The removal of the rest of our clothes was a flurry of motion. A somewhat awkward flurry of motion, but we made it in the end and barely had to stop kissing.
"I want you now," I said. "I need you now." I grabbed the base of his cock and directed him toward my slick entrance.
Brendon slammed into the hilt without even giving me a second to breathe.
The mix of pleasure and that sweet, intoxicating pain was exactly what I needed to soothe the overwhelming lust burning under my skin. He gave me everything he had and I gave it back, clawing at his shoulders and crying out with wild abandon. It was the most uninhibited we'd ever been. He thrust, I thrust back. He bit my lip, I bit his neck. And when he said filthy, dirty things in my ear, I did my best to return them.
"You're so fucking tight," he growled. "I could fuck you all day."
"I could be fucked by you all day," I parried. "I love it when you stretch me wide like this."
He groaned and drove deeper, harder. The couch squeaked in protest with each dive of his hips but neither of us were listening. We were lost in each other and in our own pursuit of pleasure, and nothing short of gale force winds or some other natural disaster could heave us off course now.
Brendon devoured my mouth but my kisses became weaker as my pleasure rose. I was unable to focus on returning the kiss, unable to focus on anything but the blooming knot of heat in my core that grew and tightened with each roll of my hips. The angle of his body meant his pubic bone ground against my clit, and the little bud was swollen and full of need and wouldn't last much longer.
I barely had time to register that I was climbing my peak when it hit me. The blast would have been enough to knock me down if I'd been standing. My whole body slackened with the release, falling back in exhaustion against the couch cushions as undulating waves of ecstasy pulsed through me. It took me a few seconds to realize that I'd forgotten to breathe, and when I started again it was with a great gulp.
Brendon's stubbled cheek scratched against my neck as he buried his face in his shoulder and drove in one final time. He bit down on the cleft of my shoulder as he did, and it felt so primal and sexy that another orgasm snapped in my belly and sent me reeling all over again. I screamed, but it sounded like it was coming from someone else and not from me. I could almost hear my impassioned cry echoing around the apartment as I came back to earth. I kissed his neck as he breathed, still, licking up some of the salt like it was my favorite treat.
Brendon slowly untangled his body from mine, sliding over into the crevice at the back of the couch and pulling me over on top of him. Once I was settled with my head over his heart, we lay there in silence together. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, not at first. And even when it became one, I was the only one who was uncomfortable. And the reason I was uncomfortable was because I knew that I had to tell him now. If he kicked me out, so be it.
"Hey, Brendon." I tipped my head up to look at him.
Brendon's smile was so warm that I immediately looked away. "Yes?"
"I..." I didn't know how to say it. Did I just come out with it? Did I sugar coat it? How did people make announcements like this?
"Can I say something first?" Brendon asked.
His voice was soft, softer I think than I'd ever heard it. I returned my gaze to his, curious to see what had him so sweet.
"Go for it."
He lifted a hand to my face, drawing a strand of my hair behind my ear. Goosebumps ran down my spine and I closed my eyes to lean into his touch.
"I love you, Aurora Frayser."
My eyes snapped open and I stared at him in dismay. Not in dismay at hearing him say that he loved me—that was wonderful. It was a dream come true. I was dismayed because I knew now that I was more terrified than ever of losing him. How could I tell him when it would completely ruin this perfect moment?
Brendon must have misinterpreted my expression to mean that I didn't feel the same way. I saw the disappointment wash over his features for less than a second, but by the time I opened my mouth to say something—anything so that he'd know I held deep feelings for him too—his expression was back to warm and loving. He stopped my words with a finger to my lips.
"Hush," he urged. "Don't say anything. I don't need you to say anything. I just wanted you to know how I feel, and that I've never felt that way about anyone. You're very special to me, Aurora."
He moved his finger, and I bent my head to kiss his chest so he wouldn't see the tears welling in my eyes.
"You're very special to me too," I whispered against his skin.
Chapter 19
Brendon
The report was crisply bound, with a plastic cover and title page that had my diligent secretary's name all over it. Not literally, of course. The literal title was a boring string of words that basically accounted to, "the result of Aurora's brilliance." Only a few stores had implemented her suggestions so far, but it was early days. This was the first collection of data from the campaign, and I couldn't wait to see the results. I figured it was going to be positive, but anxiety fluttered in my gut all the same.
It wouldn't be a big problem if Aurora's suggestions hadn't worked out. Marketing teams could take years coming up with a campaign, only to have it flop in the first few weeks. That didn't mean that the people involved were inherently under-qualified or bad at their jobs. It just meant that the next move was going to have to be in a different direction. No reason to stop trying.
I opened the report and started to read.
Aurora arrived at my office door looking slightly bewildered. She knew I'd gotten the report, so no doubt my summoning of her without so much of a hint as to why was troubling to say the least.
"You wanted to see me?"
I smiled broadly and nodded, eyes eating her up from head to toe. Her curves were packed perfectly into a black, scoop necked dress that stretched wide over her hips. Her breasts were looking particularly plump and I considered closing the blinds so I could get my mouth on them.
I cleared my throat. Not the time.
