Page 9 of His Fate
His eyes twinkle in amusement before he lowers his head as if to bow. "Kai."
Nodding, I try to remember to breathe. "Well, thank you, Kai, for taking care of my hand, however unorthodox as it may have been."
His eyes gleam and Kai gives me another barely there smile before he nods then motions to the door.
We return to the bar, Kai at the end with the three other men who seem to scold him, me to the cupboard briefly to pull on a pair of gloves.
I try, and fail, to shake the gigantic butterflies from my stomach then walk toward the wall of leather and muscle to actually do my job.
"So… what can I get for you boys tonight?"
"Boys?" The one at the far right scoffs in the same accent as Kai. "We haven't been called boys since before you were a gleam in your father's eye."
He's hot. Hell, they're all hot, but this one knows it. His T-shirt has a low v-neck collar and is worn to the point of being see through. His eyes and hair are almost the same color as Kai's but instead of red, his shaggy locks are tinted purple and his irises are the same violet color with flecks of black around his also-diamond-shaped pupils.
He smirks when I don't immediately respond so I give him a sickeningly sweet smile. "Please forgive my lapse in judgment. Clearly boy was the wrong term when referring to a group such as this."
His smirk grows and just when he thinks I've submitted to him I add, "It's obvious they are men and you're just too big for your britches."
His eyes go wide as the one to the left of Kai snorts and the one farthest left lifts a brow at me. Kai's gorgeous eyes fill with amusement but he doesn't smile. Instead he just nods toward the one that's gaping at me.
"Milos," he says in a tone too gravely to be legal. Kai nods to his left, "Henrich and Andrej."
I look over Henrich, his shorter hair has thin blue highlights and is styled like he's a greaser from the fifties, his eyes a darker navy with black dotting his irises. He nods and I shift my gaze to Andrej, the short military cut all black, so black it's almost like ink and his eyes are the same color—all black with the thinnest, almost imperceptible ring of gold around the diamond pupil.
They look so similar yet so uniquely different and it makes me really fucking curious about wherever it is that they're from. And pretty sure they're related in some serious way.
Kai nods as if he heard me. "My brothers."
"Ah," I say, not the least bit weirded out by the way he pretty much read my thoughts. "Well, I'm Josephine Timmons, but you can call me Posey and I'll be taking care of you four this evening."
In unison, the four brothers bow and my stupid heart flutters in my chest.
Kai's eyes connect with mine immediately as he lifts his head and I want so badly to brush back the hair that's fallen in front of his face. He does it for me though, pushes a big hand back through those shiny strands and barely arches a brow.
I swear it's like we're communicating without even speaking.
And as if things couldn't get any weirder after a stranger licked my cut and started a secret language only we know, I feel compelled to say, "Are you sitting in order by age?"
They nod, in unison, and I look from Andrej to Milos.
"Do you always line up like that or is tonight a special occasion?"
Henrich smiles brightly. "I like her, Kai. She's entertaining."
Kai frowns but my silly heart warms because it almost felt like he made that statement as if they'd been talking about me before and only came here in search of me. Which is nuts.
"We have a tendency to naturally gravitate toward birth order," Henrich adds. "It's a biological defense mechanism embedded in our genetics from the beginning of our kind. The eldest," he nods toward Andrej who is scowling at him, "always protects the youngest." He nods toward Milos who is donning a dopey grin.
I consider his words for a minute then shrug. "Makes sense. I wouldn't know first hand since I'm an only child but I can see it." Then I frown "Your kind?"
Henrich pales a bit while Kai shakes his head; Andrej scowls impossibly harder and Milos blurts, "Slovakian. Henrich simply meant that we are Slovakian and our ancestors have always been fiercely protective, thus passing it down to us."
"Right." A skeptical brow lifts and I smile. "I think you're a tad full of shit but I'll let it slide. That does explain the sexy accents though."
They all seem to relax but Kai's eyes darken, though I'm not entirely sure why.
"So what'll it be—"
