Modern Arrangements: Complete Trilogy (Modern Arrangements #1-3)

by Sadie Grubor

  Grabbing some wine from the wine cooler, I watched her start to clean up and put things in the dishwasher.

  "You don’t want to eat at the dining room table?"

  She stood up straight and shrugged at me before walking around to the stools.

  "I’ve never really done the ‘formal’ dining room thing."

  "Formal?" I raised a brow.

  She sighed. "I’m used to eating at a kitchen counter or on the couch in front of a television."

  "Sounds good to me."

  Grabbing our plates, I took them into the living room. At the sound of clinking glass, I turned. Lilli brought in the wine glasses and bottle of wine. Smiling at her, she sat down next to me on the couch.

  We ate quietly and watched TV for about an hour. Halfway through the bottle of wine Lilli stood up and cleared the plates. I grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

  "You cooked, I’ll get this." Taking the plates from her, I also grabbed the glasses.

  Once everything was cleared, I grabbed Lilli’s hand so she would follow me. We slid our flip flops back on before I led her down the dirt path towards the hot springs. It was a good two mile walk, which we spent most of talking about AIS.

  "Here we are," I motioned to the spring lined with both big and small rocks, steam billowing from the edges.

  "This is just here naturally?" Walking to the edge, she dipped her toe into the water.

  "Yeah," Concerned she may slip on a rock, I moved closer to her.

  After removing my t-shirt from her body, Lilli climbed slowly into the water. I followed closely behind.

  "It’s nice," she smiled closing her eyes.

  "It’s great," Keeping my voice low so she didn’t hear me. I wasn’t referring to the spring.

  We spent a few hours at the spring before heading back to the house. On the way back I talked to Lilli about college and her interest in writing.

  As the sun started to set, we returned to the house. We took turns showering and throwing on some lounge clothes. I suggested a movie and Lilli picked out a comedy. With each of us on our respective ends of the couch, we laughed, snorted, and enjoyed the movie. When Lilli fell completely silent, I looked over and saw she was fast asleep. Picking her up from the couch, I carried her to bed.

  After placing Lilli in bed, I climbed in on the opposite side. Lying on my side, I watched her sleeping form before giving in to my own exhaustion.

  A movement and a gasp pulled me out of my vivid dream. Squinting one eye open into the harsh morning light, I discovered the cause of Lilli’s gasp.

  Her face was pressed against my chest, my chin on top of her head, with our arms wrapped around each other. A twitch of her right leg told me it was squeezed between both of mine. My arms tightened around her. We were straddling each other’s thigh, my hard on pressed firmly against her leg. To top that off, heat radiated from between her legs. She shifted and I locked up. I didn’t want her to move. In fact, I don’t think I could’ve let her go if I wanted to.

  "Don’t move, please?" I whispered.

  Chapter Three

  The Interruption

  Lilli

  "Don't move, please?"

  With my head buried in his chest, I barely heard him. Each breath I took saturated my nostrils with his scent. Heat built in my stomach and traveled between my legs. My mind was spinning and his massive erection was pressed against my thigh. Then his hand slowly moved down to my lower back and I shivered.

  "Aid –"

  His hand cupped my ass. My eyes widened and I jerked my head back to look at him. Finally, I got my voice back. "Aidan –"

  His warm, sweet mouth crushed against mine and his hand grasped firmly onto my ass. Gasping, Aidan took advantage and dipped his tongue in my mouth. With thrusting reciprocation, our tongues battled. My fingers knotted into the fabric of his t-shirt.

  The phone rang.

  Aidan moaned into my mouth, ignoring the shrill ring and rolled me to my back, hovering over me. My hands slipped into his hair and gripped. He moaned again pressing his body against mine.

  The phone rang again.

  He growled and put his forehead on the bed next to my head. Panting, my brain slowly caught up to my body and actions.

  Aidan sighed heavily but wouldn't let me move as I tried to shift out from under him. Again, his phone rang. He growled once more and rolled over. Banging the table next to the bed, he tried to grab his phone. His other hand held onto my wrist, not allowing me to get too far away. From the corner of my eye I watched him hold his phone out and then hit a button with his thumb.

