Chapter Five

G ina sat in the middle of her bed and watched the sun rise, taking its sweet time cruising between the waving branches of the bushes outside her window. She cursed its appearance even as she was awed by its fiery beauty. The window was open, bringing with it the salty tang of ocean, a hint of balmy air that slipped through her unbound hair and swirled around her. Sadly, a short-lived relief from the heat that had clung to her throughout the night.

Not that she’d have slept if there had been an arctic blizzard in the room. And she really needed to sleep, to rest and recharge her batteries. No, that wasn’t entirely true because she was still plenty charged from last night’s encounter with Derek, her body still tingling and feverish from his touch. She drew her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them. Raising her fingers to trace her lips, she felt stupid but nevertheless awed that she could still sense the pressure of Derek’s mouth against hers, could still taste his unique flavor on her tongue. She licked her lips and closed her eyes, remembering every caress, every second, replaying it over and over in her mind like she’d done all through the long, sweaty night.

Shit. She was like a lovesick teen, but good lord, she hadn’t expected…what? To respond in the way she had? To feel the earth move? God, it had been incredible. A bomb had exploded inside her when he’d jerked her against him and kissed her. Anger had melted into a fiery passion and she’d been instantly swept away.

And Gina was never the type to be swept away.

She’d been kissed by plenty of men. Hot, virile men with more going for them than Derek. Movie stars and producers, successful men with ample experience in the sex department. But she’d never gotten so wet so fast from one kiss. Like an implosion that burst heat throughout her and she simply couldn’t handle it. All she could do was hold onto him and whimper.

“You’re an idiot, Gina.” She dropped her forehead to her knees and wished she could take back last night. Why hadn’t she said what she wanted to say to him and just walked out? Why did she have to melt like that? All girly and moaning and all over him like a groupie with her favorite movie star. If they hadn’t been interrupted by Lou, they would have fallen on his bed and had sex.

Wild, wanton, no-holds-barred, scream-the-rafters-down sex.

Sweet mercy, it would have been good, too. And now every nerve in her body stood on end and she either had to come or kill something. They probably wouldn’t let her kill anything. Okay, so she’d at least hurt it really bad.

Heaving a disgusted sigh, she pushed off the edge of the bed, stood, and stretched. Her body ached, dammit. God, she wanted an orgasm. How easy it would be to satisfy herself right now. She walked to the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror, grimacing at the way her nipples stood out, begging for his mouth, his touch. She reached up and touched them, sucking in her bottom lip at their tenderness, at the way the barest touch shot south and made her quiver.

But dammit, she didn’t want to do this herself, didn’t want release to spring from her own hand. That, in essence, was the problem. He’d started this fire inside her and she wanted him to douse it.

She jerked on her khaki shorts, wincing as she pulled the sports bra over her sensitive breasts. Her pebbled nipples still cried out for attention.

“Tough,” she grumbled. She threw a white tank top over the bra, slipped on socks, and jammed her feet into her boots, cursing when she couldn’t quite get the laces to work. What was wrong with her fingers this morning, anyway? She stormed into the bathroom and punished her teeth with the toothbrush, hoping to scour the taste of him from her mouth. Then she yanked out a few thousand hairs with her hairbrush and glared at herself in the mirror while she braided her hair, attempting to remove every remnant of the feel of his hands running through the tendrils last night.

Right. Like anything would erase his touch, his scent, his taste, from her memory banks. He was burned there and he was staying and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it.

She was so screwed. Or she hadn’t been screwed, and that was the problem.

Gah! This was why she buried herself in her work and didn’t do men and relationships and feelings.

She stormed out of her bungalow and flew smack into the chest of the one man she wasn’t ready to face yet.

“In a hurry?” he asked, both dark brows lifting over inquisitive gray eyes.

“Hungry,” she mumbled, trying to push past him. He moved in front of her, halting her progress, then looked around them as if he were gauging whether they were alone.

