Breaking Free (Invitation to Eden) (3 page)

She was speaking, but damned if he could decipher her words, not when the blood in his body was pooling in his groin region. His gaze moved back to her face, and he watched her mouth, trying to figure out what she was saying, but when she nibbled her bottom lip, his cock grew another inch. Christ, how could such an innocent gesture be so sexy?

“...a towel?” she said.

“What?” he murmured, working to get himself under control before he did something he could only regret later, like pin her against that wall and give her what she so obviously wanted...what they’ve both wanted for a long time now.

“I...uh... I didn’t realize anyone was in the shower. I thought I was alone here and—”

“Janey.”

“Yeah?” she said, breathlessly.

He cleared his throat and nodded toward her outstretched arm. “Toss it,” he ordered, knowing better than to take a step closer to grab it himself. Fuck, if she was within arm’s reach, there was no way he could be held accountable for what he did next.

She threw it his way. He snatched it out of the air before it hit the floor. He wrapped it around his waist and tucked in the corner but not before he was gifted with a whiff of her scent. Stifling the groan rising from the depths of his throat, he bit down on the inside of his cheek hard enough to draw blood. Too bad the pain did little to get his erection under control. Shit, if he didn’t get it together soon, they’d both be able to go camping under the tent he was pitching.

He breathed deep in an effort to get his head on straight, but her sweet citrus scent was enough to make a grown man weep.

Alaska.

What was he going to do with the sexy girl who was so goddamn bored out of her mind that she swiped his towel for an inch, or rather eight and a half inches, of excitement?

Nothing...that’s what
, his last working brain cell warned.

Even though he’d spent the last six months aching to taste the girl who he’d been secretly watching over, daydreaming about ramming his cock into her so hard and fast that she’d forget what the word boredom ever meant, he knew she was off limits. He was here to protect her, and if he stepped over the line, he was as good as dead.

But Jesus, he hated seeing her so miserable, so lonely and bored that she had nothing better to do than jack his towel. If only he could give her a week of fun, break her out of this campus prison and give her the adventure she was craving. From watching her closely and tracking her every moment, he knew exactly what kind of journey this sweet yet sexy girl wanted. And damned if he didn’t want to be the guy to give it to her.

Except he knew better than to blow his cover—even though he was close to blowing something—and breaking free went against all the rules.

When the hell had he become such a rule follower anyway?

A
laska woke to the sound of loud music blaring from her side table clock. Last night her thoughts had been preoccupied with Jesse’s nakedness, but she was still pretty certain that she’d shut her alarm off. Then again, the music filling her small room proved otherwise. She stretched her limbs out and shifted on her mattress, the springs protesting with the same enthusiasm as her muscles as she rolled to her side.

With no reason to crawl out of bed early, she reached for her alarm and was about to hit the snooze button when an announcement came over the campus’s radio station. She listened for a moment, then sat upright in her bed. What the hell? All she had to do to win a spring break vacation to an exclusive, invitation only resort was to answer one simple question?

Her mind raced as she reached for her IPhone. She punched in the station’s number, knowing her chances of winning were good. Not only were there only a handful of students still on campus, she couldn’t imagine any of them being up at this time of the morning. Hell, she wouldn’t have been up either, had she remembered to shut her damn alarm off.

“Hey there,” the male announcers voice came over the phone line.

Alaska’s heart raced. “Hi,” she said nervously.

“Who’s with me today?”

“Alas...uh, it’s Janey Smith.”

“So Janey, all you have to do to win an all-inclusive spring break vacation is tell me, which famous Russian dancer was credited for creating the modern pointe shoe?”

Oh God, she knew this. She actually knew this!

“Anna Pavlona,” she rushed out, grinning at her good fortune. Honestly, what were the odds that the question was something so near and dear to her heart?

“Congratulations,” the radio guy said, then went on to say a few more things in his radio voice about a private island, things she could barely hear over the pounding of her heart.

Had she really just won?

