Love notes

by Exley Avis

  His hand trailed up her back before tangling itself in her hair, so Erika couldn’t have pulled away if she’d have wanted to. Her kiss deepened, drinking in his very soul, his touch filling her with a confounding concoction of love, yearning and a desperation to make up for lost time.

  The past five years melted away and Erika knew then that she’d forgive and forget, no matter what. Every sense told her there never had been – and never would be – another man like Aiden, even if she lived another hundred lifetimes.

  Someone who completed her and filled up the spaces from where love had been missing for too long. He was worth the risk.

  If Aiden needed her back in his life, that’s exactly where she wanted to be and she couldn’t wait to prove it to him.

  “I want you so much,” he breathed against her cheek. “And not just tonight. I need you, Erika.”

  She pulled away so she could look at him. “Don’t talk,” she said, placing her thumb across his lips. “You don’t need to say anything. I feel it too.”

  This time he kissed her.

  A kiss that brought back every memory of the love they’d once shared and branded them afresh across her heart.

  It would take her a long time to completely trust Aiden again, and she’d worry every time he was out of her sight, but Erika knew he desperately wanted to put things right.

  Their love had lain dormant through a harsh winter of loneliness, waiting for a little warmth to coax it back to life. Allowed to flourish, it could be as fresh, beautiful and intense as it had always been.

  All Erika needed to do was open her heart for it all to be given back to her again.

  The song ended too quickly, making Erika and Aiden aware of the crowd around them and forcing them apart.

  “No encores tonight,” Aiden warned in a whisper, unable to resist kissing her once more. “I want you all to myself as soon as possible.”

  Tingling at the many promises those few words contained, Erika made her way back onto stage to perform a solo while the band took a break. She’d intended singing along to backing tracks on her iPod but instead, picked up a guitar and approached the mic.

  “As it’s a special occasion, I’d like to sing some songs that I’ve never performed before,” she began, strumming soft chords to set the mood. “Most of my lyrics were inspired by a man I loved more than I can ever say. Sadly, we broke up.”

  The audience gave a collective sigh of aah shame, and Erika laughed.

  “I ran away to America,” she continued, still strumming softly, “and the rest, as they say, is an awful lot of downloads from iTunes.”

  Aiden managed a sad smile at a joke that concealed a colossal heartbreak. It gave Erika the courage to go on.

  “I secretly wrote an album called Songs Of Love and Loss but the lyrics have always been too private to share.” Erika wondered what Marty would make of this information – probably around twenty million dollars, she guessed. “These songs are for the man that got away.”

  The soft, random chords solidified into the opening bars of Breach Of Trust, a song of sadness and betrayal that brought every heartsick feeling rushing back in on Erika.

  You said you’d love me for all time

  But in her bed you quickly climbed.

  Lying in her arms not mine.

  Dreams turned to dust – you breached my trust

  In her mind’s eye, Erika was turning the key in Aiden’s door and letting herself into his dark apartment, planning to slip into bed with him and celebrate the end of her exams in his arms. Instead, she’d opened the bedroom door to find him having tempestuous sex with a blonde who was enjoying herself far more than she was entitled to.

  When I saw I’d been betrayed

  There’s no way I could have stayed.

  Not with the dirty tricks you’ve played

  So run, I must – you’ve breached my trust.

  Back then, Erika had turned and run, hearing Aiden calling desperately down the stairwell to her. She’d never really stopped running until that moment, but she finally felt she’d come to rest. She saw the same desperation in his eyes that she’d heard in his voice that night and knew his mind was in exactly the same place.

  Rapturous applause greeted the closing bars but Erika didn’t pause, not wanting to slow down the silent conversation she was having with Aiden.

  “I wrote this next song on a plane to New York,” she told the audience, “with tears streaming down my face and no idea how I’d ever recover. Instead, I made a vow that I’d pick myself up and make him sorry that he’d ever let me go.”

  The soft strumming turned into the opening bars of Prove Myself and the audience stilled, held spellbound.

  Leaving my world behind.

  Putting an ocean between us.

  Running to prove myself

  And learning to love myself

  Without you.

  I’ll pretend I’m fine

  Although my world no longer rhymes.

  I’ll make a new me

  To make you see

  That letting me go was a crime.

  When the song ended, Erika went straight into a third tune, intending to bring the story full circle. “Five years on, I’ve achieved far more than I ever dreamed of. But now I need someone to fix the hole in my heart.”

