by Maris Black
“Yeah?” Kage asked with a drunken smirk. “Like what?”
“Oh, I don’t know… like what you saw.” I couldn’t even say the word gay in his presence. “And like underage girls and BDSM and stuff.”
“So no handcuffs for Jamie. What do you like?” He seemed suddenly far too sober. I was about ready for him to pass out.
“Um, I like…” I faltered, unable to come up with a single thing that I liked.
Kage laughed. “That much stuff, huh? You’re a wild man.”
I huffed. “Well, what do you like, since you think I should be so forthcoming?”
“Forthcoming,” he repeated with a laugh. “You crack me up, college boy. Okay, if you must know, I like dark hair.” He smiled and closed his eyes, laid back on the bed, looking like he was conjuring an image in his imagination. “Big brown eyes that melt your soul every time you look into them.”
I swallowed and suddenly had a little trouble breathing.
“Athletic body, long legs wrapped around my waist,” he continued in his slurry voice. “Smart, funny, sexy… glasses. Where are your glasses?”
I cleared my throat. “I thought we were talking about porn.”
“Oh yeah, porn.” He smiled again without opening his eyes. “I imagine we probably like about the same things in that area. Pretty close, anyway.” His voice trailed off, and he got quiet.
I didn’t dare prompt him for any more conversation at that point, because I got the feeling he was trying to turn the focus back onto me. Best to avoid that at all costs. Instead, I removed the laptop from the bed and worked the covers down. Kage helped me a little by scooting around as needed.
“You want to get rid of those shorts and socks?” I asked— innocently, of course.
“Yeah, but I need your help.” He peeked at me out of one eye before closing it again.
Trying to be as emotionally removed as a doctor examining a patient, I pulled off first one sock then the other and tossed them on the floor. Then I hooked my fingers into the band of his shorts and began to shimmy them down his hips. I had to work them over the bulge in the front of his underwear, noting in a very clinical manner that either he had the largest soft dick of anyone I’d ever seen, or he was at least partially hard. But then, he was drunk. He couldn’t be held accountable for anything, including the state of his dick, right?
My fingers accidentally trailed down the outsides of his muscular thighs, the hair tickling my fingertips. I took a deep breath as I hovered over his prone body and caught the distinct scent of his manliness— a hint of sweat mixed with warm musk. Passion bloomed in my belly, unfurled and spread through me like wild vines. I had the ridiculous urge to bury my face in him and just breathe. His scent was driving me crazy.
I slid his shorts the rest of the way down his legs and threw the covers up over him before I did something to embarrass myself. Then I undressed down to my boxer briefs and burrowed down under the covers on my side of the bed. I stayed as far away from him as I could, afraid of what would happen if I caught his scent again. It took me forever to go to sleep. By that time, Kage had long since begun the labored breathing of a drunken slumber.
The next morning, I woke to the sounds of him getting dressed.
“Hey,” he said apologetically, looking like the hell he must have been feeling. “Sorry to wake you. And sorry about last night. I have no idea what I might have done.” He shrugged and offered a half-hearted smile.
“You were fine. Don’t worry.” I laughed. “You didn’t do anything embarrassing.”
Unfortunately, I couldn’t say the same for myself. Maybe he wouldn’t remember the porn site, and maybe he had been too far gone to notice how long it had taken me to get his shorts off, or how I’d scented him like a bloodhound.
“Whose shirt is this, anyway?’ he asked, pulling the plain white t-shirt over his head.
“It’s not yours?” I giggled. “Oops. I have no idea.”
“Well, I guess it’s mine now. Meanwhile, someone has one of my favorite Under Armor shirts.”
“I’m so sorry. I was just in a hurry to get you out of there. You were playing strip poker, and you were down to your underwear. It was an emergency situation.”
“Emergency, huh?” He rounded the bed, coming to stand over me. Then he shocked me by leaning down and giving me a hug. “Thank you for coming to get me. I’m really ashamed that I called you, and I promise it won’t happen again, okay?”
