Page 32 of Kiss Me Honey Hone

Aaron squinted. “Handbook of Psychology?”

“Yes. Forensic Psychology volume eleven.”

“Yeah.”

“Can you fetch it?”

Aaron sighed, then lifted his legs and rolled off the sofa. “Don’t know your own stuff yet, doc?” He bent down to scrape the book out from the shelf then came back, holding it out for Kenny.

“Now sit down and read it.”

Aaron rolled his eyes. But he twisted and fell down to the floor by Kenny’s legs, opening the book, ankle crossed over the other, and, strangely, did what he was told. Kenny put his glasses back on, resuming his notes and the comfortable silence for a while, where only the occasional scrape of turning pages filtered over the television.

Until Aaron broke it. “What was it?”

Kenny hefted out a sigh. “What was what?”

“Between you and the detective? Fuck buddies? Passing fling? Arelationship?”

Kenny sloped forward, wrapping a hand around the back of Aaron’s neck, and squeezed. Not enough to hurt. Not enough to bruise. Just enough for Aaron to get the message.

“All right.” Aaron flipped another page on his lap. “I get it. You keep your private life private.”

“Good job, eh?” Kenny arched an eyebrow and Aaron peered back to catch the potency of the statement.

Aaron returned to his book, and Kenny kept his hand where it was, gripping the back of Aaron’s neck. Passing it off as him keeping Aaron in check from asking questions he didn’t want the answers to, but really, he couldn’t find the strength to let go. Why? Because he was weak. An addict.

So after a while, he didn’t just grip Aaron, he stroked him.Massagedhim. Caressed slow, languid trails up and down the nape of his neck and Aaron froze, the tension in his shoulders exposing his reaction to his touch. But, gradually, he softened, leaning into him as if he couldn’t resist either. The way Kenny knew he would, and hated himself for having to prove it. Then, when Aaron dipped sideways, resting his head on Kenny’s knee, Kenny felt the faint shiver running through him.

Kenny shouldn’t have kept going. He’d proved his point. To himself and to Aaron. But he couldn’t stop, and so he let his fingers explore, stroking softly, brushing the back of his hand along Aaron’s warm skin, no longer testing his reaction but revelling in it. Because Aaron melted. Relinquished.Surrenderedto him by tilting further into him, a quiet hum escaping his throat, a sound so wrenching it shot through Kenny to make his heart pound. And when Kenny grazed his fingertips along the fine hairs at the base of Aaron’s skull, Aaron all but purred. Those enticing small vibrations travelled through Kenny’s leg, igniting a primal instinct he thought he’d replaced with something else.

The mundane.

A life he didn’t want.

Aaron suddenly sprang up, the book hitting the floor with a thud, and Kenny lifted his startled gaze to him, gut sinking that Aaron was calling an end to his reckless teasing. Instead, though, Aaron stripped off his top, lean, pale torso exposed, and climbed onto Kenny’s lap, straddling him. Kenny’s laptop crashed onto the carpet but he couldn’t do a damn thing about it as Aaron clasped both hands around Kenny’s neck, face inches away and growled, rough and desperate, “Kiss me.”

“You know I can’t, baby.”

Not because he didn’t want to, but because when he did, this game of cat and mouse would end. And he didn’t want it to. He never wanted Aaron to stop chasing him.

“Then touch me. If you won’t fucking kiss me, just fuckingtouchme.”

Kenny’s already paper-thin resolve shattered completely then. Aaron was there—half-naked, burning with intent, skin glowing under the soft lamplight, nipples hardened, and the faint glint of his barbell pierced into Kenny’s craving. He was impossibly close, all raw edges and fierce beauty, and Kenny couldn’t resist. He moved his hands on instinct, gliding them up Aaron’s sides, firm, almost rough, before easing into a deliberate, agonising rhythm that had Aaron arching into him, a guttural groan spilling from his lips. It was so primal it shot straight through Kenny’s chest like a stab to the heart. And when Aaron shifted closer, grinding down, gasping and trembling, just enough for Kenny to glide his hands to his back, tracing his fingertips along Aaron’s spine, Kenny wasn’t sure he could ever let this go. LetAarongo. Every muscle, every curve, every sharp breath Aaron took was intoxicating.

A high Kenny craved more than any of his other fleeting addictions.

“Like that?” Kenny barely recognised his own voice, hoarse and rough.

“Yeah.” Aaron gripped Kenny’s neck and buried his face in his beard, as though wanting the roughness to rasp his skin, ghosting his lips dangerously close to Kenny’s jugular. “Don’t fucking stop.”

Then he tipped back, beautiful lust etched on his face, and Kenny was in a daze, unable to control himself, more so when Aaron dipped his fingers inside Kenny’s collar and, with one fierce yank, split his shirt open. Buttons scattered everywhere and Aaron raked his fingers through the dark hair on his chest, his touch a maddening mix of rough and tender.

“You’re so fuckinghot.” Aaron dripped with a need unbound and he bit the curve of Kenny’s neck. “I could fucking eat you.”

Kenny hissed, fingers finding Aaron’s barbell, and he tweaked it with just enough pressure to make Aaron moan and shudder before he pulled back, tantalisingly close but infuriatingly out of reach, and Aaron bore those blazing blue eyes into his, daring him to cross the line they’d both pretended to uphold.

“Kiss me.” Aaron’s second demand was fiercer.

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