Chapter 10
10
E ver since Aiden had moved his stuff into the bedroom, Petra had played through the sleeping situation a dozen ways. Each time she’d changed her mind as to what was right and what was wrong until she’d tied herself up in a tangled knot.
But while sitting by the fire, listening to Aiden’s music, she'd realized the truth. She was making this far more complicated than it had to be. If right now was about getting through one day at a time for Jinx’s sake, it should be the same for them. She and Aiden had managed just fine during the one night they’d had together way back when.
If they could enjoy some wonderfully distracting moments here and now, she wouldn’t mind one bit.
By the way he was pretending not to watch her, Aiden’s brain was obviously as messed up as hers had been. Everything about his body language as she brushed past him and headed to the bed said he was very aware of her, and very interested.
She knew what was going on. She imagined his brothers giving him the don't screw this up chat. Or even worse, laying down the law to Aiden about what he could or couldn’t be doing.
Petra was well past the point where she let other people dictate what went on when it came to her sex life. Didn't mean she couldn't enjoy teasing the hell out of Aiden about the contrast between how he was acting now, considering how forward and playful he’d been the other night at the bar.
Case in point? The man was clearly attempting to hide the fact he had a hard on.
Enough. Time to talk about the elephant in the room. She stopped beside the bed and twisted to face him.
He stood beside the sink, back to her as he rinsed his toothbrush as if his life depended on it. His gaze stayed fixed on the taps, avoiding the mirror that showed her reflection.
“Are you hoping I’ll vanish beneath the sheets and you won't have to face me until tomorrow?” Petra asked.
Aiden chuckled, but it sounded wrong. More stress reaction than true amusement.
He turned, and his gaze dropped instantly as she loosened the knot of her robe. “You said you wanted the right side of the bed.”
He snatched the hand towel off the wall and made a show of drying his hands, the hanging end of the towel held suspiciously low to block the view of his groin.
Too funny. “We need to talk.”
He dragged his gaze up to meet hers, forcibly keeping it there. “Yeah?”
She let the tie fall from her hands, and the front of her robe gaped open. His gaze flickered over her naked torso for the briefest of seconds before returning to her face.
The man had willpower. She had to give him that. “Remember when we met the first time?” she asked.
Heat flashed in his eyes. “Every detail.”
Petra nodded. “Me, too. And you remember when we met this last Monday at Rough Cut?”
He nodded slowly, the towel still dangling in front of him. “Why do I think I'm being set up?”
She laughed, abandoning her exaggerated pose and sliding toward him. She rested a hand against his naked chest, the scent of him surrounding her as she breathed deep, delicious wood smoke and musk filling her senses. “No games, Aiden. We might have a big job to do here with Jinx and setting up High Water, but that doesn't mean it has to complicate us . We've shared a bed before, and it was a whole hell of a lot of fun. I'm on board with doing that again if you're interested.”
He tossed the towel onto the counter and slid his hands onto her hips. “You know I'm interested. I'm just worried. What if we?—”
His words cut off, uneasiness on his face.
Petra spoke softly. “What if we just do this thing and act like adults? Promise to talk to each other and not make assumptions. Promise not to lie to each other. What if we choose to dive in instead of trying to dream up and work through every nightmare situation before it's even happened?”
His fingers tightened for a minute before he took a deep breath. “So you're saying we’re both grown up enough to be able to crawl into this bed, enjoy each other, and tomorrow we’ll get up and do what needs to be done. As friends.”
Petra nodded. “So long as you haven't lost any of your moves,” she teased, stroking her palms up and over his chest until she curled them behind his neck. The move narrowed the gap between them, heat building.
He released his death grip on her hips, easing downward to cup her ass and pull her tight against his solid torso. “Friends. Lovers. That's for now.”
She played with the hair at the back of his neck. “If either of us want to stop, we will, just like we said about the whole fake engagement. We're adult enough we can simply say it's time to do the next thing.”
His eyes danced over her face, expression far too solemn considering they were talking about sex.
“Jinx is important. I get that. But this is important too. For you and me,” Petra added.
Aiden eliminated every stitch of air between them. “I don't think I've ever been propositioned quite so prettily. But there's one more thing I need to know since we didn't cover it properly the first time we hit a mattress.”
“What's that?” She barely got the words out, the final bit a little breathless. Aiden had scooped her up in his arms to carry her the final few feet back to bed. She grinned. “Other than admitting I do enjoy your caveman-like behaviour.”
