by B. A. Wolfe
“You will not speak to us that way. Do you understand me?” he asked, his question not up for argument as his glaring eyes pinned me to my seat.
“Yes, Father.” I spoke softly, upset that I let him turn me into my younger, weaker self.
The waitress returned. Thank God, I got a reprieve from their deathly glares. She set a glass of water, an iced tea, and a napkin in front of me. She flashed me a wink and was off before I could question the extra drink. My heart rate spiked as I peered at the iced tea and then down at the napkin.
It was blank.
I sighed, feeling defeated. With slightly trembling fingers I flipped the napkin over and my heart leaped into my throat. My belly muscles pulled tight and my skin flashed with heat. I never thought I’d be so grateful to see chicken scratch in all my life.
Is the seat next to you taken? If not, show me a thumbs up.
Aidan
With every fiber in my body thanking the lord above, I wiped the tear from the corner of my eye and lifted my arm in the air, giving him a thumbs up. Seconds later, a warm hand wrapped around my thumb. My eyes closed tight and my lips instantly released the breath I’d been holding. I let the warmth seep through my body as an instant calm washed over me. I slowly lifted my lids and glanced behind me. Hazel eyes instantly locked with mine. This moment was long overdue. I’d missed him so much. I soaked every bit of his face in. My Aidan was here.
Batman came to my rescue.
He released my thumb and moved to the side of the booth. “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.” He cradled my face in his hands. “I was an idiot.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lied.”
His sorrowful eyes searched mine. “Cassie, it’s not my place to say. I just . . . I don’t want to be without you or Jase. I was wrong and acted like such an idiot.”
“To say the least, but so was I.”
“I’m so sorry, Sweet Tea.” A loud sigh escaped him.
“You’re forgiven.” As if I wouldn’t accept his apology. My heart would rip me into next week if I didn’t.
“You’re forgiven too. Don’t keep things from me again.” He skimmed his nose down mine.
“I missed you,” I whispered as I breathed in his scent. Words would never be enough for how much my heart and mind had truly missed him.
He leaned back and smiled; his pearly whites beamed as I made room for him beside me. He lowered to the bench, bringing our intertwined hands to his lap. “I missed you,” he murmured. His sad, grateful eyes spoke the depth of his words.
A deep voice cleared, breaking us from our reunion. I’d actually forgotten my parents were in the same room. It was nice. My father’s angry voice cleared once more, giving his final warning. I began to glare, but the hand that squeezed mine below the table had me in far too good a mood.
“Mother, Father . . . this is Aidan Bradley, my boyfriend.” My insides hummed as I introduced him.
They sat, baffled at my words, their lips pressed into straight lines.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Pierce.” Aidan’s jaw tensed as he reached out, clasping my father’s hand in his, and then my mother’s.
Her pursed lips and judgmental expression hadn’t gone unnoticed. My father, on the other hand, appeared miffed. He stroked his chin with his index finger and thumb while he stared at Aidan.
“To what do we owe the pleasure of this intrusive visit?” My father’s words were loaded with hatred and annoyance.
I was embarrassed that Aidan had to witness these people whose blood ran through my veins. I didn’t want to be like them. I squeezed his hand. He brushed his thumb over my skin, my nerves calming as he did. “He goes where I go. You said we had things to discuss. Let’s begin, shall we?”
“In such a rush to leave, Cassandra?” My mother sipped her wine as if she was amused by watching me squirm like an adolescent.
The waitress politely interrupted our strained conversation. While she spoke to my parents, who were asking for another bottle of wine, I took the opportunity to glance at Aidan. His eyes looked normal, his knee no longer bounced, but his jaw clenched in a rhythmic pattern. He turned his head and met my gaze. He released my hand and an empty feeling swept through me until he gripped the lower part of my thigh. Whew, I was afraid he was leaving.
“And for you, sir?” The waitress asked Aidan.
“Water’s fine. Thank you.” He relaxed against the booth. He definitely wasn’t going anywhere.
