by K E Osborn
“Aiden, that was rude,” I whisper to him.
“Ha! Well, he shouldn’t talk about people like that,” Aiden scoffs.
“Aiden, that’s not what I mean, and you know it. Stop with the pissing contest. Remember the one you had with Chris? And look at where you two are now; you’re the best of friends. Give the guy a chance and stop banging your chest like an angry ape. You know I love you, and you know how important trust is to me. So trust me that James and his little flirtations aren’t going to go anywhere. Don’t do anything stupid to jeopardize the account. Your father hates me enough as it is, don’t give him a reason to hate me anymore, please,” I say, begging him to see reason and to stop acting jealous. I’m frustrated that he’s behaving so poorly and can’t see past his jealousy.
His nostrils flare as he exhales. He slowly lets his eyes wander from James to me. His expression softens.
“I trust you, baby, I always have. It’s him I don’t trust. After the shit that happened with Jason, I don’t want anyone near you who doesn’t have to be. You’re so precious to me, Jeni, and I can’t take the risk of losing you again, you understand, don’t you?” he says taking my hand in his.
I completely understand his fear of us losing each other. “Aiden, I will never leave you again. I told you that and I meant it. Nothing and no one will tear us apart. I’m yours, always.” I see Brielle from the corner of my eyes watching us.
“Okay, but I won’t let him flirt with you openly in front of me; I’ll tell him who I am to you if he tries anything,” he says, looking at me with a tilted head and his nostrils flaring.
I scrunch my face in annoyance and exhale. “Aiden, that’s unprofessional and he won’t try anything. He’s harmless. Now go into the meeting before your father has an aneurism. I love you, okay? No need to be jealous,” I say, shaking my head, trying to placate him from his little rant.
He scoffs. “Ha! I’m not jealous, baby,” he says, and he kisses my hand.
I smirk. “Mmm hmm, now go!” I say, slapping him on the arm. Brielle giggles and Aiden winks at me as he walks into the boardroom. I lean back in my computer chair and exhale loudly.
“My brother, the jealous lover. Who’d have thought,” Brielle says, making me grin.
It’s close to four p.m.; Aiden and Alistair are in the boardroom with the Anderson’s still, and I feel like having coffee. “Coffee?” I ask Bree.
She thinks about it for a moment and shakes her head. “Nah, I’m good.”
I walk to the kitchen and place a mug into the coffee machine and press the button for a cappuccino. I lean against the sink and stare at nothing, vaguely remembering that horrible time when I was pulled off the ladder by Alistair and lost Aiden’s and my first child. Suddenly I hear Alistair laughing loudly. I look out and Aiden and Alistair are walking with the Anderson crew. I’m pretty sure I just saw Mr. Anderson rolling his eyes and exhaling at something Alistair just said. Guess Alistair has the same effect on everyone. I think Mr. Anderson has finally realized what a douche bag Alistair is. James glances over and waves. I look at Aiden who didn’t seem to notice. Phew! The Anderson’s all step into the elevator and leave. Aiden glances casually toward the kitchen and sees me; he smiles and walks over.
“How you doin’?” he asks, swaggering in like some cheesy guy from a sitcom.
I laugh at how ridiculous he sounds while he pulls me into his arms. He nuzzles my neck, gently kissing it and swaying me from side to side.
“I gather the meeting went well?”
“Mmm-hmm,” he murmurs as he sways me from side to side.
“Someone’s in a better mood than before.”
Pulling his head away from my neck. “What can I say? I’m a man in love,” he sweetly says, and leans in to kiss me.
“This is an office not a brothel,” Alistair says, walking into the kitchen.
Aiden lets me go, and I turn to retrieve my coffee from the machine and walk out. Aiden follows and gently taps me on the ass. I giggle and we continue to my desk.
“We’ll continue that later,” he whispers in my ear as he strolls back to his office grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
Aiden strolls out of his office like clockwork at five pm, putting on his suit jacket, and Brielle joins us while we walk to the elevator, leaving Alistair behind. We make our way to the parking garage where Mike is waiting; saying our farewells to Bree as we slide in.
