Roen took several deep breaths and finally dropped his hands. A patch of moonlight illuminated his strikingly handsome face, his lightly stubbled jawline catching the light.
“You’re all right now. See,” she said with a calming voice. “Try to breathe.”
He nodded and then shoved his hands through his hair. “I was born in Scotland.”
“Okay.” Why had he said that?
“I lived there until I was ten when we fled from my father. He was one of them—the men from this island. He was violent and cruel—not with us, but with everyone else.”
Liv shook her head. “I-I don’t understand.”
“It’s what defines everything about me. Everything, right down to the fact I refuse to sound like him. So I’ll be damned if I end up ruining a good woman’s life.”
“You think you’re ruining my life?” He just saved it!
“Liv,” he said quietly, his tone dead serious, “I’m getting you off this island, but I’m not going with you.”
“What? Why?” she snapped.
“I need to help Lyle.”
The person who’d just tried to kill him? “That’s bullshit.”
“Is it? If it was your sister—what was her name? Dana? Would you leave her here?”
“Okay. No. I wouldn’t. So we all leave together,” Liv said. “I’m not afraid.”
Roen stepped toward her. “You should be. Just like I should be claiming you.”
Suddenly, the air between them thickened again.
Oh no! She shoved out her hands, but it did no good. He suddenly had her by the shoulders again, gripping her firmly with his shaking hands as if he wanted to maul her.
She reached out and slapped him across the cheek. “Roen!”
He let her go and drove his fist right into the tree behind her.
My God. He is losing it. Maybe he was right; she needed to get away from this place and return with help. But leaving him behind? She just didn’t want to do that. Her other option was to wait until his ship came back for them. She’d do everything in her power to make sure Roen left, too.
“I’ll leave the island,” she said. But you’re coming with me whether you like it or not.
“I’m glad you see things my way. My ship is probably gone, but if I can get to my phone, I can call the crew. They’ll turn around and come back. I just hope that my cell still has power. Otherwise, I’ll see what Lyle or the other men can tell me about transportation. They have to have some way of getting on and off the island.”
“Roen, the healer guy, Holden, has satellite TV.”
“He has dish TV?”
“He also has state-of-the-art medical equipment—respirators, heart monitors, CT scanner…” That other guy, Shane, had French windows. She doubted they were making glass on the island. That meant they were definitely importing stuff, which meant they had some means of contacting the outside.
“Then they have electricity and might have other electronics, too. Maybe even their own satellite cell, which they will give to me since I’m now their leader. As for you, we’re going to find a place to hide you until I’ve made contact with my ship.”
“What about food and water?” she asked.
“I’ll come back at daybreak with supplies.” Roen grabbed her hand and pulled her along, continuing toward the other side of the island without saying a word. His palm felt hot and buzzed with a weird energy. Not uncomfortable, but powerful enough for her to know it wasn’t her imagination.
Whatever was happening to the man, it was real.
“Liv, before I forget. Stay away from the water at night. There are monsters.”
CHAPTER TEN
Unlike herself, Roen seemed to have no issues navigating in the dark over rocks and through thick vegetation. She suspected that whatever changes were occurring inside him, improved night vision was one of them. She didn’t want to ask. Didn’t want to know. The idea of him transforming into something else terrified her. But, of course, that was outrageous. People didn’t transform. And those men could believe anything they liked, but calling themselves “mermen” was indisputably the most ridiculous thing she’d ever heard.
God, none of this makes any sense. But that didn’t matter. Survival did.
The two hiked in silence, away from that strange mountain where the men had held her prisoner, but it didn’t take long before she and Roen ran out of land.
“What next?” Liv asked, the sound of crashing waves behind her. They hadn’t found anywhere even remotely safe for her to camp out for a day. It seemed the island was nothing but beach, forest and one giant mountain smack in the middle.
Roen was quiet for several moments. “I was hoping for some sort of high ground where you can see people coming before they see you, but this will have to do.”
The temperature was far warmer compared to inland, but it didn’t seem hidden enough.
“It’s secluded and out of the way,” he added. “You’ll be shielded from the wind. I don’t think it’ll get much better than this.”
Perhaps he was right. Truth was that the island—maybe three miles wide in each direction by her estimation—was much too small for anyone to hide. At best, she’d avoid being seen for a few days by staying on her guard.
That said, “You told me I should stay away from the water.” Both Roen and Shane believed there were monsters—ridiculous!—but she could believe a few dangerous animals called this eerie mess of an island their home.
“I don’t hear those things,” Roen replied, “but if you do, you run inland.”
“What if I don’t hear them?”
“Trust me, you will.”
Liv officially had cold feet. “Roen, you seem okay now, so—”
“No, Liv. You have no clue what’s going on inside my head. I’m hanging on by a thread.” He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “I promise I’ll be back soon with food and water.” He then placed a gentle kiss on the top of her hand, his lips lingering for several long moments. Liv immediately began to feel that…that—whatever—odd tension filling the air. God, she wanted to kiss him and wrap her arms around him and smell his skin, just one last time.
