by Cary Hart
Niki
“Aiden, what are you doing here?” I demand.
“You rejected the money. Why did you do that?” he counters.
“That is irrelevant. Why are you here?” I ask again.
“Get in. Tony is going to take us on a little ride.”
“What if I don’t want to?”
“Just a couple months ago, you would have been willing to leave the club and jump right into my bed. Now, get into the car,” he orders.
I’m not sure why I do as he says, but when Aiden talks, people listen; and this time, I’m not any different.
“Fine.” I glare at him while he holds the door open. “Hey, Stewie. Long time no see. How’s the daughter?”
Stewie looks into the rearview mirror, glancing from me to Aiden.
“Tony, privacy please.”
“Yes, sir,” he says, powering up the divider.
“Now…” Aiden turns in his seat, looking me over. “You care to tell me what you were doing in there?” A little tinge of aggression laces his voice.
“Aiden, I need you to elaborate please.”
“Never mind. I didn’t mean…” He grabs my hand, holding it in his. “I have no right to ask those questions. Especially after the situation I put you in.”
Pressing the intercom, he requests Tony to take us to his penthouse.
“Aiden, I don’t think that is a good idea.”
“I didn’t lie to you. I need you to finally listen to me; give me a chance.”
“Aiden, you did. You led me to believe you weren’t married when you were, and then you proceeded to tell me that it’s not what I think; but then a few days later, your face was plastered all over the style magazines for attending an event with your wife. The same wife you said you weren’t with.”
“I fucking said it’s not what you think, but you are so fucking stubborn that you won’t listen to a Goddamn word I’m saying.”
The car rolls to a stop, and Aiden, still keeping hold of my hand, yanks me out of the car and into the hotel.
“Sir?” I hear Tony call out, but Aiden keeps going.
“Aiden! Stop! You’re hurting me.” I try to pull away, but his grip is firm. Onlookers just watch, and I’m in shock. I don’t think Aiden would purposely hurt me, but he is acting is out of control.
Through the lobby and down the hall, we finally reach his private elevator. Looking both ways, he pushes me inside then enters after me.
“You drive me crazy. You know that, right? At the club, when I saw you there, dancing with that guy, his hands and lips roaming your body that was meant for me…” The doors open, and we walk in to the foyer.
“Can I get you a drink? Scotch perhaps?” He steps over to the decanter, pours himself two fingers and downs it. Then repeats.
“I’m good.”
“Niki…” he walks over to me. His eyes are pleading, desperate. “I need to be able to explain to you.”
I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to know what his truth was. But my truth is he’s married and made me feel like I was the other woman. That is something I’ll never be able to forgive him for. I’m not that girl.
“Come here.” He sits down, patting the seat next to him.
“I think I should stand.” His proximity is a little too close for comfort.
“Damn it! Just sit.”
“Okay, Aiden, but please, please, keep your hands to yourself.”
“Ask me. Ask me why.” A sadness envelopes his words.
“Aiden…”
“I need you to ask me. I need you to want to know why I did what I did.” I’m not sure where this vulnerability is coming from. The Aiden everyone knows is always in control.
“Why? Why did you seek me out? Why lie and make me fall for you?” The memories come flooding back.
I wanted Aiden, I wanted him so damn bad. He was so hot and cold that I needed to find out who the real Aiden Alexander was. He found his way into my heart and divided it. Tempting me to cross lines that I didn’t know I was capable of crossing. Until his truth came crashing down around us, ending anything that possibly could have been.
“I was honest about when I said I saw you interacting with the patrons of the bar. The way you worked the room and addressed each and every person. I knew that you had a special quality about you. So, I came back a couple days later to see you, to talk to you about a possible job, but you weren’t there. I asked when you would be back, and the blonde bartender said you were coming back that night.”
Aiden moves to his knees in front of me, taking both of my hands in his. “When I came back, I thought you would be working.”
“I wasn’t,” I whisper.
Aiden Alexander lit a flame that was bound to burn out of control.
“Nope, you weren’t. I just wanted to talk to you, but when I touched you, I felt it; and I know you did, too.” He searches my eyes for something that I can’t give him. “The dance was supposed to be innocent…it wasn’t.” He rests his head on my knees, rubbing across them with his normally smooth face that’s currently covered by day-old scruff. The burn feels nice, but it isn’t what I want. Not anymore.
“Did you do a background check? You knew my middle name and other things that I didn’t tell you. How did you get that information?” Curiosity is starting to kill this cat.
“Yes. A man of my caliber…you don’t let people into your world without one.”
“Keep out the crazies.” I nod, trying to make light of the messed up situation.
“Exactly.” He smiles for the first time tonight. “See. You do that.” He points to his face. “You make me smile.”
“You’re married.”
“I am.”
“You do see that none of that matters. The point is you’re married and lied about it.”
Standing up, he begins to pace, yelling and pulling at his hair. “You aren’t fucking listening to me! You aren’t hearing what I’m telling you.”
“Aiden! You have to calm down.” I get up, placing my hand on his back, letting him know I am here for him.
