Bound To Love Read Online Free Page A

hesitated, and then glanced upwards with a frown creasing his brow.
    ‘You’re right. It looks empty. You stay here and I’ll be back in a minute.’
    God, he was stubborn. Tempest pulled in a breath. He couldn’t go with his hands bound behind his back. Even if he were lucky enough to find anything, he wouldn’t be able to pick it up. Unless he used his mouth. The mere thought of Jake’s clever mouth tangled her insides. She shook her head.
    ‘Your hands are tied behind your back, how the heck will you pick up anything? I’ll go. With any luck I’ll find a key to unlock you.’
    He scowled. ‘I don’t like it.’
    ‘Well, I’m not exactly mad about it myself.’
    But she needed to get in there and if Jake went too, she would be at a disadvantage if the kidnappers attacked them again. To her relief, he seemed to see the sense in her argument.
    ‘I’ll wait here for you.’ Jake crouched down in a small hollow in a patch of gorse around the side of the lighthouse. ‘You have ten minutes. Then I’m coming to get you, bound hands or not.’
    ‘I’ll be out in five.’
    Tempest sprinted to the lighthouse, and sneaked inside. It smelt dank and mouldy. Blooms of rot painted dark ivy trails around the top of the walls. Wet patches bled through plaster which had come off in chunks in some areas, and she crept around them carefully. Her ears strained for any sound. Her back ached with the tension which wound her body tight as a spring, ready for any hint she should flee.
    Tempest pulled in a breath and held it as the door creaked open to reveal a small room, with a rough wooden table in its centre. She crept closer. The table was empty apart from a blue backpack and a couple of litre bottles of water, which she stuffed into the bag with shaking hands. There was a dresser against the back wall, and she moved towards it like a stealthy soldier creeping through jungle. Mugs hung from a line of hooks. The final hook held no mug, but a much more valuable prize.
    Success! She grasped it tightly, then hefted the backpack over one shoulder and weaved out into the light again. Her breath escaped in a puff, and she broke into a run to where Jake waited.
    ‘Keys!’ She held up the small bunch in triumph, fingering one small silver key in particular. ‘I think this one is for the handcuffs.’
    Tempest worked the key into the keyhole, freeing him. A band of red, abraded flesh decorated his wrists like bracelets. She winced, slipping cuffs and keys into the bag. He must be in agony.
    He stretched his arms above his head, then rotated his shoulders a few times to free his tight muscles. The sight of his flexing torso stopped Tempest in her tracks, banishing all coherent thought in a fevered rush.
    ‘Come on.’ He dragged her to a faint path leading down to a rocky beach. ‘We should get down towards the waterline. There may be a cave we can hide in.’
    The path was rocky and uneven. Small stones broke away, tumbling down the hill. Tempest’s high heels slid on the skree. Her arms flew out and she almost fell.
    ‘Careful.’ He pulled her close, and her heart thumped at the warmth of his body. They searched the cliff face for any sign of a cave.
    He pointed. ‘There.’ A half-hidden dark entrance was barely visible. ‘We need to get out of sight, hurry.’
    She glanced back. There was no-one in sight, and the air was still and silent but for the mournful wailing of sea birds. Their hurrying feet made the cave entrance in moments.
    With a shudder she crept in. The walls of the shadowy cave ran with glistening water. The air was foul, heavy with the stench of decaying corpses of sea creatures. Warmth flooded her nonetheless. It was safe. For the first time since they’d got out of the lighthouse, her shoulders relaxed their tight hunch. She sank down onto the soft damp sand in relief.
    ‘What’s in the bag?’ Jake asked.
    ‘Only water.’
    She handed him the backpack, then wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging