Page 116 of Blue Arrow Island
Stella moves on to Niran, who howls softly when his aromium is reactivated.
“Holy fuck, that’s more like a bump of coke than an actual bump of coke is. I think I might be able to fly now.”
Adele glares at him. “I’m not jumping off a cliff to save your ass, so don’t do anything stupid.Extrastupid, I mean, since you’re ... you.”
“You love me. We’ll be boning by nightfall.”
She laughs heartily. “Not a chance in hell. I’ll fuck a tree before I fuck you.”
“Okay, that’s uncalled for. And frankly, unsanitary.”
Marcus returns, his expression unreadable. Command Team One’s members gather around him in a half circle.
“Team leaders are me, Nova, Niran and Wyatt.” Marcus crosses his arms over his chest, his arm muscles an impressive display. “Team leaders make the final calls on everything. Stay low out there. Don’t use guns unless you have to, but don’t hesitate to use them when you need to. It’s not just the Tiders who can kill us out here. Stay together at all times. Go back to camp if you’re having trouble with the aromium.”
“If someone finds the eagle or the pot of gold, do we all go back to camp?” Chance asks.
Marcus shakes his head. “We need both. Nova’s meeting Stella here once a day for a briefing on things in camp. If shit goes south, Nova will call everyone but me and Briar back.” He looks around at the people gathered. “Questions?”
No one has any. We all head out in separate directions, all of us searching a different quadrant of the island. The quadrant Marcus and I are going to is the farthest from camp; it includes the volcano on the other side of the island.
We aren’t following a path, which is smart because Tiders are probably patrolling paths. Instead, we’re cutting our way through dense jungle. There are muddy areas our boots sink into, and within a couple of hours, we’re calf-deep in swamp water. I’m constantly swatting away bugs, sweat rolling down my face. Sunlight doesn’t penetrate much of the thick canopy high over our heads, but the humidity is intense.
Marcus is silent as he leads the way, a machete in one hand and a bandanna in his other. He wipes his face every couple of minutes, the bandanna dripping sweat into the murky water at our feet.
It’s good that this is physically exerting, because even with most of my focus spent just keeping up with him, I’m still fixated on his body.
Use him. Fuck him. Bring him to his knees.
With Pax, the aromium only enhanced the slight attraction I didn’t even realize I felt for him. But with Marcus, there’s a constant throb to not just forget everything and have sex with him, but to use his desire for me to control him.
“Take a water break.” Marcus stops walking and glances over his shoulder at me.
My canteen rests against my hip. I unscrew the cap and tip the canteen to my lips, the croaks and squawks of the jungle seeming louder now that we’re stopped.
“How’s the aromium feeling?” I ask.
“I’m fine.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
A couple seconds pass before he answers, gravel in his voice. “All I can think about is stripping you naked, dropping my pants, and holding on to your ass so hard I bruise it while I work your pussy up and down my dick until I fill you with my cum.” He glances over his shoulder at me, a brow arched. “Does that answer your question?”
My pulse races, my core aching with desire for him to fulfill his fantasy. But I remind myself that he’s been exposed to aromium for a lot longer than I have. I need to stay levelheaded and keep us focused on the important task at hand.
“Yes,” I manage, screwing the cap back on my canteen. “Let’s keep moving.”
We make it back onto dry ground again, my soaked feet giving me flashbacks to what happened when I was trapped in Virginia’s underground cell.
“I know this isn’t ideal, but we have to dry our feet and boots,” I say.
Marcus nods curtly, not looking at me. “Yeah, you’re right.”
It’s dusk—within an hour, the sun will set and we’ll be in the dark. Marcus’s advanced aromium means he has good night vision, but I don’t.
We packed extra socks, so even though the socks we’re wearing now and our boots won’t dry fully if we stop for the night, the boots will dry enough that we can wear them tomorrow.
“There’s a good spot to stop for the night about a quarter of a mile from here,” he says.
