“The anniversary of Mom’s death. How could you forget?” Bianca asked. “But then again, maybe you didn’t want to remember.”
“Bianca, please,” I said. “Let’s not do this again. I thought we’d worked through this.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just having a bad day.”
“Well, I don’t want to be your punching bag. But I can be your big sister. Why don’t you and Lia come over? Stay the night.”
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll tell her. And … I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’ll see you in a bit.”
I disconnected the call. This was horrible. It wasn’t that I’d forgotten. It was that I knew Mom wasn’t dead. But I had to give the pretense of a grieving daughter, and I couldn’t afford slip-ups like that. They only led to an urge to tell them about our parents.
After the call with Bianca, something in the back of my mind nagged at me. Something I’d set aside with plans to pick up at a later time. I went to my office and pulled out the manuscript and started to read. It wasn’t very long. I glanced at my watch. I could probably read it all before bed. I thumbed through the pages and a picture fell to my desk. Picking it up, I covered my mouth to silence my scream. It was of the couple I’d seen in Italy—the man and woman standing beneath the awning. I flipped the picture over, and found two dates on the back: my wedding date … and that of my parents.
With bated breath, I sat at my desk and started reading. It was the story of a young woman who’d met a man on her summer of travel across Italy. It was the story of my mom and dad.
*****
Lyric was at Dianna’s, so that meant alone time with my husband, but where the hell was he? As was the norm, I checked his office first, but he wasn’t there. I was about to look in the gym when a noise sounded from the kitchen. Aiden was standing at the counter, wearing sweats and a Harvard baseball cap.
“What are you eating?” I asked.
“Not what I’d prefer to be eating, that’s for sure.”
I stepped closer to see, but he moved the bowl.
“Close your eyes,” he said.
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
Once I’d done as he asked, he encircled me, wrapping me in his arms.
“Don’t open them until I say.”
“Okay.” Something cold touched my lips.
“Taste it, and then you tell me what I’m eating.” He traced it over my open mouth and then he slid it between my lips.
“Mmm.”
“Good, isn’t it?” he asked.
“Mmm hmm.”
“Open your eyes, babe.”
“Couldn’t you have just as easily told me?” I asked, stepping from his embrace.
“Yeah, but my way is more fun.”
“So is this what you do when I’m not watching? Load up on pineapple?”
He moved his hand over his crotch. “A guy’s got to do whatever necessary to keep his girl coming back for more.”
“You’re horrible,” I said, walking away from him.
“Come for a run with me,” Aiden said.
“Sure. Give me a second to change. After last night’s dinner, I need to get in more than a run.”
“Says who?” he asked.
“Says me. I don’t really want to have to stuff myself into my clothes.”
“Buy new ones. I think a little extra weight would be sexy as hell on you.”
“Yeah, whatever.” I smiled and shook my head. “I’ll be right back.”
*****
I wanted to get in some ab and core exercises, so after two miles, I jogged back to the house, leaving Aiden to run an extra three miles by himself. I was focused on getting in a good workout. Finishing up my last rep of oblique crunches, I did a few stretches, startled when I lifted my head to find I was being watched. Aiden was sitting on the weight bench. His skin was glistening with sweat and he was still wearing that hat, with the brim flipped to the back. He looked like more of a sexy-as-sin bad boy than a highly respected businessman. Either way, I’d never tire of looking at him. My lady parts were already tingling.
“You’ve been hitting the gym pretty hard, baby. Are you trying to whittle down to nothing?” he asked.
“Just getting ready for you, Mr. Raine. Don’t you think I know what’s coming? I’m sure you’re planning to make up for lost time.”
“Oh, you think so, huh?”
“Mmm hmm.”
His gaze moved appreciatively over me. “Do you know what I think?”
“What?”
“That yoga pants were created with you in mind.”
“Is that so?”
“Definitely,” he said, tilting his head to the side, still studying me. “As a matter of fact, if I didn’t know you, and saw you in those, I’d follow you around all day.”
