Page 7

seven

MOLLY

The guys left me alone for around half an hour before I heard footsteps on the sand.

My stomach tensed.

The intruder sat down beside me, leaving a solid two-foot gap, and my body relaxed slightly when I caught a whiff of Cameron’s scent.

He always smelled good.

How had I never noticed that before?

“What happened on the island, Loll?” Cam cut right to the chase.

“You shouldn’t be here. People will see you.”

I wiped at a tear that escaped.

Dammit, I wasn’t supposed to cry.

“The guys all voted me over here since I’m the one you hate who isn’t always touching you. It was between me and Kyle. They weren’t about to send someone you might actually hug.”

A teary laugh escaped me.

“Shh. Try not to look like you’re having fun,” he whispered.

“They can’t even see me. I’m hidden behind a rock.”

“I know. They can see me, though.”

I nodded.

“What happened?” He cut to the chase again.

My face burned. “I don’t know.”

“Molly,” he warned.

When he pulled out my actual name, I knew he wasn’t joking around anymore.

“I had sex dreams,” I whispered. “I never have sex dreams.”

“About Oren?” The words were growled.

“About multiple different guys here. I thought it might’ve been because of him, but he was sleeping. So it couldn’t have been his magic, right? Maybe I’m just tired, or losing my mind, or?—”

“Fae always look like they’re sleeping when they’re using dream magic,” Cameron said sharply. “Did you tell Rhett?”

“No. I wasn’t going to get him involved if I was just horny for the first time in forever.”

Cam leaned closer to me, his eyes flooded with something I’d never seen before. It almost looked like… violence.

“Oren attacked you when he put those dreams in your head. I should’ve warned you what it would look like when he did, and I’m sorry for that. Would you like to be the one to inform Rhett, or should I?” His voice was calm.

Too calm.

There was no teasing and no sarcasm, for once.

“I should probably do it,” I whispered. “I just don’t want to.”

“I would be thrilled to handle this, Lolli.”

As much as I wanted to be the kick-ass woman who dealt with that shit herself, his offer felt like a weight off my shoulders.

I could do it… but he could too.

And if he wanted to, I didn’t think it would hurt to let him. It would just make things slightly easier for me.

So I nodded.

He took my hand, squeezed it, then strode across the sand.

I peered over the rock to watch him go.

My eyes widened when his wings emerged from his back, his horns growing on his head as he shifted forms.

I gasped when he burst into flames before swinging his fist at Oren’s face.

Hard.

Blood, curses, and magic spewed.

A solid thirty seconds of shock passed before the other guys ripped them away from each other.

I was far enough away that I couldn’t hear what Cameron spat at a few of the guys—but I did hear the resulting snarls.

All hell broke loose for two minutes before Rhett looked at me. His expression was dark.

I resisted the urge to duck behind my rock again.

Shook my head instead.

Rhett grabbed Oren from the pile of attackers, ignoring the blood dripping from multiple wounds, and shoved him up against a tree.

I stayed where I was as a few of the men crossed the beach, heading toward me. Cameron wasn’t one of them.

“Rhett sent for a telepath to validate the claim,” Kyle growled, remaining beside the other men. “He’ll be here within ten minutes, and he’ll need to talk to you.”

I stood.

None of them tried to touch me or move closer to me.

“We’ll kill him ourselves when we get permission,” Chris said.

All of them looked pissed.

And while that probably should’ve scared me, it actually made me feel a little bit better.

The conversation with the telepath was short. He pulled the truth from my mind quickly, confirming that Oren had, in fact, invaded my dreams.

He was supposed to force Oren off the island with him, but Oren was dead so fast he didn’t get the chance.

I wasn’t positive which of the men killed him, but the burns on his skin told me I knew.

All of the guys were angry that the rules had been broken, but none of them were anywhere near as protective of me as Cam.

Everyone gave me space for the rest of the day.

When night came around, Travis kindly offered to give me his shelter away from the rest of the men. I thanked him and accepted, since I had a blanket to stay warm after the last challenge.

Hidden just out of their sight, I stayed awake until the last of them was asleep.

Cameron did too.

When it had been silent for long enough, Cam finally left his own shelter, stepping into my view and tilting his head toward our beach.

He disappeared, but I knew he’d be walking there alone just to buy us a little more security.

When I reached the sand, his arms went around me so fast, I sucked in a breath as he crushed me to his chest. After a moment’s surprise, mine went around him too, and I hugged him back almost as tightly as he held me.

“I’m so fucking sorry, Loll.” His words were muffled against my ear. Muffled, and angry. “I should never have let that happen.”

“There was nothing you could do.”

“I could’ve been out of that maze in ten minutes flat,” he growled back. “I should’ve been on that island with you. I should’ve been watching that bastard and keeping you safe. I should’ve?—”

“You’re holding back so you don’t look like a threat,” I interrupted. “Right?”

“Of course I am. I’m not leaving this game without your soul tied to mine.”

“If you were on that island with me, you could’ve been voted out the next time. You had to be here. I need you with me at the end so I don’t have to marry a stranger, Cam.” My voice shook a little.

“I know, Loll.”

“So stop blaming yourself. It happened, but it’s over. I’m okay.”

“You’ve been pale and quiet all day. You’re not okay.”

I let out a long breath and shook my head against his chest. “I’m not… I don’t know. It was just… I’ve never liked sex. I’m just confused.”

Cam squeezed me, then eased us both to the sand. I ended up on his lap again, like I had the last two times we met there, but it felt different.

More comfortable.

More intimate, maybe.

