Bet Me Something (Something Series Book 3)

by Aubrey Bondurant

  I sensed the conviction in his voice that he believed this an important topic. “Wow. No wonder the timing is so important to get this out there.”

  “It is. We’re dealing with a lot of experts and including footage from the hospitals in Brazil and El Salvador. There are both political and economic ramifications, too. Hopefully they can create a vaccine soon.”

  I got up from where I was sitting, walked over and curled into his lap. “I can’t wait to see it and understand why you’re so excited about this project.”

  He kissed the top of my head. “It feels good to share it with you, and now you know that’s it’s not about the money, but the message.”

  “Did tell that to your brother?”

  He shook his head. “We didn’t get past the bottom line. Anyhow, onto happier things. What do you feel like doing now?”

  “Will you teach me how to play poker?”

  His eyes took on a playful gleam, shedding the brief irritation that bringing up his brother had caused. “Only if it’s the strip variety.”

  My brow arched. “Is there any other kind?”

  “With me, absolutely not.”

  After a few minutes of showing me the ropes, we started to play five-card stud in earnest. Of course, I was at a disadvantage because it would only take three losing hands to get me completely naked. But after he won the first one and I slid my thong down from under my dress, I recognized the advantage was actually all mine.

  His heated gaze fixed on me. “I’m a fan of this game.”

  I shuffled the cards, loving it too. “Does it remind you of our car ride home from the party up in the Hollywood hills?”

  “The beginning of the end for me.”

  I quirked a brow. “Oh, I’m pretty sure that was the night you heard the buzzing coming from your room and walked in. Speaking of which, I brought my little toy with me.” Not that I had anything to complain about when it came to the amazing sex we’d had thus far, but I thought it might be kind of fun to play on the trip.

  “You did?”

  “Yep, I slipped it into my suitcase. I kind of wish I’d taken you to Pleasure Palace before we came here. Would be fun to pick out some things to, uh, experiment with although I have to tell you, I don’t think I can do sparkles and patriotism in the form of the Star-Spangled Bang-Her sex toy.”

  Instead of looking amused or turned on, he shook his head. “I don’t need those things with you.”

  It took me a moment to realize he was dead serious. “Wait—what?”

  He sighed and then stood up. “I don’t need the kinky stuff or toys. What we have is better, don’t you think?”

  Uh...I waited for the ‘only kidding’ until I realized he wasn’t. “Isn’t there a part of you that wants to bend me over the back of the couch and—”

  “No, that’s not what I need. And neither do you,” he interrupted, coming over to pull me up by the hand. Obviously, our poker game was now forgotten.

  “I beg to differ.” Because the thought of him doing just that was spiking my libido. “Do you think I wouldn’t want that because I was a virgin? That I can’t possibly be curious because I’d never had sex before you?”

  “I’m not saying that. Why are we even arguing about this?”

  “Maybe because you’re trying to relegate me to a missionary-sex-only girlfriend.”

  “We’ve done more than missionary. Besides, are you not satisfied?”

  “Of course I am, but that doesn’t mean I don’t wish to experiment a little. I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to. I mean, give me a reason here.”

  “I’ll give you three. First, I respect you and don’t want you trying to be something because you think I need it. Second: it’s awkward if you were to ask me if I’ve done something before because you don’t need to know the answer. And lastly: you’re important to me, and I don’t want to screw this up by doing something you might not enjoy.”

  He’d completely fire-hosed me with unexpected vulnerability in an area I’d never expected. I laced both my hands with his. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to have twenty-two years of pent-up sexual curiosity? And where better to explore my interest than in a relationship where I trust you completely? Plus, all the firsts that matter, I have them. And as for your history, frankly, I’m just happy one of us will know what the hell they’re doing.”

  His eyes burned into mine, evaluating my answers while I touched his face.

  “And your final point is addressed simply by saying how would either of us know what we’ll like without trying?”

  His stood there for a good minute before asking huskily, “Did you mean what you said about the couch?”

  “Would it be too obvious if I sprinted over there and threw myself over it?”

  He stepped in closer to me, his hands tangling in my hair. I could feel the vibe changing with the aggressive action and possessive look in his eyes. “You’d tell me if there’s something you don’t like?”

  “Yes,” I whispered, hard pressed to believe there’d be such a scenario.

  His lips crashed down on mine, and my body became electrified with the palpable energy passing between us. He backed me up the few steps towards the couch, then suddenly turned me around to face away from him.

  Something about acting out my admitted fantasy left me both breathless and aroused. I shivered when he lifted my dress over my head and folded me over the waist-high back of the couch. Spreading my legs apart, I felt his face dive between them from the back, almost causing my knees to buckle with the onslaught of his tongue. He licked the length of my slit while the warm rush of his breath sent chills over my body.

  “You’re so turned on,” he rasped.

  I was assailed with the sensation of his hands spreading my cheeks and then his tongue circling my back entrance. “Oh, dear God.” I couldn’t help but moan with the forbidden touch.

  “You like that?”

