King of Pride (Kings of Sin #2) by Ana Huang

“To stepping out of comfort zones.”

We tipped our heads back and downed the drinks at the same time. The fiery burn of bourbon scorched its way into my stomach. It tasted awful, but the resulting buzz was worth temporarily murdering my taste buds.

“Jesus.” Kai grimaced. “What did they put in this? Battery acid?”

“Don’t ask. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.” I dragged him back to the dance floor.

He rubbed his free hand over his face. “You’re going to be the death of me one day.”

I beamed, touched by the idea that I was powerful enough to cause someone’s death. Figuratively, not literally. I enjoyed reading about murder, not committing it.

It took several songs and shots, but Kai eventually relaxed enough to act like a normal person instead of a disapproving headmaster at a school dance.

I laughed with delight when he spun me out, then pulled me back in. He was actually a pretty good dancer once he removed the stick from his ass.

“Not bad.”

“Not bad?” He arched a mock offended brow. “I won my university’s annual dance competition four years in a row. Show some respect.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course you did.”

His talent was being talented. It was extremely annoying, but I found it hard to hold onto my anger when he was smiling down at me with that boyish gleam in his eyes.

He’d always been beautiful, with his elegant planes and chiseled lines, but tonight he looked different. More real, like he’d shed enough layers for his true self to peek through.

The music slowed, taking on a sultry, hypnotic beat. Our bodies shifted to match, swaying with a sensual rhythm that had my pulse throbbing in my ears. For the second time that night, our smiles faded as a familiar awareness crept between us.

The lights glinted off his glasses, flashing blue, then green, then red and blue again. His sweat-dampened shirt clung to his broad shoulders, and a lock of thick, dark hair fell over his eye, tousled by an hour of dancing. I had the sudden urge to brush it back from his forehead.

My pulse pounded harder, overpowering the music.

The boyish gleam in Kai’s eyes was gone. All the banked heat and desire we shouldn’t acknowledge blazed in its stead.

Shouldn’t. What a strange word, considering I couldn’t think of a single reason why we shouldn’t do anything. In fact, I couldn’t think much at all.

A woozy headiness filled me when his hand slid up my back and around my neck. His head dipped, and my chin tilted up like a flower leaning toward the sun.

Our breaths mingled for a single, breathless moment.

Then his mouth was on mine, and my mind emptied completely. Nothing else existed except this. The heat, the pleasure, the firm pressure of his lips and soft glide of his tongue against mine.

My fingers slid into his hair while I tipped my head back further, giving him as much access as possible. He tasted like whiskey and mint and, God, him. Something so delicious and indescribable I wanted to drown in it.

A moan slipped from my mouth to his. He answered with a tortured groan of his own, his hands tightening around my hip and nape in a way that had heat kindling between my thighs.

My first kiss in two years. It should’ve felt strange or at least a little uncomfortable, but it didn’t. Instead, it felt completely, perfectly right.

My bones liquefied. If he hadn’t been holding me up, I would’ve melted right there in the middle of the dance floor.

There was no denying it. Rigid, proper Kai Young, of the posh accent and boring hobbies, was an incredible kisser.

I would’ve been happy staying in that dark, sweaty basement forever, but an explosion of noise tore us from our bubble with the subtlety of a sledgehammer-wielding giant.

We startled apart as the music segued from smooth R&B to upbeat pop rock.

Kai and I stared at each other, our chests heaving. The change in tempo killed the haze clouding my brain, and a slow horror seeped into my consciousness when I realized what just happened.

“We should—”

“It’s late—”

Our words stumbled over each other, lost beneath the frenetic beats. It didn’t matter. I knew what he wanted to say because the same words echoed through my head.

What have we done?





CHAPTER 15


Isabella



I’d kissed Kai.

Boring, buttoned-up Kai. Always overhearing me say the most inappropriate things Kai. Member of the Valhalla Club Kai. And I’d liked it.

The world had truly turned upside down.

I wiped the counter, my movements slow and distracted as memories from Saturday night unwound through me like an invisible spool of silk. Kai and I had left the club after grabbing our coats and canvases and taken separate cabs home without saying a word. Four days had passed since then, but my mind couldn’t stop replaying our kiss.

It wasn’t just the physical act itself. It was the way I’d felt, like being in Kai’s arms was the safest place I could be. I’d kissed plenty of guys before, but ours was the only one that clicked.

Either that, or I’d been really, really drunk.

I sighed and glanced around the empty room. It was the day before Thanksgiving, which meant the club was a dead zone. Usually, I loved this shift because I got paid for little to no work, but the silence was driving me crazy.

Thirty more minutes. Then I could take my laptop to my favorite café and write. I hadn’t forgotten about the February deadline, but I’d been so distracted I hadn’t had time to dwell on it.