Finding Peace

by Emilia Finn

  Her laughter turns to breathy groans as I nibble on her belly button, then down over the soft skin just above her pubic bone, then making good on my promise, I take her panties between my teeth and I drag them down, torturously slow.

  “Aiden.”

  Yeah, Peaches. I‘m going to fuck you hard. I’m going to make you scream my name.

  Pulling her panties down and over her ankles, still using my teeth, I look back up her body, my eyes moving past her throbbing pussy and zooming through the valley of her tits, they meet her hungry gaze.

  “You want this?”

  Instead of answering verbally, her head bobs up and down fast. Her ocean blue eyes sparkle, fluid. She wants it. Nodding my own head, I start working my way up her legs, biting the soft fleshy spot on the side of her knee.

  Tina’s breathing grows thicker, her hips moving against the bed, seeking some kind of purchase. My lips surf her creamy thighs, moving closer to her welcoming pussy, my mouth watering at the memory of having this last week, and then mourning that I spent the whole week not only without this, but without her completely. Not even a phone call.

  I fight back my panic at the stakes again. I can get off now, but risk her. Or pleasure her, tamp down my own needs and keep her. Or I can walk the tightrope and hope we can both get what we need. That we’re both strong enough to give the other what they need.

  “Aiden.”

  “Hmm?”

  “Stop overthinking this, or I’ll think you have erectile dysfunction or something.”

  I balk, my eyes snapping up to hers. “What?”

  She giggles, knowing she got my attention. “I’m laying here, open to you. My pussy is literally open and waiting and throbbing for you. I don’t know how much more of an invitation you need. Fuck me, or I’ll assume you don’t know how.”

  “You like fucking with me?”

  “I like being fucked by you. But I’m starting to worry--”

  “Right.” I take her thighs in my hands and flip her. Her squeals ring through my room as she lands on her hands and knees, her ass presented to me in all its perfect fucking glory. I smile, getting an eye full, then I bury my face in her pussy.

  I had her screaming for me long before we passed out hours later.

  Eighteen

  Tina

  Jerks everywhere

  Evie jumps up excitedly when Aiden and I enter Kit’s kitchen the next morning. He has his arm thrown firmly over my shoulder, not letting me go. He’s making a statement. And I like it.

  I like everything he’s done since he walked into 188 close to midnight last night and took me home, no questions asked about my awful behavior last week, no groveling necessary. No power trip or superiority complex.

  He’s too kind.

  “Mama!”

  I pick Evie up, snuggling her against my chest and breathing her in. I missed her. “Hi baby.” Last night was the first night, ever, that she and I haven’t slept in the same house. It’s the first night I’ve spent with a man and left her with babysitters.

  Even if the babysitter was Kit and the others, I still spent the night with a man and left her with them.

  I feel like I should feel guilty, but I don’t. She was happy and safe, I trust them implicitly, and I had a nice night. I don’t often put myself first.

  Aiden leans over us, keeping his right arm over my shoulder and his left hand comes down on her chubby cheek. She leans into him, like a well-loved cat. “Hey Smalls.”

  “Hi Biggie.” She stretches her arms out, dumping me and throws herself into his big arms. He catches her, also dumping me, but his adoring smile as he looks into her eyes kind of makes up for it.

  No matter what happens between him and me, he loves her. I think I could cut his dick off with blunt scissors while he slept and he still wouldn’t stop loving her, no matter how mad he is at me.

  “Missed you, Smalls.”

  “Missed you, Biggie.” She gets comfortable in his arms, my existence forgotten at the appearance of her handsome boyfriend. Her hands cup his cheeks, bringing his face within an inch of hers. “You go ‘way?” she asks seriously and his lips twitch.

  “Yeah, honey. I went away.”

  “Read more stories?”

  “Later, I promise.”

  “Wuv you.” She kisses his nose sweetly and his eyes close, soaking her in.

  Opening his steely gaze, he kisses her nose back. “Love you too, Evie. All the way to the moon.”

  “Morning,” Jimmy says sluggishly, dragging his wife through the living room and carrying Bean against his chest. She’s getting big now, chunky and strong.

  My eyes go wide when I get a closer look at his bruised jaw. His cracked knuckles. Then I look around at everyone else in the room. “What happened to you?”

