12. Milly
”Human, huh?” Flint asks, sitting beside me and looking thoughtful. ”I thought you smelled a little different, but birds like me aren”t really keen on scents and I don”t know if that”s even possible...”
”Milly,” Branch interrupts and sits on my other side, but I can barely hear him because my whole body is a bundle of nervous energy. I ignore him and bite my lip while looking at the sky. Staring upwards has always helped me hold in my tears, and goodness knows, I”ve felt the need to cry a lot during my frustrating life.
”They won”t take you away from here just because you”re human,” says Flint. ”Patricia is human and she”s on the island. Well, she is part of the staff, but it”s not like anything in the paperwork said you have to be a shifter to live here. I should know, I helped Colt with it.”
”It”s not that,” I whisper, and both Flint and Branch lean in closely. ”It”s all a lie, my life is a lie and someone has found out.”
”What is a lie, Milly?” Branch asks.
”I... well...” I stammer, but the words don”t come out. I”m wringing my hands and trying to pull my thoughts together when a large body comes crashing through the foliage behind us. I look up to see Archer standing there, panting as if he ran the entire length of the island to get to us.
”Milly,” Flint says, reaching over and pulling my chin towards him. He has his sunglasses back on, and I see my blotchy red face reflected in the lenses. ”I”ll see what I can find out for you and let you know, okay? Stay with Branch and Archer for now, they won”t let you out of their sight.”
I nod numbly because I”m shaking too much to do much else, and I watch with wide-eyed wonder as the human form of Flint hunches down and folds into himself to become a large, brown and white sea eagle.
His shorts have somehow stayed flopped over on his head, and even though I feel everything falling apart around me, it”s a funny sight, and I smile a watery grin while I pull them off his feathery head. He looks at me with sharp eyes, and with a few flaps of his really long wings, he takes off into the sky and flies off towards the center of the island.
”I was always a little jealous that he can fly,” breathes Branch before he turns back to face me. ”Milly, talk to me, what would someone find out about you? Does it have something to do with Millicent Taylor?”
”Don”t mention that name to me! What did you tell Archer this morning?” I demand.
”What? Nothing, well, nothing about you, I guess. Well, maybe I mentioned Mark was bothering you and asked if he knew anything.”
I continue to wring my hands together, willing the courage to speak, but the shock and fear of an almost certain jail sentence hangs over my head. I want to believe Branch and trust him, but it”s hard. I turn to Archer, and he looks confused.
”It was nothing nefarious about you,” he says in what sounds like an honest tone.
Archer sits behind me where Flint had just been, and I glance over to see him looking at me with a hard, intense gaze. And that”s when I feel the pulling sensation again, but it happens between Archer and I. It”s pulling me closer and closer and filling my mind with all kinds of dirty images.
After I push away the fear of being caught to see what else is left inside me, I can feel a humming connective string to Branch as well as my body thrumming in response to Archer”s presence. It”s as if another string is being formed, and the mystery of it leaves me tingling with anticipation.
”Arch, help me out here,” groans Branch, but Archer ignores him as he continues to stare at me.
”This can”t be,” mutters Archer. ”You”re a... you”re not even...”
There”s a feral look to his eyes, one that I didn”t notice in either Branch or Flint or even with Colt when we briefly met. I wonder what kind of shifter he is, though I bet he”s something big and intense, like a big cat or a bear. He”s large and intimidating, but in a way that makes me squirm under his gaze.
Branch is watching us now with an amused smile on his face and reaches over to move my hair away from my neck.
”Okay, Milly. I”ll wait till you”re ready to talk to me, but right now, I think Archer wants something from you,” he says, using my shoulder to tilt me back into his chest. I sigh when I feel the warmth coming from Branch as he wraps his arms around me, but Archer takes me off guard as he swiftly buries his face into my neck, inhaling deeply and letting out a guttural purring sound that sends shivers down my spine.
”What does she smell like?” Branch asks him, and with his mouth still pressed against my skin, Archer mutters a response.
”Like warm cherry pie.”
”Hm, it”s more like vanilla cupcakes to me,” says Branch, dipping his face into the other side of my neck and nipping playfully at my skin.
The tension from my body drains at their contact, and even though the threat of being taken away weighs heavy in the air, any thoughts in my mind are too hazy to hang onto. Someone may be on their way here right now to take me away, so I might as well make the best of my time here. Having both Branch and Archer so close to me right now feels like an impossible wonder, and my mind and body are delirious with pleasurable thoughts of them.
”Is this even possible?” Archer finally asks, rising up to look at Branch, who shrugs in response.
”I”m not sure, but it feels like it”s happening and I”m okay with it if you are.”
Archer nods, takes my chin in one of his hands, and moves it toward his mouth, but before anything happens, the telltale sound of rustling leaves alerts us to someone else coming to join our party. All three of us look over at the squat, sweaty form of our island coordinator, Mark.
”Oh good, the three of you are here. I have been trying to get in contact with all of you this morning and no one has returned my summons or come to see me. I need to talk to you about...”
I stiffen in Branch”s arms, and Archer moves, blocking most of me from Mark”s small frame.
”Look, I have some island matters that I desperately need to go over with each of you, if you”ll just indulge me for five minutes...”
”Sorry, Mark, we”re sort of busy at the moment!” cries Branch, leaping to his feet and pulling me up behind him. ”Can it wait till later?”
”Well, I guess, but not really...” stutters Mark, but Branch is already dragging me towards the warm water, stepping out of his shorts and throwing his T-shirt off at the same time.
Archer chuckles, moves over a few loungers, and props it up so he”s at an angle watching Branch and I rushing into the waves. We make it out till the water reaches my chest, but it isn”t very high on Branch, and I hold in a giggle at the flustered Mark, who is now trying to get Archer”s attention.
Branch leans close to my ear and moves his hands to my hips. The water conceals his actions, but I can feel his hardness poking into my ass just under the water”s gentle rolling waves. He wiggles around a little and presses himself against me in a rhythmic motion of his hips, making us both moan in anticipation.
”You see Archer there?” Branch leans over and whispers into my ear, and I nod. ”I bet he”s as hard as I am right now.”
I swallow another moan as Branch continues to move his pelvis against me from behind. My hands are free so I reach down and try to slide my bikini to the side, but since I secured it earlier, it won”t budge. I let out a frustrated moan as Branch reaches over and explores my problem with his long fingers.
”Oh dear, looks like you can”t get what you want just yet,” he whispers again, bumping harder and faster into my hips. The water splashes around us, and Mark looks over with a clear alarm written on his face.
”I guess you are busy, um, well, just come by my office later. Please!” he says, scurrying away like a scared raccoon. I can hear Archer”s laugh from here but lose focus when Branch”s grip on me tightens, and he pushes me back towards the shore.
”Come on,” he says. ”I want Archer to watch me fuck you.”