Page 69 of Cold-Blooded Creatures

“Is that why you’re okay with him”—I searched for words—“touching me?” Not once had he objected to Zion bending my body as he desired, toying with my senses until they were reduced to utter giddiness, and I swayed on my feet after he released me. Gedeon would merely give me a restrained grin and stride away, totally unconcerned.

“Yes and no.” Gedeon’s lip corner twitched upward. “But you should know that no one besides us is allowed near you, Kali. I do not share.” His tone took on a serious note as he stared at Zion. “His case is different. He can be with you, and you can be with him, but if you seek others, or if they themselves so much as try to approach you, remember this.” I shivered as his voice lowered. “There will be nothing left of their body to burn. I will extract their skeleton and feed the bones to the dogs as chewing toys, and Zion will bring you a bouquet made from their organs with their intestines serving as a ribbon.” Pinching my chin, hetwisted me to him and tugged on my bottom lip. “Is that clear, little death?”

My answer flew out of me as a whisper without much thought. “Yes.” His warning, the need for control, for ownership, opposed my determination to keep my independence, but at the same time, the goosebumps skating up my arms sought to persuade me into succumbing to his demand in the shape of a statement.

No one had ever expressed any wish to protect me before them two. Or wanted me for me, not for what I could provide. It made it so much more difficult to hate them, to resist them.

“Good.” He squeezed my thigh. “Although, there is one more thing you should know. Zion is on stagefor you.”

The man knelt in front of Zion, removed his sweatpants, and tossed them aside. The woman walked behind him and skimmed the leather strips of the flogger all the way down his front and back up to his chest. “How many?” she asked, loudly enough for the spectators to know the question was directed at them.

“Six,” Gedeon declared, not giving anyone else a chance to answer.

Chuckles broke out behind us. What did they have planned?

The man’s head lowered, and he took Zion inside his mouth. From where our table was, I couldn’t make out every detail, Ryder and Eislyn partially obstructing my view, but judging by how his head dropped back, he was into it.

But it didn’t feel right, not like when they’d been whipping him.

His hips bucked, and his low grunt rolled off the stage, finding its home in my ears.

“Stop,” the woman commanded.

Zion’s chest heaved as a minute ticked by, the wait as heavily loaded as the things Gedeon had omitted in his answers when I’d inquired about their relationship.

The woman said, “That’s one. Five to go,” and murmured something in Zion’s ear. The man resumed bobbing his head up and down as Zion bore into us, the intensity of his gaze raising even more questions.

“There’s more,” I said in question to Gedeon.

“Yes.”

“What did you do?”

“Something I should not have.”

23

KALI

They were not letting him come until the countdown reached zero.

And something protested in me the six times the man had swallowed him.

“Would you like to be there instead of him?” Gedeon spread his legs as he reclined in his seat, dressed in what I supposed was not the first or last black t-shirt in his endless supply of them.

“What?” I sputtered. There was no way I was going up there.

Except, the concept of it soaked my panties. Thank the gods I was wearing leather and not cotton.

He jerked his chin toward the stage. “Watch the fireworks.”

Zion’s head dropped back again, but this time, the woman didn’t stop her duo’s partner. Zion’s mouth parted as he came down the man’s throat, the claps and whistles absorbing his groans.

The light above the stage went out and Jayla announced a break. Chatter and clangs of glasses filled the space as workers carrying trays brimming with refreshments spun between the tables.

“So, how did you like the first part?” Sadira adjusted a loose clip on her dark red overalls, almost exposing her breastin the process, and pinned Ezra with a look. “The show is over. Breakfast delivery for a week is mine. I’ll start taking my payment tomorrow.”

“The first part?” There was more?