She glanced down at his lap.
He rolled his head back, moaning. “Hope, this is the most insane evening of my entire life. You want to touch my cock? Fine.” He pulled her hand down to his lap and set her palm over his erection.
The imp wrapped her fingers around his stiff dick and clasped it. After a few seconds, she released him.
He stared at the top of her head while she slowly lifted her face. “Sorry,” she murmured. “That was cruel.”
“It’s fine,” he lied.
She tipped her head to one side. “If I’m so attractive that you’ve got a hard-on, why not sleep with me?”
“The list is long.”
“I have time.” She pursed her lips.
“Fine. For one, you’re confused. You just walked away from your own wedding. I would never take advantage of that. For two, I’m not taking your virginity. Not a fucking chance. You should save that for a man you’re in love with. And three, I’m not a vanilla guy, Hope. I enjoy a pretty heavy dose of kink with my sex. I would never fuck a woman who wasn’t into the same things as me.”
She flinched when he used the crude word.
He leaned closer, gripped her chin with his fingers to hold her face steady, and kissed her forehead. “See? You can’t even handle me referring to sex as fucking. It’s what I do, baby. I fuck.” He was exaggerating, but he wanted to drive his point home.
“I don’t believe you,” she whispered.
He narrowed his gaze at her, still holding her chin. “What don’t you believe now?”
“That you can’t be gentle and caring with a woman in your bed. I bet you’re an amazing lover.”
He released her chin and rubbed his temples, closing his eyes for a moment to regain some level of control. Finally, he met her gaze again. She was staring at him wide-eyed and serious. “I didn’t mean to imply I’m some kind of sadist. I’m not. No woman has ever left my bed injured or unsatisfied. But someone with no experience in the bedroom should not start with a crash course on BDSM.”
Her lip was trembling again. “Maybe that’s exactly where I should start.”
He shook his head. “No, baby.” Why the fuck do I keep calling her that? “You deserve a slow gentle evening with a man who makes you burn so badly you can’t see straight. That man is not me.”
It could be you…
Aaron shook his head to clear the errant thoughts away. Even if he could somehow manage to find the willpower to give this woman the night of her life in a vanilla setting, making her scream out his name until her throat was hoarse, he still knew better.
She might be sexy and adorable even with all that heavy makeup and her hair in tangled ringlets, but she deserved more than he could give her. She was staring at him with starry eyes. If he made love to her while she was vulnerable, she would regret it. And that would be a disaster.
Because even if he could give her a night of vanilla passion, he couldn’t keep up that charade. And then she would be disappointed. And he would feel like a fucking idiot for taking her virginity while she was in a bad place.
“We’ll see,” she finally responded, shocking him. She straightened to face out the windshield. “Let’s start with the burger. Fries. A large soda. And a milkshake.”
He chuckled, but it didn’t sound natural. She was scary. Dead serious. He felt a bit like he was being manipulated. In fact, he was certain he was indeed being manipulated. That didn’t suit him at all.
He was a Dominant. Women didn’t manipulate him. He manipulated them. Always.
Chapter 4
Hope finished the last of her fries, slurped up the rest of her soda, and sat back in the hard plastic chair of the fast-food joint. “That was delicious. Thank you.” She found herself exhausted and relaxed for the first time since she’d run from the altar.
No. This was the first time her heart rate had slowed in days or weeks or perhaps months or years.
Aaron was so easy to be with. She might not have convinced him to sleep with her yet, but she would. It was only a matter of time. She knew from the few hours and minimal contact she’d had with him already that he elicited far more sparks in her than Montgomery had in two years.
Thank God she’d finally followed her instincts at the last second and bolted from the church.
She eyed Aaron suspiciously as he finished his meal and balled up the trash. She could tell he was about to say something she wasn’t going to like.
“I should take you somewhere. You should call your sister or someone you trust to come get you.”
She glared at him. “No. Please. Can’t I just go with you?”
He sighed. “Go where?”
“To Denver, of course.”
He leaned his elbows on the table, bringing his face closer to hers. “I assumed that was a knee-jerk reaction. Surely, now that you’ve calmed down and had a chance to think, you don’t really want me to drive you across the country to Denver?”
She grabbed his forearms. “Yes. Please. That’s exactly what I want.”
He cocked his head to one side.
“I know you were probably planning to spend a few days with your friends from Zodiac, but I’ll make it up to you.” She could do that. Somehow.
“I never even saw a single person, you know. I rushed from the airport to the hotel to the church. I was late. You’re the only person who even knows I made it to town.”
She nodded. “I realize that. And I’m so glad you were late, otherwise my escape wouldn’t have been nearly as dramatic. You saved my life.” She grinned.
“I don’t think your life was actually in danger,” he pointed out with a smirk.
She leaned closer. “It sure felt like it. I was five minutes from making the biggest mistake of my life. Now, I’m free for what seems like the first time ever. As long as I keep my phone turned off and put some distance between me and Miami, I might actually start to relax.”
