Cloud Riders(98)

‘I’m not alone in this, am I?’

‘Not while we have each other.’

They formed a pact that night that they would drop what they were doing if the other needed them. Cassie was happy she had found a friend like Woody.

After dinner, they sat around until late, talking. They told Cassie that if she rested one more night to make sure she was over the tattoo, they would go somewhere fun the next day if there was no call-out when the horses were checked in the morning.

A movie played, although she only watched half of it. She was too excited and tried to guess where they would take her the next day. Being locked up most of her life had made her want to experience anything that was going.

In the morning she slipped down next to Kayden on the floor and his arms automatically wrapped around her, pulling the cover over them. He kissed her, losing grip on reality as he remembered her tattoo. If the others weren’t in the room he would have made good his threat to her for looking so sexy now with a tat. Damn the men, using this as a team thing and talking me into staying an extra night. He wanted to get up and kick them all awake for being sneaky mongrels and stopping him from having fun. Bastards!

He moved from her sexy comfort and stretched, sitting up. ‘Feel like coming with me to check the horses?’ he whispered with cunning on his mind.

She nodded and he stood, taking her hand and quickly pulling her to her feet. Stepping over sleeping bodies, they worked their way out the room. Woody was the only one who stirred. Kayden told him when the others woke to get ready and pick them up from his house. He had other plans in the meantime and left, grinning happily.

A couple of hours later, they were back in the Hummer and heading off on a new adventure. The day was just starting to warm up as they set off and it was only then that Kayden told her they were going to spend the night on an island where the beach was to die for. Cassie was excited as she had never seen a beach before, never mind swum in salt water. They tried to tell her how bad it tasted and she laughed, not believing them, thinking they were just having a bit of fun with her as they usually did when she didn’t have the experience to know better.

They went through a little town called Onslow to get to Beadon Point, where she had her first real look at the sea. It was tinged green in the shallow areas, changing to shades of light blue that blended into indigo blue as it got deeper. Looking at the horizon, the colours seemed to join up with the sky, only broken by a few wispy clouds. From the boat ramp they went a further twenty-two kilometres offshore to the MackerelIslands, which are comprised of ten islands. They stopped at ThevenardIsland: a lovely holiday destination with chalets that ran along the beachfront. These, as she found out, were where they would be staying.

Jason and Conor threw their gear into a couple of the chalets and they quickly changed and met down by the shore. The guys were taking Cassie on her very first snorkelling experience and couldn’t wait to see her reaction to salt water in her mouth. The beach felt soft under her feet and the sensation of it squishing between her toes she found quite unsettling. Kayden thought her reaction to it was funny and cracked up laughing.

The rotten sod. She looked up the beach to where there were girls running out of their cabin and into the water. Her mind went into overdrive. This was her chance to get a little alone time with her man. To even out the odds a little she decided to plan a way they could be together, even if she was being a wee bit sneaky with it. But when up against five scheming team members, I am learning to beat them at their own game.

‘I’ll be back in a minute,’ she said, heading towards the girls.

When she made it to them, given the challenge she had walking on sand for the first time, she started chatting to them, asking their names, where they were from and if they wanted to join her and her friends for a bit of snorkelling.

‘What! Those hunks? You’re telling us none of them have a girlfriend?’ They seemed gob-smacked and excited. The younger one, Sonia, stayed calm, being the spokesperson for the others.

Cassie pointed out Kayden. ‘All except that one,’ she warned them. ‘He’s all mine.’

As Cassie thought, they were here for a good time as well and were more than happy to join her group for a bit of fun. They followed her as she headed back down the beach to join the menfolk.

She had a cheeky grin as she came back with the girls, telling the boys they wanted to join them. The guys just smirked at Cassie, knowing exactly what she was up to. They would deal with her later but for now none of them were going to knock back five beautiful beach bunnies. They happily paired off with the women to show them the ropes, seeing they had never snorkelled before either.