Page 30

Nic

Warmth.

That’s the first thing I register.

Followed by the lingering ache between my thighs. The slow rise and fall of Kai’s chest against my back. The faint smell of his body wash from our last shower—somewhere between midnight and dawn, when jetlag had us both wide awake.

And oh, the view.

The. Fucking. View.

A wall of glass stretches across the room, revealing a morning painted in white and blue. The snow-capped mountains loom close enough to almost touch, the pines swaying in the wind, dusted in fresh ice.

The infinity pool on the terrace steams invitingly against the frost-kissed world beyond.

And still—none of it is as breathtaking as the man wrapped around me.

I stifle a laugh. Kai is practically sprawled on my back, his leg thrown over mine like a human anchor, one hand curled around my thigh, his face buried in my neck. I test his grip, shifting slightly.

He grunts and holds me still. “Behave.”

“What?” I murmur innocently, pushing my ass back against him. “I’m just trying to get my circulation back.”

Kai groans, his teeth grazing my shoulder. “Keep it up, and we might skip breakfast.”

A thrill shoots down my spine. Kai mentioned we’d be dining with his friends this morning. His friends.

He turns me onto my back, meeting my gaze for the first time this morning. His dark eyes are half-lidded, but locked onto me like a predator. “Depends on how hungry you are.”

“I thought you’d be exhausted.”

He stayed up most of the flight and overnight while I catnapped. Between grading papers and running a franchise of hundreds of gyms, the man hardly sleeps.

“And I thought you’d be sore.” Kai smirks, letting his cock drag against my core.

I gasp, my fingers digging into the sheets. “I was—I am,” I breathe. “But—”

He takes my wrists in one hand, pinning them over my head while his other hand moves—lower.

I moan, my head tipping back into the pillow, exposing my throat to him. His mouth obliges me instantly. Claiming. Biting.

The rough pads of his fingers skim my stomach, then dip between my thighs. “You’re swollen,” he murmurs into my neck as he strokes me. “I was too hard on you last night.”

I squirm, but he only chuckles darkly.

“Still want me to fuck you?”

“Yes,” I breathe, beyond shame.

“It’ll hurt.” He warns, his fingers parting me, spreading me open.

I gasp at the slow, deliberate press of his thumb against my clit. “I know.”

“So greedy,” he praises, and I moan, trying to rock into his hand, but his fingers disappear just when I need them most.

“Unfortunately, my friends’ place is a long walk from here. You’ll need your feet working properly.”

“Kai. I’ll be fine, I promise. Just fuck me. Please.”

“Christ, you can’t get enough, can you?” His voice is rough as gravel. “Get on your belly.”

My breath hitches. “What?”

“Turn over,” he commands.

I obey, rolling onto my stomach.

A whispered curse escapes him as his hand strokes over my ass. He gathers my hair off my neck, pressing a kiss there, then another. Slow, wet, open-mouthed. The sharp graze of his teeth makes me shiver.

His mouth trails lower, lips working down my spine. He lingers at the base, where the twin dimples above my ass sit. Then his tongue swirls into the sensitive dips before sinking his teeth into my skin.

I gasp, “Kai—”

He palms my ass cheeks, kneading firmly, like he’s savoring the weight in his hands. His grip flexes, fingertips digging into my skin before spreading me wide.

A low groan vibrates from his chest as he stares. “You have no idea what the sight of you does to me—how long I’ve wanted to do this.”

The pad of his finger strokes over the tight ring of muscle.

I jolt forward with a sharp gasp. “Kai—?”

“Shh,” he soothes, pressing kisses to the curve of my ass. His breath fans over my skin, a teasing whisper of heat. The featherlight strokes continue, coaxing, testing. “Let me play.”

My pulse kicks hard, excitement tangling with nerves.

Play.

He says it like this isn’t just something he wants. It’s something he needs. And, God, I want to give it to him.

Featherlight touches morph into deliberate strokes until my hips start to move, seeking more.

And then—

His mouth replaces his finger.

My entire body goes taut under the sheer, foreign pleasure, and a strangled sound rips from my throat.

The first few flicks of his tongue are soft and tentative, reassuring even. And then it’s followed by bolder, deliberate rimming.

I choke on a gasp, fisting into the sheets, fighting the way all my muscles want to lock.

Suddenly, he pulls away, and I almost sob at the loss. My hips chase after his mouth, but a warm hand pins me to the bed.

“Do you like it?” His rasp is pure sin.

I nod—frantic, mindless—until a hand fists in my hair and tugging my head to the side to look at him.

“Words.”

My lips part, my pride warring with my need. “Yes.” I whisper. “I like it.”

He groans like I just gave him the filthiest confession.

“Then be a good girl and spread that pretty ass open for me.”

My heart stops. Heat crawls up my neck, and my core clenches so hard I moan.

Kai’s breath fans over my wet skin, waiting. “Come on, love,” he commands. “Show me what’s mine.”

My face burns as I obey, reaching back to part myself for him.

He curses again, then his hands move—one sliding under my body to find my breast, rolling my nipple between his thumb and index finger. His other hand is between my legs, fingers rubbing my clit in slow, lazy circles.

“You’re so fucking perfect,” he growls. Then he’s devouring me like a man starved.

The triple assault—his wicked tongue against that forbidden place, his fingers teasing my nipple, his thumb tormenting my clit—drags me right onto the edge of orgasm, the pleasure coiling so tightly it’s agony.

“Kai—“ I gasp. “I’m going to come—”

He only moans, too lost to respond. His obvious enjoyment shatters something inside me. Pleasure tears through me, making me scream into the pillow as my body bucks helplessly against his mouth.

