Page 45

Kai

“How could you have flown sixteen hours three days after radiotherapy, Uncle?”

Manny doesn’t even open his eyes. He just exhales a put-upon sigh, like I’m the one exhausting him.

A damp towel rests on his forehead, a half-melted ice pack sits beside him on the couch, and his left hand dangles off the edge, fingers occasionally twitching.

He looks ridiculous—like an aging Polynesian king recovering from battle. Dramatic as ever.

“But I had to,” he says finally.

“No, you didn’t.” I sit forward on the armchair opposite the couch, tension settled between my shoulder blades like a permanent fixture. “I told you your job is safe, and the faculty has arranged another visiting lecturer—”

“I know,” he cuts in, then peels the towel off his forehead just enough to squint at me.

“Actually, no, I don’t know, Kai. How on earth did you pull off Halloran’s sudden retirement and having another lecturer line up in a single day? And yes, I’m grateful for it, but, Kai—”

He groans, shifting slightly. The wince is small, but I don’t miss it.

“I asked you to stand in for me, not make all my issues go away, just like that.” He snaps his fingers. “I kind of like having problems to solve.”

“Well, sorry,” I lift a sardonic eyebrow. “I didn’t mean to simplify your life. Still, you didn’t need to blatantly disregard your health and hop on a plane just because you think I’m acting rashly.

Manny tuts like I’m a particularly slow student. “That’s not why I came.”

“Why did you, then?”

“Because you’re acting like a newborn foal, tripping all over the place. You should be used to the idea of falling for a forbidden woman by now.”

I rub the back of my neck. “That’s why you abandoned your treatments and flew back from Auckland? To talk about my love life?”

“Aha! So you love her!”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, Uncle. It’s over between us,” I lie.

“Nice try,” he snorts. Then, as if I haven’t spoken, he continues. “Remember what I said about finding your one true love?”

I don’t dignify that with a response. I’d rather talk about finding that son of a bitch that’s out for her, kill him, and take her back home with me.

Nicole still has a few months of business school left, but I’m sure she won’t be opposed to taking a month or two off once this craziness is over.

Manny sits up, pressing a hand lightly to his lower abdomen. His face barely flickers, but I know the movement isn’t casual. The flight, the treatment—it’s all catching up to him.

Still, he keeps talking.

“You love each other,” he continues, ignoring my silence. “And while your life is like a fairytale now, you must be careful that it doesn’t all fall apart. Disaster lurks just around the corner—”

“Jesus, Uncle!” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Can we not do this half-fried fortune-telling nonsense right now?”

Not only is he exhausted from his recent radiotherapy, he’s jetlagged.

He grins, weak but sharp. “I haven’t finished. And I didn’t have my brain fried, just my balls.”

A vibration against the countertop interrupts him. My phone screen lights up with a new message.

Thank fuck. I tune out my uncle’s voice and read it.

Ash: She’s safe. I just thought you’d like to know that she’s been parked on a spot for the past half hour. She appears to be waiting for something.

Alarm bells blare in my head.

Why on earth is that woman sitting outside in the cold at fucking midnight?

“Goodnight, Uncle.” I shoot to my feet, crouch to press a kiss to his damp temple, and head for my room—ignoring his sputtering about the next steps I and my lover must take to avoid disaster.

My bedroom feels jarringly empty after spending the whole of last night—and half the morning—surrounded by Nicole’s heat, but I hardly register anything beyond the pounding in my chest.

Pacing, I punch out a text.

Me: Where the hell are you?

Her reply comes almost instantly.

Nicole: Daddy! Just the person I was thinking about texting!

My brow arches at the endearment. My fingers twitch with the need to hit that call button and to deal with her in a way that’ll get her moaning it.

But we agreed it wasn’t safe to call, so I exhale hard and type back.

Me: I asked you where you are, Nicole.

Nicole: I’m sitting in my van.

My jaw tightens as I reply.

Me: In that box of tin foil that’s slower than evolution? At midnight?

Nicole: DO NOT knock my van!

I pinch the bridge of my nose.

Me: Go home. Now.

Nicole: I need you to ask you something. That’s why I was going to text.

Me: Go home first, then we’ll talk.

Nicole: Why do I have to go home when I can go to a payphone?

My fingers flex against the phone.

