6. Chapter 6

“C’mon, you two, enough of this cat fighting.” She pitches her voice to be heard. “Let’s take this somewhere private.” She grabs Luo Fei’s arm and he, as she knew he would, grabs Ben’s.

She feels bad for Andy, as getting slapped had not been part of their negotiations, but then neither had kissing Ben and she’s a little conflicted about that. He still got a decent handful of cash for their mutual troubles, though, and he winks at her as she drags her boys off.

Luo Fei trips behind her when it becomes clear to him that she’s not heading for the exit. He’s smart enough to keep his mouth shut about it, though, and starts prancing in his heels as if this is the most exciting game in town. Ben, as always, just follows Luo Fei, although he looks like he’s been stunned senseless.

Good.

It is when she is using the key Andy gave her to unlock the door to a private parlor that Ben really starts trying to escape. Fortunately, she’s a better wrestler than both of them combined and it is easy enough to shove them into the room, slamming the door shut behind her and locking it with a twist of her wrist.

Ben glares at her for one second then collapses onto the suspiciously wide and sturdy settee slung low in the middle of the room, as if his strings have been cut. He tips his head back to stare at the ceiling, and his entire posture radiates frustration and confusion in equal measures.

Luo Fei, on the other hand, is primed and ready now that they are alone. “You set us up!” He hisses.

Ben lifts his head and frowns at her, then looks over at Luo Fei. “What?”

“That Andy person! Touching you! With all of his hands!” He waves his hands around in some kind of frustrated pantomime. “She did it!” Luo Fei is so incandescent with rage that he is almost incoherent, his face flushed under his makeup.

Xiaoman only focuses on the fact that somehow, in the altercation, his lipstick got smeared.

Perhaps it is the tuxedo. Or, maybe, the unconventional atmosphere of the club. It could be Luo Fei looking (mostly) dainty and (a little) meek in his feminine attire, despite his anger. Or Ben, who was genuinely mortified to be ‘discovered’ by them while on a date but even now trusts them both implicitly.

No, she thinks: it is definitely the tuxedo.

She pulls out a handkerchief and walks up to Luo Fei. Grabbing the base of his head to keep him still, she quickly wipes off the lipstick as he sputters in surprise. Tossing the handkerchief aside, she plants her feet wide and pulls him down into a kiss that is as masculine and possessive as she can make it. Luo Fei shudders under her hands and lips, grabs her shoulders for balance, gasps hotly into her mouth. She keeps pushing herself into it, letting her tongue sneak out to trace Luo Fei’s lips, feeling his surprise and desire like salt on her tongue.

She allows the kiss to keep going right up to the point she hears Ben start to stand.

It’s a quick and easy move to toss Luo Fei right into him, sending both men sprawling on the settee with Luo Fei in Ben’s lap. They squawk like chickens, but Ben has wrapped his arms around Luo Fei to keep him from spilling onto the floor. Luo Fei, who has longer legs than Xiaoman gave him credit for before tonight, is sprawled out longwise with the cheongsam hiked up just far enough to hint at the garters holding up his silk stockings, his feet splayed on the lounge. They are, actually, her garters and silk stockings that she almost never wears, and it sends a possessive thrill up her spine to see them.

They send a thrill up Ben’s spine as well, if she’s not mistaken by the way he tenses up when he catches sight of them. He glances down at Luo Fei, who is looking up at Ben with a soft, open expression, his eyes wide.

“Ben,” he says softly.

Ben moves to splay one hand over Luo Fei’s belly, his other arm still tight around his back and chest. “Did you mean it?”

Luo Fei nods slowly but doesn’t seem prepared to answer, so Xiaoman sets a knee onto the setee, pushing against Luo Fei’s hip, and braces herself with one hand on the back of it to tower over them as best she can, running on instinct and some feelings she dare not name.

She points her finger back and forth between them. “You two. Kiss.”

Ben looks up at her in startlement but Luo Fei, for a change, does exactly as instructed. He reaches up, grabs Ben’s shoulders, and hauls them together into a bruising, messy kiss. It’s clear that Luo Fei is trying to eradicate any trace of Andy from Ben’s mouth, and Xiaoman can’t help but approve.

She watches Ben’s hand travel slowly down the front of the cheongsam as the kiss drags on, then slides to the side where the dress is bunched up near Luo Fei’s hip. He’s not pausing the kiss as his hand stops for a moment before he drags his fingers down to fondle the garter belt’s strap, slipping under it to rub the skin there. Luo Fei groans and rolls his hips a little, planting his heels on the cushions to get leverage.

Luo Fei eventually pulls away with a gasp. Ben is stunned. He looks up with his spit-slick mouth parted and his eyes darting between Luo Fei and Xiaoman, panic in his eyes.

Steeling herself, she looks at him squarely and with as much authority as she can muster in her own breathless state. “Take what you want!” It’s a demand more than a plea, an order to be followed.

Whatever happens, she decides, these two men will have each other.

Ben lunges up and kisses her instead.