A Snow Covered Nightmare: Refuge Series Book Two by Debbie Zello (25)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Briah drove into her driveway, right past Aiden’s car, which was parked in front of the house. He saw her pass by and got out to walk over to her door. “I am so glad you are home, Briah. I missed you today,” he said opening the door and taking some folders from her.

“I’m glad I’m home too. It was a long day. We had to close the top of the mountain to skiing. It was socked in and visibility sucked. It didn’t clear until early afternoon. Then people went crazy and a few got hurt. All in all, not a terrible day, just long,” Briah said forgetting completely about the near miss earlier.

“You relax and I’ll make dinner. I tooled around town all day, taking in the sights and getting to know the place. I stopped in at a few police stations and put in applications. I was called back by Morristown. I have an interview on Monday.”

“Are you sure you want to leave Denver? You have a history there and seniority,” Briah said concerned, as they got to her door.

“You aren’t in Denver. My home and future is wherever you are,” he said, smiling at her. “Don’t you know that, baby? I called the chief this morning and told him I’m resigning.

“Pete is going to empty out my apartment. Give stuff like my furniture away. Sell my car, and then box up what I want and ship it to me. I’m staying here with you.” They walked in the house and through the living room to the kitchen.

Briah put her papers on the counter and Aiden placed what he had on top of her pile. Then he took her into his arms and kissed her. Briah clung to him, her body remembering the pleasure that his body had always brought her. His hand dropped to her behind as he brought her closer so she could feel his need for her. “If you need to, we’ll talk more, Briah. I don’t want to assume that you crave what I crave. I ask that you tell me when you are ready. I just want you to know I’m already there.”

She smiled at him and said, “I know you are, Aiden. I’m there too, believe me. But you promised a dinner and because I haven’t eaten all day, I’m holding you to it. I’m taking a shower to warm up, and when I come out, you’re going to give me a food orgasm. Got it?” she said playfully.

“Got it. Out of my way, woman. I have food sex to prepare,” he quipped on his way to the sink.

Briah took her time in the shower letting the warm water run down her back. Her back was a little sore, although for the life of her, she couldn’t think of why it was. She shaved all her hairy parts, something she hadn’t done in a month or more. There was no real reason to shave with no one to see it but her.

When she finally came out of the bedroom, the smell that hit her was a buttery lemon scent. She walked into the kitchen and saw candles lit, the table beautifully set and Aiden handing her a glass of wine. “Something smells wonderful,” she said taking a deep breath.

“I made dinner,” Aiden said lifting his shoulders.

“I can smell that. Where did this all come from?” she said looking at the grandeur.

“I went shopping while you were at work. I wanted to make something special. Sit!” he said motioning her to the chair. She sat down and he placed a napkin in her lap with a flourish. Then he went over to the stove and began to plate their dinner.

First, he brought a delicious looking salad to the table and placed it in front of her. “Yum. I love salad,” she said, licking her beautiful lips.

“I know.” They ate with Aiden holding her hand. Then he cleared their plates and went back to the stove. He lifted the lid off the pot and that buttery lemon smell filled her head, making her mouth water.

“What are we having?” she said breathing deeply.

“You’ll see in one minute,” he said shooting her a devilish smile. He plated hers with his back to her, blocking her view. He backed through the kitchen with the plate in front of him until he got to her chair. He swung around and quickly placed the plate down.

“You made shrimp scampi? My favorite,” she sighed. “Thank you, Aiden!”

“You’re welcome. I thought you would like it.” He sat with his plate and a self-satisfied grin at getting the choice right. He watched her as she placed the first bite on her tongue. She closed her eyes as her lips closed around the fork. He hardened immediately upon seeing her pleasure in the taste. He had to look away or he would never make it through dinner.

“This is absolutely delicious,” Briah said, moaning her approval. “I believe it’s the best I have ever had, Aiden. Thank you for doing all of this.”

“You’re welcome. It was my pleasure. Watching you is thanks enough.”

“Watching me?”

“Yup. Your almost childlike enjoyment. It’s a beautiful thing to see, my love.”

When they finished eating, Aiden cleared the table, bringing the dishes to the sink. Briah stood to help him but he gently placed his hands on her shoulders saying, “No, Briah, let me do this, please.” She sat back down smiling at his plea.

Aiden went to the fridge and pulled out a small bakery box tied with blue and white string. Briah knew from the box that it came from Harvest Bakery. The awesome dinner just got even better. He cut the string and opened the box.

Briah’s eyes widened as he pulled a piece of carrot cake piled high with cream cheese frosting from the box. He grabbed a squeeze bottle and drew on a plate, then placed the cake on top. He brought it to the table and set it in front of Briah. It was heart shaped ribbons of caramel. “Oh my God, Aiden, this looks delicious.”

Aiden made coffee in the Keurig and set that down on the table before joining her. “I know carrot cake is your favorite. I also know you don’t eat it very often. I thought you might make an exception tonight.”

“I think I could do that,” she said digging her fork into the cake. She put the forkful into her mouth, closed her lips softly around it, and moaned. Once again, Aiden had to look away as he hardened, her every pleasure excited him. It was arousing enough just listening to her without watching her.