“Where were we?” I asked the minute the waitress vanished. “Oh, yes. My fate.” I spoke as if the word didn’t eat at my flesh, when in reality it had already feasted and devoured half of me. The infuriated man and woman who sat before me were strangers to me now.
“Let’s eat first. I’m famished.” My mother pursed her lips and took another sip of wine, finishing her glass off.
I rolled my eyes. “If that’s what you want.”
An hour later, our food had come and I sat picking at the spinach frittata on my plate. The conversation consisted of sarcastic, rude, snide, and harsh comments, all offered with smiles, of course. They wanted me to come running back home so they could stand in the glory of being right. So they could prove that their daughter did, in fact, need them and their money to be happy.
They were wrong.
“Have you checked on Jase?” Aidan asked as the waitress grabbed our plates.
I nodded.
“Who?” My mother asked loudly.
“My baby, Jase.” I told her matter of factly.
She cleared her throat in disgust at my response. “Yes, that’s right. I forgot you had it.”
Aidan’s breathing accelerated and his hand tightened around my thigh. I smoothed my hand over his in an effort to calm him. They were taking stabs at me, and while I knew they were playing a game, he didn’t. They were pissing Batman off.
My mother laid her fork down and cleared her throat again, this time to claim my attention. “Your father and I have a proposition for you. Your life isn’t going anywhere.” My mother’s daggers glanced at Aidan and then back to me. “You are going to a community college. You have nothing right now. You need to stop playing house. Enough is enough, Cassandra. You have no future with this boy and we need to discuss your bastard child.”
What?
My mother’s head tilted to the side as she awaited my response. My father nodded at everything she just said. Tears threatened behind my stinging eyes. Bastard? She didn’t just call my son that!
Aidan’s hand left my leg and slammed on the table, startling me. My arms hugged my body and tears slowly leaked from the corners of my eyes. My backbone had disappeared. I didn’t think I had the courage to speak after what she said; about the name she called my son. My precious baby boy didn’t deserve that. All I wanted was to hug him and thank Trish for being there for him and for me in a way my parents would never be. I finally understood it. Blood didn’t mean shit.
“You are one hell of a disgusting woman.” Aidan’s eyes were stone cold as they flickered between my parents. He shook his head and leaned into the table. “You don’t get to speak about Cassie that way. Ever. Do you hear me?” The table was silent. “I said . . . Do. You. Fucking. Hear. Me?” His voice was even harsher than when he saw me with Parker. I had never witnessed this Aidan before.
My mother gulped and my father’s eyes lowered as they both stared at him with a dark glare. Aidan’s ice cold eyes pierced into them so deep the tension was palpable as it grew between both sides of the table.
He scoffed with disgust in his voice. “Don’t you ever call Jase that again. Or so help me God, Mrs. Pierce, you will be the first woman I ever hit.”
Her eyes about popped out of their sockets as his words hit her, hard. My father stiffened in the booth and narrowed his gaze on Aidan.
“You listen here, young man. I don’t know who you think you are, but you don’t know anything, anything about this family.” My body didn’t ev
en know what to do. It wanted to hide. It wanted to run.
Aidan chuckled sadistically. “I know a lot more than you think I do. In fact, did you know your daughter wrote a book?” he asked calmly, too calm. Wait? What? He knew? My heart rate spiked. I turned to face him. His eyes never strayed from my parents, though.
“Nothing to say about that? That’s too bad. I’ve read it a few times. Cassie has real talent. You’d be lucky to read something from her. The courage it took to put it out there is something you’ll never understand. I truly feel sorry for you both. You should be ashamed of yourselves for being so shallow and greedy.”
My mind reeled from his recent confession. That meant he knew everything about me and Jason, my relationship with my parents, everything.
My mother went to speak, but Aidan held his hand up, stopping her. “I’m not finished with you two yet. Her son, Jase—he’s incredible. He’s a morning guy, that’s when he’s always smiling. When he sees his mom, his little eyes light up bright like Cassie’s when she’s happy. He also has the cutest little curl that tops his head. And between you and me, he loves it best when I sing him Twinkle Twinkle.”
