by S. J. West
The floor is all dark polished wood. There’s a glass wall at the far end of the room facing out towards a lake with a mountain in the distance.
“That mountain looks familiar,” I tell him.
“It should. You’ve looked at it all your life. This is just the other side of it.”
I turn to look at Aiden. “So we’re on the other side of the mountain where my parents’ house is?”
Aiden nods. “I thought you would want to stay close.”
“You’ve been on the other side of the mountain from me all this time, and I never knew?”
“Yes.”
I return my attention to the room and walk around it. The studio Aiden built for me is filled with worktables and easels. There are even some supplies in cubbyholes built into one of the smaller walls. The rustle of plastic sheeting draws my attention up to the ceiling where I see two rectangular holes and the night’s sky.
Aiden walks up to me and begins to unbutton the front of my coat.
“For skylights,” he tells me, tugging on the buttons. “After I saw them in your studio in Lakewood, I thought you would probably want them here too.”
I look at Aiden who is concentrating on undoing the four buttons holding the front of my coat together.
“And here I thought I couldn’t love you any more than I do,” I say.
Aiden looks up from his task and meets my gaze.
“I will do everything within my power to make your life a happy one and provide you with anything you need or want,” he tells me, an earnest expression on his face. “I promise you that.”
I smile at him. “And I will love you for the rest of my life. That’s my promise to you.”
Aiden releases the last button on my coat. He walks around me, pulls it from my shoulders and slips it off my arms.
I watch him walk with my coat over one arm to what looks like a stereo system built into the wall next to the door. He lays the coat down on one of the worktables and fiddles with the stereo until a song comes on.
It’s a slow song with only a guitar and piano playing at first.
Just as Aiden walks back to me, a woman begins to sing and I recognize the song as an old one my mother sometimes listens to, The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack.
Aiden takes one of my hands and brings me in close to his body, placing his hands on either side of my hips. I rest my arms on his shoulders and my hands behind his neck.
“I really like you in this dress by the way,” Aiden says with an appreciative grin. “Remind me to thank JoJo the next time I see her.”
I feel myself blush but don’t say anything. I just look up at the man in front of me.
“I listen to this song a lot,” he tells me as we begin to sway to the music. “I don’t think I will ever forget the first time I saw you.”
“And I’ll never forget the first time you smiled at me,” I reply. “It completely ruined the concert for me.”
Aiden looks at me, his eyes squint slightly like he’s trying to figure something out.
“You know that wasn’t the first time I saw you, right?”
“You saw me before Chandler’s concert?” I ask.
“Do you remember coming home that evening with your dad and him asking you to go back to the car to get your roses?”
“Yes,” I say hesitantly.
“I was inside your house when you walked through the door. That was the first time I saw you.”
It all makes sense now.
“That’s why it seemed like my dad wanted me out of the house. I had no idea. Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
Aiden shrugs. “I thought you knew.”
I shake my head. “No, I didn’t see you then. The concert is my first memory of you.”
“You know,” he begins, “I always thought the whole love at first sight thing was something humans made up to explain sexual attraction. But, after I saw you for the first time that night, I finally understood that it was a real thing. I felt,” Aiden pauses like he’s trying to gather up all his feelings and put them into words, “everything for you in that moment. I loved you instantly. I wanted to protect you for the rest of your life. I wanted to make you laugh, and I desperately wanted to see you smile at me. I wanted to become a man who deserved someone like you in his life. I knew I wasn’t that man that night, but I’ve worked hard to find him within myself. I’d forgotten I could be a man like that until I saw you.”
I’m not sure what to say to that, so I say nothing, just listen.
“And now, to finally have you here and have you tell me that you love me, it’s like one of my dreams coming true, Caylin. I never thought my life could be this wonderful. I never thought I would actually find a way to like myself again or have a woman like you love me even after knowing all the bad things I’ve done in my life. I still don’t feel like I’ve done enough to deserve someone like you, but I’ve thanked God every day since we first saw each other for bringing you into my world. You are a gift, and I will always treat you with the love and respect you deserve. I will do whatever you ask of me.”
“There’s only one thing I want from you right now,” I say, leaning into him and looking into his eyes. “Kiss me, Aiden.”
Aiden’s eyes linger on my lips, and I can feel how tense his body has become underneath me. His lips part and his warm breath washes over my face.
“Kiss me,” I urge him gently.
I use my hands that are still behind his neck and slowly pull him in towards me. Aiden doesn’t resist.
I stop pulling him in when our lips are barely an inch away from each other.
“I trust you,” I tell him, we’re so close I can feel his breath inside my mouth. “You won’t hurt me. You love me too much to hurt me.”
The certainty with which I say these words seems to relax Aiden.
“I do love you,” he says, bringing his lips even closer to mine. “I will always love only you.”
The first touch of Aiden’s lips to mine are tentative, like a child dipping his toes into a pool of water to see how deep it is before stepping in. I close my eyes and feel my body tremble with pleasure when Aiden presses his lips fully to mine, wrapping his arms completely around my waist, and bringing me up against him almost roughly. I let out a small, happy moan and wrap my arms behind his neck, reveling in the feel of him.
