Always My Forever

36. Aaron

THIRTY-SIX

AARON

Carrying Gemma into my house, my room, into my world, my life, one thought keeps playing on repeat in my head.

This is actually fucking happening.

There’s this warm, squishy feeling overflowing in my chest that, combined with the ball of pure need in my low abdomen, makes me never want to put this girl in my arms down. I keep bringing my lips to her neck, her face, the top of her head, anywhere I can reach, pressing kisses to her as we go. She keeps giggling in response, and that feeling in my chest floats higher, wider, like it’s too big to be contained and it’s expanding out of the constraints of my body.

I force myself to drop her down in my closet, by the rack that houses my T-shirts.

“I’m gonna order dinner for us, then hop in the shower,” I tell her. “You…wanna shower? Or change into something comfier?” My brows feel like they’ve joined my hairline, trying not to be presumptuous about her accompanying me in the bathroom, while absolutely dying to take her against those tiled walls, and yet still silently begging her to give me a minute to collect myself before we go any further. In a word, I’m a mess.

“Mmm,” she ponders it over. “I think I’ll just borrow some of your clothes.” She gives me a little devilish smile, like she’s getting as much pleasure from that thought as I am, but I promise you, she’s not. Something primal stirs within me at the thought of claiming her in such a basic way. Even though she’s stolen countless hoodies from me over the years, seeing her wrapped in my clothing after she just came all over my tongue, it’s like the puzzle pieces locking together in place, how they should be, making a complete picture out of the shambles that’s been my life without her.

I ask her what she wants for dinner, she fucking tells me straight up (I scored big on the girlfriend thing, I know, a mental high ten is in order), so I order it on my phone and then sneak away into the ensuite bathroom before I lose my patience and take her right here on the closet floor.

I’ve put a fair amount of thought into how I’d want our first time to go over these last couple of weeks, and was kind of leaning on taking her away on a trip, just the two of us, maybe to New York? The Four Seasons, or the Waldorf Astoria? Something where we could just be completely spoiled, no responsibilities, no commitments, just focus on each other. Apparently I won’t get that chance, so my only real requirement now is I just wanna not fuck this up, tbh.

She really took me by surprise out there at the treehouse, and I want to give her the chance to digest everything. Make sure she’s not rushing this. But Jesus, I only have so much strength in me. If she’d said she wanted to shower together, I’d be buried inside her up against this wall right now.

Instead, I’m having a quick talk with myself, working to convince myself not to rub one out in the shower with her just on the other side of said wall, trying to reason with my boner. It doesn’t really work, but by the time I’m dressed in a pair of thin lounge pants and white tee, I’m at least down to half mast. A rather painful half mast, but still.

That little chat must’ve taken longer than I thought, cause I find my girl standing at the larger of the two kitchen islands, back to me, as she’s diving into the food already. We got Mediterranean, and she’s got a piece of pita in one hand, a fork with veggies in the other.

I sneak up behind her quietly, letting my eyes soak in those long legs covered only by one of my T-shirts (not any of the shirts from her dresser, mind you—just taking the chance to remind you and me both that she chose something of mine) that hangs just past her cute little ass, and bite my knuckle as I get close to her. Fucking hell, she’s a knockout.

My arms wrap around her middle, my head coming to rest on her shoulder as I kiss her cheek and she startles, jumping just a little, before melting back into my hold. “Hey you,” I breathe into her neck. Can’t help but run my hands up and down her sides, her flat stomach, reach one up under that shirt she’s wearing until she giggles, but she doesn’t slap my hand away or stop me, so I take what I can get for a second, before I reach over her shoulder and snatch her forkful of food with my mouth.

At that, she turns her head around, giving me a playful little scowl before leaning in to give me a kiss anyway. God, she’s cute. I nibble on her neck, her throat, her shoulder while she eats the real food, and eventually the delicious smells win out and I pause to down a plate or two of chicken, veg and hummus. She grabs us a couple of cans of flavored Pellegrino from the oversized fridge to top it all off.

“Damn, Stone. You realize you have like a month’s worth of meals in here?”

Yeah. Never cut my chef loose, so they’ve just been stacking up while I’ve been shadowing her. “Haven’t been around the house much,” I tell her with a shrug. If we’re gonna be spending some more time here, he’ll be happy to hear his creations are getting put to good use once again.

