Right Where She Belongs

Chapter Twenty-Seven

I could see Michael's face turn an unappealing shade of red. I knew that if I didn't intervene soon my slutty efforts would be for naught.

Sigh. I always knew Jordan was too smart for my own good.

"Jordan," I purred, stopping Michael in his tracks. "You've certainly done your fair share of working out too. What are you benching these days?"

It seemed like Jordan - who was more of a first-head kind of guy - had his moments of weakness too, because he blinked his eyes at me with the same stunned look his brother gave me earlier. Quickly though, a pleased smile spread across his immature face.

"See?" He smirked at his brother. "At last, someone finally appreciated my superiority over you,"

Michael's mouth flopped open before he pressed them together in a tight line. He ignored his brother and instead focused his attention back to me, eyes narrowed with determination.

"Kat, who's bigger? As in, like, more muscular?"

My gut clenched uneasily. No, no, no! This wasn't going according to plan, at all. Shit!

"Um...," I faltered before plastering on a fake smile. "Gee, guys, it's really hard to tell. You know, with this dim lighting and all..."

I saw the back of Michael's head as he stalked off. I heard him flick on a switch and suddenly the whole basement was swathed in bright light. I hissed, the light above me suddenly turned on full brightness. I flinched away from it, squeezing my eyes shut to ward away the light. It was too late though because my eyes prickled with painful tears.

"Okay, now," Michael's tone was no-nonsense. "What about now?"

"Er...," My head was spinning and that uneasy feeling intensified. "Uh, I really can't tell. I am strapped to a bed, you know. It doesn't exactly allow me the best of-"

I heard the rustling of metal clinking together and I froze, confused by the sound. Then I heard Jordan curse out loud.

"What do you think you're doing?!" He demanded of his brother. "Don't unchain her!"

"She needs to see which one of us is bigger!" Michael grunted as he tried to untangle what sounded like multiple keys.

I snorted.

As Michael was trying to find the right key to unchain me - I couldn't believe it was working! - I suddenly remembered Sam who'd been quiet throughout the whole exchange. He hadn't moved a muscle and I suddenly feared he'd fallen asleep or something.

But when I twisted my head, I saw that his intense dark eyes were narrowed on me with a look that was impassive, yet I could sense pride shimmering under the surface of his inscrutable expression.

And damn if I wasn't soaking it up.

He tilted his head forward, slowly as if not the startle me, his lips just barely brushing my cheek. The sound of Michael and Jordan's argument faded into the background, an annoying buzzing sound that I wished would disappear. His lips were warm and a covert shiver ran down my spine.

"Keep it up," He whispered so low that I knew Michael and Jordan wouldn't be able to hear because I was barely able to myself.

I nodded briefly, resisting the urge to grin in triumph when Michael finally found the correct key, inserting it onto the chains above my head. A second later my hands were free.

They burned with a vengeance and I rubbed them, glaring up at the ceiling before hoisting myself up onto my elbows. I struggled a bit before finally managing to pull my whole torso up, stomach muscles burning. I knew I wasn't the most athletic girl, but that was ridiculous!