Page 21 of My Boyfriend Bites

So who would save her?

A willing Dante wanted to; however, the lingering sunshine prevented him, and that inability to act burned hotter than its rays.

Despite missing a passenger, the cruise line prepared to cast off. Unacceptable. He’d glanced at Renard and barked, “Don’t let this ship leave.”

“On it, sir.”

Dante had no idea what his assistant did to delay the departure, but soon an announcement came over the speakers.

“Evening, passengers. This is your captain. Unfortunately, due to mechanical issues, we won’t be setting sail until the morning. As compensation, passengers will receive a credit to use in the casino.”

With the delay achieved, Dante just had to wait. Wait until the sun set, and then, despite passengers being remanded to the ship, he left it, simply telling the cruise agent manning the gangway to shore, “You didn’t see me.” The woman looked right through Dante, the power of suggestion too strong for her to disobey.

Once ashore, it proved simple to arrange transport, as Dante handed over a wad of cash to someone with a Jeep, the vehicle dinged but dependable. He retraced the route the bus took, not surprised to find the scene of the attack not being investigated. An inside job, then. A good thing he’d come looking.

From the site of the attack, tracking proved tricky, as the assailants had taken off through the jungle on motorized vehicles. Two by his count. With night fallen, the lights on the Jeep barely illuminated the trail left behind, but that didn’t slow him down. Dante couldn’t waste a single moment, not with Selene in danger.

When he saw the parked all-terrain vehicle, he ditched the Jeep and set off on foot, his nose twitching at the scent of blood.

A lot of blood.

As he entered the thieves’ camp, he took a moment to admire the carnage.

The robbers lay dead where they’d been killed, most with their throats torn open, although one fellow had his guts spilled on the grounds. They’d been attacked by something possessing a strong jaw and sharp teeth—he didn’t doubt it was a wolf. That same wolf had also taken out a chupacabra. Impressive. Selene had protected herself. An odd spurt of pride filled him.

But where had she gone?

He scouted around the camp, seeking a scent trail, not easy when the aroma of blood and foliage overpowered. It took him noticing a trail by an ATV, the fumes of its exhaust the most recent, for him to realize she’d not departed on foot.

He fetched the Jeep and followed, coming across the vehicle she’d taken abandoned, most likely because it ran out of gas. With her on foot, and her trail less obvious, he chose to ditch the Jeep and made his way through the jungle, his pace rapid as he worried. She might have taken out a gang, and a less-than-human leader, but she remained a woman, a wolf alone in a strange place with more than just predators to contend with. Poisonous spiders and snakes, as well as vegetation that might appear edible, could take down even the most stalwart.

When he stumbled across Selene, he almost shouted in surprise because she didn’t resemble a damsel in distress but rather a siren, for she bathed in a rocky pool fed by a small waterfall.

Her clothes lay neatly piled beside her satchel on a flat rock. He sat by her items and silently watched as she dipped under the water, emerging a moment later, the water sluicing from her skin. She wrung her hair and grimaced at the water before dunking again, rinsing the blood caking it.

When she stood and began to wade to shore, wearing a swimsuit that enhanced her form, he let his presence be known.

“You know, if you wanted to swim, the ship has pools.”

To his surprise, she didn’t startle but rather eyed him warily. “Dante? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be on the ship?”

“I could say the same of you,” his light riposte.

“I ran into a bit of a problem.”

“So I heard. Kidnapped by thieves. You’re uninjured?”

“Yes.”

“How did you escape?” he asked, wondering how she’d spin the deaths.

Her lips twisted as she came to shore. “Would you believe some wild animals saved me? Guess they didn’t like the smell of those thugs since they attacked.”

“What kind of animals?”

“I don’t know.” Her wide-eyed lie. “But they were vicious. I escaped in the chaos, but then I got lost.” Her nose wrinkled as she stood by the rock with her clothes. She ignored them for the towel she’d brought from the ship. She began to dry off. “I thought I was heading back for the road but ran out of gas.” She cocked her head. “You still haven’t said why you’re out here. Are you part of a search party?”

“I came looking for you since no one else seemed inclined.”

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