Relief had her sagging. “Thank God.”
Curiously, he tilted his head. “Did you really think I’d come down so hard on him?”
“Aaron,” she replied candidly, “I honestly didn’t know.”
“I’m not in the business of ruining young lives.”
“You have no idea how scary you can be sometimes, do you?”
The corners of his eyes crinkled engagingly in amusement.
“Oh, pardon me. You do know.”
A twinkle appeared in the pale irises.
“And play on it.” Relieved now that she knew Aaron’s intentions towards Cole, Shea’s stiff posture relaxed. “And you call me a fake.”
“Correction. You’re not a fake, what you do is.”
“Huh.” Feeling better, she picked up the keys and made to get up. “Thanks, Aaron, I really-”
One bare foot came out to land with precision on the back of her chair, the side of one muscled calf lightly brushing her arm. He’d effectively pinned her to the chair with the manoeuvre as her other side was blocked by the table. Aaron looked pointedly from the keys in her hand to the table.
“What?” she asked.
“We’re not finished.”
“We’re not?’ she asked innocently.
He looked at her.
“Oh. You want to chat.” A little spark of devilment rising inside her, Shea tossed the keys back on the table and deliberately rested her arm atop his shin, smiling brightly. “So, Aaron, how’s your day?”
“Becoming more interesting by the minute,” he replied dryly.
“Not by the second?” She pouted. “I’m hurt.”
“I doubt that.”
Feigning nonchalance, she studied the nails on her other hand. “You don’t know me.”
“Trust me, I’m getting to know a whole lot about you.”
“Is that so?”
“Going to learn a whole lot more, too.”
“Uh huh.”
“See, that’s part of this whole information sharing.”
“I thought you were going to tell me your intentions first?”
“Ah.” His eyes narrowed slowly, but there was no denying the wicked twinkle in them. “Tough lady.”
“Am I scaring you?”
“Not that tough.”
“Maybe you can teach me to be tough.”
“I can teach you a whole lot of things.”
“Is that so?”
Moving fast, his leg disappeared from her side. Leaning forward, he grabbed the seat of her chair and in one incredibly easy pull yanked it so close to his that his thighs bracketed her knees.
Shocked, she gaped at him.
Hands still holding the seat of the chair each side of her bottom, he said huskily, “Yeah, honey, that’s so.”
Her senses almost went into overload. His eyes were hot, filled with sinful purpose and equally sinful promise.
Oh yes. Oh boy.
“Um…well...geez,” she finally managed to croak.
“See, Shea, there’s something you need to understand,” he continued, deceptively soft. “When I hunt a man down, I always get him.”
Wide-eyed, a shiver of decadent heat went right down her spine to pool low. “O-okay.”
“I’m hunting you down, Shea.” He didn’t flinch as he said it, didn’t drop his gaze, didn’t look uncomfortable. The man was stating a fact - bold, blunt, and incredibly carnally.
Reaching out, he hooked his fingers lightly in the neckline of her dress, tugging her forward.
Spellbound, she whispered, “I’m no man.”
“I’m well aware of that little fact.” With a slow, relentless pull, he drew her closer.
Her hands landed on his thighs to hold her steady as she found herself so close to him it was either brace herself or fall face-first into his lap.
Heady thought. Her nipples pebbled against her bodice as desire curled in her loins.
“I’ve got you, Shea.” He swooped down and kissed her.
Simply took her mouth while his hand curled into her neckline to hold her in place. He plundered her mouth, kissed so hot and deep she was certain he’d branded himself into her.
Fire leapt through her, sizzled along her veins, making her moan and press closer, opening to him, kissing back as hotly as she could, edging forward as much as possible, wanting all that muscled hardness against her.
Lifting his mouth a fraction from hers, he whispered, “Work?”
“Day off,” she breathed.
“Cole?”
“School.”
“You’re mine.” With that he effortlessly drew her up with him, kicking back the chair behind him, sending it skidding away enough to enable him to move sideways.
