Page 34 of Furious (The Six Six Six Rule #2)

C.A.L

ZARA

I wake up to soft lips peppering kisses down my spine as I lie face down on Ares’s pillows.

How long was I out? And I hope I didn’t snore or, God forbid, drool.

“You didn’t drool, princess. But you snore like a cute mini lawn mower.”

I turn my head to look at him. Ares has a playful smile on his face. My face lands back on the pillow with a groan as I realize I must have said that out loud.

My hunch is confirmed by the fact that he answers my first question, too. “You were asleep for about forty-five minutes. You’re adorable when you’re asleep.”

“Yeah, a real peach. Who apparently snores like… what did you just compare me to? A lawn mower.”

My stepbrother chuckles. “But I said you were cute.”

I shift slightly to look at him again, but stay on my stomach. I love the feeling of his lips on my back. “And why were you watching me sleep? That’s a little creepy, Ares.”

He moves down the bedsheet that’s covering my lower back to expose more skin to kiss.

“I don’t care. Out of my apartment you’re Lev’s girlfriend and I have to pretend I don’t find everything about you hot as fuck.

But when we’re here, I can look at you as much as I want.

I can kiss you and touch you, and I have to make it last until the next time.

Besides, today is my birthday and if I want to watch you sleep, I can and you can’t judge me. ”

I can’t help but laugh at Ares’s stubborn expression. “Did you just play the birthday boy card?”

He raises his blond eyebrows, the corners of his lips curling up in that barely there smile I find so sexy. “I sure did. Did it work?”

“What do you know? I think it did. I guess today you can watch me sleep and you get away with it.”

His smile widens, reaching his eyes. “Careful, I might come up with all sorts of outlandish requests.”

I play his game. “Like what?”

He thinks about it, pulling the sheet down by another inch. “Like eating my favorite sushi off your naked body.”

I scrunch up my nose. “Is that what you want for dinner?”

“Yes, why? My favorite place delivers, so it doesn’t matter if we don’t want to go out.”

I debate keeping my mouth shut, but he knows I’m mulling over something.

“Princess? What’s going on? Did something I said gross you out?”

“No, I just didn’t know you like sushi.” I say.

He lifts his hot mouth from my back to look me in the eye. “Why? You don’t like it?”

“It’s not my favorite. Raw fish really isn’t my thing. But today is your birthday, so you should get to have your favorite. Hopefully, they have types that are cooked.”

“They have a lot of other non sushi dishes, princess. They make delicious noodles or fried rice and you don’t have to order anything with fish if you don’t like it.

We can get a few different things to try.

But I’ll order a few pieces of sushi for myself.

If I want to eat some of my dinner off your body, I don’t want to give you a burn. ”

I laugh. “Ok. So you get to eat your favorite sushi off my body, you got to watch me sleep. What else does the birthday boy want?”

“To have a real shot with you.” He says, suddenly serious.

“Ares,” I say, surprised by the intensity in his tone. “You do have a real shot with me. Or do you think I just hop into bed with any hot guy who asks?”

He doesn’t even have to think about the answer.

“I know you don’t. But I just… I get jealous, I’m sorry.

You get to be Lev’s official girlfriend and I know I’m an asshole for even feeling this way.

Without Lev’s help, we would have had to answer a ton of questions about our plans.

Dad might be working today so he doesn’t have to acknowledge that my birthday is a reminder of what we all lost, but he would have had a problem with you spending today with me.

And Lev was the one who came up with the idea of covering for us.

What if…” he cuts himself off, shaking his head.

“What if what? Talk to me, Ares.”

He sighs. “What if you choose Lev because with him you don’t have to hide?

Have you seen how pleased our parents were when they learned that you two were dating?

With me or Chance, you’re going to have to deal with the disapproval, the judgment.

And then there’s all the baggage. Chance has some, but Atlas was my twin, Zara.

I took you to a grave for breakfast, for fuck’s sake. ”

I roll on my side, pulling him up to take his face between my hands.

“Who doesn’t have baggage, Ares? I have daddy issues and a fragile relationship with my mom.

Lev feels like an afterthought for his parents.

They barely even acknowledge his existence.

They treat him like an asset. They throw money at him but they don’t see that Lev would rather have some quality time with them.

I know because my dad has been the same with me since he and Mom split up. He even missed my graduation.”

Ares is drop dead gorgeous and has that bad boy outer shell I’ve always found attractive. But what made me fall for him is the way he’s always looked at me. Ares sees me. The real me, past physical appearance, past the mask of confidence I show the world.

He sees all the broken parts of me and he’s not afraid to cut himself with the jagged little pieces.

“I’ve always admired your dad, Zara. Growing up, John Fields was my hero. No one has won more MotoGP championships than him. But if he’s missing out on knowing what an amazing woman you are, he’s an idiot. I’m not afraid of your baggage if you’re not afraid of mine.”

“I’ll never be afraid of you, Ares.” I whisper, brushing my lips against his.

He immediately deepens the kiss, and it’s what we both need. The physical proof that these deep, scary feelings between us are real.

I could never be afraid of Ares. The only thing that really scares me is what could happen if I can’t choose.

What’s even more terrifying is how he might react when I tell him that I was on that racetrack the day Atlas died.

That I was the person racing on the black Ducati.

What if he blames me for what happened? What if he can never forgive me?

A part of me wants to keep this secret forever. But Ares opened his heart to me and I owe him the truth.

A secret of this magnitude could fester and poison our relationship before it even had a chance to become our forever. I love Ares too much to let that happen, so I need to tell him now.

I love him.

The realization takes me by surprise. I thought I was falling for him, but my feelings were way deeper than that.

I love Ares and I love Lev. And when I think about Chance… I feel the same way, too.

I need to talk to them together and tell them that I don’t think I can choose between them.

