The sun beats hard overhead, heading toward the peak of early morning. I look from her to the sun again. She’s fair, lightly tanned and heavily freckled.
“That sun is fucking brutal,” I call out to her from my position on the edge of the beach. I try to keep my tone conversational but fail. My voice is harsh, unwelcoming, and it makes her jump. I continue, trying to quell my rising temper. I hate that she’s here. I hate that I am. I hate that I can’t control my thoughts and barely contain my actions. My words come out heated and sharp like flames. “For Christ’s sake, don’t stand in direct sunlight like that for more than a few minutes at a time. You’ll make yourself sick.”
She pauses, looks up at the sky as if just noticing the full force of the sun’s rays, then glances back my way.
“Right,” she says, waving a hand in my direction. “I know, I know.” She paces away from me again. What the hell is her problem? Her ship isn’t coming back. She’s stuck here with me.
I grunt, but don’t make a move. I’m still keeping an eye out for Will, I’m starving, and I don’t trust myself not to hurt her.
There was a reason why Eugene attacked her. I doubt he could even help himself. Whatever brought us to this island has contributed to our tenuous hold on civilized behavior. He probably couldn’t help himself, he was that far gone. Killing him was the only way to keep her safe.
“Any food in that backpack of yours?” I ask her. I prowl toward her, suddenly nearly delirious with hunger. I’ve gone days without eating, but the thought of actual food right where I can grab it tempts me.
She pauses her pacing again and grabs at her bag, her eyes wide on me as if I’m about to attack her and hell, I might be. I don’t trust this lust and craving inside me.
“Yeah. Protein bars and nuts, but not much else.”
I can’t even see straight, the need to eat the food she has is that strong. I snatch it out of her hand.
“Wait!”
I tear it open, ignoring her.
Her eyes widen when panic flits across her features. “Do you mean to tell me there’s nothing to eat on this island?”
“Depends,” I tell her wryly, reaching my hand in her bag with trembling fingers, like a vampire who’s just smelled blood. “Do I look like I’ve been eating three squares a day?” The contents of her bag spills onto the beach in front of me, and when I see cellophane wrappers I fall to my knees. I grab a package of salted nuts, my mouth watering. I swallow hard and my stomach aches with hunger when she sprints toward me.
“Hey! Don’t go through my things!”
“I’m not going through your things,” I say in a growl.
“Eat what you want, just don’t touch my stuff,” she says, scowling at me.
I don’t give a shit about her stuff, but apparently, she does, because she’s picking things up at a frenzied pace, her cheeks flushed a vibrant shade of pink. Maybe I should pay attention to her things. I look down and realize she’s shoving her panties and bras and something else—a thick pink vibrator in her bag. My lips tip upward for the first time in a really, really long time and my dick hardens.
Looks like someone really was taking a much-needed vacation. My mind goes to deep, dark places. Being around a woman like her tempts me in ways I haven’t been tempted in ages. A different kind of hunger grows deep in my belly, and it unsettles me.
I’d give her good reason not to need that thing. I would fuck her until she screamed my name and prayed for deliverance. I would give that woman orgasms that would rock her to her very core and leave her panting for more.
What the hell has this island done to me that I’m reduced to animalistic instincts in the presence of a woman? It’s fucking weird as hell.
“Give me that,” she says, and her voice wavers as if she’s about to cry.
I’m growing impatient, letting her do her thing while looking out for Will. I tip the rest of the nuts in my mouth, chew thoughtfully, and shake my head at her.
“You know, princess,” I drawl, my casual tone belying the anger she’s inspired in me. It isn’t just her, though, it’s the whole fucking situation. I want to break things with my bare hands. “Your ship has fucking sailed. Maybe you should think twice about treating me like your enemy, when you don’t have so much as dinner to put in your belly or a roof to put over your head.”
She looks at me in bewilderment, and I finally realize she’s going through some kind of shock or denial.