Chapter One

Isabella Shell shot up in bed as an eerie feeling settled over her. Something was most certainly wrong, but she wasn’t quite sure what it was. The room was much darker than she remembered, and she blinked her eyes rapidly as she tried to shake her sleep-deprived brain into proper alertness.

Reaching out, she realized her lamp was nowhere to be found. That’s when panic set in. This wasn’t her bed, which meant it certainly wasn’t her bedroom. Her heart thudded as fear sliced through her. The rest of her sleepiness vanished as she froze on the mattress.

It was only after a moment that she remembered she was on vacation in the beautiful country of Rubare Collina. Her jet lag must have been messing with her mind. Maybe it was the fact that she’d decided to celebrate her journalism degree with a solo trip taking her places far from her comfort zone and possibly discovering the story that would set her career into motion. Clark Kent, move on over, cause I’m certainly no damsel in distress.

That’s why she’d decided to travel alone. It was time for her to grow up, enter the world as a true adult, and not be so dang naïve about everything. She was twenty-four years old and had never done anything on her own. This trip was the remedy for a very sheltered life.

A noise sounding suspiciously like a squeaking floorboard had her heart thundering again. She was staying in a quaint bed and breakfast, and of course there would be unfamiliar noises. There was no reason for her to be alarmed.

Just as she managed to calm her breathing, her air was taken from her as long fingers and a wide palm covered her mouth. A scream instantly ripped from her throat, but the sound was muffled by the tightly clasped hand.

The smell of expensive cologne and cigar smoke invaded her nose as she tried to see who was attempting to assault her. Going into fight or flight mode, she immediately tried to escape his grasp, but a large arm pinned her to the bed while the hand stayed firmly in place against her lips.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” the man said in a low, gravelly voice.

Yeah. She was all better now, she thought with both aggravation and terror. She’d ask him what in the hell that was supposed to mean if she could speak.

“If you swear you won’t scream, I’ll unhand your mouth,” he said, his words almost soothing. What the hell?

Her eyes were beginning to adjust to the absolute darkness, and she could now see the outline of the man. He was huge, more so than she had ever been comfortable around. Looming above her with who knew what intentions, Isabella wasn’t sure if screaming would be the answer to her predicament. He could break her before she’d let out the first high-pitched wail.

Apparently she took too long to respond to his odd statement so the arm pinning her to the bed pushed down a bit harder as he leaned in closer. Due to the darkness, she was unable to see the color of his eyes. She couldn’t see any of his other features because he was wearing a black mask.

“Will you be silent?” he asked, his words barely above a whisper.

She wasn’t really left with a choice in the matter if she wanted to figure out what in the hell was happening. With dread hanging heavy in her gut, she nodded in a barely perceptible motion as she tried to search for anything identifiable on him so if she survived this she could make sure he was brought to justice.

Of course, she was in a foreign land and for all she knew, it was one of the places women had zero rights. What had she been thinking by taking this damn trip? Was it going to cost her life? She was almost sure it would cost her innocence at the least.

He took his hand away from her lips, but he didn’t move his arm far as if he was ready to strike again in less than a second’s notice. She had to admit he wasn’t a foolish criminal. That would have been too much in her favor.

“Please don’t do this,” she whispered, her voice filled with anxiety. “I have nothing to give you, and I don’t want trouble.”

The arm on her stomach tensed the slightest bit before she saw his lips turn up a little. All she could see of his face were his eyes, which appeared to be light in color, and his full lips.

“No speaking,” he told her in an intimidating growl. “You and I are going to take a little trip.”

“What? Where? Why?” Maybe the last thing she’d ever do was let out one easily terminated scream. She’d rather die fighting than simply cave to a beast of a man like the one trespassing in her room.

Without saying a word, his arm released from her chest as he gripped her shoulders and pulled her to her feet as if she was as light as a feather. She certainly hadn’t ever been considered delicate, not while standing five foot eight and with a little too many curves on her otherwise lean body. But standing next to this man, who easily towered over her by a good six to eight inches, she felt tiny and weak.

“We need to go now,” the man said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tugged, nearly making her tumble to the ground since her feet were planted so firmly.

“Go where?” she asked, her voice husky in her fear.

“We don’t have time for questions. Come,” he said as if expecting her to obediently follow his command.

Hope was quickly dying as she realized she truly was at this man’s mercy. Her pathetic defense course at college three years prior wouldn’t do her any good against a man easily twice her size, probably a little more.

Standing in a nightgown that barely brushed her thighs, Isabella shivered. It was actually an incredibly warm night with the balcony doors open, a soothing breeze blowing into the room, but suddenly she was freezing.

The man pushed, and she stumbled a few steps forward before she understood the gravity of the situation. This island had a reputation, and she was about to become its next victim if she didn’t do something about it.

Anger filling her, Isabella wrenched herself from beneath the hulking man’s arms, surprising him enough to escape. She made it about four steps before she felt her breath sucked from her as he grabbed her, lifted her off the ground, and pressed her back against the solid steel of his chest and abs.

She reacted more fiercely as she kicked him and got the first notes of a scream from her throat before his hand once again covered her mouth. She tried to bite him, but he shifted, ensuring her lips were closed.

“Stop now!” The utter command in his voice froze her. The intense need to obey this man was more terrifying than what was actually happening to her.

