Ayden

by Melissa Belle

  “Oh, God,” I say. “Ayd…keep going.”

  He unzips my shorts and eases them down and off my legs. Then he hooks his fingers into my panties.

  “Tell me if you want me to stop.”

  I nod as he pulls my panties down. When I’m bare before him, he drops his head between my legs. At the feel of his mouth on me, I half-moan, half-giggle.

  “What’s funny?” His head is back up, and his gaze snaps to mine.

  “This is just so…it’s you and me.” I keep giggling like an idiot.

  Ayden shoots me a sexy smile, but then he returns his attention between my legs. And I stop laughing and start moaning. His tongue is everywhere, and it’s so incredible. The way he’s touching me; I want to completely let go, but I can’t.

  Ayden lifts his head. “Bella? What’s wrong?”

  “I haven’t um…well, since Trevor, I haven’t actually…” I stumble into silence.

  Ayden climbs up my body and rests his forearms on either side of me. His eyes flash with confusion. “You haven’t had sex since Trevor? I’m sorry—I thought you had.”

  “I’ve had sex, yes.”

  Dead silence hits the tent.

  “What haven’t you done since Trevor?” Ayden says slowly.

  Knowing I’m blushing under his hot gaze, I say quietly, “Come.”

  He rubs my nose with his own. “You haven’t come…at all? In three years?”

  “I’ve come with myself,” I clarify. “But not with someone else. I’ve been too worried about whether or not they’re attracted to me. Trevor obviously wasn’t, and I missed the signs. Which makes me feel like an idiot. Who could have missed that?”

  Ayden captures my mouth in a hard kiss. When he looks at me again, he says, “You’re not an idiot. He’d trained himself to cover up his sexual desires. He had years of practice learning to fake who he really was. Do. Not. Blame. Yourself.”

  I reach my hands behind his neck and bring his face back to mine so I can kiss him again. Then he makes his way down my body, making sure to touch each and every inch of me with his lips. By the time he’s back where I need him most, I’m ready for him.

  He kisses the inside of each of my thighs and then returns his tongue to my hot center. And he just…doesn’t let up. His intensity has my thighs shaking around his head, and still he keeps going. His tongue is everywhere, and when he presses a finger inside me at the same time, it’s like a switch flips inside of me.

  I call out his name as I come, and I don’t stop chanting it until he’s lying next to me on the sleeping bag, his eyes locked with mine.

  “I’ve never felt closer to you,” he whispers.

  “You made that feel so easy.” I brush my fingers over his cheek. “I honestly thought I might never orgasm again unless I was alone.”

  “About damn time. You deserve to let that go and forgive yourself.” He shifts onto his side. “You’re beautiful, Bella. Inside and out.”

  I reach for his waistband and slip my hand just underneath. His breath is shaky when he says, “What are you doing?”

  “Touching you,” I say, as I get onto my knees. “Is that okay?”

  When I reach his hardness, he jerks underneath my hand. Ayden chuckles through a groan. “Pretty sure that’s a yes.”

  Ayden

  Bella’s mouth is so hot and wet when she takes me inside that I nearly buck off the sleeping bag.

  I reach down and gently pull her off me.

  “What?” She looks up at me, her gaze unfocused. “Is that not how you like it?”

  I cup her cheek in my hand. “I freaking love it. I love it so much I want it to last more than three seconds.” I let go of her cheek and exhale. “Okay. You can keep going. Just…maybe ease into it.”

  She licks me slowly this time, along my entire length, and I thread my fingers through the long, silky strands of her blond hair. The harder she licks, the more I grip at her hair, and by the time she sucks me fully into her mouth, both my hands are holding her head. Her hair’s like a golden halo around her, and she looks like an angel right now, her mouth right where I need her, and her lips wrapped around me. She’s my angel and always has been.

  “Shit, Bella.” I have to fight the urge to thrust up into her mouth. “I’ve never had something feel like this.” I groan as she takes me further in. “You’ve got the world’s sexiest mouth.”