“If I would have told you… If I would have been honest and told you that I was married, but was trying to get a divorce, would you have let me in? Would you have given me a chance to show you how good we could be together?”
“I want to say I wouldn’t. That I would have never voluntarily been the other woman. That I wouldn’t have jumped in head first, breaking the vows that a man and wife once shared. But the truth is, you captivated me. I wanted you in a way I shouldn’t have.” The tears begin to fall.
“Don’t cry, babe.” Aiden is in front of me, my face in his palms, thumbs brushing the tears away.
“Aiden…”
“Niki…just let it happen. Let us try and see what we can become. Just you and me.” He lowers his head. Looking me in the eyes, searching, waiting.
“I can’t.”
And before I can stop it, Aiden’s mouth is on mine, his kiss desperate and dangerous. I know it’s wrong. I try to back away, refusing to open my mouth, but he reaches around, his hand on the back of my head, holding me in place. He bites down on my bottom lip, and I open to him, his tongue invading with an unwelcomed kiss.
“Stop!” I’m able to reach between us and push him away. “Aiden! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“Showing you. Making you remember.”
“Is that why you brought me here. To make me remember?”
“Yes. I mean no. I don’t know. I just know I had to see you, that I had to let you know the truth, but when I heard your confession, I thought maybe…”
“See? Don’t you get it? We would have destroyed each other. Happiness wasn’t in the cards for us. Because if you knew me at all, if you truly cared, you would have never put me in the situation you did.”
“Me? What about you, Niki? Are you really trying to play the innocent card here?” He is back in front of me, slowly walking toward me, backing me into a corner. “I offered you fif
ty thousand dollars to come work with me. Stay in my room and do whatever I said, and you accepted. What does that say about you? Did you do your research? Did you investigate me?” His hands are on me. His grip, bruising. His words, demeaning.
“Get your hands off me, Aiden. This is your warning.”
“I thought whores loved to be touched?” His smile is not for me. This one…it’s wicked. “I believe you owe me.” His face is in mine. “Give me what I want.”
Breaking my right arm free, I smack him across the face.
He reaches up and instantly smacks me back. The pain searing hot…wet. I’m knocked back into the wall, hitting my head. I fall to the ground.
Shit!
“Niki, fuck! I didn’t mean—”
“Get away from me, Aiden!” I roll over, trying to crawl away, but my ears are ringing and head is spinning. I fall flat.
“God, I’m so sorry.” He’s on the ground beside me.
“Don’t touch me, Aiden!” I start to stand, but he digs his fingers in my hips, trying to pull me down.
“Aiden! No! Don’t do this…” I yell, kick, fight my way free.
“Fuuuuuuck!” he roars, letting me go. “I didn’t mean to…” He tries to help me up, but I crawl away, standing up on my own.
“Stay away from me!” I grab my bag and head to the door. Aiden’s eyes follow me, worry etched into his face once again.
“I didn’t mean… Please…don’t go. Let’s talk this out.” He folds his hands together, pleading. “You said you didn’t know. That if I was honest…that maybe…”
“Bye, Aiden.” I open the door, walking away from a fantasy I thought I wanted to the man who I always needed. Who I need right now.
Taking the elevator down, I look in the mirror and see blood dripping down the side of my face. I dig hand sanitizer and a napkin from my purse and dab the open wound to stop the bleeding, wincing at the burn of the alcohol.
The ding of the doors opening brings me out of my fog. The realization hits me that I’m in the city, and I don’t have a way home. Pulling out my phone, I open the app to call an Uber. The phone dies.
Fuck my life.
“Miss Sanders?” a familiar voice comes from behind me.
“Stewie!” I run over to where he stands. “I’ve never been so happy to see anyone before.”
“Something told me to stick around. Do you need a lift home?”
“Please. Where’s your car?” I look around for the black town car.
“I’m off duty, Miss. I’m right over there.” He points to a silver Toyota mini-van.
“You waited?” He nods. “For me?” He nods again.
I’m shocked at the gesture but so thankful he did.
“Stewie, I need to go to my friend’s house, Gavin Shaw.”
Niki
I have never known more than I do in this moment, right now, where I want to be and who I want to be with.
Knocking on the door, I stand here, vulnerable, waiting.
His footsteps pad across the floor in time with the beat of my heart.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
“You have a key. Use it.” Gavin swings open the door and walks away.
“I didn’t have it with me.” I walk over to the couch and take a seat.
“You left me! You left me at Spotlight!” He walks over to the fridge, grabbing himself a beer. After twisting off the top, he takes a long pull. “I thought we had plans to…I thought we were going…Fuck! I don’t even know anymore.” He continues to talk while keeping busy in the kitchen.
“Gavin, we need to talk.” I hang my head, shielding my face from his sight.
“Yes, we do.” He stands at the end of the kitchen island, watching, waiting for me to say something. “I just wish you wanted me as much as you want him,” he confesses, his head hanging low. Defeated.
I stand, walk up behind Gavin and wrap him in my arms. “I’m not going to lie, Gav. I wanted Aiden, but that was before I realized something. I. Need. You. It’s always been you. I love you, Gavin Shaw, and I’m tired of being afraid of taking chances. Right now, I’m going to take a leap of faith because I know you will be the one to catch me.”
