Chapter 8 #2
Her eyes widen as though I’m the crazy one. “Me?” she screeches, looking at me as though she doesn’t know where the hell I found the audacity to even ask. “What are you doing here?”
“No. Don’t you dare try to turn this shit on me. You followed me here, didn’t you?”
Kiara scoffs, barking a loud laugh. “Me? Following you? Oh, my god. Only a man as egotistical as you would think that. Ooh, my name is Raiden Kane, and my head is shoved so far up my own ass that I’m convinced every woman with a pulse is so shamelessly in love with me that they’re all desperate stalkers.
Give me a fucking break. I came here to get away from you, so just admit it.
You’re the one with the stalker tendencies here, and you’re just embarrassed that you got caught. ”
A smirk cuts across my lips, and I reach for her, my arm curling around her waist as I pull her in against my body.
“You fucking wish, Firecracker.” She scoffs at me and shoves against my chest, but I don’t let her go as I tip my chin down, my lips brushing the top of her ear.
“You listen to me through the wall every fucking night, wishing you were the one I was sinking into, stretching you wide and making you see stars. It’s okay to want me, Kiara.
All you had to do was say the word, and I would have given you exactly what you wanted.
You didn’t need to go to these extremes. ”
She places her hand against my chest and pulls back just an inch, her lips only a breath away from mine as she gazes up at me as though I’m the only man in the world.
A soft smile stretches across her beautiful face.
“You truly think your nightly performance is something spectacular, don’t you?
” she whispers, lifting her chin just a fraction and letting her lips gently brush across mine.
“I’ve got news for you, Raiden. You don’t interest me enough to bother spending my days following you around like a lost puppy. ”
My fingers splay on her back, claiming as much of her as I can. “Is that so?” I murmur.
“Mm-hmm.”
“Come back to my hotel room, and I’ll show you just how fucking spectacular it gets,” I tell her. “See if that changes your mind.”
“The only reason I would ever go back to your hotel room would be to slaughter you in your sleep,” she says with a sickly sweet smile that I fucking love. “Now, take your grubby little hands off me before I have no choice but to drive my knee directly into that massive cock of yours.”
A deep growl rumbles through my chest. “Fuck, Firecracker. You always know just what to say to get a rise outta me,” I tell her while slowly releasing my hold on her waist.
Kiara rolls her eyes and discreetly pulls away, but she keeps close, much closer than generally accepted by two strangers talking at a party.
“If you must know, I’m a travel blogger,” she explains, pulling out her phone and bringing up her Instagram.
She turns the screen toward me, showing me her page with half a million followers.
“I’ve been touring the beaches of Europe for my blog. ”
My brows furrow as I take the phone out of her hand and start looking over her posts. “You’ve been home the past two weeks,” I comment. “This last post says you were in the South of France just yesterday.”
She rolls her eyes, and a wicked grin cuts across her face. “I’d explain it to you, but I left my crayons at home.”
I give her a blank stare, not accepting her shit.
“Okay, fine. I was in the South of France for a minute, and I just took enough pictures to cover me for two weeks. And I’ll do the same here, but at the end of the day, I’m a homebody. I like being in my own space with Spikezilla.”
“Who the fuck is Spikezilla?”
“My pet cactus,” she says, looking at me as though I’m dumb before snatching the phone right back and scrolling through her posts.
She stops on one and turns it to show me a picture of a fat cactus with two little arms on either side in a little black pot that says hug me, I dare you. “You owe me a new pot, by the way.”
“How? I haven’t touched your pot.”
“She sits on my bedside table, and your inconsiderate thrusting literally knocked her right onto the floor. You smashed her pot. Not to mention, the cornices on my ceiling are starting to crumble, and when they inevitably fall off and crush me in my sleep, you’ll be the one paying to get it fixed.”
I grin at her, knowing how it will get under her skin. “Exaggerate much?”
She sucks in a breath, her gaze filling with red-hot fury. “I swear to God, you are the most chronically exhausting man I have ever met in my life.”
I lean back into her. “Baby, you haven’t been chronically exhausted until you’ve felt what it’s like to be truly fucked by me.”
Her hands ball into fists at her sides, and if we were back at home with the safety of our separate apartments to escape to, then I’d probably push this further, but considering we’re at a party, surrounded by business associates, I try to keep it somewhat professional.
“How’d you end up here, Firecracker?” I ask.
“Javier Rodríguez is not somebody you should be mixing with.”
Her brows crease, and she looks at me as though I just spoke fluent Japanese. “Who?”
“Javier Rodríguez,” I tell her. “He’s the guy who owns this estate. This is his party.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh, yeah. No, I had no idea about that,” she explains.
“I was at this cute beachfront restaurant earlier and accidentally tripped. The guy at the next table helped me up and asked if I wanted to go. I wasn’t planning on it, but then he offered me his black card to go shopping for a dress, and well .
. . I couldn’t say no to that. I mean, look at this thing.
Have you ever seen a dress more mind-blowing than this? ”
My gaze drops down her body, and a groan rumbles through my chest. She’s right.
Her dress is gorgeous, but it’s her that makes it truly breathtaking.
“It’s one hell of a dress, Firecracker,” I agree, my tone giving away just how much I truly appreciate it.
“I take it you’re talking about Louis Mendez? ”
Her brows furrow. “How do you know Louis?”
“He’s a sick businessman,” I explain, not wanting to give too many details. “All the men here are. You need to be careful.”
She grins, and those jade eyes come right back to me. “That wouldn’t be concern in your tone, would it?” she says with a mock gasp, teasing me. “And here I thought the great Raiden Kane was incapable of caring about anything except his own dick.”
“Cute,” I say. “But I’m serious. Louis isn’t somebody you should be fucking with. Enjoy your night, but don’t let him get his claws into you.”
Kiara steps into me again, her hand skimming across my chest. “I don’t know if you’ve realized this yet, but I’m more than capable of handling myself,” she tells me.
“But enough of my interrogation. I’ve told you how I ended up here, but what about you?
If these guys really are as bad as you say they are, then what the hell are you doing here? ”
A grin cuts across my face. “Money is money, Firecracker. No matter where it comes from,” I explain.
“You already know I’m an international sales rep, and this is the biggest party of the year.
Every single asshole here with deep pockets is a potential client.
I’m here to lay the groundwork, just like every other rep here. ”
Her brows crease, and she scans the crowd as though not having considered that the people here are working their contacts, not just random men and women here to have a good time. But that’s business. No matter the setting, no matter if it’s day or night, business doesn’t stop for anything.
“Fair call,” she says, nodding as she looks me over, still incredibly suspicious, but that’s a two-way street right there.
The fact that we both ended up in the same town at the exact same party is screaming that it’s much more than just a coincidence, but despite these past two weeks of desperately trying to get under her skin, she’s never given me a reason not to trust her.
“Okay, well, now that we’ve confirmed that you’re not a sleazy stalker who likes to follow women across the country, I’m going to go enjoy my night. ”
“You do that, Firecracker.”
She groans. “Are you ever going to stop calling me that?”
“No chance in hell.”
Kiara rolls her eyes and steps right into me, stretching up onto her tippy toes as if to press a kiss to my cheek, but despite barely knowing her, I’m clued-in enough to know that gifting me a kiss on the cheek is the last thing she would ever do.
“You even think about following me to my hotel just to book the room next to mine, and I will make your life a living hell.”
Taking her chin, I hold her stare before giving her the kiss on the cheek she so desperately wanted to give me. “You know, I hadn’t considered that, but now that the idea is out there, it sounds almost too fucking good to pass up.” And with that, I walk away, leaving her gaping at my back.