Chapter 16
16
Lis
H e drags his fingers from his mouth and I have to look away. No one has ever…done that to me before.
“Done what—which part?”
I snap my eyes back to his. They’re dark and hooded.
“I didn’t think I said that out loud. Sorry.” I push myself up to sitting and smooth my skirt back down over my thighs. Aidan steps in. His erection straining against his zipper.
“Answer me, love. What has no one ever done to you? Licked you?” He pulls me to the edge of the table pressing his hard cock to me. I can’t help the shudder—or the quick intake of breath. “Made you come?” Leaning even closer, he brushes his lips against me as his words rumble low in my ear, he presses me tightly to him. “Made you worship his name?” He’s biting and sucking on my earlobe, distracting me. “Tell me.” The shell of my ear is on fire as his tongue traces it.
“All of it.” I can barely speak. Drawing in a deep breath, his chest expands against mine and he dives for my mouth. Devouring me. Oh. My. G— Jerking his head back, Aidan holds me tightly—shielding me from the door at the other end of the room. “Someone’s here?” Panic bleeds through.
“They won’t come straight in. The light outside—whoever it is knows the darkroom’s being used.”
I’m panicking and he’s cocking an eyebrow and smirking like this is funny.
“I’ll see what they want. Maybe we should…fuck…” Grabbing his shirt and tugging it on, he hands me mine. Pausing at the door, he makes sure I’m dressed. He adjusts himself and takes in the mess of trays and negatives on the floor, “Don’t touch anythin’. I’ll be right back.”
Murmurs float through the door, I can’t make out what they are saying, but I hear Aidan’s laugh and his hand on the doorknob. He slides back in smiling and shaking his head. “The darkroom’s been double booked. I told the guy we had a chemical spill and needed to clean up—he, uh, wanted to share time. Not fuckin’ gonna happen.” Aidan throws away the ruined negatives, gathers the prints he made and hands me his bag. We clean up as quickly as we can and leave. Thank God, the other photographer is nowhere to be seen.
It’s like a different world outside than when I got here. The sun that was beating down earlier has been replaced with clouds and the wind is whipping off the river. My hand slaps down to grab hold of my skirt trying to keep it in place. Aidan reaches out taking his bag from me. “Much as I’d love to have my hands on your arse again, I’ll let you get hold of that. I don’t want to think of anyone else seeing your knickers.” He slings the bag over his shoulder and settles his hand on the small of my back. Well, really, it’s on my ass. “What should we do with the rest of our day?”
The rumble from my stomach answers for me. “I guess I’m hungry. Want to go grab a bite to eat?”
The look he shoots me is full of mischief and satisfied pride.
“Already ate, love.”
I’d smack him, but this skirt will be gone if I try.
“Hmmm…Aidan, I’m going to go to the bistro and get lunch. Would you like to join me there?” My voice is so sugary sweet and my smile is as plastic as it can be. Fumbling with my skirt and my keys, trying to stay decent, I struggle with unlocking my car door.
I feel his warmth behind me just as he reaches around to take my keys. As soon as I give them up, he presses me into the side of my car, pinning me there with his chest against my back, hips against my ass. Maybe, I don’t really need lunch. My stomach rumbles again and I drop my chin to my chest laughing. Sex or starvation?
“I’ll follow you there. We’d best get you fed—don’t want your strength waning.” He presses into me one last time before opening the door. Staying close, he shields me as I slip into my driver’s seat. “Wait for me when you get there. I’ll help keep your honor intact.” With a wink, he closes my door and heads further down the street to his car.
Watching him, the way he moves, the way he carries himself makes my heart skip a beat. He’s so full of confidence and grace. His khaki pants wrap his ass perfectly, and his t-shirt? That shirt is stretched tight across his broad shoulders and is clinging to his arms. There’s a shadow, just barely hinted at beneath the fabric on the left side, high on his shoulder blade. I caught a glimpse of the tattoo in the darkroom—just that it was there. I can’t imagine ever getting a tattoo. I don’t know that there is anything I would want to permanently mark myself with, but I want to know what he has. And why he got it.
Gracyn drops the menus at our table with a basket of garlic bread and a couple glasses of water. “What have you guys been up to this morning? Anything exciting?” She bumps me with her hip and plops down in the booth next to me. Aidan huffs out a chuckle while I pull my lower lip between my teeth and cock my head to the side. Looking back and forth between us, her smile takes over her face. “I’m guessing there’s a good story in there somewhere.” Aidan’s eyes sparkle, the skin crinkling at the corners. “And I guess I’ll have to wait and get it from you later, Lis. What can I get for you today?”
“I’ll have the chicken parmigiana sandwich. Fries, and seltzer with fruit. Please.”
Gracyn looks up at Aidan, waiting for his order. “I’ll have the same, with the fried mushrooms for an appetizer. Guess I’m still hungry, after all.” He winks. He fucking winks at me with Gracyn right there.
“Got it. I’ll put this in and be right back with your drinks.”
My face flames red and I duck my head away rummaging through my purse for absolutely nothing. I could just die right now.
And, of course, my dear friend misses nothing. “We’ll talk later.” She tickles my back as she skips away from our table.
After lunch, we grab a couple picture frames from the store and head to Aidan’s apartment to look through the few pictures we were able to print before we got distracted.