Chapter 178

Aiden

I broke the kiss, taking the entirety of him, of us, and as my fingers slid down his hips slowly. Running my palms under his thighs, I hoisted his legs over my shoulders as he lifted his chin, closing his eyes in anticipation.

I cupped his jaw, guiding his gaze back to mine.

There was nothing rough in the touch—only certainty.

The kind of certainty that steadied me and gutted me all at once.

“Look at me, baby boy,” I murmured, my voice low, the words pulled straight from the center of my chest. “I want your eyes on me when I take you. Because no matter what happens after tonight… no one is going to touch you without you remembering who you belong to.”

My thumb swept slowly across his cheekbone.

His breath hitched—just barely—but I felt it.

“No one will ever kiss you the way I do.”

I leaned in and kissed him—slow, deep, claiming—putting truth behind every word.

He gasped into it, his hands clutching at me like I was the only solid thing left in his world.

When he tore back for air, his voice trembled, raw.

“There’s no one I want to kiss but you.”

The sound of that nearly undid me.

My mouth curved before I even realized it—something soft, something wrecked, something I only ever felt with him.

“No one will ever touch you the way I do,” I murmured, my hand sliding down the line of his thigh, mapping him like I had never stopped learning him, like I would never stop.

He shivered—bucking slightly to meet my caresses.

“I don’t want anyone else’s touch,” he whispered. “Just yours.”

My hands found his buttocks, and I squeezed them with a possessive grin, breath tangled with breath, like our bodies had already decided this long before we had.

“And no one,” I said, voice quiet but unbreakable, “will ever fuck you the way I will.”

His body shuddered with a grunt—fragile and fierce at once.

“I won’t ever let anyone fuck me but you,” he said, and his voice broke, open and unguarded. “I’m yours.”

I closed my eyes for a single heartbeat—because it hit something deep, something sacred, something that had been starving inside me maybe forever.

When I opened them, all I could see was him.

“Mine,” I breathed. “Now and always.”

Reaching for the lube at the foot of the bed, I coated us both generously, positioning myself at his entrance, feeling the heat radiate from him. I pushed in slowly, inch by inch, savoring the tight, velvety grip of his body.

“Fuck, Noah,” I groaned, feeling him clench around me. “You feel so goddamn good.”

He whimpered, his hands fisting the sheets, knuckles white. “Aiden... more. Please.”

I complied, sliding deeper, the sensation overwhelming. My emotions were a chaotic mix of desire and possession. I wanted to consume him, to make him mine in every way possible.

“You’re so tight,” I murmured, my voice strained. “So fucking perfect.”

I started to move, slowly at first, then building momentum. Each thrust was a claim, a promise. I could feel his body responding, meeting my rhythm, his moans filling the air.

“Harder,” he begged, his voice raw with need. “Fuck me harder, Aiden.”

I obeyed, driving into him with more force, the sound of our bodies slapping together filling the room. I was losing control, my instincts taking over. I wanted to mark him, to leave my imprint on every part of him.

“You’re mine, Noah,” I growled, my voice low and dangerous. “Mine to love, mine to claim.”

He cried out, his body convulsing around me as I hit a spot that made him see stars. I could feel his pleasure building, his muscles tightening. Reaching down, I wrapped my hand around his cock, stroking in time with my thrusts. The dual sensation of his tight heat and the silky smoothness of his shaft had me on the edge of madness. Just watching the pleasure and lust radiating from his face, from his needy sounds and whimpers, unraveled me. I didn’t think I could hold it any longer, and judging by the way his hips bucked wildly to meet my thrusts, neither could he.

“Come for me, baby boy,” I commanded, my voice a harsh whisper. “Let me feel you come undone around my cock.”

His body obeyed, his orgasm ripping through him with a force that left him trembling. I followed soon after, my release explosive, my body shaking with the intensity of it.

As I collapsed beside him, spent and sated, I pulled him close, my arms wrapping around him possessively. “I love you,” I murmured against his skin, a promise and a warning. “Always.”

When the last tremor left him, when his breathing finally slowed and his body melted fully into mine, I lay down next to him and held him. Not to claim this moment, not to lock it in place, but simply because I couldn’t not. His head rested against my chest, his fingers resting near my heart, as if he were holding the beat steady with his hand.

“I love you…” he whispered.

I smoothed my palm slowly up and down his spine, grounding him, grounding myself. The room was quiet except for the hum of the air vent and our breaths—deep, uneven, familiar. I could have slept there. God, I wanted to. Nothing in my entire life had ever felt as right as having him wrapped in my arms in a dim, silent room where no one could touch us.

But I knew this couldn’t be where the night ended.

Not when the world outside this room hadn’t changed yet. Not when he still had to walk out that door and put on a life that was killing him in pieces. Not when tomorrow would demand answers we couldn’t give if we stayed silent now.

I tightened my hold on him for a moment longer, just enough to feel him respond, just enough to memorize the weight of him against me.

“I wish I could keep you here,” I murmured into his hair, my voice low, almost ashamed of how much truth bled through. “All night. Every night.”

He didn’t lift his head, but I felt his breath catch.

“But I know you can’t stay,” I added, softer this time. “Not yet.”

He exhaled slowly, like the words hurt, but he didn’t pull away.

I shifted just enough to see his face, brushing my thumb along his cheekbone, clearing a damp strand of hair from his forehead. He looked exhausted. Raw. Loved. Ruined.

“We need to talk before you go,” I said, and the words tasted like surrender and determination tangled together. “About what comes next. About what we’re choosing. Because tonight… we made a choice. Both of us.”

His eyes lifted to mine—clear, steady, sure.

“I know,” he whispered.

And in that one look, I saw it:

No running.

No hesitation.

No fear.

Just us.

Finally us.

I kissed him once—soft, lingering, nothing like before. A promise instead of hunger.

“Alright,” I breathed against his mouth. “Then let’s talk.”