by JC Harroway
No, that wasn’t fair. It was a big deal. She’d made plans for both of them without stopping to think about it, and she’d been disappointed when she thought he didn’t want to go. Little by little, Aaron had eased into her life until she wanted to share parts of herself with him. Her classes and her personal training were two things important to her that she never shared with the guys she dated. She’d never wanted to share them.
Since she didn’t know what to say to any of it, she gave him a half smile and ducked into her room to change. Fifteen minutes later, they were on their way. The gym was a trendy little boutique workout place that offered a small selection of classes, similar to Transcend, but they were open to both men and women. Becka had never been to this branch before, but she’d attended a few classes at one of the locations closer to her apartment.
After they got checked in and put on their spin shoes, she shot Aaron a look. “Uh... I know you work out, but have you ever taken spin before?” Probably should have asked that before springing this on him.
“Yeah, though not for a while. I prefer lifting weights and the elliptical.”
She made a face before she caught herself. “Just, ah...” She put an extra dose of brightness into her tone. “It’ll be fun!”
“What did you sign me up for?”
Instead of answering, she headed into the room and chose a bike in the middle row, slightly off to the side. Aaron took the one next to her and adjusted his seat without hesitating. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad.
As the class started, she lost herself to the bumping beat of the music and the rhythmic pedaling. The instructor didn’t have as many bike pushups in his routine as Becka did, which was just as well, but he had a few fun moves she made a mental note to incorporate at some point in the future.
The hour passed in the blink of an eye, and she belatedly remembered to check on Aaron as the slow song that signaled time to stretch came on. He was just as soaked in sweat as she was, and the look he gave her when she turned to him singed her right down to her core. Becka froze. “Uh, so that was fun.”
“Fun.” He didn’t sound totally out of breath, but he shook his head and unlocked his shoes from his bike. “I don’t think that word means what you think it means.”
She burst out laughing, drawing looks from the people around them. Well, at least the class was over. Becka followed him out of the room, her gaze lingering on the way his sweaty shirt clung to this muscled back. She knew working out was an aphrodisiac, of course, but she’d never done it with someone before. Not like this.
Suddenly, all those couples’ workout videos on the internet made sense.
She grabbed Aaron’s arm and towed him around the corner and down the hall, searching the signs on the doors. There were a handful of gender-neutral bathrooms and... There. If this gym was anything like hers, no one actually used the showers. Even if they did, there were two. She shoved Aaron into the room, cast a quick look behind them to make sure no one was paying attention and stepped in and closed the door behind her.
He was on her the second she locked the door. Aaron grabbed her hips hard enough that she had to catch herself on the door and shoved her shorts down her legs. Half a second later, his cock was there, filling her in one rough move. Her fingers scrambled over the smooth wood of the door, trying to find purchase. “Oh God.”
“This is what you wanted.” He pulled out for a second, looped an arm around her waist and carried her to the sink. She braced her hands on the porcelain and met his gaze in the mirror. He smoothed a hand up her back. “This is what you wanted,” Aaron repeated. This time it sounded more like a question.
“Yes.” He sank into her again, and she shoved back against him, taking his cock deeper yet. “Hard. Fast. Now.”
He gripped her shoulder with one hand and her hip with the other and drove into her. Hard. Fast. Exactly what she needed. His expression was like a man possessed, just as out of control as Becka felt. It had never been like this, desperation clawing through her to get closer, to have more of him touching more of her. He must have felt it, too, because Aaron withdrew and lifted her onto the sink. He yanked her shorts the rest of the way off and spread her thighs wide. “Hang on to me.”
She was already moving, hooking the back of his neck and dragging him down to claim his mouth as he started fucking her again. The new angle hit that sensitive spot inside her with every stroke, winding her tighter and tighter until she came with a muffled cry. He followed her seconds later, grinding hard into her as he orgasmed.
Aaron laughed softly. “I think I can get onboard with this spin thing.”
“Yeah... Me, too.” She shivered as his cock twitched inside her. “But we can never come back to this gym again—ever.” She wasn’t shy, but they’d just crossed a line, and she wasn’t going to be able to look anyone in the face as they left.
“You hungry?” He pumped slightly, drawing a gasp from her lips.
She blinked. “Is that a euphemism?”
“I know a place that makes some mean peanut butter and jelly wings.” He was still moving inside her, little thrusts that had her body going molten all over again. “We could pick up takeout and go home to enjoy them properly.”
Becka moaned and shoved him away. “Stop that or we’re going to keep fucking in this bathroom until someone comes banging on the door.”
“Doesn’t sound so bad.” His gaze dropped to her pussy. “You’re looking needy, minx. I’ve got just the thing.”
The man went from talking about takeout to looking like he wouldn’t mind giving her enough orgasms to bring down the rage of the entire staff of this gym on them. She hopped off the sink and pulled her shorts back on. “If you wanted to keep playing with me, you shouldn’t have mentioned peanut butter and jelly wings.”
