Page 19

nineteen

MOLLY

A few days passed in a blur of sex and food.

My missing curves would surely be back soon. And Cam would undoubtedly appreciate them.

Though the need the bond made me feel was intense, it also left us with plenty of time to talk.

And tease each other.

And laugh together.

Whatever darkness Cameron had been dealing with was clearly long-gone. It made me feel good to know I’d played a part in that, even though I hadn’t realized it at the time.

My wings grew stronger every day, and by the time a week had passed, I could finally carry them the way normal fae did, without letting them sag.

Working on our large breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs, and way too many hashbrowns, Cam studied me.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re looking at me weird.”

“I’m doing no such thing.” He took an emphatic bite of his bacon and didn’t look away.

“You definitely are.”

He took another bite.

“Spill the beans, Cam,” I warned.

His lips curved upward. “Alright. I’m thinking it’s time to test out those wings.”

My eyes narrowed further. “Absolutely not. Have you forgotten my fear of heights? And the way Rhett literally threw me out of a plane?”

“Just think about it. If you learn how to fly, there’s nothing to fear from heights.”

“Like hell there isn’t.”

“I’m serious, Loll.”

“So am I,” I shot back. “Drop it. I’m not doing it.”

He sighed, but agreed. “What should we do today, then?”

The sexual need was fading a lot, which meant we were going to have free time.

A lot of free time.

I considered it.

We’d already caught up on sleep, and made up for all the missed meals on the island. We’d hashed out the unknowns and issues between us, so there was none of that left.

“We could go to the beach,” he suggested, his smirk telling me he already knew how I felt about that.

I snorted. “If we’re tossing out ridiculous ideas, we could build a blanket fort and watch romcoms all day, too.”

He considered it like it wasn’t ridiculous.

“You’re not actually thinking about a blanket fort, right?” I checked.

“I am, actually.” He took another bite of bacon. “And I’m liking this idea a lot. You never invited me to watch movies with you in our apartment.”

“You never asked if you could watch with me.”

“I wasn’t allowed.”

Right.

“Do you seriously want to have a romcom marathon?” I asked.

“I think I do.”

Hot damn.

That was kind of sexy.

He finished off his bacon and lifted a finger at me. “Don’t go getting turned on before I get the chance to put this blanket fort together. It will be the perfect sex cave.”

I laughed. “You’re insane.”

“You love it.” He winked at me, and I couldn’t fight my grin.

I kind of did.

One blanket fort, a few rounds of sex, six chick flicks, and a few hours of sleep later, we were back at the table for another breakfast.

“I know what you’re going to say,” Cam began. “But I really think we should get you flying while we’re still on the island. You don’t want to adjust to being a fae without flying. It could make learning really difficult in the future.”

“Not happening.” I bit into my waffle viciously. “I have absolutely no desire.”

“But—”

“Isn’t there a pool somewhere in here? I’ve smelled chlorine a few times.”

Cam gave me a warning look. “You’re changing the subject.”

“Your mom put a new bikini in the bag. I could try it out.” I leaned over the table. “Or we could go skinny dipping.”

His eyes heated. “We need to practice flying.”

Despite his words, I could tell I was about to win the argument.

“The only time I’ve been skinny dipping was with a guy in high school,” I said.

As expected, a possessive gleam flashed in Cam’s eyes. “Where? When?”

“There was a lake outside the town. I was a junior.”

The water was so cold that we only went in to our ankles. I’d only been naked in front of the guy for a total of three seconds before I yanked my clothes on and got back in the car.

But Cameron didn’t need to know that.

Yet.

I’d tell him after he was thoroughly distracted by swimming.

“If we’re skinny-dipping in the pool, I want you naked on the beach afterward,” he finally said.

I made a face. “You know how I feel about sand.”

“You know how I feel about flight practice.”

“Pool and sand sex it is.”

Cam didn’t let me finish my breakfast before he hauled me down a hallway I’d never been through, and to a large indoor pool.

