by Sara Whitney
He alternated suction and light strokes with his tongue, and her hips began to move against him in a rocking motion. When the leg slung over his shoulder tightened, he increased the pressure but not the pace, growling in satisfaction when her hand shot down to tangle in his hair.
“Aiden, God, yes.” Her back arched off the mattress and her voice trailed off into a moan as he pushed two fingers inside her while the hand on her breast pinched and rolled her nipple. That did the trick, and she pitched over the edge of her orgasm, shuddering and gasping his name. He let her ride it out, then slowed his pace, reluctantly pulling away and crawling up to lie next to her. Her head lolled to the side, and her glazed eyes slowly regained their sharpness.
“Do you swear?” she asked breathlessly.
His brows snapped together in confusion, and pink stained her already flushed cheeks.
“That you find me attractive? That this wasn’t some pity thing?”
Aiden kissed her softly. “Pity? Never.” He moved his hand back down between her legs, and she whimpered and slammed her knees shut, blocking his fingers.
He propped himself up on his elbow and brushed a few dark strands of hair off her damp brow. “I’m telling you that I find you so attractive that I was hoping to make you come again. And then maybe me too, once you’re thoroughly satisfied.”
He searched her face and was dismayed to see her expression shutter.
“I can’t,” she bit out.
His hand stilled as he sorted out what she was saying. “Can’t what?”
She flung an arm across her eyes. “Can’t come a second time.”
“Never have? Or never tried?”
“Never have.” Her voice was tight and clipped and not at all the way a well-pleasured woman should sound.
He tugged her arm down. “I bet you can. I bet you’d like it,” he coaxed. “I know I’d very much like to try.”
His fingers hovered above her breast, and those eyes of hers just killed him, wide and nervous and hopeful. How was a woman who’d just come against his mouth still so skittish? Then to his absolute delight, he saw her make the decision to trust him.
She lifted her chin, her hair shifting against the crisp white pillowcase. “Try then. But no promises.”
He kissed her, thrilled by her small bit of bravery.
“I’m promising.”
Seventeen
Thea wasn’t sure she was going to survive the night.
First she’d been disappointed by the mediocre sex she’d had with the purported sex god. Then she’d convinced herself that the sex was mediocre because he wasn’t attracted to her. Then he’d shouted at her that she was hot and tossed her onto the bed and drove her out of her mind with that mouth of his and those long fingers she’d been obsessing over for weeks.
And now here he was, stretched out next to her and practically begging to wring more pleasure from her body.
She was afraid she might pass out.
“Aiden, I don’t know about this—”
“Shhhh.” He stroked one hand across her brow as he trailed his other hand down her body. “Let me work, woman. Just concentrate on feeling good.”
She tried to relax and do that, but all she could think was that she’d never come again so quickly. Not that any her old boyfriends had ever tried terribly hard, and oh God, why was she thinking about her exes when she had Aiden freaking Murdoch working himself into a carpal tunnel brace trying to get her there again?
At that moment Aiden freaking Murdoch bit down on the spot where her neck met her shoulder and growled, “Stop thinking so much.”
The sharp not-quite-pain made her cry out, and it jumped her body into hyperdrive. Her hips surged up to meet his seeking fingers, and her already sensitized flesh pulsed and tingled every time one of the calluses on his workman’s hands scratched against her skin.
It didn’t take long at all for her to say in wonder, “Oh my God, I’m close.”
“That’s more like it.” His words tickled her neck, and he hummed in satisfaction as her orgasm pulsed around his fingers. He then kissed down to her breasts, his stubble rasping against her skin as his mouth pulled into a smile. “I think these were made just for me.”
He cupped both her breasts, lifting them to his mouth, and her breath came in pants as he dipped his head between the two, sucking and biting gently. She was almost starting to believe that he was serious when he said he liked her body.
“Can we go again?” He looked up at her. “Give me another shot to impress you?”
No. Say no. Because she’d been right; Aiden was magnificent, and saying goodbye to him at the end of their fake relationship was already going to suck. But if she let herself sleep with him a second time, watched him come apart again while he was inside her body? Well, she didn’t know how she’d make it through unscathed.
Then he brushed his thumbs over her nipples and smiled at her with those eye crinkles that had made her weak in the knees even before she’d known how good his tongue felt on all her sensitive spots. And so all she could do was nod, too overwhelmed with everything that had happened on this magical bed to speak.
Then all at once she found her voice. “Let me be on top.” She wasn’t sure where that request had come from, but out of nowhere she wanted control.
Aiden immediately rolled to his back and folded his arms behind his head with another scorching grin. “Be my guest.”
She reached for another condom and rolled it onto him, then positioned herself and slowly worked him inside. His hands flew to her hips, and he hissed as he slid all the way home while she shifted to accommodate his full length.
“So big. My God,” she murmured and was rewarded with a flare of his eyes and a tightening of his hands on her skin.
