by Amanda Rayne
We waited for Bain to bring the car around. Aiden was unusually tense. I started asking a question and then he kissed me. Warm lips covered mine, his tongue licking at my bottom lip, his hand caressing my skin as he pulled me closer to him. And when he pulled away his teeth nipped at my bottom lip.
“I don’t want to talk about tonight.” And it was said in the same manner most closed ended conversations were with Aiden. Once he established the boundaries he would not exceed them. We were not discussed tonight because he didn’t want to. But curiosity burned in me and I didn’t know how I could ignore everything that went on.
The silence had extended for more than a few minutes as I sat in the back of the car with him as his hand ran rhythmically over my thigh, slowly roving further up. Heat brushed over me, desire kindled. I wanted to feel him on more than just my leg. He grinned as he glided further up my leg, opening them wider. And then his fingers moved gently over the fabric and the intimate parts between my legs. Breathing increased and I tried to control it, aware that Bane was sitting up front and could hear and probably see everything that was going on. Aiden watched me with a smirk, his thumb stroking me with measured circular movements. A whimper escaped and his lips covered mine capturing it. I breathed in the enticing scent of his masculine aroma. And just when I thought I was going to reach a height of ecstasy that his fingers were delivering, he pulled away. A deviant grin crept over his lips.
You cruel bastard.
Bane dropped us off at the private elevator, the moment it closed behind us, he turned to me. “Did you enjoy yourself tonight?” he asked from the other side of the elevator. The distance seemed more than just physical.
“No.” I admitted.
“I should not have asked you to go.”
“I didn’t mind.” I said. “You wanted me there so I went.”
He closed the distance between us until I was backed into the wall, carefully watching me, with a plaintive smile that he hadn’t committed to, his finger brushed against my bottom lip before he lightly kissed them. “Ella, stop making things about me and my wants. If you do, I’ll stop caring about yours. That’s what people do.” He said.
“Not everyone,” I said softly. “I don’t.” I said as the elevator opened. He waited for me to exit and we walked into the apartment. Silence as uncomfortable and strained as it was at the beginning of the car ride. And when we entered the house he simply kissed me on the cheek; chaste and emotionless and said goodnight.
I stood at the stairs watching him as he disappeared down the hallway. For a few minutes I waited for him to return but he didn’t.
I tossed and turned all night. Another warm shower didn’t help and I was too restless to watch tv. Everything about the night kept going through my head. His ex didn’t seem like she wanted the “ex” part. Was her baby Aiden’s? That shouldn’t be my concern because this was casual, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
I slipped on my t-shirt and went downstairs to the kitchen to get a glass, or maybe a bottle of wine. If I couldn’t fall asleep on my own; then I would get a little help. I had just filled a dessert wine glass up with a red wine. I didn’t bother to read the label since all the wine Aiden owned, after Googling, was too expensive for me to ever purchase. It was part of the perks of my staycation. Delightful wine that I will probably never taste again.
And I would feel guilty about nearly emptying a bottle in the oversized glass. Instead of retreating to my room, I went to the balcony to the sitting room, off the living room, that had a perfect view of the city and the skyline. Aiden was sitting in one of the two chairs out there and had swiveled it to look out the window. It was an exquisite scene, the deep hues and a night that was lit not only by the buildings but the shimmer of the moon that hit it giving it a midnight blue look. The stars twinkled and it was absolutely breathtaking. When I started to sit on the sofa, next to the chair he was sitting on, he grabbed me and pulled me onto his lap. I put the glass of wine next to his glass.
I curled up in his lap and rested my head on his shoulder. He picked up the glass and took a long draw from it before tipping it to my lips. I took a small sip and remembered why I didn’t drink Scotch. Forcing it down, he smiled, and took a cube of ice from the glass and ran it along my lips. I sucked on it until it slowly dissolved and a small sliver dropped into my mouth. Coolness mixed with the warmth. I could taste the alcohol on his lips.
