Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 115525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
“Mike!” Rayne raised his voice, and Mike looked like he wanted to disappear.
Manny pointed toward the patio doors. “I’m just gonna take Frank out back and show him the Kadupul.”
Mike was gritting his teeth at Manny as he walked by them, chuckling under his breath. “Somebody’s in trouble.”
“Asshole,” Mike muttered.
Rayne wasn’t going to let Mike put this on his friend. He tapped him hard on his shoulder to get his attention. “What in the hell are they talking about, rape?”
“Calm down.” Mike tried to reach for him, but Rayne roughly knocked his hands away.
Rayne scowled harder. “Explain, I said.” He saw a spark of titillation flare in Mike’s dark eyes at the tone of his voice as he took a determined step forward, but Rayne refused to back down.
“Are you… mad at me?” Mike narrowed his eyes as he pressed in closer, one side of his mouth tilting upward like he’d won some forbidden prize.
Rayne’s exasperation was fleeting with Mike standing so close to him and glaring down at him in a way that made coldness seep up his spine, but he still didn’t ease up. “I’m waiting.”
Mike pulled Rayne flush to his hard body but refused to bend to the distraction. “And if I don’t explain?” Mike teased sensually.
Rayne gripped Mike’s broad shoulders, unsure if he wanted to pull him closer or push him away. “What is Manny doing here?”
“Trying to save my queen.” Mike’s eyes were hooded and trained on Rayne’s mouth, his voice rough.
Rayne was done being toyed with as a low growl emanated from his chest.
Mike leaned in until his mouth was against Rayne’s ear. “The flower you left on the pillow for me this morning.”
Rayne nodded. “What, you didn’t like it?”
“It’s a breathtaking bloom.”
Rayne smiled.
“An extremely rare and priceless, breathtaking bloom. The Kadupul is called the queen of the night because it only blossoms once a year in the peak of the moonlight.”
“What?” Rayne gaped in shock. Mike looked too serious for that to have been a joke. “So I—”
“Raped my beautiful queen.” Mike sucked his teeth. “Yep.”
Rayne gave Mike an incredulous glare. “I was gonna say cut the wrong flower.” There was so much out there to choose from, how was he supposed to know what was and wasn’t priceless?
Before Rayne could properly apologize and explain that he had no clue and would never rape a queen on purpose, Mike surged forward and slammed his lips against his. He grunted as the breath rushed out of him while Mike tried to punish him with his mouth. He opened and took the delicious reprimand. By the time Mike released him, Rayne was flushed and breathless, his dick trying to explode without being touched.
“Believe me, I’m gonna make you pay for it later.” Mike’s salacious threat set a fire inside him so hot that it was almost overwhelming as Mike walked down the rest of the stairs and out the back door, leaving Rayne a steaming, panting mess.
Chapter Forty-four
Rayne
Rayne’s mouth twitched as Mike came up behind him at the sink and kissed the back of his neck. “Are you ready to apologize and eat a little crow?”
“Look. I ate your damn brick of white mold. That should be enough.”
Rayne turned around and draped his soapy hands over Mike’s shoulders. “They’re called tofu crumbles, and they’re not made of mold.”
“If you say so.” Mike leaned forward for a kiss, but Rayne dodged his effort.
Rayne wasn’t letting him off that easily. Mike had come into the kitchen multiple times and teased him mercilessly about the organic ingredients he’d prepped for his pizza toppings. Then Mike went into the living room and sprawled out on the couch half-naked and alternated between yelling at a baseball game and warning Rayne that he was going to order a real pizza if his healthy one tasted like shit. That’s what he’d literally said. But Mike had loved it, and now Rayne was going to make him admit it. “You ate that pizza so fast I barely got a second slice.”
“If I say your moldy pizza was good, will you let me kiss you?”
“Maybe,” Rayne laughed, his chest feeling light. Mike had been in a playful, flirtatious mood ever since his horticulturist nerd treated his queen plant and told him it’d be fine and that there would definitely be more blooms. Since then, the inner teenager in Mike was driving Rayne crazy.
“All right then.” Mike lifted Rayne like he weighed nothing and set his ass on the edge of the sink. He wrapped his legs around Mike’s waist and locked his ankles, waiting for his apology with a smug grin.
Mike ran his strong hands up Rayne’s back and into his hair. He tugged until Rayne’s neck was exposed, and Mike’s woodsy, wild essence flooded his senses, causing him to lose interest in an apology. Mike licked a long, hot trail up his throat, stopping and nipping at his jaw with his teeth. Those damn ebony eyes locked onto his with a heat that ignited him. Mike kissed him deeply, his hands roaming lower and throwing Rayne off course. But he had other plans.