Page 51 of Their Property
I shouldn’t have been reassuring her about that. A few weeks ago, I never would have touched this topic with her, but now I wanted to. She didn’t deserve to have our past exploits thrown in her face, cutting down her self-worth. Her feelings for all of us were becoming clearer by the day, and I could only speculate that whatever sexual experience she had was limited.
“I don't want to do this anymore.” Kyrie’s lower lip was now trembling and a deep, pleading sadness was in her eyes.
“Kyrie...” My resolve was leaving me, draining quickly as a bleeding wound. I wasn't exactly sure what she meant bythis, but I became overwhelmed with the need to take her sadness away.
“You can drag me back out there, if you want.” Kyrie took in a shaky breath and lifted her chin, always poised and strong. “Drag me down this hallway, yell at me, humiliate me. Do whatever you need to do.” She blinked and then the tears fell. “Just don't ever leave me again.”
All my instincts fired at once, and I moved without thinking. Somehow, I still knew to cradle the back of her head, shielding her from the wall before I kissed her.
Kyrie's mouth opened against mine, probably in shock, but there was no stopping me as my tongue swept inside. I pulled her against my chest, a hand splayed on the bare skin of her back.
This fucking backless dress. It undid me the moment she stepped out of her suite. It was a miracle I didn't rage sooner while Nathan tried to put his filthy hands all over her.
Kyrie responded to me after a moment, pressing her tongue against mine and kissing me back. I held the nape of her neck, my other hand stroking in light passes up and down her back. She shivered but didn't pull away. Instead, she grabbed the edges of my cut to pull me closer, mouth widening to kiss me deeper.
She tasted sweeter than I ever could have imagined. Bubbly and with a hint of fruit, like the champagne she drank. Lips so soft and kisses like whispers, nothing like the rough claiming that came with kissing men. It had been so long since I kissed a woman, but even so, none of my previous encounters had been like this. Kissing had always been part of foreplay, a simple means of getting the fun started. I had never kissed a woman just because I wanted to. Until now, I had only kissed Dyno and Grudge like that.
Until now, I had believed they were enough for me.
This woman—no, thisgirlwho wasalmost twenty years younger than me—had no business tasting this good. She had no right to mold her body to mine so perfectly that I never wanted us to separate. The little breaths and moans she made shouldn’t have made me so weak-kneed. But every swipe of each other’s tongues, every sip from her mouth had me returning for more, like a sailor to a siren’s call.
Every one of my senses filled so much withherthat it took me a moment to realize that the wall vibrated behind her.
I tore my mouth from Kyrie’s, my pulse thrumming and breaths ragged as I tuned back into my surroundings.
“T-Bone?” My name was a whisper on her lips, which were flushed, swollen, and parted softly to breathe in soft pants.
I brought a finger to my lips and her mouth clamped shut, dilated eyes widening as alertness returned to her. Pressing my opposite palm against the wall next to her head, I waited for that vibrating sensation again. This time, the floor shook too, and Kyrie nearly stumbled.
“What’s happening?” she whispered.
“Don’t know yet, just stay close.”
She held onto my arm while I drew my gun and slowly peeked around the wall. I could see into the banquet room where everyone seemed to be gathered at a bank of windows, staring at something outside. Was there a fireworks display or something? I didn’t remember hearing about it.
“Hey, Kyrie?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t freak out, but I’m about to go limp and look really weird. I’ll explain later, but trust that I’m fine, okay? It’ll only be for a few seconds.”
She looked confused but gave me a solemn nod. “I trust you.”
I leaned against the wall for support, then closed my eyes. Leaving my body was always a trip, more exhilarating than any drug. Nothing else in the world mirrored the sensation of my consciousness hurtling through space before finding home in another body that was not my own.
Munin was on a road outside the capitol building, stacking a collection of bottle caps for fun. He knew the moment my consciousness occupied him, and he let out an annoyed caw.
Something’s happening at the capitol, bird brain. Let’s see it.
He turned and flew toward the building. Right away, I spotted the corridor Kyrie and I were in. Through a window, I saw her looking at me worriedly. Somehow, my body was still upright and leaning against the wall. At least I wasn’t laid out on the floor. And hopefully I wasn’t drooling, that’d be embarrassing.
Closer,I instructed Munin.What’s happening on the other side of the ballroom?
He flew us overhead, and I used his eyes to scan the ground below. A steady stream of people seemed to be leaving the building through a side door. I recognized the white shirts and black pants of the waiters’ uniforms and thought I spotted Kyrie’s assistant, Anita, filing out with them.
The staff is walking out? What the fuck is going on?
Someone dressed in all black lobbed an object at the window and that was when Munin forced me out and sent me back to my own body.
