He smiles and shakes his head. “Once we get to it, you can have my dick anytime, too, baby. You’ll wake up with my wood against your ass every time you stay here.”
I like this talk of more nights together. Of a future. My life is crazy and a relationship isn’t a good idea, but this relationship is part of my job.
Or is it? I think so, but the lines are so blurry with Nix. I know I have feelings for him.
“Hey, you want some Cocoa Pebbles?” He holds up a box he just pulled out of the pantry, and I laugh.
“Badass Phoenix Ash likes Cocoa Pebbles?”
“Damn right. They make the milk all chocolatey.”
“I’ll have some.”
“Your body is incredible,” he says as he takes two bowls from a cabinet. “What kind of exercise do you do?”
I can’t tell him I spar at the Greenlight gym, so I omit that and tell him about the other stuff. “Just running and some weights.”
He sets our bowls of cereal on the island and hands me a spoon.
“You know I brought you here because I trust you, right?” he says. “I’m letting you see a side of me very few people see.”
“I like it.”
“I want to see all the sides of you, too. Need it, actually. And I need to know you trust me in return.”
“I’m working on it, Nix.”
A smile plays on his lips. “I know. One sip at a time.”
“One sip at a time,” I agree, smiling back.
And then we eat cereal at his island, and I don’t even think about the fact that I’m naked. Because when I’m next to Nix, all I seem to be able to think about is him.
14
Phoenix
She’s proud of herself.I can see it in her eyes as she shoves a spoonful of cereal into her mouth. She thinks she distracted me by getting naked. I didn’t get this far by letting tits and ass disrupt my course of action. It was a valiant effort, and I play it off a little longer, letting her believe she’s won.
I wouldn’t be the man I am today if that’s all it took to get me off course. It’s a simple mistake, though. Women try it all the time—hell, even men will drop their drawers in a second if they think it will get them out of a jam and get them sucked off in the process.
Lifting the bowl to her lips, she sips the milk and lets out a small moan. “I forgot how freakin’ good this is.”
My stomach flips; a combination of her pleasure and the knowledge of what’s to come has my body in overdrive. “Ready for bed?” I ask as I set my half-finished cereal in the sink, not able to stomach another bite.
“Sure.” She hops down, rounding the island with her beautiful tits on full display.
The ink on her body surprised me. If she had a tramp stamp, it wouldn’t have rocked me to the core. But to have a piece running over a foot down her side and knowing how much pain she had to endure to etch her skin in that way sent my mind spinning. The girl didn’t mind a little pain. That was obvious. But how much could she endure before she broke?
The little stunt she pulled at the Loft, getting caught by Grayson, could’ve ended her. She claimed she had it all under control. Even though she was able to push me off, knee me in the balls, and get out from under me showed me she had the ability, I don’t think she feared me in the slightest. When I walked in on her and Grayson, she didn’t look to have anything under control. Not even in the slightest. Even though she was able to push me off, knee me in the balls, and get out from under me showed me she had the ability to do so, but she isn’t afraid of me.
“You like it?” she asks, catching me eyeing the monochromatic piece.
My fingers trace the words on her ribs.Forget, forgive, but never regret.“That had to take a while.”
“Yeah.” She smiles up at me, touching my face just like I’m touching her. “But it was worth every minute of pain to have a lifetime of beauty.”
My hand slides down the art and snakes around her back, drawing her body to mine. “You’re not who I think you are.” The statement is simple, but it has more than one meaning. I thought she was just the wild child of an ex-senator, but there’s more to Kennedy Preston than meets the eye, and I’m going to leave no stone unturned in finding out exactly who she is.
