Chapter Twenty-Three
Aiden read the hesitance in the way Charlie held herself and knew he’d pushed too hard.
He should have guessed that she’d dig in her heels if he threw the idea of a real marriage at her with no warning, but the notion of losing her had been weighing on him for days.
The last forty-eight hours, with the shootout and then the breakthrough at the fundraising dinner, had only cemented it.
He wanted Charlie in his life, and he wanted her there for good.
Obviously, she’d take a bit more convincing before she got on the same page, but he was more than up to the task. If he’d learned anything about her, it was that she didn’t respond well to feeling like she was cornered. He’d broached the subject, and now the ball was firmly in her court.
He wanted her to choose him. And not because he’d used sex to manipulate her into staying.
Patience. You have time. He sat back and smiled. “We can talk about it later.”
She gave him a look like he’d just whipped out a poisonous snake and threatened her with it. “What’s your angle?”
They hadn’t had time to build more than a superficial layer of trust. It was tempting to try to charm her, but she’d asked for him to be just him tonight.
So he went with the honest answer. “The subject obviously freaks you out, and forcing you to talk about it isn’t going to do anything except ruin our night.
I’m willing to be patient while you figure out how you feel about the whole thing.
This wasn’t part of the plan you agreed to when you first came here.
” He lifted his glass of wine. “So we won’t talk about it until you’re ready. ”
“You’re being awfully agreeable right now.”
And she was being understandably suspicious. He scrubbed a hand over his face. “What would you do if I tried to force your hand or manipulate you into doing what I want?”
“I’d leave.”
Even hearing the words made his chest ache.
He set the wineglass down. “Exactly. No games. No masks. No manipulations. Just the truth. I want you. I put myself out there and took the first step. I think you want me, too, but you need time. I get that. So take your time, and we’ll talk again after the Eldridge threat is removed. ”
“Removed. Is that the only solution you have for enemies?” She flinched and held up her hand. “Sorry. I’m lashing out. That’s not fair. You just caught me off guard.”
“I know.” Aiden let himself take her in the same way she had when he’d first walked into the office.
Today, she wore a pair of jeans that looked new enough that he figured they were among the items Liam had strong-armed her into buying, with a tank top that clung to her frame in a way that made his mouth water.
The jacket covered up the fact that the majority of her bandages were gone, leaving only the butterfly ones on a few of the cuts.
She looked like a grunge warrior with her alternative hair and ever-present bright red lipstick.
“Tell me about your day.”
She hesitated, but eventually relented. “Carrigan called me to schedule a time to get together next week, and we ended up chatting for a while about the new moves she’s making with her nonprofit.”
He was glad his oldest sister had already made overtures. “She and James have done a lot of good in the last few years.” If he’d pulled his head out of his ass and stood up to their father, she could have been doing the same things under the O’Malley name.
But that was in the past now. Carrigan was happy, which was all that really mattered.
It didn’t hurt that her relationship with James Halloran had effectively doused what was left of the brewing conflict between their families.
“Do you…”
“Do I have any charitable shell company set up to do good in the world? Not yet.” He wished that he’d taken the time to do something exactly like that so he could show Charlie that a life with him didn’t have to be one spent in the darkness.
There was that element, of course. He couldn’t change that.
But it wasn’t just that element. “I like how Carrigan’s run things over there, though. ”
“Me too. It’s not like I thought at all.” She gave him a half smile. “None of this is.”
“But not all bad.”
That earned him a laugh. “No, not all bad.” She finally picked up her wineglass again and swirled the dark red liquid around.
“Though I have to get out of this house. I’ll go crazy if I’m cooped up much longer.
The only reason I haven’t up to this point is because you keep sexing me into submission, and it’s hard to work up the energy to bolt when I’m all blissed-out. ”
He laughed, just as he suspected she had intended. “It sounds like it’s a terrible problem to have.”
“It is. Just awful. Keep it up.”
“In that case…” He took her hand, urging her up out of her seat and into his lap. “It sounds like I’ve left you wanting for too long.”
