was all we watched. We had to, in case a new ruling made our job harder.
Kai chuckled and turned to the movie channels. “Fair warning.” He paused on a romantic flick. “I’ve not watched a movie for…forever.” He glanced at me. “I can’t remember the last time I saw a movie.”
I snorted, shaking my head. “Do the latest action one.”
“Yeah?”
Another firm nod. “Yes. No chick flicks for me.”
“Okay.” He selected a movie that had just hit the theaters two days ago. How he got it here, I wasn’t going to ask. I wasn’t even going to be surprised.
I spread out on the couch and got comfortable.
Kai shut the door, casting the room in complete darkness except for the movie and the random flash of lightning above us. He crawled onto the couch with me.
“Did you want some wine?”
Instead of answering, I rolled over, grabbed the wine bottle, and moved back. I held it up in salute. “Let’s be a little dangerous tonight.”
Another soft laugh, and then he took hold of me. He lifted me up, scooted back, and deposited me on his lap. I could feel him hardening beneath me, and he stretched me to completely rest on him, my head nestled against his shoulder.
He skimmed a hand down my front, his fingers grazing the side of my breasts. He took the wine from me. “No glasses?”
“Nuh-uh.”
I felt his chest vibrate with a laugh before he tipped the wine back to take a sip. He handed it back after he was done, and I grabbed it, almost desperately.
I needed it. I needed it to ward against what was going on here, because I was crumbling more quickly than I wanted to acknowledge.
I shouldn’t have been this ridiculously happy for something as cheesy as a movie, a private room away from the rest, and a thunderstorm overhead, but I was. I felt so much that my throat was clogged, and I slurped that wine down, trying to push my feelings out of the way.
“Hey.” Kai ran a hand up my back, sliding deliciously around the front before he took the bottle from me. “What’s that about?”
“Nothing.”
He didn’t ask again, but he didn’t need to. He was watching me. He knew. Taking a sip himself, he settled back, his hand running down the side of my body, sending sensations in its wake.
Throbbing.
Building.
But I ignored them. I settled back in his arms, resting my head against his shoulder, and I tried to ignore the way he ran a hand down my arm, and how his palm smoothed over my stomach, how his fingers traced over my skin.
I moved, hoping the throb would lessen, but it didn’t.
I was beginning to pant.
Goddamn this man.
The movie was on. Someone was speaking. I couldn’t care less. I was way past trying to follow, so I turned, my mouth half on his neck, and I asked, “What did you mean before about how Tanner didn’t have a semblance of a life and the others do?”
He stiffened beneath me, pausing the movie.
“Really? You want to know now?” His eyebrow dipped.
I was half crazed and desperate from feelings I really couldn’t afford to be feeling for him, so I nodded. “Yep.”
“Okay.” He leaned back, and I did what I’d been fighting against.
I moved to straddle him, but I sat back, leaving some space between us. I could feel him beneath me, and though he was hard, it was as if he didn’t even know.
“There’s a council in Canada,” he said.
“A council?” I echoed. My mind raced.
God. I’m falling for him.
I can’t fall for him.
He nodded as if I was listening, as if I totally understood every word he said, as if my world wasn’t crumbling to pieces inside of me.
“There was a mafia war years ago, and it was so bad that our ancestors decided it’d never happen again. Too many innocents died.” He ran a hand down my arm, grazing the inside of my wrist. He circled it, feeling my palm. “So they made a council instead.”
“A council?”
I was repeating myself, and my heart jackhammered away.
“Yeah.” He frowned, his eyes narrowing. “And because our father was a jackass and soulless and ruthless, he became the leader of the council.”
Oh. Wait a minute.
I shifted up, my eyes flying to his. “So that means…”
He nodded again, his thumb running over my palm. “I’m the leader of the council. It was put together not just to end the war, but to help fight against the government.” He paused, his hand tightening briefly