design spanned the skin across his left arm and disappeared beneath the shirt he wore. In his hands was a large piece of cardboard with ‘Siegel Images” sprawled in a messy handwriting on it.

Gulping, Miley sucked in a deep breath. The man was scary in an ‘I’ll eat you alive’ kind of way. She watched for a moment, while everyone who walked past avoided the man like the plague. It probably did not help that he was a foot taller or more than most of the people around here. Most people seemed to watch him out of the corners of their eyes, suspiciously, as they passed.

Miley took in another deep breath and let it out slowly as she nervously hugged her carry-on bag tightly into her stomach. She stepped toward the man, gulping again. The man still looked around over her head as she came closer.

“Um…excuse me,” she murmured slightly.

“I’m not interested.” He snorted and looked down. “Well, I’ll make an exception for you babe.” He smirked.

Miley’s eyes widened in shock and she gulped backing up slightly. “Uh… I’m Miley, I’m…”

“Don’t tell me,” He drawled. “You want to go back to a hotel with me and shack…” He winked making her blush and shake her head furiously. This had been a horrible mistake.

“I’m so sorry. This is a mistake, tell the magazine I’ll send someone else, but it might take a few months…” Miley muttered stumbling away from the man as his cocky grin faded quickly. He began to look at Miley with wide eyes.

He took in her look and groaned. Victor hadn’t planned on a woman coming to explore the island. This could work either way; this could be good, causing the exposure of the McBride clan, or this could be bad… very bad.

Siegel Images had been known for their male photographers and for their lack of female influence. He was not quite sure of anything at the moment. Victor wondered if he could take her home with him and forget about ruining the other clan…

“You’re here from the photo company?” he stuttered.

The woman before him blinked up with wide brown eyes. The kind of eyes that trapped a man, pulled him in, and did not release him. She had her chocolate brown hair pulled back into a messy bun; strands of the brown locks had fallen out of their placement, making him think she had ruffled it in her sleep.

Victor fought the urge to reach out to her as she brought her luscious plump bottom lip into her mouth and nibbled on it nervously. She was beautiful. This was a problem; he was beginning to wonder if she could do the job for them or not.

“Yeah… I …” she shivered. “I’m sorry…” She looked so vulnerable and scared to be standing there, which could work for him.

“Oh, my goodness, I’m so sorry, madam. Please let’s start over.” He surged forward, quickly coming up with a plan. He could work with this. His alpha was counting on this to ruin the McBride clan.

Tossing the cardboard aside he held out his hand. “I’m Victor. I’m here to escort you to the island.” He sighed when she did not take his hand. He tried again. “I’m so sorry. I seriously don’t get out much,” he apologized.

Shakily, Miley pushed her hand away from her death grip on her suitcase. He reminded her of a man that could be a bad boy, the kind she avoided with passion. He just rubbed her the wrong way. She held out her hand warily and giggled nervously before speaking. “I’m Miley Tanner.” Her voice was weak and shy. She still had a small grin on her lips from his words, and Victor could see all the trouble she could cause.

“Miley Tanner.” He smiled nodding his head. “Do you mind if I carry that for you?” he asked holding out his hand. He could be gentle if he wanted; he could be human if he wanted. It was just something he did not normally do.

“Breakable,” Miley muttered clutching her carry-on tighter to her chest.

He nodded and grinned. “I’m sure I can manage,” he mused.

Slowly relaxing her grip, Miley let Victor take her bag. “Do you have more luggage?” he asked.

“Yeah…” she drawled looking around for the baggage claim.

“This way then,” he said walking them over toward the far side of the terminal building. A small turntable, which Miley had missed when she exited the plane, lined the wall.

Victor really did not travel in the area much. His clan stayed far away from the McBride clan, but he had arrived early enough to get a feel for the airport. He had even rented a boat for the occasion. Everything was perfect. The girl would do plenty of damage among the clan, and that just made him smile.

As they approached, Miley sighed remembering how horrible the turntables were at JFK. “It’s a black and pink suitcase,” she groaned thinking of how hard it was going to be to find.

“Of course it is.” He nodded smugly, looked down, obviously taking in her outfit with a look of interest.