  She lifts her head. “You can move, Ayd. I like it when you move inside me. Don’t hold back.”

  Her cheeks are flushed red, and her eyes are shining so bright. She’s never looked more gorgeous.

  “Are you sure? I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You won’t. I want to feel you unleashed, Ayd. I’ve—” She flushes even redder. “I’ve fantasized about it.”

  “B,” I groan. “Christ, you’re driving me damn near insane.” I release my hands off her hair and grip the sides of the pillow underneath my head. And I do as she requested—I let myself go.

  For the next few minutes, I’m barely aware of what I’m doing; all I know is I’m making love to Bella’s mouth. Her tongue is criminal in the way it moves over me, and all I can feel is her scorching hot mouth taking me deeper. The sensations she evokes as she sucks me off are blinding me with need. And desire. And ecstasy.

  My orgasm takes over every bit of my consciousness, and I’m just barely aware of calling out her name as I come. I feel her crawl up my body and unpeel my fingers from the grip I have on the pillow.

  “You let go,” she says in an awed tone.

  “Because of you.” I tangle my fingers in her hair and pull her closer to me. “It’s always because of you, Bella.”

  Bella

  We lie tangled together, the only sounds the ocean waves and our beating hearts.

  “I wanted to tell you something,” I say eventually into his bare chest.

  “What is it?”

  “I’m performing once a week at a club in Portland called the Sea Urchin. I just started.”

  “I’m so proud of you. That’s amazing.”

  “Thanks. It’s a good start for me.”

  “The Sea Urchin, huh? That was always your favorite thing to find when we’d go walking the beach for shells. Remember you called it your good luck sea hedgehog?”

  I laugh. “I can’t believe you remember that.”

  “When it comes to you, I remember every detail.” He brushes my lips with his, and then he gently plants little kisses all along my bottom lip.

  I giggle, but when we make eye contact, the blue in his eyes is on fire. My heart feels like it’s going to explode. Ayden lays his hand over my chest.

  “You okay?”

  I nod.

  “Feel mine.” He takes my hand and puts it on his heart.

  “Pounding,” I say in a whisper.

  “Just like yours.”

  I wrap my arms around his back as his lips seek mine urgently. His tongue in my mouth, his hands all over me, all the years of separation drift away.

  When his thumb traces my aroused nipple, I arch my back, seeking more.

  “Christ, Bella.” His breathing is shallow. “You’re so under my skin. I can’t remember a day when you haven’t been under my skin. I’ve wanted to touch you like this for so fucking long.”

  I jerk up into a sitting position.

  “Sorry.” Ayden sits back, giving me space. “Is it too fast?”

  “No.” I shake my head. “It’s not that. I just…need a second.”

  I close my eyes and breathe. When I open them again, Ayden’s watching me.

  “When you told me you were leaving, this was the last thing I was expecting.” I try not to cry but a tear slips out anyway. “Honestly, I never thought we’d ever be together like this. But now that you’re going, and I can’t go with you…”

  Ayden puts a finger to my lips, and then he says the five most important words I’ve ever heard in my life. “I love you, Bella Wesley.”

  “Ayden.”

  “Shh.�
�� He pulls me against him until I’m sitting between his legs. “I know you wanted me to wait to say it. But it feels like I’ve been waiting forever. I’ve always loved you, Bella.” He holds my face in his hands. “My whole life.”

  “I love you too Ayden. So much. I don’t know how the hell we can make this last when…”

  Ayden runs his lips across my cheek. “Bella. If you find you can’t leave Lucky Bay…”

  I hold my breath and don’t look at him.

  “We’ll still make it work,” he finishes. “Don’t make your decision based on us. Okay? Do what’s best for you. Moving to L.A. is a completely separate decision from us choosing to be a couple.”

  I flick my gaze up to meet his intense and determined one.

  “It will never be good-bye. I swear on my life, Bella. This—us—is for always. I can always stay…”

  “Don’t you even finish that sentence,” I say sharply. “You are not changing your plans for me. Just like you wouldn’t have let me change mine. We’ll figure it out, Ayden.”

