Illusion (Swept Away 1)

“I don’t know,” I whispered again, frozen and unable to move.

“What do you think should happen to gold diggers?” His tongue darted out and licked my lips. “Should they be punished?”

“I . . .” I swallowed hard as my heart raced. “I don’t know.”

I moaned as Jakob grabbed the back of my neck and pressed me toward him. His lips pressed down harder on mine, and his tongue slipped into my mouth as he kissed me, hard. All of a sudden, my cold skin had turned hot, and I kissed him back with abandon. His lips were unrelenting as he devoured my lips and sought the secrets of my mouth. His hands squeezed the back of my head as his fingers ran through my extremely tousled hair. His chest felt warm against my fingers as I caressed his skin and held on to his back. My legs were trembling as his fingers lightly ran up my stomach and over my breasts.

I was breathless as he pulled away from me. He stared down into my eyes, and his eyes looked angry. He took a step back from me and ran his hand through his hair before he spoke again.

“Whoever brought us here has a plan.” He paused, then looked at me again. “And it seems very calculated. I think we must be connected in a much more direct way. Our only link can’t be that we’re both interested in Bradley Inc., that’s just too broad.”

“I wish we knew exactly what was going on. I’m so frustrated.”

“You’ll have to tell me more about your father. Maybe when we talk a little more we can figure some stuff out.”

“I guess so.”

I spoke reluctantly. I didn’t really want to tell him more about my father. I didn’t want to give him any more information until I was more confident in my trust for him. “Do you think someone else is on the island besides you, me, and Steve?” I licked my lips lightly and watched his eyes follow the movement of my tongue. If only we were here for a different reason. If only I could concentrate on the attraction we had for each other. Things would be so different then. Now, I felt guilty. My attraction to Jakob felt slightly dangerous. I felt like every kiss was playing with fire, and I was getting closer and closer to being consumed by his flames.

“No.” He shook his head. “I don’t.”

“Then how did these letters get here? Do you think it was Steve?”

“Perhaps. I think whoever did this planned it out very carefully.” He looked around the shack. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s been sleeping in here. For some reason, Steve doesn’t strike me as a particularly delicate person.”

“I wonder who built it.”

I shivered and stared at the sparse shack. There were some pieces of material on the ground and in some boxes, but I hesitated to go through them. I was scared that it might be a trap. What if the boxes were full of snakes and spiders? I shivered at the thought.

“Who knows?” He shrugged and his expression changed. “Read your note to me again.”

“ ‘Your life may be saved in death.’ ” I shuddered as I read the letter. “Do you think they’re trying to tell me that they’re going to kill me? Is Steve going to kill me?”

“I don’t think so.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t sound like a death threat. Anyway, I won’t let Steve hurt you. I think we need to find Steve and figure out what he knows.” His eyes stared at something in the corner of the shack, and I could see a nerve in his forehead throbbing. “We need to find Steve. We need to find out why he’s here.” He grabbed my hand. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Do you think he’s still alive?” I asked as he walked ahead of me.

“I don’t know.” He stopped and looked back at me. “Bad things happen to bad people when they least expect it all the time.” He smiled at me then. A weird, sad smile. “But then bad things happen to good people all the time as well, don’t they?”

“Yes, they do.” I thought back to my mother’s death and the grief my father had lived with for the rest of his life and pulled my hand back from his grip. “I wish I knew what the notes meant. What are they trying to tell us? I feel like my note is some sort of threat. And what about yours?” I thought back to his note. “Are they saying you did something bad? Did you take money for some shady deal and your being kidnapped is the consequence of your actions? Do you think Mattias is trying to warn you to stay away from trying to take over his business?”

“I try not to be shady.” He gave me a half smile.

“Most rich people have been shady at some point in their lives,” I said bitterly.

“Does that make you mad?” He looked at me keenly. “Do you feel like rich people owe you something?”

“I don’t know any rich people.” I stared at him and kept my voice even.

“Aside from your ex-boyfriends.”

“Whatever.” I glared at him. “I don’t care if you have money, Jakob. I’m sorry that some girl, who was obviously a gold digger, tried to date you, but she’s not me.”

“I won’t say the obvious.” He started, but I cut him off.

“Good.” I handed him my letter. “You can keep this. I’m going to go look for some water.”

“Wait.” He grabbed my shoulders and pushed me against the wall. His eyes glared down at me, and I could feel the warmth of his body against my skin. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to just run off by yourself.”