9. Aiden

Chapter 9

Aiden

I t only took one text message to Jimmy to find out what Meredith liked for breakfast. I would've asked Claire, but I didn't want to risk her telling her best friend that I was coming over, giving Meredith time to make up an excuse, come up with an argument. I needed to surprise her. That's when she was most honest.

And while Jimmy normally couldn't keep a secret to save his life, he promised to give me a few hours. Or, "Until your sister gets me naked. Then all bets are off."

Honestly, if I didn't like him, I wouldn't be able to stand him with my sister.

But he was on my side here, so I could learn Meredith was a fan of Boston Cream donuts, so I pulled up to her condo with half a dozen and a couple of coffees. I knocked on her door with the toe of my shoe and waited a minute until she answered with a crease between her brows and a soft pink cardigan hanging off her shoulder, revealing the barely there white tank top underneath. With matching pink sleep shorts, no make-up, and her hair up in a messy knot on her head, I didn't think she'd ever let anyone see her so clearly and plainly before.

My chest radiated warmth.

And my cock stirred.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her morning gray-blue eyes darting behind me as if I'd brought along a camera crew for a prank.

I held up the food and drinks. "Breakfast."

"I didn't… What?"

I nudged her aside and walked into her place, taking a quick account of the rather utilitarian décor of the open floor plan. Instead of the pinks and purples I expected, like my sister's place, Meredith had bronze and silver everywhere. A big brown couch with a pile of books on the glass coffee table in front of it. She had a little bar cart in the corner with two big black and white art prints hanging above it. One of what appeared to be a Prohibition era protest and another of two women in 1920s style clothing drinking.

I don't know why, but I really liked it. Liked her place.

"I was working," Meredith told me as she plodded around me to close her laptop and fold up the fluffy orange blanket on the couch.

I placed the donuts on the small round table I assumed she used as a kitchen table. "I got you Boston Cream."

She stopped mid-stride, staring at me and then the box of donuts and coffees. "Why?"

"Because I know they're your favorite?"

"Claire?"

I shook my head. "Jimmy."

She rolled her eyes, mumbling, "That fucking guy."

"I knew Claire wouldn't tell me. Or would spoil the surprise."

Meredith blew out a breath and fixed her sweater on her shoulders, then, as if realizing what she wore, dropped her attention to her bare legs. My focused zipped right to her hard nipples.

"Listen," she started, pulling her cardigan tight around her, "I don't know what you think this is or whatever, but?—"

"But we need to have a discussion," I said, interrupting her by wrapping my hands around her hips.

The tiny little gasp she let out was pure lust, and I didn't expect to lose my cool so quickly, but I backed her up against the wall near the staircase. "And I'm willing to have the discussion over breakfast or while you're naked. It's totally up to you."

She huffed a laugh that morphed to a moan when I ducked my face to her throat, sucking on the skin over her pulse. "Aiden."

I hummed. I loved how she said my name like that.

"Why are you here?"

"I told you." I met her gaze. "We need to talk."

"This isn't talking."

"You're right." I tipped my head toward the table. "So, make your decision. Talk over food." I jutted my chin to the steps behind her. "Or in your bed."

"I don't know what you think we need to talk about, but you're not?—"

I bent and wrapped my forearms around her ass, heaving her over my shoulder. She shrieked, hanging upside. "What are you doing?"

"You're not usually so indecisive, so I thought I'd help you out."

"Aiden!"

I swatted her thigh, and she smacked my butt in return while I carried her upstairs.

"Put me down!"

I marched down the short hall to what I guessed was her bedroom and tossed her down on the bed. She bounced, her hair flopped to the side, her mouth hanging open like I'd shocked her delicate sensibilities.

"We have to talk about last night," I said, my hands on my hips as I watched her scramble back on the bed.

"There's nothing to talk about."

"No?" I planted my hands on the end of her mattress, curling my fingers into the comforter. "Not about how I made you come so hard, both of us were literally dripping?"

