Read The Bad Boys of Eden for Free Online

every part of you.” This woman is submissive to the core, I’d have bet my fortune on it, but strength radiates from inside of her. With her free hand, she pulls the sheer fabric of her veil down, and I am blinded by the sheer perfection of her smile.
    “The island knows what you need.” Her lips curve into a smile as she takes the flower from her hair, presses it into my hand. Her lush curves undulate beneath me, her movements synchronized to my own, but as she moves she fades away, vanishing before my eyes.
    “Wait!” I reach for her, my fingers swiping through air. “What’s your name?”
    She smiles at me, trails her fingers over my scars one last time.
    And then she is gone.

 
    Chapter Four
    Bright sunlight slanting in through the gaps between the branches wakes me in what feels like early morning. I’m disoriented as I open my eyes, pull myself to a sitting position.
    I’m lying on the dirt floor in the tiny shack. Through the gaps in the crude walls I can see the forest, can hear the humming of insects, the whisper of the breeze through the trees.
    What the fuck just happened to me?
    Furrowing my brow, I let the images tumble over me, each one coming faster and faster. I’m dressed in the clothes that I wore to sleep in last night, and when I hold out my left arm, I see only the marled skin of my scars—not swirls of dark ink.
    Disappointment is a crushing wave of depression that threatens to flatten me. It can’t have been a dream. I won’t let it be.
    The woman—the castle—the magic.
    It was too real—too right.
    “Face reality, Vardalos.” Wincing, I crawl to my hands and knees, struggling to fight back the encroaching clouds.
    The dream, or visions, or whatever it was... it was probably just my body and mind’s way of getting rid of the extreme stress that I had been under for the last six months. I felt safe here, in the middle of the southern Atlantic ocean, and so my subconscious had gone for broke.
    Sitting back on my heels, I inhale deeply and try to get a handle on myself. And that’s when I see it—the flower, still miraculously fresh and whole, lying on the ground.
    The flower that I tucked into the golden ribbons of her hair.
    With a whoop I grab at it, clutching it tightly in my palm, not even caring that I’m crushing it. Part of me wonders if I’ve become completely unhinged when I scramble to my feet and hightail it back to the beach, and the rest of me just didn’t give a shit.
    I know now. I know she’s coming.
    Running past the stacks of my supplies, I race straight into the water. The plane is more or less where it had been the night before, rocking back and forth on the rippling surface of the water.
    “Joely!” I bang on the door with enthusiasm. “Open up! We’ve got to go!”
    I rap once more for good measure, then dunk beneath the surface of the water, clothes and all. When I surface, a sleepy, owl-eyed face is blinking out at me.
    “Mr. V?” Joely looks puzzled and sleepy and kind of like an adorable kitten. Everything looked better today, I think with a smile. Even irritating know-it-all pilots. “ Mr. V, what happened? Are you okay?”
    “Never better.” Grinning up at her, I shake like a dog to dry my hair. She shrieks when droplets spray across her, then crosses her arms and scowls.
    “This better be good. I am not a morning person.” she mutters crossly as I grab hold of the plane and hoist myself in, dripping wet. “Especially not after the night I had. Jesus, Mr. V. What the hell’s gotten into you, big guy?”
    “I need to get back to Miami. Just for a few days.” Just long enough to make some calls, to set the wheels in motion.
    This island would be home to a resort after all... it would just be a little bit different than I had originally intended.
    I knew, though I had not a shred of rational proof—I knew that this was meant. It hadn’t been a fantasy, it had been a revelation. An awareness filled him, a knowledge he couldn’t explain