“Can I just go to my room?”
“Nope,” Mattie said cheerfully. “You’re just going to sink deeper into your despair. You know Uncle Christopher loves you. He also knows you’re just like him. I think he’s secretly proud.”
“I don’t, so let’s talk about something else. The older I get, the more he wants to put me in my place. Unlike Uncle Johnnie, who wanted you to be an automaton, Daddy wants me to be a doll. I can be flawed as long as I allow him to dictate my life and play fucking games with me.”
She clenched her jaw, pain written on her face, her eyes watering and her nose as red as Rudolph’s on a dark snowy night.
Mattie reached across the coffee table and held out her hand. Rebel hesitated before she placed her hand in her cousin’s.
“Your determination to play the game upset me but it was a glimpse of the old you,” Mattie told her.
“I want Rule,” Rebel said quietly. “I miss him. We used to talk for hours, Mattie.”
“Rule will come back,” Mattie swore, “and Diesel will forever be Diesel. You have to get on with your life.”
Rebel thought for a moment, then forced a smile and pulled her hand away. “We can do individual games. You and Kayce and me and Kaia.”
“We need another bottle for that,” Mattie reminded her. “This is fine, but let’s restart the game.”
Kaia preferred the atmosphere this time around, over when they first started. Rebel was a complicated girl, about more than poetry and pretty clothes. She’d keep life interesting, for sure.
The next time Rebel spun, the bottle landed on Mattie and they giggled, then leaned forward and kissed each other’s cheek. Kayce’s turn landed him on Rebel, and he kissed the back of her hand. On Mattie’s spin, the bottle landed on Rebel again. The bottle halted on Kayce for Kaia’s spin; they shook hands.
When Rebel spun again and the bottle started to slow, Kaia held his breath, watching the progression and seeing it would land very close to him if not on him. By the end, his heart pounded and his cock throbbed. Definitively pointing at him left him speechless and breathing as if he’d run a marathon.
He didn’t think about moving slowly, afraid someone would tip the bottle or Rebel would change her mind. Scooting closer, he yanked her into his arms and covered her mouth with his, absorbing her surprised squeak. Shoving his tongue intoher mouth and sweeping it over her soft tongue. Tasting the champagne she’d drank. Her sweetness.Her.
The tension slowly seeped from her body and she relaxed, giving him free rein for the wet, sloppy kiss he’d dreamed about.
“Kaia?” Mattie called, bringing some sanity back into his head.
He hated to release Rebel, until Kayce cleared his throat, and he remembered they weren’t alone. His cock strained against his jeans and his head twirled. Somehow, he let her go and thumbed away his saliva on her chin.
She looked shocked, flushed,gorgeous.She touched her wet, red lips; he smirked and swiped his arm across his mouth and chin.
The movement startled her and she blinked. “You didn’t like my kiss?”
“What?” he panted. “I loved it! Why would you think that?”
“Maybe, because you just wiped your fucking mouth,” Kayce said severely.
Rebel’s kiss left Kaia giddy and he chortled. “It wasn’t you. I was wiping away the excess spit. You had me so excited, I was drooling.”
“Barf,” Mattie said dramatically.
Kaia ignored her, too focused on Rebel’s darkened eyes and swollen mouth.
Without warning, the door flew opened and Diesel stalked in, his narrowed gaze frightening as he took in the scene. Kaia, Kayce, and Mattie scrambled to their feet.
Swallowing, Kaia stumbled to the bed so Diesel wouldn’t see his hard-on, while Kayce picked up the bottle and the two glasses still with champagne. Neither Kayce nor Kaia liked that stuff. When he hurried to the bathroom, Kaia knew it was to empty their glasses. “What the fuck’s going on in here?” he roared as Kayce rejoined them.
“Nothing,” Mattie blurted.
Diesel studied Rebel’s face, zeroing in on her lips.
“Shut up,” she warned. “Don’t you dare ruin my first kiss.”
Diesel choked, reddened, and looked ready to kill Kaia and then keel over from rage.