Gem makes a plan to go through the dates on the containers and donate what is still good to some of the people she’d met at the library who might appreciate the fresh food, and then we make our way to the living room and cuddle up on the couch.

What? We’re cuddling, I’ve got no problem admitting it.

She’s glued to my side, her legs thrown over mine, my arms holding her as close as possible, and my lips find some open skin of hers to kiss every five or ten seconds. It makes picking out a movie to watch a little difficult, but you won’t catch me complaining. Def wasn’t exaggerating earlier. This is the best day of my life, no competition.

One of my hands keeps roaming, tracing the side of her that isn’t pressed against me, trailing down to the edge of my shirt that looks so good on her, finding the seam of the panties she’s got on beneath it and running a finger underneath the hem of them, right on her hip. She’s keeping her eyes focused on the selection screen—that makes one of us—but she’s shivering as I touch her. All of my focus is on her, all the little ways she reacts to my touch. I can’t wait to get to know every one of her tells, which spots drive her the craziest, the ways I can make her come the hardest.

Why didn’t we do this years ago? (Don’t answer that.)

I’m such an idiot. (Don’t answer that, either.)

My finger slides forward, over the top of her thigh until it’s approaching where I really wish it were buried. Gemma snaps. In one motion, she’s up on her knees and straddling me, one leg over each side of my body, pressing me back against the couch, her lower lip pulled in between her teeth as she stares down at me needily, the remote long gone, launched halfway across the room.

I thought we were taking shit slow, I was ready to do a little (mostly) innocent sleepover here on the couch, but she’s never looked so sure in her life as she glares at me, eyes glinting with hunger.

“I thought you said I was never going to have to ask you again?” she teases me, and I’m back to rock-hard in a second.

“Fuck,” I breathe out. “You’re perfect.”

My hands come up underneath that tee, holding her on either side of her ribcage, and she lets her head fall back in pleasure for a second. I run my hands up and over her breasts, making sure to pay her stiff nipples some attention before I keep dragging my hands up, lifting that shirt all the way up and over her head. She cooperates, raising her arms so I can pull it all the way off of her, and it gets tossed somewhere the fuck else.

Those sweet little breasts of hers are finally revealed to me, and I waste no time getting acquainted with them. They’re not large by any means, but they’re beautiful, tipped in these soft pink nipples that are already standing at attention for me. Pretty sure I’ve got a new favorite color. I cover each one with a hand, grasping them a little roughly, before leaning in to suck her left one in my mouth, teasing her with my tongue until she’s writhing in my lap. Then I do the same thing to her other side, using my finger and thumb to keep tweaking the one that’s still exposed. The cool air hits the lingering wetness there and my fingers work in tandem with those sensations to drive her crazy.

She’s sighing at the contact, like this is what she’s been waiting for, and her little soft noises are going to be the death of me. Or at least, I thought that’s what would do me in, up until she starts grinding on my erection through the thin pants I’m wearing. I can already feel how warm she is, her panties must be fucking soaked—just like the other pair I stashed in my drawer when we got inside earlier—and I pull back from her chest, groaning at the contact, the friction she’s creating between us.

She leans in to kiss me, hips rolling and rocking, and my eyes shoot back in my head at how good she feels, even through these layers. Regret slams through me for not jerking it in the shower, because I’m pretty sure I’m not gonna last for shit, and man, I really don’t want her to have a bad first time with me.

Me? I’m gonna have a great time whether it lasts one minute or eight. (No chance I’ll be able to hold out longer this time, sorry, I know my limits, but very willing to try to outdo that in rounds two through four later tonight.) But I know this is something she’s been thinking of even longer than me, and I need to live up to her expectations.

The way she’s rocking on me, bringing her hips back so the head of my dick is pressing against her right where she wants me, then just rubbing on it ever so slightly…I’m already about to burst.

“This is what I hoped would happen all those months ago,” she whispers against my lips, hips still moving torturously over me. “When we were right there.” I can feel her gesture with one arm to the spot just next to where we are now.

I open my eyes to look deep into hers. “I think it’s what I was hoping for too, I just didn’t realize it yet.”

“Yeah?” she asks me, and I nod. Her hands come down to the bottom of my T-shirt, and she makes quick work of removing it. “And what do you want now?” she asks, voice silky.

