Sacrifices in Paradise Read online

  For the next few days, Jenna and Carter existed on fish and berries. One night while they were eating, Carter looked at Jenna with a frowning expression lining his rugged features. “You’re acting very differently from the woman I pulled into the lifeboat.” He made the observation with a curious look filling his dark gaze.

  “I have to admit I was a spoiled brat back then, but the last few days have changed quite a few things for me,” she admitted.

  “What about Brody? You haven’t mentioned him at all recently.”

  “I haven’t given Brody a thought lately,” she murmured. “Maybe I really wasn’t in love with him after all.”

  “That’s possible,” he said thoughtfully.

  “Do you think the rest of the people on the yacht made it?” She asked him the same question she’d asked right after the boat disappeared from their view while they drifted away in the lifeboat.

  “I’m sure they’re safe,” he told her. “The crew I had with me knew what to do in case of an emergency. We were just unlucky to be thrown overboard.”

  “What about the people that wrote the message in the cave? What if they return? Do you have some kind of plan?”

  “So many questions,” he laughed. “Take a breath and calm down.”

  “Well, it scares me to think that we’ll be at some devil worshippers’ mercy,” she answered, not bothering to hide the shudder racing through her body.

  “We’re going to vacate the cave and build a shelter in the woods before they have the chance to return. We’ll find a spot where we can watch the cave and know when they’ve arrived.”

  “What will happen then?”

  “I’m hoping the boat they arrive on has a radio so we can sneak onto it and contact someone,” he explained. “Surely, they’ll have maps, or something to guide them to and from the island.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that,” she murmured, feeling safe with Carter. For some reason, Jenna felt all her worries beginning to vanish. She knew that somehow Carter would protect her.

  * * * *

  Later that night, after eating their dinner and bathing in the pond, they walked slowly toward the cave. Once they reached the damp shelter, Carter set about building a fire with the twigs he had gathered from the woods. It wasn’t long before a yellow glow filled the dark interior of the cave.

  As Jenna looked at Carter, she felt a yearning seize her insides. The need for him to make love to her again was powerful. They had been so busy for several days collecting food and surviving, lovemaking hadn’t even been a thought, but now the thought raced through her head with a speed that surprised her.

  While she watched him with coveted glances, the realization struck her that she loved him. Now she knew what she had felt for Brody was only an attraction. With Carter, it was an all-encompassing emotion, filling every fiber of her body.

  When he lay down, she stood up and began stripping off her clothing. She knew she was acting aggressively, but the need that was flowing through her had to be appeased and only his lovemaking would do it.

  Once she was undressed, she walked slowly over to him and kneeled down, straddling his shoulders. She pushed her body down until the lips of her pussy were planted firmly on his mouth. Moving slowly, she eventually felt the hot lick of his tongue as it found her clitoris. The more she moved back and forth, the more he sucked away at the tender meaty part of her body. As she moved forward, she felt his tongue entering her vagina and felt a thrill pass through her body that she’d never experienced before. The rocking motion continued, until she felt sparks of fiery heat make an invasion of her head.

  Jenna felt an orgasm hit her with the intensity of a sledgehammer. Her entire body tingled with the shock wave, causing her to scream out in pleasure. When she could eventually control the emotional reaction that had ripped through her, she moved her body down his, intentionally caressing his chest with her hardened nipples. A shudder swiftly passed through Carter.

  Straddling his muscular hips, she found his penis and felt it slide easily into her vagina. She rode his hard shaft, creating a heated friction to fill her body. Her frenzied movements were not only delighting Jenna, she could also feel spasms rocking Carter’s body beneath hers. The pleasure she experienced kept mounting in her and she moaned his name over and over again.

  The climax came for her quicker than she expected it, but she kept up the movements, giving enjoyment to Carter. Eventually, she felt the shuddering response of his climax as the white-hot juice of Carter filled her. The feeling of euphoria passed swiftly through her as she climaxed again with a heightened sensation that shook her.

  Spent and drained, Jenna rolled away from him. She tried lying quietly for a few minutes to slow down her breathing from the exertion she’d exhibited in her wanton lovemaking moments ago.

  “You sure know how to please a man,” he told her in a husky tone.

  Jenna smiled across at him and silently wished he could actually love her, but she decided she was going to have to work on that part of their relationship. Didn’t he think she was still in love and engaged to Brody? She was going to have to tell him her real feelings if they ever did escape this island.

  “How about another dip in the pond? It’s either gotten awfully hot in here in the last half hour, or the sex has raised my temperature. Either way, I’d like nothing better than to feel the cool waterfall tumbling down on my head.”

  “I’ll race you,” she challenged as she started toward the entrance. She had only gotten a few feet when she saw lights bobbing in the distance. She caught a flicker of what she thought was a light near the sandy beach. Stopping, Jenna reached for Carter’s hand and put her finger to her lips. “Look.” She pointed to where she meant.

  “What’s wrong?” he whispered, sensing the urgency in her actions.

