The Sweet Spot (Sweet And Spicy)

by Eason, Mary

  * * * *

  Aiden watched the eyes that drove him crazy with desire and wondered if Cara had any idea how little he cared about hearing her answer.

  For almost a year now, since he’d picked her little business’ name from a phonebook at random, Aiden had been fascinated by those eyes. They were the color of nutmeg. Only a few shades darker than the soft curls that caressed the nape of her neck. Light brown eyes that changed with her emotions. They were dark now. She was ready to tell him another lie. How many times had he wondered what those eyes would look like when he kissed her? Touched her. Made love to her as he’d been dreaming about doing since she’d walked into his office and he’d all but handed the contract for his company’s Christmas party over to her without ever hearing a single word of her pitch.

  Not just once. Because making love once would never be enough for Aiden. He’d wanted her far too much for once.

  That alone should have told him how out of character his reaction to Cara Bennett really was.

  Since meeting her, she’d been nothing but a series of contradictions. And he still didn’t understand what made her tick. But he wanted to. That was, if she would ever give him the chance. So far, he hadn’t gotten past the buddy stage with her. He was just someone to hang out with, talk football with and occasionally go out for a drink with when no one else was available. Always casual, some place that could never be construed as anything close to a date.

  His fingers stroked the soft material that covered her upper arms. That shirt was a prime example of the unpredictable woman she was. The shirt represented what he liked to believe was the real Cara beyond all that sometimes tomboy personality she used with him. Soft, frilly material that consisted of several shades of pink blended. The top was tantalizingly see-through. He could just make out the curve of her hips where the hem of her top met faded, low-cut jeans above her flat stomach where he knew from past glimpses of heaven that she had a tiny tattoo of an angel dancing with a devil—proof that she might be both those women rolled into one. He’d met the angel. He wanted to meet the devil.

  The top was low cut, also unusual by Cara Bennett standards, as was that powder pink nail polish he’d noticed peeking out beneath thinly strapped sandals. A quick glance at her fingers didn’t disappoint. Of course, she never wore nail polish on her fingers. She said it interfered with her professional image, whatever that meant.

  At five-foot-two, the three-inch sandals weren’t a surprise. Cara liked to level the playing field in her favor.

  She took a deep, somewhat labored breath, causing the material to cling to the swell of her breasts. She strained in his grasp and he made out the color of her lacy bra. Pink. No, pale pink—the very same color as her toes.

  Cara said something to him that he didn’t catch, although to his credit, her voice sounded uncharacteristically un-Cara-ish. It was almost a strangled whisper. He realized that his full attention had been focused on her, more importantly on her body, that he had no idea what she’d been saying. He did a quick mental shake, reminded himself that he was for all practical purposes supposed to be worried about Miranda, although to be honest, he could care less about Miranda at the moment. He’d been trying to get her alone to tell her he couldn’t keep up the pretense of being with her any longer. His heart, as well as his body, wasn’t in it any more. For just as long, Miranda had been avoiding him. The move to Little Rock had come at just the right time. It allowed him the perfect opportunity to get out of the relationship, and start planning on how to meet that little devil. He knew it existed. He’d seen tiny, exciting glimpses of it whenever Cara let her guard down with him.

  Unfortunately for him, those times were only enough to leave him wanting more.

  Aiden became aware of her saying something else. He forced his eyes to hers, saw them darken again. There were more than just untruths there now. There was something else that he’d only caught peeps of in the past; something that made him wonder. Before he could figure it out in the past, she’d hidden it away from him. Just like tonight. But it was enough to momentarily knock the breath out of him.

  “What?” Aiden asked absently, his focus going from those dark sultry eyes to her pink full lips. The woman knew how to do pink justice.

  Another shift brought her closer. “I said, no, I’m not. I’m not lying to you, Aiden. I don’t know anything about where Miranda might be.” She was starting to question what was wrong with him. Cara’s eyes narrowed once they met his.

  “I don’t believe you.” Aiden shook his head. That was at least true. He knew she wasn’t telling him everything. Miranda was famous for telling everyone she knew everything about her life. Miranda was her own favorite subject. And he’d suspected for a long time now that she’d told Cara more than the actual truth about their relationship and where it might be headed.

  “Miranda tells you everything. She’d tell you where she was going.” He brought her closer. Their bodies were actually touching now. Her reaction was instant. Cara was nervous. Aiden decided that was a good thing. “So, let’s try this again. Where is she?”

  Aiden watched her eyes darken more as she struggled to come up with a lie. Not that it mattered. He could care less at this moment where Miranda was or what she was up to. She was only postponing the inevitable and made his regret at going out with the woman that much greater. He’d had it up to his ears with models by the time he’d met Miranda.

  The very fact that Cara had all but pushed them together had stung. He’d gone out with Miranda for all the wrong reasons. He’d even slept with her with the hope that she would talk to Cara about it. Even though he’d never slept with Miranda, he was certain Miranda’s version of the story to Cara would be entirely different. He’d been searching for a reaction, anything from the woman he’d fantasized about. There were moments when he’d wondered if she really didn’t have a clue how he felt about her or if she was simply acting. Now, he wasn’t so sure. Her eyes didn’t look like the eyes of a woman unaware of the man who held her.

