Chapter Fifty-One

Aiden

“ O kay, truth,” Bec mumbles from behind the rim of her wine glass. She’s bundled in a blanket as we sit in a pair of Adirondack chairs on the second story deck just outside the wall of windows of the small cabin. The sky is clear, showcasing the light of the stars and moon from above. We lit the fire pit in the center of the patio table and the warm glow from the flames dances across Bec’s skin.

“What’s your favorite dessert?”

“Ugh, Aiden. The point of the game is to distract us from being hungry, not make me hungrier,” she whines.

We finished her snacks hours ago, and since neither of us is desperate enough to eat the dish I ruined, we’ve filled up on wine since the snacks ran out.

“I won’t know what dish to ruin next if you don’t tell me your favorite.”

“Didn’t you say you used to cook with your mom all the time growing up? I thought you had skills or something.”

“I thought I did too,” I say with a laugh. “My memory must be fucked. I bet my mom spent more time in the kitchen fixing my mistakes than I realized.”

“All right, fine…brownies. All brownies, even the easy box mixes. You can’t mess that up at least.”

“It’s cute that you think that’ll make it harder for me to fail. Also, do I need to remind you of what happened to the birthday cake you made me? You know, the one with the crater in the middle. I believe that was also a box mix, right? Those can be just as challenging.”

“I have no defense. I was really humbled by that damn cake. On second thought, maybe we need to promise each other we’ll only get desserts from a bakery or something.”

“Deal,” I say in agreement.

“Okay, Price. Truth or Dare?”

“Truth.”

“Awe, too scared to dare?” she asks.

“No, too cold to risk anything that requires me to get out from under this blanket. I think my nipples are harder than a mannequin’s right now.”

“You’ve gotten comfortable mixing up the dirty talk,” she says.

“I like to keep you guessing. Okay, Miller. Hit me with a question.”

“I want to put a disclaimer here…you don’t have to answer this one if you don’t want to. No penalties.”

“Oookay?” I say, confused about the direction she’s about to take this conversation.

“Do you…do you speak to your dad?” she asks, hesitation clear on her face.

My face falls. Of all the questions she could ask, I didn’t expect one about my father. Pain pulses in my chest at the thought of having to share more about this part of my life, but if I want Bec to be honest with me, I know I need to reciprocate.

“No, I don’t.” Letting out a heavy sigh, I go on. “It’s hard to talk about. ”

“I’m sorry. You don’t need to say anything else. I shouldn’t pry. It’s just…your mom and sister are so wonderful. And with everything you’ve told me, I know the three of you have overcome so much. You’ve managed to be there for each other through it all while still accomplishing so much. I was wondering if he had any place in your life now.”

“Hey, it’s okay. Don’t feel bad about asking, really. It’s understandable that you’d have questions.” I look away, not sure if I can manage to share all that I want to if I were to watch Bec’s reactions, so I just look into the fire instead.

“My father was…angry. He never physically harmed us, but he made people hurt in other ways. I think my mom knew…knew that it was only a matter of time before his emotional outbursts escalated, and she wasn’t going to stick around for that. He made it difficult. He limited her access to their finances and refused to cooperate in the divorce process for the longest time. She made huge sacrifices getting us out of that environment, and I’ve never wanted to go back knowing all that waited for me was pain. I haven’t talked to him since I was drafted. That’s the last time he reached out. It felt like a convenient time for him to want to reconnect and it was clear from our conversation that he hasn’t changed since he and Mom separated.”

“I’m sorry. I think it was really strong of you to hold that boundary. It sounds like he hasn’t done the work on himself that would warrant more of a relationship to be built between the two of you. Not that you’d owe him that even if he did.”

“It’s not easy. There’s always that small part of me that wishes I knew what it was like to have my dad in my life. Then I felt guilty for missing someone like that. Or maybe it was the idea of someone…who I wished my father could be,” I say.

I know there will always be a part of me that wishes my father was the kind of man I wanted to be involved in my life, the kind of father who deserved that recognition and my time, but he isn’t, and that’s up to him to change, not me.

