But if his power didn't come from physical violence... what else did he have going on? I seriously doubted he was one to use his brother’s position at leader of the Reapers to his advantage. They hardly seemed close.
Still, Drew was a sassy thing and forged ahead. "You're just playing hard to get," she told Kody, like she really believed that herself. "I bet you're not even fucking the goat. She's just here for show."
Now she was just pissing me off. I couldn't quite work out if it was the implication that Kody and I wouldn't sleep together or the consistent use of "goat" or just the fact that she was talking about me like I wasn't standing right freaking there, but regardless, I was getting annoyed.
Reaching up, I stroked my hand down the side of Kody's face. My fingers applied a bit of pressure to his chin, tilting his face down to me. I'd intended to just get his attention so I could say something, tell him the air in here was getting too desperate and we should leave. Maybe cap it off with a cutesy nickname, then leave the kitchen holding hands.
That's what I'd intended to do.
That's not what happened.
Kody's green gaze caught mine, and the next thing I knew our lips were locked together in a passionate, starving kiss. I gasped against his mouth, my lips parting, and he pressed the advantage to deepen our kiss. Or maybe I did that.
My hands slid up his body, grasping the back of his strong neck and holding tightly, demanding more.
Glass clunked against the countertop—Kody dropping his beer, I guessed—then his arms were banding around my waist. He spun us around, then hoisted me up to sit on the edge of the counter. Not that it was such a stretch to kiss me standing up, thanks to my four-inch heels, but there was something insanely sexy about this dynamic shift. It allowed him to crush in tight to my body, forcing my knees apart so that his hard length, encased in denim jeans, could grind against my core. My—oh shit—totally naked core, thanks to my missing thong.
Drew was railing on about something, but her shrill voice faded to a blur of noise as Kody kissed me like I was the last woman on earth.
This kiss. This was the kiss I'd been craving from him since the night we’d met almost a year ago--since he’d teased my neck with those feather-light kisses in the dark of the fun house.
My breath hitched in a small moan as his hands ran all over my body, and it took every ounce of willpower I had to remember we were still in public. We were on Bree's parents’ kitchen counter, for fuck’s sake. People were watching.
People like...
My eyes shot open, looking past Kody and catching straight on Archer's furious glare. Beside him Steele's brow was furrowed and his jaw clenched tightly in anger.
Fuck. What had I gotten myself into?
"Fuck this!" Drew snarled—finally. She grabbed a Solo cup full of beer, then chucked it at Kody's back.
The cold splash of beer made him pull away from me, but only an inch. His shoulders tightened, and his eyes—so close to mine—glittered with fury, but he didn't pay her any attention.
Me? I was just glad it was Kody who wore the beer and not me.
"She's gone," I told him in a soft voice as Drew stormed out of the kitchen. A teasing smile played over my lips, and nothing I could do would make it go away.
The tension dropped from Kody's body in perceptible waves, and he gave me a mischievous grin. "Thanks, MK. I owe you one."
"Literally," I replied, then swiped my tongue across my lower lip. My mouth was tingling and hot, and I was going to have one hell of a time trying to forget the feeling of kissing Kody. Or Archer, for that matter.
Steele's kiss had been firmly placed in a lockbox inside my mind labeled "betrayals, never to be forgotten."
"What makes you think she'll actually leave?" I asked, clearing my throat as I peeled my beer-splashed hands away from Kody's neck. I really, badly didn't want to let him go. I wanted him to pick me up and carry me to a guest room so he could follow through on the promises his body had just been making. But logically I understood he’d just been getting rid of a clingy ex. Or that's what it’d seemed.
Kody took a beat to reply, his gaze caught on my mouth for a moment, like he was considering kissing me again. He still hadn't stepped away, remaining situated between my spread thighs, and thank fuck too or everyone would get one hell of a view of my laser hair removal.
"She will." Steele was the one who replied, but he still looked all kinds of pissed off and tense. "Drew's pride won't let her hang around to watch you and Kody basically fuck on the kitchen counter all night."
Kody's fingers tightened on my hips, hard enough to probably leave bruises tomorrow, and his chuckle was pure evil. "Doesn't have to be just on the kitchen counter. I'm adept at fucking on all kinds of surfaces."
I snorted a laugh, pushing him away and quickly yanking my skirt down to cover my cunt. "I'm sure you are, man-whore. Excuse me for not wanting to be the next notch in your bedpost."
I don't know why I had such an unflattering opinion of Kody. Aside from Drew, I hadn't seen him with any girls in the three weeks I'd cohabited with him. Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen any of the guys with women. Aside from that first day at SGU when Archer made a show of flirting with juice-girl, none of them seemed to whore around much at all.
Then again, three weeks wasn't long, and boys that attractive with that much arrogance and charisma? Yeah, something told me they weren't exactly saints.
"Can we go home now?" I asked as I slid down off the counter. Kudos to me that my knees didn't wobble as my high-heeled shoes touched down on the floor.
Archer looked annoyed—or frustrated—and shook his head. "Not quite yet." He rubbed his palm across the dark stubble on his chin. "We have something to deal with first."
Steele's brows shot up. "We're bringing Madison Kate with us?"
It was pretty clear that wherever they were going, Archer did not want to take me along. But he gave me a considering look and sighed heavily before turning back to Steele. "You got any better ideas?"
Steele grimaced, running a hand over his short hair. "Not really."
"No, that's cool, guys," I commented with supreme sarcasm, "just talk about me like I'm not here. Seriously, keep going. I love it. It's my favorite thing in the whole world."
Stupid me, I should have known Archer of all fucking people would conveniently miss the sarcasm and take me at my word.
"Hey, what do you guys think about giving Princess Danvers a curfew from now on?" he asked his friends, totally deadpan. "Or maybe a tracking device?"
Scowling, I stalked over to him. "Don't you fucking dare, Archer D'Ath." I punched him solidly in the upper arm, but he just grabbed my fist and pulled me closer to him.
He bent down until his lips brushed my ear. "Don't push me, Madison Kate," he replied in a husky whisper. "You have no idea what I'm capable of."
When he released my hand and stepped away, his eyes were as glacial and intense as ever, but there was something more there. Something fucking terrifying.
He stalked away, and I rolled my shoulders, shaking off the heady mixture of fear and arousal that marched across my skin like a thousand army ants.