"Yeah, I wanted to discuss the details of the report with you." I gestured to the chair across from me. "Come in."
Aurora closed the door behind her and sat down. I passed the bound notes over, and she raised a brow.
"Do I want to know?"
I laughed. "I think you do." I tapped on the cover with my index finger. "The results of the program have been so positive that the other stores are clamoring to be the next to be made over a la Aurora Frayser. The Beverly Hills store alone has reported a traffic increase of 15%. You should be proud."
She beamed, her smile lighting up my room like a flash of sunlight.
"I couldn't have done it without you," she said. "You've been so supportive this whole time and—"
I waved at her to stop. "No, don't do that." I tapped on the report again. "This is you, Aurora. This is your project. You've been slaving your ass off over this and I know at times it must have felt like you were in way over your head, but you came out on the other end with a win and I couldn't be more proud of you."
She looked down at the hands clasped in her lap, and when she looked back to me it was with a wide grin but tearful eyes.
"Please tell me those are happy tears." I got up and walked around to her side of the desk anyway, not able to take the sight of my woman crying sitting down. Squatting next to her, I took her hands in mine.
"I'm just a little overwhelmed, is all." She sniffed, smiling through the tears. "Things have been moving at breakneck speed ever since I moved to New York, you know?"
I brought her knuckles to my lips and kissed them. "I know," I said. "And I'm afraid it's not going to slow down just yet. I'm desperate to get you over to my parents’ house so they can meet you. Julian's been asking about you too, and I thought I could bring you over for dinner tomorrow so I can introduce everyone to the girl who snatched up my heart and injected new life into my business. What do you think?"
I wouldn't be totally heartbroken if she
denied my request, but my family was important to me. Things in my life were going exceptionally well and I wasn't fool enough to think it would always be like this, but I wanted to capitalize on the good feelings while they lasted. I wanted to have all the people I loved in one room just because I could.
Aurora didn't so much as flinch. She nodded enthusiastically, her smile reaching for the corners of her face.
"I would love that. I've been looking forward to meeting your mom and seeing where all your little quirks come from."
I laughed. "I hope you don't end up regretting that."
Aurora leaned down and kissed me. It surprised me, since normally she was more proper at work. It was a good surprise though, and I kissed her back greedily, licking the salt of her perplexing tears from her lips.
Something had been off with Aurora for a while now, but I wasn't sure even she knew what it was. If she did, she would tell me, wouldn't she? She seemed happy. She was happy. She was just a little different, a little stranger. I wondered if, like my family, she naturally assumed that I wasn’t good partner material based on my history of bachelorhood...and probably also the fact that the first time I met her I was paying for sex. I wouldn't blame her, and I intended to do everything in my power to prove to her that I was serious.
I pulled back and rose to my feet, striding back around my side of the desk. "I'll have to call my mom and arrange a day, but I was thinking tomorrow. Does that work for you?"
Aurora nodded enthusiastically. "Yes. Totally. Can't wait."
She got up and left without any further prompting from me. I wondered if maybe inviting her over to meet my family had overloaded her.
No—Aurora could handle anything.
Chapter 20
Aurora
It was just dinner.
I'd told myself that several times today. Hell, it was my new mantra.
Nothing crazy, just dinner.
Nothing life changing or ridiculous, just dinner.
Somehow, no matter how much I said it, it didn't help. I nearly jammed my mascara brush into my eyes a few times while I was getting ready because my hand was shaking with nerves.
Why couldn't I have told him before he invited me over to meet his whole family? It was too late now. Even if I told him before we got to his parent's place, who was to say he wouldn't just turn the car around and dump me back on my doorstep? The longer I left things, the worse he took the news in my mind. I was such a ball of anxiety about the baby in my belly that I didn't know if I'd ever be able to get the nerve to tell him.
At this rate, I would never tell him. I'd end up having to do things like they did in the olden days—disappear to a convent for several months and return with the baby of a "distant relation" who happened to look just like me. Would Brendon buy that?
I shook my head. This was going too far. I would tell hither was nothing I could do about it. If he didn't... well, I didn't want to get my hopes up too high.
There was a knock on my front door. I nearly stabbed myself with mascara. Again.
"Coming!" I called, hastily wiping the black smear under my bottom lashes.
A few seconds later I strolled over to the front door, pulse pounding. Was Brendon just early to pick me up? It wasn't like him to be early. Or to be late, for that matter. Brendon was one of those right-on-time guys and it was actually one of the things I liked about him.
I opened the door.
"Hey," Nolan said, offering up one of the easy smiles that had charmed the pants off me early in our relationship.
He looked exactly the same as when I last saw him. His hair was still short, still neat. His face was still clean-shaven and starting to show the slightest trace of a tan. He looked good.
I was numb, but somehow found one word to say back. "Hey."
Nolan moved past me into the apartment before I realized that I should have been slamming the door in his stupid face. What the hell was he doing here? How did he know where to find me?
My heart dropped like a stone into my gut. My freaking mother. I was going to kill her! How dare she give out my address to my dickhead of an ex-boyfriend!
"Nolan, you can't be here."
