Page 25 of Wild Wolf

“No cock sucking,” Rosalie decided firmly.

“A ball rub?” he asked.

“No,” she said.

“A finger up the butt?” he suggested, glancing my way. “You can do it to Ethan while I watch, you might find a trinket or two up there. It’s how he carries his coin purse around.”

“I do not,” I snipped.

“Sure you don’t,” Sin said, tossing me a wink and I scowled.

I moved to lean against the back railing, guiding the ocean beneath our boat and pushing us onward while Sin headed off to swing on the boom of the main sail.

Rosalie stayed with me as the others peeled off too and I noticed Cain pressing a hand to Hastings’ shoulder. I caught a snippet of the praise he handed his guard buddy for dealing with the FIB and Hastings’ neck turned red, his chin lifting as he smiled at Cain.

Rosalie climbed up to sit on the rail, her legs swinging beneath her as she tipped her head back to look at the stars. “Do you think they’re on our side tonight?”

“I think any creature that is watching you would be compelled to assist you in any way it could. The stars included.”

“You’re a sweet talker, Ethan Shadowbrook,” she said with a dry look. “Full of the best kind of bullshit.”

“No, love. I say it how it is. I call the sky blue and the grass green. You’re the reason this plan has any hope of working. Because I believe the stars can’t help but play favourites sometimes, and right now, you’re their most prized treasure.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The night was balmy, the moon hanging low over the ocean and the repetitive lapping of the waves against the boat sounding like the hands of a clock ticking down. Ahead of us, where we expected Grimolda Isle to be, there was nothing but darkness, and yet we remained on course.

My skin prickled as we moved across the ocean, the night full of whispers and secrets. Ahead of us, the world grew even darker, the waves themselves fading into a black so impenetrable that it seemed unnatural.

“That’s one hell of a concealment spell,” Cain muttered at my side, my red hair blowing over my face in response to the wind caused by his sudden arrival.

“I guess they don’t want to be found,” I agreed, my eyes sweeping from one edge of that impenetrable darkness to the other as I tried to figure out the scale of the hidden island ahead of us.

“This thing isn’t going to be pretty,” Cain said, his hand curling around the wooden rail that lined the deck of the boat. His black shirt was unbuttoned at his throat and I moved closer to him, hooking my fingers through another button and pulling that free too, revealing more of his muscled chest.

“Pretty never suited me anyway,” I purred, my finger roaming down to his next button before I withdrew it, leaving him swallowing thickly and forcing his eyes back out over the water.

All of the fear I’d been filled with, the angst, pain and pure terror was slipping away at last. I was a creature born for the fight and now that we were drawing closer to it, I finally found my pulse settling, that deadly calm which I knew so well falling over me.

This wouldn’t work if we lost our heads. So mine was going to stay screwed on tight.

“When we dock you’ll come with me,” I told Cain. “We’re going to slip right into the heart of that place and figure out where Roary is. As soon as we have a lock on him, Sin and Ethan will cause a distraction. Between my moon gifts and your speed, we should be able to get Roary out before they even realise what’s happening.”

“You’re assuming we’ll be able to find him easily,” Cain replied. “What if he’s locked up tight somewhere – what if he isn’t here at all?”

“He’s here,” I replied firmly. “I can feel it.”

Cain arched a brow but didn’t seem inclined to disagree with me. Perhaps he was finally done underestimating me and what I was capable of. Besides, I was confident in my assessment of what we were about to face because the moon was urging me on and she was the one who had given me Roary in the first place, so I trusted her help in our reunion.

The darkness grew before us until I couldn’t see beyond it without turning to face the rear of our small vessel.

“Into the dark we go,” Ethan murmured, moving to stand on my other side, his fingers twining with mine.

“Oh how I thrive in the unseen places,” Sin purred.

A dark smile captured my lips, the invisible wind tangling with my hair as our little boat sailed into the pitch black and enveloped us entirely.

“By the stars,” Hastings gasped from somewhere behind me. “Oh sweet starlight please deliver us from this hellish nothing.”

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