He tossed her on the mattress and all but threw himself over her, pinning her in place as he teased his nose along the edge of her neck. “After I get you good and relaxed and well sated, are you a cuddler? Or are you going to kick me off to my side of the bed, and woe to me if I touch you in the night?”
His weight over her caused streaks of pleasure to zip up her spine. She scraped her nails lightly down the sides of his rib cage.
Aiden hissed and set his teeth to her neck, nibbling lightly.
He was heavy enough that she was pinned in place as he teased her skin with his teeth and tongue and set her nerves craving for more. She pulled her knees farther apart, and his hips settled more intimately between her thighs.
She took a deep breath, and her breasts brushed the dusting of hair on his chest. “ Hmmmm , nice.”
A rumble of laughter washed over her as he leaned on his left elbow and lifted far enough to look her in the eyes. “You’re easily distracted, darlin'. You plan to answer the question?”
Question? “Was there one?”
He brushed his lips over hers. “Are you a cuddler or not?”
“Worry about that later,” she complained. She tangled her fingers in his hair and tugged, dragging him up to kiss him again. “Right now, kiss me,” she ordered.
Aiden grinned. “Close your eyes.”
She didn't question, just did as he commanded.
Darkness wrapped her like a heavy blanket, and every brush of their skin together was that much more intense. Aiden didn't say anything else, but she listened.
Waited.
Felt .
He brushed a finger along her rib cage and up to her breast. Ripples of need swept ahead of his touch, over her skin, and when his palm curled over her, she arched into the connection. Aiden’s breathing kicked up, but the caress stayed slow. Deliberate. An assault on her senses like the steady drip of a gentle rain.
His hand plumped her breast, thumb skating back and forth over the tight nub of her nipple. His lips reconnected with her neck, and the fluttering sensation in her core not only doubled, but doubled exponentially. A lick, a bite. The rasp of fingernails over her skin.
When he adjusted position and the mattress tilted with his weight, she squeezed her eyes shut to keep from looking because not watching was making her skin tingle like crazy.
When lips wrapped around her nipple, Petra sighed with pleasure. “Oh, God. Don't stop,” she ordered. “The touching, and the kissing. All of it. Just keep going. It's so good.”
That low, sexy rumble answered her, and she decided it was one of her new favourite things. His amusement, wrapped up in desire and need. An auditory echo of what raced through her body.
“Keep your eyes closed,” Aiden reminded softly, lips by her ear for the briefest moment. “Feel. Enjoy. Because I sure the hell will.”
Then his lips were on hers and he was kissing her. Deep and hungry and demanding, as if he’d been starving for this. She knew exactly how he felt. The drift of his hands over her body continued, now a scratch, now a pinch. A smooth, gliding caress over her ribs and belly, headed toward her sex.
When his fingers eased through her folds, he hummed again, approval in his tone as he parted her and dipped his fingers to her core. “You make it damn hard to go slow.”
“Then go fast.” Petra smiled toward the ceiling, her eyes still firmly shut.
Aiden shifted position, cupping both her breasts and teasing the tips of her nipples with his tongue. He nipped lightly, burning away her resistance and building pleasure until she bucked under him, Needing more. Needing his mouth everywhere.
She thrust her fingers back into his hair and tugged, wordlessly trying to guide him where she wanted him.
He chuckled again, but this time it sounded evil. “Not in charge.”
“Says you,” Petra muttered. She wiggled, slipping down the bed. She kept her eyes closed because now it just amused the hell out of her, but she moved fast enough she flipped him to his back. The element of surprise left her sitting across his thighs, fingers teasing the firm line of his Adonis muscles. “You said something about me not being in charge?”
He caught her hips and tugged her forward. An easy move full of so much power Petra gasped. “You want to play? Then you get to play. But only the way I allow you.”
Petra tilted her head downward. “You notice I've still got my eyes closed.”
“Good. Keep them like that until I tell you otherwise.”
A shiver rolled outward then rebounded to settle deep in her core. “Why does that make me so hot?”
“Stop trying to analyze it, Petra. Just go with the flow.”
He pulled her forward far enough her clit was centred right over the thick ridge of his cock. “ Oh .”
“You want to be in control, have at ‘er.” When she didn't move for a second, Aiden's fingers tightened and he tugged, rocking her perfectly over his length. Pleasure swirled and pulsed. “Like that,” he suggested.
She didn't need any more encouragement. Petra eased her knees a little farther apart, pressed her hands to his chest, and tilted her pelvis. The slow glide felt amazing, and she all but heard her body sing with pleasure.
“Oh, yeah. That’s it. Keep that up.”
