Three Trials (The Dark Side Book 2)(26)

“Just how? How did you grow a tolerance to that? Because I gotta tell you, this might be my only night to wallow in alcohol.”

The bed jostles when he moves closer and hands it back to me, and I take it a little roughly. “Taste it now,” he says, leaning over.

Rolling my eyes, I turn it up, brace for the inevitable rancid taste, and…moan in pleasure as the taste of cinnamon invades my mouth. My eyelids flutter shut as I turn it up and down the remaining liquid like I can’t possibly get enough.

Gage’s lips slowly stroke the column of my throat, and I’m so warm and tamed by the liquor that I don’t even question his motives.

“How?” I ask, now wanting more and wondering what I did with that last bottle.

“You choose the flavor,” he says against my neck.

“And no one found this to be crucial information to share when they saw me carrying that jar back to my room? I’ve been choking that stuff down for hours and having to start all over again.”

“I didn’t see you carrying it to your room, or I would have been in here much, much sooner,” he murmurs against the base of my neck, slowly kissing lower.

I stiffen and narrow my eyes. “Are you in here because of Jude’s weird interrogation tactics? Did Kai stand me up as a part of this game?”

He lifts his head, eyebrow arched as he peers down at me.

“I’m in here because you stared into my eyes and clung to my hand, willing to go into the flames with me so I wouldn’t have to die alone,” he says with no humor or sarcasm. “I’m in a much different place than the rest of them right now, because there’s no reason you did that other than what you said. He’s still worried about what price is to come. I’m to the point where I say to hell with the consequences.”

Confused, I run my finger up his arm.

His lips ghost over mine as he continues. “Jude is playing his game. He secretly needs you to be a worthy adversary, but the more you prove you are, the more he truly believes no good can come from it. We’ve been burned in the past many times. And you’ve already penetrated farther than any woman before you,” he says, his eyes never leaving mine.

I wasn’t expecting so much honesty or candor.

“Okay then,” I say on a breath.

“Okay then?” he asks, one corner of his mouth lifting.

“But in all fairness, there hasn’t been any penetration. Aside from some fingers, and I can do that myself, so I’m not sure how I’ve penetrated farther than any woman,” I add, simply because I don’t do well with serious situations, it seems.

His grin only grows.

I shrug a shoulder. “Anyway, the only way I’m ever going to get close enough for him to truly trust me, is to stop trying so hard to get him to trust me. Three to one odds that I can make it happen by the end of the week.”

I really shouldn’t be gambling. I’m not a betting woman.

That smile stretches even wider than the last one as his eyes flake with gold.

“You’re going to play a game to counter his game?” he asks.

“Jude needs control. You saw how crazy he got earlier when he felt all that slipping. I’m going to tip him over the edge, and he’ll be so mad he won’t know whether to kill me or kiss me. He’ll choose the kiss. And it’ll be brutal,” I tell him, holding out my hand like I’m ready to shake on a deal.

Instead of shaking my hand, his lips come down on mine, and the empty jar tumbles from my hand as I reach up to grab the back of his head. He groans in my mouth, a tortured sound, and I realize he’s not going to be breaking the bond tonight.

The kiss cuts off, and he snuggles up against my side, his arm going around me, making me feel a little safe.

“There’s a question that’s been driving me out of my mind, and I need to know the answer before I go find him and kill him,” he says as though this is entirely too exasperating for him to deal with.

Kill who?

“Okay…”

“Why did you think Neal—the weasel from the club—would be your one true love or whatever it is you kept saying?” he asks, causing my smile to spread so much it hurts.

“Are you jealous? Please say you are.”

“Just answer the question,” he tells me pointedly.

Rolling my eyes, I shrug. “All of you seem to forget that I’m still a novice to so many experiences. I was unseen then unwanted for the first conscious years of my existence. He was the first man in my short existence to be nice to me. The first man who wanted to spend time with me. The first guy who smiled at all my jokes. Nothing else seemed to really matter when I felt how good it could feel to just be wanted.”

Gage groans, and before I can say anything more, his lips are on mine again, kissing me as he starts pushing my legs apart and sliding up my shirt as my robe falls apart. His grip on me tightens when he realizes there is no underwear under the shirt.

Just as he starts shoving down his track pants, his intentions clear, I push him back, shaking my head.

“I didn’t tell you that to make you feel so sorry for me that you’d piss off everyone and give me what I want,” I grumble. “And I really don’t want to remember losing my virginity to a pity fuck.”

“You want me to see if you’re really a virgin?” he muses.