The long hike is sweaty, but Jax doesn’t complain once. She only asks once what to do if we’re confronted by wildlife, but I assure her the predatory jungle cats are no danger to us.

  To take her mind off the unfamiliar, shadowy place while we gather our lunch, we share anecdotes from our childhood. I tell her I’ve always been fascinated by bugs, birds, and trees and even staged a protest in high school biology when they expected us to dissect a frog.

  “They labeled me a wuss, and I never lived it down all through high school.”

  “Eh, fuck those people. My high school wouldn’t let me opt out of dissecting a fetal pig, so I got an F. I refused to do it. I thought it was so horrible I didn’t care if I failed.”

  The tone in her voice touches me. I look over and see that she and I are a lot more alike than I first thought.

  Stopping on the trail, I turn and cup Jax’s face in my hands. “I know it’s too hot for touching, but I want to do this.”

  She leans in just enough to meet me as my lips capture hers. I don’t care how hot and humid it is in the forest; I could stay here and kiss her like this all day.

  Jax has a kiss that can compel me to ask her to marry me this minute. I don’t want to say that. Who says that after knowing her only a few days? And I don’t know how to work it into a conversation. Breezy is not in my nature.

  I only tell her as much truth as I think she can handle at the moment. “Jax. Do you know why I call you a dragonfly?”

  She smirks. “Because you think they’re pretty?”

  I reply, “They’re a sign of a balanced ecosystem. That’s what you are to me. Everything felt out of sync until I met you. Now that you’re here, I feel like I have my equilibrium. I know it sounds insane, but that’s how I feel. And I don’t want you to leave.”

  Jax blushes and smiles. “I’m your dragonfly?”

  “Yes, and I hate it that you’re leaving next week. Everything is going to feel wrong again.”

  She lifts one shoulder to match her sassy little eyebrow. “Maybe I won’t ever leave. It’s pretty nice here.”

  I’m going in. “Stay with me.”

  The gentle press of her pelvis against mine edges me further to the brink. She’s thinking, considering. I watch her face move through ten different emotions.

  I won’t move a muscle until she tells me what I need to hear.

  I watch her throat bob up and down as she thinks, possibly swallowing some feeling she’s not ready for.

  Well, she’d better get ready.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Jax

  Hearing someone say the words, “Stay with me,” feels as good or better than any “I love you.”

  “I love you” is a special moment, an outpouring. But typically, those words are not spoken out loud until a person knows they’re safe to say them.

  “Stay with me” feels much more raw, vulnerable, and direct. It’s a specific request. I am needed. I am wanted. He wants me to do something that’s just not done: never return home from vacation, to be with him. With Brooks, it’s also a promise of protection. He knows what’s waiting for me back home. If I stay, I’ll be putting my trust in someone who, just a few days ago, was a stranger.

  I can’t believe I’m thinking this over. But why not? What do I have to go back to? Guaranteed, the only person who will be speaking to me when I go back to LA is Sierra, and there’s a chance she might not go back ever. She plans to have her baby on the big island and recuperate there as well. After that, who knows.

  And then, like puzzle pieces, it all comes together.

  Of course. Sierra’s laying low from her unsupportive family. I should be staying here to support her, at least until she’s settled with the baby. Maybe even longer. Hell, I have enough squirreled away I could stay and rent a small apartment and get a job, provided I can navigate the work visa situation.

  Finally, I decide. I’m jumping in with both feet. “I’ll stay. Sierra’s going to have her baby here; you’re here. Let’s try it and see what happens.”

  Brooks looks as if he wants to say something important. My stomach somersaults as I wait for him to speak, but then the moment passes. Instead, he speaks to me with his touch. He scoops me up into his arms and kisses me until I’m breathless. His soft yet demanding lips make my spine tremble. His kiss leaps from passionate to hungry to starving, and soon my feet leave the ground.

  I don’t know how he can hold me like this, but he shows no signs of strain other than the soft grunts that escape his throat with the friction where our pelvises meet.

  Do I think this man intends to love me forever? As of now, he does. And now is all I have.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Brooks

  The kissing has escalated to heavy petting, to the tugging and removing of shirts. I know. Nature takes control so rapidly when humans stop talking.

  I feel a dozen pairs of undomesticated animals’ eyes in the shadows of the trees and undergrowth surrounding us, watching us. And I don’t care. Let them watch.

  “I need to taste you, sweetheart.”

  Neither missing a beat nor wasting a single second asking if we’re too exposed, my Jax reacts enthusiastically.

  Perched on the rocks at the edge of a nearby stream, Jax helps me slide her spandex pants down and off. With her lovely backside resting on my sweaty khaki shirt, I spread her open as we kiss, my greedy fingers petting her soft, sensitive skin until her moans turn urgent and my digits are coated with her slickness.

  I can’t resist teasing along with my strokes. I caress her with soft kisses down her neck, along her collarbone. “So soft, wet, and naughty.” The goosebumps rise across her flesh while her folds drench my hand and my sweaty shirt on which she sits. I’m never washing that shirt again.

  Finally, it’s time to take what I want—all of her.