“Your invitation and travel instructions will be here at the booth waiting for you. But there’s a catch to the prize. You have to be at the booth within two hours or the trip is forfeited, so you’d better hurry.”

When the line went dead, Alaska threw her legs over the side of her bed and worked to suck in air. What the hell just happened? She blinked her eyes, wondering if she was still asleep but knowing she wasn’t. Had she really just won a vacation to a private island where no one knew who Alaska Rossi, or even Janey Smith, really was?

She climbed from her bed and pulled the curtains back to look out. Darkness still cloaked the campus, but the lampposts outside her widow provided sufficient illumination for her to see the snow covered grounds below. She suddenly found herself smiling, excitement clawing at her as she thought about leaving the wintry campus behind and enjoying a week of fun in the sun. But how could she go without her bodyguard trying to stop her? Surely he’d break cover to prevent her from fleeing. Then again, what were the odds that he was up? If she hurried and snuck out under the cover of darkness, he’d never know.

Moving quickly, she dropped the curtain and opened her closet to find her duffel bag. Hands shaking, she grabbed it and hastily dumped her gym and dance gear onto the floor. Once it was empty, she went to her dresser to gather her summer clothes, deciding this was the perfect opportunity to escape this concrete prison and have some much deserved fun. Heck, maybe down south she could even have an anonymous fling with a hot vacationer, or a hot local.

Or both.

Feeling a little giddy, she grabbed her bikini and beach jacket and added it to the bag. Her father would have a fit if he knew what she was doing. She could almost hear his stern words, warning that it wasn’t safe for her to travel alone or to fraternize with strangers. She hesitated, fingering the zipper on the bag as a moment of common sense slipped in. Was she being too impulsive? So eager for a taste of freedom that she’d risk her safety by taking off without letting anyone know where she was going? But the invitation came from a private radio contest, right? On a campus where no one but Jesse knew who she really was? So honestly, what harm could possibly come to her on an exclusive, invitation-only island where no one knew her?

Once she had her bag packed, she tugged on her Uggs and quietly opened her door, cringing as the hinges screeched. She carefully pulled it closed behind her and tiptoed down the hall, stopping outside Jesse’s door. She stood there for a moment, then pressed her ear against the wood and listened. Oddly enough, the hairs on the back of her neck began to tingle, and she got the strangest sense that he was standing on the other side of the door, listening to her as well. Fighting off the uneasy feeling and knowing it was simply her nerves at play, she hurried down the three flights of stairs leading to the main foyer and rushed outside.

The cool air whipped across her face and practically froze her lungs as she darted across the road to the building that housed the radio station. Once inside the small booth, the radio jockey, a guy she recognized from around school, asked for her ID. After she showed it, he handed her a linen envelope. She was about to ask a few questions, like who sponsored the contest and why there was such a quick turn around, but he put his head phones back on and returned to his broadcast.

Alaska turned the pretty envelope over in her hand, and her stomach fluttered when she read, “Invitation to Eden.”

Oooh, it sounded so exotic and forbidden. Carefully peeling it open, she discovered Eden was a private island located somewhere in the Bermuda triangle. Naturally, she’d heard all about the ‘Devil’s Triangle’ and the mysteries surrounding it. Some even said there was magic involved, but she didn’t really believe in the supernatural and wasn’t about to let anyone’s superstitions stop her.

She looked over her itinerary, then checked the time on her phone. In a few short hours, a car would come to collect her and take her to the airport where she would fly to Miami. From there, she would board a boat to Eden. She stepped back outside and pulled her hood up against the bitter wind and flying snow. Feeling a moment of paranoia, she glanced around the near empty campus, half expecting to see Mr. Hotness himself leaning against the lamp pole, watching her. While she totally got off on that, she needed to lay low and figure out how to keep herself out of Jesse’s crosshairs until her car arrived.

