Better when He's Bold

I got to the hotel and reluctantly handed over the keys to the Stingray. I didn’t like to let my car out of my sight after the untimely demise of my Stang. I followed Brysen up to the room and grunted in surprise when she jumped me as soon as the door shut behind us. I put a hand under her ass and she climbed up into my arms and started to kiss me all over my face.

“You’re so hot.”

I laughed and walked with her to the bed. I tugged her hands out of my hair and kissed the center of each of her palms. I was happy that doing right by her made her so happy.

“You still want to be the queen of a kingdom that’s a long shot?”

She giggled and narrowed her eyes at me when I shifted my weight so I could dig into my front pocket. I pulled out the cheap little ring I had found in the gift shop when I had been wandering around talking to Nassir about my plan this morning. It was a little gold crown, tacky and completely ridiculous, but she went silent when I slid it onto her ring finger and told her: “One day I’ll buy you a real crown and you’ll wear it forever.”

She looked at the ring, and then at me, and I saw her eyes get glassy and shiny.

“That’s your boldest move yet, handsome.”

It didn’t feel bold, it just felt right. She felt right—the perfect match to both sides of me—the bored, rich kid from the Hill and the bookie making the city run with blood and illegal money.

“I’m at my best when I’m being bold.” I kissed her pulse where it was thundering under the delicate skin of her wrist, and she settled more fully onto my lap, which had things in my pants getting their own ideas about how we should spend the rest of the weekend.

“That is most definitely true. You know that as long as the kingdom is where you’re at, whatever that looks like is where I want to be, Race. I don’t think it’s a long shot; I think it’s pretty even odds with you, Bax, Titus, and even Nassir there to fight for it.”

I wasn’t sure about that. The outside threat was still an unknown. Bax and I both had plenty to lose now, Titus would always let the lines and regulations of the law confine what he was willing to do, and Nassir was a survivor, so I wasn’t sure that if things started to turn, how committed he was to fighting the good fight. Only time would tell who came out on top, but for now, Brysen was working my shirt up over my head and looking at that little plastic ring like I really had given her a piece of Midas’s treasure. This was where I wanted to be, who I wanted to be, and the Point would just have to wait her turn to take any more of my soul.

The End