She shook her head. "That was…a mistake."

I yanked the blanket toward me, taking her with it, and she shrieked, her arms and legs flailing. "It wasn't a mistake. I don't want to hear you say that again."

"What's…?" She sat up, tucking loose hair behind her ears, fixing her sweater over her, trying to cover up as much as possible. "What's gotten into you?"

"You," I ground out. "You've gotten into me."

Her jaw moved up and down, but no words came out. In her silence, I straightened and removed my zip-up, kicked off my shoes.

Her eyes widened. "What are you doing?"

"Showing you yesterday wasn't a mistake."

I tugged off my T-shirt, shucked my pants, and then my socks off, throwing them all in a pile. She watched, saying nothing, though her throat did bob. She did lick her lips.

And she wasn't fooling anyone.

She wanted me. Like I wanted her.

She only had to admit it.

The closest I got was a snarky smile and a quippy, "Nice undies."

They were the ones she'd picked out. I'd bought them in every color. They were the only underwear I wore now.

I wrapped my hands around her ankles, pulling her toward me to push her sweater off her shoulders. I kissed the curve of her collarbone, the slope of her neck, the slant of her jaw. She shivered, slowly becoming more and more pliable.

"I know you're afraid," I told her. "I get it."

"I'm not afraid," she said, her voice shaking.

I nodded as I curled my fingers around the bottom of her tank top, lifting it over her head to reveal her breasts to me, heavy and tipped with golden pink nipples, begging for my mouth. "Of course you're not."

"You don't know me," she said, her voice no more than a whisper as I gently pushed her to lie down.

"You're right. I have no idea about the type of woman you are." I dragged my palms down her sides to her hips, urging her to raise up, allowing me room to tug off her shorts and underwear. "I don't know how smart you are, how hard you work, how loyal you are."

I threw her clothes over my shoulder, sweeping my gaze over her naked form, the soft patch of hair between her legs, her full but firm thighs, leading down her straining calves and pointed toes, like she was waiting for me. I didn't want to keep her.

I crawled over her, kissing my way up her torso. "I don't know strong you are, how bold and determined you are when you want something."

She hissed when I palmed her breast, licking her nipple, scraping my teeth over it. "You…don't…"

I turned my attention to her other nipple, giving it the same treatment until her back bowed off the bed. "I don't know how you've been waiting for someone to see all that you hide behind. I don't know how you've been holding out for someone to stand behind you, not in front of you."

She scratched her fingernails down my neck and shoulders. "I don't need you to tell me what I need."

"No?" I took hold of her hand, pressing it against my straining length, already dripping behind the cotton of my underwear. "How 'bout I tell you what I need?" I pushed her knees apart with my own and tossed my glasses to her nightstand before sinking down to my forearms. "I need you to let me show you I'm not afraid of you."

She began to argue, but I kissed her words away, licked whatever defense she had right off her lips.

Meredith was used to intimidating men, leading them by the nose, never letting them get any closer than she wanted. But I was here to bust down all her walls, all her usual ways.

I was here because she revealed herself to me in ways I didn't think she intended, and now that I had a hint of all she had inside of her, I wasn't ready to let her get away.

"I need to be inside you," I said against her throat. "Let me inside."

She answered by spreading her legs, making more room for me so I could feel her soaking wet heat as I ground myself against her. Both of us breathed out tortured sounds.

I hitched her legs up, curling her knees around my arms and laid flat on the bed, licking up all the desire pouring out of her. She tasted of sweet, slightly salty, my new favorite flavor.

I dreamed about it last night. Of her panting breaths and the sharp scratch of her nails. I woke up with an erection tenting my sheets, nearly coming because of the mere remembrance of how she let herself be completely and wholly open with me yesterday.

And I wasn't about to let her close up on me now.

I kept her thighs parted as I licked into her, devouring every inch of her pleasure, from her throbbing clit to the tight ring a few inches below. She wiggled and writhed, but I didn't let up. Not until she was heaving and tensing.

