Bianca felt warmth spread through her at Callum referring to their initial Nocturneadventure as their “first date.” The warmth was followed by a rush of annoyance. These men were maddening. They were intentionally distracting her from her point and enjoying every minute of it.
“Whose side are you on here?” she grumbled at Callum. “You are also being kidnapped, remember?”
“Yes, but I’ve always fantasized about getting kidnapped by hot alphas. I have several excellent books on the subject I could loan you.” Callum winked roguishly then took another pastry. “Plus, I have kringla and you’re here with me. How could I be upset?”
Bianca pressed her eyes closed and exhaled through her nose, ignoring the pleasant buzz in her belly by focusing on her frustration. The guys knew better than to laugh aloud, but she could feel Dante shaking beside her again. Bianca counted to ten before she opened her eyes.
“King, will you please tell me where we’re going?” she asked as politely as she could manage.
“No, Countess I will not,” he said, barreling on before she could protest. “I will tell you that we’ve planned a weekend getaway for the five of us. Everything is taken care of, including your schedule and yoursuitcase. You are going to practice relinquishing control for the next few days. And you’re going to relax.”
“All work and no play makes BB a dull girl,” Daniel said solemnly, though his eyes danced with mirth. When she opened her mouth with a sharp retort, his expression grew more serious. “You’ve been going hard for King’s Guard for months. Let us take care of you for a few days.”
“Trust us,” Dante added softly. “Please.”
Well, shit. There was nothing she could say to that.
She sat back and enjoyed her kringla.
Four hours later, Bianca regretted her decision.
She didn’t like it one bit when the surprise turned out to be a rental on the coast in a gated community of identical condominiums. She didn’t have time to discover just how horrid the accommodations were because King announced they’d be going straight to the beach. She changed and used the restroom at the property office, then waited in the car with Callum as Pack King quickly unloaded their luggage and replaced it with beach furniture from the condo.
As if the rented condominium wasn’t basic enough, Bianca soon found herself following King’s broad back down a path leading topublicbeach access. She could feel her nose turning up despite her best efforts to keep her expression neutral. The shoreline was dotted with assorted umbrellas and tents populated by elderly packs, families with children, small groups of varied designations in their early twenties, and every other random configuration of ordinary people likely to draw Bianca’s disdain.
She tried not to stumble over her own feet, hating the way her flip flops sprayed her calves and the backs of her thighs with sand as she struggled across the uneven terrain. Of course, this wretched place didn’t have the cultivated paths and built-in walkways she was accustomed to finding at the resorts she frequented. She hoped she didn’t look as sweaty and out of breath as the other beachgoers with their tacky wagons of gear and their cheap floppy hats. Being among them made her feel conspicuous and exposed in a way she didn’t like at all.
“Put sunscreen on the omegas before you help me set up,” King commanded his packmates, stopping in what he apparently deemed a suitable spot. “If Countess keeps looking so disgusted with everything she sees, bend her over your knee and spank her when you’re finished.”
Bianca felt her mouth drop open and quickly snapped it shut again. She didn’t want to tempt any of them into following through on the threat. She didn’t relish the idea of being humiliated in front of all these yokels.
Okay, she only relished it a little.
“Stop pouting and let me feel you up.” Daniel gave her a salacious grin before unceremoniously spraying her with a cold blast of sunscreen.
Bianca stifled a surprised yelp. She glared at the big oaf as he began to rub the sunscreen into her skin. Her annoyance melted some when he wrapped one huge hand around her throat, massaging the liquid into the column of her neck, then her shoulders and chest. He lingered on her breasts, slipping a finger into her bikini top to tease her nipple and eliciting a ragged gasp that she couldn’t quite manage to suppress.
“This might be the first time in history that I actually reapply sunscreen every two hours,” Callum drawled, his eyelids fluttering closed as Dante kneaded his lower back. “Set a timer, Queen B. I am suddenly very serious about UV protection.”
Bianca rolled her eyes, even though her stomach was clenching from Daniel’s careful attention to her ass and thighs. Once she and Callum were fully coated, the alphas ordered them to sit in lounge chairs while they finished setting up camp. Bianca immediately protested, holding up her hands to ward off a spanking while she explained.
“Alphas burn too,” she snapped, approaching King with a glare and brandishing the sunscreen like a weapon. “Skin cancer doesn’t discriminate by skin tone either.”
King kept his dark eyes on her as he pulled off his shirt, revealing his insanely muscled arms and torso. The lion on his left pec watched her shrewdly as she rubbed sunscreen over its flowing mane and into the full sleeve of tattoos covering his arm. She tried and failed to keep her breathing steady as he let her rub sunscreen onto his chest and back. She took her time, tracing her hands over the rifle etched on his spine, staring into the chillingly blank plague doctor mask hanging from the helmet on the rifle’s tip. She made sure not to miss an inch of exposed skin as she circled back to his stomach.
“Keep it up and I’m going to start thinking you care about us,” King murmured in a low voice that made her core clench again.
Bianca had the sudden urge to tell him exactly how she felt about him.
Instead of doing something so idiotic, she shoved the bottle of sunscreen into his hands and turned away. “You can handle the rest. Callum, get the other two before they let their foolish selves burn.”
“Gladly!” Callum exclaimed, waggling his eyebrows at the alphas. “I should probably put some on your cocks too, so go ahead and whip those out. You first, Danny boy.”
King sighed as Dante stopped Daniel from complying. Bianca shook her head ruefully, amused by the way her orange cat omega and King’sgiant golden retriever kept them all on their toes. They were amazing together.
This time, it was her heart that clenched.
“There are children present, Trouble, and if you keep misbehaving, you’re going to get a spanking right in front of them,” King growled. “Hurry up with the sunscreen so we can get you and Countess into some shade and properly hydrated.”