It’s depraved. Worshipful. Maddening.

It’s Kai.

I should be ashamed. But all I can think is—I’d kill to get him to do it again.

My face burns at the thought. I turn over to face him, only to find him propped up on one elbow, slowly fisting his angry, red, leaking cock—and watching me with blatant hunger.

Holy fuck. I’m still trembling with the force of my climax, yet my thighs clench with need all over again.

He smirks, shaking his head. He doesn’t even have to speak. He knows exactly what I’m thinking.

Giving up on dignity, I grab a pillow and drag it over my flaming face and spread my legs in a silent invitation. “I hate you.”

A deep, satisfied laugh rumbles out of him as his body covers mine. “Really?” He lines himself up with my pussy and slams into me.

“Fuck!” I cry out, my back arching.

Kai yanks the pillow off my face, cups my jaw so he’s looking deep into my eyes as he thrusts deep. “Try telling me how much you hate me right now.”

I can’t speak—not when my body’s being pushed to the very limit of pain and pleasure. I spread my legs wider and lift my hips, needing him to hit that spot that makes me lose it. He doesn’t change the angle—he just keeps going, sparking my nerve endings with the promise of release while stretching me in ways that edge on too much.

“Let go for me,” he commands.

I’d fucking love to. I reach between my legs, fingers finding my clit, but his hand closes around my wrist.

“You can do it from my cock alone.”

Goosebumps prickle over my skin. I need to come—and soon—before I’m too sore to walk. “I can’t,” I sob in frustration. “Not without you hitting it just—”

“You’re built for this, Nicole,” he growls. “Just feel how thick I am. How well you take me. You’re so fucking greedy, you’re soaking the sheets.”

Oh fuck. My walls clamp down, pulsing hard around him.

Kai bends low, his breath hot against my ear, his voice deep and filthy. “That’s it, my gorgeous little slut. Keep squeezing me like that, and you’ll get there—”

My orgasm detonates, ripping through me so hard I scream. The sounds echoing in the silent room as my body spasms around him.

Kai grins, then, as if to reward me, he adjusts the angle, unerringly hitting that perfect spot I’ve been craving, prolonging my orgasm until I’m sobbing, boneless and shattered beneath him. Only when I beg does he finally slow down. He plants himself deep, his body locking up as his breath shudders out in a low groan, spilling inside me.

For long minutes, the only sound in the room is our ragged breathing. Then his hands smooth over my back, my waist, my thighs—then lower, tracing the faint scars that mark my skin. I shiver at the rush of sensation, and of course, he notices. His hands tighten on my hips, pulling me back into his warmth. “There’s no escaping me, Nicole. You know that, right?”

I swallow hard, my throat tight, because a part of me believes him. And that terrifies me more than anything.

Kai watches me for a beat longer, then—without warning—picks me up from the bed. “Come on. Let’s go for a swim.”

“Excuse me?” My gaze snaps to the floor-to-ceiling windows, to the snow-covered peaks and pine trees blanketed in white. “It’s freezing out there!”

“The pool’s heated.”

“The air isn’t!”

He shrugs, like it doesn’t matter. “I’ll keep you warm.”

He carries me through the glass doors onto the terrace, both of us naked. The icy air slams into my skin.

“Kai! Put me down!” I squeal.

“As you wish.” He steps off the edge and straight into the water.

The shock of heat against freezing air steals my breath. Kai surfaces with me in his arms, grinning like a devil who just claimed his prize.

“You’re insane,” I sputter, pushing wet hair from my face.

His hands tighten around my waist. “I’d love to do this off a waterfall with you.”

“That’s one wish that will never come true, my friend.”

He chuckles, “Now that you say that . . . we’ll see.”

For a moment, I can only stare at the pure joy lighting his face. This is where he found his passion—pushing limits and conquering fear. “I can’t believe you used to jump off the foot bridge into Lake Orange. It’s what, fifty feet?”

“Thirty. I was ten years old, desperate, and with no one to stop me.”

His words hit something raw inside me. Ten years old. The same age I was when I was getting corrective surgeries. But while I had the Aldridges—however complicated that relationship was—Kai had no one. No one cared enough to stop a child from risking his life for pocket change.

“What was it like? After you got scouted, I mean?”

“In Minnesota?” Something shifts in his expression. “It was more like the Arena.”

“What do you mean?”

“A state-funded training camp with unusually brutal training. Gave us everything, mind you—education, food, clothes.” He pauses. “Only, we practically lived in the pool and swam until we bled. And learned to suppress every instinct—cold, hunger, sex, pain.”

“Oh my God, Kai.” Pain fists my chest.

“Hey, look how well I turned out.” His smile doesn’t reach his eyes.

“They did this to children?”

He cups my face, his thumb stroking my jaw slowly. “Not anymore.”

Suddenly I get why he’s so controlled, why he seeks the cold, why nothing seems to rattle him. He wasn’t just trained—he was forged. Abused. He’s not a champion. He’s a survivor.

I always knew this, but now I have proof. It wasn’t a shoulder injury that stopped Kai from competing in 2008. Not with this kind of conditioning. He could have won with one arm hanging useless at his side.

Kai threw that match on purpose.

The question burns on my tongue, but I catch the shadows in his eyes. For the first time, I see a rare emotion crack through that controlled exterior. Pain. He’s not here with me anymore—he’s back there, remembering.

Christ. Kai was fighting for his life. And I was collecting stolen pictures of him like sick little trophies.

I can’t do it anymore. Can’t tear him open just to satisfy my need to know. So, I wrap my arms around his neck and press closer, offering the only comfort I can give. His arms tighten around me instantly, and I feel his breath shudder against my throat.