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three

ERIN

Making friends on the island turned out to be even harder than making friends back at home.

Every time I tried to start a conversation with a guy, he would chat pleasantly for all of one minute before finding an excuse to walk away, heading right into a group of other guys.

And I wasn’t comfortable enough to talk to a whole group.

So, I went looking for someone else, until they did the same thing.

The only person I didn’t try to talk to was Rhett, because he still looked murderous. As much as I disliked my situation, and didn’t feel like I was in danger, I wasn’t ready to be killed by a gorgeous fae dude.

My frustration grew as the day went on.

The men had obviously figured out Molly’s strategy in the last season—or had at least realized that befriending her made them a target—so they were keeping things neutral with me when they weren’t in a group.

Eventually, I gave up on friendship and plopped down at the base of a tree that kept me somewhat shaded from the rain. Plenty of water still leaked through its leaves, but it was better than being out in the middle of it.

I spent the rest of the day watching the guys build. They didn’t seem fazed by the rain, chatting away as they built multiple shelters. They were a lot more effective than they had been in the episode I’d seen of the first season. Experience was probably to blame for that.

And they weren’t building one big shelter the way they had the last time. Instead, they put together four medium ones. The medium ones seemed sturdier than the large one I’d seen on the first season, which was probably necessary considering the rain hadn’t stopped.

The wind started picking up around dinner time. My teeth started chattering, but no one seemed to notice. Even if they did, they’d probably rather let me suffer than risk getting close to me.

Harker was the only fire elemental on the island, so he cooked a small pot of rice for everyone to share, blocking out the storm with his wings.

Kyle eyed me when he handed me the leaf that was functioning as my bowl. I assumed he’d been elected to give it to me since everyone assumed I wouldn’t choose him.

I probably wouldn’t, so they weren’t wrong.

“You’re cold,” he said.

“Nah,” I said, teeth still chattering.

His forehead creased in concern, and he crouched down in front of me.

My hand shook as I lifted the leaf to my lips and bit into the sticky pile of rice. The empty pit in my stomach made it the most delicious thing in the world.

“No one wants you to suffer, Erin. We’re all keeping our distances for the sake of the game, but if the weather is too much, you need to tell us.”

My frustration flared. “What will you do if it is?”

“A group of us will warm you together. We’ll take turns. It’ll be a big snuggle-fest.” He flashed me a grin.

Fuck, he was pretty.

I scoffed anyway. “I don’t want a dozen assholes taking turns touching me. This isn’t a petting zoo.”

He chuckled. “I get it. The door’s always open, though.”

With that, he stood and strode away.

My frustration swelled higher.

None of the guys were willing to risk becoming a target to help me stay warm.

That probably meant I’d be sleeping alone, too, because I wasn’t about to be sandwiched between two fae dicks.

Literally or figuratively.

Which was just grand.

I’d probably die of hypothermia on my first night playing Survival.

Yay.

My rice was gone too quickly, leaving me staring at my leaf sadly.

If only the other men had offered me their food the way they had for Molly on her season. I would’ve taken it without batting an eye.

Roaring laughter broke out in the group of men a ways behind me, and my head jerked backward to see what was going on before I could stop it.

There was a whole group of them. Maybe even all of them.

My gaze moved over the group, counting.

Eleven.

There were only eleven there.

Jordan was sitting in a tree somewhere, just watching me suffer.

So who was missing?

I raked my mind until the answer hit me hard.

I should’ve put that together immediately.

Rhett wasn’t a part of the group.

Had I even seen him around recently?

I looked back out at the ocean, frowning as I considered it.

Nope, hadn’t seen him.

He didn’t want to be on the island at all… so maybe he would agree to keep me warm?

Tenuous excitement had me making my way to my feet. My knees knocked together as I shivered violently, and I had to catch myself on a tree, but I managed.

“Erin,” Kyle called from the group. “You good?”

