Chapter Nineteen
Aiden stretched out on the chaise longue in the corner of the room, his arms hooked over the back behind his head. Thanks to the open design of the room, only a large archway separated the bedroom from the large bathroom, giving him the perfect view of Kat soaking in a Jacuzzi bubble bath surrounded by candles.
Originally, he’d planned to go to the first hole-in-the-wall motel he found, but at the last minute he gave in to his need to see her indulging in a little luxury. He knew that after tonight there was no telling how long they’d be on the run until he could figure things out. He wanted her to have at least one night of worry-free pampering.
When they reached the Princeton Suites, her jaw fell slack as she stared wide-eyed at the opulence of the marble floors and massive chandeliers. As he suspected, she’d never stayed in anything nicer than a Motel 6.
Once inside their room, he’d watched with a smile on his face as she discovered different amenities like a kid at FAO Schwarz at Christmas time. Seeing her in a state of giddy, childlike wonder had filled him with a sense of rightness. One he never expected to find.
Kat exhaled and tipped her head back, her long hair piled high. Steam from the bath dampened the tendrils that framed her face. Her skin glistened in the glow of the candlelight and he could just see the swells of her breasts before they disappeared into the frothy bubbles. It didn’t take much for his imagination—or memory—to fill in the view beneath the water. However, it took a hell of a lot for him to stay put and let her enjoy the experience to her heart’s content.
She looked positively regal, surrounded by the luxury of the taupe marble and gold faucets. The massive antique mirror hanging over the double sinks gave him twice the eyeful, making him twice as turned on.
Aiden shifted on the seat and adjusted himself under his shorts. He might have the willpower to keep his distance, but there wasn’t enough willpower in the world to keep him from getting hard when it came to Kat MacGregor.
Never had Aiden been so consumed by a woman. Emotionally, physically…completely.
Kat made him feel things he never thought possible. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think he could fly and stop speeding bullets. He felt invincible. He felt like her hero.
She’d wanted him to join her, but he’d had to decline. As soon as she ran the water, he’d gotten to work. Concealing himself off to the side where she couldn’t see him, Aiden had stitched the torn flesh together as fast as possible. He muffled his pained grunts and growls with a washcloth stuffed in his mouth. A couple of times, it hurt so badly he thought he might pass out. It took deep breaths and an iron resolve to remain conscious and keep going.
He’d stitched a cut on Xander once, but sewing himself up was something else entirely. It stung like a motherfucker, and he hadn’t wanted to get piss-drunk to dull the pain like Xan did. Aiden probably would’ve made an exception with his “no alcohol” rule, but he wanted to keep a clear head and stay sharp. They’d have to be on the road early tomorrow.
Once the ugly patch job was done, he’d popped some ibuprofen, showered quickly, and slapped on some ointment and a clean bandage. He’d checked the locks on the door and made sure the front desk had instructions to call the room if anyone asked about them. Aiden didn’t think any of that was particularly necessary tonight, but better safe than sorry.
Now he sat in nothing but his thin fighting shorts with his dick trying to pitch a tent while he waited for her to finish relaxing in the tub. He hoped like hell she didn’t take much longer.
He had plans for her tonight.
…
Stepping out of the large Jacuzzi tub, Kat was hyperaware that Irish watched her with a predatory gaze, making knots tighten deep in her belly. She felt what he saw. The soap bubbles sliding down her naked body, her nipples puckering from the chill of the air and the heat of his stare.
He looked so damn sexy lounging on a white linen Victorian chaise. His rough masculinity contrasting with its graceful curves and elegant brocade trim. His shorts rode so low on his hips she could see where his dark trail of hair from his navel turned into the trim thatch around his erection. The colors of his tattoos stood out against the light fabric, making them almost three-dimensional under the glow of the dim recessed lighting.
Someone who didn’t know him well would think he was relaxed and unaffected. But she noticed the finer details. The cords in his neck strung tight, the hollows of his cheeks deepening as he worked his jaw in impatience. Then of course was the obvious and very large bulge in the crotch region of his shorts. All signs he was poised and ready to pounce. Signs that triggered reactions within herself that continued to surprise her. It was a heady feeling knowing he wanted her as desperately as she wanted him.
