Page 31

Chapter

Sixteen

“There doesn’t seem to be any animals on the island,” Alannah said as Jake held out his hand and helped her climb up and over a fallen tree trunk blocking their path.

“Birds, probably rats, snakes, insects?—”

“Okay, okay, okay,” Alannah cut him off, shuddering and scrunching up her face, making him laugh.

“I know, you're not a fan of bugs.”

“Or snakes, or rats,” she added.

“Spiders are your least favorite if I remember correctly,” he teased.

It was strange, but ever since he and Alannah had had sex, things felt even easier between them.

It had always been easy with her, they’d gotten along from that very first day, and she knew him in a way that not even Jax and his stepbrothers knew.

But now it had changed again.

There was a lightness inside him that hadn't been there before. She always brought light into his life, helped keep the anger and darkness at bay, but this light wasn't just in his life it was inside him somehow.

Like she had transferred a little flame of it to him.

Now that flame sat inside him, and it was growing. The anger had abated even more, and even though he was afraid that he would fail her and not get her off the island, there was peace there as well.

It was weird but in a good way.

However, he was doing his best not to examine it too deeply.

They were still trapped there, and even if they got off the island and got back home, that wouldn't eliminate the danger his family faced.

The future was uncertain, but in the utter peace and quiet of the island, that didn't seem to matter.

Here was for living in the moment, and what happened after that would happen whether he spent his time worrying about it or not.

“Did you see one? A spider?” Alannah shrieked, abruptly yanking backward and almost sending them falling down to the ground.

Laughing, he managed to keep their balance and jumped down the other side of the large tree trunk and then lifted her down beside him. When he went to keep walking, Jake found himself held in place by the expression on Alannah’s face.

“What?” he asked self-consciously.

“You never laugh like that at home. You're always so in control, or being all grumpy, but here … you're different. Freer. Lighter.”

Maybe she wasn't the only one who needed to learn how to set themselves free from the bonds of the past. Jake knew he was always going to feel some measure of anger at his father for not making any attempts to change his lifestyle when he became a single dad, and to all the relatives who made him and Jax feel like a burden.

There would always be anger about his dad being set up as a traitor, and everything that was done to his stepmom.

But he was starting to realize that the anger didn't have to rule him.

There was a way for that side of him to coexist with a side of himself that found moments of joy, not just found them but actually went looking for and embraced them.

Anger didn't have to be his defining characteristic.

“I feel different,” he admitted. “Lighter. Freer.”

“It’s this place,” she said, looking around them at the beautiful scenery. “There’s something about it that just allows you to let go.”

“It’s because there’s nothing else, we’ve been stripped down of all the things that we’re usually surrounded with, left naked and bare to the truths we run from.”

A blush crept up Alannah’s cheeks, and because he knew her so well, Jake knew exactly where her mind had gone.

His best friend was unlocking a side of herself she hadn't even known existed.

A side of her that was made for him. She loved his dominance last night, loved her punishment, loved being called a good girl, loved letting him take control so she felt safe to let go and feel rather than think.

Every moment he spent with her like that was taking his feelings for her and twisting them a little more. What were they going to look like by the time he found a way to get them off the island and back home?

If they did get back home, would the spell be broken?

Was it this place that stripped away your armor to leave you nothing to hide behind really magical?

Of course, he knew it wasn't, there was no magic there, but in a sense there was. Not the witches and warlocks kind, just being immersed in nature, no modern conveniences, alone with someone he cared about. That was the magic.

But it couldn’t last.

He had no idea what Alannah wanted, she hadn't said anything about the future, and he hadn't either. Fear of being rejected, that he wasn't good enough to be her life partner, was holding him back.

It made him a coward, he knew that. And sooner or later, they were going to have to talk things through. They’d crossed a line, and there was no going back to the way things had been before. Things had changed whether he liked it or not.

He just wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

One thing he did know, though, was that he wouldn't give Alannah up. If she wanted to stay best friends when they got home, he’d deal with that. And if one day she fell in love and got married, he’d find a way to handle that too. Because living without Alannah’s sunshine was not an option.

“When we get back to our shelter, I'm going to strip you bare again and take everything you can give me,” he told her, brushing his lips across her ear and then nipping lightly at her earlobe.

Alannah sucked in a breath, and he wasn't sure if she was aware of it but her body drifted closer to his, making him smile. This woman had captivated him from day one, and how strong and brave she’d been these last few weeks was only making him fall harder for her.

Just as he was about to capture her lips in a kiss, he heard something.

Voices.

Was it?

Straightening, he cocked his head to the side and listened. It could have been nothing more than the wind rustling through the leaves, but he could have sworn he heard two distinct voices talking.

“Jake, did you?—?”

Cutting her off with a hand to her mouth, Jake pulled her closer and then lifted her off her feet and moved them so they were hidden behind a couple of trees.

Those were voices, he was sure of it, but this island had been empty for the last two days, and he couldn’t just assume that whoever had stumbled upon it now were innocent civilians.

People were hunting him, and thus Alannah since she was his best friend. He had to assume the worst-case scenario until he knew better.

“Stay quiet till we know who they are,” he whispered, his voice low so it didn't carry, his lips back by her ear, only this time not in a sensual and playful way.

Her big eyes widened with fear, the spell of just seconds ago when they were both so relaxed gone, as the reality of their situation came crashing down around them all over again. The island had been a reprieve, but one that was about to come to an end.

“We stay here until we catch a glance at them. Then if they’re just fishermen or explorers, we can go to them and ask for help.”

What he left unsaid didn't need to be said out loud.

If they weren't just people out exploring the island for fun, then they were here for a purpose. To search for him and Alannah. If they were part of the team the remaining rapist had sent after them then sooner or later they would find the shelter and the fire. Once they found it, they’d know for certain that he and Alannah were on the island.

It wasn't big, it wouldn't take them long to search it. There was only so long the two of them could hide before they’d be found.

And when they were found …

That didn't even bear thinking about just yet.

Holding Alannah close, he brought her with him to their knees and then tucked her between his body and a tree trunk. It wouldn't offer her much protection, but it was all he could do.

Then they had no choice but to kneel there and wait.

It didn't take long.

The voices grew louder, although it seemed like the men were actually making an attempt to be quiet since he couldn’t make out the words, just that at least two of them were talking, since one man’s voice was deeper than the other’s.

Then he saw them.

Two men dressed all in black, with assault rifles slung over their shoulders.

Definitely not people out for a day of fun. They were hunters, and they were hunting him and the woman he had long ago vowed to protect.

October 20 th

2:32 P.M.

Those were not fishermen.

Or explorers.

Or anyone who just happened to be out for the day and decided to stop at an island they passed to walk around and have some fun.

Those men were hunters.

And she and Jake were the prey.

The two men dressed in black had big guns slung over their shoulders, and as they walked, they scanned the landscape around them.

Searching.

For her and Jake.

There was not a single doubt in Alannah’s mind that these men were working for the last person involved in Jake’s stepmom’s rape. The man who was so determined to protect himself and his secrets that he would go to any lengths he had to.

Including murder.

That was what would happen if they got caught.

She and Jake would be killed.

Maybe not right away. Maybe they’d be tortured first, maybe they’d be leveraged to try to get Jake’s brothers to back off. Maybe they’d even try to trade them for Cassandra, because the remaining rapist was Jake’s stepsister’s biological father. She was living proof of what had happened.

Not that any one of the Charleston Holloway brothers would ever trade their baby sister for anything or anyone.

Not Jake.

Especially not her.

So possible torture and death were all that was in her future if those men caught sight of them.

And how could they not?