I took a seat on the exercise ball, interested in knowing where this was headed. “So instead of being a man about it and approaching me, you’d reduce yourself to creepy stalker status?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Some women drive men to do crazy things.”
“So you’d follow me around like a little puppy?”
He chuckled. “Oh, is that how you’d see me?”
“If you approached me … probably not.”
“Would you want me to approach you?”
“Maybe. A little attention from a hot guy makes for a healthy ego, but to be honest, it wouldn’t work out in your favor.”
“Why is that?” he asked.
“Because I have a jealous husband who’s totally obsessed with me. As a matter of fact, he’s a bit of a maniac, so I’m pretty sure he’d kick your ass.”
“An obsessed maniac, huh?”
“Yup.”
He winked at me. “I can see why. He’s a very lucky man.”
“That he is,” I said.
“I would’ve stolen you away from him, though.”
I grabbed a towel and blotted the moisture from my skin. “And how would you have done that?”
“I have a very particular set of skills.”
“Is that right, Liam Neeson?”
He threw his head back, a hearty laugh issuing from his chest. “I’m serious. After one date, I’d be all you could think about.”
“Is that confidence talking, or arrogance?” I asked.
“Both. I’d love to show you why.”
I held up my wedding ring. “Married, remember? Besides, I don’t need some creepy stalker trying to get into my panties.”
“Come here.”
“No.”
With a subtle shake of his head, he walked toward me, removing the cap and his shirt and tossing them in his path. I bit my bottom lip, drinking him in and absorbing the pleasure of his lean muscular frame.
When he reached me, he turned me so that I was facing the large wall-to-wall mirror. “I’m going to show you how I muffle that sassy backtalk,” he said, and reached into my pants.
“I’m all sweaty,” I protested.
“I don’t care,” he said.
One hand cupped my throat, while the other slid further into my yoga pants. With his knee, he forced my thighs further apart, giving him room to play.
He looked up at our image in the mirror. “Watch,” he said.
His fingers opened the petals of my sex, and then he applied an absolute minimum of pressure on my clit, almost to the point where it felt more like soft vibrations.
“Oh, shit.” My legs nearly gave way.
“So,” he whispered, “do you like that?”
“Maybe.”
He moved his fingers further down, sliding them inside me. Moving in and out. “Does this turn you on? Watching us? Watching me do this to you?”
My eyes were locked on the image of the couple in the mirror. And hell yes, I was more than a little hot for the man holding me in place while he fingered my pussy.
“So stubborn,” he said. “But that’s fine.” His fingers slipped out of me. “I enjoy you more when you’re like this.” He swept me into his arms and carried me from the gym to the adjacent room.
I looked up at him, already enjoying his little experiment, but I wouldn’t let on that I was. Instead I’d play the role of the stubborn wife. I would fare much better that way.
Opening the door to the masseuse studio, Aiden set me down and stripped me of my top.
“Shoes,” he said.
I kicked off my sneakers, and then he was sliding my yoga pants down my legs. Once I was naked, he sat me on the massage table.
“Lie back,” he said.
Aiden spread my legs and, not wasting any time, brought his finger to the side of my clit, his touch so light it felt as though a feather was tracing the sides of the little bud. While keeping in contact with the sides of my clit, his fingers started to stroke up and down, hardly moving them at all. His motions so slight, it felt like gentle vibrations teasing and taunting me. I felt the tension building. I wanted more pressure from his fingers, but when I moved my hips he shook his head.
“Keep still.”
“I can’t.”
“Just focus,” he whispered. “If you do as I say, the whole experience will feel like a long, extended orgasm.”
“Ahh. That feels …”
“Does your husband do it like this?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No, he doesn’t”
Aiden smiled.
“He does it better,” I taunted.
His dark brow lifted. “Is that so?”
Before I could further provoke him, he’d spread me open and buried his face in my cleft. His tongue speared into me. He was like a wild animal, spreading me wider and lapping at the delicate flesh.
