Stay

“Oh. My mistake.” She licked her lips. “Anyway back to that plan.”

“You can’t start talking about my dick and tongue and licking your lips like that and expect me to concentrate on anything.” My jeans had moved beyond uncomfortable.

“I wasn’t licking my lips.”

“Yes you were.”

“I was not.” She walked off. “We’re getting close, aren’t we?”

“Yes.” I stared at her ass as she walked away. Was she doing that on purpose too?

“Then I’m taking a shower. There has to be one on here, right?”

“Save some cold water for me.” I was really going to need it.

She turned and grinned. “Don’t worry. I’ll be using the hot.”

“Come on, you’re just as bothered by that as me.”

“I already got what I needed.”

“A kiss? A kiss was all you needed?”

“From you, yes.” She walked off down the aisle.

“Fuck.” I really was using that word way too much, but with everything I’d been dealing with, it was warranted.

“I already told you I’m not having sex with you.”

I’d forgotten bear hearing was better than human’s too.

“Yeah, I know.” I took a seat and tried to snap myself out of the daze. She was just a girl. Sure the kiss had been hot, but it was just a kiss. If I could just resist her for the next day or so the temptation would be gone and things could go back to normal. I’d find a human to spend the night with the next chance I had.

Satisfied I’d pushed my feelings far enough aside, I pulled out my phone and called Owen. He’d called twice while Vera was busy distracting me.

“Where the hell have you been?” he barked into the phone. “I’ve called you twice.”

“Glad to talk to you too.”

“Come on, this is serious.”

“I know. I called you back as soon as I could.”

“She’s just a girl, Jared.”

I could practically see the smirk on his face. I ignored the bait. “You still set to meet us?”

“Sure, but are you okay?”

“Of course I’m okay.”

“You sound kind of weird.”

“I’m not.” He was starting to piss me off.

“If you say so.”

“I do.”

“Fine.” He wisely dropped it. “Are you sure we shouldn’t have more backup?”

“Not on the island. Levi will freak. We need to do this quietly. They need to stay back.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“I’m always right. You’ve known me long enough to know that already.”

“And you’re full of it.”

“Just get your ass to the coordinates I texted you.”

“I will. Just keep it in your pants until we get Levi.”

“Like I’m going to do a bear?”

“You did a Pteron. I thought the rules were out the window.”

“Shut up.” My hands balled into fists. Aside from Vera, Owen was the best at making me angry. We should have had him in the cave. I’d have transformed before Tiffany had left.

“See you soon.” He hung up.

“Your turn,” Vera called from down the aisle.

“I think I’ll pass.” I’d cooled off enough.

Then I made the mistake of turning around. She was standing there completely naked while she toweled off her hair. “Are you sure about that?”

“Fuck.” It looked like I was going to need that cold shower.

Chapter Seventeen

Toby

I hadn’t moved. Well aside from getting up to relieve myself once, I hadn’t moved off the rocks since Hailey left. I had no clue how long Casey was going to be gone, but since there was a possibility she’d be back, or even more importantly that she’d need me, I wasn’t going far.

The sun had set completely, leaving me under the cover of darkness. I didn’t mind the dark. My night vision was near perfect, and there was a calm that only the night could bring. I yearned to fly, to stretch my wings, but doing that too close to the island might get us all in trouble. Casey was facing the bears alone, the least I could do was sit and wait patiently.

“You love her, don’t you?” Daria took a seat next to me on the rock. She and her brother had returned not long after Casey had left, but they’d wandered off almost immediately.

“Yes.” There was no reason to hesitate with that answer.

“That’s sweet.”

“I don’t know if it’s sweet, but it’s real.”

“Isn’t sweet a good thing?” She looked up at me through her bright emerald eyes.

“Yes, but real is better. Sweet can be fake too.”

“She’s going to be okay.”

“You can’t know that.” I was too nervous to worry about displaying false confidence. Evidently Casey’s mother had trusted this person. I figured I could be at least a little bit honest with her.

“What can we know?” She brushed her shoulder against mine. “Does anyone really know anything?”

“I know I love her.”

“Ok. Arguably we know deep emotions, but do we ever really know what’s to come? Even those gifted with seeing the future can be wrong.”

“Because one small deviation changes everything.”

“Exactly.”

“I just need her to be okay. I finally found the one. The one girl who makes me feel like I can be a good man. The one girl that makes me feel like anything is possible. I can’t lose her.”

Daria tossed a tiny pebble into the lake. “That sounds very selfish.”

“Selfish?”

“Yeah.” She turned to me. “Are you listening to yourself? Each of those statements was about what she makes you feel. How about who she is?”

I sighed. “She’s amazing.”

“Why?”

“Because she’s so strong, beautiful, smart, and unique.” Just talking about Casey had my heart beating faster.

“That’s more like it.”

“Are you trying to distract me?”

“Maybe. Do you need a distraction?” She leaned in.

“Not if it involves flirting or anything like that.”

She laughed. “I know. I already told you I can tell you love her.”

“And love is enough to stop you? I thought nymphs couldn’t control that side of them?”