Page 20 of Capture (Primal #3)
“Ronan is talking to our contact now, who will give us more information,” he said as he cut another piece using the side of the fork while a cloud of his cologne infiltrated me.
I let a sigh and immediately regretted it when cruel mischievousness danced behind his eyes. “It tastes so good,” I affirmed, so he realized that the sigh was for the taste of the crab cake and not anything to do with him, even though that’s a lie.
I parted my lips and took the second piece of crab cake as my gaze refused to move from his smug face.
“Good,” he said quietly.
“Is this a secret fetish?” I enquired as I chewed on the crispy as those dark eyes watched my lips move. “Feeding your prisoner off the fork.”
“I wouldn’t call it a fetish,” he said without flinching at my accusation. Nothing penetrated that confident armor.
“You don’t have a secret horde of hungry women in the basement that you go down and hand-feed every evening?” I pressed. “Like some little ritual thing.”
A smile stretched across his face that I took as a win. When I made Gunner and Mikael smile, it was because they genuinely found me funny. It was one of the best gifts, men who rarely smiled to light their faces up in a smile, even if it lasted two seconds before it disappeared again.
“That would be more trouble than it’s worth,” he said brutally honestly. “Besides, one prisoner was enough work, let alone several.”
I snorted, and his eyebrows cocked, and that deep scowl smoothed out as his gaze softened as it ran over my lips and eyes. “Am I more trouble than I’m worth?” I pressed to see how he’d react.
“Definitely,” he replied without hesitation, and then sliced another piece of crab cake for me to take off the fork.
“You’d make a great father,” I told him, and that scowl returned, and maybe I’d inadvertently discovered Mikael Kaiser’s trigger spot, so naturally, the smartest thing to do was to push it more. “Have you thought about marriage? Ever fallen in love?”
“I spent the last years in prison,” he reminded me. Why did he have to ruin the moment by bringing that up?
“So…you didn’t meet anyone that was marriage material in the penitentiary then?” I kept mocking him to see how far I could take it, curious to find his snapping point.
He rolled his eyes as that scowl turned into a mix of entertainment and annoyance. “I should be angrier at you,” he seethed as he chopped a larger piece of crab cake, and I knew by the aggression behind his movements that he had plans.
“Why aren’t you angrier? Why haven’t you knocked me off and buried my body under the club?” I asked him straight as he held that larger piece on the fork in front of my lips.
“Under the club? You don’t bury bodies under the club as that would incriminate us, wouldn’t it? Dumb move,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “It’s wiser to cut off the hands and feet and remove the teeth, then bury the body outside the city, a place we never go.”
“Wow, was that satire or dark humor or-” He brushed the piece of crab cake against my lips, and I refused to take it into my mouth, so he pressed it slightly harder against my lips, and a small piece dropped off and fell into my lap.
“Are you being defiant?” he snarled as the heat peeled off him, blistering my cheeks. I bet my face was as red as a raspberry, and he likely viewed my rise in anxiety as a win.
“Yes,” I replied bravely, shooting poisonous darts from my eyes at him. “I can feed myself.”
“I’m aware. Open your mouth,” he demanded coldly as his patience seemed to be running thin.
Again, I refused to open my mouth, and he crushed the crab cake against my skin. I stared at his face as he did so, as waves of annoyance mixed with bemusement that I dared disobey.
“After you’ve sacked Betty, or whatever you’re going to do with her…you should hire me instead,” I stated bluntly, pulling a smile out of that face again.
“Ah, really? You think you can do her job?” he questioned.
I began, “I think this place needs a refresher, update the décor and-”
“Update the décor? That won’t bring more members into the club, Annika. Updating the décor won’t make the members spend more money,” he explained in a condescending tone, like I was a child, and that pissed me off.
“I’ve had time to think about how you can improve this place with my help,” I explained hopefully. “Updating the décor was just one idea. Another idea is changing the location of the kitchen, so it’s closer to the dining area.”
His penetrating gaze locked onto my eyes, and I refused to look away, challenging him on his intimidating stance. His hand found my mouth, and he smeared the piece of crab cake over my mouth, as I licked it off. Then he slipped two fingers inside my hungry mouth, and I began to suck hard.
He bit his bottom lip as a dangerous ravenousness colored his stare, and as he pulled wet fingers out of my mouth, I kept my lips parted, eager for him to claim my mouth with his. But instead, he placed the fork back down on the plate and started walking to the door.
“I’m part of the family,” I called after him. “You could let me into the family business. I swear I’ll work hard. C’mon, Mikael. Please. I’ll be great for the business.”
The door shut behind him, leaving me reeling for more. More of their touch. More of their time and company. Breath escaped my mouth as I grabbed a whole crab cake from my plate and bit the crispy edge, chewed as my mind cluttered with thoughts.
Damn. I didn’t succeed in convincing him, yet, but I’ll keep trying. I always liked a good challenge.
As I pointed out to him, I am part of the family. I might not be blood-related, but I am family —a Kaiser through and through, whether they were willing to admit it or not.