Page 8

eight

MOLLY

The next three days were… odd.

The men gave me more space than before, which was appreciated, but they started looking at me differently.

Like they didn’t just want me as a mate, but wanted me , wanted me.

Kyle, Ev, and Reid all started walking around absolutely naked. When I asked them why they’d stripped down, training my eyes on their faces, they lied about wanting to be comfortable.

Cameron had a stupidly attractive smirk on his face every single day. I itched to ask him why he was so happy, but couldn’t sneak away long enough to meet up with him.

The other guys were staying up as late as I did.

They’d sprawl out beside the fire and stare at me.

It was unnerving.

Though I had a feeling that something was going on without me realizing it, there was nothing I could do about it, so I tried to ignore the staring and the attempts at nude seduction or whatever. No one was touching me or trying to talk me into anything, so it wasn’t really bothering me.

And hey, the guys were nice to look at.

On day eight, there was no vote. Oren had taken care of that for us. The men participated in a mud race instead, which ended with me on yet another date with Kyle.

He still didn’t put pants on, despite the mud in places that had likely never seen sun before.

We ate steak together on an empty beach, and I finally asked him the question that had been on my mind for days.

“Why are all of you acting weird? It wasn’t like this when we first got here. Everyone was wearing pants. And don’t give me some bullshit about comfort.”

I didn’t gesture to his junk.

It seemed unnecessary.

“Oh, that. We can smell your pheromones.”

“My what-a-mones ?”

“Your pheromones.” Kyle cut a gigantic chunk of steak and popped it in his mouth. “When a compatible mate starts actively wanting someone to share her bed, her scent changes as her pheromones activate. Male fae within a hundred miles can smell it. That’s how we used to find mates before the game shows started.”

He spoke with food in his mouth, but by the grace of whatever insane genetics he had, still managed not to be revolting as he did.

My eyes narrowed. “You’re telling me you guys started walking around naked because you think I’m horny ?”

“Horny for a mate.” He ruffled his hair. “I’m here and willing, by the way, should you ever need to scratch an itch.”

“Oh, screw off,” I grumbled, leaning back in my chair. As tired as I was of fish, I didn’t think I could eat anymore steak. My stomach was too twisted.

The pheromones weren’t wrong.

I was horny.

Not for a mate, but for Cam.

Who wanted me as his mate.

So…

Dammit.

I had been thinking about our tryst on the beach way too often. Maybe if I could stop thinking about it, and about him, I could get the pheromones to go away.

“Would the smell fade if I hooked up with someone?” I asked.

Kyle snorted. “Only if it was bad. And fae are very good at sex.”

Yeah, I’d realized that.

Cam and I hadn’t even taken our clothes off, and it had still been the best sexual encounter of my life. Not that I had anything good to compare it to.

“So how do I get rid of the pheromones?” I asked.

“Take a mate.”

“How do you take a mate?”

“I’m not technically allowed to say until after the show’s over. But it’s pretty simple. Basically just involves sex and magic.”

Was that what Cam was talking about when he mentioned getting me off with his fire?

Because I’d been thinking about that too much, too. Way too much.

Kyle inhaled deeply, his chest rumbling. “Your pheromones just got stronger. You totally want to fuck me.”

“No, I don’t.” I set my fork down, giving up on the rest of my food entirely.

The giant sitting across from me would eat it.

He chuckled, but sure enough, finished both of our plates in record time.

Things were just as weird when we made it back to the shelter. Since there were still three more days before another vote, things were more laid-back.

But Harker had stopped wearing pants too.

Yay.

When day eleven finally came around, I was long-past ready to boot someone else off the island. A lot of someones , I hoped. Every someone who wasn’t wearing pants, in fact. And a few others too.

I still hadn’t managed to get away with Cam, which meant I was stupidly horny.

And probably even more pheremoney . Which was not a word, but I was too annoyed to care.

Everyone was watching me like a damn hawk.

After my conversation with Kyle, they all thought I was going to jump into bed with someone, and hoped to be that someone.

The boat ride to the challenge that day was far too long. I managed to tuck myself between two guys who weren’t in the nude, thankfully. Neither of which was Cameron.

As much as I didn’t like that, I still wasn’t risking exposing his plan. He’d be off the island ridiculously fast if anyone found out.

And that was the last thing we wanted.

I had tried to talk to Kaden as much as possible, but he was avoiding me for the sake of attempting to stay in the game. I hoped my effort was enough, but wasn’t expecting it to work in my favor.

If it didn’t, Cam would just have to figure out a way to get Kaden out on his own. I saw him chatting with all the other men often enough that I was hopeful he could manage it.

The challenge was a complex puzzle. The prize was a snorkeling date to a large reef nearby and a meal on the way there.

For once, Kyle didn’t win.

Ev did, however. He was the other telepath, which made me a little nervous.

He got to pick another guy to go with us, and surprised me by choosing Jim.

We wouldn’t be getting back from the reef until after that night’s vote, which made me nervous, but I had to hide those nerves. As far as the guys knew, I wasn’t in favor of anyone.

Except possibly Kaden.

The boat they’d provided to take us to the reef was much bigger than the usual speedboat, so there was space for us to get comfortable. I sat on the ledge near the front so I had a good view, my legs dangling off the side. Ev and Jim sat on either side of me.