Aaron kissed her and cupped her pussy through the thin fabric of her shorts. He circled her clit with his thumb. “I’m going to take care of you tonight.” He slipped his hand into her shorts and fingered her. “Fuck, Becka, I’d think they pumped something into the air of that room if I didn’t know it was all you. You make me so goddamn crazy for you.” He kissed her again. “Come for me, minx. One more time to tide me over until after dinner.”
Oh God. She spread her legs to give him better access even though she knew they were running out of time before someone came knocking on the door. Maybe it was that lack of time that made this whole thing hotter. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was Aaron’s growl in her ear and his fingers working her pussy. He pushed two fingers into her and went back to circling her clit with his thumb. She was already on a hair trigger from coming earlier, and when he bit her neck lightly, it threw her headlong into another orgasm. He brought her down so sweetly, kissing her as he gentled his touch and finally slipped his hand out of her shorts.
Aaron readjusted her clothing and washed his hands. He pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Let’s get you those wings.”
“Yeah,” Becka said, more than a little dazed. “Can’t forget about the wings.”
* * *
“Come here.” Aaron reached out to pull Becka back beneath the spray of the dual showerheads he had set up in his bathroom. They’d made it back to his penthouse in record time—with a quick stop at the wing place on the way to pick up their food—and he’d dragged her into the shower with him nearly the second they walked through the door.
She smacked his hand and bared her teeth in what was almost a grin. “Food, Livingston. Not only did we do spin class and then walk home, but you blew my mind seven ways to Sunday in the bathroom earlier. I need calories and, before you say anything, not the kind of calories that come from your cock.” She paused in the gap leading out of the walk-in shower and surveyed him. “Though it’s a mighty fine cock and I plan to use and abuse it later.”
He barked out a laugh. “Noted. Go get started on your calories. I’m right behind you.”
He wasted no time finishing scrubbing down and followed suit. He found her in the living room, setting up the wings on the coffee table. Aaron ducked into the kitchen to grab them glasses of water and an extra glass of cranberry juice for her, and then he joined her on the couch.
It was only then that he noticed what she was wearing.
Becka sat cross-legged, her petite body swallowed up by one of his college T-shirts. The thing was so old, it was one of the softest he owned, and the image on the front had faded away to almost nothing. Rationally, he understood why she gravitated to the shirt, but his gut said it marked her as his. That she was settling in for the long haul and this was a fucking relationship, not two people who happened to live together and would have a baby together in the relatively near future.
Whether her choice in clothing said that to her was another story.
She tasted the jalapeño jelly dip and made a little moaning sound. “Oh, damn. This was such a good call.”
“Glad it’s hitting the spot.” To keep himself from staring at her as she ate, he grabbed the remote and flicked through the channels until he landed on something that halfway caught his interest. It was an old movie, and he instantly recognized the blonde waltzing her way across the screen.
Becka obviously did, too, because she nodded. “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Good choice.”
Even if he hadn’t planned on keeping it there, he would have set the remote down at her interest. “I take it you like it?”
“What’s not to like? Lady friendships, a smoking-hot private investigator and some killer songs thrown in for spice.” She cut one of the peanut butter wings in two and dipped it into the jelly. “It’s a classic, and I used to say I was Dorothy to Allie’s Lorelei.” She made a face. “Minus all the gold-digging stuff. That sort of thing leads to nothing but trouble.”
Aaron draped his arm over the back of the couch. “You like old movies, play D&D and are a jock in your own right.” He grinned. “You like to keep people guessing.”
“Maybe people.” She sipped her drink. “Maybe just you. Most people try to slap a label on me the second they meet me, but they never bother to dig deeper. Their loss, I guess. My people get me, and they don’t expect me to change so they can shove me into a neat little box.” She shrugged.
He should keep his damn mouth shut, but Aaron was sick of fucking around. He wanted Becka—in his bed and in his life permanently. Even if he slow-played this thing into the ground, he couldn’t sit on his hands indefinitely. It wasn’t fair to either of them. “I could be one of your people if you’ll let me get close enough, minx.”
“I know.” She sighed. “Look, this is weird for me, too. I like you. It freaks me out, which is normally the part where I ghost whatever dude I’m seeing, but that’s obviously not an option in our case, because where the hell am I going to run when I have to come track you down in about six months?”
“You want this to stop because it’s not doing it for you, that’s one thing.” He watched her closely, took in the tension in her shoulders and the way she stared pointedly at her food. Too damn bad, Becka. This is going to get said. “But to try to run from me because you care too much? Fuck that.”
“Try?”
“You heard me. I care about your contrary ass, and you care about me right back. I’m not pushing you right now, but if you bolt, I’m going to track your ass down and have a conversation like adults.”
She finally twisted to face him, blue eyes flashing. “You call this not pushing?”
“That’s exactly what I call this.” He clenched his jaw and worked to modulate his tone. “We have time. You need more, then you have it. But I’m not going anywhere. I’m not your commitment-phobic dad and you’re sure as fuck not your flighty-ass mom. Stop using them as an excuse to keep me from getting close to you.”