The next morning, I was running low on ideas, so I suggested hiking.

He didn’t love the idea, but I talked him into it once again.

We spent the day walking around the island, checking out absolutely everything. He knew I was just trying to avoid learning how to fly, but he held my hand and chatted with me the whole time anyway.

It was surprisingly fun.

When we got back, we showered and crashed in bed, watching another movie before we fell asleep together.

The next day, he brought his idea to the breakfast table.

“I want you to fly with me.”

I scowled.

Before I could shoot him down, he rephrased it. “You haven’t seen my phoenix form yet. I want you to fly on my back. We can look down at the Survival island while we do, to see if the next season has started filming yet.”

My unhappiness vanished. “Do you think they have?”

“Probably. There are so many fading fae, they don’t have time to wait. I’d imagine they’re a week in by now.”

Damn, I hadn’t thought about that.

I sat back in my chair, grimacing.

“You could bring the new girl a set of your clothes if you think it would help her.”

“That’s a good plan. I thought shifting would exhaust you, though.”

And I still didn’t want to deal with the heights thing.

“It will,” he agreed. “When we get back, I’ll need to sleep a lot for two or three days. Which will buy you more time to avoid learning how to fly.”

I perked right up at that. “I’ll pack a bag for her. Then, we’ll go.”

We finished our breakfast before heading upstairs together. I gathered a few things while Cam searched for his care package backpack. It was hard to decide what to pack, knowing how important every little thing was on the island, but I finally settled on a blanket, a pair of leggings, and a sweatshirt. I grabbed my toothbrush and hairbrush, too. Though she’d probably rather have fresh, clean ones, anything was better than nothing. I would’ve even shared a toothbrush with Kyle on the island if it meant having clean teeth.

“Are you sure the Society isn’t going to have an issue with this?” I asked, as I accepted the backpack he handed over.

“Nah. Seeing us again will probably increase the human views, which mean the show will continue happening. They need it to keep running, considering how many of us can’t handle Bachelorette . As long as we don’t say or do anything to affect the game’s outcome, it’ll be fine.”

I nodded.

We could keep things neutral and still make the next girl’s time a little easier.

I unzipped the backpack, and stared down into it when I saw the little box at the bottom.

Shit.

I’d forgotten about that.

I pulled it out slowly, lifting it up to show Cam. “What was going through your mind when you packed this?”

He gave me a soft smile. “I want to claim you in every way there is, Lollipop. Even the human way.”

My face warmed.

Though I was coming around to the idea that we were mates, accepting that we were married felt different. Probably because I hadn’t been raised knowing fae existed, but I’d always believed in marriage. Seeing how much my parents loved each other ensued that.

I tucked the backpack beneath my arm and opened the box.

Inside, I found the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen. There was a tastefully-large diamond in the center, with a unique halo around it that made me think of a picture frame.

“It’s beautiful, Cam.” I lifted my gaze to him. “Are you sure? Marriage seems like a pretty big step. I don’t think most fae wear wedding rings, and?—”

He plucked the box from my hand. “I’m sure, Lolli.” Pulling the ring from its resting place, he got down on one knee in front of me. When my eyes widened, he winked. “We’re already more connected than any pair of humans can be, but will you marry me?”

I bit my lip.

“Your grandma will want to watch you say I do,” he added.

“Alright, you win.” I held my hand out to him. “I will.”

He put the ring on my finger, then pulled me into his arms and kissed the hell out of me for a good solid minute.

I kissed him back just as passionately, until he pulled away.

“Now, I believe we were about to take a detour so you can avoid learning how to fly?”

“Yep!” I stuffed the things I’d gathered into the bag. Cam had to help me wrestle them down so I could get it to zip, but he did so without me asking. “Let’s get going.”

Watching him shift was incredible. I couldn’t hide my awe as he shifted from a gorgeous man to an elegant, gigantic bird. The gold on his feathers covered his entire body.

When I ran a hand down his side, he preened for me, making me laugh.

