Chapter Twenty
Lyndsey
The house around me feels so much smaller than it has the past few days we have been here.
The blue walls are closing in every second.
I ran away. Aiden had me in a corner and I ran.
I knew I needed to leave, especially when I got another damn text.
One thing is for sure, it’s not Kayla. That idea has long passed.
She is never this persistent. This vile.
Plus, whoever this is has not asked me to date them once, which is a big clue.
Then there is the fact that every text has made sense, not a single spelling error, no short-hand.
Unless Kayla has completely sobered up then there is no way she would have been able to text me so clearly for weeks.
But that now brings up the new question of who the fuck is threatening me and why?
The white blanket in the bedroom that has kept me warm is starkly cold against my heated skin.
Why did I think I had it all together? I thought I could come here, lie to everyone and go back home while being fucking threatened.
When the texts didn’t stop, I should have told Aiden. But no, I kept it to myself and now I’m going to have to pull him into drama he doesn’t need. So I’m hiding, not well, but I’m hiding all the same.
As soon as dinner was done, I excused myself to bed claiming a headache.
Aiden didn’t buy it. I could see it in his eyes that he wanted to come after me but the girls kept him distracted.
I wish there was a lock on the door; keeping him out wouldn’t be fair, but I’m not looking for fair, I’m looking for an escape.
Aiden wouldn’t let that happen, eventually he followed me up, but when I gave him nothing he hopped in the shower. I wish I could wash away all of my worries. For the hundredth time since this afternoon, my shaking hands open up the one-sided text thread:
You can’t run forever.
Secrets will eat you alive, stupid dyke.
You can’t ignore me forever, I will find you.
Hiding in Texas won’t keep me away.
Does your rich little husband know you’re using him for his
wallet?
Poor Aiden falling for your gold digger act.
You have one chance to break his heart or I tell the world what a
sick whore you are. Liar.
Lyndsey, Lyndsey, Lyndsey don’t say I didn’t warn you.
I will go away, let you keep up your straight girl act… for $10,000
that is.
That last one came through when Aiden had his damn hands tangled in my hair.
So I ran. With each text my anxiety has grown but I don’t understand who would care so much about my relationship with Aiden to go to all this trouble to scare me.
Kayla doesn’t need the money – hell, she has more than one woman could ever spend, her daddy keeps her bank filled enough for three people.
Ten thousand dollars would be nothing to her, definitely not worth all this trouble, but there is nobody else.
I thought maybe Aiden had a point when he asked me about overzealous fans but their comments were more about my looks and their apparent disdain for redheads.
There were no threats, nothing that would make me worry about them.
Anyway, the first text came through before the hate comments, someone knew before everyone else.
Someone was keeping a close eye on me apparently, because they know more than they are saying. I can feel it in their hatred.
My new priority is telling Aiden. I thought if I let them wear themselves out, they would get bored, but that isn’t the case. They are escalating.
Asking for his money, wanting to tarnish his reputation through me.
Whoever it is thinks Aiden doesn’t know I’m bi, at least that’s what I think.
But then why would they think the rest of the world would care about some hockey player’s wife’s sexuality?
It doesn’t make sense to me. There seems to be some crossed wires but I haven’t wanted to text them back, I think that would only encourage their behaviour.
Aiden is going through enough. I promised I would be his soft place when William dies, but now he is going to think he needs to fix this for me.
That damn captain attitude making him think he needs to be everyone’s lord and saviour and now I’m going to have to add more weight onto his heavy shoulders. However, I no longer have a choice.
When the en suite bathroom door creaks open I decide now is the best time to get this over with. That is until I see Aiden. Naked and dripping with nothing but a towel covering himself.
“I forgot to grab my clothes,” he has the nerve to say.
His words are dripping with deceit as I watch drops of water flowing down his broad chest. Blond hair trails down from his navel to where he is holding the towel up.
His tattoos sprinkled over his skin look like something to explore.
Every time I glance, I feel like I notice one I haven’t seen before.
“You lie like a rug, Aiden Anders.” My voice is distant, my mind is blank as my eyes slide over all of his exposed skin.
