Nailed Down

by Chelle Bliss

  “Well, I sang karaoke.”

  “You did not.” Neva gawked at me with her eyes as big as saucers. “And he still fucked you?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s like the kiss of death, girl. The man must really have it bad for you.”

  Lexi sat down in the chair next to me, watching me in the mirror. “Shut up, Neva. What did you sing?”

  “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.”

  “Shut up.”

  “She got some big lady balls, this one, Lexi, right?”

  They laughed and I blushed. I’d known the move was risky, but it was easier to sing him the words than to keep beating around the bush. The trip to Seattle was about more than a piece of furniture. It was a “shit or get off the pot” type of thing, and I wasn’t going to let Kane keep on insisting we were only friends anymore.

  “Big.” Lexi laughed, answering Neva before she nodded to me. “Keep going.” She rolled her hand in a circle like I’d been the one to stop the conversation when it was entirely their fault.

  “Anyway, after Kane knocked some poor kid off the stage—”

  “What?”

  “Shut up, Neva. You know Kane ain’t going to let anyone touch what’s his. Let her get to the good stuff already.”

  “So, after he stormed off and went back to his hotel room, I went after him.”

  “That’s my girl.”

  Lexi gave Neva the same shut-the-fuck-up glare she’d just given her moments ago. “You interrupt one more time and I’m going to give you bangs, and we both know you don’t look good with them.”

  Neva snarled but didn’t say another word. I had to agree with Lexi. Neva looked like shit with bangs, and they weren’t in style this season anyway. That much I knew just from hanging out with the girls because fashion in any form wasn’t my thing.

  “We have five minutes until Kane’s here. You better talk fast.” Lexi gave me a stern look, and I wondered if she was going to ask Kane the same questions she was asking me.

  “I went to his room and pushed my way inside.”

  “You made the first move?” Neva slapped her hand over her mouth, knowing she was on the verge of losing some hair. She quickly snatched the scissors off the station and jammed them into her back pocket. “I’ll shut up now.”

  I was laughing so hard at this point, I was practically in tears, but I kept talking before all hell broke loose between them. “I pushed my way inside and told him I was done playing games.”

  When I paused, remembering the way Kane stalked toward me and grabbed my hips before he kissed me, Lexi shook my chair, growing impatient. “Come on. Don’t stop there, or I’ll give you bangs too.” She smiled playfully, knowing full well that my forehead was too short for bangs and I’d look like the world’s biggest fashion don’t if I had them.

  “I told him I couldn’t keep pretending.”

  “My girl. She’s a genius.” They both beamed like proud teachers, pleased that their student had successfully carried out the assignment without missing a single step.

  “Bed?” Lexi raised an eyebrow.

  “There was a bed in there somewhere,” I said, smirking like an idiot remembering the way he did me.

  “Where else?”

  “Please don’t say the floor. You know how unsanitary those hotel rooms can be,” Neva said, scrunching her face.

  “Neva, shut the fuck up. You’ve done it in the bathroom at a club. Can’t be any place dirtier than there.”

  “Lexi, my love, I remember you banging that intern against the dumpster at the last remodel. Don’t judge me.”

  I scrubbed my hands down my face, my cheeks aching from smiling so much at Lexi and Neva as they hurled insults back and forth like it was a sport.

  “Did you get off?”

  “I mean…” I paused and bit my lip because I wasn’t sure how much detail I should tell them. They may never be able to look at Kane the same way again. “Well, yeah.”

  “More than once?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  “He a biter? Based on that mark on your neck, I’d say he’s a rough one.” Lexi bounced in her chair like she was riding a bull, bucking against the leather. “Damn that’s hot.”

  “Yeah, I can’t picture Kane gentle, and he doesn’t seem like a missionary kinda guy either.”

  “He’s definitely not.”

  All three of us giggled until Kane cleared his throat and closed the trailer door. We’d all been so engrossed in the conversation that I wasn’t sure how long he’d been standing there.

