by R. A. Boyd
Sara cleared her throat and stepped forward. “It’s because he’s yours. Bound pairs will always be able to tell what their mate is feeling. And Paige,” she said, coming closer and putting her hand on Paige’s shoulder. “We would never tell what happened to you. It’s your story. Willow just wanted to make sure we knew the urgency of the situation, and what we might be facing if we hadn’t caught you until you were at the angel’s house. We still would have come for you.”
Aiden watched the beginnings of a friendship as Paige and Sara looked at each other. His mate had a lot to learn about what it meant to be part of a pack, what it meant to be part of a shifter community that cared about and supported you. But she would learn.
“Thank you, Sara and Neil, for helping.” Cass walked closer and punched Neil on the arm. “What did you do to her?” she asked as she put her arm around the boy’s waist to give him a sideways hug.
Neil glanced at Paige as if he didn’t want to answer. “I bent a few of her flight wings. It’s something my mom taught me to do to disable flight shifters, but it’ll heal after a few shifts. And I’m so sorry. Mom just told me to make sure she couldn’t get too far. It’s the only thing I could think of.”
“You did good,” Cass and Sara said at the same time. They caught each other’s eyes and laughed.
“I’m still right here,” Paige said, her voice terse with an edge of a smile.
Sara crossed her arms and shrugged. “Yes. You are still here. And that’s a good thing.”
After Paige, Cass, and Aiden loaded into his truck, Paige apologized to Neil and promised not to hex him. He shrugged off the apology and followed his mom into their house. The Ghost shifters owed so much to the Gold Wing alpha and his family. They’d done so much to help and were always there at the meetings supporting the Ghosts.
“You sure you’re okay driving?” Aiden asked Cass for the third time. He never let anyone drive it but all he wanted to do was sit next to Paige and hold her, watch her, make sure she was okay.
Without taking her eyes off the road, Cass nodded and rubbed the steering wheel. “I’m good. I don’t want you running us off the road just so you can keep making lovie eyes at Paige.”
Paige chuckled and buried herself further under Aiden’s arm. “I’m sorry I did that. I wasn’t thinking. It’ll probably never happen again.” She said it with a smile but the truth rang through her words. Probably wasn’t a promise never to do it again.
Cass caught on to her words just like Aiden had. She huffed out a breath and clicked her tongue behind her teeth a few times. It reminded him of Damon.
“You know,” Cass said, making a left to turn at the empty intersection. “We all have ghosts that make want to do things we know we shouldn’t. For me, it’s a man named Louis Erin. He killed me and I can’t wait to return the favor. The only reason I’m here is because the freaking Angel of Death brought me back. From time to time, I still have nightmares about him. His face. For Audra, it’s her brother Ronin and her beast. Because she couldn’t stop Ronin from killing a lot of people Audra blames everything that’s happening to our clan on herself. You haven’t met Liv yet, but her ghost is her father, Riley’s ex-husband. You have yours. But you have a mate now, and a clan, and we care about your well-being.”
The easy way that Cass spoke pulled something in Aiden’s chest. He didn’t have ghosts like some of the others did. He’d always gone with the flow of how things were going. Until Jax and Damon had met Cass. That’s when his life went sideways with longing. He didn’t know how much he wanted a mate until his brethren began to find theirs.
“I was jealous,” Aiden said, staring out the front window. “I didn’t know it then. That’s why I left. Watching everyone pair up brought out something inside me that I didn’t know had curdled until my brothers and sister found happiness.” He rubbed small circles on the back of Paige’s hand and then brought her palm to his lips, giving it three quick kisses. “I’d given up on finding you. Didn’t think it would happen. And then there you were. Paige, I know you want revenge but I need you to picture something.”
He could see her watching him from the side but didn’t want to meet her gaze. He’d rather punch himself in the face with a brick than share his feelings, but he needed Paige to understand before she tried to run off again.
