“I think the difference is that Shane has always given off a different vibe than Kai,” I said, trying to intervene in their standoff and help Shane out.

But I was also speaking the truth.

“What do you mean?” Dakota said, her eyebrows bunching together.

“Think about it, asshead.” I motioned across the table. “Shane gives off the I’m-serious-and-like-being-in-a-relationship vibe, and Kai . . .” Talking about him gave me another excuse to look over at him. The girl was now whispering in his ear and whatever she was saying amused him. His hands were deep in his pockets, and he seemed to be enjoying the attention. “Well, he’s all about the player mode.”

“Maybe,” Shane said. “But I think he’s slowed down a bit in his old age.”

“Oh, really?” Dakota said, looking over at her brother. “What gives you that impression?”

Just then, Kai leaned in to whisper in the blond’s ear, and Shane and Dakota burst out in laughter. I chuckled along with them but this time felt way different. Something was blossoming inside my chest. Something that felt a lot like the green-eyed monster.

I needed to cut that shit out, or I’d be in a world of hurt. But there was this growing hunger, this growing need for Kai developing inside me. There was just something about being with him, and I wondered if he gave each girl he was with the same fluttery feeling. The same attention.

He had a way of making me feel special, as if I was the only one in his line of sight. As if he was going to take care of me. And he’d certainly provided for my physical needs in the past few days. Just like he’d taken care of my emotional needs during my recovery, come to think of it.

Goddamn, since when had all of this transformed into an entire Kai fan-fest? Before I knew it, I’d be making signs and wearing foam fingers and shit. Holding up my lighter for an encore. Joining his other fans in line and squealing like a pathetic schoolgirl.

I needed to stop staring at Kai, or Dakota was going to figure something out. Maybe after we actually did the dirty deed, he’d be out of my system. But he didn’t seem to want to go there with me, even though he never had any problem in that department with other girls.

And that only fueled my desire more.

As soon as I had that thought, Kai looked up and fixed his gaze on me, heavy as steel. A flush stole over my skin. I was certain my eyes betrayed how much I wanted him. Needed him. His gaze fastened me to my seat while he ignored the girl, who was trying to get his attention by tugging on his arm. Finally, he looked away, taking my breath with him and turning my insides into molten lava. I needed to stick my head under a damn faucet or something.

“Going to the bathroom,” I said, standing up abruptly. “Order me another drink?”

I headed past the slot machines, the Triple Sevens I’d never had any luck with at this casino, toward the far wall where the restroom sign was displayed. The casino was pretty full tonight, but it felt empty back there, away from the glaring lights of the machines and the noise of the band.

The men’s room was to the right, the ladies’ room to the left, and in the middle stood a solid white door with the words FAMILY BATHROOM emblazoned across the top. I assumed it was a place for mothers to take their infants, having seen similar separate areas in restaurants and department stores. But who in the hell would bring their baby to a casino?

Then I considered some of the indigenous workers at the casino whom Dakota and Kai had such a connection to, given their shared background. The employees might’ve needed such a facility and maybe the Nakos family accommodated that request.

Before I could get the entire thought out, I felt a hand on my lower back. I almost let out a yelp, but then I heard the low timbre of his voice. “Come with me, Rachel. Now.”

Chapter Twenty-three

Rachel

He opened the door to the family bathroom, yanked me inside, and promptly twisted the lock.

I looked around the small space, which contained a sink and a changing table for infants, unable to form any words. First, because we could have easily been caught by family members or friends. Second, because the anticipation of being in close quarters with Kai was making my heart beat at such an erratic rate, I was liable to go into cardiac arrest.

Not allowing me another moment to catch my breath, his fingers gripped the back of my neck and his body moved in close. So damn close. His wedged me between the wall and his hips, and his eyes stared deeply into mine. I saw desire in those dark blue depths.

