Page 112 of Hard Luck (Blackstone House)

I burst out laughing. I couldn’t help it. I laughed and laughed until Cole glared at me and snapped, “It’s not funny.”

It was a tiny bit funny. Lips pressed together, I dove into the water and looked around for the offending item. It was probably a fish. There were plenty of them down there—butterflyfish, damselfish, and…ooh, dinner.

“Look, baby. It’s bigger than yours.”

Cole narrowed his eyes at the dripping sea cucumber in my hand, but then his stern mask cracked.

“It’s a little limp, don’t you think?” His turn to laugh as it shot white goo all over my arm. “Okay, that’s impressive.”

“Eew.”

Dammit, I’d forgotten sea cucumbers ejected their gutsthrough their anus to ward off predators. I dropped the gloopy pile back into the water and sidestepped as it sank.

“What’s the opposite of an aphrodisiac?” I asked.

“Shut up and take my dick like a good girl.”

“You think you can order me around?”

“I think you like it.”

Okay, maybe I did, but shhh. Don’t tell anybody. I sat on the rock and twined my legs around Cole’s waist as he slid into me bare, stretching me until he bottomed out. How had one night in Vegas turned into this?

“I love you,” he whispered as he began to thrust.

“Shut up.”

“I’m going to keep telling you until you believe it.”

And just for one minute, I let myself pretend it was true.

CHAPTER 39

COLE

There was no electricity in the old barracks, so Cole and Bella had dragged a non-rat-infested couch outside into the cooler air. The sky was clear, and the stars twinkled above. Bella knew more about astronomy than he did, and she lay with her head in his lap, pointing out the constellations. Aries, Lynx, Orion.

If it hadn’t been for theCrosswind, he might actually have enjoyed getting back to nature with his girl. Miraculously, she was taking this all in her stride. Six years on, and he was finally able to make his peace with what happened right after college, with the betrayal of the two people he’d thought had his back. He didn’t hate Marcus anymore. In fact, he owed him a debt of thanks. Gretchen had gotten hysterical when Cole booked them a surprise break in Cancun and their luggage ended up in Baltimore—no way would she have survived the trip to Skeleton Cay. And she definitely wouldn’t have fucked him in the harbour and then eaten raw sea cucumber for dinner.

Bella was a breath of fresh air. A true partner.

“If I was rich, I’d buy an island,” he said. “Somewhere to escape for the peace and quiet.”

It wasn’t entirely quiet. Things were moving around in the undergrowth, but he was trying not to think about that.

“I’d pay a million bucks for proper clothes right now,” Bella said, adjusting her bikini top. “What about the ghosts? Would you pay more for an island without ghosts?”

Cole was trying not to think about those either.

“Maybe I’d ask them where they hid the treasure, and then I could afford a helicopter to go with the island.”

“You could afford flying lessons too.”

“Nah, I’d just hire a pilot.”

“Do you really think there’s treasure buried here?”

“Possibly. The buccaneers were around for decades—I’d be surprised if they didn’t bury a chest of loot and forget about it. Or get murdered before they could retrieve everything.”

---