Me: And you don’t think it’ll be obvious to someone watching who you could be calling at midnight?

There’s a beat before she types.

Nicole: True. But I just want to know who owns this unit.

Me: Sitting and staring at it won’t give you the answer, Sherlock.

Nicole: LOL. Good point. Fine, I’ll go.

My pulse steadies, but not by much. Then I make the mistake of asking:

Me: Why do you want to know who owns it, anyway?

Nicole: Because it’s full of poisoned drinks that turn people into zombies who do whatever they’re told.

Everything in me goes still. I read her message again. And again. Ice replaces the heat in my veins as possibilities click into place.

Me: Get your dad’s phone and call me ASAP. We need to talk.

Nicole: That’s what I’ve been trying to say!

Me: Now, smartass! And Nicole?

Nicole: Yes?

I grit my teeth.

Me: When next I see you, we’ll be discussing your definition of staying safe. At length.

Nicole: Length! Oooh. Now you’re just talking dirty to me. ??[devil emoji]

“Fuck,” I mutter, feeling my hand curl into a fist. It’s taking every ounce of self-control not to get in my car and drive straight to Valencia right now.

Twenty interminable minutes later, my phone vibrates.

Her dad’s name flashing across the screen sends relief washing through me. I fist off my T-shirt and sink into the armchair beside my bed and accept the call.

“Took you long enough,” I grind out, willing the tension from my shoulders.

“Aww, were you waiting up for me, then?” She teases.

I close my eyes, exhaling hard and growl a warning. “Nicole.”

“Yes, Daddy?”

God help me.

I grip the edge of the chair, forcing my voice to stay even. “Why would you think it’s okay for you to sit outside a warehouse, alone, at midnight?”

There’s a pause. Then she huffs, “I wasn’t in front of it. I was two blocks away from it.”

I feel a muscle twitch in my jaw. “That’s not funny.”

She chuckles. “I know, but you’ll agree the end justifies the means.” She recites the warehouse address and my stomach tightens.

I know that place. “Nicole.”

“What, Daddy?”

Fuck. I clench my fist as raw need coils in my gut. I want to turn her ass red for the way that endearment makes me feel.

“How did you even find the place?” I grind out.

“I told you—I’d get it out of Theo.”

I don’t know whether to be furious or impressed. Both. Definitely both.

I scrape a hand over my jaw. “You’re reckless.”

“I may also be on to something. I have a gut feeling.”

My grip on the phone tightening because she just might be right.

“I have a security team working on this case. They’ll crack it within a week.”

“Okay,” she admits. “That doesn’t mean I can’t fight for you, too.”

Something deep in my chest tightens.

She’s walking straight into my darkness—picking up the pieces and putting them together like a puzzle she was always meant to solve.

“Kai. I collected parts of you for years. Obsessed over them. And now that I finally have the real thing, you think I won’t fight to keep you?”

A sound tears from my throat, something halfway between a grunt and a growl as heat surges through me.

Nicole giggles, then purrs. “You okay there, Daddy?”

I swear under my breath, my free hand slipping inside my sweatpants to cup my already leaking cock.

This fucking woman.

“I’ll send you a location,” I say, voice rougher than before. “You’re coming to see me first thing in the morning.”

She exhales a breathy little moan. “Actually . . . I don’t think I can wait until tomorrow. I want to come now.”

My grip tightens on the phone. “How bad do you want it?”

“Desperately,” she whispers. “It happens every time we talk on the phone.”

My cock throbs.

“Take off your panties, get on the bed, and spread your legs. Let’s see what my voice does to you.”

I hear her breath hitch, followed by the rustle of fabric.

“I’m . . . on the bed, spreading my legs—”

“Wider.”

She moans. “What should I do next?”

“Wait.”

A few moments pass before I hear her soft, needy whimper.

“Kai—”

“Stay there. Don’t fucking do anything else. Just lie there and wet the bed for me.

“Kai,” she whispers. “I can’t wait. Please.”

“Please what?”

“Touch me.”

I grit my teeth. “So fucking needy. Go on, then. Slide two fingers inside your soaked cunt for me.

Her breathy moan fills my ear. I can practically see her—flushed and writhing, her hand between her legs.

I fist the base of my aching cock and force myself to stay in control enough to give her exactly what she needs.

