Page 15 of Passion's Wicked Torment

Hunter noticed her shivering, and his arm went around her shoulders, pulling her near him. They watched the Paradise with baited breath, their bodies tense with anticipation and suspense. Long minutes passed with no action aboard the ship. For a moment, Kristin thought they would be safe. The ship would cruise away, leaving them in peace.

But then there was a flurry of activity aboard the Paradise, and the dark silhouettes of three gangsters climbed into the remaining skiff, their weapons glinting ominously in the moonlight. The skiff was lowered into the water.

As Kristin watched with a sinking heart, the skiff’s motor roared to life, and the small boat raced toward the beach.

CHAPTER 10

“What do we do now?” Kristin tried to keep the fear from her voice, but failed.

“Nothing,” said Hunter, pulling a cigarette from his shirt pocket and looking at it dejectedly. It was soaking wet from the ocean spray that had splashed in on them as thèy sliced through the water. His entire shirt front was wet. He flicked the cigarette away. “There’s no place better to be right now than where we are. They won’t find us here. At least, not till daybreak. You can’t trail a man in the dark. Besides, these hoods aren’t at home anywhere outside their own turf. They’ll end up walking in circles if they try to find us in this darkness.”

“So we’re safe?”

“For the moment. They’re looking for us on the beach now. Soon they’ll go tell the local hooch relayers to be on the watch for us too. They’ll offer them a reward to make it worthwhile.”

“You’re not very encouraging. Why don’t you tell me some good news?”

Hunter watched the Paradise steam away, back toward its anchoring berth three miles off the coast of the mainland. He slouched farther down against the tree, so that he was almost lying, and crossed his hands over his chest comfortably. “The good news, babe, is that you won’t have to worry about getting fat from tonight’s dinner, because dinner is going to consist of a good healthy portion of salt sea air. And that’s about it.”

She looked around at the unfamiliar trees and bushes. “You don’t know how to find edible plants or berries?”

“I’m not a boy scout. I was one once. But I got kicked out.”

She looked at him warily, not sure she wanted to ask why. He told her anyway. “They said I seduced the den mother.”

“Did you?”

“I had to fight her off. She was a real disgrace to her uniform, coming after a naïve teenage boy scout like me.

“I’ll bet,” said Kristin skeptically. She stood up and began walking around, treading on the pine needles and breathing the heavy fragrance of moist forest greenery. She was hugging herself to keep from shivering. It was very cold now that the heat generated from her vigorous running was gone. She began shuddering. She felt cold and hungry and scared. What had she done to deserve this? And more important, what was she going to do to get out of it?

“Don’t worry too much,” Hunter said. “I’ve got an idea on how to get us out of here.” He paused. “No sense talking about it though. Might get your hopes built up for nothing. We’ll see if it works in the morning.”

“The morning? I don’t know if I’ll even make it through the night.” She shuddered some more and hugged herself tighter, trying to quell it.

He motioned to her with his finger. His voice was surprisingly gentle. “Come here.”

She looked at him cautiously. “What for?”

“You want to freeze to death?”

“It’s not that cold.”

He shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. He didn’t move for a long time. Kristin couldn’t tell if he was asleep or not. She paced around some more, trying to keep warm. He had been so adamant aboard the ship about trying to convince her that he didn’t care about her that now she began to wonder. Finally she went to him and lay down next to him—far enough distant so that she did not seem to be giving in.

He extended his hand to her without opening his eyes. He held it out, unmoving. After a moment, she took it. He pulled her to him and held

her against him, hugging her as they lay huddled together on their sides, his arms around her. She did feel less chilly. Lying together like this, the heat of his body helped warm her.

Her head was cradled against his shoulder. His face was against the crook of her neck, and he began kissing her there, leisurely, his lips playing up and down her neck and throat. She stiffened. His hand brushed back her stringy wet hair, and his lips moved to her ear. She felt a strange, delicious sensation as his tongue moved tantalizingly about her ear.

“Don’t do that,” she said, pulling her head away.

“Why not?”

“Let’s talk first.”

“Let’s not,” he said softly, directly into her ear. The feel of his warm breath in her ear, contrasted to the cold air outside, excited her.

“But I want to!”

“Well, then you do it. I’m busy.” He continued kissing her, and his hand began moving down her front, between their two bodies. When his hand moved down to her bosom, she pulled it away and moved slightly apart from him.

“I don’t want to make love to you,” she said sternly.

He looked at her, perplexed. “It didn’t seem to bother you when we were living together.”

“That was different.”

“Why?”

“Because . . . well, because now you don’t want to have anything to do with me anymore! And if we ever get off this island alive, you won’t, will you? You made it clear enough before. You made it clear that you were only keeping me around because Ironman wanted you to. And that after the raid on Rooney’s warehouse, when I wouldn’t be useful to you anymore, you wouldn’t have anything to do with me.”

“Hey, babe. You were the one who threw yourself at me. You were determined to be my moll whether I wanted you or not. So don’t go making yourself out to be some kind of wronged woman. I never pretended that I wanted you as my moll.”

---