Her eyes trail down the skin that’s now available for her perusal, and her jaw drops when she notices something new there. A black and gray peony, sitting on an intricate axis. Half is beautiful, detailed realism. That’s my life with her in it. The other side of the axis is just basic linework, an outline, a shell of a thing. A reminder of how bare my outlook was without her in my life. A reminder that she is my compass. She is all I need. And to work toward that beautiful future with her every single day.

“I want you,” is my guttural response. “This.” I punctuate my words with open-mouthed kisses to her neck, relishing in the feel of her in my arms, skin against skin. “Forever. However you want me. However you’ll have me.”

Those words make her smile, and she fingers the tattoo delicately before her eyes, her hands, rake over the rest of my chest, my arms, my abs, everything she can see of me. It’s been years of discipline both with my diet and my workouts, but right now every single cheat meal I skipped, every brutal moment I wanted to give up and die in the gym, it’s all been worth it to see her eyes heat like this.

“This is stupid, just so you know,” she says, slapping my stomach like she’s mad at my physique, and I chuckle, giving her half a smirk.

Her hands are still roaming, grasping my biceps. I might flex my arms where they grip her waist a bit, and she inhales sharply, her pupils blowing out at the feel of the muscle underneath her delicate fingers. It’s like she’s absorbing I’m real, this is happening, just like I’ve been trying to come to grips with it myself.

I start moving my hips beneath hers, pumping, rocking and thrusting in time with her little movements and she lets out a soft moan that I need to hear again, from inside of her. I surge forward to take her mouth with mine, moving my lips against hers, forcing her mouth open so my tongue can sweep over hers. She shudders in my arms, and God, I can’t wait to feel her shake around me again.

Her hands come down from my shoulders and chest to yank down at the waistband of my pants, and our mouths part so we can work together to get them down over my hips. When we do (somewhat awkwardly, but whatever), my cock springs free, bouncing out, swaying there heavily, ready for her.

Her mouth makes this little “o” shape, like she’s surprised to find out what I’m working with—or maybe it’s just that I’ve got nothing on beneath my pants, and I have the good sense to look a little chagrined at that.

Can you blame me for trying to feel anything I could of her tonight? I thought it was a dream that this is how the evening would go. She makes this sweet little satisfied noise, like she doesn’t mind at all, and brings her core back over me, pressing directly against my erection, sliding herself up and down against me.

Satisfaction rolls through me at the feel of her, her modest but soaked little underwear all that’s keeping us from being joined, and I know my face shows her just how fucking good it all feels for me right now. I’m much more than pleasantly surprised by today’s turn of events.

“How do you like it, Gem? What’s your favorite way to do this?” I ask her, the need to make her feel so good overtaking everything for me.

She places a soft kiss to the ink for her that’s overtop my heart. “With you,” she says, a little shyly, but not at all unsure. The confidence in her words alone…fucking hell. My head falls back and I groan at the sincerity, the certainty in her words. “Beyond that,” she continues, “I dunno yet. I want to try it all with you.”

My head pops back up, locking my vision on her as my hands grasp her hips, still her motion so she focuses on my words. “Baby, I want to try everything with you, too. I want to find all your favorite ways to come.” A blush heats her cheeks, but I don’t stop. “What makes you feel so good you forget your own name. If you like it slow and sweet, or rough and deep.” A pained whimper sounds from deep within her throat, and I smirk. “If you like it from the bottom, or staring up at me above you, or some kinky shit I don’t even know yet.” She tucks her head into her shoulder, that blush heating down her neck now, all cute as shit. “I want to spend the rest of our days finding every single thing that makes you give up those fucking noises for me like you did earlier.”

A smile breaks out across her face, and a sweet little chuckle comes out with her words. “Slow down, kid. Can we start with trying it like this?” She gestures between us, how she’s straddling me, my dick so close to inside of her.

That fucking nickname for me. An unintentional growl comes out of my mouth, and I lean forward, take her lip between my teeth, bite it gently, reprimanding her.

“I’m not a kid to you, I’m your fucking man , Gem. Do I need to prove that to you?”

She fucking giggles at me, sucking that same lip in between her teeth, sawing it back and forth as she studies my face. “Maybe you do,” she breathes out, letting the silence hang there for a moment. And then she says, “Show me what you got, Stone.” That challenge is all I needed to hear.

