by Noelle Adams
He pulled her into his arms, drawing her tightly against him. “I know it does,” he murmured against her hair.
She let go for a minute, shaking against him and releasing the tight knot of hurt and disappointment. He was warm and smelled like Aaron. His arms were tight around her, and he felt strong, utterly safe.
She didn’t cry for very long. In fact, she was surprised by how much better she felt after just a few minutes.
She’d only been with Hugh for a month, after all. It was only her plans and dreams that had really been crushed.
“Sorry for waking you up,” she mumbled, still slumped against him. She didn’t want to pull away. She liked how it felt to be held by him. They hugged a lot, but they didn’t usually cuddle together like this.
“I wish you wouldn’t say such ridiculous things.”
She exhaled a laugh, and this time her amusement wasn’t bitter. “You know what the worst thing is?”
“What?”
She felt a light brush against her hair, almost as if he’d kissed her. He’d probably just adjusted his head. She kissed him sometimes, but he never kissed her.
“The worst thing is you were right.”
“About what?”
“About how he was more an imagined piece of my plan than the real thing. I was never really in love with him.”
“You weren’t?” He sounded guarded in a way she hadn’t expected, but her mind was too fuzzy to work through why that might be.
“No.” Her face was still pressed against his shirt, and the fabric was slightly damp now. “It sounds awful, but I’m not sure I’m even going to miss him.”
“That’s good, right?”
“I suppose. But it proves I’ve been a total idiot, and I don’t like feeling that way.”
“It’s probably good for you.” Aaron’s tone was dry and natural again—familiar. “You’re too smart, competent, and beautiful for your own good. Everyone should feel like an idiot occasionally.”
She giggled. Then realized what he’d said. She pulled out of his arms enough to look up at his face, although her body felt chilly where it had been pressed against his. “You really think I’m smart, competent, and beautiful?”
He rolled his eyes. “You know perfectly well I do.”
“But I mean really. Even if we weren’t best friends. You’d think I was someone to be interested in? Someone to love?” After she spoke the words, she regretted them—since they sounded too needy, and she didn’t like being needy.
His face twisted briefly. She didn’t know why. “This is the truth, Kate. I don’t understand why every man in the world isn’t in love with you.”
The hoarse words surprised her so much she stared at him. Then her face crumpled and she reached out, letting him draw her into his arms once more.
This time, she didn’t cry. She just leaned against him, stroking his back and shoulders through the soft cotton of his t-shirt. His body was lean and hard, and she was suddenly aware of it.
She was also aware of his warm breath as it blew against the bare skin of her shoulder. She could hear and feel him breathing—noticed it in a way that didn’t make any sense.
She felt something brush against her hair again, and this time she looked up to see what it was. When she did, her lips were just an inch away from his.
He wasn’t smiling, but his eyes were warm in the way she’d known—she’d loved—for so many years. As she gazed up, she saw the warmth intensify into something tense, something hot.
His hot tension was somehow contagious. She suddenly felt it in her chest, in her belly, between her legs.
It was impossible not to recognize. It was wrong. It should have terrified her.
But it didn’t.
At this moment, it was exactly what she needed.
Without questioning the impulse, she leaned up and forward, closing the small gap between their mouths. Her kiss was gentle, tentative—just her lips brushing lightly against his—but shivers of excitement ran through her body at the touch.
She’d started to draw back when Aaron finally responded. Without warning, he took her face in both of his hands and kissed her hard. He was hungry and urgent and shifted the mood in an instant.
She sucked in air through her nose as he deepened the kiss, his tongue demanding entry and then tangling with hers. Pleasure and need welled up with equal force, and she clutched at his hard shoulders, desperately needing to hold on.
When he finally pulled his mouth away, he didn’t draw back. He leaned his forehead against hers and breathed, “Kate.” He was hot. Coiled so tightly she could feel it in his body.
“Aaron,” she replied, breathing in embarrassing gasps. She was trembling again, but for an entirely different reason now. Arousal pulsed in her so intensely it ached. “What…what…”
Instead of answering her unfinished question, he kissed her again.
Maybe that was answer enough.
Kate didn’t even try to process what was happening. She gave herself over to the embrace, to the desperate need coursing through her. They kissed eagerly until she clawed at his shoulders and he eased her down onto her back on the couch.
“Aaron,” she breathed as he mouthed his way down her throat, sucking on her throbbing pulse until she couldn’t stop squirming beneath him. She was so turned on it was almost embarrassing—since he hadn’t done any more than just kiss her yet.
His teeth grazed the sensitive skin at the hollow of her neck, and she arched up helplessly. “Oh, God, Aaron!”
He lifted his head and gazed down at her, as if checking something in her expression. She’d never seen his eyes like this before—primal, almost black—and they made her shiver.
He leaned down and kissed her with surprising tenderness, gently tugging at her bottom lip as he pulled away.
Suddenly, her chest ached as much as her arousal.
She was soon distracted from the surge of emotion when Aaron’s hands slid behind her back until he’d found the zipper on her dress. She wrapped her arms around his neck and mouthed his jaw as he unzipped her, loving the feel of his rough bristles against her swollen lips.
