I heard my phone beep, and my hand stilled as I went to take a sip of wine. Glancing at the clock, I saw it was already past nine o’clock. I knew who it was, and I didn’t want to hear from him. My head hadn’t caught up with this afternoon’s events, and I was just done with all the drama. The phone beeped again. Sighing, I went over to the couch and picked up the phone.
Aiden: Hear you met dad
Aiden: I don’t know why you would go to meet him without me there
Was he joking? How was I supposed to know I was being ambushed?
I dropped the phone back onto the sofa. I wasn’t answering him. He hadn’t answered me all day, so why should I jump now because he deemed that he had time for me? Nope, not happening.
Picking up the wine and my Kindle, I headed to the bathroom. I took off my bathrobe, and with a sigh of contentment, I slid under the bubbles. Yes, this is what I needed. I opened up the e-reader and opened the new book I had just downloaded. A fantasy book that promised action and adventure and zero romance. Perfect. I didn’t want to read about star-crossed lovers or romances destined to fail but have a happy ever after, anyway.
The book was exactly what I needed. My wine was empty, but I didn’t care. I was so engrossed in the adventure of the story I was startled when my buzzer rang. It was rare that the buzzer went, and mostly it was for one of my neighbours. I ignored it. I also noticed that the water was almost cold and my skin wrinkly from being in the bath for so long. It was time to get out, I realised wryly.
After I tidied the bathroom and blew out the candles, I padded to the kitchen. My wine needed a refill, and I was debating on reading the rest of my book on the sofa or in my bed. The sofa meant nearer to the wine, but bed meant easier to sleep. I heard a soft knocking and stopped what I was doing. I had been hearing it for some time, I realised, and only now was it penetrating. Was it outside? I stood on tiptoes and looked out of the kitchen window. The street was empty. I heard it again. It wasn’t a continuous knocking. What is it? It wasn’t exactly knocking either…more like thumping.
I crept out to the hallway and looked at my front door. I heard the noise louder. Peering through the peephole, I saw the corridor was empty. The thump happened again, and I hopped back from the door.
“What is that?” I wondered out loud. And then I heard it. A snore. I waited. It came again. Yes, someone is snoring in the corridor. I opened the door and jumped back as Aiden’s body slumped inwards. He was sound asleep. His black T-shirt was rumpled, and his leather jacket, which he seemed to have been using as a pillow, tumbled at my feet. His black jeans were ripped, and he looked like he had been in a fight as there was a bruise forming on his jaw. Even from where I was standing, I could smell the alcohol.
I stared down at him in confusion just as my neighbour opened his door.
“Jemma?” he looked at me and down at Aiden. “You okay?”
“Yes, Phil, I’m fine. Um…he’s had a little too much to drink, I think.” I tried to laugh. Aiden was passed out drunk on my doorstep at heaven knows what time of night. Phil and his wife had lived here for as long as I had. Nice man. Respectable. Not a man who would turn up and sleep drunk outside your front door.
“You need help getting your boyfriend inside?”
“He’s not…” I stopped, maybe best not to have that conversation right now. “That would be great, Phil, do you mind?”
Trying to lift a comatose Aiden while wearing a dressing gown was not fun. I was more conscious of inadvertently flashing Phil than I was of ripping Aiden’s arms out his sockets.
“Jemma, I’ll take the top half, why don’t you just lift his feet for me?”
“Oh, okay.” Phil and I swapped places and that worked better, as Phil walked backwards to my living room.
“Will I take him to the bedroom?”
“No!” I cried. I avoided Phil’s startled look at my outburst. “The couch is fine for him,” I hastily added.
“Like that, is it?” He chuckled. “Well, can’t say I blame you putting his ass in the doghouse for pulling this kinda stunt on Valentine’s.” Phil hauled Aiden up the couch some more and then pulled him forward as I put a couple of cushions behind his head. “Best let him sleep it off, give him hell in the morning.”
“Yeah, will do.” I laughed as I walked Phil to the door. The laugh sounded hollow to my own ears. “Thank you so much for your help.”
“Anytime, although I hope he doesn’t make a habit of it.” Phil looked past me to the living room as he spoke. “You’ll be okay? He looks like trouble, if you don’t mind me saying.”
