Chapter Twenty - Three

Kouvr

Watching Kyree cook was the hottest thing ever, and I did nothing to hide that I was watching. He was just doing a simple breakfast that didn’t even look simple the way he was doing it.

He was wearing a chef apron over his t-shirt. He was wearing grey sweats, and his butt looked nice in them, though I was waiting to see the front more.

“Theon, will you take Zelos his plate?” Kyree asked.

My brows pulled. Was he still avoiding me or…

Theon must have seen my face, because he said, “Zelos doesn’t really eat with us.”

I looked down at the beautiful plate of food that Kyree put together for his friend. “Can I take it to him then?”

He nodded, and Kyree handed me the plate. They gave me directions and his room seemed to be on the bottom floor at the back of the house. Did he really like to be exclude from the others like that?

Following their directions, it led me to a white framed double glass door. The inside looked nothing like a bedroom. Instead, hundreds of plants covered the inner room. I opened the door, and the fresh air hit my face. The various smells of plants and flowers filled the area. There were layers of flowers, all different colors.

I stepped along the stone path, moving deeper between aisles of plants. The further I went, the more fruits and veggies I saw before finally getting to a huge tree.

“Kyree, get the fuck-” Zelo’s voice came, and he stepped from one of the aisles.

I turned to see him shirtless with dirt on his hands. Sweat covered his very muscular chest. “I… brought you breakfast.”

Zelos moved from the aisle, taking the plate. “Thank you.” He set it at a desk by the base of the tree.

“All of this is your domain?” I asked, looking at the various trees and plants. It felt like a jungle, though there were no animals of any kind.

“Yeah.” He nodded, crossing his arms over his chest.

My eyes dropped, taking in the dark ink on his chest. “You should… um… join us if you want…”

His brows pulled.

“To eat…” I added.

He didn’t say anything, just stared down at me.

I couldn’t read his face, and I wished I could. My eyes dropped to his lips, and I felt the same heat I felt during our kiss. But I couldn’t tell if he felt the same way about me.

But looking back up, his eyes were on my mouth, making me smirk.

His dark eyes met mine.

Scanning his face, I took in his Asian features, almond dark eyes, and tan skin. His neck was full of black tattoos, stopping right at his jaw.

“You should definitely join us sometime…” I started back up to the aisle. “Eating with us or whatever you want to do,” I added, eyes bouncing over him. I wanted him. Every inch of him.

I turned around, moving through an aisle. I wanted to stay and explore, but the food Kyree made smelt good on the way and I wanted to eat mine. I touched a lemon tree and a few pink flowers on the way out.

I found the kitchen and almost dancing when I saw my plate next to Cyrus and Theon. Kyree wasn’t sitting, leaning against the island on the other side. I sat at the chair, so excited to eat his food.

Yesterday he made the sandwich take gourmet and the way these eggs and avocado looked, I felt like it going to be the same way. And of course a side of fruit and orange juice.

Digging in, I was totally right. A moan slipped from me, my shoulder melting.

“Yeah, I understand now,” Cyrus muttered, making me look over.

Huh?

He was looking at me, eyes on my mouth.

Heat rushed to my cheeks. I wasn’t even doing much, and all of these men were getting turned on from it.

A plate clanked on the island, making me glance over.

Zelos sat at the end of the island, eyes on his plate.

A smile curled on my lips, but I didn’t say anything to him about it. In fear it might make him retreat.

“Look who is eating with us,” Kyree said, standing up straight.

I sent him a glare. “Don’t be a dick.”

“Kyree can’t help himself,” Zelos muttered.

“Oh, come on. It’s all with love!” his friend insisted.

That made me question something that I decided to ask about. “How long have you guys been friends?”

“In general or just me and Zelos?” he asked, leaning on the table and looking at me.

“In general.”

“Cyrus and Zelos were friends the longest almost—what?—fifteen years. Then came along Theon at thirteen years and then me close behind.”

“Where did you guys meet?” I asked.

“The pits of hell.”

I looked at them nodding. “You guys lived in the Pits too?”

They nodded.

“Now, look at you guys. The progress is amazing.”

Cyrus nodded. “Thank you.”

“And how long have you guys had the idea of ParaDise?”

“Not too long actually. All those games were made years before our company, Rusty Gamings, and ParaDise came together about two years ago.”

I nodded. “All of your ideas?”

“Collectively, yes.”

