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five

ERIN

The first thought to cross my mind when I woke up was that Rhett’s cock was huge.

Huge , huge.

And nestled in the fold where my leg met my pelvis, thick and hard and way too close to my core.

Which was exactly where I wanted him, even if there wasn’t a chance in hell I could admit that out loud.

His chest rose and fell steadily, his arms draped over my back and lower waist. I could feel how relaxed he was—in everywhere except that particular place—and knew he was really sleeping.

Rain was still dripping onto my back from the leaves that made up our roof, and I could still hear it falling.

So, we weren’t done with that particular hell.

On the plus side, it was the perfect opportunity to work on those feelings Rhett had mentioned.

Wanting someone to share a bed with.

The horniness.

My face heated, my eyes still closed.

I needed to make myself want sex, and there was an obvious focus for that particular desire at the moment.

Rhett.

I let my thoughts linger on his cock, and considered what it might feel like if I shifted my weight a little.

Just enough to line him up with my center.

I imagined the feel of his thick erection against my clit.

His hands finding my ass and rocking me the way he wanted to, too.

His mouth taking mine, our bodies moving together, until?—

One of Rhett’s arms tightened around my upper back.

The other slid down to my ass, until a large hand was gripping one of my cheeks like he owned it.

My face burned.

Desire clenched my lower belly.

I didn’t move.

Not when I was waiting for him to decide what he was going to do next.

A moment passed, then another.

And finally, he released me entirely. His erection throbbed against me violently.

I slipped off of him before opening my eyes and striding down the beach. My hands were shaking, so I shoved them in the pockets of my soaked running shorts. Rain was still falling hard, but I barely noticed it.

The zippers were scratchy against my wrists, and the pockets themselves were uncomfortably small.

I left my hands in them anyway.

The need in my lower belly didn’t dissipate with the distance like I hoped it would. My guard had threatened any guys who tried flirting with me, so it had been years since I had sex—and apparently, now that it was an option again, my body liked the idea.

A lot.

I kept moving until I was far enough away that no one could see or hear me. Stepping behind a tree, I pressed my back up against it.

My chest rose and fell rapidly, the base of my palm pushing hard against my sternum.

I itched to put my hands between my thighs, but I knew Jordan was watching me, and wasn’t interested in giving him a show.

On top of that, any of the men could come looking for me at any time. It was light enough that they’d be waking up soon, if they weren’t already up.

As if to confirm my thoughts, Harker and Jim came walking up to me. They hadn’t been in the shelter with me and Rhett, so I didn’t think they’d seen the way I was laying on top of him.

“You okay, Erin?” Harker asked, a look on his face I couldn’t read.

I was still breathing fast. “Yep.”

He waited. I assumed he was waiting for an explanation.

Jim waited too.

“Just had an intense dream,” I said.

Understanding dawned in Harker’s eyes.

Jim’s lips curved wickedly. “I can help with that.”

Harker smacked him on the arm, but Jim didn’t so much as flinch.

The bastard had just propositioned me, and we all knew it.

I didn’t like him—but I couldn’t get that mental image of me and Rhett out of my head.

And I didn’t think Jim would actually go through with anything when he knew it would make him a target.

But… chaos.

I was there for chaos.

So, I nodded. “That would be great. Can you give us some space, Harker?”

Harker’s eyes widened with disbelief. “No, that’s?—”

Jim’s gleamed. “You heard the woman, Hark.”

He strode toward me.

My stomach clenched tighter.

I didn’t want Jim, but I did need to get my mind off Rhett…

And if he was actually willing…

Oh, who was I kidding?

I couldn’t screw the guy. Not when I disliked him, and was attracted to Rhett.

But I could wreak a little havoc and make sure no one realized it was Rhett I had steamy dreams about.

“Jim,” Harker warned.

“Fuck off.” Jim set his hands on my hips. I didn’t like having my back to a tree when he was the one pinning me, but I couldn’t do anything about it without walking away from the opportunity. “Your pheromones smell delicious, Erin. Are they for me?”

“You tell me.” I tipped my head back.

His eyes moved over my lips for a long moment before he leaned down and kissed me.

I’d been kissed before, though it had been more than four years since the last time. I had liked kissing. I’d kissed strangers in bars, and had one-night-stands that involved leaving before the men woke up.

But his lips made me rethink my past enjoyment.

The kiss was fine, but not spectacular.

He tasted wrong , somehow. I wasn’t sure what the problem was, but there was a problem.

And while I knew I didn’t want to keep kissing him, I didn’t let myself pull away. Because finding a mate who wouldn’t hurt me was crucial—and chaos was exactly what I needed to make that happen.

So, I buried my hands in his hair and went up on my tiptoes, pressing my front to his. His hands moved up my waist and over my breasts, squeezing one of them hard.

I grabbed his wrist and put his hand on my waist, silently telling him to quit groping me.

The kiss went on for a few minutes before Jim vanished.

I opened my eyes at the sudden loss, and blinked when I saw his back slam into a tree.

At first I thought it was Rhett moving him—but after a minute, I realized the man’s haircut was wrong and his skin was a few shades different.

Ev.

Ev was the one who’d ripped Jim away from me.

Thank you, Ev.

“What the fuck, Jim?” Ev snarled. “We’re all here competing for her, and you think grabbing her fucking tits is a good idea?”

“She offered,” Jim said. “If you had the opportunity, you’d?—”

“I’d tell her I’ll make her mine in every fucking way after she’s made me her mate. Touching someone else’s woman is a damn good way to get yourself voted off, if you survive until the council,” Ev snapped.

