Darius was leaving Kit and Holden alone in the car. This was either a gesture of trust or a test.
“So retro,” Kit said, grinning. “Okay, we’ll be good.”
Darius chuckled, getting out of the car. “I never said that, and I don’t believe you. Behave, though.”
His handgun slid effortlessly from holster to hand. With predatory grace, he slunk towards the safehouse.
Holden’s laugh gusted through Kit’s hair. “What are the odds he’s parking himself inside the window, ready to snipe me for breathing on you wrong?”
Kit considered, swinging the car keys. Then he dropped them in the cup holder. “Not zero, but not high. If he thought you were a problem, you’d really be in the trunk.”
“Excellent point.” Holden exhaled one more time into Kit’s hair, then leaned back in his seat. “Now come here, darling. I’ve wanted to get you alone.”
Kit’s heart thudded. He met Holden’s gaze, glinting in the rearview mirror.
Then he crawled gracelessly into the back seat, helped and hindered by the strong hands at his hips. With a laugh, he surrendered to Holden’s direction, winding up straddlingHolden’s lap. Landing heavily, Kit braced himself against Holden’s chest.
Holden smiled down, grabbing Kit’s ass and pulling him closer. “Hi there, angel.”
“Hi.” Kit squirmed. “You wanted me alone. We’re alone.”
“We’re alone,” Holden echoed, and took Kit’s jaw in his hand. Tilted his face up and back, exposing his sensitive throat.
The kiss bloomed like spring above Kit’s pulse. Roots digging through his veins, new life feeding on the darkness beneath the surface.
He expected teeth. Bruises. But Holden’s lips remained gentle on his throat.
“Missed you,” Holden murmured beneath his jaw. “Did you miss me?”
They’d seen each other plenty, but Kit knew exactly what Holden meant. Kit liked having all his men together, but he needed time alone with each of them, too.
“I missed you,” Kit admitted.
“Good.” Holden pressed one more soft kiss above Kit’s collar bone, then released his jaw. “I had something to ask you.”
Kit tensed.
This was about Dad. What else could it be? It was something Holden couldn’t say over text, something Holden couldn’t say without looking Kit in the eyes. Last time they talked, Holden had said he wouldn’t stop thinking about it, but he had promised not to do anything.
Kit was certain, with phantom kisses blooming around his throat, that Holden had lied.
“Breathe,” Holden said softly, brow furrowing. “This isn’t a bad thing.”
Holden’s voice, and the slow circling massage over his hips, drew Kit back into himself. He ducked his head, as if he could hide his overthinking panic from Holden’s attention.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Kit said, attempting bravado. “Just tell me.”
Holden obliged. “I’ve been keeping tabs on houses for sale in the local area. There are a few that could work, but I figured I’d check in before talking to James and Darius about it.”
“Houses,” Kit repeated. His head spun with the redirection from his own overthinking paranoia. “Like, to live in?”
Holden grinned, like Kit was the most delightful thing in the universe and not a stunned idiot. “Yeah, houses to live in. You and me, and I guess James and Darius too. We waste so much time driving around that could be better spent… doing other things.” He teased beneath Kit’s shirt but didn’t go further. “Also, I hate that you don’t live with me, and none of the other options I considered seemed feasible.”
Kit wrapped his arms around Holden’s shoulders. Long blond hair tickled his hands. “What other options did you consider?”
“James wouldn’t agree to move into my student apartment. The discount furniture would give him hives.” Holden shrugged. The movement somehow brought them closer. “James’s place is too far away. Darius’s place is too small. We need something centrally located, secure, and big enough for my darling’s growing harem.”
“I don’t have a harem,” Kit protested.
