“Where is it?” Quinn asked.
Aiden motioned for him to follow him. They left his bedroom and went into a spare room. There were several boxes along the wall, and Aiden motioned to the spot. Quinn knelt down and worked on scrubbing, and the room fell silent. As Quinn dabbed the spot on the rug, he looked over to the boxes.
“What’s in the boxes?” He nodded to where they were stacked against the wall.
“Mostly junk,” Aiden said.
Quinn stood to his feet. “The spot has to dry,” he mumbled, then looked back at the mess of boxes along the wall. “Where’d they come from?”
“The basement,” Aiden replied. “I needed to go through it. When Marvin was here, he got it organized for me, despite me not really asking him to.” He laughed and Quinn finally looked his way. “I have to admit Marvin was good at what he did, really went above and beyond.”
Quinn cocked his head to the side. Seriously, he couldn’t figure the alpha out. “And yet you fired him?”
Aiden tossed a look in Quinn’s direction and shrugged. “I’m hard to please.”
Why did Quinn think it was more than that? But he just nodded and looked back at the boxes.
“So, anyway, I brought these boxes upstairs and took out what I wanted to keep, but the rest is garbage, and that’s where you come in,” Aiden said.
Quinn reached into one of the boxes and pulled out a stapled document. “Chemo and its effects?”
Aiden grabbed it out of his hand. He gave Quinn a look that said,Hands off and don’t ask questions.
Quinn wanted to ask, but he saw that Aiden was not in a sharing mode regarding that topic.
“My plan is to get these boxes downstairs and to the curb so garbage will pick them up tomorrow. Will you help me?”
Quinn nodded. They each grabbed a box and left the bedroom, carrying them down the stairs and out the side door, down the driveway and dropping them off next to the trash bins. It took six more trips to get everything out.
On the last trip, they walked out the back door and dumped the few things in these boxes into the trash container that had been left near the house.
“This can wait till next week,” the alpha said. “There wasn’t much in them anyway.”
Aiden put the lid down, and as he did, his arm brushed against Quinn’s, who looked up at him, and their eyes locked.
“Thank you.” Aiden’s gaze on Quinn had his breath stalling.
“You’re welcome,” he managed to croak out.
The smoldering heat was undeniable, and before Quinn knew it, Aiden swooped in, took him in his arms, and they kissed. Everything in Quinn’s body reacted to Aiden, and he released a sigh that was swallowed into Aiden’s mouth.
Aiden’s words came flooding back to him.It was unprofessional.He didn’t want Aiden to rethink everything and ultimately decide it had again gone too far and terminate the contract, so he slowly pulled back from the kiss. “We should stop,” he breathlessly said.
Aiden’s mouth hung open, and he shook his head. “I can’t.”
With those two words, Quinn smiled and his resolve failed. He stepped closer to the alpha again, and Aiden wrapped his arms back around him. Quinn didn’t want to stop, either. They couldn’t deny the heat that was between them, and he didn’t want to anymore. There would be enough time for regrets later, but with the way his body melted against Aiden’s, he didn’t believe either of them was going to regret a thing... at least he hoped not.
He hadn’t felt this alive in a long time and decided at that moment that he wasn’t going to let it go.
10
Aiden
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Quinn looked up at him as they moved hand in hand back into the house and up the stairs, and Aiden’s heart beat faster in his chest. He’d really planned on keeping his distance, especially after everything that had been said on the subject. Quinn was right to question him, but honestly, Aiden couldn’t stay away from the man, and he didn’t want to.
“Positive,” Aiden replied, once they were in his bedroom. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest choice, or the one with the least number of complications, but he’d done the careful route for so long already. Now was the time to follow his heart. It all might blow up in his face, but fuck it, he wanted Quinn.
Quinn moaned as Aiden kissed and nibbled up his neck, and although the alpha hated the thought of breaking the kiss to remove his omega’s shirt, Aiden was desperate to feel his skin against Quinn’s. Their lips were separated for only a moment while their shirts were removed and tossed aside. Shoes, pants, and underwear went next, and when they were both finally naked, Aiden knew that this moment was going to change everything.