Using a plush towel that felt like drying off with an expensive teddy bear, she made every movement a demonstration of super-slow motion. Starting at her neck, she dragged the towel down over her breasts, then plumped them up for no other reason than to torture the man. His hands went to the waistband of his shorts, then pushed them down and off. Palming his erection, he started to stroke it almost lazily, though his eyes burned with hunger. He raised an eyebrow as if to say, Now who’s being tortured?
Touché.
Not to be outdone, she moved lower over her flat belly and past her bare mound. Then Kat faced away from him and placed one foot on the small step leading to the tub. Making sure to bend at the waist, she pushed the towel down the length of her leg in one smooth motion. She felt air caress the lips of her sex where she was now wet for reasons other than the bath.
“I didn’t know you had such a sadistic side to you, kitten.”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said while pulling the towel up her other leg.
“Come here,” he said, his voice deep and commanding.
Not bothering to hide her smirk, she exited the open-concept bathroom. The soft pile of the carpet flowed up around the edges of her feet and between her toes. The floor-to-ceiling windows took up the entire outer wall of the room. Luxurious and heavy drapes the color of wine reminded her of curtains framing the stage of an opera house. And considering she could see her reflection perfectly in the glass, she looked like a one-woman show.
Kat briefly wondered if she would find a sticker in the corner that read “objects may appear sexier than they are” because the woman staring back at her seemed confident, alluring. The kind of woman who could bring a man to his knees, proverbial or otherwise.
So let’s give it a shot.
When she reached the bottom of the chaise, Irish dropped his feet to either side on the floor. Heat flushed between her legs at the sight of his erection jutting thick and proud from his body. She knew how smooth and hard it felt in her hands, her sex, and even her mouth. Remembering how much she enjoyed pleasuring him, she crawled up the chair. That’s when she noticed the bandage and was reminded of his wound. She’d seen it stitched up when he took a shower.
“I’m still mad you didn’t let me help with that,” she said, frowning. “Does it hurt very badly?”
He shrugged one muscular shoulder. “Nothing I’m not used to.”
“Well, maybe I can help you forget about it.”
“Oh, I guaran— Fuuuck.”
Apparently he’d lost his train of thought when she dropped her head and licked the clear, sweet drop of pre-cum from the tip of his cock. Encouraged by his reaction and hiss of breath, she took him in her mouth as far down as possible. His hips jerked, and he ground out another curse. She loved hearing how she affected him. Every grunt, every curse, heightened her pleasure as though she were the one on the receiving end.
Unfortunately, after only a few strokes, he stopped her and pulled her up. Kat didn’t bother to hide the pout at having her toy taken away. He chuckled. “As fantastic as that feels, I have other plans for tonight. And they don’t involve me coming in less than thirty seconds.”
“You’ll recover in a minute or two,” she argued. “You’re extremely virile.”
“Not that fucking virile.” With a sweeping move, he flipped them over, reversing their positions. “Now just let me lead, will ya?”
Kat settled against the backrest and rolled her eyes. She was about to fire off a smartass remark when she felt his hot tongue between her legs.
“Oh!”
Opening wider, she wove her fingers in his hair and tried to remember to breathe. The angle of the chaise allowed her the perfect view of Irish as he made love to her with his mouth. He lapped at the wetness coating her lips, then probed her vagina with deep strokes.
“I love the way you taste.” Replacing his tongue with a thick finger, he knelt up to hover over her. He swirled his finger deep inside her, then pulled it out and watched intently as he ran the tip over her bottom lip. “Like warm honey.”
Slowly she ran her tongue from one side to the other. His pupils engulfed the deep blue irises and he groaned in approval before capturing her in a breathless kiss. Kat tasted herself as their tongues met in an erotic dance and she moaned her approval when his hand returned to her dripping sex.
This time he penetrated her with two fingers, thrusting in and out, sometimes adding a twist that had her hips jackknifing off the couch. He added his thumb to her clit, and the tingling knot in the pit of her stomach started to spread outward.