My hips churned, rolling into the velvet softness of his tongue. “Yes. Just like that. Please,” I panted. “Please, don’t stop.”
He paused to look up at me. “So that was better?”
I clenched my fists. Dammit. Why did he stop? It took everything in me to keep it together. “You were getting there.” Holy hell, was he getting there.
“Why are you squirming like that?” Aiden asked, backing away.
Rolling over to my side, with my thighs squeezed together, I said, “Oh, I think you have some idea.”
“It couldn’t be because of all of this, can it?” he asked, removing his clothing and motioning a hand over his nakedness.
“Possibly. Or maybe it’s because a specific part of your body is vying for my attention.”
“This old thing?” he asked. His hand was on his length, stroking back and forth.
“Could be. Anything’s possible,” I tossed out trying to sound nonchalant. I was so needy for him. To feel his body on mine. To feel him inside me. It was so hard to not think of sex when I looked at him. But when he was naked, and his skin shining with the musk of perspiration … it was impossible to concentrate on anything but sex, especially with our little game. “Why are you still so far away?”
“I want to watch you,” he said.
“You can watch me later. For now, I think I need that big dick between my legs.”
“I’ll give it to you, but I want you to come on your own first.”
“And what will you be doing?” I asked.
“I’m going to come, too. All over you,” he said, the deep timbre of his voice stirring my insides. “And then I’m going to fuck you.”
“Oh shit.”
“How does that sound?” he asked.
“It sounds so fucking hot,” I said, my hand trailing down my abdomen.
“Go ahead. Do it. Let me see your fingers fuck that pussy,” he said.
I bit my lip, suppressing the sounds that were desperate to escape. And then like two hungry animals—contemplating their next move—we watched each other. My fingers were moving in and out of my pussy as he stroked the length of his cock. My thoughts were overwhelmed with him. The taste of him, the feel of his controlling yet tender touch.
“Watch me,” he said. His long fingers curved around his cock. “Watch me come for you.”
His words centered in my core, and rolled through me in deep waves.
He stepped closer as I pumped my fingers faster inside me. His hand was still on his cock, stroking up and down, moving rapidly back and forth.
“Ooh, baby. That looks so good,” I whined.
“Does it?”
“Yes, good enough to eat,” I said.
“Shit, you’re going to make me come if you keep talking like that.”
“I want you to come. I want that hot, thick cream all over me,” I said.
“Fuck, Aria,” he growled, as his cock jerked. He stepped closer, and he was coming in long spurts, his seed falling in dollops over my chest, abdomen and thighs.
My eyes were on him, watching as he sprayed his seed over me. “Are you marking your territory?” I asked.
“Since you’re flirting with strange men in gyms, I think I need to,” he said. “Rub it in.”
“Yes, baby,” I replied. I started with my breasts, moaning and teasing as I massaged his seed over my skin.
“Now,” he said. “There was a little matter of fucking you.”
*****
“You may have to work from home today,” Aiden said.
“Why?”
“It appears you’re having the slightest of difficulty moving.”
“Yeah, well if I do, it’s because I have a husband who has tunnel vision when it comes to fucking me.”
He laughed.
“Oh, so it’s funny?” I asked.
“No, I was thinking about the first time you told me that.”
I scrunched my brows. “I don’t follow.”
“Well, you didn’t tell me per say. You told Aiden Wyatt.”
“Oh, God.” I rolled my eyes. “Who knows what I didn’t say to that arrogant jerk.”
“A jerk you married.”
“And I’ve often questioned that decision.”
“No, you haven’t,” he said.
“Seriously, I did. When things were bad between us. But even then, my love for you, for us … it never wavered.”
“Neither did mine. I knew I was lucky to have you. I knew what I had.” He leaned over and kissed me. “I want you to stay home with me today,” he said, then scooped me up in his arms and carried me to the shower.