The first slip of his tongue inside my mouth startles me at first, causing me to involuntarily pull away slightly, but not enough to break the contact of our lips. I feel Aiden about to lift his head away from mine but stop the movement by wrapping my arms tighter around his neck. He seems to take the hint and deepens the kiss even further, letting out a small moan of pleasure of his own.
The feel of him, the taste of him is better than any of my fantasies about this moment. His lips are soft yet firm at the same time. The taste of him against my tongue is intoxicating and makes me wonder how I’ll ever be able to pull my mouth away from his and survive. I feel him moan against my mouth, which only excites me. I press my body into his and become demanding of the kiss wanting more but not experienced enough to know what that more is exactly.
Suddenly, I feel one of the walls of the room at my back and instantly know Aiden has phased us. With the wall behind me now, he releases his hold around my waist and presses his body up against mine, nudging my back flat up against the firmness of the wall. His hands cup my face gently but his mouth presses down harder against mine to a point where the kiss almost becomes more than I can handle. I grip his shoulders tightly, just trying to hold on as a tidal wave of feelings, both physical and emotional, overwhelm my senses.
Aiden’s hands glide down the curve of my neck, and I feel him slide them against the contours of my breast until they come to rest on each hip.
After a long while, Aiden finally lifts his head to take in a much needed breath, allowing me to replenish my lungs as well. He rests his forehead against mine with his eyes closed as he tries to steady his ragged breat
hing.
“Are you all right?” I ask him, worried that we might have gone too far too soon for him.
Aiden nods slightly and a slow grin spreads his lips. He lifts his head from mine and looks into my eyes searching for something.
“Did I hurt you?” He asks me, filled with worry.
I shake my head. “No. Why would you even think that?”
“There was a point,” he begins but has to stop before continuing, “I thought I might have been kissing you too hard.”
“No,” I tell him. “That point never came for me.”
Aiden grins. “If I ever do something you’re uncomfortable with, tell me. Don’t ever think you have to keep doing something because you think it will please me. Your pleasure is all I’m concerned about. You’re the important one here, not me.”
“If you ever do something I don’t like or that I’m not ready for, I’ll let you know. I promise.”
Aiden nods his head. “Good. I don’t ever want you to think you don’t have a say in how far we go.”
“I’ve never been shy about voicing my opinion,” I tell him. “You need to learn that about me.”
Aiden lets out a half laugh. “I hope to learn a lot about you, Caylin Rayne Cole. I want to know you inside and out and everything in between, if you’ll let me.”
“Then kiss me again,” I say teasingly. “Let’s see what else you can learn about me.”
Aiden grins. “You’re a little on the bossy side. I like it.”
“I just know what I want,” I tell him in all seriousness. “And right now I want your lips against mine and your tongue…”
I don’t get to finish what I was going to say because my tongue becomes otherwise occupied.
CHAPTER TWENTY
As our second kiss ends, I’m reluctant to pull away. The little angel on my right shoulder tells me we need to get to the dance before people start to wonder where we are. But the little devil on my left is cheering me on to stay put and not let this opportunity go so easily.
Dang it, why do I always listen to the angel?
I force myself to pull away and end the kiss. Aiden seems to be listening to his little devil because he leans forward to recapture my lips with his. I don’t pull away immediately. I mean, he went through all that effort to find my lips again. It would be rude to just push him away, right?
Finally I drag my lips from his and say, “We should get to the dance before Uncle Malcolm and Leah start to worry.”
Aiden sighs, “But I don’t want to.”
I smile and raise my hand to trace his slightly puffy lips from our kisses with my right index finger.
“I know,” I say, “but they’ll worry if we don’t show up soon.”
Aiden kisses my finger and then draws it into his mouth, sucking on it.
I gasp at the unexpected sensation of his teeth clamping down gently and the wet smoothness of his tongue as it rolls over my sensitive flesh. He draws his lips down my finger and kisses the tip of it after setting it free from the warmth of his mouth.
“If you insist,” he murmurs, phasing us back to my car before I have a chance to protest my own decision.
Aiden opens my car door for me and lends me a hand to help me out. It’s only then I remember we left my coat back at the house.
Aiden sees me shiver and has his jacket over my shoulders before I can tell him not to bother. The door leading into the school is only a few feet away.
“Thank you,” I tell him, enjoying the lingering warmth from his body inside the folds of the jacket.
“You’re welcome,” he says to me, holding out a crooked arm for me to take.
As we’re walking towards my school, I hear a girl walking behind us with her date say, “That’s a Watcher.”
I instantly begin to regret bringing Aiden to the dance. I assumed some of my classmates would recognize him but not immediately.
Aiden must have heard it too because he pats the arm I have looped through his reassuringly.
When I look up at him, he winks and I know he’s ok with being recognized. I suppose it was inevitable, and we’ll just have to deal with whatever comes next.
Aiden opens the door for me to enter the building and keeps it open for the girl and her date behind us, like any gentleman would. Surprisingly, the girl just smiles at Aiden and thanks him. She doesn’t make a big deal out of him being a Watcher like I thought she would after coming face to face with him.
