Chloe

In the kitchen, Chloe could feel the heat of Ethan’s eyes on her as she ran her hand under cold water for a few minutes and then grabbed an ice cube. She held the ice against her fingers. Only the first two had really gotten any sort of burn. It was mild, but she still rummaged around in the pantry for the raw honey. It was an amazing home remedy for burns.

She handed the jar to Ethan. “Can you open this for me?”

He twisted off the lid and followed her over to the sink, where she disposed of the half melted ice cube. She grabbed a spoon from the drawer and dipped it into the honey.

“If you put raw honey on a burn right after, it cuts down the healing time,” she explained as he watched her cautiously.

“Does it hurt?” Ethan asked.

The pain in his eyes was so much worse than her burn that Chloe found herself wanting to comfort him. “No, Ethan. I’m fine, really. See?” She held up her sticky fingers for his inspection.

Ethan gently took her hand turning it over to inspect her fingers. His touch was so careful it sent shivers through her. His eyes met hers when his fingers met the honey. He pulled them through the sticky, sweet substance, gently massaging the honey into her scalded skin.

“Are you sure it doesn’t hurt?” he asked.

It didn’t hurt at all. Actually, the feel of his fingers sliding though the honey against her swollen skin was the exact opposite of painful. His touch was setting her heart on fire as the intensity of her desire grew. “It feels better now,” she said, breathlessly.

Ethan pulled her hand slowly to his lips, pressing a light kiss to her finger tips. “How ‘bout now?”

“Better,” she whispered.

The corner of his lips tugged into that crooked grin that broke her heart and rebuilt it. He parted his lips and sucked one finger slowly into his mouth. “How ‘bout now?”

Chloe’s heart was in her throat. “Better.”

He did it again. Each time he swirled his tongue around her fingertips, sucking the honey off in the most delicious way, until Chloe found her lips pressed to his, her still-sticky fingers in his hair.

The honey-sweet taste of his lips was like a drug and she couldn’t get enough. Ethan swept her off her feet with frenzied passion. Chloe felt the counter under her as she wrapped her legs around Ethan’s waist and clung to him for dear life. The way he kissed her made her feel like she was dying—dying in a fire of her own making, only to be reborn. Because nothing had ever been clearer; she was always meant to be his and he, hers.

Ethan

The lights flickered on in the kitchen and Ethan pulled away from Chloe, startled by how caught up he was in the moment. Thank God it was Owen who’d walked in on them and not Chloe’s parents. Ethan’s shirt was off and Chloe’s was nearly there, her bare stomach exposed. Ethan tugged her shirt down, putting himself between her and his brother to give her a moment to pull herself back together.

“Hey,” Owen mumbled.

If he was startled to see them in the kitchen making out he didn’t show it. He went straight to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. Ethan felt Chloe slide off the counter and join him. She discreetly handed him his shirt.

Owen stared at the water bottle for a moment, then he opened the fridge again and rummaged around in it for a minute. When he shut it his arms were full. Chloe laughed, and Owen gave her a strange look; half happy, half worried. “Margot’s hungry,” was all he said before he walked back out of the kitchen in a daze.

“That was weird,” Ethan said, but when he looked at Chloe she had the most beautiful smile on her face. “What?”

“Nothing,” she said, still grinning.

“What’s going on? Does this have something to do with why Owen wasn’t in bed when I snuck down here?”

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

Ethan narrowed his eyes wondering what Chloe was keeping from him. “He’s going to ask her to move in with him next semester.”

Chloe’s eyes grew so round he thought they might fall out. She looked like she might explode with delight as she bounced on her toes. “That’s amazing!”

“You think so?”

“Absolutely! Don’t you?”

“He sure seems excited about it.”

“Are you?”

Ethan thought about it for a moment, but the answer came easily. “Yes. He deserves to be happy.”

“So do you,” Chloe said, taking his hand.

He squeezed it. You certainly make me want to believe you, Chloe. “So are you going to tell me what’s going on with them or do I have to guess?”

Chloe led him back into the living room, shutting off the lights behind her. “You’ll find out soon enough.”