Chapter 5: Kisses That Burn

The silence in Aiden’s apartment felt louder the longer I stayed.

My head was still against his chest, his heartbeat steady beneath my cheek, but my mind wouldn’t stop racing.

Not about him.

About Liam.

Every breath I took, I wondered if he’d ever held me like this. If I had ever meant this much to him. If he’d ever wanted me to stay.

And that was the problem.

Because I was here—with Aiden.

I shifted, sitting up a little. His eyes followed me, dark and unguarded.

“What?” he asked softly.

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

But it wasn’t nothing. My chest ached with too much need, too much hurt, too much wanting that didn’t have anywhere safe to go.

Maybe that’s why I leaned closer.

Maybe that’s why I let my lips brush his before I could stop myself.

The kiss was soft at first. Just a test.

But Aiden wasn’t soft.

He went still, his breath catching, and when I pressed again—really pressed—he responded like he’d been holding this back for years.

His hand slid to the back of my neck, grounding me, deepening the kiss until I couldn’t breathe. My fingers curled into his shirt, clinging like he was the only thing keeping me from falling apart.

It wasn’t supposed to feel like this.

I was supposed to forget.

But forgetting didn’t taste like him.

It tasted like fire and restraint and something dangerous that curled low in my stomach.

I pulled back just enough to whisper, “Don’t think. Just… don’t.”

His gaze searched mine, heavy and sharp, like he could see every wall I was trying to build between us.

“Elle—”

“Please.” My voice cracked. “Just let me feel something else. Even if it’s wrong.”

For a long moment, he didn’t move.

Then his thumb brushed across my jaw, slow, reverent.

And he kissed me again.

This time, it wasn’t hesitant. It was deep, demanding—like he was pouring all the years he never got to touch me into that moment.

I let him.

I let the burn of it swallow me whole, let his hands trace my arms, my waist, the curve of my hip. Everywhere he touched, I burned hotter, and still I leaned closer, desperate for more.

We stumbled back against the bed, breathless, his weight braced above me. His forehead pressed to mine, his chest heaving like he was fighting himself.

“You don’t know what you’re asking me for,” he whispered, voice ragged.

“I know,” I whispered back. “And I don’t care.”

For a second, I thought he’d stop.

But then his lips found mine again, fierce, hungry, the kind of kiss that left me dizzy.

Clothes tugged, hearts racing—everything felt too fast and too slow all at once. I wanted to forget Liam, forget the ache of never being chosen. I wanted to lose myself in Aiden’s arms, even if it wasn’t fair, even if it wasn’t forever.

But Aiden…

Aiden kissed me like forever was the only thing he knew.

His hands trembled when they framed my face, like I was fragile, breakable, sacred. And even when I pulled him closer, begged him without words to take this further, he broke the kiss with a groan that sounded like it cost him everything.

“Elle,” he said, his forehead pressed against mine. “I don’t want to be something you use to forget him.”

My throat tightened.

But I kissed him anyway, desperate, reckless.

“Then just don’t stop.”

Aiden shifted then, and suddenly he was looking down at me. His hand lifted, slow but sure, brushing a strand of hair away from my face. My skin burned under his touch, though his fingertips barely grazed me.

“You don’t have to stay,” he murmured, like he was giving me one last chance.

But I didn’t move.

I couldn’t.

Instead, I whispered, “Don’t stop.”

Something changed in his eyes then—restraint thinning, hunger rising. His lips found mine before I could take the words back. The kiss was firm, searching, but when I didn’t pull away, it deepened. His mouth moved against mine like he’d been holding it back for years, and maybe he had.

I gasped when his hand slid to the small of my back, pressing me closer. His tongue teased the seam of my lips, and I let him in, let the heat unravel me. My fingers clutched at his shirt, needing something solid to hold onto as the floor beneath me felt like it was crumbling.

But in that haze, in that desperate tangle of lips and breath, I thought of Liam.

The way I used to imagine he’d kiss me if he ever looked at me the way I wanted him to.

I let myself believe—just for a moment—that it was him.

Aiden’s hands moved, tracing the curve of my waist, sliding beneath the hem of my shirt. My skin burned where he touched, and I arched into him before I realized it. He groaned softly, the sound vibrating against my lips, sending shivers down my spine.

“Elle…” he whispered like a prayer, like a warning.

