Page 94 of Something So Strong

“I slept through my alarm.” I look away sheepishly, understanding full well how dumb it sounds. But it’s the truth. Every time in living memory this exact thing happened, some seriously nasty shit went down.

“Babe, come on.” Kai looks like I just tried to convince him the world is flat and the sun revolves around the moon. And the cavalier nature with which he’s considering my plight only continues as he changes the subject. “God, you look sexy with your hair all messed up like this.” Reaching behind me, he pulls out the ponytail I’d slept in and combs it with his fingers. “Might be a bit too much for the guests, though.”

“I know it sounds daft,” I continue unabated, even though I know my cheeks and ears are burning hot. “But the facts are hard to ignore… You’d know I wake up just before my alarm every morning if you stayed over once in a while.”

He shoots me a look akin to throwing a pie in my face.

“Look.” I raise my hand and start counting on my fingers. “The day Romeo got beat up and Sax and I were suspended. The day I found out my first girlfriend cheated on me. The day my grandad died. They all have one thing in common.”

Cupping my jaw in his strong tattooed hands, Kai looks me dead in the eye. “Last night was pretty bad. Saxon getting his face bashed in and Andy running to hide in the snow like an idiot surely qualifies. It was just after midnight too, so… There you go.”

He’s not wrong. This past week has been choc-a-block full of bullshit, all revolving around Saxon.

“That doesn’t count,” I tell him as he squishes my cheeks together. “Are you okay, though? Sorry, I didn’t ask before.”

Kai raises his left shoulder towards his ear in a lop-sided shrug. “I’m fine. Not being able to help Andy wasn’t ideal, but I’ve been pushing for those two to get together for weeks… Hey…” His expression changes to a more analytical one. “I hope you’re not stressed out because of me. There’s nothing that can happen that’ll be worse than what I’ve already gone through. Besides, I’ve got you now.”

Before I have a chance to respond, his lips are on mine and my hands are crawling up his back.

The lift doors ding open, and as two people step in, I realize that fourteen straight days of spending nearly every waking minute together has brought my guard so far down I don’t even flinch.

Despite being on full alert, the morning has been annoyingly uneventful. Annoying, because, with every minute that ticks by smoothly, my anxiety continues to grow until the bad thing that’ll happen will be me exploding all over the goddamn place.

“You really need to relax.” Kai steps behind me, massaging his thumbs into the muscles beneath my shoulder blades before swiping his hands down my biceps and wrapping his arms around my waist. “Got a lot of aftershave on today.” He rests his chin forward on my shoulder.

“Wouldn’t need to if you’d just get in the shower with me.”

“Being too lazy when we got back this morning isn’t an excuse.”

“You wouldn’t come in.”

“You can have one by yourself.”

“And leave you? No thanks. I don’t mind smelling like sex… Even if we’ve never had it.”

“Are you trying to tell me something?” he hums and rubs his nose into the crook of my neck.

“Have you changed your mind about letting me top you?” I ask hopefully, in contempt of already knowing the answer.

“Not a chance in the world.” Kai’s breathy chuckle penetrates my skin, but it only works to drive my disappointment deeper.

I spin in his arms. “But you’d be so good at it.” Pushing against his chest, I force him into the blind corner. My hand is around his throat by the time his back hits the wall, and he reeks of submission. “You crumble to pieces when I treat you like this, but you still insist on that kind of control?”

Glancing down, I see Kai has pulled his hands behind his back—no prompting needed. But also that his hips are desperately rocking forward.

“Filthy,” I scoff, and his Adam’s apple jumps beneath my palm. “You wanna be used so badly, but you’re just too goddamn stubborn.” My hand creeps to his jaw and my thumb tugs at his bottom lip. “I might just fuck your mouth instead?”

“What makes you think I’ll be okay with that?” It’s almost comical he’s even attempting to be against the idea. His words might be feigning refusal, but his eyes are practically begging me to force him to his knees.

Sliding my thumb up, I hook it one knuckle deep into his mouth and press down against his tongue. For several seconds he holds steady, but with a simple tilt of my head, his teeth bite together gently before his lips close around it and he sucks the whole thing inside. He licks it all over. His eyes close, like he’s somewhere safe. And he exhales with a contented whir that vibrates my thumb.

Allowing him to indulge, I scan the foyer behind me to confirm we’re still alone.

With my focus back on Kai, I’m caught off guard by how natural it’s become for us to fall into our roles. I’ve never been overly dominant, and Kai looks like he’ll slit your throat if you breathe too loudly in his direction. Yet, here he is, sucking on my thumb like a self-pacifying toddler. But he’s a man—rough around the edges, fiercely loyal, tattooed, and bigger than me with sexy veins in his neck that bulge and strain as he swallows.

“Just as I thought.” I drag my thumb from his mouth and run it down his chin as he tilts his head back further. “All I’ll have to do is wave it in front of your face and you won’t be able to help yourself.”

Kai sucks on his bottom lip as his chest rises higher. “Does that mean you’ll be sharing the love?”

---