“Where were we?” Aiden asks, pulling me onto his lap. I giggle and look over at Mike who places his earphones into his ears. Aiden caresses my face and then kisses me forcefully. His hands run through my hair and for a moment I forget where we are as I lose myself in him. The car pulls up at Sarah’s and Aiden pulls back. I realize we’ve stopped and get off his lap. We exit the car.
“Thanks, Mike,” Aiden says as we walk towards the front door. Pushing the door open, he steps forward, making me step backwards through the door, and he closes it with his foot. He leans down and kisses me passionately, like he is taking possession of me. In a way I know this is because of his jealousy today, but I don’t care, all I want right now is him. He lifts me up by my ass, and I wrap my legs around his waist hitching up my skirt. He carries me down the hall as our tongues intertwine. I throw my handbag and keys at the buffet but they miss and fall to the ground. Aiden keeps walking toward our bedroom, and my legs are still wrapped firmly around his waist, locked in a steamy kiss.
“Hi, guys… Oh,” Sarah says, laughing. We are kissing frantically; he bumps into the table making us both laugh. We ignore Sarah, and Aiden continues straight to my room, shutting the door behind him.
“Okay, good chat.” We hear Sarah yell from the kitchen.
We both laugh though our kissing, and when we reach the edge of my bed, Aiden lowers us down softly onto the mattress. Still kissing feverishly, his hands are all over me. I think his idiotic jealousy over James got him in this mood today, nevertheless, I sure do like it. Our lips stay locked, only pulling away from each other for a moment when he removes my top over my head. We struggle out of our clothes then his lips are instantly back on mine.
Aiden is on top of me but he swiftly rolls us over so I’m on top. I sit up on him, straddling his lap. His hand finds its way to my ass and his other hand is on my back holding me to him. All sense of playfulness leaves us and passion takes over. Aiden kisses me strongly and his hands find their way to my hair where he grabs fistfuls and holds me to him. I feel his erection grow beneath me. I slowly grind my hips on top of him, and I break the kiss and look down at his wanting face. I lift myself up, he places his length under me, he enters me slowly and I stretch to take all of him.
My hands fall to his chest, and his make their way to my breasts. I slowly move up and down on him. My head falls back with pleasure, and both of us are moaning in unison. He moves his hands to my ass so he can control how I move on top of him. Pulling me into him, he thrusts his pelvis toward me. We move in perfect synchronization. I lean down to kiss him, my hair falling either side of his face. He takes hold of my cheeks in his hands and kisses me strongly. I move on top of him slowly as he starts to moan my name. I can feel him pulsing inside me as I clench my core around him. He moves his hands down to my ass and helps me move up and down on top of him. I sit back up, and he follows me sitting on the edge of the bed with me straddling his lap. His chest leans against mine as his strong arms wrap around my bare back. He leans in and gently sucks on my neck as I move. My head falls back as I grind into him; I start to feel my body tremble as he notices how close I am. He starts to thrust in further and pulls me down onto him deeper, making me moan out loud.
“Oh God, Aiden,” I say as I move down and kiss him forcefully. The intensity increases and the heat rises. A shiver slides down my spine as he moves his lips to mine. I arch my back as my muscles clench so tightly it’s almost painful.
“Come for me, baby,” he murmurs.
“Ohh yes,” I moan as the wave of pleasure hits me.
My breathing is er
ratic as he continues to thrust inside me. Then my orgasm surges so powerfully it knocks the wind out of me. My body flames with the heat as I fall limp into Aiden’s arms, gasping for air. He swiftly pulls me down to the mattress underneath him and wraps my legs around his waist so he can move deeply in me. My body is limp, but I try to keep up with him as he starts to move in me again.
“God, I love it when you’ve got your satisfied face on. It’s sexy as hell,” he murmurs, leaning down to kiss me passionately. His tongue slides against mine as he thrusts into me again. I whimper as my core is still tingling from the high I’ve just succumbed to. He groans loudly, and I can tell that he’s close. I tighten my legs around his waist and run my fingernails along his shoulder blades. He shudders and moans loudly. He moves faster and deeper with every thrust, pushing him closer to breaking point. I can feel his erection throbbing hard inside of me when he lets out an almighty moan and pumps his load into me.
