Secret Heart: Other Realm, Frost Family Series, Book 3

Lock 9

Aiden woke up the next morning, feeling more than a little uncertain, but hopeful. He couldn't let himself focus on Willow's pessimistic views. I need to try and find something about her that I can appreciate, he told himself.

It was with this train of thought in his mind that he walked down the final step, turned into the first floor room, and walked further in. He lifted his gaze up from where he had been looking down at the ground, spacing out. But as soon as he did, he froze, his breath catching in his throat.

A-alright, he thought shakily. I didn't mean it like this!

Standing in the living room, behind the couch, was Willow. Which wasn't a bad thing in itself, of course. But it was what she was wearing that made his heart rate spike, his palms breaking out in sweat, and his blood begin to heat up, despite himself. It's got to be too early in the morning for this, he thought tiredly, even as his eyes drank in the sight before him.

Willow had her hands up above her head, her back to him, groaning loudly as she stretched out the kinks in her body. Her curls flowed down her back, but they didn't hide her dark purple shorts, or how said shorts accented her curves and her ass. She turned slightly, giving Aiden a view of her profile, rolling her neck to pop it. She was wearing a light purple shirt, if you could even call it that. It was thin, small, and held up with only two spaghetti straps, only about as wide as the pasta itself. The shirt fell down to reveal the top of her breasts, all of her collarbone, shoulders, and arms. It was tight enough that it cupped the swell of her breasts and Aiden found his hands aching to move closer and feel those perfect, soft globes through her shirt.

A very amused, husky voice broke through his heated thoughts, making him jerk his gaze from her chest. "Keep staring like that and I'm going to start charging you," Willow smiled wickedly.

Blinking, Aiden shook his head. "What...? I-I..."

"Hot damn!" a familiar voice exclaimed to his left. Aiden turned his head and saw Bren. The man's expression was completely shocked, but there was a hint of heat in his eyes. It was obvious he was checking Willow out, just like Aiden had been a second ago. "Lady, you didn't give me enough warning last night."

In the pit of Aiden's stomach, a dark, threatening feeling started to grow. Especially when Bren's gaze wasn't stopping it's inspection of Willow's body, when it was so obvious how much the other man was lusting after her. Some part of him, the part that was growing more and more pissed, wanted to reach out and punch the man. Who the hell said it was okay for Bren to be eating up Willow like this with his eyes?

But even as he thought about it, Bren's words broke through his anger. Willow gave Bren warning? When? What the hell did they talk about? Was it when I was reading Prophecy her story? Just what the fuck did those two do last night? Did they...?

The more the questions kept churning in his mind, the more his rage began to build. But, just before he could feel it grow any worse, a hand at his right sleeve made him glance down. Prophecy was smiling sleepily up at him. "'Morning, Dad. You sleep okay?" The girl was dressed in the pajamas she had changed into the night before, light green shirt and pants with blue and yellow clouds all over them.

Instantly, the rage in his heart dissipated. He smiled warmly, reaching out to pull her against his side. "I slept just fine, Prophecy. How about you?"

The girl ducked her head in embarrassment, hugging his side. "I was okay...But I wanted to sleep next to you," she admitted softly.

Aiden's heart squeezed, feeling his emotions flood his heart and throat. Honestly, he would have loved that. Holding his daughter while she slept, breathing in her scent, hearing her breathe. Everything about her was a miracle to him and he loved every second. He wanted to take in every moment he had, especially when he wasn't sure how long he'd really have.