“What if you’d made it there to Samiyah and couldn’t pull off what you wanted. I would have come after you and he would have known I was coming. Now, I don’t know how far you are with me when it comes to love or like or whatever, but imagine if I’d come after you. He would have killed my dumb ass because I would have gone off half-cocked trying to protect you.”
Paige’s body stiffened next to his. She wrapped her small fingers around his larger ones and squeezed.
He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable but he kept going. “How does that make you feel?”
She looked at him and shook her head. “I would feel… dead. I think I’d feel like I didn’t want to go on without you.”
“Well, that’s how I felt. When you took off I thought you were just enjoying your wings again. But then Willow told me what you were doing and all I kept thinking was that you were going to die. I need you to feel that, Paige. Hold on to that, because that’s how I feel. You aren’t alone in this. I’m with you.”
She swallowed a few times and leaned forward, trying to get him to look at her. “I didn’t think. Not like I should have. It’s like I’m being bombarded with all these emotions I’ve never felt before, and my first impulse is to act on them. I take back the ‘probably’ because I give you my word it’ll never happen again. But you’re going to have to be patient with me. I have to learn to be me again and being me, I think, means learning how to deal with everything without a dose of compliance forced on me. Does that makes sense?”
Aiden blew out a long breath and shook his head. “Yeah,” he said, pulling her to him and tucking her under his arm. “It makes sense.” He held her close and kissed the top of her head. “Cass. I swear on all things holy that if you tell anyone I shared my feelings today I’ll piss on all those herbs and shit you have growing in the shed.”
Paige cracked out a laugh as Cass balled up her fist and landed a solid punch to Aiden’s thigh.
“Shit,” he yelled out when Cass made contact. “That fucking hurt, Cass. I was joking.”
“No you weren’t,” Cass said, putting her hand back on the wheel. “Don’t you ruin my garden. Besides, why would I tell anyone what you said, you goob. I’m good at keeping secrets.” Her voice dropped and her words were haunted and heavy. “More than you can possibly imagine.”
Worry pooled in Aiden’s chest as he turned to look at Cass. She was one of the happiest, albeit swiftly violent, people he knew. Anything that took that constant smile from her demeanor must be heavy.
“What’s wrong, Cass?”
With a quick glance from the road, Cass looked and gave him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Nothing. Secrets. Some things aren’t meant to be shared just yet.” She patted his leg where she’d hit him. “But they will be.”
Chapter 9
“How big is your bathtub?” Paige asked as she walked through Aiden’s front door.
She was inundated by his scent as she entered his house, and she was loving every second of it. His home smelled of pine and citrus and cloves mixed with cinnamon. Exactly like him. She took another deep breath and let all things Aiden fill her senses.
Aiden walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “The tub is pretty big. I can fit in it easily so you should wear a life jacket.”
She smiled and twisted in his arms to hug him to her. She turned her head up and kissed the mouth of the skull tattooed on his neck. “That sounds lovely. The tub at the Inn was not made for soaking, and right now I smell like three different people,” she said, motioning to the clothes the Winston’s gave her to wear.
As she tried to pull away to look around his house, Aiden tugged her back to
him and wouldn’t let go. Holding her back to his front, his scent changed. It was spicy, masculine. “This is your house now, too. Just let me know if you don’t like something and I’ll change it for you.”
Silly man. He was worried she wouldn’t like his home. The smile that she’d had on her lips fell away as she realized that she had given him this insecurity. He already thought that he wasn’t enough for her and now he was hoping she was comfortable in his home. Their home. Her insides twisted in on itself with the pain she’d caused him.
Never again.
Turning to grab both sides of his face, she angled his head toward hers and rubbed her lips against his. “It’s yours and I want to be where ever you are. It’s more than enough for me. You are more than enough for me. I’m sorry I made you feel anything other than that.” He was so tall she had to lean back to get a good look at his face. She needed him to see her eyes so he would know she was telling the truth. “I promise that I will never make you feel like that again.”