“I have to go,” he said, dropping her hand.
She sucked in a breath and held on for a long moment before exhaling. “I know.”
“I’ll be back. I promise.”
She nodded, but didn’t speak, and Roen disappeared into the forest, back toward that mountain. She prayed like hell nothing would happen to him. On this island, however, the chances of that were slim.
~ ~ ~
Roen hadn’t been separated from Liv for more than five minutes before those gnawing primal urges to go back and take her hard started up again. At first, Roen did his best to push them away, but the more he fought, the more insistent the need became.
“I won’t do it,” he growled, unsure of who he really spoke to.
“You’ll do what I say, or she will be punished,” said a feminine voice.
Roen halted in his tracks, his eyes darting from side to side. Had he really heard that, or was he imagining it? “Hello?”
“Hello, Roen. I’m looking forward to our time together.”
“Who the hell is this?”
“My dear, sweet merman,” she said, “I think you know the answer to that. But take comfort; your sacrifices will not be in vain.”
What the bloody foke was going on?
“What sacrifices?” Roen then felt his body slam into the dirt, his muscles convulsing and burning with unspeakable pain.
“Just relax, my dear, strong man, and it will soon be over.”
Roen screamed in agony, his body bucking as he resisted whatever was trying to take hold. But as the moments passed, the pain subsided, leaving Roen with a clarity of mind he’d never experienced.
Lying there in the dark, Roen drew a deep breath and opened his eyes. Millions of stars shimmered overhead, and a sense of peace washed over him. Suddenly, he felt alive for the first
time ever. Then a bright flash hit him. With it he felt and saw years or centuries or millennia of events through the eyes of the island.
“My God,” he said. “You really are alive.”
“Welcome home, merman.”
~ ~ ~
Liv had only been standing on the empty beach, lost in her thoughts and warding off her fear of what might happen if Roen didn’t return, for a few short minutes when the sound of shrill voices filled the salty night air. They wailed and howled like ghosts of tortured souls. Then the sound of cracking—like bones crushing—filled the air. The howling stopped and turned into grunting and tearing.
Holy shit. Liv scrambled up the nearest tree, a few yards from the beach, and held her breath. She listened as something—a whole lot of somethings—slithered beneath her through the sand and brush. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. She’d never been so utterly freaked out in her entire life.
After thirty minutes or so, all became quiet, but Liv was not about to go anywhere. She clung to that damned tree through the night just like she clung to her sanity.
In the morning, exhausted from lack of sleep and beginning to once again feel the effects of dehydration, Liv climbed down and found the beach filled with long bloody tracks. Holy crap. She couldn’t tell what animal had made them, but it looked like a sea lion or something big.
But those animals aren’t nocturnal. And they certainly didn’t hunt prey on land and drag it into the ocean.
Whatever those “monsters” were, they were something big and dangerous.
The rest of the morning, Liv waited. And waited. But there was no sign of Roen. It was exactly as she feared—they’d separate, something would happen to him, and she’d be left alone, wondering what the hell to do. Then there was the fact that she couldn’t stop thinking about the way Roen had grabbed her last night and how his strong hands slid over her breasts, how his hard cock nearly made her explode just from the friction. The man simply touched her, and she felt an undeniable, raw, sexual need for him. Only, he wasn’t touching her now, and she felt her body heating up for him all over again, craving the touch of his sensual, full lips on her mouth and neck.
But Roen wasn’t only sexy. The connection she felt between them provoked an emotional rush that went far beyond just plain physical attraction. It was impossible to fully explain, except to say that now that they’d met, she found it difficult to imagine her life without him in it. Was it really possible to feel that way about someone she’d only just met?
Yeah. Hellooo. It’s possible.
So where the hell was he? He’ll be here. He’ll be here.
But when he didn’t show, Liv’s hunger and thirst finally got the best of her, and she had no choice but to leave the beach to forage for a few hours. Sadly, however, aside from a few berries, there wasn’t much. As for water, she found absolutely nothing.
At the end of the day, when the entire sky lit up with flames of burnt orange and the sun began dipping into the horizon, Liv’s panic turned into something much worse. There’d been no sign of Roen all day, and she felt too weak to spend another night in a tree. A few hours, at best, and she’d be passing out, left helpless to whatever animals roamed the night.
Maybe I should head for that mountain and go look for him. There was also water somewhere over there and those things—whatever they were—might not go that far inland. On the other hand, she had no doubt she’d run into one of those men.
Dammit. Just wait it out a little longer. He’ll show. He’ll show. Please be all right. Truthfully, nothing else really seemed to matter.
But as the sun made its final retreat, Liv knew she’d been wrong. No Roen. Her heart sank at the thought of him killed or being beaten again.
I know I’ll regret this, but he’d do it for you—
Liv was about to head toward the mountain when howls and groans exploded from the direction of the crashing waves.
