She forced her voice to remain soft and calming. “We need to start acting like the adults we are and just calm down.”
Richard pointed his finger and shook it at her, taking an aggressive step forward. “I have given you a few days to come to your senses and see what you’ve done. If you don’t come to my mother’s home and apologize to my family for being the bitch you are then you can forget me ever coming around here again.”
***
Aiden could hear their argument as clearly as if they’d been in the room with him. He’d had just about enough of that asshole calling her a bitch. The louder Richard got, the more his anger festered inside of him, rising to the surface and nearly out of control.
Men didn’t treat women like that in the South. Not real men.
Aiden stood and walked to the door and peered out the front window, pulling the blind open enough so that he could see outside. He spotted Richard immediately, making angry gestures and jerking his blond head around like rooster.
MMA training? Aiden snickered. He needed it. If that underweight ass in the yard didn’t start showing some respect for Nydia he was going to be forced to go out there and teach Richard some respect.
Richard was leaned against his car with his hands across his chest. Nydia stood just off her front stoop. Even at the distance, he could see her tension in the way her shoulders shook, the slight tremble in her hands.
His ears perked, listening to her quiet responses as she tried to maintain calm.
Aiden looked back at Richard. He damned sure couldn’t see what had attracted her to Richard in the first place. He was tall, thin, and gangly looking in Aiden’s eye, a speck of dust that needed to be brushed off.
“I’m not about to apologize to your mother, your sisters, or you. You’re being an insufferable ass just like your family. I don’t know why you and your family talked to me the way you did, but I know that no one will ever talk to me that way again!”
Nydia turned around and walked the two feet back to the stoop.
Richard uncrossed his arms and followed her in large strides. “Come back here. I’m not through with you and you aren’t going to turn your back on me. You’re going to learn some manners before I leave here today.”
The moment Richard snaked a hand around her wrist and snatched her backward back down the steps, Aiden reacted.
Aiden burst through the door onto the porch. The moment he was outside, Richard dropped Nydia’s wrist like a hot potato. He gaped at Aiden’s intrusion into their fight.
Aiden cocked a grin, stepping down beside Nydia on the steps until he stood beside her.
He wanted to make sure Richard got a chance to look him up and down and size him up as an opponent, since he was into mixed martial arts training.
Not that that would be a match for Aiden’s shifter abilities. Despite pretending to be injured and weakened, he wasn’t about to let Nydia get hurt, if that was where Richard was taking this.
He’d learned long ago that most fights could be stopped if you gave the opponent the opportunity to size you up and realize that they were about to get their butts handed to them on a silver platter. Aiden was almost twice the size of the other man and a good six inches taller.
Richard snapped his mouth shut, visibly swallowing as his adam’s apple bobbed.
“Who the hell is this?” he asked, pointing at Aiden with a frown on his face.
“I’m Aiden, not that it’s any of your business. Unless you’d like to make it your business,” Aiden said, flexing his chest and arms. He got the feeling that Richard was used to looking down his nose at others, and that this is the way he treated the majority of the people he met.
Nydia didn’t look at Aiden, only at Richard. She was silent, as if searching for something to say.
Richard’s face reddened. “You little tramp! Where did you pick this joker up at? Why has he got my pants on? Is this why you couldn’t be bothered to answer my calls? You’ve been holed up the past four days fucking this guy?”
Nydia gasped. “How dare you talk to me that way?”
“It’s a free country. I can talk any way I want.”
“See, that’s what’s wrong with this world. Just cuz you have the freedom to say it doesn’t mean you should. I was taught to respect a woman, not degrade her,” Aiden said, sliding closer to Nydia. Aiden put his arm around Nydia’s waist to show Richard that he was with the woman now. He wanted to make a point of letting this whelp know he was the alpha male on this property and that the female was his and his alone.
Richard sneered at them, pretending to laugh. He clapped his hands like they’d made a joke. “I suppose it’s better that I find out now that you are willing to sleep with anything that has a dick, before I married you. I guess my family was right and you have been screwing everyone but me.”
Nydia glared at Richard. “You son of a—”
Before she could finish, Aiden spun her around and planted his mouth over hers. A shock of electricity seemed to sizzle between their mouths. She tensed at first, then melted against him as he wrapped his hands around her back and drew her tight against his body.
Everything about her and the moment felt right to Aiden, like something out of a dream. For a second, he forgot Richard was standing there, watching them.
The urge to delve into her mouth was so strong, it nearly took his breath away. With an effort, he pulled away from her, looking down at her face and breathing heavily.
She stared up at him, seeming dazed before she caught herself and looked at Richard.
Richard turned around without saying a word and walked back to his car. He ripped the door open, making it creak on its hinges.
