Cruel Temptation (Underground Kings 1)

“I’m serious Jaxon.”

“The only way out of here is the way we came baby. Watch me,” he advised, and he slid down the rope, kicking off the stone every few feet until he landed on the ground. “Your turn!”

“I’m going to kill him,” I mumbled as I bent down to gather the rope in my hands. It was dirty with mud, and a few places looked weak on it. I didn’t even want to get started on the branch. The thing looked like it was about to snap in half, and when it did, I bet my neck would snap just the same. “Yep, I’m going to throw him off this damn ledge,” I said to myself.

“What did you say?” he shouted up at me.

“Nothing, sweetie!” I said with an edge to my voice only I could catch. Why didn’t I think about having to climb down? “Because he made your mind numb with the best sex of your life.” I was so angry; I didn’t even think about climbing down. I just huffed and imagined yelling at him in my head. It made the time fly, and before I knew it, my feet were on the ground. I thought nothing of it. I turned around on my heel, and in two stomps, I stopped in front of him. “Next time remind me when I climb something that I’ll have to climb down it. I needed to prepare, and instead, you fucked me senseless, and I forgot where the hell I was at.”

“Baby, you are down. You did it,” he smiled, a sparkle on his white tooth glittering with all the knowledge in the world. Cocky little criminal.

I stared at my feet and tilted my head, confused. I really did climb down.

“Why can’t you fuck me like that, Collin?”

I jerked my head up and really hoped I didn’t hear what I thought I did. “Jaxon—”

“—Yep,” he said.

“Did you hear that? Why haven’t you done that with me?” the lady asked her boyfriend.

I closed my eyes, mortified, wishing I could bury my head in the sand and turn invisible. Invisible would be better.

“Teresa, not everyone likes to have sex in public,” the man argued, and I risked a glance at him as they stopped a few feet away from us. His face turned a few shades of red, but not from embarrassment.

“Well, maybe we should spice things up,” she said.

I felt like the guy was getting backed into a corner. “To be fair, he asked me to marry him up there, and we let our hormones get the best of us. Other than that, it wouldn’t have happened.”

“Yes, it would have,” Jaxon leaned down and whispered in my ear. There was no way the other couple could have heard it.

“Congratulations,” she said, a genuine smile curving her lips, but for some reason, I had the feeling I only made matters worse for the guy.

It was time we got out of there.

“Well, we have to be going. Enjoy the view.” The words were lame, but I needed to get the hell out of there. Those people might not have seen us having sex, but they heard us, and I didn’t know which one was worse. I reached behind me and took Jaxon’s hand and started walking. There was only an hour left before it got dark. We needed to hurry.

The trail was up ahead, a dirt road between the trees.

“Why haven’t you asked me to marry you yet? Do you not love me anymore?” the woman cried to her boyfriend.

“Let’s pick up the pace,” Jaxon said, and we quickly jogged to the trail until we were out of their sight. “She was so whiny.”

“That’s not nice. You don’t know their situation. Don’t judge,” I scolded and bumped my shoulder against his arm.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” He tossed his arm around my neck as we enjoyed the quiet path. An owl hooted somewhere near us, and crickets started to sing by rubbing their wings together.

The path opened to the rock quarry, but I was hardly paying attention. My gaze was on my huge diamond ring. I had never seen anything like it before. It had to be over five carats and had two white diamonds on either side of it.

“You like it?” he asked the most stupid question known to man.

“Are you kidding? I love it. I love you,” I said, placing my hand on top of his as it laid just above my breast.

“Good. I’m glad. When I get back from the job, we will get married if you want. I don’t want to wait too long to make you Quinn Steel. It’s been long enough. You need to have my last name,” he said, like a true alpha-male seeking his official stamp.

“You act like you want your name tattooed on me,” I snorted. All I could imagine was telling the tattoo guy I wanted Jaxon’s name in cursive on my left butt cheek, and I’d bet anything Jaxon would punch the guy in the face for having to look at my ass. A woman would have to tattoo me.

“I plan on getting your name. It’s why the only space I have free is the one above my heart,” he said.