I rested against him for a few minutes, then I pulled back.
He kissed me, hard. But nothing more, and then he relaxed back and I buried my head into his neck.
“Did you enjoy the event?” I asked lifting my head to look at him.
“No.”
“But you did it for your father?” I asked.
“Yes,” I didn’t point out that he did after his father donated a large sum to his charity. Aiden didn’t need the money, he could have donated the money himself. Aiden’s cooperation came with a price tag and I didn’t know why.
“Have you and your father always had this type of relationship”
“What type of relationship?”
He knew damn well, what type of relationship. “Strained. It seems like you don’t like each other very much.”
“I love my father,” was the same automatic response he’d given me before when I broached the topic.
I turned, moving until I was straddling him, his hands cool from the glass, cupped my butt. His thumb running over the bare skin. As I felt him rising underneath me, I didn’t let it distract me.
“Why didn’t you enjoy yourself today?” he asked before I could ask any more questions.
I shrugged. “I felt like I was a pit stop before they found and more interesting person,” I said. “Everyone seemed so distracted”
His lips quirked into a smirk. “You can say pretentious and phony,” he offered. “Everyone who feels comfortable in my dad’s world is that way.”
“You seemed comfortable in that world,”
“I adapt easy to my environment. It’s called survival.”
“It’s a fancy fundraiser, not a jungle with predators. Adapting didn’t require a great deal of effort.”
“Predators in a jungle are more civilized than some of those people.”
It was getting harder not to get distracted as his fingers moved under my shirt, fingers, massaging my skin, trails of warmth wrapped around my skin. My heart quickened and my breathing came harder. A person’s touch shouldn’t do this to me, I thought. And he continued caressing my back triggering dirty thoughts of him doing so much more. It was a distraction; he was a distraction and I didn’t need to be distracted.
“Did Elizabeth work on your dad’s campaign to help him become a councilman?”
He nodded.
“Was the divorce amicable?”
“As amicable as a divorce can be.”
His gaze shifted, cooler than before and I struggled to hold it. I hated how unbalanced our interaction was. He knew almost everything about me, I gave it unfiltered and freely. He was guarded and secretive.
“Do you know who the father of Elizabeth’s baby is?”
Stolid expression, I had a hard time reading him. Most of the time I couldn’t.
“Why do you need to know this?” He asked.
“Curious?”
His body tensed. “I don’t want to talk about the fundraiser anymore.”
“But—” he pressed his fingers against my lips, quelling all attempts at further questioning. When he removed it, his mouth covered mine. Hungry and demanding. Then he stood and he helped me into the standing position.
“Let’s go to bed,” he said taking my wrist once in the house, and guided me to his room.
He released my wrist and took several steps back. “Take off your clothes”
I started to yank off my shirt. “Slower,” he instructed.
And I did. Keeping my eyes steady on him, I slowly moved my t-shirt and tossed it aside. Then I unclasped my bra, letting it slip slowly off my a
rm and then I tossed it on the floor next to the t-shirt. Then slowly slipped off my panties, while he leaned against the wall watching me.
I stood before him, naked. He smiled, “Do you remember the rules.”
I nodded. They were simple enough to remember.
“Lie down on the bed.”
I did.
“Close your eyes,” he instructed and I did until I started to hear movement.
“Are your eyes closed?” he asked.
“Yep.” I lied. And yelped when his heavy hand landed on my butt. It stung and he rubbed his fingers along the area and then he dipped between my legs feeling the wetness between it. His fingers glided in and out and I whimpered, and when he pulled out I wanted to say something.
His deep chuckled filled the room, “You really liked that didn’t you.”
I didn’t have to answer, he felt my response. And then he slipped a blindfold over my eyes and the flickers of light illuminated off the moon, from the large windows in his room, disappeared and I was swathed in darkness.
“Ella,” he said against my ear, warmth licked at my skin as his tongue brushed against it as he spoke. “We’re going to play. Are you ready?”
