Page 4 of Castaway Heat
Present Day
Shiloh dragged in a hot, wet breath, fanning his face with his sunhat as beads of sweat drippedeverywhere.Even under the shade on the cruise ship’s upper deck it was boiling. He lifted a sticky leg off the towel covering his lounge chair and wished he was back home—which was not a statement he said often. “For fuck’s sake…whydid I allow you two to convince me to do this? Remind me to never take a cruise near the equator in August again.”
Sage wasn’t paying him any attention, his gaze fixed farther down the deck.
“For some reason, I expected it to be cooler here than in the Caribbean,” Eirin said as he laid on his belly in the next lounger to Shiloh’s left, also dripping with sweat and leisurely flipping through one of his favorite gossip magazines. He lifted his gaze.“Oh,what if we took one toAlaskanext summer?”
“ThatI could get on board with,” Shiloh replied. “Alaska sounds wonderful right now.”
Eirin smiled. “If we plan far enough ahead, Riley can come, too.”
Shiloh’s chest ached at the mention of Riley. His best friend had gotten the chance of a lifetime and been smart enough to grab hold—a summer internship in Paris. Shiloh bet it was a lot more comfortable there than on their cruise, that was for sure.
“No way are you taking me somewhere there’s snow in the middle of summer,” Sage snapped, feigning indignation. “We get enough snow in Willowhaven. I like ithot.”He slid his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose, staring toward the pool. “Speaking ofhot.”
Shiloh snagged his bottle of water as he cast a glance down the deck and noted several ripped alphas sitting poolside with their legs in the water. It appeared they might have been abusing their unlimited drink passes, as many had been two days into their South Pacific cruise. All four alphas were rowdy and splashing water—getting evil glares from a few older guests in their splash zone. They were Sage-bait for sure. “You havetheworsttaste in men.”
“Says the omega who hasn’t had a date sinceFebruary,”Sage purred. “Please tell me you’ve had a few booty calls in between.”
“At the very least,” Eirin added, never looking up from his magazine.
Shiloh didn’t answer… not quick enough, that is.
“You’ve been celibatesinceFebruary?!”Sage asked, spinning to fully focus on Shiloh with wide-eyed attention.
“Being celibate is a choice,” Shiloh replied, avoiding an answer. “A choice I didn’t make. I’ve simply been too busy.” Truth be told, that date in February hadn’t ended in any intimate playtime, either. It had been well over a year since the last time he’d scratched that itch with a partner and not his right hand.Dating had never been his thing, and he sucked at it. It was easier to avoid the stress and focus on his education.
“Classes have been over since mid-May,” Eirin said, rolling to his side the gawk at Shiloh. “You’ve been home for months. What,pray tell,has kept you so busy this summer that you couldn’t fit in a booty call here or there?”
“When classes are in session, I have options—but I’m also overloaded. I’ve got a packed schedule plus research to do. Once everyone clears out and goes home at the end of the semester, all I’m left with the same old, same old. I was born in Willowhaven. I know all of the eligible alphas well enough tonotbe interested.”
“I doubt you know themallwell enough,” Sage challenged.
Of course he didn’t. There were clear class lines back home and Shiloh hadn’t been born into one of the wealthier families like Eirin and Sage. That gap kept him from getting closer to the sons of the privileged, but from the peeks he’d had, he wasn’t missing out on much. Most were elitist snobs and egomaniacs, so his opinion still stood. There was no one in Willowhaven worthy of his time and attention.
Well, maybe there is one.
Shiloh ignored that little whisper and focused on fanning himself harder.Hewasn’t worthy of Shiloh’s time and attention, either.
“Interested or not, use one for his big cock and then move on—until the right one finally appears,” Sage said.
Shiloh rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses.
“There’s plenty of strange here… and you’re never, ever going to see them again. You can get your freak on without worry,” Sage said. “Do some wild shit. Be the meat in an Aussie alpha sandwich. Hell, get railed by a female alpha if you want to bereallyadventurous. There’s plenty of them on this cruise for some reason, so you can have your pick.”
“Whyarethere so many?” Eirin asked. “Are there more of them Down Under?”
Female alpha births were rare compared to their male counterparts, supposedly outnumbered like twenty to one. Having dozens of them on board had been rather shocking. As soon as they’d come aboard, they’d been swarmed by them.
“I saw a sign downstairs welcoming female alphas when we arrived,” Shiloh answered. “I think it’s some group thing.”
“Ah, wellthatexplains it,” Sage said. He lifted his bare foot and pressed his pointed big toe against Shiloh’s thigh. “I’m making it my mission to ensure you get plowed by the biggest, burliest, sexiest alpha possible before we leave this ship.”
“Lucky me,”Shiloh muttered under his breath. Fortunately for Shiloh, Sage would get distracted—or take them all for himself instead, the greedy little whore.
Aself-titledwhore he adored.
Mostof the time.
