Page 50 of Their Property
No answer came and I moved on to the next one, which was a swinging door that opened easily when I pushed it. Inside was a powder room of sorts—no toilets, only a long vanity counter with a wall of mirrors and plush couches along the far walls.
My eyes swept the room, barely acknowledging the two women who had been kissing on the couch and were now frozen in shock at my intrusion. I only looked around enough to confirm that Kyrie was not there either.
“Sorry, ladies,” I muttered before backing out of the room.
“Come on, Kyrie,” I said, thundering down the hallway. “Where the fuck are you?”
“Looking for me?”
I whipped around, realizing that in my tunnel-vision, I’d missed a small alcove in the wall, barely more than an indent with a small bench to sit. Kyrie leaned her upper back against the wall, her face flushed and a near-empty champagne flute in her hand.
Relief whooshed out of me. “There you are. Let's go.”
“Mm.” Kyrie drained the rest of her glass and set it on the bench. “Nah, I'm good.”
My hands flexed at my sides, and some distant warning bell sounded in my head. “Your absence from the ballroom will be noticed,Ambassador.Let's get you back now.”
“No thank you, T-Bone.” Her speech was clear, not at all slurred as she crossed her arms in front of her dark, glittery dress.
“Kyrie,” I tried again, firmer. “I wasn't asking. Weneedto go back.”
She put on a bored expression. "The world is not going to collapse again if I ditch a stupid dinner party. I'm tired of putting on a fake persona forthem.”She jerked her chin down the hallway before casting a smile in my direction. “I like talking to you one-on-one a lot better.”
“Yeah?” I bit out. “Did you like dancing with Dyno?”
I didn't mean to ask that question. I was supposed to say a snappy comeback butthatwas burning on my tongue.
“I did,” she said proudly, lifting her chin. “Are you jealous, T-Bone? Think I'm gonna steal your man?”
“Stop being a brat,” I ordered, lifting a finger and stepping closer to her. “Drop the attitude, put your big girl panties back on, and come back to the fucking party.”
“I said no.” Kyrie leaned forward, arms still crossed. “I'm not being a brat. I'm being an adult, making my own fucking decisions because I'm tired of being told how to act!”
“Okay, okay.” I lowered my hands, looking both ways down the hall to make sure we didn't attract any unwanted attention. She had practically yelled, all the frustration bleeding out of her. I sympathized with her, I really did. But now was a bad time to unload about how unfair life was.
When my eyes landed on Kyrie again, she was smirking.
“What?” I barked.
“You like it when I'm a brat, don't you?”
“Kyrie.” I dropped my voice low, full of warning. “Don't go there.”
Of course I liked it. My cock wouldn't be rock-hard and pulsing right now if her rebellious nature wasn't a huge fucking turn-on. It was my favorite thing about her, how she dared to rattle the bars of her cage no matter where she was placed.
“You do.” Kyrie grinned victoriously. “Do you want to turn me around and spank me right now, T-Bone?”
“What the fuck has gotten into you?” Yes, I wanted to spank her, soothe her, hold her, and support her. I wanted to watch her ass turn red and see the faces she made when she came. I wanted everything.
“Is that what you do?” she pressed on. “When you three have wild, crazy orgies, sleeping with other menandwomen?”
“What are you talk—just…what?” She was giving me such whiplash with this shit, I didn’t know which direction was up.
It took me a moment, but a lightbulb went on when I figured it out. I wasn’t the only one who was jealous. The thing was, we hadn’t played with others in over a year. Those fucking snake politicians must have put this in her ear at that meeting. The one we weren’t allowed to stay in.
Fucking dumbshits. It was some stupid attempt to make her turn against us, but it only hurt her instead. The insecurity was written clearly on her face, and I hated it more than anything.
“We haven’t done that in a long time.” Fuck, it sounded like such a lame excuse. “For the past year, it’s only been the three of us. It’s…it’s not a huge part of our lives, to be honest. We’re committed to each other, you know that.”