Then I released one of her legs to curl my index and middle fingers inside, pressing against the soft spot on the inside of her inner wall. She moaned low and long, muttering a combination of curse and nonsense words. She was close. I knew from how she pulsed around my fingers, and I wasn't going to let up until she exploded.

I sucked at her clit, and her nails dug into my shoulders. I didn't care if she drew blood. I wanted her marks on me. I wasn't leaving.

I wasn't done.

"Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck," she chanted, her first orgasm rocking through her, and, yeah, I got it.

Dead bug.

That adorable frozen position of one leg bent with her opposite arm twisted up. Cute little dead bug.

I levered up over her, one hand next to her head, the other petting the wet skin of her pussy. "You have a vibrator?"

With sleepy eyes, she nodded.

"Where?"

Silently, she pointed to the chest of drawers. I didn't wait for any more direction. Instead, I opened the top one, finding organizational boxes of her bras and underwear, pretty lace things that I was highly interested in. Though not as interested in as much as the deep red silicone toy in the shape of a rosebud. I picked it up, discovering the hidden button to turn it on. It vibrated in my hand, and I turned to Meredith, still laid out on her bed, relaxed with one hand between her heavy, round breasts and the other on her stomach.

"I want you soaking the sheets," I told her, because now that I knew what we could do, I was obsessed.

"I think that was a one-off thing," she said, and I smirked.

"It wasn't a one-off." I wasn't going to let it be. "Feet on the bed," I directed, and she listened, placing the bottoms of her feet on the mattress, offering me the prettiest picture I'd ever seen.

I positioned myself between her legs, stroking my fingertips down the seam of her pussy. She shuddered, and I bent, dropping a chaste kiss at the apex of her sex. Then spread her open, revealing her clit so I could place the vibrator over it. She sucked in a breath, all of her muscles immediately coiling.

"Makes quick work," I noted, watching as her skin flushed all over, her inner muscles already clenching around my fingers.

Her face scrunched up, her head thrown back, mewling out whimpers and cries that would have sounded painful if I didn't feel exactly how much she enjoyed this. Her second orgasm hit hard and fast, but it wasn't enough, and I concentrated on working my fingers inside her.

"You can't. I can't," she panted, but I shook my head.

"You can. I will."

"Aiden…"

"I'm here," I murmured, moving to suck on her nipple. "I'm not going anywhere."

That's what set her off. She came with a cry, releasing a gush of hot liquid all over my hand, and I licked up her throat, nibbling at her ear. "That's it. You just need me to show you I'm not leaving."

"Don't psychoanalyze me or my vagina."

I smiled into a kiss. "Don't try to pretend you let go like this with anyone else. It's me you want."

She shook her head, pressing her hand against my pec, but I refused to budge.

"You want me like I want you," I said, and she rolled to her side, as if she could escape me.

I shucked my boxer-briefs off and held firmly onto her thigh so she couldn't wiggle away as I grabbed a condom from the pocket of my jeans.

"You go after all these guys you know aren't good enough for you." I ripped the foil with my teeth as I tugged on her, positioning her on her hands and knees on the bed. "You're always the one in charge. Always the one to keep them at arm's length." I let go of her for only a few moments to roll on the condom. "But I'm here, and I'm telling you, I've already seen everything you've been trying to hide. I already know what's inside of you, and I'll never take it for granted."

I curled around her, spanning my hand across her belly, letting her feel the hard length of me against her ass. I held us close together, so we inhaled and exhaled at the same time. "I want you. I want all the soft and hard parts, the loud and the quiet."

She peered over her shoulder at me, arching her back in a silent invitation, and I wrapped one hand around her hip as I gripped my cock, notching it at her entrance. She pushed back against me at the same time I thrust in, and I had to squeeze my eyes shut at the light that flashed in my eyes. I coughed, the overwhelming sensation too much to contain, and fell on top of Meredith.