He stared down at her possessively as he slid her dress down her body.
Despite the overwhelming sensations, a flash of humor couldn’t be suppressed. “What are you staring at? You saw me in my underwear just a few hours ago.”
He made a choked sound and smiled—his characteristic grin transformed into something else. “And I almost dragged you into bed then too.”
She grabbed handfuls of his t-shirt and managed to pull it over his head. Then she ran her hands over his hard chest. She would have caressed him more, but her efforts were hampered by his reaching around to unhook her bra.
As he pulled the lace fabric away from her skin, he murmured hoarsely, “Beautiful.” He eased her back down onto the couch and cupped both breasts in his hands, twirling the nipples with his thumbs. “Very expeditious.”
She couldn’t process his words because her vision blurred with pleasure. She pressed up into his hands with a breathless sound.
Then he leaned down to mouth one breast, brushing and teasing it until she moaned in delicious frustration and couldn’t keep her hips still, shamelessly trying to rub her arousal against his weight.
He’d moved to the second breast when something finally clicked in her mind. She connected his last words with their conversation earlier, and they suddenly made sense.
She shook with half-suppressed amusement, even as he gave her nipple a gentle tug that made her jerk in need.
He lifted his head at her laughter, his forehead wrinkling. He was perspiring slightly, his skin glistening in a way she liked.
His obvious confusion made her laugh harder, and soon he was smiling in response.
He’d always smiled when she did. She couldn’t remember a time when he hadn’t.
“I’m glad you’re having a good time,” he said at last, his voice slightly strained despite the warmth in hi
s eyes. “But I’ve got to say it’s not good for my ego to have you laugh at my attempts to please you. You might at least pretend I’m halfway competent.”
She giggled uncontrollably at his aggrieved tone. “Believe me, you’re more than competent. I just finally got the ‘expeditious’ comment.”
“Ah. I see. It was a delayed reaction. You’re not usually so slow.”
She gave a huff. “I was distracted. But, in the interest of restoring your damaged ego…” She grabbed one of his hands and slid it down her abdomen and under the waistband of her panties.
His expression changed as he caressed her intimately and realized how wet she was.
Kate gave a little squeal of pleased surprise when he yanked down her panties with a sharp jerk of his hands.
She made a different sort of sound when he slid two fingers into her slick channel. “I guess that means your ego is restored.”
He made a guttural sound of affirmation as he lowered his mouth to one of her naked breasts as he fingered her. It wasn’t long before her body tightened with pleasure, and she reached up past her head to grab the armrest of the couch to hang onto.
She’d always been able to reach orgasm during sex, but she couldn’t remember ever losing control so quickly before. Improbably soon, she could feel a climax coiling deep inside her.
She heard herself making silly sounds of pleasure as her body started to shake. “Gonna come,” she mumbled, gripping the soft fabric of the couch, her inner muscles clamping down around his fingers inside her.
His mouth around her nipple, Aaron hummed in approval, the vibrations from the sound intensifying the sensations.
When she felt his teeth graze her skin, her climax broke, and she shuddered and moaned as waves of release washed over her.
She was still gasping as her body relaxed in satisfaction. He lifted his head and gazed down at her, his eyes even more hot and possessive than before. Tremors from her climax continued to flutter as he gently withdrew his fingers, sliding them deliciously against her clit as he did.
She grinned. “At the risk of over-inflating your ego—which should be in pretty good shape at the moment—you’re really good at that.”
He smiled back. For a moment, neither looked away, sharing a look of absolute understanding.
She was suddenly struck with the knowledge that this was Aaron—Aaron—and she’d never dreamed of being with him this way.
Even now, she wasn’t sure why they were doing this, what it meant, how wrong it really was.
Before she could think through the implications, however, he leaned down and kissed her hard again, slipping one hand under her bottom and using the other to wrap one of her legs around his hip.
She moaned against his mouth at the feel of his body against her aroused flesh. He was hard. She could feel him beneath the rough fabric of his trousers.
She rubbed herself against him eagerly as the kiss grew deeper, more urgent.
He groaned low in his throat, and the uncontrolled sound made her want to preen.
Aaron wanted her. He really wanted her. She could hear it, feel it, sense it.
When their mouths finally broke apart, she could see how much he wanted her from the tension in his face and the hard bulge at the front of his pants.
She reached out instinctively and massaged him, loving how he huffed in response.
Suddenly impatient that he wasn’t yet as naked as she was, she started to undo his trousers.
“Should I try to find a condom,” he asked hoarsely, helping her pull off the remainder of his clothes.
“You’re healthy, right?” She reached out to take his erection in one of her hands and brushed along its length with her thumb.
“Yeah.” He jerked his head to the side as she stroked him.
Thrilled with his response, Kate caressed him more firmly. “Me too. I’m on birth control. We’re fine.”
“Good. I’m not sure how much longer I can wait.” He moved over her again, causing her hand to slip off his hard length.
