The Island

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Brad let out a long sigh. Then he slipped his arms around her, letting the machete dangle.

“Ooh, nice sword,” Sandy teased.

“You bet, baby.”

He started to kiss her. Then, with his free hand, to fondle her.

Beth held her breath, feeling acutely uncomfortable. She could still feel the hand on her own midriff, and watching these two get more and more intimate…

I thought you were scared, Sandy! she longed to shout.

Then things got worse.

“Want to really fool around?” Brad whispered.

“Maybe.”

“Then you won’t be scared? Worried about getting caught?”

“There’s something kind of exciting about it,” Sandy whispered in return. Her hand slid from his chest.

Lower. Lower.

Beth could feel her cheeks flaming to a bright pink.

“Then again…I should be punishing you,” Sandy said huskily. “You were all over the blonde today.”

“The blonde was all over me today,” Brad protested.

“You didn’t seem to mind.”

“Hey…she was determined to let me know she was full-bodied.”

“You and every other guy there.”

“Um, true, but you shouldn’t let her worry you.”

“No,” Sandy agreed. “It’s the other one I’m worried about. You were looking at her.”

“I was looking at her?”

“Yeah, you know. Looking.”

“Well, she is really sexy. Legs that go on forever. Imagine what she could do with those legs.”

Beth could feel the flames deepen in her cheeks, and she imagined that Keith had to be aware of it, too. She couldn’t stand much more of this. Self-preservation had kept her silent so far. Embarrassment might well send her flying from cover.

“Hey,” Sandy protested.

“Am I turning you on yet?” Brad demanded.

“Seriously…I keep hearing something.”

“What happened to the idea of being caught in the act of being so hot and sexy?”

“Those girls are underage.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, the last thing we need now is to be arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor,” Sandy said.

“Good point,” Brad agreed seriously. But then he quickly returned to his lighter tone. “Hey…the tent is exotic and hot, you know.”

“So let’s get back to the beach—please! In a couple of days, they’ll all leave. It will be our island again, Brad. Then we can take care of things.”

At last the two of them left, disappearing across the clearing, taking the same trail Beth had used.

Behind her, Keith remained still for what seemed like an aeon. It was all she could do to keep from wrenching away. And yet he was right—they needed to let Sandy and Brad put some distance between them.

Finally, however, she could stand it no longer. He was still touching her, his hand still on her midriff, her body backed flush against his.

She stepped away and turned, staring at him, tense and wary.

“What was that all about?” she demanded.

His eyes were as dark as ebony. He wasn’t wearing his sunglasses, but his eyes still gave no clue of what thoughts lurked in his mind.

“Shh,” he warned her.

“They’re gone,” she reminded him.

“The trees may well have ears,” he said quietly, studying her.

She lowered her voice. “What were they looking for?” she demanded.

“I don’t know.”

“Why didn’t you accost them?”

“Do you really think it’s a great idea to accost a man carrying a machete?” he cross-queried.

“But…” She shook her head. “Now we’ll never know what they were doing.”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

She backed away another step, frowning. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking.”

“Looking for what?” she demanded sharply.

He leaned back against a tree, crossing his arms over his chest. “Whatever you were trying to hide when we met.”

Startled, she hesitated, then came back at him far too late. “Don’t be ridiculous. I wasn’t hiding anything.”

“Then I wasn’t really looking for anything, was I?”

She let out a sigh of irritation and started to turn away. Then she swung back and collided with him once again. Embarrassed, she braced her hands against his chest and regained her footing quickly.

“Why aren’t you out fishing?” she demanded. “I thought you went out on the boat.”

“Obviously I didn’t.”

“Why not?”

“There was a full crew.”

“But you snuck around to come back here,” she accused him.

“I didn’t sneak anywhere.”

“Then why didn’t I see you before?”

“Probably because you weren’t paying any attention. There was no secret about me staying behind. I didn’t jump off the boat when no one was looking and swim back.”

She stared at him, shaking her head. “There’s something wrong with you.”

That brought a wry smile to his lips. “I’m not exactly sure how you mean that, but…You should certainly hope not. You’re alone with me on an island, and all help is far away.”

She took a step back again.

He sighed, reaching for her. She jumped; he let his arm fall, shaking his head.

“I’m going to give you some advice, whether you want it or not. Stay away from this area of the island. Obviously it’s of interest to someone, and we don’t know why. Keep your mouth shut about seeing Sandy and Brad looking around here. In fact, if you have any suspicions about anyone, pretend that you don’t.”

She narrowed her eyes, staring at him hard. “Someone might have been killed here.”

“And you wouldn’t want to join them.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Good God, no. It’s a warning.”

“Right. And you should be trusted?”

“Actually, yes.”

She studied him long and hard. He was a man in the prime of his life, muscled and hard. She was suddenly certain that, if he had chosen, he could have wrenched the machete away from Brad without breaking a sweat.

To her discomfort, she also remembered the strength with which he had held her.

She spun around, striding for the trail.

He caught her arm, swinging her back. She didn’t open her mouth to protest, only narrowed her eyes at him in serious warning, arching her brows slowly as she gazed from his eyes to the place where his hand rested on her arm.

“I was serious. Keep your mouth shut.”

“You know something, so you’d better be planning on talking to the police,” she warned him.

“If I knew something, I wouldn’t need to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations.”

“I think we should call the police.”

“And tell them what?” he demanded.

She faltered. “That…that…”

“That there might have been a skull on the island? That a young couple was scrounging around, looking for something? So far, they haven’t done a thing that’s illegal. And so far, you haven’t got anything at all to tell the police. Guess what? You need to get your nose out of it. You need to keep your mouth shut and pretend that you haven’t seen a single thing on this island.”

“You are threatening me.”

“I’m not the threat!” he protested angrily. “But just maybe there is a threat out there.”

“Then we need to stop them. Now.”

“There’s this little thing called the law. You think you can just tie up Sandy and Brad and call the Coast Guard, and they’ll arrest them for acting in what you’ve decided is a suspicious manner?”

She felt herself flush. He was still holding her. She swallowed, strangely far more afraid now than she had been at any time before. Odd, it felt far too good, especially under the circumstances. She wanted to close her eyes. Lean against him. Let the moment go on. She loathed the concept of basic instinct, but she realized that she was feeling one right then. There was something so right about feeling his touch. She told herself it was just because she hadn’t so much as dated in a very long time, but inside she knew it was because she had simply never felt anything so right.