Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Bennett
I try not to slip as I hoist Cat over my shoulder and carry her into the hall. The things I need to do to this woman require a little more room and a lot more privacy than this hot tub can provide.
“My clothes!” Cat says with a giggle. “They’re still on the floor. What if someone finds them?”
“I’ll tell them I suspected you were the Wicked Witch of the West, so I doused you with water and proved my theory correct.” I smack her ass, and it jiggles beside my head. I can’t wait to bite it.
Male voices reach my ears as we near the main hall, and I’m tempted to walk right out in the open with my prize draped over my shoulder like a championship belt. But I feel Cat tense against me, and I can’t do it. I can’t betray her trust. I lower her to her feet, and she chews her lip and looks up at me.
“Let’s just keep it quiet until we figure out what . . . this is, okay?” she whispers.
“And what is this?” I ask.
She motions between us, then toward the upstairs rooms. “You know . . . We’re fucking, I guess, but I still don’t know if there’s more to it.”
I hate that she thinks the ball is entirely in her court. Like I’m some lovesick puppy she can play with when she feels like it. That’s the real problem here.
After taking a few steps forward, I peer around the corner and spy Maverick and Jim by the staircase. She might have snuck off with me had it been anyone else, but the moment she sees Maverick, I’ll be forgotten, despite what she said in the hot tub.
“Who is it?” Cat whispers.
I sigh and motion for her to see for herself.
She tiptoes closer and peers around the corner. As soon as she spots Maverick, her body tenses and she nearly leaps backward.
“Shit,” she says. “There’s no way we can walk out together without drawing attention. We’re both in swimsuits, so that looks suspicious enough.”
I try not to wince as her words strike a soft spot inside me.
“Yeah, you go on ahead,” I say. “Leave your door unlocked and I’ll slip in once the coast is clear.”
I don’t like the moment of indecision that flickers through her eyes before she nods her head. She might have said she was undecided about Maverick, but it seems like she’s more undecided about me.
I swallow my emotions as I watch her steel herself to round the corner. It’s difficult to admit that I want her more with every passing second, but I do. Not just her body, but everything about her.
When she told me about her brother, that’s when I knew. Hearing the hurt in her voice made me hurt for her. Something inside me longed to ease her pain and ensure she never hurts again. Empathy isn’t a foreign emotion for me, but it is where love interests are concerned. As terrifying as it is, though, I find myself wanting to explore this more than she does, and that’s more frightening than anything else.
Her musical voice reaches my ears as she greets the two men, and I grit my teeth as I cower in the shadows like vermin. She lets out a soft laugh, and I want to punch a hole in the nearest wall. Whatever Maverick just said couldn’t have been that fucking funny.
I step a little closer to the corner so that I can listen in, but they’re too far away. Their voices reach my ears, but the words are a series of muffled mumbles and mutterings. Goddamn all this wood and its sound-absorbing properties. If I want to hear what they’re talking about, I’ll need to get closer.
I round the corner like I have somewhere to be, careful that my gaze doesn’t linger on Cat for too long. It’s a feat, really, because she’s still in that tiny bikini. Maverick is too focused on her glistening tits to see me coming, though, so that’s a bonus.
Jim gives me a small wave as I start up the stairs. I wave back and keep going, but he calls my name before I reach the top landing, and now I’m stuck. I wait at the top as he grips the railing and makes his way to me.
“Dinner’s been cancelled, I’m afraid,” Jim says. “Well, not cancelled, but there won’t be a formal call to dinner. Chef has agreed to accommodate a limited room-service menu for the evening.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Well, yes, for the most part. A few of the guests felt a little under the weather after the event, so Ezra and I thought it best to give everyone the night off to do whatever they’d like. It was that or cancel the excursions in the morning.”
I cock my head and look at him. “Excursions?”
“Oh, yes, we’ve packed the final two days full of fun. We’re doing a hunt in the morning, though it won’t be nearly as grand as what we do on the island.”
“A hunt in the dark? Are you sure that’s wise?” I glance down the staircase, and my eyes fall on Cat. “We have more women than usual, and I’d hate to see one of them get hurt.”
Jim chuckles and shakes his head. “We all know how sad you’d be if Miss Novak fell victim to the Cattle, but safety measures have been put in place, I assure you. The entire hunting ground has been rigged with cameras, which will be monitored during the event to ensure the safety of all guests. We don’t want another problem like we had at the summer retreat.”
He’s being sarcastic, but I’m genuinely concerned about Cat’s wellbeing. The hunts can get crazy.
“After getting lost in the woods, I doubt Cat wants to go on another trek through the frozen forest.” I offer a small laugh. “She’ll probably sit this one out anyway.”
Jim shakes his head and looks down the staircase. “No, I think she has every intention of attending. That’s what she was just discussing with Maverick. He’s offered to take her out to the range to practice with a bow.”
Anger runs through my veins like molten lava. My skin heats, and a light sweat rises on my brow. We took Maverick under our wing when he came to us a few years ago, and now he’s not only taken my job away from me, but he’s about to take the girl too.
“Yeah, we’ll see about that,” I say under my breath.
“Beg pardon?”
I look at Jim and smile. “Oh, nothing. Nothing at all.” I give him a parting wave, then head to my room. “See ya, Jimbo.”
“That’s Jim ,” he says to my retreating back. “You know I hate being called Jimbo. It’s so . . . unrefined.”
I ignore him and keep walking. I don’t even spare a glance down the stairs as I stride past the two chatty lovebirds at the bottom, but I feel Cat’s gaze bore into me as I pass. She can lie to herself all she wants, but I know the truth. What I feel isn’t a one-sided infatuation. This obsession goes both ways, and I’ll make her admit it to me by the end of this retreat.
Hell, I’ll make her admit it to everyone.
But before I can do any of that, I need to wrench her away from Maverick’s claws.
The door clicks shut behind me once I enter my room. I hurry to the closet, nearly tripping as I rush to step out of my swim trunks. Cat still needs to dress, and she’ll probably want time to paint her face, since she’ll be with Maverick, but that’s why I’m in a rush. If I want to know why Maverick’s had a change of heart about the girl, I need to talk to him when she’s not around.
Especially if I want to properly sabotage things and ensure she chooses me.
As I’m pulling on my coat, I hear the door to her bedroom click shut. Moments later, the pipes hum in the walls as she starts the shower.
“Good girl,” I say under my breath as I tie my shoes. “Give me all the time I need to make you mine.”
And she will be mine. I’ve made up my mind on that matter. It has taken me too long to find a woman I’m unwilling to share, and now that I have, I refuse to let her go. If I have to chain her to the bed and make her come until she’s insane enough to love me, I’ll do that.
I’ll do whatever it takes. And it starts today.