“That’s it,” I rasp, dropping my voice an octave lower. “Do it faster.”

“Kai,” she moans in response, her voice shaky with lust. The telltale squelch of her fingers moving inside her pussy reaches my ears.

“Christ,” I groan. “I can hear you, my dirty little slut, dripping for me.”

“Yes, oh fuck . . . your voice, Kai,” Nicole gasps. “Please don’t stop.”

I stroke myself in time with her pleasure, picturing her—spread wide, back arching, toes curling as she fucks herself into a frenzy.

“What do you want right now?” I growl.

Nicole whimpers before finally gasping out, “I—I want your mouth . . . and . . . oh God . . . your cock!”

Her words are punctuated by ragged breaths and soft, helpless moans and it takes every ounce of my self-control not to explode right then and there.

“I’m going to need both hands free, Nicole. Put your father’s phone on speaker for me.”

“Oh, shit.” She takes in a sharp breath then exhales shakily, as if just realizing whose phone she’s been moaning into. Still she obeys, too far gone to stop.

“Good. Now I want two fingers on your clit, and two in your ass.”

Her breath hitches. “My ass? Kai—”

“Do it,” I growl. “First, rub that clit begging for my tongue.”

“God, Kai—”

“Now, be a good girl and slowly push those fingers into that sweet ass.”

She gasps, and I know she’s arching her back, giving in to the order she didn’t even realize she needed.

“Are you doing as you’re told?”

“Yes, Daddy.” Her voice is a broken whisper. “I need you.”

“That’s it. Better prime that ass for me. I’m soon going to be buried so deep in it, you’ll be too hoarse to do anything but take my cum.

“Oh my . . . Kai . . . Fuck!” Her choked cry sends a sharp jolt of heat through my body. She’s close.

“That’s it. Let it go.” I growl. “Let that beautiful cunt beg for me.”

Her breath stutters, then cuts off in a scream that echoes through me.

I fist the base of my cock in a vise grip, fighting back my own release. My chest rises and falls heavily, my pulse roaring in my ears with the force of my restraint as I listen to the sounds of her pleasure.

Jesus. What I’d give to be inside her right now—feeling those aftershocks rock through her tight heat.

After what feels like a full minute of stutters and gasps, I hear her soft, rhythmic breaths—lazy and sated.

“Fuck, Kai,” she yawns. “What the hell did you just make me do?

“What part?” I rasp. “Traumatizing your father, waking up Bea, or the way you just loved fingering your ass—”

“Kai!” Her voice doesn’t quite hit the hiss she’s aiming for.

I chuckle darkly.

“I doubt Dad will ever be able to look at his phone the same way again,” she mutters. “I might as well just trash this and buy him a new one at this point.”

I let out a low, satisfied grunt. “You don’t sound too torn up about it, though.”

She yawns again, shifting against the sheets. “It’s just—I won’t be able to keep up the lie about us breaking up, now.”

My smirk widens. “Tragic.”

Silence stretches between us.

Then—softly, “Daddy?”

My eyelids fall shut and my cock fucking twitches. Jesus, get a grip, Kai. “What?” I snap.

She giggles, half-drunk on sleep and post-orgasmic bliss. “Stop pretending, Kai. You love it when I call you that.”

I drag a hand down my face and force down the heat crawling up my spine. “Why don’t you try calling me that to my face and see how much I love it?”

A pause. “Nah, I should like to retain my ability to sit and walk, thank you.”

I chuckle darkly, willing away the sight of my handprint on her gorgeous ass.

“Um, Kai, I didn’t hear you . . . finish,” she murmurs.

“Because I didn’t,” I reply.

“What?” Her voice perks up. “Why not?”

My grip fists around my cock. “Because I’m saving it all for you. Every last drop is yours, Nicole.”

Silence. Then—a soft, shuddery inhale, betraying that sexy hitch in her breath that makes me feel ten feet tall. Because she’s right back to square one. Needy as fuck.

“Kai, I want you—” she begins on a sultry whisper.

I grit my teeth, my cock straining against my palm. “Go to bed, greedy girl.”

Before she can protest, I end the call. A full minute later, I’m still gripping my cock like a lifeline, my pulse hammering beneath my skin.

Fuck. I drag my free hand through my hair, my chest rising and falling in deep, controlled breaths.

This woman is going to ruin me.