Chapter 42 - Aiden
I know I should shower, or I should take my dirty work clothes off. I’m filthy from another day of working on the house. Right now, all I can do is kiss her and touch her and convince myself that she’s real.
Holding her in my arms is the sweetest pleasure. Feeling her body tremble and seeing her eyes shining makes me want to howl into the night. I pull her closer and crush my lips against hers. Her body fits perfectly into mine and for the first time since she left, I feel whole again.
I drop my hands to her ass and hoist her up. She giggles and wraps her legs around my waist as I turn towards the cabin. I kick the door open, breaking the doorknob as splinters of wood spray into the cabin.
“I’ll fix it tomorrow,” I growl, not taking my eyes off her. She laughs and runs her fingers through my hair, squeezing them into fists and sending pleasure and pain through my skull. The sensation sends a thrill all the way down to my cock and all I want to do is plunge it into her. I carry her to the bed and lay her down, laying on top of her and covering her in a million kisses.
I missed her moans when she was gone. I missed the way her body trembles when I touch her, and the way her eyes blaze with desire. I missed the way she breathes my name when I touch her. I run my hand between her legs and I can feel the heat of her center through her pants. She moans gently and pushes her hips up towards me.
I don’t know why she came back, or how long she’ll be here, or what she wanted to tell me – but right now none of that matters. All that matters is her body next to mine.
I stand up and tear my coveralls off. They drop to my feet and I watch as Maddy pulls her jeans off and lifts her shirt over her head. The air in the cabin is cold, and my eyes drift to her hard nipples. My cock throbs and I lean down to take one in my mouth. She moans as my lips touch her breast, wrapping her fingers in my hair and reaching her other hand down to stroke my cock.
I’m so hard it hurts. My whole body is pulsing for her. She looks at me with fire in her eyes and then everything is a blur. She’s screaming my name and arching her back. She’s pressing her body into mine and wrapping her arms and legs around me. Her nails are digging into my skin and every touch is making my body more electric. I kiss, and bite, and lick anything I come in contact with.
We’re animals. I push myself into her with the full force of my desire for her. Her body melts into mine and mine into hers. I’m inside her, around her, beside her. We’re one. We make love until everything is spent, until she comes and I come and our bodies are more connected than they ever have been. We make love without saying a word to each other, letting our moans and bodies guide us.
Her body is more perfect than I remember. She feels softer than I remember, and she tastes sweeter than she did before. It’s not until we’re lying side by side and the breath comes back to our bodies that we look at each other. She smiles and trails her fingers over my chest. I groan, catching her fingers and pressing them to my lips.
“You came back,” I say, searching her face for answers. She nods. I watch her swallow, peering into my eyes and breathing softly. Her lips part slightly and her eyes get brighter.
“I love you,” she says. I hardly hear the words, she says them so softly. To my ears though, they sound as loud as a scream. My mouth curls into a smile and I wrap my arms around her, pressing my lips against hers and feeling my chest rumble.
“I love you too, Maddy,” I finally say when we pull apart. Her eyes water and she smiles at me, running her fingers through my hair and trailing them down my cheek.
“I’m sorry,” she says. “For everything. For doubting you. For accusing you of lying to me. For asking if you burned the hotel down. It was me who was wrong. I was taking my own confusion out on you and it was wrong.”
I shake my head. “Maddy,” I say, pressing her fingers to my lips again. “You don’t need to apologize. I’m just happy you’re here.”
“What happened?” she says slowly. “At the hotel?”
I take a deep breath and shake my head. “It sounds like it was a bit of a group decision in town,” I say slowly, not wanting to name any names. Not yet, anyway. “I took off after you came here. I went camping up north to clear my head and when I came back it had burned down.”
She nods, running her fingers through my hair. “Are you happy it’s gone?”
I stare at her, wondering what she wants me to say. I can’t read her face, so I decide to just tell the truth. “Yeah,” I say. “I’m glad it burned down.”
Maddy looks at me for a moment and then I see a grin creeping across her face. “Me too,” she says softly. I laugh, and my body relaxes a bit more. Her lips part again and she takes a deep breath. “Can I stay?” she asks, again barely above a whisper. I can’t help it, I start laughing. I wrap my arms around her and laugh until she’s laughing with me, and then jump out of bed. I pull on some pants and a sweatshirt.
“Come on,” I say. “I want to show you something.”
She frowns, but doesn’t ask any questions. She pulls her clothes back on and I interlace my fingers into hers. I lead her out the cabin and up the path towards the big house. She glances at me and I look down at her, smiling. I nod to the house, opening the front door and letting her step through.
I’ve made good progress. The whole bottom floor is bare and ready for construction. I walk in after her as she looks around.
“Over here is going to be the living room, open concept with the kitchen. I’m going to put the kitchen counters over here, with an island in the middle. We can have a small bathroom over here, and dining table here. I was thinking we could build a patio and have a place to have breakfast in the morning.”
Maddy opens her mouth to speak but all she can do is shake her head in amazement. I grab her hand again and lead her upstairs.
“There’s four rooms. Here’s the master bedroom. I’ll take the carpet up and get a good rug. The wallpaper can go, obviously.”
“Aiden…” Maddy breathes. She turns towards me, her eyes shining bright as she wraps her arms around my neck. “Are you serious?”
I laugh. “I just gutted my childhood home. Yes I’m fucking serious,” I growl, touching my nose to hers. Her smile widens and she laughs with me.
“This is incredible! Can I help?”
“So, does that mean you’re staying?”
Maddy grins and nods her head slowly. “I was thinking I could start a garden shop. I liked working at the community garden. I’ve got a bit of money,” she says, glancing around. “Actually, I’ve got a lot of money. I was thinking we could have a garage and a garden shop in town. Maybe a small hardware store.” She glances at me and my heart starts to beat a little bit faster.
“A garage?” I ask slowly.
She nods. “If you want. We’d be business partners, obviously. Fifty-fifty. But I was thinking there’s nothing in town like that. There’s enough traffic and surrounding communities that would need a mechanic like you who has his own garage.”
I laugh and pick her, spinning her around in our future bedroom. I kiss her one more time and wrap my arms around her. We sway gently from side to side, smiling at each other. There are so many things that are unsaid between us. We’ll have to have so many conversations, get to know each other so much better. Somehow the thought of it excites me. I know that I have all the time in the world to tell her about my past and to learn about hers. I kiss her once more, and decide to ask her one of the thousand questions I have for her.
“Why did you leave so quickly?” I ask her. “Was it because of me? The rest of your coworkers stayed way longer. Some of them are still here.”
Her face falls and she shakes her head. “My dad died,” she says. Her voice is tense and she looks up at me. “I had to go home for the final days and the funeral. He was sick, remember? I told you. He took a turn for the worse. I got the call the day the hotel burned down.”
“Maddy…” I breathe. My heart squeezes for her and I hold her tight. She shakes her head.
“It’s okay. I wish you could have met him. He’d have loved you. I think he just wanted me to find my own way, or my own place in the world.”
“And that place is Lang Creek?” I ask, my voice tight as I hold the woman of my dreams in my arms.
She laughs and shrugs. “It’s wherever you are,” she finally answers. This time when I kiss her, it’s more tender than before. It’s a kiss that knows I’ll be able to kiss her again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. It’s a kiss that says I’m truly and completely hers.