“When we first left, I was afraid for so long that he’d turn up at our front door. I was young, but when we left home, when we moved out, it all became so real, and even my young mind felt like I needed to take care of Mom and Evie. Mom never wanted that, neither did Evie, and when I pushed for control so that I could feel like I was protecting them, they made it clear that we weren’t going to operate like that as a family. So we didn’t, but the drive, the impulse to protect the people I care about is still there and it can come across as overbearing. I started to feel like I would turn into him. Like my need to control everything around me was close, too close, to the way he needed to control everyone around him.”

“I can understand wanting to protect the people you love from experiencing anymore hurt. But Aiden, I can’t imagine you being anything like your father. Not with what you’ve shown me, not with how you act around your family, or how you act with me.”

“It’s taken time for the hypervigilance to settle, but the longer we were on our own, the better I felt. The fear of being anything like him…it can be stifling.” I shake my head, trying to will away the uncomfortable pit that’s settled in my stomach talking about this.

“Hey…” Bec says softly, reaching over the arm of my chair to grasp my hand in hers. “It’s okay to be scared. Being afraid only makes you human, and the fact that you even think like that shows that you’re not like him at all.”

I squeeze her hand and let the feeling of her palm against mine ground me for a moment as I consider what she’s saying. I normally try to bury the hurt and fear, afraid that talking about it will make it more real. But giving it a voice tonight didn’t make the pain worse like I expected it to. Instead, it feels like the ache in my chest has dulled, just a little .

“Pretty sure I owe you a few truths for that one,” Bec says. “That was a weightier answer than my favorite dessert.”

I chuckle, relieved by Bec’s effortless ability to make life’s burdens feel a little lighter.

“I’m holding you to that.”

“Really, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You didn’t. I told you before that I want to know all of you, nothing watered down. It wouldn’t be fair of me to ask that of you without offering the same. Besides, I think you’re right. Spending time in a place like this,” I pause to take a deep breath, looking up at the clear sky littered with stars and the light from the moon, “it really does put things into perspective.”

I can hear her draw in a deep breath beside me, her gaze lifting to the sky as well before breathing out slowly. “It’s beautiful. Aiden, I need to thank you.”

Our eyes connect as she stands, pulling me to stand in front of her before wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her chin on my chest.

“For what?” I whisper, letting my hands fall to the base of her spine, pulling her closer.

“For bringing me here. For telling me more about you even though it’s difficult. For being you and making it easier to feel like I can be me too.”

The impulse to tell Bec that I’m falling for her tugs in my gut, but I push it down, feeling too raw from our conversation. But I still want to show her.

While words come easier than ever before when I’m talking to Bec, the way our bodies connect is effortless. When I tilt her jaw to kiss her, all the negative emotions my memories drudged up fall away, leaving only the feeling of her warm body in my arms and her soft lips pressed to mine .

I pull away long enough to ask her again, “Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” she mumbles against my lips before kissing me again.

“I dare you to get naked and wait for me in bed. You have three minutes to get ready while I lock up.”

A radiant smile overtakes her face, and I shiver at the loss of her warmth as she pulls away from me and runs inside.

I smile to myself as I turn off the gas fire pit, close up the cabin, and let my imagination take hold while I picture how Bec will look waiting sprawled out for me.

The sight that awaits me when I walk into the bedroom isn’t what I expected.

It’s so much fucking better.

“You cheated,” I say with a mock accusatory tone.

Bec is smirking at me while kneeling in the middle of the king-size bed, her knees spread open as she sits back on her heels, wearing nothing but a black lace lingerie set. The sight alone has me rock hard, and my cock aches, straining against my pants.

She shrugs, the movement knocking one of her bra straps off her shoulder. “I figured you wouldn’t mind. I assumed you’d want to unwrap me yourself.”

She reaches both hands up and grips her breasts, squeezing them for me, and my mouth waters at the sight of her cleavage and rosy pebbled nipples.