One hand left my neck and slinked down my rib cage to my leg, creating goose flesh in its wake. It was as if a winter storm was brewing inside me, each touch from his fingertips a drop of melting snow along my skin, creating a tingle of shameless longing.

“Did you wear this sexy dress for Miles?” His fingers brushed beneath the fabric at my thigh and I shuddered at his touch. “Or was it to drive me insane?”

The truth was, I wasn’t sure anymore. Miles would have never yanked me into an empty bathroom to maul me. And maybe I’d never needed him to. Never wanted him to, either. Maybe all the pleasure receptors going haywire in my body were for Kai and Kai alone.

“I . . . I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” he murmured against my ear, and I felt an electric current travel through my body.

I realized that what was happening right in this moment was different from the times before with Kai. He hadn’t waited for me to seek him out. He had come to find me.

Did that mean he’d been thinking about me, too? Wanting me just as badly? Or could he just see the need in my eyes at the table?

“Of . . . of course, I needed to look good for my ex.”

“Oh, you look good all right,” he said into my hair. And then he pulled back and his eyes met mine. “Good enough to eat.”

My breath hitched as his hand traveled higher up my leg.

“Is that what you want me to do, Rachel?” His hand now rested on the edge of my panties. “Eat you?”

“Oh God.” I was trembling with need as his fingers slid along the elastic, waiting on my answer.

He positioned his knee between my legs, and I felt my desperation pulsing between my thighs.

My head fell back against the wall. “Please, Kai.”

“Please what, Rachel? Don’t be shy.” His tongue flitted out to lick my ear, and then he pinned my lobe between his teeth. “What do you want me to do?”

I had suddenly become reserved, whereas before I’d always asked for what I wanted. But I needed him so badly right then that for the first time in a long while, I felt vulnerable.

Maybe my need for Kai, plus that emotional conversation with Miles, had thrown me off. Or maybe it was the way Kai smelled or how much I wanted to feel that tongue against my skin again.

“What . . .” I was having difficulty catching my breath. “What happened to the girl you were talking to?”

“Who the hell cares,” he growled. “Maybe I didn’t want her. Maybe you’re the sexiest girl in this whole fucking place and I only wanted to take care of you.”

A deep moan erupted from my lips. I could get off just on his words alone.

I squeezed my eyes shut. “Shit, Kai, is this how you make all the girls feel?”

His grip on me loosened for a split second, giving me the impression that I had thrown him off his game. He leaned in closer. “Are you jealous, Rachel?”

“N-no,” I said. “I . . . I don’t know. I just know that I want you.”

“Well, you have me. Right here and right now.” His voice was low and smooth in my ear. I couldn’t believe how much I liked the sound of those words falling from his lips, even though he meant them only for tonight.

But soon that thought was lost in the buzzing of my brain as he sucked on my neck and shifted his fingers slightly beneath my dress.

“Please, Kai,” I said again.

“Why so reserved? Why can’t you tell me what you want?” he said. “You’ve taken from other guys—so take it from me.”

I held in a gasp. Sure, I’d gotten off from other guys—I couldn’t be angry at his statement. But taking from him was like consuming some aphrodisiac that messed with my head and kept me coming back for more.

I bit my lip and whimpered. “Why won’t you have sex with me?”

My words had set him off. He flattened his body into mine, and I could feel him throbbing and pulsing against my stomach.

“When I do fuck you, Rachel, it’s not going to be in a bathroom,” he snarled. “It’s going to be somewhere I can have you all to myself. All. Night. Long.”

My legs were quivering, vibrating with desire as I fidgeted against him. I panted openly with raw need.

“But right now I’m going to make you feel good.” His voice softened and he kissed the side of my head. “So tell me what in the hell you want.”

His insistent words forced my lips into action. “I want your mouth on me.”

His gaze traveled from the top of my head and blazed a trail down to my feet. “Where do you want my mouth?”

I looked him in the eye, my gaze confident and steady. “On my lips, for starters.”