“Fuuuck,” he says into my mouth as he falls from his high. He kisses me softly as our foreheads meet. Both of our breathing is erratic and I feel that unmistakable surge of electricity flow between us. I’ve never been so in love. I never knew these kind of feelings of devotion, hope, loyalty, and undeniable lust even existed until I met Aiden. He rolls us onto our sides, still in me as he pulls me tight to his chest.
“I’m never letting you go again,” he says, overwhelming me with happiness. I snuggle into him and kiss his neck.
“I’ll never let you,” I say as he kisses my forehead. This is pure paradise, heaven on earth, here right now with my love. I know that life with him is a miracle, and he has been heaven sent to me. I must have done something right to be so lucky as to have Aiden all to myself.
CHAPTER 8
I wake slowly to the sound of the alarm. I’m exhausted and my body is aching from making love with Aiden all night. I get goose bumps and tingle all over at the memories of Aiden’s hands all over me. I snuggle into Aiden’s back and gently kiss his shoulder. His hand tightens around mine, and I lean over to kiss him. Our moment is interrupted by the rumbling of my stomach.
Chuckling, I check the time, wanting to know how many more minutes I can spend snuggling with my man.
“Shit! Mike is going to be here in fifteen minutes. Aiden, get up!”
“Do we have to?” Aiden says, scrunching his face like a pouting four-year-old.
I grin wickedly and rush out of bed, yanking all of the covers off of him. I laugh at his reluctance to get up.
I rush around frantically getting dressed. Once I have my hair pulled into a ponytail and have completed the quickest makeup application I’ve ever done, I glance over and see Aiden lying on his back, watching me with an amused smile.
“Aiden! What the hell? Get up!”
He slowly gets up and stretches dramatically, trying to get me to look at his glorious body.
Ha! So not going to work!
“Baby, don’t stress. We can be a little late to work. I don’t have any meetings until two this afternoon.”
I’m trying really hard not to lose my patience at him, but he’s really testing me. “Aiden, don’t be silly. Your father—”
“Who cares what he thinks,” he says, rather blasé.
“I CARE!”
He frowns at my temper tantrum, but thankfully starts to get dressed.
I don’t want to have to face the wrath of Alistair twice today. I’m already going to be taking an extended lunch to see the new counselor.
Aiden ushers me out of the room, straight to the kitchen.
“We don’t have time to eat,” I say, gritting my teeth in irritation. I tug on his arm and redirect us to the front door, grabbing my bag on the way.
“Good morning, Miss Taylor, Mr. O’Connell,” Mike says with a smirk, watching me pull a reluctant Aiden by the arm.
“Morning, Mike,” I call out, jumping into the car. “Aiden, hurry up,” I call out, but he casually gets in.
“Mike, can you go through a drive thru please. We need coffee and some breakfast.”
“Aiden, no. We don’t have time; we need to get to work.”
“Baby, I love you, but you skipped out on dinner last night and I know you’re hungry.” I huff and cross my arms, knowing he’s right. Of course, my stomach makes the loudest sound ever, as if to prove his point. I roll my eyes. “Fine,” I say reluctantly, “but your father is going to be so mad at us for being late, and he’ll take it out on me, as usual,” I say, frustrated.
“We’re only going to be a few minutes late, fifteen at the most. He probably won’t even notice,” he says, trying to calm me, unsuccessfully.
Aiden hands me a muffin and I scoff it down so fast I don’t even taste it. He gives me a know-it-all grin, and I want to smack it right off his face.
Once the car stops, I yank him out and pull him along, rushing to the elevator. When we enter O’Connell Finance, Alistair is standing next to Brielle’s desk.
Crap!
“Oh, it’s the afternoon shift. I wasn’t sure if you both still worked here?” Alistair asks loudly.
“Yes, of course we do, Father, don’t be ridiculous,” Aiden says.