"Christ," I mumbled, burying my head at the back of her neck. "You feel so perfect. Too perfect."

She moaned in reply, rotating her hips, and I curved my fingertips into her stomach, holding her still. "Don't move yet. Not yet…" I kissed her shoulder blade. "I want to feel you come again, and I need a second."

She sighed like I was asking her to solve world hunger and dropped to her elbows, her face against her bed, angling herself up into an even better position, and I groaned. "Trying to kill me."

" You're killing me ," she said, stretching out long, tempting me to drive into her. Instead, I reached behind me for the rose, turning it on once again, and she cursed quietly, earning a smack on the round of her left ass cheek from me.

I wrapped my arms around her, slipping my fingers over where we met to help me place the vibrator over her clit without being able to see what I was doing. But Meredith's noises guided me, and when it first touched her, she jolted.

I did too.

Felt that shock reverberate through my cock inside of her.

She pushed back up to her hands, fingers balled in the sheets, her spine long and tensed. "Oh my god," she chanted over and over, the toy doing its thing while I slowly pushed in and out of her, barely clinging to my sanity. "Oh, shit, Aiden…"

"I know. I know." I was hardly moving and yet my heart pounded like I was sprinting, every fiber of my being on fire, my muscles pulled taut. "I'm never leaving," I grunted. "I'm never fucking leaving."

She whimpered and spasmed, orgasming in another rush of liquid soaking both of us. I tossed the vibrator down to grip her hips roughly, pounding into her a handful of times until I filled the condom, then dropped my weight on top of her, taking us both down to the bed.

I blinked, struggling to catch my breath, and searched for my glasses. Once I found them, I placed them on and stroked my hand down Meredith's side. "You get it now?"

She shook her head.

"I'm not leaving."

"But you are," she croaked, slanting her head back to meet my gaze, and when I frowned at her, she shrugged. "You went out with Celeste last night."

I nodded. I had the date scheduled, and Meredith all but ordered me to. Besides, I wanted to be sure.

"We started hanging out because of her," she said, scooting away from me while keeping herself covered up with the ruined sheet. "I'm no one's second choice."

I flopped onto my back, growling, "Don't start with that bullshit."

"It's not bullshit."

I nearly shouted, "It's an excuse."

"It's not!" She didn't mind raising her voice. Didn't mind dropping the sheet when she was pissed, apparently, either. She snatched her shorts from the floor and stepped into them and had her shirt over her head seconds later. "You want Celeste, so go be with her."

"I'm here with you right now." I threw my arm out to the side, gesturing to me naked in her bed. "Why don't you want to see what's right in front of you?"

"Because you don't want me. You've never wanted me. You're just getting confused with everything."

I hated that she was grasping at straws here, trying to come up with a justification of her dumping me, no matter how flimsy the reasoning was. "I'm not confused. You are."

I got up, stalking off to find the bathroom to take care of the condom while I heard her slamming drawers and doors. When I returned to her bedroom, she was waiting for me with my clothes in her hands.

"What are you so afraid of?" I asked, accepting my clothes, knowing she wouldn't answer.

She couldn't.

Because if she did, she'd have to admit to having a kink in her armor.

She'd have to tell the truth. Which was that she had weaknesses, and I knew them all. She didn't want me to hurt her.

She left me to get dressed, and by the time I stepped down stairs, she was back to working, as if the last hour didn't happen. She hadn't touched the donuts or coffee on the table.

"Really?" I asked, tossing my hand out toward her, and she barely spared me a glance.

"Thanks for breakfast, but I've got a lot to do."

I blew out a long breath, struggling to find something—anything—to say. I waited, watching her in silence, and she eventually lifted her gaze, allowing me to view the hurt in her eyes. "Go on a third date with her. Close the deal."

I rolled my eyes. If this was a test, I didn't care about passing. I didn't care about taking it. As far as I was concerned, class was over.

"When you're tired of hiding, you know where to find me," I said and let myself out.