Page 52 of Thanking Her Brother's Best Friends

"Selene." Aiden's piercing green eyes scanned my face. "We meant what we said."

There were a lot of redeeming things that served to mollify Aiden's relationship issues. In fact, I wouldn't call them issues because he was transparent about what he wanted. And his bluntness—I didn't know how other people would react to it, but I found it oddly comforting.

"You've had a shitty past," he continued as he stacked the dishes in the dishwasher. "And Oliver has faced it, by extension, because of one asshole who couldn't fucking man up. But—and I say this with complete confidence—we're not going to do that, no matter where this goes. It's not routine, what we're on the verge of. That means that it could go anywhere. But when it comes to your kid, we promise we won't let our personal stuff get in the way of showing up if you and he want us around."

I took a whole minute to compose myself. "Thank you for saying that. And now, I want to change the subject. Where are we... what are we doing here?"

Talk about jumping from the frying pan into a fired clay oven.

"You tell me," Aiden said. Suddenly, he was walking in my direction.

With every step he took, I felt flutters erupt like I was living a high school dream. He picked me up and set me down on a counter. "You tell me, Selene."

He pulled me to him and kissed me. The touch of his lips was real and electric, so soft and hot that I practically melted against him. His chest against my palm felt like safety and adventure at the same time.

He carried the scent of regency romances about naughty dukes and blasphemous acts. I parted my lips by sheer instinct and the urge to deepen the symphony of our movements. He groaned into my mouth and thrust his tongue inside, taking control of my waist, hips, and mind.

Aiden kissed like a man on a mission to make his lady wet—and if that was true, he'd succeeded within seconds. I moaned as if set on fire, desire settling on me like a balmy summer morning.

I was acutely aware of Dom and Niall watching us, their own expressions hungry for more.

It was fucking sexy.

16

AIDEN

That had to be the mother of all kisses.

Selene, her legs wrapped around me, leaned back on the countertop as I invaded her mouth like I was on the hunt for some treasure only she had access to.

I felt parched as if I had gone to sleep and woken up days later in the middle of a desert. There, in front of me, was the oasis.

Her.

She made me feel like I was water and air and every atomic particle of every substance.

As I broke the kiss to leave a trail of kisses on her neck, she opened her eyes and looked at me, mirroring the same, gnawing hunger that I felt. That I knew Dom and Niall felt as well.

"Are you..." Niall asked her shakily. "Are you okay with us being here?"

"I like being watched," she replied, curling her lips into a slow, burning smile. "So stay, by all means."

"Give me a minute," she murmured to me.

I moved aside to let her get down from the counter.

As Selene walked to the expansive fridge that pretty much took up one entire wall in her kitchen, she dropped pieces of clothing on the way.

It was like watching a jewel unfold itself. The jeans went first, then the T-shirt, and finally, the bra. She left her panties on.

My body responded in kind, growing hard simply by watching her strut around in her element.

In my mind, I was already miles ahead, with my hands around her waist and my cock buried deep in her body.

She opened the fridge door and leaned to look inside, giving all three of us a long look at her shapely legs. When she emerged, she had a bowl of cream in one hand and strawberry jam in the other.

"I made this batch fresh this morning," she said, laughing. It was fucking beautiful, how unaware she was of just how sexy and adorable she could look at the same time.

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