Chapter 100

Ollie’s POV

“Your mask…?” Hugh asks, confusion in his voice.

“The waves knocked it away,” I reply, fear rising in my heart. “Do you see it? Can you reach it?”

My worst fear is that the ocean swallowed the mask, taking it back to its depths like a trophy. I have a backup in my room, but that’s a far walk from here, and who knows whom I might walk into along the way.

I will take that chance if I have to, but it would be much safer to find the mask now.

Unless…

In a rush, I bury my face in my hands, suddenly worried Hugh might try to see me.

I can hear him shifting around behind me, the waters churning as his body moves.

“Ah! There!” he says. In a burst of werewolf speed and energy, I see him zip back toward the deeper ocean. There, he snatches my mask from straight from the ocean’s grasp and holds it high, his prize.

I turn away then. I don’t know how much he can see me through my fingers but if he recognizes me here and now, I can only imagine the humiliation I would be exposed to.

The brothers would surely punish me, and not in the fun ways Declan promises. This would only be pain and mortification, from my mates.

I can hear him coming closer then. He’s been quite since snatching my mask, so I brace myself. Maybe he did see me. Maybe he knows who I am. Maybe I’m about to be punished for even dreaming the brothers might see me as an equal.

As I panic, Hugh comes right up behind me. With his arms moving on either side of me, he lowers the mask back over my face. I move my hands just in time, then hold it in place while he ties it a tight knot behind my head. Then he double-checks, tugging on the ribbon, as if to ensure the mask is secure.

“There,” he says. “No need to worry. Let me look at you…”

I swallow hard. Even with the building relief, the dread that had filled me in that previous moment was so all-encompassing that it was difficult to recover from.

Yet, still, slowly, I turn to face him. I keep my face low, afraid of what he’s seen, or what he might see.

He tucks a finger under my chin and coaxes my head up to face him properly. When I finally do, he tilts his head and smiles warmly. There’s a hint of teasing in his smile – I’m not sure Hugh knows how to smile without smirking – but mostly, he just looks fond.

“I will do what I can to protect your secret, Angel. Whatever it is. I gave you my word from the start and I will keep it.”

Immediately, my heart warms and the last of my fear ebbs away.

By now, though, the sun has fully set, making the ocean a foreboding dark abyss. I feel the chill of the water more keenly now.

While I know I have nothing to truly fear in Hugh’s presence, I still feel a desire to get back onshore.

Being out here in the darkness, naked, after what just happened… I am far too vulnerable like this.

I need my clothes like a shield.

Hugh must see the expression on my face, or maybe he feels similarly. I’m not sure, but either way he suggests, “Let’s get back to land, huh?”

As I nod, he takes my hand, lacing our fingers together, and slowly leads me back toward the sand. There, once releasing his hand, I scurry into my clothes, even though I’m damp.

Hugh watches me with some amusement.

“Where are your clothes?” I ask.

He shrugs. “In the house.”

He just walks around naked here? As I give him an incredulous look, he laughs.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he says, grinning. “Just be happy you now have the pleasure of watching me leave.”

He turns to walk back to the house. The water still clings to his skin, glistening in the moonlight. And yeah, he really does have a nice back, wide muscled shoulders and a tapered waist. And then a perfect ass…

He laughs again, like he knows I’m looking, and I quickly turn my gaze away.

While Hugh disappears into the house, I follow the sound of conversation around it until I find where the deck extends into a patio, complete with cushioned furniture and a fire pit.

The other three brothers are sitting there, resting around the flames, drinks in their hands. They stop talking when they see me.

“There you are,” Conrad says.

“We were wondering where you went,” Wes adds.

Thinking about what was just happening, my cheeks heat up. They shouldn’t be able to see it in the dim light of the stars and low fire, but Declan still does.

“She was with Hugh.”

“No new marks,” I say quickly, hoping not to trigger another jealousy battle between them.

Declan narrows his gaze. His eyes trailing down as if inspecting that for himself.

“Hugh has always been a sore loser,” Conrad says.

Wes gives him a look that says, what does that make you?

Conrad glances the other way, clearly pretending not to see his brother.

“Would you like a drink, Ollie?” Wes asks, standing. “We’re having rum tonight.”

“I never had a rum drink,” I confess.

Wes smiles. “I’ll make you something good. How about with pineapple juice?”

“What if I don’t like it?” I ask.

“Come here,” Declan says. “Try mine.”

I move closer to him, but I try to maintain some distance. My clothes and hair are wet from my dip in the ocean. The last thing I want to do is drip water on him.

However, he doesn’t seem overly concerned about it, so, while I’m trying to maintain distance, he loops his arm around my waist and yanks me down so that I’m sitting on his lap.

“I’m all wet,” I say.

In my ear, he whispers, “Not half as wet as I’m going to have you later.”

New heat flares to my cheeks. With those few words, I’m already burning from the inside out.

Slowly, he lifts his drink up to my lips and dips it back, feeding me a sip of the drink. Immediately I taste the fruit juice. It’s yummy, the perfect mix of sugars that seems to hide the taste of the rum. Though I can still detect it, it’s buried.

As Declan pulls the glass away, he asks, “What do you think?”

“Delicious,” I say. There’s some collected at the corner of my mouth. I start to lift a hand to wipe it away, but Declan beats me to it, kissing the drops at the edges of my lips.

“Yes,” he says. “I agree. Though I think you better have another sip to be sure.”

“Another…?”

Before I can question him, he takes a sip of the drink into his own mouth, then presses his lips to mine. He coaxes my mouth open, before kissing the drink into my mouth. I swallow.

That one might have tasted even better.

As he pulls away, I’m out of breath.

He moves his lips to the shell of my ear, where he whispers, “Be ready for me tonight.”