Epilogue
JAFETH
“Does everyone in this house have to have sex in front of me all the time?” I mutter after stumbling upon Shemaiah and Pippa in the library.
Her skirts cover what they’re doing, but their scent makes it perfectly clear.
“Can’t you do this in your rooms? It’s like you’ve all made it your mission to torture me. ”
Pippa laughs. “You’re one to talk.”
Her words bring to mind the time she caught me in the tapestry gallery with the honorable and infuriating Inspector Lucy Thaddox.
I still can’t believe she walked away from me mid-sex, leaving me with the worst case of blue balls of my entire life and a mark on my record.
I’ve always ensured the women I’m with reach completion.
Until her. Then to act like nothing happened between us when we captured the cult.
The woman acted like I was a stranger when I’d been deep inside her, for fuck’s sake!
“Get out, Jafeth!” Shemaiah barks, face tense as he holds himself back.
“Fine!” I throw my hands up, spin away from the door, pulling it shut behind me before stalking down the hall.
The house is too full. I should be celebrating the fact that there are women everywhere.
Ruby relocated eighteen women into the house after Shemaiah and Pippa shut down the fucking cult that was trying to make new Mavarri and failing just as tragically as my father.
And of course she made me swear not to lead any of their hearts astray.
Which is ridiculous, because I don’t lead women astray.
I lead them to pleasure, to realizing their wanton desires and embracing them.
I’m always honest about who I am and what I do.
Let other men settle down with them. I’m the kind who fucks them and forgets, leaving them absolutely satisfied in the process.
They know the score beforehand. It’s not my fault if their hearts get caught up in the rapture of my exceptional cock.
That tends to happen.
But not to Lucy. I still can’t understand how she walked away after having me balls deep in her sweet cunt—one of the best cunts I’d ever felt, honestly.
I was actually worried I was going to finish before her, and that doesn’t happen to me.
Fuck, I need to stop thinking about it, or I’m going to end up walking around with a raging hard-on for a woman who wants nothing to do with me. Not happening.
The whole fiasco threw off my game.
Which I need to fix immediately.
Roan Island is a veritable buffet I’m not allowed to explore or sample, and there are definitely some tasty snacks.
I could use a good fuck to forget the tight pussy that upended me.
But Ruby keeps cock-blocking me by telling the women to be wary of my charms. Impertinent wench!
All while my siblings keep throwing their happy relationships in my face.
I don’t want what they have, but I need a good fuck. Now.
An idea strikes me that makes my blood pump a little faster.
I find Noah in the smoking parlor, which he’s converted to a makeshift medical room. Ruby and two of the former Vastatio patients are with him.
I lean against the doorway, painting on my most seductive smile. “Ladies.”
One of them giggles behind her hand, and Ruby cuts me a sharp look.
Ignoring her, I give the women both a once-over. “How are you ladies feeling this morning? Up for a little stroll later.”
“Jafeth,” Ruby warns.
I huff. “I actually came to tell you I’m going to New Essik.”
Ruby quirks an eyebrow at me. I hate that she seems to read me like one of her damn research books.
“For how long?” Noah looks up from his notes for the first time.
I shrug. “Don’t know yet.”
Ruby continues to study me, and the intensity in her look makes me squirm.
“Actually,” she says. “I have an idea.”
I hate her ideas.
She crosses the room, grabs my hand, and pulls me out into the hall, closing the door behind us, presumably so the patients won’t hear.
“Lucy sent a letter today,” Ruby says.
My jaw inadvertently tightens at the woman’s name, and I force myself not to growl as irritation whips through me.
“A body turned up. A woman, drained of blood. Lucy asked if we knew anything about it. I think she suspects that one of us killed her. There were… bite marks on her neck.”
I wrinkle my brow, concern overpowering my dislike for Ruby’s friend. “Impossible. We’ve all been here.”
“I know. I wrote as much to her.” She pulls a letter from her pocket and hands it to me. “You can deliver it and offer to help with the investigation.”
I don’t particularly want to help with an investigation, but the circumstances of the murder have me curious. “I doubt she’ll want my help.”
Ruby tilts her head and laughs. “That’s probably true, but I think she could use it. You are Mavarri.” She pauses before setting her hand on my arm. “Sometimes Lucy’s too independent for her own good.”
“Ha!” That’s an understatement. The woman is insufferably stubborn.
It took all of my charm to convince her to fuck me, and she still walked away without a second look.
Before I even made her come! Was it so bad she didn’t think it would happen even if she stayed?
No, fuck, no. I’m Jafeth Roan. I’m a good fuck.
Snatching the letter from Ruby, an even better idea than my first one takes form. “Fine. I’ll see what I can do.”
Getting under Lucy Thaddox’s skin sounds much more enjoyable than hanging around here. Maybe this is exactly what I need. A good hate-fuck.
Ruby’s eyebrows pinch together. “She’s off limits, Jafeth.”
“I make no promises.”
Clearly, Ruby’s friend didn’t tell her I already seduced her. I’m not shy about my paramours, but I’m glad my sister-in-law doesn’t know about the one time I failed to make a woman come, even if it was just because we were interrupted, and she was too prim and proper to keep going.
“I can’t guarantee she’ll keep her hands off me.” A smug smile accompanies my wink. “I’m rather irresistible.”
“And so humble,” Ruby grouses under her breath.
“Don’t need to be humble when you can live up to your claims.”
“I mean it, Jafeth,” Ruby says. “Don’t touch Lucy. Promise me.”
I tuck the letter into my jacket pocket and back away with a grin, lips tightly sealed.
“Jafeth!” Ruby calls after me, but I just wave, wiggling my fingers over my head without stopping.
Keeping my hands off Lucy Thaddox is a promise I refuse to make.
Thank you so much for reading The Temptation of Roan Island.