Ruler (Wolves of Royal Paynes #2) - Kiki Burrelli Page 0,53

have to make any choices right now." Faust covered my shoulder with his palm.

Jazz stretched his arms over his head with a deep yawn. "That sounds like a good plan to me. I can't imagine how emotionally drained you feel right now, Storri."

I felt a little like a child's stuffed animal, loved and cared for, but also trampled, lost and dragged around. I turned toward the loving and caring, toward the people in the room with me. "What do you do when you feel like this, Jazz?"

His responding smile was slow and devilish. "I know what I used to do—get wasted. A shot of something fruity, brightly colored, and sure to lead me to bad choices." He turned his head to Knox, who was already staring at Faust like this was his fault. "Please, Daddy, can't we party?" he crooned.

I looked quickly away. That sounded personal and intimate, but Jazz had said it in a playful, public way. Faust's hand slid from my shoulder to my forearm.

"What do you want to do, kitten? We can go for a walk, read a few extra chapters—"

"I want to do what Jazz wants to do."

That time, it was Faust's turn to glare at Knox. "Your mate is a bad influence."

Bad influence or not, several hours later we sat in a circle, Diesel and Hallie included, in a part of the hotel I hadn't seen yet. Not surprising since there were still large parts of the hotel I hadn't ventured into.

Faust and I had explored a lot of the forest surrounding the hotel, and I knew the basics: my room; Faust's room that he never slept in or spent time in; my reading nook; the kitchen; operations room. There was another floor below the first level. Word was there was a gym somewhere, but I'd let that room be a happy surprise when I found it.

Hallie had called this room the atrium. We weren't quite inside or outside, but a hybrid space with a slanted glass ceiling, though like the operations room, many of the panels were broken or missing.

As with the rest of the hotel, this room spoke to an earlier elegance. I could imagine wealthy visitors of the hotel lazing the day away surrounded by bright green vegetation. When it had been decided that this was the room we'd take our festivities into, Knox, Diesel, and Faust had built a fire in a pit they'd constructed from materials lying around.

At first, the room was cold and wet, but now the fire filled the damp space with a dry heat, as well as a warm glow, even while the sun set slowly into the ocean.

Knox had dragged down Angus's bassinet, positioning it next to the doorway just inside the hotel.

"Never have I ever…" Jazz looked up at the ceiling. The brightest stars had begun to shine, but that wasn't what he searched for. Jazz had one finger left while Diesel, Faust, and I had four, three, and five fingers remaining. As the game progressed, Jazz had a harder time thinking of things he hadn't done. "Never have I ever…"

"Had a threesome," Hallie suggested.

Jazz shook his head, rejecting her idea and making Knox growl.

"An orgy," Diesel added.

Jazz shook his head again.

"Never have I ever liked this game," Knox roared with his splayed hand in front of his face. He dropped all five of his fingers. "There, I lost. Choose a new game."

Jazz smirked, rising from my side on a stone bench to saunter to his mate and drop seductively into his lap. Enough warm, liquid courage flowed through me that I didn't feel the need to look away, but I was still sad the game was over. I hadn't gotten to drop a finger.

"I've done nothing," I whined to Faust, curling into his arms. He'd taken up a post directly behind me, and as the evening wore on and the drinks continued, I relied on him more and more to keep me upright. "I need to do things!"

"I'll do something with you," Jazz piped, leaping from his alpha's lap with all the excitement of a puppy who had just spotted a butterfly. "Maybe…shots first?" He cocked his head to the side and smiled.

It was hard to say no to him. Even if it weren't, this was fun and I didn't want it to stop. No one had brought up my aunt, or Portal, or any of the other troubles facing us. Neither Knox nor Hallie drank, but I liked that too. They took turns