Chapter 31
CHAPTER
THIRTY-ONE
ARI
Hot water splashes over the side of the tub as he washes my body with soap, and I finally take a deep breath.
Aiden carried me to the car and held me as we were driven back to the house.
He even carried me upstairs before depositing me on the edge of the large bathtub in his room.
The water temperature is perfect, just hot enough to relax my muscles, and Aiden has filled the tub with Epsom salt and bubbles.
He takes extra care around the rope burn on my wrists, massaging the skin with a light touch.
I lean my head back against his chest and close my eyes. A comfortable silence fills the space between us.
I know he wants to know what happened and how Anthony knew where I was located, but I need a few more minutes to process the information and just be with him before all hell breaks loose.
Silence, bathwater, and steam create a cocoon of peace around us like we’re the only two left in the world.
I soak in the feeling for a few moments longer.
Because with a few words, I am going to shatter this illusion of peace, and I am not sure how we will pick up the pieces again.
Jameson is a monster, an enemy of the family, someone we were taught to hate growing up.
The man who was part of every horror story against the family.
But now, he’s no longer a basic storybook villain.
He’s my biological father, my own flesh and blood from a rival family.
And I’m supposed to marry the Araneae heir.
Tears well in my eyes, and my chest starts to constrict as I turn in the tub and wrap my arms around Aiden’s neck. Straddling him, his hard dick presses against me.
Aiden searches my eyes before he brings his thumb up, brushing it over my lips. “Tell me, little venom. Tell me so I can fix it.”
I close my eyes against the wetness, refusing to allow the tears to fall. Aiden cups my neck and presses his thumb against my chin. “Ari. Open your eyes and tell me.” He says with a firm voice, brooking no room for argument.
My eyes flutter open reluctantly. I used to call Brodie my dark prince, but with Aiden...
he’s my greatest sin. My reaper. His dark hair falls in front of his eyes, curling at the bottom with the moisture.
The stubble on his face scrapes against my fingers as I lightly run my hand over his jaw.
His eyes crinkle in confusion, but he lets me have my moment touching him with nothing between us, but I can tell he’s becoming impatient.
“Let me burn the world for you, little venom. Point me in the right direction.”
I finally break the silence, knowing I can’t hold it off any longer. “Jameson Cartwright is my father.” Aiden’s eyes widen in shock, like he can’t believe the words that just came out of my mouth. Frankly, neither can I.
“What? Wait…what?” Confusion and a little underlying anger lace his voice.
I lay my head on his chest as his arms come automatically around my waist. “Aiden,” I whisper, “I can’t do this tonight. Can it please just wait until tomorrow?”
I feel him tense against me, fighting every instinct to put this on hold, but eventually his body relaxes, and his hand rubs my back in a soft, soothing motion. “Yes, little venom. It can wait. Just for tonight,” he says as his chin comes down to rest against my head.
When the water runs cold, he lifts me out of the tub before wrapping us both in towels and directing us toward his bed. Aiden takes his time drying us both off before throwing them in the hamper.
And then he is kneeling before me, hands around my waist, placing kisses along my stomach.
“Arianna Ashbourne, you bring me to my knees,” he says reverently, and then he drops his chin and places his mouth right over my clit.
He teases me, dropping one hand behind my leg and draping it across his shoulders, giving him more access.
I grab his hair to pull him even closer.
Aiden worships me. As if I’m his goddess and he must offer me his prayers.
His tongue and fingers pull holy vows from my lips.
He stays there until my skin is slightly sensitive, lifting me in his arms as he stands.
My legs go around his hips, and he softly drops us down onto the bed.
Aiden’s cock slips inside of me with ease.
The fullness of him makes me gasp. He rocks in and out at a gentle pace, savoring the closeness between us.
Not speeding up or slowing down, just a constant rocking building slowly between us.
His gray eyes shimmer in the moonlight, never looking away from me. A tension builds between us. New and so unlike us. It’s delicate and tender.
His grey eyes are locked on mine and brim with emotion so thick that it presses down around us, filling the room. My release builds and builds, and as Aiden bends his head and brushes my lips, I know the next words will undo me.
“Ari, I lov—” Aiden starts to confess.
Only his words are drowned out by a sound so achingly familiar my heart stops beating.
A dark chuckle fills the room before his voice shatters what’s left of my sanity.
“Do you enjoy fucking my brother, Arianna?”
It’s his voice. A voice I never thought I would hear again outside of my nightmares.
The ghost that haunts us.
Brodie.
TO BE CONTINUED…
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Their Venomous Ruin
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