Page 62 of Body Shot

“He was stalking it,” Marco says, laughing. “Sneaking up on it, lifting the knife and ready to leap onto it. Cade and I grabbed him and told him to sit his ass down and eat. The instructors all got a good laugh out of that one.”

I laugh too, even though inside I feel a weird mix of emotions. Imagining Beck being physically challenged like that, to the point of pain and exhaustion and hallucination, actually makes me ache for him. The strength of body and mind it must take to get through something like that is unimaginable. But I’m also warmed by the obvious affection and respect among the three men. Sure, they’re giving Beck a hard time, but it’s clearly done with fondness, and he accepts it that way too.

I never had a sibling, although Carrie and I are close. But seeing the three men together reliving those experiences, seeing the bond they have, makes me a little envious.

“Body shots!”

The call comes from down the bar and all three guys look that way. A young man is helping a girl up onto the bar.

“Oh Christ,” Cade mutters. “Here we go.”

15

HAYDEN

I watch wide-eyed as the girl stretches out on the bar.

Cade and Beck rush to clear some glasses out of the way. The girl pulls up her tank top to bare her belly above her jeans, smiling broadly. Cade hands her a wedge of lime, which she holds between her lips, and Beck pours a shot of tequila.

“Ready?” he looks at the man.

“Yeah!” Beck pours tequila over the girl’s navel and the guy bends down and licks it off her.

A cheer rises from the people around them, watching. My belly does a little flip.

Then the guy uses his mouth to take the lime from the girl’s, sucks on it, and spits it into his hand. He pumps a fist into the air on another cheer.

“Whoa,” I breathe. “I’ve never seen that.”

“No?” Marco shoots me an amused look. “Want to try it?”

“No! I mean, I don’t think so.”

“I’m sure Beck could be convinced to drink a shot off you.”

I bite my lip. It’s a ridiculous thing to do. Why do I feel this crazy urge to be wild like that?

Another girl takes a turn. Beck hands over a shot, grinning, and another cheer erupts. He looks up at me and meets my eyes.

“Your girl here wants to do a body shot!” Marco calls to him.

Beck’s eyebrows rise and his smile goes wicked. “Come on down here, Hayden.”

I shouldn’t. I can’t. My feet won’t move

“Come on, gorgeous,” Beck calls.

Somehow I’m walking toward him. Someone helps the girl off the bar and then Cade is there, helping me up. I’m vaguely aware of smiling faces, music, and encouraging words as I stretch out on the bar. I ease my top up, not too high, exposing my stomach.

Beck leans over and speaks in my ear. “Nobody touches you but me, gorgeous. Got it?”

“Got it.” That reassures me.

He brushes his lips over my cheek, then pops a lime wedge into his mouth. I watch in fascination as he bends closer and rubs the lime against my lips. I open and close my teeth around it. The puckery taste of lime fills my mouth.

Beck pours a shot and this time he’s the one who dribbles it over my belly. The cool liquid makes me shiver. With another wicked grin, he bends his head and licks. His tongue is warm compared to the tequila, and it strokes sensuously over my skin, swirling in my navel, licking down low to the edge of my jeans, then back up. And up. He licks all the way to my top, bunched beneath my breasts, then he rubs his face between my breasts, licks up my chest and plucks the lime from my lips.

The crowd cheers, even louder this time. He made the show even sexier, and my pussy pulses with lust.

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