She slid her hands boldly toward his and wrapped her fingers around his fists in front of her. She stared at the contrast between their skin tone and the size of her fingers on his as she continued, “I’ve been doing what other people tell me to do for so long that I don’t even know who I am.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess it was easier than arguing. I watched Faith defy my mother, and for a long time I thought she was crazy, ruining her life. But eventually I realized she was living, and I was not. She was deeply in love with her first husband, and even though I only met him a few times, I was jealous of what I saw in her eyes.
“I felt horrible for her when he died in combat. I tried to be a good sister and helped my mother set her up in an apartment so she wouldn’t have to stay in the place where the memories made her sad, but I’m not sure it was the right choice. I don’t even think she cared or noticed anything about the new apartment.”
“I’ve heard about that place. It was immaculate and filled with all this blue and green décor. Did you do that?” he teased. He also notably flipped his hands over to hold hers between them on the table.
She flushed. “Mostly my mother, but I helped. The point is that Faith was dead inside. I could see it in her eyes. I knew the look because I felt the same way. I wasn’t living. I was secretly proud of her for not letting my mother pull her back into the fold and force her to date the string of men my mother lined up.”
“This is the twenty-first century. Who would date a man their mother set them up with?” he asked.
“Apparently me.” Hope glanced down at their connection again, drawing circles on his palms with her fingers. “I’m not proud of it. The first time Faith brought Rowen to the house was also the night she met Montgomery. I’m sure I was a bitch to her that night. I was trying so hard to fit into some sort of mold. Montgomery was only marginally polite to my sister. I don’t think anyone said a word to Rowen. But I could tell right off the bat that he loved Faith dearly. He even stuck up for her and removed her from the house before we made it to the d
ining room. My mother treated both of them like shit. It was awkward.”
“What does your father say about all this?”
She rolled her eyes as she met his gaze again. “He’s mostly a doormat. Most people wouldn’t be able to imagine that since he puts forth a very different persona when he’s in his congressman role, but at home, he lets my mother run things.”
“I’m sorry. You must have had a rough childhood. Just goes to show, money doesn’t buy happiness.” He threaded his fingers with hers now and held them tighter.
She appreciated the support. Rarely in her life had she run in any circles that included regular people who weren’t approved by her mother. People who lacked pedigree and money.
Aaron was a real person. And she wanted to know what it would be like to have a real friend for once in her life. One who wasn’t sucking up to her just because he thought he could get something out of the relationship.
“Money doesn’t buy happiness. You’re right. But it does come in handy when making a trip across the country. Now, are you going to take me with you?”
He hesitated.
She rushed on. “I promise not to be a bother. I just need time to clear my head. I can pay my way.”
He squeezed her hands and dragged them closer. “I don’t need you to pay your way, Hope. I need to make sure you’re not making rash decisions you will later regret.”
“Like sleeping with you,” she pointed out, making sure he understood that was still on her bucket list.
He groaned. “No. I’m not having sex with you, Hope. I’m talking about you running from your problems, your wedding.”
“So, you think I should have stayed and married the man you yourself pointed out spent last night with a hooker?”
“No.” He shook his head. “But I also don’t want to be responsible for influencing you. Maybe you should call your dad if you don’t want to talk to Faith.”
“Nope.” She didn’t want to talk to anyone in her family. “I don’t need a lecture from anyone. I need space. My mother is probably having a coronary right now. I don’t need her to chew me out. I know I did the right thing. I’ll lose my temper right now if I let my parents try to chastise me.”
“I know Faith would not lecture you about this choice. It sounds like she was instrumental in putting things into motion.”
“Yeah, she probably was, at least indirectly. I don’t think she sent me to Montgomery’s room in order to break us up. I think she had good intentions. She really didn’t want to see me marrying someone I hadn’t slept with yet.”
“Well, I have to agree with Faith on that issue.” He shuddered. “No way in hell would I marry a woman I hadn’t had sex with.”
“Great. Then you shouldn’t mind having sex with me either.” She extricated her hands and stood, smoothing down the front of her skirt. She was way overdressed for a fast-food restaurant. So was Aaron. But she didn’t have anything in her suitcase that wasn’t dressy. After all, she’d intended to spend the next week with Montgomery, a man who didn’t own a pair of jeans and had never had a T-shirt in his wardrobe either.
Aaron rose across from her, grabbed their trash, and deposited it in the can as they headed for the door.
When they reached the car, he unlocked her door and then turned toward her. “It’s getting late. Let’s find a hotel and crash for the night. Tomorrow you might wake up feeling differently about fleeing town.”
She set her hands on his chest and leaned close to him. “I’m not going to change my mind. I want to go with you to Denver. I want you to make love to me. It’s my wedding night. I was supposed to be having sex right now. I’m not going back to Miami.”
He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened her door. “We’ll see.”
She was grinning as she took her seat. “When you say we’ll see, do you mean you’ll consider having sex with me?”
He groaned, a sound she found she liked. She wondered if he made the same sound when he came. “No. I mean we’ll see how you feel in the morning about calling your family.”
As Aaron shut the door to their hotel room, he knew this was a huge mistake. He’d spent several minutes arguing with her at the front desk after requesting two rooms. Eventually, he’d caved to avoid making more of a scene in the lobby.