“Hey, Gina. About last night.”

“I’d rather not talk about last night. It was a mistake.” Oh, hell. Why had she just said that? Why didn’t she just drag him inside her bungalow and make him finish what they’d started?

Because it would be so damn easy to get close to him, that’s why. And because she was a total coward.

“You sure about that?”

“About what? About whether it was a mistake or whether I want to talk about it?”

His lips curled upward, and her mind registered that she’d had her mouth on those lips. Tangy with the taste of whiskey, full, with just a hint of roughness around the edges where his beard stubble was. He’d be like that inside her, too. Tangy, rough, and oh so perfect. Damn, damn, damn.

“About both, I guess. Either way, I’m sorry we were interrupted.”

So was she. Very sorry. So why couldn’t she say that to him? Instead, she shrugged and wrapped her arms around her middle, trying not to focus on the way he was studying her. “Wasn’t your fault. We just got carried away. Shouldn’t have happened.”

“I don’t think you believe that.”

“I don’t think I want to have this conversation.” Now she did look up at him. “Look, Derek, things could get way too complicated between us, with the game and all. I really don’t think we should start this, no matter how good it—”

She really had to learn to keep her mouth shut.

“No matter how good it could be,” he finished for her. “And you’re probably right. We shouldn’t. But it would have been good. Damn good. Enjoy your breakfast.”

He walked away, leaving her more achy and miserable than before, all because she was too damned afraid to let him in.

By the time she made it to the breakfast tent, they were all gathered inside, leaving only one spot available—directly across from Derek, who cast her a hungry look as if he’d like to eat her for breakfast instead. Tormented and frustrated, she barely tasted the food she forced herself to eat.

“So, Derek, how did you get involved in all this?” Trace asked.

Derek’s gaze shot to Lou, who shrugged.

Interesting looks they exchanged, as if Derek had no idea how to respond to that question. Gina sat back and sipped her coffee, grateful to have something else to think about besides sex.

“Not sure what you mean by that.”

Trace shrugged. “Just curious. You have reality show experience?”

“No.”

“Didn’t think you looked familiar. Maybe extreme sports or something?”

“No.”

Okay, so Derek clammed up in a hurry. And that meant he had something to hide. Or he really didn’t know how to answer the question.

“I follow the extreme sports circuit pretty closely,” Gina offered. “I’ve never seen you around.”

Derek shot her a scathing look. Gina smiled and refilled her coffee.

“I was military for a while, then met up with Lou after I got out. It’s a really long, boring story how it all came to be, but we ended up forming this…organization. Lou’s a philanthropist and enjoys sports, martial arts, weaponry, and the like. He asked me to join him and help with the game. Lou is really into the reality show thing and came up with the Surviving Demon Island idea. He wanted to bring it to television, so I agreed to assist.”

That was vague as hell. And didn’t tell them anything about him or Louis, actually. “A philanthropist?” she asked, looking to Louis.

“Old money,” Louis replied with a benign smile. “Nothing like old men with old money and nothing better to do with their time than to spend it. If you’ll excuse Derek and me, we must make preparations for the start of tonight’s games.”

Oh, sure. She had a million questions and they ran.

Military, huh? What kind of military? And for how long? And exactly what kind of helping did Derek do with Louis? What kind of organization did Louis run?

Gina knew Dee had thoroughly checked out the production company running this game, so she wasn’t worried at all, but it sure as hell was mysterious.

More damn mysteries.

After breakfast, a long walk, and some alone time in her bungalow, she was still ready to climb the walls. Deciding she’d better figure out a way to eliminate her frustration, she spent the rest of the day working out her tension with Olivia, who was more than happy to oblige her with a little sparring.

Such an unassuming, petite woman, Olivia would be the type of person to surprise the hell out of someone who didn’t know better. No more than five foot two and a hundred or so pounds, Olivia looked like she couldn’t even lift a grocery bag. At five foot six and with a lot more muscle, one would think Gina could kick Olivia’s ass.

