26
Vincent
“IT’S LIKE SNOW WHITE AND SEXUAL TENSION 101.”
Citizen Soldier Playlist
“Give Up to Ghosts”
No matter how much Rory might deny it, he’s the biggest fucking simp of us all.
By the time I was done checking on the goats, chickens, and our two horses, they’d cleared the table, done the dishes, and prepared for their bake-off. Wouldn’t miss this for the world. Like a reality show in progress. Seth even made popcorn.
They are doing the same thing. Chocolate chip scones—sharing space in the kitchen. A blind taste test will determine the winner.
Briella’s body language is still tense with him. Raphael will likely work on that later with his twisted Kinship law…however long it takes. But when she’s not tense, she feeds off Rory’s energy, mirroring him, hate for hate. But unlike her?
Oh, he’s falling for her. Never seen him like this with a girl before. He might get superficial fun out of the violence and torture of the Initiations, but no girl ever hooked him. Not like this. He was bored, dismissive. One and done.
I constantly catch him staring at her when she’s not looking. I’m sure he’d brush it off as studying her to see how he might sabotage her. Beneath all that socio-rage and endless goading,that half-eared, redheaded bastard is totallyhooked. Bait. Line. Sinker. She’s capturing his attention. The rest of us, too.
Even as Briella focuses on her scones while he tries to mind-fuck her, she sighs with a subtle, sweet smile before wrecking him with her sharp wit. Whatever happened in the mine, it didn’t impact her tongue. And it’s more than funny to see her put him in his place. It’s fucking hilarious.
Heis the one getting all hot and bothered. Not her.
I shake my head with a laugh as he holds his rolling pin while eyeing her plump ass through the dress.Don’t do it, you moronic dip shit.
Oh, but he does. A light smack, but a smack with the rolling pin. Briella jerks her head up, hissing. I smirk as she grabs a handful of flour and chucks it at him, sticking her tongue out.
He growls at her, and she makes a mocking kissing sound. “It’s so sad, Rory. Truly, I feel sorry for you since you have to try and mess with me to win.”
When he closes in on her, his pelvis pinning her to the counter, all of us tense. Raphael more than the rest of us. The veins in his arm throb. He’s ready to step in at any time, but he’s got Rory on a leash. A tight one.
The socio touches the tip of the rolling pin to the underside of her chin, lifting it. She puts on a brave face, but her hands are trembling.
“When youlose, Firecracker, I’ll do much more thanmesswith you. I’ll make a goddamn mess of you.”
Oh, that glint in her eyes. Seth leans in, hand clutching the popcorn, freezing as he widens his eyes, waiting for her to destroy Rory.
My cock itself throbs when she tiptoes her fingers along his collared shirt, rises to the occasion, and says, “Like I made a mess of your ear?”
Fuck, this girl! She even tugs on it beneath the bandage, causing Rory to blow pain through his flared nostrils. Flour falls off his beard at the same time.
Seth shoves the popcorn in his mouth and applauds her. “Team Briella! It’s like Snow White and Sexual Tension 101.” He spins on the barstool on the other side of the counter.
She rolls her eyes and returns to rolling out and shaping her scones before adding them to her greased baking sheet.
Muttering something about her naked on her knees, Rory grabs the tumbler filled with his coffee and Scotch and downs a big draught, making a face. “Who made the fucking coffee this time?” he grumbles because he was too busy prepping his scones.
“Jude did,” I mention, nodding to him.
Rory mutters a curse. “Should’ve known. Man’s a doctor, not a barista. Probably measured it like a goddamn IV drip.”
Jude, leaning against the pantry, nods to Rory while lifting his own coffee mug. “Tastes just fine to me.”
“Me too,” I add, my eyes straying to Jude’s. An uncomfortable heat ripples south until my cock twitches. Fuck, ever since what happened in the cavern…
Rory snorts. “Can’t trust a guy who calls caffeine a ‘vasoconstrictor.”
