Chapter 9 #3
Aiden expected to be instantly devoured by Ronan, but he was pleasantly surprised that his old friend moved so very slowly, as if he were savoring this moment.
They’d both waited more than a thousand years for this.
Ronan’s breath hitched and Aiden’s eyes slid shut as Ronan cupped his cheek with one cool hand, rough fingers sliding along his face.
Hot breath fanned his lips, causing them to tingle and then, finally, the lightest brush.
The first kiss was so small, almost like Ronan was afraid Aiden would suddenly change his mind and push him away.
The second and third kisses came with more pressure, more need.
Flesh caught and scraped, becoming damp.
Ronan’s lips parted so slightly, capturing Aiden’s bottom lip.
Oh God, the tiniest tug of teeth and Aiden was on fire.
He opened his mouth on a desperate moan, welcoming Ronan’s tongue inside to explore and claim.
He lost count of the kisses. There was only Ronan’s heat, his hand cradling his face, his hungry lips and skilled tongue.
How was this the man he’d known since boyhood? How had he waited so long to kiss him? Should have kissed him the first time he saw him at the party. Should have kissed him that night in the forest.
Didn’t matter.
He had him now. His lips belonged to Aiden. The needy, growling noises coming from his throat were Aiden’s now. But it wasn’t enough. He wanted more.
Without breaking their current lip-lock, Aiden braced one hand on the wall behind him and pushed up.
He shifted until he was on his knees like Ronan, their bodies pressed flush.
The hand cupping Aiden’s cheek slid up to twist in his hair while the other wrapped around his waist, fingers digging into the muscles in his back.
Aiden cupped Ronan’s head, holding him in place while his free hand dug into Ronan’s ass, pressing him in so close their hard cocks rubbed against each other.
A long moan rattled up Ronan’s throat and he shifted his hips, seeking more delicious friction. “Aiden,” he pleaded.
Opening his eyes, he smiled to see Ronan’s face flushed, lips puffy and wet. He looked so happy and lost to their pleasure. “We should have done this so long ago.”
Ronan huffed out a strangled laugh and dove in for another hungry kiss but pulled back suddenly.
“What?” Aiden asked, struggling to get his brain working again beyond the problem of them wearing so many damn clothes.
“Your phone.”
It was only when Ronan pointed it out that Aiden realized that he could hear it vibrating on the floor where he’d left it. He swore softly and released Ronan to snatch up the phone. Sitting on his heels, he frowned at the text message that had rolled in.
“They’re here,” Aiden announced.
“Already?” Ronan demanded, his voice nearly a whine. He moved to where he’d been sitting against the wall and boldly adjusted himself. Aiden sat, fighting the urge to make the same adjustment.
“Apparently, it didn’t take nearly as long as Wyatt expected to convince Bel to remain behind. How do I look? Do I look like—”
“I’ve had my tongue down your throat?” Ronan smugly finished. Aiden tried to give him a repressive look, but it didn’t work. Ronan just smiled wider. “Yeah, you do.”
A bark of laughter erupted from Aiden, and he shook his head. “You don’t look any better.”
“Good.” He pointed at Aiden, his expression turning stern. “We are doing that again.”
Aiden shoved a trembling hand through his hair, trying to organize his thoughts. Had things changed? He didn’t know what any of this meant in the grand scheme of things. Where did they go from here? Not that he even knew if moving forward was possible.
Luckily, all those worries were stolen away by the sound of soft footsteps coming up the stairs and down the hall toward the apartment. Aiden and Ronan climbed to their feet at the same time, and Aiden nearly rolled his eyes as Ronan positioned himself in front of Aiden.
“Now I know why you were always so annoyed with me,” Aiden muttered.
Ronan glanced over his shoulder, his eyebrows raised in a kind of false innocence. “What? That you took up position to protect me? I was never annoyed. The arrangement always gave me a chance to stare at your ass.”
“At least I gave you a nice view.”
Ronan jerked halfway around, his mouth hanging open. “Are you saying my ass isn’t nice?”
Aiden snickered but didn’t have a chance to reply as the door was slowly pushed open.
Wyatt poked his head inside, cautiously looking around before his eyes finally landed on them.
The man was bundled up in a nice wool coat against the cold temperatures.
Aiden had largely forgotten about the bite of the cold, thanks to Ronan.
“Are you okay?” Wyatt asked.
“We’re both fine, I swear,” Aiden replied.
Wyatt’s eyes lingered on Ronan for a moment, questioning. He nodded after a second and smiled, seeming to relax. River and Fox followed him into the room. The other wolf wore a navy coat while Fox was dressed in a puffy red coat and a matching red-and-white knit hat with a puff ball on the top.
