Bound To Love Read Online Free

pushed. ‘It’s locked.’
    ‘Stand back.’
    Jake kicked at the door and the rotten wood shattered. Light flooded the corridor, blinding him for a moment. Tempest’s hand curled around his upper arm. She was standing right behind him. He stumbled out into the fresh air, and stared in surprise at the choppy waves of a cold, grey sea.

 
    Chapter Two
     
    The sun’s brightness was blinding. A stiff breeze whipped her face, and Tempest turned away from it instinctively. They must be near the sea. The smell of ozone filled her nostrils, and her lips stung with salt. Tempest blinked, and an image appeared from the whiteness in watery stages like an instant Polaroid picture. Her jaw dropped open. The familiar London cityscape was gone, replaced by grey waves topped with foamy caps that her dad had called seahorses.
    ‘Are you alright?’
    The breeze lifted thick strands of inky black hair from a forehead pleated with a confused frown. Jake’s piercing gaze swept her head to toe. The tan she had admired in the museum had faded to white, but he was still fantastic-looking, with sweeping cheekbones and a strong jaw clenched against the blowing ocean spray.
    ‘Tempest.’ His gaze shifted to her hair. ‘Or should I call you Red?’
    ‘Nobody calls me Red and gets away with it.’
    He grinned and moved closer, crowding her personal space, blocking out her view of sea and sky. The air between their bodies seemed charged. Her heartbeat quickened. God, he’s tall.
    She took a step sideways.
    ‘Ouch!’ Her ankle turned on the rocky surface, shooting an arrow of pain through it. She shifted from side to side, trying to relieve the pain.
    ‘What happened?’ Emerald eyes pinned her like a butterfly to a board. Her legs were jelly. She stumbled against the solid bulk of his chest, and a shudder rolled up from her core. It had been horrible in the dank darkness.
    ‘Sorry, I’m a bit wobbly.’
    ‘You’re still in shock. Probably feeling the after-effects of the sedative.’
    His chest was hard and warm. It was tempting to lay her cheek against his heart, hear if being so close was having the same effect on him as it was on her. But now wasn’t the time. They were in trouble. She shot him a quick glance. Apart from his pallor, Jake looked ready for anything.
    He glanced around. ‘There doesn’t seem to be anyone about, but we’d better get away from here.’
    Tempest stared at the building they’d escaped from, tracking the lighthouse’s height with wide eyes.
    ‘Look at it, Jake.’ The windows were filthy and rotten. The surface was covered in pebble-dash, a dingy grey, in desperate need of fresh paint. ‘Nobody’s lived here for years.’
    Crying gulls circled overhead, intensifying the tangible air of desolation.
    ‘I agree, but the people who brought us here might be around.’
    She tilted her head sideways, bringing all her senses into play, not just the usual ones. The place looked deserted. Was deserted.
    ‘No. There’s nobody here but us. I can feel it. We should go back in and check for food and water.’ She released his arm and stepped away, immediately feeling bereft, but more in control. ‘We’re going to need it.’
    ‘We should watch for a while, make sure there’s no one up there.’
    With his hands cuffed behind his back Jake wasn’t able to touch, but the authority in his voice stopped her in her tracks.
    She shook her head. They didn’t have time to wait. ‘No. We need to get provisions and disappear before they get back, you said so yourself. I know we’re alone, I can sense these things.’
    Her family and friends knew her intuition was rarely wrong. Jake, however, hadn’t had the benefit of seeing her gift in action so it was hardly surprising that he eyed her as if she were crazy. There was no time to explain, she’d have to resort to logic.
    She spoke slowly and clearly, as though she were lecturing a child. ‘Anyone in there would have heard you kick the door in.’
    He