Aiden follows them in, and I hand him back his jacket. He slips it on in one quick, fluid movement, and I marvel again at how sure he is in moving his own body.
He buttons the front and takes one of my hands into his.
“Shall we?” He asks.
I nod and walk Aiden through to the back of my school and into the auditorium where the dance is being held.
Leah was part of the dance organizing committee. It’s how she was able to invite Chandler, disguised as Jimmy James struggling artist, to be our entertainment for the evening. The floor has been cleared of its regular fold out chairs to leave the polished wood floor exposed and dance ready. Cloth streamers have been hoisted to form a canopy of sorts to hide the ceiling and a crystal chandelier hangs in the middle of it all lit with blue tinted lights to give the dark room an almost ghostly appearance.
Even in his Jimmy James get up, Chandler has captured the attention of almost every female in the room. They may be dancing with their dates, but I see them all staring straight at Chandler on the small stage we have as he sings a popular song on the radio that isn’t his, keeping to his promise to Leah.
“Caylin!”
I look to my right and see Leah running up to me with Joshua right behind her.
She’s dressed age appropriately in a red silk dress with a tiered skirt and sweetheart bodice. Joshua looks rather dapper in his tuxedo, but you can tell it was rented because it doesn’t quite fit him as snugly as Aiden’s does.
“We were wondering where you were,” she says to me. When she reaches us she looks at me oddly, then smiles brighter than I’ve ever seen her smile.
She takes my arm. “Come on. I need to go to the little girls’ room for a minute.”
“I don’t need to go,” I try to whisper to her, but she whisks me away before I can get the entirety of my protest out.
“Trust me,” she whispers. “Be back in a sec guys. And Aiden, you might want to,” Leah makes a wiping motion with one hand over her lips.
It’s only then that I notice the red stain on Aiden’s lips from my lipstick.
I giggle because I know I have the BEST best friend in the world.
As soon as we enter the girls’ restroom, Leah pulls out a tube of red lipstick in a hidden pocket of her skirt and hands it to me.
“I thought you might want to freshen up first,” Leah says.
I turn towards the mirror and do as suggested. I notice my cheeks are a bit flush and my eyes are dancing with happiness.
“So?” Leah says excitedly. “How was it?”
I smile from ear to ear because I just can’t help myself.
“Magical, wonderful, hot,” I giggle. “Oh my god, Leah, it was better than I’ve ever imagined. I didn’t want it to end. If we didn’t have to be here, I would so be making out with my boyfriend right now.”
Leah laughs and hugs me.
“I’m so happy for you. I knew all those years of waiting would be worth it in the end.”
I hug her back. “It most definitely was.”
When we make it back to the guys, I notice some girls circling Aiden like piranha eyeing fresh meat.
I grab my man showing everyone present that this particular piece of meat is all mine.
“Dance with me,” I tell Aiden just as Chandler switches to a slow song.
I have to wonder if Chandler saw me bringing Aiden onto the dance floor and changed songs just for us.
Aiden follows me willingly, and I can’t help but feel a little overjoyed that I have the most handsome man in the
room as my date.
As we dance to the music, I catch Uncle Malcolm out of the corner of my eye, watching us from the other side of the refreshment table. I don’t look at him but it does remind me to ask Aiden something.
“Can you tell me now what advice Uncle Malcolm gave you when he went back to your house in the Bahama’s the other day?”
Aiden smiles sheepishly. “He told me I needed to man up and kiss you already.”
“He did?” I ask in astonishment.
Of anyone in my life, I assumed Uncle Malcolm would be the harshest on Aiden about getting physical with me.
“Why would he do that?” I ask, needing to understand.
“I think he understood my reasons for not kissing you,” Aiden says. “And he’s been the one to help me the most during the past few years. That’s one reason I got so upset at the dinner with your parents. It was almost like having your mentor think you failed everything he taught you. I guess that’s why it pushed my buttons so easily and why your dad asked him to be the one to do it in the first place.”
“But he’s been hounding me all week about not getting physical with you too quickly.”
“I think he just wanted to prepare you for me as best he could.”
“He could have been a little less annoying while doing it,” I complain.
Aiden chuckles. “But that’s part of his charm.”
I look over at my Uncle Malcolm and see him smiling at me. I smile back and make a mental note to thank him later. Uncle Malcolm might come off brash and all about himself to others, but I know the real man inside. He is loyal and loving to a fault, and I hope one day he will find someone as special to him as Aiden is to me. I always felt like his love for my mother was the only thing holding him back from finding true love, but there really isn’t anything I can do about that. You love who you love and sometimes even reason can’t make you change your mind.
The rest of the night drifts by like a dream. Aiden is the perfect gentleman at every turn and surprisingly, Uncle Malcolm stays in the background giving me a night where I don’t have to worry about him watching every move I make.
At one point in the evening, I see my classmate Keri go up to Uncle Malcolm and say something to him. Uncle Malcolm smiles and shakes his head at whatever it is she asks but not before dragging a nearby boy from the refreshment table and urging him to take Keri onto the dance floor.