Once we were clean, we slid into our robes, and instead of going upstairs, we headed to the bedroom that adjoined Aiden’s office.
“What about Lyric?” I asked, once Aiden had placed me in the bed.
He opened the bedside table and pulled out one of the hand-held baby monitors. “Do you think I would ever leave my boy to fend for himself? Besides, I plan to have Dianna stay overnight.”
“I have spare monitors in a few rooms, too,” I said, smiling. “Do you think we’ll always be this obsessed with our son?”
“I don’t know. I think so. Even when I was in the guest house, I had the viewing monitor. I’d see you with him. It was difficult to watch.”
Aiden became quiet.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
He sat at the head of the bed, his gaze cautious. “I want to make a baby with you,” he said. “I want to give Lyric a little sister or brother.”
My brows rose. “That came out of nowhere.”
“Not really. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now.”
“I know how special this would be for us,” I said. “Planning the pregnancy and sharing every minute of it.” My mind flashed back to the baby we’d lost. I didn’t want to go through that again, but I wanted this with him. “Do you think we’re ready?”
“I was wondering that myself. If it’s too soon after losing …”
“After losing Cadence,” I said, completing his sentence.
“Cadence?”
“I never told you this, but I was convinced the baby was a girl. And I’d thought Cadence was the perfect name for her. So when I thought of her then, and even now, that’s how I refer to her.”
Aiden smiled. “That’s a beautiful name.”
I let out a sigh. Although we’d talked it out in counseling and even between the two of us, it still hurt to talk about the baby we’d never have. “I don’t want to do it just to make up for what we didn’t share the first time.”
“That’s not what this is,” he said. “This is about us. About my love for you. About the joy of having my child grow inside you.”
I saw it in his eyes. The desire he had for another child with me. It would mean the world to him, but were we ready? “Lyric is barely one. How are we going to deal with two toddlers? And then there’s RPH.”
“First off, our son is nearly one and a half. Secondly, I know you don’t want your career to take a backseat. And it won’t. We’ll have help.”
I crawled into his lap and he pulled me closer. “I’m starting to feel selfish, but I want it all,” I said. “Is that wrong?”
His lips touched my forehead. “No. It isn’t. And you can have it all. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Do you always have the answers to everything? It’s quite irritating,” I said.
“Are you ready to try?” he asked, his green eyes warm on my face.
I nodded. “I am.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” And I was. When Cadence was inside me, I had a joy I’d never experienced. I’d been happy carrying Lyric, but there had been so much confusion and deceit surrounding that pregnancy. Cadence had been different. And this pregnancy would be a different experience altogether, because Aiden and I were in a good place. A very good place.
“You should schedule an appointment with Dr. Grist,” Aiden said. “Make sure everything’s okay. See what she recommends in terms of timing.”
“Timing? Are you referring to the miscarriage?”
“Yes, and the birth control. You’re still on it, right?”
“Well, not really,” I said, sitting up.
“Either you are or you aren’t.”
“With all of the chaos, I lost track of my schedule. So, I skipped here and there. Eventually, I said, why bother at all.”
“So that means you could be pregnant already?” Aiden asked, his voice hopeful.
I shrugged. “I guess. But I don’t feel any different. Which means next to nothing considering I didn’t feel any changes with Lyric or Cadence.”
“But you could be.”
“Calm down, Daddy,” I said, and smiled at him. “I’ll get a checkup and we can go from there.”
*****
“I bought these,” Aiden said, dumping a bag of pregnancy tests on the bed.
“Did you leave any for the other customers?” I asked. He’d purchased several of different name brands.
“Some of these are for early detection, but not as reliable as some of the others, so I figured I’d grab them all … you know, to cover our bases.”
“Okay,” I said. He really wanted this. I did, too, but it seemed to be all he could think about since deciding to get pregnant. Dr. Grist had given us the go ahead and we’d been trying ever since, which in all honesty was the same as when we weren’t trying. Aiden and I had sex … a lot.
