The Havoc We Wreak (The Four 3)

After the archery, we took a break before the knife throwing. “I have to say, this is not what I ever imagined doing for my birthday, not even close, but it’s so much fun.” I gulped down the water from my bottle, then wiped my brow with the sleeve of my hoodie, watching as Zayde and Weston compared knives, examining the blades under the bright overhead lights.

“Glad you’re having fun. I’ve been wanting to bring you here for a while now, but y’know, life got in the way.” Caiden tugged me closer. I was sitting on the floor in between his legs, leaning back against him while he leaned on the wall behind us. “And there’s still more to come.”

“You mean the party tomorrow?”

“No, not that. More today.”

“More? What else could there possibly be?” I angled my head to look around at him, and he dropped a kiss on my nose.

“It’s a surprise. You’ll have to wait and see.”

I pouted, trying not to smile. “Don’t I even get a hint?”

“Nope.” He smirked at me. “Your tricks won’t work, so don’t even try them.”

“You’re no fun,” I huffed.

“Oh, but I am. I’m a lot of fun.” His voice was suddenly low and rasping, and I shivered as he slid his hands under my hoodie, under my top, onto my bare skin, while he lowered his head to softly bite my ear.

“Fuck. If you want me to make it through the rest of the afternoon without dragging you off and making you fuck me senseless, you’d better stop that right now.” My words were practically moaned, rather than spoken, thanks to the effect he had on me.

“Really,” he drawled, nipping at my ear again.

“Let’s make a bet!” Cassius’ loud exclamation cut through our private moment, and Caiden released me with a sigh. “Whoever hits furthest from the centre of the target has to do a forfeit.”

“Hang on, I’ve never thrown a knife before. The people who have, have an advantage,” I pointed out.

Cassius pursed his lips in thought for a moment, frowning, before his expression cleared. “Okay. Everyone who’s thrown a knife before has to throw it with their left hand, or with their eyes closed if they’re good at throwing with both hands.” He raised his voice, pointing first at Caiden, then at Zayde. “That’s you two. Eyes closed. Everyone okay with that?”

“Sounds a lot fairer to me than your original idea. I’m ready!”

When it was my turn, I stepped up, holding the knife in my hand, trying to remember Caiden’s basic instructions. “Ooh, this reminds me of playing darts. Hey, West?” I turned to him, and he gave me a blinding grin.

“Yeah, I guess it’s kind of like that. You have to get the hang of balancing the knives, though.”

I did not have a natural talent for throwing knives, it turned out. The boys were all pretty good, Zayde by far and away the best, hitting the target with unerring accuracy every time. Lena was pretty good, too. When I asked her if she’d done it before, she told me she’d had practice with weapons as part of her martial arts training.

Caiden was the last to go, and we’d definitely saved the best for last, in my completely biased opinion. My boyfriend throwing knives was sexy as fuck. He’d taken off his hoodie, and he was in one of his endless supply of tight black T-shirts that highlighted his muscles. He held a knife in each hand, and he was spinning them on his fingers in front of him, basically showing off, but it left me panting. A quick glance at Kinslee and Lena told me they were just as entranced with my boyfriend. Not that I could blame them, at all.

“Damn, girl, your boyfriend is hot,” Kinslee murmured to me, and Lena nodded in agreement.

“He’s always loved these,” Weston told me, suddenly close to my ear, making me jump. I nodded distractedly, unable to tear my eyes from Caiden. As I watched, he threw them both in quick succession, and they embedded themselves in the target.

“Yes!” he shouted, fist pumping the air with a victorious grin, and I raced over to him, launching myself at him. He staggered backwards, unprepared, but caught me.

“What’s—”

I cut off his words with a kiss, and he immediately responded, sliding his tongue into my mouth, sending a throbbing need straight to my core.

When I eventually pulled away, breathless, he lowered me to the ground, keeping his arms around me. “Wanna tell me what that was all about? Not that I’m complaining.” His eyes were sparkling, and that sexy smirk was back on his lips. Yeah, he knew exactly why I’d jumped on him.

“I think you know.” I rolled my eyes, but my voice came out all breathy. “And you’d better be prepared to make up for torturing me later.”

His smirk widened into a grin. “I’m prepared. The question is, are you?”

After that, my concentration was non-existent, and I lost the bet. Cassius took pity on me, as it was my birthday, and since we hadn’t agreed on a forfeit, he said my punishment would be to do a shot of his choice at my party. Shots at a birthday celebration? I wasn’t about to argue with that—it didn’t sound much like a punishment to me.

We decided to call it a day after the knife throwing, although Zayde and Weston both suggested having a go on the shooting range. At this point it was getting late in the day, and Caiden kept insisting we needed to get back to the house to get ready for the final part of my birthday.