Page 110

Punishment and pleasure.

I honestly don’t know which one.

I move like he’s watching, arching my back, rubbing and washing between my legs. After ringing out my hair, I let it hang down over my chest and lie back, letting the sun dry me. I close my eyes and listen to the song of the birds nearby. The buzz of the forest and the glorious silence, but Thomas’s screams still linger.

“Do you like what you see, Micah?” I whisper after a few minutes and in no particular direction.

I open my eyes and he’s there, a few feet away, leaning against a tree. His hair is wet, and he’s shirtless, his sweats hanging just below his cut waistline. My heart stops at the sight of him. He glistens, even with the dark aura that surrounds him.

How long was he watching me for?

He remains silent and watches me, giving me space. I rise and slip out of the water, and I move toward the clothes I placed out waiting for me.

His eyebrows furrow and he hoods his eyes as I reach to put on my shirt. He places a hand on my back and my entire body freezes. He softly rubs his fingers of over the cuts, as if just realizing he’s the one who caused them.

I turn to face him, quickly sliding on my shirt, and his dark eyes flare. “They don’t hurt that much,” I whisper. Truthfully, I’m used to the physical punishments this island has given me—I’m immune to the pain now.

I almost welcome it.

Emotion floods his face as he bristles and balls his fist. I flinch as he turns and curses as he slams his fist into a tree. “Fuck!”

I’m on him in an instant, wrapping my arms around his toned back as he leans into me, shaking and letting me hold him. My heart breaks for him, for what he had to do. His entire body is tense. “Micah, this isn’t your fault. You didn’t do this to Thomas, you know that. The only reason he is still breathing right now is because of you. You saved his life.”

After a few minutes, he stops trembling and leans up to stare at me, coiling my wet hair in his fingers, his pained eyes drifting down my cold nipples protruding out of my shirt.

My breath grows heavy, craving his touch, slickness already forming between my thighs from my visceral reaction to him. His fingers slide down from my face, but I grab his hand before he can go any farther. I’m still so mad at him, I could burst.

I’m met with a cold, hard stare. “I was wrong not to come back to Thomas earlier,” he admits. “We should have left when you wanted to. We could have stopped it.”

I shake my head, rubbing his hand with my thumb. “You couldn’t have known how bad it was. You made the right call. Thomas would be dead if we got lost, hurt, or delayed. You didn’t do this to him, Micah.”

A moment passes, and he flexes his jaw, reaching his hands around my back before resting them on my hips. “If we had just come back, I wouldn’t have hurt you the way I did.”

“They are just scratches,” I mutter, although the goose egg at the back of my head throbs dangerously.

He presses his lips together and leans his forehead against mine, his fingers gripping me so hard. “Do you still love him?”

My chest rises and falls with heavy breaths. I keep my head down, worried I will fall apart if I look at him.

Why is he asking me this right now?

He cups my face and pulls my head up, forcing me to look at him. “I asked you a question.”

I let out a trembling breath. “Yes. At least, I think so. I don’t know if I can turn something like that off. Feelings don’t work like that.” I pause for a moment. “I just miss him.”

I refuse to lie to him, even if this isn’t what he wants to hear.

His voice is raspy, unwavering. “Do you love me?”

I bite my lip and his hand still pulls at my chin. “Yes, I love you, Micah.”

He dips his head, and I press my hand against his ripped chest.

Did I really just admit that?

“I can’t share you,” he finally whispers. “I can’t share you with him the way he shared you with me.”

My eyes squeeze shut. “You won’t have to. I won’t be with both of you like that again.”