“Holy shit,” I hear Damien exclaim after opening the door.

My eyes still covered, my hearing is hypersensitive, along with my touch. I hear two male voices talking at a low volume, though I can’t make out what they’re saying.

My skin runs hot all of the sudden, the absence of clothes makes me realize I’m totally naked and exposed.

I’m powerless.

As much as I trust Damien, what if it’s someone odd at the door, someone who could threaten us. Nick?

Shoot. Why does my mind go right to him. We’re in freaking Panama. There’s no way Nick could have found us. Isn’t he still badly injured, anyway?

What if Nick has the video, and he’s showing Damien? Would Damien let it go? Things I don’t want to think about.

I twist my wrists against the leather straps, suddenly wishing I was some kind of a Houdini escape artist. Wouldn’t that be something. My mind wanders to Damien and what else he wanted to do with me. This was what he was so ashamed of? Playing some tie-me-up game? It seems like there must be more to this story.

Just how far does this game go?

My chest heaves, the time passing in slow motion, suddenly. I don’t like being this vulnerable and not having him next to me. I need his presence to feel at ease. But damn, what kind of neediness is that? Francine at the hospital texts her boyfriend every hour on the hour. Is that the kind of reassurance I need?

A breeze wafts through our main dining room and it sends a chill down my spine. My nipples harden, and I squirm, twisting my legs back and forth.

I’m wet. I ache for release. Damien was on the brink of giving it to me. I burn with anticipation, dripping with just the thought of him running his tongue on my clit.

His expert tongue. God he’s good at that.

I quiver and let out the softest of moans as I press my legs together needing an orgasmic release. This isn’t fair. He can’t build me up like that and then suddenly ignore me. What kind of man does that?

But I’m too turned on to hate him, and my sudden ire only serves to make me needier. I pull the leather straps taut and wish I had superwoman strength to break them and touch myself.

Heavy footsteps on the wooden floor, coming this way. Is it one man or two? I can’t tell.

I arch my head back in anticipation as the door creaks open.

“Krista, I—”

What does he see? Does he note how badly I want him to have his way with me? How stressed this tie-up game made me in lieu of my recent traumatic experience?

And how much my body aches with need for his mouth and his cock?

“Baby, you look so tense,” He growls, and I hear the door creak shut.

“I am tense,” I respond, breathing a little hard.

I feel the bed cave in a little bit as he kneels next to me. His serene but strong fingers run across my cheek.

“Who was at the door?” I ask.

HIs fingers move slowly and methodically down my jawline to my neck. My breast. “Stop teasing me,” I beg.

“Baby, it was Axel,” Damiens says in a lowered voice. “He’s here with Amelia. They have the next cabana down from us on the water. We want to go get some lunch.”

“Is he waiting out there?”

“No.” He slips his hand down my torso to my ass, and wraps his hand around me. “I told him we would head over in a few minutes.”

“Okay,” I say, my hips gyrating forward.

“I told him we would eat a little bit here first.”

“We don’t have any food here, though?”

“Maybe not for you,” he growls, and I can picture the cocky smirk on his face even though I can’t see it.

“Oh God, Damien…” He works kisses down my stomach, my hips, and kisses my clit. I feel the bed caving in between my legs.

“You’re still tense,” he adds. “Relax. This is all about relaxing.”

I bite the pillows so I don’t scream and alert the whole damn resort.

* * *

“You fuckin knocked him out,” Axel says as he takes a big bite of a chicken leg. “That’s insane. You’re a mad man.”

Damien scoots his chair closer to me. He glances at me as though just the thought of fighting for me makes him need to check on me again. Then he shrugs.

“I did it. I’d do it again.”

Amelia finishes chewing a bit of her salad and shakes her head. “I can’t get over how you took a bat to the head and you’re basically fine.”

Damien winks. “My mom always told me I have a thick skull. Probably all of those times I got knocked out fighting in high school.”

I tense up at hearing that. “You know, I’m not even going to ask.”

For a minute, we eat in silence. The bright afternoon sunlight streams into the dining hall, amplified by the white walls on all sides. A huge window next to us overlooks the water.

“We should head to the falls today,” Axel suggests, watching our faces for interest.

I nod. “I’d be into that.”

“Which falls?” I ask.

“Boca Falls is about an hour hike from the resort. Worth it though. At the end of the path, there’s a waterfall right next to a hot spring. It’s like a hot tub.”

“Amazing,” Axel adds.

Amelia and I look at each other and give a sounds-good-to-me nod.

After lunch we take off down the trail. Amelia and I follow behind the tattooed, muscular frames of Damien and Axel, who are enthusiastically retelling stories about the first time they were here.

“This is literally the most picturesque place I’ve ever been,” Axel says, turning over his shoulder. The way the fresh air breezes against our faces, and the big tropical tree branches hang overhead, I can only imagine what the addition of a waterfall would do to add to that panorama.

Damien gets a curious look on his face and turns to Ax, his voice lowered. “Should we tell them about the tea?”

Axel’s eyes widen. “Holy shit, I forgot about the tea. I don’t know, man.”

“What tea?” Amelia demands, and I second her curiosity.

Axel lets out a huff of air. “The last time we came here, this villager offered us tea when we were on this path. He said it would aid with ‘enjoyment of the ions of the waterfall.’”

“Ions? What do ions have to do with anything?” I retort.

Ax shrugs. “Honestly, I don’t even know what an ion is. But we drank the tea and...wow. Back me up, Dame.”

Damien nods. “Let’s just say it was the most relaxing couple of hours we’ve ever had.”

I scrunch up my face, a little suspicious. “So what exactly was in this tea? Pot? Alcohol?”

Ax shakes his head. “Neither of those. To be honest, I don’t know. Some indigenous plant is what the guy said who sold it to us.”

Amelia drops her jaw, a little indignant. “You just drank tea from some random guy? What if it was poison?”

Ax and Damien laugh. “Why would someone poison two random guys? It seemed a bit far fetched,” Damien shrugs. “We just went with it. And enjoyed the ride.”

I shake my head. “I think I know too much about medications because of my background. There are so many ways it could kill you!”

Damien and Ax nod thoughtfully. Looking at their bodies glistening in the sun with their shirts off and slung over their shoulders, I can see why guys like them would think they’re invincible. I don’t know Ax very well, but he and Damien seem like two peas in a pod. I can see why they didn’t fear trying some random indigenous concoction.

“Aren’t there like, undiscovered plants in the rain forest that can cure cancer though?” Damien finally asks.

Amelia and I chuckle. I wipe the sweat from my my brow and nod. “Supposedly.”