TWENTY
Cat’s shirt today had no sleeves, which made it easy for Aiden to quest his fingers from her shoulders down to her elbows as he walked her backwards toward the bed. The backs of her knees hit, and she sank down onto it, practically dragging her lover along with her. He dutifully arranged himself comfortably on top of her, raining passionate kisses on her cheeks and eyes before his lips found hers.
“Aiden!” she breathed into his mouth, and he groaned softly in reply. She said, “I’m not willing to give you up, you know.”
He snorted. “You won’t have to, baby. Don’t even worry about that.”
Cat smiled, and held him to her fiercely. Aiden kissed her over and over until she had to come up for air, and then he kissed her some more. When his hands began to explore, she gave an encouraging groan. She reached down and grabbed hold of his ass, then let go long enough to give it a whack.
“Come on, stud, let’s see what you’ve got for me,” she teased.
Aiden laughed. “Really?”
“Sure, why not?”
“Well, all right then,” he agreed, sitting up and wrestling with the button on his fly. He got up and dropped his pants and his boxer briefs at the same time, then tugged off the rest of his clothes. Cat had her own clothes off so fast she was lying down again before he’d finished unbuttoning his shirt.
“You seem awfully eager today,” he observed as he crawled across the mattress to reach her.
“What can I say? Going to sleep with Legolas just isn’t the same as being here and in your arms,” Cat admitted playfully.
“What? Legolas wasn’t doing the job?”
“Not hardly,” she complained. “But that’s understandable since he’s made of paper and imagination. I much prefer my men to be a bit more warm-blooded, to say the least.”
“Don’t you mean hot-blooded?” he teased. “Because right this minute, that’s a lot more accurate.”
Cat giggled. “Yes, so I see,” she returned, reaching down between them to stroke his rock-hard cock with two of her fingers. “So why don’t you do something about it then?”
Aiden didn’t need any more prompting or encouragement than that. However, he didn’t immediately hop right on either, instead choosing to stroke at her clitoris for a time. She opened her mouth, allowing his kisses to deepen, and savored every one of them like they were gold.
Her own blood was feeling pretty heated too when Aiden finally positioned himself over top of her, still kissing her the whole time. He slid inside of her with one slow, deliberate stroke that sent a shudder all down her spine and made her moan. She could feel a sheen of sweat building on her brow as they clung together, their movements lavish and unhurried.
Cat’s heart swelled in her chest at the tenderness between them. The intensity of feelings assailed all of her senses and penetrated her brain. The significance of the moment was not lost on her, because she let go of the last of her defenses right then, and admitted to herself that she was well and truly in love. Only in a way, that scared the hell out of her. The man she desired most in the world was still legally bound to a woman who could haunt her nightmares.
Mentally, she dismissed the thought and concentrated on the feelings instead. With all her being, she poured all of the love she was feeling into her movements, and even into her whispers. When the word slipped out she almost winced, wondering if he heard. If he did, would he say it to her in return? And was it something she was ready to hear?
Thankfully, if Aiden did hear her he didn’t repeat the word or react to it just then. The last thing she wanted in the middle of the best sex she’d ever had in her life was to distract the master while he was at work. Because if anything, everything became more intense than ever. Aiden moved faster and harder, and Cat moved with him, drinking in every ounce of pleasure as she tried to give him the same amount in return.
Their bodies slid together, the heat making both of them slick with sweat. Every movement—every thought of a movement—was like magic between them. The crescendo of their voices filled the room, then intensified some more. It was so good, Cat began to wonder if people really could die of pleasure, and insanely enough she was willing to find out.
When Aiden came inside of her, Cat’s brain tuned in to reality for one fraction of a second—long enough to realize they’d forgotten to use any protection—but she dismissed the issue almost immediately because it was already too late. If anything happened because of it, she obviously wasn’t going to cast any blame. Besides, she was too busy glowing in the aftermath, and the realization that her heart had been given to someone, to worry about it now.
“It’s almost four o’clock already,” Aiden discovered as he glanced over at the clock. “I hope Kellen isn’t going to complain.”
“We probably ought to get back over there,” Cat said reluctantly.
“Yeah, you’re right about that,” Aiden agreed. “By the way, Cat, I love you too.”
“So you did hear me?” she chuckled, blushing.
“I didn’t need any words,” he whispered into her hair. “My heart already knew. Maybe we could discuss it a bit more tonight when I bring you home.”
“Aiden, we talked about this,” she sighed. “Besides, if I hadn’t been there last night, who knows what might have happened?”
“Then I’ll stay with you instead,” he grumbled.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea either,” she told him as she got up and started putting on her clothes. “If Brynn is behind all of this, and she notices, she might pull something a whole lot worse.”
“I’ve been thinking,” he said as he pulled on his pants. “Maybe we need to hire a security team. A couple of guys to police the area and make sure the buildings that have been closed for the night won’t be tampered with again.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Cat agreed as she slipped into her flats and looked in the vanity mirror to see what had happened to her hair. It was a mess, of course. She would need to tie it back until she could wash it later. “Plus that way, if anything requiring mediation is going on, they could step in and break it up. You know that when people are drinking, they don’t always want to play nice.”
“That’s very true,” he nodded, taking her hand as they headed back for the SUV. “I mean, I got a couple of bouncers for the bar already, but they’re not going to want to work both day and night. What we need are a couple of locals who want to help treat this place right.”
“Did you see anybody at the job fair who would have fit the bill?” Cat asked helpfully.
“Yeah, I think I might have two boys in mind,” he nodded. “I only sent them home because I’d reached the quota, but I really think I should give them a call. I’m going to get on it as soon as we get back to the resort.”
“And I’m going to tell the staff to keep their eyes open,” Cat added as he began to drive. “We need more than just a couple pairs of eyes on this thing. If this resort is going to become viable, we need to get this problem sorted out.”
“I know, right?” Aiden agreed, nodding.
When they reached the resort, Cat radioed all of the members of her team who were currently at work and told them she wanted to see them in the conference room before they clocked out. In short order, she informed them all about the incidents involving the car, the keycards, and the kitchen, and told them she believed the power outage in the laundry room earlier probably should be lumped in with the carnage as well.
“At this point, although I have my suspicions about who is causing the trouble, there’s just no way to know,” she told them all. “So, I want each and every employee at this resort to remain on high alert whenever you are here. If anything looks suspicious, no matter how trivial, I want a full report. Aiden has decided to add a security team to the employee roster, and hopefully they’ll help get things under control, but you never know. Remember, if this place goes down, your nice new jobs are going to go down right along with it. I don’t want to see that happen to you, and I hope you don’t want to see it happen either.”
Her audience was nervous about their employment, and outraged that it might be under threat, just as she’d intended when she’d used her words in that manner. With concerns about losing their jobs firmly implanted in each of their brains, her team dispersed with assurances that if they saw anything at all, she would be the first to know.
As they filed out, Ellen remained by her side long enough to ask, “I gotta know, Cat. Do you think Mrs. Whitney could be involved?”
“At this point, there’s no proof, but she has not been ruled out.” Cat shrugged. “Aiden has his doubts, since in all the years he’s known her this is something she’s never tried, but what with the attitude she’s been giving all of you, and the fact that when she asked him to take her back Aiden flat out refused, I can’t help but think it’s a real possibility myself.”