Katarina
Now
Iplant my feet deeper into the waterlogged lawn, desperate for the traction I need to win the race with Eric’s motorcycle. Rain pelts my face, my arms, my trembling legs and I know I’m slowing. I know I’m fucking slowing, but I won’t stop. I can’t.
Is this how Kira felt when she made her break for freedom? Am I going to be gunned down too? Or will I suffer the same fate as Yana? Erased without trace once Eric tires of me and Vasili’s got what he wants from the deal.
Sasha could be the one to survive us all.
Her acts of resistance haven’t been enough to free her from Grigor, and the men he occasionally shares her with, but she made a difference.
She made a difference to me. I have to keep going.
I have to believe I can survive too, but with the fading light and sheets of rain, it’s hard to tell where the land ends and the ocean begins.
My gasps for air grow more desperate with each hard-fought-for step. I’m not getting any nearer the edge, unless we’re talking orgasms because my goddamn egg vibrator is working overtime.
Above the roar of the storm and the engine closing in on me, I hear a shot ring out. If I’m hit, I don’t feel it, and I keep running. Unfortunately, Eric is just as determined. His Ducati is right behind me.
“Kitty!”
His yell is loud enough to send a shiver down my spine.
Enjoy the ride.
I know Sasha better than anyone. She chooses her words carefully.
It’s how our friendship has gone undetected for so long.
Her last comment was meant to convey a message, but I can’t concentrate with this damn vibrator turning my insides to liquid lava.
It’s vibration drills down to my core. How did it switch on by itself?
Is it even possible? The only one who could activate it remotely was Killian.
“Kitty!” he yells and my broken heart thunders in my chest. “Will you not look at me?”
My legs almost buckle and my arms flail.
No.
It can’t be.
It can’t.
It just can’t…
Sasha’ voice plays on repeat in my mind. Enjoy the ride.
A shadow looms on my right and the front wheel of Eric’s Ducati appears in my periphery. An arm stretches across the chasm between us. A distance that was supposed to be impossible to cross.
He doesn’t grab me. He waits for me to take a leap of faith.
I mastered the art of mounting a moving bike at Grigor’s training camp, but never in conditions as poor as this. Sasha thinks I can do it, and she might be right because I’ve never wanted to mount a bike or its rider as much as I do now.
I reach out and as I grip the forearm of the man pursuing me, he holds onto me and I know he won’t let go.
I make myself ignore the jolt of electricity his touch sends down my spine and use the last of my strength to speed up as he slows the bike.
I time my strides so I can spin in an arc and catapult myself upwards.
When I’m off the ground, the rider jerks me towards him and I swing my leg up and over the Ducati.
I land on the gas tank and come face to face with a ghost.
A trembling arm presses me close. “Hello, lovely.”
Killian McConkey’s smile is the opposite of angelic. He isn’t heaven sent, but I don’t care if he’s come gift wrapped from the devil himself. I’d sell my soul for this man if I had one.
“Don’t talk to me!” I say on a shaky breath, clinging onto him so tight I could squeeze the life out of him.
I can’t process what’s happening. I don’t dare. But as I straddle the only man I could ever give my heart to, the truth hits me anyway. He’s alive. Shorty is alive.
His deep, throaty, self-satisfied chuckle vibrates up through my chest where my heart beats so fast it’s ready to explode.
I can’t afford to fall apart. There’s a host of Eric’s men pursuing us.
Most are on foot and a safe enough distance away, but emerging from the gloom is a man on a motorcycle.
He’s wearing a tuxedo. Eric’s joined in the race.
“Gun!” I demand, letting go of Killian long enough to slip my shaking hand inside his bullet proof vest.
I would love to savor the rise and fall of his chest, but I can’t spare even a fraction of a second. I take his Glock and aim at the man who thought he could mold me into his wife, squeezing off one round after another. Eric zigzags to avoid being hit, but he’s not giving up.
“What’s your plan?” I ask, aware of the ground we’re eating up as we approach the cliff.
A hand skates down my spine. “Same as yours.”
I fire off another round. “You’re going to…”
He returns both hands to the handlebars and revs the engine. “Kitty, I’d drive off the edge of the fucking world for you.”
As I squeeze tighter against him, my center presses against the warm gas tank. The engine’s vibrations amplify the sensations that have turned my pussy into a hot mess.
“Oh, fuck,” I pant.
Killian groans. He recognizes the sounds I’m making. “Enjoying my toy, Kitty?”
Minor quakes of throbbing pleasure radiate out from my core, warning of a release that’s going to be explosive.
I use what’s left of my self-control to aim the Glock one last time at Eric.
He’s close enough for me to see his face through the haze of rain.
He looks furious, so I hold his gaze as I kiss the side of Killian’s neck.
