Page 35 of Scars Run Deep

Not my style.

“Although, did you go as hard as you usually do? Nah, I don’t think so. Let her fuck you, did you? I guess getting down and dirty with J is out then if you had to go that route, because you couldn’t let him top you. Just Aurora, right? Letting her fuck your black soul out of your body, or whatever?”

If looks could slaughter, I’d definitely be a mess of writhing flesh and bones right about now.

Good. I wanted him to have a reaction.

It was a step in the right direction of him actually recognizing what was going on here, what he was doing. Although he was overly self-aware in so many areas, this… intimacy like he was clearly developing with Aurora… feelings, didn’t qualify. They never had and until she’d come into the picture, I’d never thought they would.

The faster he acknowledged it, the faster he could process it.

Because I needed to be there for it before this war went any deeper, so I could contain the fallout while we still had time to deal with it.

Right now he was in the early stages, the high stage of something new, enamoring and all-consuming. Once that wore off and reality collided with it, he’d start seeing it as a weakness or something just as self-destructive. That sabotaging thing with him only came into play where emotions and relationships were concerned. Jonah was an example of that. When they’d had too many fuck sessions, he’d started to care for him, beyond our friendship dynamic—which was a lot for him to begin with—and Asher had pulled back, and it had taken Jonah a long time to get over the hurt because he’d already fallen for him. He’d never admit it because he knew Asher wouldn’t like it. But it had been all over him. Hell, it still was.

Jonah was a hardass, though, and he’d been trained since an early age to roll with the worst hits known to man. He’d bounced back. I didn’t want Aurora suffering through the same thing. Not because I didn’t think she was a hardass in her own right, but because she shouldn’t have to face that bullshit in the first place.

And if he pulled that, it would push her away from me and J too.

Nah, I wasn’t having that.

“Invasion of privacy is becoming a habit for you, Killian,” Asher spoke in that dangerous tone, sauntering up to me, taking his sweet time and drawing out the intimidation.

Even with his arm in a sling and him being beat up, he could somehow still pull it off.

“I prefer to think of it as a necessity,” I bit back.

“Hmm, reading that note, perhaps. At least from your perspective. However, the rest doesn’t quite fit into that category.”

“What do you think you know this time?” I responded in a bored tone.

“Think? That’s foolish.”

“To believe you’re not all-knowing?”

“Correct.”

“Give me a break.”

He glared at me.

I glared back.

“Jesus,” Jonah grunted. “I’m gonna leave you two to… whatever this is, while I get breakfast going.” As he slipped between us, he grasped Asher’s good shoulder and one of mine. “Just don’t take it the physical route.” He looked at me. “Asher’s already hurt.” His gaze slid to Ash. “And Kill’s still recovering from Samuel’s wrath.” With a squeeze to both of our shoulders, he sighed, then took off, tiptoeing through the bedroom so as not to wake Aurora.

I moved to speak, but Asher held up his hand and gestured through the open door and pressed a finger to his lips. I nodded my understanding, then followed him out of the bathroom, through the bedroom, and out into the corridor. He shut the door behind him, then walked halfway down the corridor, before turning to face me.

As he attended to the last two buttons that needed doing up on his shirt, he said, “Your jealousy is showing again, Killian. Apparently, we haven’t moved beyond this stage when it comes to Aurora after all.”

“I couldn’t care less that she rode your dick last night. She needed to blow off some steam. She needed comfort too, although her opting to go to you for that is beyond me, but it is what it is.” As he watched me intently, I added, “Besides, fucking is just about the release for you, right? Just sensation, not emotion. You’re just overjoyed that there’s somebody who can take you all the way, outside of Jonah.”

The corner of his mouth turned up. “Hmm, I see.”

“Being who—and what—you are, you couldn’t possibly,” I bit back.

That all-knowing, omnipotent shit of his got on my nerves at the best of times, never mind when I was arguing with him. It added a whole other level of aggravation.

He flinched.

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