Page 8 of Inked Beasts

Gage and Thorn nod, agreeable, while Kai accompanies me to the elevators. We wait in silence, but it’s not a quiet stillness. The air between us is electric.

I’m afraid that we’ll encounter Scott in the hallway or still in our room, but he’s not there, to my relief. He’d probably already packed his own things before he came down. But not mine.

I pick up my suitcase, but before I can put it on the bed, Kai takes it from me and sets it on the floor. My hands go to my hips. “Kai.”

“Kiss me, Lexy.”

“No! I’m mad at you.”

He grins, and it’s the winsome, mischievous smile he always shared with me before we did something reckless. “I like angry sex.”

My pussy tingles. “We are not having sex. The others are waiting.”

Both of us know I just admitted we will be having sex, and I’m only negotiating about when.

Kai says easily, “It won’t take me long to get you off. We can take our time and do it properly later.”

I scoff, even as my pussy tightens. “Bossyandarrogant.”

“Just confident.” His eyes narrow. “Stop stalling; you were never a coward.”

He knows me so well; but I know him, too. “I’m not a kid anymore, Kai. You can’t goad me into doing whatever you want. I’m upset, and I’m distracted. This is not a good time.”

His voice softens, but he was never one to change his mind easily. “Personally, I think it’s a great time. How long were you with him?”

My arms fold across my chest. “We met after I graduated college.” I thought he was such a prize, an educated, urbane, wealthy man.

“Years, then. I don’t know all the details of your relationship, and I don’t want to know, but I saw enough of him today to be certain he couldn’t be a good lover. He’s too selfish.”

Our sex life wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great, either. I assume that most people’s sex lives are just okay. Other things matter more.

“A wager,” Kai says. “I can give you better sex in ten minutes than you ever had with him.”

Damn him. A wager. He knows me too well. “What do you get if you win?”

“You come to family dinner tonight.”

“I was going to do that anyway.”

“And you give me a few hours, another time, to show you whatgreatsex is like.”

I stare at him. “Hours?”

He shrugs, but there’s no mistaking the look on his face. “Once won’t be enough.”

God, this man. How did I survive fifteen years without him? “And what if you lose?” I already know he won’t, but I have to ask for the wager to exist.

“Then you can pack your bags and run back to Scott.” There’s a glint in his eye that says that won’t be happening, no matter the outcome of this little arrangement.

I shake my head. “You know this is ridiculous.”

He shrugs, and I have to laugh. Kai and I were as combustible as gasoline and fire, but for all our fighting, we were never at odds down deep where it mattered.

I look around the room, and Kai says, “You’re right, you are distracted. We can table our experiment until later. But how about a down payment? Sixty seconds. One kiss.”

Maybe I should say no, but my skin still aches to touch him. “Okay. I can do that.”

He comes to me, lowering his head. I wrap my arms around his neck and rise up to meet him, and he fits his mouth to mine.

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