Captivated Ch. 00: Prologue

He frowned in confusion. "Then what is?"

"The stone!"

"Stone?"

"That sea stone I found when we were diving in Portland."

"Oh." Royce had no idea what his brother was talking about. "Well, we can go back there and dive for another—"

"You apparently don't have a clue what I'm talking about!" Ryan tossed up a hand.

"Apparently," he drawled, wishing his little brother would just go away.

"Finding another sea stone like this one is next to impossible, Royce! Those things don't lie in troves at the bottom of the ocean! This thing was rare. Unique!"

Ryan looked angry and panicked at the same time.

"Jeezus H Christ! Why did you have to bring a girl to my room?! Couldn't just take six fucking steps more to your own cabin..."

As his little brother raged on, he zoned him out. He had bigger problems to deal with than a broken glass case and a missing stone.

"Royce! You're gonna help me or what?"

He wanted to opt for the "or what", but Ry was looking desperate, so he sighed and nodded as he exited the bed and dropped on all fours to the floor. He tossed up the covers and looked under the bolted-down bed, hoping the damned thing just rolled under there. Maybe if he found that stupid "sea stone", Ryan would stop whining and go away so he could crawl back into the bed and sleep off his hangover.

No such luck.

He never did find the sea stone and Ryan never allowed him to sleep off that hangover. But that was the least of his problems.

****

For the next week, as the family finished their vacation while his brother moped about for having lost that stupid sea stone, he was wrought in knots inside. He was worried sick that enraged parents or cops would come knocking on their door.

Lucky for him, none of those terrifying scenarios played out.

No angry parents; no cops; no having to admit his taste for sexual partners had changed for the worse. During that time, he also spent hours searching for that mysterious young woman, but he didn't have much to go on since he only had a brief look at her face. From what he could remember, she was very much a young woman in every which way.

He knew she had to be something special the moment he peeked through groggy, intoxicated eyes as she stood by the portholes. He recalled having come instantly awake. He didn't recognize her and he had no clue how she got on board the family yacht—and naked at that!

At first he thought that she might have been Ryan's girlfriend. And he felt bad about that for a few hours until he carefully asked if Ry was seeing anyone. He wasn't. At least he could feel relieved about that although his one-time lover was still very much a mystery to him.

As he combed the beach and restaurants, the only woman who resembled his night-nymph the most was the one he'd mistaken her for to begin with. Mandy. But he was damned sure it wasn't Mandy. She was back to playing her coy little games, pouting that he hadn't found her that night, but he was no longer interested in sleeping with Mandy. His entire focus was on finding that girl...

He was driven to find this mysterious night-nymph so he could apologize to her for that night. He was certain that he'd been too rough with her considering her delicate state—meaning, she was a virgin. He wanted to do the right thing and apologize and offer to make it up to her.

That's what he told himself. But he knew damn well he was looking for that girl because he wanted to get to know her and perhaps continue to date her. Unfortunately, all of that was moot because despite his zealous searches, he never found her.

Long after that one drunken but incredible night, he still couldn't forget his night-nymph. Even as the years passed and he had many lovers throughout those years that were eager to please him and become his steady, he couldn't bring himself to that point. He still couldn't forget that one beautiful and sweet girl that one magical night, and none of his many lovers succeeded in making him feel that same level of intense passion and incredible gentleness that he shared with his mystery lover that night.

Everything inside him told him to just move on, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not, would not, ever forget...

To be continued