“Fine? Then what’s with all the blood?” River demanded.
“Not ours,” Ronan said.
Aiden stepped around Ronan, placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “MacPherson. I needed to hunt, and Ronan offered to accompany me. I wasn’t being cautious enough. Didn’t spot the MacPhersons following us until we were nearly surrounded.”
Fox frowned at Ronan. “As your guard, shouldn’t he have noticed?”
“He wasn’t there as my guard. Just as my friend.”
“But he’s right,” Ronan corrected. He turned to look at Aiden. “I’m sorry. I should have noticed. I let myself get distracted, and it put your life in danger. I swear it won’t happen again.”
“It’s not your job to protect me.”
“A wise man once told me that it’s the job of every man to protect his leader so that he can focus his full mind and heart on leading.”
Aiden’s heart skipped a beat, and he was rendered speechless to hear his own words used against him, words he’d repeated more than once to Ronan when he was complaining about Aiden’s need to shadow him everywhere.
His old friend smirked. “And you thought I never listened to you. I just liked to pretend to be deaf to drive you crazy.”
“It worked,” Aiden grumbled.
“Well, we need to get going,” Wyatt announced.
His voice sounded as if he were struggling not to laugh.
“The good news is that we have ample cloud cover. We have some thick fire blankets we can cover you in, and the van has been brought up to the front door. Your risk of exposure will only be a couple of seconds at most.”
“The bad news is that it’s snowing,” River added, looking at Fox.
“Hey! Snow is tricky. It’s hard to gauge between a little flurry and a blizzard.”
Aiden’s eyes widened. “You created a blizzard?”
“No!” Fox threw up both hands, stopping him. “Not a blizzard, but it is accumulating fast.”
“Doesn’t help that morning rush hour is kicking in. We need to move before Bel and Winter get any crankier,” River said.
Aiden nodded and followed the trio with Ronan behind him.
It was best if they got out of there quickly.
He didn’t want to worry about them driving in these worsening conditions.
They trudged down the stairs, Fox and River running ahead to fetch the blankets they would throw over themselves as a final precaution against the sun.
From the front window, Aiden could make out a dark, gray sky and a steady fall of large white flakes.
The blankets were unnecessary, but he appreciated the precaution.
Once they were covered, he and Ronan ran from the building the ten feet to the back of the open van.
The second they were inside, the doors were slammed shut.
Aiden pulled off the blanket and looked around, stunned.
When he’d heard Winter had acquired a van for moving during the day, this was not what he had pictured. It was…lavish.
A pair of padded bench seats ran along either wall. There was a small counter near the front and what looked to be a mini fridge. There were a pair of small black cabinets and ample warm lights tucked in various places to make it easy to see.
“What do you think?” Fox asked.
Aiden turned around to find that Fox and River had climbed in with them. There was the sound of a door opening and small shifting of the van as Wyatt likely climbed behind the wheel. Aiden sat on one of the benches, and Ronan dropped down across from him.
“It’s amazing,” Aiden said, sounding more than a little stunned.
The engine rumbled softly to life and Wyatt’s voice suddenly filled the room. “Ready to go back there?”
River crossed to a panel by one of the cabinets and pushed a button before speaking, “All ready. Be careful.”
Fox sat next to Ronan and smiled. “We call this the rescue van. It’s outfitted with a small fridge and stocked with blood.
The cabinets have medical supplies and weapons.
Oh, and the flat-screen monitor there has Wi-Fi access so we can look stuff up or get a feed from a video camera in the cab with Wyatt. We can see what he sees.”
“This is amazing, but I thought my sons had enough sense to know they shouldn’t be running around during the daylight hours.”
“So says the man who just got rescued by the rescue van,” Ronan teased.
Aiden tried to throw the vampire a dark look, but it failed miserably since he and Aiden were taking advantage of it. He relaxed against the seat and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I guess we’ll have to discuss it when I see them this evening.”
“Yeah, about that…” River said slowly. He chewed on his lip and made his way over to the bench seat to sit next to Fox. The witch was also blushing and refusing to make eye contact with Aiden.
“What’s going on?”
Ronan’s sudden laughter filled the van, rocking forward and then back. “This isn’t a rescue. It’s a kidnapping!”
“What?” Aiden gasped.
“Yeah, Aiden, we love you and we know that you’re king, but we’ve got to live with your sons,” Fox started.
“They said we had to bring you to Bel’s, or there’d be hell to pay.”
Yes, there was definitely going to be hell to pay when he finally came to face-to-face with his overprotective sons.