I simply nodded. I wasn’t sure what “playing” entailed and when he took my arms and secured them overhead, playing didn’t come to mind. I squirmed. I didn’t like my hands being bound. Another hard smack on my butt and then his fingers inside of me gaging my response. He offered a trail of kisses up my back and then ended up at my shoulders. Then his weight unloaded off the bed and I heard the door. More rustling, movement, and noise.
I gasped in a series of breaths when the ice touched my skin. Cold, gliding up my body, melting, cool water slipped down my body and a warm tongue followed it. Laving over my body, I moaned, wanting to feel more of it—more of him. I had relaxed into the sensual feeling of cool and the warmth of him roiling over me.
When he removed them both, I waited in anticipation of more. I tugged when I felt more— liquid, hot, touched my skin. I tugged at the binding and squirmed. But it quickly cooled to a tolerable temperature. Aiden’s hand moved over the warm liquid spreading it over me. Another drip, just as warm splashed over my skin. Aiden caressed it into my body. His fingers languidly moving along it, soothing and erotic. Commanding a response from me that I freely gave into. Again his fingers were inside me, stroking me, flicking my clit and sending shivers through me. He played with me, teasing it until I couldn’t take anymore, writhing against his fingers, I shuddered as I came.
His light laugh filled the room. “Every time,” he teased.
“Sorry.” I breathed out.
“Stop that. No apologies.” He waited. My face pressed into the bed, I sank deeper into the silky sheets, in a post orgasmic lethargy. “Are you ready from more?”
I nodded my head as he brushed something over my body. Leather? It slinked over my body as I felt the tails feather light kiss over my ass. I tensed.
“Relax, Ella. I’m not going to hurt you,” he assured me in a low voice. I tried to sink into the bed, breathing his scent as it wafted off the sheets.
Twack. The sting sent a combination of pleasure and pain through me. I gasped feeling the tingling that started between my legs spread. Another and I whimpered into the sheets. The stinging continued with three more and I wasn’t sure which I felt more of, pleasure or pain. There was definitely pain. And as Aiden’s hands ran over my sore butt, it soothed it some. Tears wet my face. Aiden’s hands snaked around my body, loosening the ties and pulling me to my hands and knees in a fluid movement. Then he sheathed himself in me, gliding in easily. Wet and responsive from “playing”. He moved slow, his hands roving gently over my sore ass. His fingers tracing, what I can only assume were small lines left by the whip. The more he touched me the more I needed to feel him, all of him. Moving harder against him I needed more. He simply laughed and held my hips in place.
And when I stopped he moved, faster. Harder. Pounding into me until I achieved release. I shuddered. Coiled so tight I rebounded, with an intense pleasure. I collapsed onto the bed. Aiden’s body warm and weighted over mine. Kisses brushed against my hair. He rolled me onto my side, cradled me against him. “Ella, you are a very interesting woman.” he whispered in my ear. I made a sound but it wasn’t much of one, too tired to even question if that was a good thing.
I’d fallen asleep when I was awoken by Aiden slipping out of the bed. “Where are you going?”
“To bed.”
“You can stay. I’ll go to my room.”
He leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. “No, you’re fine.” I watched him as he left the room feeling his absence then as I pulled the covers tighter around me. I hated that rule most of all.
CHAPTER 4
The bed smelled just like him but it didn’t make-up for Aiden’s absence. Was he right about this? Would sleeping together make things worse? Did it make what we were doing too intimate. I laughed at the irony of something being too intimate after the many things I’d done to Aiden and he’d done to me. We crossed the line of intimacy the moment I let him fuck me. But it was pleasure, carnal, lascivious, wanton pleasure and nothing more. This wasn’t the blossoming of a relationship. Just two people enjoying each other’s company. And by the time I’d walked out of the room I had convinced myself of it. I think.
My butt still ached a little from last night’s playtime. It should have warned me off or leery of doing it again, instead a heat started to build at the thought of doing it again. I could feel my body responding in the same manner I had last night. I touched myself before slipping on my panties and bra—and just like the last night I was sodden.
