by Katee Robert
He blinked, shook his head, blinked again. “Clever little thing, aren’t you?” he murmured.
His shock pleased her, but the new appreciation in his dark gaze pleased her more. For the first time since she’d arrived at the island, someone looked at her like they actually saw her. Luca looked at her like he actually saw her. He sat forward and braced his forearms on his knees. “What’s the endgame?”
“Excuse me?”
“If you’re not here intent on dragging me back to Thalania as your prize, you must have something else in mind.”
She did, but while she may lust after this man, she couldn’t trust him. His presence here only reinforced that truth. Instead, she deflected. “You would make a terrible prize. You’re too big to haul around, too willing to glower at people you just met, and you’re grumpy.”
“I’m not grumpy.”
She gave a theatrical sigh. “You’re right. I shouldn’t try to spare your feelings with kind words. You’re not grumpy—you’re an asshole.”
He blinked. “Wow. Tell me how you really feel.”
“My point is that I want a husband I don’t have to win by traipsing through a jungle for seven days and avoiding people who want to deliver me bodily harm.”
“When you put it like that …” The distance seemed to shrink between them. Luca finally looked away. “You know, you don’t have to play the prim prissy princess with me.”
She didn’t laugh this time, but the urge rose all the same. “Please, do tell me how I’m supposed to lay down all my defenses and depend on you to save me. Should you make a sling to carry me around so I don’t stumble and turn my ankle?”
His lips twitched. “You get saucy when you’re riled.”
“And you get ridiculous when someone tells you no. I didn’t ask for your help, and I’m doing just fine without you. Either this is all some ploy to ensure you win, though I can’t imagine what you’d ask Death for that she wouldn’t give you freely, or it’s a trick of some other nature. I want nothing to do with it.”
Luca pulled his pack forward and dug out an MRE. “Might as well eat while we argue.”
She shouldn’t. To follow even this small command, she set precedent of obedience—something Cami couldn’t afford. On the other hand, not eating meant she’d be weak and worthless. In the humidity and heat, it was more important than ever to keep her strength up. She burned too many calories from hiking and sweating to not replenish them out of spite.
Slowly, reluctantly, Cami pulled out her own MRE. They set about getting the meals heating and sat back. She started to search for something to say, but then reality crashed down around her. For all intents and purposes, they were enemies. She couldn’t trust him, and he certainly shouldn’t trust her. Making small talk just to break the silence was a poor choice.
Apparently Luca hadn’t gotten the memo. “Smart move you pulled back there.”
She couldn’t quite smother the curl of pride his words nurtured. “Oh?”
A tight smile pulled at his lips. They were really nice lips, sinfully curved and designed for wickedness. The shadow of stubble on his jaw only made that mouth all the more sensual. If she concentrated, she could almost imagine how it would feel to have him dragging his cheek up her inner thigh.
“Cami?”
She flushed, hoping the firelight hid her blush. “Sorry, I missed that.”
“I can tell.” There it was again, that tight smile that spoke of control just waiting to be shucked off. “Thinking virtuous thoughts?”
“Of course,” she answered primly.
Luca chuckled, the sound raspy as if with disuse. “Right. Well, what you missed while you were over there thinking virtuous thoughts was my complimenting you on that takedown. I have a question, though.”
She shouldn’t poke him. It was like grabbing a tiger by the tail and hoping for the best. Cami couldn’t help it. “I may or may not have an answer.”
Another of those dry chuckles. “You knew I was coming and set a trap for me.”
“That’s not a question.”
“How did you know I was coming?”
To tell or not to tell? She suspected he’d figure it out eventually. Cami checked her MRE and found it fully heated. She took a cautious bite. Not as bad as some of the ones I’ve eaten. “You’ve been following me most of the afternoon. I didn’t know it was you, of course, but I figured whoever it was would wait for night to attack. The rest is history.”
“That didn’t really answer my question. I might be a bit out of practice, but I know I didn’t make any rookie mistakes that should have tipped you off. How did you know I was there?”
Answering that meant admitting just how deep her deception went. Admitting that showing up for the Wild Hunt wasn’t simply a whim of a spoiled princess. That she’d planned and trained and sacrificed for this chance at freedom. Cami took another bite and chewed slowly. “It’s enough to know I did.” He frowned like he’d continue grilling her, so she turned the tables. “You said you’re out of practice. You haven’t participated in any of the Hunts since the tradition got started.”
Just like that, his expression closed down. She hadn’t even been aware that he’d started to let her in until he shut her out. “That’s not a question.”
She gave him the half smile that deserved. “Where did you learn this particular skillset?”
“A long time ago, it was the only thing that kept me and my siblings alive.” He grimaced. “Well, that, and Amarante. She kept all of us alive.”
Cami’s breath stalled in her lungs. He was talking about what he’d gone through after he was taken. Questions bubbled up, but she clamped her mouth shut to keep them internal. Luca didn’t know her. It wasn’t right for her to demand answers when they were barely more than strangers, especially when the past obviously pained him. The shadows from the firelight danced against the tall rock at his back, long and sinister.
She finally managed to swallow. “I’m glad you survived.”
