Cash [Pyrate's Treasure 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) (6 page)

Wondering at her strange tone, Cash pulled his hand from her grasp. He wrapped it around her shoulder and lifted her into his lap. “We’ll be here for him, Zoe. If Diamond is his mate, then he is now family, and the Pyrate family always takes care of its own.”

“Unfortunately, what Luka will face, no one will be able to help him with,” Zoe said. She then blinked and shook her head as if disoriented. “I’m hungry.”

Cash’s stomach growled in response, and he chuckled when she then yawned widely. “Then we need to find something to eat. Would you rather raid the kitchen or go into the village before we return to my room?”

* * * *

During the funeral the next morning, Zoe stood at Cash’s side and fought to keep her own tears at bay. She had met Edward Pyrate several times over the years when he had come to meetings of the Alphas with Luka. She remembered Edward as a wise, soft-spoken, gentle man who had loved his family and pack above all else.

The sadness of the Pyrate family and the pack members pressed hard on her brain, resulting in a dull headache. This was why she normally stayed away from funerals and other places where emotions ran high and intense. While she could block a few people most of the time, gatherings like this one broke through her shields and overwhelmed her.

When they had come downstairs an hour before, Cash had introduced her to the rest of his cousins, as well as Goldie and Emerald’s mates, but Diamond had been absent from the breakfast table, and no one had seen her since the previous evening. Luka had been there, looking as if he had barely slept the night before.

Glancing at the crowd gathered around Edward’s casket in the Pyrate family’s front room, she still did not see the young woman who was in several pictures in Cash’s room.

As the final hymn began, Cash’s hand tightened around hers until she was afraid her bones might break under the pressure. He had kept a hand on her in one way or another since they had come downstairs. Though she could feel it, the depth of his grief was muted, as if he were trying to shield her from his emotions. She squeezed his hand in return. He took a deep breath and sighed, and the nearly painful hold on her hand eased.

Glancing toward the head of the casket, she met Luka’s eyes. He looked troubled, and not just because he was saying good-bye to an old friend. Something was going on between the king and his mate…or rather not going on, Zoe suspected to be truer.

Had Diamond denied his claim that they were mates? Or was she hiding from the most powerful shape-shifter alive for reasons only she knew? Why would she do that? As mates, they were destined to be together for the rest of their lives.

Once the service ended, Zoe gently pulled her hand from Cash’s and followed the pack members and other guests outside, giving the family time to say their final good-byes in private. A few minutes later Cash, Silver, Luka, and three other men appeared in the doorway carrying Edward’s simple wooden casket between them.

Earlier she had learned that Edward’s body would now be taken by boat to the mainland. After cremation, his ashes would be returned to Pyrate Island in a few days, and during the next full moon, the six cousins would scatter them over the pack lands. It was a family tradition that went back as far as Pyrates had lived on the island.

After the casket passed through the crowd, Zoe followed Goldie and the other female cousins as they fell into line behind it. The procession worked its way through the village and to the docks, where a boat decorated with black bunting waited. Once the coffin was loaded onto the large fishing boat, Cash joined her on the dock. She slipped her hand back into his, needing to touch him as much as he needed to feel her. They watched in silence as the boat left the dock and headed across the harbor to the open waters between Pyrate Island and the mainland.

The crowd remained silent until the boat was well away from the dock. Then quiet conversations began as they dispersed and headed to the bar to catch up and share memories of their dead Alpha over beers and refreshments. Cash remained behind, watching until the boat moved out of sight. Only then did he turn to her. His arms came around her back as he rested his forehead on her shoulder. He breathed deeply, as if trying to keep himself from crying.

“Gods, I’m going to miss him,” he said, his voice thick with unshed tears.

“I know you will. But a fast, painless death is better than being ill and lingering for months,” Zoe assured him as she began to run her hands up and down his sides in a soothing motion.

Cash’s head moved up and down in agreement, but he said nothing else for several long minutes. Finally, he took a deep breath and released it on a sigh.

Lifting his head, he met her eyes. “I need you.”

“You have me,” she returned gently, not quite sure what he meant.

“No, I need you,” he repeated as he leaned in until his lips were next to her ear. He dropped his voice to a whisper so no one could hear him, though there was no one in sight. “I need to be buried so deep in your pussy I can’t tell where I end and you begin. I need to lose myself in the taste and touch and smell of you. I need you right now.”

Zoe’s pussy clenched, and her nipples beaded in instant response. “Whatever you need, my mate,” she assured him.

Her words seemed to ignite something in Cash. Keeping one arm around her shoulders, he turned and guided her down the dock away from the bar. “I promise you that one of these days I am going to romance you properly. But today doesn’t look to be that day.”

They reached the end of the wooden dock, but Cash kept going through the grass. Zoe wanted to point out that she did not need romance. All she needed was him, but she was too busy focusing on walking the uneven gravel path in stiletto heels.

When several rocks shifted under her heel, she tripped and began to fall. Cash caught her and once again swung her up into his arms. Once she was secure, he continued walking, his longer stride quickly eating up the distance.

Knowing that arguing with him would be futile, Zoe decided to test some of the sexy moves she remembered from her books. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she drew a line up the side of his neck with the tip of her nose. When she reached his earlobe, she licked it before taking it between her lips and gently sucking on it.

His arms convulsively tightened around her as he sucked a breath. Then he was moving even faster, heading somewhere, though she did not care about his exact destination. Her need for her mate was growing in a way she had never felt before.

Releasing his earlobe, she licked his shell of his ear before whispering, “Will you teach me how to please you? To suck your cock and make you come? To make you moan and groan and go wild with your need?”

