Page 81 of His to Cherish
Chapter 17
“Let’s get out of here,” I said to Aidan as he lazily sipped his morning coffee on my back deck.
We hadn’t been awake for long, but the sun was shining, bringing hope that the weather was going to be absolutely gorgeous.
He looked at me as if I’d just asked him to sweep me off to France for the weekend.
Which would beawesome.
I just wanted to get out of my house. Unless we were at Fireside, we were always at my place. Never his. I thought that might have changed weeks ago when he’d resumed contact with Shane, who was still in a mental health rehab facility. According to Beth and Aidan, he was doing well and anxious to come home at the end of the month.
But I was starting to feel paranoid.
“Where did you have in mind?” His cautious tone made me pause and irritation prickled.
“I don’t know…maybe somewhere public?” I arched an eyebrow. “Unless that bothers you?”
He caught my biting tone and I stiffened when he exhaled roughly and rubbed his fingertips against his forehead.
“No, shit, that’s not it.”
“We never go anywhere.” My voice was softer, suddenly uncertain, irritated at my own annoyance. Since we’d actually become anus,I was determined to take this at his speed. His direction. Some days were harder than others.
“Because I hate the stares I get in town, the dad of the dead kid.” He blew out a heavy breath and shook his head.
I understood. I had to. Being with Aidan came with challenges and minefields that were difficult to maneuver. It didn’t mean the results weren’t going to be worth the work. I believed that. Ihadto believe that.
An idea formed as I sipped my coffee. Grinning, I set the mug on the table and leaned close to him. “I have the perfect place. And it’s hidden, so I can continue to be your dirty little secret.”
I was teasing now. Based on his scowl, he didn’t find it funny. Reaching his hand out to mine, he wiggled his fingers.
“Come here.”
I couldn’t resist. We’d already had sex once this morning, slowly and tenderly, but every time he was near, every time he touched me, my body was primed for more of him. Unfolding my legs from beneath me on the chair, I placed my hand in his and let him pull me onto his lap. I straddled him, my legs spreading to fall on the outer sides of his thighs.
His hand trailed up my arm to the nape of my neck, where he pulled me toward his lips. He didn’t kiss me, just brushed his lips against mine, making me ache for more of him. “You’re not my little secret.”
My hips involuntarily rocked into him. He left out the worddirty.Intentionally, I suspected.
“I don’t like feeling hidden, or that being together is wrong.”
“It’s not,” he whispered, his lips now trailing down my throat to my collarbone.
I suppressed a shiver. Aidan set me on fire with a simple glance. When his hands and lips were on me, I turned into a restless ball of burning need.
“But everywhere I go brings back painful memories, and I’m not ready.”
Sometimes he accepted my prodding, other times, he closed off.
This was one of the times when he closed down. His lips covered mine and he didn’t continue the conversation.
Which I allowed, mostly because his hands were moving to my shirt, lifting it and tugging it off before his mouth began to slowly trail to my nipples.
I rocked into him, my hands sliding to the back of his head, holding him against me, dragging my nails through his soft and silky thick hair. His gentle, teasing ministrations made me forget the entire conversation as he rose off the chair, taking me with him. He pushed his shorts down past his hips and pulled my underwear to the side, and when he sat again, he slid his erection inside me, where I was more than ready for him.
I let him take me on my patio deck chair, knowing we had full privacy. When I fell over the edge, and he finished inside me, I bit down on his shoulder to stifle my screams.
And after we were done, cleaned up, and dressed to go on an afternoon excursion, I caught Aidan give that exact chair one last glance, a glimmer in his eye.