I can see each muscle ripple as he laughs at me.
I don’t need to look at his face to know he is giving me that killer smile.
He laid a trap and I’m falling right into it. Willingly.
“I don’t know what you mean?”
“You forgot your clothes on purpose, you didn’t even get any out to leave out here.”
He just hums, no denial or argument. He wanted me weak.
God, I must be weak because even though I shouldn’t, I want nothing more than to fall to my knees and throw that towel away.
I want to see every inch of his skin exposed to me even though I know it will only be sex.
I won’t be married to him forever, I should get to enjoy it while he is offering.
Especially after I tell him what has been happening, he is going to drop me like a hot potato when he sees how much drama I’m bringing to his door.
I push away those thoughts for now. He is here and, for now, he is mine.
“My eyes are up here, darlin’.” He laughs, walking closer to where I’m sat at the end of our queen bed. Shit, it’s not our anything. It is his.
I need to remember that but my brain has apparently turned off because I tell him, “I’m not looking at your eyes, cowboy.”
His laughter is boisterous in the otherwise quiet room. I stay stock-still watching droplets of water cascade down his chest and down to the trail of hair where his pelvis is hidden from me.
“I wish it wasn’t working but fuck you’re sexy.” I continue to soak in the almost pornographic view of the man I somehow ended up married to.
“Well, wife, it’s all yours if you admit you want it.” He wraps his hand around the hair at the back of my head and tugs so my eyes finally meet his. “Tell me, do you want to blur the lines? Or do you want me to grab my clothes and go?”
“Fuck the lines.”
Then I pounce.
I all but leap from the bed into Aiden’s arms. My legs loop around his trim waist as I kiss him.
I have imagined kissing him a million times but this is more than my deepest fantasies could live up to.
His lips are soft but demanding against mine as our tongues tangle together in a harmonic flow.
He was right, it is explosive. I can feel his damp skin through my thin sleepwear but it just turns me on more.
The fact I’m going to dirty him up. I feel safe in his arms, like nothing can hurt me.
Not even those texts affect me when Aiden has his lips on mine.
His hands squeeze my ass cheeks, causing me to moan around his lips. Fuck, I can feel him on every inch of my skin, I tingle with hundreds of electric shocks bursting in my blood. My heart pounds against my chest and I wouldn’t be surprised if Aiden can feel it against his naked skin.
I’m not easily dominated though, Aiden might want to run this show but I’m giving him a run for his money.
My fingers tangle in his blond locks, tugging his head back for a change.
He growls out a moan and I feel it vibrate against my lips as I kiss over the skin of his neck, the same way he did for me this afternoon.
His skin is still wet from the shower and I can smell the soap he used, I want to drown in it. I would drown in him happily.
Then I’m airborne. Aiden tosses me onto the bed with such force I bounce twice before I can right myself.
Just when I find a comfortable position his long fingers wrap around my ankles, completely pulling me down the bed so he can lean over me.
With his weight steeled on one hand next to my head, his other hand tugs at the hem of my summer dress, pulling it up and over my head in one swoop.
I try to sit up to help him but his body is so close to mine that there is hardly any room to breathe.
Even in my white lace underwear I’m not naked enough for Aiden because a snarl pulls from his lips until I move my hands to unhook my bra.
When the fabric falls away I see his jaw work as he takes me in.
From the freckles that cover my chest to the soft pink colour of my nipples, he enjoys his view.
And, hell, I enjoy mine. I could look at him all day and its seems like he would be happy to do the same but I’m sick of waiting: I tug at the towel still around his hips to free his cock.
My mouth near waters at the sight. He is long and thick but not in a way that makes me think it would hurt, I would hate to not be able to take him all. It’s a task I’m looking forward to and clearly so is he because just then Aiden drops to his knees at the foot of the bed.
Reaching up he pulls my white lace panties down my legs, they are more tanned than usual and it makes me feel sexier somehow. Like it isn’t me doing this but some bronzed, more confident me lying naked in front of this muscle man with him looking at me like I’m a feast.