“Long story...” Thalia deflects, pouring two shots and hands one to me before she picks a card. “Choose a person to strip down to their accessories. If they refuse, you drink. If they agree, everyone drinks.” She scans the room, wondering who’s most likely to lose their clothes.
We’re all suddenly very interested in one another, the floor, ceiling and the dog, avoiding Thalia’s scrutinizing gaze as she’s making her mind up who’ll flash his dick. She sure won’t pick Lucy, who’s almost see-through, hiding behind Logan’s back.
And then, without warning, Thalia yanks her top off with a quiet huff. Boobs the size of my fucking head spill out of their confinement, bouncing proudly. The pink areolas and candy-hard nipples drive me wild in an instant.
I’m hot.
Feverish.
Hard.
My head is fucking spinning.
It takes me a split second to understand what’s about to go down when she hooks her thumbs into the waistband of her jeans. Next thing I know, she’s in my arms.
How I jolted to my feet, took five steps, and pulled her flush against me will forever remain a mystery. I hold her pinned to my chest, shielding the hottest body I ever glimpsed with my own, making sure no one can take another peek, or I’ll knock everyone the fuck out.
“You’re crazy, Thalia,” I rasp, my cock twitching when I let myself feel her bare breasts pressing against me.
A millimeter.
That’s all.
One millimeter of my t-shirt’s fabric separates my skin from hers, and the realization has my stomach twisting like a wrung-out rag. “You win. We all drink. You were supposed to pick someone, not strip.”
“I picked me. None of you has the balls to do it, and this game is about getting everyone drunk.”
Shawn stops beside us, holding Thalia’s t-shirt in hand, then pulls it over her head. I take over, eyes focused on hers when she pushes her hands into the sleeves. For a reason I can’t understand, sliding that scrap of material down her body, the tips of my fingers caressing her sides, is the most erotic thing I’ve ever done to a woman.
“You Americans are such prudes.” She chuckles, setting the shot glasses in line to fill them.
Every time I blink, the clip of her boobs bouncing happily plays at the back of my eyelids like some porno movie screening, worsening the hard cock situation in my pants. I manage to get it under control during the next few rounds while we all get progressively drunker.
Lucy nears her cut-off time, giggling and slurring her words. She suddenly remembers about taking black clothes off and strips out of her skirt seven rounds too late.
“Pick two people,” Jack begins. “Both need to say or do something they think will convince the other to agree to anything. No-holds-barred. Refuse, and you drink. Succeed, and everyone drinks.” He glances around the room, trying to decide who to pick. “Nico and Thalia.”
Muscles in my shoulders and neck tense when they rise to their feet in sync. Neither is prone to losing or giving up. They’ll see through whatever shit they think will get the other one hot and bothered.
“You want to start?” Nico asks. My thoughts halt as all six-three of him towers above her. “Or should I?”
“Let me.” Her face and posture turn helpless. Clueless. She’s a good actress but a shitty judge of character. Nico likes his women confident. Overly confident, even. Cocky. Catty.
The room falls silent, save for the quiet music seeping from the sound system. “Temptation” by WYR GEMI fills the room, uninterrupted for what feels like a week while Thalia lifts her hand to Nico’s bare stomach, feigning uncertainty.
She traces his muscles, the touch featherlight as she inches closer, craning her head to meet his eyes. Hers are big, doe-like. There’s too much intimacy in her touch for Nico’s liking. Too much caution. She ghosts her fingers higher, over his shoulder to the crook of his neck, and weaves them in the hair at the back of his head, gently caressing his scalp.
Nico’s tense shoulders sag. Eyes hood over.
That’s when she slowly rises on her toes as if second-guessing her moves. She brings her lips to hover over his, their kiss a breath away. “Please,” she whispers, grazing her nose across his cheek. “I... I need you.”
What the hell is happening?
Right about now, Nico would bow low enough for his forehead to brush her feet if she told him to.
How the hell did she get in his head like that?
I want to push him away, drag Thalia to my room, and bolt the door, but I’m curious how this will play out. I trust all my brothers, but if I were to point to the one I trust with my life, Nico’s it. He’s got more honor than the rest of us combined, and he’d never break thehands-off rule.