Miley could tell what his smug look was about when they approached the small turntable. It had been turned off and only held one bag, Miley’s pink and black suitcase.

“I don’t know, but I assume your bag is the only pink and black one left.” He chuckled dryly.

A small squeak of emba
rrassment escaped Miley’s lips. Victor reached forward and grabbed the bag without another word, setting it down on the floor and hooking her carry-on bag on top. “Well, are you ready?” he asked.

Miley bit her lip and nodded. She followed closely behind as the people before Victor parted.

“Oh, my gosh…” Miley heard someone mumble as they passed. Her head spun around, but the person had snapped their mouth shut. When she turned back around she noticed Victor glaring at the person and frowning.

“What was that about?” Miley asked.

Victor’s features changed from stern to soft and relaxed. “Oh… it’s ah nothing. Don’t listen to any of them,” he said, hoping the girl wouldn’t listen, hoping someone wouldn’t stop her from leaving with him. People here could tell he was different, and they were afraid of him, but Victor wasn’t going to let that stop him from finishing the mission.

They made it to the front of the building within minutes. The terminal Miley had landed at must have been one of the smallest among the buildings here. It seemed strange because outside was a busy bustling world.

The first thing that hit her, when they exited, was the heat. Miley groaned.

“What?” Victor asked.

“It’s hot here,” she muttered.

Victor let out a small chuckle, and held the car door open for her as she climbed in. “We have a half an hour drive to the dock,” he told her as he started the car. “And we have air conditioning.” He grinned.

She nodded. “Okay.”

Miley tried to make small talk as they drove, but mostly it failed miserably. Luckily, Victor turned the radio on low to relieve some of the tension.

“Finally,” Victor murmured and Miley grinned. “We’re here.” He turned toward her with a small smile. “I hope you don’t mind boats.”

Miley shrugged as she pushed the door open and looked toward the dock. A ferry sat tied to a large dock while a smaller motor boat sat docked on the other side. Well, at least it’s a ferry, she thought to herself. When Victor walked up to the small motorboat, Miley nearly choked on air.

“Miss Tanner…” Victor asked.

Miley nodded stiffly before making herself walk toward the boat. Victor held out his hand to her, and Miley gratefully accepted it as she nearly toppled head-over-heels into the boat. Her flip flop sandals
did not seem to like the slick edge and flooring of the boat.

“Thank you,” Miley murmured taking her hand back quickly before looking back up at Victor in horror.

“I’m sorry but this is part of our policy,” Victor said holding up a blindfold.

Miley scrambled back, gripping the edges of the boat; shaking her head adamantly, she refused. “I don’t… I… I can’t… No,” she argued.

“Miss Tanner, if you would please take a seat... I promise I will stay on the far side of the boat, but this is our policy.” Victor tried to calm her nerves.

Anxiety and nervousness filled Miley, but she slowly sat down. Shakily, she lifted her hand up and accepted the blindfold, sliding it over her eyes.

“Thank you,” Victor whispered. This was going to be too easy. “Just relax and enjoy the ride.”

“Miss Tanner” Victor’s voice rang out to Miley as the boat began to shift.

“Call me Miley,” she told him turning her head up toward the sound of his voice.

“Miley,” he said. “We have arrived. You may take off the blindfold,” he said. Miley could tell he had a slight grin on his lips. She could hear it in his words and when she pulled the blindfold off eagerly, she confirmed it with her own eyes.

“Wow,” she breathed taking in the surroundings. Tall stalked trees were in small clusters near the shore. Among the vast expanse of white sand, sea lions bathed in the sun. The boat docked and Victor stepped up onto a wooden surface, tugging the boat by rope to its edge.

“Miley?” he said holding out his hand to her once again. Miley reached out grasping Victor’s hand tightly while he pulled her up to the wooden dock. She walked forward, mesmerized by her surroundings while Victor pulled the luggage and supplies from the boat. Miley could hear birds chirping, animals cooing, and the trees swaying while the water lapped against the shore.

There were no signs of human encroachment here besides the dock, and she liked it. Simply, serene, and beautiful.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” Victor said walking up beside Miley.