“Watch me, baby,” he whispered and gazed down at his hand. “Watch me make you come.”
She whimpered as he eased a third finger in, stretching her to capacity. It felt so good, and the sight of his fingers sinking into her was such a huge turn-on. Everything in her tightened more and more as he fucked her. She expected a slow build, but what she got was a short fuse on a stick of dynamite.
Her nipples tightened until they ached. Moans escaped with every exhale, her breasts rising and falling with the heaving of her chest. She fisted her hands at her sides. Just when she couldn’t take any more, he used the rough pad of his thumb to circle her sensitive clit.
“Oh, God, I’m— I— Uhhhhhn!”
Her orgasm rippled through every cell in her body. Back arched, her insides spasmed around his fingers as the rest of her flew somewhere high in the heavens for what seemed like hours. As she floated back to herself, Irish’s deep voice slipped through her post-orgasmic haze.
“That’s it, sweetheart,” he mumbled while devouring her neck and shoulder. “Come on back to me. There’s more where that came from.”
“If you’re trying to kill me, I approve of your methods,” she said.
The soft sound of his deep chuckle spread over her like a warm Sherpa blanket. She wanted to burrow deep inside and never leave its soft cocoon. “I might try to fuck you into a deep sleep, but that’s about it.” Then he tipped her chin up with a finger and met her gaze with serious eyes. “There’s no life for me anymore without you, Kat. I’ll protect you until my very last breath. I swear it.”
The intensity with which he spoke those words touched something deep in her heart she’d thought long dead. There was so much she wanted to say, but she didn’t know how to verbalize all the things he made her feel. Especially coming down from an explosive orgasm while still pressed together in their naked forms. Brain functionality at the moment was minimal at best.
She watched his hungry gaze roam over her from top to bottom. Taking a deep breath, he released it with a shake of his head. “You know, when I’m not with you I sometimes think my mind must be exaggerating how beautiful you are. That no one can be so flawless, so perfect.”
“Irish, I’m not—”
A finger pressed against her lips for a moment. “To me, you are,” he insisted. “It’s like you were made just for me. An angel plucked from my fantasies and given life. And somehow, when I wasn’t looking, you came to mean everything to me.”
Her throat tightened with the emotions now welling in her eyes. Irish had saved her from a dark world where despair ruled, and patiently led her into a world of light and possibilities.
And love.
At least on her part it was. She might be too afraid to risk scaring him off with the L-word, but it didn’t change the fact.
His arms wrapped around her and drew her in until their bodies were flush from chest to hips. Dipping his head, he claimed her lips in a tender kiss that took her breath away and left her reeling.
It took her several seconds to open her eyes after he broke the kiss, but when she did she found herself looking up at her future. Black hair in need of a cut, heavy-lidded blue eyes complete with varying stages of bruising, full lips with a forever-healing cut on the bottom, and enough dark scruff on his jaw to give him an I-don’t-give-a-fuck image.
And he was all hers.
Screw it. She’d promised herself that she was done letting others dictate her actions and she didn’t want to go one more minute pretending she didn’t love him with all her heart. The possibility that Irish wasn’t ready to hear it, be damn—
“I love you, kitten.”
Her eyes blew wide. “What did you say?”
“You heard me. I love you, Kat. More than my own life.”
Stunned silent, Kat opened and closed her mouth several times like a fish out of water. To hear those words coming from anyone, much less the man she loved in return, overwhelmed her. She didn’t realize she was crying until she tasted the salty tears and Irish used his thumbs to wipe them from her cheeks.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to say it back,” he whispered. “I just needed you to know.”
“But I do. I mean, I know I don’t have to say it back, but I want to because I do. I love you so damn much.”
He smiled wide. Not the kind weighed down with the years of guilt and sadness he’d carried around. No, this smile was radiant and freeing and she planned on making it her personal goal in life to make sure he wore it as often as possible. Her man—her fighter—deserved nothing less.