He turned and his beaming eyes found mine. I wiped the tears away as I sniffled. He knew all of this? Oh my god. He loved Jase so much, how did I never take his feelings into consideration? I didn’t deserve this man. He winked and turned his focus back to my parents, his profile searingly handsome in his passion. I think I’m in love with this man. The realization both calmed and petrified me.
My mother gaped at Aidan. “If I’m not mistaken, it sounds like you think you’re in love with our daughter,” she spit out with intense anger.
He smirked. “How would you know? You don’t even know what love is, but I do.” He turned to face me. His lips grew into a wide smile as he brushed his knuckles against my cheek. “It’s this woman right next to me. She’s every definition of the word love. She’s everything love’s supposed to be and I don’t know what I’d do if I never met her. I’d be empty and lost.” His eyes flashed to my parents. “She’s my everything and I’m . . . I’m going to marry her one day.”
My parents sat shell shocked, along with myself, to whom the words that slipped out of his mouth had just registered. My eyes pooled with loving tears.
“Let’s go, beautiful. I think we’re done here.” I scooped my jaw off the floor and placed my hand in his.
“Whatever your proposition was, my answer is no. Until you can accept me and respect that my son and this wonderful man are in my life, you won’t be in any part of mine.”
I didn’t give them a chance to say anything else. I followed Aidan’s lead out of the restaurant, and into the cool fall air. I released a deep, long awaited exhale. Aidan’s hands framed my face as we stood there.
“Did you mean everything you said in there?” I asked.
His intense, blazing eyes held mine as he backed us up against a brick wall near the entrance. “Everything.”
His lips hovered over mine only a moment before he claimed them. My hands snaked around him and traveled up his neck, gripping his hair as I rammed his mouth harder against me. I parted my lips, wanting more of him. His tongue caressed mine as he continued to kiss me with a fervent need. Moments later, he pulled his lips away, and rested his forehead against mine. His fingers tickled my neck as he touched the necklace he gave me. A smile appeared on his lips. I didn’t have to say anything. He knew I loved it.
“You read my book?” I asked, still almost out of breath.
He smirked. “You caught that, did you?”
“You really did read it?”
He chuckled under his breath. “Yes. Why don’t you believe me?”
“What did you think?”
“I loved it.”
I softly inhaled at his words.
“Stay with me tonight.”
I nodded. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
Thirty-Nine
Cassandra
I DROPPED MY CAR off at my apartment and let Aidan drive us to his place. Hand in hand, he took us up to his apartment on the second floor. He reached into his pocket for his key, never letting my hand go as he did. He stilled and slowly turned. Our eyes connected instantly.
His eyes blazed a desire so deep I could barely stand it. Each breath I took, his lips inched closer until they hovered over mine. His warm breath tickled my lips seconds before he claimed them. I closed my eyes and kissed him back. A yearning moan rattled my throat. I loved how my body responded to him, it was something fierce. Something I never knew to be real until it happened to me. And my god, was it happening to me.
Before I knew it, my back was pinned against the wall beside the door. His hands took hold of my face as he pressed his body into mine. My lips parted, granting his tongue permission. With eagerness it entered, delicately caressing mine. I reached around his body and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. A growl ripped from him, vibrating against my chest. I wanted my legs around his waist and my hands in his hair. I had to have him.
As if he could read my mind, his fingers dug into my butt and lifted me. I smiled against his mouth and hooked my legs around his waist. He took us to the door, my back pressing against it as he fumbled with his keys and unlocked it. The door swung open and I dropped my purse, clinging to him with everything I had as I crashed my mouth onto his.
He kicked the door shut behind us and took us past the kitchen, past his living room, and crossed the threshold straight into his bedroom.
He lowered me onto the bed, and his burning eyes held mine as he did. Releasing my legs, I sat up and Aidan slowly backed away. He lifted the hem of his shirt and in one movement his shirt was lying on the floor at his feet. A grin tugged on my lips as I soaked in the view. The contours of his chest, the muscles that ran down his arms, his strong forearms, all had me shivering.