  "What is it?" he wasn’t too happy. "What?" "How?!" "I’ll arrange –" "Liam this is my responsibility." "Of course –" "Yes, I know, but –" "I'll set up my laptop now."

  His grasp loosened just enough, allowing me to slip out of bed. The weight of his watchful eyes rested on my shoulders, but I refused to look at him. Already feeling the blush overpowering my face, neck and chest, I reached into my luggage, pulled an armful of things out, and darted to the bathroom. After closing the door behind me, I locked it and leaned back trying to catch my breath.

  What the hell was I doing? Trying to justify the want to finish what’d been started this morning, I began telling myself I would have to eventually sleep with him. I’m his wife.

  I’m supposed to have a kid. Sex will just complicate this more than it already is, why make this harder than it has to be? I mean, surely sex will happen. It’s four years together for lord’s sake, but can't I be strong enough to wait until its necessary, or at least until I know him better.

  Taking a deep breath, I looking at myself in the mirror. I’m talking to myself, I have officially lost my mind. Aidan Iverson was driving me crazy!

  I turned on the shower, setting it to cold. I hoped it would kill the fire consuming my body and the ache between my legs. I screeched as the ice cold water hit my body, it definitely helped to cool my libido.

  Climbing out of the shower, I dried off and sifted through the pile of clothes on the floor. Finding a blue bikini, I slipped it on. Once my hair was brushed and braided, I quietly unlocked the bathroom door and grabbed a towel. To chicken to face Aidan, I exited the bathroom through the frosted glass door to the outside.

  The bright sun greeted me by instantly warming my skin. I decided to walk to the beach.

  Tossing the towel to the sand, I walked ankle deep into the water. Slowly wading until the water almost reached my waist, I eased forward and dove. The water was so clear, crystal clear, and surprisingly warm. Swimming out well beyond where I could touch, I dove down into the water and resurfaced to float.

  Finally, my body tired, I swam until ankle deep once again. Kicking the water and picking up shells, I walked the shoreline. When I reached a large piece of driftwood, I sank down into the warm white sand in front of the washed up tree. Looking out over the water, I rested back on my hands, closed my eyes and let the sun bathe me.

  I wasn't sure how long I'd rested, when a shadow fell over me. With a hand over my squinting eyes, I stared up to the beautiful man I woke next to this morning. He was grinning.

  "I wondered where you got off to." He gave the panty dropping crooked smile.

  "Umm..." I bit my lip trying to think of something to say. "You seemed busy, so I figured I would let you be." I half smiled. He sat down next to me. It didn't feel uncomfortable, but it didn't feel easy like yesterday. This morning had completely put the sex issue back out there.

  He sighed.

  "It was Liam." I nodded silently. "There’s an issue with a new venture and things are getting crazy."

  "Oh, should we go back?" I was half hopeful and half disappointed at the idea of leaving.

  He looked at me quickly with a furrowed brow.

  "Uh, no. I mean, I don't think we need to, not yet, at least." He took a breath. "Liam’s handling it."

  "Oh," was my only response.

  "Lilli, I am –"

  "Don't worry about it. You hungry? How about breakfa
st?"

  Quickly I stood and started walking back down the beach. He caught up to me and grabbed my hand, stopping me. I didn't look at him. I couldn't look at him.

  "Lilli, please?" I still kept my eyes off of his, choosing to look at my feet. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable this morning, and I...hell, I just couldn't control myself and I got carried away."

  "It's fine," I said quickly. "Don't worry about it." Smiling halfheartedly, I started walking again, Aidan's hand slipping from mine.

  The rest of the day there was slight discomfort between us. We were both very aware of each other’s bodies at all times. I sat on the patio, trying to get over jet lag, my eyes drifting to Aidan. I watched the muscles in his back flex as he was picked up wood for the fire he was building.