Despite the unpleasant taste of Jim in my mouth, I watched their interaction with rapture.

I’d done it.

I’d started the chaos.

And he’d mentioned my pheromones, so I must’ve ignited those when I got all lusty about Rhett.

Guess I just needed to fantasize about the grumpy bastard every night, and chaos would ensue.

Perfect.

The guys continued arguing, and I slipped away before they could bring me into the fight.

Though I wanted desperately to wash the scent of both my desire and Jim off my skin, I needed to leave it. The rain would remove enough of it—and whatever lingered would piss off the other guys, I hoped.

I passed a few other men heading toward the snarling males in the forest, but didn’t slow until I reached the shelter area and sat down a few trees away from where Rhett was positioned. He was sitting down on his ass, his back to a tree.

Despite the chill in the air, my heart was beating fast enough that I wasn’t cold.

I sat down two trees away from him, in case he could smell Jim’s scent and it would bother him or something.

“What did you do, Chaos?” His voice was low enough that no one else might’ve heard.

I shrugged, fighting back a grin. “Nothing.”

Rhett shook his head at me slowly.

Two men came jogging out of the forest, murder in their eyes.

“Did you fuck Jim?” one of them growled at me. It was Travis. He was with Ian, the new guy.

Maybe Travis wasn’t as laid-back as I thought.

“Did I?” I let my eyes widen as if I didn’t know what he was talking about.

Travis snarled, and Ian set a hand on his shoulder, though his expression was tight too.

“Let’s get the story from the source,” Ian said, much calmer.

“She is the?—”

“Now,” Travis’s said sharply. Ian stiffened for a moment before both men headed into the forest.

“You were only in the jungle with him for five minutes,” Rhett said. “Not long enough to fuck. And Harker was with you.”

“Not long enough for you to fuck, maybe,” I drawled.

He lifted an eyebrow at me. “Even if you climaxed in five seconds , we would only be getting started. A woman doesn’t leave my bed until she’s forgotten her own name.”

If I hadn’t been wet between my thighs before he said that, I definitely was after.

“Your plan was supposed to involve flirting . Not anything more physical than that. You don’t want anyone to die.”

“My plan was chaos,” I corrected. “And no one will kill each other over what we did.”

“If you did anything more than snuggle up with Jim, he’ll come back bruised and bleeding.”

I rolled my eyes, but I did remember Cameron burning his scent off Molly’s skin after their hug.

And when Jim came back, he was bleeding.

Bruised, too.

And limping.

I bit my lip to hide my grimace.

Maybe Rhett was right. I needed to be sneaky about it if I decided to kiss anyone else.

Though, after the experience, I wasn’t exactly dying to do so again.

The rest of the day was tense.

And rainy.

No one spoke to me for more than a few seconds.

When the sun finally set, I was more than ready for one of the guys to leave.

The council area had been simple and bland in the first season, but we discovered that ours was nicer when we arrived. There were large wooden logs for benches, a massive canopy over our heads, and a fire burning in the center. The floor was some kind of wood planking, keeping us off the wet sand.

There were two comfortable-looking chairs across from the logs.

I sat down in one of them when Jordan gestured me toward it, and immediately lifted my soaked, wrinkled feet up toward the fire.

Dry, warm toes would feel amazing.

Jordan didn’t waste any time with pleasantries, just passing out the voting papers and markers. When he said the word, everyone voted, and he collected all of the papers.

I watched, silently hoping a fight would break out or something, just so I could stay beneath the canopy and near the fire a little longer.

But, there was no fight.

And reading the votes didn’t take long at all.

Jim.

Reid.

Jim.

Jim.

Jim.

Jim.

Jim.

Jim.

Jim.

Jim.

Jim.

The dragon bastard winked at me and blew a kiss before he sauntered out from beneath the canopy.

I wasn’t at all sad to see him go.

And despite the blood and bruises I’d caused, one thing was clear:

I could influence the game through chaos while figuring out which of the men could stay controlled despite it.

And I intended to do exactly that.

The mood was dark as everyone made their way back to the shelters. That was my fault, but I didn’t feel bad about it.

They were playing a game for their lives, yes, but they had been given the opportunity to choose to play.

I hadn’t.

When we called it a night, I followed Rhett back to the place we’d slept the last time. He hadn’t snuggled to keep me warm that evening, but I hadn’t needed him to. It hadn’t been quite as cold as the night before.

“Is it still okay if I sleep next to you?” I asked him quietly, feeling many sets of eyes on me.

“As long as you scrub Jim’s scent off your skin first.”

Oh.

Considering the possessiveness he’d warned me about, that seemed fair.

I nodded, slipping down to the beach.

I didn’t notice the man sitting on the sand until I was almost on top of him, and jumped when he waved.

“Dammit, Kyle,” I hissed. “Don’t surprise me like that.”

He chuckled. “It wasn’t intentional. Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” I slipped into the water, only going in to my waist. It felt warmer than the air, despite the falling rain, so I didn’t mind.

It didn’t take long to scrub myself down, including rinsing my mouth with the salt water just to be safe. Kyle was still sitting there when I emerged.

I waved at him on my way back up the beach, and he mirrored the motion.

The cold air and rain had me shivering by the time I got back to the shelter. There was sand stuck to my feet and legs, and I was regretting my agreement to get in the water.

When I reached Rhett, I curled up against his side without hesitation.

He grunted at the contact.

The jerk probably regretted sending me back to the water too.

But he didn’t complain when I pressed more of my icy skin against his insanely warm side.

And once again, I fell asleep way too quickly.