“I’m leaving, and you can bet your sweet ass that I won’t be back. Ever.” He raked his gaze disdainfully down Aiden. “Have fun with your new man.” Richard closed the door to the car and cranked the engine.
The car slammed into reverse and whirled around in the yard leaving ruts in the grass. Aiden and Nydia stood there looking at him as he drove off.
When Aiden returned his eyes to Nydia, he could see anger on her face. She spun around and went back inside, slamming the door with a vengeance.
Aiden stood looking at the door for a moment, feeling a strange sense of bewilderment. He wasn’t sure if she was mad at Richard, at him, or mad at the entire situation.
And he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.
Behind him, escape from the turmoil brewing inside beckoned him to just high-tail it the hell out of there. His pack would be back any time now, and he could hang out in the woods until they arrived.
He didn’t need to be here any longer. Even though, strangely, he didn’t want to leave.
Aiden took a deep breath and walked into the lion’s den.
Chapter Twelve
Nydia stood at the kitchen counter, not bothering to look up when Aiden walked back inside. She could see he wasn’t limping, that was for sure.
She spritzed a green cleaner on the counter and rubbed at an imaginary spot while he tread lightly.
Every ounce of frustration and anger surged through her body at that moment, rising to the surface at the only target in the room—Aiden.
“Nydia,” he said quietly.
She released a huff of air and dropped her towel on the counter, facing him. “How dare you come out there and butt into my business. You had no right to do that. I could have handled the situation without your help and without making him so mad.”
Aiden swallowed, stopping just outside the kitchen. “I couldn’t stand by and listen to him threaten you and cuss at you. You deserve better than that.”
“You don’t know what I do or don’t deserve. You had no right to come out there and…and insinuate that we’ve been…sleeping together. You made me look like a whore. And you certainly didn’t have the right to steal a kiss from me the way you did.”
Aiden arched an eyebrow. “Sweetheart, I didn’t steal a kiss. You can’t steal something that is given willing
ly. You were more than a willing partner in that moment. In fact, I’m pretty sure you would’ve dry humped me in the front yard right in front of good ol’ Richard. All you were concerned with at the moment was how good it felt to be kissed by a real man.”
Her mouth dropped open. She snapped her lips back together in an angry purse, her shoulders shaking with anger. “I wasn’t willingly kissing you. I was caught off guard or I would have slapped your face.”
The very idea, the gall! She’d never acted like she wanted anything from him except his hasty departure from her house. That he took her doctoring him as an invitation to invade her life was beyond rude and unbelievable.
Nydia glared at the man who accused her of wanting his kiss. How on earth could she have wanted him do that in front of Richard? Did Aiden think that he was so irresistible that all women would simply swoon at his feet should he place his lips on theirs?
“You know you liked the kiss and you wanted it. I may be working class instead of a white collar like the jerk that just drove away, but I can promise you that you would be lucky to have me warming your bed at night. With a real man you wouldn’t have to put up with insults or nights of crying yourself to sleep from frustration.”
Nydia brushed past him on the way out of the kitchen, heading to her bedroom to close him out. “So you think I’d be lucky to have a rude, whiney man that doesn’t know when an argument doesn’t concern him in my bed? You can’t care for yourself, you are helpless and demanding, and you are rude! I have half a mind to take you home right now and leave you there to fend for yourself!”
Aiden crossed the hall in two long strides. He was on her before she could seek escape in her bedroom. Spinning her around, he trapped her against the doorjamb with his large body. Grabbing her under the chin, he tilted her face upward and crushed his mouth against hers.
The contact of his lips and the press of his chest was so sudden and powerful, it left her stunned to do anything more than suck in a harsh breath through flared nostrils. Fighting him wasn’t an option. He pushed her against the doorjamb to her bedroom.
With fluid skill, he caught her wrists in one hand and pinned them above her head, elongating her body and leaving her wide open for him. Her breasts seemed to have swollen. Her nipples pricked through her bra, straight into her shirt like hard points of need.
She couldn’t seem to breathe with his mouth sawing over hers, warming her insides and turning her to mush.
As if he had the right, he cupped one breast with his free hand while he pushed at the seam of her mouth with his tongue. He nipped her lip, startling her with the sudden, light sting of pain. The simultaneous assault on her senses made her gasp. Victorious, he thrust his tongue to ravage the inside of her mouth.
She’d thought herself overwhelmed before. Having him inside her, even if it was her mouth, was so much more than she’d ever expected. No man had ever kissed her like this before. She could taste his passion, savage and overwhelming.
No man had ever made her feel like this before.
She felt like she was being consumed by fire from the inside out.
He rubbed his body against her, letting her feel his erection as he stroked her tongue, rubbing sensuously against her. Feeling that hard jutting cock against her soft mound made her insides weep with arousal.
