Page 112 of Something So Strong

The two people in the world who mean more to me than any other have given me the green light to be—and be with—whomever I want. Not that I was ever really seeking their approval or I wouldn’t have kissed Kai in the first place.

Locking the door behind me, I can see the bottom half of Kai’s bare legs as he sprawls out on his bed.

His room is identical to mine in practically every way. A mirror image. The same dated desk and procured chair sit along the wall opposite the semi-double bed made up with old hotel linens. The god-awful curtains I’ve spent far too many hours staring at while contemplating my life hang loosely at the window. The small wardrobe and chest of drawers have been rearranged, but in Kai’s case, they actually house his clothes because he’s grown up enough to put them away. Small sketches of black and white images that he’s ripped out of magazines are stuck to his wall in what I can only assume is a what’s next in his list of tattoos. And his room holds onto a faint aroma of cigarettes, which strangely is the only time I ever smell it anymore. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Kai smoke at all recently.

“How’d it go?” he beckons from the bed, and a smile creeps onto my face at the sound of his voice.

Watching as the hand that had been holding his phone drops from his chest to the mattress, I stop to take him all in—only in his underwear and looking like an absolute dream. My eyes linger on the bare patches of skin on his thighs where some of those tattoos might go, and I have a sudden compulsion to grab a Sharpie and scribble my name there instead.

“So?” he asks again, like he isn’t sex on a fucking stick laid out before me.

Sombering my face, I kick off my shoes, then rummage through his desk drawer. “A little demoralizing at first.”

Kai frowns cutely and holds his arms out to me. “What happened?”

Tucking the felt-tip pen I found in my back pocket, I fall onto his chest, nuzzle into him, drape my leg across his, and let out an overly defeated sigh. “He knew exactly what the fuck was up.”

Without saying a word, Kai strokes my back, and the energy permeating from his body into mine is like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. It’s like… intimacy on another level. In complete silence, he’s able to give me everything I’ll ever need. And it makes me feel almost guilty for my little ruse.

“Yeah, we played Goldeneye, and I lost to him four times before he finally stopped teasing me,” I pout like a child. And the second I finish talking, the hand that had been so tenderly caressing the line of my spine swiftly rises to clobber me in the back of the head. Which I deserve, but it still hurt.

“Don’t get rough with me, motherfucker,” I growl down at him from my new position, straddling his stomach and pinning both his hands down.

“You’ve obviously never swapped stories with Cleo, then.” Still and calm as can be, Kai’s eyes squint ever so lightly with authority. “I’ve been going gently on you this whole time, Pretty Boy.”

Kai’s obvious oral fixation has had me taking the dominant lead so far. But strangely, the thought of him forcing himself on me because he just needs to have me so goddamn badly has the base of my spine itching. “You gonna give me those bruises I asked for?”

“That depends. Are you telling me you’re gonna let me fuck you?”

The rumbling bubbles up my back, into my chest, then my throat—tightening like a hangman’s noose.

I think it does.

“I’m not saying no, but I’m not saying yes yet either.” My head bows in feigned contemplation.

Slipping his hands from beneath mine, Kai crawls his fingers over my knees to my thighs and makes his way to grab my hips. “I think that’s one step closer to knowing how good it feels to be inside you.”

Jesus fucking Christ on a motorbike!

My stomach shouts again, except this time, it’s a ravenous roar that drowns out the screaming of my cock for fulfillment.

“I think he’s trying to tell me something.” Kai’s large palm creeps beneath my shirt and presses flat against my stomach, and a spark—hidden to the untrained eye—appears in the corner of his left eye.

“Oh, really?” I play along. “And what is he trying to say?”

“That he wants you to go get dressed in something hot. Preferably your tightest jeans, if you want my opinion.”

“Why? So you can have fun peeling them off before I deny you what I know you want most?”

“God. Is it always about sex with you?” With a huff, he rolls his eyes, turns his head away, and tries his best to act offended.

“Hard not to be when I’m dating the sexiest thing on two legs… But seriously. You wanna head over to The Donegal? Should I see if Romi wants to—”

A finger presses to my lips, hushing me. “I’m trying to ask you out, you fucking clown,” he smirks, dragging my bottom lip down as he removes his finger. “Just me and you. The Christmas lights have started in town and… I thought it would be nice.” An almost too overly masculine edge weighs down the final words of his invite. And it’s so bloody cute how he’s trying to cover up his sensitivity and embarrassment at wanting to do something sweet.

“That sounds great,” I say deeply, matching his tone as I scoot down his legs until I’m sitting on his shins. “Any more outfit requests?”

“Hair pulled back.” As I reach for the pen, I watch as Kai’s eyes travel around my face to loiter on my neck. “Boots. Your black Wranglers… That floral button-down that shouldn’t look good but on you is hotter than the sun. And your gray overcoat.”

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