Page 18 of Voyage with the Reclusive Billionaire

Another advantage of my raven form—I was small, and covered in dark feathers. If I could find shadows, I could go unnoticed.

Which was exactly what I did. Behind the bar, tucked in behind the ice maker, I was invisible. A little claustrophobic, yes, but such was unavoidable when even the sight of me might be enough to get another article written. Maybe a picture of a bird beside a picture of me on the same boat wouldn’t be proof, but it would be enough for suspicion. People already didn’t trust that I was who I said I was anymore, and I sincerely doubt reappearing under that article before I could have the chance to prove myself as anything but evil would help my case.

I could not retreat into the woods for years on end. Fuck. No.

A phone rings.

“Hey, J.” Long pause. “No, yeah, I’ve seen him. He hasn’t done anything weird yet, though. Nothing… shifty. If you get what I’m saying.”

Okay, so she’s definitely talking about me, then. Who the fuck is J? A reporter, probably. Maybe this is just some undercover assistant hoping for a promotion.

“I know, I know, it’s not a joke. I just thought… well, anyway, he seems like a normal guy. They’ve just been—”

Another pause.

“Oh, yeah, he’s here with some girl,” the woman says, and my heart stops in my chest. “I don’t know her name. Haven’t gotten close enough to hear it. But Corvan seems to really like her.”

Fucking great. No denying that they’re talking about me now—and also Eliza. Which is the last thing I wanted, but… considering my recent decision to never let her go, it’s also an impossible thing to avoid.

“I don’t know. Light brown hair. Probably a little shorter than you, but not by much. Couldn’t say much more about her, though. Like I said, I only saw her for a little while on our first day here. Oh—but their conversation made it sound like they’d only, like, just met. While on the ship.”

Pause again.

“Well, I don’t know! You told me to tell you everything I knew—that’s everything.”

The person on the other end screams in a shrill voice, loud enough for even my ears to pick it up. “It’s not enough!”

“I’m working on it, okay? I can’t exactly force them into talking, can I? And I can’t leave the ship when they do. There’s a lot I can’t do, actually. Speaking of which—we open in ten minutes. I have to go, J.” A long silence, then a sigh. “Yeah, I’ll try, alright? But maybe you just need to drop it, you know? It’s been three years. Doesn’t he deserve a little peace?”

I take it the person on the other end of the call must have hung up, because the woman grumbles, “Such a bitch.”

I don’t stick around much longer after that. Not only do Eliza and I have dinner to catch, but I also have a fucking lot to think about. I need to figure out who, exactly, the woman working the bar is reporting back to.

And I need to figure out how to keep Eliza safe, even while she’s in the middle of it all.

I can’t let anything happen to Eliza. I refuse that. But fuck, I can’t let her go, either. I think I might be physically incapable of it.

I don’t accept the idea of not being there for every one of her achievements, for every one of her failures. I want to be the one she comes home to, and I don’t give a shit if it sounds crazy that I’m thinking all of this after knowing her for barely a week.

I know who Eliza is to me.

And I’ll be damned if I lose her. I’ll be damned if we don’t walk off this boat at the end of the cruise without her being mine.

Chapter nine

Eliza

When we dock at our next location, Corey and I decide to opt out of an organized tour this time. The boat doesn’t leave until sometime tomorrow, and while we should probably be back by nightfall to sleep in our rooms, we essentially have the whole day to ourselves to do whatever we want.

He and I eat breakfast burritos out of a food truck that we passed on our way to the personal hike he insisted we take. One without other people. Without a guide.

Hopefully without rocks trying to crack my skull open, but I suppose there’s always room for a minor disaster.

Corvan and my fingers are laced together as we make our way through the little waterfront town we docked in. I have no idea where we are—nothing beyond how beautiful it is, anyway. I find I care a little less about the specifics when I have Corvan at my side.

When I have nothing to do but remember what it felt like to have his hard body against mine, to be backed against a boulder with his fingers inside my underwear and his mouth against my lips and neck. To have his other hand squeezing my breast.

Fuck. I need him. I need him so bad it’s a miracle I was somehow tired enough last night to not invite him into my room with me. I’d regretted that decision almost instantly after closing the door on him, but I’d also fallen asleep just as quickly.

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