“But you’re all bruised,” I flirted. “I could break you.” I batted my lashes and peeked up at him. Despite the many leafs we’d turned, I knew he still craved the chase. Even more, I wanted to be his prey.

“Lift your arms and grip the pole.”

My arms trembled as I obeyed. His eyes never left mine even when he reached for the button of my shorts. I gasped and gripped the pole tighter when I felt his finger caress the sensitive skin of my waist. With my arms stretched over my head, my thin t-shirt rose, exposing me for his torment.

“You have the softest skin.”

God, his voice was like velvet. So deep and smooth. He slid his hand inside my shorts, along my hips, and pushed my shorts and panties down until I was completely bare from the waist down.

“Someone could see.”

“Let them.” He slid down to his knees and lifted my leg over his shoulder. I was already threading my fingers through his hair. I wanted to close my eyes and let go but couldn’t resist the urge to watch him.

“Kennedy could see.” Shut up! Shut up!

He returned my hand to the pole with a stern look. “They won’t let her back here.”

“How do you know?”

“Because we didn’t follow them in. They’ll know.”

“And does that turn you on?” I was joking, of course, but anything to get a rise out of him.

“You turn me on. Now shut up.”

No, I wanted to keep him talking. The feel of his breath blowing across my skin was almost as good as the promise of his tongue. I needed him to devour me.

And devour me he did.

Right against the basketball pole, he sucked me into his mouth with a hungry passion that could have been witnessed by anyone. The chance of getting caught with his tongue deep in my pussy only made me hotter. More daring. I gasped and groaned and cried his name without care of who might hear.

“Keiran, please,” I begged when I couldn’t take him fucking me anymore.

His only answer was a groan and an assault on my clit that sent me over the edge and into screaming ecstasy. My leg weakened and shook, so he guided both of my legs around his neck as I came in his mouth and clung to the pole. His tongue continued to lap at my pulsing heat until my shaking subsided.

“Fuck me,” I demanded through harsh breaths. “Fuck me now.”

He didn’t utter a word as he ripped down his shorts, lifted me up so my legs rested in the crook of his arms, and plunged inside me unprotected. “Goddamn,” he growled.

After he had fucked me hard enough to shake the pole seated firmly in the ground, we redressed and entered the house, but not before Keiran took one last opportunity to grope me. They were all back in the living room pretending not to know what we had just done. Kennedy was the first to spot us. She jumped up from playing with her ninja turtles and wrapped her arms around my legs.

“Hi, Auntie Lake.”

“Hi, sweetie.”

“Wanna play turtles?”

“Of course, I do.” I followed her to her play area. In my peripheral, I saw Keiran take a seat where he could watch me unobstructed. I think it was a habit he picked up from when he tormented me. Ironically, it no longer felt threatening and, in turn, made me feel safe. “Can I be Mikey?”

“No, this one.” She held up the turtle with the blue bandana and explained the rules in a way only a four-year-old could.

We spent the rest of the afternoon taking turns playing ninja turtles with Ken, who managed to hang for a few hours before she needed another nap.

Di even showed up out of the blue.

Sheldon had reluctantly begun to accept her, but there was still obvious tension. No one had ever been able to figure out her problem with Di. I wasn’t sure Sheldon even knew. Di was incredibly beautiful and desirable when she wasn’t snarky.

For the rest of the day, we felt the need to be together, so we ordered pizza and wings and made it a movie night, but hanging out soon turned into a strategy meeting for survival.

“We still don’t know who kidnapped Kennedy and then killed John.”

“What are you talking about? It was that crazy whack job. Sorry, Di.”

“None taken.” When Keenan turned his attention away, she threw a chicken wing and hit him in the head.

“It wasn’t Esmerelda. I questioned her about it when we were taken. If she didn’t take the opportunity to brag about it to two people she was about to kill, she couldn’t have done it. She only said she wished she had because then Kennedy wouldn’t be alive, and I would be suffering much more than physical pain before I died.”