Page 125 of The Piece You Stole

He steps into me,flushagainst me. So close a thin towel and my even thinner t-shirt are no barrier to what’s nudging my belly. “Because I’ll be paying some extra attention to areas that will become sensitive. So sensitive you might try to crawl away from me. You might fight me.”

His tongue.

My eyes dip to his mouth as Kade’s words roll around in my head.

Aden has this ability with his tongue that makes a woman beg him never to stop.

But he also said Dariel was the hound that women fell in love with, so maybe it was yet another thing Kade says that I shouldn’t take at face value.

But then I take in Aden’s heated stare and the promise in his eyes.

I drag in a deep breath because this might not be a good idea. Yes, I wanted to forget, but Aden is looking at me as if he intends to make me lose my mind.

And I… I think I intend to let him.

My expression doesn’t change. At least, I don’t think it does, but then a new smile, sweeter than the last, reminding me of the one he gave me at the Cerberus when I wasn’t sure if Aden liked me as a friend, or as something more, creases his face.

At that moment, I know I was right. About both.

“This is about you, Saige,” he says, his voice low. His stare isn’t one I could break even if I wanted to. “For you to forget, to enjoy, and just exist. Do you understand?”

Did he read my mind?

Slowly, I nod. “And then?”

No one ever gives me anything without wanting—or intending to take something away in return. So there’s a cost to this. A price. Aden just hasn’t told me what it is yet.

“You sleep.” The pads of his slightly rough fingers brush along my jaw, from my chin to my ear, and then back again. “Unless you want more. You’re a little like Kade, I think.”

Sighing in pleasure, I angle my head up so he keeps caressing me. I hadn’t thought it would feel so good to have someone stroke my jaw until now. “In what way?”

Dipping his head, he kisses me and then slides his arm around my waist before he takes a step even closer.

As I slowly tip back, I grip his forearms in alarm, but I needn’t have bothered. He controls my descent, never looking away, never giving the impression he isn’t fully in control until my back kisses his cool cotton sheets. “You have an appetite.”

His hand goes to the towel around his hips, and I hold my breath, anticipation roiling in my gut as I wait for him to strip it away. “Appetite for what?”

My breathing turns shallow as I focus on his fingers, long, strong, and as tan as the rest of his golden body, tightening around the navy towel. I felt him pressed against me. Now I want to see him.

“Everything,” he says with a smile in his voice. “Eyes closed.”

“What?” I jerk my gaze up to his face to find a smile hovering on his lips.

His smile widens. “Last rule. Eyes closed.”

I peer up at him soberly. “And if I don’t want to close them?”

His smile fades and he leans down, kissing me lightly on the lips. “Then you don’t have to close them. This is about making you feel good not making you feel afraid.”

“And pleasure?” I remind him. “You said it was about my pleasure.”

He nods. “I did.”

“So, you’re asking me to trust you.”

“I am. If you can’t, that’s okay. There are no hard rules here, Saige. What do you want?” he asks, and then he waits.

I want to trust him. I really do. But I also want to see. My focus returns to the growing bulge beneath his towel.

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