Page 37 of Protected By Artemis

Go!He commanded his wolf, and the animal sprang forward, massive paws pounding the sand as they ran in the opposite direction of the group.

Cade knew Artemis could handle the rest of the trip, and he didn’t need to torture himself anymore by watching them flirt with each other as he had the entire tour.

At first, he told himself she was just trying to get close to Daniel; he did acknowledge her effort. But as the tour went on, it was obvious there was no other way for her to remain within a foot of Daniel for thirty minutes except to enact her original plan. Still, the image of them together…

He ran faster, pushing his wolf to its limit, making the return trip back to where the tour started in no time. As he shifted back into his animal, he dove straight into the ocean, hoping the waters would cool his rage. He swam in the clear turquoise sea, trying to think of anything except Artemis’s arms around Daniel, the things she whispered in his ear as they rode together.

His beautiful, sexy Artemis, who had asked him into her bed the night before, with another man.

Not his. Not completely.

They had done everything else but the deed. Fuck, he would give his left nut to be inside her, to feel her clasp around his cock as she came over and over again. To spill his seed inside her and mark her.

Cade dove out of the water and stalked toward the shore. By the time he retrieved his clothes and circled back to the tour meeting point, all the ATVs were lined up and the group gathered to where the buggies waited to bring them back to their villas.

“Cade!” Artemis called, waving her hand excitedly at him. “You’re here!” She jumped up into his arms and pressed her cheek to his. “It’s done,” she said, the excitement in her voice barely contained. “I did it!”

Cade’s nose wrinkled, the stab in his chest burying deeper as he smelled Daniel’s scent all over her. His wolf, too, gnashed its teeth in fury. “Good,” he managed to croak out.

“Let’s get out—hey!” she protested when he unceremoniously dropped her back onto her feet. “Cade?—”

He sidestepped her and strode over to Daniel, who was chatting with the tour guides. “Heard what you did for Artemis.”

“Cade, man, I—oh.” He scratched at the back of his head. “She was in quite the pickle. I was just telling the guides here that they need to take care of their ATVs. Funny though,” he chuckled. “They assured me that their mechanics keep the vehicles in tip-top shape. Must have been a fluke or something.”

“Yeah.” He curled his fists at its side. “A fluke.”

“So, you ready to go back up north? I’ll sure miss the sunshine when I’m back in our territory.”

“I’m ready,” Cade said. “I have lots of business to attend to, as I’m sure you’ve heard.”

“Business? Oh yeah.” He whistled. “Mother told me about what happened—and during your sister’s mating ceremony too. I hope you find whoever’s responsible.”

Daniel’s good boy act grated on his nerves. “Me too. But maybe you could tell me?—”

“Cade!” Hands tugged at his forearm. “There you are,” Artemis said. “Come on, I want to go back to the villa and enjoy our last night. Oh, hey, Daniel! Thanks again for your help.”

“Wait, I—” He didn’t anticipate Artemis’s strength and determination as she hauled him away from Daniel. “What the hell are you doing?” he hissed once they were far away enough from the group.

“What am I doing?” Letting go of him, she placed her hands on her hips. “What wereyoudoing? I told you, I already have the data and Hephaestus is working on it as we speak. You didn’t have to start interrogating him.”

“And did you ask him if he knew anything about the bombing?”

“And when was I supposed to ask him that?”

“Oh, I don’t know…how about when you were taking selfies overlooking the bay or when you were licking his ice-cream cone?”

“Licking his—” Her jaw dropped. “Were you following us? Spying on us?”

“I was. And so what?”

“I already told you, I was able to scan his phone with the app and Hephaestus is working on the data as we speak.” Her pretty face scrunched up in anger. “Don’t you believe I can do this by myself? I told you, I made a promise, and I mean to keep it. Do you think I’m incompetent?” Her beautiful blue eyes turned stormy. “Don’t you trust me?”

“It’s not you. It’s him I don’t trust!”

“Daniel?” She laughed out loud. “He’s a boy scout. He wouldn’t even look at my tits for more than a second.”

“If you think that would make me less angry, you are sorely mistaken.”

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