  He could smell her perfume. It drove him mad. It wasn’t the usually fruity or floral fragrances that most women wore. It was as distinct and as indefinable as the woman who wore it.

  “So what’s it gonna be? Are you going to tell me the truth the easy way, or are you going to make it more challenging?”

  Chapter Two

  It was the hardest thing in the world for Cara to do—to look into Aiden’s blue eyes and try to defend Miranda. Especially when Aiden was looking at her the way he was right now. In a way that made her want to forget all about Miranda and her lies.

  It was impossible to lie to Aiden under the best of circumstances let alone when he was standing close enough to touch. She could feel his heartbeat against her. She knew that he was reading all of her emotions. Aiden was used to women falling all over him. He’d know how much she wanted to touch him, to feel his skin beneath her fingers. Aiden was a temptation that no friendship could withstand. She took a deep breath, smelled the warm masculine scent of him, and pushed his hands away, turning back to the city lights below.

  “I don’t know where she is Aiden. I don’t know anything.” Of course, Cara didn’t need to look at him to know that he didn’t believe her.

  Aiden started to say something else when the phone interrupted him. When he’d left to answer it, Cara let go of the breath she was holding on to.

  She listened to the one-sided conversation enough to know that he was talking to Miranda.

  “Where exactly are you?” There was no mistaking the controlled anger in Aiden’s voice when Cara stepped back inside the house and walked over to where he stood. Aiden didn’t even look her way.

  The conversation didn’t last more than a minute but it seemed like forever. Cara prayed that Miranda wouldn’t tell him the truth tonight. Not when she was standing so close to him. Not when she didn’t want to see Aiden’s reaction to losing her.

  He clicked the phone off and turned to her. The tension between them became unbearab
le.

  Aiden stood watching her expression seeing more than she wanted him to see before dialing the phone. Cara knew without even considering it that he had just *’d the number.

  Even from where she stood, a few feet from Aiden, she could hear the decisively male, accented voice answer the phone right before Aiden clicked end and dropped the phone noisily against the wood floor.

  “How long?” he said softly into the growing tension.

  Cara stepped back from the anger in his eyes shaking her head. She couldn’t seem to get the words out over the cold fear forming in her throat.

  Aiden started toward her. Cara backed away from what she saw in those eyes. Her back hit the glass door leading out to the deck. Before she could fumble with the knob to open it Aiden reached for her. He pulled her hard against his body. Cara felt her resolve begin to crack.

  “How long, Cara. Tell me how long she’s been seeing him?” Cara didn’t answer. He pulled her closer. Aiden felt every bit as good as Miranda had said.

  “Dammit Cara, answer me! How long has Miranda been cheating on me?”

  “No!” Cara told him and tried to push him away. Aiden didn’t budge. When she looked into his eyes and saw what he intended to do, she became frantic. She had to get away. Not from Aiden, but from herself. Before she revealed too much about her feelings.

  “No, Aiden.” Her words died into a whimper the second his lips touched hers for the first time. In the past, Cara had only imagined the way they would feel against hers. Now, she had living proof that Aiden was a dream come true.

  His lips moved against hers, creating a delicious friction. Cara stopped resisting. His hold loosened at her surrender. Aiden’s hands slipped over her body slowly, touching her, reaching past the walls she’d resurrected to protect her heart against him. Now, she could only shudder in response.

  She heard him laugh. It was as seductive as it was satisfied.

  “Aiden…” Cara tried to think beyond this moment. Beyond the fact that this was the man of her dreams kissing her, the way that she’d only dreamed of being kissed.

  “Shh,” he whispered against her lips. His hands followed the curves of her body, sliding across the edges of her breasts down to the curve of her hips to cup her bottom, bringing her closer to his full erection. Aiden wanted her. Her, not Miranda. That thought alone had the power to shatter all her resistance.

  “Aiden,” Cara said his name again but this time she wasn’t asking him to stop. She brought her hands up slowly between them. The barrier between them only added to her frustration. Cara flattened her hands against his chest and let them move slowly upwards. She heard him groan, watched him close his eyes for a moment. The look in Aiden’s eyes was stark desire. He wanted her. Only her.

  Aiden lifted her up against his body. Her legs circled his waist slowly, against her better judgment.

  He was taking her somewhere. Vaguely she realized it was his bedroom. Aiden lowered her back against the bed, their bodies still joined, her legs still wrapped around his body, never breaking the kiss.

  You’ll be sorry. Cara’s conscious came back to life, the second she felt her shirt being lifted above her head. The cool air brushed across her heated skin before Aiden pulled away.

  “God, you’re so beautiful,” he whispered, looking down at her, his eyes sliding over her half-naked body. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this.”

  His words both thrilled and repulsed her all at the same time. She didn’t want to be just one of the many who had passed through this room only to be forgotten when the next one came along. She was Aiden’s friend, correction buddy. That made her different, didn’t it?

