Somehow, I managed to leave Jolie alone.

Though having her so close was torture, I knew us having sex only complicated things. I figured she was having the same thoughts, as she seemed to deliberately avoid me—which took some effort considering the size of the boat—and she hadn’t thrown herself at me again.

When the sun started to go down, casting a fiery glow across the water, I cooked us a simple meal of ravioli. I was pleased to see Jolie eat, even if she did carry her plate away from me to sit on deck and eat alone. The seasickness must have passed, and I hoped the ginger had helped. As long as the ocean remained calm, she should be fine for the rest of the journey.

Later that evening, Jolie found a pack of cards, and instead of inviting me to join in, she sat by herself at the table and played solitaire. I knew the only reason she wasn’t hiding away below deck was because of the seasickness, but she was clearly trying to avoid me. I understood her reasons, but that didn’t stop me being filled with doubt and regret.

Was I doing the right thing?

Every time the thought crept into my head, I pushed it away. I’d never experienced this doubt before. Even when I’d been planning to kidnap Jolie, I’d never once wondered if it was the right thing to do. I’d known it hadn’t been right in that sense of the word, but I’d always known it was what I wanted—revenge on her father.

Unless it had never been about the revenge, an annoying voice whispered in my head, and all about getting the girl.

No, this was a new thing. Okay, so maybe I had stalked her over the years, making sure she didn’t do anything that would put my plan in jeopardy, such as moving abroad, but it had always been about the revenge, not about her. She was merely a pawn and still was, and I’d do well to remember that.

Night fell, and Jolie left her card game and went below deck. I assumed it was to go to bed in the cabin she’d chosen, but then she reappeared, the blankets and pillows stuffed under her arm.

“I’m going to sleep up here, if that’s okay.” It was the most she’d said to me in hours.

She must have been worried about getting seasick again. Suspicion rose up inside me. Unless she hoped I’d decide to sleep in the cabin, and then she’d use the opportunity to tamper with the boat, divert course, maybe, or even try to use the radio to call for help.

I couldn’t leave her up here if she was going to have free access to everything, but I wasn’t going to force her down into the cabin to spend the night sick either. One thing about boats was that there was always plenty of rope available.

“That’s fine,” I told her. “But I’ll be tying you up.”

A scowl crossed her face. “We’re in the middle of the ocean. What the hell do you think I’m going to do while I’m asleep?”

“It’s more what you might do while I’m asleep that concerns me.”

Her lower lip jutted out in a pout, and I wanted to bite it. “I told you I’ll cooperate.”

“Good. Then you’ll cooperate by letting me tie you up.”

Her scowl deepened. “That’s not what I meant.”

“I know it isn’t, and I couldn’t really care less. Either you let me tie you up, so you can sleep up here, or else I lock you into one of the cabins downstairs.”

She hesitated, looking as though she was considering fighting me about it, but then she shoved both her wrists out toward me. “Fine.”

“Wait there.”

I went down to the engine room to locate a coil of rope. The room was dark, and hot, and loud, and it took me a minute to find something suitable. But then I spotted a coil that looked to be a good length and thickness, and carried it back up on deck where Jolie was waiting for me.

“Lie down on the couch. I’ll tie you to the unit beside it.” Everything was built in, so she wouldn’t be going anywhere.

Jolie did as I instructed, wriggling down to lie on her side on the couch, and then put out both hands. I wound the rope I’d taken from the engine room around both wrists, and then around the metal pole which attached the unit to the floor. I pulled tight, making sure the knots weren’t going to come loose or that she’d be able to squirm out of them. She glared at me with hatred in her eyes, and I did my best to ignore it. It was better that she hated me. At least then she wouldn’t be dropping to her knees in front of me and sucking my cock.

Blood flowed to my dick at the thought, and I shut my eyes briefly, trying to dispel the image. She was tied up now, and thinking of her in that way was a very bad idea. Especially with the way she was tied with her hands over her head, making her breasts lift even higher beneath the flimsy material of her dress. She still wasn’t wearing a bra, and all it would take was for me to undo the tie at the back of her neck, and the whole front of the dress would fall down.

“Stop looking at me like that,” she growled.

I blinked. “Like what?”

“Like you’re thinking about what I’d look like tied up and naked.”

Fuck, hearing the words coming from her mouth made me hard.

“What if I am thinking about what you look like tied up and naked?”

“Stop it, Hayden,” she warned.

“This is coming from the woman who practically tore off my towel and swallowed my cock earlier.”

Her cheeks heated, and a flush crept across her chest. “That was different,” she said, but her tone had changed, her voice a breathy whisper.

Her legs moved on the couch, her thighs pressing together, and I knew it was to stimulate herself, not to prevent my access. My cock grew even harder, straining almost painfully against the front of my shorts.

Walk away, Hayden. Turn around and walk away.

I knew that was the right thing to do, but fuck, she looked like a human sex buffet stretched out across the couch, her hands tied above her head.

“Tell me you’re not thinking about it,” I told her. “Tell me that you’re not wet already.”

She glanced away, and her teeth dug into her lower lip. She appeared both wanton and demure, and I wanted her badly.

I stepped in closer. “I mean it, Jolie. You need to tell me to stop, or I’m going to check for myself.”

Her head snapped toward me. “Hayden!”

