* * *
I had a dreamless sleep. It was totally restful, surrounded by his scent.
Waking up, I felt a gentle nudge on my hip. Aiden was sitting on the edge of the bed beside me and leaning down to look at my face as I blinked my eyes open. He had a soft expression on his face as he continued to stare at me.
I yawned. “Aiden”
He made a sound in his throat like a chuckle. “Babe.”
I liked the sound of that. He’d called me babe and baby a few times today and I was getting used to it for some reason.
What was happening to me?
I put my cheek into the pillow and looked at him with one eye.
He had changed into a black t-shirt that hugged his chest and muscles. His shoulders and arms looked bigger. Hell, everything looked bigger and a lot more defined. He was wearing grey sweats with a drawstring. He must have changed after his shower.
“Aiden, how old are you?” I asked.
He blinked and stood up, letting out a slow breath.
“Old enough babe. You’ve been sleeping for a few hours. Probably the meds but I need you to wake up now.”
I stared at his movements as he went over to his dresser.
“Julia packed some clothes for you and my man brought it over earlier. They’re in the bottom two drawers. Your girly stuff is in the bathroom.”
“Okay.”
He eyed me again and glanced over the bed. “Get up and get dressed. I’ll be around. Have a couple of calls to make and we’ll talk.”
He walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. I had to admit, it was really sweet that he was giving me some privacy. My thoughts went back to the shower and the towel earlier. I wondered how much he’d seen when he had taken my clothes.
Why hadn’t I heard him?
It seemed that he was back in his decisive business mode. Mr. Bossy giving orders. And I was following them because I had to currently.
Maybe I just liked it. Who knows? I would pull out a psych book later and self-analyze. Right now, I just wanted to be dressed and explore the house a little more.
I climbed out of my warm cocoon, sliding over the satin sheets and slipped off the bed. I grabbed some random clothing from the drawer and headed to the bathroom. I brushed my hair, put on a little makeup, some gloss, and felt a ton better.
That was until I looked at the clothes Julia had picked out for me.
I held up a pair of cut-offs and one of my favorite summer shirts that was a dark azure blue color and had a low scoop in the back.
Uh. Not what I wanted to wear here around Aiden. I went back to the drawer and started pulling out the other clothes.
Sweatpants and two camis for bed. The nice camis, with lace.
Six pairs of hipster underwear, also in lace. I regretted purchasing those now.
A strapless black bra. Lace.
This was getting worse.
Two off the shoulder shirts. Two deep V-neck shirts, both gifts from Julia.
A short summer skirt and some slip-on tennis shoes.
Two tank tops.
And my cowl neck black dress with a scoop front, that I had only worn once to a club with Julia in a moment of pure madness. It was short, had mesh panels around the hips, couldn’t be worn with a normal bra, and most definitely not with underwear.
To top it off there were two romance books at the bottom of the drawer. Not the normal variety. The racy, very naughty kind that I hadn’t read yet.
I let out a frustrated grumble.
Fucking Julia. I was seriously going to kill her.
I got up, grabbed the slip-on shoes, went back to the bathroom with my strapless bra, and threw it on. I put on the scoop neck shirt with the cutoffs and looked at myself in the mirror.
Screw it.
Dressed, I walked down the long hallway passing two other doors. I glanced in them. One looked like a large media room with a couple of TVs, DVD racks, a stereo, and several floor-to-ceiling shelves of books.
The other room was clearly used for some storage. There was a bed in there but there were also multiple boxes scattered around. Sealed and contents not labelled.
I went to the enormous living room and saw the leather couches again. There were some stand-alone chairs and a giant rug of deep red on the floor. They were arranged in front of a stone fireplace. The mantle held a couple of pictures that I scanned. Young men in black, non-descript military type uniforms. I saw a younger Aiden with a serious, haunted look on his face. The other pictures were much the same. The only exception to the montage of pictures, was a single frame with a photo of two smiling, older people. They looked like they could possibly be his parents. The older man had very similar features to Aiden.
“Olivia.”
I turned to see Aiden step out of what looked like a study room that connected off the living space. He was on the phone but gave me a deep heated look as his eyes scanned down my body.
He gestured me toward him.
I shook my head.
He scowled at me. “Yeah Jake, we’ve been through some of that and I’m not dealing with it anymore.”
He started walking very slowly towards me, still scowling.
I narrowed my eyes at him and started circling around a couch.
When I stopped, he stopped.
“He’s out. That’s it. Can you get a hold of Holden, to coordinate our next move?”
His face dipped down slightly and I had the overwhelming feeling he had gone into some bizarre hunting mode. The look on his face suddenly looked hungry.
He moved again slowly to his right, in the opposite direction but still facing me. “Uh yeah. Look, I have to go. I have something I need to catch.”
He hung up the phone with a snap and tossed it on chair.
“Olivia, come here.”
My eyes darted toward the foyer then back at him.
“Don’t even think about it. There are two of my men out front and you’re not going anywhere in that. Jesus woman. That shirt and those shorts. You’re never going anywhere ever again in those.”
