Aurelia finally drops her hands. “But impossible to be with them both, right? Think about it. How does that even work?”
“I think this is something you need to talk to Zeke about.” Before she can protest, I add, “When you’re ready.” Her lips snap closed. “Right now, I want you to tell me the real reason you’re asking me about him.” I make sure to push some firmness into my tone to make it clear I’m not letting her slide without an answer.
“When Zeke and I were on our run, something happened,” she finally tells me. “Something that’s happened before, but it felt different this time.”
“What happened, baby?”
“I, uh…I sort of goaded Zeke into admitting he wanted to kiss me, and then he almost did and I panicked, so I stopped him.”
“Seems…” I almost say mean, but then I think better of it and choose another word. “Wise. Why would you do that?”
“I don’t know,” she whines. “Because I wanted him to kiss me and then I didn’t?”
“What changed?”
“I guess I wasn’t ready either. I just hated not knowing. Some days, he barely tolerates me, and others he watches me like he…wants…me.”
There’s no question of that, but it’s not for me to speak on another man’s heart and dick, so I decide to move on to more pressing matters. “You said this happened before?”
“Not that part. When Zeke almost kissed me and I denied him, he wasn’t himself.”
My chest is tight and my voice is strained when I ask, “What did he do? Did he hurt you?”
“No, he…changed.”
“Changed…” I echoed.
“He wasn’t Zeke. His voice and demeanor changed just like you said. Khalil, it was just like that day the death squad tried to take me when—”
“Bane woke up,” I interrupt through gritted teeth. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“And he didn’t hurt you? Are you sure?”
“Zeke woke up before he could, just like Seth did. It was so quick I almost didn’t even notice. All I had was this feeling of being hunted. To be honest, I thought Zeke switching would be more dramatic than that.”
“It rarely is,” I say. “Zeke doesn’t normally fight it, but lately he has to. Seth too. It’s obvious they’re terrified of Bane waking up.”
But from the sound of it, Zeke hadn’t fought it at all. Or maybe Bane just wanted out that badly. Aurelia had dangled forbidden fruit in front of him only to take it away. I knew firsthand how swiftly and viciously the need to claim her took hold. It was that same compulsion that slithered itself around my neck when I first saw her lying broken and bleeding in my bed. It wouldn’t let me go, wouldn’t let me breathe, until I claimed her.
“Khalil?”
“Yeah,” I say, snapping out of my trance to see the alarmed look on Aurelia’s face. “What’s up?”
“You’re hard. Why are you hard?”
“Don’t worry about that,” I say while pushing my crotch into her like a sleaze. “I’ll give it to you later. Now focus. You said this time was different. What changed?”
“Well, the first time it happened it was because Seth was pissed. I meanreallyangry at me. This time it was because…because…”
“Zeke wanted to kiss you.”
Aurelia makes a sound of frustration and stands to pace in front of me. “You said Bane only wakes up if Zeke feels threatened, and now I’m worried that I pushed Zeke too far. I didn’t mean to make him uncomfortable. I just thought…the way he looks at me sometimes…I swear he… I just thought I’d go for it, you know? Shoot my shot. Test the waters. I’m told some guys like it when girls make the first move. Now I feel like a thirst bucket and a creep, and I don’t want to face him, but it’s kind of hard when you live together in a cabin the size of a shoebox. No offense. It’s a really lovely shoebox, and I think it’s sexy as hell that you guys built it with your bare hands, but the three of you are just sohugewith your giant muscles and overwhelming personalities. You all take up a lot of space, and a girl can only hide so much, you know?”
“Aurelia.”
“Huh?”
