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“I don’t want to do that,” I tell him honestly. “At least not in real life. Now in books…” My face heating up, I bite my bottom lip.

“Here.”

When he tries handing the book back to me, I refuse to take it.

“You already have it, so…” I gesture for him to go ahead. Read the book, Khaos. Make me fall even more in love with you.

Well…not that. I’m not in love with him. I could see myself falling for him eventually though.

Because I’m not now.

The thing is…I’m not not in love with him either.

It’s more like a trip than a fall.

Yeah, that’s it. I tripped for Khaos. But I haven’t fallen for him, not completely.

Not yet.

Unless I’m in the fall now and that’s why it’s so hard to recognize. Or maybe I’m just scared to admit I’m falling.

Nothing about Khaos scares me, except that. I don’t want to fall for someone that’s not willing to…meet me at the bottom.

“This is your punishment,” Khaos says, reminding me we’re still talking about the book.

“I thought this was already my punishment for my joke downstairs?” I draw the question out as slowly as I slide the book from his hold.

After bending down to deliver a toe-curling kiss, Khaos guides me onto my back before dragging me to the edge of the mattress by my thighs and pulling my shorts off.

My ingenuity—I figured underwear wouldn’t be necessary, so I didn’t bother with any—earns me a devilish smirk from the sexiest man I’ve ever laid eyes on.

He drops to his knees, looks up at me, and says, “You stop reading, I stop eating.”

If this is a punishment, I wonder what a reward would be.

“I have a lot to do tomorrow,” I remind him.

“You’ll be able to walk.”

“On steady legs.”

That also earns me a smirk, I would say equally devilish, if not more so.

“Khaos!” I whisper-shout.

“Read. I’m hungry.”

“You just ate dinner.”

“I didn’t have dessert,” is whispered against the arch of my foot before he kisses it, making me quiver.

Hopefully he takes it easy on me.

Not too easy. Just…a little bit. I have to be able to stunt, and shaky legs do not make for good stunts.

I open the book to the bookmarked page. Last night, Khaos read the climax of the story, where all of the secrets were revealed and sides had to be chosen. Usually, it’s the guy that swoops in and saves the day, but in this book, the woman does. It’s nothing like what my mom did either. That seems almost selfish compared to what the FMC, Elle, did. My mom didn’t lose anything by cutting ties with Humphries Realty. She’ll have another realtor lined up before she gets out of bed tomorrow morning. But Elle risked everything—her place in her family, her future, her life—and she did so without hesitation. For Atlas, the MMC. That’s real love. If you’re not willing to sacrifice anything, you gain nothing.

Thankfully, the damage from the fallout was minimal, and now, she’s indulging with an erotic lap dance given by her best friend.