Page 10 of Killing Me Softly

Aaron clenched his jaw, gripping Kenny’s shirt to steady himself. If he didn’t hold himself together, he’d cry, or worse—say it.

“I hate you.” He didn’t mean it.

Kenny chuckled, a low, knowing sound, brushing his lips over Aaron’s ear. “Liar.”

The warmth of Kenny’s breath sent a shiver down Aaron’s spine, but it was nothing compared to what boiled in his chest. His pulse pounded, his body screaming with words too big to contain.

I love you.

The words hovered—so close,tooclose. He had swallowed them down for months, forcing them back every time Kenny pulled him in. Every time they shared a quiet moment where the world outside didn’t matter. Every time Kenny was inside him, holding his gaze, refusing to look away.

But he couldn’t say it.

Not yet.

Because Aaron didn’t trust himself to know what love was. Love, in his mind, was warped. Conditional. Fragile. Dangerous. His mother’s cruelty still echoed in his head, her words a curse that never loosened its grip.“You will suffocate anyone who gets too close.”

So if Kenny said it first—if Kenny loved him first—then Aaron would know. He’d know this aching, unbearable longing wasn’t a mistake. Wasn’t just need or obsession.

That it was real.

That it was love.

Because Kenny knew better than anyone how out of reach love had always been for him.

The moment cracked as Kenny’s voice dipped close, deep and intimate. “So what did you do all day while I was working?”

Aaron exhaled, letting go of the words he wouldn’t—couldn’t—say. “Spa. Steam room. Sauna. Got a massage.”

Kenny hummed in approval. “Nice.”

Aaron peeled himself back just enough to watch Kenny’s reaction and pouted. “No happy ending, though.”

Kenny flexed his fingers on his waist, and his voice turned dark with promise. “Good. I give you the happy endings.”

Aaron fucking hoped so.

chapter three

Sex on Fire

Kenny swiped his keycard to the hotel room door, the quiet beep drowning out the roaring in his ears and Aaron stepped inside with a sinful saunter, sending Kenny’s pulse into overdrive.

Their eyes locked, sultry blue meeting molten amber, and Kenny felt that look like a match to gasoline. His heart thrashed, unruly and defenceless, as it had every single time. He wondered if he’d ever grow tired of that look.

No. Aaron wouldn’t give him the chance.

The door shut with a muted thud and Kenny caught a fleeting glance at the chaos Aaron had left behind earlier. Pillows askew, duvet crumpled, leftover plate of food on the desk, and the faint scent of cologne lingering in the air. He arched an eyebrow at him, a warning, to keep up the pretence that he cared. But none of it mattered. Not now. Not when Aaron was here, inches away, enticing him into the dark side.

Bringing him here had been reckless. A slow dive into the abyss. Another nail driven into the coffin of his career. But regret never came. How could it, when Aaron stood there, sinfully beautiful, seductively enticing, offering Kenny everything he craved, wrapped in everything he could never resist? Aaronmight don masks, played his parts with dangerous ease, but each one snuck past Kenny’s defences and lodged itself deeper, carving out pieces of his heart until there was nothing left that wasn’t touched by him.

Nothing left that wasn’this.

With a low rumble deep in his throat, Kenny surged forward, capturing Aaron’s mouth in a kiss that burned hot and seared deep. Not rushed, but it wasn’t idle, either. It was intense and conscious. And he framed Aaron’s face in his hands, grazing his thumbs along the sharp planes of his cheekbones as their mouths moved together, the subtle brush of tongue setting off a tremor in his veins. Aaron’s kiss was as treacherous as it was intoxicating. Razor sharp and wrapped in silk. Hazardous, like the sweetest poison. And every time Aaron honoured him with one, it made Kenny ache with the fear of losing it. Losinghim. Of being denied the chance. And that fear made him greedier. Made every stolen taste more exquisite.

Soon their clothes disappeared, Aaron tugging Kenny’s shirt over his head, while Kenny peeled Aaron’s jeans free with an urgent tug. Impatience took over, hands frantic, fumbling until, finally, Kenny’s bare skin met Aaron’s bare skin, and he tumbled them onto the bed, limbs tangling as they wrestled for dominance. Aaron laughed low in his throat, a wicked sound, and Kenny felt it like a shiver down his spine.

Aaron straddled him, pressing Kenny down not with his weight but with the wickedness in his eyes, electric with hunger. The blue of them crackled. Wild and unapologetic. Kenny let him play this game. The push and pull of their unspoken rules. The fight for who was in charge. And Aaron trailed his hands over Kenny’s chest, dragging fingers through the hair there, nails scratching just enough to sting.

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