  “Long distance, short distance—we’re together now. You’re mine, and I’m yours.”

  He says that, but I know us too well. Three thousand miles away is a lot of mileage when we’ve been together for the blink of an eye. I suck at the dating world, and I need the in-person practice. I’m no good at this relationship stuff, and neither is Ayden. We need to be together. Somehow, that has to happen.

  Only, with what just happened with my mom, I have no idea how to make it happen.

  “I wish we could make the move to L.A. together. As a couple.” I say my dream out loud for the first time.

  Ayden plays with my hair as he trails light kisses along my bare neck. “Me too. I want to live with you out there. And not just sharing Dylan’s apartment as housemates—I want to share a bed with you too.”

  “Are you sure? That’s a big step, Ayden.”

  “We’ve practically been living with each other here our entire lives,” he says. “Maybe not as a couple, but we aren’t exactly a normal ‘boy meets girl’ in a new relationship.”

  “No, we’re certainly not. And I want all of that too. I just…with everything that happened this week, I truly don’t know that what I want is possible.”

  “I know. But I have a feeling things will work out in our favor. Somehow. And…” He kisses my head. “That’s a separate discussion, isn’t it? Whether or not you move doesn’t change us right now. We’re still on our first date, aren’t we?”

  “The best first date,” I whisper.

  “The best first date,” he agrees.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Bella

  I wake up in the morning and smile at the feeling of Ayden’s heavy arm wrapped around my body. I’m curled up against his bare chest, his leg in between mine.

  After sleeping together like this and exploring each other’s bodies last night—I can’t imagine the emptiness of Ayden not being in Lucky Bay. And with my mother’s current condition, I feel selfish for even contemplating the idea of leaving.

  I slip out from underneath Ayden’s arm and put on my bikini and a pair of shorts. I unzip the tent flap quietly and step outside. It’s a beautiful day, full of sun and not a cloud in the sky. The only clouds seem to be in my own head.

  I walk over to where the bonfire was burning last night. Everyone’s hanging out eating breakfast.

  “Bella! You missed the fireworks last night!” Tari winks. “Although I’m betting you had some of your own inside that tent. Want to fill us in?”

  I stick out my tongue at her. “I’m not spilling anything without Ayden here.” I glance around at the curious faces of Jasalie and Sky, not to mention Peter, Jenson, and all the Wild cousins. “Especially not with everyone staring at me.”

  “Status change will be announced any moment.” Cam winks at me. “I called it first.”

  Peter chuckles as he throws me a muffin. “Just picked them up. There’s a hot chocolate for you too.”

  “Thanks.” I’ve taken one bite of my muffin when Ayden, wearing just his navy blue swimming trunks, takes a seat next to me.

  He pats my leg in greeting. “How’d you sleep?”

  I smile and hand him a muffin from the bag. “Good. You?”

  He leans over and kisses my temple. “Perfectly.”

  Tari’s eyes have grown so wide I’m convinced they’re going to pop out of her head. “We’ve all been sitting here for the past hour with nothing to do but guess about you two.” She points between Ayden and me. “Can we call you an official couple yet? Please?”

  “Um…” I smile at Ayden. “I don’t really like labels…”

  “We’re a couple, Tar,” he says as he cups my face and kisses me.

  “Oh, thank God! I’m so happy right now! And you better leave the tent today!” she says. “We’re spending the holiday hanging on the beach.”

  Ayden murmurs into my ear, “We’ll hang out for a while. But I have our second date planned for later, so I hope you’re free.”

  I turn to him and smile. “The answer to that question is yes, Ayd. It’s always yes.”

  We spend the morning swimming and hanging out on the beach. Tari and Peter leave for a couple of hours, and when Tari returns, she whispers to me that she needs to talk to me.

  I look at her flushed face. “You have a secret,” I say as I point at her.

  Before she can answer me, my phone rings.

  I glance down at the number. “I don’t know who this is,” I mutter.

  “Is it about your mom?” Tari asks in concern. “Maybe you should answer it.”