Throwing her arms around his neck, Kat kissed him with all the things she wanted to tell him. He met her with equal force, their tongues colliding and sliding over the other between their fused lips. His hands roamed in erratic patterns like a butterfly indecisive on which flower to land on. Finally he settled on her breasts.
The rough skin of his masculine hands sent shivers through her as he dragged his palms over the tight peaks of her nipples. With an encouraging moan, she arched her back, thrusting her breasts forward like a decadent offering. One Irish wholeheartedly accepted.
Using his fingers, he tortured one of her nipples while the other received it from his mouth. On one side pulling, tweaking, pinching, and rubbing. On the other licking, suckling, circling, and biting. Each action caused a reaction at her center like electric currents traveling in a circuit from her breasts to her clitoris. The result was the wetness coating the inside of her thighs.
Finally, he gave her a reprieve and lifted his head. “Stand up, baby.”
The command took a second to make it through the pleasure-induced fog clouding her brain. Irish rose and helped pull her up, then turned her to face away from him. She now stood next to the back of the chaise, which came up to her belly button.
Sliding his hand down her right thigh, he said, “Place this foot up on the chair. Yeah, just like that.”
The position opened her up, the cool air stirring against her wet sex. They’d never made love this way because, although she’d gotten much better, she still worried about not being able to look into his eyes if she felt that familiar pull from her subconscious. Twisting to the right, she looked over her shoulder.
“Not that way,” he said, directing her chin to the left to face the window. “Look there.”
The recessed lighting above them illuminated their reflections almost as perfectly as a mirror. She watched him grab a condom from the floor, tear it open, and smooth it down his thick erection. Holding her gaze in the window, Irish positioned himself directly behind her, his foot braced on the chair next to hers, and nestled his erection in the slick folds of her sex.
With slow, short strokes, he rubbed her sensitive clit with the flared edge of his cock head, shooting arrows of desire straight to her core. Kat tried pulling forward an inch—just enough for him to slip inside—but he had a firm grip on her waist and held fast.
“Please, Aiden,” she managed between breaths. “I need you.”
“You want me inside you?”
“So much.”
Without hesitation, he positioned himself at her entrance and eased forward. Her inner walls were still swollen from her last orgasm, making her channel tighter and incredibly sensitive. She moaned, a shudder of desire rippling over her skin as she adjusted to his size.
A mix between an exhale and a groan rumbled from his chest as he finally seated himself completely. She tipped her head back on his shoulder. He kissed and nipped at the spot below her ear. Wrapping his arms around her rib cage, he began an achingly slow retreat, then pressed back in to the hilt and whispered, “Being inside you feels like coming home.”
Her melting heart warred for dominance with her quivering sex. Hugging his arms in front of her, Kat turned her head and found his mouth with hers. He kissed her with a sensuous reverence, worshipping her with his full lips in a soulful prayer.
As the pace evened out, they broke apart and she bent at the waist to lie across the back of the chaise. She studied him in the window. Inked muscles bunched and flexed with every movement like living works of art. Head bent and focused on where their bodies joined, shaggy black hair hanging forward, his hips thrusting behind her, revealing glimpses of his hard shaft with every withdrawal. He was a perfect male specimen in every way.
Kat’s breathing became shallow to match his. He continued to move slow and steady. Every nuance was felt, every sensation doubly intense. The rough fabric grated deliciously on her stomach, breasts, and nipples. Once again she started the climb to another climax, but just before she reached the crest, he pulled out, leaving her empty and aching.
She protested with a pained whine, but he shushed her in soothing tones that promised the absence was only temporary. Then Irish dipped his fingers in her vagina and rubbed her juices onto her puckered rosette in a circular motion. She gasped and would have jumped ten feet in the air if he didn’t have her pinned between him and the chair. But despite the shock, she couldn’t deny the tiny thrill she got from him touching her in such an intimately taboo place.
He repeated the process, this time adding a little more pressure with the pad of his thumb, causing a small whimper to escape her lips.
Irish’s ghostly blue eyes peered at her in the window with a banked fire. “How about here, Kat? You want me inside you here?”
