Chapter 16 #2
“What the—” he’s cut off by another egg to the mouth, and then another to his chest. Shaking with laughter, I pelt him with egg after egg, while I back up like a retreating tank.
“One got in my eye!” he shouts, waving his hands about, blindly trying to block my egg attack. “There’s yolk in my eye, Julian!”
“Yeah, well, there’s chocolate in my butt!” I shout back.
We’re both laughing now, sneezing and coughing too.
All out of eggs, I drop the empty carton while Aiden tries to wipe the yolk from his eyes.
He’s a white and yellow canvas, covered in chunky flour and lumps of egg.
I’m no better, skin sticky with milk, and ice cream sliding where it definitely shouldn’t be.
“Are we done?” I ask breathlessly, my smile just as wide as his when he looks at me through one eye.
“Yeah, we’re done,” he pants, lifting a hand. “Shake on it?”
I eye him warily, but he only has one good eye left, so I nod and cross the room. We shake hands like adults, and when we pull apart, I take in the disaster zone for the first time. So maybe we got a little carried away.
A little? Alex retorts with a snort. Good luck cleaning this all up tonight.
I sigh. “How long do you think—”
A cold, hard slap to the face cuts me off mid-sentence and sends me stumbling back. I blink, confused by the strike that hadn’t been by a hand, but by something slippery … and fishy.
When I look at Aiden, he’s standing as stiff as me, eyes wide and lips quivering before he breaks into helpless laughter. Actual tears sprout from his eyes as he doubles over, and in his flour-covered hand … is a very familiar cut of fish.
“Is that …” I narrow my eyes. “Is that salmon?!”
His laughter dies instantly, fear washing his amusement away.
“Shit,” he curses before he takes off, but I’m right behind him.
“You had salmon?!” I roar, chasing him around the counter. “This entire time! You had salmon!”
“I forgot!” he shouts lamely, dashing into the living room. He’s running for his life but the salmon still in his grasp is like a red flag that sends me charging.
“See if you forget this!” I tackle him to the ground. We crash together, but I ignore the pain as I pin him to the ground.
“Hold up!” he starts, already begging for mercy as he tries to crawl away. “Julian, wait!” I drag him in by his hips and flip him over, grabbing the salmon off the floor as he lifts his hands in a meagre attempt to protect himself. The salmon becomes my whip, and I use it wisely.
“Wait!” Slap.
“Jewels!” Slap.
“Stop!” Slap.
When I’m satisfied, and only when I’m satisfied, I drop the fish on his face and jab a finger between his eyes. They’re no longer so amused—more terrified.
“Don’t ever”—I poke his forehead—“ever mess with my salmon.”
“Okay, damn,” he pants, wide-eyed. “I’ll leave the salmon alone.”
Pleased, I sit back, ignoring the ice cream melting under my ass so that I can take my first real breath since he’d dumped the milk on me. Aiden slumps beneath me, his eyes are still warm, though they’re cautious, waiting for the next attack.
“You really are a fucking psychopath,” he huffs. “You know that, right?”
“As long as you know,” I crack a smile. “Now, let’s go get cleaned up.”
Nearly an hour later, with the mess in the kitchen still waiting to be cleaned, a yolk-less Aiden steps out of the shower.
“That was … a horrible idea,” he declares, tightening the towel around his waist. I have to drag my eyes away from the knot at his hip before I can reply.
“My hair still smells like chocolate,” I say from my place on the sink top, and Aiden laughs proudly. “It’s not funny! I’ve washed it like ten times!”
“I would say sorry, but I smell like an uncooked omelette.” He grabs a pair of clean boxers and tugs them on under his towel. “But it was worth it.”
“I had fun,” I admit. “I have no idea how we’re going to clean it all up, but it was fun.”
“I’ll pay some kids to do it,” he says, waving me off. “They always want some spending money for the markets.”
“So, we’re endorsing child labour now?” I retort, rubbing my damp hair with a towel.
“They have to start somewhere,” he says, spurring an alarmed chuckle from me.
He grins as he tosses his towel in the laundry bin, leaving him in nothing but his underwear. I’m too distracted by the sight to say anything else.
My eyes trail greedily over the mounds of inked muscle that flow down his legs and span across his chest. At first, I’d been curious about Aiden’s tattoos, then intrigued.
But after studying them up close, it’s turned into a full-blown obsession, one that stokes a faithful, steady ache of lust inside me.
Just the sight of his inked body sets it off, especially after running my hands over those marks yesterday.