“Being out here … It’s so different, but it’s fucking with me.” He gave himself a shake and, just like that, the quiet pain disappeared. “So what’s your plan?”
She let him change the subject, let the past sink back into darkness. Cami wanted to know what happened to Luca, how he was taken, what he’d survived. Those questions had haunted Yael for the entire time Cami had known the old woman.
The rest of the Nibley Family cared that one of their children had been taken and potentially hurt, but he’d been absent from Thalania more years than he lived there. He was a stranger and one potentially in line for their Head of Family. They were more than happy to let him stay in his little island paradise and leave them the hell alone. Even his parents had gone on to have more children, as if they could balance out the memory of the boy they’d lost.
Not his grandmother. Not Yael.
She’d never stopped searching for a way to bring him home, and when she’d eventually discovered that he was alive and well and occupying a little island in the Indian Ocean, she’d moved heaven and earth to try to bring him back into the fold. To bring him home. It hadn’t worked, of course, and she’d ultimately decided that she wouldn’t force the issue for fear of delivering her grandson more harm that he didn’t deserve.
Now she just wanted answers.
Cami did too, if she was completely honest with herself.
She set aside her curiosity. Either there would be time to figure it out, or there wouldn’t, but the Hunt had to come first. “I plan to win.”
“That’s not a plan. That’s a wish.”
Lord save her from this infuriating man. She lifted her chin. “I’m sorry, I must have missed the part where I asked for your help, your opinion, or your presence.”
Luca gave her a lazy smile that had her stomach flipping over in slow motion. “You might not have asked for me, but you’ve got me. I’m not going anywhere.”
9
Cami woke to the sound of groaning. Her hand went to
her knife even before she opened her eyes. Seconds later she recognized the source. Luca. She sat up slowly, cautiously, but he lay where he’d put his sleeping bag on the other side of the fire. He’d managed to unzip it almost fully and, even in the low light of the embers, she could see his whole body was one tight line.
What to do?
In the end, it wasn’t even a real argument. She climbed to her feet and moved to kneel next to him. Cami reached out and hesitated. He was obviously in the midst of a nightmare, and maybe touching him wasn’t the best option. “Luca,” she said softly. Firmly. “Luca, you’re safe.” It may be a little white lie in the strictest sense of the word, but she didn’t care. “Luca, wake up. It’s just a nightmare.”
But he didn’t open his eyes. Instead of calming, his breathing went even choppier. Damn it, she’d made it worse.
Cami considered and tossed her knife away. If she shook him awake, she ran the risk that he wouldn’t recognize her, that he’d see her as some kind of enemy and attack accordingly. She’d heard of soldiers having that reaction, and while she didn’t think Luca had ever served officially, he obviously had demons stalking his dreams from the things he’d seen. Being on this island must have dredged them up.
She took a deep breath, braced herself, and put her hands gently on his shoulders. “Wake up, Luca.”
The reaction was instantaneous. One second she was wondering if she’d have to shake him and the next she was on her back, one of Luca’s hands around her throat.
He didn’t choke her.
Even with his dark eyes unseeing and violence telegraphing from every line of his body, he didn’t actually hurt her. Cami lay perfectly still, even though he had to feel her heart racing against his palm. “It’s me, Luca. Cami. You’re safe.”
Slowly, so, so slowly, his gaze cleared, though he still looked positively haunted. “Cami.”
“You’re safe,” she repeated.
He laughed hoarsely. “Not that. Never that.” His gaze dropped to her mouth, and he released her enough to stroke her throat with his thumb. “Did I hurt you?”
“No.” Was that her voice? She sounded as rough as if he had strangled her. Cami licked her lips. She couldn’t help it. She wasn’t sure she wanted to, no matter that playing with this man was the height of stupidity.
Luca shifted, settling more firmly between her thighs, letting the weight of his hips pin her. “You shouldn’t have touched me while I was dreaming.”
The fact he could lecture her while she felt his hard cock pressed against her was so typically Luca that she almost laughed. Instead Cami stopped waiting for him to decide what to do with this thing and hooked the back of his neck, pulling her upper body off the ground to kiss him.
He stayed perfectly still for the space of a breath, as if shocked that she’d gone there. Then he growled against her mouth and his hands were in her hair, cushioning her head against the ground as he ravished her with lips and tongue. He nipped her bottom lip, eating her gasp and sucking on the spot as if to soothe her.
Sensations rolled over her, his mouth on hers, his big body caging her even as he kept the majority of his weight off her, his cock insistently grinding against the seam of her pants. A little more pressure, a little more friction, and she just might come apart from this alone.
Luca kissed along her jawline and dragged his mouth over her throat. “This is a mistake.”
“You keep saying that.” She hooked one leg around his waist, trying to get a better angle. It was no use. There were too many clothes between them. Cami’s breath sobbed out in frustration. “I need more.”
He rolled off her. Before she had a chance to process the sudden absence, he took up a position next to her and urged her onto her side, her back to his chest. Not again. She tried to turn to face him, but he pushed her hair off her neck and pressed an open-mouthed kiss there. “Let me take care of you.”
