Secrets and Sins: Chayot: A Secrets and Sins novel (Entangled Ignite) Read Online Free PDF

heavier…wetter? His cock throbbed behind the zipper of his slacks, casting its vote in favor of “hell yes.”
    “Hi, Chay.”
    He dragged his obsessed gaze up from her waist to meet hers. He tried to bank the hot images burning in his head, but when her eyes widened a fraction, he guessed he hadn’t been entirely successful.
    “Thank you for seeing me without an appointment,” she continued.
    Deliberately, he drew back within himself, throwing up a familiar shield that suddenly seemed more necessary in this woman’s presence. Necessary and desperate.
    “Not a problem, Aslyn,” he said.
    “Chay, you didn’t mention knowing Aslyn Jericho,” Greer scolded with a mock frown.
    “Oh yes,” Aslyn drawled, a mischievous gleam in her gray eyes. “Actually, we’re neighbors. He’s been to my house and everything.” She grinned.
    “Really?” Greer murmured, a sly smile curving her lips.
    Chay barely managed not to cringe.
    Gabe, Rafe, Mal—each of them had found love, peace, and sanctuary in the past months. Gabe and Mal were engaged to the loves of their lives. Rafe had married his a couple of weeks earlier. Finally, his friends were happy, and Chay was delighted. After all they’d suffered because of him—covering up a murder, keeping a two-decade long secret, losing loved ones, facing prosecution, and bearing a criminal record—they deserved happiness. Chay didn’t begrudge them at all. Still…their happily ever afters didn’t mean one was hanging out there for him on the Fairy Tale Tree waiting to be picked. Love, intimacy, relationships—those weren’t meant for him.
    Not that his aversion seemed to matter a damn to his friends’ women. Leah, Danielle, and Greer had made it their lives’ mission to have him hitched, too. Lately, he’d been avoiding dinners and get-togethers, knowing there would be at least one unattached woman there. No one could ever accuse those women of subtlety.
    “Really, what?” Rafe strode into the lobby and wrapped his arms around his wife from behind. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, then narrowed his eyes at Aslyn. To her credit, she didn’t flinch from his best friend’s tattooed and pierced appearance. As a matter-of-fact, she seemed to study his Poison T-shirt with more than a bit of covetousness. “Aslyn Jericho?”
    Surprised, Greer tilted her head back. “Are you a fan, too?”
    Rafe snorted. “Hell no. But when Chay drives, he forces me to listen to the highbrow stuff.” He shrugged, the corner of his mouth quirking up. “No offense.”
    She grinned. “None taken. Neither me or my highbrow are offended.”
    “Aslyn, I’d like you to meet the co-owner of Liberty Security Services, Raphael Marcel. You’ve already met his wife, Greer.” He waved a hand toward his friend. “And now you possess firsthand knowledge of why I try and keep him chained to his desk and computers instead of meeting with clients,” Chay said, his voice so dry it could start a forest fire.
    Aslyn laughed. “I, for one, appreciate his honesty. Especially since my bullshit meter tapped out about, oh,” she scrunched up her face in an adorable moue, “ten years ago.”
    “Oh, I like her.” Rafe snickered. “Are you here for a consultation?”
    “Yes,” Chay said, stepping forward. “With me. We can speak in my office, Aslyn.”
    “Nice to meet you, Raphael and Greer.” She waved and headed in the direction of his open office door. Chay followed, but as he closed the door, he caught a glimpse of Rafe resting his hands over Greer’s prominent belly. A knot tightened in his chest, momentarily stealing his breath and filling him with shame. Shame because the knot had its root in envy—envy for the love so evident in the tender touch to his woman and the softness in her smile. Envy for the wonder and joy of the child they were bringing into this world. Envy—and a stab of sorrow—because while he was beyond thrilled for Rafe, Chay would never have what his friend