Page 20 of Wild Wolf

“But isn’t her witchcraft failing?”

“That doesn’t mean it can’t flare.”

I shrugged. “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. If Amber’s willing, I have no problems with doing it, and I don’t need to propose badly again to perform the ritual if that’s what she wants.”

“Ah, but your bad proposal amuses us all, Declan. Mostly because we can fully understand why you’d do it. Is there anything sexier than a woman taking out six SEALs?”

“There’s really not,” I replied.

“I’ve learned there is: my wife in lingerie.”

I laughed. “Amber could have beaten the SEALs while in lingerie.”

Richard frowned. “I wonder if Amber could teach Nicolina to beat the snot out of SEALs while in a bikini. That’s publicly appropriate lingerie, right?”

Anthony cracked up laughing. “Would the SEALs even put up a fight at that point?”

“I wouldn’t,” I admitted.

“I wouldn’t, either,” my friend stated.

Richard took his time thinking about it, and Nicolina returned. He turned to his wife and said, “I’ll take you to the Porsche dealership and buy whatever you want if you have Amber teach you how to take out a SEAL team while you’re wearing a bikini. I want to watch.”

“I was only gone long enough to grab the butter. Why are you wanting me to wear a bikini while taking out some SEALs?”

“It would be supremely sexy,” Richard replied.

“Not just sexy, supremely sexy?” Nicolina rolled her eyes and brought the butter to me. “I don’t need another Porsche right now, but if I break the one I have, I’ll think about it. Lane is a good sport about getting his ass kicked, but we’d have to find some other SEALs. The ones Amber beat up are still heartbroken, and she doesn’t want to destroy their remaining pride quite yet. One of us kicking their asses while in a bikini would break them.”

“But it would be supremely sexy,” Richard replied. “It’s just a few SEALs. They’d get an honorable discharge, should they be crushed by you or Amber in bikinis. I’ll even pay for their therapy bills.”

“No.”

Richard sighed. “But it would be supremely sexy.”

“The answer is still no.”

“But—”

“No.”

I laughed and went to work gathering the ingredients needed to make brownies, grateful I’d spent a premium for good cocoa and chocolate every time I went to the city. While some staples were difficult to get, there was a healthy market for chocolate in Blagoveshchensk.

I debated adding vodka to my brownies but opted against it.

The last thing I needed was a bunch of drunks in my cabin.

“Come on, Nicolina. How about beating Lane in a bikini?”

“I like Lane, and I wouldn’t want to damage his pride,” Nicolina replied. “Maybe if one of the SEALs is a cretin to Amber, I will get into a bikini and teach him his manners.”

Richard narrowed his eyes. “While I watch?”

“Well, I wouldn’t be going through all of the effort of changing into a bikini without you watching. That’s just ridiculous.”

“I feel like I should warn the SEALs,” I confessed. “How about some Marines and other branches of special forces? Why just beat up on the poor SEALs?”

“We could start a training program for special ops who think they’re good,” Nicolina replied with a grin. “It could be fun.”