It took a minute to figure out how to get on his back, but I eventually managed. And when I did, I didn’t hesitate to lean against him.

My stomach clenched as he tensed, ready to take off, and it rushed into my throat as Cam took to the sky.

I clutched his feathers for dear life, squeezing my eyes shut as I fought off nausea. My own wings tilted naturally in response to the wind against them, but I didn’t pay them any attention.

Thankfully, I managed to keep from throwing up as Cameron leveled out in the sky. He flew much more smoothly than I expected, and after my nausea faded, I opened my eyes slowly.

We were gliding over the ocean, with tiny islands beneath us as we went. Though it scared me at first, I eventually calmed down enough to appreciate the view.

The wind rustled my hair and wings, feeling surprisingly nice against my feathers.

We didn’t have to fly for long. It must’ve only been twenty minutes later when we approached a beach I recognized too well, and saw a few familiar guys waving at us lazily.

Kyle’s shock of blonde hair caught my attention right away, and I found him grinning like usual.

And naked.

Cameron landed on the beach, but didn’t shift back. The guys there congratulated us, a few of them slapping him on the back and laughing about how he outplayed them.

I figured shifting back would be the beginning of the exhaustion he mentioned.

I noticed Rhett sitting on the edge of the sand, glassy wings sprawled behind him and a permanent scowl on his face.

Maybe Cam’s parents really had made him play. The new girl was nowhere in sight, so he couldn’t have been guarding her.

When the guys greeted me, they were nothing but polite. And the leggings and t-shirt I had on made me feel much more comfortable around them than the tiny bikini ever had.

Cam and I made our way over to Rhett after the greetings.

“So, who’s the new girl? And where is she?” I asked Rhett, scratching Cam’s feathers to say goodbye to him for a few minutes. We wouldn’t stay long, not wanting to mess with the game and risk pissing off anyone.

“Erin,” he said, giving exactly zero other information.

Hmm.

“I brought her a few things to make the island more comfortable,” I said. “I’ll go look for her.”

He nodded in the direction he thought she was, and I gave Cam one last pat before I headed off that way.

The soft sand between my toes felt much more homey than I expected.

I greeted the guys I knew in passing and waved at the one I didn’t recognize. They directed me down the beach as well, so I kept moving.

When I found Erin, she was already headed to me. Her skin was pale, her wavy, naturally red hair tied up in a ponytail on top of her head. She was built strong with killer curves, and dressed in nothing but a black sports bra and a pair of what looked like running shorts in the same color.

She raised her eyebrows when she saw me. “How the hell did they talk you into coming back here?”

I laughed. “They didn’t. I packed a few things to make your trip a little more comfortable. Any way to stick it to the Society for dropping us here.”

Her lips curved upward a little. “I can appreciate that. Thank you. Nice wings, by the way.” She gestured to the golden appendages I had a love-hate relationship with. “How is it, being a fae?”

I shrugged. “Could be worse.”

She snorted. “Could it, though?”

I said a quick goodbye before going back to Cameron. He took off from the beach, and I hollered a good luck to everyone as we flew away.

My curiosity was so strong, I didn’t have time to think about the fact that we were in the sky again.

And while my stomach still clenched a little at the distance between us and the ocean below, I felt better about it.

A lot better.

I spent the whole trip back trying to figure out what her plan must’ve been—if she had one—and when we landed, asked Cam what he thought immediately.

He shifted back, and though his expression was tired, he grinned at me in a way that said he knew something I didn’t.

“What are you hiding?” I asked.

“What will you give me for an answer?” he teased.

I stepped up to him and put my hands on his chest. “How about a blowjob?”

His eyes flashed with heat. “Deal.”

The bastard would’ve told me anyway, but I’d been wanting to see how he reacted to having my mouth on his cock for days.

He carried me through the front doors, and I made love to him with my mouth just inside the mansion.

When he told me what he’d heard from Rhett afterward, I couldn’t help but laugh.