  My face buries into her heat, slowly at first, then hungrily. I want to enjoy every single second with her because, as she’s said, she has no idea what will happen tomorrow.

  My tongue finds its home inside her warm, wet core, fitting around me so snug and cozy. She’s perfect and ready for me. She tastes like the sweetest fruit, and I never want to stop.

  Our first time together was a nearly public exhibition on the boat, and now it feels like a celebration. I’m fervent; I’m so overcome with joy and deep, deep need to care for her, cover her in my protection, be close to her, know everything about her…is this love? I don’t know. I suppose love will show itself when it’s ready.

  And if she loves me back or not, everything will be alright in the end.

  Everything will play out exactly as it is meant to, without too much intervention on the intellectual side of things. I’ve lived too much inside my head.

  With her honey on my lips, dripping down my chin, I finally feel like I’ve let go. I lick, suck, taste, and tease, her moans and cries growing ever louder as her pelvis bucks upward.

  I keep going, savoring her juices, triggering another gush with my attentions to her clit, her heated, tight cunt.

  With her fingers woven through my hair, my Jax comes apart, flooding me with her sweetness, pulsating, thrusting, both of us sweaty and not caring what dangers lurk in the dark jungle.

  Whatever happens, it doesn’t matter. I’m here, and I’ll always be the one to take care of her.

  I share her taste with her, kissing her and stroking her trembling body through a long bout of aftershocks. I could keep going. I knew she’d be sweet, but holy shit, is that not the right word for it. Miraculous would be closer to what it’s like having her taste slide down my throat.

  When I help her ease back into her clothes and help her stand, she stumbles and falls against me, laughing. “I change my mind. That, that is what I will fly halfway around the globe for.”

  We laugh and seal the moment with a kiss, unaware of anyone or anything that might be watching us nearby.

  If we’d been paying attention, I might have heard a branch snap or a footfall and been able to hide. Unfortunately, the danger is right on top of us by the time I realize it’s there.

  “The only place she’s going is back to Los Angeles with me.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Jax

  My father is not the person who stands about thirty feet away. Neither is it Louie.

  The man standing about thirty feet away is Damian, my dad’s most trusted confidant, the one he has entrusted to be in charge of me since I was a child, to keep predators away.

  A cold, disinterested voice drawls from the phone at the man’s hip. “Do you have her, Damian?”

  With his eyes trained on his captor, Damian takes the phone out of the belt clip and speaks into it. “Caught her and her boyfriend trying to disappear in the forest.”

  His other hand rests on the butt of a sidearm on his other hip.

  “Damian. Come on. A runaway bride is hardly worth this much effort,” I say. “I know my dad isn’t paying you enough to travel this far.”

  He shrugs, taking the gun out of the holster. “That’s correct. Fortunately, other people see my worth.”

  The cold voice on the other end of the phone speaks again. “Good. We’ll have a boat waiting for you at the dock to bring her back to the yacht.”

  I should be feeling terrified right now, shouldn’t I? After all, I ran away rather than stand my ground, and now they’ve found me. But I feel nothing but calm and focus. A few days ago, I lost my balance over a harmless basking shark. Today, I’m watching a man I’ve known most of my life lift a gun and aim it at me, and I feel … nothing. As if that man belongs to a chapter in the last book I read, trying to elbow his way into the book I’m currently reading. He doesn’t belong here.

  Brooks—my darling, daring, brave, and very stupid man—has placed himself in the middle. I wish I could signal to him not to worry. Damian is not going to shoot anyone if I don’t go with him. “She’s not going anywhere with you.”

  Damian chuckles. “But our girl is such a compliant little sweetheart. Sure she’ll come back. She just got a little spooked, but everything will be right as rain.”

  I bristle. “Don’t call me that. I’m not your sweetheart. You’re nothing to me.”

  Brooks reaches behind his back, and I instinctively grab his hand.

  “I’ve been there for you, Jax,” Damian said. “I’ve always had your back. Your father trusted me always to know where you were. And then you pull this crap.”

  Keep him talking, Jax. “When are you and my father going to realize I’m a grown woman? I don’t need your protection anymore.”

  Damian isn’t finished letting me have it. “I always did everything I was asked to do. I kept you away from dangerous men. I kept you safe all these years, and this is how you thank me? Do you want me to lose everything?”

  I spit out, “You say that, but you didn’t protect me from the real threat. You didn’t try to stop my father from marrying me off to that slug of a human being. If you cared about me at all, you would have helped me get away.”

  Damian replies, “I don’t think you get it. I came here to make sure you were okay and to make sure your father doesn’t die as a result of your actions.”

  “Die?” I’m confused. “They said they would take his business. That’s all.”

  “Your father fired me on the spot when you flew the coop, Jax. Louie was so livid he’s now keeping your dad hostage until you come home. Yeah, these guys are not known for sticking to the terms of their agreements. So Louie hired me to track you down, and he’s waiting offshore, right now.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Brooks

  I don’t quite understand all the moving pieces here.

  But I do understand two things. One, Jax belongs to me now, and no thug with a gun is taking her anywhere. Two, I have one strategy in my arsenal: I know this forest like the back of my hand.

