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  After my foot touched the water, everything turned dark, and then I woke up covered in mud, staring up at a strange man with intense blue eyes. All I knew was that I’d been brought back and was now in the arms of the man I loved.

  “Is this a dream?” I muttered.

  “No.”

  “Then how am I here?” We couldn’t both be alive.

  “Do you love me?” he asked.

  “Yes. Oh God yes.” This man had forgiven all of my deceits and then gave his life to save me. If he could forgive me for bringing Warner into our lives, then I could forgive him. What I couldn’t do was live without him.

  “Well, I love you, too. And that’s all that matters. That, and we never lie to each other again.” Still carrying me, he kept his eyes glued to the path leading to his house. I could feel the happy bounce in his step and see the joy in his eyes.

  Breathtaking. “I can live with that.”

  “Good. Because I am never letting you go again—I won’t waste a moment of this chance we’ve been given.”

  His words made my heart buzz with warmth. If this was all real and not just another dream, then it was just too good to be true. Better than good. But is this…are we really…here? How?

  “You’re not going to tell me what happened?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I don’t know, and I’m done with living in the past or being tied to it. I have you back, I’m free from this place, and you’re in my arms, safe and alive. I’ve got all the answers I need.”

  I gave it a moment. To my surprise, I agreed. Because, not only did my body feel healed, my hate and fear were gone. I felt whole inside. “Was that really Father Rook I just saw back there?”

  “Yes.”

  “He helped me, didn’t he?”

  “Yes.”

  The man’s touch packed a punch. I still felt all tingly. Tired and groggy, but tingly. But most of all, my soul felt healed, too. Was that the effect of Father Rook’s gift, or had my heart finally learned to love—fearlessly, completely, and forever?

  “What’s next, then?” I asked.

  Rook marched up the front steps of his house, worked the handle, and pushed the door open with his foot. The cool crisp air inside felt like heaven on my damp muddy skin.

  “First, I’m going to bathe you. Then I’m going to fuck you. After that, we’ll see, but I imagine there will be more fucking involved.”

  I sighed. “I love that plan. But I meant…you. What about you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Are you going to age and die in a week?” I would take whatever time we got, but I wanted forever. I’d never get tired of him.

  “No.”

  “A month? A year?”

  Carrying me up the stairs to his room, he grinned. “My bond with this place is over. Done. It holds no influence over me any longer. So if I die soon, it won’t be from old age. Perhaps a heart attack from too much sex with you, though if that were the case, I’d welcome it.”

  “I can’t believe this.” My smile stretched from ear to ear. I didn’t know what I did to deserve this, but I was through asking questions. I’d somehow died and woken up, getting more than I’d ever hoped. From here on out, I would focus on loving him every second I got.

  We entered Rook’s bedroom, and he set me on my feet.

  “Hey, it’s healed.” I looked down at the spot where I’d had the cut on my foot.

  “That’s not all. Did you see your face?” Rook disappeared into the bathroom, and I heard the water start running.

  “No. Do I want to?” I floated my fingertips along my cheekbone. No pain. No swelling.

  “Yes.” Rook appeared in the doorway naked. “Because you’re beautiful—a thing to be admired and adored, which I intend to do for the rest of your life.”

  Wow. Speaking of adoration… As long as I lived, I’d never get tired of looking at him. The mounds of his hard pecs, the deep ripples of his chiseled abs, the tan olive skin, and the long thick cock hanging between his thighs.

  My breath stuck in my lungs as he came over and began removing my muddy shorts. He pulled my tank top over my head and then pecked my lips. “I love you.”

  The tender look in his eyes made my heart balloon.

  Rook took my hand and guided me into the bathroom, where two large showerheads rained steaming water over the tiled floor in the corner.

  I stepped underneath the hot water and closed my eyes.

  “I’m going to take such good care of you,” he said, his voice low and gruff.

  “I’m waiting.”