I looked at him long enough to give a thumbs-up, then went looking for Rhett.

The “bathroom” was empty—I called out to check, didn’t risk going close.

The main strip of beach was empty.

The shelter was too.

I was all the way across the island, nearly back to the rock I’d claimed as a seat earlier, when I finally found him.

He was sprawled out on the sand, massive legs stretched out in front of him. His shirt had been discarded, and his wings had made an appearance.

They were beautiful, and looked more masculine without the color the other men’s possessed somehow.

He’d changed into a pair of basketball shorts at some point, like most of the other men were wearing. I figured they had been in one of the supply bags, since he’d been wearing cargo shorts when we first landed.

After a moment of hesitation, a heavy gust of wind blew through the trees, and I surged forward.

Nope, I wasn’t walking away without at least asking about sharing body heat. Not even maybe.

I padded across the slushy-like sand, no longer feeling the chill between my numb toes. He didn’t look up when I stopped next to him, though I was positive he’d noticed me.

“Hey,” I said, raising my voice.

He grunted in response. I barely heard it over the wind.

“Can I sit by you?” I asked.

That didn’t get me a response either.

I was too cold to wait, so I just plopped down next to him. “I’ll take that as a yes,” I said, scooting up closer without touching him.

The bastard basically radiated heat. I guess that was a benefit of being a massive, magical fae.

My teeth chattered loudly, and Rhett finally turned his glare toward me. “You’re shivering.”

“I noticed.”

“Why aren’t you pressed up against one of the assholes who wants a mate?”

“They don’t want to risk getting voted off. Told me it was a group hug or nothing.”

“And you chose nothing?”

“I’m not looking to start my own harem.”

He let out a snort, and finally wrapped an arm around the back of me. When he slid me closer, removing the few inches I’d left between us, I almost moaned.

“I’m going to shamelessly use you for warmth,” I mumbled as I pressed my face to his gloriously bare chest.

“Let’s hope it gets me voted out.”

“I’ll cross my fingers for you,” I agreed.

He chuckled. The sound was so soft, I wondered if I’d imagined it.

“Reid and Kyle were talking about bringing you to the end just because you’d refuse if I picked you,” I said against his chest.

He grumbled. “Bastards.”

“Why are they so sure?”

“I had a mate,” he said.

I blinked. My eyelashes probably tickled his chest when I did.

I thought mating was permanent.

“Not a bonded mate,” he said. “She wasn’t compatible. Just a human.”

Oh.

So he didn’t really have a mate. He had just loved someone.

Which seemed more like a real mate to me than the loveless bond I’d end up with, but I wasn’t about to say that.

“I’ve never been interested in repeating the experience,” he said. “They’re all aware of that.”

Ah.

So it hadn’t ended well.

Or she’d grown old and he’d taken care of her until she passed on, which sounded worse in some ways. Better in others.

“Well that works out for me,” I said. “Because if it keeps raining like this, I’ll need a heater every night.”

He chuckled again.

It was still so quiet I almost wondered if I’d imagined it.

“I have a question, from one unwilling player in this game to another.” I was still speaking against his chest, but it didn’t seem to bother him.

Another strong gust of wind blew through, and I shivered a bit. One of his wings wrapped carefully around my back, blocking out all of the remaining chill. The pressure of it was surprisingly pleasant.

“Alright,” Rhett said, after a few minutes. “What is it?”

“If I were to possibly want to create some chaos, how would I do it?”

There was a moment’s pause.

A long moment.

“Why?” Rhett finally asked.

“Personal reasons that I’d rather not share.”

After a period of silence, he said, “Pheromones.”

“Pheromones?” The confusion in my voice was thick.

“Yes.”

I gave him a minute before saying, “I’m going to need you to clarify. I have no idea what you mean by that.”

He let out a slow breath.

Somehow, the sound and motion of it relaxed me. I leaned against him a little more, and he pulled me slightly closer.