“You were pretty damn close to me an hour ago.”
His body flashed hot at the memory, but he wasn’t about to let her distract him with sex right now. “Admit that you care about me.”
She threw up her hands. “Fine, asshole. I admit it. I care about you, and that scares the shit out of me in a way I’m not prepared to deal with.”
“Was that so hard?”
“Yes!” She turned back to face the TV and crossed her arms over her chest.
“It spooks me, too, minx.” He pressed a soft kiss to her temple. “You’re not alone. Remember that when the panic gets too bad.”
“I’m trying,” she whispered.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
BECKA DIDN’T MEAN to fall asleep. But the wings filling her belly and Aaron’s warm thigh under her head combined with the throw blanket he’d tucked around her as they watched the movie was too compelling to resist. Her blinks became longer and longer, and when Aaron started absently running his fingers through her hair, she was lost.
Or maybe she’d been found.
She didn’t know. The only thing she was sure of was that at some point, Aaron carried her into his bedroom and tucked them both into bed. He curled his body around the back of hers, as if he could shield her from the worst the world had to offer by his sheer presence alone.
Becka wasn’t thinking about comfort, though. Not with her wearing only his shirt and his cock pressed against her ass. She shifted back, rubbing against him, and was rewarded by his hand spasming on her stomach. He pulled her closer, snuggling against her, and inched the shirt up, baring her from the waist down. They moved slowly, as if he was as hesitant as she to break the strange half awake, half asleep sensation of their movements.
She reached behind her and gripped the back of his neck as he pressed an openmouthed kiss to the top of her spine. Instead of touching her where she ached for him, Aaron shifted, bringing one arm under her and cupping her breasts with both hands. He squeezed gently and then pulsed his hands, creating the smallest amount of friction between his palms and her nipples. She responded by rolling her hips harder against him.
She took one of his wrists and guided his hand between her thighs. He cupped her pussy as if assuring himself that she was wet and wanting and his. Aaron touched her in a way she’d never experienced before. It wasn’t just a touch with him.
It was a claiming.
He idly dipped a single finger into her and spread her wetness up and over her clit. The gentle sensation only heightened her desire, but she didn’t want to break the spell. Not yet. She released his neck to reach back and dip her hand into his boxer briefs to stroke his cock.
“You’re supposed to be asleep,” he growled against her neck.
She grinned into the darkness of the room. He broke first. “I am asleep.” She gave his cock another pump. “So, so asleep.”
“Don’t think your story checks out, minx.”
“You caught me.” She twisted in his arms to face him and hitched her leg over his hip. A quick move shoved his boxer briefs below his hips, and she guided his cock into her. “I’m awake.”
“Now the truth comes out.” He rolled onto his back, taking her with him.
Instead of breaking the heightened intensity, being face-to-face with Aaron only made the whole encounter sexier. Becka kissed him as she moved over him slowly. Leisurely. Each stroke strengthened the feeling of being in a dream where nothing could touch them. Desire took hold, and she straightened to get a better angle, chasing her own pleasure.
“Ah, ah. Not yet, minx.” He lifted her off his cock and up to straddle his head.
She grabbed the headboard to hold steady. Between her thighs, his face was bathed in shadows. He could have been anyone... But, no. The thought fled as soon as it rose, chased away by the slow glide of his tongue over her pussy. This was Aaron.
He licked and sucked at her, using his hands on her thighs to urge her to ride his mouth. Becka let the last of her worries dissolve beneath his touch. She closed her eyes and gave herself over to the pleasure building with every deep exhale that ghosted against the most private part of her.
Her orgasm rolled over her slowly, dragging her deeper than she’d ever gone before. She shuddered and slumped against the headboard, blinking into the darkness. Ruinous. That’s what Aaron Livingston is. Fucking ruinous. She couldn’t bring herself to care.
He pulled her down to spoon again and hitched her leg over his thigh so he could guide his cock into her. He stroked her clit with each slow thrust, murmuring in her ear the entire time. “I can’t get enough of you, minx. I could live for another sixty years and I’d still never get enough of you.” His breath hitched against her ear. “Let me keep you, Becka. Let me keep both of you.”
She opened her mouth to say... She wasn’t sure what. But he ground hard against her and circled her clit once, twice, a third time, and the only thing she verbalized was a breathless shriek as she came again.
Aaron flipped her onto her stomach and lifted her hips to drive into her. He moved like a man possessed, the dreamlike feeling of their encounter up to this point fading away in the feel of his cock filling her completely as he chased his own pleasure.
As he marked her as his own.
* * *
The next month passed in a blur of peaceful contentedness. Aaron came home every day to Becka. She shared his bed and gave him precious tidbits about herself and her past as they settled into what could be their life together. But she still held back part of herself, and the closer they got, the more that denied bit made him crazy. He’d promised her time, though. He’d honor it, damn it.
She met him at the door one night, looking nervous. She wore a pair of brightly colored leggings and one of the slouchy shirts she’d become fond of since moving in with him, and she was all but wringing her hands.