  Bobby’s knuckles are red too, the skin isn’t broken, but they are swollen. Then Iz stands beside me, and because I’m looking, I notice her chin has the lightest grazing.

  “Why are you all beat up?”

  Jon scoffs haughtily from his seat at the table. “We ain’t beat up. The other guys are though.”

  My eyes stretch wider as Aiden’s head pops up from talking to Evie.

  “What guys?”

  Jim sneers. “The guys who hit on Iz.”

  “So you hit him?” I ask incredulously.

  “No. Iz had it all under control,” Jim explains as he tucks her against his side. “She told him to get lost.”

  “I told him very colorfully to get lost. I guess he figured since Jim had gone to the bathroom, I was an open buffet.”

  “So what happened?” Aiden asks from beside me, popping Evie on his left hip then throwing his right arm over my shoulder again. Despite the serious conversation going on around us, I can’t help but take a moment to bask in his embrace. Yeah, it feels good.

  “Well,” Bobby picks up the story where Iz left off. “Kit and I were dancing, and Jon and Tink were too. But I knew Iz was alone, so I kept an eye on her.”

  “Right,” Jon says. “I was watching too.”

  Iz rolls her eyes. “Of course you were.”

  “Then focaccia face, from the bachelor party--”

  “Oh no.”

  “Yeah,” Tink sneers. “He thought our barely legal one was ripe for picking.”

  “I said no thanks,” Iz continues. “I was still at the table. He kept asking, I kept saying no. He grabbed my hand to pull me up.”

  “Asshole,” Jon murmurs and I don’t even have it in me to challenge his cursing in front of Evie. The guy sounds like an asshole.

  “So he pulled me up. Then he decided that was invitation enough. He grabbed my butt and pushed against me. I guess he wanted me to know what he was packing.”

  “Which was nothing impressive,” Tink adds. I actually laugh when she and Jon high five across the table. Monster Jon Hart and teeny tiny Tinkerbelle. They’re so cute.

  “By this point we were all moving to the table,” Bobby says.

  “Even me,” Jim adds.

  “But then he grabbed my boobs.”

  “No!” What a fucking pig.

  “Yes.” Kit says.

  “So I decked him,” Iz finishes.

  “Good girl.” Jack inserts from his space at the table.

  “You… what?” I can’t believe she did that. I’d expect one of the guys to, but little Iz?

  “Yeah, this wasn’t a friendly proposition. He grabbed me without permission. He called me a few mean names, I told him to get lost. He grabbed me harder. It hurt. So I decked him. Then it was an all-out brawl, since Jim, Bobby and Jon all arrived then. Jon flogged him. Jim pulled Jon off, then proceeded to continue where Jon left off. Then the rest of the bachelor party jumped in. Then Marcus and the other guys too. It was a mess.”

  Oh my god. “Are y’all in trouble?”

  “Hell no!” Jimmy snaps. “He grabbed my wife,” he pulls her tighter against his body, as though he’s still not sure she’s safe. “It was more than an ass pat. He grabb
ed her and when she said no, when she hit him, he hit her back.”

  “He hit you?” Aiden roars, and Evie and I both jump in his arms. “Shit. Sorry. Sorry, Smalls. Biggie didn’t mean to shout.” He takes a deep breath, calming his shaking body. I know he’s really fighting his rage right now. He’s pissed. Beyond pissed. “Sissy,” he takes a step closer to her, taking Evie and I with him, like he’s scared we’ll make a run for it if he lets go. “You’re okay? We should’ve stayed.”

  “And if you had, you’d probably be in lockup right now.” She steps forward, forcing our little huddle into a weird six way hug. “I’m okay. He didn’t get up and bother us again.”

  “No shit, he didn’t get up,” Jim adds. “We weren’t the only one’s fucking him up. Half that club saw him hitting a girl. Even some of his own friends turned on him.”

  “Sucks for him that girl was a fighter,” Jack adds.

  “So what happened in the end?” I ask them, noting they’re all here, and the police aren’t knocking on their door.

  “Mike happened.” Bobby says. “He was bouncing, he saw it all. He threw us out before we ripped the guys ding-dong off.”

  “Oh my god.”