That longing reaches new heights as Aiden stands on perfect display, allowing me to take in every inch of him while he dries his hair. He must feel my eyes on him, because his gaze lifts to mine and immediately, his lips stretch into a knowing smirk. Shit.
I look away and return to working my own towel through my hair with forced focus. He strides towards me, deliberate and unhurried. I still don’t look at him—until he steps between my spread thighs and demands it with nothing but proximity.
I freeze, turning to stone as he sets his hands on either side of me on the sink top. He steps closer, hips grazing my parted knees before he ducks, forcing me to meet his obsidian gaze.
“What?” I grumble, setting my towel down and tilting my chin up.
“Nothing,” he whispers. “We were just too far apart.”
My cheeks heat. “Was that all?”
“No. I also wanted to say that I had fun today.” His features soften in that way he only seems to do around me. “And before you say it, yes, I know I already said that, but I really had a lot of fun today, Julian.”
The smile on his face is genuine, shining as brightly as his eyes, challenging my heart to beat normally. Of course, it fails. Aiden is just too lovely to look at when he’s happy. He’s always been easy going, but it isn’t often that he looks truly happy, and right now, he looks euphoric.
“Yeah, me too,” I mumble, resting my hands over his.
Aiden stiffens, but then he exhales, unfurling enough for me to spot that beautiful golden tint that hides within his eyes.
“Can you imagine if we did that kind of thing as kids?” I ask, toying with his fingers. “Got into the right kind of trouble instead of putting laxatives in each other’s donuts?”
“Wait, let’s get the record straight here,” he starts, brows arching. “You did that to me.”
“You had a serious donut obsession at the time,” I defend, lips splitting as I remember him running for the toilet. “You made it too easy.”
“I—” he laughs, eyes growing comically wide before he shakes his head. “Ignoring that comment, my answer is no. I can’t imagine it. Even if we were friends back then, it wouldn’t have been as fun as it was just now.”
“Interesting thought process,” I tease, sliding my hands up to rest on his shoulders. He leans into the touch while his gaze drops to my lips, siphoning the air from my lungs in a mere moment.
“More like, right thought process,” he whispers, one hand moving to rest on my upper thigh. “It’s better this way,” he mumbles, lifting his gaze to mine—hungry. “We’re better this way, Jewels.”
I lean in just as he does. His lips crash against mine and he kisses me like I’m all he’s ever needed. The force is almost bruising, his lips sliding over mine without restraint, and I give in to him without thought. Electricity jolts through me as he makes my spirit and body come alive.
I haul him to me, sliding my arms around him so I can rake my nails up his back. Aiden hisses and I groan, parting my lips just enough to let him in. Nerves flicker, threatening to stop me, but vanish when he sucks my bottom lip between his teeth, drawing a wrecked moan out of me.
My cock twitches, already hard, and when his hands dig into my hips and tug me flush against his arousal, I feel he is too. I wrap my legs around his waist while he kisses his way into my mouth, tongue finding mine and sucking on it too.
It’s hard to keep up—harder to breathe—but I’m practically vibrating in my skin, shivering in his arms as unbridled pleasure overwhelms me.
When he finally tears himself back, gasping, it’s only for a heartbeat before his lips find mine again. His kisses are blind, finding the corners of my lips as he breathes me in.
“Jewels,” he groans, fingers tracing the thin fabric of my underwear. “We should stop.”
“Don’t want to,” I grunt as I find his lips again. This time, I kiss him slowly, languidly, until his moan spills into my mouth.
“Fuck, you’re killing me,” he mumbles while my nails dig into skin, and I pull him closer. “I won’t stop if we start, Julian.”
My skin prickles at his warning, but as his canines scrape against mine, a terrifying amount of need crashes through me.
“Good.”
Aiden’s eyes darken before he snarls and smashes our lips back together.
His arms lock around my waist, lifting me off the counter without warning.
He swallows my gasp, fingers digging into my ass.
I whine as he grinds me against him, kneading me between searing kisses, every touch setting me aflame.
He carries me out of the bathroom, refusing me even a single breath that he doesn’t share, until he throws me down on the bed and climbs on top of me to claim my mouth again before I can complain.
Beneath him, I’m lost—to his lips, his weight, the hard line of his body pressing mine down.
My cock leaks between us, and I’m so hard it hurts.
I usually find it difficult to feel truly aroused, but I’m turned on now, worryingly so, and—dear Goddess, I don’t think it’ll take much more for me to come.