“More than twelve hours? Without a doubt.” She ran her hands down his chest. “You’d better talk me down so I don’t find a convenient window to slip through in my escape attempt.”
He liked her like this, relaxed and flirty.
He suspected he was getting a glimpse of the woman she’d been before her world came crashing down around her.
Aiden hooked a hand into the band of her jeans, his fingers teasing the top of her panties.
“If you have that much energy, maybe I should keep you with me in my office. You’d have to wear something, naturally, because I’m not overly fond of the thought of anyone else knowing that you’re half a second from coming for me…
A dress. Or a skirt.” He used his other hand to flick open the top button and pull down the zipper, allowing him to dip inside her panties.
“Nothing underneath, though, unless you want to get inventive with garters and thigh-high stockings.”
“I’m not really a garter-and-thigh-high-stocking kind of woman.” She hissed out a breath as he created a V with his fingers and slid his hand up and down, stroking her clit between them. “But I might be willing to make an exception.”
“You could wear anything and it would do it for me. I’m not picky.”
Charlie laughed. “Not picky except when it comes to what I’m wearing under my clothes.”
“Except for that.” He kept his pace slow and controlled, teasing her.
He liked the way her lips parted and the intensity of her eyes on him as her breathing picked up.
There was no danger in her forgetting who was making her feel like this.
They were both here. They were both present in a way he’d never been during sex.
He enjoyed the hell out of it because it was Charlie.
He wanted what was inside her head as much as he wanted what was between her thighs.
She gripped his shoulders hard enough that her nails pricked him through the fabric. “Aiden.”
“Tell me what you need.” He already knew, but he wanted to hear the words from her.
She shifted, widening her legs and then whimpering when the move tightened her jeans so he couldn’t move as freely. “More. I want all of you.”
“Then take all of me.” It felt like he was offering a whole lot more than his cock, but he didn’t take the words back.
Instead, he undid his slacks as she stood and shimmied out of her jeans and panties.
Charlie didn’t once look behind her at the door leading to the house or seem all that concerned that there were people who could walk in on them at any time.
He’d made sure they wouldn’t, but the fact that she trusted him without asking made his heart give a strange leap.
She straddled him again, but he stopped her with a hand on her hip. “Condom, bright eyes.” He dug around in his jacket until he came up with the one he’d stashed there earlier.
“Carrying some around with you? You’re learning.”
“It appears I can be taught.” He guided his cock to her entrance with one hand, using the other to urge her to sink onto him. As tempting as it was to let her guide this encounter, he knew what she liked—what they both liked. “You’re not on top tonight.”
“What—oh.”
He stood and set her in the chair he’d previously occupied, while he knelt on the floor in front of her.
Their height difference meant they lined up perfectly like this.
He spread her legs wider and draped them over the arms of the chair.
A quick adjustment had her ass at the very edge.
“Take off your bra. Let me see you.” His position blocked the line of sight from the door in the minimal chance someone managed to make it past Liam to the deck, and he wanted to see her breasts bounce with every stroke as he fucked her.
“I wish I was wearing your shirt.”
The memory only made his cock harder. He thrust a little. “Later.” She slipped her bra off without taking off her shirt completely, then pulled up her tank top to reveal her breasts. The sight was even hotter than if she’d been completely naked. “Stroke your nipples. They’re feeling neglected.”
“God forbid.” She did as he told her, pinching them slightly, the way he did, her hissed exhale music to his ears. To reward her, he started moving, sliding slowly out of her and then back in, just as measured and controlled.
“Now cup them. Yeah, just like that.” He managed three more strokes and then he couldn’t take the temptation any longer.
Aiden pushed her hands away and cupped her breasts himself, flicking his tongue over one nipple and then the other.
She went wild beneath him, her hands going to his hips and pulling him closer yet.
He surged into her once, twice, a third time.
“I know you’re on the edge, bright eyes.
Let me take you there.” He set his teeth against one of her breasts hard enough that she jerked.
“Oh God.”
“You like that?”
“Yes.” She pulled his head back down to her other breast, and he gave it the same treatment. She was so close, she was quaking around him, but she hadn’t reached the point of no return yet.