I began to sob—I knew he was right. I had few friends and I’d burned through my family fairly fast after the calming presence of my mother was gone. My father tried—he loved me in his own way—but his business and new wife were his priorities, and I was left to my own devices.
I hated the mean King Rex Renton at that moment. Despite my glare, his deep voice began to speak again. “So, Princess, I have a business matter I have to attend to. I’ll be gone for a bit, and I’ve commanded Nate to not see you until I return. Maria will take good care of you—if you behave. Give her trouble, and I’ve given her permission to dump you into the croc pit. Are we clear?”
“Yeah,” I answered through my sniffles.
“Excuse me?” He stood and walked in front of me, his dark presence hovering over me, his massive fists balled in a threat.
“Yes, sir,” I sniffled.
“Better.”
“What did you inject me with yesterday?” I asked softly.
“Just something to ensure you behave, that’s all.” His large index finger pointed an inch from my face, “I don’t have the time or the energy for complications, Penny. Not even for Nate.” He left the room, the harsh metallic click of the lock on the other side reminding me of how helpless I was.
By lunchtime, my stomach was growling. A dark haired woman finally opened the door with a nod. She set down a tray covered in linen cloth, and in slow, trained English asked, “Do you need anything, Miss?”
I nodded. “I need to leave.”
“I cannot,” she said as she left.
I spent the next two days alone in the artificially cooled room. I was fed, but Maria spoke very little English. After dinner the second evening, I lay in a heap on the plush carpeted floor, sobbing and feeling sorry for myself. I was jolted from my self-indulgent cry by the opening of my bedroom door. I expected to see the dark-haired maid, but instead my heart began to pound when I recognized the tall, lean frame of Nate as he slid the door closed behind him, locking it from the inside with a key that he placed in the pocket of his slim jeans.
“Penny,” he cooed as he knelt down beside me. “Don’t cry, I’m so sorry.”
He held me tight, rocking me in his arms. “You left me,” I wailed.
“Rex said I couldn’t see you until he returned. I tried, but I missed you so damn much.” He leaned in and kissed me, his warm lips caressing mine.
“I tried,” he purred, wrapping my limbs around his. “I meant to stay away until Rex got home, but I’m drawn to you. I-I’ve never felt like this about a woman before.”
My lips found his again, silencing his explanations, his apology. At that moment, my yearning wasn’t for escape; it was for him. My tongue caressed his, the need flowing from me as he unbuttoned my shirt. “You’re so beautiful,” he moaned as his lips dipped down to kiss the very top of the lace of my bra. My full breasts heaved over the top of the cups—whoever owned this exquisite bra was smaller breasted than me. His eager fingers pulled the lace aside, the ivory flesh flowing over the strained fabric.
His full lips wrapped around my sensitive pink nipple, his desperate suction so intense I struggled to bear it. “Nate,” I begged, clawing at the fly of his jeans. He released the aroused nipple and stood, reaching out a hand to pull me up and toward the bed. We fell together against the pillows, struggling to free one another of the oppressive clothing that separated us.
As his gloriously swollen cock burst free of his jeans, I wrapped my lips around it, drawing hard as he writhed against the sheets. “Pen, wait, not so fast…” I stroked his firm, swollen balls with my index finger, slowing my rhythm on his long shaft as he pulled at me. He managed to flip me over, despite my pout at being parted from his hardness.
“I need to taste you first…”
My tongue was salty from the liquid that slowly seeped from him as he dipped his warm tongue into me—savoring and worshipping me in the most intimate way he could. A long finger slid into my tightness as he lapped at me, so gently I yearned for more. My hips rose as my fingers combed through his thick hair—pressing him into me. His tongue picked up speed as I pushed against his mouth—silently begging him for more contact. “You are so sweet,” he purred against my throbbing sex. When he flicked at my clit with the very tip of his tongue, his fingertip pressing against the sponginess of my swollen G-spot, I struggled to stay quiet as my orgasm rocked me. Nate rode it out, not letting go despite my efforts to shake him loose. He greedily held on to sip every last drop of sweetness from me before rising to take me in his arms.