  He lathered up my hair and rinsed it clean. It felt so good to be touched by him, but nothing compared to his strong rough hands scrubbing my breasts, thighs, and ass.

  When I opened my eyes, Rook was just standing there with the water cascading over his chest, his erection jutting out, eager and proud.

  I licked my lips. I wanted to devour him, kiss every inch.

  “Turn around,” he said.

  I did and was rewarded with his warm wet chest pressed to my back. I placed my palms flat on the cool white tile and spread my feet apart to welcome his hand. Cupping me from behind, his thick finger slid up and down, stroking my throbbing bud and testing my readiness.

  “You’re so wet, and I’m not talking about the water,” he said.

  My knees shook, and my heart revved in anticipation.

  “I’m sorry. I wanted to make love to you slowly, but I need you too much.” He removed his hand. “I have to do this.”

  I needed him too. The yearning, the emotion, the happiness and lingering fear that this was all a dream were too intense. Only his touch assured me this was real.

  Bowing over me with his tall frame, Rook positioned the head of his hard cock at my entrance, pausing as if savoring the moment. He thrust forward with a deep animalistic groan, stealing my breath. I never imagined having him inside me could feel like this. Better than plain sex or hot fucking. It felt like feeding my starving soul. I’d missed him.

  He pulled out almost completely and then thrust into me again. His one hand wrapped around my midriff to hold me still while the other hand slid over my breasts, pinching my nipples and massaging the sensitive mounds.

  The sinful warmth between my legs quickly turned into an intense, pleasurable fire as he pounded me from behind, hitting that magical spot deep inside with his long thick cock. It was savage and sensual and it was exactly what I needed, except…

  I twisted so he’d release me. “I want to see your face. That beautiful face,” I said. Really, I wanted to look into his eyes and lose myself in the connection I felt between us.

  He quickly pushed his lips to mine and kissed me hard. His tongue entered my mouth and his arms hooked under my thighs, opening me up to him completely. In one smooth motion he lifted my body, pushing my back to the wall, and resumed the intense pumping motion with his cock. Every thrust felt so good, I couldn’t help moaning in time with his hips. I wrapped my legs around his waist, and he gripped my ass, pounding me into the wall.

  He opened his eyes, and there it was, that thing between us that words couldn’t describe. It was intimate and raw. It was love and passion. It was a promise to never let go and so much more.

  “It fucking kills me how much I love you,” he panted.

  I pressed my mouth to his, pouring my emotions into our kiss and the rhythm of our bodies. Suddenly, the heat between my legs exploded, and an orgasm ripped through my core like a bolt of euphoria, paralyzing my body and blurring my vision.

  I dug my fingers into his shoulders and my mouth opened. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. There was just him and me, climbing higher and higher toward sinful pleasure.

  “More,” I panted, “don’t stop.”

  He pushed as deep as my body allowed, hitting that spot inside just right, while my muscles clenched around his hard cock. He pressed his wet chest to my bare breasts and let out a deep, masculine gro
an as he came inside me. I opened my eyes, wanting to remember this moment. I loved watching him come, when his mind drifted off with me to a place where nothing but the two of us existed.

  After a long moment, he released a breath, making one final jabbing motion with his cock.

  “I don’t want to stop. I don’t ever want to leave your body.” He bent his head and planted a lazy kiss on my lips while moving slowly inside me. I felt slick and warm with his cum, the nerves sensitive and tingly.

  “I don’t want you to either.” Having him here, joined with me, did nothing to sate my hunger. I wanted more of him. I always would.

  “Rook!” someone called out from inside the bedroom. “Stephanie! Get out here!”

  “It’s Luke.” My eyes widened. Something was wrong.

  “Be right there.” Rook set me down and stepped out, grabbing a towel from the rack while I quickly rinsed. I shut off the shower and wrapped my dripping body in a towel. When I stepped into the bedroom, the two men just stood there staring at me.

  I instinctively tightened my hold on the towel. “What?”