  When Carter glanced to where she was looking, he realized the people that held the devil worshipping had returned early. According to the cave wall, they weren’t supposed to arrive for another week.

  “Help me gather up all our possessions and we’ll hide in the woods,” He had already turned toward the cave.

  Jenna hurried along behind him, grabbing the clothing that was lying on the floor and pitching the things into the suitcase. She remembered to grab her brush and mirror before heading out the door, almost running toward the woods. As she glanced over her shoulder, she saw that Carter was using a tree branch laden with leaves to swipe across the sand and remove their footprints. He had thrown sand over the fire and any of the wood that was burning was soon out.

  * * * *

  It wasn’t long before he joined her some distance from the pond. As they cowered beside the bushes, Carter raised his head to get a better look at the people that had just arrived on the beach.

  From what little he could tell in the darkness, there were several people piling out of a motorized boat. The boat was about five times larger than the raft that he and Jenna had used after being thrown overboard. He silently hoped there was some sort of radio or map that he could use to find their way, once they reached the boat and managed to commandeer it.

  Eventually, he was able to count the new arrivals. There were five that he could see. Carter was hoping that there weren’t more staying behind on the boat. The only way they could escape was to wait until the middle of the night and hopefully the arrivals would be bedded down.

  The group eventually made their way past Jenna and Carter, heading toward the cave. There was one thing that Carter noticed. A woman had her hands bound behind her back and tape covering her mouth. This was no doubt the sacrifice for their session on the island. He silently wondered what they intended on doing to her. He only knew one thing and that was he was going to have to help the woman if they tried to harm her. Carter wasn’t about to tell Jenna his plans.

  Carter had noticed how the men looked grubby and had several tattoos emblazoned across their chest. There wasn’t any doubt in his mind that these were the same people that had written the messages on
the cave wall. He did notice that the most favorite tattoo among the group was a picture of the devil encircled with flaming fingers of fire.

  He let out his breath with a sigh once they entered the shelter. It wasn’t long before giant flames of fire lit the surrounding area. Jenna and Carter could see the group more clearly as they set about building the bonfire even higher.

  One of the men shouted to the other, “Do you want to make our offering tonight, or wait until tomorrow?”

  “Let’s do it tonight,” he answered gruffly. “I’m feeling a little bloodthirsty. I’m sure our leader will go along with it.”

  “But they’re staying on the boat tonight,” another man answered.

  “Well, that’s just too bad,” he told him. “They’ll just miss out on the fun.”

  “If we know what’s good for us, we’ll wait until morning until the others join us,” the second man warned his companion.

  “Oh, all right, we’ll wait, but if they aren’t here by daybreak, we’re going ahead with it.”

  Jenna leaned toward Carter. “Are they going to sacrifice the woman they have tied up?”

  “It seems so,” he told her.

  “We have to do something to help her,” Jenna said urgently.

  They could hear laughter and loud talking, but they couldn’t understand what they were saying.

  * * * *

  While they waited for the boisterous group to settle down for the night, Carter felt the bugs and insects making a meal of his arms. He figured the same was happening to Jenna, but she didn’t utter one word of complaint.

  For what seemed like hours, they huddled together, waiting for the voices to eventually die out for the night. It was several hours before they thought it would be safe enough to sneak into the cave and try to rescue the woman.

  “Let’s give it a try,” he whispered to her. “Be as quiet as you can.”

  * * * *

  Jenna knew better than to say anything and alert the satanic group that they weren’t the only people on the island. If they caught them, Jenna realized that she and Carter could be the next offering for the cult.

  She felt her heart beating so swiftly she thought it was going to jump out of her chest at any moment. Every little noise she heard in the still night air caused her pulse to accelerate again.

  By the time they reached the edge of the entrance to the cave, Carter stopped Jenna with a hand on her arm. She watched as he reached up and touched her lips with his fingertips. When he made a motion with his two fingers toward his eyes and then the cave door, she knew he was sending her a signal that he wanted to look around before they entered.

  She shook her head that she understood and crouched even lower on the warm sand. Carter slowly made his way forward until he was only a dark figure in the night. Again, Jenna held her breath, wondering what Carter’s plan was going to be for the men inside.

  Soon she heard shouts drifting out to her and inched closer to get a better look. What she saw caused her to feel a little safer. Carter had managed to grab the guns the men had brought with them and he was holding the cult members at bay.

  “Jenna,” he called out to her.

  It didn’t take Jenna long to join him in the cave. She shuddered as she glanced around at the dirty looking men scattered on the sandy floor. Their hair was long and stringy and it didn’t look as if they’d taken a bath in weeks.

  “What should I do?” She went to stand near Carter.

  “Untie the woman and then we’re going to tie these men up,” he explained, reaching for the rope and tape that the group had brought with them.

  Jenna didn’t hesitate in helping the woman remove the ties and tape. Carter handed Jenna the rope and she, with the help of the woman, began securing it around each of the men’s arms and legs. Before long, they were secured tightly.