“So …”
“What?” I asked.
“Are you going to take the test?”
“I’d actually picked up one myself this afternoon, and I was planning to take it in the morning.”
He passed the box to me. “Why wait? We’re both here. Let’s do it now.”
“Okay.” I didn’t feel pregnant. I’d been actually looking for signs this time, but I didn’t feel any different than I had before. I was in the bathroom about to sit on the toilet when I noticed Aiden had followed me. “Are you going to watch me pee?”
“Aria, just take the test,” he said, unable to disguise his impatience.
I hated when he was like this, and I was worried about his reaction if the results weren’t what he expected.
*****
We sat in the bathroom and waited. I was at the vanity and Aiden sat on the steps of the tub. Every few seconds, he checked his watch.
“Do you think the timer on that thing is off?” he asked.
“I don’t know. How long has it been?”
“More time than it should have.” He walked over to the test sitting on the counter, and the timer sounded as soon as he picked it up. Something inside me dropped when I saw the frown on his face. The results were just as I’d expected.
“It’s negative,” he said, grimly.
“That just means more practice and I know how much you love that,” I said, trying to keep his spirits up.
“Well, that’s a given.”
Aiden was still holding the test, scowling at it.
“Why are you looking at it like that? Throw it in the trash,” I said.
He looked up from the stick. “I think we should try another one.”
“I don’t think we need to do that. I really don’t think I’m pregnant.”
“And you didn’t last time, but you were,” he said.
This was going to be a painful process for the both of us. “Fine, give me another one.”
He left the bathroom and returned with a handful of the tests. After sorting through a few of them, he said, “Try this one.”
My heart clenched and I choked back the tears I wanted to shed for him. He looked so hopeful, but I knew the result for this test would be the same as the other. I may not have known when I was pregnant, but I definitely knew when I wasn’t.
After seeing the second negative result, Aiden sighed.
“It’s okay,” I said. “As much as we have sex, we’ll be pregnant in no time.”
“Take off your clothes,” he said, abruptly.
“What?”
He grabbed at my pants. “Let’s have sex.”
“Aiden, stop,” I said, pushing his hands away.
“Why?” he asked. “Have you changed your mind?”
“No,” I said. “But I don’t want this to become a chore, either.”
“Since when is fucking me a chore?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“Okay, then what’s the problem?” he asked, pulling me from the bathroom. His mouth was already on mine, moving with a sense of urgency. “I want this,” he said, between kisses. “I want you.”
I recoiled from his aggression. “Aiden. No.”
He looked at me as if he didn’t understand why I was rejecting his advances. He shook his head and then walked out of the room.
I plopped on the side of the bed. This was not how I envisioned this process. Not at all. How could I convince him to let this happen naturally? It wasn’t like either of us needed the added pressure.
There was a knock at the door. I looked up and there he was, standing in the doorway. “I’m sorry. I promised to be better, and I want to keep that promise,” he said. He walked over and sat beside me. “I just really want this with you.”
My husband was growing. He’d come back. He didn’t let things fester and blow up into another Aria-Aiden showdown. “I know you do. I want it, too. More than you know.”
“I’ve often felt I wanted this more than you.”
“I’ve been too afraid to … after losing …” I trailed off.
“And here I am being a first-class jerk.”
“Eh … it’s who you are,” I said, lightening the moment.
*****
Since the trip to the island, and with the baby-making plans underway, I’d had my fair share of control in the bedroom. And I’d wanted this—a way to restore the balance between us. Aiden’s male pride wouldn’t let him readily admit it, but he enjoyed the way I exerted my control. It had become routine, and he never knew what I’d ask for next, or who he’d come home to—the ill-behaved nurse, the naughty housekeeper, or the French tutor—and more often than not, he went along with me. And then there were those days and nights when he couldn’t give in to me, when he took over and every time was like the first … lowering my defenses, giving in to him and letting him do just as he pleased.