She slowly raised and lowered herself once, marveling at the hard heat of his cock, and Aiden let her set the pace at first. She luxuriated in the friction between them, bouncing and rocking and thrilling herself with the sounds their bodies made as they slapped together, with the delicious sensation of being filled. When he dug his fingers into her hips and dragged her down to grind against him, she moaned and arched her back, thrusting her breasts forward. He surged up to take one in his mouth, trapping her between a hand gripping the nape of her neck and his tongue torturing her nipple.
She felt every point of contact between them as if they were fiery brands searing her skin and stoking the tension coiling inside her even higher. They were both gasping now. Aiden’s mouth was hot against her breast, and he slammed up into her over and over, increasing the pace as her hips moved in a frantic circle while she chased her release.
“Yes, Aiden, please please,” she begged, unable to organize her words into any coherence.
He pulled away from her nipple long enough to flick a naughty smile at her, then returned to continue laving her with his tongue. One of his hands slid out of her hair and down between their bodies to press against her clit, and she exploded, crying out and surging down onto his cock. He responded with a series of sharp upward thrusts that ended in his own climax. His hands, which had been so deliciously rough with her, now smoothed tenderly down her shoulders as she collapsed onto his chest, his thumbs drawing little circles in the sheen of sweat that covered her back. He kissed her brow, then her temple, as they caught their breath.
“Wow,” she finally managed.
His chest moved underneath her as he huffed out a laugh. “Wow?”
She slapped a lazy hand along his flank. “Yes, wow. I guess I can do that more than once.”
“Told you so.”
“And I guess you can actually impress a woman in the sack.” She grinned up at him, feeling bold enough to tease him now.
“Hey!” His voice was lazily satisfied, not offended. “It’s your fault everything is so wow. I’m lucky I made it through a second round.”
When her thigh muscles started to protest, she shifted to move off him, feeling a sharp little pang of loss as he slid from her body. Af
ter he’d dispensed with the condom, she tentatively laid her head on his chest, unsure of what happened next. No-strings sex wasn’t usually her style, and she definitely had no idea how to handle no-strings sex with her fake boyfriend. Should she ask him to stay? Assume he was eager to leave? She didn’t want to be clingy. Or pushy. Or presumptive.
His chest rumbled with laughter. “You’re stiff as a sheet of drywall when you should be doing like I am and falling asleep. What’s going on?”
If anything, her spine got even stiffer. “Honestly?”
“Always,” he said drowsily.
She sighed. “Honestly, I was wondering what to do with you now.”
She peeped up at his face. His eyes were closed, expression relaxed.
“You’ve already done everything with me, killer. I’m used up.”
She batted a hand at his chest. “I know that! I mean… do you want to leave?”
“Do you want me to leave?” Now his eyes were open.
She didn’t know how to answer that, and at her silence, he sat up, suddenly alert.
“Wait, do you want me to leave?”
She sat up too and twisted her fingers together anxiously. “No! But I don’t want you to feel like you have to stay. I don’t know what you usually…”
Her voice trailed off, and horror swamped her when his expression twisted into disappointment.
“You’re wondering if I usually tiptoe out after sex?” His voice was unamused, all traces of relaxation gone.
“I didn’t say that. I’ve just… I’ve never done this before, so…”
Aiden sagged back against the headboard, and suddenly the distance between them felt immense.
“You know, I haven’t exactly done this before either.”
Her brows shot up her forehead. “You’re telling me you’ve never had a one-night stand?”
“That’s what you think this is?” If anything, he got even angrier.
She immediately regretted starting the conversation in the first place, but he was already sliding out of bed and reaching for his clothes.
“What I’ve never done before is sleep with a woman I know and like and intend to keep spending time with.” He jerked on his jeans. “So yeah, with other women, I’d generally leave afterward. With you, I was hoping you’d want me to stay.”
Her mouth dropped open. “But I do want you to stay!”
He yanked his shirt on, yelling as soon as his head popped out the neck hole. “Then why the hell am I getting dressed?”
“I don’t know!” she yelled back. “Get naked and get back in bed!”
They both glared at each other for a long moment before his furious expression dissolved into laughter.
“Wanting me naked again so soon? I should pick postsex fights with you more often.” But he did as she asked and shucked his shirt and pants, chuckling to himself the whole time.
When he crawled back into bed and gathered her close, she let herself go limp. Exhaustion from the sex and the yelling pulled at her, and even though she should really haul herself to the bathroom to scrub off the day’s makeup, all she could manage to do was let her head fall against his shoulder.
“This was a dumb thing to fight about,” she muttered.
He kissed the top of her head. “The dumbest. You can make it up to me tomorrow.”
Thea smiled at the thick promise in his voice, at the implication that he’d still be here in the morning. But she had no idea what any of this meant, so she fell back on a joke. “You bet. I’ll brew you my finest cup of coffee.”
He laughed and reached around to pinch her ass. “Can I convince you to serve it to me naked?”
She squeaked but didn’t respond. Was she brave enough to parade in front of him naked in the bright light of day? She’d have to see how bold she felt when the sun came up.
Her eyes drifted shut, then popped back open. “Um. Was she there this whole time?”
