Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
NOVA
Putting on a brave face, I nod and return his smile, though mine is wobbly and unsure. What those women said still haunts me, and their insults bang around in my head.
“You’re with her?”
I wince at the memory of the blonde’s fake laugh, bordering on mocking. “How cute. I didn’t realize you were taking on charity cases.”
My shoulders tense, and I pluck a strand of hair at my nape.
I’m not the only one noticing Aiden’s preferences. It shouldn’t bug me as much as it does, yet here I am, stewing over their words.
“Come back to me, pretty girl.” Aiden taps my stomach, drawing me out of my head. I blink and turn toward him as he rests his chin on my shoulder. “I can have those women taken care of. Just say the word.”
My stomach drops, right along with my jaw.
Of course he figured out what they said was messing with me.
Aiden is quick at figuring out what’s soured my mood.
He started when we were kids, when Mickey’s comments made me shut down.
I didn’t tell Aiden right away, but he’s smart and observant, despite him saying the opposite and being self-deprecating.
“That’s unnecessary,” I say, forcing a smile. “I’m sure seeing me with you has already hurt them where it matters.”
Their egos took a punch. How could they not? Aiden is gorgeous, and his personality makes him that much more attractive. He can be with whatever beautiful woman he wants. And he was seen with me—a curvy woman.
My grin turns sharper, and glee fills my chest.
Now that I’ve had that epiphany, I feel better. I hope those women are in existential crisis, wondering what I have that they don’t.
With that thought in mind, I settle in Aiden’s lap and wiggle my hips to grind my bottom against his crotch. He squeezes my waist, urging me to keep going.
I’m unsure what all to do. It’s not like I can kiss all over his face and neck. Aiden made his boundaries clear with his flings. Even our usual cuddles are too much.
“You’re still tense. You need to relax.” Aiden shifts as he digs into his pocket with his free hand, pulling out a small tin and a lighter.
“I’m trying,” I mutter.
“I know, however, you look seconds away from running out of here.” He tilts his head. “Do you wanna leave?”
“No. I want to help you, and I’m not backing out of my end of the deal.” I blow out a breath, releasing the tension from my chest and tightening muscles.
He huffs a half-hearted laugh and kisses a spot directly behind the headphones, sending heat through my body to settle between my legs. “You’re already helping me.”
“Don’t lie, pretty boy.”
Heat flares in his eyes, and his nostrils widen with a sharp intake of air.
That look—it’s the same one from the other night when he caught me using his helmet to ride my toy.
I avert my gaze and pretend to be more interested in the party. “It’s hard when I don’t know what I’m supposed to do or how to treat you. That’s why I’m tense.”
“I told you to be yourself with me.”
“So you’re okay with me cuddling you or kissing your throat to make those chicks jealous?”
“Just my throat, huh? Not anywhere else?” Aiden’s white teeth flash in a wolfish grin, his fingertips digging into my stomach before loosening.
I snort with a roll of my eyes. “You’d want me to kiss you somewhere else?”
Aiden’s dark chuckle is the only response I get as he opens the metal box in front of me, revealing a rolled joint tucked behind a clasp.
“Have you ever smoked?” He lifts the joint to his mouth.
“No.”
“It’ll help you relax.” He lights the end of the joint and puffs until the flame catches and skunky smoke fills his mouth, curling from between his lips and dancing between our faces. He turns his head, blowing the rest of the smoke away from my face.
“Why not?” I shrug and reach for the joint tucked between his fingers.
He tsks and holds his hand away. “I’ve got a better idea.”
He drags in a lungful of smoke, his eyes dipping to my lips. That one look from him is enough to make my skin buzz. Desire surges through my veins until I’m trembling.
Aiden pulls the joint away. With his other hand, he cups my jaw and angles my head as his mouth descends onto mine. At the first brush of his lips, my head lightens and I sway like I’m about to pass out.
I shouldn’t like him kissing me this much, yet here I am, flustered, and the damned butterflies are back.
Smoke curls between our mouths, escaping from him as he gently blows. I come back to my body enough to realize that he’s not actually kissing me.
His tap on my jaw knocks me out of my fuzzy head, and I part my lips for him to let the smoke in. He blows the rest past my lips, and I suck it into my lungs, scrunching my nose at the weird taste.
It tastes like it smells. Earthy and sour. It’s not the worst, but it’s not the best, either.