The pause in her fight allowed him to quickly move to the open patio door and step through. She quickly reacted and reached above her to try to find his hair. The mask covered his head fully, and she scratched at the sides of his covered face, hoping her fingernails would inflict at least some damage. Her feet continued pounding against his legs, but he didn’t so much as grunt, making her realize her fighting was completely ineffective.

He reached the fencing around her balcony, and she gasped as his hand left her mouth. But before she could scream, he tossed her over his shoulder, her stomach connecting with his massive shoulder, taking any breath she’d managed to suck in immediately away.

She gasped as he jumped over the rail and quickly descended the narrow, tight stairway. Grasping his tight shirt in her fingers to keep from tumbling over his shoulder, which would surely lead to her death, Isabella paused in her struggles long enough to try to decide what the best possible way of escaping would be. They were on the ground before she’d come up with a solution.

The man walked around a corner where Isabella was only able to see the ground going by as he quickly moved through a dark alley. She opened her mouth to cry out when she was pulled from his shoulder and unceremoniously tossed into the back of a large SUV.

“There’s no escaping now,” the man told her, his lips turned up, his definitely blue eyes sparkling. “Enjoy the ride.”

The door shut, and Isabella found herself alone. There was a dark panel separating the backseat from the front. She heard a car door open and shut, and the vehicle started in motion. There never had been a chance of escape. From the moment she’d woken to this man, her fate had been decided. Maybe it had been from the moment she’d chosen to go on this trip in the first place. She might never know.

Tears filled her eyes and spilled over as she huddled in the corner of the car. She couldn’t open the doors, and she had no chance of breaking any of the windows. She truly was at the mercy of her captor.

The ride didn’t last long before the vehicle pulled to a stop. Isabella could completely give up, or she could attempt to escape again. She figured she had nothing to lose at this point other than her life so she was ready when the door opened.

Launching herself from the vehicle, she felt the smallest trace of hope as the warm island air touched her cheeks. Her spirit was soon dashed, though, when her attempt at freedom was thwarted by a rock-hard chest and solid arms once again wrapping around her, this time with her front pressed against him.

“Hmm, frisky. I like that in my captives,” the man murmured with a chuckle. She was stumped completely by his words. Was this nothing more than a game to this man? How evil could he possibly be?

“I’m not yours,” she yelled, waiting for her mouth to be covered again. It wasn’t. “Someone help me!” Her scream echoed back at her, but she didn’t hear the sound of running footsteps. No one was out there, and no one was going to save her.

The man picked her up again and transferred her to a boat. She attempted to jump from it, but he quickly secured her before going to the helm and starting it up. They sailed out to sea in the night, and Isabella lay on the cushions as she mentally told her family goodbye.

Time had no meaning as they sped across a calm sea. When the boat finally stopped Isabella had no idea if they were at another island or in the middle of the sea. Her fear and sadness were so consuming she wasn’t sure she had the will to keep fighting this man. She knew for her mother’s sake she should at least try, but no one understood being in a situation like this unless they had personal experience. It was terrifying and humiliating.

“Let’s go,” the man said as he released her and pulled her to her feet. Isabella blindly followed. He helped her from the boat and walked down a long dock as the sun began rising somewhere far in the east.

When they reached land he still held her tightly, and Isabella looked out at the seemingly endless hills and trees. A home seemed to be hidden within them, but she couldn’t be sure.

“I will release you if you promise to quit fighting against me,” the man said. There was excitement in his tone. He truly was enjoying this game only he was playing.

One hand still gripped her; he used his other to rip the mask from his face. Isabella felt despair at this action, because if he didn’t care if she could identify him, that meant he wasn’t planning on ever letting her go.

His dark hair was mussed, and his blue eyes were sparkling. His full lips were turned up the slightest bit, but she couldn’t stare at them or think about what his expression meant. She looked instead at the flush on his cheeks before she pulled from him, surprised when he unhanded her.

She didn’t attempt to run this time, having no idea where she was or where she could possibly go. She really was at his mercy. With her head much more clear now, she remembered the article she’d read about the customs of Rubare Collina and how the royal family liked to kidnap their brides. She’d never imagined something like that could be true, or that all the inhabitants of the island might find it acceptable to take any woman they might please.

But what else was she supposed to think when she’d literally been ripped from her bed and captured like a flag on a pole?

“If you try to run again, I’ll be forced to tie you up,” he told her, his lips turning up even more.

“You’re a sick man, and you won’t do that to me,” she said, fear laced into her angry words. “I have rights, and you will tell me what this is about.” Though she was shaking, her words gave her more strength than she thought she had.

His lips fully turned up now, changing the look of his face. She knew he was a monster, but as he stared intently at her, she could understand how victims were so easily pulled into the games of predators. He seemed harmless, or was that the look he was trying to portray? She knew better.

“My darling girl, don’t you know?” he asked before a chuckle escaped. “I get to do whatever I want with you because you’re mine now.”

His words hovered in the air as they processed in her muddled brain. She was nobody’s victim, especially this man’s. If he thought her fight was over, he was sadly mistaken. All she had to do now was figure out how to take the man down — and if it was the last thing she did, she’d get her revenge and show him he’d picked the wrong woman to mess with.