“You’re not going to just lie there while I masturbate on whatever limb you deem acceptable this time?”
He cursed and his grip on her hip spasmed. “You’ve got a filthy mouth for a princess.”
“I’ve got exactly the right kind of mouth for a sexually frustrated princess, you jerk.”
“Can’t have that.” He slid one arm under her and pulled her closer to his body. With the other, he undid her button and zipper. Slowly. Achingly slowly. “I’m going to touch you now.” It wasn’t quite a question, but he didn’t follow through on his declaration, his fingertips pressing lightly to her stomach just above the gaping band of her pants.
“Do you think this will work?”
He froze. “What are you talking about?”
She shouldn’t have said anything, should have just allowed him to steer them. Last time it worked out so well, she could already feel pulses of anticipation surging through her body in a few key spots. But Cami had allowed herself to be swept along for the entirety of her life. “This.” She rolled her hips, pressing her ass against his cock. “Flipping me over so you can’t see my face. Taking up a position as if I could be anyone.” She knew better. She wondered if he did.
His fingers flexed against her stomach. “This can’t mean anything.”
“Agreed.”
He growled against the back of her neck. “You didn’t even hesitate.”
Oh yeah, this wasn’t just someone feeling horny in the jungle. She pressed her lips together to keep from chasing that thought any further. Most of the time she wasn’t even sure she liked Luca—she certainly didn’t like how he kept treating her like she was spun glass. Though, in reality, Cami had no one to blame for that but herself. She was the one who’d manipulated his expectations. Apparently she’d triggered some protective instincts that he wanted to pretend he didn’t have, and now he was going to punish her with … orgasms.
Seemed logical enough.
“I’m sorry.” She rolled her hips again. “Was I supposed to cry and beg?”
He gave the slightest flexing of his fingers, a blatant tell of how her words affected him. She might have smiled if she didn’t need his touch so much.
Wait a minute.
Why was she waiting for him to decide when to make this move? That’s not the person she was supposed to be right now. Cami shifted and covered his hand with hers. “Touch me or get out of my way.”
There it was again. That growl that sent goosebumps across her skin in a wave. Luca set his teeth against her skin. “Wouldn’t take much, would it? I already know how you like it.”
She pressed down on the top of his hand, and he let her guide it into her pants and beneath her panties. She bit her lip as his calluses dragged over her sensitive skin and pressed his fingers to her clit. Lower, guiding a single finger inside. She couldn’t keep her eyes open. There was nothing to see but the fire, anyway, so she didn’t bother to try. “Is this a kink of yours, Luca?”
He crooked his finger when she said his name. “Is what a kink of mine?”
“Letting me use you as my own personal sex toy.” She lifted her hips, trying to work him deeper. It was hot, so unbearably hot, to manipulate his hand into giving her pleasure, but she wanted more. She wanted him right there with her. She wanted him participating. “I never thought passiveness was your thing, but I can get down with that if—”
He set his teeth against the sensitive skin at the back of her neck. “You talk too much.” Luca withdrew his hand and shoved her pants down to her knees and lower, until he could spread her thighs wide with his rough touch. Two fingers pressed into her, almost gentle despite how roughly he’d removed the barrier of her clothes. “I’m craving the feeling of you coming apart for me again.”
That made two of them.
If she let him, he’d finish her like this, replace her clothes, pat her ass, and send her back to her sleeping bag. Cami understood that on an intrinsic level. She could take this pleasure and give nothing in return. She probably even should do that.
No. I want more.
She pushed his han
d away and rolled to face him. His shock was the only reason she got his pants undone in quick order. Luca grabbed her wrist. “What are you doing?”
They were so close, she’d have to move back to see his face, and she refused to do that. Luca wanted a reason to stop this, to put her back into the clearly marked boundary he’d created for her. She carefully extracted his hand from her wrist and replaced it between her thighs. “Don’t stop touching me.”
“This is a mistake.”
“Now you’re talking too much.” She reached into his pants and he didn’t stop her as she grasped his cock. “Impressive,” Cami breathed. She gave him a careful stroke and then a rough one, gauging his response.
Luca didn’t make her guess. He resuming his slow finger fucking with one hand and used his free one to cover hers, showing her exactly the kind touch he liked. Cami caught on quickly, adjusting her pace and grip to match, and he let his hand fall away.
Her lips found his throat. She wasn’t sure how it happened. She kissed him there, feeling his groan vibrate through his skin. Pleasure danced through her, Luca expertly playing her body even as she did the same for him. She had to fight to concentrate, not to break her rhythm as he pressed the heel of his palm against her clit.
So close …
Luca crooked his fingers inside her and she was lost. Cami’s back bowed with the strength of her orgasm. She barely managed to keep her cry soft and quiet. Barely. Her grip on his cock faltered, but it didn’t matter. Luca rolled her onto her back and shoved her shirt up to her neck, baring her stomach and breasts. He roughly fisted his cock stroking once, twice, a third time, and coming in great spurts across her stomach.
Cami lay there in a daze and Luca dropped next to her with a curse. That just happened. That had most definitely just happened.
She was in serious trouble.
Fucking Princess Camilla Fitzcharles was out of the question.
