Chapter 9
NINE
NOVA
I yelp as Aiden jerks me backward, his fingers circling my throat in a firm but gentle grip. His face hovers close to my tipped-back head, his stormy eyes full of heat and amusement.
“Horrible things to you?” His lips curl in a mocking smile. “Would you call spending the rest of the day with your boyfriend’s head between your thighs horrible?”
My lips part in surprise, and my stomach flips.
The sound of a camera shutter fills the quiet room as I stare up at him, too stunned for words. His thumb mindlessly strokes my throat, right over my fluttering pulse. His smirk widens to a grin, and he lowers his head until his lips are dangerously close to mine.
“Cat got your tongue, pretty girl?” he murmurs, and somehow, his voice deepens.
I snap out of the spell he put me under. If he wants to pretend and tease me, then it’s only fair if I play back. Especially when he’s looking at me as if he’s waiting for me to tease him in return.
It’s practice. He’ll let me know what I need to work on if I try this whole flirting thing.
I wiggle my hips to grind my ass against his erection that’s now nestled between my cheeks. He sucks in a ragged breath, his eyes widening a fraction.
I feign an innocent smile and roll my hips again, earning a guttural groan from him. “And what would you be doing with your head between my thighs?”
I already know but choose to play oblivious. I’ve watched enough porn to be well-versed in eating pussy. Do I have that experience? No. But for whatever reason, I want to tease Aiden and hear it come from his lips, blurred lines be damned.
Aiden’s nostrils flare, and he licks his bottom lip, as if he’s imagining eating me out, even though we both know he won’t. His fingers tighten around my neck.
“I think you know, but since you asked . . .” He releases my throat and skims his fingertips between my breasts. “I’d spread your pussy lips apart so I can suck on your little cli—”
I jerk upright and lean forward to focus on the computer screen, though I’m unable to see anything. My heart thunders within my chest, and I bite my bottom lip to quiet my heavy breathing.
“Nova?” Aiden straightens and hesitantly touches my waist.
I thought I could handle hearing him tell me what he’d do, but the picture he was painting was . . .
My thighs squeeze together to stop the pulsing between them. It doesn’t work. If anything, it intensifies until it’s close to painful.
“Talk to me, pretty girl.” Aiden rests his hand on my stomach and squeezes.
I center myself by taking another calming breath before I peek at him. “I’m supposed to pretend to play a game, remember?”
He cants his head to the side, his gaze steady on my face as he searches for signs of discomfort.
I force a smile, despite my stomach still knotting itself and my panties now being drenched.
I put on an act in hopes of not upsetting him.
He’s always been sensitive to my rejection, even as kids.
If there’s one thing I hate, it’s letting him down or upsetting him.
Having found whatever answer he was looking for, he nods and squeezes my stomach roll. “Go ahead, then. I’ll keep taking pictures.”
The little stomach squeeze sends another wave of heat through my veins and between my legs. I turn toward the computer and pretend I’m playing, but I’m sure I’m doing a horrible job since all my attention is on him and the way he’s touching me.
He adjusts his hips, and the movement pushes his erection against my ass. The camera’s clicking fills in the silence. I sink my teeth into my bottom lip and act like I don’t feel Aiden’s hard dick.
I lean forward and work the keyboard with one hand while moving the mouse with the other. Aiden snaps more shots of us in this position. He lingers behind me, a darkened figure in the shadows, with bursts of pink highlighting his faded silver hair.
The space between us feels oceans apart now, and not just physically. He said he’d treat me like his girlfriend, and yet he’s been silent since I got embarrassed.
It’s unlike him, and I hate it. This is what I was worried about with us fake-dating. Things getting weird and ruining our relationship. I just want everything to remain the same so that I don’t lose him.
Aiden must be on the same wavelength as me because he rests his hand on my thigh, his fingers circling the exposed skin that’s dangerously close to my center. “You’re so cute when you’re trying to concentrate. You know that?”
My spine straightens, and I turn to him, my eyebrows pinched together. “Cute?”
He grins, flashing bright white teeth. “Yeah, baby. You’re cute.”
My lips pinch together, and I stare at him, unable to come up with anything to say back to him. Sometimes, I’m quick on my feet, but this time, it’s different.
I’m shutting down. Just like I do whenever I think Brandon is hitting on me.
Aiden notices—because he always does—and straightens to wrap his arm around my middle. He kisses the crook of my neck, all while snapping pictures.
“Let’s get a little more comfortable.” He kisses a sensitive spot behind my ear and snaps one more picture before lowering his arm. “We’ll move to the bed.”
I nod, still unable to use my voice.
Aiden squeezes me in a hug. “Do we need to stop?”
I shake my head.
He pecks my shoulder before easing me off his lap. I follow him to my bed and linger at the edge as he drops onto the mattress and gestures for me to get on him.
When I don’t move, Aiden pushes himself up onto his elbows and smirks. “I’ll be a good boy, I promise.”
My knees buckle, and I steady myself with a hand on the mattress.
Did he really just say—
Aiden scoots backward until his back meets the padded pink headboard. He pats his lap. “C’mon, sis. You still want to make that guy jealous?”
It’s like he knew the magic words to drag me out of my head.
I smile and ease onto the bed. “How do you want me?”
Aiden’s eyes darken, but he keeps the lopsided grin in place, although it tightens like he’s forcing it to stay there. “Straddle my lap and act like you’re cuddling me.”
I warily eye him and do as he said. As I crawl onto his lap, he envelops me in his arms and hitches me higher until my cheek rests against his chest and his arm hooks beneath my ass—a perfect fit.
Warmth blooms in my face from how dangerously close his hand is to the crease of my bottom as he holds me in place.