I reach behind my head and rip off my shirt. I take three steps before I’m climbing on top of her, placing one hand between her shoulder blades to cushion her fall.

“You came here with that in your suitcase, knowing how delicious you’d look waiting in this bed for me?”

“No, remember? I didn’t pack my bags,” she says, before giggling into my neck as I nibble on her earlobe.

“Remind me to send Ellie a thank-you. ”

“And what about me? What do I get for putting it on?” she asks indignantly.

“Babe, you’ll get a very different kind of thank you,” I say, pulling away from her and standing at the end of the bed. I grip her ankles firmly and pull her in one smooth motion so her ass rests along the end of the bed.

Bec lets out a gasp and the sound echoes off the vaulted ceilings of the bedroom. The lighting is muted, the only source being the two bedside lamps on the nightstands and the gas fireplace in the corner that Bec must have turned on when she came inside. The soft amber haze makes her skin glow, and I run my palms up her calves to hook her legs around my neck.

I grip her thighs, my fingers pressing into her soft curves, pulling her closer to me. I groan at the sight of her perfect pussy wrapped up in black lace crotchless panties.

“You wanna know my favorite dessert?”

“I think I already do,” Bec says breathlessly, leaning up on her elbows to look down at me with a knowing smirk on her face.

“I’m fucking starving, so I plan on having my fill tonight. Now, lean back and grind this perfect pussy on my face.”

I lick her, groaning at the taste of her evident desire. My cock is painfully hard now, pushing against the bottom edge of the mattress. I press another kiss to her soaked entrance before circling her clit with my tongue. Bec moans and grips my hair roughly, her hips tilting up toward me, seeking more contact. I happily give it to her.

“Oh, my god. More, I need more,” Bec says, continuing to rock her pelvis against my tongue.

I drive my tongue into her several times before rimming her slit. When I lick her clit again, I release one of her thighs and slowly press one finger into her, making Bec moan louder.

“How do you want it, gorgeous?” I ask, while pressing another finger into her. I can feel her tightening around my hand as I rock the heel of my palm against her clit, and I know she’s close.

“Fuck me, please. I need you inside me now,” she pleads.

I pull my hand back and stand, which she protests with a small whine. I can’t help but grin at her knowing she feels as needy as I do.

I take off my pants as she scoots up the bed, pulling the tops of her bra down to show me her incredible tits. She bites her bottom lip and tugs on her nipples. I palm my cock at the sight of her sprawled before me, her pussy wet from my tongue, her body lighting up with need.

“You’re so fucking beautiful. I can’t take my eyes off you,” I say, unable to mask the raw desire in my voice.

I crawl onto the bed, hungry to taste more of her. I kiss my way up her stomach and take my time sucking and biting her nipples, working my way up her body until I’m kissing her neck. Unable to wait any longer, I kneel between her legs and drive my aching cock into her in one powerful thrust, groaning at the tight feel of her, hot and wet.

We both moan as we find our rhythm together. The passion melting into something soft and gentle.

I grind against her pelvis, applying pressure to her clit with each pulse, and her nails dig into my shoulders where she’s gripping me tightly.

Her mouth drops open and her head falls back as I rock into her. When she comes around my cock, the sounds of her moaning my name causes me to follow her into my own orgasm.

I collapse onto my side, pulling her with me, not allowing for any space between us. Our breaths mingle as they slow and she leans into my neck.

After a few minutes, we decide to take a bath together before going to sleep. The feel of her resting her body against mine in the water brings a sense of peace I’ve never felt before.

When we make our way back to bed, I pull her back against me, drawing small circles on her hip with my thumb. We stay awake for another hour, talking and laughing, soaking up the time together before our schedules separate us again.

I don’t remember us making the decision to go to sleep, but when I wake up the next morning with Bec in my arms, I feel more content than I knew was possible. I hold her close and breathe in this moment, grateful for the incredible woman who decided to give me this chance. The woman I was made to love.