  “Oh, hey, Kane. We were just talking about Asher,” Lexi said, trying to play it off, but based on the look on Kane’s face, he’d heard more than we wanted him to.

  “Umm-hmm,” he muttered, walking toward the chair as Lexi scurried to her feet for Kane to sit down.

  He glanced my way, shooting me a quick wink and a smile. I probably looked like a deer in headlights, freaked out that maybe I said too much and I wasn’t sure how Kane would take us talking about our sex life.

  “You ladies having a good morning?” Kane glanced at each of them in the mirror, throwing them his panty-melting smile, the one he pulled off without even trying.

  “Yep.” Lexi grabbed the clippers off her station but didn’t look Kane in the eyes. “How about you? Have a nice trip?”

  Neva sucked her lips into her mouth to stop herself from laughing. I gave her a don’t fucking do it face in the mirror because I knew she was chomping at the bit to say something to him.

  “Perfect.”

  Lexi smacked her lips together, fighting back a shit-eating grin. “We heard.”

  “And, ladies,” Kane said, grinning from ear to ear. “Real men don’t dig missionary.”

  My mouth dropped open, and I gripped the side of the chair, trying to stop myself from falling clean out of it. Kane had always been so private, but today, he was playful and willing to share more than I ever imagined.

  Lexi and Neva glanced at each other, mouths hanging open and just as shocked as I was with Kane’s statement. He, on the other hand, looked pleased that he was able to shut everyone up and gave them what they wanted with a single statement.

  Kane Kaino never ceased to amaze me, changing into someone I hadn’t seen before. He was playful and, dare I say, happier than I’d ever seen him before.

  Epilogue

  KANE

  “So, let me see if I got this right…” Kiel stood with his hands in his pockets, squinting down across the boat as Kit got closer to the bow. There were two orcas twelve feet off the starboard side, and Kit looked ready to burst. But my baby brother didn’t like what he saw. “You’re gonna let your woman be handled by that asshole?” He nudged his chin up, gesturing toward the tour guide standing at Kit’s side.

  “What?” I asked, frowning when Kiel shook his head.

  “The hell you mean, ‘what’?” My brother frowned, arms folded tight as we watched the guide, a big guy, probably ten or so years younger than me and twice my size.

  The smile hadn’t left Kit’s face since we first cleared the coast and the whales started surfacing. I’d have paid thousands more for a private tour, for a dozen more chances at Kit spotting those orcas just to keep that look on her face.

  My kid brother though, for whatever reason, wasn’t feeling our ocean adventure. “Look at that shit,” he said, taking a step when the boat jostled and the guide held Kit around the waist.

  “Hey,” I told Kiel, stopping him with a hand to his shoulder. “Calm the fuck down. You’ll ruin this trip for her if you start shit.”

  “You’re serious?” he said, brushing off my fingers. “This asshole is working an angle with her, and you’re just standing here like…”

  “Like what?” I asked, folding my arms. There was a smile on my face too. It had been there for months, ever since that trip to the city with Bill. Didn’t think there was anything that could wipe it from my mouth. “Like a guy who is happy his woman is thrilled she’s ticking off the l
ast item on her bucket list? Yeah. I’m just gonna stand here and let her have her fun.” I sat down, winking at Kit when she waved at me, nodding for at least the twentieth time at the orcas. “Look at her. I haven’t seen her smile like that since…” Kiel shot me a glance when I didn’t elaborate, frowning like he was missing something, but I damn sure wasn’t going to tell him about Kit and me and how we celebrated her finishing the half marathon.

  Still daydream about that shit.

  “You’ve changed,” Kiel told me, and I rolled my eyes, waving him off.

  It wasn’t the first time he’d said that to me since Kit and I had decided to make things official. Not walk down the aisle official, but we had keys to each other’s places in the city and toothbrushes we both kept in case of sleepovers. We weren’t rushing. We were fucking basking.

