Page 35 of Best Served Cold

A little curl of heat snaked through my abdomen and trickled into my stomach, my chest, even my lower back, wrapping around me like a blanket. “No,” I groused, angry at my body for reacting to his words at all. “But you do. Why don’t you just admit that you want me?”

“Because I don’t,” he insisted. “But the thought of seeing you lose it is highly entertaining.”

“You really think you could beat me in a fight?”

“I’m not talking about fighting. Fighting is easy.” His eyes had gone hard, but his grin was syrupy as he lowered his voice. “I’m talking about a different kind of losing it.”

My eyes fell to his mouth and the stupid snake bite piercings that were far too interesting.

Kissing him at the bar hadn’t been terrible, but winning the stupid bet had given me a high unlike anything. Another victory would probably feel twice as good, at least. “Is that a challenge?”

“It wasn’t, but now that you mention it, yeah. It is. What are you going to do about it?”

“What are the terms?” I asked before I could stop to think about why I was agreeing. I usually had a handle on my impulses, but this man had the ability to bypass all the walls and safeguards I’d perfected over the years and got under my skin like no one ever had.

His expression was devious. “When I win, you tell me where your second job is.”

“You’re still on that? Fine. But when I win, you tell me if you really do have your dick pierced.”

“Deal.” He glanced around.

I did the same. I might not give a shit what the guys at work or the randoms at the bar thought of us kissing but wasn’t about to give that kind of ammo to any of these asshats at the party.

All-clear.

My head spun as Noah stepped into my space. This had gotten completely out of control. How’d we go from him stopping me from spending the night in lockup to us continuing the ridiculous bet?

“How drunk are you?” I asked.

“Not even buzzed. You?”

“Not at all.”

“You can still back out and admit you can’t handle me,” he sing-songed.

“Bite me.”

“If you ask nicely.”

The burst of adrenaline hit out of nowhere, pushing every logical thought from my mind as my world focused on Noah and his stupid smirk.

Without consciously deciding to move, I grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him closer.

He made a surprised sound and stumbled into me. I took advantage of his shock and slammed our mouths together.

6

NOAH

The speed at which Zane grabbed me and hauled me toward him took me by surprise. I stumbled into him, our chests crashing together as he fused our mouths with enough force my lips twinged with pain.

He rocked on his feet from the impact but didn’t hesitate as he slanted his head and dragged his tongue over the seam of my lips, tonguing first one, then my other snake bite. I’d put on hoops today, and his attention felt way too good.

I gasped at the onslaught of sensations. Zane took advantage of my surprise and curled his tongue around my tongue stud.

Shivers of pleasure, shock, and confusion raced through me, bouncing between my chest and stomach then detonating in a burst of tingles deep in my body.

What the actual fuck?

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