  “You need to get dressed,” Rook said.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Rook

  I had been so overwhelmingly happy to see Stephanie alive that I had been blinded by my need for her—to hold her, touch her, feel the warmth of her small body against mine. It hadn’t crossed my mind that this miracle was so much more than just the return of the love of my life or Father Rook.

  “Where are they now?” I asked Luke, standing on the porch of my house, waiting for Stephanie.

  “I’m told they were brought to the restaurant.”

  I gave him a look.

  Luke shrugged. “Apparently, everyone is waking up and they’re all hungry.”

  “Hungry?”

  “Some of them have been dead for over two hundred years,” he pointed out.

  But had they really been dead? Or had they simply gone somewhere else? I had no idea, but I’d swum in that water many, many times, diving deep to the bottom. There’d only been rocks and mud. Nothing else.

  “Okay. I’m here. Now will one of you tell me what’s going on?” Stephanie stood in the doorway of my house, wearing one of my oversized gray T-shirts and a pair of black shorts I used for working out. She’d rolled the waistband down to keep them from falling.

  “You look…” I shook my head. “Too good.” I needed her again, and the feeling was so potent that in two seconds flat, I completely forgot why I was standing there with Luke and not in bed with her, hearing her soft whimpers in my ear as I drove my cock deep inside her.

  “James! What’s happening?” she barked, jolting me out of my wicked, lustful thoughts.

  “Sorry. Yes. I’m going to tell you something that—”

  “Your father and sister are waiting for you in the restaurant,” Luke blurted out.

  Stephanie froze for several long moments. “I’m sorry?”

  “With all the commotion,” I said, “I think you probably didn’t notice the people in the lagoon with you. Alive.”

  “Is this a joke?” Her eyes toggled back and forth between me and Luke.

  “No,” I said. “And I am very, very sorry not to have thought of it when I picked you up and carried you—”

  Stephanie suddenly bolted past us, down the steps, sprinting toward the other side of the island.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone run so fast,” said Luke.

  I nodded my head. “Me neither.” She was already gone.

  “Have you thought about what we’re going to do with all of these people?” he asked. “There’s got to be more than five hundred.”

  No. I hadn’t. There’d been no time to digest the magnitude of it all. “We’ll figure it out. I mean to say, you will.”

  “Me?” Luke pointed at his chest.

  “Yes. You. I assume my aunt and Father Rook are going to be…busy—making up for lost time. And as soon as Stephanie’s ready, we’re leaving this place to start our lives elsewhere. What you choose to do with this island is your business.”

  Luke scratched his chin. “Seriously?”

  I nodded. “As of today, I am. Officially. Retired. It’s all yours.”

  His young, tanned face lit up. “Well, if that’s the case, I want to keep the island open. Expand the menu of fantasies. No lagoon special, of course, but with the right attractions, we can more than make up for the loss of revenue—how do you feel about a dirty monk fantasy?”

  Huh? I gave him a look, thinking he was joking. He wasn’t. “Then I’d say my soon-to-be-wife will not be in need of your services.” She’d be getting all the dirty monk—ex-monk—she could handle.

  Stephanie

  My bare feet seemed to glide over the pebble-covered path as I ran toward that restaurant, too afraid to pinch myself. Was this a dream? Would I wake up and find the island had once again played tricks on my mind? No. Life couldn’t be so cruel. It just couldn’t.

  I bolted inside the open-air dinner club, finding it filled with tons of people. Some wore army fatigues—the guards—others wore swimsuits and shorts. A few had on clothing that looked to be from another time. The smell of food wafted from the kitchen, and people were chatting busily or toasting and laughing.

  Ohmygod. These were some of the people who’d come back from the lagoon, just like me. My eyes frantically searched the faces, and in the corner, seated at a small table, was a smile I never thought I’d see again.

  Tears of joy filled my eyes, and I rushed toward her. “Cici! Cici!” She took one look at me, and her brown eyes lit up. She stood, and we slammed together in a tight hug. I sobbed into her long brown hair, unable to speak.

