Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Aiden had never been more grateful for cars with automatic driving technology.
He had had no faith in his ability to keep his eyes on the road with Evelyn next to him.
He’d barely been able to keep both eyes on the performances, indulging himself with little peeks at her, gauging her enjoyment, watching her bite her lip when the dancers were doing their best to seduce the crowd, delighting in seeing her shiver when he moved her hair to whisper in her ear.
He had cataloged each little murmur of pleasure, each bop of her head to the music.
The car parked itself in her driveway. Aiden turned it off without looking at the control panel, unwilling to twist his body away from the contorted position he’d ridden in for the last half hour.
“Did you have a nice time tonight?” he asked.
“I did. I had no idea Taylor Swift would go on to have such a successful career outside of country music.”
“She’s a legend.”
“Clearly I have catching up to do. Did you have a nice time?”
“Of course. I was with you,” he said, and his heart nearly beat out of his chest as a shy smile bloomed on her face. She ducked her head, trying to hide beneath her hair, and it took everything in him not to reach out and bring her gaze back to his.
Aiden opened his door and walked around the car. He knew she was perfectly capable of opening doors, but an irrational urge to take care of this woman had possessed him.
Who knows how many more chances I’ll get like this?
Aiden opened the door and offered her his hand. When she stepped out, he didn’t give it back. She didn’t try to take it back. They walked to her front door and stood there silently. It seemed unspoken that crossing that barrier was a bad idea.
“Thank you for letting me distract you tonight,” he said, inordinately happy when a grin flashed on her face.
“You’re very good at it. Thank you for distracting me.”
“Entirely my pleasure, dollface.”
Her eyes met his, shining with an anticipation Aiden had hoped would be there.
His pulse raced as his free hand snaked around the back of her neck, tilting her head gently upwards.
The quick inhalation she took was gasoline on the raging fire inside his chest. Before he knew it, her hand grabbed the front of his shirt and dragged his body closer to her own.
He thought he heard her whisper “Fuck it” as she raised up on her toes and brought her lips to his.
The kiss started out gently, a soft meeting of lips.
But her tentative bravery caused something to snap in Aiden, probably his self-control, and the pressure of his mouth on hers increased to match his need, his fingers at the back of her head digging desperately into her hair.
Her mouth parted, and he groaned as their tongues met.
Needing to be closer to her, he backed her up against the cool stucco wall of the front porch as her hands wound around his neck.
His hands slid down her body to grip her hips, and he hoisted her up against the wall for an easier angle.
Evelyn wound her legs around his waist and moaned into his mouth, causing Aiden to nearly combust on the spot.
His cock was already rock hard, grinding against her core and providing her with glorious friction that she seemed to enjoy.
She flexed her hips in a teasing circle, and he gave a sharp intake of breath as he reluctantly broke the kiss.
She took a steadying breath. “I’ll give you this. When you say ‘thoroughly’ you mean it.”
A slow, lazy grin spread on Aiden’s face. “I like to do things right the first time.”
She arched a perfect brow at him. “Don’t they say practice makes perfect?”
“You wanna practice with me, dollface?”
“Yup.”
He chuckled as he lowered her to the ground, savoring the feel of her body sliding down his. Aiden smoothed her hair back behind her ears.
“Good,” he said. “Get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning.
” Aiden kissed her on the forehead and, with a monumental force of will, turned to walk back to the car.
It felt as though he was fighting against an asteroid-sized magnet dragging him back toward her.
He completed the walk to his car, programmed the car to drive him to the nearest twenty-four-hour grocery store, and clenched his fists as his body slowly returned to normal.
He would not let the raging hard-on in these ridiculously tight jeans dictate his behavior. Tonight.
Every atom in his body longed to be inside Evelyn.
But Aiden knew that Evelyn needed a clear head to make the decision that had been laid out before her.
Giving her enough of a distraction to snap her out of her maudlin musings had been his goal.
He’d been selfish to push things along as far as he had.
He wouldn’t think about the fact that this was the first time in a long time that he’d had the opportunity to sleep with someone he’d wanted to, and he’d turned it down. That level of introspection was dangerous in a grocery store.
Aiden strolled the aisles, finding little treats for the moms and crew.
Little reminders of home — or a beloved planet, in Nannette’s case — always helped keep the morale up when the latest haul was starting to feel never ending, and if Vinnie succeeded in talking them into this next job, who knew how long they’d be away.
He loaded his cart with sweet, spiced cookies, frozen dumplings, chocolate spread.
Crusty bread for the freezer, a wheel of brie. Chocolate covered almonds.
He couldn’t stop himself from loading a few pineapples into the cart, too. Evelyn had given him no indication of her decision, but Aiden had a feeling she was going to throw herself headfirst into danger. Again.
Aiden checked out and headed back to the ship. He pulled up to their assigned space at the spaceport and was greeted by Tariel. He was perched on a ladder, a wrench in one hand.
“I thought it might be prudent to change out the serial numbers and designation before we head off to join a coup.”
Aiden saw the panel for the electronic serial number display system was in pieces on the higher ladder steps.
“I knew sending you into that registration office was a good idea.”
“Three months of mind-numbingly boring customer service hell. But we did get some useful tools out of it.”
Aiden laughed and continued on, gesturing at the grocery bags. He hurriedly shoved the groceries into their proper storage containers and headed back outside.
Tariel had removed the panel with the Rising Dawn’s designation.
He was backing down the ladder with it in his hands, and Aiden rushed to help.
They maneuvered the panel back into one of the ship’s storage spaces.
A freshly painted panel was leaning against the wall.
The Glittering Twilight was written in bold blue script, along with the relevant information and a different set of contact instructions.
“Your attention to detail never ceases to amaze me,” Aiden said.
“L.I.N.D.A. helped,” Tariel said, grinning.
They installed the panel and settled in for the night, the uncertainty of the next day contributing to fitful sleep and unsettling dreams.