  “Now, we’re going to make a run for the boat,” Carter told them, “but we’re going to have to be extra quiet. There are some members still on board.”

  The three ran swiftly across the sand through the dark night. Scurrying over the sandy beach, they had only one thought in mind, their transportation off the island was just a little distance away. Carter had carried one of the guns with him and shoved it down in the waistband of his jeans.

  When they reached the boat, he stealthily crawled on board and disappeared from their view. A month ago, she would have never pictured the problems she was now having. But, she realized that in the last couple of weeks, she had grown into a more mature woman having to deal with different situations. She felt she owed her transformation to the strong, resilient Carter.

  Suddenly, she heard a scuffling sound coming from beneath the upper deck of the boat. Jenna felt her heart racing madly, wondering what had happened to Carter. If he were hurt, she wouldn't know what she’d do after just discovering her feelings for him. He had told them to stay put, but it was the hardest thing she ever had to do.

  It seemed a lifetime passed, but it couldn’t have been more than five minutes. She glanced up and saw three dark figures climbing over the side of the boat. Her heart leaped into her throat until she saw that Carter was holding a gun on the other two.

  “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll head up the beach before I unload this pistol on you both,” he told the men as they hit the sand with a running gait.

  Carter reached down and offered his hand to the two women and pulled them aboard. When they reached the small cabin right off the upper deck that housed the radio and maps, Carter lit his lighter and cupped it with his hands to find out where the instrument panels were.

  Jenna offered to help by taking the lighter from Carter. She held it for him to see and still have the use of his hands. As he pulled the wires from the ignition switch, she knew time was important. Within seconds, he had stripped the rubber coating off the wires and touched the different colored ones together. The engine spurted several times, but eventually it roared into life.

  Carter quickly grabbed the lever and guided the boat out into the water. Once they reached a safe distance from shore, he slowed the boat and lit the lighter again. It didn’t take him long to find the panel lights near the steering wheel.

  The night was suddenly loud with shouts and screams from the people standing at the edge of the water. The two men must have run into the cave and untied the others they had left behind.

  Within seconds, shots rang out and Jenna ducked down, hoping that they were far enough away from shore that the bullets couldn’t reach them.

  The boat was too far out for the cult members to swim to and reach it, so Jenna felt safer for the first time that night. Just the thought of still being on the island with that group brought shudders racing through her. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that they would have been killed that night, or the next day. They were shooting at them now without the thought that they may hit someone.

  She noticed that Carter pushed the lever down and sailed a little further out from the shoreline. She figured he was just being on the safe side and making certain that the bullets couldn’t reach them. It wasn’t long before he slowed the boat down to a crawl.

  “Here’s the compass and a map. I’ve also found a radio, but I want to make sure we’re farther away from the angry crowd on the beach before we start looking at the map, or using the radio.”

  “I want to thank you for saving me,” the woman they had rescued spoke into the quiet night. “My name is Patricia Waverly.”

  “How did that group get you on the island?” Jenna asked.

  “I was at my beach house alone when they broke in last night,” she explained in a shaky tone. “I’ve never seen any of them before, but I soon found out what they were up to. All they could talk about was that they had found an offering to appease the devil.”

  “You must have been so frightened,” Jenna said.

  “Believe me, I thought I’d never live to see tomorrow,” her voice trailed off into silence.

  Jenna glanced over to where Car
ter was trying to get the control on the radio to work. He had spread a map out on the small console and was trying to study it by the dim light overhead.

  Neither was watching Patricia Waverly. When she moved across the short space near the console, she picked up the gun Carter had carried aboard. When Jenna glanced up, she couldn’t believe her what she saw. Patricia Waverly was aiming the gun at them.

  “What are you doing?” Jenna asked with a shocked sound flowing from her tone.

  “The two of you are going to turn this boat around and head back to the island,” she said in a demanding tone.

  “Why would you want to go back?” Carter asked, surprised over her actions.

  “They weren’t going to sacrifice me,” she laughed, giving them a look that made them think she thought they were fools. “They were trying to draw you out of your hiding place. My friends figured you would be the knight in shining armor and try to rescue me. Only their plan backfired. They drank too much and fell asleep.”

  “How did they know we were on the island?” Jenna couldn’t fully comprehend what Patricia Waverly was telling her. “What would you have sacrificed if we hadn’t shown up?”

  “We’ve been watching the island from a safe distance,” she informed them in a sarcastic tone. “And we could always have used an animal for what we wanted to do. You’re wasting my time by talking so get this boat turned around. The others are going to get impatient if I don’t get you back to the island soon.”

  Carter fumed inwardly. He couldn’t believe this was happening. There was no way he intended to be taken back to the island and offered up as a sacrifice. He would have to devise another plan and try to disarm her. “You’re nothing but a rotten bitch! You certainly are a good actor, though. You had me believing you needed our help, but you were planning to have us killed instead.” Just saying the words and thinking what she had in mind for the two of them made Carter see red again. His anger boiled over and without thinking, he made a lunging dive for Patricia Waverly.