Something inside me screamed that I was supposed to be careful and scared, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember why. I pulled away from Pharzuph’s embrace. Both of the guys were giving me menacing stares. I tipped back the rest of the gin and threw the empty bottle on the floor. These guys were getting annoying. I wanted to have fun.

“Whur’s the music?” I spun, looking for a radio, and everything blurred.

Pharzuph stepped close, grabbing my arms and getting in my face. “Where’s the sword?”

For some reason an image of the sword in the stone came to mind.

“I ain’t got a swoooord, crazy ass.” I laughed.

“Don’t talk to him like that,” Kaidan warned, moving toward us.

Pharzuph chuckled, but he didn’t look happy. “We’ll see, little girl.”

“Yeah, we will!” I said, laughing gleefully and throwing myself onto the couch. I clutched my stomach as an onslaught of giggles overcame me. “What the heck are we even talkin’ ’bout? I thought we were gonna dance.” I rolled off the couch and crawled to the fridge. I needed another drink. And maybe I could make drinks for the guys since they weren’t happy.

“I make the bestest drinks, guys. I’ll make you sooo happy.”

“Not likely,” Kaidan mumbled.

Pharzuph slapped him on the shoulder and jutted his chin toward me. “Yeah, good luck with that. And be careful. I wouldn’t put it past her to use your lust inclination as a distraction to escape. Don’t let her get the upper hand, you know what I’m saying?” He winked, and Kaidan nodded. “Don’t leave the room, and don’t let her out of your sight.”

“Yes, sir.”

Pharzuph watched me again.

I cracked open a beer, throwing the bottle top with amazing accuracy at Kaidan’s face, but he snatched it from the air before it hit him. I fell back onto the couch and kicked my legs in the air. Kaidan pressed his fingers to his forehead.

“Aw, c’mon, Kaidan Rowe, hottie-boom-bottie. Let’s play.”

Dang, I was funny.

“I see what you mean now,” Pharzuph said to Kai, eyeing me with disgust. “It does seem ridiculous that we thought she was the one. Still. We need to find out what she knows.”

Kaidan nodded. My head turned in slow motion as I watched Pharzuph leave. Kaidan raised his arms and shot both middle fingers up at the closed door. He then leaned back against the wooden entertainment center and shoved his hands through his hair before crossing his arms. He looked angry. And sexy.

H-O-T-T.

I wet my lips, feeling bold and single-minded when I realized we were alone. He slowly shook his head back and forth at me. I set my beer on the coffee table, stood, and walked to him, wishing good riddance to the last shred of my inhibitions. I was invincible. I could do anything I wanted. But what I chose to do was the most dangerous thing of all.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

ALLIES

I pressed my body against him.

He took my shoulders and tried to push me away, gently, shaking his head, but my busy hands were insistent on touching.

Nothing else in the world existed in that moment. Just us. Nothing else mattered. I wanted him. I loved him.

“Don’t,” I said when he tried to grab my hands. He quickly covered my mouth with his hard hand and spoke lowly against my ear.

“Shut. Up.” And even that was sexy.

I wanted his hand on my mouth to be his lips. I stopped trying to push up against him, and concentrated on his hand. I pressed my lips against his palm, looking up at him as I did it. His breathing went ragged. I took one of his fingers and slowly kissed it. He stepped back and I ran my tongue slowly over his fingertip.

“Ah, damn it,” he whispered. There was flickering in his fiery eyes, and he yanked his hand from mine.

“Please,” I urged. I reached up and pulled my ponytail holder out, dropping it and letting my hair fall around me.

“I will tie you up again if you don’t behave,” he warned.

“Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

In a flash he grabbed me, turning and crushing my back into the giant entertainment center’s doors, making a superb racket, kissing me hard and pressing his whole body against mine. I welcomed his forceful hands and hot mouth. We made our way to the couch, where he fell on me and kissed me with a passion that obliterated all thought. I was lying on a cloud of bliss, my head a boggle of contentment, my body in its element against him. He was all I needed.

“We’re about to have company,” he said, but he didn’t stop kissing me, kissing my neck, touching me everywhere.

Company? But that didn’t mean we’d have to stop, did it? That would just be wrong.

There was a long string of insistent knocking on our door, but Kaidan mumbled for whoever was out there to go away. His hands were up my shirt, vibrant against my skin, making me gasp and moan.

“Oi!” shouted a familiar female voice. “Open the damn door.”

“I’m busy.” Kaidan bit my bottom lip with a nip, and a shiver rippled through me.

“The more the merrier,” Blake said. His voice didn’t sound completely right.

We paused and looked at each other. They were trying to stop us.

“Just ignore them,” I said. I grabbed his shirt and pulled it up, lifting myself up to kiss the skin on his chest.

He moaned, and was kissing me again.

“Don’t let that skank take advantage of you when you’re bored, son of Pharzuph.”