  “I’ll marry you if he won’t,” one of the ushers shouted, to roars of laughter.

  “Thanks.” Erika pretended to consider the offer. “Leave your number behind the bar and I’ll get back to you,”

  As her guitar picked up the melody, Erika didn’t dare look at Aiden, although she felt his eyes on her, reading her mind and seeing into her soul.

  “This is for the love of my life,” she said. “The man I lost but who never really let me go.”

  I don’t want to cry myself to sleep tonight.

  I need your arms to hold me tight.

  Your kiss is the only thing that might

  Heal this hole in my heart.

  Take this pain you put me through

  And kiss it better. Make me brand new.

  Take a dozen loving lifetimes to

  Mend this gaping hole in my heart.

  To one side, Erika became aware of someone walking toward the stage and climbing the steps beside her. A sixth sense told her it was Aiden but she didn’t dare look around in case she lost the thread of the tune. Everyone else in the room saw him however, and looked curiously at each other, trying to work out how Aiden fitted into the story they’d just heard.

  Our love shone like purest gold,

  But now your side of my bed’s cold.

  Come back. Our story’s still half told.

  I’ll let you have and hold, the whole of my heart.

  Within seconds of the song finishing, Aiden stepped forward and turned Erika toward him before placing his hands either side of her face. He kissed her gently at first but then enfolded her in a fierce embrace that could have gone on for a lifetime. As the guests rose to their feet and cheered, Erika allowed her heart, mind and body to be taken over by the man who’d possessed her completely from the first moment they’d met.

  No matter how far she’d travelled in five years, she’d ended up exactly where she’d begun and she knew she’d started to find herself again at last.

  Aiden finally let her go and looked down at her, wiping the happy tears from her cheeks with his thumbs, oblivious to the whirlwind of cheering coming from the dance floor.

  “Can you ever forgive me?” he asked. “I knew I’d hurt you but I had no idea…”

  “Shh.” Erika wouldn’t let him continue. This was another conversation for another time. “I know you said no encores, but I can’t disappoint a crowd like this.”

  Laughing, they looked down into the pool of guests who were still cheering and whistling, and clapping their hands above their heads. Even Aiden agreed.

  “I’ll be outside,” he told her. “But hurry up. I’ve waited long enough for you.”

  Silence hung
heavily around Aiden and Erika on their way upstairs but words were no longer necessary. They both knew exactly where they were heading and walked apart, afraid the merest brush of skin on skin would ignite their desire too soon.

  After that night, there’d be no going back.

  For Erika, allowing Aiden to make love to her would break apart the protective shell she’d built around her heart. Surrendering her body would also throw open her soul and make her vulnerable to falling in love with him again. It terrified her but she had to trust Aiden. Without trust there was no way forward. But it didn’t make the road ahead any less terrifying.

  Aiden unlocked the door and let Erika inside. Her desire faltered, driven out by uncertainty, but Aiden took control and pulled her into his arms. His lips found hers and lit the tinder under her dormant passion with a kiss so intense Erika forgot to breathe.

  When she’d seduced Aiden, she’d taken control. When they’d kissed in the ballroom, there had been restraint. But now there was only the touch, taste and feel of Aiden and it was intoxicating.

  He kissed beautifully – he always had – teasing her lips apart; his mouth soft but insistent, his tongue probing, tempting and urging her to respond. Resistance and caution drained from Erika as Aiden steered her back against the wall.

  His hot body held her fast, so his hands could slide down across her hips and lift the hem of her dress in a rustle of silk.

  “I’ve been fantasising about this all night,” he whispered. He found her stocking tops and caressed her bare thighs, raising pleasure points in every square inch of skin. “From the moment you walked into the bar, all I’ve thought about is putting my hands up inside this very beautiful dress.”

  He wrenched Erika so hard against him it forced the breath out of her. She moulded herself to the shape of his body – a body she’d been fantasising about all day. Broad, strong, unyielding and built for pleasure.

  “I want you so much,” she breathed, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him with a force of passion that had lain dormant for too long.

  When she’d seduced Aiden that first time, Erika had truly believed that once would be enough to get him out of her system. But beside the pool that morning, and having him lying semi-naked beside her, had made her realise that she could never get enough of the pleasures his sexy body contained.