  Aiden’s arm pulls me tighter. I’m not upset, or scared, just… stunned. This is so crazy.

  “Yeah, so then we had to come home. It was late anyway,” Bobby finishes.

  After telling their story, of which ninety percent of it flew over Evie’s head so long as she had Biggie in her arms, our friends all broke off into their own conversations and we sat down for breakfast.

  Every now and again Jim’s knuckles would graze Iz’s jaw, his own jaw flexing, working through his fury at what happened, but he didn’t let it ruin his morning as we eat together. Iz kissed his hand every time, letting him know she was fine.

  “So, Tina.” Tink places her cutlery on the table beside her half empty stack of pancakes. Her smirk screams trouble, but for once I’m not running. I’m one of them now. I can take her, then I can tease her because I know Jon’s hand is currently in her lap.

  She doesn’t scare me. Not even momentary humiliation scares me anymore. It’s not unique to me. If you’re in this family, then you’re open fodder for teasing. Everyone gets it. Everyone gives it. I’m okay with that.

  I calmly place my own cutlery down and pertly clear my throat. “Yes Tinkerbelle?”

  Aiden knows his family well, because his arm squeezes me. He’s ready to take care of me, to protect me. He’s so sweet.

  “Tink.” His warning is low, menacing, but she doesn’t care. She just looks at me, then Kit, whose eyes also hold that same smartass trouble, then back to mine again.

  “I heard you had fun last night.”

  “Tink.” Aiden growls again, speaking over Kit’s giggling fit.

  “Yep,” I answer bravely as I meet her stare head on. “I had a good time last night.”

  “You’re… satisfied with the nights events?” Kit asks, snickering as Bobby sits back and throws his arm over her shoulder.

  “Mmmhmm.” I pick up my coffee cup, feigning total coolness. “It was a very… fulfilling evening.”

  Jack chokes on his pancakes as Jim whoops, his laughter startling Evie. She watches him like he’s performing a magic trick. Enamored and smiling, joining in.

  “Mommy is funny.”

  “Yeah, Smalls. Mommy is funny.” Aiden smiles, rubbing Evie’s back with his left hand, then leaning into me and kissing my temple.

  “So you got to… appreciate his pretties again?” Kit asks, still snickering and I fight to hold back my blush. I challenged them. They won’t win this.

  Aiden’s head snaps up. “My pretties?”

  “Yep.” I nod, ignoring him and glaring at the girls. “I did. I think I chipped my tooth on one.”

  “Ah, Peaches--”

  Jon snorts. “That’s unfortunate.” His gruff, deep chuckle makes me smile. Kit is wiping literal tears from her eyes, her silent cries bursting to break free on a howl.

  “Yeah, but I’m okay,” I tell them, working hard to not lose in the face of Jim’s pained expression. He’s dying to make an all out sex joke. He’s doing so well, really restraining himself with Evie right here. I’m so proud of him. “It was a big night.”

  “Okay,” Aiden snaps, actually sounding embarrassed. I feel bad for him. A tiny bit. Not enough to concede victory to these people. He knows them; he can’t possibly expect me to let them win. “This isn’t even subtle anymore. Can we--”

  “No,” Tink interrupts him. “We can’t. Tina, honey. Mostly I was just concerned for you.”

  “Yeah? Why?” I sip my coffee, fighting back my smile at Aiden’s strong arm. He’s about ready to drop kick Jon, since he can’t kick Tink. “I’m perfectly fine. Safe.”

  “Yes, but I thought I heard you… scream.”

  “Alright.” Aiden jumps up, taking me with him then turning back to grab Evie. “That’s enough of that. Peaches, babe, we don’t feed the stray cats or they’ll never go away.”

  “Stray cat,” Tink grumbles, though she loves the fact she’s got him on the defense. “I was just looking out for you.”

  “We’re going home.”

  “Home?” Tink asks Aiden and his back goes straight. “That’s cute. Evie, you should grab Puppy. And your blankie. Move your stuff in, baby. Then make a mess of Biggies house.”

  “Yeah, Smalls.” Aiden hugs her tighter and she giggles. “Grab your stuff, but don’t ever invite Aunty Tink over. Not ever. She’s annoying.”

  “I was just concerned for your safety.”