  “Uh-huh.” I could no longer form complete sentences as he continued his assault. Sensing him stand up behind me, I could hear the rustle of his clothes and then felt him spread the wetness back. When he pushed his cock inside of me, we both groaned with how deep he was at this angle. But he wasn’t done.

  “It’s just my finger,” he warned, before sliding it slowly into my puckered entrance.

  The new sensation elevated my need. Working his finger in tandem with his thrusts, his other hand came around, strumming my clit. I was done for, exploding to the point of nearly blacking out. He continued to pound into me, finally pulling out and coming where his finger had been, using it to lubricate and stretch me further.

  “Some other time I’m going to have you here.”

  I nearly convulsed from the very thought. “Yes—”

  He spun me around, taking my mouth in an erotic kiss and picking me up. I wrapped my legs around him, barely conscious of him carrying me to the bed, where he followed me down still entwined with me.

  Breaking away briefly, he held my gaze, brushing my hair from my face. “This is what I miss when you’re facing away from me.” His voice was gruff, full of an unnamed emotion before his mouth descended on mine again.

  Knowing that kissing wasn’t something he’d ever put emphasis on before me made it feel that much more special. While my hands gripped his muscular backside, pulling him deep inside of me, he arched back with a growl. My hands ran over his back, raking my nails lightly and then digging in when he started thrusting harder, clearly not having softened from the first round.

  “Open your eyes and look at me,” he quietly demanded.

  With him watching, I shattered completely. The next thing I was aware of was his body weight collapsed on top of mine. We were sweaty and breathing hard and there was nothing more delicious than this sensation of complete physical gratification. “I feel extremely selfish having to ask this, but did you uh, have another orgasm, too, I hope?”

  His body shook with laughter while he pulled out slowly and rolled to the side,
taking me with him so that we were face to face where I could see his smile. “I’m glad we didn’t get a room with walls connecting to another one because I’m confident I was loud as hell. I can’t believe you didn’t hear the primal roar when I came deep inside of you.”

  Jesus, I was getting all hot and bothered again from his words. “You should be proud I was in such a state of bliss I kind of blanked out everything else.”

  “Good, but you do realize you may not see the beach during these next few days, don’t you? Then when we get home and buy some toys, we may, in fact, never see the light of day again.”

  I giggled, throwing my top leg over him and tucking my head into his chest. Melting into his heat, I loved the feel of his heartbeat against mine. “You were holding back before, weren’t you? Not that things weren’t great, but that seemed different.”

  He breathed heavily. “It sounds stupid now, but I always figured a relationship meant the end of the, uh, kinkier side of things.”

  “But now you know you can fuck me spectacularly over a couch, then turn me around and kiss me breathless while you make love to me.”

  “Damn, this mouth of yours—” He moved my head back, nibbling my bottom lip. “—is pure trouble.”

  I grinned. “Good thing you like trouble.”

  ***

  After returning to Los Angeles on Monday evening, we climbed into Colby’s car, which had been parked at the terminal. He took my hand across the console. We’d enjoyed an amazing weekend together and even managed to spend a couple of hours on the beach before having to return to the villa to tear off one another’s clothes again.

  He checked his phone quickly, cursing before pulling out of the lot. “I have to run to the office to sign a couple of documents. I can drop you off at your place first and come over after to spend the night, or you can come with me if you don’t mind waiting. It should take less than an hour.”

  I loved that, despite us having been together the last few nights, he still wanted to sleep over and didn’t mind staying at my place in order to do it. “I’ll go with you.”

  Driving to his office downtown took a while given the evening rush. By the time we arrived, it was dinnertime, and I was famished. “I can order food while you do your thing. Do you prefer to eat here or pick it up once we leave?”

  “I could hear your stomach growling in the car, so how about we eat here, then after that head to your place?”

  While Colby signed his documents and waited on them to be notarized, I ordered Thai food for delivery. Twenty minutes later, I went down to the lobby to meet the guy. Coming up in the elevator, I stepped off and waved goodbye to Rhonda, his assistant, who was heading home for the night.

  “I hope you’re hungry—” As I let myself back into his office, I stopped in mid-sentence when I saw the leggy brunette leaned over Colby’s desk, obviously giving him a clear view of her assets with her low-cut blouse.

  She straightened up, glaring at me. “What, you don’t knock? You can set the food over there and go.”

  Oh, no, she didn’t. “Excuse me?”

  Colby stood up. “Judy, this is a good friend of mine, Kenzie. Kenzie, this is Judy, the head of my marketing department.”

  What kind of name was Judy anyways? Okay, actually Judy was a normal name, but it was clear she wanted her paws on my man. Wait, did he introduce me as his good friend?

  “A friend who stopped by to drop off dinner, then leave?” She flashed a fake smile.

  I didn’t bother to smile in return. “Staying, and I sure hope you’re better at marketing than you are with first impressions, Judy.”

