Page 16 of Summer With You

“Promise me you won’t take his side,” she begged me. “He is your brother, after all.”

“And you are my sister, Ames,” I told her again. “I’ll always have your back.” She leaned over to hug me with a watery smile.

Later that night, I settled into bed wearing one of Ace’s shirts, curling against his warm, hard body. I had expected him to soften up over the years, but he hit the gym more now than ever, keeping his muscles firm and body toned for my viewing pleasure.

Since I first saw him shirtless, he had added more tattoos. One right across his heart with my name in a simple script that I traced every single night before kissing him goodnight, and then the names of our children on his right bicep in between his previous artwork.

Often, I found myself tracing his tattoos, sometimes with my fingers, and other times, when the mood called for it, my tongue. He loved that the most.

“What are you thinking about?” he whispered, turning the light off and wrapping his arm around my body, pulling me close to his chest.

“How lucky I am to have you.” I kissed his bare chest, and he squeezed me tighter.

“We’re both lucky to have each other.” He kissed the top of my head. I tilted my head up to capture his lips in mine, needing to taste him, to have him worship my body like he had done many times before.

“I need you,” I whispered in a breathy moan as I wrapped my hands around his neck, holding him to me.

He flipped me onto my back, hovering above me and brushing his lips ever so softly against mine. He left out a primal growl that made my blood pulse in my veins.

“I always need you, Princess,” he rumbled, his lips taking mine again.

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