She parted her thighs to make room for him, and he settled between her legs. She shook with eagerness as he lined himself up at her entrance.
Just before he slid in, he lifted his eyes from where they were on the brink of intimate connection. “Kate, are you sure about this?”
She didn’t know the answer to that question and didn’t want to think about it anyway. Almost groaning with impatience, she slid her hands down his back until she gripped the tight flesh of his ass. “Would you hurry up?”
He made a choked sound that might have been a laugh and then pitched his hips forward, easing himself inside her.
Her body stretched and clung to the penetration, and she released a pleased sigh as he pulled back once and reentered at a slightly different angle.
“Good?” he asked when he was fully sheathed inside her. He held himself up on his forearms, his gaze hot as it raked over her naked body and flushed face.
“Yeah. Good.” She arched up slightly, feeling tingles of sensation at the tight friction of his flesh against hers. “So good.”
He slid one hand down her thigh the way he had earlier, raising her leg until she’d wrapped it around his hip. She lifted her other leg as well, and they both moaned as he sank inside her more deeply.
She reached up, tangling her fingers in his disheveled hair and then pulling his face down so she could kiss him. As they kissed, he started to move above her, inside her, building a steady rhythm that she couldn’t help but match with her hips.
As their hungry motion intensified, the kiss fell apart. Kate arched her neck and closed her eyes, focusing on her building need, while Aaron lowered his face to the crook of her neck as the speed of his thrusting accelerated.
“Kate. Kate. This is what I want.”
Her heart and her body felt so good she couldn’t help but whimper in pleasure. “I want it too.”
His motion above her was hard, steady, almost primal. “This is what I want.”
She’d never imagined Aaron would be like this in bed. So fierce and passionate. She’d never imagined him in bed at all.
“Me too. Me too. So good.” She clawed at the back of his shoulders as she felt a climax tightening. She pumped her hips shamelessly, trying to get as much friction as she could.
She cried out as the orgasm crested.
He groaned as she shuddered beneath him. When he froze for a moment, she thought he would come too.
But he didn’t. Even as she came down from climax, he started his rhythmic thrusting again, repositioning himself slightly.
“Oh God, Aaron,” she rasped, her body torn between sated exhaustion and renewed desire. She’d never felt like this before—like this was all she needed but like she could never get enough.
His eyes held hers as they moved together. He was obviously enjoying this. He was obviously totally into it. But she knew him so well—better than anyone else.
And she suddenly realized something.
Lifting her hand to cup his cheek, she murmured, “Aaron, why are you holding back?”
His motion faltered briefly, but he didn’t respond.
He didn’t have to.
“I want this. I want you. Please don’t hold anything back.”
He closed his eyes to mask whatever his expression would have revealed, but something changed when he stared down at her again. He straightened his arms and braced himself above her before he started to move in a different, rougher rhythm.
It might have been what he needed, but it was what she needed too. He thrust into her hard and fast, and the pleasure rose until it was almost unbearable. She kept trying to get her legs higher around his back, and every adjustment made it even better.
Soon, Aaron was grunting as he drove into her, and she was crying out in silly, shameless sounds. She wasn’t usually so uninhibited, but she couldn’t seem to keep quiet. Everything was too good, too deep, too much.
“Gonna come again,” she mumbled as she felt
the pleasure rising. “Gonna…gonna…”
“Come,” he grunted, his face damp with perspiration and a wild, hot look in his eyes.
She came then with a sound like a sob. She clawed lines down his back as she tried to process the feelings, and the pleasure was finally easing when Aaron froze on a rough sound for just a moment. She was aware enough to watch as his face twisted helplessly. Then his motion fell out of rhythm completely as he let everything go.
She’d never seen anything like it—like the sight of Aaron’s release. It was just as overwhelming to her as her own climax.
She gasped in pleasure as she felt his release inside her. Then gasped with a different kind of pleasure as his elbows buckled and he collapsed on top of her.
She wrapped her arms around his hot, relaxed body, loving the feel of it, loving how fully he’d let go.
She felt him mouth at her neck almost clumsily, as if he didn’t have energy for concentration or even to lift his head. His bristles were scratchy against her skin. His body was so hot it seemed to burn her.
He was Aaron. For fourteen years, she’d loved and trusted him more than anyone except her mother. She’d thought she’d known him in every way.
But she’d never known him like this.
Three
Kate didn’t think she fell asleep, but a few minutes later she was groggy and disoriented, as if she’d dozed off.
She was hot, cramped, and just a little sore—and after a minute she registered it was because Aaron was still lying on top of her.
He breathed deeply, slowly. She could feel every inhale as his chest pressed against hers, every exhale as his breath blew against the skin of her neck.
When they were sixteen, they’d stayed up until dawn one night watching the entire first season of a sci-fi show. Kate’s mother had been working a night shift at the hospital, and when she got home she’d been very upset over finding them both asleep on the couch. Kate and Aaron had been embarrassed and awkward at the time, but afterwards they’d laughed hysterically at the idea of doing anything naughty together.