Turning on his heel, he strode out of the kitchen with her hand clasped securely in his, his every long stride one of assuredness.
Blood pumping hotly, Shea followed willingly, not even stopping to contemplate what she was allowing.
She didn’t sleep around, hadn’t been with a man in a long time. She focussed on the broad back and shoulders of the man leading her to his bedroom. Aaron, however, did things to her, and not just carnal thoughts and feelings. With him she felt safe, pretty, desirable.
And most of all, he knew her and still wanted her.
As sure as God made green apples, she wanted him. There was no denying the attraction that drew her like a moth to a flame, only she just knew that Aaron’s burn was going to be a whole lot more intense. Decadent.
Hot sex.
Entering the bedroom he didn’t stop, leading her directly to the bed before turning to face her. Cupping her cheeks in his big palms, he tilted her head back and kissed her again, hot and deep.
He sure did like deep. Her toes curled in her shoes at the naughty thought.
His mouth left hers, trailing a fiery path across her cheek to tickle along her ear before his lips feathered along her throat, finding the pulse beating so erratically beneath the sensitive skin. He laved it with his tongue, pressed it down, seemed to hold it prisoner before trailing his lips back up to her ear.
Senses whirled, blood beat a hot tattoo through her veins. Slipping her hands beneath his shirt she smoothed her hands down his back, delighting in the heat of his skin, the strength as the muscles flexed against her palms.
A big hand cupped her breast, taking her breath with the suddenness of it as he weighed the generous globe.
“Beautiful,” he murmured hotly in her ear. “But I want more.”
Abruptly he nudged her back, the desire in his eyes capturing her as he grabbed each side of her skirt and lifted. Obediently she raised her arms, the coolness of the room on her skin as he pulled the dress up and over her head, tossing it carelessly over a nearby chair.
As his gaze slid down her body she flinched, realising with cold clarity that he was seeing her properly now. Every plump curve that didn’t fit society’s version of the ideal figure. Yesteryear, maybe, but this era? No.
Aaron’s attention switched from her body to her face. Her expression must have given her away - it wasn’t like he could miss the blush and the way she was chewing her bottom lip.
“You’re beautiful.” The desire in his tone made his voice almost gravely, rough with lust.
Lust for her.
It was there in his eyes, in the way he reached for her.
Taking her hand, he laid her palm flat against the front of his shorts. God, there was no denying that he wanted her, found her attractive. The thick length of him pushed against her hand in hard proof.
That was all he did, but it was enough for her confidence to return.
No sooner had her tension eased than Aaron slid an arm around her waist, pulling her against him, bending her back slightly as he kissed her thoroughly, uninhibited in his enjoyment of her mouth, their shared kiss. When he released her waist it was only their mouths fused together before he drew back to pull the t-shirt off over his head, tossing it aside to land on her dress.
Awed, Shea r
eached out to run her fingertips down his sternum. His pecs were well developed, the ribbed muscles of his abdomen hard beneath her touch.
He watched silently as she explored with her hands, the muscles jumping beneath her skin as she slid her palm down his abdomen, deliberately trailing her fingertip into his bellybutton and beyond, playing around the edges of the cargo shorts.
He didn’t move, didn’t flinch, and why should he when he had the perfect body? When he was so sure of himself, deliberate in everything he did, not doubting himself?
Spreading her hand on his lower abdomen, she looked up at the pale blue irises lit within by a carnal fire.
He took one step forward, his upper abdomen against her breasts, his cheek against hers as he leaned down to look over her shoulder, muscular arms reaching around to unclip her bra, turning his head so that his lips were against her cheek while his fingertips slid beneath the bra straps to glide them down her arms. He pulled away only enough to draw the bra off, then it, too, was tossed onto the growing pile of clothes on the floor.
The clip holding her hair back followed, leaving her hair tumbling around her shoulders.