But thinking about Jesse had her gaze moving to their dorm building. She zeroed in on his bedroom window, and her breath caught. Had his curtains just moved? Surely he wasn’t awake, standing at his window, watching her. Adjusting her duffle bag over her shoulder, she casually strolled toward the dance studio, positive it was just her imagination at play again but determined to cover her tracks, just in case. No way, no how was he going to blow this for her and prevent her from escaping. Unless, of course, he had a different kind of
blowing
in mind. She stole another quick glance his way, then shook some sense back into herself. Jesse couldn’t be up at this ungodly hour when he didn’t have to be, watching her from across the campus. Right?

* * *

M
any, many hours later, Alaska found herself on a small boat, the captain taxiing her and a few other people out to Eden. As the others talked quietly amongst themselves, she stifled a yawn, gripped the brass rail on the side of the craft, and leaned over to watch the Atlantic waves splash against the vessel. A small charter plane flew overhead and caught her attention. Shading the sun from her eyes, she watched it land on a nearby island and couldn’t help but think that mode of transportation would have been faster. But she was in no hurry to make her final destination, not when she could enjoy the warm breeze and salty sea spray on her face.

She reached into her bag and pulled out her invitation to take a closer look. She read the fine print to learn she’d be staying in a private cabana, overlooking the ocean. She ran her fingers over the gold embossed letters as a new sense of excitement welled up inside her. Honestly, she had no idea what awaited her on the island, but as they approached, she glanced up in time to see a bronze plaque fixed to a rock jutting out of the water. When she read “
Welcome to Eden, where reality is whatever you wish it to be...”
her pulse leapt, and a wave of anticipation moved through her. She held her palms out, feeling a new energy in the air, a strange ripple in the wind, and suddenly, she found herself a little more anxious to arrive and a whole lot more excited to see what Eden had in store for her.

As soon as the boat docked, she disembarked and looked up to see the most lavish stone castle, its tall spires puncturing the sky. “Wow,” she whispered to herself, her feet practically floating on the long wooden dock leading up to a set of magnificent marble stairs. Good God, she’d never seen anything quite so majestic and royal. It made her feel like Cinderella. Not that she believed in fairy tales. She didn’t. The men in her life, who were ruled by greed and corruption, were hardly Prince Charming material.

At the top of the steps, she spotted a man scanning the arriving passengers. Dressed in black from head to toe, he had an air of command about him, but from this distance, she couldn’t see his face. He shifted his stance, and he seemed to look directly at her. Her breath caught, and a strange new tingling warmed her blood.

“That is the Master of the island.” She turned to see a hot Ryan Reynolds look-alike speaking to her.

“Oh,” she said for lack of anything else.

“If you’ll follow me,” the man said as he waved his arm toward the castle. He gave her a smile that came off as both sexy and professional at the same time, a smile that told her she was about to have an unforgettable experience. “I’ll get you registered and have a driver take you to your room.”

Alaska lagged behind the crowd, taking in the opulence of the island and enjoying the warmth on her skin as she walked along the dock leading to the marble stairs. She climbed the steps and walked inside the castle to discover a magnificent Greek-Roman fountain. As she examined it, the concierge came to collect her. He fitted her with a small, square sticky patch that passed as a key, assuring her it would open her room door for her, when she approached.

Dusk had fallen over Eden. Streaks of purple and pink bruised the skyline by the time she was taken to her cabana. Even though she was tired from all the travel, exhausted really, she wasn’t going to let that stop her from exploring the place in search of a little excitement.

But before she set out to investigate Eden, she did a walkthrough of the cabana, loving that she had a room decorated in relaxing, beachy decor, a big, king-size bed with numerous throw pillows, and a beautiful marble bathroom with the most perfect rain shower nozzle. She grinned, knowing she was going to spend hours under the spray. She found swimming or showering the perfect way to relax after a long day.

Thrilled with her accommodations, she spread her arms, dropped her bag onto the sofa, then slid open the patio doors to enjoy the warm breeze. Beyond her wooden deck, moonlight lit up the ocean, and a nervous energy bubbled up inside her as she listened to the waves splash against the sandy shore. She stripped out of her heavy travel clothes, and foregoing panties, pulled on a light sundress. Anxious to get outside and make every single moment of this vacation count, she slipped into her flip flops.