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“Need a reminder?” Fingertips skated down her spine. Tanner grabbed her ass with both hands, pushing her into him. “Feel what you do to me, pretty girl.”
She couldn’t miss it. It felt like he was packing a Louisville Slugger in his pants. “But I didn’t do anything.”
“Baby, all you gotta do is breathe.” Burying his face in her neck, Tanner inhaled. “And I’m dyin’ from wantin’ you so bad.”
“Sorry,” Arien said, almost as a question. She rubbed the stubble on his cheek.
“Don’t be.” Turning his head, he kissed her palm. “Happy birthday.”
“Is it?” Glancing at the clock, she saw it was just after midnight. “Oh, look at that, it is.” She looked at him. “Thank you.”
Bringing her with him, he scooted back to sit against the headboard. Tanner held her on his lap, running his fingers down her hair. “You know what that means, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
Green eyes burned into hers. “Can I kiss you?”
Please. I’ve been dying, too.
But Arien didn’t have the air in her lungs to say it. Her heart beating faster, she could only nod.
The moonlight through his bedroom window felt sultry. January turned warm. Stroking her cheek, Tanner leaned in, and for a moment, time froze. His lips brushed over hers. They were so soft. Arien hadn’t expected that. Honest, tender, and sweet, his kiss was the destination in and of itself. She knew it would stay with her forever.
“As soon as I saw you, I knew…”
Blood pumping in her ears, Arien grabbed his face and pulled him closer. Lightly nibbling on her lip, he gently sucked it into his mouth. Rubbing his nose alongside hers. Sweet, buttery breath on her face. Fingertips lingering on her skin. His lips skated along her jaw.
“…I was gonna lose my heart.”
And right then and there, she knew she’d lost hers, too.
Kellan tossed the little square box onto the bed. Wrapped in gold paper, he’d tied it with ribbon. What the hell was he thinking? He should’ve known better.
That girl put a spell on him or something. Enticing him with her delectable body. That beautiful face. The cute way she laughed. Christ, he could smell her everywhere. Arien almost had him forgetting she was going to leave them.
Sitting down on the edge of the mattress, Kellan expelled a breath. He picked up the box, twirling it between his fingers. He’d made the birthday gift himself. Three hearts hand-carved in beeswax, cast in sterling silver, to wear on her slender wrist. Should he even give it to her?
At midnight, he stole across the hall to her room, but it was empty.
He crept halfway down the stairs, and finding the house dark, went back up as quietly as he came.
In the stillness, he could discern muffled sounds on the other side of the door he shared with Tanner. A gentle groove tempered by a mere thickness of wood. And cracking it open, he found her kissing him.
Tanner’s hands all over her.
Whispering sweet nothings in her ear.
Couldn’t wait, could ya? She’s mine first, dammit.
He took in the way she looked at him. Stars in her hazel-green eyes. Hanging on Tanner’s every word. Fingers raking his scalp, Arien pulled on his brother’s hair, his lips suckling a pink-tipped breast.
She loves him.
Looking away, Kellan closed the door.
He’d wait until morning.
The shower was running when he slipped inside her room. Quietly, Kellan shooed the dog out and turned the lock. Glancing around, he placed the little gold box on her dresser next to a photo she framed of the three of them. A book lay upon the night table, the laptop open on her bed.