The grin on his lips brought a smile from hers. They stood like that for a while, holding on to each other as their lips met in a lingering kiss that warmed Paige from every angle she could think of. This was life, and living, and freedom. It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever experienced.
“Come on,” Aiden said as he walked her backward, still holding on as he looked in her eyes. “You can take the grand tour after you get settled. I’ll fix you dinner.”
He was going to cook for her? No one had cooked for her in years. The idea of this big sexy man cooking for her made a wild giggle bubble up through her mouth.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, picking her up and wrapping her legs around his waist so he could carry her up the stairs. “You don’t think I can cook?”
Keeping her forehead pressed against his, she shook her head back and forth. “It’s not that. I don’t think anyone has cooked for me since my parents died. When Samiyah wasn’t having gourmet food delivered I lived on cereal and salads. He didn’t cook so I learned as I got older. He warms up food and makes tea.”
She snorted and tsked her teeth. With the way she usually ate she imagined she should be smaller. Pushing the idea out of her head, she closed her eyes and rocked back and forth in Aiden’s embrace as he carried her through the house.
When she opened her eyes she was being put down in a bathroom straight out of a magazine. Beige and gold tiles lined the walls in intricate patterns that reminded her of swirling winds. Bamboo floor tiles and dark green accessories complimented the room. A deep, long, claw foot porcelain tub was the main attraction of the room, and a separate shower to the left of it was the follow-up. Two gold square shower heads hung inside the shower, one that sat high above the hot and cold valve and the other hanging from the ceiling. It was almost as enticing as the tub. The double sink vanity had faucets like the tub, and the gold and light brown marble looked to weigh heavier than the floor could carry.
“Wow,” she said, stepping away from Aiden to get a better look at the tub. “This is beautiful. I don’t think I’ll ever leave this room. You can bring my food straight back here once you finish cooking.”
She did a complete turn to take in the room, and when her eyes made their way back to Aiden he looked proud yet bashful. This had to be the best room in the house. Nothing could top this.
Aiden walked passed her and turned on the water to fill the tub. “Got any homemade bubble shit in your bag?”
She rolled her eyes so hard she almost fell backward. “Aiden. You are how old? The best term you can come up with is ‘bubble shit’ for bubble bath? You could have just called it soap.”
A playful glint shown in his eyes and his voice held a dare to it. “You really want to know how old I am?”
“Not really,” she said, peeling off the navy blue jacket. “One day, but not now. You were walking around with dinosaurs so I can take a pretty good guess.”
Too late. The thought had already needled its way into her brain. Her man was millions of years old but looked like a muscular thirty-year-old who physically picked up trucks for a living.
She quirked her lips to the side and frowned. “Why aren’t you like some peaceful yogi who sits around and meditates on the meaning of life all day? You’ve literally been around forever. Shouldn’t you be enlightened and living in a monastery away from the wilds of the world?”
Aiden shrugged and took her coat. “Naw. We tried that shit already. Gets old real fucking fast. Good old fashioned hard work and living alongside people who give a shit about you is the way to go. Besides, if I was held up in some monastery meditating my days away I wouldn’t have met you.”
His voice held an air of possessiveness that Paige hadn’t heard from him before, and when she turned to look at him all that filled her vision was his broad shoulders. Lifting her head to get a better read on him, her brown eyes clashed with his green ones.
He was right. There was nothing better than them being together. And at this very moment, there was nothing better than being in Aiden’s bathroom about to soak in a tub that could swallow her whole.
“I’ll be right back with your bag.” He winked as he backed out of the bathroom and was back before she had a chance to dig in all the pockets of her shirt and pants to find the hair tie Sara had given her earlier. Sitting her bag on the floor, he handed her a large t-shirt. “I know you probably have stuff to sleep in but I thought you might be comfortable in one of my shirts. They’re big.” He shrugged.