  Aidan started the fire. I lay back on a lounge chair to read my book while he typed away on his laptop and talked to people back in his office. Once the sun completely set, I laid my book across my chest and stared into the fire, watching the flames dance and flutter.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  The next morning we woke in a better position, though most of the king sized bed was going to waste. We weren't tangled up in each other's limbs this time. Instead, I lay stomach down with half of his body covering me and his arm curled around my body.

  I quietly sighed, slid out from under Aidan, and headed to the kitchen. Once I got there, I started the coffee machine and began pulling out the ingredients necessary for French toast and sausage. After creating the egg mixture and placing the pieces of bread in a pan, I set it in the fridge.

  Once the sausage was started, I went out to the patio and grabbed my book from the cushion I’d left it on last night. Sitting down at the breakfast bar, I read while sipping at my coffee.

  "Good morning," he yawned out.

  I looked up, prepared to smile and respond, but, F my life, he was stretching his arms over his head, rubbing the back of his head. His shirt rode up, revealing the toned section dipping into his low riding pajama bottoms. Burying my eyes back into my book, I mumbled ‘good morning’.

  "So, what do you want for breakfast?" He leaned on the bar next to me.

  "Oh," moving away from his delicious scent, I stepped toward the refrigerator, "I already started. Just waiting for you to wake up."

  Grabbing the prepped bread from the fridge, I sat it on the counter and turned on the griddle.

  "What are you making?"

  Heat and minty breath washed over my body. Damn him! He knew what he was doing.

  "French toast." My words a bit more curt than intended, I was feeling a little irritable, "You may want to move unless you prefer getting splattered with hot food."

  "Sorry," he grumbled and moved away from me.

  Aidan pulled out some orange juice and filled two glasses while I finished cooking. Setting the plates at the breakfast bar, Aidan sat one glass in front of me.

  "Come on," he said grabbing his plate and walking outside. We sat at a table on the patio and ate breakfast.

  "Mmm..." Aidan's eyes were closed. "This is really good." He smiled.

  "Thanks," Smiling, I put another bite in my mouth.

  When he was finished he sat back in his chair with his hands folded over his stomach.

  "So, what do you want to do today?"

  Chugging the rest of my orange juice, I gave a small shrug.

  "I have an idea." He perked up, getting my full attention.

  "Let's get dressed," he stood, collecting the plates and the glasses. "You'll need clothes good for touring the island." The dishes clang as he put them in the sink.

  Once in the bedroom, I grabbed some clothes and headed into the bathroom. After showering, I slipped into some long cargo shorts and a tank top. Pulling my hair up into a loose knot at the back of my head, I stepped out and Aidan took his turn getting dressed.

  He led me to a small, white, wooden shed. Once open, I glanced in and saw an off-road vehicle. He walked in and started the quad, pulling it out of the shed.

  "Hop on." He shouted over the noise of the engine, holding a helmet out to me. Securing it to my head, I straddled the seat behind him. "Hold on!" I wrapped my arms around his waist.

  He gunned it and I tightened my arms. Burying my face into his back for a minute, I finally got the courage to peek over his shoulder. It wasn’t the quad scaring me. It was my lack of self-control.

  Stopping at the top of a large cliff, we looked over the horizon. It was beautiful. He continued to drive until we came upon a small waterfall and large creek of fresh running water. We took our shoes off and submerged kneed-deep into the natural spring. The water was refreshingly cool, but the rocks lining the creek were slippery. Taking a step deeper into the water, Aidan slipped. I reached to catch him, but his weight took us both into the water.

  "Ahh, this water is cold." Flopping around in the water, pushing at Aidan to get off of me, I tried to get up. My efforts were worthless, since Aidan wouldn't budge. Pausing, I took in our position.

  "It's kind of refreshing." Aidan's grin morphed from amused to seductive. His eyes focused on my mouth, as a bead of cool water lingered on my upper lip.

  "Uh huh," I breathed. I couldn't pull my eyes away from the way he watched my mouth.

  When I swept my tongue up to catch the bead, his grin faltered. He leaned forward, inching his face closer to mine. Leaning back on a palm, bracing for his mouth to touch mine, the slime underneath my hand sent me back into the water.

