A gentle breeze, warm and scented with the salty tang of the ocean, drifted through the open window. The sheer white curtains stirred and rustled softly.

Sarah started. She sat bolt upright in bed, unsure where she was for a moment before everything came crashing back.

She was being held for ransom on an island in the middle of god knew where.

Her first thought was of escape. Her second and more rational thought was of her growling stomach. She was starving.

The bastard, Cameron Spade, barbequed himself dinner the previous evening knowing full well what the scent of frying meat would do to her. She had her pride, damn him. She wasn’t going to give in as easily as all that, especially not after what he’d done at the beach.

Much to her annoyance, her body heated at the reminder of the way Cameron felt underneath of her. He was all straining, rock hard muscle. His abs and thighs hadn’t been the only hardness she felt. They had both realized at the same time that her dress had ridden up, exposing her underwear. She was literally pressed right against his pelvis and she hadn’t missed his reaction to that realization.

She was contemplating that strange current she’d felt when she heard a distant roar overhead. She paused, thinking perhaps that it was just the wind or the crashing of the ocean against the sandy shores. It came to her like the sudden stir of a tropical storm, that the distant buzzing could only be that of an engine.

A plane or a helicopter! There had to be something or someone flying overhead!

Sarah jumped off the bed. She opened her door gently and when she saw no sight of Cameron in the hallway she ran through the single story bungalow and out the back door. There was still no sight of her captor so she sprinted towards the beach.

She’d noticed the day before that there was a dock area with a small sailboat on the far side of the beach. She had no idea how to sail a boat so she discounted the idea as a means of escape but she knew that the boat must have an emergency kit on board which meant that it likely had a flare gun.

She cursed herself for not having checked it the day before.

Sarah used nearly all of her waning energy reaching the sailboat. She jumped on board the deck and flew into the small cabin. It took her all of a minute to locate the emergency kit which was fastened to the wall. She threw open the metal hinges. The flare gun was located inside. With trembling hands she picked up the small orange gun and loaded the flares.

She ran out onto the beach, waiting. The buzz of that engine was getting louder and closer with every passing second. Her heart leapt. She wasn’t too late!

She waited another minute before she saw the plane. It was nothing more than a spec in the sky, so far above that it couldn’t possibly see her flare. How could the engine sound so loud? Her heart sank as she realized the ocean and the island had played tricks, somehow making the plane sound lower and closer than it really was.

She cursed under her breath, raised the flare gun and fired a single shot into the air. She waited, gripping the other two flares in her hand. She couldn’t waste them. The plane seemed like it was a million miles higher than her flare. She watched, her hopes dashed, as the plane moved on, completely oblivious to her plight below. A tiny white stream of jet fuel marked its path as it slowly flew out of sight, disappearing into the bright blue, endless horizon.

A twig snapped behind her and Sarah whirled. The flare gun slipped from her fingers and hit the sand as Cameron approached her from the bush. The look on his face told her that he had seen the entire thing.

“I would ask what you think you’re doing, especially after our conversation yesterday, but I watched the entire thing. I would have stopped you but we both know the plane was far too high.” Cameron’s blue eyes weren’t as frigid and unfeeling as they had been the day before. Now, ironically enough, there was a hint of mockery and laughter in them that made them sparkle. Perhaps it was just the sunlight… “Are you going to tackle me again?” This time his mocking grin matched the glint in his eyes.

Sarah’s harsh words died away. She could deal with rage and insolence and anger but she wasn’t quite prepared for Cameron to respond the way he had. Did he actually find this funny? Her eyes dropped away from his face, landing unwittingly on his black clad chest and khaki shorts. He was barefoot, as though he’d left the house in a hurry despite his confident words. He looked almost normal, like a regular human being, not some loan shark who had built an empire off other’s misfortune.

More than that, Sarah noticed the hard set of his broad shoulders. He filled out a t-shirt as well as any man could ever aspire to. His legs were thick with striated, rock hard muscles. She swallowed hard past a throat that suddenly seemed too closed up. She was aware of a strange undercurrent in the air between them.

There was something wildly exhilarating about Cameron Spade. She’d felt it on the beach the day before when she’d been astride him. She felt it now.

A plan, as quick and wicked as any she’d ever had, took shape in her mind. What was it they said? You catch more flies with honey than vinegar? She could give him honey if that’s what it took. He would be more pliable if he was under her thumb, not the other way around.

“You said yesterday that you’re no animal but you’re certainly no gentleman either.” Sarah moderated her voice so that it was almost gentle.

Cameron hid his emotions well but she noticed the gleam of surprise in his eyes. He expected her to lash out at him. “You’re right about that but then again I never claimed to be a gentleman.”

“Yet, even the crudest man would offer me something to eat and a fresh change of clothes.” She glanced down at her black sparkly dress. It wasn’t so sparkly anymore. “You expect me to romp around this island in a dress fit for a club until my brother changes his mind? I want a hot bath and something to eat. Or is it your intention to kill me with the aroma of grilled steaks?”

Cameron fought a battle with himself and lost. He actually cracked a genuine smile. That small gesture was like a blow. Sarah couldn’t believe how that smile twisted her stomach and set a flight of nerves racing through her bloodstream.

What the hell was happening to her? She was never, in any world, going to pull a Stockholm syndrome and fall for Cameron Spade.

“I suppose that I can make us lunch. If you get it through your head to stop trying these hair brained attempts at getting off this island. Your efforts would be much better spent on calling your thick headed brother and telling him to return those photos.”

“Yes you said as much. Yesterday.”

Cameron shrugged. “Perhaps. Let me know if you change your mind about doing it. The sooner he makes the right decision, the sooner you can leave.”

“It won’t be soon enough,” Sarah muttered under her breath. She remembered, at the last second that she was supposed to start being kind. Cameron would never trust her otherwise. She brightened and forced a smile she hoped was believable. “I guess we should make the best of a shit situation. What’s on offer for lunch? And for the love of god, pleas lend me a t-shirt at the very least!”

Cameron considered her for a long moment. His eyes swept over her body and a rush of heat rose in those blue depths, shocking them both. He quickly blinked it away. Annoyance flittered over his face before he grunted rudely. “We’ll see what we can find.”