He wanted her to put on his clothes. Is that what couples did? It sounded nice to her, and he was the size of a yeti so she was sure it would fit.
She chewed on her bottom lip trying to come up with a response that didn’t sound as lame as she felt right now. “Okay.”
That was it. That was the best she had. She needed lessons on how to be cool or at least how to speak in complete sentences when Aiden did things that sent flutters to her heart and lady parts.
With a smile and a wink, he closed the door behind him.
Paige looked around the huge bathroom one more time and then starting riffling around in her bag to find her bubble bath before the tub overflowed.
She sat in the water until it cooled, washed, and then refilled the tub two more times just to feel the warmth of the water loosen her muscles. The past few days had been so overwhelming and the tickling heat of the water was soothing against her skin. Learning everything she had, Paige wouldn’t give this up for the world. Well, maybe if it meant getting her parents back. Even if Samiyah hadn’t demolished her family, Paige knew that she and Aiden would have found one another. They were mates.
Without meaning to, Paige was lulled to sleep by the warmth that surrounded her and the thoughts of what her life was going to be like from now on. The sound of running water pulled her from a light sleep. The water was still hot so her sleep must have only lasted a few minutes.
She sat up slightly and saw Aiden in the glass shower standing beneath the raining water. He stood there, eyes closed and looking like a tasty preview of a porn video. He was beautiful. Strong cords of muscles flexed beneath his tan flesh as he brought his arms up and started to work shampoo through his dark hair. Even as he was relaxed and safe in his own home each movement he made was predatory. Seamlessly he moved from one action to another, first washing and rinsing his hair and then reaching for his washcloth to lather it up. A familiar scent filled the room.
Paige looked to where she’d left her homemade bar of soap and saw that it was gone. He’d taken it to use and she couldn’t wait to smell the fragrance on his skin to see how it mixed with his natural essence.
Desire pooled in her abdomen as she watched him. He took the cloth and rubbed it across his chest, down his arms, and then flattened it out to wash his back. After rinsing and lathering again, he scrubbed his large, muscular thighs, down his legs, and then back up to his cock. Ever so slightly, his hips bucked forward just a bit as if his own touch had thrilled him.
Paige dre
w in a deep breath as she imagined those powerful hips moving against hers.
“Come get in the shower with me so I can rinse you off properly,” Aiden said, his back still to her as he leaned down and washed his feet.
She was caught. She was caught studying him like some pervy-perv voyeur who got her jollies off by watching men shower. Embarrassment heated her cheeks. “Um, okay.” She pulled the stopper from the tub and looked around for her towel. “Where’s the tub cleaner?”
“Don’t worry about that, and don’t worry about getting the floor wet. It’s bamboo.”
Like that explained everything.
As not to fall and break her neck, Paige took her time as she walked the few steps to the shower. When she got there, Aiden already had the shower door open and was holding out his hand to help her in.
He didn’t speak as he detached the shower head from the wall and began to rinse the leftover bubbles from her bath from her skin. She melted under his attention, feeling cared for and powerful under his gaze. He revered her, adored her. His touch made her feel as if she were healing from everything she’d been through. He had to have known she was growing inside. Samayah had kept her tied down inside herself, but that past two days with Aiden had freed her. She was learning all over again what it meant to be her, and it was lovely.
Aiden reached to put the showerhead back in place, and as Paige began to ask him for it so that she could return the favor he kneeled down in front of her. Hooking one of her knees over his shoulder, he kissed her belly button and said, “I want you to be ready for me.”
When she started to ask what he meant, he leaned forward and starting devouring her pussy as if he’d been waiting to do this all day long. His lips closed over her clit, his tongue stroking over the overly sensitive bundle of nerves.
Her hips bucked toward him as one of his fingers teased her heated entrance. “Fuck, Aiden. Please, please don’t stop.” Running her fingers through his short hair, she grasped his head and pulled him to her as her hips rocked against his talented mouth.