Liv darted up that damned tree again, just in time to avoid them. She strained her eyes to see, but they were black, appearing as oblong shadows slinking low across the sand. Dozens of them moved beneath her, and she heard dozens more moving through the thicket.
Holy Christ. What are those things?
Like the night before, thirty minutes later all was quiet again. Liv debated making a run for it. But to where? Those things were inland and running on the beach was pointless. Sooner or later, she’d run into them.
Oh God, I’m screwed. And Roen was probably dead. There was simply no other explanation.
The thought sucked the will to fight right out of her. No, she didn’t want to die either, but the thought of never seeing Roen again destroyed her. I can’t stay up here; I need to rest and figure this out. She began climbing down, slowly feeling her way, but on the final branch, her foot slipped. She landed with a thump on the moist, sandy ground below. The wind hadn’t been knocked out of her, but falling ten feet still hurt like hell. Then she heard a loud rustle approaching.
No. No. They’re coming back. She wanted to scream for help, but what good would it do? No one was coming to save her and making noise would only draw them faster.
The crunch of branches, only ten feet or so from where she lay, made her shake with fear. She slowly got to her feet and began reaching for that first branch. Shit. It had snapped. That was why she’d fallen.
Another loud crunch. This time closer. And another.
Oh, God. They’re going to tear me to pieces.
“Woman, where the fuck are you?”
Liv saw the shadow of a large man standing a few feet away. No, it wasn’t Roen. His voice was different.
“Who are you?” she whispered.
“Forgot me so quickly, landlover?”
Oh shit. It was that Shane guy. “No. That would be impossible.”
“Good.” He reached for her arm, but she jerked it back and turned to flee. Shane quickly threw her over his shoulder. She couldn’t believe this was happening again.
Heart pounding with fear and anger, Liv pushed his neck to gain leverage, but he was incredibly strong. “I belong to Roen,” she yelled, hoping to hell that this time that might mean something.
“Yeah, I know. Who do you think sent me?”
“Roen didn’t send you.” She squirmed and pushed and punched his back.
“Who do you think let me out of the cage?” Shane slapped her hard on the ass. “And stop moving, or I might hurt you for real.”
“I bet you’d like that.” She managed to get her mouth on a small bit of flesh on his back. He yelled and dropped her.
“What the fuck? You bit me! That’s not how things are done around here.”
He reached for her, and she held out her arms defensively. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“Fine. I’ll leave you. Hear any strange sounds during the night?”
“Yes. What are they?” she asked.
“I told you: monsters. And they’d love to sink their teeth into something sweet and juicy like you.”
Did he think she was eight and that he could frighten her into coming with him? Of course, that didn’t mean the animals she’d heard weren’t dangerous. “The only monster I’ve seen is standing right in front of me.”
“Me? I’m a pussy cat. Especially compared to those things,” he said, half laughing.
“Monsters aren’t real.”
“Tell that to them. Come on.” He yanked her arm and began dragging her along.
“Wait! Just tell me why he didn’t come himself.”
“He’s busy,” Shane growled.
Or dead because you crazy bastards killed him. “Okay. But why are you running errands for him?”
“He’s our leader now, and he’ll kill me if I don’t obey.”
Uh-huh. “You’re afraid of Roen.” She didn’t believe it for a second.
“Isn’t everyone?”
“No.”
“Then you’re an idiot,” he replied.
His conviction seemed genuine, but something wasn’
t right. Roen wouldn’t have sent one of these thugs, especially this one, to come for her. He’d know that she wouldn’t trust him—Roen had seen this man attack her.
“Where are you taking me?” she panted.
“I thought we covered that; to Roen. Where else would you go?”
“Home.”
He laughed. “You’re not ready to go home.”
She’d expected him to say “never,” as in “you’re never going home” because they chopped their women up into tiny pieces and fed them to the “monsters.”
Liv’s mind ran through the options. Those things were out there and would soon be making their way back to the water. She had to go somewhere. And trying to stay awake in a damned tree wasn’t going to happen. She hadn’t slept at all last night.
“I’ll go with you, but I can walk on my own.” She’d go with him inland a little ways until she felt sure they’d moved past those things, and then she’d slip away and hide. As soon as the sun came up, she’d start looking for Roen.
“As you wish. Right this way.”
Liv did her best to move slowly, conserving her energy, but after ten minutes or so, Shane grumbled under his breath and scooped her up into his arms. “You’re the slowest woman on the planet.”
“You’ll have to excuse me—I must be overwhelmed by the amazing hospitality. Zapped the spunk right out of me.”
“Don’t be smart with me, woman,” he barked.
“You tried to drown me. I think this attitude is as good as it gets.”
“I wasn’t going to kill you; I was making a point,” he retorted.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“If I’d wanted you dead, you wouldn’t have seen it coming. Instead, I saved you. I even gave you our sacred water,” he said.
Wow. A true gentlemen. “If only your crazy-juice worked on non-mermen,” she said facetiously.
“I heard about that.”
“About what?” she asked, her voice full of hostility. She hated him touching her.
“That you’re resistant to the island.”