Isle of Sin: A Standalone Dark Romance

“Seventeen minutes, Ash,” my brother said from the bottom of the stairs. He’d obviously decided to take himself on a tour of my house while waiting for me and Adalyn.

Or perhaps he’d just been doing a security sweep.

Hell, he’d probably done one before he’d even come into my house. Which left me wondering… “Who let you in?” I asked, eyeing the empty foyer around him.

His lips curled. “I let myself in.” He cocked his head. “You need better locks. Maybe a working security system, too.”

I rolled my eyes. “I live on a fucking island, Kane. That is my security.”

Adalyn shivered beside me as I led her down the stairs. I’d gone over to her room to find a dress and some undergarments for her.

She’d thrown on the dress and nothing else, leaving her hair wet down her back.

I loved it. So natural and her. I’d pulled on a pair of sweats and opted against a shirt. It would be less to take off later.

Besides, it was the middle of the night. And Kane was early.

I guided Adalyn along beside me at the bottom of the stairs and walked right past my brother to head toward the kitchen.

Her stomach had growled when I’d handed her the dress, reminding me that she probably needed to eat something. Doctor Zansky had given her some fluids after sedating her earlier, but that wasn’t food, just standard hydration and electrolytes.

Kane followed, causing Adalyn to try to glance back at him.

“Kitchen, sweetheart,” I told her. “You need food.”

She could meet my brother there.

I found her a seat at the island counter and lifted her onto the stool. Then I pressed my chest to her back as I reached around her to grip the marbled countertop in front of her. It effectively caged her in with my body, ensuring she felt safe as my brother entered the kitchen behind us.

Kane clearly picked up on my protective vibe, as he selected a seat two stools away from Adalyn, thus providing her with ample space.

I thanked him with a glance before focusing on Adalyn.

“What do you want to eat, darling?” I asked against her ear. “Breakfast or dinner?”

“Um.” She shivered. “Surprise me?”

“Stuffed French toast with some fresh strawberries, please,” my brother requested.

“That question wasn’t for you,” I told him.

“But it’s your specialty,” Kane supplied helpfully, his dark brows waggling in encouragement.

“I made her French toast this morning.” Which was technically yesterday now. But I doubted she wanted it again.

“But it wasn’t stuffed,” Adalyn murmured. “It was just French toast.”

My eyebrows lifted as I pulled away to study her profile. “Was that a taunt, darling?”

“No. Just commenting that it was plain French toast, not stuffed French toast.” The way her lips curled a little told me she was playing. And I rather liked that she felt comfortable enough to tease, even if slightly.

“I think you should make us stuffed French toast,” Kane put in. “With fresh strawberries.”

“And some bananas,” Adalyn added, her eyes flicking up to me before focusing on the island again. Then her lips curled just a little more, confirming she was indeed playing.

“I see.” I wrapped my arms around her to hug her from behind and pressed my lips to her temple. “Stuffed French toast with strawberries and bananas. Anything else?”

“Orange juice?” she asked softly.

“Of course,” I replied, kissing her cheek as I tightened my hold around her in a gentle squeeze. “By the way, the pain in the ass at the end of the island is my brother, Kane Sinner.” I looked at him. “This beautiful woman is Adalyn Rose. And she’s mine.”

I kissed her cheek again as I held his gaze, then released her to go about finding ingredients to make us all a late-night breakfast.

“I’ve never heard my brother claim a woman before,” Kane said conversationally. “You must be special indeed.”

“I don’t know about special,” she hedged. “Just…”

I waited for her to finish, but she didn’t. I glanced over the fridge to find her frowning.

“You’re very special,” I told her. “Especially to me.”

She blinked at me. “Yeah. But… but I don’t know what I am.”

“I just said what you are, Adalyn.” I shut the door and walked over to her. “You’re special.”

“No, that’s not what I mean. I normally say I’m a mistress or a visiting friend. But… but that doesn’t feel right with you.” She studied me. “I… I don’t know how to reply.”

“With the truth,” I told her. “That you’re mine. Not a mistress. Not a visiting friend. Just… mine.”

“Yours.”

“Yes.” I brushed my knuckles across her cheek. “My Adalyn. And I’m your Asher.”

“For as long as I want you,” she clarified.

“Yes, sweetheart.”

“So, for always,” she said. “Because I never want to leave this place.” She looked at my brother then, her expression suddenly clear. “You can’t help me disappear, Mr. Sinner. I won’t leave Asher.”

His eyebrows lifted. “I see we’re arriving straight at the point, then.”