His tongue found mine once again, sharing my own slick essence from his mouth to mine. My fingers slid down to hold onto his hard shaft, stroking it slowly until he could take no more.
“I’m going to die if I can’t be inside you soon,” he begged as my thighs fell open to allow him to plunge deep inside me.
I screamed as his thickness parted me, despite his hand covering my mouth in a vain attempt to quiet me.
My nails clawed into his back as he thrust—hard and unyielding against my tightness—over and over until we both shuddered in climatic ecstasy.
I fell asleep with Nate, perfect and beautiful, wrapped around me. Irrationally, I didn’t want to leave him. But the big guy, Rex, scared me shitless. He had complete control over Nate—brainwashed, clearly. And what if what he injected me with was some sort of drug that would make me the same way? No, I had to stop pretending as if I were in some sweeping adventure novel and get the fuck off that island before shit got real.
The more I thought about it, the more freaked out I became. This isn’t a game, I thought, my heart pounding. These men could kill me… I slid from the bed and found his jeans. Inside, there was the key he’d used to lock the door.
I managed to open the lock from the inside with his key—and after dressing in the snug borrowed clothes, I slinked from the bedroom that had become my jail cell and out into a modern living room.
Chapter Three
“Penny, what the fuck?” Strong arms were lifting me, carrying me—but my heavy eyelids wouldn’t open, my parched lips were sealed shut. I’d been ridiculously unprepared for my attempt at escape, and ended up wandering the harsh jungle for hours and hours until I somehow tripped and fell. I don’t remember where I landed, just being very thirsty and confused.
I’m not sure how far he carried me. In my dream-like state, I wasn’t sure if I was alive or dead. My head pounded, my heart fluttered. Nate’s angelic face floated by my thoughts, his steel blue eyes comforting as he called to me. Rex’s deep voice vibrated from somewhere near, whether real or imagined, I’m still not sure. “Hang in there, baby girl, I’ve got you,” he reassured me that afternoon.
It all went dark for a long time, and then a blinding light flooded my vision. My head was in a thick cloud, pounding and pained. The light burned, and yet his fingers were forcing my eyes open. “Penelope, say something.”
I struggled to open my eyes. Rex was hovering over me, the unmistakable look of concern in his eyes betraying his normal coldness. “I–I got lost, I was thirsty, fell into the river…so chilly…” I shivered, despite the brutal humid heat of the jungle around us. A scratchy wool blanket was wrapped around me. It was dark—I managed to tilt my head—we were in a tent. A tiny tent; my escape plan had been an epic failure. What would he do to me now?
“You’re dehydrated, suffering from exposure. Falling into the river probably saved your life, sweetheart.” Rex’s normally harsh voice was soft, deep and swaddling as he spoke, his fingers brushing across my forehead. “Good thing I gave you a typhoid shot.”
“Shot?” I was beginning to awaken.
“The other day, in your room. The injection was a typhoid fever vaccine.”
A cold cloth wiped over me, followed by cool water at my lips. “Drink a little more, sweetheart.” I fell back into a sound, dream-filled sleep.
“I’ll be okay?” I was awake again, after what seemed like hours of comatose sleep, and sitting up on a sleeping bag in the tiny tent. Rex sat across from me on the ground, his fingers raking through his hair. He nodded, his dark blue eyes rising to mine, a faint smile betraying his feigned anger.
“Tell me you didn’t harm Nate.” His words were icy cold, severe—he couldn’t mask his concern for his—for Nate.
“I took the key from his jeans after we…”
“Why the fuck would you leave the compound? We’re trying to keep you safe. You managed to escape from the good guys, Einstein, and almost got yourself killed in the process.”
“I-I…I was kidnapped! You had me locked in a room against my will, then forcibly gave me a shot of something—oh yeah, and before that you stuck me in a canvas sack. And, of course, you murdered a friend of mine.”
“What? Murdered?”
“The bartender you disposed of? I’ve known him for years.” I couldn’t believe I was arguing with a cold-blooded killer.
“I paid the guy off to not mention your leaving Vegas to have a tryst with some guy—I convinced him it would ruin the dude’s trust fund and piss off his family. I didn’t hurt your bartender.”