Compromising Kessen (Vandenbrook #1)(58)

Suddenly it occurred to her that she needed to make sure she wasn’t with him late tonight. Nothing good happened after ten o’clock, and she couldn’t be held responsible for her decisions with him if she was drugged with sleepiness.

“We should lock our doors!” she blurted.

“Mature,” he snorted

“No, really, Christian. I think we should, and we should also go to bed early, and close our windows, and no sneaking in, and no breaking in and—”

He held up his hand for her to stop. “You’re giving me a headache, Kessen. Stop worrying so much. I do have self-control, you know.”

Kessen raised an eyebrow in response.

“Come on! I do!”

She laughed. “I’m sorry. How many times have you snuck into my room in the past twenty-four hours?”

“Those don’t count,” he argued

She stared at him. “I’m not an idiot.”

He threw his hands in the air. “Fine. You win—something I realize you hardly hear enough, so spare me your little happy dance. Let’s just go into the study, finish this stupid game, and go to bed.”

She cleared her throat.

He rolled his eyes. “Me in my bed; you in yours.”

“Perfect,” she beamed. “But first you have to do the dishes.”

“And why can’t you do the dishes?” he asked in an irritated tone usually reserved for Duncan.

“Because you forfeited the end of that question; therefore, you lose. I win, and I want you to do the dishes.”

He gave her a blank stare.

“What? No response or rebuttal? Hurry along then, servant … I have some reading to catch up on.”

She waved at him and left the room, but not before hearing him yell something about the duke in her new book killing off the love interest.

She could only assume he meant it as a threat.

Half an hour later Christian wandered into the room with a look of pure joy on his face.





Chapter Twenty-Four


Christian was excited, and who wouldn’t be? Kessen had forgotten to take the game with her, the same game they were going to be playing that night. He had memorized all the answers, meaning she would lose; now all he had to do was come up with a good bet.

“Kessen?” he asked, still smiling; he couldn’t help it if he tried.

“Yes, slave,” she said, not looking up from her ereader. “What is your desire?”

He clenched his teeth together in annoyance before answering. “Well, America, I’ve decided we should place a wager on this game.”

“Are you sure you want to do that, my lord? Didn’t that end badly for you last time? We wouldn’t want a repeat of last night, now would we?”

Christian plopped down next to her and sent her a melting smile. Her mouth immediately dropped open. Putty in his hands. “Yes dear, but that was yesterday. Today is a new day and a new game. You’re not chicken, are you?” He knew he had her. Her eyes flashed with anger as she pushed his hand away from hers.

“No, I was just trying to be nice, but fine! Have it your way; what’s the wager?” Her face was inches from his. If he was being honest with himself, all he wanted to do was make out with her, forget the game—burn it, for all he cared. What he needed was her lips on his, her hands on his body, her—

His mind was going downhill fast. It was time for a distraction, and being the competitive soul he was, he knew just the wager to bait her.

“If you win, I will dedicate the first week of our marriage to reading you every single book in the Vandenbrook series out loud, using accents, voices, and costumes.” Her face lit up like a Christmas tree. “But if I win you have to stay up all night with me. Tonight. Alone.”

He leaned in so his lips barely grazed hers. “So, are you scared, or are you game, America?”

She took a few ragged breaths than closed her eyes. “Game, of course. I have nothing to be afraid of since I’m winning.”

“We’ll see,” he declared. Christian laid out the game in front of them and motioned for Kessen to sit on the floor with him. “We will do five questions each. I’ve made it easier this time. I’ll give you five questions, and you can write down your answers on a piece of paper. I will do the same. At the end we will reveal the questions and the answers. Deal?”

“Deal.” She grabbed a pencil and paper and waited.

“Okay, Kessen. Here are your questions. Question one: what was my favorite animal as a boy and why? Question two: how long can I hold my breath under water? Question three: do I sleep with anything, alive or dead? Question four: what was my worst date? Question five: what is my biggest fear?”

He waited for her to write down all the questions. When she was finished, he handed her the other set of questions.

She began to read. “Christian, here are your five questions. Question one: do I snore? Question two: why is the Wall Street Journal my favorite newspaper? Question three: do I have any weird habits? Question four: what is my biggest fear? Question five: am I afraid of the dark?”

Christian spent a few minutes writing down the questions then stared at Kessen. She was concentrating on her writing. Her tongue poked out of her mouth and then she bit her lip. Christian felt his body respond immediately to the particular way her lip looked when the proper pressure was applied.