Stranded With The Billionaire by Brynn Paulin

Chapter Four

~ Silas ~

Smooth, Silas.

That hadn’t gone the way I’d planned. But when I’d realized she’d been setting up camp, pride had filled me. This was my woman. She wasn’t huddled in a corner, wailing at our situation. No, she was making the best of it. I’d known she was mine when I’d first seen her. Then when I’d gotten her information and listened in on her interviews, I’d known she was perfect. Her behavior now, just further proved that. Her demeanor was exactly what I needed in my mate and partner on our plantation. Basically cut off from the world and needing to be self-sufficient, my island home needed warriors, not damsels in distress.

My Lily wasn’t a frail flower. I eagerly anticipated seeing just how much steel she had within her. And I had a feeling the first battle would be over our sleeping arrangements. A grin spread wide over my face. I looked forward to winning that one.

My meager pile of supplies wasn’t far from our temporary home, and though it wasn’t much, it would take at least two more trips to get it back to our shelter. Exhaustion weighed me, but I wasn’t stopping until I was done. The boat had already been bobbing in and out on the waves when I’d returned to it earlier. I’d had a hell of a struggle to beach it again. Even now, I wasn’t sure it would be there come morning.

I’d run a couple lines from it to a pair of sturdy trees, sunk the anchor weights in the sand behind it and prayed for a little luck. Climbing aboard, I’d located my beacon and activated it. Then I’d wasted too much time trying to detach the device, so I could take it ashore. No dice. Realizing that was a lost cause, I’d started chucking what I could onto the beach.

I couldn’t believe how much had been dragged out by the sea. It was as if a wild toddler had ransacked the boat but overlooked a random collection of canned goods. Leaving a fishing pole, but taking the tacklebox. My go-bag was still where I’d left it secured. Lily’s bag and purse were gone. Part of the bench cushions were floating somewhere; part were still in place. A couple cupboards had been ripped open and emptied while a few were intact.

It wasn’t until I’d grabbed everything I could and thrown it to safety a few yards from the vessel that I’d seen all the shit littering the shore. I wasn’t sure what I could rescue, but Lily’s suitcase was there. I’d raced for it. The rest I’d left to fate. We’d salvage in the morning.

Hopefully, we wouldn’t be here long, anyway. The beacon should have our rescue here within days, if not sooner, which might make my salvage pointless. Better safe than sorry was my motto. I wasn’t taking more chances with Lily. Still, even with what I’d managed, we remained in a fairly sad state.

Stranded.

Not many supplies.

On a desert island.

Alone.

Okay, that last part definitely wasn’t so bad. And we were alive. That counted for everything. With the second load of stuff in my aching arms, I headed back to the shelter.

This time, I didn’t stop when I dumped it. I just turned around to grab the last of it. The sooner it was here, the sooner we could get situated.

Of course, Lily had been busy with the “situated” part. When I dumped the last salvage, including her suitcase, I saw she’d ignored my directive and made up both beds.

Nice try, but so not happening, babe. We’d deal with that later—and I’d win.

Noticing my glance at the beds, Lily stiffened and crossed her arms as if daring me to fight her. Oh, we’d be fighting. I shook my head, smirking.

“Expecting company?” I asked.

She lifted her chin. “No. Which bed do you want?” she asked, moving to pick up her suitcase.

“Which one do you want?”

She nodded toward the one deeper in the room, farthest from the door. Good choice. “That one.”

“Okay,” I agreed and waited until she headed toward it with her bag. “That’ll work for us.”

Lily paused and turned narrowed eyes on me. “I am not sleeping with you.”

“Babe, you are.”

“Silas—”

“Body heat and safety,” I interrupted, leaving out that she damn well would be in my arms. We could wait until she was ready and begging for something else, but I wanted her against me while we slept.

“Safety?”

“Mice. Snakes…”

She shivered. “I haven’t seen any.”

