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She crossed her arms over her chest. “Quid pro quo.”
I had to press my lips together to stop the grin trying to form there. The flippant use of Latin was a bit of a surprise coming from the lips of such a foul-mouthed creature. A contradiction that bordered dangerously on delightful.
She shook her head with another little. “It means something for something. I offered you something personal about me, and now it’s your turn.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. It just burst out of me. “I am aware of the meaning.”
Her jaw worked overtime, clenching and grinding, and I considered, for one very brief moment, giving her what she’d asked for.
But where was the challenge in that?
I turned on my heel and headed for the beach, which was only a few yards ahead of us. The ivory sand peeked through, a beacon guiding me from the darkness lurking beneath the canopy and drawing me back to my ship.
If I could get her to the beach, then at least she’d have a fighting chance. Besides, I had my own tasks to see to.
I glanced behind me before stepping into the dappled sunlight at the edge of the trees, but the infuriating woman hadn’t moved an inch. She stood there in the shadows with her hands on her hips like she controlled the world. It was enticing in a way, that confidence, but it also made a part of me long to take her down a notch.
She was watching me with a look that said she could stand there until the sky crumbled around her. Luckily, the natural world, in its infinite wisdom, saw fit to lend me a hand.
“You’re welcome to remain here, if you like,” I offered in my best, most genial voice. “Though you may wish to reconsider choosing that particular spot.” I motioned with my cutlass to the branch just above her.
She speared me with a vicious glare before reluctantly glancing up. The scream that ripped from her throat was indecent, and my cold, hard heart melted just a little at the thought of making her scream like that in my bed.
Never ducked to the side and checked her surroundings, presumably to make sure there were no more chameleon constrictors dangling from the trees near her, then she marched toward me. From the fury sparkling in her deep blue eyes, there was a good chance she was about to take a swing at me. I braced for it, ready to catch her hand and spin her into me if she tried.
I wanted her to try.
But she stopped just shy of arm’s reach. “No one calls me by my real name. Ever.”
I flinched back from the venom in her voice. “Is it truly that bad?”
She tilted her head back and let out a sigh that sounded eons older than she looked. The muscles and tendons in her neck flexed and pulled with the movement, and the mental image of wrapping my hand around her slender throat flipped a long dormant switch in me, bringing my cock to attention.
There was no way the woman was human. Notjusthuman, anyway. She must have been part succubus or siren because nothing had piqued my sexual interest in years.
Decades.
“Will you only help me get out of here if I tell you?” She was studying me now, and I shifted my stance to disguise the bulge of my growing erection.
“Those are my terms, yes.”
The stubborn woman looked down and rubbed her hands up and down her thighs like she was preparing for some monumental task. “It’s Moira.”
My stomach twisted. “Moira what?”
And for the love of all the worlds, please don’t say Darling.
“Moira Darling, but if you ever call me that, I’ll cut off your tiny little balls and feed them to my hellhound as a snack. Now, quid pro fucking quo.”
I pressed my lips together, barely able to suppress the growl that burned my chest. Why had I expected anything different? Clearly her presence was a trick of some kind. The demon wouldn’t bring a woman to the island for any other purpose.
And certainly not a Darling woman. Not after what Wendy had done.
Oh, but the demon was certainly clever using a woman as attractive as the creature before me. Quite clever. The woman had a pull that was undeniable.
Only now, I’d seen through the ruse. She was a distraction. A ploy meant to keep me from finding the Darling boy in time. And someone was going to pay dearly for playing with me.
I spun and headed for the beach without another word.