She tensed. “I’m not sure,” she said honestly. It was one thing to enjoy a little ass-play, but completely another to go all the way, wasn’t it? And yet…
His left arm snaked under her ribs. It made a comfortable support between her and the back of the chaise while allowing him to knead and tease her right breast. Meanwhile his other hand was still creating magic with her pussy and anus.
“You said your first time had been taken from you. But I can give you a different kind of first time. I can make it good for you.”
Irish placed a sweet kiss at her temple as though punctuating his tender offer of sharing an experience that would be theirs forever. Something no one could ever take from her.
“What do you say, sweetheart? Will you let me claim you like no one else has?”
“Yes,” she replied softly. “I’m yours.”
“Stay right like you are and let me take care of you.” He picked up a tube from the inconspicuous spot he’d gotten the condom earlier. “This’ll be a little cold at first.” She inhaled sharply when the cool gel hit her hot skin, but a second later all she focused on was how good his finger felt as he rubbed it on.
She sensed the presence of an erotic arrow nocked on a bow string, ready to be pulled tight and released to shatter all previous notions of the ultimate pleasure. The anticipation and the carnal vibrations now singing in a part of her body previously untouched made her wet all over again.
Using more of the lubrication, he placed the pad of his thumb against her puckered flesh…then pushed. She tensed at the intrusion, her body instinctively rejecting it.
“Just relax, baby. It might feel uncomfortable at first, but it’ll pass,” he promised. “When I push in I want you to exhale and push out. Understand?”
She nodded.
He tried again, and this time she did as he instructed, allowing him as far as he could go. The duality of sensations, both strange and rousing, confused her body. Like it couldn’t decide between This isn’t my thing and Holy hell do that again.
Kat held still and focused on breathing as Irish set a slow rhythm with his thumb, massaging more of the gel inside as he continued to open her with gentle tugs on her outer walls. At last, the pleasure overcame the foreign feeling and all she wanted was more. She tilted her hips up in a silent plea that evoked a growl of appreciation from her lover.
“Damn, you look good like this, baby,” he rasped. “Can you feel how open you are for me? So vulnerable. So trusting. I’ve never been so hard in my life.”
Ahv nevah been so hahd… God, what his accent did to her. It might not be cultured or sexy like the French or Italians, but it turned her on something fierce. As did the fact that she could indeed feel how open he’d made her. He could easily insert two fingers and scissor them inside her, the motion driving her crazy.
“Then let me feel it,” she practically begged. He turned his face to the window and locked onto her with heat flaring in his eyes. “Make love to me, Aiden. Claim me.”
“My pleasure.”
He grabbed the base of his shaft, prepared to guide himself into her at last, when she stopped him.
“I want you bare.”
“Kat, we talked about this.”
She straightened, bringing their bodies flush, and looked up at him over her left shoulder. Cupping his face with her hand, she offered a wry grin and said, “Unless I missed something in health class, there’s no way to conceive this way.”
Unable to resist his mouth when it was so close to hers, she drew him down for a passionate kiss that stoked the embers until the flames of desire burned bright again.
“Please,” she managed around the kisses. “I don’t want anything between us.”
A deep sound rumbled in his chest and shimmied down her spine. “You’re killing me, you know that? Bend over.”
She eagerly followed his command while he disposed of the condom and squeezed some lube into his palm. In the window, his reflection stroked his cock a few times to coat it with the gel before fisting it and stepping close behind her.
He fitted the smooth head of his cock to her rear entrance and began to push. She bit down on her bottom lip as he stretched her hole. He was much bigger than two fingers and the slight burn had her holding her breath and wondering how in the hell he was going to fit.
“Keep breathing, baby,” he encouraged softly. Kat exhaled, remembering he’d also told her to push out. He grunted as the flare of his cock head pushed past the tight ring, and he sunk in another inch. “That’s my girl.”
As he continued the slow push forward, he reached around and rubbed her swollen clit. A rush of wetness broke free from where the tingling knot gathered strength in her belly. The fine line between pleasure and pain blurred until one no longer existed without the other.