“The rain’s pretty loud, and it’s dark in here. Also, we don’t know who this compound belongs to. When someone might come back or who they are.”

“No one’s been here for a long time.”

“You think,” I said, leaving it open for her to be wrong. She was probably right, but I offered just that bit of doubt to swing things further into my favor.

Her teeth sank into her lower lip. She squinted, her gaze skittering away as she thought. Then she sighed. Astute eyes met mine.

“Yes, I think so,” she replied with conviction. “It’s been deserted for a while. But if you’re afraid of mice and snakes, I suppose I can sleep with you. I’d hate for you to be frightened.” She pointed at me, forestalling my laughter. “No sex. I’ll sleep with you, but I’m not sleeping with you. Understood.”

I almost snorted as she pulled out her teacher attitude. My lips pressed together to hold in my laughter. “Understood.”

For now. I’d let her think she’d won this battle. We’d see how long she lasted.

I headed for my go-bag. “Here.” I handed her the crank flashlight then pulled out the most crucial item in the bag. The rain catcher. “That’ll give us some light. I’m going back out to set this up so we have water to drink—besides the couple bottled waters I saved.”

* * * *

~ Lily ~

“Do you think we’ll get rescued today?” I guesstimated it was early evening, and we’d been here five or so hours. The storm had stopped as suddenly as it had started. One second, it had battered our shelter; the next, bright sunlight flooded the clearing. Silas had wrestled open the heavy shutters, illuminating the small barracks. Most definitely military. Everything was utilitarian and olive green—so much olive green.

He didn’t look up from where he was building a fire pit in the center of the compound, not too far from the building we’d claimed. Everything was drenched, so I wasn’t sure how he thought he’d make a fire, but whatever. It was probably a man thing.

“Nope,” he replied. “Maybe, tomorrow or the next day. The signal from the emergency beacon goes out to ships and planes in the area and to a satellite, but they need to be in range—and someone needs to receive and act on it. Who knows what mess there is from the storm. Maybe none. Maybe a lot. In any case, the plantation will notify the authorities when we don’t show up, so don’t worry; someone will be looking for us.”

Not very reassuring. I took a deep breath. “Okay. So there’s no radio?”

“We’d be lucky to hail anyone, but no. Fucking storm ripped it right out of the boat.” He pulled his phone from his pocket. “I’m pretty sure there’s not enough rice in the world to salvage this. I can see the water beneath the screen.”

“Mine’s gone. It was powered off and almost dead anyway.” I’d been doing okay, still running on adrenaline, but over the past hour, I’d had a growing urge to cry.

I had to let out the emotions, but not in front of Silas. No one got to see me cry, not since I was in fifth grade and my parents didn’t show up to take me home for Christmas break. The other kids still at school had made fun of me, making things even worse. After that, I’d learned to tamp down my emotions, hide them. “You said there was more stuff washed ashore. Maybe, my purse is there.” Not that it would do any good for me to find it. “I’m going to see what I can salvage.”

I pivoted away and practically sprinted toward the opening in the trees, intent on escaping before I broke down. I’d cry on the beach and be fine when I came back.

“Lily!” Silas called after me, but I ignored him. We were alone. I was relatively safe here. It wasn’t as if there’d be a shark attack on the sand. Even in the water, attacks were pretty damn rare.

“Lily, stop,” he yelled when I kept moving.

I heard his feet pounding after me, and I put on speed. Useless. The man had at least a foot on me. My first sob escaped just as his arms closed around me.

“Oh, Christ,” he swore quietly, and I couldn’t even regain enough control to tell him I was sorry for being a blubbering mess. “Shh, Lily. Baby, it’ll be okay. I promise, it’ll be okay, even if I have to build us a damn raft to get out of here. Nothing’s going to happen to you. I’ll get you home.”

“I don’t…” I hiccupped, trying to pull away. “I don’t w-w-want to go h-home. I want to g-g-go to the plantation.” So far my flight to freedom had been a big bust.

