Taken by Lies (Truth or Lies 1)

I let my hand drop despite my urge to touch her. I need her hand, waist, or entire body in my clutches. I need to ensure she can’t escape. But it’s more than that. I’m desperate to feel what I know will be deliciously warm flesh against mine.

“This way then,” I say as I start walking down the pier toward a yacht I know isn’t being used tonight. I let her feel like she has power and is making this choice. I don’t force her to follow me. But if she ran, I would chase.

I hear her hesitant steps clanking down the pier in her flip-flops. My head shakes the tiniest bit. She definitely doesn’t belong in my world; she doesn’t even know how to walk without being heard.

I reach the black beast of a yacht at the far end of the pier. It’s not the biggest yacht in our collection, but it still looms over us, taunting us with its majesty.

Kai stops next to me, her breathing heavy as she stares up at the boat.

“It’s tiny,” she says, trying to lighten the mood with her joke.

A wave of her black hair has fallen on her neck, and I brush it back, feeling the iciness oozing, prickling my hot skin as I whisper in her ear, “Trust me, it’s not small.”

She blushes and bites her damn lip again, like she’s trying to contain her excitement.

Shit, it’s infectious.

Some stairs lead up to the main deck of the boat, but what fun are stairs? I jump up to the main deck and turn to tell Kai about the stairs or to help her across.

Thud.

I turn and see Kai smiling next to me. She landed on the deck, although not quite as gracefully as I did.

God, this creature intrigues me. She’s made for this life on the ocean, full of thrill and risk-taking. Unfortunately, this might be the last risk she ever takes.

“This way, sweetheart.” I wink at her and start walking toward the bow.

“Ugh, really? Sweetheart?” She chases after me.

I shrug. I haven’t found a nickname that suits her yet.

Why am I trying to come up with a nickname for her? I shouldn’t be getting attached.

I enter the wheelhouse and find the first mate.

“Out,” I shout to the man I barely recognize. He’s been to the club before and works for my father, but I couldn’t tell you his name.

“Yes, sir.” He doesn’t hesitate as he exits the room. He knows the consequences.

“And ensure no crew or cleaning staff remain on the yacht. I will be taking it for a spin, alone.”

Kai’s eyebrows raise as the man scurries off.

I walk behind the wheel and start-up the yacht.

“We’re really doing this?” Kai asks, her voice hitched.

“Yes,” I hiss, although I don’t know what this is. Does she think I’m going to take her to some private island and fuck her? She’s probably a virgin for goodness sakes. And she’s young. Sixteen. Almost seventeen. She feels far too young for my seventeen, almost eighteen years, or maybe it’s the difference in life experience that makes us so far apart.

We are both too young for any of this. She may not have seen death or taken it as I have, but she’s experienced pain and fear. We are teenagers who shouldn’t be thinking about fucking, yet that’s where both our minds are.

I don’t know what I’m going to do when I get her out on the ocean, but I do know I won’t be fucking her.

“Do you know how to untie us and remove the buoy?” I ask.

She gives me a wicked smile. “Of course.”

“Good, do it then.”