“I heard you use your vibrator in the shower a few times a week, Lollipop. You like sex,” he said, his eyes meeting mine.

It should’ve felt weird to be sitting on Cam’s lap. And talking about that, with him of all people. We’d been enemies. Or at least rivals.

Or maybe just friends who liked to argue. I wasn’t sure what to call us anymore.

But it didn’t feel weird.

It felt safe.

And right.

“I like orgasms ,” I corrected.

“You do know that sex is a way to have orgasms with another person, right?”

I rolled my eyes. “I know that’s the theory, but it doesn’t really work like that. Never did for me, at least.”

“You didn’t have the right partner, then.”

“You’re not wrong about that. I guess I convinced myself that there was no right partner. And the dreams just… surprised me.”

“Did you dream about me?” His gaze was curious, in a dark way that made me a little warm.

“No.”

“Did you want to?”

“I would’ve preferred it over dreaming about them.”

He tapped my temple. “I don’t like knowing you have mental images of the other men on this island fucking you. I really don’t like knowing you don’t have one of me in there too.”

“Don’t you?” I drawled.

“No. And I’m tempted to do something about that, Lolli.”

“Like what?”

“Like slip my hand into these ridiculously small shorts and play with your clit until I get to watch you come on my lap.”

My cheeks flushed.

Wetness gathered between my thighs.

“Doesn’t exactly sound sexy,” I lied.

“Maybe you’d have more fun if I set you down on this rock, stripped you bare, and buried my face between those pretty little thighs so I could taste your pleasure.” His thumb dragged slowly over my hip.

I arched against his erection, just a little bit. Neither of us had ever mentioned it, but his desire for me had been clear every time we were on the beach like that.

“Still not very convincing,” I said, my chest rising and falling a little faster.

He leaned his head down until his lips brushed the shell of my ear. I tilted to the side a little, giving him more access, and he lifted a hand to the back of my neck. His thumb brushed the side of it lightly, making me shiver.

“You’d rather I just cut this tiny bikini off your body and fuck you hard on this sand until we come together, wouldn’t you, Lollipop? You want my release inside you, telling every man on this island that you’re mine.”

I was breathing so fast I was panting.

My breasts pressed hard against his chest with every rough inhale.

He undid the button on my shorts with one hand, easing them down my thighs. They’d gotten looser with every day we survived on nothing but fish.

When they hit the sand, he opened my thighs wider and set me up over the erection straining against his shorts.

I took an unsteady breath in at the delicious pressure of him.

My eyes fluttered closed.

My head tipped back.

His teeth caught my earlobe and tugged lightly.

“Use me, Lolli,” he murmured.

It was the sexiest thing anyone had ever said to me.

My hips moved slowly, then faster, as I ground myself against him. He kneaded my ass slowly as I got myself closer and closer to the edge.

His cock felt huge, and his heat made me want more of him pressed against me.

Not just against me, either.

I wanted him inside me.

Filling me.

Making me his.

Bringing him pleasure too.

Making me hot in every way there was, as?—

He pressed his lips to mine, swallowing my cries of pleasure as I found the release I’d been seeking. My channel clenched around nothing, but the climax was still fierce.

He dragged his tongue over my top lip before he let my mouth go. “You’re fucking gorgeous.”

I leaned against him, my forehead on his cheek as I pressed my chest to his just a little tighter. “That was so good.”

“Better than your vibrator, huh?”

“Way better.”

“You love sex, Lollipop. Or at least, you’ll love it with me.”

Goosebumps broke out on my skin. “Maybe.”

He chuckled. “You’ll see. The next time you want me to sneak out here with you, just give me the nod after everyone’s asleep.”

Cameron grabbed my shorts, turned me around on his lap, and tugged them back up my legs.

“I can get myself dressed,” I said, still just a little dazed.

“I know you can.” He abandoned the shorts halfway up my thighs. My body clenched when his long, strong fingers slipped into the front of my bikini bottoms and slowly freed the fabric from my folds.

When he was done, he finished pulling my shorts up and buttoned them back in place.

He lifted his finger to his lips and sucked lightly to clean it. His chest rumbled against my back, and I fought to ignore the desire that was pooling between my legs once again.

“After you’re mine,” he murmured, lips brushing my ear again. “I’ll be able to make you come with my fire.”

“How?”

“When you choose me, you’ll find out.” He kissed my cheek. “I’m going to have to burn the scent of pleasure off your skin. Need me to get you off again first?”

My face flushed. “No, I don’t need another climax.”

“Good. I don’t think I could let you put these clothes on again if I took them off right now.”

“They barely count as clothes. Everyone in the world is seeing pretty much my whole bod…” I trailed off, my gaze lifting to the sky.

Sure enough, there were cameras trained on us. Hidden cameras, but seeing through their camouflage had become easy for me.

“Shit,” I whispered. “We totally just made a porno.”

Cam snorted. “Neither of us was naked.”

“Still.”

“When I fuck you on this beach, I’ll make sure to keep us covered with my wings,” he said, his voice playful again.

“That’s never going to happen,” I tossed back.

“Whatever you say, Lollipop.” He sucked lightly on my shoulder before his fire raced up and down my skin. “We better take a dip in the ocean just to make sure I erased the scent entirely.”

I nodded.

“You’re aware that you’re not letting any other male on this island touch you like I just did, right?” he asked.

I rolled my eyes at him, but confirmed.

We headed down to the water hand-in-hand before making our way back to the shelters separately.

Even biting my lip, I couldn’t wipe my smile off my face the whole way back.