“Hey princess,” Ares breaks the kiss, his silver eyes boring into me. “I feel like I just lost you. Where did you go just now?”

“Ares,” my voice breaks as I try to find the courage to risk everything by telling the truth about my feelings and about the past. “You do have a real shot with me. I have feelings for you?—”

“You do?” he interrupts me. His lips curl up in a big smile, so uncharacteristic of him. “I have feelings for you too, Zara. I’m falling for you so hard and so fucking deep.”

My heart skips a beat. If only things could be that simple. I almost chicken out, but I owe him and myself the truth. “I’m falling for you, too. But I’m also falling for Chance and Lev. And I don’t know how to choose.”

Ares’s bright smile fades away. “What are you saying, Zara? Do you have deeper feelings for Chance or Lev?”

He’s taking this the wrong way. “No. This is the problem. I have deep feelings for each of you, and I don’t know?—”

“Ok. As long as that’s the case, I can live with it. For now. Can we talk about it another time? You’re obviously not going to make a decision today, and I just want to enjoy our time together.”

I don’t blame him. I shouldn’t have brought this up.

Not today. I’ll give this a little longer.

Hopefully, the guys will see that I love each of them with my whole heart.

Loving all three of them doesn’t take away from my feelings.

If anything, the fact that the three of them are close, it makes me love them even more.

My mind is made up. I’ll wait to discuss our relationship and it’s probably wise to wait to talk about the Ducati. I need to do that soon, but not right now.

“You’re right.” I say, feeling like a total chickenshit. “Let’s enjoy our time together. What did you have in mind?”

His smile is back in full force. “I still haven’t gotten to kiss every inch of your skin,” He whispers.

“You got pretty close.”

Ares shakes his head. “I kissed all over the front of your body, but I still have a long way to go with your back.”

“Is that what you were doing when I woke up?” I ask.

“It was. And I always finish what I started. So would you mind flipping back onto your stomach, princess?”

Just the idea of feeling Ares’s lips on my skin again is more than enough incentive to do as he asks.

“Hmm.” I relax, hugging the pillow and enjoying the velvety, slightly wet feeling of Ares’s mouth gliding down my neck and spine.

My stepbrother keeps moving the bedsheet lower and lower, kissing his way down to my lower back.

“Oh.”

I lift my head, turning around to look at him. “What’s up? Why did you stop?”

His fingers trace a pattern at the base of my spine and I immediately understand what it is.

“I had forgotten about that tattoo you got.”

I flinch at the thought of the winged heart with the name “Cal” etched in the center of it.

“I know,” I sigh “I’m sorry. If I could go back to two years ago, I’d slap past Zara for doing something so stupid. I was in a full rebellion against my mom and I’ve never been someone who does things halfway.”

“Go big or go home, huh?” Ares is still touching the inked heart.

“I thought about getting it removed after the way things ended between me and Cal.” I admit.

“But getting tattooed there was pretty painful and I read that getting a tattoo removed hurts even more. So I decided not to bother with it. To be honest, I forget that’s even there, since I can’t really see it. ”

Ares considers my words. “I guess so.”

“Does it bother you? I know how much you hate Cal. I do too, by the way. I’m just a big baby when it comes to pain. But if it bothers you…”

He scoots back up, rolling me so we’re face to face.

“First off, you don’t have to change anything about yourself just to please me or anyone else, princess.

If someone loves you, they have to accept you the way you are.

Past mistakes included. Besides, maybe it was fate that you got that tattoo, after all. ”

“What do you mean?” I ask, confused.

“Maybe your tattoo doesn’t say Cal after all,” he says. “Think about it. It’s our initials. C for Chance, A for Ares, L for Lev.”

He’s right. “Oh my God,” I giggle. “I never thought about that. Maybe I should add a few dots in the right places, so they really become initials.”

Ares rubs the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip. “You could. Of course, it wouldn’t be relevant once you choose between us. But like I said, you don’t have to change anything about your body or yourself just to please someone else.”

“Chance and Lev never brought it up,” I muse. “Be honest, Ares. Does it make you jealous? Even if we consider it three initials?”

He shakes his head. “Nah. Look, I just thought it was odd that your ex’s name happens to form the initials of the guys you’re dating right now.

Don’t put too much thought into it. That tattoo might have been a mistake, but the sum of all our past experiences and mistakes are an important part of the person each of us becomes.

And think about it, if you hadn’t been dating that dispshit, we would have never met.

I just prefer to see mine and my brothers’ initials rather than his name, though. ”

I have to agree. “So, that’s settled. It isn’t Cal, it’s C.A.L.”

I squeal, surprised when Ares flips me over again.

“Now, let me finish that job. I still haven’t kissed you everywhere.”

“You don’t have to kiss the tattoo if it’s too weird.” I say.

He traces the edge of the heart with his fingers. “I’ll kiss all of you, princess. Scars included.” His lips follow his fingers, drifting down my hip and along my leg.

When he gets to my foot, Ares turns to the inside of my leg. By the time he’s reached the apex of my thigh, I’m a moaning, panting mess.

“Ares? Can you do the other side later?” I squirm, fighting the need to rub my thighs together. “All these kisses feel too good and I…”

“And you’re soaking wet for me, princess.” He kisses his way between my thighs, circling my opening with his tongue. “Have I told you how much I love how wet you get for me?”

He hasn’t, but all I can answer with is a tortured moan. His tongue is robbing me of the ability to form any coherent words.

“We’ll do the other side later,” he grants my request. “Because right now, I need to fuck you with my tongue first and then show you how hard you fucking make me.”

I like his plans and I lift my hips to give him better access.

There are still a lot of things to discuss between us, but today isn’t the right time. All I want to do today is to give Ares the best birthday I possibly can.