His body relaxes, and he turns in my arms to wrap me in his embrace. “I have wanted to hear those words for so long.” He tilts my chin up, and I wait to hear the words I’ve been longing to hear repeated back to me.
“What the fuck!” Now, he has me by the shoulders, examining my face. I wince. “Oh shit! You…are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” I touch my hand to my eye and feel dried blood caked on.
“I’m going to kill the fucker.” He grabs his keys off the table and heads for the door.
“Gavin! No…please, don’t,” I beg, knowing that Aiden is not well. He is a lonely guy, desperate for someone to understand. I just can’t be that person for him. Aiden will never be able to be happy with his life until he is happy with himself. Maybe that is with his wife, and maybe it isn’t, but it will not be with me.
“I’m not going to let him get away with this.” He has one hand on the door, ready to leave.
“It was an accident, and I don’t mean as in an ‘I fell down the stairs’ type of excuse.” I try to crack a joke, but it fails. There is nothing funny about this. Nothing funny about abuse…and that is exactly what it was. Both physically and emotionally, Aiden Alexander got to me.
“There is nothing accidental about this. I would never lay my hands on you, or any other woman, for that matter.”
Walking over to him, I put my arms around his waist, soaking up everything he is willing to give me, and begin to cry. It’s all I have. In this moment, I just need him.
“Kid, I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.” He picks me up and carries me to the bathroom.
“I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
“Here you go.” He sets me on the counter, coming to stand between my legs. The softness of his jogging pants caresses my thighs. “Let’s get you cleaned up before infection sets in.” He reaches for the first aid kit and opens it up.
“I slapped him first.” I blurt it out, not sure if I want to go into detail about why I did.
“I’m sure he deserved it.” He takes a washcloth and runs it under warm water. “We need to get this cleaned up first.” He dabs a little at the cut. “I don’t think you need stitches, but I got a feeling this is going to be a pretty big shiner tomorrow.”
“That’s just great. Do you think it will be gone before school starts?” I’m mentally calculating the days left before we go back. The teachers start a couple weeks before the kiddos.
Tilting my face to each side, he shakes his head. “Nah, I think it will disappear by then.”
“I should have never gone with him, Gavin.” The tears start back up. “How could I have been so stupid?”
“Nik, you didn’t make this happen. Nothing you did could have possibly caused this.” His voice is so gentle and soft. “Stay right here. I’m going to run you a bath.” He turns around, reaching over to the faucet and adjusting the temperature. “How hot?” he asks, looking over his shoulder. “Pool warm or coffee hot?” he teases.
“How about in between?”
“Done.” He reaches under the sink, grabbing my favorite bubbles. His tub is enormous compared to my tiny apartment tub. So every now and again, I pop over and sneak in a little tubby time.
He knows all these little things. They matter to him…I matter to him. And I hope after tonight, that hasn’t changed.
“I think it’s exactly the way you like it. Just be careful when you step in. I poured a little extra in there, and the bottom is slick.”
“Stay with me,” I whisper.
“You sure?” He seems a little hesitant.
Hopping off the counter, I lift my arms up in a silent plea, inviting him in, not only baring my body but my soul.
Slowly reaching down, he lifts the hem of my dress, dragging his fingers up my body, removing the fabric as he goes.
Hanging my head, I climb into the tub, sinking into the warm depths, and start to let it all wash away.
“Ahhhhh!” I lie back, closing my eyes. “So good.”
He walks to the tub’s edge and reaches behind his head, dragging his shirt off, dropping it in the hamper. The movement catches my attention.
“What are you doing?” My voice is barely audible as he kneels next to me. My mouth waters at the sight of his perfectly sculpted chest.
His hand drops into the water to wet the cloth, the back of his hand brushing my thigh. “What I do best…taking care of you.”
I’m speechless. And tears sting the corners of my eyes at his confession.
“Can you lean up?” he asks.
So for once, I do as I’m told, no questions asked. The feel of his hand brushing the cloth down my back, the trickle of the hot water, is so relaxing and comforting.
Loving the feeling of being taken care of, I almost fall asleep, but his hands on me cause a slow ache to build between my thighs from the slow, lazy circles Gavin is making across my back and shoulders.
There is nothing sexual about what he’s doing, at least not intentionally. But anytime his hands are on me lately, I want more. Need more. A tiny moan escapes me lips. Opening my eyes, I look over my shoulder to find him watching me, his eyes clouded with desire.
He’s being tender in his touch, but I feel anger rolling off him in waves. I know deep down it’s not me he’s angry with.
“Gavin, I’m so sor—” I start to speak.
“Don’t. Okay? Just please, don’t apologize. Just relax.” He leans me back and begins to bathe the front of my body, washing my neck, working his way down, spending an equal amount of time on each breast before he drags the cloth lower to where I need him most. But then, he bypasses my aching center and travels the length of my legs.
“Gavin, I think you missed a spot,” I tease him, bending my knees and drawing my feet up to spread my legs. The bath is making me feel a little more bold, more like my normal self.