Page 23 of Fastlander Fealty

“And what about you?” she asked. “Will you avenge them?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation, his voice stony. “That’s Crew. Put the animal away, Silver. She does not want this smoke. Trust me.” Truth, truth, truth. His voice was so full of truth, it dredged chills up her spine in waves.

“Would you like to continue having fun?” he asked.

“Yes, but I’m unsure of the company we’re keeping.”

He lifted up onto the side of the innertube and stared thoughtfully at the Fastlanders, who were creating distance between them. “They’ll relax when you relax. Maybe.”

“And if they don’t?”

Owen shrugged. “Then I hope you are here with good intentions.” He shocked her to her bone marrow as he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. It was a soft smack, and then he froze inches away from her face, his eyes searching hers. His brows drew down, and he looked at her lips.

“That was…” she whispered.

“I didn’t mean it.” He slid back into the water and made his way to his innertube. “Stop posting up, Silver. You’re making my animal hard to manage. Just relax.” There was a grit to his voice that she didn’t understand.

What had she done wrong? She’d introduced herself to the Fastlanders, and most importantly to the females of the Crew, as was lioness manners. She’d shown respect and had not received that from Hallie and Corey in return. And she was supposed to relax? After Owen had told her she would bleed out if she crossed them?

Why the hell had he kissed her? And then seemed angry with her for his actions?

If it was Rook punishing her for his own reactions, she would’ve bowed her head and absorbed it, but she didn’t have to absorb it from Owen. A lash of anger worked through her and before she could stop herself, she dismounted from her innertube and swam over to Owen’s float, then pulled it, dumping him into the water.

“Hey!” he gritted out as he broke the surface. And annoyingly, he did that hotboy swing of his head that flung his blond hair out of his face. His eyes were ice blue as they landed on her.

Pissed for reasons she didn’t understand, she kicked forward and placed her hand on his throat, squeezed gently. “Don’t kiss me again if you don’t mean it, and absolutely don’t get mad at me when you are the one who kissed me in the first place. I didn’t ask you to do that. Be mad at yourself.”

He’d stilled, his hand on the innertube to keep him above the water, his eyes glowing the color of ice, but he didn’t swat away her hand, or grab her wrist and break it like Rook would’ve done. Instead, a slow, devilish smile ghosted across his face. “Aw, kitty. You’re slipping. You’re letting her out too much now, aren’t you.”

“Shut up.”

Smooth-as-you-like, Owen pushed closer to her and plucked her hand off his throat, then bit her palm hard enough for her to feel it.

Stunned, she couldn’t do anything but tread water.

“I like that you aren’t human and fragile, Silver,” he rumbled, sinking down into the water so that only his nose up was above the surface. His eyes were nearly white now, and his features too sharp.

She should be terrified. She wasn’t a great swimmer, and Owen was dangerous, and playing some game of cat and mouse she didn’t understand. She wanted to pull farther away from him, but she was frozen. She couldn’t move away. Her animal wouldn’t let her.

Damn cat was suicidal or something.

Under the water, Owen slid his hand to her waist and gripped her hard, his fingers digging into her skin as he dragged her closer. He settled his lips right next to her ear. “Have you ever heard of a decoy wolf?”

“I’m not a wolf,” she whispered, confused.

“Oh, I know, kitty. I can hear the snarl in your throat, and you lost it back there. You let it slip. If I didn’t already know you were a lioness, the gold in your eyes would’ve given you away.” He eased back by inches and canted his head like he would kiss her again. His eyes stayed locked on hers. “The gold remains still. Again I’ll ask you, have you heard of a decoy wolf?”

“No,” she whispered, fear and excitement warring for her body.

“When the wolves grow hungry enough to hunt domesticated dogs, they will send in a lone female. Night after night, she will visit the dog. Tempting him out of the safety of his owner’s yard.” Owen leaned forward and murmured against her ear. “Tantalizing him. Getting him so worked up that the dog begins to plan ways to escape his keeper. It’s just a lone female. She’s scared and alone. He starts thinking about life in the wild with her. Starts thinking about breeding her, and all the while, do you know what she is?”

“Bait,” she said on a breath, her blood chilling with what he was telling her.

“Good girl. She’s bait.” He slid his hand to her throat now, and squeezed gently, eased back far enough to search her eyes with his bright glowing gaze. “And here you are. Alone. Making me think of life in the wild. Making me think of breeding you. Dredging up my animal when I see the way you glare at the girls in this Crew. You want them to like you, Silver? Start with being honest with them. I don’t mind playing with a decoy. They’re not like me.”

Her breath was shaking so badly. So badly. “You know?”

His face twisted into something terrifying for just a moment…just a split second before he composed his features again. He leaned forward like he would kiss her again, but stopped an inch from her lips. “We all do. Decoy.”

---