My eyes landed on Cyrus, curious about it all but I had a feeling I was going to hear it all one day. These men seemed to like me as much as I liked them and although I woke up a bit harsh, I felt safe around them.

“Are you ready for today’s vlog?” Theon asked.

I nodded. “As I’ll ever be.”

“How have royalties been, if you don’t mind me asking?” Theon asked. “We’ve thought of becoming streamers or vloggers a few times before.”

Oh these guys as vloggers? My heart swooned. I would be their biggest fan and would love to watch them all the time. “I haven’t even looked. Too scared.”

“Scared?” Kyree asked.

I nodded. “I just got used to the low amount lately. I was viral a bit a year ago, but you know trends change.” I pulled out my phone, typing in the site that shows me my revenue. “I am grateful for the small amounts, so I got used to just seeing that. I guess, I was scared that I would still see that.”

“Mhm,” Kyree hummed. “I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think right now.”

“I’ll even check our preorders too,” Cyrus said.

I grabbed my orange juice as Cyrus pulled out his phone also. I sipped on it, glancing down my load screen. Then when the screen loaded, I inhaled sharply, coughing.

Theon took my glass as I was coughing. I glanced down at the phone, feeling my nose burn and my shirt wet from the reaction.

“Oh my god.” I handed the phone off to Cyrus, moving to grab a napkin.

Kyree beat me to it, handing it over.

“Holy shit,” Cyrus said at the amount. “The spike between the vlog is insane.”

“If my views keep going like that…” I started, seeing the thousands of dollars burnt in my head from the screen. “This will be my first six-figure month.” I went to my channel and saw that my first video in a while had almost a half of million views.

“Holy fuck,” Theon muttered, and the room fell silent.

Until it sunk in for me. A smile spread on my lips, and I almost wanted to jump around. Kyree threw his arm around me, and we all celebrated like little kids.

Jumping around and screaming.

“Wait!” Cyrus said, looking down at his phone. “ParaDise is at 453,876 preorders. Went up a couple hundred thousand.”

I let out a scream, and we all were jumping around. Celebrating our accomplishments.

“That’s so insane,” Theon said, running his hands through his hair and hugging Zelos.

I nodded, seeing a flood of emails and comments in my inbox. “I got a couple of emails and things to do before the vlog.”

I moved to clean up, but Cyrus stepped in our way. “We got this. You could take your fruit if you’d like.”

I smiled, grateful I didn’t have to help clean up, though I would have. I grabbed my orange juice and fruit, saying good bye and moving upstairs to my room, next to the stairs.

Zelos

My greenhouse door opened, and I felt a flash of anger. Was Kyree in here trying to steal mangos again?

“It’s me again,” Kouvr’s voice filled the air.

I paused, looking down at myself. I was dressed now, ready for the vlog. My hands were cleaned and body was freshly washed. I just wanted to water the plants and make sure the nutrients I gave this morning soaked in for them.

Kouvr found me in the back again, next to the tree I was watering.

“This is amazing, Zelos,” she said, looking up at me.

“Thank you.” I turned away from her a bit, feeling nervous. She looked gorgeous, blond hair reaching her shoulders in beautiful wild curls. I’ve always loved her hair, wanting to play with it and curl it in my finger.

“You’re so beautiful, Kov,” I muttered to her, touching her curls and cheek.

She leaned into my palm and I felt the warmth from her cheek, though it was cold outside. “Are you leaving me, Z?”

My throat dried. How did she know?

“Are you okay?” she asked, voice vastly different than her past self. We were kids then.

I swallowed. “Yeah. You?”

She nodded a small smile on her lips.

I ached to kiss them again, to bruise them for how hard I would kiss her.

She reached out, touching the bark of the tree. A small laugh fell from her lips.

I realized she’d probably never seen a tree before. My family had always grown them in any houses we’ve ever had.

“This was how they feel? Rough textured?” she muttered to herself.

“Mhm.”

“How are you doing this, Zelos?” she asked, looking up at me.

Our eyes met, and her caramel eyes made me melt. I wanted all of her. Right here, right against the tree. “Uh. My family were gardeners for many, many years. We learned a thing or two. And in each house we’ve ever lived in, we had a tree. The air was always so fresh. My mom had a lemon tree and would make the best lemon cake.”

Her brows furrowed a bit. Her lips parted.

Does she remember? How could she forget me like this?

“Are you okay?” I asked, wondering if she would tell me what that look was.

“Uh, I just remember liking lemon cake as a kid, which I thought was weird.”

