Page 56 of Uprooted
Elowen
“Aro, get your ass out of bed.”
I jerk awake to the sound of yelling and banging on the door. I sit straight up and look around trying to figure out where all the noise is coming from.
“I’m up, I’m up. Fuck.” Aro rubs his eyes and eases me back down to the bed. Making no effort to actually get up.
“I hate morning people,” I tell him.
“You grumbled when I woke you up, and I made it quite pleasant. Kiera has a much different approach.” Aro sighs and pulls me closer.
“I’m scared to see what happens next if we don’t get up,” I say.
Aro tightly holds our sheets in place. “You can’t give in to her demands. If she catches a hint of weakness, it’s over. I’ll keep you safe.”
His face is inches away and I can’t resist kissing him.
His sleepy eyes are incredibly sexy. His hair is tousled, and he’s warm and inviting.
I tug on his lower lip to open his mouth, deepening the kiss.
Aro rolls on top of me, pinning me to the bed.
He drags his hand up the top of my thigh under my shirt.
He grabs my breast and grinds his hips into me.
His hard cock pushes between my legs with only his sweatpants between us.
I’m pulling at his waistband when I hear Kiera at the door again.
“Aro, if you aren’t in the gym in three minutes I will hack my way through the door and drag you out,” Kiera yells against the closed door and kicks it before she turns and walks back down the hallway .
“Kiera is about to learn a very important lesson about respecting others’ privacy.” Aro grinds into me again undeterred.
“Let’s get up. I’d like to be wearing pants the second time I see your sister.” This time I’m successful in my attempt to get out of bed. Aro watches me as I pull on my clothes.
“I’m really getting tired of all of these interruptions,” he says bitterly and swings his legs onto the floor.
“Twice. It’s happened twice,” I say and pull my hair back into a high ponytail and laugh.
“Two times too many.”
Pouting Aro is cute.
* * *
“There is a really easy way we can test that theory,” I say. Kiera, Bri, Tai, and I have all been in the gym for hours while Aro tries to summon his battleform.
“No, absolutely not. I’m not doing anything that puts you in danger, just so I can test my ability,” Aro says.
“It’s not a bad idea. The more you shift, the easier it will be,” Kiera says, unintimidated by her brother’s glare.
“It’s a terrible idea,” he says.
“Tai could take me out. We’ll hide out in the forest for a bit, and you can come find us.” Kiera and I seem to be the only ones who like this plan. Everyone else avoids eye contact with me when I look for support.
“I said no.” Aro seethes. His voice echoes through the empty gym.
“I’m also invested in helping you figure this out,” I say stepping up to him.
I give him my best power pose—my “you aren’t the only badass around here” hands-on-my-hips stance.
His eyes darken. Oh shit—this backfired. He doesn’t look mad anymore. He’s turned on, and he’s looking at me with different intentions now. This conversation is heading in one direction. One that won’t resolve the issue at hand.
Tai, Bri and Kiera slink away into the background as the tension rises between Aro and I. They pretend to be focused on something out of the way .
“You know it’s more than that. It’s not safe out there,” he says pointing to beyond the base walls.
“Tai can take care of me. Or he won’t and you can come save the day. Be the knight in shining armor and swoop in.”
I return the smolder and walk my fingers up his chest and stretch up to kiss the underside of his jaw.
He grinds his teeth together and huffs out a breath. I scoot closer to him, bringing our bodies together.
“You play dirty,” he says, finally looking down at me.
“This is important.” My breath hitches when he leans down and runs his hands down my backside.
“Nothing is more important than your safety. The answer is still no,” he says with a cocked eyebrow. I sway on my feet when he steps back, putting distance between us again.
“What’s your brilliant plan then, since you won’t try my idea?” I say, not giving up.
“I’ll keep trying here with Tai.”
“It’s not working. You’re wasting time. There could be another attack any minute,” I plead.
“I’ll think about it.”
I squeak with happiness and jump up to him, hooking my legs around his waist.
“It’s not a yes,” he says, clarifying.
“It’s not a no either,” I say and kiss him.
“I’ll think of another way. I just don’t want to argue with you anymore.”
I get down from him and stand up pressed against him. “You left before I could tell you something yesterday.”
“What did you want to say?” he asks quietly, his voice thick.
“I love you, too.”
“You can’t just say that because I let you win an argument,” he says. That lighthearted, arrogant Aro is back for a moment. I realize how much I missed that part of him since the world fell apart.
“I do—I love you. Thank you for giving me some time to figure out the mate thing. I needed a little time to sort that out. I did some research.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” Aro says with a smile .
“And I want you to know that if there were anyone in the entire universe I would want to be my mate, it would be you. You are everything. You are loyal, and kind, and funny, and you are always thinking of how you can solve everyone else’s problems. You listen and you make me feel seen.
You are always saying how incredible I am, but you need to know how incredible you are.
” I watch a smile stretch across his face.
“It’s about time. I’ve been waiting for you to finally realize it. I’m glad you’re catching up,” he says. He scoops me up into a hug and spins us around.
“Be quiet and kiss me, you arrogant ass.”