CHAPTER 14
Ares sank into Kelsey, her taste, her scent. Her kiss was heady, and he lost himself in her, the feel of her smooth, soft skin beneath his hand where he reached up to cup her cheek, the sound of her breath as it hitched, the sexy little moan vibrating in her throat.
He’d been lost, wandering in the dark. Now, he let himself be found in Kelsey’s light, her sweetness. Hauling her close, until there
wasn’t an inch left between them, he tunneled his fingers into her hair as he ravaged her lips. She surrounded him, with her arms, her
warmth, her legs, her body. Straddling him, she took as much as he did, consuming him in equal measure.
Almost as if his hands didn’t belong to him, they pulled open her shirt, the little buttons easily giving way beneath the force of his
need. Her bra was next, the thin silk straps no barrier at all as he kissed his way down her neck to the hollow at her collarbone and
along her shoulder. Her head fell back, giving him greater access, and she tantalized him with a moan of pleasure that thrummed
through his body.
He dragged the silk, down, down, down…until the swells of her gorgeous breasts fell free.
He had to touch—Lord, she was beautiful—had to brush the pads of his thumbs over the taut peaks. And he had to taste. He would
die if he didn’t. His lips closed around her, sucking, laving her with his tongue, plumping her flesh. With his other hand, he cupped
her butt through her jeans, his body rocking up to meet hers.
“Ares.” His name came on a throaty groan of need. “It’s so good. So perfect. Please. Don’t stop.”
God, he didn’t ever want to stop. But her voice made it all real. What they were doing.
And how wrong it was.
He couldn’t keep kissing her, couldn’t touch her breasts again, couldn’t taste her as if she were his.
Because she wasn’t. She never could be. And not just because she was his sister-in-law.
He didn’t deserve her light. Couldn’t forget that he came from darkness. Couldn’t forget that things were an even bigger mess now
than ever before. Hauling her deeper into his screwed-up life would only get her hurt in the end. He owed her so much more than
dragging her into all that trouble.
“Ares?”
She held him in her arms, and he wanted her so damn badly. His need, his longing, was an ache in every muscle, in every cell, his
body crying out for her.
And his heart wanted her just as much.
More.
“This is wrong,” he murmured, his arms still not willing to let her go even as his mind screamed out that he had to end it. He forced
himself to shift back, to look her in the eye. “We can’t do this.”
“It’s not wrong,” she said softly, her lips so close he ached to taste them again. “And I’m not sorry for it.”
He couldn’t believe that the full-blown, no-holds-barred story of his childhood hadn’t sent her running. Keira had never wanted to
hear it, preferring to think of the future and ignore the past as if it played no part in who they’d become as adults. And he’d been
willing to go along with that, relieved to keep it all inside.
But it turned out that telling Kelsey had been an unburdening for him. He’d actually felt a fraction of the weight lifting off him as
he’d talked.
Kelsey had offered to care, to listen. That was why she’d hugged him. But he’d taken so much more than that.
Because he was damaged goods.
God, she was so damned tempting. Intoxicating. Irresistible. He’d never wanted anyone more. Never.
But he couldn’t have her. Couldn’t make one more selfish, bad move. Not after Keira’s lies had sent him into hiding from the people
who loved him. Not after the siblings he’d never known about had shown up on his doorstep asking not just for help, but for the
simple chance to get to know him. Not after his mother had suddenly reappeared and all but begged for forgiveness.
“Why?”
The word was out before he could stop it. Everyone seemed to want something from him. Keira had wanted him to live a life that
was a lie. Tyler and Kathy wanted a big brother to help with their mother. Tessa wanted him to absolve her so that they could start
again. But what did Kelsey want? He’d been so relieved when she’d appeared on his doorstep that he hadn’t even thought to ask. But
now that he was trying to get himself to think clearly again, it was imperative that he know.
“Why did you come here today? Why did you leave Chicago and the celebration so soon?”
“This is why.” She looked down at her body draped over his, then shook her head as though realizing she’d said the wrong thing.
“Not to jump you. But to talk with you.” Her gaze lowered to his mouth again. “About our kiss in Chicago.” She looked into his
eyes. “And about why you avoided me after.”
Suddenly, the air tightened around him, like a vacuum sucking all the breath out of him. He pulled her bra straps up, set them in
place, then made himself lift her from his lap, setting her back on the couch.
“Kissing you…” It’s like being able to finally breathe again. But he couldn’t say that. It would only lead them deeper down the
rabbit hole. “You’re a beautiful woman, Kelsey. With a huge heart. I couldn’t have done this today without you. Couldn’t have gotten
through so many things without you.”
The hurt darkening her eyes made him cringe as he fumbled through. But he had to stop this thing growing between them. Now.
Before he hurt her. He couldn’t trust his own feelings anymore, his decisions, his emotions. And he couldn’t let Kelsey pay the price
for that.
“But we both know we can’t do this.”
He sounded like a broken record. But that was because there was nothing else to say.
“I don’t know it.” She was already buttoning up her shirt, her hands surprisingly steady when his felt like they were caught in a
major aftershock. “But you’ve got your family to deal with right now. So I’ll keep helping you with them.” She stood, then added,
“If you want me to.”
Her gorgeous curves were backlit by the late afternoon sun streaming in through his library windows. Her lips were swollen from his kisses. Her hair was tangled from his hands.
God, the things he wanted. Things that might destroy her—that could destroy them both—if he actually took them.
Yet he couldn’t stand the thought of pushing her away completely. “Yes, I still want that.” I still want you. “Your help. I really need
your help, Kelsey.”
“All right, then.” She didn’t smile, but she met his gaze steadily. “Thank you for telling me about your father. I know it was hard, but
I hope it helped you. And it explains so much if I’m to try to help you with your family.”
For nearly a decade, he hadn’t allowed himself to knowingly compare Kelsey to Keira. But now he couldn’t stop the thought that she
outshone her sister by miles. Keira’s façade was indisputably gorgeous—but Kelsey was as beautiful inside as she was on the
outside.
She walked away then.
Not only beautiful, but strong too.
* * *
Kelsey put a hand to her trembling lips as she drove.
She would have let him take her right there on the couch. She would have given him anything.
Everything.
She knew in every corner of her soul that what they’d just done wasn’t wrong. Their passion had quickly flared out of control, but it
had been perfect and beautiful.
Only the timing was wrong. As bad as it could be.
He’d been through so much in the last month with Keira. Even more today with the surprise appearance of his siblings and the
mother who had deserted him. He needed to deal with his family, find a resolution in his own heart. He had to find a way to come to
terms with his past, his father, his mother, the things those two people had done to him.
Yet none of that changed her feelings. She’d never known how to make love easy. Or simple. And she sure didn’t know how now.
All she knew was that with every kiss they shared—and with every part of his past that Ares revealed to her—she fell deeper. Harder.
And despite his insistence that what they were doing was wrong, those kisses—and the way he looked at her in those rare and
precious moments when he dropped his guard—made her grow more hopeful that she might not be the only one falling.
