Page 128 of Something So Strong

“So much for being on duty,” I huff under my breath, but two-and-a-half beers on an empty stomach are already confusing my senses and it comes out louder than expected. Or maybe I just don’t give a fuck about Alma and her bullshit.

Alma’s mouth opens with a rapid intake of breath, but Kai slaps me on the chest with the back of his hand.

“He’s only joking.” His eyes bat up at our superior. Almost too rapidly, Alma’s stern demeanor breaks and she smiles, running her fingers through the almost completely faded indigo of his hair.

“You better look after him, Mr. Jesse.” Her voice is threatening even if she still can’t be bothered looking at me. “This little monster is special to me.”

“Very fucking special,” Cleo chimes in. Miming ‘sex’ with her fingers like thirteen-year-olds do.

“Sit down.” Romeo throws a pillow at her, and I’m thankful for it. It’s hard enough to be reminded of the closest thing Kai’s ever had to a relationship before I came along every time I see Alma. It digs at my guts when she puts her hands on him, all maternal and claiming, because there’s still something there—from her perspective. And no matter how much I hate to admit it, it threatens me. She’s our boss. She could change our shifts or even our jobs if she felt spiteful enough. Hell, I’m still shocked she didn’t boot me out with Saxon—

“Baby… Baby!” Kai’s fingers click. “Where’d you go?”

“Too much shit in that tiny brain of his,” Romeo touts without so much as a smidgen of hesitation. Just like he should. Just like he always does. And, now that I think of it, maybe having Cleo around to pick up Saxon’s slack isn’t such a bad thing after all. It gives me less downtime between Romeo’s barrages to think about all the different ways Alma may be plotting my sabotage.

With his thumb on my jaw and his fingers curling around the side of my neck, Kai brings my face to his. Heading straight for my sweet spot, he trails kisses up from the crook of my neck to just below my ear. “You’re the only one for me, my pretty boy.” Unlike mine, his words are heard by no one else. “I’m addicted to the faces you pull when I’m choking on your cock.”

“You’re not helping,” I all but moan as his tongue runs back and forth—searching out my pulse.

The coffee table creaks and both our eyes are drawn to Cleo sitting on its edge, forearms forward on her thighs, and watching us intently. “Oh, don’t mind me.” She gestures with her hand for us to keep going.

“Pathetic,” Alma gripes, walking back to her desk in a huff.

“Seriously. Keep going. I’ve been dying to see my KJ in action.” Cleo licks her lips, her eyes hungry.

Kai catches my chin, and my body follows his lead.

Romeo is right there, but any twinge of apprehension drifts away as soon as Kai’s lips meet mine.

This isn’t just a peck. We’re putting on a show, and it’s fucking doing it for me.

It’s invigorating. Cleo and Kendall’s eyes—and possibly Romeo’s as well—are on us, and I couldn’t care less. The scent of beer and the cinnamon gum Kai always seems to be chewing since he quit smoking is making me drunk in a whole new kind of way. Sending me right into the type of intoxication where inhibitions don’t exist and all the things you once believed were steadfast rules suddenly seem stupid because, with me, Kai has no walls. And with Kai, I have no more excuses to hold back.

My tongue and bottom lip are tingling from how ferociously Kai is attacking them. Sucking them. Needing them inside his mouth—maybe even more than he’s living off the attention right now.

“Fuck!” Cleo gasps.

I turn to look at her but don’t get far because Kai is still biting on my bottom lip, but I can see she’s laid out flat on the coffee table with her arms spread out to her sides. “That was better than I imagined… Nate better not be a frigid fuck tonight.”

“He doesn’t finish work till three!” Alma bellows from her post and Cleo flips her the bird.

I’m buzzed for the first time in years.

I lost count of the number of times I knocked myself out with cheap spirits when I was alone in the shed, but this is the first time since the night I almost died that I’ve let myself go around other people.

Once upon a time, I’d be too embarrassed to admit that four-and-a-half beers are all it takes to have me feeling this way, but fuck it. I don’t care anymore. I need this as much as Jesse and Romeo are pretending they don’t.

Would I let myself loose anywhere else?

No.

Not anywhere in the entire fucking world, except here.

It didn’t slip my attention that Jesse and Romeo stopped drinking more than half an hour ago. I also know this joint like I know every single line of ink on my body. I know where the cameras are, and I know Bevan will have his eyes on everything in 52 Degrees North tonight because we’re gonna be there. And I know Nate, and even Wesley—the new barman—are both on hand if needed, because, if I’ve learned anything from the past two months, it's what real family is. And a real family has your back. Even if you’re in the wrong, they’re there for you when it counts.

Fucking Saxon… I swear to high Christ that man is the Devil incarnate.

How he managed to get out of the country without being arrested on attempted murder charges is still beyond me. But he did, and Andy is safe with him in London. I miss that psychotic little bitch, but being on the other side of the planet is the best thing for her.

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