  “It’s okay, Tink.” I turn before Aiden drags us out of the room. He’s on a mission. “I was fine, although there was a moment that scared me. I thought there were cats fighting in the yard. Turns out you had just arrived home. Guess Scotch wasn’t the drink of the night.”

  Izzy and Kit snort, spraying their food onto their plates as Jon looks to Tink, confused about why this is funny.

  “Ha!” Aiden calls out, even though he’s already dragged Evie and me to the front door and we can’t see them anymore. “We win. Don’t mess with the big boys, Tinkerbelle.” He drags us through then slams the door, finality in his actions and I giggle.

  “That was fun.”

  “No,” he says, though his smile says otherwise. “It wasn’t. We don’t encourage her smartassery, or she’ll think she can do it more.”

  “She’s never going to stop anyway,” I tell him. “So now we meet it head on. Give her some of her own back.”

  “I guess that’s true.”

  “And Kit too.”

  Aiden’s brows pinch as his steps falter. “Kit?”

  “God yeah. Y’all think she’s some angel goodie two shoes. She’s an animal.”

  Aiden stops in the street and faces me. “What?”

  I shake my head seriously. “Y’all have no clue. She’s almost worse than Tink.”

  “She is not.” His words are disbelieving, but his smile is entertained.

  “She is. You don’t see her when she’s not around Bobby. He thinks he married an angel. He has no clue.”

  “You’re lying. She’s just so… quiet. I mean, except when someone picks on her family. Then she’s an animal. Are you sure that’s not what you mean?”

  “Nope. That’s not what I mean at all.” I take his hand and keep walking across the street and onto his lawn. I guess we’re going to his house to hang out. “She’s filthy. And loud. She’s a troublemaker. Just as bad as Tink, just sneakier about it.”

  “It feels like your lying.”

  ~*~

  “Did he masticate you five ways from Sunday?”

  “Kit, you’re disgusting.” I shake my head at her. She’s an angel, my ass. “And yeah. He did, till I wanted to weep.”

  “You got me all tingly over here,” Tink says from her spot playing puzzles on the floor with Evie.

  “Turn over, show me your ass.”

  “This feels a lot weirder this time,”
Iz complains as she turns on my studio prop bed, wearing nothing more than a tiny black G-string and bra set, plus sexy as hell heels that I personally intend to wear when Aiden fucks me next. I think he’d appreciate them.

  “That’s because I know all your secrets now. Y’all are freaks.”

  “But in the best way,” Kit adds, moving a light at my instruction, to help remove the shadows on Iz. “I can’t help it if my husband is hot as hell and good in the sack.”

  Tink places another puzzle piece to the picture of a mermaid Evie is concentrating on. “And we can’t help it if his brother has you all in a twist.”

  Kit rolls her eyes. “You’d think she’d be in a better mood now that she’s getting some on the regular.”

  “Y’all are pigs.”

  “Hey,” Iz snaps. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You have your butt in my face. I’ll call you a pig if I want to.”

  It’s been eleven days since the night at 188, since the night Aiden and I spent together – for the second time. It’s been eleven days of us sleeping apart only once. We’re not living together or anything, but we are seeing each other daily. He either comes over to my apartment after training and classes, or Evie and I are already in the Kincaid estate, playing with Iz and Bean and the other girls, and we just stay.

  We’ve had dinner together every night, earlier, with the whole Kincaid clan, or later, after putting Evie to bed and it was just the two of us.

  We’re definitely not living together, not close to even having that discussion, but he did clear out one of his rooms and moved a cute iron scroll, pastel pink bed for Evie to sleep in. And because it was a cute set, he said he couldn’t not buy the dresser or the rug that matches. My heart does a little pitter patter every time I think about how big bad Aiden Kincaid has an adorable little girl’s room set up in his house. I feel giddy every time I think about it.

  I’ve since left bobby-pins on his bathroom sink, and he’s left razors in my shower.

  I’ve taught him how to make pancakes - not from the bottle, and he fixed my dishwasher when it broke and flooded my kitchen.

  Things are nice. And my previous habit of walking my apartment three times a night to check all windows and doors are locked is slowly disappearing, replaced by his stubborn insistence that it’s his job to protect us, and one he’ll do. He promised he would.