Page 25 of More Than I Can Bear

“Oh no, you needn’t bother,” I replied, my automatic response.

“Freya.”

I froze at the sound of my name because no one had ever really said it like that before. With authority, gently chiding, but with no anger in it, more that he liked having the opportunity to gently correct me.

Great.

Not only had I unwittingly agreed to date two men, who happened to be brothers, but now I was thinking inappropriate thoughts about one after having watched the other deliver a confusing mea culpa on the TV.

“A water would be great,” I said, pulling out a stool by the breakfast bar and sitting down. I rested my head in my hands, watching him come over with two bottles and hand me one. “So, do you know what this is all about? I don’t know if you have any of the details—”

“I don’t,” he replied, twisting the lid off before draining part of the bottle in a few gulps.

“And you probably don’t want to know what went on with your brother.”

“You can tell me whatever you like,” he replied, putting his hands wide either side of him along the bench and leaning down so our eyes were almost level. “And if I can help, I will.”

“Like he’s acting like he raped…” I shifted uncomfortably on the seat, then started again. “We had sex, but it was consensual. So I don’t get why he’s confessing things to strangers.”

“OK.”

I watched Kaine’s fingers follow the grain of the bench top.

“Like he didn’t assault me or anything.” I twisted the cap off my water, but didn’t drink anything. “If he’d just shut up about it… If he’d just left things alone…”

He smiled then and all of a sudden I could see the family resemblance. Adam’s grins came easily, frequently, were bright and beautiful. Whereas Kaine’s smile was like the sun that peeked out from behind the clouds every now and again, making you that much more grateful each time.

“You have no idea how often I have said those same words.” He reached over to tap his bottle with mine in affirmation and I reciprocated. “Now, drink up. I know I said I’d be in contact and take you out for dinner tonight, but how do you feel about eating in?”

“You don’t have to stay or anything,” I replied hurriedly. “Or you can, of course, seeing as it’s your place. Um… maybe I should head back home. Jack had to be over-reacting, right?”

“Have you ever known her to before?” he asked me and I shook my head. No one had a better head for the risks to your reputation than my bestie. “Then I want you to stay here. If I’m making you feel uncomfortable, I won’t stick around—”

“I can’t kick you out of your own crash pad,” I said, the term seeming ridiculous for a place like this. “This is your place.”

“And it’s yours as long as you need it,” he promised me, before pulling out his phone. “I’d intended to take you out for dinner, but things change.” He pushed his phone towards me. “This is the menu of the place my friend owns. Let me know what you like and I’ll put an order in.”

Chapter14

Kaine

I was in hell. Not just because I’d been forced to clean up after Adam again, but for a much more practical reason. We’d had dinner delivered an hour or so after we’d arrived and now I was trying really hard not to think inappropriate things as my mate groaned at the quality of the food.

And failing utterly.

My cock was so hard it ached, the throb in time with my heartbeat as I watched Freya slurp up a strand of spaghetti and I found myself envying the fate of pasta.

“Oh my god, this food is amazing!” she said, settling back. “But what about yours?”

I was pushing my food around on my plate, something that would’ve driven my mother mad, but I couldn’t seem to stop. I wasn’t hungry for fettuccine Alfredo, not when there was something so much sweeter in the room. I could just see it, shoving all the plates off the table and then replacing them with her as I worked down her zip, her pants, her underwear. I’d tell her to sit still like a good girl, right as I dropped to my—

“It’s lovely,” I said, spiralling a strand around my fork and then holding it out to her. “Try it.”

She went to grab the fork from my fingers, but I held tight, something that made her blink. Freya stared into my eyes momentarily, then darted forward and bit the pasta from the fork, there and gone again like a delicate little hummingbird. Her fingers went up to her mouth as she chewed, then made enthusiastic noises.

“God, that’s incredible too. And you said your friend runs the place? I’ll have to tell Amber…”

We were having a moment, a nice one where we shared space, shared a meal, and the kind of peace I craved so much had settled over the room. I’d hated the massive dining table, all the chairs, but even though we were seated opposite each other, that space seemed to condense, becoming intimate, something I almost felt guilty for.

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