She rocked again, easing into a rhythm. His breathing kicked up, hers as well. While they weren’t running a marathon, the gasps and ragged breaths escaping the two of them were close.
Aiden teased his fingers over her breasts. The additional layer of sensation ramped up the building need between her legs, and she increased tempo. Pushed harder, digging in her fingernails, the firm planes of his muscular chest giving her something to hold onto while she brought herself closer and closer. The edge hovered right there .
“Open your eyes,” Aiden ordered.
She snapped her eyes open and met his gaze, and it happened. Desire exploded outward and she free-fell as the world dropped away. Stars and moons and all that universe stuff swirled as she stared into his laughing eyes.
An aftershock hit, and another, and she moaned, the note long and quavering as it left her throat.
A second later, her back hit the mattress as Aiden rolled them.
Petra didn’t mind one bit. She had no muscles left to support herself in the first place.
Christ, she was beautiful.
Not just dressed up in her well-worn jeans with her hair loose and soft around her shoulders. Not only when teasing him, eyes dancing with amusement.
Both of those made him sit up and take notice but seeing her explode into ecstasy was a goddamn miracle.
She lay sprawled on the bed, hair tousled on his pillow. Eyelids low and expression sated as he slipped two fingers to the second knuckle into her sex and stroked lazily, caressing the front wall of her sex. Drawing out her pleasure for as long as possible.
“That was fun.” Her lips curled up like a cat who’d gotten into the dairy. “So, so, so fucking fun. Fun fucking? Both of them.”
“This I also remember about you.” He stroked again, curling his fingertips just right.
She breathed deep, hips jerking off the mattress. “What?”
The word breathless and barely there.
His lips twitched with amusement. “You get fuck drunk really quick.”
She met his gaze and licked her lips. “Are you saying I'm easy?”
He tempered his laughter because he didn't need the sound to carry down the hall to Jinx. Which was a good solid reminder of why he was about to move this party in a different direction than Petra expected. “It means it’s a pleasure to be with you, darlin'. You’re a wonder.”
Petra stroked her fingers through his hair then caressed the back of her knuckles along his cheek. “Your turn. Our turn.”
“My turn,” he agreed.
She’d find out soon enough there would be no our turn for a while.
Before she could tug him back between her legs, he knelt over her, damn near mirroring the position she’d taken on him. A little higher and holding himself off so his weight didn't crush her.
Aiden let his gaze drift. Goddamn perfection lay beneath him, her nipples tight treats on gloriously creamy mounds.
He hummed happily. “I wondered if I’d remembered wrong. There was no way you could have the most perfect tits in the world, but it appears you do.”
She opened her mouth to say something, but a low groan was all that escaped as he palmed both her breasts and teased her nipples again.
This part he had also remembered in minute detail. Her breasts were sensitive, and she liked having him play with them. Which meant she should enjoy the next part nearly as much as him.
Nearly . He wasn’t saint enough to not take his own pleasure as well. He eased forward and pushed his cock between the hollow of her breasts, stroking softly.
Her eyes widened and she licked her lips again. “You need some lube for that. Want me to suck you and get you wet?”
Fuck. She was a wildfire. “Hell, yeah.”
He leaned up and placed the head of his cock on her lower lip. A growl rumbled up his throat as she teased with her tongue and swiped the sensitive spot under his glans.
“Open. Suck me in,” he ordered.
She did as he asked, flicking her tongue all over him. If Aiden hadn’t already had an agenda, he would've gotten lost there. Feeding her his cock, pulling back, drowning in sensation.
He stroked a couple more times then pulled out with a pop .
She smacked her lips, a gloating smile curling her lips upward. “You don't need to stop,” she teased breathlessly.
“Another time. Already made my plans,” he countered.
He pushed back between her breasts and groaned at how good it felt. It took three more dips into her mouth before the glide was perfect, then Aiden stopped worrying about deadlines and the logistics of new people coming to High Water. He forgot about how they would have to walk carefully around Jinx and what things needed to happen to keep the rescue financially viable.
He forgot about everything except being in that bed with sweet, giving Petra.
She put her hands over his on her breasts, encouraging him to squeeze harder.
Then she fucking tilted her head so every time his cock popped from the valley between her breasts, her tongue lapped at the crown.
Goddamfuckinghell.
If it didn't feel so good, he’d be embarrassed at how quickly he lost control.
Thankfully, this moment wasn't about impressing anyone. It was about giving pleasure and receiving it. He gave in and accepted the gift she’d offered, hot and dirty and perfect.
Aiden forced his eyes open to stare down at Petra as she grinned unashamedly at him. His cock jerked and his balls emptied.
