“So what’s next?” asked Ryan before taking a swig of his Cola.

Tao smiled. “We have to go in the Funhouse.”

So they did, and Trey could admit it was kind of fun. Then they strolled through the House of Mirrors, which he thought was the craziest and possibly also the dumbest thing ever. But he was too hyped up to give a shit that he had just wasted minutes out of his life looking at contortions of his own reflection – something he could do at home just by getting drunk.

Engrossed in the act of sharing cotton candy with Taryn – the worst sharer ever – and occasionally licking some from her lips, Trey hadn’t realized they were so close to the deathtrap until Dante spoke.

“Well, Trey, you up for this or what?”

Peering up, up, up and taking in all the steep drops, sharp curves and stomach churning loops, Trey shook his head hell no. It looked even more hazardous and rickety up-close. Not to mention the creaky ‘I’m going to snap any moment’ noises coming from it. “I’ll just stay here and hold the tiger and the bags.”

“Oh come on,” implored Marcus.

“Yeah,” said Taryn, “Come on.”

Trey gave her a pointed look. “You’re not going on it either.”

“You’ll love it, I promise.”

He snorted. “No, I won’t, because I’ll be dead.”

She pressed herself against him and instantly his arms went around her. “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”

“I’m not scared.”

“Liars go to hell, remember.”

“Baby, look at that thing. It looks like there’s only one screw holding the damn thing together.”

She tugged on his t-shirt as if it would somehow help her get through to him. “It’s supposed to look like that – dangerous, exciting, thrilling.”

“If almost dying gives you a thrill, I’ll beat you bloody and rush you to the hospital.”

Frustrated, Taryn slapped his chest. “Buck up, Trey. It’s just a ride. People go on it every day. People have been riding it tonight for hours.”

“Maybe if we were in Disneyworld then yeah, I’d feel confident that it was all put together right.”

“Big Thunder Mountain Railroad has crashed something like three times, you know,” interjected Trick, earning a scowl from Trey.

She tugged on Trey’s upper arm. “Come on, Voice of Doom and Gloom, let’s go. You’ll love it, I swear.”

No he wouldn’t love it at all and Trey was resolved that he wasn’t going on that thing. Until she tugged his head down to hers and whined, ‘Please?’ She even pouted her bottom lip. The transformation reminded him of when Puss ‘n’ Boots from the Shrek movies went from trained killer to helpless kitten. And, just for good measure, she grinded against his c**k which was still semi-hard from having watched her on the rodeo bull. “You’re dangerous.”

Wearing a self-satisfied smile, she kissed him smack on the lips. “I knew you’d do me proud.”

“Oh I’ll do you alright. As soon as we get home.” After a twenty minute wait – which gave him plenty of time to debate his decision and work himself up even more – he was taking a seat beside Taryn and reluctantly tugging down the padded bars to fit securely against his shoulders before connecting the thin little strap from between his legs to the bars. He pulled, testing the fit. And found that there was a nice big life-threatening gap. “This is loose.”

Taryn rolled her eyes. “It’s supposed to be or you’d suffocate. Look, mine’s the same.” When his eyes widened, she realized that was probably the worst thing she could have said. “It’ll be fine.” The attendant gave the bars a pull and, satisfied, continued on to check the others. “See, fine.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“If you’ll just relax, you’ll enjoy it. Really, you don’t need to be -”

“I’m not scared,” he snapped.

“Trey, I understand that Macho Man Law means you absolutely have to deny it but -”

“Taryn, you -”

Abruptly the ride came to life. She smiled reassuringly while patting his hand. “Just relax.”

Relax? If there wasn’t so much damn noise Trey would have informed her that she was dead either way. If the ride didn’t kill her, he would just for staying on the damn thing when her tiny body could easily slip out. Okay, maybe it couldn’t easily slip out, but stranger things had happened. Like the fact that he was even on this ride at all.

Trey glanced at Taryn to find that, like the rest of the pack who were all paired up in the rows in front of them, she had her hands in the air as they slowly chugged up the steep hill. She was even glancing down at the view below and then admiring the stars as if she was just on a bus or something. Trey didn’t do either. When he wasn’t checking on Taryn he was keeping his gaze focused straight ahead.

“Did you ever see Final Destination 3?” Taryn asked wearing a teasing smile.

Trey didn’t find it funny. “You’re a bitch.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“It is, and I’ll be spanking your ass for it later.”

“Promise?”

Growling, he focused his gaze on the seats ahead of him. He wasn’t sure whether it was a good thing or a bad thing when they finally reached the peak. The silence that suddenly hung over them as they paused there didn’t help his nerves at all. And then they were falling. No, they were plummeting toward the ground and the cool night air was rushing up, stealing his breath. At the last moment they sharply swerved and then they were caught up in a series of twists, turns, loops and bumps and they were being jerked, shoved, squashed and jostled. Then, just as quickly as it had begun, it was over.

Taryn laughed and clapped along with the others and then turned to Trey. He was, well, white. At least he wasn’t green. He looked at her then and although his scowl was there his eyes were alight with the same light-heartedness she had seen whenever they played in the forest. “See, I told you that you’d love it.”

“I’m still going to spank your ass.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The little witch was stalling. Trey smiled to himself. Fifteen minutes ago she had told him to get naked on the bed and wait for her, and then she had disappeared into the bathroom. Well he was naked, and he was waiting, and he was so hard it hurt – he had been since the moment she told him she had a kinky piece of lingerie from Victoria’s Secret. The only time his c**k had given him a brief reprieve was when he went on that damn deathtrap. Now it was time for her to live up to her end of the bargain, and he had a feeling his mate was regretting having made it in the first place.