Page 1 of Forbidden Desire
Prologue
Elodie
“YOU’RE SURE?” HOLDING the phone between my chin and shoulder, I scribbled down the coordinates. “You’re sure these are correct?”
“Yes.” The male voice on the other end of the line was terse. “They’re right.”
“And you have a witness who places my sister on this rock?” Turning, I glanced at the huge map sprawled out on the coffee table, pinpointing the tiny island he described.
“As I said, Miss, I have one person who saw a woman fitting your sister’s description.” He blew out a breath. “That’s the best I can offer.”
“She had dark hair?” I went on, unsure why I couldn’t accept his information at face value, but I rarely accepted anything at face value. “Really dark, almost black.”
“I believe so. Now, I am a busy man, Miss. If there’s nothing new, I must get on.”
“Okay.” It was my turn to sigh. “Thank you for the information.”
Ending the call, the device slipped into my lap as I placed the notebook on top of the map. It was filled with notes and newspaper cuttings, sightings and reports from various locals—the only intangible evidence I had since my sister’s disappearance. The police had refused to do anything except file a missing person’s report, and there had been no new sightings since the recollections of the mysterious old male witness. Claiming to be the guy who’d sailed Desiree and her friend, Charlie, to the godforsaken place, it had taken him weeks to come forward, and I didn’t know whether to trust his testimony.
Leaning back in my chair, the familiar sinking feeling twisted in my stomach. I had no choice—Desiree was out there somewhere, and this crappy little island was the last place I had a sighting of her. I didn’t know what had happened, didn’t know if she was alive or dead. The only facts my family had were the last flight she’d taken and the knowledge she never made the return journey home. Something was wrong. I sensed it in my bones, and while I didn’t know what, I knew one thing—I would find out.
Picking up my phone, I dialed the number of the local tourism center I’d contacted about Desiree’s disappearance. The guy there had offered to arrange my journey, managing the logistics of flights and boat crossings and hopefully, a meeting with the enigmatic ferryman who’d taken her to the island in question.
“Universal Travel, this is Tom.”
Anxiety clenched in my belly, a silent plea not to do this, not to take this action, but I had no option. Desiree was missing, and our mother was close to the edge. Someone had to get answers, and if the authorities weren’t prepared to help, that someone was me.
“Hey, Tom, this is Elodie.” We’d spoken enough over the last few days to avoid the formal introductions.
“Elodie, hi.” He paused. “Did you reach a decision?”
“Yes.” It was my turn to hesitate as if the consequences of my next sentence would be more profound than I realized. “I want to book for the fifteenth. Can you arrange everything?”
“Sure!” I could hear the happiness in his voice. “I’ll do that right now and call you back.”
“Great. Thanks, Tom.”
Ending the call, I glanced out of the window. God only knew how I was going to pay for everything, but I’d worry about that another day. For now, my main concern was my sister. A shiver of unease traveled up my spine as the two questions that had plagued me for so long burst into my mind. Where the hell was she, and what on earth had happened to her there?
Chapter One
Desiree
REACHING FOR MY HEAD, I groaned. Where was I, and how much had I drunk last night that my head was so heavy and sore? Rolling onto my back, my eyes flickered open, surveying the small chamber surrounded by a line of animal fur, and the weight of my predicament crashed over me all over again.
“Oh God!” I gasped, my hand shifting to stifle the sentiment before it woke the giant sleeping beside me.
How could I have forgotten Rasmie and the dank little island I’d been forced to stay on as his wife? How could I have overlooked all the dark and delicious things he’d done to me? As if to answer my question, my fingers fell to the soft leather at my neck, feeling where it connected to a line of rope. I didn’t have to look behind me to know where the rope led. It was tied to the wooden frame of his bed, ensuring I was tethered and available to him when he woke. Heart racing, I shivered at the realization. I wasn’t just being held on this island; I was his captive—the woman he’d decided would bear his children, and apparently, I had no say in the matter.
Worse was the dreadful way my body betrayed me and reveled in the denigration Rasmie insisted on inflicting. Rather than revulsion and disgust, it met his twisted commands with arousal and desire. I’d never reacted to any man the way I responded to him, and even though my head wanted to leave and looked endlessly for viable escape routes, my passion goaded me. Why walk away from a man who could open doors in my soul I hadn’t even known existed? Why walk away from the passionate fire burning between us?
“Because of this,” I mouthed the explanation as my fingers tightened at the rope. “Because he keeps you fettered to his fucking bed.”
“Nighean bheag?”
I tensed as he stirred, his colossal, muscular form turning to face me.
“What are you doing?”