“Shh… Calm down. That’s what I meant. Your home is with me.”

He stroked the hair I’d braided earlier to keep it out of my face. I knew he was trying to soothe me. I just let him hold me, his strong arms making me feel safe in this mess. I closed my eyes and breathed him in while I tried to get control over myself. My chest still hitched painfully. My body shook, fighting my effort to calm my emotions. Taking deep breaths didn’t work. My chest squeezed, closed off as I tried to suck in air.

Silas pushed aside my braid and rubbed circles on my back. He murmured soft words of comfort. Slowly, so slowly, I relaxed. We stood in silence, his arms around me, me leaning against his wide, solid chest. I closed my eyes, letting the steady beat of his heart, the light wind through the trees and the trill if birdsong pull me deeper into the calm.

It would be okay.

I had Silas.

Silas had me.

We’d take care of each other.

I’d be stronger. He didn’t need a hysterical female on top of the rest of this mess.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered after long moments. I straightened, and his grip loosened though he didn’t release me. My hands rubbed over my face while I tilted it away from him so he wouldn’t see my tear-stained cheeks. It was bad enough I’d freaked out and cried all over him.

“Please don’t apologize. I got us into this disaster. It’s my fault we’re here. You should be pissed as hell at me.” Ruddy color crept into his cheeks as he looked away from me. His fingers flexed on my waist as if he expected me to take off running again. I got the feeling he didn’t often admit guilt.

“Silas, you can’t control the weather.”

“I should have waited.”

“Did you know how fast it would come on?”

“No, but I was impatient.”

Somehow, we’d morphed from me breaking down to me comforting him. He tried to hide it, but I wasn’t the only one feeling vulnerable here. I might be broken inside, but I couldn’t allow him to bear this guilt, no matter how wide his strong shoulders might be.

Resolved to be a better partner in this, I pulled out the touchstone phrase I’d used to battle anger and disappointment over the years. “It is what it is. We can’t control it. We just need to work with it. Guilt and what-ifs won’t do anything. They won’t get us off this island. We have to move forward and make the best of it.”

One of his hands came up to cup my cheek. The soft look in his blue eyes startled me. “I knew you’d be perfect.”

“W-what?”

“The first time I saw you, I knew.”

“At the airport?”

He shook his head. “No, when I was visiting my brother at the university.”

I stared at him. “I don’t understand,” I whispered, pulling away and taking a few steps back as this situation took on a whole new look. He just watched me, his face giving away nothing except his determination as I pieced everything together.

Your home is with me.

I was impatient.

I knew you’d be perfect.

When I was visiting my brother…

“You’re…Professor Rutherford’s brother?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“You’re Jeff Rutherford? Why did you tell me your name’s Silas? Why did David call you that?”

Silas—no, Jeff—chuckled and shook his head. “My name is Silas Rutherford. Jeff is an old nickname. I can’t believe Mutt called me that to you.”

“Mutt? What?”

“Mutt and Jeff. It’s from an old TV show, I guess. Our grandparents always called us that.” He shrugged. “The nicknames just stuck. I didn’t realize you didn’t know…”

“So you’re my boss?”

His lips pressed together, his jaw tightening. “For the time being.”

Great. I was unbelievably attracted to my boss, and I couldn’t help but believe I’d been purposely misled here. My eyes narrowed as his mouth started to quirk into a rueful grin.

Nope. I couldn’t do this.

“Mr. Rutherford, I quit.”

He blinked, and his smile grew. “Okay.”

“Okay? That’s all you have to say? Was there even a real job?”

“Of course, there was. You spoke with Stacy.”

“That could have been fake, too.”

