118. Chapter One-Hundred-Seventeen
Chapter One-Hundred-Seventeen
Riley
Getting dried off and dressed in the main cabin while Scarlett was in the bedroom with Xane was a strange kind of torture. Even after Xane grabbed clothes and reassured us they were only gonna talk, Kian kept blurting all the sexy things they were probably doing.
That kid has a hell of an imagination. That’s all I can say.
It was easy to ignore, but the mental image of Scarlett standing in front of me, biting her lip while starting to take off her bra is a lot harder for my brain to stop focussing on.
She looked so fucking good. Dripping wet, nipples fully visible through that red lace …
My dick doesn’t know what to do with itself. I’m throbbing inside my fresh, clean shorts.
Going from soft to hard like I don’t know if I want to tug one out or go for a fucking sleep.
“I bet he’s licking her out right now,” Kian grumbles.
“He’s not,” Trick tells me. “We’d hear her moaning.”
Fuck me. The thought of her moaning turns my cock into steel.
“Maybe they’re trying to be quiet,” Kian suggests.
“Or maybe, they’re talking like Xane told us they would be,” Trick counters.
“Pfft!” Kian scoffs. “If you believed that, you’ll believe anything.”
Trick looks over at me, and I just shrug and turn to face the exit.
It’s still torrential out there, and dark enough to make it feel a lot later than it is.
My dick goes back to sleep while I stare outside.
It gives me a few minutes of peace before I decide I’m thirsty.
“He can’t really keep Scarlett to himself all night,” Kian starts again. “Right? It’s not fair.”
“He’s in charge, Ki. And he just claimed Scarlett after spending a day avoiding her. If he wants some time alone with her, he can have it. It’s not like she isn’t ours for life, now.”
Ours for life. It sounds so surreal.
The sexy blonde angel who saved me today is ours, permanently.
Well, theirs, now. Mine, sometime later, maybe?
I can’t decide if Xane cock-blocked me because he wanted to talk to her first, or if he’s worried about my ability to stay sober if I get naked with an Omega.
“Tell me there’s still soda around here somewhere?” I ask, as I search through the top part of another backpack. “There’s gotta be.”
“Yeah. I’m pretty sure we split the cans between all the bags,” Trick confirms.
I pull everything else out of the bag until I find a can. “Ugh! It’s diet. Who put diet soda in my mini fridge? Gross.”
“Well, we don’t all work out like we’re trying to burn off five thousand calories before a gig.”
“Even you don’t drink diet soda, Ki,” Trick reminds him.
“I was trying to drink it. For a while. It just tastes so bad.”
He pulls a face. I shake my head as my fingers latch onto another can inside the bag.
It’s regular lemonade. I can work with that.
I take it out and stuff everything else back inside.
“You’re kinda making me want a soda,” Kian says as I stand up with the lemonade can in my hand.
“Well, you can find your own. Better yet, drink the diet one in that bag so no one else has to.”
“Ha ha,” Kian says, before he gets to his knees and starts opening another bag.
Typical Kian move. Making everyone else pay for his dumb ideas.
“I could use something, too,” Trick admits. “I’ll take diet. I don’t care. It’s getting warm again.”
I pick up the bag and pass it over. “I think that’s your pack, anyway.”
I crack my can open and start drinking.
“Ooh,” Kian murmurs, as he pokes through the bag he opened.
“What?” Trick asks, looking over.
Kian looks up and closes the bag suspiciously. “Nothing. I mean, I don’t think there’s soda in here. But let me take a closer look.”
“So that’s Scarlett’s bag, then,” I assume out loud.
He frowns at me. “What? No. Don’t be dumb. I’m looking for soda, not underwear.”
I shake my head. “You’ve got five seconds to find a soda and close the bag, or you get to go thirsty. Five …”
Panic floods his expression.
“All right, I’m looking! Give me a break.”
“Four …”
Trick laughs.
He already has the diet soda in his hand and he’s closing the backpack.
“Three …”
“I’ve got one!” Kian exclaims, pulling it out. “Aw …”
It’s diet. I can’t help but smirk.
“Maybe make better choices in future,” I suggest, before I take another long gulp of my lemonade.
“I’ll have you know I make excellent choices,” Kian says, standing up with the can in his hand, alongside a lacy red thong.