“You make eating look and sound erotic,” he said smiling. “If someone was listening at the window right now, they would think we were making love.” Her eyes widened as she stared at him. She swallowed her mouthful.

“Why aren’t we?” she said completely serious.

“Why aren’t we making love?”

“Yes,” she said quickly.

“Christ, Briah. I thought you would need some time. I mean…last night…I.”

“I love you, Aiden. I never stopped. You hurt me but I understand why you did. It wasn’t because you didn’t love me, it was because you did. We lost a lot of time. I don’t want to lose anymore,” she said putting her fork down and reaching across the table.

Aiden stared at her outstretched hand for a brief second. Then he grinned widely, took her hand and stood, pulling her up with him. He drew her into his arms and held her against his chest. His hand slid down her back to cup her bottom and he tugged her against him so she could again feel his desire for her.

Leaving the coffee to get cold and the carrot cake’s frosting to melt away, he picked her up and carried her to her bedroom, with his lips on hers. He set her on her feet and gently held her shoulders. “I’m going to try to go very slowly, Briah. I’m going to try to prolong this as long as I can, but you should know, I could come right now just looking at you. Once you are naked and in my arms, I have no idea what will happen.”

“If I remember correctly, that won’t matter because there is a whole lot more where the first one comes from,” she said smiling coyly.

The knock at the door woke them at six, about ten minutes before Briah’s alarm would have. Briah disentangled her arms and legs from Aiden’s naked body as he groaned at the loss of them. She grabbed the bathrobe on the back of her bedroom door and shrugged into it tying the belt tightly as she was naked too.

She shuffled to the door, attempting to run her fingers through her hair to make it more presentable. When she yanked the door open, she was expecting to see some stranded motorist that had run off the road and needed help. Instead, it was Cindy, her neighbor. “Did I wake you up?” Cindy asked, walking in.

“Well, yes, I guess, but the alarm would go off in a few minutes anyway. Is something wrong?” Briah asked following her into the kitchen. Cindy got out two cups from Briah’s cupboard just as if she lived there and put one under the Keurig and slammed it down. Briah stood there still half-asleep.

“For the last two days there has been a strange car parked outside your house. Yesterday, I noticed it in the evening, but then it was gone in the morning. It came back last night and it’s still there. I thought we could keep an eye on it and see who it belongs to,” she said removing the first cup and repeating with the second. Briah took the cup from her and sat on the nearest stool.

“I can explain that,” Briah began taking a sip of the steaming cup.

“Please allow me,” Aiden said from the edge of the hall, scratching his head and wearing nothing but his boxers slung low on his hips. Cindy nearly swallowed her tongue when she turned to see him. She began to choke. Briah knew just how she felt; she had the same reaction every time she saw him.

Briah got up, filled a glass of water from the sink, and handed it to Cindy. Aiden took the now finished cup from the coffee maker and sat down with it, smiling at Briah. She retrieved another cup from the cupboard and began the process of making another cup for Cindy. She recovered her power of speech and sat down on a stool, still staring at Aiden’s chest and stomach.

“I’m Aiden Baldwin. Cherie and I have reached an understanding. I love her and she has forgiven me,” he said smiling at Briah. Briah was thrilled he remembered her new name. She visibly relaxed.

“I’m Cindy, her neighbor. This is the guy? The one from Florida that broke your heart?” Cindy asked shooting eye daggers at Aiden.

“I broke your heart?” Aiden said never having thought of that possibility. He stared at Briah willing that she would say no, that he hadn’t wounded her that deeply. Somehow, he had felt that she knew deep down that he had loved her.

“Why do you look so surprised? Did you or did you not tell her that she meant nothing to you? That it was all just a fling,” Cindy said with her hand on her hip. Briah pulled the front of her robe tighter around her.

“Yes, I said that. I was lying and Cherie knows that…now. I didn’t believe I had a choice at the time. I thank you for being a friend to her.”

“Yeah, great, you’re welcome. So now what? You’re going to waltz in here and everything is forgiven?”

“We’ve talked, Cindy. We’ve worked things out…for now. Every relationship has difficulties. I’m hoping ours are permanently over,” Aiden said getting up from the stool. “Please excuse me. I’m going to get dressed.”

Cindy’s eyes followed him as far as they could before he disappeared into the bedroom. Then she dramatically fanned herself with the LL Bean catalog that was on the counter. “That man is fine, girlfriend.”

“Yes, and I noticed just how well you two got along, my personal pitbull,” Briah said teasing her friend.

“I wanted him to know how badly he hurt you.”

“He knows. He loves me and I love him. I want him in my life.”

“Okay. I’m happy for you. Now, what are you guys doing for Christmas?”

“Friends of Aiden’s are here on vacation. They have invited us for dinner. I have to work but I’ll go over when I finish. What are you and Ryan doing?”

“We are going to his parents. They told me to invite you if you were going to be alone. No one should be alone on Christmas.”

“That is so sweet. Please thank them for me,” Briah said looking up at the clock. “I need to get going. I can’t be late with the hordes of people at the lodge this week.” She got up and placed her cup in the sink. Turning back to Cindy she continued, “Thank you for looking out for me. I appreciate your friendship more than you will ever know.”