Chapter 6

6

BECKA WOULDN’T REACH for him. She had little but her pride left at this point and, honestly, she didn’t have much of that , either. Whether he realized it or not, Aaron threatened to hold all the cards in every single one of their interactions. She couldn’t give him even more power by following her very clear invitation up with anything other than waiting.

She’d made her move.

The ball was in his court.

Thank the Lord above, he didn’t make her wait long.

He walked to the bath and shut off the water and then he was there, engulfing her with his presence, wrapping his arms around her until her entire world narrowed down to him. As if he meant to shield her from anything life threw at her.

Stop that. He didn’t make anything resembling a promise when it comes to me . I can’t afford to get mixed up over him wanting to take care of the baby and him wanting me.

That didn’t keep her from leaning into his strong chest and inhaling deeply. His faint cologne made her toes curl, and she wanted to get beneath his shirt to see if it smelled different on his skin. Things had happened so quickly the first—the only—time, she hadn’t had a chance to explore him.

She wanted that chance now.

Becka reached for the hem of his shirt and tugged it up and over his head slowly. She silently marveled at the cut of his muscles. They were even more pronounced now than they had been three months ago. “Someone’s been spending time in the gym.”

“I had a lot of frustration to work out.” He rested his hands on her hips, letting her explore his chest and stomach. She was so busy tracing the line of his pecs that she almost missed his next words. “I still do.”

No way to misconstrue that statement.

He’s talking about me.

“Oh.” Good job, Becka. Excellent witty response. To cover up her confusion, she went onto her tiptoes and kissed him. The move pressed her breasts against his chest, and she moaned at how good it felt. Everything was more sensitive than normal, as if someone had hooked a live wire up to her and it covered every inch of her skin. “Touch me.”

He grabbed the backs of her thighs and lifted so she could wrap her legs around his waist. Aaron turned around and walked them to the bathroom counter and set her carefully on the marble. He ran a hand down the center of her chest, guiding her back to prop herself onto her hands and let him look at her. Though look was too mild a term. The man devoured her with his eyes, staring at her like she was an oasis in the middle of a desert and he wasn’t sure if she was real or a figment of his imagination. He was so damn buttoned up the rest of the time, but when he got his hands on her, a different part of Aaron came out to play. It made Becka feel just as wild and out of control to know that she was the cause of that switch being flipped.

She shoved down his pants just enough to free his cock. Becka stroked him, every muscle in her body shaking in anticipation. A person shouldn’t be able to be addicted to a cock after a single sexual encounter, but the sight of Aaron looming with his hands braced on the counter on either side of her hips and his cock in her hand...she couldn’t think of another place she’d rather be or another person she’d rather be with.

All she wanted was this moment.

This man.

Becka met his gaze as she guided his cock into her. There was no need for protection, not when that ship had most definitely sailed already, not when neither of them had been with anyone else in the meantime. And, crazy as it might be, she wanted him inside her with no barriers.

They had enough barriers in every other part of their lives to keep them apart. She didn’t want one here, too.

A muscle in Aaron’s jaw jumped as he sank into her inch by delicious inch, filling her completely. “You make me crazy.”

“You’re not the only one.” She didn’t even sound like herself. Her voice was too low, too breathy. Becka didn’t care. Not as long as the pleasure kept spiraling through her. “I need more, Aaron.”

“I’ve got more to give you, minx.” He hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her to the edge of the counter, until she had to cling to him to keep from toppling off. He used his free hand to cup her jaw, tilting her face up so he could claim her mouth, and then he began to move.

Aaron slammed into her even as his tongue gently teased her lips open. He pounded into her while giving her the sweetest kiss of her life, and her body couldn’t make the two dueling sensations match up. There was no fighting it, though, and she wasn’t even sure she wanted to. Instead, she clung to him and let him have full control of everything.

He tilted her back, still kissing her slowly, luxuriously. The new angle allowed him deeper, until his cock bumped the end of her with every thrust. It was too much and not enough. Pleasure built in brutal waves, each taking her closer and closer to the edge of no return. She gasped against his mouth, begging without words for completion. He responded by grinding his pelvis against her clit, and the friction sent her hurtling into an orgasm that made her toes curl. Aaron kept moving, drawing out her pleasure until she went limp in his arms. “Damn, that was good.”

His chuckle vibrated through her entire body. “We’re not done yet.”

She belatedly realized he was still hard inside her. Becka shivered. She wanted more. Of course she wanted more. But there was a difference between losing her mind and having a quickie in the bathroom and an entire night’s worth of sex.

What was that you were saying about the ship already sailing? If you wanted to keep the lines between you firm, you shouldn’t have jumped on his cock the first chance you got.

Shut up.

“Aaron...”

He leaned down to rest his forehead against hers. She closed her eyes and simply breathed in the scent of him—of them. It was easier to talk like this, to open up just a little. “I don’t know what we’re doing.”

“I don’t, either.” His words brushed her lips. “But I don’t want to stop.”

She opened her mouth to tell him she did, but it would be a lie. There were so many reasons she should call this whole thing off, but she wanted to pretend, just for a little while, that she wasn’t really alone. He made her feel so damn good, and she wasn’t a decent enough person to turn away from what he was offering tonight. Becka licked her lips. “I don’t... I don’t want to stop, either.”

