A few minutes later, she got up and began exploring her room. Apart from the obvious, she noted another door, which she assumed must lead to the bathroom. When she opened it, she found she was spot on. The bathroom was exotic, designed in the Asian style just like the rest of the house. There was a large window that had a great view of the beach, too.
When she came back out, she started unpacking and hanging her clothes in the closet provided. Once she finished some twenty minutes later, she thought about exploring the place a bit more.
Outside in the hallway, she noted the other doors and couldn’t help but wonder who resided in those bedrooms. Of course, she had the feeling it must be the Princetons and wasn’t surprised she was put up in a room in close proximity to them, for safety reason she was sure. Although, she must admit there was no point in such precaution since they were on St. Thomas Island, a privately owned estate. The retreat was completely isolated, and security, she was sure, was tight.
To get here required a three-hour boat ride from the main island of Hawaii, and to request a landing also required permission from the security team and, indeed, the authorization from the Princetons. So really, there was no need for Daddy James and the brothers to be so cautious where she and her safety was concerned.
Sakura turned her attention to the end of the hallway then and noted a door leading outside. When, a few moments later, she came through it, she chuckled with delight. “Wow!” She found herself on the balcony, complete with picnic tables and sun umbrellas. The place was exceptionally large and spacious with a wonderful view of the forest and beach. This, she thought, would be a great place for a little party, especially during the evening when the sun was setting.
She surveyed her surroundings with intrigue, her eyes squinting against the bright sunlight as she gazed off into the distance. God, but the ocean was breathtakingly beautiful, what with such pristine blue water, which seductively enticed her to want to take a dip. Yes, she’d do that tomorrow. In fact, she imagined she’d be swimming and lazing around on the beach during the majority of the vacation. Conrad had also mentioned there was coral reef nearby, and she wondered if she could go snorkeling and exploring the beautiful underwater world.
She shaded her hand over her eyes as she expressed again, “Wow!” That was when she noticed the stairs mysteriously leading downward. Because she was a curious person, she enthusiastically started descending.
It was unexpectedly long and winding, and Sakura noted it was probably about three flights high. When she came to the landing some five minutes later, she chuckled with delight. This place was actually a beautiful exotic garden full of tropical flowers and fruit trees as well as a perfectly manicured lawn and bushes shaped in adorable animals, like a rabbit, cat, caterpillar, and birds.
“Wow!” she couldn’t help expressing again, in enchantment. “Just wow!” She chuckled as she appreciatively took in the exotic scenery and strolled about enjoying the sweet scent that was so uniquely tropical. This, she thought, was the smell of St. Thomas Island. This was indeed paradise. Heaven.
She lowered herself and inhaled the aroma of a bunch of roses, delighted. “Beautiful.”
“It is, isn’t it?”
Sakura jumped at the sound of that manly voice and hastily turned around. The moment she saw Darcy, her heart skipped a beat. She licked her lips and then greeted the man. “Hey.”
Darcy, who had just returned from a security check, came up to her and stood close. He was so close, in fact, that Sakura could feel his warm breath fanning on her skin. Of course, she didn’t miss the passionate gaze of his eyes on her person either.
“Hey,” he greeted softly in return. Then before Sakura could say anything, he leaned in and planted his lips against hers, kissing her ardently.
Sakura was at first surprised at the unexpected contact, but he smelled so good—probably because he’s been immersing himself in the beautiful tropical surroundings—and tasted so sweet—probably because he’s eaten some tropical fruit—that she found she couldn’t help herself and surrendered to his intoxicating kiss. She groaned with delight as she felt his tongue pressed hard against her lips, urging her mouth to open for him.
When she finally obliged and parted open like a flower blooming, he eagerly plunged his tongue in and kissed her, wildly and intensely.
Sakura felt her knees turn to jelly and her body quivering with delight as she clung to him for support. She groaned some more as he kissed her deeper, his tongue stroking, playing, and dancing exotically with hers.
When he finally moved back, she was breathless and dazed, collapsing against him.
Darcy embraced her tightly as he said softly into her ear, “Sorry, but I can’t seem to help myself when I see you.”
Sakura chuckled with amusement. “I know,” she said. “That’s your way of greeting me, then? Kissing me?”
He chuckled. “Yes. And how was the trip?”
Sakura moved back a little to look at his handsome face that she had missed seeing so dearly since she woke again this morning.
She nodded as she said, “It was good. And the island is so beautiful by the way.”
“It is, but then again, I’ve been here so many times, it kind of became normal for me.”
She beamed at him. “You lucky thing. I wish I had gotten to come here sooner.” The moment she said that, she regretted it immediately. Really, how could she have been able to come here during her childhood when her relationship with the brothers had been rocky at best? Not to mention both Tara and Alaina as well.
“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to imply anything nasty.”
Darcy shook his head. “I wish things would have been better back then between us. And yes, I wish you would have been able to come here sooner and spend more time with us, but… But now isn’t too late.” He gave her a dashing smile that put her heart at ease.
She was about to kiss him to show him her appreciation of his thoughtful words when Michael’s voice came to them, interrupting.
“Hey!” the boy shouted from the middle of the stairs. “Sakura! Darcy!” Then he raced down. Behind him was Akira, chuckling merrily as she descended.
Sakura stood rooted to her spot as she and Darcy watched the two heading their way. A moment later, Michael said, “Wow! This place is nice.”
Akira nodded as she looked around. “Awesome garden.”
Michael asked, “Darcy, tell us about the garden. Please?”
Darcy chuckled. “All right,” he said. “Since the staff works so hard to keep the place in such perfect condition, they and the garden deserve some much-needed appreciation.” He looked around them at the charming place. “The garden is inspired by Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland, so we call it Alice’s garden. Notice all the animal-shaped bushes? The rabbit, the cat, the caterpillar, and the flamingos?”
“Oh,” Akira said. “The white rabbit, the Cheshire cat, the caterpillar, and the flamingos from Alice in Wonderland.”
Michael nodded. “Oh, that one. It’s more for girls, isn’t it? That story?”
Sakura chuckled. “I guess so.”
Darcy said, “There’s a few paths at the edge of the garden.” He pointed to ones to the left, right, and rear. “That one leads to the forest, that one to the beach, and that one to the front of the great house and the beach house down the hill.”
“Wow!” Michael said. “We can play hide-and-seek here. And I want to walk up to the forest.”
Darcy nodded. “We can do that anytime,” he said. “But not tonight.”
Akira said, “I heard there’s bad weather coming. But it’s hard to believe since it’s so nice right now.”
Sakura had to agree with that.
It was then Conrad and Hayden appeared on the balcony. In the distance, Sakura could see them waving their hands.
“Hey,” Conrad called down.
Hayden shouted, “Come on up, guys. Let’s help prepare dinner.”
“Oh, I almost forgot about that,” Sakura said, chuckling. “I did promise Beth to help prepare dinner.”
“Even though there’s staff for that?” Darcy asked.
Sakura shrugged. “She asked me to, but I assumed she just wants to spend a little time with me.”
Darcy nodded in understanding, not forgetting that Beth loved Sakura as much as any of them since the woman had practically helped his parents raise her back on St. Joseph Island.
A few minutes later, Sakura, Darcy, Akira, and Michael, along with Hayden and Conrad, joined the others in the living room, where the men went straight to the bar area looking for some cool drinks. Meanwhile, Sakura, Akira, and Michael headed over to the kitchen to help Beth and the maids prepare dinner.