“Have you lost your damn mind? If you get into a jam again, you’d better call me. I’m not mad, okay? I’m here for you.” He was still hugging me, and I wrinkled my nose and pushed him away. “And you’re right, that is definitely not your shirt. It doesn’t smell like you at all. Take it off.” As soon as I realized what I’d said, I started backpedaling. “I don’t mean literally take it off. I just mean I wish I’d grabbed the right shirt. Now you smell like cigarette smoke and cheap cologne. And some other guy.”
He raised a brow at me, looking as cocksure as he could through the haze of what had to have been a massive hangover, and pulled the shirt back over his head. Then he strutted over to the trash can in the kitchen, balled it up, and threw it in. “Happy now?”
He stalked back over to the bed, reminding me of a panther the way his muscles moved beneath the flesh of his increasingly tempting upper body. I wanted to close my eyes, but I couldn’t. He climbed onto the bottom of my bed and crawled up toward me, sending my heartbeat skittering out of control. Then he climbed roughly on top of me and covered my face with his chest.
“Does that smell right? Huh? Do I smell like myself?” Knowing from our sparring that I couldn’t handle being tickled on my sides, Kage went straight in for the kill. He tickled like he fought… one-hundred-percent invested.
“I can’t breathe,” I screamed in a voice muffled by the press of his chest. “Help! Marco!” I don’t know why that was the first name that came to my lips, other than the fact that I thought if anyone in the hotel could drag Kage off of me, it would be him.
“You think Marco can help you? He wouldn’t stand a chance against me. Nothing can save you now.” He burrowed in even harder, tickling me until I was just a trembling heap unsure of whether I was laughing or crying. For a split second, I thought maybe I felt his lips brush the side of my throat in something like a kiss.
“Please… please…” I gasped, my thrashing limbs useless against his superior weight and strength. Even through the pleasure-pain, I felt the blood rushing to my cock, filling it out between my legs, making me all too aware of the slide of skin and the way my hips were bucking against his. Feeling his cock against my cock, and the rub and the friction. My legs wrapped themselves around his waist, my ankles locked together, and I rode his movements like a desperate bull rider just trying to make it through eight seconds. It was excruciating. Glorious. Shameful.
“Please…” I cried again, this time with a different meaning altogether. In that moment, I needed him so much it was scary. I felt like I would do anything.
Everything.
He laughed against my ear, his breath teasing the sensitive flesh there. “Please what, Jamie? Tell me I smell good.”
“You smell good. You smell great.”
“Yeah? You think so?” he asked, feigning surprise, as if my compliment hadn’t been the least bit coerced. He finally stopped tickling me, and my whole body seemed to spiral down into the covers, tingling from the aftermath of Kage’s sensual onslaught.
“Yes,” I sighed, panting hard to catch my breath, relaxing by body, my arms and legs falling open and limp. I was too weak to wipe the tears from my cheeks. “You smell fucking awesome, Kage. Now get off of me.”
He did as I asked and climbed off of me, but he still wore the smug expression of victory. He had every right to wear it. The guy had just broken me in every way I could think of, and he didn’t even know it.
“Why don’t you give me a couple of hours to get showered and feeling better, then we’ll go grab some lun
ch.”
“Yeah?” I grinned.
“Yeah. But give me time, because I’m pretty hung over right now. Gotta go get some of Marco’s magical hangover cure.”
“What’s that?”
“Ancient secret recipe.” He felt around in the pockets of his shorts. “Have you seen my key card?”
“Nope. You didn’t have it on you when I picked you up.”
I know, because I felt every inch of you.
“I must have dropped it at the party. Everything’s a blur after I got there. I swear I didn’t think I drank that much.”
“You were definitely hammered,” I told him with a straight face. “You really don’t remember anything?”
