• twenty-one •

“Okay, so maybe I let her have too much.”

Rumor

I licked the salt from my lips that had been on the rim of my margarita glass, then giggled. Sebastian was critiquing Ocean’s Eleven and what they should have done differently while I drank my third margarita because he kept filling my glass without asking if I wanted more. It seemed he got funnier the more I drank.

After we had eaten our dinner in the kitchen, he had taken the pitcher of margarita left by Minna and led me to a theater in their house. It had five rows of long brown leather sofas that were made up of reclining seats. We sat in the second row, and he pulled down a divider between our seats that had holders that fit our glasses. There was a table that came under the seats and popped up in front of us, where he put the pitcher, along with tamales. He had said he might get hungry again.

I was not getting hungry again. I was stuffed. But I figured he might.

The last time I had been to a movie theater was when Hill and I were dating. He’d taken me to many places. It had been part of his grand scheme to get me to marry him. Just so he could beat me and control me. I shoved that thought away. I was having fun. I hadn’t had fun in a very long time. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had fun. I was sure the margarita was helping me with this, but I did not care.

“There you are,” a deep voice said, and I startled, sloshing my margarita, but not spilling it—thank goodness. “You didn’t answer my text.”

I looked back to see Thatcher walking toward us and blinked, realizing my vision was a tad bit blurry. But the moment my eyes locked on King, they seemed to clear up quickly. He was scowling, and I wondered what had happened to make him look so unpleasant.

“You found me,” Sebastian replied, barely glancing at the other two. “What do you want?”

Thatcher walked into the row and sat down on the other side of Sebastian. “Nothing. Just curious. Well, King was the one who was curious. He couldn’t find Rumor, and you were the last one seen with her.”

I frowned. Who had seen me with Sebastian? Did he mean at the stables? And why had King been looking for me? A shadow came over me, and I tilted my head back to see King taking the seat beside me. I took a drink from my glass and studied him over the rim of it, then found myself laughing again. I didn’t know why exactly. He was still scowling and looking all mean, but it was funny.

“How many of those have you had?” he asked me, reaching for my glass.

I moved it back away from him. “I don’t know, but you can’t have it,” I informed him.

“Three,” Sebastian said. “Give or take. Mostly give.”

King held out his hand for my glass, as if I would give it to him. “That’s too many. Minna makes those strong. Hand it to me, Rumor.”

The way he spoke to me like I was a child should make me mad. I should tell him to kiss my ass. But I snickered and took another drink, watching as his brows drew together.

“Now, Rumor.” His tone deepened.

I swallowed the salty sweetness and shook my head. “I am not one of your little…obedient females. I don’t…don’t have to do anything you say.”

I heard a deep chuckle behind me, but I didn’t turn around to see which of them was laughing at me.

“Okay, so maybe I let her have too much. But she was relaxed for a change,” Sebastian said.

I nodded. I was relaxed. I agreed with him.

King reached for my glass again, and I tried to snatch it away, but he took it from me too quickly.

“Give it back!” I demanded.

“No.”

“You are not my daddy!” I informed him.

He paused and raised an eyebrow, then set the drink down on the other side of him without taking his eyes off me. “No, I’m not.” His voice sounded husky as he studied my face.

I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed, then turned to stare at the screen. We had been doing just fine without him here. We didn’t need him and his bossy ways. This wasn’t his house. It was Sebastian’s house. Thatcher’s, too, but I didn’t think I liked him very much, so he didn’t count.

I turned to look at Sebastian. “Can I have your glass?” I asked him.

His gaze lifted to look behind me, and he pressed his lips together, then shook his head as he returned his attention to me. “I’m sorry. I don’t want you to be sick and hate me in the morning.”

That was how it was going to be? Fine. I would just leave. I stood up and felt slightly off-balance for a moment and reached to grab something to steady me when two large hands wrapped around my waist.

“Easy,” King said close to my ear.

I shivered and turned my head just barely to peer up at him.

His jaw was clenched again, like he was mad. Second time today that I’d seen angry King. Nothing like the King I’d grown accustomed to. The King I liked. As a friend, of course. I was married, or I was a widow—I wasn’t sure exactly.

“I’ll take you home,” King said, then wrapped an arm around my waist and started to lead me away from the others.

“Wait,” I said, trying to turn back around but he stopped me. With a frustrated sigh, I glared at him. “I need to tell Sebastian bye and thank him for tonight.”

“He heard you. He’s been thanked. Let’s go,” King replied, the tic in his jaw unmistakable. Even if I was slightly tipsy.

“This is rude,” I told him.

“He understands,” King said, pushing me to move forward.

I tried to jerk free and stalk away from him, but I stumbled, and then I was no longer on my feet, but in the air. Or rather in King’s arms. He was carrying me. I looked up at him and wished his face weren’t so nice and his arms weren’t so muscly and his abs weren’t so ripped.

The corner of his lips twitched. “Ripped, huh?” he asked, glancing down at me.

I covered my mouth with my hand. “I said that out loud?”

He smirked. “Yep. The muscly arms and nice face too.”

Crap. I closed my eyes and already knew I was going to be really humiliated in the morning. Right now, he smelled too good. Like cedar trees, freshly cut, and cinnamon. It was a sexy scent, and I wanted to bury my face in his neck and inhale.

“What was that about cinnamon?” he asked, and I gasped, covering my mouth again.

The cool night air hit me in the face, and I realized we were outside already. How had we done that so fast? Where was the underground garage?

“I don’t park my truck down there. It’s out here.”

Clearly, I could not keep my mouth from speaking my thoughts.

“I can walk,” I told him.

“No, you can’t. You already made that clear.”

I slapped at his chest. “You’re mean. I thought you were nice, and you are not nice, King. You are mean. You do mean things.”

He stopped and dropped his gaze to mine. “I’m not mean. I’m angry right now at Sebastian for getting you drunk.”

I shook my head. “You…you…you like to hit women.”

His eyes didn’t leave mine. “No, I don’t. I spank them, but only the ones who want me to. I tie them up because they want it and ask for it. I’m not mean.”

I swallowed hard as his blue eyes seemed to glow under the moonlight. “Why do you want to spank them?”

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. “Because I like it when they give me control. When they submit to me. When they trust me to give them pleasure and want me to take them to the brink of pain. Pleasurable pain.”

I felt hot. All over. I needed to take off my hoodie and stick my head in a freezer maybe.

“I would never hurt a woman, Rumor. I only fuck women who want the same thing I do.”

I stared at him, unable to say anything more. I believed him. I’d seen the blonde today. She had clearly wanted him. Even though she’d been screaming.

He started walking again, and then he opened the truck door and set me inside of it. I laid my head back on the seat, and he reached in to buckle me. I didn’t bother telling him I could do it because I wasn’t so sure I could. Maybe I had drunk a little too much.

When he closed the door, my eyes followed him as he walked around the front of the truck. The seat was warm, and it smelled like him. My eyes felt heavy, and I closed them, letting the comfort seep in as I drifted away.