  “Maybe,” I told him, stretching out my legs as I watched Kit take about the millionth picture of the whales. “But so the fuck what?”

  Next to me, Kiel sighed, looking like a kid whose favorite superhero had gone all rogue and villainous. I grinned to myself, wondering what the asshole would do if I up and yelled “Hail, Hydra” at him.

  “Listen, man, get used to it.” I leaned back on my hands as Kiel looked out over the water. “Are you pissed because you didn’t get a shot with her, or are you pissed because I’m not moping around miserable, pining after her?”

  My brother shook his head and lowered his shoulders. “Neither.” Kiel scrubbed his face, glancing once in my direction, but he didn’t look at me straight on. “I…got offered a job.”

  “Yeah?”

  He nodded, then sat up straight. “In…New York.”

  It took me a second to let the surprise wash over me, but when it did, I kept the complaints to myself. “That right?”

  “I know what you’re gonna say,” he told me, looking at me.

  “I got nothing to say.”

  My brother turned, body leaned toward me as he went on staring at Kit. “It was a long time ago, and she’s nowhere near the city.”

  “That girl fucked with you.”

  He shook his head, rubbing his eyes as though just that small gesture would keep the memory of his ex out of his head. I’d seen my brother weak and stupid over women before, but shit, that particular chick had totally fucked him ragged.

  “Like I said, it was a long time ago, and we’ve had zero contact.” He finally glanced at me, relaxing the tension in his face. “I’m not a kid anymore, and this is a good opportunity for me. Great sources and a bump in pay. Besides, it’s New York.” He watched as Kit took a picture of the guide giving her a thumbs-up, one of the whales in the background dipping below the water’s surface. “Going back to New York has always been the plan. Besides, you’ve got Kit.”

  I nodded, standing when the guide motioned for Kit to return to her seat. “I do,” I said, pulling her to my side when she came next to me.

  “You do what?”

  “He’s got you, Kit,” Kiel said, rolling his eyes. “So he doesn’t need me anymore.”

  I glared at my brother, laughing when he grinned at Kit like an asshole. “Like I needed him before.”

  “Before what?” Kit asked, ignoring Kiel when his cell rang and he turned toward the back of the boat.

  “Nothing, baby.” A sharp wind circled around us, and I pulled Kit closer, tugging my jacket open to cover her shoulders with it when she faced me, cheek against my chest. “You have fun?”

  “It was the best.” She gave me a squeeze, then turned her face to watch the water. “Best time I’ve ever had with my clothes on.”

  “Yeah?” I asked, laughing when I felt her smile against my collarbone.

  “Oh, yeah, but it makes me a little sad.”

  “What does?”

  Kit inhaled, stepping back a little to look up at me. “Jess’s list. We’re all finished. This was the last item.”

  I squinted down at her, running through all the things her cousin had wanted, each item completed, every one by Kit, with me tagging along, sometimes nagging her until it was done.

  “Last one.” I frowned, looking over her head as I held her close. “Well, actually, the last one was the most important.”

  “It was,” she said, and the warmth from her mouth told me she couldn’t keep from smiling. “And the best.”

  “You sure that’s all? Every item done? Even that last one?”

  Kit laughed, stepping back again to watch me. She pulled her hand free from the warmth of my jacket and ran her thumb along my bottom lip.

  “She wanted me to fall in love. I think I did that a long time ago.”

  I had too, but there was no need to tell Kit that. She knew me well. She knew everything about waiting and needing and finally having what she wanted. We’d both done that.

  “Well, now I think the real test should be the first item on a new list.”

  “What’s that?” she asked, frowning when I only smiled at her.

  “Staying in love.”

  Kit stretched up on her toes, kissing me slowly, the smallest tease that tasted like sugar on my tongue.

  “That’s not a challenge, Kane. Not for me.”

  “Me either, baby.”

  The Kaino brothers aren’t done.