You have absolutely no idea. “I’ll be fine, honest. Thanks again.” After closing and locking the door, I walked slowly back through to the living room. He was still sleeping. Phil had arranged his arms across his body, and I took in the curve of his biceps. His hands were crossed over on his stomach. He really does have remarkably long fingers, I mused as I noted his perfectly cut nails. I crept closer and lifted his T-shirt gently. His jeans rode low, and I ignored the V as I quickly undid his belt. No one needed to sleep with a belt buckle digging into them. My heart raced as I leaned over him and lifted his head until it was at a better angle on the cushion. My fingers trailed slowly through his hair, and I stopped myself from running my hand through the thickness of it again. God, he was just so freaking attractive. I could quite literally stare at him all day. Shaking my head, I went down to his feet and removed his boots and put them beside the sofa. I hesitated before I got a throw cover and placed it over him.
There. He looked comfy enough. I contemplated for a moment more, and then I went and got a basin. I had no idea what Aiden’s alcohol tolerance was like, but one thing was for sure: if it was low, he wasn’t being sick on my living room floor.
I glanced at the time as I headed to my room. Just before midnight. Happy Valentine’s Day. I snorted out a laugh as I got ready for bed. It took some time to fall asleep as I restrained myself from checking on my houseguest several times. I don’t know what time I fell asleep, but I was wakened when I felt the bed dip, and a strong arm pulled me back into a bare chest.
“Aiden?” I whispered groggily.
“Yeah, Jem, go back to sleep,” he told me as he tucked me closer into his body.
“You should be on the couch,” I told him sleepily.
I felt his nose run along my neck in a soft caress. “I’m too big for the couch. Go back to sleep.”
“I’m mad at you,” I muttered as I wiggled closer to his heat.
“I know.”
I felt the kiss on my shoulder and then the gentle tug on my hair as he loosened my bun. “What are you doing?” I went to move, but his hand on my hip stilled me.
“Shhh, babe, sleep.”
And I did. I fell into a deep and dreamless sleep, wrapped in the arms of the man who had turned my world upside down.
I was too hot. No, I wasn’t hot, I was sweltering. I couldn’t breathe. My hair was wrapped around my neck like a scarf, and I pulled it away even as I realised I was cocooned in Aiden. His arm was around me, circling me completely, his leg over the top of mine, and his head seemed to be nestled into my neck.
Jesus Christ, how was he not dying of heat exhaustion? I wiggled to get free, and his arm pulled me back in. When I realised I was pulled tight into his crotch, I froze. He was hard and poking me in the ass. Shit, now what? I could wake him up, but I realised that may backfire. I wanted questions answered before he got handsy.
Handsy, Jemma? Yes, handsy. Aiden, almost naked in my bed, was just a recipe for disaster. He would be all smooth and sexy, and I would roll over, literally roll over, and be having wild sex with him before I even said good morning. Because you’re easy? No, because he’s Aiden, and I can’t resist him. I closed my eyes in defeat. I can’t resist him. There—I admitted it to myself. He fascinates me. I want to know him. I want to be with him. I want him. All of him—including his secrets.
But not like this. I needed clothes on, hair brushed, possibly boot
s…in case I needed to kick his ass. The idea of me kicking Aiden’s ass was ludicrous. I inched away from him, and he grunted in his sleep, but he didn’t move. Another inch, and his arm flexed but relaxed again. Inch by torturous inch, I slipped free of him. When I was safely on the other side of the bed and standing, I looked at him sleeping there. He looks like an angel, I thought whimsically, he’s no angel though. Shaking my head, I made my way to the main bathroom and got ready to face the devil when he woke up.
I was finishing my book when I heard him moving around in my bedroom. I cocked my head as I listened. He was using the bathroom in my bedroom. I returned to reading my book. Ten minutes later, he appeared in the doorway, wearing nothing but his boxer briefs. My eyes ran over him, paying particular attention to his abs and the infamous V-line. Even hungover, he looked good enough to eat.
“How’s the head?” I asked casually.
“Coffee?”
