My face heated, and I was suddenly thankful for the mask. "I haven't..." My words trailed off, so I tried again. "I was sick. I've barely even spoken to Steele since that night."
"You had a fucking cold, MK, not exactly the black plague. You were also probably a bit shell-shocked after your stalker's last gift, which is totally understandable. I just wasn't sure if you wanted me to back off." There was an edge of uncertainty in his tone that surprised me. In a good way, I think.
"Would you?" I challenged him, unable to help myself. Not for the first time, I wondered why I insisted on playing with fire. "If I told you to back off, would you actually do it?"
Kody sat up, putting him suddenly face-to-face with me. "No," he admitted, his hand sliding into the back of my hair and pulling my face closer. "Because I'd know you didn't really want me to."
His lips brushed mine, and I slid out of his grip—and off the hood. Taking two steps back toward the party, I gave him a teasing smile. "Maybe I do feel like dancing with the clowns after all. You coming?"
He tipped his head up to the sky, like he was praying for patience or cursing the fates—both equally amusing options—then followed after me.
Back inside the warehouse, there were even more people in both elaborate costumes—like the alien DJ—and half-assed efforts like our own masks with normal clothes. Kody and I bypassed the bar, making our way right into the heaving dance floor. Our fingers tangled together as we wove between dancing people, making sure we didn't get separated, until we found a slightly clear section near the enormous nightclub-quality speakers.
The heavy, thudding dance music was so loud there was no possible way to speak. No way for Kody to ask me questions I didn't know the answers to, like how I felt about Steele now or whether I was still fantasizing about Kody in my bed or... what the hell was going on between me and Archer. I had no idea if Kody or Steele had seen him kiss me that night—the night they’d beat the shit out of Skunk—but it was a conversation I wasn't ready to have.
My curiosity could wait. Eventually, I'd find out about what "business" the three of them had and what agreement Archer had with both the Reapers and the Wraiths.
Right now, I just wanted to dance with a drop-dead gorgeous guy and forget the facts that I had a stalker, that I was insanely attracted to three different guys, and that my father was a total piece of shit.
The heat from the crowd was intense, so I shed my jacket and tossed it into the shadows under the speaker. That left me in just a thin, tight tank top, but even that was too much for the temperature on the dance floor.
I swayed and moved to the music, letting the pounding bass pull me in as I lost myself to the noise. Kody's body seemed to find mine like Velcro, molding to me and moving in perfect harmony with the way I danced and writhed against him.
When the song blended and shifted into something new, hot sweat dripped down the center of my back and my mask felt like it'd been glued to my cheeks. I turned in Kody's arms until I faced him. My hips were still swaying as I pushed my mask up to my hair and swiped a bead of sweat from the bridge of my nose.
His hands were on my waist, his own body moving with mine, but there was a hungry, predatory gleam in his eyes that made my whole body tight with excitement. I reached up, pushing his mask off his face to rest on his blond hair, then grinned.
"You're not a bad dancer," I told him, having to yell to be heard over the deafening music. My arms looped around his neck, and he pulled me in closer still until every inch of my front touched some part of him.
He didn't reply, or not anything I could hear at any rate, instead pressing his lips to the bend of my neck as we danced. I groaned. Maybe dancing had been a bad idea.
Kody's lips trailed up my neck, then in the blink of an eye, his lips found mine.
On second thought, dancing had been a fucking excellent idea.
He kissed me, hard and demanding, forcing my lips to part so he could devour my mouth like a starving man with his favorite meal. Our bodies still writhed together, grinding in sync to the music, even as I desperately wished our clothes would disappear. Judging by the hard length crushed against my stomach, I figured it was a safe bet to think Kody was on the same wavelength there.
"Fuck," he groaned in my ear as our kiss broke off, and his hands roamed my body. "Can we get out of here? I need to touch you."
My belly fluttered, and I grinned into his sweaty neck. "Where?" We still needed to wait for Archer and Steele to do whatever the fuck they were doing, and I was pretty sure I'd seen porta potties set up in place of actual bathrooms.
Kody released me long enough to reach into his back pocket, then showed me an electronic car-key fob marked with the Mercedes logo. "Car?"
"Sold," I replied with a wide, excited grin.
Kody linked our fingers together and quickly led the way out of the warehouse. Once we emerged into the frigid night air, we all but ran back to the parking lot. The G-Wagen unlocked on proximity, its indicators flashing, but we didn't make it inside. Instead, I found my back pressed against the passenger door while Kody and I damn near mauled one another. His hands were inside my tank top, cupping my breasts and teasing my already hard nipples through my bra. My arms were around his neck, my fingers clawing at the back of his hair as I kissed him with raw hunger.
I needed more. I really, badly, desperately needed Kody to scratch the itch deep inside me. Preferably with his cock. So I skated my hands down his hard front and frantically unbuckled his belt.
Kody released my breasts, instead sliding a hand up my bare thigh and under my short skirt. The cool air pebbled my skin, but it only made me so much more aware of how scorching hot my core had grown.
Then all of a sudden, his mouth was wrenched away from mine. His hands left my body, and a cool blast of air took his place.
"What the fuck?" Archer bellowed, and I needed to blink about sixteen times to catch the fuck up on what’d just happened. Kody was on his ass in the gravel, a murderous scowl on his face and his belt undone. Archer must have just ripped him off me and tossed him on the ground.
But why?
Steele was still some distance away, only just emerging from the party warehouse as I looked for him, but he was running to catch up with us.
Surely Archer wasn't reacting like this because he was jealous.
Then again, he did have that extreme alpha-male bullshit going on. So maybe he was.
Pity I wouldn't stand for being treated like a piece of meat for dogs to chew over.
I'd teach him.
He'd learn.
36
"What's your fucking damage, D'Ath?" I spat at him, furious as I tugged my bra back into place and tried to calm my raging hormones. Apparently I wasn't getting any D in my V just yet. Fucking cunt-blocker.
"My damage?" he roared, his face a scary shade of red that suggested he really might blow his top any second now. His own mask was pushed up to his hair, like mine, but it still gave him a demonic sort of appearance with the full moon behind him. "You want to know what my fucking damage is, Danvers?"
He was next-level pissed, and I was growing more suspicious that this wasn't about me making out with Kody.
"Arch," Steele called out, reaching us. "Calm down. We can discuss this at home."