Chapter 31
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
ARENA
I read the brief, coded message from Gwen.
The moon dictates the tide. Let the light guide you home.
She was saying that she’d made a deal with this group to come get me, but it was up to me if I trusted them enough to leave with them. Trusting them wasn’t the problem. At least not yet. I wasn’t sure the two fey in the house would let me leave.
“Any chance you’ll open this gate so we can pull the vehicles inside?” the man asked.
“What’s your name?”
“Eric.”
“You’re safer out there, Eric. Trust me. How’d you get this message?”
“Radio,” he said.
“Infected coming our way,” the guy on the roof called.
“If you’re leaving with us, you need to decide fast,” Eric said.
“I’m not leaving. Tell Gwen I said it’s a new moon.”
Eric’s expression hardened. “You’ll need to tell her that yourself.” He reached out, flipped the latch open, and started pushing the gate aside.
I grabbed it to stop him, but he was stronger.
Stumbling back a step, I couldn’t do anything as he grabbed my arm and tugged me toward him.
“Sorry, lady. We need the supplies your friend promised.” His gaze lifted, sweeping over the house. “And whatever supplies you have here.”
The engines started up behind me as he dragged me aside to let the vehicles in.
“Last chance to listen,” I said. “Leave now.”
He chuckled, his gaze raking over me. “I knew any woman with the guts to set up a fence in the middle of town would have backbone, but yours is steel, lady. You might want to learn to soften it a little. Women who can’t bend tend to break.”
Fear skittered up my spine.
“Nav!”
His name echoed off the houses and made Eric frown.
“You’re not alone?”
The question was barely out of his mouth when grey streaked between the trucks outside. The driver’s side doors opened and closed, leaving a man slumped behind the wheel, a quiet engine, and a confused passenger or two.
Eric, hearing the doors and the silent engines, turned to look behind him as the man on the cab of his truck was yanked off and disappeared over the other side.
“Austin?” he called.
I tried to tug my arm free, but Eric held firm, turning me with him.
A second later, Nav hit the top of his head with a closed fist, like he was playing whack-a-mole, and Eric’s knees buckled. Nav pulled me into his arms and buried his nose in my hair.
“Desperate humans are too dangerous, Arena,” he said softly.
“I know. I’m sorry. You were right.”
Hugging him, I patted his back, hoping he wouldn’t hold my decision against me.
I didn’t regret going out to meet them. But it did worry me that Gwen was reaching out to unknown groups and promising supplies to them if they rescued me.
She had to know she was endangering the islanders like that.
People would be hunting for us now, looking for the supplies she’d promised.
Eric groaned on the ground, and I heard a truck door open.
“The female and her supplies are not yours to take,” Nav said. “Leave with your lives and do not return unless you no longer wish to live.”
The passengers tugged the unconscious drivers out of their seats and took their places. As the engines roared to life, Nav kicked Eric. It was more of a strong nudge, but had enough power to move him a few inches and elicit a groan.
“Move, human.”
Eric dragged himself to his feet and staggered through the gate.
The gunman appeared from the other side of the truck, looking just as out of it. With an expression of confusion, he watched the other vehicles back up.
“Did we get the supplies?” he asked Eric.
Eric shook his head and motioned to the truck. I watched him get behind the wheel and met his gaze through the windshield. He didn’t look good. Probably a concussion.
Part of me wanted to apologize, which was stupid. He was alive. I doubted many men could upset a fey and say the same.
They backed up the truck and followed the rest down the road.
Belak appeared outside the fence, holding the rifle he’d taken from the guy.
“I will follow them to make sure they leave.”
“Thank you,” Nav said.
“You’re not going to shoot them, are you?” I asked.
Belak flashed me a smile and handed me the rifle.
“We do not need bullets to kill.”
Then he was gone.
Nav closed the gate as the first infected call rang out. I looked down the road and saw two shambling our way.
“I think I’m ready to go inside,” I said.
He led the way, and I leaned the rifle against the wall inside the door before going to the kitchen to reheat the food. I wasn’t hungry. I was upset and wanted the comfort of the familiar more than anything.
Nav’s hands clasped my shoulders.
“Are you sad?”
“No. Well, maybe a little,” I admitted. I turned away from the stove to look up at him. “I don’t know what to do.”
“You should stay,” he said. “I will keep you safe. If your family misses you, they can come here. I will keep them safe too.”