Aiden breaks away first and leans against the sofa’s cushions, his tongue swiping over his bottom lip, like he’s chasing the taste of me.
I jump at a woman’s screech that morphs into a laugh. I glance around the room, blinking to clear the remaining spell my brother put me under. I’d forgotten we were at a party, surrounded by people.
“Aren’t you supposed to follow your rules?” I peek at him over my shoulder.
He catches my jaw and pivots my face toward him, forcing me to meet his narrowed eyes. “Fuck the rules. The goal is to make everyone think I’m unavailable.” He nips the corner of my jaw. “Do you regret it?”
“No.” I flinch at how fast my reply comes. How desperate I sound and the way my voice is breathier.
I feel his lips curve into a pleased smile against my skin, his fingers skimming over my throat in barely there strokes. “Do you feel good that everyone saw?”
“Yes.” I swallow hard and bite my bottom lip, stifling a whimper as his fingers trail over my collarbone and inch their way to my right breast.
“What about now?” He cups my breast, his grip gentle as he tests the weight in his palm.
My eyes slam shut, and my body moves on its own, responding to his touch like it’s been waiting for this moment since last night. My back arches, pushing more of myself into his hand.
Aiden hums in approval, his fingers tightening on the mound and squeezing until I wince from the bite of pain. “Open your eyes, Nova.”
My eyelashes flutter, and I barely peel my eyes open, turning them to his face.
He bumps his nose against mine and kisses the corner of my mouth. “Goddamn, pretty girl. I’ll never get over how attractive it is when you listen to me like a good girl.” He kisses the other corner. “Look around the room and tell me what you see.”
My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. I can’t breathe. I can’t think. All I can hear is him admitting that he finds me attractive when I follow his directions, then calling me a good girl.
Aiden chuckles at my flustered silence, catches my chin with his hand, and turns my head toward the room. I blink away the pink haze in my mind and focus on what he wanted me to do.
“Do you see it?” he says.
My eyes widen when I finally notice what he’s talking about. While people are still partying and drinking, they cast curious looks our way. Some aren’t trying to hide their stares or smirks before turning to their friends.
The women from earlier stand on the other side of the room, lips curled in disgust and envy hardening their gazes.
The plan is working.
It’s embarrassing that it’s now clicking together in my head that this is what Aiden meant by asking if I’m ready.
“They’re jealous, wishing they were you right now.” Aiden’s hand disappears from my chin. He catches the tiny heart zipper and lowers it enough to make room so he can slip his hand beneath my top and squeeze my bare breast.
I suck in a shuddering breath and clench my legs together to dull the pulsing between them. “W-wait.”
He pauses before rolling my hardened nipple between his fingertips. “Do you mean that, or are you just saying the first thing that comes to mind?”
“People are watching.” Heat floods my face, and I pant as he works the sensitive nub, pinching it and going off the sounds I make to figure out what I like the most.
“That’s the point, pretty girl.” He kisses my neck and groans at my mewl. “But you didn’t answer my question.”
I turn my face toward him and lay my hand over his, the thin cotton top of my bunny outfit preventing me from touching him. He raises his head and pauses his ministrations.
“I want another hit.” Maybe it will calm my nerves and I won’t care so much that we’re doing public play. Or perhaps I long to feel his mouth moving against mine again while he plays with my body as if he’s finely tuning it just for him.
A devious grin stretches across his face, and he brings the joint to his mouth. He takes a long drag from it, then smashes his lips against mine. I open for him, not caring about the smoke. Our tongues tangle, and the world falls away once more.
“So fucking sweet,” he mumbles between kisses. He shows my other breast the same attention as the first, the whole time making sure the top doesn’t peel back and expose my chest to the crowd.
I hook my arm behind me, locking it around his neck and holding him in place.
My skin buzzes with a new sensation, tingling just beneath the surface and warming me by several degrees until I’m burning for this man.
I roll my hips, grinding my bottom against his groin.
His groan shoots straight to my core, and he shifts, bumping his erection against my ass.
I’m doing this to him. Whether this is all for show, Aiden’s reactions are one hundred percent because of me. And now I feel like I can fight God.
He ends the kiss and drops his forehead against mine, his swollen lips parted with heavy breaths. I shiver as he slips his hand from my top, zips it up and smooths the collar before brushing his fingers through the hair by my face.
“Nova,” he murmurs, and I feel the longing in those two syllables. “I—”