Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 315(@200wpm)___ 252(@250wpm)___ 210(@300wpm)
His dark eyes promised salvation, but as she took in the armed guards, the surveillance cameras, the sheer impenetrability of this fortress surrounded by an ocean… Dear god, what had he done? He’d walked straight into their trap, and now they were both caught in this gilded hell with no way out.
Time froze. Haisley stared up at Nash, her mind racing. Thoughts reeling. Adrenaline and relief coursed through her veins. Her nerves were wired. Electric fear poised her on a knife’s edge.
How was he here? What did he have planned? And why had he chosen the cover name Jasper?
Before she could think through those questions—before she could even whisper his name—he lunged for her.
With his face lit by a conqueror’s smile, he seized her waist with powerful hands. The world tilted when he lifted her as if she weighed nothing, then tossed her onto the black silk sheets. Apprehension zipped through her as the impact knocked the breath from her lungs. The icy silk against her nearly naked body made her shiver.
His massive frame covered hers. His familiar musk permeated her senses. His body heat seeped through the thin silk of her gown, warming her even as goose bumps pebbled her skin. She took comfort in his closeness. Then he nipped her lobe as his teal cape fluttered before settling over them, creating the illusion of privacy while catcalls and whistles reminded her they were anything but alone.
She shivered. Nash had risked his life and his freedom to save her. She felt shielded but not safe, especially not with Gray circling the stage like a vulture and all these predatory gazes fixed on the spectacle of her violation.
Gray’s satisfied chuckle echoed in the sanctuary. “Well, well. Aren’t we eager?”
“Play along,” Nash breathed against her ear. “They’re watching. Testing us.”
He was right. The audience’s attention pressed against her like something physical—more than a hundred pairs of eyes devouring their every move. Hungry. Expectant. And every one of them would pounce if this performance didn’t look real.
That realization terrified her.
“Cameras everywhere,” she breathed back.
He nodded as he murmured against her throat. “This might get rough. You have to fight me. Make it good.”
She did, pushing against him with a cry. But she was no match for his superior size and strength.
Nash leered for the crowd as he subdued her flailing arms, pinning them above her head with one hand. With the other, he reached for the metal restraints and easily clicked the cold metal around her wrists, as if she hadn’t fought him at all.
Haisley dragged in a deep breath. She could endure whatever came next. She had to. One wrong move—one slip that revealed their connection—and they were both dead.
Nash dragged his lips up her throat. “Good. Keep it up. I’ve got you.”
She nodded, then gasped as his mouth claimed hers. His kiss was possessive, demanding—a show of conquering dominance for their audience. Underneath, she felt his tenderness. His promise. But she fought back, pushing and elbowing him while jerking her mouth free from his seeking lips.
With narrowed eyes, he grabbed her jaw and squeezed with a growl. “Open.”
Haisley tried to shake her head and press her lips shut.
His eyes lit with approval for her performance as he stiffened his fingers to make it look as if he clamped harder on her jaw. “Open now, goddamn it!”
She did, acting as if her capitulation was involuntary. With a roar of triumph, he slipped inside, taking command of their kiss.
Haisley kicked beneath him, gasping and shaking when he shoved her slip up her body. He wasted no time gripping her thigh and hoisting it over his hip, which spread her legs for his invasion. Another rapacious grin for show stretched across his face as he settled between them. Her heart stuttered, then ratcheted up. The gawking crowd seemed to buy their act when more cheers erupted. The whistles and catcalls morphed into chants of “Fuck her. Fuck her. Fuck her!”
Their rabid fervor was scary. If Nash wasn’t faking his part, everything would be terrifying.
She shook, instinctively twisting and bucking under Nash. He felt his way across her body with wandering hands, as if inspecting his merchandise, before he gripped her hips. He pressed against her, lifting her hips up to his roughly, as if taking what belonged to him.
“You heard the crowd,” he said loudly, reaching between them to unfasten his pants.
Was he insane? Was this really about to happen in front of everyone? “No!”
“Oh, yeah, baby.” He all but pressed his face to hers and ground his cock against her, his eyes willing her to play her part. “I’m going to get what I paid for. You be a good girl and scream for me.”
She hadn’t thought their performance would require that much reality. But he was right. Whatever they had to do to get off this island alive was what needed to happen. Acting in any way that made these degenerate flesh peddlers suspicious would only make Nash’s mission harder and the possibility of detection more dangerous.