My heart was already stampeding from Price’s story, and the cry coming from inside the villa forced it into a full-on gallop. Chelle was inside.

“Michelle!” Price turned and ran toward the villa.

I followed, fear coursing through me as I trudged through the sand as fast as I could. When Price reached the front door he threw it open.

“Michelle! Fuck, where are you?” He rushed through the living area, the kitchen. “Michelle! Chelle!” He grabbed two fistfuls of his hair.

My own nerves jumped hurdles under my skin. Chelle was my best friend. If something happened to her—

The back door to the villa opened.

“What on earth are the two of you bellowing about?” Michelle stood, barefoot, in a light-green sundress, her dark hair pulled into a high ponytail.

A young man with black hair, tan skin, and almond-shaped brown eyes—definitely from the South Pacific—entered and stood beside her. He wore flamboyant orange board shorts and a black muscle shirt.

“Otis,” Price said. “What are you doing here?”

“You told me to check on your sister,” the man said.

Price let out a heavy sigh. “So I did. God.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “You two just took another year off my life.” He rubbed his forehead. “Shit. What a stupid thing to say. I’m sorry.”

I stepped forward, deciding not to comment on Price’s lack of thought. He’d apologized, anyway. “We heard a scream. We thought…”

Michelle laughed. “Oh. That was just me. Your friend here walked right in on me. I had my headphones on, zoning out to some new age Zen stuff in that chaise over there”—she gestured to a leather chaise longue in the sunroom—“when I open my eyes and there’s a strange man standing over me.”

“I knocked,” the man called Otis said. “I swear. But no one answered. I figured you’d want me to check things out. Why else would you have given me a key?”

“I’m regretting that,” Price said.

I nudged my husband then. “Who is this?”

“Oh. Sorry. This is Otis, a friend of mine here on the island. Otis, my wife.”

We shook hands briefly. “Nice to meet you,” I said.

“And I guess you’ve met my sister.”

“Yes,” Michelle said. “After he scared the piss out of me.”

My heart was still pounding from the ruckus. I was eternally thankful that Michelle was all right, but Price’s story still rang in my head. I had so many questions, the first of which was why he hadn’t introduced Michelle and me by name.

“After I assured her I was no threat, she pushed me out the door and gave me a stern lecture.” Otis smiled.

A stern lecture? That wasn’t Michelle. She had ripped him a new one. I couldn’t help a subtle grin.

“Anyway, after he convinced me he wasn’t a serial killer, we decided to have a glass of wine,” Michelle said. “Want to join us?”

After the story Price had just told me, I wasn’t sure wine would cut it. “How about a few shots of tequila?”

Price looked at me, his lips set in a straight line. “Since when do you drink the hard stuff?”

I didn’t, usually, though Michelle and I had shared some shots one night a few weeks after Price’s “death.” We’d both been feeling extra low. The tequila, of course, hadn’t helped. Only put off the inevitable.

“That sounds great, actually,” Michelle said. “How about I whip us up some margaritas?”

“Do we have tequila?” I asked.

“The bar was supposed to be stocked.” She walked to the bar on the far side of the living area and rooted around, coming up with a bottle of Patron Añejo. “Voilà!”

Michelle was in quite a good mood for having just been frightened out of her skin. But that was Chelle. Nothing bothered her for too long. Nothing that wasn’t serious, anyway. Had she heard Price’s story yet? Last night, I’d had the feeling he’d told her something, but she hadn’t elaborated.

She began to cut up limes and shooed us out. “Go on out to the lanai. I’ll bring the drinks in a few.”

Numbness permeated my body. I wanted desperately to talk to Price alone, to ask him more about that fateful day that stole him from me. He hadn’t told me everything. I could tell. How did he get care for his broken arm if he couldn’t let anyone know who he was? How did he get here, across the globe, to this island? What did he do for money? He hadn’t accessed any of our accounts since his “death.” Did he tell anyone about the pilot’s dead body? What about that company that was behind all of this? Why had he said the first night here that his parents, Chelle, and I would all be dead if that plane hadn’t gone down? And who exactly was this Otis, and how much did he know?

I blindly followed Price and Otis to the lanai and sat down on a loveseat next to my husband. Otis sat across from us. He was young, early twenties at most. He should have been living in a frat house somewhere, ogling centerfolds and sorority girls. Why was he hanging around my husband?

I opened my mouth to ask, but Price spoke.

“I think you should go,” he said to Otis.

Otis arched his dark eyebrows. “And miss the margaritas? Besides, your sister’s hot, Bryson.”