She pointed, and Aiden looked to where Blue was snoring softly in a pointy heap in the far corner of the room.
“If she managed to sleep through all that, I’m impressed.” He glanced over at her. “Are you a ‘no dogs in the bed’ kind of person?”
“It’s only been two days, so the jury’s still out.”
He dropped a quick kiss on her mouth that left her breathless, then gave a soft whistle. “Blue!”
The dog’s head jerked up and she leaped to her feet with a little whuff, then trotted to the bed. She hopped up, spun around three times, and curled around Thea’s ankles with a contented sigh.
“My two ladies. That’s more like it,” he said, and Thea grinned to herself in the dark, knowing she was about to fall asleep with a man she’d be excited to wake up next to in the morning.
Eighteen
“Good morning.”
Aiden turned to the source of the raspy voice to find that Thea had emerged through the sunroom door to join him in the backyard, blinking sleepily. “Good morning. Bed catch on fire?”
“Har.” She scrunched her face up against the morning sunlight and bundled her disheveled hair into a lopsided ponytail, then looked around the yard with a scowl.
“Geez, you’re really not a morning person. Here.” He handed over his half-full coffee mug and bent to scratch Blue’s chin when the dog trotted over to them.
Without a word, she tossed the rest of the liquid down her throat. “Give me another three cups and I’ll be able to have a conversation.” She yawned. “Why are you standing under my bedroom window at eight o’clock on a Saturday morning?”
Because I woke up in your bedroom at seven thirty on a Saturday morning and had no idea how to feel about that or what comes next. His morning-afters with women were rare, so when he’d woken up in a strange bed to find Thea curled into a ball and tucked against his side, he’d escaped to the kitchen to make coffee.
They had to talk about it. No way around that. But tossing questions at the woman with bedhead didn’t seem fair, so he instead gestured to the wooden slats running along the bottom of the balcony. “Just making my plans for the day.”
She jerked her head toward the kitchen, and he followed her inside so they could both pour fresh cups. “I thought your plan was kitchen cabinets.”
“It was.” He settled next to her in the breakfast nook. “But if you and Blue are going to risk your necks on an unstable balcony, I’d better do that first.”
“You’d change your plans for me? I’m flattered.” She flattened a hand over her heart and fluttered her lashes at him, and his heart thumped at how pretty she was in the morning with her bare face and bare feet.
“Up to you. Which do you want done first?”
She turned to study the empty walls in her kitchen. “I feel like you’re going to worry about that damn balcony until you fix it, so I can live with this mess a little longer.”
“Cool.” He’d left his binder on the kitchen table last night, so it was within arm’s reach now. He grabbed it and started jotting notes on what supplies he needed for the balcony repairs.
“Aiden.” Thea’s small hand rested on his, and he immediately stilled at her serious tone. “We had sex last night.”
He dropped the pen and wrapped his fingers around hers, his nerves unaccountably ratcheting up. “Yes. More than once.”
“What do we do now?” She worried her bottom lip with her teeth and looked at him expectantly, as if he had all the answers. Christ, he wished he did.
“I’ll do whatever you want. Pretend it didn’t happen. Carry on like normal. Hell, I’ll”—he swallowed hard—“I’ll end our deal early if you want. Finish the work on your house but no more obligation to be my girlfriend. Whatever makes you comfortable.”
She yanked her hand away. “End it early? Pretend it didn’t happen?” Apparently she was now awake enough to be outraged, which told him he was already screwing this conversation up somehow.
“Like I said, it’s whatever you want.” He tried to smile at her, but she only scowled
back. “You specifically asked that our agreement not include sex, and I broke that part of the deal last night, so—”
“Wait.” She held up her hand. “I asked for our agreement not to include sex?”
Her confusion stopped him short. “Didn’t you?”
“I don’t have perfect recall or anything, but I think I asked if it would include sex. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t interested in sex.”
“Were you?”
She blushed. “Obviously.”
“No, back then I mean.” He didn’t know why, but the idea that Thea might’ve been interested in him before last night reverberated through him like a cymbal crash.
“Um.” She shifted in her chair and avoided meeting his eyes. “I have wondered from time to time what the whole Aiden Murdoch experience would be like.”
“Oh yeah?” He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, no doubt failing miserably at hiding his intense curiosity. “And in the end, what was it like?”
She threw her hands up in exasperation. “You tell me! I thought it was great, but you’re being Mr. Chill this morning, so maybe you want to pretend it didn’t happen.”
“It was great,” he said immediately, dropping the teasing grin. But knowing it was great wasn’t the same as knowing how to move forward, so he opted for honesty. “I’m not sure how to do this.”
“Not sure how to fake a relationship? Or not sure how to have sex with the same person more than once?” She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Or maybe you’re not sure how to talk about your feelings.”
“Nobody’s talking about feelings. We’re talking about sex.” He snatched his mug to take a fortifying sip. “And that’s not part of the agreement.”
“I wish you’d stop calling it ‘the agreement.’ It makes me feel like a high-paid escort.”