“Oh!” I gasp as I’m suddenly weightless, those big muscular arms holding me tightly to his massive chest.
Our faces are so close. I can’t help but blush as he cradles me to his chest, looking down at me like I’m something really special.
He’s so hot. I’m totally digging the long beard and wild hair now. He’s a true alpha and there’s no doubt he’s the king of this island. That lustful look in his eyes is telling me he wants to make me the queen.
“You’re actually going to carry me up?” I ask as he starts walking, moving like I’m weightless. How strong is this guy?
“I’m not going to leave you there,” he says with a chuckle. “The monkeys might come and adopt you, and you’re all mine.”
He says it in such a possessive way that it sends tingles running down my spine and into my toes.
After a few strides, I settle into the rhythm and rest my cheek against his chest, enjoying the sound of his beating heart.
Who needs hobbit feet when I have my own wild island man to carry me around?
He smells good too, which I wouldn’t expect since soap and deodorant are non-existent on the island. He must have some tricks up his non-existent sleeves to get himself smelling so good. He smells like the island—salt, soil, sun.
“Mmmmm,” I moan as I breathe his scent in. I never knew that a scent could turn me on this much. I’m getting warm and wet down there.
I must have been a bit too loud because he looks down at me curiously. I look up at him through my eyelashes, a bit too flirty if I’m trying to keep this thing platonic.
“Enjoying yourself?” he asks with a sexy smile that would take out my knees if my feet were on the ground.
“Yeah,” I say, smiling back. “I am.”
“Good.”
He holds me a little tighter, like I’m something precious he doesn’t want to drop, and my crush on this mysterious island man grows with every step he carries me up the mountain.
He told me the view was spectacular up here, but he undersold it. It’s breathtaking.
I spread my arms out as the wind washes over me, drop my head back, and spin around with an endless smile on my face.
It’s ocean all around us.
We’re truly secluded out here. It’s our own little universe. Our own little pocket of the world where no one can disturb us, no one can intrude. It’s all ours.
Just us. Forever.
This island has it all—jungle, white sand beaches, rivers, turquoise lagoons, fun animals, gorgeous flowers, delicious fruit… and Carson.
I stop spinning, but my head keeps going—dizzy from a mix of spinning and a mix of hot alpha grinning at me.
“This is our island,” he says in that deep rumbling voice that I’m starting to find irresistible.
I love how he calls it our island. Not his island, but ours.
It was his home for eight years, but the second I stepped onto it, he made it my home as well. He’s making me feel so welcome. He’s making this whole ordeal so much easier. Shockingly, I’m actually enjoying myself. I’ve never really had the company of a man before or had the single-focused attention of a hot guy on me, and I like it. It’s making every cell in my body come alive for the first time.
“You’re stunning,” he says as he watches me in the wind. “I still have a hard time believing you’re real. How could I have gotten so lucky?”
With my heart thundering in my chest and my head still a bit dizzy, I strut right up to him, stand on my toes, and tilt my chin up.
He sucks in a breath, staring down at my lips, looking more tempted than I’ve ever seen a human look.
“Kiss me,” I whisper. “See if I’m real.”
Those delicious muscular arms wrap around me and I gasp as he pulls me against his hard body. His mouth comes crashing down onto mine, warm and wet and so fucking good.
I part my lips and moan into his mouth when I feel his hot tongue thrusting in and claiming my mouth as he holds me tighter. The intensity and hunger are enough to shake me to the core as he gives me my first kiss—a kiss that I’ll never forget.
For such a strong, wild man, his mouth is surprisingly soft and silky. I want to sink into it for the rest of time. I want to be engulfed in it forever.
In this moment, there’s no fear or anxiety. No stress of being stranded in a new place far from home. There’s no missing the perks of civilization, no thoughts of escape.
It’s only us.
Our lips, our souls… connecting.
And there’s no place on the planet I’d rather be.
“Please put me down,” I say in a panic on the way back down the mountain.