felt a surprising rush of lust sizzle straight down to his groin.
What the hell was he doing, kissing a Fate? He didn’t like Fates. He had no respect for Fates, as a species. And all he really wanted from this woman was for her to commit to coming with them, so she could put her curse on Gavin and their lives could go back to normal.
“Does this mean yes?” Brandon mumbled against her lips.
Prim reacted as if she’d just woken from a trance. She blinked rapidly and then abruptly pulled away, looking as if she’d never intended to kiss him in the first place.
“I . . . I . . . I don’t know,” she finally managed.
During the kiss, Brandon’s hand had somehow settled on the back of her neck. He massaged lightly, coaxingly. “What have you got to lose?”
“Everything,” she whispered, but it wasn’t very convincing.
Gotcha .
Chapter 5
They left the next day. Prim was still a little hazy on how in the world she’d managed to get rooked into going with them. Unfortunately, she knew it was the right thing to do, and her own sense of consciousness wouldn’t allow her to turn back now.
Before they left, there was a period of tense arguing, when Sydney realized Brandon’s intent was to leave her on the island while he and Prim went off to track down Gavin. Sydney flatly refused to stay.
“I’m going with you,” she insisted. “I’ll be able to help you track him. And you’ll be able to use me as bait, to lure him to us.”
“We are not using you for bait,” Brandon said equally as flatly. “My job is to keep you safe, not dangle you like a fucking piece of meat in front of a lion. You’ll be safe here.”
“He’ll find me here. It doesn’t matter where I am. He’ll find me. You’re better off keeping me with you, so you can protect me, if need be.”
Prim had immediately jumped to Sydney’s defense when she made that comment. Prim didn’t want Gavin anywhere near her secret little island, especially now that he was no longer cursed.
Brandon finally relented, and agreed to let Sydney go with them. Which of course meant William joined them as well, since he wasn’t about to let such a precious commodity out of his sight.
Left with no other option, Prim grudgingly made arrangements for Killian to stay on the island in her absence. She wasn’t happy with the decision as she was still furious with him for releasing the curse in the first place, but she had little choice. Someone had to stay behind to watch over her island paradise. And frankly, this was better than him tagging along, complaining every step of the way.
He wasn’t particularly pleased either, despite the fact that he now had everything he claimed he wanted: beautiful sandy beaches, endless turquoise water, no shifters to speak of, and the overly willing Gaya sharing his bed each night.
But Gaya was a substitute for her. He wanted Prim instead, and he was none too pleased that she was rushing off with the handsome shifter she was so blatantly attracted to. If he knew about the kiss from the night before, he might very well have refused to stay, and she wasn’t sure what she would have done in that case. She could not leave her island home without the attention of a Fate for any length of time.
Brandon didn’t appear to care one way or the other about Killian, but he wasn’t thrilled with the idea of taking William with them.
“He stands out like a bikini-clad waitress holding a steak in a roomful of hungry shifters,” he protested. “Gavin’s going to know we’re coming the second we leave this fucking island.”
He swears a lot , Prim thought as they pushed away from the dock, with Brokk at the helm. She supposed it wasn’t all that surprising, given Brandon likely spent the majority of his time surrounded by other males. He needs a good woman to balance him .
She gasped at her own bizarre thought pattern.
Brandon regarded her from behind his black sunglasses. “What?”
“Nothing,” she lied. “I
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