17. Chapter 17
Chapter seventeen
Aiden
Holy shit, what was I doing? I’d given Lauren everything she needed to file a restraining order against me. And yet, she hadn’t pulled away.
I ran my tongue across her lips, and she opened for me. Fuck, she wanted this too. Our tongues collided and I yanked her closer, letting her feel exactly what she did to me. She let out a whimper, and I rocked into her. I didn’t care that we were on the sidewalk, in the middle of downtown, but she did.
“Stop,” she said.
I dropped my hands from her waist and took a step back. Everly was going to kill me.
“I’m not yours to claim like that. Got it?”
“Claim?”
She held up her hand to stop me. “If we do this, no one knows.”
I shrugged, trying my best to look like I didn’t give a shit. She was carrying my kid for fuck’s sake, but she didn’t want to be seen with me.
“And you can’t talk.”
“Isn’t that implied with not telling anyone?”
“During,” she said, her eyes narrow. “You can’t talk to me at all.”
“Fine, but you can’t either.”
That seemed to surprise her, but she nodded. We looked at each other a beat before I started toward Karma. She ran a little past me, so I had to follow her. Fine by me. Her ass was the best view in town.
She turned down the side street that intersected Main a block down from Karma, and I followed her into the narrow alley that ran behind the storefronts. The employee parking lot and back entrance sat on the corner by the next side street. No one would see us enter the building, and because I’d greased the door, no one would hear us either.
While Lauren fumbled in her purse for her keys, I took the opportunity to mess with her. I pressed my body against her ass and ran my tongue down the smooth column of her neck. She tasted exactly as I remembered, salty with a hint of sweetness. I sucked the sensitive spot just below her ear. Learning all her fun buttons was a challenge I couldn’t wait to master. She let out a soft sigh and dropped her purse. I did my best not to laugh while I grabbed it and handed it back. I didn’t need to take control yet. I just needed her to know I could.
She unlocked the door and motioned me ahead to the staircase that led to her apartment above the café. I crept up the stairs on my toes like a damn robber, and she followed soundlessly behind.
I waited on the small landing at the top for her to unlock the door to her apartment, but she waved me on. I glared at her. How many people had a key to the back door? Not just the ones she knew of, but the people her grandpa had entrusted. The lock was older than Lauren. No telling how many keys were floating around Peace Falls.
She pushed past me to open the door. I followed her into the apartment and all the air rushed from my lungs.
It looked exactly the same as it had the night we spent together. She’d done so many renovations downstairs, I’d assumed the upstairs would be different. Blissfully unfamiliar. It wasn’t.
I couldn’t move my damn feet. I placed my hand on the sofa where we’d talked for hours. I’d laid my heart out on the musty old couch, and the sight of it pulled me right back to that night. I’d told her things I’d never told anyone, not my family, not my best friends. Things I barely admitted to myself. Like how lost I felt without Logan. How angry I was that my dream of playing pro ball had been taken from me. How guilty I felt for caring about a game when Logan would have done more important things with his life.
And she’d opened up too. She’d told me about her childhood. About bouncing from foster home to foster home. Never feeling like anyone had her back. She confessed she didn’t think anyone would like her if she wasn’t perfect all the time. That she rarely trusted anyone.
Lauren hadn’t paused on her way to the bedroom, but she must have sensed I hadn’t followed. She turned and I yanked my hand from the sofa before eating up the distance between us.
I placed my hands on her hips and pushed her gently toward the bedroom.
Thankfully, she’d redecorated the room. The bed looked new. Which, considering the old one’s springs had poked my ass, was a needed improvement.
Lauren didn’t give me time to look for other changes. She ripped off her tank top and kicked off her flats before shimmying out of her skirt.
I wished she’d have let me undress her. I loved peeling a woman out of her clothes. It felt like unwrapping a present. I always took my time like I did with any gift. But Lauren was already down to her mismatched underwear. Her body had changed in the best ways. Her breasts were more than a handful now, her hips rounder.
I kicked off my shoes and pulled my shirt over my head. She sucked in a breath. I stared at her as I dropped my shirt on the floor and unbuckled my belt. Her cheeks reddened and her breath became labored, which made the color in her cheeks deepen. She wanted me, but she didn’t want to want me.
Fine. I could live with that.
Before I shucked my jeans, I pulled out my wallet to grab a condom since I always wore protection when I hooked up with anyone—minus one drunken encounter in St. John. She crossed the room and knocked it from my hands. OK. We’d obviously had unprotected sex before, and I knew I was clean. I knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t put anyone in danger if she had something. She wanted me bare, and that’s what she’d get.
I dropped my pants, and she reached around and popped open her bra. Her breasts were fuller, softer looking. I wanted to bury my face in them.
She dropped her panties and stood before me completely naked. I yanked off my boxers, my dick fully ready to join the party, but when I reached for her, she placed both hands on my chest and shoved me onto the bed.
I’d barely landed, my feet still dangling off the side, when she straddled me and rubbed my cock against her slick folds. I leaned forward to kiss her, but she shoved me flat on the bed with one hand while guiding me into her entrance with the other.