“Yeah it is,” she breathed. That’s when she noticed a small, strange-looking golf cart parked beside the dock, and a boat chained to the opposite side of the tree. Cocking her eyebrow slightly, she was curious as to why they seemed so strange there.

“We will be making camp here for the night,” Victor said.

“That’s fine,” she assured. She bent down and tugged her shoes off so she wouldn’t tumble through the sand. Victor let out a low whistle and Miley stiffened upright, turning to look back at him. He stood agape but did not answer when she asked, “What did I miss?”

With a simple shrug, Miley continued, “I can’t believe I got the privilege of capturing images of this place,” she told him looking up into Victor’s mossy green eyes for the first time. They were almost unreal. She
could not compare the color of his eyes to anything except the mossy green seaweed of the ocean.

“My family found this island, and we just had to share it with the world.” He lied. “I think our tent would be good over here,” he told her finally.

Miley looked over at Victor wide-eyed. “We can’t share a tent,” shehuffed.

Victor’s broad smile grew larger. “Well, as much as I would love to share the tent with a beautiful woman like you darlin’, I am going to sleep out here on the sand.” He chuckled as Miley sighed in relief.

Victor had set up the tent quickly. He pushed a pillow and sleeping bag inside before he turned toward Miley. “Well, goodnight. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Goodnight, Victor.” Miley smiled softly as she slid inside the tent and zipped it closed.

While Miley slept, Victor dumped the remaining luggage and supplies onto the dock. He was careful not to make a sound as he climbed into the boat. Grabbing the ores, he rowed the boat out into the ocean. When he was far enough away to turn on the motor, he saw the tent shake; he simply smiled.

“Hey!” Miley screamed. “You can’t leave me here!”

Victor felt compelled to answer back. “I’ll be back in a week.”

“NO!” Miley screamed over the sound of the motor. Victor just waved. Turning his head; he allowed the boat to disappear from the girl’s view.

Tears fell from Miley’s eyes. Frantically wiping them away, she sighed. The torch which Victor had lit earlier was beginning to fade, and the darkness was beginning to consume her.

Miley screamed “AH!!” then kicked the sand. She
did not know what else to do in her tired and groggy state so Miley crawled back into the tent. She would figure out what to do in the morning.

When dawn finally came, Miley awoke to the sound of the ocean lapping at the shore and birds singing their love songs. She reached up and unzipped the tent. Sliding out, she stretched. “I can’t believe that idiot left me here,” she growled to herself.

She decided the best thing to do was to check out the items which Victor had left for her. Miley yawned as she padded her way through the sand. The supplies Victor had left at least held a bag of apples, which caused Miley to stop searching. She grabbed an apple and bit into it.

She f
igured since she was stuck here she would take the photos, which she needed, and pray Victor came back for her. Shoving her mp3 player’s ear buds into her ears and grabbing her camera, Miley wandered off.

She decided the first pictures she would take were of the golf cart thing and the boat, neither of which she would be able to use. They were chained to the tree. Oviously somebody
did not want them used.

Her camera clicked, and once Miley was satisfied with those, she decided to wander down the shoreline. It was beautiful here. She captured photos of the ocean, sea lions on the sand, and even parts of the reef.

After a while, Miley came to a river which flowed down into the ocean. Looking up the stream she wondered, if she stayed by the river… would she be able to find her way back to the shoreline?

Deciding that was exactly what she would do, Miley grabbed hold of a couple of sticks and created an arrow marking which way to turn once she returned to the sand. Then she took her chances and stepped into the brush.

The scenery was amazing. Miley took pictures of exotic birds, giant tortoises, lizards, and even multi-colored crabs crawling around. She was beginning to turn back around, when she heard a noise.

Pausing, Miley looked out into the jungle canopy trying to catch a glimpse of what was inside. Tentatively, she took a step but then thought better of it and continued back down the river to the shoreline. Dusk was coming, and she needed to find the campsite before the sun went down. She needed to make a fire, find food, even if it
was within the supplies, and got ready for bed.

As she finally stumbled onto the sandy shoreline, Miley felt relieved. Quickly, she jogged back down the beach to her campsite and
began her nightly preparations.