Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 80373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
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.