Strands of semen lay on the upper part of her chest and chin, and a look of absolute amusement covered her face.
Aiden rolled off and collapsed to his back, grabbing hold of her hand where it lay between them. “Holy fuck.”
She laughed but didn't move. “So much for having had my shower already,” she teased.
“Yeah, bad planning on my part. Sorry about that.”
But he was laughing too.
She slipped from the bed and the water turned on.
Aiden curled himself upright and headed to the bathroom as well. He grabbed a washcloth to do his own cleanup, then straightened the sheets and pillows and put the bed back to rights.
By the time Petra reappeared, this time wearing a pair of pale green pyjama shorts and a matching tank top, he was once again in bed with his briefs in place.
He pulled down the sheet beside him and patted the mattress. “As ordered. Right side of the bed is yours.”
She slipped in, laying on her side to face him. Her eyelids were heavy, but her brain was still going a million miles an hour.
“Did you ever decide?” he asked.
She raised a brow.
“Are you a cuddler or no?”
Petra’s expression went straight to Happyville. “I am, but I prefer to be the big spoon. Or to cuddle like this, face-to-face.”
Huh . “Good by me. Let’s try this first.”
He tucked his right arm under his head and lifted the quilt, encouraging Petra to slide in against his torso.
She moved closer, tangling their legs together until she was nuzzled up right under his chin.
Aiden dropped a kiss on her forehead then curled her in even tighter. “Tomorrow we’ll deal with the next thing. Okay?”
“Yup. Clothes for Jinx, routine for the house. School sign up and?—”
He stopped the list by tilting her head back and pressing a brief kiss to her lips. She blinked when he pulled back. “ Tomorrow .”
She snorted softly, eyelids wavering toward closed. “We also need to plan our engagement story, you realize. Because people will ask.”
He didn’t answer, but it was true. Things had steamrolled ahead at such an exaggerated rate they hadn’t had time for those details. He firmly told himself they’d worry about it in the morning before his brain settled into uneasy loops.
Petra was warm in his arms, smelled like heaven, and he still had endorphins from a great sexual release buzzing through his body.
Falling asleep was like dropping into a slice of heaven.
When he woke, he’d rolled. Now facing the edge of the bed, Petra was tucked up against his back, arm draped over him. It felt as if he was wearing a warm, soft backpack. He took a moment to appreciate the situation before sliding away as carefully as possible to avoid waking her.
Eyes still closed, her mouth was open the slightest bit and the cutest little snore escaped her lips.
It only took a moment to get dressed and out of the bedroom, pacing quietly down the hall until Aiden was in the main living space.
Sunday morning. Another thing that they’d have to decide on as a family. At this point, none of them in the house were churchgoers, but that could change. Made sense to have an actual day of rest, though, even if church wasn’t involved. A plan for down the road when they didn’t have quite so much on the agenda.
He checked the cooking schedule. Declan’s name was on the list.
To hell with it.
Aiden didn’t mind pulling two days in a row, especially considering how good he felt. Sex did that to a man, he decided as he filled the coffee maker and got out the fixings for breakfast.
The coffee pot was full when dog nails clicked a warning on the hardwood behind him. Dixie bounded into the kitchen, rushing in to bump affectionately against Aiden’s shins.
Jinx wandered in a second later wearing a new old pair of jeans and a bulky sweatshirt. Her face was washed and the mess of her hair pulled back into a clumpy knot. She looked at him warily but gave a little wave as Dixie raced back to her side.
“Sleep okay?” Aiden asked.
She nodded, looking around the kitchen and room as if planning the best escape route.
He gestured to the counter three feet to his left where he’d left a big mixing bowl, a dozen eggs, and a few other ingredients. “If you could give me a hand, I’d appreciate it. We’re making French toast this morning. Put all dozen eggs into the bowl and add about a cup of milk. Give it a shake or two of cinnamon and one-half teaspoon of vanilla before you whisk it together. I’ll get the griddle set up.”
Her eyes widened, and this time it seemed with approval. “I can do that.”
He continued arranging bacon on racks on cookie sheets to prep them for the oven. “We’ll wait to set our official schedule for the day until Jake shows up, because that’s something he enjoys. But have you been thinking about what kind of stuff you’ll need over the next few days?”
“Some.” The egg she held broke crooked, and some of the shell fell into the bowl. She eyed him then grabbed a spoon to fish it out.
Aiden kept on with his task, and after taking a deep breath she did the same.
What was it that Petra had said?
Two steps forward and one step back was still moving forward.