  Fortunately, the man with the gun doesn’t know where we are relative to the hotel; I can tell by the way he’s glancing around, looking for the trail. The untrained eye wouldn’t be able to see it.

  So I make an offer and pray he takes it.

  “Fine,” I say. “I’ll get you both back to the hotel.”

  “What?” Jax squeaks.

  My hand squeezes hers tightly, hoping she understands. I have a plan. Well, an idea. A nugget of an idea. All right, a half-assed shaving from a chunk of an idea.

  After some negotiations and convincing, the three of us trudge through the jungle, but we’re not headed back to the hotel.

  There are only two ways out of this jungle. Hiking is my preferred method. There’s only one other person on this rock who knows this terrain as well as I do and who knows how to get in and out quickly. Fortunately, that person also happens to be romantically attached to Jax’s partner in crime.

  When Jax, Damian, and I arrive at a spot where I know we can get a signal, I make my move.

  “I gotta go up there to get my bearings,” I say, pointing to a giant boulder jutting out of the earth, guessing that Damian won’t want to follow me based on his hiking prowess thus far.

  “No funny business,” he orders.

  Noticing Damian’s level of tiredness, I take a risk. “Just going to check my phone’s compass.” That’s my very flimsy cover story while firing off a text. But I don’t think this guy is a stone-cold killer. He looks like he would rather be home with his grandchildren than trudging through the jungle.

  I stuff my phone back into my shorts and climb back down. Jax gives me a tight smile, and I have to fight every instinct in my body to scoop her up and carry her off. If there were no guns, we’d fight each other like men. Baker might be a douche, but when he agreed to arm-wrestle me for the boat, he had more honor than this man.

  Leading Jax and Damian off the established trail through challenging underbrush, I hold out hope to physically wear down our captor. I might not have a gun, but I know things. Specifically, I know of a clearing about a mile from here.

  I hope this works.

  Chapter Twenty

  Jax

  I know what Brooks is doing, but I don’t say it out loud.

  I don’t know much about hiking or jungle trails, but this is not the way back to the hotel. I trust Brooks completely, and I know this is part of a plan.

  As soon as we’re out of danger, I’m going to tell him I love him, and I don’t even care if he says it first.

  When we reach the clearing, Damian blurts out, breathless, tired, and sweating, “This is not the way we came.”

  Without missing a beat, Brooks replies, “Shortcut. Let’s take a water break. We’re going to need our energy for the rest of the trip. It’s shorter but uphill.”

  Wow. My man is a bullshitter. Who knew?

  I observe Damian as I sip my water. He looks confused and suspicious, on top of his exhaustion. Tailing me around the big city back home in an air-conditioned Suburban isn’t much training for this sort of terrain. If he weren’t trying to kidnap me at the moment, I might feel sorry for him.

  I switch my gaze to examine Brooks. He looks nervously at me as we drink from our water bottles. Something is supposed to happen here, but I don’t know what.

  I do know how to take a cue. I pipe up, “I gotta pee. Be right back.”

  Damian perks up. “You’re not going anywhere without me, missy.”

  Brooks might be nervous on the inside, but that doesn’t stop him from standing his ground. “Until she’s off this island, she’s my girlfriend, and no way are you accompanying her to the little girls’ room.”

  How much do I adore this man?

  As much as I’d love to watch these two men argue, I do have to pee. Disappearing behind some trees, I drag out the time as long as I can without causing suspicion. I don’t know what I’m stalling for, but it seems like Brooks is up to something, and I’m going with my gut.

  The sound of a small aircraft approaches from the distance.

  Then, through the treetops, Austin Fisher’s little Cessna lands in the clearing, but not before very nearly clipping Damian and sending him hurtling to the ground in terror, sending his pistol sailing across the clearing. Brooks jumps him and pins him down.

  Brooks shouts at me to get his pack. When I bring it to him, he’s struggling on the ground with Damian, who is bigger and meaner, if not nearly as athletic as Brooks.

  “Shoot him!”

  I scream, “I’ve never shot a gun!”

  “Not the pistol! In my pack!” Brooks shouts.

  I look inside the pack, and I see it. He means I’m supposed to shoot Damian with a tranquilizer gun.

  “Wait a minute,” I say. “Why do you have this?”

  “Jax.”

  “You said we weren’t in any danger from the big kitties, so why—?”

  “Jax! Not now!”

  Oh. Right. Not the point.

  Finally, I gather my courage and do yet one more thing on this vacation I’ve never done before. Shoot a man with a big-cat tranquilizer and help haul him away on a tiny plane.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Jax

  Louie doesn’t have my father killed.

  Not that he wouldn’t. But it turns out that my father, always the big talker, was able to convince him that he needs him around. Louie doesn’t know the first thing about producing records. My father might be terrible with money, but he knows how to build money-makers.

  The kingpin and his thugs most definitely did take over my father’s music recording studio.

  And I’m told that if I ever come back to the States, Louie will find a way to pay me back for the embarrassment of leaving him at the altar. Believe me when I say I moved all of my assets to the island with a quickness.