“Neither have I.” His voice was gruff. “The sky is beautiful tonight.”

“I feel like we’re in a whole new world.” I nodded as I stared up. “A whole new beautiful but completely desolate world.”

“Why didn’t you read to me everything that was in the note?” His tone changed, and I froze.

“What note?” My breath caught.

“The note you read earlier.”

“I don’t understand,” I mumbled, as he sat up and looked down at me with questioning eyes. How could he know there was another line? I’d watched as the note had blown down the beach.

“You didn’t read all of it, did you.”

“How did you know?”

“I didn’t until just now.” He leaned back. “I had a feeling that there was more to what you read. It was the way you read it and then paused and said that was it. I was pretty sure that that wasn’t all there was.”

“Yeah.” I made a face. “Sorry.”

“So what did it say?”

“Something about our two bodies being one, but we might not always be so united.”

“You didn’t have to hide that from me.” He shifted closer to me and ran a finger down my cheek. “I want you to trust me, Bianca.”

“I want to trust you, too.” I stilled as his fingers brushed my lips gently, and then he withdrew his hand and ran his fingers through his hair. I wanted to reach over and touch his lips and see if they were as soft as they looked.

“You have a thing about intimacy, don’t you.” He changed his line of questioning, and I looked away from him and frowned. “Humans are such funny creatures.” His voice was soft.

I looked back toward him. His face was illuminated by the moon, and there was something inscrutable about his expression.

“I’m not sure what you mean.” I shivered.

“In the trunk, you made a comment about us being intimate. Then you were so agitated by us being tied together.”

“Who wouldn’t be agitated?”

“I’m just saying that I noticed. You have intimacy issues.”

“I don’t have any issues.” My voice dropped, and my hands lay like wooden blocks at my side.

All of a sudden, I became aware of just how little I had on—and how little he did. I wanted to cover myself but didn’t want to prove his point any further. I knew that part of this game we were playing was mental as well as physical. He was trying to test me and push me, to see if he could break me by making me uncomfortable. He wasn’t sure if he could trust me either. I wasn’t going to let him see any weakness. I couldn’t. Not when I didn’t know what his agenda was. I was attracted to him in a way that I’d never been attracted to another man. The animal magnetism I felt toward him made me want to push him down on the sand and kiss him. I had to keep reminding myself that I didn’t know why he had been put on the island with me. If the reasons were nefarious, I was going to have to be on high alert. I couldn’t allow my body to fool me into trusting him too much. Not yet.

“You look naked.” His voice grew husky as he gazed down at me. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were a siren trying to seduce me.” His voice drifted as he looked out to the water. “Or a nymph. You could be a water nymph.”

“I’m not trying to seduce you.”

“I know.” He scratched his chest. “What would you say if I touched you right now?”

“I wouldn’t say anything.” I moved away from him slightly. “I would slap your hand away.” I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves.

“There’s no need to be scared.” His voice dropped. “I only touch women who want me to.”

“That’s good.”

“Do you find me attractive, Bianca?”

“I haven’t thought about it.”

“They say the devil dresses in leather and his mistresses dress in satin. . . .” His voice trailed off. “It’s a strange thing, the two of us being here.”

“It is indeed.” I sighed, my head spinning and my eyes drowsy. I wanted to sleep so badly, but I didn’t want to let my guard down around him. Not now that he was acting all funny.

Silence befell us again, and he stood and stretched. His stomach muscles rippled as he flexed, and I watched him carefully. I felt an odd thrill as I stared at him. Part of me was scared by his obvious strength, and another part of me was turned on by how hot he was. I was disappointed in myself for my base attraction to him. He was sexy, and my body was taking notice even though my brain was screaming out that it didn’t trust him. I wanted to feel the strength of his body holding me down as he kissed me all over. I wanted to feel the touch of his tongue on my already ultra-sensitive skin. My head felt hot with fever, at the memory of his body pressed against mine in the water. All he had to do was reach down and grab my arms, and I would be like putty in his hands.

“How limber are you, Bianca?” His voice was suddenly above me, and I blinked up at him and swallowed hard.

“Why?”

“I have an idea.”

“What’s your idea?”

“Do you trust me?” He kneeled down and looked me in the eyes. “It won’t work unless you trust me.”

“I don’t know.” I stared into his clear, open eyes, and I could feel a part of me weakening. “What’s the idea?”