“Then get here on time like the rest of us do,” he yells, slamming his fist down hard on Brielle’s desk. “Damn it, Aiden, can’t you see that she’s going to be your downfall. Your full attention needs to be on this company, not what’s between that’s legs.” Rant over, he storms back to his office.
My mouth drops open as does Aiden’s.
Aiden turns me to face him. His brows crease and his nostril flare as he shakes his head exhaling loudly. “Are you alright, baby?”
I smile to reassure him I’m okay, even though I am hiding behind my sadness. I lean in to hug him so he can’t see the hurt and also because I need to be close to him; he always eases my discomfort. “I’m fine.”
He holds me at arm’s length and looks at me with a slight nod of his head in acknowledgement that I’m okay. I look at him holding all my fears inside and he leans in and kisses me gently.
“What comes out of his mouth is total bullshit, you know that right?”
I nod, knowing that Alistair always talks bullshit, but it doesn’t mean that his words don’t cut me to my core. He kisses my head and walks over to his office and enters.
I sit down at my desk, rest my elbows on the table, and put my head in my hands, closing my eyes to fight back the tears that are forming. I can’t help but feel emotional as Alistair’s taunts are starting to really wear me down. I just wish there was a way to fix whatever is broken between Alistair and me. I can’t seem to grasp onto the reason that he despises me so much. I exhale loudly and shake my head looking up as Brielle sits on the edge of my desk, looking at me sympathetically.
“I think it’s a good thing we’re going to see Dr. Lovatt today,” she says quietly.
I nod in agreement. “I think so, too. I’m not sure how much longer I can keep holding in my fear of your father and his abuse.”
“I’m worried about you, Jeni. I think you should tell Aiden what’s going on.”
I frown at her. Why doesn’t she understand? I wish she would stop bringing this up.She knows how I feel about telling Aiden. “No, you heard Aiden say that his father’s taunts are pushing him away. I can’t let him think that it’s worse than he already thinks it is.”
Brielle shakes her head in disagreement.
“Things will get better. They can’t get any worse.”
There’s a moment’s hesitation before she speaks.
“I still don’t like it, Jeni, keeping this from Aiden is just wrong in all kinds of ways.”
I nod in acknowledgement and exhale. I know not telling him is wrong, but I just can’t bring myself to ruin his relationship. She pats me on the shoulder and walks back to her desk.
I turn on my computer and immediately get busy working on the expense report that I didn't finish yesterday before I left.
The elevator chimes and a delivery drive
r walks in with a bouquet of flowers. But it’s not Monday? I look at Brielle who looks at me in confusion.
“I have a delivery for Jeni?” he asks. I raise my hand, and he brings the small bouquet over to me. I sign for them and he leaves.
“They’re a lot smaller than the ones he normally gets you,” Bree says. I take the envelope from the bunch and open it.
I’m so glad you’re back; hopefully I’ll get to see more of you. I hope these brighten your day like you brighten mine every time I think about you.
James Anderson.
My eyes widen in shock as I read the card. Oh shit! This is not good. Aiden is going to flip.
“Who are they from?” Brielle asks, walking over to my desk.
I look up at her, and she takes the card from my hand and reads it.
“Oh,” she says, looking at me curiously.
“What’s he thinking? He knows I’m engaged. Why would he send me flowers?” I ask her.
“I don’t know, unless he’s the type who doesn’t care that you have a fiancé. There are people out there like that, you know?” she asks, and hands me back the card.
“What the hell do I say to Aiden?”
She shrugs. “I have no idea, but can you do it when I’m not around.”
I roll my eyes at her, and she heads back to her desk. I decide that maybe the best thing is to not tell Aiden. So I take the card and the flowers to the trash in the kitchen. Out of sight, out of mind as they say.
Aiden comes out of his office a couple of hours later, and I’m too busy typing up a report to notice where he goes.
“Are you fucking kidding me? What the hell is this, Jeni?” Aiden yells. I look up to see him standing there with the flowers and card. Oh crap! Brielle stands up and walks to the bathroom. Thanks for the support, sis!
“Jeni?” Aiden asks, walking over to my desk.