Bryson? I kept my mouth shut while Price went rigid beside me.

“My sister’s too old for you.”

“Hey, maybe she’d like a little cougar action with this willing cub.”

Price stood, and I grabbed his hand, telling him without words to calm down. Thankfully, he did. He sat back down next to me, our hands still touching.

“Don’t ever talk about my sister that way again.”

Otis lifted his hands. “Sorry, dude. Hands off. I promise.”

“I do need you to leave now. I need to talk to my wife and sister.”

“After a drink? She invited me for wine, remember?”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass if she invited you to a gourmet feast. I need you to leave.” Price’s grip on my hand intensified.

The other man stood and brushed off his orange shorts. Some sort of understanding seemed to pass between them. Another question for my husband.

“Got it,” Otis said. “Talk tomorrow?”

Price nodded, and Otis ambled down to a jeep parked nearby on the rocky road.

I bit on my lip. One thing was clear. Otis, whoever he was, knew a hell of a lot more than I did about what my husband was up to.

That was about to change.

“Price,” I began, “there’s a lot you—”

“Margs!” Michelle pushed the door open with her ass and walked out carrying a pitcher of light-green goodness and four martini glasses rimmed with salt. “All I could find. No margarita glasses.”

I stood and took the glasses from her. “We’ll only need three.”

She looked around. “What happened to Otis?”

“He had somewhere to be,” Price said.

“Oh, bummer. He was kind of cute.”

“For Christ’s sake, Chelle.” Price shook his head. “He’s a kid.”

“What? I can’t have a little fun? I’m supposed to spend three weeks alone while the two of you fuck like bunnies?” She poured our drinks.

“Not with him. Not that kind of fun, anyway.”

Michelle rolled her eyes. “Fine. I was kidding, anyway. I agree. He’s too young. Pretty nice to look at, though.”

Otis was good-looking, but nothing compared to the man beside me…who still owed me a lot of answers.

I squeezed his forearm. “Price, how much does Chelle know?”

“Pretty much all that you do now.”

“Yes, and I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you, Kate,” she said. “I wanted to, but he made me swear not to. It’s a tough thing, having to choose between your brother and your best friend.” She eyed Price. “Don’t ever make me do that again.”

“Believe me. I understand everything I’ve put both of you through, and I know a simple ‘I’m sorry’ is far from enough. And now…” He looked into the distance, his eyes glassy.

I stroked the top of his hand. “And now…what?”

He sighed. “Nothing.”

“Price,” I said, “don’t lie to us.”

“There’s a reason Otis was here tonight. He’s been watching the place for me for a while. I wanted to make sure it was out of the way enough so the two of you would be safe here. But…”

“What?” I said again.

“Otis saw a black car parked nearby earlier today. Did you notice anything, Chelle?”

“No,” she said. “But I wasn’t looking for anything either.”

“What did you do today?”

“Walked along the beach for a while, lay in the sun and did some reading. I’d just finished dinner and was vegging out with my music when Otis came in.”

Price let out a sigh. “Thank God. Maybe it’s nothing.”

But my heart lodged in my throat.

I had a feeling.

It wasn’t nothing.

---

I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror. I’d donned a see-through pale-blue teddy I’d found in the bureau. Price was in bed, waiting for me. I’d only had one margarita, and more questions flooded my mind.

He’s been watching the place for me for a while. I wanted to make sure it was out of the way enough so the two of you would be safe here.

Out of the way enough? Exactly what did that mean? Was Price in hiding? Or was he not? Did someone know, besides Chelle and me, that he was alive? What was he keeping from me?

Ice forced itself through my veins, and I rubbed my arms.

“Baby?” he called from the bedroom.

His voice soothed me. This was my husband. Price. The man who would never harm me and would never let harm come to me. He’d said so himself.

Kate, I swear to you, I just wanted to keep you safe. I’ve never experienced anything more terrifying than falling out of the sky that day, but if I’d put you in danger and risked your life, I couldn’t have lived with myself.

This was the man who loved me more than anything, as I loved him.

I inhaled deeply. “I’m coming.”

I left the bathroom and walked toward Price.

“Wow.” His eyes were heavy-lidded. “You look beautiful. That color suits you.”

“You should know. You must have picked it out and stocked the dresser.”

He smiled, his eyes shining with love, and my heart nearly melted. How could I question this man? This man who knew me so well? This man who loved me like no other? Who had risked everything to get back to me?

Still, the questions pounded on the door of my mind, demanding entrance…and answers.