  Spluttering as Aidan pulled me out from the water and onto my feet, I began to laugh.

  "Get me out of here before you drown me." I giggled.

  "That last attempt was your own fault." Grinning, he helped me climb back onto solid ground.

  Once back on the quad, he took me further around the island. The warm air and sun dried our clothes and our bodies.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Aidan

  Taking the longest routes possible just to keep her arms wrapped around me, her body pressed against me, was pathetic. However, I would take what I could get. I wonder if she realized how many times we had passed some of the same places?

  After spending most of the morning driving around the island, I surprised Lilli with a packed lunch. We sat on the beach at the far end of the island eating and talking. Once finished, we drove around until the sun was on the other side of the sky and shadows started to form.

  Getting back to the house, we brushed off as much dirt as possible before taking turns in the shower. Turning off the spray of the shower, I could hear music playing. I dressed quickly and went to investigate. Lilli was dancing around while cooking. Leaning up against the wall, I stood and watched.

  Watching her hips and ass sway while stirring and mixing the food was hypnotizing. She was gorgeous without even trying. My cheeks started to ache from the smile I had on my face. Her eyes widened the moment she spun and caught me watching.

  "How long have you been standing there?" she narrowed her eyes at me but I could see a small smile forming.

  "Oh...long enough," I laughed out.

  "Loser," she giggled.

  "I love you too..." I laughed. Then, it dawned on me. Taking in her stiff posture, she had realized too. "I-I didn't mean –" her body relaxed.

  "I get it." Turning back around, she finished cooking.

  That night we ate in front of the TV again and watched movies. Just like every night since we had gotten here, Lilli fell asleep and I carried her to bed.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  Lying awake for awhile, I thought about our time on the island and just how easy it was with her. As I started to wonder about how things would be once we returned to New York, her warm hand slipped over my chest, her breath in my neck. For a moment I held my breath. Lilli was pressed against my body and I didn’t want to do anything that would make her move. Arousal began to flood my lower body.

  "Lilli?" I whispered.

  "Shh..." was all she said. Before I could say anything else her mouth was covering mine.


  Reflexively, my hands gripped her hair and pulled her hot, open mouth harder to mine. She moaned and I pulled her whole body on top of me. No longer worrying about consequences the morning would bring, my body had taken over.

  Her hands grasped my hair and tugged. I held her hips and ground her against the hard length she created. She gasped and I moved my mouth over her chin toward her neck. When she growled I flipped us over, pressing between her legs. Over and over, I provided us the wanted friction. Panting and moaning loudly, she called out my name.

  "Aidan," I pressed into her harder. "Aidan," she said it louder and I moaned at the sound of my name falling off her lips. I was so close. "Aidan," she yelled. "Aidan! Wake up!"

  My eyes snapped open and I jolted into a sitting position, sweat beading on my forehead, my breathing ragged.

  "Are you okay?"

  Lilli looked at me, confused.

  "Huh?"

  "You were moaning loudly." She furrowed her brow at me.

  "Oh," falling back onto the pillows. "I'm sorry...I uh...was having a dream...I guess."

  "You guess?" She shifted around until she was lying on her left side looking at me.

  "Yeah," Breathing out, I rubbed my face. I kept my hands over my face, praying she wouldn't press for more information. Thankfully she didn't.

  When silence fell over us, I peeked out from under my hand. She was stomach down with her head facing away from me. Quietly, I took a deep breath and tried to go back to sleep. I was drifting off when my phone rang.

  Growling, I grabbed my phone. "Hello!"

  "Aidan, we have a situation." Liam's tone confirmed something was wrong.

  "What's going...is it the –?"

  "Yes. The venture is going to fall through with the Regalie Company." He sounded stressed and tired.

  "I'll make arrangements immediately," Sitting up, I looked at the clock on the bedside table. "I should get home a little after seven o'clock your time, this evening." I stood from the bed and walked out of the room. "Let me make some calls and I’ll call you back. You can then brief me on the situation."

  "Aidan, you aren't going to like it when you hear it." Liam paused.