He grinned and sat down on the sofa, patting the spot next to him. I'd just gotten that sofa a couple weeks ago from a used furniture store a few blocks down the road, spent the last remnants of that week's paycheck on it. I was now contemplating burning it asa soon as I got him to leave.
I hung by the door, demonstrating as clearly as possible that I was not comfortable with his presence and keeping the door within his view at all times.
"I can be here. I am here," he replied saucily. "Aren't you happy to see me?"
I shook my head. "I'm not."
His smile fell away and suddenly he was the angry asshole who'd spewed those venomous words and had pushed me to my breaking point.
"I came all this fucking way to see you," he spat. "Would it kill you to be a little grateful?"
"What are you doing here, Nolan?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest.
"I came here to see you," he said, as if it were obvious. "And to let you know that it's time to come home now."
I let out a sardonic laugh. "Says who?"
"Your mom." He stood up, walking over to me. My neck prickled with cold sweat. "And me."
Nolan stopped a few feet in front of me, and suddenly my shoebox apartment seemed even tinier than usual. I felt like the air had been sucked out of the place.
"I'm not coming home," I said. "I'm finished with Bridgefield, I told you."
"We're not finished."
I puffed up my chest and tilted my chin up defiantly. "We are finished, Nolan. I've moved on. I've got a boyfriend here and we're building a life together."
After tonight's news, Brendon and I might no longer be a thing—but at least I knew that I'd never be with Nolan again.
"Come on, Aurora." His tone was gentler now, but his eyes were still like two shards of ice. "You don't belong here. You belong with me. In Bridgefield. Your mom misses you."
"She can visit any time she wants."
"You know that she won't." He reached out to place a hand on my shoulder and I jerked back. His eyes hardened. "What's the deal, then? I know you're not staying here because you like it. Being in the city was never your scene. Has this new boyfriend got you knocked up or something?"
I went rigid without meaning to. Even though Nolan had been wrong about everything else, his last statement was so surprisingly intuitive that I reacted before I even had time to think. And, since he'd known me for years, it was something Nolan picked up on easily.
"You are pregnant?" he asked with wide eyes, glancing down to my belly.
Of course, there was nothing there to see yet, though my time was running out as far as that was concerned.
"How far along?" he asked.
"None of your business," I snapped.
Nolan took another step, towering over my small frame. He looked positively menacing in that moment. "You ran away because you were pregnant. That's it, isn't it? The baby is mine."
"The baby is not yours!" I yelled, even though it clicked in at that moment that there was a possibility, however small, that the baby brewing inside of me did belong in part to Nolan. The thought made me sick, and I immediately flung myself back a few steps.
Again, Nolan picked up on my body language in a way he'd never been able to do when we were together.
"I'm going to be a dad..." He looked almost thoughtful. "I'm not raising a kid in New York. You'll have to come home."
My head was spinning. I couldn't take it anymore. I felt like I was either going to vomit or pass out or both and I knew that each second Nolan was still in my apartment would only make it worse.
I exploded, a veritable maelstrom of anger and anxiety.
"Get out!" I shrieked. "Get out right now or I'm calling the cops!"
Nolan started toward me and I slipped out of the way, pointing to the door. He turned, I pointed. I yelle
d again. I didn't even know what I was yelling now but it was enough for him to make a hasty retreat. I locked the door behind him and sank to the floor, heavy breaths threatening to turn into sobs, my eyes blurring with tears. I didn't want to cry. I didn't want to ruin my makeup. Brendon would be here soon.
Still, I couldn't help it. I dissolved into panicked sobs like a child.
I managed to get myself cleaned up again before Brendon came, though my makeup was more basic since I couldn't be bothered to reapply the whole look all over again.
If the baby wasn't Brendon's, how could I still tell him after dinner? Did that mean I should wait, or that I should add a disclaimer to the statement that there was only a 50% chance it was his? I wasn't even sure if those were the odds. Maybe if I'd been to university for longer than a couple semesters I could calculate the stats and provide him with a more accurate report. I was being crazy.
I decided to see how dinner went and figure out what I was going to do afterward.
If Brendon noticed my silent deliberation in the car, he didn't mention it. By the time he slung his arm over my shoulders in the expansive driveway of his parents' sprawling mansion, I was back to acting like my old self. He wouldn't have to know.
"Now, just to warn you," Brendon said as we strode across the pavement. "My family can be a little overwhelming."
I thought back to my mother's betrayal and laughed. "I think I can handle it."
The door flung open before we even knocked, revealing a slim, middle aged woman with perfect chestnut curls. She pulled Brendon into a tight hug.
"Here you are!" she cooed, pulling me in next. "I’m Eleanor. I was so excited when Brendon told me he was bringing home a girlfriend for us to meet. We all were! Come in, come in. Can I take your jacket?"
I was hustled into the hallway, and I barely had a chance to register the little steps racing toward me before Julian popped into view and tackled Brendon in a hug.
"Uncle Brendon!" he cried.
Morgana rounded the corner a second later, smiling somewhat tightly.
"Hey kiddo." Brendon ruffled Jude's hair, then looked up at his mom. "I didn't realize it was going to be a big dinner."
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