“If you and I are going to co-exist in the same house,” Zeph starts, his hands braced against the kitchen counter as Caesar leans against the island, one foot crossed over another as though he hasn’t got a care in the world. “Then we need to establish some boundaries.”
Caesar scoffs, his gaze shifting to mine for just a moment before lowering to my shirt and smirking, sending a wave ofpride shooting through me. I knew he’d like myI might be a handful, but so is this assshirt, but damn. I wasn’t expecting his approval to send shockwaves through me like this.
Without skipping a beat, his gaze returns to his son. “If you insist on fucking this woman across every surface my house has to offer, then that’s your business. I won’t stand in your way. In fact, I encourage it. However, if you wish to spread her out like a buffet across my table, then that’s on you.”
Zeph stares at his father, confusion dancing in his dark eyes. “How the hell is that on me?”
“You know the rules of a buffet, Zephyr. It’s all you can eat. Consider yourself lucky that I turned it into a learning experience and allowed you to finish your meal instead of taking over completely. God knows she needed me to.”
I choke back a laugh and can’t help the stupid grin that pulls across my face. “I agree,” I tell Zeph, watching as his eyes widen and his head swivels toward me in shock.
“The fuck?”
“He’s right. That’s the rule of a buffet,” I say. “It’s all you can eat. Besides, Iwasspread out onhisdining table. You can hardly blame the man for assuming it was a free for all. Perhaps a thank you is in order. After all, he certainly taught you some valuable tricks of the trade.”
Zeph shakes his head, a bewildered expression crossing his face. “What the fuck is happening right now?”
Caesar looks back at me. “I take it from your fervent performance that my son took my notes under advisement?”
A wide grin stretches across my lips, and I can all but feel the sparkles dancing in my eyes. “Oh, he more than took them under advisement.”
Pride swirls in Caesar’s eyes, and I’m momentarily hypnotized when Zeph cuts in, reminding me that he’s here and jumping his father in his presence probably isn’t in my best interest. “Uh,again. What the fuck? I’ll have you assholes know that I am more than equipped to get a woman off without my father’s input.”
“Could have fooled me,” Caesar teases.
Zeph gapes at his father before looking at me for help, and I reluctantly give in. “Okay, okay,” I say, letting out a heavy breath. “You’re right. I shouldn’t be so mean. Your tongue game is on point, and before your father walked in, you would have absolutely gotten the job done.”
Zeph narrows his gaze as if trying to catch me out. “But?” he prompts.
I shrug my shoulders. “But nothing. You were great. Like a solid B. B plus.”
His eyes bug out of his head, horror flashing in his eyes. “WHAT? A B plus?” he demands. “Just last month I was with this girl who I turned into a super-soaker 3000. She didn’t even know she could do that. We were both fucking shocked. You can’t tell me that’s the work of a B plus.”
I laugh and step into Zeph. “Wow. A B plus turning the girl into the super-soaker 3000. Imagine what an A plus could do to her.”
Zeph gapes at me and shakes his head. “I need a fucking drink,” he says, striding out of the kitchen and toward his father’s private bar, leaving me behind with the very man who has done nothing but occupy my every thought.
I watch after Zeph, and as he disappears out of sight, I can’t help but wonder if my teasing comments might have crossed a line. “Do you think I took it too far?” I ask Caesar as he watches me with a deep curiosity.
“No, hellcat,” he says, pushing off the island counter and striding toward me. He steps right in front of me, his big body instantly crowding me and sending my nervous system into meltdown. My body buzzes with electricity, and when he lifts his hand and curls it around the back of my neck, my knees weaken.I have no choice but to brace my hand against his strong chest. “He can more than handle it. However, I am sure you will make it up to him.”
“Oh, I intend to,” I tell him, already planning a repeat performance of Zeph’s favorite activities, this time undisturbed by his delicious father. After all, I wouldn’t dream of knocking back his ego a third time in the same night. He needs a moment to lick his wounds first.
“Good,” Caesar rumbles. “Then I take it you won’t be coming down here in the middle of the night in nothing but a thong and my son’s shirt, pretending you’re hungry, but really hoping to seduce me instead.”
My jaw drops. “I really was hungry.”
His hand shifts from the back of my neck to the front and gently squeezes as his hypnotic stare holds me captive and sends me into overdrive. “You’re a terrible liar, Tilly Bardot. You came prancing down those stairs with the hopes to fuck me, didn’t you? You came looking for me, and if I wasn’t in the living room, you would have scoured every inch of my home until you found me. Isn’t that right?”
He squeezes my throat just a little, and I suck in a gasp, heat flooding my core and I nod. There’s no point denying it. He knows it just as clearly as I do. “Don’t act as though you hadn’t been waiting for me all night too. I might have been thirsty for it. But so were you.”
Caesar watches me just a moment longer, that intense stare eating me alive, and if he doesn’t stop soon, then surely I’m going to blow our little secret vow right out of the water because how the hell am I supposed to keep myself from falling in love with a man who looks at me like this?
“Meet me at Vixen tomorrow night,” he finally says. “10 p.m.”
“You really think that’s a good idea?”
“Getting to fuck you without limitations? Without the risk of my son walking in? Where I get to have you any way I want and destroy that sweet little cunt over and over again? Yes, hellcat. I think it’s a fan-fucking-tastic idea.”