“Not really. Funny, I don’t even remember how I got there in the first place.” He frowned and furrowed his brow. “Oh, well. No sense crying now. I just need to go get that key canceled and a new one programmed before someone figures it out and steals all of my shit.”
After he left the room, I showered and got ready for our lunch date. Then I watched the clock for a couple of hours, swapping from the bed to the sofa, wishing I could skip all of the down time and get to the good stuff already.
I chastised myself for trying to rush time. Hell, I was living on borrowed time as it was. School started back at the end of the summer whether I liked it or not, and this new life of mine here in Vegas with Kage was beginning to feel way too comfortable. Already, I was wondering how I would be able to say goodbye.
12
“WAKE up, sleepyhead,” the text from Kage said. “It’s time to go.”
“Shit.” I texted back. “I’m not even packed.”
“Open your door for me,” he replied.
I rolled out of bed and stumbled to the door of my suite. The day of our road trip had finally arrived, and I’d overslept. Kage was waiting outside with an energy shake in his hand.
“This will wake you up,” he said as he handed it to me. Then he glanced down my nearly naked body and back up again, taking in the sight of my morning wood. “Something you need help with?”
“Very funny. I just need to go to the bathroom. You just dragged me out of bed.”
His brows shot up and he laughed. “I meant like with packing or something, genius.”
“Oh. I thought you were making a joke about… never mind. I’m just an idiot.” I turned and went to the bathroom without another word.
Kage chuckled from behind me. “I’ll just grab a few things out of your drawers. You don’t need much. Two changes of clothes, I guess. I’ve got deodorant and stuff.”
“Yeah, you definitely better not forget the deodorant.”
He let out a grunt and moved up close behind me. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to tell me I smell bad.”
“Of course not.” I turned around and found myself standing face-to-face with him. “I just meant that you’ll probably be sparring or working out or something at the gym. And hell, I need deodorant, too. I don’t want to smell. Do you want me to smell?”
“I don’t care. Do you think I smell bad, though? You’ve got me paranoid.”
“You smell fine.” I had to look away. Not because I was lying, but because I was telling the truth, and I didn’t want him to see how true that truth was.
“Would you check me just to make sure?”
“I guess, if you want.” I leaned in close, my face hovering about an inch from his chest. At least he had a shirt on. I don’t think I could have taken it if he hadn’t. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and got a nose full of Michael Kage pheromones. Those pesky little things that were increasingly causing bad things to happen to my body and mind.
Just when I got my nose right next to his armpit, he raised his arm, grabbed the back of my head, and shoved my face into his armpit.
“Jesus Christ, Kage!”
The guy laughed harder than I’d ever seen him laugh— by far. I liked seeing him that delighted, even if it was at the expense of my pride. However, that didn’t mean I was going to let him get away with it.
“Wow, I didn’t think you actually had a sense of humor. Glad to see I was proven wrong.”
His laughter slowed, and he rolled his eyes at me. “Keep it up and you just might lose your surprise.”
“Surprise?” I couldn’t help the goofy grin from taking over my face.
“Just go downstairs and get in the car. If we leave now, we may be able to get there early enough to check in somewhere.”
“Do you really think it’s necessary to get a hotel room? It’s only a few hours’ drive.”
“I don’t want to feel rushed,” Kage said. “What fun is a road trip if you’re in a hurry to get back home?”
I had to agree when I saw Kage’s car. He had a killer black Corvette convertible with black and red interior, and I spent the first hour of our three hour drive admiring every inch of it. It was a beautiful day for riding with the top down, and we took full advantage of it. After a while, I took my shirt off.
“Make yourself comfortable,” Kage yelled over the sound of the wind.
“Why thank you, I will.” I reclined my seat back so that I could get sun on the entire front of my torso. I even rolled the band of my shorts down and pulled the legs up to expose as much skin as possible. Then I just laid back and closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of the heat and the movement of the air over my skin.
“You don’t play fair,” Kage yelled.
“Tell you what,” I yelled back without opening my eyes. “Let me drive back tomorrow, and you can get a turn.”