She pushes me back by my collarbone, pressing against me with both palms until I’m as far back as I can go, and she shimmies her underwear off before settling back in over me. When she makes contact with my length again, she’s so fucking wet, I let out another groan.

Watching her bite her lip, sliding up and down me, our bodies touching for the first time, so goddamn close to where I need to be, but not quite there yet…I think I might blow my load all over her bare skin before this even gets started. And that visual isn’t helping me hold out at all. Her, dripping in my cum. My eyes flutter shut for a second, and I think hers do, too. I’m starting to learn she likes to tease and be teased, and I file that away for later. Right now, I need inside of her.

“I don’t—let me go grab a rubber,” I tell her, sitting forward so I can run to my room, but she isn’t having it.

She shakes her head slowly, pushing me back down again. “I never want to feel anything between us ever again, Stone. I just want to feel you. Inside of me. Right. Now.”

And who the fuck am I to let my girl down?

I rotate slightly, laying all the way back down on the seat of the couch, gripping her hips to bring her with me. She gets up on her knees, taking me in her hand for the first time, and my cock jumps at the contact, the feel of her flesh wrapped around me.

“Ah, fuck,” I groan, and her eyes spark.

I hold on to her waist, sliding my hands down to where those gorgeous hip bones of hers give me the perfect grip on her as she lines me up with her entrance and slides the tip inside of her. We both let out a slew of noises, eyes rolling back, shudders breaking out across both of our bodies.

She’s so warm, so fucking tight, so goddamn wet, and she’s sinking down so slowly, stretching to my girth as she goes. Watching her struggle to take all of me just became my new, all-time favorite visual. And that pink is for sure my new favorite color.

“Fuck,” I whisper. “You’re so fucking perfect, Gem. I knew you’d feel like a goddamn dream, but this is insane.”

She smirks at me, settling in as we’re finally joined, fully, as deeply as we can be, and then she starts to ride me. I hold her hips, steadying her, stabilizing her as she gets going, finding a rhythm that she likes. I can tell she hasn’t done this a whole lot, seems pretty new to it, her movements a little uncertain, exploratory. A vicious thrill of masculine pride lights up my insides at the thought that I can be the one she learns all of her favorite tricks with. I might have missed out on years of this with her before now, but I can try to make up for that as best I can, put in the work to make sure she has the best possible experience with me every time.

It’s not long before we’ve found something she’s enjoying, a pretty fast pace, with her hands on my collarbone, leaning forward to hold herself steady while I grip onto her hips for dear life as she goes fucking ham on me. She feels better than I ever could have imagined, and those little noises as I slip in and out of her are positively obscene. Everything about this moment feels perfect. Inevitable, really.

“You mean…to tell me…we could’ve been doing this for the last ten years?” I gasp out between groans as she works herself up and down my length. “Fuuuuuck,” I grit out after she does a particularly good little combo. “I have so much time to make up for with you, baby.”

“Yeah,” she manages between gasps. “You’re kind of an idiot for sleeping on this for so long.” She shoots me a spicy look that makes my balls tighten and damn if I don’t wanna make up for that time rtfn.

I bring my knees up behind her, giving her something to lean back against, so she can experiment some more. She changes the movement of her hips, doing little circling motions now, like she’s exploring what our two bodies can do between them. I feel my length slip deeper inside of her, bottoming out, and it hits this spot that feels so damn good. We both groan at that.

I can’t even form words to tell her how good this is for me, so I try to show her instead. Holding her in place above me, I start pumping my hips from beneath her, which gets her to make these little noises, these quiet little moans that I’d probably sell my left nut to hear her make again. Shit, I’d give up both nuts for the chance to make her make those noises day in and day out for the rest of our lives.

I pump in and out of her a few more times, hitting that same spot on each thrust.

“How’s that?” I ask her. She drops her head back, letting that soft hair hang and tease my knees, bent beneath her as she keeps moving on me, just living in the bliss of the moment.

I’m fighting to hold out for her, to get her off before I let go, but she’s not making it easy on me.

“Mmhmmm,” is her only verbal response, which makes me grin. Seeing my Gem all speechless and shit, it’s a rare sight, and a cute one.

