Caging Kat by Kayleigh Jamison Page B

smile.  His lips were full and appeared to be deceptively soft. Oh, baby, what that mouth would look like between my thighs…
    “If you win?  Anything you like.”  He swept his arms in a wide circle.  “Whatever your heart desires.”
    She snorted.  “Suppose what I want is a PhD, a job, and a little house with a white picket fence?”
    He snapped his fingers.  “Done.”
    This time she rolled her eyes as she snorted.  “And if you win?  What’s your prize?”
    She swore his eyes flashed red.  “You.”
    Oh, it goddamn figures .  “So I win, I get everything I desire.  You win, you get a one night stand?”  She was rolling her eyes again. 
    “I didn’t say one night stand, sweetness.  I was thinking something more permanent than that.”
    “Marriage?”  I don’t care if you are Mr. GQ, I like my men fast, hard, and gone by sunrise.
    Mr. GQ laughed.  He threw back his head and roared, actually, golden curls shivering in the sconced light of the ballroom. 
    Kat scowled at him.  She didn’t like being laughed at.  “Alright then, what?  Lock me in a cage in your bedroom as your own personal sex slave?”
    “My temple, actually.  But close enough.”
    “Oh , this is so fucking ridiculous,” she sighed and turned to walk away again.
    “It might be,” he said, “or it might get you everything you’ve ever wanted.  Come on, Kaitlin, after years of ignoring my invitation, are you really going to walk away without hearing me out?”
    She swore and whirled around.  He had to be someone from her past.  High school, maybe?  “So you know my name.  Congratulations, Mr. GQ.”
    “The name’s Ares,” he corrected.
    An awkward silence fell between them as they studied each other.  Honestly, she did want to stay and hear him out.  Wasn’t like she had anything better to do.  If she did leave early, she’d just go back to her shitty hotel room, eat some shitty Chinese take-out, and watch some shitty horror movie on HBO.  But her stubborn streak wouldn’t let her surrender.  No way in hell.
    “The boat doesn’t leave for at least two hours anyway, sweetness,” he supplied.  “What’s the harm in listening?”
    “Fine, I’ll dance with you, and you can tell me all about this little wager,” she offered, suddenly feeling restless.  He was watching her too closely.  Like he really did have plans to put her on display in a cage.  Like he’d be more than willing to show her exactly what his mouth would look like on her body.
    His lips curled into a half smile.  “I don’t dance, sweetness.”
    “Then why the hell did you ask me to?”
    He shrugged, and the thick muscles of his biceps rippled.  “It was a line.”  He watched her gaze travel down his arms, and flexed them for her with an arrogant smirk.
    “Oooh, is this the part where you regale me with your physical attributes?”
    “Maybe.”
    “Tell me, what do you have that the zucchini in my fridge doesn’t, pal?”
    His eyes flashed that odd crimson shade again before he leaned in close to her ear.  “Natural lubrication.”
    He had a point there.  A good one, actually.  Petroleum jelly was expensive stuff.  Her nipples tightened traitorously, proving that no matter what her mind said, her body was indeed interested in his attributes.  She hoped he hadn’t noticed. 
    He chuckled, those strange, ever-changing eyes sweeping along her curves.  Oh yea, he’d noticed.
    “So what’s this challenge, Mr. GQ?”  She changed the subject. 
    “Somewhere in the house is a diamond.  You’re going to steal it.”
    “Uhm…” she said, nodding towards the center of the room where at least three dozen couples were dancing, each woman sporting large quantities of expensive jewelry. 
    He pressed a finger to her lips.  “Not just any diamond, sweetness.  The Areopagus Diamond.” 
    Kat couldn’t help it.  Her jaw dropped.  “You lie,” she whispered.  The Areopagus Diamond was a blood red stone