“On the counter.” I watched him walk over and thanked him silently for giving me the unobstructed view of his back. My mouth watered. Good grief, have you seen those shoulders? He was truly sculpted perfection. I watched him pour a cup and down half of it in about two gulps. He refilled his cup.
“Ugh, tastes bad with toothpaste,” Aiden told me as he made his way to the sofa and sat beside me.
Toothpaste? “You carry toothpaste with you?” I asked him in confusion.
“No, used yours.”
“You did not!” My eyes were wide in exasperation.
“Mouth tasted like something died in it, Jem.” Aiden leaned his head back on the couch and closed his eyes.
“Did you use my toothbrush?” I demanded.
“Well, I didn’t use mine.” His eyes were still closed, but he smiled as he spoke.
“Aiden!”
“Not so loud, woman,” he grumbled at me.
“Why have you no clothes on?”
One eye opened as he looked at me. “Because I’m not ready to leave.”
Is it wrong that my tummy flipped? Probably. Did I care? I wasn’t sure. “Why were you so drunk?”
“Had a disagreement with a dickhead,” he told me as he slipped further down the couch.
“Is that why you have a bruised jaw?”
Aiden rubbed his jaw. “No, that was later, that was a disagreement with another dickhead.” His hand reached out and hooked my legs, which had been under me. He pulled my legs over his and started stroking my calf.
“Aiden…”
“I didn’t know he was going to come to the site.” His words distracted me from his soft touch.
“Your dad?”
“Is a fucking nightmare.” Aiden scowled with his eyes still closed. “Ben should never have come for you.”
“I have the feeling that your dad would have just sent someone else.” I sighed. “He’s quite intimidating.”
Aiden huffed in agreement as he pulled my legs slightly more over his body. “He had no right to talk to you.” His hand crept up under my pant leg.
I was wearing soft loungewear pants. I think they were a cross between pyjamas and a tracksuit. They weren’t intended for outside, and they were too heavy for sleepwear. When I bought them, they were the find of the century. I had a simple long-sleeved T-shirt on with them. I had no plans to go anywhere, and it wasn’t lost on me that I had every part of my body covered. It wasn’t lost on Aiden either, but his hand was slowly getting higher every time he stroked up my calf.
“Aiden,” I protested.
“Shh.”
“You ate my Thai food.”
“Yeah, woke up cold and hungry.” His hand was now tracing circles over my skin. Does he know what he’s doing to me?
“Why did you come here?” I tried to pull my leg back, but his simple hold turned into a vise-like grip.
“Wanted to talk to you.” His eyes were still closed, but they opened. “Didn’t think you would let me in.”
“You needed to get drunk before you came to see me?”
“Well, I got drunk after I spoke to my father. What can I say? He has that effect on me. Then I ran into Nadine, of all people.” He frowned. “That woman may not be the friend you think she is.”
“What do you mean?”
“Does she know I fucked you?”
I winced at his brashness. “No, Aiden, I don’t talk about my private life,” I answered. “Didn’t we agree not to be so crude?”
“No, you mentioned it. I laughed.” He smiled at me lazily. His eyes ran over me slowly. “I told you I fuck, Jemma,” he said before he turned away, resting his head on the back of the couch.
“Oh God, forget it.” I could hear the bite in my voice. “What did you mean about Nadine?”
Sighing, Aiden leaned forward and drank the remainder of his coffee. As he leaned back, he turned until he was facing me. I would never have the confidence to sit like he did. With only tight-fitting boxer briefs on, he sat with one leg under him and the other on the floor. His head rested on his hand, which was propped up on the back of my sofa. He pushed up from his side of the sofa and crawled up to me. His hands slid over my hips, and suddenly I was on my back with him caging me in.
“She may have had too much to drink.” His gaze was focused on my lips before his eyes flicked up to mine. “She told me you like Ben?”
“Ben’s a nice guy.” I tried to sit up, but Aiden half sat, and his sudden movement startled me so that I fell back. His hands trailed along the bottom of my T-shirt.
“Nice?” His fingers slipped under my shirt, and I gasped when his warm hands stroked over my skin. “Tell me why he’s nice.” Aiden dipped his head as he pulled my shirt up higher.
“I don’t think this is appropriate. We have a lot to talk about.” I pushed at his hands.