They were two of the men I knew the least, so I was actually kind of looking forward to talking to them. There was still a chance Cam could get booted, and I would have to choose someone else. In case that did happen, I needed to get to know everyone.

Then again, how well did I even know Cameron?

I didn’t know much of anything about his life before guarding me. He’d never told me about his past, or who he was outside his job.

I knew he had a lot of connections, and had somehow used those connections to get himself set up as my guard, but that was it.

Still, I trusted him.

Mostly.

And yeah, I wanted him.

Insanely.

But at the rate things were going, I would know more about Kyle than I did about Cam.

Which made me less than certain about my plan.

I did trust him not to hurt me, though. Which was more than I could say about anyone else on the island, except maybe Rhett.

“Finally, I get a break from Kyle,” I drawled, as the ocean’s spray tickled my legs.

Jim snorted. “It’s a miracle. That asshole’s been driving all of us crazy since day one.”

I smiled. “You could vote him out and save all of us from the suffering.”

“We could… but you’re not going to pick him,” Ev said with a grin. “So he’s a safe choice to take to the end.”

I rolled my eyes. “Sanity should come before safe choices.”

“Survival has to come before sanity,” Ev corrected.

I gave a dramatic sigh, and both men chuckled.

“So you’re an accountant?” Ev asked me, as the ride continued.

“Yep.” I nodded confirmation. “Money became an even bigger problem for humans when the world was moving toward its end, so accounting seemed safe. And I always liked math. It’s been steady since you guys stepped in and started all this game show stuff, so I can’t complain.”

“Do you enjoy it?” Jim asked.

“Yeah. I actually kind of miss my job. They skipped over me every time it came to promotions, because I had to disclose that I was a compatible mate, but I still liked it. I had friends there. Or at least enough acquaintances to have fun at work.”

“Do you think you’ll want to go back there after the show is over?”

“I don’t think anything about when the show is over. The Society made it very clear that I have to live wherever my mate wants me to live. I figured I’d be expected to pop out babies and keep the house clean or some shit like that.”

Jim made a face. “Sounds like hell.”

“To me, yeah.” I shot him a curious look. “But why does it sound like that to you?”

“You’ve got ten ancient fae on this show, Molly. None of us are looking to settle down. We’ve been settled down for far too long, and we want change. Passion. Sex. Fun.”

“No one told me that,” I said, suddenly unsure about what to expect from the future. “They told me to pack my things because I’d be moving in with my mate after the show ended, whether I liked it or not.”

“They probably just needed the apartment for another compatible mate and their guard,” Ev said.

I bit my lip.

I hadn’t gotten any information about what to expect my life to look like. I hadn’t asked any of the fae what they wanted to do with their futures, either. I assumed that because they were unmated, and couldn’t reproduce without a mate, they would be looking to have lots of babies.

Maybe I was wrong.

Hopefully I was wrong.

“It’s very difficult for fae women to get pregnant,” Ev added.

“I’m not a fae woman.”

“You will be, when you’re mated. Your mate’s power will become yours as well.”

Oh.

Damn.

I hadn’t known that, either.

“The Society should really put that information in their welcome handbook,” I finally said.

“There’s a welcome book?” Jim’s eyebrows lifted like he was impressed.

“No. They should make one, though.”

The look he gave me said that wasn’t going to happen.

Ev gave me an apologetic smile. “I’ll see if I can do anything about it after the game’s over.”

“You have connections in the Society?” I asked.

“Kind of.”

“Who are the most connected?”

“Cameron, then Chris. Travis would be a close third. Cam’s the only one who knows everyone, though.”

He’d told me as much.

“Does having connections make them a risk?” I wondered.

Ev shrugged. “Not really. Knowing you well would be the biggest risk factor, after we’ve exhausted everyone you show interest in.”

My stomach tightened a little.

He was talking about someone in particular, and there was only one person who fit the bill.

“No one here knows me,” I said.

“Cameron lived with you. Even if you don’t get along, he likely knows your favorite foods. Your favorite movies. The way you dress. How you do your hair. If you get your nails done. The places you like to shop. What treat you buy when you’ve had a bad day. Where?—”

“I get it,” I said, interrupting him.

The twist in my stomach was starting to become a knot.

“But I think I’ve made it pretty clear I have no interest in mating with him. He kept the truth from me for years, and I would never tie myself to someone that comfortable with lying to me.”

Ev nodded. “I believe that. But he does have allies. And if he knows you as well as he should after guarding you, he can tell his allies exactly how to win you over, giving any of them the upper hand.”

My forehead creased. “That’s ridiculous. Knowing what I like to wear isn’t an advantage for anyone.”

“We’ll have to agree to disagree,” Ev said casually.

The knot in my stomach remained.

“Maybe we should target Cam next,” Jim suggested.

“Let’s not talk about the game anymore,” Ev said, cutting a look at Jim.

He was totally planning that.

Ev was going to go after Cameron.

The knot in my stomach tightened.

I was going to have to get Cam alone so I could warn him.

The guys spent the rest of the trip telling me about their lives, and I listened as actively as I could. If I didn’t play along, they’d realize I was worrying.

And they needed to sincerely believe that I wasn’t working with Cameron.

So, I acted like I was enjoying the date while I hoped desperately that Cam would still be on the beach when we got back.