  “It’s okay, Steph.” She patted my back. “It’s okay.”

  “No. It’s not okay.” I pulled back, needing to look at her again and make sure she was real. Looking at her warm smile felt like being home again. “Do you have any fucking clue how much I’ve missed you?”

  “Still a toilet mouth, I see.” She grinned.

  I inhaled sharply, drinking in the sight of her wide eyes and round face. “Don’t ever leave me again. Not ever.” I hugged her once more, unable to believe it. She’s really here.

  “To me, it doesn’t feel like I ever left,” she said. “But Dad explained what happened—sort of.” She pulled away and looked over at the man sitting at the table. He had the same wiry build and thinning gray hair that I remembered, but the joyful twinkle in his eyes was completely new.

  “Dad.” He stood, and I hugged him tightly. “Thank you for what you did.”

  “We can talk about all that later…if you want. But right now, I just want to look at my two girls.”

  Cici and I both sat, me next to her, and my father to my right. I took both their hands. “I can’t believe this is happening. It is happening, right? I’m not dreaming?”

  My father shook his head. “I think it’s real.”

  “Do either of you remember anything?” I asked.

  “The last memory I have is going to bed and then some man in a robe calling out to me,” Cici said.

  I’d had the same dream.

  “I don’t remember anything after getting into the water,” said my father.

  I looked around the room. It seemed that most everyone was in the same boat, trying to figure out what had happened.

  “Stephanie?” Rook walked up to the table. I hadn’t noticed what he’d put on after our shower, but now I couldn’t look away. A light-blue button-down shirt made of linen and a pair of worn jeans. His dark hair was still damp, and he had a full-blown five o’clock shadow.

  How had I not noticed his extreme sexiness? But more than anything, it was the warm look in his eyes that did me in. He glowed with happiness.

  I stood. “Dad, Cici, I’m sure you’ve met Mr. Rook?”

  “James. You need to call me James now, my love,” he corrected.

  My love. The sweetest words to ever come from his mouth besides I love yo
u.

  “We never actually met.” Cici stood and shook his hand. “It’s a pleasure.”

  My father and Rook—I mean James—exchanged glances. If I had to guess, they were marveling at seeing Cici and I finally back together.

  “Well, I plan to marry your daughter just as soon as we get off this island,” James said.

  “We’re leaving?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  “But I thought you loved it here,” I said.

  “I have spent more than enough time on this island. You’re all that matters to me now.”

  “And the resort?” I asked.

  James shook his head. “Luke will figure that out. The lagoon is gone, so there’s no need to keep the island a secret. They can turn this place into a Sandals for all I care.”

  “Wow.”

  Rook then turned toward Cici. “I want to tell you how sorry I am for the pain this place caused you. I—”

  “Everyone!” Luke yelled from the stage at the front of the restaurant. On welcome night, it was the same stage they used for the tiki torch dances. “Everyone, can I get your attention? Father Rook would like to speak and answer some of your questions.”

  I didn’t think I felt different from anyone when I say that we all sensed the moment Father Rook entered the room. I wasn’t religious in any way, but there was something powerful about his presence. He was no ordinary man.

  For the next hour, Father Rook stood in front of us, trying to explain that while he too had no memory of the events of the last two hundred plus years, he would venture to guess that the violent acts surrounding his death and the pain he’d witnessed James’s family suffer, including the horrors done to Amancia, had left his soul trapped in limbo, unable to move on from a state of rage.

  “At the same time,” Father Rook said, “I know, deep inside my soul, that my healing gift is part of me. I could never separate it from who I am.”

  I thought about that for a moment and how it made sense. James had called the lagoon cursed. But maybe it was just as Father Rook said. He’d been trapped in a moment in time where everything had been taken from him in the most violent of ways. Nevertheless, he had the gift of healing, too. Still, none of it explained why we couldn’t remember or how we’d been brought back.