“Relax,” he murmurs into my hair. “It’s only me.”
I huff. “I am relaxed.”
Aiden snorts and pats my thigh in a mock spank. “If you consider cuddling with a plank of wood relaxed, then sure. Breathe. If you have to pretend that I’m Brandon, then do it.”
My eyes squeeze shut, and I take a breath through my nose to calm my racing heart. It doesn’t help that I’m still turned on after he whispered how he’d suck on my clit. I can’t get the image out of my head, which doesn’t help the other accidental fantasies I’ve had of my brother.
Aiden rubs my back and kisses the top of my head. “Or you can pretend that we’re just cuddled up during a storm.”
My shoulders relax, and my stiff muscles melt. I loosen my hold on him and bury my face in the crook of his shoulder and neck.
Aiden hums. “That’s my girl. Keep doing that.”
His phone clicks as he takes snapshots of us like this. The noise fades as I focus on the feeling of being held by him and how safe he makes me feel. I turn my head to breathe in his sweet and clean scent, which helps keep me in the headspace he put me in.
Reminding me of how he helps me during a storm was a great way to break my mental spiral. Sometimes Aiden will whisper comforting words. He’ll say he’s here with me to keep me grounded and prevent me from returning to the night I lost my mother.
Placing my hand on Aiden’s chest, I kiss a spot in the crook of his shoulder.
His sharp inhale and stiffening posture don’t escape me, which adds a thrill that I don’t want to admit to.
But he doesn’t stop me. He keeps snapping photos and squeezing my thigh, as if he’s silently urging me to continue.
I picture it’s Brandon that I’m kissing, which helps make this less weird. I kiss another spot, earning shaky breaths from him. His dick jerks against my core and hardens the more I kiss his neck.
Mind drugged and forgetting the point of us doing this, I trace along the column of his throat with my lips. He tilts his head to give me more access. I drag my tongue over his fluttering pulse and roll my hips against his to find relief from the throbbing between my legs.
“That’s it,” he says, his voice pitched deeper and bordering on a growl. “Keep pretending I’m him.”
Aiden shifts until he’s lying on his back with my front pressed against his chest. He cups my ass and hisses between his teeth as I nip his neck and soothe the sting with my tongue.
He tastes just as he smells. Sweet and clean.
“You’re doing so good.” He sucks in another ragged breath as I rock my hips against his. “Just imagine how jealous he’s gonna be when he sees these pictures.”
I shudder at Aiden’s whimper when I slide my pussy against his erection. His shorts make it seem like he’s not wearing anything at all, and I wonder if he’s even wearing boxers. The question disappears when he groans again, and it’s like a pleasurable electric current shot straight between my legs.
Him talking me through this and painting a picture of Brandon is enough to send me over the edge. It’s easier to pretend I’m sucking on Brandon’s neck instead of my brother’s. Their voices are so similar that it’s easy to imagine I’m grinding on my crush.
Aiden mumbles something that I don’t catch or care to ask him to repeat. I kiss the same spot that makes his dick jerk against me. I suckle on the skin, intent on leaving behind a hickey.
He says something again, his voice louder, but the words fade as I zone in on making him moan again. I want him to whimper my name and praise me for doing a good job.
“Nova, please,” he whimpers. He grips my ass in a bruising hold, and I’m not sure if it’s a warning or a plea.
A wave of dizziness slams into me, and I mewl against his throat, my body moving on its own and seeking relief. I want to see his tanned skin bruised and marked by me. They’ll be great for the pictures, but deep down, I want—
“Fuck,” Aiden growls. His hand fists my hair. A whimper slips past my bruised lips as he jerks my head away from his throat and forces me to look at him. Aiden’s stormy eyes narrow, his pupils blown and his lips parting with every harsh breath. “No hickeys.”
“Why not?” I straighten into a sitting position on his waist. “It’ll be great for the—”
Aiden’s fingers tighten in my hair, and he jerks me closer to him. “No. Hickeys.”
I wince at the pinch on my scalp. He immediately loosens his hold, a flash of regret crossing his features.
“I’m sorry, pretty girl.” He swallows hard and smooths his palm over my head, then sits up. “I think we’ve got all the pictures we need.”
I tug at a strand of hair at my nape. “I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?”
He huffs a laugh and sweeps his tattooed fingers through his messy silver hair, shoving the longer strands out of his face.
Then he cuts a look in my direction. “No. You didn’t.
You were great. It’s . . .” He swallows hard and grabs me by the waist and lifts me off him, then sets me on the bed. “I have rules, and I never break them.”
“The ones you mentioned earlier?” That center around sex?
He nods and slips off the bed. With his back facing me, he adjusts his shorts and peeks at me over his shoulder. “We’re gonna take a quick break while I shower and get ready for the day. Don’t answer that guy’s text, okay? Make him wait.”
“Okay.” My eyebrows pinch together. His mood changed in the snap of a finger after all the flirting and dirty talk. I did something, and it can’t be about the rules. There’s something else he’s not telling me.
Aiden grabs his phone, then disappears into our joined bathroom and shuts the door behind him.
I drop backward onto the mattress, my pillow catching my fall, and I stare at the glowing pink ceiling.
My lips still tingle from his kisses, the ghost of his bruising touch remaining on my waist and ass as a stark reminder of how I allowed my brother to touch me. And how I enjoyed every second of it.
I touch my bottom lip. It’s still sensitive and bruised from his kisses.
“No hickeys. It’s part of my rules.”
Now I’m curious about what other rules he has.
I shake my head. It’s none of my business, and I refuse to break the no-sex rule with him.
The shower switches on, and I glance at the closed bathroom door.
I wonder what else Aiden has planned for us.