The second item reminds me again of her attempt at seduction before Xane swept her out of my sight. It makes me wish I’d been ready for it. If I’d known she was gonna flirt, I could have made a move before he stepped in and took the chance away from me.
One thing is for sure, I’m not gonna let that happen a second time.
I know she’s our true mate.
And I know I like her, and she’s off-the-scale hot.
I understand why Xane rushed her away.
It only makes sense.
She’s an Omega, and I was traumatized by one of those.
The difference is Scarlett was actually made for us.
The Fates sent her, and I can see that now.
I won’t turn her down if she’s ready to be claimed.
She’s mine, as much as she’s theirs.
“Hey,” Trick says. “Put those back. They’re not yours.”
“They might as well be,” Kian says as he slips the underwear into his pocket.
I roll my eyes at him. “You’ve claimed her. You don’t need to steal her underwear to have an excuse to see her again, or whatever.”
Trick snorts. “Riley’s right. Put them back.”
“She has like four of them,” Kian complains.
“I don’t care,” Trick says. “Do it, before they come back out here.”
Kian snorts. “They’re not coming back out. He’s knotting her into oblivion right about now.”
“They’ll have to eat at some point. We all need to do that. And Xane told you to look out the food that we’re supposed to have for dinner. So, I’m guessing you know what that is?”
I glance at Trick and he points to Kian.
“He has the notepad with the list on it.”
Kian sighs. “Fine. Whatever. I’ll pull out the dinner supplies.”
He gets up and takes Scarlett’s backpack with him.
He still has the panties in his hand, and he clearly has no intention of putting them back.
“I guess we’re gonna have to come up with a new plan,” Trick says, as he nods to the exit door.
He’s not wrong about that. The storm might pass, but it’s still coming down hard out there.
The weather might make a four-day hike too treacherous.
It was already gonna be a pain, with my injury.
Now? It could be an impossibility.
Kian sighs. “I bet they have all kinds of meats on the grill tonight at the resort restaurant.”
“Probably,” Trick agrees.
“Too bad we’re not there,” Kian says, bringing some packets over to his table, setting it down and going back to drinking his soda. The panties are no longer in his hand. I’m betting they’re in the pocket of his shorts.
“Too bad,” I agree.
A big pile of barbequed meat wouldn’t go wrong.
I doubt whatever’s in those packets in front of Ki is gonna be half as filling.
“So, what’s this about a new plan?” Kian asks.
Trick sighs. “I don’t think we’ll be doing any walking if the weather doesn’t let up. It’s like walking around in a swamp out there.”
“That bad, huh?” Kian raises his eyebrows.
“It’s gonna be sunny again tomorrow,” I tell them. “The weather reports for this place are sometimes a little off, but rain never lasts more than a day.”
“The ground will still be a nightmare to walk on, though,” Trick says.
He’s the one who knows what that was like, and I believe his assessment.
“The plan sucked anyway,” I tell them, as I limp to my seat.
I can feel their eyes on me as I settle into my comfy chair across from Trick. “Walking to Golden Palms should have been a last resort. There’s got to be a less crazy alternative.”
“Like what?” Kian asks. “Our phones don’t work out here, and it’s not like swimming would be any faster than walking. What else is there, if the jet is dead?”
“Is it really dead?” I ask, wondering if the tank is literally empty, or if there might be enough juice to get the Chaos Machine into the air.
Kian shrugs. “Xane seems to think so.”
“Why? What are you thinking?” Trick asks, curious.
“I might have an idea, but don’t get your hopes up. We’ll probably still have to wait around for a while until the rain is off and maybe until the ground is less swampy, too.”
“Any idea that doesn’t require hiking through the wilderness gets my vote,” Kian enthuses.
“Me too,” Trick agrees.
“What’s all this about voting?” Xane asks, as he steps out into the main cabin, in the shirt and boxers he came out to grab before his lengthy talk with our newest pack member.
He’s actually smiling for once. It’s kinda weird, but it’s definitely the kinda weird I could get used to.
“Uh, we were talking about the other options for getting out of here,” Kian reveals.
“We have other options?” Xane asks as he moves closer, followed by Scarlett, who’s holding his hand.