“I may have mentioned your work to her,” I said. “And that you’re here to ensure she gets out of here safely if things go south.”

“Is that why I’m here?” He gave me a look, one I recognized because I often made the same expression when I was about to offer a blunt correction. “You think I would leave you on this island with those assholes?”

“I think I’m not going to give you a choice,” I countered before returning to the fridge. “Adalyn matters most.”

“I do not,” she argued, causing me to glance sharply over my shoulder—and give her the same look my brother had just given me.

“Yes. You do,” I told her, my tone brooking no argument. It was my Dom voice. The one I knew would make her crawl.

Except she didn’t crawl at all. She stood and marched over to me on her dainty, bare feet to poke me in the chest with her finger. “No. You will not sacrifice yourself for me.”

“It’s my job to protect you.”

“Not at the expense of your own life,” she bit back, her fierce expression and tone unlike anything I’d seen from her thus far. It was making me fucking hard. “I won’t allow it.”

My eyebrows shot up. “You won’t allow it?” I finished grabbing what I needed from the fridge so I could shut the door, and set the items on the counter. Then I grasped her hips and walked her backward into the island. “You’re not the boss here, little one.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I could never live with myself if something happened to you because of me. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, because I feel the same way about you.”

“But you’re not the reason we’re in this mess. I am.”

“No, darling. Nathan is the reason we’re in this mess. And you know what?”

“What?” she retorted, the fire in her gaze absolutely breathtaking.

“I’m glad we’re in this mess.”

“Well, I…” She blinked. “Wait, what?”

“You heard me. I’m glad we’re in this mess.” I lifted my hands away from her hips to grab her face. “Because this mess is how I met you. And all the trouble I’m about to go through is worth it. Because of how I feel about you.”

“B-but… you… we…” She swallowed and shook her head. “Asher, we just met.”

“Under incredibly intense circumstances, yes,” I agreed. “However, I’ve chosen to keep you. And you just told me that you choose me, too. So what more is there to discuss, Adalyn? This is happening.” I pressed my lips to hers before she could argue.

Fortunately, she kissed me back instead. Not aggressively, just sweetly.

Her eyes held mine as she did it, that fire flickering in her irises. It was such a beautiful sight. So much better than her tears and her fear.

This was Adalyn Rose.

My future.

The woman I desired as mine.

“Embrace it, darling,” I murmured, my forehead touching hers. “We’re in this together now. For better or for worse.”

“This is crazy.”

“Life is crazy,” I returned. “But fate delivered you to this island. And I’m not about to turn my back on our destiny. Now go sit down on that stool and let me make you breakfast.”

She stared up at me, her cheeks flushing a little. “Yes, Sir.” She brushed a final kiss to my mouth before slipping out of my hold to go find her seat.

I palmed her ass as she moved, playfully tapping it as I said, “Good girl.”

She jumped a little, then grinned, her flush spreading down toward her chest.

It hadn’t been a punishing pat, just a loving one. And it seemed she liked it.

Because of course she did.

She enjoyed a little pain with her pleasure.

Which just made her that much more perfect for me.

Kane caught my gaze as she sat down, his expression giving nothing away. But I knew he approved. If he didn’t, he’d tell me with his eyes.

Instead, he seemed to be considering the situation.

He was always analyzing every angle, his teasing demeanor with me something he reserved only for those close to him. Outside of the family and away from friends, he was all business.

I supposed he had to be because of his chosen career path.

“So you met our baby sister, hmm?” Kane mused as I returned to my task. “I hope you didn’t let that experience define the whole Sinner family. Darby’s a bit of a brat.”

I snorted in agreement.

“She seemed nice to me,” Adalyn said diplomatically.

“She’s going to tell the entire family that you two are together,” Kane warned her.

“I don’t mind.” I could feel her eyes on me. “Assuming Asher doesn’t mind.”

“I don’t mind,” I echoed. “Darby can tell them whatever she wants. Makes no difference to me.”

“What’s Darby saying now?” a new voice asked as Clive entered the kitchen. “Is she making trouble?”

“Always,” Kane replied.

I turned to find Clive and Bryant standing in my dining area. “Is my doorbell broken?” I asked.

“I told you to get that lock fixed,” Kane said conversationally. “It’s a hazard.”

I shot him a look before checking on Adalyn. She was staring at Bryant and Clive with wide eyes, but she didn’t appear to be scared. Just curious.

“How are you feeling, Ms. Rose?” Bryant asked her.

“Better,” she replied, her dark irises flickering toward me. “Mr. Sinner is an excellent caretaker.”