Finally, she felt his thighs flush against her ass. He’d filled her up completely, joined with her perfectly. Not just with her body, but with her heart and soul as well. She’d been broken until the day he interjected himself into her life. There would never be another man for her. She knew it as sure as she knew her name.
He leaned over, blanketing her with his muscular torso, and spoke in a low voice next to her ear. “Now I’ve claimed you in every way possible. Only me, Kat. No one can take that from either of us. You’re mine, and I’m yours.”
Reveling in his loving proclamation, her lids drifted shut. “Always,” she promised. Tears of utter happiness escaped beneath her lashes and transferred to him when she nuzzled his cheek, the soft scratching of his beard like hundreds of tiny fingers lighting over her skin.
“Then open your eyes,” he whispered, “and watch me love you.”
…
Aiden stood tall and withdrew slowly from the hot sheath of Kat’s ass. She let out a blissful mewl and tilted her hips, seeming to now crave what she previously feared. He palmed her cheeks and spread her apart, watching her swallow his bare cock. To see her welcome him like this, to feel her body grip him like a lover’s embrace, burned him up inside. Melted the last layers of ice around his heart.
He set a slow and steady pace, sliding in and out with fluid strokes. Transcendent pleasure vibrated up his shaft and into his balls. Sweat from the effort it took not to come too soon covered every inch of him.
The sounds of their lovemaking soothed his soul like no music ever could. Strained breathing, soft moans, feral grunts, and the whispers of flesh sliding on flesh. All of it perfect.
She was perfect.
Perfect for him.
Reaching back, she covered his left hand with hers. “You feel so good. God, I’m close. So close.”
Aiden knew that already. He could tell in the way her brows furrowed. The way she bit her lip and fisted her hands. The way she kept trying to manipulate his tempo to get him to go faster, harder. But he held her firm. They’d finish this the way they started. And they’d remember every stroke, every touch.
Every moment.
Again he leaned forward to hug her back with his chest, snaking his left arm beneath her and cupping her right shoulder. His other hand reached over her raised thigh and found her dripping sex with his fingers. Instantly, her swollen channel sucked at his two fingers. He felt his cock through the thin wall of tissue as he continued the easy back and forth motion with his hips while cradling her in his arms.
Turning his head, he studied their reflection in the window. Standing where someone could see them gave the act an edge of exhibitionism. But he also felt a little like a voyeur. As though he were watching another couple making love. There was still a small part of him that didn’t believe he could ever be so fortunate.
“I love you so much, Aiden.”
Except there was that.
It was his name on her lips. Kat knew exactly who he was, and she still dared to love him. She was stronger than she knew. Stronger than even him.
Tears fell from the corners of her eyes and her voice sounded watery with emotion. He held her tighter. Moved a hair faster. A touch harder. His actions intensifying as his love did the same.
“Feel how much I love you, Kat.”
He watched her reach out to their mirrored images. She trailed her fingers lightly down the side of his face, across his jawline, and over his lips. He swore he felt the gentle touch as though his reflection and he were tangibly connected.
Moisture gathered in his eyes, causing his vision to blur. Blinking it back, he spoke in a voice gruff with emotion. “Come with me, baby.”
He had about half a dozen thrusts before he lost control of his own climax. His balls drew up tight and fire gathered in the base of his spine. He glanced his fingers over her engorged bud, already so sensitive, and felt her come undone in his arms.
She cried his name as her orgasm took her, and his body followed her into the ether, where desire consumed them in wave after wave, and he emptied himself into her for the second time in as many hours.
An eternity of seconds passed before he had the energy to move, but he finally kissed her shoulder and raised himself up. Her breaths were deep and even, her eyes closed peacefully. With little effort, he cradled her in his arms and carried her to the four-poster California king bed. After cleaning her gently with a warm cloth, he pulled the silky sheet over her and slid in beside her.
Instinctively, she curled around him, tucking her head into the place between his shoulder and chest that cradled her perfectly. Then, holding her close, he placed a last kiss on her forehead and drifted off to sleep, hoping he’d get to do it all over again in his dreams.