He closed the distance between us, prowling toward me like a feline. He reached for my shoulders and slowly eased my arms out of my coat, tossing it to the side once it was off. He continued until I was only in my bra and panties. My skin prickled as he lowered to his knees.
“Lay back, beautiful,” he spoke softly.
I inhaled, my pulse throbbing as I lowered to my back and lay on the bed. His lips pressed to my bare ankle. The skin came alive around it as he placed open mouth kisses to my calf, then up to my thigh, and then they stopped as they reached the lace on my panties. I took a deep breath. His mouth performed the same delicious torture to the other leg, but this time his lips assaulted my inner thighs with tiny kisses. His fingers tucked into the sides of my panties, my stomach muscles contracting at his touch. With each achingly slow tug downward, my breathing grew more rapid. His lips lifted from my skin and suddenly my panties were gone. I felt so exposed, so wanted, so ready. I needed him to claim me again. To make me his.
He stood. His feral eyes traveled from my bare feet and up my legs, across my stomach, over my lace-covered breasts and then finally, directly into my eyes. The darkness in his pupils faded, his lids lowered and a seductive smile played on his swollen lips.
He popped the button on his jeans, lowered them, and then kicked them to the side. He stood at the end of his bed, his chest rising and falling, matching my own rapid breathing. With fervor, he grabbed ahold of my legs and pulled me down to him, my butt on the very edge of the bed. His hands guided my legs around his waist. Taking the hint, I hooked them at the ankles, pressing him closer to me. His erection rubbed against me as I did, making the ache between my legs yearn for him even more. A growl ripped from his chest and in two short seconds he hovered over me, his hands bracketing either side of me.
My moan radiated into his mouth as his lips claimed mine, kissing me, and tasting me like he was savoring this moment. My fingers traveled across his back, up his neck and tangled into his hair. His mouth moved from my lips, down to my jawline and headed south, nibbling the tender area on my neck. I pulled his hair between my fingers and arched my back, lifting my ches
t close to his mouth. His lips curved into a sexy smirk before his teeth tugged the lace cups down, setting my breasts free.
My nipples hardened at their freedom as Aidan teased my left breast with his tongue. I squirmed in delight under his skillful mouth. My back arched harder as he moved to my right breast, forcing my chest upward. He growled, and with one final bite against the skin on my chest, placed a soft, sweet kiss in the cleavage between my breasts. I closed my eyes and breathed him in. His scent was so woodsy, so musky, and all Aidan. God, I’d missed it. I released his hair and opened my eyes; his seductive stare pinned me to his bed.
He extended his arms, lifting himself above me, his erection pressing at my opening. “I want to do so many things to you, but I can’t. Right now, I just need to be inside you.”
“Yes, God, please. I need you, Aidan.” All the other stuff could wait. What I needed, craved, and yearned for was that deep connection. The one you could only get when you were intimately linked to the other person.
With my legs still around him like a vice grip, he eased into me, driving his cock in inch by inch. My legs hugged him tighter as he filled me. The heat deep in my belly satisfied, but I was hungry for more.
“Oh, God,” I moaned, my hands reaching around for something to grip.
He began to thrust, and with each pump of his hips an intense feeling surged through my veins. I drove the heels of my feet into his firm ass, forcing him into me harder. His hands splayed on either side of me as his lips seized my mouth. His skillful tongued flicked against mine. My whole body was in a state of wonderful, sweet agony. My lips tingled against his mouth, his thrusts created a delicious and sinful heat that started low inside of me and traveled through my bloodstream. The hungrier I kissed him, the harder he pounded into me. That satisfying buildup between my legs grew intensely. He had me about to come undone
I pushed my hips forward, meeting his thrusts. “Fuck, Cassie,” he murmured against my ear, running a mouth-watering shiver down my body.
I fisted the sheets behind me, holding onto them as if they were the only thing keeping me from floating away. The ecstasy surging through me was enough to make anyone hold on for dear life, bracing for something so powerful to release inside of me. Each hard thrust had me ready to ignite, turning his bed into flames so high they reached the ceiling.