“Aiden, I’ve been dressing myself for several years. I go to the lake in these all the time.”
“Not anymore.”
My head titled and my eyebrows arched. “You are seriously from another planet. I love this shirt and these shorts rock for concerts. I’ll wear them anytime I want. There’s nothing wrong with these clothes.”
Aiden made a move toward me. Slowly stalking. “You look too fucking hot in them is the problem. I’ll shoot the first man who even thinks about looking at you out in public in those clothes. If you want to incite violence then be my guest.”
I moved around the couch, further away from him and toward a chair. “You’re being ridiculous, no one looks at me. Maybe we can compromise.”
He growled. “Bullshit. I would look and so would anyone else with a dick. No compromises on those shorts. Olivia, stop running. I need you to come here so we can talk about today.”
“Uhm. No I think we can talk from here.”
“I told you there was payment for running.”
He was circling the other end of the couch and I moved around the chair.
“You got kisses for the cussing.”
“Not enough.”
I eyed the rest of the room. I could skirt around the next couch before he caught me. Other than the foyer, I had two other options of escape. I didn’t feel like dealing with his goons out there. No telling what they would do. Probably shoot me. The study likely didn’t have an exit. No good. The other option looked like it was a kitchen. I’d have to take my chances that there was a backdoor in there.
“Aiden I think I just need to go home and relax.”
“Not going to happen. You’ll end up at work. Logan said five days.”
“Well I’m not staying here for five days. I have a home.”
Aiden inched closer as I inched away. “Julia packed plenty of clothes for you to stay for a while and I plan on keeping you here
.”
I rolled my eyes. “That would be kidnapping even if she helped. Besides I’m going to kill her later.”
“I might kill her later myself for bringing over those clothes.” His lips twerked up on one side. “Had no idea what they’d look like on you. Now I know. Damn. Although I do appreciate her forethought in packing those panties. Those are seriously hot. And babe, they smell like you.”
He smelled my panties? “Aiden, I know you’re serious into this stalker, serial killer, crazy vibe, but there’s medication. Those panties are getting thrown out as soon as I get home.”
He took two long aggressive strides forward as I put the next couch between us. “I’ll buy you more. You’ll have crates of them drop shipped to your house and I’ll take you in each of them.”
I had a flash of his huge hands stripping off each one of them and what he would do afterward. A shiver ran through me. I was breathing hard and getting very warm.
“You’re blushing again Olivia. I love making you blush. Should I tell you what I would do to you afterward? Slip my hands through those curls and spread you. Kiss those folds and taste you. And when you finally beg me I’ll take you, again and again.”
I whimpered, put my sights on the kitchen and made a move.
I only got a couple of feet before I heard something crash behind me and felt two huge arms wrap around my waist. Knowing I had no chance based on his previous moves, I squealed and tried to wriggle free anyway.
His chest was hot and his breathing was fast as he growled in my ear. “Sweetheart, we need to have a serious chat.”
He carried me toward the couch on the other side of the room, then swung me around to sit on his lap when he sat down. He managed this all while keeping control of me. My legs were on the couch, my ass sideways in his crotch, and my arms in a vice grip, as he held me captive in his arms.
His head sank into the small sensitive part below my ear. Kissing and sucking, he teased with his tongue. His breath and his teeth caused me to start panting.
He ran his lips softly up my neck to my earlobe and then nipped it with his teeth. It shot lightning bolts of pleasure down my body. My legs stretched as my back arched and I let out a moan.
I could feel him getting hard under his sweatpants. His arm loosened for a moment so that he could move his hands up my back and over the edge of my scoop back shirt. He slid his palm over my shoulder and into my hair.
He growled against me and tugged my head back using my hair. His mouth dropped to the scoop in my shirt. I could feel the stubble on his face rubbing against my skin. His jaw brushed against my breast before he sat back up and nipped my earlobe again.
“Olivia,” he whispered against my neck. “You drive me insane. Don’t run again. I’m trying to be a good guy here. I don’t know whether to spank you or take you on the couch right now. Believe me babe, if I take you right now those clothes are going to get shredded and you’ll be confined to my bedroom, in just your panties, for the next five days.
I whimpered with thoughts of what he wanted to do to me. I was so turned on, I wasn’t thinking clearly about what he meant.
Aiden swept his lips against my skin softly sending shivers through me.
“Sweetheart, we are happening. The way you respond to me. The way just your smell makes me hard for hours. No way, am I letting you go. But here’s what I need Olivia. I built a very successful life by controlling what happens in my businesses. I need to have an amount of control in my life. It’s kept me alive and it’s made me who I am. I need you to understand that I need to have control in certain things. Without it I can’t think clearly. Those shorts and that top, are going to make me lose control on someone if they even think about you the way that I do when I look at you.”
I opened my eyes. His hands were still pulling slightly on my hair. His other arm was wrapped around me so tight I could barely move. Control.
“Aiden. I don’t like being told what to do.”
He moved his lips against my throat again gently, then sucked below my ear.