But I pulled him closer, pressing my body against his. “Don’t think,” I breathed. “Just… forget.”

His control snapped then.

The kiss turned rougher, more urgent, his hands exploring my back, my sides, my hips like he couldn’t get enough. He laid me down gently against the sheets, but his weight followed, covering me, caging me in a way that felt both dangerous and safe all at once.

His lips trailed down my jaw, to the curve of my neck. My breath hitched as he kissed lower, lingering, tasting. My hands tangled in his hair, pulling him closer when he should’ve pulled away.

Every touch, every kiss made my body come alive, but my heart twisted painfully. Because the more I surrendered, the more I pretended it was Liam’s hands, Liam’s mouth, Liam’s body claiming me.

And Aiden…

Aiden gave me everything without asking for anything in return.

When his shirt came off, when his skin pressed to mine, the heat between us turned consuming. His touch left fire in its wake—on my ribs, my thighs, the curve of my stomach. I trembled beneath him, my breath catching on his name—but in my head, it was Liam’s.

His lips captured mine again, swallowing the sound of my broken longing.

That night, I let Aiden touch every part of me I thought belonged to someone else.

I gave him my body, but not my heart.

And he took it anyway—softly, reverently—like he knew this wasn’t a victory.

Like he knew it was the beginning of something that could burn us both alive.

His mouth was everywhere. Slow. Teasing. Each kiss a question, each touch an answer I didn’t want to think about.

“Aiden…Aahh” I whispered, but my voice broke halfway between a plea and a warning.

He lifted his head, eyes dark, heavy with something that made me tremble. “Say it again.”

I blinked, breath catching. “What?”

“My name.” His lips grazed my jaw as he spoke, his voice low, deep, commanding. “I want to hear it from you.”

It was unfair. The way he made me admit things without words. The way his hands slid down my sides, palms hot against bare skin, making my body answer before I could stop it.

I swallowed hard. “Aiden…”

He groaned like the sound of it unraveled him. His mouth crashed back onto mine, hungry this time, his kiss stealing whatever was left of my resistance. My legs tightened around him instinctively, pulling him closer. He hissed against my lips.

“Don’t do that unless you mean it,” he muttered, voice strained, almost pained.

I knew I should stop. I knew this wasn’t supposed to happen. But I didn’t push him away. I pulled him closer.

“Then don’t stop,” I breathed. “Please.... don’t stop... Ahhh” I let out a moan.

Something shifted then—like the moment a fire finally gives up on smoldering and erupts into full flame.

His hand slid beneath the last barrier of fabric between us, slow, deliberate, making me gasp. His touch was both gentle and possessive, exploring me like he’d waited too long to have me and wanted to memorize everything.

I arched against him, heat pooling low in my belly, a helpless sound escaping my lips before I could stop it. My fingers dug into his back, clutching at him, needing more. I can even hear my own moan because of pleasure.

“Elle…” His voice was a rasp, half-plea, half-warning. “You don’t know what you’re doing to me.”

“Yes, hmm I do,” I whispered, surprising myself with how certain I sounded. “I want this. I want… you.”

Even if the lie burned inside me. Even if, in my heart, I was pretending he was Liam.

His lips captured mine again, rougher now, more desperate. He kissed me like a man who couldn’t hold back anymore, like every second was a battle he was losing. His hips pressed against mine, the weight and heat of him making my pulse race uncontrollably.

“Aiden…” I gasped his name again, not even realizing how natural it had become to say it.

“Tell me you want me,” he demanded, breaking the kiss just long enough to search my eyes.

I hesitated, chest rising and falling rapidly.

“I want you.”

The words were out before I could think. His groan rumbled deep in his chest, and then he was kissing me again, touching me everywhere, his movements reverent and reckless all at once.

The night blurred after that—our bodies tangled, our breaths ragged, our whispers breaking into moans and gasps. He coaxed every sound out of me, every hidden part of me, until there was no space left for doubt.

When he finally pushed me over the edge, it was his name on my lips. His face in my vision. His body anchoring me to reality.

And still, when it was over, when I collapsed against him, trembling and undone, my heart betrayed me—whispering another name in the silence of my mind.

Liam.

But when morning came, my heart was still split in two—caught between the boy I couldn’t stop loving…

And the man who refused to let me forget what it felt like to finally be wanted.