  Cara shivered in reaction to his words, to the way Aiden’s lips glided across hers before trailing to her throat and down to kiss each of her breasts to arousal. Cara sucked in a ragged breath bringing his eyes back to hers. Aiden was smiling. He’d seen her expression before, a hundred times no doubt.

  His fingers skillfully unbuttoned her jeans, sliding them away from her body.

  Stop him. Before it’s too late. Before you lose his friendship.

  But she didn’t want to stop him or herself. Aiden’s eyes came back to hers once more. There were questions in them. Cara couldn’t answer them. She closed hers and let him remove the last of her clothes.

  Aiden’s touch held remnants of his anger. He knew that she’d betrayed him. He was still angry, but he wanted her more.

  His lips planted kisses across her ribcage and down to her navel, dipping inside. A shudder of desire pulsed through her body as Aiden’s lips moved lower. She heard his low seductive laugh. Aiden was finding her surrender both amusing and definitely predictable.

  “No.” Somehow Cara got the word out. But it was much too late for false protests. Aiden wasn’t ready to end this.

  His lips dipped lower, caressing her inner thigh before moving up to touch the soft warmth inside of her.

  Cara’s body arched against his lips, as waves of pleasure rocketed throughout her inner most parts.

  Aiden stilled his touch waiting until the moment of climax had passed and then he stood and slowly undressed. His eyes never left hers. Those beautiful, blue eyes filled with anger.

  He came back to her, his lips taking hers once again. Forcing her to open to his. His tongue explored the inner most parts of her. Cara couldn’t control her need to touch him any longer.

  “No,” he said in a barely controlling voice. Aiden took her hands and held them above her head. He took his time, lavishing kisses over her body before she heard her name forced from his lips. Aiden moved between her legs. The feeling of him sliding inside of her with a single trust was enough to send her close to climaxing once again.

  Her reaction and Aiden’s were the same. They both had the breath driven from them by the force of their bodies joined together. Aiden waited for her body to accept his before he began to move inside of her. Slowly, each thrust coming deeper, harder until Cara could no longer control her reaction. Just before she reached the edge, he slowed the rhythm of his thrusts, prolonging her pleasure and her agony. “Aiden.” Her cry sounded weak and wanton, urging him on. He drove into her then hard, continuous, accepting her need.

  Aiden said her name. It sounded different from before. He was as close as she. He drove harder, faster, until Cara felt her body tighten around his and convulse out of control.

  He held on until that moment and then she felt the warmth of him flood her as Aiden Wilder, the man of her dreams, lost himself inside of her.

  He collapsed against her body, his heart racing against hers in matching rhythm as the world splintered and spun out of control.

  * * * *

  W hat in heaven’s name was wrong with him? He’d always been able to keep a tight reign on his feelings for Cara. Until tonight. But why tonight? He’d been friends with her for almost a year now. He’d managed to control his lusts until tonight. Now what had he done?

  He’d given into that need and took what Cara hadn’t wanted from him. He’d just made their relationship more than friends. He’d grayed the boundaries. But how much more? Was it just sex? Were they lovers? Had she made love to him or simply hadn’t been able to resist?

  “Are you okay?” Aiden forced the words out. His body was still meshed with hers. He was still inside of her. He had no intention of letting her go. Cara heaved a shuddering reaction to those words that went straight through to her core. He felt his body responding against hers.

  This was so wrong. He just knew in every part of his being that he was going to regret touching Cara like this for the rest of his life.

  But that didn’t ease the need. His body swelled inside of her once more, he heard her soft as a whisper response before she pulled his face closer. Cara might not have expected the outcome of tonight, but she was certainly ready for him. He killed what was left of his conscious the second her lips met his.

  This was his late-night fantasy. But this wasn’t late at night. And Cara wasn�
�t part of any dream. She was real. She was warm, sexy and ready for him.

  He began to move inside of her slowly. He wanted this to last all night, or at least until she came to her senses. She responded immediately. Her body rose to meet his thrust for thrust. Her legs slipped around his waist once more. Their bodies fit together perfectly.

  “God, you feel good,” he whispered into her open mouth and felt her inner muscles tighten around him. The woman felt like pure desire. He’d finally met the devil and he wasn’t so sure he would survive her. But one thing was for sure. She’d just ruined him for any other woman after her.

  He hadn’t expected the reality to overtake the fantasy but it had. Dreams of her would never be enough to satisfy again.

  “Aiden, this is wrong,” she told him even while her tongue stroked along his. He drove into her harder, faster, moving in perfect rhythm to the thrusts of her tongue.

  “God, Cara, you’re driving me mad.” He wanted to be closer. Her body was all but meshed with his but it wasn’t enough. His arms circled her shoulders drawing her against his body.

  Her fingers stroked down his back and lower. Aiden was the one to shudder as her stroking drove him closer to losing control.

  “Don’t…Cara, no.” Her lips left his, their eyes met, locked. They stopped moving. The tiny space that separated them was filled with so many emotions. Passion, questions, vulnerability.