He laughed. “We’ll see. I don’t let just anybody drive my baby.”
“Who has gotten to drive it?” I peeked at him out of one eye, noting that he’d stripped his own shirt off. He looked summery and free and unnaturally handsome, with his gleaming skin and his chocolate-and-caramel hair blowing in the wind. He was too perfect.
“No one but me has ever driven this car. Yet.”
I closed my eye again and grinned. “You should let me be the first.”
He didn’t say anything more on the subject. In fact, the rest of the ride was so comfortable and quiet that I fell asleep. After a while, he reached over and shook me awake.
“You’re getting a little pink, man. Your skin is fairer than mine, so I think you should put your shirt on. And you’re gonna have a white mark in the hollow of your throat where your necklace is.”
I sat up and pulled my t-shirt over my head, feeling disoriented. “Where are we?”
“About twenty-five miles away. We’re supposed to be at the gym at one, so we’ll go there first and do our thing, then check into a hotel later this afternoon.”
“Whatever. Sounds like a plan to me.” I checked my appearance in the mirror.
Kage laughed. “We are so fucking unprofessional.”
My heart sank, and I think my entire job flashed before my eyes. “You think I’m unprofessional?”
“No. I said we are unprofessional. I happen to like it that way, don’t you?”
“Yeah, not everybody gets to smoke weed with their boss, have slumber parties with them, or lay out in the seat of their convertible. I guess I’m pretty lucky.”
“So I’m your boss now? What happened to client?”
I threw my hands up in the air. “I don’t know. I give up trying to figure out our dynamic. It is what it is, no matter what we call it.”
“True. Though technically my uncle hired you.”
I pondered that for a moment. “Kage, do you find it odd that I’ve been here for over three weeks and still haven’t met the guy who hired me?”
Kage’s mouth pulled into a bleak line. “My uncle is not the kind of man you just pop in to meet. If he wants to meet with you, he’ll make it happen. Otherwise, it won’t.”
“So you think there’s a possibility I could work here all summer and never meet him?”
“I doubt it. You’ll probably meet sometime. Do something he doesn’t like, and I can almos
t guarantee he’ll come find you.”
I gulped. “That sounds terrifying. Why you gotta say shit like that?”
He chuckled, but he didn’t say anything to try to put my mind at ease. That was not a good sign.
THE gym was a great success, if I do say so myself. I hadn’t had a clue what to expect, so I was pleasantly surprised that we pulled it off without a hitch. Of course, some credit had to go to the gym owners and employees.
When we got there, the owners ushered us to a private sparring room where we briefly discussed what we wanted to happen. Kage conducted a mini class on MMA techniques and answered a lot of questions about his philosophies of fighting. I set up my camera and took tons of pictures and video.
In attendance were MMA students and gym regulars, many of whom had come in specifically to see Kage, and they all seemed to love him. The gym printed out copies of the front of my flyer, and Kage signed his autograph on the backs. I made a mental note to bring pictures for autographs next time. It was a rookie mistake, but as Kage said, we were winging it.
“I felt like a fraud,” he said when we got back into the car.
I started laughing. “That is exactly what I told my professor after I posed as a reporter the night we met. But that was the first time I’d ever done anything of the sort. You are an expert on fighting, so I don’t understand how you could possibly feel like a fraud.”
His expression was unusually vulnerable. “You presented me as some sort of celebrity. Those people think they’re going to see me fighting on TV or something. They have no idea that the only place I fight is a secret place, and it’s by invitation only. They would never be welcome there.”
“It’s okay, Kage.” I wrapped my fingers around his wrist and swung it back a forth a few times, a playful gesture to cheer him up. “Look, you hired me for a reason. I’m doing my job, and I’m going to get you on TV. It’s only a matter of time before you’re a legitimate celebrity. You’ve got the talent, now I’m getting you the exposure you need.”
That seemed to appease him, thank goodness.
