With one last thrust I feel him jerk forward and fill me with his release. One of his hands comes to my tit and the other my stomach as he holds me impossibly close to his body.
I pant like crazy as I stare into the mirror in front of me at the gorgeous, confusing man who just stole a part of me, trying to get my racing heart under control.
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Sloane. You have just started something neither of us will be able to stop,” he tells me with a wicked-as-fuck gleam in his eyes. And man, I hope so. I want more of that. It makes the idea of being trapped on an island seem way more appealing. He pulls out of me and scoops me up in his arms, staring down at me like I’m his whole world, and I know I’m looking back at him with the same stupid expression on my face, because right now, I feel it.
Chapter 16
Thenextfewdaysseem to go by in a blur as we fall into a comfortable routine. Enjoying delicious meals Orlando’s staff make for us, me keeping him on his toes in any way I can, and him fucking me just because he can—and he knows how desperately I want him too. I don’t know how we ended up here, but for now, it’s getting me through the long days. Even though I could say life on this island with Orlando is pretty perfect, I’m itching to know what’s going on at home and with the club, and why the boys haven’t found me yet. Part of me wonders if they have just given up.
Orlando took a business call in the den well over an hour ago. I tried to listen in, but it was nearly impossible. From what I could hear, he isn’t going to be done anytime soon. He and whoever was on the other end of the line were having it out.
With my heart in my throat, I move toward the front of the house and open the entry door as quietly as I can. Since he showed me what was in the lighthouse, this is the first chance I have had to check it out alone. And even though the two of us aregetting along a little better, I’m still desperate to get hold of the boys. Today could be my only chance.
I open the door to the lighthouse, psyching myself up to walk all the damn stairs. My ankle is improving every day with all the rest I’m getting, and Dr. Harrison came out and checked on me again yesterday. He believes I’m recovering well. But I know I still shouldn’t be walking this much on it.
When I eventually make it to the top, I get the same chill coming over me. This place is creepy as hell, even worse without Orlando with me. I move quickly over to his computer, and luckily for me, it’s already switched on and not password protected. A screen pops up when I shuffle the mouse, with video surveillance of my club. I can’t help but smile when Sally comes into view. She’s chatting with Myriah about something as they unpack the dishwasher. Just a normal day for them. An ache forms in my chest when I think about what I’m missing out on. My eyes stay glued to the screen searching for every little detail. A few regulars sit in a booth, and I make out Jagger and Malachi at a table in the far end of the bar, their heads buried in a laptop screen. Out of nowhere Asher comes up behind Myriah and kisses her cheek. She gives him a sassy grin over her shoulder but continues chatting with Sally.
My chest feels heavy, a suffocating weight bearing down on me. I miss them all so much. I wonder what they make of my disappearance. I want to yell through the screen and tell them where I am. Tell them to come find me because I want to come home.
My lip trembles, and I bite into my cheek to stop the tears that threaten to fall. As much as the time Orlando and I are sharing is nice, I want my life back.
Reluctantly I click out of the live stream, knowing it’s not going to help me. I search Orlando’s desktop screen for anything that might help me. Opening up his emails, I scan through them,not finding anything I can work with, but he had to have sent that footage of me sleeping to the boys somehow. I open the new email box and start typing in email addresses I think that could possibly relate to Romeo, wishing I could recall the one he used to email me from, but in my panic, I can’t get there. The first few things I try don’t work. Then bingo, his email address comes up. It’s got to be how they received that video from Orlando.
With my pulse racing like crazy, I type out a quick message.
Romeo, it’s me, Sloane.
I’m being kept on a private island about eight miles from the mainland of Ravens Hollow. There’s not much here, a house, a lighthouse, and beach. Orlando is taking good care of me, but I want to come home. I miss you all. I’m sorry, that’s all I can tell you.
My heart aches painfully. Guilt, homesickness, fear of what Orlando might do to me when he discovers what I just did, all course through me. Without thinking on it too hard, I hit send, knowing I don’t have a lot of time. Then I go into the sent box and make sure I delete any evidence of me ever being here. I pray to whoever will listen that Romeo gets my desperate message for help and can make sense of my description. It’s all I’ve got.
I can’t find any other evidence of live streams at the moment, so I minimize the one of the club just like it was and carefully return the office chair to the exact position it was in. Then I creep back down the stairs carefully and close the door to the lighthouse with a heavy sigh.
Instead of going back inside his house, where Orlando is probably still losing his shit on the call, I walk down to take a seat on one of the sandstone steps that lead down to the jetty. The sun is out, its warm rays feeling divine on my skin. I inhale deeply, staring out over the ocean. Its crystal blue waters look soinviting today, it almost makes me want to learn how to swim so I can enjoy it.
When the front door creaks open, I jump nervously. Orlando strolls outside, his hair messed up, and I know he’s been running his fingers through it on repeat. Shit, I made it out here just in time. His eyes narrow in on me, a curiosity in his expression. Not anger. “I was wondering where you got to, treasure.”
“Did you think I made a run for it again?” I sass, trying to keep the mood light and look innocent even though I feel guilty as hell.
He raises a brow but doesn’t answer me.
I offer him a half smile, trying not to start shit. “Wanted to sit in the sun,” I mutter, hating that I have to lie to him. But he put me in this impossible situation, locking me up here all alone. He could have let me talk to the boys. Could have let them come out here, but he’s being stubborn and trying to keep me from them. He had to know it was only a matter of time before I found a way around his confinement.
He comes to sit beside me, taking my hand, he kisses the back of it tenderly.
“Important call?” I ask, wondering who was on the phone that had him busy and stressed for so long.
He scans my face as if he’s looking for something, what I have no idea, but I pray he’s not about to ask me why I was in the lighthouse. “Romeo,” he snips.
I sit up a little straighter, surprised and a little excited. “What? Really? Are you two like talking to each other now?”
He sighs heavily, and I know something is weighing on him. “He had some information for me.”
“Go on.”
His lips form a thin unimpressed line, and I know I’m pushing him. “It seems Syd was flown out of Ravens Hollow on a private plane the day after you came to stay with me.”
My brow knits together as I try to think like Syd. Why would he leave before finding me, if it was me he was after? “Where did he go to?”
