7. She Didn’t See Any Red Flags #2
My world stayed dark. “Please don’t be rough with me,” I pleaded.
Aiden released my wrist. “You want me to be gentle, love?” He kissed the skin in a silent apology. “I can.”
Another piece of my shattered heart glued back together. He didn’t question why I asked; he simply listened.
I opened my eyes to a soft smile.
“There’s my girl,” he said. “Can I see the rest of you now, too?”
After waiting for my nod, he unknotted the belt around my waist. But before his fingers plucked open any buttons, I eased off the sheets, a little unsteady when I stood up.
I took a step away. “I’ll just turn out the light—”
“No.” Aiden snagged my hand, and, sliding to the edge of the bed, he coaxed me to stand between his knees. “Leave the light on.”
“But I’m…” Not much. Ordinary. Too… Lola .
“You’re beautiful.”
A glimpse of his hooded eyes and flushed cheeks reassured me that he was telling the truth. He flicked off each button of my dress, starting at the very top, and nudged it open to reveal pale skin.
“God, yes. See?” His palm slid up my thigh, pulling me close enough to sigh into the bare curve of my stomach. “So beautiful. What can I do to show you? What do you like?”
Feeling braver, I swept off one shoulder of my dress, then the other, silk pooling at my feet. “I’d like it if, um…” My hands twisted behind my back, and my bra was unhooked, too.
“Tell me,” Aiden pleaded, calloused fingers finding their way under lace straps to slip my bra down my arms and to the floor. “Whisper it if you’re shy.”
I gnawed on my bottom lip. Why was this part so hard? I was already utterly exposed, wearing nothing but sheer pink knickers and a shaky smile. But my fear wasn’t just about him seeing my body; it was about all my insecurities and hopes as well.
I needed to keep being brave.
A whisper was all I could manage in the end. “I’d like it if you could use your mouth, please.”
“Such sweet manners.” Goosebumps sparked under barely-there fingertips over my breast, my stomach, my belly button, and ended with a whisper of pressure to the already damp lace between my legs. “Here, love? You want my mouth here?”
I nodded.
“God, yes,” he said. “Let me do that. Come here.”
A guiding hand brought me back to the bed, and his mouth landed on mine in a deep kiss. His belt buckle clinked. A zipper whispered open. Fabric rustled, and his pants were down, off, on the floor, with only thin layers of cotton and lace left between us.
But there was still no rush.
We melted into slow, lingering kisses, exploring each other again with unhurried care. Even the fantasies I’d barely let myself believe hadn’t prepared me for the intensity of his gaze or just how much I loved curling my fingers into the ridges of muscle along his naked back.
Breaths ragged, Aiden’s lips hovered above mine. “Do you like how I kiss you, Lola from the City?”
“I hate when people call me that,” I huffed.
“Oh?” His thoughtful hum rumbled along my ribs before his lips teased my breasts. “How about… Luscious Lola?”
I laughed. “Absolutely not.”
“Still no?” A shiver skated over my skin when his fingers curled around the waistband of my pretty pink underwear. “Do you like it when I call you love ?”
“That’s my favourite.”
“Mine too.” He slipped the lace down my hips and kissed my ankle as the delicate fabric disappeared somewhere on the floor with the rest of our clothes. “I’ve called you that in my mind for weeks.” His teeth grazed along the inside of my thighs, little teasing bites that made my heart race.
“I call you a big brute in mine…” I sighed.
His shoulders shook as he laughed, but I couldn’t see his smile. He buried his face between my legs, and the first erotic lick— heaven .
“You boss me around.” Oh, his voice was so husky. He liked doing this for me. “Don’t be shy.”
“O-okay.”
My stammered instructions gave way to something bolder when he obeyed, only drawn out more by his hot, wet mouth on my clit, the scrape of his beard on my thighs, and the low, guttural sound he made when I tugged at his hair.
Embarrassed, I lifted my head from the pillow and whispered, “S-sorry.” He made it so easy to get carried away.
Aiden’s eyes found mine. Still no smile, but something gentle lingered in his expression. “You’re so sweet and quiet. You keep digging those little fingers into me, so I know you feel good.”
I stroked his bristly cheek. “I feel incredible.”
“Then let me keep going…”
I never wanted those moments with Aiden to end—but at the same time, I so desperately did.
I chased the knot of pleasure burning inside me, feeling it wind tighter and tighter as his mouth eagerly brought me closer to the edge.
