Michelle looks injured as she looks my way. “Liam is doing it. I guess I will, too. Even if we’re not meant to be together, I don’t want to die in some government holding cell.”
Lex nods. “Carson and Carly, the Winters, even Kresley is on board. It’s crazy how fast everyone is turning on the Barricade.”
“Not me.” Chloe snaps her fingers in the air. “My husband has a bomb he’s ready to drop. I’d hate to find myself on enemy lines once he does.”
My stomach sinks as she says it. The thought of Gage doing something else, something far more destructive than ever before is my worst nightmare. Then I remember who I’m fighting for and how far we’ve come. I spot Marshall walking into the mouth of the grand room and excuse myself as I make a beeline over.
“My”—he muses, his lids hooded seductively low—“if it isn’t the birthday princess. Would you like to come to my chambers where I’ll remove your clothes and twist your—”
“No,” I deadpan. A simple kiss will do. I point to my cheek and he scowls.
“How about a kiss from yesteryear? The mouthwatering delicacies that came equipped with a vision. I have one for you.”
“No thank you. In fact, I just turned Em down flat, too. Well, actually, I asked her not to share any at my wedding and she mentioned she was fresh out of visions for me. She said she hasn’t felt this way since before I showed up on the island.”
His lips part as he cranes his neck in Em’s direction. “What’s this?”
“Don’t know, don’t care. And if that vision you have for me is going to rob me of my sleep, I’ll take another hard pass.”
“No, Skyla,” he says with a morbid level of concern in his voice. “The vision was of the two of us naked in my bed. It’s something we’ve already partaken in a time or two. Just wanted to offer you a beautiful memory and open the door to creating more.” He manages to say every sultry word while staring over at Em with a look of concern.
I wave my hand over his eyes. “I’m down here. Who cares about Em? Thanks for the heads-up on what you were going to show me. And if you can give me eight hours of uninterrupted sleep, I’ll take off all my clothes right now and walk naked to your bedroom.”
A dull laugh pumps through him. “I’m afraid there won’t be much sleeping while you are a guest of mine in that capacity. Measures will need to be taken to reprogram what those Olivers have taught you. I assume it will take no more than six months to fully revise your neuroplasticity.”
“Marshall!” I swat him playfully on the arm. “You’re an animal.”
“I can be a beast when needed,” he purrs loud and strong like a ferociously large cat. He takes up my hand, and those feel-good vibes are right back where they belong and stronger than ever. “On our wedding night, you will open for me, Skyla. You will display yourself, and it will be a feast for my eyes, a feast for my senses, a feast for my—”
“I get it,” I say as that sweet spot between my legs begins to spasm involuntarily. “And if I stand listening to you any longer, Logan is going to kill me.”
“Him I wouldn’t worry about.” He nods just past me, and I glance back to find Gage and Wes grumbling about something while looking this way.
“Well, well,” I say. “It looks as if he can’t take his eyes off me tonight. I’m guessing someone else wants to take a bite out of me in all the right places.” A spear of heat bullets through me all the way back down to the sweet spot as a memory of Gage doing just that rides through me. But I’m sure that has nothing to do with why he’s looking at me. I’m pretty sure he’s furious with my magnificent wartime maneuvers. “I’d better find Logan. I think I overheated on that dance floor, and I could use a little relief.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” he calls out as I stagger back out into the crowd.
There’s not a person on the planet who can tell me that my errant baby hormones don’t cause an avalanche of wanting dirty sex in a corner. Mama wants what she wants, and right now she wants to impale herself over Logan Oliver’s smoking hard body while he whispers the dirtiest things he can into my ear—preferably of the dirty things he’s about to do to me. Just yesterday, our lovemaking had been cleared to resume its normal baby making frequency by Doctor Ezrina, and we’ve decided to wait until tonight to continue our flesh feast after an all too long and rather exhausted hiatus.
“Skyla?” My name comes from the right, the echoing cry of a female, of a soft voice that sounds hauntingly like my own. I glance over and note a pale blue glow that only grows brighter as it leads to the formal living room. The bodies are fewer in here, but that’s where I see her, standing in the corner. Had I passed her at any point, I would have thought I was walking by a mirror.
“Rory?” I whisper her name like a secret. At one point in time I would have thought it was my mother, but I’ve since grown to tell the difference. My mother sparkles both inside and out, a reflection of her arrogance and pride most likely.
“Skyla.” Rory takes me by the hand, and a tingle emits from her to me as she leads me out of the room. Her body, her hair glows with an ethereal aura, soft white light with a pink and blue patina. “Happy birthday to my beautiful, beautiful sister. Was it all you’d hoped it would be?”
“It’s been a wonderful day. Logan will make sure it’s an even better night.”
“Well, let me start it off on a good trajectory. I’ll let my sexy soon-to-be brother-in-law finish you off with a bang.” She winks my way, her cheeks glowing pink as if she manufactured them to do just that. We circle around the foyer and to the lip of the party where the crowd has only grown thicker.
I spot Mia and Rev making out in the corner, and as much as I don’t care to see it, I’m happy for them. They truly do seem to be genuinely in love.
“There she is,” Rory whispers.
“There who is?” I glance in the direction she’s squinting in just as Chloe and the rest of the Bitch Squad head this way. Okay, so they’re not all bitches, not anymore, but the nickname still has a rather nice ring to it.
Chloe bounds up with Lex, Michelle, and Nat.
“What’s going on?” Chloe looks to me before glancing to my side, and her eyes widen when she sees my doppelgänger. “Well, well, if it isn’t the coward of the celestial sphere. Long time no see. Rory, is it? Come to wish your sister a happy birthday? How adorably boring.” Chloe makes a face. “Ellis just hooked us up with some premium shit and we were about to get high by the fountain just like the good old days. You’re both welcome to join us.”