  “Yeah. Excuse me for a second.” I step away from the noisy group and bring the phone to my ear. “Hello?”

  “Hi, sweet Bella.”

  I press the phone closer like I need to be sure I’m hearing right. “Trevor?”

  A long chuckle follows. “That’s me. Your cheating ex, who you’d probably rather not hear from.”

  I break into a smile. “How are you?”

  “I’m great. How’ve you been?”

  “I’m good. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. I truly am happy for you, Trevor. I’m sorry I can’t make it.”

  “Thank you. And no worries—I figured you wouldn’t be coming back to L.A. anytime soon.”

  “Actually,” I say, not really sure why I’m telling him this, “I’m going to be out there on a visit soon. And maybe someday…I’ll be able to live there again.”

  “Really?” He makes a surprised sound. “Huh. That would be awesome. Seriously.”

  “Thanks. Honestly, it may not happen, due to some stuff I’m dealing with here. But a friend of mine is moving out there soon, so we’ll see.”

  “A friend as in a boyfriend?”

  He apparently takes my silence as affirmation because he laughs. “You’ve always been a terrible liar, Bella. Who is he?”

  “What makes you think you know him?”

  “Okay, just tell me this—is his name Ayden Wild?”

  My voice goes up several octaves when I say, “How did you know that?”

  Another chuckle. “Everything finally makes sense. You and Ayden were always supposed to be together. I knew it before you did.”

  “You only met him once.”

  “I didn’t have to meet him at all to know the truth. The way you talked about him—your entire face would light up. In a way it never did with me.”

  “Oh.” Then, “I’m sorry if that bothered you. You know, before you were with Max.”

  “Honestly, it helped me. It made me feel like you and I were the same underneath. We were both lying to ourselves.”

  I sigh. “I guess you’re right. Shit.”

  “And now,” he says in a gentle tone, “we’re both free.”

  “I’m glad, by the way, about what happened,” I say to him for the first time. “I’m glad you and I broke up. As painful as it was at the time, and as much as it upended all my plans, I thank God every day for that spotligh
t. You and I would have destroyed each other, and ourselves, if we’d stayed together in the worst sort of lie.”

  “That we would have.” Trevor exhales heavily. “I thank God too. Our angels were looking out for us that night, huh? When I was too much of a coward to come clean, God did it for me.”

  “Have a beautiful wedding,” I say softly.

  “We will. Look me up when you come out here. Promise.”

  “I will. If I come out there.”

  I can tell he’s smiling when he says, “You’re meant to be a singer, Bella. And with Ayden by your side, I can’t imagine anything stopping you.”

  As we hang up, I walk back to Tari, who’s sitting on the sand alone while everyone else splashes around in the water. Everyone except for Ayden and Peter, who have mysteriously disappeared.

  “Everything okay?” she asks me as I join her.

  “That was Trevor.” I tell her about our brief conversation. “I’m happy he called me.”

  “Me too.” She hugs me. “It sounds like you needed that closure.”

  I look at her face, which is still flushed. “What’s going on, Tar? I didn’t mean to put you off with whatever you wanted to tell me.”

  She laughs as she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a pregnancy stick. “I would say everything is in perfect timing, my dear.”

  What she’s holding up is clearly positive. It’s a yes.

  My eyes smart with tears as I hug her. Crying is the last thing I ever thought I’d do when Tari found out she was pregnant, but I’m surprisingly emotional.

  “You’re going to be such an amazing mother, Tar.”

  She’s still laughing as we walk down the beach together. “I still hadn’t gotten my period, so I repeated the test at Peter’s insistence. This time it was a positive!”

  “I’m so happy for you guys,” I say.

  “Peter’s so crazy excited,” she says. “He kept saying he was sure this was it. I didn’t believe him, of course, but turns out he was right. He’s telling Ayden now. I’ll have to make sure I tell my parents before the whole town finds out. Because somehow, everyone will know within the day. Even though the four of us won’t say a word. It’s like law in Lucky Bay.”