Page 109 of Awakened Desires

We slip into his room and shut the door behind us.

I sit on the bed while Callan puts Aidan in the cot and settles him. I’m surprised by how easy it seems.

“He’s in a milk coma.” Callan chuckles as he sits on the opposite side of the bed. He leans across the mattress and gives me a fleeting kiss. “He’ll sleep for two or three hours.”

“Is that all?”

“Sorry.”

“No. It’s fine. I don’t have much experience with babies. I was too young when Ava was born to remember what it’s like to have a newborn in the house.”

“I don’t even have a younger sibling.”

I brush my fingers over his jaw. “Did you like being an only child?”

“I never really felt like one.”

“Oh? Why?”

“Because you were there.”

My heart patters. “We didn’t live in the same house.”

“No, but we were almost always together.”

I stare into his eyes. “We were soulmates.”

“Were?”

“Are.” I kiss him.

He smiles and rests his head on my shoulder. “I’m sorry I froze downstairs.”

“It’s fine. It’s probably good that you didn’t take me up on my offer, or Hendrix would have walked in on a different scene.” I chuckle. “I’m not sure he would have minded. He’s an exhibitionist,” I add. “Not that that makes him a voyeur automatically, but I get the feeling he might be.”

“Do you all know each other’s kinks?”

“Sort of. When we first moved in, we played a game where we each wrote down a kink we like, mixed them up, and then had to guess whose we had. Quinn didn’t live here then, but I know he likes getting marked.”

“Marked?”

“Love bites and such. Since he and Stefan got together, he’s had some sort of visible mark most of the time. It was obvious Theo was into puppy play from the moment I met him.” I pause and smile. “You probably don’t want to hear any of this.”

Callan lifts his head. “I do. It’s fascinating.”

We lie side by side, hands resting on our chests, faces turned toward each other.

“Hendrix told me some of this when I first came to stay here,” Callan says.

“Of course he did.” I put my hand over Callan’s. “Do you want to go to sleep?”

“Not yet.”

“I thought you were tired.”

“I am. But I enjoy talking to you.”

I glance at the cot. “Will we wake Aidan?”