“You going to throw me out, London?”
I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at him. “I’m not sleeping naked,” I grumbled as I walked to the bed and climbed in with my yoga pants and shirt on.
“We’ll see,” he said and pulled the sheet up over me. His thigh landed on top of my thighs. Then his arm came around my shoulders and tugged, pulling me back against his chest.
I fumed.
Because I liked him wrapped around me. I liked the feel of him. I liked him in bed with me.
And I’d never felt so protected in my life. The irony was I had the feeling that Kai could very well destroy me.
TWO MORE NIGHTS.
I paced back and forth. Tonight, I had dinner at my dad’s and I hated not being able to say anything to him. But what made this all feel like it was worth it was that the worn, worried frown he’d had for months had eased, although he was still pale and looked tired.
Even though I wanted to ask him about Kai and the drug he was working on, I couldn’t. No matter how old I was, I’d always be his little girl and he’d want to protect me. Finding out Kai and I were sleeping together would be catastrophic.
Kai was someone my dad couldn’t protect me from. Although with each encounter, I felt more and more like Kai was the protector and not the threat.
By one in the morning, he still hadn’t shown, but it was nothing unusual. I realized this was how he liked to play it. Keep me waiting so I was thrown off. I poured myself a glass of wine and tried to study, but I read the last paragraph four times and still didn’t take in what I was reading. I listened for the key in the lock and every time I heard the ding of the elevator, my heart raced.
It was the weekend and I didn’t have classes, but still, staying awake all night waiting for some guy wasn’t something I did. I laughed to myself because this wasn’t just some guy or some usual night.
I stood, parted the curtains and looked into the alley. I had no idea why. It wasn’t like he’d be down there. I couldn’t picture Kai standing in an alley. He wouldn’t sneak around. He’d go wherever he wanted.
My phone rang and I nearly dropped my glass of wine at the sound. I hurried over to my desk, set my wine down, and glanced at the display, Unknown Number. I normally avoided answering calls like this, but in my gut I knew it was him. Who else would call at this time.
“Hello?”
“London.”
“Kai.”
“Baby, I need you to do something for me.”
I remained quiet. I didn’t like the sound of that.
He continued, “I will forfeit one night if you do what I ask.”
He was willing to forfeit a night? A hint of disappointment hit me. Whatever this was, I wanted to have sex with him and I had to accept that. But he didn’t need to know.
“Agreed?”
My stomach dropped and goose bumps popped up along my skin. I didn’t like agreeing to something I didn’t know what I was agreeing to.
“Does it involve hurting anyone?”
He laughed. “No, baby. That’s my job, never yours.”
I was also uncertain how I felt about him calling me baby. It was different than his nickname for me. It was personal and familiar, like we were something more than a deal.
“One less night. And no one gets hurt.”
“Yes,” he drawled.
“Fine.”
“Good girl. Go to the freezer.” I frowned, holding the phone to my ear as I walked into the kitchen and opened the freezer door. “On the bottom shelf. Metal container.”
My eyes scanned over the frozen corn, the H?agen-Dazs ice cream, then stopped. I swallowed as I slowly took out the metal container and peered through the small window in the lid. It had a dildo with a blue embossed swirl around it.
“You have it?”
I nodded.
“London?”
“Yes.”
“Take it out of the box.” I did. “Now get into bed. And take off your clothes.”
Shit, he knew I broke the rule once again and was wearing pajamas.
Once in my room, I slipped them off and crawled onto my bed.
“Prop yourself up and bend your knees,” he instructed.
Oh, Jesus, I knew exactly what I was supposed to do with this. The most experience I’d had with sex toys was a tiny clit stimulator.
“Need you to talk to me, London.”
“Yeah. Okay, but—”
“Legs apart.” I swallowed. “Wider,” he growled into the phone.
To my mortification, tingles erupted between my legs. A man on the phone was telling me what to do with a dildo he’d put in the freezer.
“Now, rub it between your legs.” I stared at the toy in my hand and thought about it. It was cold. Really cold. I didn’t like jumping in a swimming pool below eighty. I was one of those people who took their time inch by inch and if it was too cold, I didn’t even bother.
Could I pretend to do what he said and not do it?