On top of everything else, the room didn’t have two doubles. It had one king. Great.
Hope was nearly giddy.
Aaron was out of his mind.
As soon as he set one of her suitcases on the racks against the wall, she opened it, rummaged through the contents, and pulled out several things. “I’m going to take a shower. You’re right. My hair has way too much product in it.”
He thought the idea of her showering was a wonderful one. It would give him time alone to consider this tornado. He also needed to call his friends.
She might not be willing to call anyone, but if he didn’t make contact with someone soon, they were going to suspect he’d been in an accident on the way to the church.
Hope was smiling as she left him in the room and shut the bathroom door. It didn’t help at all that she was wearing one of what he suspected were a suitcase full of sexy dresses. She’d undoubtedly been heading someplace warm for her honeymoon.
He was extremely nervous about the thin silky material that she’d taken to the bathroom with her. No way could he be expected to stick to his convictions if the Hope he’d been with for the last several hours morphed into a similar version but wearing sexy lingerie.
Aaron ran a hand through his hair and then down his face as he heard the water turn on. He had loosened his tie earlier, but now he tugged it off and tossed it on the bed. Next, he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Rowen.
Perhaps Rowen wasn’t the best choice out of his three local friends, but Aaron thought it would be prudent for someone close to Hope to know she was safe even if she wasn’t willing to make the call herself.
Rowen answered on the second ring. “Aaron. Where the hell are you, man? We were expecting to see you at the church. You would not believe what has happened today.”
“Trust me. You can’t shock me,” he responded sarcastically.
Rowen missed his tone and continued speaking, his words rushing out rapidly. “Hope ran out of the church before the ceremony started, and no one has seen her since. Faith is crazy with worry. I think their mom actually fainted on the front steps of the church. She said Hope got into a car with a stranger and took off. You can’t make this shit up.”
“Yeah, well, maybe it wasn’t a stranger.” Aaron scrunched up his face. He should have called someone before now. Not that he’d had an opportunity.
“It had to be. Everyone she knew was inside the church. So, unless she was leading a secret double life and took off with her lover in a getaway car, the vehicle had to have been driven by a stranger.”
“Rowen—”
“Seriously, Aaron. This is crazy shit. Her phone is turned off. Faith is pacing a hole in the carpet.”
“Rowen,” Aaron interrupted, louder. “Stop talking and listen to me.”
“What?”
“She’s with me. I was the stranger in the car.”
Silence. And then a lower muffled voice. “Are you shitting me?”
“No. I was late. I pulled up at the moment she ran out of the church. She jumped into my car before she even took a second to see who was driving. Lucky for her, it wasn’t a stranger.” He shuddered as he considered how differently things might be right now if he hadn’t pulled up at that moment. Would she be with a perfect stranger begging him to drive her away from Miami and fuck her along the way?
Aaron squeezed his eyes shut, blocking out that thought. It was ludicrous. It also made his cock ache. The thought of her begging a random person to take her virginity made flames lick his face too.
“Why the fuck hasn’t she contacted anyone?” Rowen roared.
Suddenly, a female voice came on the phone, and Aaron realized Faith had honed in on
the news. “Aaron? Hope is with you?”
“Yes.” He winced, unsure what else to tell her.
“Thank God. I was worried sick.”
He blew out a breath. “She’s going to kill me too. She doesn’t want anyone to know where she is.”
“Is she okay?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. If anything, she actually seems relieved to have bolted from the wedding.”
“I’m not surprised. I sensed she was uneasy both last night and then all day today. Her stress was palpable. She was pale and fidgety. Is she with you now? Can you put her on the phone?”
“She’s in the shower. This is the first moment I’ve had to call you guys.”
Faith inhaled slowly. “When is she coming back?”
Aaron sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Honestly, I don’t know.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Faith continued in a softer voice. “Will you try to get her to call me? I know she’s safe with you, but I don’t want her to feel like she doesn’t have me on her side.”
“Okay, I’ll try.”
“Tell her I won’t tell anyone where she is and who she’s with. To be honest, I was relieved when she decided to run. It was the right choice. Montgomery Ainsley is a dick. I was just worried about where she’d gone. Now that I know she’s with you, I’m going to get out of this stupid dress and spend the rest of the evening letting Rowen relieve me of this stress.”
“Are you going to call your parents?”
“Yeah, I’ll do that first. But I won’t tell them anything. Just that she’s safe.”
“Okay.”
“Aaron…” she hesitated.
“She’ll be safe,” he assured her.
“Yeah, she’s…vulnerable, and…uh…”
“I know, Faith. She’s told me everything.”
“’Kay. Thank you.”
Aaron ended the call at the same time the water shut off. He tugged his shirt from his pants as he kicked off his shoes. As he was unbuttoning the front, the bathroom door opened.
Hope stepped out, making his heart skip a beat. He dropped his hands and fisted them at his sides. The imp was wearing the skimpiest sexy white lingerie he’d ever seen. Her hair was longer than he remembered and hung in long wet dark ringlets down her back. Her face was clean of makeup. And she was biting her bottom lip as she leaned in the doorway.
Trusting Aaron: Club Zodiac, Book Five Page 4
