Page 10 of Lust & Lollipops

His voice wasn’t raised, but the men followed the command anyway. The woman’s guard was always sort of the host in Bachelorette, so it seemed safe to assume he was taking that role in Survival of the Mated.

The men stepped into place, forming a line. All of them were bare chested, which seemed required with the wings spread out behind them.

In Bachelorette, they stayed in their human forms.

Just the sight of them with their massive sizes, wings, and horns was enough to make me fight a shiver.

I didn’t let myself look too closely at the line of them. Whoever I paid attention to seemed likely to become an immediate target, so I’d avoid looking at anyone until I figured out a plan.

“Welcome to Survival of the Mated,” Rhett said. “You all know the rules. No killing. No using magic on the female without her permission. And no starting a bond with her. Beginning a mate bond before winning is a death sentence.”

I bit the inside of my cheek.

That hadn’t been mentioned before.

How would a person even start a mate bond? I had an impressively small amount of information, considering my situation.

“Now, meet the female you’re competing for.” Rhett gestured to me. “She’ll introduce herself.”

I blinked.

On Bachelorette, there was no introduction. There were just… dates.

But I wasn’t on Bachelorette.

And I needed to figure out a way to get my head in the game. Whatever the game was.

Which meant an introduction.

So I let out a quick breath and forced myself to act like I wasn’t absolutely terrified. The more casual I could act and the more human I could seem, the more I hoped they would realize that I wasn’t just a prize to be won as part of their new game show.

“I’m Molly Maye,” I said. “I’m twenty-four. I have an accounting degree. It’s boring, but stable. Unlike this.” I gestured to myself, the guys, and the island. “I worked full-time before I was dragged here. I like to eat desserts. Don’t like to exercise. Also, I don’t like sand.”

One or two of the guys chuckled.

The sound was kind of familiar, but I figured that was just my nerves making me imagine things.

“The guys will introduce themselves after the game begins,” Rhett said. “The first challenge starts now. There are a dozen survival packs hidden in the jungle. Each of you can only retrieve one. The last one back loses the chance to vote the first man off the island tomorrow night. The one who finds the pack with the weapons in it spends an hour on a boat with Molly as soon as it ends.”

A moment of tense silence passed.

“Any questions?” Rhett asked.

It seemed pretty simple.

The guys had to find survival packs. The slowest one lost their vote. The one who found the right bag won a reward.

Me being the reward was shitty, but expected.

“Go,” he said, and hell broke loose.

Sand sprayed in the air as wings flapped and fae took off. I closed my eyes against the barrage, but was too slow. They were already stinging, and gritty.

When I opened them again, I could hear yelling in the distance. A few guys were flying in the air above the jungle.

One man was still walking there. His body position was casual, and there was something about his figure that I kind of recognized.

The golden wings on his back and horns on his head made me feel stupid for feeling that, though. Obviously, I didn’t recognize any of the fae.

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