Cash’s response was a growl from deep in his chest. Zoe looked around and found they were passing between some tiny cottages. A moment later, they crossed a street before he stopped at a bench. Setting her on her feet, he toed off his shoes.

“Strip.”

“Excuse me?” she asked as he began to unbutton his shirt.

“Your outfit is beautiful. Take it off. This is a nude beach, and I’d hate for Caleb to have to arrest you for breaking the law.” Cash smiled, though his eyes remained dulled with sadness.

The idea of swimming naked, and more, with Cash both thrilled her and scared her. What if someone came by and saw them?

Looking around, she saw not another human being within sight. “If I get sunburnt…”

“I’ll be happy to rub aloe vera lotion on every inch of you,” Cash broke in.

Knowing she could deny him nothing, Zoe pulled her deep-violet dress over her head and laid it over the back of the bench. She stood for a moment wearing only her black push-up bra and stilettos.

“No panties? How very brave of you,” Cash snarked. He laid his dress pants and boxers on the bench, leaving him completely naked.

Zoe made a face at him as she reached between her breasts to unhook the bra. “I tried to be proper this morning. You ripped them off when I put them on this morning, remember?”

“Yep, I remember. You might as well just stop wearing them altogether, because I’ll just tear them off every time you do.” Cash dropped a kiss on each breast just above the areolas before taking her hand again.

He led her over to what looked like an outdoor shed. He punched a code into a panel just above the doorknob then opened the door. Zoe could see it was a stand of some sort that seemed to be stocked with everything anyone visiting the beach might need.

Cash handed her a blanket and a stack of colorful beach towels. Since she had never been one to parade around naked before, Zoe clutched them to her chest. She watched him pull out a cooler, and then he filled it with ice and drinks from the large refrigerator. He then slung a very skinny bag over one shoulder before closing and locking the little building. After a long kiss, he led the way out onto the beach.

Zoe followed slowly, still nervous about being naked out in the open. Then she looked at Cash and forgot about everything except the tanned, sculpted body walking across the sand in front of her. She was so busy watching the muscles of his ass and legs work, she almost walked into him when he stopped.

“Oh, sorry,” she apologized, blushing brightly as she took two steps back.

Cash put down the cooler and bag he carried before turning to her with a grin that caused her to shiver all the way to her toes. “Not a problem,” he said with a wink.

He opened the long, skinny bag and pulled out a large rainbow-colored umbrella. He set the base pole deep into the sand then opened the umbrella, providing a huge circle of shade. He took the blanket from her arms and spread it out with a quick flick of his wrists.

Once it settled on the sand, he took the towels from her arms and tossed them in the middle of the blanket before pulling her into his arms. Rubbing his hands up and down her sides, back, and ass, he kissed her.

The touch of his lips reignited the bone-deep passion in Zoe that had been simmering since she had stepped off the helicopter. The sex between them only seemed to grow hotter and more intense with each mating. Her pussy clenched as his hands settled on her ass cheeks. He massaged the flesh and pulled her hips even tighter into his. She moaned into his mouth when she felt his long, thick erection press into her lower belly.

When her knees went weak, she slipped down his body. She gasped as she dragged her nipples down his chest. To keep her focus on his pleasure and not her own, she kissed the skin down the center of his body to just below his belly button. Then she pulled back and lowered herself until she knelt in front of him, eye to eye with his cock.

As she ran her hands up the back of his legs, she looked up his body and into a pair of heavy-lidded eyes glowing deep green as he watched her.

“What do I do? How do I please you?”

Cash smiled down at her, his expression feral. “Relax and play. Explore. Think of my cock like your own personal pacifier. Just don’t bite down too hard.”

Zoe quirked an eyebrow at him before turning her attention back to his erection. Parting her lips, she slowly dragged her tongue across the tip of the head, tasting his salty pre-cum. Cash hissed, and his hips jerked in response. She pulled back and looked at him, worried she had hurt him.

“Don’t stop, sweet mate. Oh dear God, please don’t stop.”

Assured he was not in pain, she took just the head into her mouth and swirled her tongue around and across his slit. He sucked a breath this time, and his hips twitched again, but she did not stop. She was too busy testing the baby-soft, silky feel of his skin. His hands landed heavily on her shoulders and began to massage them.

She leaned forward, sliding down his length until the head hit the back of her throat, causing her to gag. He pushed her back until only the head remained between her lips. Taking her right hand from where it gripped his left leg, he wrapped her fingers around the base of his cock.

“Don’t hurt yourself,” he said, wrapping his over hers and sliding both hands up and down his length.

Zoe nodded her understanding. She bobbed up and down the top half of his cock, sucking and licking and stroking until his hips began to snap forward as if he could not help himself. She sucked even harder when she felt his cock jerk in her mouth.

“Oh shit. You’ve got to stop now,” Cash said as he stepped back, pulling free of her mouth and then unwrapping her hand from his length. “That mouth is fucking incredible, baby.”

“Why did you stop me? I wanted to please you.”

He did not answer as he knelt, and then he seemed to collapse until he was lying on his back beside her. His cock remained long, thick, and hard. He was still panting and looking at her as if she was to be his next meal.

“Are you okay?” she asked, again worried she had hurt him.

Without speaking, he reached for her hips and pulled until she threw one leg over his body and straddled his hips. He pulled her down until her pussy lips rested on the pole of his erection. Running his hands up the tops of her thighs, he reached down and parted her labia until his cock was nestled between them. His cock was warm and wet as he shifted her hips up and down. She shivered as his length slid over and against her knotted-up clit.

“Sit on me, gypsy. Ride your wolf,” he said.