Much of Danika’s anger melted away as Seth’s attitude finally penetrated her confusion and irritation enough that she realized the guys were more pissed off than she was. They were going to be pounding on one another if she didn’t diffuse the situation. She held up a hand. “It’s Nile’s turn,” she said bluntly, in no condition to try to be more tactful even if she’d felt like it—which she didn’t at the moment. “I’m not doing you before my guys and I haven’t done Niles.”
‘Her’ guys received that information with mixed feelings.
Basil wasn’t too happy about it for that matter. “I am part of your squad now,” he pointed out mulishly.
Danika sighed, glanced around at the men again, and dropped back into her sleeping bag. “Yes—the key word being now. Me, Seth, Dane, and Niles have been together since the start and it wouldn’t be fair for you to cut in line. Seth was first, Dane second, and Niles is next … then you. And I’m tired and I’m going back to sleep,” she added when she discovered Niles was looking hopeful and Seth and Dane didn’t look any too happy about the arrangements.
* * * *
Everyone was still in a fairly foul mood when they awoke the following morning—including Danika although she’d managed to drop back to sleep fairly quickly after the ‘episode’.
Except for Niles who still looked to be wavering between hopefulness and resentment that Basil had tried to use guerilla tactics to leapfrog over him and get into her pants before him.
Danika did her best to ignore the brooding violence in the four men, but she could see that she was going to have to take care of the sexual aggression that was boiling between them before they erupted or nobody was going to be focused on the important project of surviving!
She was aggravated enough, at first, to consider doing the ‘deed’ just to get it over with and shut them up—for a little while, anyway. Regardless of the fact that she’d acknowledged that the sex thing, while not really what she would consider a chore or a duty, was more in the nature of ‘medicinal’, though, she realized that it damned well wasn’t going to make her happy to consider it in that light or, more importantly, for them to.
Unfortunately, once she’d reviewed the discussion the night before, it occurred to her that they might take it that way. She damned sure hadn’t meant it that way!
Her interludes with both Seth and Dane had been spontaneous. So impulsive, as a matter-of-fact, that both times it had resulted in a good bit of discomfort and embarrassment for her. She’d thought when the opportunity arose that it would simply happen—and hopefully without the embarrassing aftermath she’d experienced both times before.
She supposed, after a little thought, that she was just going to have to forego spontaneity, at least this time around, and take the initiative. Clearly, although neither Seth nor Dane had left anything at all to be desired once it came right down to it,noneof the men had the foggiest idea of how to go about seduction!
She toyed with the idea of a three way as they set out, once more on the hunt for food. On some levels, the idea interested her. It would be an efficient way to wrap things up, for one thing, and she was always in favor of efficiency. Then, too, it had a definite kink factor that appealed to her.
She discarded the idea without a lot of reluctance when she’d factored in her aversion of the intimacy between them becoming anything approaching ‘duty’ or ‘chore’, however. Shecaredabout them. At least, she cared a lot aboutherguys. And she wanted Basil to be a part of her family. She wouldn’t have suggested it, fair or not, if she hadn’t felt like he could very easily find a niche in their group—and in her affections.
Actually, she simply decided to shelve it for the time being. Maybe when they got more comfortable with one another it would be something they’d all enjoy, but at the moment not only did it seem too impersonal, it seemed like just the sort of thing to set off an all out war.
By the time they’d spent the better part of the day tramping around the woods in hope of stumbling upon something they could kill and eat, setting snares as they went and even digging several capture pits, Danika decided she was going to have tomakean opportunity to take care of Niles.
She wasn’t inclined to think of any of her squad mates as shy—per se. The intimacy they wanted was just something so far beyond their experience, and the data they had, that none of them really had a clue of how to ‘seduce’.
Basil, of course, was no wiser—and no better at it, despite the fact that he was more inclined to be excruciatingly blunt about what he wanted, but he at least gave her something to work with. She was fairly certain that all she was going to have to do in his case was say ‘ok’.
After a great deal of thought, she finally decided that that would probably work just as well with Niles as Basil. It might make her uncomfortable, but she supposed she might as well get used to it since it didn’t seem likely they were going to learn seduction when they had no one to practice with but her and she sure as hell didn’t have a clue of how to ‘teach’ them that!
When they’d returned from their second fruitless hunt, therefore, and eaten another meal from their dwindling rations, she got up, stretched and fixed Niles with a pointed look. “I think I’ll go down to the pool and bathe.”
Niles stared back at her uncomprehendingly.
“I will go with you and watch your back,” Seth volunteered at once.
Annoyance flickered through Danika. She was oh so tempted to let him. She wanted him. As much as she’d enjoyed sex with Dane, the shower sex with Seth still ranked as her number one all time favorite romp and she’d been vastly disappointed despite her embarrassment that they’d broken things off so abruptly she hadn’t even had the chance to bask in the afterglow—well,shehad broken them off.
As tempted as she was, though, that certainly wasn’t going to help Niles’ or Basil’s feelings, and it wasn’t going to calm the waters worth a damn!
She smiled at him with an effort, feeling her face heat with discomfort. “As much as I enjoyed our last bath together and would love to repeat it, I thought Niles might want to wash my back,” she said as tactfully as she could.
Seth blinked at her, his jaw sagging slightly in surprise.
Which was Danika’s first clue that he’d really meant to watch her back!
Before she could wallow in her embarrassment for misinterpreting his offer, however, Niles shot to his feet.
“I will go.”
Relieved when no one else said anything, she led the way from their guard post, struggling with the breathlessness and the leap in her pulse that instantly assailed her, partly from nerves and partly from anticipation. Niles fell into step beside her. “I will go ahead and make certain that it is clear.”