Now it was hot skin to hot skin, the press of heat and silk making her moan as he placed his hands on her back, slowly ran his palms down, following the dip of the small of her back, fingers smoothing beneath the cotton of her panties until his hands lay flat on her bottom.
Strong fingers gripped, lifted, his breath hot on her ear, his voice deep, rough with desire, strong with mastery. “Turn around.”
How? Mind a haze of delicious turmoil, she glanced behind her.
“Now, Shea.” The whisper of command, the flex of fingers on her curves.
Blindly she obeyed, holding her arms close, breath catching as his hands stayed in place so that when she turned in his arms his hands cupped low each side of her lower abdomen. A long finger slid in each side of her groin, pressed.
Squirming with the sensation, she grabbed his wrists.
Aaron’s hands moved back out, his thumbs hooking into the waistband of her panties, pulling them down so they fell around her ankles. She stepped out of them along with her pumps and he lightly kicked them aside, his hands resuming the slow slide downwards.
Leaning back against him, she let him support her as he bent over her, his muscular body against her back and thighs, his cheek against hers in an intimate embrace. Glancing sideways showed only the lowered lashes over his eyes as he watched his hands move still lower.
Fingers slipping through the curls protecting her secrets.
A forefinger from each strong hand moving together, smoothing along the lips of her labia, parting the sensitive flesh.
A hard thigh nudged between the backs of hers. “Foot up on the chair, honey.”
So far gone in sensation, she hadn’t even noticed the wingback chair directly in front of her, but blindly she obeyed, lifting her foot to settle flat on the padded cushion.
Catching her breath as the position opened her to him.
Hot lips grazed her cheek, a lick to the corner of her mouth before he settled again, cheek-to-cheek with her.
Aaron slid the full width of both fingers between the damp labias, spreading them with gentle determination, exposing her heated secrets to the cool air.
Sucking in a deep breath, Shea leaned her head back against his shoulder, closing her eyes, chaotic sensations firing through her as his fingers flattened over the opening to her body, the heels of his hands pressing against her mound, other fingers curling around the sheltering flesh, his little fingers lying in the groove of her groin where her thighs met her body.
Just holding her. Literally holding her.
Heart beating erratically, blood pumping fiercely, the sensation of sweet helplessness as he surrounded her with his strength, his dominance.
“Got you, sweet Shea,” Aaron whispered hotly. “Got you right where I want you.”
His thumbs parted the labia further, exposing the tiny clitoris sheltered within, and he rubbed the sides of his thumbs against it, one each side, working it into an aching bud of pleasure that had her arching back against him, her fingers finding his thighs to curl helplessly in the age-smoothed material of the board shorts still clothing him.
Wishing he was naked, that his hard length was pressed against her. Inside her.
“Aaron,” she whimpered as he pressed the tip of one thumb against the top of her clitoris and massaged, colours exploding before her eyes, hips straining forward.
“That’s it, honey,” he encouraged, tone deep, dark. “Climb that peak.”
Her breath hitched as one of his fingers played around her entrance.
“So wet, Shea. So wet for me.”
His finger slid in, slid deep, forged forward without hesitation while he played her clitoris, making her arch, come up on tiptoe, clutch him desperately as she rode the crest of desire that milked through her with blistering ardour.
Still not enough, her breath escaping her as he hooked a finger in the top of her sheath and tugged carefully yet erotically, causing sparks to splinter along her nerves.
“Running so hot, honey.” Darkly amused, lips skimming along her cheek. “Poor baby. You need so much right now, don’t you?”
“Please Aaron.” Her hold on his shorts convulsed. “Please.” When he gave a low, hedonistic laugh, she shoved back against him in frustration. “Damn it, do somethi-”
Her words were cut off as his hands vanished from her secrets to clamp around her waist. Before she could even comprehend what was happening, he swung her to the bed and bent her over. Automatically she reached out, bracing her hands on the mattress.
One hand pressed in the small of her back. “Don’t move.”
“What?” She started to straighten, heat a swirl through her loins, the unknown a titillating emotion that twisted deliciously with the desire spearing through her.
