Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 99917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99917 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
The shock on Aries’s face would be comical if the situation weren’t so intense. He looks like I’ve slapped him.
“You can’t be serious,” he says.
“Dead serious,” I confirm. “Those are my terms, including trying to make amends with each other. Take them or leave them.”
Aries runs a hand through his hair, a gesture of frustration I’ve seen a thousand times. “So what, we’re supposed to share you? Take turns? Watch while the other—” He cuts himself off, apparently unable to even finish the thought.
I swallow and then clarify, “All I’m asking is that you or him be in the same room. To acknowledge that I care about both of you in different ways. I’m so tired of being the object you use to hurt each other. I’m more than that, Aries.”
“I know this, but it’s just insane,” Aries mutters, though I can see him considering it. Weighing his desire for me against his hatred for his brother, against the idea of sharing, of fucking me in front of him.
“Those are my conditions,” I say firmly. “Like I said, I won’t be the reason you two destroy each other.”
There’s a tense moment, and then Aries scoops me up into his arms again and kisses me so hard our teeth scrape together. When I blink up for air, he holds me tight against his chest. “I’ll do it. I agree to your terms. If that’s the only way I can have you, then so be it. I’ve wanted you for years, Lilian. FUCKING years. You’re a burn in my blood I can’t shake, no matter how hard I try to extinguish it. I won’t give you up.”
I wrap my arms around his neck, a little pleased with the entire declaration. “From what I heard, you tried a lot…with a lot of different girls.”
His cheeks pinken, and it’s the cutest fucking thing I’ve ever seen.
“I’m not saying this is going to be easy. I’m asking you to try.”
Aries juggles me to hold me tight in one arm and goes to the door to throw it open. “Come in, asshole. I know you were standing there listening the whole time.”
Aries and Arson exchange a long look, some silent communication passing between them that I can’t interpret. For all their hatred, there’s a connection there—a twin bond that neither captivity nor revenge has fully severed.
“Whatever you want, Lilian,” Arson finally says.
I search his face, looking for any sign that he’s agreeing just to appease me, that he’ll go back on his word the moment I let up. Yet despite the reluctance in his tone, there’s a resignation in his eyes that tells me he’s accepted the terms, however unhappily.
“Thank you,” I say softly, reaching out to touch his arm. The muscle beneath my fingers is tense, coiled with restrained emotion.
“Don’t thank me yet,” he mutters, but he doesn’t pull away from my touch. “We don’t know if it’s going to be a miracle or a disaster.”
“At least it will be something,” I concede. “In my mind, it’s the only way forward that doesn’t end with one of you killing the other.”
Aries’s gaze flicks to Arson, who’s watching our exchange with calculated interest. Something unspoken passes between them—not quite understanding, but perhaps the beginning of a reluctant truce. The moment stretches, taut with possibilities, before Aries breaks it by turning back to me, this time with more urgency, more intent.
“What are you doing?” My voice comes out startled, shaky from the sudden shift, my body jolted into his arms.
“Taking you to the bathroom,” Aries says, his voice dropping low, rough with intent. It’s the kind of tone that seeps beneath skin, curling hot and dangerous in my stomach. “I want to wash his scent off you before I have you.”
The possession in that statement makes my heart clench inside my chest. How long have I waited for Aries to show me this side of him? Desire pulses between my thighs. Something deep and primal answers to his authority, to the sheer force of his will.
He carries me with ease, every step purposeful, his grip branding me as his. When we reach the bathroom threshold, he turns—his stare locking with Arson’s. The air between them bristles, thick with unspoken challenge.
“You can watch from the doorway,” Aries says, tone hard as steel. “Hell, join if you want to, but I’m fucking her first.”
I don’t know what to say in response to that, and it appears Arson doesn’t, either. He falters for a moment before his composure cracks, just enough for me to catch a flicker beneath—the sharp edge of jealousy, followed by the darker lick of desire. It’s a layered and complicated emotion, something that makes my pulse stumble.
“You can take her first, just remember who it was that she came to first.”
The dig is calculated, surgical, and it hits its mark. Aries tenses, his whole body vibrating with fury, a growl rumbling up from deep in his chest. I feel it echo through my ribs, through my blood, through every place we’re pressed together.