I lean forward, holding myself up (saying silent thanks to my trainer for all those abs days he wouldn’t let me miss) so I can take one of her breasts in my mouth, sucking on her nipple, teasing her with my teeth and tongue. She shudders at the contact, and digs her hips into mine in response, grinding on me and increasing the contact between us.

The warm heat, the tight press of her around me, the way she clenches when my dick hits her just right, it’s so damn good. The faces she’s making, the way her little body looks on top of me, full of me, it’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.

I pull back so I can watch her face, monitor her response as my thumb seeks out her clit and starts rubbing it, playing with it while my cock fills her with every thrust. Her eyes pop open, staring down at where our bodies are joined in disbelief, and she makes the sexiest combination of sounds my ears have ever heard. Something like surprise and salvation, and everything a man wants to feel like he’s doing for his woman.

Her eyes are on me, my hand, where our bodies are connected. Mine are on her, watching her watch me. I can’t tell who’s more enthralled, but it’s probably me. She looks like she could cry, and I’m guessing it’s at this finally coming to be between us. I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed myself, if I’m being honest. The things I’m feeling between us right now…it’s what I’d always hoped to find, but never came close to with anyone else. Not sure if I should punch myself for missing it for all this time, or just revel in the fact that I finally found it, finally saw her for the perfection she is. I’m going with the latter. Even if I’ll probably never stop beating myself up over the way I treated her, I know for damn sure I’ll never stop working to show her how much I appreciate her now. This woman is my life, my purpose, from here on out.

We’re well past the one minute mark and rapidly approaching the eight, and I know I need to finish her fast. I can feel she’s close, so I tell her what I need her to hear, what I want her to remember most about this moment. My truth.

“I fucking love you, Gem,” I whisper, my thumb still circling her clit, feeling her start to tremble around me again.

“Fuck,” she groans back, like those words are going to send her over the edge. She meets my gaze head on, so much emotion, passion brewing in those bright, honey-and-cinnamon eyes of hers. She brings one hand up to cup my cheek delicately and tells me, “I love you, Aaron.”

Her jaw falls open, mouth forming a little “o” again, her eyes never leaving mine as she trembles and shakes around me, her walls clenching my shaft for all we’re both worth, as she rides out her orgasm silently. She watches me the entire time. I’ve never seen anything more perfect, more heartfelt, more beautiful in my life. The second she starts to ease up and come down, I give in and burst, releasing everything I’ve got deep inside of her. She watches me throughout my entire release and comedown, still moving up and down on me softly until I’m spent.

I wrap my arms around her back and pull her down flat on top of my chest, wanting to hold her as close as possible, skin to skin, to revel in this moment, that experience of every single wall between us being broken down. I’ve never felt so emotionally connected to a partner before, and it felt so much deeper, so much more satisfying and gratifying than any sex I’ve had before.

“I’ve never…” The words in my head aren’t coming out of my mouth. “I mean, it’s never…” I shake my head, laughing. “Wow, Gem. Just. Wow.”

She pulls back a little to take in my expression. “Took you long enough to catch on,” she teases. For that, I grab her ass and give it a nice squeeze, a playful scolding noise coming out from where I’m biting my bottom lip, squinting at her.

“I’m never letting you go now, you know,” I tell her.

At that, she kisses me deeply, taking away any remaining breath I still had. She gives me one more peck and says, “Good. It’s you and me, Stone. Like it’s always been.” She tilts her head to the side, smiling at me. “But now, with more fun!” She says that last bit like she’s doing voiceover on a cheesy infomercial, and I laugh at her.

She smiles back at me and climbs off of me, stepping away.

I pout at her in a way that should be pretty adorable, it’s my puppy dog face, but she doesn’t come back to me. “Where are you going?” I ask her.

She looks between my face and her thighs a couple times quickly, a little unsure. “Your, uh, your goods are kinda leaking out of me.”

The laugh that escapes me is way too loud for the moment, but I can’t help it. She’s so fucking adorable, hits me with humor at the most unexpected times, and I’m so glad that sex didn’t change that between us. I roll over into the couch, doubling over with how hard I'm cracking up.

I hear her giggle back, and squint my eyes to watch her run away to get cleaned up.

When I catch my breath, I follow her, joining her in the shower and getting her filthy all over again. And again for good measure. And oh, if you’re wondering, I definitely pass the eight-minute mark by the third time.