Page 110 of Should Our Stars Collide

Ash stays where he is, stroking Kieran’s ankle, his calf, gradually inching his hands higher. His eyes never leave him, as if expecting Kieran to change his mind, to call it off.

When he moves, it’s slow and unhurried. He climbs and settles over Kieran in a way that’s careful and unthreatening, keeping most of his weight off by leaning on his elbows. His lips part; not like he’s about to speak. Like he’s about to kiss.

The panic must reflect in Kieran’s expression, because the kiss never lands. Instead, Ash shifts his weight onto his left side, freeing one of his hands and letting it wander; along Kieran’s ribs, down his arms, over his chest. Every damn inch he can reach. The clothes betweenthem do absolutely nothing to dull the intensity Ash leaves behind, as if every touch is a brand, marking Kieran as his.

Shit, this wasn’t the deal. Ash was meant to get him off, for practical purposes. Not gaze down at him like he’s trying to memorize every line of his face, as if he’s never seen it before. How is Kieran expected to cope with this kind of attention?

“You’re heavy. Wanna let up a bit?” he lies, like complaining might help him save face.

“That would defeat the purpose.”

“Huh?”

When Ash settles between his parted legs, slotting their hips together, Kieran’s pulse is a wild, frantic thing. Ash rubs against him slowly, deliberately, the friction carefully controlled but no less devastating. Kieran’s hands fidget uselessly at his sides, trying to anchor himself somewhere, anywhere, while his body betrays him with every shift.

“What are you doing?” he demands breathlessly, freaked out by how sensitive his body is.

“I’m being gentle,” Ash says, but the way he thrust forward is anything but. His cock drags against Kieran’s, a zing of lightning shooting up his spine. “Clothes stay on, so you don’t have to overthink. Just feel, Kieran. That’s all you need to do.”

Oh really? That’s all? Great. Because it’s not like the feeling part is the scariest bit. Not at all.

He’s not sure what it is; Ash’s echoing reassurance, his earnest promises, or the way he moves against him, on top of him. Like every shift, every drag of his body against Kieran’s, is a perfectly calculated move that’s supposed to shake him up like a snow globe.

Whatever it is, it tears his defenses down, brick by brick, until he has no choice but tofeel.

“That’s it,” Ash praises. “That’s it, Kieran. Just like that.” The words sound like they’re punched out of him, like seeing Kieran give in is dismantling his own defenses.

Kieran takes him in. There are drops of sweat clinging to hishairline, his muscles bulging through his shirt with the effort of holding himself up.

Yeah, okay. He admits it.

Ash is fucking hot, in an illegal sort of way. But it’s the look in his eyes that gives Kieran pause.

There’s lust and need, sure. Kieran’s seen it many times before, just lurking beneath the surface, like a warning. But there’s something else beneath the hunger; a quiet, burning devotion. The kind that says he’d go anywhere, endure anything, just for Kieran, even if he had to walk through the pits of hell.

And in that moment, caught between desire and awe, Kieran realizes just how much he trusts him, how completely he could surrender and still be protected. Even in the chaos of want and heat, that devotion roots him in a way nothing else ever has.

His hands find a way to Ash’s sides, digging into the firm muscles there. Abandoning his last shred of dignity, he pulls him forward, urges him on. Ash is more than happy to oblige, working his hips like it’s an Olympic sport.

Something flashes in his eyes before he stops.

Kieran freezes, afraid he messed up somehow. But then Ash chuckles, soft and warm, and the fear disintegrates. He peels Kieran’s hands off his sides, lips brushing over his knuckles in a butterfly kiss that sends Kieran’s heart into his throat. Then he takes both Kieran’s wrists in one hand and presses them over his head.

“Remember your safeword?”

Too stunned to speak, Kieran nods.

“Do you need to use it?”

After a moment of contemplation, he shakes his head.

He might have as well handed Ash the damn moon, his smile is so bright.

“Good boy. Now, hold on tight.”

Kieran melts at the praise, then tenses. Hold on tight? Onto what? He’s completely imobiliz?—

“Shit.”