Bryant grunted. “Yeah, he has the healing touch.”

“I do,” I confirmed, walking toward the island to stand opposite Adalyn. “You okay with Clive and Bryant being here, sweetheart?”

She glanced at them again. “Um.”

“You’ve met Bryant—he’s the head of my security personnel. Clive is my other security manager, but he handles technology. They’re safe and they won’t touch you,” I promised her.

Those beautiful dark orbs refocused on me. After a beat, she nodded and said, “Okay. I trust you.”

Her words rendered me speechless for a breath, then my feet started moving without my guidance, taking me around the island and right up to her stool. I wrapped my palm around her nape and pulled her into a kiss, not giving a damn that we had an audience again.

Her hands went to my abdomen, her nails biting just a little into my skin as though she was trying to anchor me to her.

I licked her lower lip in response, then smiled. “Thank you, Adalyn.”

She hummed something incoherent back at me, her pupils blown wide from our embrace. This whole experience in the kitchen was turning into a fun bout of foreplay.

The audience only added to the effect.

Especially since they were all staring at Adalyn with admiration in their eyes.

She was a beautiful woman and a natural submissive. They could all see the allure. But they would respect my claim.

I brushed my lips against her temple before going back to my preparations—which were taking a lot longer than they normally would because of all the distractions in the kitchen.

Clive and Bryant took over the stools closest to Kane, giving Adalyn room, but they engaged her in conversation by explaining how we all knew each other.

Clive told her how he used to work with Kane, which was how he met me.

Kane told her how I stole Clive to come work on my island—something that made me scoff and say, “Yeah, I’m sure his decision had nothing to do with trading Baltimore for Fiji.”

They all laughed, including Adalyn. Although, hers was more of a soft sound of amusement. Still, I considered it an improvement after everything she’d been through.

She seemed genuinely pleased to be here, her smile sincere when I finally finished making breakfast.

I ended up with five plates, as I assumed Bryant and Clive intended to eat with us. But I served Adalyn first because she mattered most. “Freshly squeezed orange juice,” I said, setting it beside her plate.

Her eyes shimmered with excitement. “Thank you.”

I winked at her and went about serving the others. We all ate at the kitchen island rather than in the dining room. Which was fine. I often ate here instead of at the table. I had six stools. So it worked.

“This is really good,” Adalyn told me about halfway through her plate. “I see why Kane insisted on it.”

“My brother should have been a chef,” Kane said.

“Shh,” Bryant hushed. “Don’t let Chef Caylin hear you, or she may worry about her job.”

“Her job is very secure here,” I assured him.

“I would think you’d like the idea of her leaving Asher’s private staff so that you could hire her to be on yours,” Clive mused.

Bryant grinned. “I don’t need to hire her to put her on my staff.”

I rolled my eyes at his crude joke. Mostly because it was cheesy as fuck. And also because he really just needed to fuck her—and Clive—to get both of them out of his system.

Maybe the three of them could play.

I really didn’t care. They just clearly wanted each other, and while I enjoyed a good bout of delayed gratification, these three were taking it to the extreme.

Adalyn finished every bite on her plate, her cheeks flushed from the effort. But her smile at the end warmed my heart. “Thank you,” she said, taking her dishes to the sink.

I followed her with my own and stopped her when she started to clean up. “I’ve got it.”

“But—”

“You agreed to let me take care of you,” I said against her ear. “Now go sit down, and I’ll bring you some more juice in a second.”

She glanced back at me. “If I obey, can I taste you later?”

I grinned down at her. “Yeah, sweetheart. Be a good girl and you can taste me later.” The fact that she saw that as a reward just made her all the more amazing.

Excitement shone brightly in her gaze as she wiggled away from me and let me work. The others all did their own dishes, then we ventured into the living area.

It was nearing four o’clock in the morning now.

But that didn’t matter.

We had important items to discuss.

I’d save Adalyn’s reward for later.

Kane looked at me expectantly as he hovered near an armchair, and I knew what he wanted to know. Can we begin talking, or do you want to say good night to her first?

I pulled Adalyn onto the loveseat beside me. “She’s staying for the conversation.” Because this was just as much about Adalyn as it was about me. And hiding our plans from her would be wrong. “You can speak openly in front of her.”

My brother nodded as he took a chair for himself. Clive and Bryant took over the sofa, their expressions void of their easy amusement over our middle-of-the-night breakfast.

“Let’s start from the beginning,” my brother suggested. “Tell me how a beautiful jewel like Adalyn Rose became a bride-in-training for an asshole like Taylor Huntington.”