Not tonight.

I wouldn’t open that door tonight. He’d already shared a lot with me today, even after I’d promised to make the day just for us, with no questions.

I crawled into bed and snuggled up against him. He brought his lips to mine and kissed me slowly, sensually, until we were both writhing with need.

Then the kiss became more demanding. His tongue and lips stole my breath as he took from me, marking me again—if only in his head—as he had on the boat earlier. When we both needed a breath, he broke the kiss and inhaled sharply.

“Take off the teddy,” he said, his voice leaving no room for disobedience.

I startled and met his gaze, his eyes burning. Normally he liked to undress me, peeling away each layer, whether slowly or quickly, as if unwrapping a gift.

Though I itched to question him, I kept silent, vowing once more to let him have what was left of this day together. I sat up and peeled the fine fabric from my body, pushing it over my hips and legs until it was no more than a puddle of sheer aquamarine against the bed.

“Now lie against me, spoon style,” he ordered.

He didn’t have to ask again. I loved spooning. I snuggled against his warm body, his cock meeting my lower back.

He kissed my shoulders, first gently and then harder, adding his teeth. I shuddered at the pleasure that surged through my whole body.

“You’re mine, Kate. I’ve risked everything to bring us back together.”

I closed my eyes, his words drifting over me.

“You promised.” He nibbled at my neck. “You promised you’d stay.”

I had. And at the moment, I’d promise him anything else he wanted. The feelings he was invoking in me, both physically and emotionally, were so compelling I was powerless to resist.

“Yes. I promised. I promise.”

“I want to make you come, Kate. I want to make you mine.”

I was already his. When he trailed his fingers over my arm to my hip, through the crease in my ass and began toying with me there, I stiffened a bit.

We’d had anal sex before, and we both enjoyed it. I wasn’t sure I was ready to go there tonight, not when so many unanswered questions were whirling around in my head. Anal required trust of the highest magnitude. I trusted Price, but—

“That’s it, baby. Let me in.” He massaged me.

I tried to relax. Tried to remember how I once trusted him. How I still trusted him.

Within a few seconds, he breached the tight rim. “Easy, sweetness. Easy. This is mine. All of you. All of you is mine.”

“Yours,” I echoed.

Slowly he slid his finger in and out of me, and my pussy responded, aching to be filled.

“Price, please. I need you inside me.”

“I am inside you, baby.” He nipped my shoulder with his teeth.

“You know what I mean.”

He moved backward a bit and slid two fingers inside my pussy. He moved them in the opposite direction as the finger in my ass. I sighed.

“I’m filling you up, Kate. That’s me. Filling you up. Does it feel good?”

“God, yes,” I whimpered.

“I want you to come, baby. Come for me. Right. Now.”

Despite the lack of stimulation to my clit, I climaxed at his command, my hips undulating, pushing backward, trying to fill both my openings but still needing more, more…

I cried out when his cock filled my pussy.

“God,” he grunted. “Wanted your ass, but couldn’t wait…” He thrust into me hard.

Perfection. This was what I’d hoped for. He filled me, made me whole. My nipples pebbled as I clamped around him, took him into my body. I groaned into the pillow as my orgasm built again.

“Need you,” he said gruffly, plunging deeper. “Need you, Kate.”

Then he thrust deeply into me, filling me, and I came around him, hugging his cock with my convulsing walls.

“Mine,” he kept chanting. “Mine.”

---

I jolted.

Price was still clenched against me. We’d fallen asleep after that last climax.

Something had woken me, but what? Moonlight streamed through the window. It was still nighttime. I couldn’t see a clock from where I was—

A knock on the door. That’s what had woken me. Chelle. I shivered. She wouldn’t bother us unless it was important.

I left the bed, wrapped a sarong around my naked body, walked to the door, and opened it.

I gasped. Not Michelle, but Otis stood at the door. He’d traded in his board shorts and muscle shirt for jeans and a tie-dyed T-shirt.

“How did you get in here?” I demanded.

He held up a keycard. “I have a key, remember?”

“We have a phone, you know.”

“It’s important. I need to talk to Bryson.”

Bryson. Right. Another question.

“He’s asleep.”

He walked past me into the room. “Not for long.”

Price lay, his breathing shallow and even, the white sheet wrapped around his waist, thank goodness.

“He’s not exactly decent,” I said.

Otis was not deterred. He tapped Price on his shoulder, softly at first, and then more harshly. “Bryson, dude, wake up. We need to talk. Now.”