Page 39 of Shai

biceps curled beneath his head as he watched me with obvious amusement in his brown eyes. Shai was a very sexy man if you liked that sort of thing, which apparently, I did. “I was wondering why you’re still here.”

His hand strayed my way, fingers dancing across my thigh and threatening to move closer to my cock. Before I had a chance to decide whether I’d welcome that or not, they were gone, Shai scratching his chest. “Where else would I be?”

“In your own bed.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You would prefer me to treat you like a whore, to fuck and run. Interesting. I’ll bear that in mind in future.”

“No… Yes… I don’t know. You…” I stopped short of admitting that he confused me. It was better to keep that knowledge to myself. I settled for shaking my head instead. “Never mind.”

Shai swung his legs over the side of the bed before standing, unselfconsciously and gloriously naked, his cock suffering from a serious case of morning glory. I averted my gaze. Although considering it had been up my ass, the modesty ship should have well and truly sailed. I was left frowning as Shai strolled out of the room without a word. If his intention had been to make some sort of point, it was definitely made. I had the solitude I’d insinuated I wanted, but it didn’t feel any better than his presence had. It was the perfect example of be careful what you wish for.

The whole day stretched in front of me, a carbon copy of all the days that had gone before it. Maybe I’d earned enough brownie points to ask Shai if I could go outside? Even if his men accompanied me, it would be something. It had been far too long since I’d experienced anything but the slightest breeze through a window.

I lifted my head as the door opened again, Shai entering the room as nonchalantly as he’d left it. He’d donned a pair of jeans without bothering to fasten the button, the bulge of his cock through the fabric making it clear he wasn’t wearing underwear and that his erection hadn’t subsided any. However, it was the fact that he wasn’t alone that snagged my attention. The cobra was draped around his neck just like the first time I’d ever encountered him.

Shai came to a stop at the end of the bed. “You and Nyoko have something in common. She gets tetchy too if I leave her on her own for too long. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to keep you both satisfied.” I suppressed a shudder as he stroked a hand along the length of her body. “I guess we’ll have to find a way for the three of us to spend some time together.”

Fuck that! When would I ever learn to keep my mouth shut? Especially

around Shai, who was an expert at twisting even the smallest comment.

Shai lifted a hand, his fingers crooking in an unmistakable instruction to

come closer. He smirked when I didn’t move. I had no doubt that the expression on my face made it all too clear what I thought about going anywhere near the cobra.

“Come here, Elijah.” I might be able to get away with ignoring him

once, but twice? Keeping my gaze trained on the cobra’s flickering tongue, I shucked the sheet covering me to sit on the edge of the bed. Shai’s gaze immediately dropped to my half hard cock, his lips curling into a smile. “Seems like you have a problem I can help you with.”

I waited there, hardly daring to breathe, a part of me wondering when

I’d become so fucking obedient. McIntyre would have loved to see me follow simple instructions so quickly.

“Lay back.”

Despite my heart hammering in my chest, I did as he’d asked. Although

categorizing it as asking was probably being far too generous. Fingers fastened around my knees, pushing them apart without any preamble. Shai dropped to a crouch in the space he’d created between my thighs, the action bringing the snake even closer.

A cold sweat broke out on my brow, whatever erection I’d been sporting

previously wilting away to nothing. “I can’t…”

Shai lifted his head to meet my gaze, the amusement in his eyes

growing with every glance I threw toward the cobra. “You can’t what? All you need to do is lie there.”

“Yeah, but…”

Shai tutted loudly. “I don’t think he likes you, Nyoko. Maybe he’s

hoping I’ll choose between the two of you. Do you want to tell him that you’ve been around a lot longer than he has, or shall I?”

I lifted a hand that felt as heavy as stone to wave it in the general

vicinity of the snake. “Can we do this without the snake?”

“You know what your problem is, Elijah?” Sensing it was a rhetorical