Aaron shifted back and ran his hand down the center of her chest. He paused for the beat of a heart, with his hand over her slightly rounded stomach, and lifted her, her legs still wrapped around him, to walk out of the bathroom and down the short hallway to his room. The movement of his steps had his cock shifting inside her, and she squirmed in his grip. He nipped her ear, and she could have sworn he was grinning when he said, “This time, we’re going slow.”

How could he be so measured when she had just come out of her goddamn skin?

Becka ran her hands up his arms to grip his biceps. “I’m willing to be convinced.”

“Mmm.” He laid her down in the center of his stupidly large bed. “We’re just getting started.”

He should have been talking to Becka, not fucking her brains out, but Aaron couldn’t convince himself to stop. It felt too good to be inside her again, to have her moving in sync with him as they both chased pleasure. Even if they figured nothing else out, they could figure this out.

She wanted control. Hell, he wanted it, too.

It wasn’t on the agenda right then.

Aaron pulled out of her and moved down her body, reacquainting himself with her. He palmed her breasts, kissing her nipples gently, and then harder when she laced her fingers through his hair and moaned. She’d been responsive before, not shy about telling him what she wanted, but seemed even more so now. He grinned against her skin. “Sensitive, aren’t they?”

“You have no idea.” She arched her back, offering her breasts to him again. “Don’t stop.”

He didn’t stop. He lavished her breasts with attention until she was writhing beneath him and cursing and praising his name in equal measures. Then and only then did Aaron move down her body to settle between her thighs. He was too wound up to keep teasing her, and the sight of her wet and wanting overwhelmed him. He fucked her with his tongue, stopping only when he had to hold her hips down, and then he shifted to suck her clit, working her with his lips and tongue. Her cries only spurred him on, making him as crazy as he was determined to make her.

Her breathless little laugh when she came did things to his chest that he didn’t know how to deal with.

Becka tugged on his shoulders. “Come here.”

He crawled up her body, but she was already turning, going up on her hands and knees. The picture she presented, the muscles lining her spine drawing his gaze down to her biteable ass... “Fuck, minx. The things you do to me.” He nudged her legs wider and guided his cock into her. Becka immediately dropped her chest to the mattress, the new angle drawing a curse from his lips. She didn’t just feel good. She felt like fucking heaven. He smoothed a hand up her spine and braced it against the mattress next to her head.

And then he started to move.

It had been fast and hard in the bathroom, but Aaron was determined to hold himself in check this time. He noted every catch of her breath, every moan, every time she pushed back to take him deeper. He gave her everything, focusing everything he had on coaxing another of those addicting giggles from her lips.

Lightning shot down his spine, but he fought it back, fought to hold out as long as he could. “Touch yourself. You promised to come around my cock. I want to feel it again.”

She snaked a hand under her stomach. He knew the exact moment her fingers made contact with her clit. She gasped and clenched around him, and it was everything he could do not to release then and there. So good. There were so many things wrong with this situation, but this wasn’t one of them. Every move she made was perfection, her body flowing in direct counterpoint with his, heightening his pleasure until he could barely breathe past it.

He wanted this to last forever.

He was afraid it might kill him if it did.

Aaron clenched her hips tighter and drove into her harder. She met him stroke for stroke, and then her entire body went tight and tense and that goddamn giggle slipped free. I could spend the rest of my life pursuing that fucking sound. He’d thought it before, but it never seemed realer than in this moment. His strokes became more frenzied, the need to imprint himself over every part of her taking him to the edge and beyond. Aaron cursed as he came, the pleasure going on and on until he slumped onto the bed next to her.

“Feel better?” Becka rolled to face him. Her hair was tangled on one side, and she had a sleepy smile on her face. The fact she was in his bed didn’t escape him in the least. It could be like this if we got out of each other’s way long enough to give it a chance. That was the problem, though. He didn’t know if it was possible to create a lasting peace. He didn’t know nearly enough about a lot of things when it came to Becka.

Belatedly, he realized she’d asked him a question. He propped his head on his hand. “What?”

Some of the sleepiness disappeared from her eyes. “Did the sex distract you from your worrying long enough to make you feel better?”

Was that all this was? No. He couldn’t believe that. He wouldn’t . Aaron reached out and tucked a strand of her brilliant blue hair behind her ear. “I could think of worse ways to relax.”

“Me, too.” She closed her eyes, almost seeming to lean into his touch. “God, I would kill for some pancakes right now.”

“Pancakes,” he repeated. He glanced at the clock. “It’s after ten.”

“I know. I shouldn’t.”

This was his chance to extend their connection past a couple of shared orgasms. He forced himself to drop his hand, to not cage her in even that tiny way. “I think I have the stuff to put together some if you’re in the mood.”

Becka opened her eyes. “Are you serious?”

“As a heart attack.” Unable to help himself, he leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “I wouldn’t tease a pregnant woman about food.”

He regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth.

She shut down. He could actually see her walls coming back up to keep him out, her posture becoming more guarded, her gaze resting on the sheets instead of on him, her lips pressed together as if she attempted to keep sharp words inside. This was it. She’d tell him to get the fuck away from her, and what little ground he’d gained would be lost.

But Becka finally sighed. “Pancakes really do sound good.”

“Say no more.” He knew better than to push her now, not after his idiotic misstep. As Aaron climbed out of bed and headed into his closet for a pair of pants, he allowed himself a kernel of hope. Even with everything stacked against them, he now had two avenues to make headway with Becka—food and sex.

He could work with that.