Page 80 of Malice

“I am a little.”

“I have a suggestion.” His voice is breathy, with a desperate edge to it. “Or… maybe it’s a request.”

“Anything.”

“I was thinking while you were gone…” His gaze softens as he slides his hands down to rest them on my shoulders. “Before you let the Horror free, I need something only you can give me.”

“What?”

Hudson moves his hands from my shoulders to my chest, squeezing my pecs softly. “Will you fuck me, Aster?”

My jaw drops as my cock instantly swells and my stomach flutters. “What?”

“I need it. I want it to be you, and I don’t want to wait for all of this to be over, because…” He exhales shakily. “Because we don’t know what’s gonna happen.”

“Hud, are you sure?”

He nods, swallowing hard. “I haven’t been able to since things went down with Chester. I haven’t trusted anyone enough to let myself be vulnerable, but I trust you, Aster. I want you to erase the things that happened.”

I lean in and kiss him hard. He wraps his arms around me, kissing me back with such intensity I can barely take a breath.

“Please,” he murmurs. “I won’t be weird or clingy after, I promise. You’d be helping me move on. I need… this.”

“Hey.” I pull back to meet his eyes. “It would be a pleasure, Hud. I want it too. I’m not doing you a favor or helping you out. Iwantyou.”

Hudson clings to my shoulders. “I believe you.” He makes a surprised noise. “Sorry I’m being so weird. I’ve wanted to get to this point with someone so badly, but everyone I meet turns me off quickly. I might be trauma bonding though. That’s a thing.”

“I don’t know what that is, but there’s real attraction here, real compatibility, and regardless of the circumstances that brought us together, I hope you can see how much I truly care about you.”

He nods, blinking rapidly. “I can. That’s why I want this with you. Even if I never see you again, I won’t regret it. I know I won’t.”

The words are on the tip of my tongue. Crash’s warnings about words being promises replay in my head, but dammit, I’m not sure I can hold back the wave of emotions flooding my mind.

“I don’t want to leave you,” I say, knowing I mean it. “I don’t know what happens next, but believe me, Hudson, I want to be here with you.”

He searches my eyes with his lips parted as if he’s going to say something, but instead he nods.

“One day at a time, huh? Take me upstairs, Aster, and take it all away. Replace the bad memories with good ones. Fuck me so hard all I can remember is you.”

Gripping the back of his neck, I slam our mouths together, devouring his whimpers and the sweetest kiss in existence. Is this what Wilder meant when he told me to follow my instinct?Because right now, everything in me is screaming that I have to keep Hudson close. Nothing could make me leave him right now.

“I’m going to take you apart,” I whisper against his lips, “piece by piece, and put you back together even better than you already are.”

“Please, Aster. I want that.”

Sliding my hands under his ass, I hoist him up and into my arms. He wraps around me with a burst of surprised laughter then continues kissing me. He’s not much smaller than me, but I chalk my enhanced strength up to my Chaser skills and carry him effortlessly up the stairs.

Later today, I have to tackle the problem in the attic, but it can wait. Right now, my world revolves around the beautiful, sweet man in my arms, and he has all my attention.

He deserves it.

Chapter 27

Hudson

Aster carries me up the stairs like I’m weightless. In his arms, it’s like nothing bad exists. There isn’t something evil and dangerous lurking in my attic, the world is full of love and sweetness, and this thing between us never has to end. That’s what I’ve convinced myself is true, at least for a little while longer.

In my bedroom, he lays me down on the bed, and as he gazes at me with a sexy smile on his face, my stomach flutters with impossible outcomes. I want to keep him, but does he want to keep me? He said he didn’t want to leave. Is that what Crash meant about us both wanting it?

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