“Is that a no? Is that a stop?”

She wriggled into the couch again, squirming, her hips pressing into the cushions. I reached out and slipped my hand behind her head and did exactly what I’d been imagining only moments earlier—I pulled the tie loose.

She sucked in a breath as I yanked the front of the dress down, exposing her bare breasts, but still she didn’t tell me to stop. Her head might be telling her she didn’t want this, but she hadn’t yet managed to make her mouth comply. I cupped one of her tits in my palm, and her back arched, pressing more fully into me. No, her head might not want me, but her body sure as hell did.

I lowered to sit on the edge of the couch beside her and replaced my hand with my mouth. I suckled her nipple, and it hardened into a point against my tongue. She writhed beneath me, and I used my other hand to twist and pinch the nipple of her other breast.

Releasing her from my mouth, I yanked her dress down the rest of the way. At some point during the day, she’d taken off her boots, so now she only wore her panties, and I didn’t intend for those to stay on too long either. I trailed my tongue across her flat stomach, leaving a track of saliva, and reached the waistband of her underwear. Hooking my fingers into the sides, I pulled them down her thighs and dropped them to the floor with her dress.

I looked up at her, utterly naked with her hands tied with rope. Had I ever seen anything sexier? My cock throbbed with approval. Every time I fucked Jolie, I didn’t think it could get hotter than before, and yet here we were.

“Spread your legs,” I instructed. I could force them apart if I so wished, but I wanted to see if she’d obey.

She did.

Her lips parted, her chest heaving as she gazed up at me with wild desire in her eyes.

“Is your pussy wet for me?” I moved lower, between her thighs. Sure enough, her inner thighs and pussy lips glistened, her clit engorged and popping forward, begging for attention. I’d barely touched her yet.

A slow smile crept across my lips. “Good girl.”

I rewarded her with my tongue against her clit, licking her slowly and with pressure. She gasped, her hips lifting from the couch. Knowing her pussy needed something to clench down on, I pushed two fingers inside her, and then added a third. She stretched around me, and I wondered if I could fit a fourth inside her, maybe my whole fucking fist. Would she scream with my entire hand rammed inside her?

But no, that wasn’t how I wanted this to go. She’d experienced my rough side, and this time I wanted her to see there was a different facet to me. I could take care of her. I could be intimate with her. That was what I wanted her to see.

I slipped my fingers from her body and turned to go to the bathroom where I had condoms in the cabinet. I’d pulled out of her before climaxing, but that wasn’t what I wanted this time.

I returned to find her waiting, her eyes wide in anticipation.

“God, you look so sexy lying there like that,” I told her.

“You left me.” Her tone was almost accusatory.

I held up the condom. “I want to be inside you until the last second.”

She bit her lower lip and nodded.

My hands went to the button of my shorts, and I undid them, letting them fall from my hips. I didn’t wear underwear, so the removal of the item left me naked. Was this the first time Jolie and I had been naked together? Yes, I thought it was.

My cock stood erect, jutting out from my body. Not wasting any more time, I tore the condom packet open then placed the condom on my tip and rolled it down my length.

Sheathed, I climbed onto the couch to join her and settled myself between her thighs. Her hands were still tied, so she couldn’t touch me, but that was okay. I loved seeing her like this, and I thought she got a kick from being tied up, too. I lowered my head and kissed her again, pushing my tongue into her mouth. She squirmed beneath me and groaned, and I reached between us to position my cock at her entrance.

I pushed inside her, and she lifted her legs to wrap them around my back. My mind swam with pleasure as her inner muscles gripped me tight. Fuck, being inside her was like being transported to heaven. If someone told me this was the only thing I’d get to experience for the rest of my life, I’d have died a happy man.

I laced my fingers in her hair and pressed my forehead to hers as I moved inside her, slowly at first then building up momentum. I wanted to be able to look into her eyes, to watch her reach her climax. I loved that I was the one doing this to her. Our bodies were tuned in to one another, both of us moving as one. Her breasts crushed against my bare chest, and I relished the feel of her naked beneath me. With her legs around my hips and her pussy around my cock, the rest of the world fell away, and it was only the two of us.

She gasped against my mouth, our kisses becoming frantic, more nips and licks than anything else. Sexy little cries escaped her lips, her body going taut with pleasure beneath me. I kissed her neck, my own breathing becoming grunts as we climbed closer to our climax. Her hips rose to meet mine, and I slammed into her, my body rigid, every muscle tight.

Jolie twisted her face from me and cried out, her body arching from the couch. Her inner muscles pulsed around me, and I took that as a sign that it was okay to let go. I released my hold on my climax, and ecstasy powered through me. I held myself deep as I came into the condom inside her.

We remained together as our breathing slowed and our heartrates returned to normal.

I kissed her again, growing soft inside her, then I reached between us, knowing I needed to pull out. I gripped hold of the base of my cock, holding the condom in place before withdrawing from her. I immediately felt lost, missing her already. I disposed of the condom then picked up the blanket and pillows she’d carried up from the bottom deck. I tucked one of the pillows beneath her head and covered her naked body with the blanket.

Jolie gave a contented sigh, and her eyes slipped shut. I stood, watching her for a moment, and tried not to think about how my world would be when I was behind bars and she was no longer in it.