“When a compatible mate starts looking for someone to share her bed with, she gives off pheromones. They pull willing fae in. It’s basically a physical sign that you’re horny.”

Oh.

I bit my lip. “And that would cause chaos, how?”

“They trigger possessiveness, which grows more difficult to control as unmated fae age. All of these men are old, so they’re bombs waiting to go off. Ignite the pheromones and flirt with someone, and you’ll start a war they can’t fight because it’s in their head.”

“Damn, you’re vicious,” I remarked.

He rewarded me with another quiet chuckle, which made my lips curve upward.

“They’re being really careful about not letting me be alone with anyone,” I said.

“You’ll have to be clever about it, then.”

My smile widened a bit more.

I was liking this plan more by the minute.

“You’ll let me sleep by you, right?” I asked, a heartbeat later. “They’re going to let me freeze unless I join their circus.”

“Thought it was a harem.”

“Same difference.”

He snorted. “No.”

“No, you won’t let me sleep by you?”

“No, it’s not the same difference.” There was a pause before he said, “I’ll let you share my warmth. Can’t let you freeze to death in your stubbornness.”

“Finally, my stubbornness gets me something I want. And something you want too, since it could make you a target.”

“We can only hope.”

I laughed, and his grip around my back tightened for a moment before relaxing again. I didn’t ask why. Maybe I surprised him or something.

Both of us fell quiet as we watched the waves roll and crash. For the first time all day, there was no water falling in my eyes, and it was glorious. I wasn’t going to move unless I had to.

“What kind of magic does everyone here have?” I asked him, after a few minutes passed. “I know all the elemental kinds, but what about the mental magic?”

Rhett let out a slow breath that had my shoulders relaxing again for some reason.

Damn, he was warm.

And strong.

But I wasn’t thinking about the last part.

Not. Thinking. About. It.

“There are four kinds of mental magic. It’s technically called glamour , though no one uses the title. There’s telepathy, which is mind reading and mental speech. Julian and Ev have that. Travis has compulsion, which can push you to do something you don’t want to. No one here has dream magic. Oren did, and was killed after he used it on Molly in the last season.”

My eyebrows shot upward.

Hot damn.

“Illusions are the last type of magic. Myself, Reid, and Colt have that.”

My eyes widened. “Illusions? Like you can make people see things that aren’t there?”

“Yes.” He confirmed it. “See, feel, smell, hear, and touch. All of the senses are involved.”

“Holy hell. Can you use it on me? I want to see.”

“Mind magic is forbidden on the island.”

“Unless the contestant gives you permission,” I countered.

Rhett grunted. “My illusions aren’t as strong as they used to be. You won’t be impressed.”

“I still want to try it.”

He made a noise of complaint, but a moment later, my world slowly started to spin.

I gripped him tighter.

When the spinning ended, I was sitting on the same beach we occupied, but in a vastly different situation.

The sun was shining above me, making my skin warm all over.

I had sunglasses on my face, dulling the shine of it, and I was sprawled out on a lounge chair.

There was a bar behind me serving drinks, and a refreshingly cold glass in my hand.

I could hear the waves rolling lightly, and could taste salt on my lips when there had been rain a moment earlier.

It didn’t feel like reality , but it did feel real , if that made sense. I could tell it wasn’t genuinely happening, but the sensations made it nice anyway.

“Damn,” I breathed, watching dolphins jump out of the water as they swam past the beach.

It was beautiful.

Calm.

Peaceful.

Warm

And despite knowing it wasn’t genuine, it felt good.

The image slowly faded away, and I noticed the water on my skin and in my hair once again.

The cold, too.

Rhett’s warmth felt even more significant against me as the illusion disappeared.

“That was amazing,” I whispered.

“And here I was, hoping you’d hate it enough to kick me off the island.”

I rolled my eyes.