  Her face flushed, but my secret boyfriend unfortunately deflated my comeback. “Sorry, Kenz, Judy just brought a potential legal crisis to my attention. I need to get our lawyer on the phone and may be here awhile, after all. I’ll have to take a raincheck on dinner, but I can walk you out and get you a cab.”

  I set the food on the small table near his couch, with a voice thankfully sounding cool in a way that didn’t match how I was feeling. “It’s okay. I know my way out.” Turning on my heel, I counted internally on my way to the elevator to keep from completely losing my shit.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t clue in to my homicidal calm and followed me out. He didn’t say a word until we stepped into the elevator cab. I pressed the button for the lobby, and the minute the doors closed, he started talking.

  “That wasn’t what it looked like. Judy has worked for the company three years and, although she may flirt, I promise nothing ever has happened.”

  I met his eyes with fire in mine. “You think I’m angry because I believe you’ve slept with her?”

  He appeared at a loss. “Uh, I’m going with yes?”

  “Unbelievable. You know what? I don’t even care she was a complete bitch to me. What pisses me off is that you dismissed me—after she made it clear that’s exactly what she wanted. I told you: I don’t have a problem with your history or even women throwing themselves at you so long as you make it clear who you’re with now. You didn’t fucking do that. At. All.”

  “But she knows Josh and—”

  And we were back to that. I held up a hand when the doors opened in the lobby, indicating I didn’t want him to follow. “Fine, you can’t tell her we’re together, but you never would’ve dismissed me like that before we became more than friends.”

  “Kenz—” His eyes were pleading with me, but I wasn’t ready to hear it.

  “I need to go.”

  “I’ll come over as soon as I’m done.”

  “Don’t.” That one simple word surprised us both. “I’ll tell you when I’m ready to talk, but it’s not going to be tonight.”

  I turned and walked away before he could respond.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  After the cab dropped me off at my apartment, I realized two things. One: my suitcase was in Colby’s car with my apartment keys in the outside pocket, and two: I was absolutely starving. The thought of Judy and him possibly eating my Thai food made me angry all over again and so did the fact that I hadn’t thought to bring it with me.

  As I looked at my phone, I fought the disappointment that I didn’t have a text or call from him. Then I chastised myself for expecting one. Hadn’t I told him I didn’t wish to talk to him tonight? This was the part of being a girl that really annoyed me because, despite telling him not to come over, there remained a part of me that hoped he would show up anyhow.

  Was it any wonder men couldn’t figure out what women truly wanted? Of course, if he hadn’t acted stupid enough to put us in this situation to begin with, I wouldn’t be standing outside of my locked apartment door having this ridiculous internal dialogue with myself.

  So I decided to do what any hangry female in her early twenties would do. I called the apartment management company, leaving a message to please call me back about letting me into my apartment, walked to the nearby convenience store, bought a bag full of Hostess products, and, upon returning, sat up against my front door to wait. I was fully aware that calling or texting Colby to drop off my keys would’ve been a much better solution to the problem. But pride was a stubborn bitch and, until she was fed, there was no use trying to talk her down.

  Feeling my phone buzz, I was disappointed to see it was neither Colby nor the management company but my father. I hadn’t spoken to him in weeks, and since I clearly had time on my hands, I answered, “Hi, Dad.”

  “Hi honey. Am I catching you at a bad time?”

  The very worst, but he didn’t need to know that. “No, not at all. How are you?”

  “Good. I was surprised I didn’t hear from you after your mother’s visit.”

  I sighed. “I was kind of afraid you’d agreed with everything she said.”

  “Your mother feels bad she had to resort to threats.”

  I wasn’t sure I believed him. “Are you sure?”

  “You were really injured in your accident, McKenzie, and it upset her that you kept it from us. And, unfor
tunately, you doing that convinced her further you should move home in order for her to keep tabs on you. Your mother isn’t easy to deal with when she gets her mind set, but she does love you.”

  How many times had I been told that in my lifetime? “Then why is she insistent I move home when she knows how much I don’t want to? She made it sound like I owe it to her.”

  He hesitated. “She’s having a hard time with change.”

  “What change? I’ve been living out here for four years. I’m sorry for keeping the accident from both of you, but if she’d be more supportive, then I would’ve been more inclined to call. Instead, I thought she’d insist on me moving home straightaway.”

  “She probably would have. Are you really set on staying out there?”

  “Yes, definitely.”

  He sighed. “Then I’ll pay for it.”

  I was shocked. “You’d do that without Mom knowing?”

  “She’d know.”

  My brain processed his simple statement, and I could only come up with one thing. “Dad, are you and Mom all right?” For him to contradict her wishes made me wonder if they were splitting up.

  “Aw honey, whatever happens is between me and your mother. You’re grown up now and don’t need to concern yourself. Anyhow, I need to go, but I’ll see you in a few weeks when you fly in for the baptism. In the meantime, work out how much you’ll need per month and let me know.”

  Even though I knew I was doing the mature thing, my stomach flipped as I said, “I appreciate that, but it’s important I start supporting myself financially.”

  “LA is expensive.”