The touch of Shorty’s skin against my lips is almost my undoing and when I fire at Eric’s head, I miss. I aim lower to his chest, but he turns his bike just in time.
“Get ready!” Killian shouts as he ramps up the throttle and we’re tipped backwards as the Ducati reaches top speed.
I breathe through the ripples of pleasure as I take one last shot at Eric and blow out his front tire. As his motorcycle spins out of control, so do I. I let out a roar.
“Killian!”
The moment my orgasm crashes into me, we run out of land and my stomach drops.
The bike falls away beneath us, and as I let go of the Glock, Killian grabs my forearms. For one blissful moment, it’s just me and him.
I’m floating in a haze of hot ecstasy that can’t be extinguished by the pelting rain, or my imminent death.
I hold Killian’s gaze. “I love you!” I yell at the top of my voice, my words sending fresh tingles down my spine.
“And I love you, Kitty,” he says, bending his arms to bring me closer, so close our chests touch.
And then he shoves me away with all his might. “Be my life!”
“No!” I scream as I’m propelled backwards. Away from him.
My arms remain outstretched, but Killian is getting further and further away as we fall. And we are falling now.
In the dim light I can see black water and white foam rising up to greet me. But significantly, nothing else. Killian’s push means I’m going to clear the rocks, but his reckless act has sent him back towards the lethal edges of the island.
Killian must see what fate awaits him, but he’s smiling. The bastard’s happy. He thinks this is a job well done. Saving me from certain death. And guaranteeing fresh purgatory.
“Don’t you fucking dare die again!” I screech at him, but the roar of the Pacific Ocean drowns out my cries.
I search for hope but all I see beneath Killian is jagged rocks. Angry waves. Shallow pools. Deep pools. Black water. Eric said this cursed island was impossible to escape. I hate that he’s right.
In the last seconds we have, Killian points to his left. There’s a narrow shelf cut into the sheer rock face covered in layers of moss that the ocean hasn’t been able to scrub away.
My gaze doesn’t linger too long. I want to savor every last millisecond of this crazy man who’s still smiling at me.
“You’re my life,” I gasp out. “If you die, I–”
My body slams into the water, knocking the air from my lungs.
The momentum of my fall sends me into the deep and the push and pull of the ocean’s currents spin me around.
My ears want to pop. I have to get to the surface and find Killian, but I waste precious time working out which way is up.
Desperate to take a breath, I fight the urge to suck in a lungful of black water until finally, I return to the grey world.
The churning ocean tosses me back and forth. My eyes sting from the seawater and I blink hard as I search desperately for another head bobbing on the surface.
Nothing.
The current is pulling me back towards the dark silhouette of the cliffs, intent on smashing me against the rocks.
I don’t fight it. I use the ocean’s power to swim in the direction of the ledge Killian pointed out.
If I can just catch my breath, I can go back in for him. I’m not going anywhere without him.
I get close to the spot I’m aiming for, but the tide keeps pulling me back.
I swim harder and get within a few feet of the shattered rock, only to be dragged out again.
And again. The muscles in my arms and legs burn, my reserves of strength non-existent so when I do make a grab for the rock, the Pacific reclaims me with ease.
With the next wave, my elbows scrape the surface of the ledge and I burrow my nails into the rocky surface, snapping off one or two talons in the process. But it’s those claws that help me cling on, and I heave myself further onto the ledge, scraping more skin until finally, I’m on solid ground.
Fearing the ocean will snatch me back, I rise onto shaking legs and scramble to press my back against the cliff face. Night has fallen and the storm is easing, but the waves hold onto their fury.
I allow myself a couple of deep inhales then hold the next breath, ready to call out to Killian. I stop myself just in time. It’s unlikely anyone could hear me from higher up the cliff, but I don’t want to chance letting Eric know I survived.
I don’t know yet if I have survived. I won’t know until–
A dark blob appears between foam-capped waves further out to sea. The ledge I’m on is four feet wide, but it runs for maybe fifty feet in each direction. I scramble to the left, lining up to where I think I glimpsed Killian, but he’s gone. If it was him.
I take shaky breaths as I stare into the gloom. I stare until my vision blurs and I’m about to give into the sob when I see him. There’s no doubt this time because he’s closer.
“Don’t leave me, Killian,” I whisper, waving both hands in the air. “A miracle brought you back to me and it can damn well do the job properly and let you stay. You’re my only reason for living. Please. Stay with me Please.”
His heart must hear my plea because Killian swims straight towards me. He’s weighed down by his Kevlar vest as it absorbs seawater, but he’s already survived the rocks. He can do this. Death couldn’t part us and neither will the entire Pacific Ocean. We exist for each other and this is our moment.
Kneeling down, I reach for his outstretched arm. His hand wraps around mine and I don’t let go.