Instead, he motioned toward the fridge. “Would you like something? Blood? I know Bel keeps plenty on hand.”
“No, I’m good. What’s bothering you, Aiden?”
Placing his glass on the center island, Aiden moved just a tiny bit as Ronan fully entered the room, keeping the marble-topped block between them. It felt safe to have that distance separating them. But it wasn’t about not trusting Ronan. He didn’t trust himself and his vaunted common sense he spoke of to his sons.
Of course, Ronan noticed and smirked, but he didn’t try to close the space between them.
“Is it your sons? Or me?” Ronan prodded.
“Everything is fine with my sons. They’re just worried about my safety after losing their mother not long ago.”
“So it’s me.”
Aiden sighed. “It’s not that simple.”
Ronan leaned forward and placed his forearms on the island. A smile still played on his lips, but there was worry in his dark eyes. “Was it the kiss? You seemed to enjoy the kiss.”
“The kiss was amazing, and you know it.”
The vampire released a heavy breath of relief and dropped his head down. “Thank God, because I plan to kiss you again.”
“But what happens after we kiss?”
Ronan smiled at him. “Hopefully, we kiss again. And again and again. I don’t think I’ll ever grow tired of kissing you. It was like licking heaven.”
Aiden snorted. “Licking heaven? How did you ever get laid with comments like that?”
His grin never wavered as he shrugged. “You only gave me a taste, but I want it all. I want to hold you, taste every inch of you, give you pleasure unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. You’re going to be perfect, and I’m pretty sure the experience is going to kill me, but I don’t care. You’re worth dying for.”
“Don’t talk like that,” Aiden snapped. He grabbed the edge of the counter as he tried to center himself and his emotions. “I already lost you once.”
“And as you told your sons, I’m not going anywhere. Not unless you kick me out of your domain, and even then, I have my doubts. You might even have to tie me up and chuck me on the plane personally.”
“You’re avoiding my question.”
“Because in truth, I don’t know what happens after we kiss.” Very slowly, Ronan stepped around the edge of the counter and approached him. Part of Aiden said, Run, stay out of arm’s reach, but he didn’t move. He didn’t want to run from Ronan anymore.
Reaching out, Ronan placed his hand over Aiden’s, loosening his grip so that his fingers were no longer clenching the edge. He massaged each tense digit, his rough, calloused fingers moving over his skin to knead the muscles in his palm. “There is no rush. I know we both feel like we must catch up for lost time. I’ve been pushing, anxious to finally have you in my arms after many lifetimes of regret, but there is no need to rush. We have time.”
Some of the anxiety started to leak out of Aiden as Ronan continued to rub his hand. No one had ever done that for him. He never thought such a touch could be intimate and consoling all in one. “Do we have time? The Ministry…”
“We’ll figure out the Ministry. The truth is that you don’t trust me, not fully at least.” Aiden took a breath and opened his mouth to argue, but Ronan shook his head. “We’ll get there. You trust me with some things, like your lips, but I want everything. And as much as it pains me to say this, I don’t fully trust you. We both have too many secrets and bad experiences separating us. Time will fix that. I believe we’ll find a way to trust each other completely.”
Aiden smirked. “You make it all sound so easy when we both know that it’s not.”
“No, it won’t be easy. We’re both incredibly pigheaded. I’ve never been particularly good at listening to you, even though you’ve always been the smarter of the two of us. You like to overthink everything.”
Tilting his head up to look at Ronan, his eyes narrowed. “And what do you suggest instead of thinking?”
Ronan leaned in and captured his lips in a slow, draining kiss that had Aiden reaching up with his free hand to grab the back of Ronan’s neck, holding him captive. Kissing was supposed to be a bad idea, but he couldn’t remember why when Ronan’s tongue was sliding along his in a slick, sinuous dance that was zapping out brain cells. He just wanted to go on kissing the man forever. It would be even better if a corner of the kitchen counter wasn’t between them.
Breaking off the kiss, Ronan brushed his lips across the side of Aiden’s mouth and smiled against his cheek. “I’m thinking that kissing you might solve a lot of our problems.”
“Likely not, but I’m willing to try.”
“But not today,” Ronan stated, shocking him. Aiden released his hold on Ronan’s neck and leaned away so he could look directly into his eyes. “You need rest. You’ve been through a lot recently. We have time. We’ll talk about everything, particularly the Ministry. Work out a plan together.”
Aiden frowned. “I don’t recall you being so responsible.”
Ronan made a little scoffing noise in the back of his throat. “Give me a little credit. It has been a thousand years. I have changed a tiny bit since you last saw me.”
“Maybe…” Aiden teased.
Moving close again, Ronan brushed a kiss to Aiden’s cheekbone. “I want you to sleep, and we’ll talk.”
Aiden couldn’t help it. He flinched when Ronan said “sleep.” He was too aware of Ronan’s gift, but he didn’t believe he’d used it. Hoped he wouldn’t at least.
“Aiden, I would never use my gift on you,” Ronan continued calmly, proving that he felt Aiden flinch.
“Not even if it was for my own good?”
“Dammit, you caught my loophole,” Ronan joked. Aiden glared at him, and Ronan smiled. “No, not even then, but I may throw on lots of guilt about how you’re torturing me by not letting me protect you.”
“I appreciate the warning.”
Ronan kissed him quickly one last time before releasing him and stepping backward. “Get some rest. We have time.”
Aiden felt himself relax at Ronan’s words. Maybe that was all he needed to hear. They had time. The world wasn’t ending around them, and they had time to figure out what they wanted.
Chapter Eleven
The world was ending. Or at least it felt like it.
Wyatt dropped Ronan off at his hotel following a delicious breakfast with him, River, Bel, and Aiden. He’d all but given up food for the past several centuries, but there was something enjoyable about sitting around a table filled with wonderful food, listening to those men tell crazy stories about living together while their house was being built. It didn’t hurt that he was getting another glimpse of relaxed and happy Aiden—away from his royal duties and surrounded by loving family.
But when he walked into the hotel, he found a message from Mara waiting for him. They had a meeting scheduled with King Aiden to discuss the fate of Christopher Heller and his clan. Swearing as he quickly dressed, Ronan stopped only long enough to send a text message to Aiden.