His hand pressed harder, slid back, smacked her lightly. “Shea.” Laughter laced the warning in his voice.
She felt him step back, the coolness invading the space where he’d been pressed against her. Knowing she was so vulnerable, so open to him, was a most unexpected aphrodisiac.
Because she knew he wanted her, was turned on by her.
Hell, she wasn’t just turned on by him, she was in danger of going up in fire.
Unable to help herself, she glanced back at the rustle of clothes to see the shorts fly through the air and land on the pile of clothes.
Kind of symbolic, his clothes atop hers.
The rip of alfoil had her tensing, fingers clutching the quilt at the knowledge that he was opening a condom, and she looked around to see him rolling it on his shaft, sheathing the thick length, curling his hand around it as he met her eyes and slowly, methodically, pumped himself.
Gaze fastened on her as he moved the small distance separating them, still pumping himself, reaching out with one hand to smooth his finger along her back, making her arch and dip down, using an expert touch to yield her to him as her hips dipped, tilting her bottom up to expose her femininity.
Exposed to the finger that kept trailing down, teasing the cleft of her bottom, sliding lower to test the entrance to her body, circling the slick opening before dipping in, curling, tugging gently but firmly.
Making her senses swirl faster, her teeth clench as waves of desire washed over her.
But not enough.
The teasing finger disappeared, sudden heat behind her, strong thighs against the backs of hers, and then the probing of the thick head at her entrance, the little thrusts that had her whimpering as she sought to push back, cursing as strong hands gripped her hips, holding her still.
“Such an impatient little bit, aren’t you, Shea?” A lazy thrust that had him half inside her before drawing out to rest at the entrance.
Driving her bloody mad.
Another lazy thrust, this time staying halfway in as he rotated his hips, sparking off all kinds of carnal fire inside her, hot lava oozing thro
ugh her centre as sparks ignited down deep.
“Aaron!” Teeth gritted, she curled her hands almost savagely into the bedspread.
Still he held her hips immobile, each deliberate, languid thrust driving her higher, stoking the fires, but not relieving them.
Just as she was about to start roundly cursing he slid in deep, taking away her breath as his groin pressed against her, the length and breadth of him filling her so full, the slow withdrawal sending spasms through her sheath.
Several times he did the slow movements, keeping them even, steady, making her shiver with unresolved desire.
And then he thrust hard.
It nearly threw her over the edge, the unexpected eroticism as he withdrew fast, shoved in again, his hands holding her still, supporting her as her hands slid a little in the bedspread at the force of his thrusts.
A shift of movement behind her and then he started pumping into her, shaft driving through the slick tunnel, nailing a spot inside her she’d never felt before, stars exploding before her eyes as spirals of intense pleasure forked though her, a splintering of nerves as Aaron unerringly slid over the secret, highly-sensitized area, almost ruthlessly dragging over it, forcing her higher and higher, ardour raking through her with every strong drive of his hips.
The fire bubbled, blazed, sheared through her as he pushed her onwards, blinding her to all but the feel of him inside her, behind her, holding her, giving her wild pleasure beyond anything she’d ever experienced.
Deep inside somewhere she had the desire to see his face, to watch as he took her, but she was denied the sight, given only the sensation.
But it was enough.
He thrust faster, pumped harder, drove deeper, and she could feel the edge of the ardour razoring at her, the string of need held taut, fraying as the need built higher, her heart beating wildly, echoing in her ears, the overwhelming prurience swamping her, pushing her out in a tide of blissful, searing heat.
She shattered, arching, hips dipping, taking everything he gave, and then the vortex swallowed her.
Chapter 8
Leaning back against the headboard, the sheet pooled at his waist, Aaron smiled with satisfaction. Completely satiated, that’s how he felt. The day was warm outside, the bed was cosy, and the woman resting back against the headboard beside him had rocked his world. Not a term he’d normally use, but it described what had happened perfectly.
The Wells Brothers: Aaron Page 18