Wicked Games
Page 11

I smiled as I ducked into my makeshift shelter, digging for my bag. “Never piss me off.”
“Boy, no kidding.” But his laugh was admiring. “What are you doing?”
I pulled the peanut butter jar out of my bag and brandished it. “Cementing our alliance of two with a goodwill gesture,” I said, and when he reached for the jar, I pulled it out of his reach again. “Not so fast there, buddy. We need to parcel this out and make it last if we’re going to be taking hits before every challenge.”
I expected him to bitch about it, or get ugly with me, but his mouth only curled into that amused smile that made the corners of his eyes crinkle. Damn, his eyes were really blue, especially under the bright sunlight. “You’re the boss,” was all he said.
With deliberate, almost shaking fingers, I screwed off the cap of the peanut butter jar and removed the protective seal. A thin layer of peanut oil covered the top. The scent wafting up from the jar—roasted peanuts and oil—made my stomach growl, and Dean gave a small, deep moan. “Damn, that smells good,” he said.
I nodded and glanced around—the only sticks we could use for scooping out the peanut butter were covered in sand and camp filth, so I decided to use the next best thing. I stuck my dirty finger in my mouth and sucked all of the grit off it and then carefully dug into the jar. After all, my mouth was probably the cleanest thing on this island at the moment. With careful precision, I scooped a glop of the chunky peanut butter onto my finger, the mound glistening, and held it out to Dean. Just a small amount, a tablespoon at the most. Just enough to stave off hunger pains and give us a burst of energy.
My thought was to hold out the peanut butter so he could transfer it to his own finger. Perhaps the sight of me sucking on my finger before had distracted him, because he leaned in and took my finger in his mouth, rasping his tongue against it.
And just like that, the world flipped.
Heat rushed through me at the feel of his tongue, his hot mouth sucking on my skin. I forgot about the peanut butter that was his original goal and my body flushed, my mind skidding to a halt at the sight of his beautiful mouth over my skin, the feel of his tongue against my flesh. I must have shivered or tried to pull away, because his hand grasped my own and held me there as he lapped and rasped against my finger, cleaning my skin.
Searing me to my core.
A wave of heat pulsed through my body and I inhaled sharply. Dean’s gaze moved to my face, and I knew that he was realizing the same thing I was. His tongue moved slowly against my skin, sensually. His eyes were locked on my own, and his tongue gave my skin one last flick that I felt all the way down to my sex. Then he released my hand. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I said in a daze, my gaze still locked on his mouth.
He nodded at the shore and stepped past me, clearing his throat. “Boat’s here.”
In a daze, I stared down at my finger and wondered if I could put it in my own mouth after that… or would it be dangerously close to kissing him?
Our team dynamic had changed again. I touched my finger to my lips and stared after Dean thoughtfully.
 
 
Chapter Six
 
 
I have no idea why I licked the peanut butter off of her finger. One moment she’s just standing there, taunting me, and the next, I’ve got her finger in my mouth and I’m licking her with my tongue and I’m getting turned on. And now I can’t stop looking at the way her butt looks in those bikinis.—Dean Woodall, Day 4
 
 
“Welcome to today’s challenge,” said Chip as the teams filed in and moved to stand on our numbered mats. When we were in place, he continued. “Today’s challenge is going to be a Luxury Challenge. Teams will compete in the race today, and instead of the bottom two being marked for Judgment, the rules are a little different. This time, the bottom five teams will not be eligible to win a reward. The teams that place in the top six of the event will be. Understand?”
We nodded our agreement, and my eyes kept straying out to the course. I could see a table from where I stood behind Dean. The tables were set up on the edge of the lagoon, and in the water I could see colorful, numbered floats bobbing out in the distance. It sure looked like a lot of swimming. My stomach clenched a little at the thought. Dean was great at swimming. I was not. And if I lost this for us, would our tenuous agreement to not kill each other end?
I liked being on Dean’s side, oddly enough.
For some reason, I kept picturing his mouth on my hand, and the feel of his tongue against my skin. I blushed at the memory and forced myself to concentrate on what Chip was saying.
Chip pointed out at the water. “Each colored buoy has a bag of puzzle pieces underneath. One partner will swim out to grab the bag. Once you have a bag, swim to shore and turn it over to your partner. You need five bags total. The other partner will use the puzzle pieces to solve their board and raise their team’s flag. The first six teams to raise their flag win a prize. Want to see what you’re playing for?”
I nodded and clapped my hands as eagerly as the others. After a few nights of being stuck on a barren beach, we were all excited at the prospect of luxury items.
Chip slowly pulled a decorative box off the first plate. “Matches,” he called out, and held it aloft.
We clapped—who wouldn’t want matches when you had to build your fire by hand?
The next two items were shown—food. One plate had sandwiches and the next had cookies. I heard a collective groan from the girls at the sight of the cookies. I had to admit that chocolate sounded pretty good right now.
The next few items were equally good—a blanket and a set of pillows. The last item to be revealed was the one that truly caught my attention. Chip lifted the final box and displayed a large, dark green bottle. “Something for the skin,” he announced. “A native bug repellent made from eucalyptus oil.”
Just hearing that made me scratch, and I glanced up at Dean, who was having the same reaction I was. Bug repellent would be very nice.
“Line up, teams, and let’s get ready!” Chip lifted his arm in the air, and we sprang into action.
It didn’t take much convincing for me to agree that Dean would be our swimmer. He nodded at me and moved out to the edge of the beach with the other men, and I stood behind our table, sizing up who else was working the puzzles. All the female partners had been left to do the puzzles except for ex-military Ginger, who was moving down to swim with the guys. If anyone could do it, it was her, I acknowledged with a wry smile.
I glanced down at my puzzle-board, noting the edges. The colors were striated in a zebra pattern that consisted of several different colors. It was supposed to be confusing, but that would actually make matching up the pieces easier. The best thing to do would be to create the edges and build in from the middle. Confident, I glanced down the line at the others designated with the puzzles. They weren’t even looking at their boards, but were staring at their partners. The men were stripping down to their swim trunks, and it was an impressive display of bronzed male flesh. Several eyes, I noted, seemed to be focused on my partner in particular and his rock-hard body with the abs that you could bounce a quarter off.
Not that I had noticed, of course.
“Contestants ready?” Chip raised his arm in the air, lifting up a flag with the green Endurance Island logo on it. “Set… Go!”