Gina knew better than to ever underestimate an opponent.

They started on the sand by the beach, bowing as they faced each other. Every muscle in Gina’s body screamed with taut tension and she needed a release. Sexual release would have been better, but this was a pretty good second.

Olivia launched first, but Gina was ready, warding off Olivia’s high kick with her forearm. She pivoted and kicked Olivia soundly in the stomach, sending her to the ground, but Olivia twisted and scissored Gina’s legs between hers, and Gina went down.

They both leaped up and the battle was on again, a mix of chops and kicks that Gina knew would leave her bruised and sore.

It was fabulous. Gina had to struggle mightily to fend off Olivia’s every move. The woman was relentless, coming at her with everything she had. If they had weapons in their hands they could both do some serious damage.

Olivia was good. Very good. More than a match for Gina, a black belt. By the time they’d sparred for about an hour, Gina was wringing wet and ready for a cool swim.

“You’re not quitting on me, are you?” Olivia asked as Gina stepped out of the unofficial battle ring.

“Are you kidding? You kicked my butt. I’m wiped out.”

Trace, Jake, Ryder, and Shay had taken a seat on a small hill above the sand and watched them. “Yeah,” Trace said. “Don’t quit now, Gina. This was just getting interesting.”

“Feel free to take her on if you’re so inclined,” Gina said, bending over and resting her hands above her knees, trying to catch her breath.

“Hell, no,” Trace said. “I’m not dumb enough to let Olivia kick my ass.”

Gina laughed. Guess that meant she was dumb enough. That’s okay. She’d enjoyed the hell out of the sparring match. When she looked up to shoot a smart retort in Trace’s direction, Derek stood above them, leaning against a tree, his arms crossed over his chest.

And she once again found herself at a loss for words. How long had he been up there watching?

Furthermore, what difference did it make if he was?

Maybe he should get down here and let her take out her frustrations on him instead. Except the thought of jumping on him had nothing to do with martial arts and everything to do with straddling him and rubbing the ache between her legs against his shaft until she burst with a mind-numbing climax.

Dammit. He was slowly killing her and he didn’t even know it, because she was too stupid to just tell him how she felt.

Deciding to ignore him, she turned back to Olivia and bowed her head. “You are one hell of a formidable opponent. I don’t know where you got your training, but I’d love to visit your dojo sometime.”

Olivia bowed in return. “You held your own quite well. I’m impressed. And you’re more than welcome to visit anytime.”

“I’m going to change and go for a swim,” Gina said. “Anyone want to join me?” When she looked up to the hill, Derek was gone.

“Some of them are very good.”

The Master inhaled the darkness, breathing in the cool, fresh scent of earth and dank moisture. “You worry too much.”

The other shot him a look. “With good reason. Louis recruits only the best.”

“Bah. Louis thinks he is so smart bringing these people here.”

“I’m worried.”

He looked to the other, shaking his head. “Why are you worrying about this? They are of no threat to us. Our numbers grow every day. We hold the power. It is Louis’s and the Realm’s fear that makes them do this.”

“You know who these people are, don’t you?”

“Yes, I know perfectly well who they are, what their connection is to us.”

“Yet you don’t fear them.”

“No, I don’t fear them. They are tiny pests and we are the great beasts who will crush them under our feet.”

The other shook his head. “I hope you’re right. I will leave you in charge of this.”

“You go about your business. I can handle this. There is much at stake here and I have plans to make.”

“A reunion for you.”

“Yes.” The Master’s teeth gleamed in the darkness. “It has been a very long time. I am anxious for this meeting to take place. But first there is the business of eliminating these humans.”

He walked through the darkness with a smile on his face, confident of his supremacy, assured of the final outcome. “They don’t even know we’re here. Even Louis, the great and powerful Louis, doesn’t know we’re here.

“The killing will be so easy.”