Tingles of desire coursed through her body, making her delirious with need. Or maybe it was the lack of oxygen. She felt dizzy with it, as if the world spun around them both.
She shuddered, sucking against his tongue, unable to deny her need to taste him any longer.
Wild, raw hunger enveloped her. She fought against the hand manacling her wrists, desperate to touch him. He emphasized his powerful arousal by grinding against her cleft. She whimpered into his mouth.
He seemed to like that.
Aiden kissed her harder, rubbed firmer against her, like he could meld them into the doorframe.
His breathing was ragged against her face. Finally, starved for air, he tore his mouth from hers, kissing down her mouth and along her jaw to her ear.
“A man knows when a woman needs to be kissed,” he murmured hoarsely into her ear. The hot puffs of air tickled her, making her shiver.
“I want a lot more than that,” she gritted out.
“I know you do,” he said, stroking a hand down her waist and pushing his hand into the waistband of her jeans until he found her slippery clit. He made a grunt of satisfaction. “You’re wet.”
“Stop stating the obvious,” she gritted out, raising on her tiptoes when he fingered her pussy. “You did this to me.”
“I know I did, baby,” he said, again with a satisfied tone to his voice.
She should’ve resented it. Instead, something about the low, almost growling quality of his tone made tingles of pleasure zing through her center.
His hand pushed further down, parting her wet folds until he could tease the edges of her hole. The moment that first calloused, hard digit invaded her space, she knew she’d lost her tenuous hold on sanity.
All she wanted was to feel him inside her. Now.
She was tired of waiting.
“I didn’t think the ice princess could melt so easily,” he murmured before tugging her earlobe with his teeth and curling a finger into her cunt to rub some pleasure spot. “You’ve melted all over my hand, princess.”
“Oh,” she breathed gustily. “You’re a clit tease,” she ground out.
Releasing her wrists, he whirled her around and rubbed himself against her buttocks, unbuttoning her jeans and hurriedly pulling the zipper down. She gripped the wood molding, needing something to support her. Her knuckles and hands stressed with her tight grip. He nibbled the crook of her neck and shoulder, shoving his hands inside her panties to fondle and tease her mercilessly.
She practically jumped back against him, assaulted by his fingers.
“Tell me you don’t like that and I’ll tell you you’re a liar,” he said harshly against her neck. “I’m so fucking hot for you, baby. My cock’s about to explode if you don’t let me inside you.”
She nodded, biting her lip, unable to answer.
He walked her inside her bedroom, pushing her from behind and unwilling to let go of her waist. Did he think she was going to run away?
Nydia’s knees felt weak. Her legs wobbled. She collapsed on the bed on her knees, barely raising up before he was on top of her, crushing her into the mattress.
She moaned, feeling his trapped cock pressing hard against her ass and his hands ripping her shirt up over her head. Cool air fanned against her feverish skin.
He lifted off her and whirled her around on the bed to face him. The masterful way he moved her made her shiver. She looked up into his green eyes, seeing his desire mirror her own in the luminous depths. The wild look in his eyes should have frightened her away. Instead, it only seemed to increase the wetness spilling from her loins.
He raked his gaze down her chest, settling on her bra. “This needs to come off. Now. I want to taste these chocolate kisses. I’ve been dreaming about sucking your tits since I first saw you.”
Her cunt spasmed with pleasure. She bit her lip again. “Stop talking to me. It’s too sexy. I can’t stand it,” she said, twisting in the bed so she could get her bra off.
She took too much time, apparently. Aiden gave a growl and snaked a hand behind her, snapping the fasteners loose with disturbing ease.
Her breasts jounced out of her bra, and then he was on her again, crushing her into the softness of the bed while his hot mouth covered one dark nipple. Seeing his lush, pink lips close over the darkness of her breast was too much.
She arched her head back, moaning as he suckled the tip. Sensation spiraled through her chest, tingling along her nerves until she felt like a bundle of raw need.
She gasped, dragging her hands through his dark brown hair and cradling his head closer, unwilling to allow herself surcease from the torment of his sensual mouth. He groaned and pinched her nipple with o
ne hand, fingered her clit with the other.
Nydia tried to close her thighs on him, to keep from feeling so much, so soon, but he wouldn’t allow her to shut him out. Dragging his mouth from her breast, he nibbled a path to the other one.
His lips tickled the sensitive skin, heightening her desire.
“Chocolate never tasted so sweet, baby. You could drive a man insane with your gorgeous body,” he said, looking up at her eyes as he flicked his tongue across her nipple. Watching him watching her was an incredible turn on. She couldn’t look away from him as he plucked the distended tip with his lips. His teeth dragged across her, making her bite her lip to keep from crying out.
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