“Where’d it go?” I whisper. I’m suddenly cold and shaking. “Where?”
He raises a brow to me. “Your ship? I have no idea. The only thing I know is that it came today, when we called out to them, they somehow didn’t hear us, and by the time we got to them, they were gone.”
I blink. “They weren’t supposed to leave without me.”
He narrows his eyes and looks with hatred at the horizon. “Nor me. But here we are.”
I fall to the ground in a sitting position and bury my head in my hands. “And where… where might that be?”
He scoffs. “Who the hell knows?”FiveCyJesus fucking Christ.
It was bad enough when Eugene was alive, and we didn’t know where he was. This is far, far worse. As soon as he could, while I was distracted ending the motherfuckering savage, Eugene, Will took off. Where to, no one knows, but Will’s selfish insistence on taking care of himself will always prevail. He likely took one of the shelters we built, the son of a bitch.
And now not only do I have Eugene’s dead body to bury, I’ve got a riled-up girl who thinks she can protect herself on my hands, a girl who doesn’t have a goddamn iota of self-preservation in her body, and Will is in hiding.
And why is she here? This was no accident. Cruise ships don’t land on this island, and no random turn of events brought her here. There was something malicious and deliberate about her being here, though I can’t understand how or why it happened.
Jesus, we’ve got to get off this island.
It doesn’t make sense, though, any of it. Why the hell did they bring her here, only to leave? Why would anyone do such a thing? Did they forget her?
Or was this on purpose?
She’s sitting on the ground, her head buried in her hands, and Christ, she’s a mess, but even a wreck she’s stunning.
I blame the island for the way my body responds. My pulse quickens and my dick hardens. It would be so easy to take her like Eugene tried. She’s small and fragile, and she wouldn’t be expecting it. I could pin her down and slide my cock—
God. What am I thinking? I don’t rape women. I just killed a man for trying. Who—what
the hell have I become?
I won’t let my mind deteriorate any further. I will retain whatever civility I have left if it kills me.
Still, I can’t help but give her a solid, thorough once over.
She’s short, and younger than I am, but not by much. With a sturdy, well-built frame and gorgeous, vibrant auburn locks, she stirs something deep and primal within me. But now her auburn hair hangs about in her in wild, scraggly curls, her face is streaked with dirt, and her clothes are torn, revealing a curvy body and full breasts. She’s a mess, though if I’m honest, I’m not that much better. I look from me to her and realize the responsible thing is to get her to safety before we assess our situation.
I don’t know what’s affected my head since I’ve been on this island. I know my hold on the civilized behavior fades with each passing day, and I become more and more uncivilized with every day that passes. But when I saw her… when I first laid eyes on her, I could see nothing beyond how beautiful she was. It awoke a hunger in me, a deep, abiding need to bury my cock between her thighs and fuck her like the savage beast I’ve become. I got one look, caught one glance, and I had to have her.
What the hell is that all about?
When I saw her, I didn’t see a fellow human or someone in trouble, but a beautiful woman in need, and my instincts took over. I had to save her. I had to protect her. I was taken with the sudden, irrational need to drag her off and claim her as my own, away from the danger. Yet, she nearly slapped me for saving her from rape.
The other men likely felt and saw the same, which makes sense in retrospect. When Will and I saw her, we reacted more strongly than we did when we saw the roasted meat. We’ve been starved for real food and damn near ravenous for female companionship. Even now, just looking at her, sitting on the ground helplessly, her clothes hanging about her in tatters, I want to claim her, to ravage her.
But I won’t let myself succumb to my base needs. I’ve been stripped to primal urges, torn down to the most basic needs, and I won’t let this be one of them.
“Come,” I command gruffly. She looks up at me with her vivid green eyes, and they immediately shutter.
Is she in shock?
“Uh, no,” she says, shaking her head. “I’m not going with you. I’m going to find my ship and get out of here. I’m not staying another minute on this godforsaken island.” She shudders.