Page 76 of Scars Run Deep

This had nothing to do with any of that.

It was personal.

Beyond that.

It was raw.

Emotive, even.

“I’m not planning on going anywhere.”

“Because you need to finish your degree once the mission is done?”

“Because I like it here.”

“In this swanky mansion?”

“No. With the three of you.”

“Tell me.”

I steeled myself, then admitted, “You challenge me, you keep me on my toes, you bring out the strongest version of me, you excite me.” I cursed under my breath. “You assholes make me feel alive.”

One moment I was half out of my seat, the next I was being dragged across the table, dishes, cutlery and glassware crashing down all around me as Asher yanked me onto his lap.

Before I could register what was fully happening, he spread my thighs on his, fisted his hand in the back of my hair, then crushed his mouth to mine.

11

~Jonah~

He was unhinged.

Fuck, he was coming undone.

All over her. For her.

It was clear he and Kill had fooled around earlier tonight. I had no clue of the specifics, but the fact it had happened at all when Kill rarely ever went in for that, said a hell of a lot. The fact Asher hadn’t been able to wait to come to me showed just how volatile he was tonight. He’d obviously tried to take the edge off with Kill, but it hadn’t worked. It had just been a Band-Aid on a sucking chest wound kinda deal.

I was the only one who’d ever seen him in this state, so I was the only one who could recognize what it really meant, and how dangerous it fucking well was.

It happened whenever he waited too long to come to me to unleash all that shit inside him, when he was about to explode all over the place and destroy everything and everyone in his path.

The thing was, it hadn’t been too long. So something must’ve happened.

And that something must’ve been tonight.

Killian had filled me in on Asher picking up the skull ring for Aurora tonight, but that couldn’t be what had set him off. That was a cause for celebration and it had been his idea, he hadn’t been pressured into it. So, he’d also made another stop along the way when he’d been off-territory earlier. Fuck. What the hell could it have been to have gotten under his skin this much?

Aurora grunted and pulled her mouth from his and I winced as her bottom lip came away bloody. He’d gone too hard, bitten her brutally enough to draw blood.

The worst part was, this was just the start, he was just approaching the on-ramp.

My cock jerked in my jeans as I watched him sweep his tongue over her lip and lap up the blood, groaning as he tasted her. And then he twisted his hand in her hair, holding her by the roots, right to the scalp, as he sucked on the little wound, making her whimper and buck on his lap.

Kill kicked me under the table, jarring me.

One look, combined with what I already recognized was going down, had me giving him a chin lift, then pushing out of my chair.

---