Black Wings, Gray Skies (Black Hat Bureau 4)

5

Given the size of the island, we didn’t have to search long to spot Clay and a half dozen of his new bikini-clad besties. His broad wave in our direction confirmed he had secured a ride back to the mainland, and I had to hand it to him. He worked fast. The silver fox snuggled into his side, and a bevy of scantily clad ladies surrounded him, as if he were the first man to land on a planet populated only by women.

Goddess only knows what story he spun to earn their unwavering loyalty so quickly.

“Here they are now,” he told the women, then boomed at us, “Come aboard.”

Asa and I waded in ankle-deep water to reach the ladder then joined the others on the biggest privately owned boat I had ever stepped foot on. Dare I call it a yacht? Perhaps floating city worked best?

“You didn’t mention your friend was a girl.” His arm candy pouted. “Is she your daughter?”

“Yes,” he lied through his teeth. “My daughter, Rue, and her boyfriend, Asa.” She placed a proprietary hand on his chest. “These are my new friends, Marta, Tamsin, Shae…” he smiled down at the silver fox, “…and Glinda.”

“How do you feel about sharing?” A woman with pink cheeks wet her lips. “You’re such a lovely couple.”

Was she asking me to let her seduce him? Or was she inviting us both to join her? And did it matter?

Nope.

Not even a little. The answer was no. It would always be no.

Hitchhiker I might be, but I wasn’t paying for a ride back with sex.

“We don’t share.” Asa’s palm warmed the back of my neck. “Thank you for the offer.”

“You understand I had to ask.” She slid Clay a glance. “Though I suppose it would get weird with your dad there.” She must have read my shock. “He’s agreed to join us tonight for our sacred moon rite.” She held a hand to one side of her mouth. “We’re witches.”

If a single one of these women had an ounce of magic in them, I would eat Clay’s wig. “Uh-huh.”

“Usually, it’s just us girls, dancing naked under the stars,” Glinda, the only woman whose name I could match to a face, confided. “But Clay is too tempting.” She smoothed a hand down his shirt. “We don’t mind sharing at all, do we, girls?”

The girls in question cheered and whooped with glee, and Clay might as well have been my father for how traumatized I was by the deal he had struck. Even if I knew he would enjoy the heck out of being ravaged by “witches” on a remote beach somewhere, I could have lived the rest of my life without knowing about it.

“The things I do for the goddess.” Clay squeezed Glinda tighter. “Ladies, I’m at your service.”

“You will be,” a brunette purred. “As soon as the sun goes down.”

“How about that trip to the mainland?” I clapped my hands loudly. “Let’s go, shall we?”

“We need to prepare for tonight anyway,” Glinda declared. “Full steam ahead, Trish.”

Seeing as how the engine woke to a dull purr on her command, I decided Trish was the captain.

Once we got underway, Asa and I found a quietish spot away from the pre-orgy festivities.

Forearms braced on the rail beside me, Asa cleared his throat. “Rue—”

“Nope.” I shook my head. “We’re not talking about it.”

Quiet laughter moved through his shoulders. “You two really are like siblings.”

“Siblings who don’t need to know about each other’s orgy plans.”

Still chuckling, he smoothed a fingertip over the mistletoe necklace he’d given me where it rested, blown off center by the wind, against my left collarbone.

“That’s not how it works.” I wrapped his braid around my hand and used it to tug his face down to mine. “You are supposed to kiss me when I touch it.”

“Hmm.” The vibration moved from his lips to mine. “Is that right?”