Chapter 8 #4
He scooped her up without any warning, making her squeal and laugh as he dropped her onto the sofa, tucking her into one corner.
He grabbed her feet and lifted them so he could sit and lower them into his lap.
‘Here.’ He wrapped his hands around her calf, and started to slowly knead. ‘You OK with this?’
‘OK? Hmmm, yes.’ Mia sighed happily as he worked away at the slight, very, very worthwhile ache left over from their earlier activities.
‘You know, that sounded a lot like the noise you made when I slid my fingers…’
‘You’re awful!’ She laughed.
‘I’m not the one making sex noises…’
‘Please don’t make me want to kick you. I was enjoying this.’
‘OK, I’ll behave.’
‘Do you ever?’ Mia couldn’t resist nudging her toes under his ribcage, making him jump.
‘Don’t tickle me,’ he warned, eyes flashing.
‘Or what?’
‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’ His voice was low with an edge that made her shiver.
She couldn’t resist the challenge and wriggled her toes to make him squirm. He grabbed her ankle, dragging her foot away with surprising ferocity. ‘I warned you.’ He tickled the sole of the offending foot until she was squirming and gasping for breath and mercy.
‘Feeling sorry yet?’ He ran a single finger along her foot.
‘Not really.’ Mia giggled.
‘And you accuse me of not behaving.’ He shook his head, clearly amused, and started massaging the foot he’d just been abusing.
‘Oh.’ Mia let her head fall back with a happy groan. ‘Great orgasms and a foot rub? You can definitely come again.’
‘Give me a few more minutes to recover…’ He chuckled, his thumbs still working deep circles into the soles of her feet.
‘You are terrible.’
‘Is that a no?’
‘I didn’t say that.’
‘Good.’ He dropped a kiss onto her ankle before switching to her other foot.
‘Aiden?’
‘Yeah?’ He concentrated on her foot.
‘Can I ask you something, without it becoming a big thing or changing anything?’
‘Sure thing, Princess.’ He carried on rubbing.
‘Do you do this for all your… umm…?’
‘Lady friends?’ He supplied the words without breaking rhythm. ‘No. I don’t practice reiki on them either. Or make them taste-test my bakes. I save those favours for my favourite princess.’
Mia wasn’t sure why, but that pleased her a lot more than it probably should have. ‘Is there anyone else you’re doing things like this with? At the moment, I mean. I don’t think I’d mind, exactly, but is it OK that I think I’d want to know?’
‘I already told you I didn’t replace you.’ Aiden started to move up her calf, working on the muscles there. ‘And, as a rule, I don’t overlap my ladies.’
‘Thanks. I think I feel a bit better knowing that.’
‘You’re welcome. Although, in the interests of total honesty… what I just said about not overlapping? Not completely true.’
‘No?’
‘No. There was one very memorable exception. But they knew about it. In fact, it was their idea.’
Mia laughed and rolled her eyes. ‘You really are dreadful.’
‘I know.’ He chuckled. ‘Completely beyond reform. Can I ask a “weird” question of my own?’
‘Only fair.’
‘When you meet your Triple D, or even just someone you think might be him… If it’s soon, you will tell me, won’t you?
I adore you, Mia – and I want you to have your dream come true.
So if you meet someone you think might make that happen, I wouldn’t want you to hesitate for a single moment just because we’ve been having fun together. OK?’
‘This is a very unusual conversation.’
‘Unusual situations sometimes need unusual conversations, I suppose.’ Aiden grinned. ‘Will you promise to tell me?’
‘Yeah, I will.’
‘Good. I want to see you happy, Mia.’
‘Thank you. I want that for you too.’
‘Heck, I just had great sex with a seriously hot woman who’s still half-naked and half in my lap. I’m good.’ He grinned. ‘Plus, if I’m around when you meet him I can make sure he’s good enough for you.’
‘Aww, that’s really sweet.’
‘And if, for any reason, he hurt you in any way, it’d be easier for me to knock his block off.’
‘Aww, you’d commit violence for me. That might be even sweeter.’ She laughed.
‘It’s entirely meant.’
‘Still sweet, but I can’t support it. For one, it’s a healthcare professional thing, and two, I’d hate to see you get into trouble.’
‘How about scaring them half to death?’
‘That I can live with.’ She giggled. ‘Although, if it came to it, you’re probably not the one he’d need to worry about most.’
‘I can be pretty scary when I want to.’
‘Scarier than Katie?’
He chuckled. ‘She can be pretty fierce.’
‘And she knows where Ophelia and Rayenne keep spell books.’
‘Yeah, but they don’t curse people. It’s against their beliefs.’
‘I know. But does that mean Katie couldn’t? That they don’t have some of the tools or ingredients? I’ve seen some pretty weird things in Glimmers. Are you sure none of them could be used in that way?’
‘From what I understand there’s a lot of crossover… That’s a scary thought.’
‘Terrifying,’ Mia agreed.
‘We probably shouldn’t think too hard on it.’
‘Probably not. Any ideas what else we could focus on?’
‘Maybe one or two,’ Aiden teased, letting his hands wander much, much higher and watching for Mia’s reaction.