“Weird?”

“What kid says I like lemon cake?”

“Me.”

She smiled, leaning against the desk next to the tree. I wanted to add more to this room and extend it into a library. This was my safe haven, and I loved being in this room all the time. “Question.”

I loved when she fucking did that, and I hoped she never stopped.

“Are you avoiding me?”

My throat dried. “No.” Was I? I was like this all the time. Maybe it was a bit withdrawn from the others as I was just okay with being alone all the time.

“Okay, I was just making sure. I don’t like to be ignored.”

“How could anyone ever try to avoid you? I even went out to eat with you guys. I would never avoid you in any way.”

She looked down and even her eyes being off me for that moment hurt. I ached to be with her, inside of her, kissing her. It hurt for her to think I was avoiding her when I thought about her 24/7. “I’m sorry I kissed you without asking. I thought that was why you were avoiding me.”

I shook my head, reaching out and pulling her face towards mine. “I wanted you to, Kouvr.”

Her shoulders sagged. “Will you ever kiss me again?”

I nodded.

“How about right now?” she asked, eyes dropped to my lips.

My eyes almost blurred a bit, remembering how she tasted in the car. She was going to taste better in real life.

She smiled a bit. I hated how shy I was unable to just take what I wanted like Kyree or Theon.

But I leaned down, mouth meeting hers.

A noise escaped me as my hand dropped on her hips. She felt so good in my hands again. I never wanted to let her go.

She sighed against my lips, giving me the chance I wanted to take. My tongue flicked into her mouth, moving with hers. My cock hardened against my pants, and I began pushing her backwards. She gasped as her back hit the tree.

I wanted her right here, right against this tree.

But then an alarm cut through the air, making me pull back.

Her chest was heaving as she reached for her phone. It was a ten minute timer before the vlog was supposed to start. Her eyes met mine, and she swallowed.

“I want you.”

A growl escaped me. I gripped her hips, pulling her against me. “You’ll have me later.”

She groaned. “Could you be quick?”

“Not with you,” I answered honestly. Though I wanted to take her against the tree, I was going to go at my own pace and please her. Ten minutes wasn’t enough or me. I’d waited a long time, but I could wait a little longer for her.

A concept D didn’t understand.

She reached up, pulling my mouth back to hers.

Air left my lungs as I held her close, kissing her. After a few moments, I pulled back.

“Let’s get you ready.”

She let out a sigh, nodding

We all stood in the lobby of ParaDise. Their simulation machine was ten times different than mine, them having a more updated machine. I had taken five minutes just to admire it.

“Oh, damn it,” I muttered, looking down for my tablet that controls the drones. “I forgot my tablet.” My four drones were flying around, not recording yet.

“Here. I’ll add it quickly,” Theon said, clicking on his menu button. He would have to leave the game to add it.

“Thank you, Theon,” I said, my pc and simulation machines at home were already set up to my liking and I thought I had everything to theirs.

Theon’s head tilted like a dog. “ What? ”

My brows pulled.

“Huh?” Cyrus asked.

“Where’s the exit button?”

Kyree let out a laugh. “What do you mean? It’s at the bottom, Theon.” But he clicked on his menu button and then his smile slip from their face.

Panic rushed through me, and I had to see what they were seeing. I clicked on my main menu and it glowed in my face. Looking at the bottom where the exit game button usually was, it wasn’t there anymore.

“What’s going on?” Cyrus muttered to himself. “Zelos?”

“I don’t know. This… has only happened that one time… remember?”

I swallowed. “What is it then?”

Cyrus looked at me, mouth opened. “Uh, I don’t know. Just relax okay. We will figure it out.”

“Not much to figure out, Rus,” a heavy voice came from behind us.

We all whirled around, and we were faced by a huge, white-haired guy. He wore jeans, boots and a jacket. His eyes were on me, soft lips parted. He was very handsome, white hair pushed back and colorful tattoos climbing up his neck.

“What did you do?” Cyrus snapped.

I glanced between them, seeing a resemblance.

“No one’s leaving this game for a while,” he explained before turning to look at me.

“What?” I questioned. “What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. No one is leaving. You can’t even if I wanted you to; there’s no exit button. Tsk. Where are my manners? I’m Diesel or D. You see the big D in ParaDise is because of me,” he said, grabbing his dick while he got closer to me.

My brows pulled as he held out that same hand, sporting a massive erection.

“It’s amazing to finally meet you, my Queen, Kouvr.”