  Cara Carelli is a silver-tongued mafia princess, master manipulator, and the only woman I've ever loved. But she's also smokin' hot and my ex-wife.

  When Cara led me straight into a trap and pleaded for my help, I couldn't say no. She thought she had the upper hand, but this time, I was in control and planned to make her beg.

  They say all's fair in love and war and turnabout's fair play, but what starts out as a wickedly seductive ploy turns into a twisted game of the heart.

  Tap here to read TIED DOWN now!

  Turn the page for a preview of Kiel’s story!

  Tap here to read TIED DOWN now!

  Two steps from her, I paused, securing her hand against my chest when she held up her palm. “How do you know about this place?”

  Legs shrugged, and there was a playful smirk moving her top lip. “I know people.”

  “You don’t know me,” I told her, licking my lips when she curled her fingers around my collar.

  “I’m about to.”

  A small release of sweet, bourbon-tinted breath and I grabbed Legs by the back of the neck, stumbling just a little when that full mouth dropped open and she offered me her tongue. She hummed against my mouth, seeming to get a thrill at how I held her, how tightly I fisted her skirt in between my fingers when she stepped closer.

  “Shit…you taste so good,” she told me, as though she were surprised. She didn’t pause for long and gripped my hair, moving my face closer, pressing her whole body against mine. “Better than I thought you would.”

  Her hair was thick lush, and I twirled it between my fingers, using it to guide her head to the left as I licked a path along her neck. “You taste exactly like I thought you would. Sweet.” I nibbled at the dip beneath her throat, then up to her ear. “Succulent.” Teeth tugging on her lobe, I released the smallest growl. “Hot.”

  “Ah…”

  Legs was a beautiful woman, and despite how my mother had raised me, despite what I knew was right and wrong, I was about to fuck her in an empty bathroom at the JFK airport. It made no sense to want this woman, but I did. She reminded me of…

  “Antonia!” I heard, and the woman in my arms broke away from me, pushing me back against the wall like she wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near me.

  “I…”

  Two oversized men stood in the center of the room, stoic and stern, but neither of them had called her name. The sound of clicking heels met us from behind those men, and they broke apart, moving aside, and the clicking got louder.

  Cara stood in front of us, looking fierce. More beautiful than I’d ever seen her, but she paid no attention to me. She glared at Legs, her face tight with anger. “I told you to get him here,” she said, taking two more steps that put her rig
ht in front of us. “I never said you could try to fuck my husband.”

  Tension moved between my shoulders at the sound of her voice, and that feeling I’d had all day burned inside my gut like a virus. Cara moved her head, gesturing for Legs to leave before she faced me. There was something cool and detached in her features, and just that look was warning enough. I should have bolted for the door.

  Fucking hell, I should have listened to my brother’s warning.

  But I hadn’t, and just then, Cara faced me, keeping her features stern and her eyes dull.

  “Hi, Kiel,” she said, reaching out a hand to adjust my tie. “Welcome home.”

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  ABOUT EDEN BUTLER

  Eden Butler is an editor and writer of Contemporary Romance novels and the nine-times great-granddaughter of an honest-to-God English pirate. This could explain her affinity for rule breaking and rum.

  When she’s not writing or wondering about her possibly Jack Sparrowesque ancestor, Eden patiently waits for her Hogwarts letter, edits, reads and spends way too much time watching rugby, Doctor Who and New Orleans Saints football.

  She is currently living under teenage rule alongside her husband in southeast Louisiana.

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  ABOUT CHELLE BLISS

  Chelle Bliss is the USA Today bestselling author of the Men of Inked and ALFA P.I. series. She hails from the Midwest but currently lives near the beach even though she hates sand. She's a full-time writer, time-waster extraordinaire, social media addict, coffee fiend, and ex-high school history teacher. She loves spending time with her two cats, alpha boyfriend, and chatting with readers. To learn more about Chelle, please visit her website.