“Tell me how much you like Ben.” Aiden dismissed me as always as he dipped his head and planted a kiss on my stomach.
“Aiden.”
“We’re talking about Ben, Jemma,” he reminded me as he pushed my shirt up higher.
“He’s nice, he’s funny and friendly,” I answered hurriedly.
“You attracted to him?” He stared at my bra before pulling at the material to expose my breast. His tongue flicked over my nipple, and I clenched my fists to stop from reaching for him. “Answer me.”
“No. I like him, but not like Nadine thinks I do. Like you think I do.” I felt the bite on my nipple, and my back arched off the sofa. I could feel his smile as he soothed the bite with his tongue. “Aiden, please…”
“Please what?”
“We…need to talk.” I could hear the begging in my own voice. Only I wasn’t sure what I was begging for.
His tongue rolled over my nipple once more and then again, and then he was sitting back. “She offered to blow me in the men’s bathroom.”
“What?” I think my jaw dropped.
“Yeah, said she had been holding back because she thought you had a thing for me, but she was sick and tired of waiting and would suck me off in the men’s room.” He shrugged as he reached for his coffee. He frowned when he saw it was empty.
“Did you—”
“No.” Aiden cut me off with a sharp look. “I’m not in the habit of fucking someone in the bathroom.” He grinned suddenly. “Unless it’s you, of course.”
“I don’t know whether to be flattered or not,” I muttered as I straightened my clothes. I kept thinking about Nadine and what she had offered him. Aiden crossed to the kitchen and finished my coffee pot. He came back, and when he sat down, he was closer to me.
“Don’t let it bother you,” he told me. “I won’t.”
“Well, I’m sure you get propositioned all the time!” I snapped at him.
“Hey, it’s not my fault she wanted to suck my dick.”
I said nothing. I was pissed off. With him. With Nadine. “She was supposed to be on a date with someone.”
“Yeah, she was, he heard her.” Aiden grinned at me again.
“He the one who hit you?”
<
br /> “Yeah, wasn’t expecting it.” Aiden drank his coffee. “Had a few to drink by then, blindsided me.”
“Are you okay?” I felt bad I hadn’t asked.
“Yeah, trust me, he’s worse.”
“Aiden, that’s not the answer.” I shook my head in resignation.
“So I should let some guy punch me because his date wants to get on her knees and suck my dick in a stall?” He snorted. “He should be asking why she doesn’t want to suck him off.”
Because he isn’t you. I bit my tongue though. “Well, I’m sorry she put you in that position.”
“Why the fuck are you sorry?” He looked at me with surprise.
“She was mad at me; she has it in her head Ben and I are attracted to each other.”
“But you’re not?” Aiden was too casual as he finished his coffee.
I let slip a smile. “No, I’m not.”
His gaze became heated as he reached over, and his finger trailed over my jawline. “Prove it.”
“Aiden,” I sighed.
His finger rubbed my bottom lip, his stare never wavering from my mouth. “Jemma, prove it.”
My heartbeat was racing. Just like that, he had changed the atmosphere in the room. His finger slipped between my lips, and I brushed the tip with my tongue. Aiden bit his lip, and it had to be the single most sexy thing I had ever seen. My teeth bit his finger slightly as I flicked my tongue over his fingertip again.
Aiden pulled his finger away and then stood, pushing his boxers down and freeing his erection. He sat back down on my sofa and looked at me. “I’m waiting.”
“You want me to—” I swallowed, my mouth dry. “You want me to lick you?”
“Lick me? No. I want you to choke on my dick as I fuck your mouth.”
Holy shit. I felt my body react to the words and later, I would definitely question what kind of woman I was, but now? Now, I leaned over and ran my tongue over the tip of him. I looked up at him and saw with satisfaction that his eyes were closed as he leaned his head back on the sofa. I ran my tongue over him again and was gratified with him biting his lip again. Smiling to myself at his reaction to me, I got off the sofa and positioned myself between his legs. I slipped him into my mouth as my tongue continued to run over him. I inched him further in until I couldn’t take any more. He was only halfway in, but I could hear his moans as I continued to suck him. With one hand holding myself over him and the other stroking him in rhythm, I kept going.
Her Greatest Mistake Page 16