He hesitates for only a fraction of a second. “I think… that Vic may be a touchy subject because of whatever went down between them before he brought her back, but he had the same crazy possessive, stalkerish glint in his eyes as Arson. Like pseudo-father, like son. He’ll keep Kiara safe. And if he fails? She has us to fall back on.Youjust need to worry about signing Dane’s contract and whatever you want to choose for your next project. Let us handle everything else. You have four mates for a reason; so we can make your life better, not harder.”
He toys with the ends of my hair. “She’s your first real friend, right?” My cheeks heat, but I nod. If anyone understands that touchy subject, it’s Myles. “So letusworry about keeping the two of you safe,” he commands. “Have her over for some wine and talk shit about your mates. Heck, just hang out and get to know each other better. Go shopping, or to lunch. It’s up to us to make sure you’re safe to enjoy your life.”
“You guys are the best thing that ever happened to me, you know that?” I spin around to face him, straddling his lap. “You showed up when I didn’t even realize how much I needed you. I,” swallowing my nerves, I choke out, “I love you too. So much that it scares me.”
His gaze softens as he cups my face. “Ever, I don’t think you realized how muchweneededyou.”
He tugs me into a fierce kiss, my nails digging into his shoulders as he steals the breath from my lungs, encouraging me to rock my hips against him with every roll of his tongue against mine. When I’m about to say fuck it with all this teasing and impale myself on his monster cock, he breaks the kiss.
“Did you,” he clears his throat uncomfortably, “did you really mean what you said before? That you’d try anything once?”
Awe shit, he’s into feet or something. I knew this was too good to be true.
Calm down, Ev. So you have to dip your feet in pudding and awkwardly jerk off your mate’s massive cock; small price to pay for somebody that thinks the sun shines out your ass. You’ve never turned down a challenge before, not about to start now.
“Yeah, I’m game,” I say casually, feigning nonchalance. “What’d you have in mind?”
Biting his lip, he skims his hands down my sides, rocking his hips up almost involuntarily to grind against me. “How would you feel about some company?”
I raise an eyebrow. After what happened in the mimic compound, I think it’s clear I’m not opposed.
Almost as if he can read my mind, he admits, “Afterthatnight, I started wondering about some of the possibilities and have been doing some… research.”
“Why Myles, have you been watchingporn?Gangbangporn no less?” I tease.
The tips of his ears turn scarlet, but he holds my gaze, refusing to shy away. “You have four mates, ofcourseI fantasize about the possibilities. Honestly, I bookmarked a few just because I’m not sure how some of those positions are even physically possible. Seeing as I want tokeepsleeping with you, research was absolutely necessary.”
A massive grin splits my face. “I’m not opposed; clearly. What did you have in mind that you wanted to try?”
“Pick one of the others, then simply trust me to take care of everything.”
“Okay,” I challenge, unable to resist seeing how far he’s willing to go out of his comfort zone. “Your brother.”
His fingers dig into my hips for a brief second before he accepts my challenge. “Alright.” One arm locked around my waist, he leans out of the bath to grab his phone, calling him. “Hey, come upstairs.” Without explaining a thing, he ends the call.
Boys,I swear. They’re theworstat communicating.
Arson arrives in record speed, knife in hand and scanning the room with a glower. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I cut in, feeling guilty when everyone’s on edge to accidentally make him think there was a threat. “I was just wondering…”
This may have started off as a challenge, but I’m starting to realize that my subconscious was hung up on something I didn’t even want to admit to myself. Wetting my lips, I blow out a heavy breath, taking the bull by the horns. “Why haven’t you kissed me yet?”
Arson startles, eyes widening in panic. “What?”
“Never mind, it was stupid,” I hastily backtrack, reaching past Myles for a towel. “Forget I said anything.”
Shadowy tendrilsexplodefrom him, engulfing the bathroom in writhing, inky darkness. And there, standing in the center, is a dumbstruck Arson, fists clenching and unclenching.
Wrapping myself in the towel, I bite my lip. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I shouldn’t have expected-”
I never get to finish my sentence. Arson doesn’t just move, hepounces,pinning me against the floor.I’m not even sure where he ends and I begin. Every single inch of exposed skin is covered inhim.His hands, his shadows, his lips. He slides down my body and presses a tender kiss to my inner ankle.
“Neverapologize,” he growls, the vibration sending a shiver through my spine. His lips move upward, kissing a path up my legs. “You’re the only one that’s treated me like apersonand not just a monster.” Shoving the towel aside, he kisses the hollow ofmy hip, flicking his tongue over it before peppering kisses over my entire stomach and nipping at my sides. “You were never afraid of me,” he murmurs against my skin, nuzzling beneath my breasts and continuing a path up the valley between them. “And I never wanted you to be.”
I trace the scarred X on his cheek and he closes his eyes, leaning into my touch.
“It’s because I’m a coward,” he admits in a barely audible whisper. “I’m your right hand man, remember? No matter how that looks. And since the day I broke and pulled you out of the shower to come on my face, you haven’t given me any indication that you wanted a repeat performance. I was worried you regretted it, but was too afraid of the answer to ask.”