Without hesitation, he leaned forward and teased my lower lip between his teeth. He bit down and then swiped his tongue across, soothing it. I couldn’t take the torment any longer.

I shifted my hands to his hair and yanked his mouth toward mine. Our tongues clashed in a frantic pace, as Kai slid his thumbs over my eager nipples and seized my breasts. I was panting into his mouth and he pulled away to catch his breath.

Then his hands cupped my face, and his lips touched mine more gently, his tongue slowing us down to a tender, merciless rhythm. It was overwhelming and addicting at the same time.

I again had the sensation that I had never been kissed this way before and I might never be again. I would leave this summer a wreck, a complete mess. And I was doing nothing to stop myself. I couldn’t stop myself.

He drew his mouth away from my lips and moved down my neck, pulling at my dress as he went. The cool air rushed up my legs to my breasts, making my nipples stand even further at attention.

He bunched my dress at my waist and then sank to his knees. Kissing my stomach, he licked a circle around my belly button before caressing it with his lips.

He outlined the top of my thong with his mouth, biting and then dragging his lips along my skin. I was on fire, completely out of my mind, as I squirmed beneath his touch.

His head moved down, and he kissed the tops of my legs, my knees wobbling from the contact. He sucked the inside of one of my thighs before giving it a tiny bite.

It was like a jolt to my system, and a precursor for the next shock wave, as he placed his mouth fully over my mound. I could feel his hot breath straight through the fabric of my underwear, and I would have collapsed into a heap had he not been holding on to my hips.

I moaned so loudly I was afraid anyone outside the door would hear. And, oh yeah, we just happened to be in a public restroom in his family’s place of business. We had apparently lost our minds.

“Is this what you need, Rachel?” His gaze clashed with mine, fire blazing in his irises. “Someone to take care of you?”

“You,” I panted. “I want you to take care of me.”

What in the hell was I saying? Geez, girl, tone it down.

Kai’s eyes flared for a brief moment before he looked back down at my legs.

“You’re going to hold your dress up while I lick your pretty pussy,” he said, rolling up the material to my hands, which now shook at his words. “I already know you’re going to taste amazing.”

He grasped the thin straps of my thong and tugged them down my legs, slipping them over my heels. He kissed each of my ankles, and I gasped at how intimate his lips felt.

I was now naked from the waist down and on display in front of him.

My bottom lip quivered in anticipation. All I wanted was his mouth on me, but I was nervous that he’d seen better—had better—and for some reason that mattered to me. So much so that I almost moved my hand down to cover myself.

“Do you know how much it turns me on that you’re completely bare?” he said, inspecting me, before sliding his eyes up to meet mine. “Tell me you did that for me.”

I couldn’t even form any words. I gave a hint of a nod as his mouth hovered closer to me.

“Look how fucking gorgeous you are,” he said as he leaned forward, his lips a breath away from my skin. My chest heaved with eagerness.

He slid the broad side of his tongue up the center of me once and then backed away.

I strangled out a curse word. The feel of his tongue ring as it made contact with my swollen nub was so arousing, I was almost seeing stars.

“You want me to taste you again?” he said, looking up at me.

“Yes, Ka . . . Kai,” I said, stuttering.

“That’s right, keep saying my name.” He licked me several more times, his tongue ring rolling against my tender flesh. I was lost. Lost in my own haze of passion.

I inched my fingers down and pulled at the elastic tie to release his hair. His ebony waves fell like a curtain above his shoulders, and I grasped at it to give me leverage.

His fingers wrapped around my thigh to lift my leg, and he placed it over his shoulder. “That’s it—nice and open for me.” He slid one finger inside, and I moaned.

He drew his finger out and lifted it to my mouth. “Taste how mouth-watering you are.”

My tongue flitted out to lick the very tip of his finger before he jerked it back and stuck it deep inside his own mouth instead. “Mmmm . . .”

It was so incredibly erotic—him showing me how much he enjoyed tasting me.