She’s wearing a tight blue shirt and hot pants, and I must admit, I like the look.
It’s kinda hard to tear my gaze away from her.
“Xane has an idea,” Trick tells them.
“It’s a work in progress,” I admit. “We could brainstorm over dinner, if Kian has the food ready?”
Kian sighs. “It’s ready. No prep work required. We’re on packet rations tonight.”
“You take the seat,” Xane tells Scarlett, moving so she can slip past him.
Kian sits up straighter as she sits down in the seat opposite.
He picks up a box from the bundle in front of him.
“Dinner is served,” he says, opening the box.
It’s hard not to complain, but the nutbars don’t exactly look appetising.
“One bar each,” Kian says as he hands them out. “And we have a snack bag of dried fruit each for dessert.”
“Are you kidding?” I ask.
“Unfortunately, he isn’t,” Xane says, as he takes a bar.
Well, this sucks, but at least I’ve got my lemonade.
“What’s for breakfast?” I ask, wondering if it’s anything more substantial.
“Bacon and eggs,” Kian says.
Xane slaps him on the back of the head in passing.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“Don’t talk about real food when we have none,” Xane warns him.
“I was talking about the bag of gummies we have somewhere. Those little strawberry bacon and banana egg things.”
“Oh.” Xane shakes his head. “Still, it’s not funny, Ki.”
“Fine. I’m sorry.” He shrugs. “You guys are no fun.”
“Is there more soda?” Scarlett asks.
“What kind do you like?” Kian asks, enthusiasm instantly returning.
“Anything’s good with me.”
“I’ll get it,” Xane says, before Kian can jump to his feet.
Trick opens his nutbar, and they … don’t look as bad as they sounded.
I pick one up. “Are these covered in chocolate?”
“Well, yeah,” Kian says. “I wanted to get the best snacks I could find for this trip.”
“You coulda brought some meat.”
“I brought jerky, but we’re saving that for tomorrow.”
Xane puts a can of soda down in front of Scarlett. “So, what was this plan you were voting on, exactly?”
“It wasn’t cast out to votes yet. I just kinda wondered how empty the fuel tank actually is.”
“There’s a little bit of juice left in the tank,” Xane admits. “But it’s not enough to really do anything. I doubt I could even get her into the air.”
“Shit. Really?”
“Why? What were you thinking?”
“It’s probably crazy, but if you got up there, you could radio the resort’s tower, right? You could tell them we’re stuck on the other side of the island.”
“I thought about that,” Xane admits. “I’m not sure we have enough fuel to get into the air.”
“Doesn’t the amount of fuel needed depend on weight?”
“Uh, yeah, it does.”
“So, is there anything we could do to make the jet lighter?”
Xane blinks at me. “Uh … Yeah. I would take it up alone if I thought it could be attempted anyway. I would need to do some calculations, but if we took some heavier things out, then maybe we’d have a better chance of getting up there.”
“Sounds dangerous,” Scarlett says. “What happens once you’re in the sky?”
“It would be a controlled risk,” Xane tells her. “I know what I’m doing. I could land in the water and swim back here.”
“I don’t know. What other options do we have?” Scarlett asks.
“A four-day hike once the rain goes off,” I suggest, with a wry smile.
“With enough food for maybe two or three days,” Kian adds, wrinkling his nose. “I don’t like this new plan, either, but it might be our only choice.”
“I really don’t like it,” Scarlett admits.
“We’re not making any decisions tonight,” Xane says. “We need to see how everything looks after the storm anyway. The ground could make take off impossible.”
She visibly relaxes in her seat after hearing that.
It’s funny how quickly everyone has gotten attached.
Kian was already completely wrapped up in her before he even met her.
Trick fell for her the instant they met.
And Xane …
Xane pretended not to feel anything, but clearly, he felt the same as Ki and Trick.
Because the second she showed she cared, he melted like snow in July.
I ignored what I felt because I assumed it was simple attraction.
I can see it’s more than that.
But now we’re stuck in a group in one place.
Finding a way to talk to her alone seems unlikely.
I’m not sure how we can bond if we don’t get that time together, especially if Xane’s gonna be protective any time she tries to make some kind of move.
Sighing, I start to eat my less than appetising dinner.
Today’s been a write-off so far.
That’s probably not gonna change.