Page 1 of Hunted (Desert Island Duet #2)
Chapter one
Weston
S taring at the burning remains of not one, but two helicopters, my heart beats wildly in my chest.
When the mercenary shot down the beach at Reece, he must have hit at least one of the choppers. My guess is the gas was leaking and something in the control panel sparked, causing the explosion, which then made the second helicopter explode.
I push to my feet and look around to make sure nobody is injured.
Bower and King are slowly standing and thankfully, they seem to be unharmed.
I glance to where Reece is getting to his feet, pulling Zee up with him.
She’s covered in blood and my mind flashes to her, bashing the mercenary's head in. It’s not the first time she’s had to kill someone in self-defense. Last time, she was stuck dealing with the physical and emotional aftermath on her own. But this time… This time, she has us.
I gently grab her wrist and turn her towards me, inspecting her face for injury. There are traces of blood in her hair and streaked across her face and down her neck, reminding me of the horror of what she just went through… again .
“Weston?” she asks, her hand reaching up to caress my cheek. “Are you okay?”
“Am I okay? Fuck, baby. I was so scared he was going to hurt you.” I hug her tightly, just wanting to feel her and know she’s okay.
When I release her, I notice Reece watching us from over her shoulder, a frown on his face. Not ready to delve into the fact that he seems to know her, I look back down at her and see she’s looking at her blood-stained hands.
“Don’t look.” I quickly scoop her up and head to the ocean, careful to keep the dead bodies out of her eye line.
“I’m going to clean her up. Take care of the mess before I bring her back,” I call over my shoulder as I march towards the water.
The last thing she needs is another panic attack, and right now, she’s surrounded by triggers.
“Zee?” I ask, seeing her staring down at her hands. “Zee, look at me.” She doesn’t react, so I hurry my pace through the shallow water until it’s waist deep on me.
“Come on, baby. Look at me.” I spin her around, pushing her legs around my waist so I can grab her hands between us.
I step a little deeper so the water covers our hands and start scrubbing. The movement of the ocean helps to push the red water away from us as I continue scrubbing up her arms and removing any trace of what happened.
I let go of her hands and reach up and grab her face, tilting it up to mine as I try to get her to look at me. She’s not trembling, thankfully, but she seems frozen in place, as if in shock .
“Baby? Can you look at me? Let me see those beautiful green eyes.” She blinks once, then her eyes change as if she’s been asleep and now the world is coming back into focus.
“There you are. I’ve got you, okay? Just stay with me.”
She swallows heavily and nods her head.
“Tell me two things you can hear,” I ask her, keeping her focus on me.
She licks her lips as her eyes bounce back and forth between mine. “The waves.”
“Good, what else?”
“Me. My breathing.”
“Good girl, now tell me two things you can smell,” I ask, trying to keep her grounded in the present.
“The water and… fire.”
“Now, what are two things you can feel?”
Her eyes flick down to her hands as her fingers dig into my chest. “Your shirt, it’s wet.”
“What else?”
Her hand moves to her necklace I gave her, her thumb rubbing over the seashell charm. “My necklace, it’s smooth.”
“Good girl. Now, I need to clean the rest of you. Are you okay if I dunk us under the water for a few seconds? Can you hold your breath?”
She licks her lips then starts to look down at herself, but I grab her chin and tilt it back up.
“No looking. Just tell me you understand, that you’ll hold your breath for me?
Let me take care of you, Zee.” I cup her cheek as my eyes bore into hers, wanting her to really understand my words. “You’re not alone anymore. ”
Her eyes connect with mine and I can see a rawness and vulnerability there that I haven’t seen before, like she’s showing me all the broken pieces of herself and trusting me to put them back together.
She nods her head, then takes a deep breath and holds it. Bending my knees, I lower us both under the water, quickly using my hands to scrub at her face, shoulders, chest, and hair.
I stand up so we can both catch some air, and I inspect her. She’s free of any traces of blood, and I let out a deep breath. “You’re all clean now. We should wash your hair when we get—”
I cut off my train of thought when her eyes start welling up with tears. With one arm wrapped around her waist, my other hand cups her cheek. “Baby, what’s wrong? Don’t cry.”
She sniffles as she blinks up at me, a tear breaking free and running down her cheek.
“I killed him, didn’t I?” she whispers so quietly, I almost miss it over the sound of the waves.
I slowly nod my head once. “Yeah, baby, you did. I killed the other man. They were mercenaries. They were sent to kill me and the others. If you hadn’t done it, we’d probably be dead now.”
That must be the wrong thing to say because a sob bursts from her and she flings her arms around my neck, hugging me tight as she cries.
My heart feels like it’s cracking in two. I’m supposed to be the one to save her, to protect her from any more harm, and yet here she is, having to go through the same thing all over again.
“I’ve got you now, Zee. You’re safe. I’m so sorry that happened. I should have done a better job at protecting you from all of that. I’m sorry I failed. ”
She pulls back, shaking her head as she tries to wipe the tears from her cheeks. “No, Weston, it’s not your fault! You didn’t fail me. I’m just… The thought of how close I was to losing you, all of you, it’s terrifying. I can’t survive that again. I’d rather die.”
My heart hammers heavily against my chest, as if it’s trying to break free just to be closer to her. “Fuck, baby. Don’t say that. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. You can survive anything.”
“But I wouldn’t want to. I love you, Weston.”
My breath catches in my throat as I gaze into her beautiful green eyes, seeing all her love and warmth shining up at me. How did I get so lucky as to have this wild, brave, beautiful woman - love me?
“Zee, you’re the most important person in my life. I love you, too.”
Leaning down, I place my lips gently on hers, savoring the moment without pushing for more. Her fingers slide into the hair at the back of my neck as she holds me tightly against her.
I take my time kissing her, knowing there’s no rush and wanting her to feel how much I worship and admire her.
“West!” Hearing my name being called from the beach, I reluctantly pull back with a final peck to her lips before turning us so I can see the shore. King waves me in, and glancing around, I’m seeing no signs of any bodies. Thank fuck for that.
Bower and Reece move to stand either side of King as they watch us in the water.
“Well,” I say, glancing down at Zee, who still has her legs wrapped around my waist. “Are you ready to go in? I have a feeling there’s someone there who wants to talk to you.”
She turns her head to look at the others and bites her lip nervously.
“What’s wrong? ”
“I’m scared.”
“Of Reece?”
“Yes. No. It’s complicated.”
I start walking us in as I speak. “You know he won’t hurt you, right? He’s not like that, nor would we let him. He may be a grumpy asshole most of the time, but he won’t hurt you, I promise.”
“A grumpy asshole?” she asks with a frown.
“Don’t you…” I trail off, unsure how to ask the question. “It seemed like you knew each other.”
She nods her head, staring into the ocean over my shoulder as I continue walking us towards the beach. “We do. We did. But the Maurice I knew was never grumpy. Or mean.”
I try to imagine Reece without the attitude problem, but it’s difficult. What worries me more is what connection they have and how it fits in with what the rest of us have with her. My heart clenches in my chest, afraid of what’s to come.
Needing to know who they were to one another, I finally ask the question that’s been plaguing me since he first said her real name.
“How do you know each other?”
“She’s my girlfriend.”