In one long step, he was in front of me and I was yanked against his hard, so much larger body. His fingers fisted in the base of my hair, further dislodging my loose braid. He tilted back my head, forcing me to look up at him. “Nothing about this is fake. I wanted you on the plantation with me. I gave you the job because you’re qualified. The position needed to be filled, and it will give you something to do during the day while I’m working. If you don’t want to teach, if you don’t want to work for me, fine. But you’re still fucking coming home with me. You’re mine, Lily.”

Out of the frying pan and into the fire? God, I was so getting burned before this was over. No matter what Silas thought, he couldn’t just claim me. So…I said the only thing I thought might stop him.

“I got engaged before I came here.”

Rage swept through his eyes before he swiftly hid it. His fingers tightened in my hair, and the arm around my back tightened, drawing me closer against him. “Too bad for him.”

Before I could gasp, his mouth crushed over mine.

* * * *

~ Silas ~

Engaged? Like fucking hell she was marrying someone else!

My first taste of her should have been sweet, tender, but her declaration that she was engaged infuriated me beyond any sensibility and any plans I’d had. Of course, the storm had already taken my plans way off course. What had Lily said? It is what it is? True. It was what it was, and my mouth reveled in that as I devoured her soft lips, consuming her moan as I lapped inside to slide my tongue against hers.

I mentally fist-pumped the air when her arms came up to circle my neck, and I lifted her up against me. When her legs went around me, all her precious curves pressed into me, I knew I’d made the right choice in her. The instant lightning bolt of knowing she belonged to me hadn’t been my imagination. This girl had been made for me.

Closing off everything but the feel of her, I kept kissing her, claiming her, getting lost in her at long last. No fucker would take her from me. Ever.

How had we gotten here so fast? I’d wanted to woo her, take it slow. Now, I just wanted to claim her this instant. As her little body instinctively moved against mine, I forced myself to hold back. Going too fast would screw up everything.

Pulling away from the kiss, breathing hard, I pressed my face into her smooth neck. Unable to help myself, I nibbled at the taut tendons there as her head dropped back.

“Lily,” I breathed. “I want you.”

“Uh-huh.”

I smiled, knowing she was in a fog. “We can’t though.”

“Uh-huh.”

I nipped at her shoulder where it met the base of her neck. “I’m not rushing this. I have to know you’re mine first. Really mine.” Gently, I pulled her back, so she looked at me. She blinked at me with lust-hazed eyes, her innocence still shining though. “You’re mine, but you have to accept that before we go any further than kissing.” I waited for her nod, but there was no response. “Do you understand?” I asked.

Her little pink tongue swiped over her bottom lip, then she slowly nodded. Her legs dropped, and she disengaged herself from me. I reluctantly released her.

“Yes,” she whispered. “I get to die a virgin because no one owns me. Got that?” Pivoting away, she marched toward the trees. “I’ll be on the beach, looking for stuff.”

Fuck me. Now, I’d pissed her off. This girl… She kept me twisted in circles.

Wait. A virgin? Yes!

Telling my dick to calm the fuck down, I followed her.

“I want some alone time,” she growled, not looking back at me.

“That’s fine. Just stay out of the water. We don’t know what kind of riptides there are from the storm. You can scavenge; I’m taking a walk.”

“You’re taking a walk?” She stopped and looked back at me in disbelief.

“Yeah. Now that the sky’s clear, I want to see how big this place is and if we’re actually alone. I’d hate for us to think we’re on a deserted island when in fact there could be a resort just on the other side.” I doubted that was the case, but I needed to walk off this need before we went to bed, because she was sleeping in my arms and I wouldn’t be fucking her. Even if I really wanted to.

“You think there might be other people here?” she asked hopefully.

No, not really. “Maybe,” I replied, not wanting to extinguish the hope in her eyes. Somehow, even if we were stuck here, I’d find a way to make her happy every day. I’d be her happiness, and she’d never want to leave me.

Pulling her close, I quickly dropped a kiss on her forehead and stepped back. “Stay out of the water, okay? I’ll be back.”

And without a backward glance, I headed down the beach to see what we were dealing with.