We both groaned as she lowered herself onto me. She leaned forward, placing her hands on my chest and lifted herself off me before slamming back down. She started a pace guaranteed to race us both to the finish.
Usually, I loved when women took their pleasure, but this was Lauren. I didn’t want to be her real-life dildo, even if that’s what I’d signed up to be.
I wrapped my arms around her waist and stood. She let out a gasp and frowned at me. I turned and placed her flat on the bed. A flash of fear shot across her face. Maybe she was worried I’d crush the baby. I knew I wouldn’t, especially this early, but I figured it was better to change positions to put her at ease.
I pulled out and climbed onto the bed beside her. Now she looked pissed and confused. This would be a hell of a lot easier if I could just tell her to kneel and grab the headboard. Instead, I had to position her body like some blow-up fuck doll, which she apparently found funny. All the mirth drained from her face when I lifted her arms and pinned them to the headboard.
That’s right, Princess. I was taking control. I used my torso to bend her forward, so her ass lifted for me. Then, keeping her hands pinned with one of mine, I used the other to guide myself back into her tight heat.
I ran my free hand across her breast and rolled her stiff nipple in my fingers. She let out a moan and squeezed my cock, her breath coming in pants. I knew Lauren was responsive, but this was next level. She wiggled her ass, trying to get more friction, her legs shaking with need.
I started to fuck her with languid strokes. I wanted this to last, but I also wanted to give her what she needed. Multiple times. I slid my hand from her breast to her clit and gave her the speed she wanted. Fast, firm. Unrelenting. She shattered in moments, crying out so loud I wondered if people could hear her in the café below.
I hoped they could. Her body sagged against the headboard, completely drained. Shit. She looked exhausted. As much as I wanted to keep pounding into her, she needed to rest. I pulled out again and she turned to look at me over her shoulder, her eyes questioning.
I climbed off the bed, my cock painfully hard and straining for her. When I reached for my pants, she scooted off the bed and placed my hand on her breast. Thank fuck. She wasn’t done either. I started to lay her down on the bed like before and the same look of fear crossed her face.
I stopped, unsure what to do next. Did she want me to fuck her? Did she want me to leave? My confusion must have been clear on my face because she smirked.
You want to smirk at me, Princess? Fine. I’ll fuck the smirk right off that beautiful face. I just needed to know what positions were off limits.
She pointed at me and pointed to the mattress. I let out a frustrated huff and stretched out on the bed, placing my hands under my head. I guess I could be her fuck toy. This time.
My eyes rolled back when she sank onto me. Instead of the frantic pace she’d set before, she moved her hips in achingly slow circles. Every muscle in my body tightened. I fought to keep still, to keep from taking her like I wanted. Hard. Punishing. Unforgettable.
Instead, I watched her ride me. The sight of her, head thrown back, hands gripping my chest as her breasts bounced above me, made my balls tighten. Fuck, she was gorgeous. I wasn’t going to last long enough for her to come again. As if she could read my mind and wanted to test me, she quickened her pace. I was about to place my hands on her hips to slow her down when she suddenly found her release.
“Aiden,” she cried, her nails digging into my skin.
My name on her lips sent me over the edge. I came and came until my vision darkened. I reminded myself to breathe as she climbed off me and laid on her back panting. When I reached for her, she curled onto her side, putting as much space between us as possible.
It hurt, even though I’d expected her to pull away. She’d made it clear she didn’t like me, that at best she’d ride my dick instead of someone else’s to get off and then go back to pretending I didn’t exist. But she’d said my name when she came. And, fine, I can admit I like holding a woman after being inside her, the comfort of her skin on mine while we’re both relaxed and sated.
I laid my hand on her hip, testing. She didn’t tense, but she didn’t move closer. I swallowed my pride and inched closer to her. She still didn’t move. I wrapped my body around hers and placed my hand on her stomach. She snuggled into me and let out a soft snore. I fought the urge to laugh. She’d fallen asleep. Deeply asleep.
I should leave and let her rest, but what if she woke up and thought I’d ditched her? I could leave her a note but scribbling Text me when you need my cock again on a piece of scrap paper didn’t sit well.
I should leave because I had a million and one things that needed my attention at three different job sites. But fuck it, I had Lauren Arnauld in my arms, my hand resting on her body where the child we’d made together was healthy and safe. I’d been so preoccupied with the baby’s heartbeat earlier, I hadn’t realized how emotional I’d gotten until I tried to speak. It felt strange to cry, even stranger because I was so damn happy.
I might never get an opportunity to hold them both again. I’d learned the hard way to take what I could get from Lauren. I’d thought our incredible night together was the start of something amazing. You don’t share your deepest fears and biggest dreams with a one-night stand. You share body fluids and a good time. But that night wasn’t just about getting off. Not for me, and I suspect not for her either.
I curled my body closer to Lauren’s, savoring the earthy smell of her shampoo, the softness of her skin, before slipping into the most peaceful sleep I’d ever known.