The look in his eyes hinted at…desperation. For what? To keep me? Did I really have a choice?
“What if I wanted to leave with them? Would you let me?”
The desperation bloomed. His gaze searched mine as he gripped my arms.
“Please don’t leave me. Please.”
He pulled me into a tight embrace, and I felt him trembling.
Stunned, I automatically hugged him and rubbed his back. I realized then that he truly wasn’t interested in my friends. At least, not for himself. He only wanted me. And that messed with my head in some unexpected ways.
“I won’t leave,” I said.
“Promise me,” he demanded, meeting my gaze.
I opened my mouth, but the words wouldn’t come out. I couldn’t lie to him. And that’s what any promise to stay would be. I still wanted to go back to the island…to the life I knew…to the people I’d survived with for the past several months. They weren’t just friends. They were family.
He made a pained sound and then was kissing me savagely. It robbed me of breath, made my head spin, and ignited a fire in my body. Hopping up, I wrapped my arms around his waist. One of his large hands gripped my ass while the other massaged my neck.
I didn’t know he was walking until my back hit the mattress.
He had my clothes off in seconds. Tearing was involved, and it was hot as hell.
The moment his head dipped between my legs, I groaned and threaded my fingers in his hair.
His tongue was magic, and I was addicted to what he did to me.
How he made me feel. And how much he seemed to crave me.
I’d already lost count of the number of times he’d gone down on me over the past few days. I didn’t want it to stop. Ever.
It didn’t take him long to push me over the edge, and I came with a cry.
He plunged his fingers deep inside of me, curling them, and I whimpered at the second wave that he ripped from me.
Floating high, I rode out the bliss as his tongue shifted to the side, allowing me to come down at my own pace.
Tension bled out of me until I was a limp pile of blissed-out limbs on the mattress.
His fingers moved inside me, creating little aftershocks. When those eased, he withdrew, kissed my inner thigh, and hooked my knee over his shoulder. I knew what was next and sighed, ready for the deep dive.
His tongue replaced his fingers, lapping at my channel. He growled several times, eating me out with gusto until I started to come back to myself.
That’s when I heard the infected calls outside. They layered over each other. Definitely more than two.
“Nav?”
“Hmm?” His tongue didn’t leave me.
“I think my screams drew more infected. We need to stop.”
His tongue curled inside of me, stroking that spot that made me want to promise him anything if he would just keep doing that.
My whine was real when he withdrew. He kissed the inside of my thighs again, his fingers teasing my folds.
“Stay here. I will clear the infected and be back.”
He planted a kiss on my clit.
“Don’t move.”
As if I could. I could barely turn my head to watch him walk out the door.
Sighing, I pulled a blanket over my body since the curtains weren’t closed—again—and waited for my pulse to return to normal. Outside, an infected’s call was cut short. I cringed, already imagining how Nav would return.
With a groan of my own, I rolled out of bed and went to clean up.
The quick rinse in the shower was pure heaven.
We needed to figure out how to bring some solar panels to the island.
Not that we had any running water there.
The camp showers someone had rigged were good, but always hurried because the water supply was limited.
Plus, it was cold in the middle of winter.
The solar panels here generated enough energy to heat the water and the house. I’d unplugged the non-essentials like most of the appliances. But left the washer. I used it yesterday and hung the clothes up outside to dry. The rest of the power went to the water heater and the furnace.
The front door opened as I was getting dressed in the bedroom.
“Shower is yours,” I called. Then I paused, pulling on my underwear. He never asked for a return favor after going down on me.
I listened to the shower turn on and tossed the clean clothes back on the dresser. Having my world rocked was amazing. Rocking his was just as fun, though, and something I hadn’t done in the last few days due to Belak’s presence.
“Mind if I join you?” I asked as I walked into the bathroom.
The curtain was tugged aside in response, and I was able to appreciate the water cascading over Nav’s chiseled perfection. I followed its path down to his hips. The deeper grey color of his cock always fascinated me.
“I don’t mind.”
Tearing my gaze from where I planned to put my mouth, I noticed a rivulet of pink water winding down the side of his leg.
“Maybe I should wait until you’re done with the rinse.”
“I am done.”
“The water is still pink.” I pointed at the bottom of the tub.
He grunted and held out a hand to me. “It will stop bleeding soon.”
Cold fear ran through me. “What will stop bleeding? Turn around, Nav.”
He did, and I stared at the perfect crescent bite mark on the back of his shoulder.