Then, everything blurred, a spark rushed from my toes and exploded through me, tumbling me into a dreamy abyss.
Dazed, I could only stare at the ceiling and listen to the contented sighs that rumbled in Aiden’s chest every time my body shuddered with the aftershocks of the kisses he pressed to my thighs, my stomach, my breasts, my throat…
He stood, pushing his underwear down. My tongue darted out to wet my lips, and lust distracted me from focusing on anything except the manly body in front of me. His eyes hooded, one of his big hands lazily stroked up and down his hard length, the other tracing the curve of my hip.
The groan that followed didn’t sound sexy, though. It sounded annoyed.
“I don’t have anything,” he said.
“Hmm?” I dragged my eyes away from all that delicious, rugged man to blink up at him.
“A, um… Yeah. I don’t have one. I know some guys carry one around in their wallet, but… I honestly didn’t think we’d get this far tonight.” His eyes slid to the nightstand. “Do…you?”
It was sweet that he was shy about asking for condoms. “Bottom drawer.”
There were more than enough options for him to choose from, next to the tissues and a random tube of lip gloss.
Hopefully, the pharmacist didn’t gossip as much as the church ladies…
Nothing else of interest was in that drawer.
The items I needed to feel safe—the pepper spray and the knife—were hidden in the one above. I’d never tell Aiden that, though.
I pushed old memories and fears away. Tonight was about him. Us. And Aiden was a master at distracting me with kisses.
The bed dipped, and his mouth found mine, leaving me no chance to think. And I didn’t need to. My aching body knew exactly where I needed him. I reached for Aiden, guiding him over me, his weight sinking me into the sheets as his hips settled between my thighs.
“I want you,” I whispered.
“Do you?”
“Yes. Very yes.”
“Even though I’m a big brute?”
“Especially for that reason. Can…” I tentatively reached a hand between my legs. “I don’t want to be greedy, but can I… when we…?”
“God, yes.”
The slow, wet swirl of my fingers over my clit was bliss.
More than anything, I loved the way he watched me.
That intense scowl. The serious, sexy frown.
Like he couldn’t quite believe it. Awed .
I only paused my own pleasure to feel it fully—that moment, the first time—when Aiden’s restraint finally gave way and he slid his cock inside me on a broken, shuddering moan.
“See,” he murmured, trailing light fingers along my hip. “Nice and gentle.”
I gasped in breath after breath. Those first thrusts didn’t feel gentle.
They felt deep and too full, but the painful, longing ache to be close to someone had finally been soothed.
Aiden was inside me. With me. My nails carved into his skin, and with every muffled cry against his neck, I clung tighter, desperate to keep him there.
“Still those quiet little moans,” he murmured, moving in a slow, deliberate rhythm. “Just for me to hear, isn’t that right?”
“Yes.” I arched my back, my nipples aching and hard against the crinkly hair on his chest. He needed to be closer. “Just for you.” My legs parted wider, my hips grinding against him, pushing my hand firmer to my clit.
He moaned his praise between kisses and the steady rhythm of his body moving with mine.
He liked it when I touched him, so I touched him everywhere.
One hand kept busy between my legs, but my other hand was free to roam.
I loved running my fingers along the smooth muscles of his strong arms more than anything else, and his deep, manly grunts of pleasure only made the ache for another release twist tighter inside me.
“Lola, I had no idea…” A light sheen of sweat glistened on his bare skin, his muscles straining, fighting to hold back. “It shouldn’t be this good. I can wait—”
“I want you to come.”
“God.” Aiden’s rhythm faltered, his hips driving into me. “Not— God, not yet.”
Sweat slicked my thighs against the pretty pink sheets, the bed squeaking almost enough to be distracting, but he anchored me back in the moment.
His palm cradled my cheek, holding me close as I worked my fingers over the desperate ache between my legs until I shattered again, moaning a sigh into the space between us.
His restraint broke with it.
“Lola… My Lola…” He kissed me as if he couldn’t bear to stop, only pulling back to murmur, “Why would you want me?”
Our foreheads touched as a deep, broken moan slipped from his lips, and he finally gave in. I held him close, his ragged breaths catching in my hair, his heartbeat thudding against my flushed, naked skin. I didn’t want to let go. Not yet.
A moment like that was rare. Precious. Worth remembering.
And I let myself believe Aiden felt the same because he kissed me so tenderly and whispered, “This is the best night of my life.”