Sipping my drink, I laughed when Aiden tried to right the bulb on Deacon’s MHT tree. I drifted around the room, looking for some sort of personal effects. There wasn’t a single picture of the St. Delphi family. Nothing that proved they even existed.
Aiden stood in front of a closed door—a room he hadn’t shown me on the mini-tour. “How’s the chocolate?”
I smiled. “It’s perfect.”
He set his water down on the coffee table and folded his arms. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what Apollo said.”
“Which part of crazy are you thinking about?” I watched him over the rim of my mug, loving the way he smiled in response to the stupid things that came out of my mouth. That had to be true love, I decided.
“You shouldn’t stay at Lucian’s when he returns.”
I lowered my mug. “Why?”
“Apollo has a point about Seth. You’re in danger because of him. The further away from him you are, the safer you’ll be.”
“Aiden—”
“I know you care about him, but you’ve suspected that Seth hasn’t been honest with you.” Aiden strode forward and dropped into a chair. His gaze lowered and heavy lashes fanned his cheeks. “You shouldn’t be around him—not when he can come and go at Lucian’s.”
Aiden had a point. I’d give him that, but I seriously doubted that was the whole reason. “And you feel this way all because of what Apollo said?”
“No. It’s more than that.”
“You don’t like Seth?” I asked innocently, setting my mug down.
He flashed his teeth. “Besides that, Alex, he hasn’t been honest about a lot of things. He lied about knowing how an Apollyon was created, about the Order, and there’s a good chance he’s… giving you those marks on purpose.”
“Okay, besides all those reasons?”
He stared up at me. “Well, I don’t like that fact that you’re settling for him.”
I rolled my eyes. “I hate when you say that.”
“It’s the truth,” he said simply.
Irritation started to burn below my skin. “That’s not the truth. I’m not settling for Seth.”
“Let me ask you a question, then.” Aiden leaned forward. “If you could have… who you wanted, would you be with Seth?”
I stared at him, somewhat shocked that he’d even throw that out there. And it really wasn’t a fair question. What could I say to that?
“Exactly.” He sat back, smiling smugly.
A fierce emotion blasted through me. “Why can’t you just admit it?”
“Admit what?”
“That you’re jealous of Seth.” It was one of those times I needed to shut up, but I couldn’t. I was angry and thrilled all at once. “You’re jealous of the fact that I can be with Seth if I want to be.”
Aiden smirked. “There. You just said it yourself. You’d be with Seth ifyou wanted to be. Obviously you don’t, so why areyou with him? You’re settling.”
“Ugh!” My hands curled into fists and I wanted to stomp my foot. “You are absolutely the most frustrating person I know. Fine. Whatever. You’re not jealous of Seth or the fact that he’s been sleeping in my bed for the last two months, because of course you haven’t wished that was you at all.”
Something dangerous flared in his silvery eyes.
Cheeks flaming, I wanted to smack myself. Why had I said that? To piss him off orto make myself look like a total ho-bag? I’d accomplished a little of both.
“Alex,” he said, voice low and deceptively soft.
“Just forget it.” I started past him, but his hand shot out as fast as a snake striking. One second I was walking and the next I was in his lap, straddling him. Eyes wide and heart thundering, I stared at him.
“Okay,” he said, grasping my upper arms. “You’re right. I’m jealous of that little punk. Happy?”
Instead of basking in the glory of having him admit that I was right, I placed my hands on his shoulders and basked in something totally different. “I… I keep forgetting how fast you can move when you want to.”
A strange small smile played over his lips. “You haven’t seen anything yet, Alex.”
My pulse went into cardiac arrest territory. I was done arguing—done talking in general. Other things were on my mind. And I knew he was thinking the same. His hands moved down my arms to my hips. He tugged me forward, and the softest part of me pressed against his hardness.
Our mouths didn’t touch, but the rest of our bodies did. Neither of us moved. There was something primal in Aiden’s gaze, wholly possessive. I shivered—the good kind of shiver. All I could think about was how good, how right his body felt pressed against mine.
I cupped his face and then slid my fingers through his hair, amazed that the intensity of what I was feeling was stronger than any bond with Seth. Delicious sensations rolled through me as his hands tightened around my hips, and when he rocked against me, the way his hands trembled and the powerful way his body coiled completely undid me.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” he whispered, his eyes searching mine. “That I should’ve told you—”
“Not right now.” Words would ruin things. They brought logic and reality into the game. I lowered my mouth to his.
A hallway light turned on outside the room.
I sprang away from Aiden as if he’d caught fire. From several feet away, I struggled to catch my breath as my eyes locked with Aiden’s. He came out of the chair, his chest rising and falling sharply. There was a second when I thought he was going to say the hell with it and pull me back into his arms, but the sound of encroaching footsteps knocked some sense into him. Closing his eyes, he tipped his head back and exhaled loudly.
Without saying a word, I spun around and left the room. I passed a sleepy, confused-looking Deacon in the hallway.
“I’m thirsty,” he said, rubbing his eyes.
Muttering something that resembled good night, I fled upstairs. Once inside the bedroom, I collapsed on the bed and stared at the vaulted ceiling.
Things just weren’t meant to happen between us. How many times had we been interrupted? It didn’t seem to matter how strong our connection was—our attraction. Something always got in the way.
Fully clothed, I rolled onto my side and curled up into a ball. I wanted to spin-kick everyone who thought me staying with Aiden was a good idea. We—I—had enough problems right now without throwing myself at Aiden.
Not that I’d really thrown myself at him this time… or the last time. Oh hell…
I reached under my shirt and felt the scar below my ribcage. The act served as a painful reminder that my love problems—or lack thereof—were not my greatest.
CHAPTER 21
THE FIRST THING I DID WHEN I WOKE UP WAS TAKE A nice, luxurious bath in the garden tub. I stayed in that thing until my skin started to wrinkle and even then it was hard to pull myself out of it.
It was heaven in a bathroom.
After that, I went downstairs and found Deacon sprawled across a couch in the rec room. Knocking his legs aside, I sat down. He was watching Supernaturalreruns. “Good choice,” I commented. “They’re two brothers I’d like to meet in real life.”
“True.” Deacon knocked wild curls out of his eyes. “It’s what I watch when I’m not in class or pretending to be in class.”
I grinned. “Aiden would kill you if he knew you skip class.”
He kicked up his legs and dropped them in my lap. “I know. I’ve cut back on the skipping class thing.”
He’d also cut back on the drinking thing. I glanced at him. Maybe Luke was a good influence on him. “You doing anything special for Valentine’s Day?” I asked.
His lips pursed. “Now why would you ask that, Alex? We don’t celebrate V-Day.”