AllFreeNovel
Share Us
IMANI
After undoing my restraints, Kai placed the rope back into one of his drawers, handed me a glass of water, and lay beside me, his hands all over my body again, but this time, they weren’t rough and demanding.
This time, he was soft and gentle and—dare I say—loving.
“Drink that, then lie down with me,” he said.
I took a big gulp to wet my dry throat and placed the cup on the side table, lying back in the bed and in his arms. Gently, he rubbed my arms where the ropes had been, massaging the skin as if he hadn’t been punishing me moments ago, his curly hair covering his forehead and his dark eyes drifting across my face.
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
This was strange. After I fucked João, he acted like it hadn’t happened. And Landon didn’t really cuddle like this. Never once had a guy done this to me, and I was kinda, sorta weirded out and really into it at the same time.
“Making sure you’re okay,” he said, pushing some hair off my face with his finger.
“Really?” I asked, my heart pounding and butterflies filling my stomach.
I didn’t know what it was, but Kai always made me feel a certain kind of way. He might not be as open about his feelings like Landon, but he cared. So much.
“Yes, really, Imani,” Kai said. “I’m not going to walk out on you like João does.”
“I just …” I smiled, my cheeks flushing. “I really like this.”
He moved closer to me and pulled me toward his chest, drawing his fingers down my lips and smiling so softly. “Before you, I’ve never been this close to someone, especially not this intimate.”
I inhaled his soothing scent and relaxed in his arms. “Really?”
“But when Landon mentioned that you were a freak, I couldn’t stop myself from wanting to tie you to my bedposts and make those pretty brown eyes of yours teary,” he murmured against my skin.
My lips curled into a smile, and I playfully shoved him away. “Ugh, way to ruin the moment,” I teased, the tension in the air finally simmering down. Around us, the world sounded so quiet, but my mind was so loud that it was deafening. So, I finally said, “Why didn’t you tell Landon that I was there?”
“Because …” Kai chuckled, the soothing sound drifting through my ears. “I wanted you to myself for tonight.”
After a few more quiet moments of relaxation, I sat up and glanced around his bedroom. “I want to explore your place. I’ve seen Landon’s basement and João’s house. Now, it’s your turn. I want to see how the quiet, nerdy third of Poison lives every day after school.”
Tugging on his oversize shirt, I padded through his small house. While Kai didn’t live in the best neighborhood, he had fixed up his basement with as much technology as he could get. One room was completely covered in computer and TV monitors, which each ran the latest news, articles about Redwood, and code that looked too complicated to figure out.
I walked around the room in amazement, drawing my fingers across the desk he must’ve sat in to devise all his plans. Landon might’ve been the brawn behind Poison, and João might’ve been their fearless businessman leader, but Kai was the brains.
“Do you code?” I asked, sitting down in his chair and staring at the lit-up keyboard.
“A bit,” he said from the corner of the room, intently watching me.
“This is so cool,” I whispered. “I didn’t expect that you’d have something like this.”
But, honestly, I should’ve. Kai always had a laptop, phone, or tablet nearly everywhere that he went. I should’ve expected that his home was filled with the latest technology, aimed to bring Redwood to its knees.
Twirling around in the swivel chair, I caught sight of a closed door. Unlike the rest of the finished cellar, this door had an intricate lock on it that I doubted anyone but Kai would be able to get into, even with the highest lock-picking skills.
“What’s in here?” I asked, jumping up and skipping to the door.
Kai stuffed his hands into his pockets, tensed, and hurried to pull me away. “Nothing.”
“Oh, come on,” I said, playfully shoving him. “What is it?”
“You won’t like it if I show you, so it’s better if you don’t see it.”
“You just tied me to the bed and showed me your dark side. I think that I can take it,” I said, arching my brow. “But if it’s a shrine to João, I swear I’m leaving this place and never looking back.”