Rhett couldn’t sell that lie. He might not have wanted to be there, but he had made the illusion nice for me. He obviously wasn’t trying to make me fear him.

“If I had the power to remove anyone, I’d remove Jim,” I said.

“Why Jim?”

“He made a misogynistic comment on the first episode of the last season.”

Rhett grunted.

“You don’t sound surprised,” I said.

“I’m not.”

That was all the information he was giving me on the topic, I supposed.

“So, about the pheromones,” I began. “How do I start them? Do I just think about something sexy?”

“I don’t know. I have no experience with pheromones."

Right.

"Did Molly’s start on the island?”

“Yes. After things grew intimate between her and Cam.”

Lovely.

“So I need to fuck someone?”

“Not necessarily. I think it has more to do with the emotions it causes.”

I made a face. “I’ll have to try masturbating to see if I can come up with some emotions, then.”

Rhett made a noise that told me absolutely nothing.

Before I could ask why, he let out a short breath. “Someone’s coming.”

“The whole harem, probably.”

His snort was impossible to ignore.

“Better make it look like you’re trying to feel me up if you want to piss them off enough to get you off the island,” I said.

“If I thought that would work, I’d consider it.”

I didn’t know why it wouldn’t work.

Maybe because he said they all knew he didn’t plan on taking a mate.

“Hey, Erin,” Kyle called out. “Rhett.”

I lifted a hand in a wave, barely avoiding Rhett’s wing as I did. The fae seemed careful with those, so I figured I’d better dodge them when possible.

There were three other guys with Kyle, but I didn’t glance their way. Doing so would mean removing my face from Rhett’s blissfully warm shoulder.

“We’re breaking out the desserts we found in the bags if you want some,” Kyle said. “There’s some kind of packaged brownies. And gumballs.”

“Gumballs?” My eyebrows lifted, but I didn’t lean away from Rhett’s heat.

“An assload of them,” Reid confirmed. “One of the supply bags was filled to the brim with gum.”

Well, that was a waste of space.

But thinking about gumballs brought back good memories. Memories of putting a coin in a machine at a rundown mall as a child, and inevitably getting my least-favorite color every time.

My lips curved upward slightly.

Maybe the gumballs weren’t a waste of space after all.

“I’m stuck wherever Rhett is, since no one else is willing to keep me warm without turning it into a sharing situation,” I told Kyle and his gang.

All of the men looked at Rhett.

Refusing to move would probably help his case against staying on the island. But instead, he dipped his head. “It’s about time to call it a night anyway.”

When Rhett stood, I went with him, still leaning against his side. He left his arm over my shoulders, relaxingly heavy and blissfully warm.

The other guys chatted all the way back to the unfinished shelters, and through the plasticky, packaged brownie desserts we shared.

Everyone chewed gumballs while the conversation continued, and we’d barely made a dent in them when everyone turned in for the night.

Rhett and I took the far end of one of the shelters. Rain was still pouring down on us, and the leaves over our heads didn’t do nearly as good a job of blocking the water as I would’ve hoped.

He settled on his back, with his side against Ev’s. Like all the other men, he’d put his wings and horns away for the sake of sleeping, which meant I couldn’t use them as an umbrella anymore.

But I’d survive.

He gestured me toward him when he was comfortable—or as comfortable as he could be on a lumpy bamboo platform while it rained.

After a moment of hesitation, the cold made up my mind for me.

I got cozy on my side, my front to Rhett’s hip while I tried to press as much of my body to his as I could. I was so close to the edge of the shelter that it was a balancing act, but the fae were massive, so I’d expected that.

Luckily, one of them would be going home the next day. That would mean more space, I hoped.

“I usually sleep like a starfish,” I whispered. “I’m sorry in advance if I end up sprawling over you during the night.”

He grunted.

I felt bad, but not bad enough to try my luck with the harem.

So, I just closed my eyes and tried to sleep. I expected it to take a while, but I was out almost immediately.