I wanted more—of Aiden—of last night. The smell of coffee hit me as I exited my room, but the coffee was just a mere distraction. Heading into the kitchen I asked, “Did you make enough coffee for me?” I purred, rounding the corner into the kitchen.
It wasn’t Aiden in the kitchen, it was Kieran.
“Of course there is; but calling this coffee is a stretch. Aiden’s taste in wine—exquisite. Bourbon, second to none. And Scotch, he is indeed a master connoisseur, but he has crap taste in coffee. French roast my ass.” Kieran said his lips cocked into a lopsided grin, as he handed me a cup. Instead of reaching for it, I hugged arms around me trying to cover up.
“Where’s Aiden?” I asked.
“He had a business emergency and had to fly to New York. He should be back in a couple of hours. He was in a mood; I didn’t question him. I’m sure daddy pissed him off and they are about to be embroiled in another one of their little boardroom battles. They can be quite exhausting. So, I’ve been ordered to entertain you and make sure you have a good time.” He bowed. “I am your humble servant. How can I entertain you?” As with everything from Kieran there was a salacious undercurrent to everything he said.
“What little battle will that be?” I asked.
He made an attempt to hand me the cup again but I ignored it as I looked around for something to cover me up with. “I’m sorry, I was expecting him. I am so embarrassed.” I am sure I didn’t have to tell him. If the warmth on my cheek was any indicator of how red my cheeks were, I am sure I resembled a strawberry.
“Don’t be silly,” he said. He put the coffee cup on the counter and gently unwrapped my hands and taking them into his. He pressed his lips against the palm of my hands. “I’ve seen less on a beach. And you’ve been to my gallery. Modesty is for the mundane. Don’t be that person.”
“But we aren’t on the beach,” I pointed out. “And I am the mundane.”
He chuckled. “I hardly believe that is true. Aiden is quite particular with his selection. If he thought you were boring or unadventurous I doubt you would be here.” His gentle affirming smile made things better. But I guess a person that worked in art—especially his type, had to instill a confidence in people. Offer genuineness and comfort that relaxed the person to the point their guard falters.
He looked inside the cup. �
�You get dressed and I will take you somewhere for real coffee and then we can find a way to busy ourselves for the day.” He said.
I started up the stairs and stopped. “What little battle?” I asked. Kieran knew more about Aiden than I did and maybe he was a way to find out about the man who could stop questions with a quelling look.
He shrugged. “The Matthews’ men aren’t much for communication. When they’re pissed at each other they don’t play well in the board room. Last time he was this pissed at his dad, he headed a hostile takeover of two of his dad’s companies. Quite nasty little brawl between them.”
“What started that fight?”
He smiled, hauntingly similar to Aiden’s. “I think you should get dressed. I’m starving.”
“You don’t have to keep me company. I am fine just waiting here or maybe I’ll go see the sights. I’ve lived here so long and yet I haven’t seen all the sites. I’d made the promise over and over that I wanted to see the city through eyes of a tourist. I’d done, like so many, become so comfortable and oblivious to all of its charms and attractions.
“Don’t be silly. Get dressed and let’s go have fun. Kieran’s city.”
Did I want to explore Kieran’s city? I’d already gotten a taste of his version of art.
I dressed attempting to mirror Kieran who was dressed in a pair of light brown slacks, dark blue shirt with a couple of buttons undone that contrasted with his jasper eyes. I settled on a belted blue dress and a sweater, a pair of grey heels and blue purse. I didn’t want to keep him waiting too long so I just blew dried my hair and swept into a loose bun.
Kieran’s city started with a restaurant that could have easily fit in Paris. The smell of bake goods, chocolate, sugar, and deep aromatic smell of coffee.
He breathed in the scent, “Now that is coffee.” He took my hand, I stared at it. He laughed. “I do not have the same hang ups as Aiden. Holding a hand, is just that; nothing more.”