My body reacted by nearly convulsing and once again I moaned.
“Olivia, you’re missing the point. And I’ll point out, that you are fully restrained right now. Even if you did put up an honest fight, you’d lose. You’re sitting in my lap right now moaning from just my lips on your neck. You can’t move, I have control of your head, and I own your body right now. You are being told what to do in a way. At least physically.”
I blinked. “Uhm.”
“Do you like the way I make you feel?”
“Yes,” I answered truthfully.
Aiden nibbled at my earlobe and my eyes closed again with pleasure.
“Babe I can compromise, but there are times when I’m going to tell you to do things, and it’s important to me that you do them. It’ll drive me up the wall otherwise. I want you here, and you will be staying here for a few reasons we need to talk about. Stop running and just give me what I need.”
I relaxed in his arms a little more, his grip loosened in my hair and at my waist. I gave him a steady look and tried to convey to him in that gaze, all the fear I had of trusting any other man, without having to say the words.
“I can’t.”
Chapter Nine
Aiden didn’t register what I had said to him or he had just ignored me.
After I had told him that I couldn’t give him what he wanted, he had stood up, set me down on my feet, and had stalked back to his study.
He had been grumbling the entire time and said, “You will.”
I stood there on wobbly legs for a while, uncertain of whether I should go. I needed to leave and get my plans for the week back on track. It was essential that I get back to work on Saturday if I wanted to keep paying bills. I needed to do laundry, call my phone service, and check in with Julia. The list went on and on.
There were things I needed to do. But I wanted to stay.
My desire and interest in him had doubled today. There were some unvoiced questions about how I felt about him. Things that I wanted to explore, even though my life had suddenly turned upside down since meeting him. My resolution not to get involved with anyone ever again, was slowly deteriorating. I could have simply chalked this up to the way he made my body react every time I was near him, but it was also an acute curiosity about the man himself. He had fully admitted he was bossy. He’d given some general reasons for wanting that but my mind wanted to connect the dots between what he desired and why. There was always a why.
I took another look around the room. The chair I had escaped around earlier was sitting sideways on the ground. Did he knock it over when he was trying to get to me?
His phone began a muffled ringing. It was partially stuffed between two cushions so I stepped over to retrieve it.
I plucked it out of its resting place and went over to the study. The door was closed so I gently knocked. The ringing had stopped but I didn’t want him to miss the call. He was a very important man in his world.
“Come.”
I opened the door and held out the phone. He was behind his desk, typing on the computer but stopped when he glanced at the door.
Rather than walking over to get it from me, he leaned back in his office chair, and gave me a sweeping look from my head to my shoes. His eyes came back up to rest on my face and the looked he gave me was somewhat strained, but soft.
“Your phone was ringing.”
“I thought you might have run for the door by now.”
I rolled my eyes and stepping into the study. Just like the rest of the house it had a warm feel, with earthy colors that matched the large bookshelves he had against one wall. The floors were hardwood like the living room. They looked like they’d been waxed often and taken care of. They weren’t the faux versions I had seen on decorating shows either. They looked very much like the original floors of the house.
On the walls, were more pictures of Aiden in uniform and the same older couple that I had seen framed on his mantle. He
had a huge, solid wooden desk set up in the middle of the room. There was a matching table behind him with stacks of folders and papers. A gun and holster sat in the middle.
I dropped the phone on the desk and walked over to one of his bookcases. Running my finger over the spines, I read the titles. They were mostly military biographies and business books. I noticed he had them in alphabetical order. On the other bookcase he had fictional books, mainly the classics, which surprised me. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy that would have been interested in classic literature. I was pleased though, and smiled at the familiar tomes I had become acquainted with in college.
I took a book off the shelf and flipped through it.
“You don’t strike me as a Keats fan.”
“I like some of it. He had some themes that,” he paused as if to choose his words carefully, “appealed to me at a certain point in my life.”
“So, reading about a man with an unnatural obsession with the after-life was interesting? Doesn’t seem like you.”
He shifted in his chair and shrugged. “Being a soldier isn’t easy. There is some truth in his writings, that I think you only get from staring your own mortality in the face.”
My mouth opened slightly. Aiden had surprised me several times. He continued to break the snug box I tried to put him in. I had never considered myself judgmental. Not in terms of passing judgement on people in their behaviors. But when I examined the things I had thought were natural, factual conclusions, regarding Aiden, I found myself somewhat embarrassed by my assumptions.
I mean, he was still from another planet given his bossy demand that I get rid of my current clothing, but apparently, he did have some depth beyond what I could see on the surface.
“I was going to ask you about that,” I said while eyeing his photos again.
“I’ll answer to the best of my ability.”
I looked on the wall beside the bookcase at a framed photo of him in gear, laughing with another man. I glanced across the other walls around the room. “I saw some pictures in your living room. Then the ones in here. It reminded me that both Logan and Holden, had said you were in the same unit but they didn’t mention what branch of the military.”
Run (Lakefield Book 1) Page 8