  His hands slid down inside Erika’s flimsy, black panties and grasped her bum tightly, forcing her hips up against the tight bulge in his groin.

  “And I want you too,” he said needlessly. “You’ve made me wait too long for this.”

  Suddenly, clothes were a senseless distraction. Erika needed Aiden naked against her, skin on skin, heat against heat. She tore at his shirt. “Let me touch you,” she said, buttons popping as she pulled his shirt up over his head. “Let me taste every inch of your body. Your skin, your mouth, your cock, the inside of your thighs, your fingers.”

  Her feast began in the hollows of his neck and Aiden tilted his head to let her lips roam freely. Erika savoured his familiar taste of his hot skin and the deep, earthy, erotic flavour of a horny man consumed by desire.

  Aiden’s baser instincts kicked in and he yanked down Erika’s panties in one rough motion. His hand thrust between her legs, finding her pussy hot, wet and swollen with lust.

  “God, you feel good.” His voice rumbled deep in his chest. “I’m going to fuck you until you beg for mercy then turn you over and fuck you some more.”

  And Aiden was a man who knew how to keep a promise.

  His finger very deliberately grazed Erika’s clit and her pussy spasmed. “Then do it now,” she cried. “Right here.” She couldn’t wait for him any longer. If she didn’t feel him inside her within the next few seconds she’d explode.

  But Aiden wasn’t nearly ready and pulled away, depriving her of what she wanted the most. “Not yet. It’s my turn to say, when.”

  “Please. I need you.”

  Hearing her beg made him smile against her lips. “Three days ago, you nigh on raped me but wouldn’t let me touch you. It’s time to return the favour and give me exactly what I want.”

  Before she could argue, Aiden’s mouth ground down on hers and his long fingers invaded her pussy. Every erotic impulse rushed to Erika’s G-spot and her muscles clenched, drawing him deeper inside her.

  There was no gentleness – only a rough urgency that brought the kind of sweet pain Erika couldn’t get enough of. She’d always loved it when Aiden lost control and fucked her beyond reason. Her pussy tightened around his fingers and she dug her nails into his back. Aiden’s reaction was instantaneous.

  “I want you naked. Now.”

  The demand came a second before the rip of fabric as Aiden tore at Erika’s zip. The ruinously-expensive dress hit the floor and was trampled underfoot, unheeded. Not that Erika cared. Instead she moaned in protest as Aiden pulled his wet fingers out of her pussy and began teasing her nipples to hardness before bending to lick the flavour of sex from them.

  “You taste so good,” he mouthed against her breast. “I can’t wait to spread your legs and eat the real thing.”

  The thought of Aiden’s masterful tongue along her pussy gave Erika a strength she didn’t know she possessed and she pushed him away long enough to undo his belt.

  His thick, strong cock leapt to attention as soon as it was freed and Erika stole a moment to admire its perfect contours, from ridged shaft to smooth, flushed head. She thought she might come just from staring at it for long enough.

  “You’re huge tonight,” she whispered.

  “Because you make me so horny. You always did.”

  Aiden’s balls hung heavy, tight and full between his thighs, straining for release, and he sighed throatily when Erika cupped them. As her wrist brushed the tip of his cock, a spot of pre-cum smeared on her pulse point and the scent of sex enfolded them.

  “Who’s in charge now?” she whispered as her thumb circled the tip of his cock, spreading the sticky juice into the sensitive indentations underneath so it jumped in her hand.

  Aiden lost it and kicked his clothes away. “Still me.” In a swift movement, he lifted Erika off the ground and wrapped her legs around his hips. Her back hit the wall again so hard it knocked the wind out of her but his kiss left her breathless anyway a second later

  His hot cock slicked along the folds of her pussy, from clit to anus, backwards and forwards with every movement of Aiden’s hips. Teasing her. Tormenting her. And from the horny smile on his face, he loved every minute of it.

  Erika curled her hips, hoping to draw Aiden inside her but he anticipated and dodged away.

  “Not yet,” he reminded her and carried her into the bedroom, her legs still wrapped around him.

  They fell onto the bed together, Aiden’s body crushing Erika’s momentarily. He freed himself and grabbed her ankles to spin her round. The bedside lamp now shone directly onto her naked pussy.

  “That’s better.” Aiden smiled in satisfaction. “God, you look delicious.”

  He dropped to his knees beside the bed and pushed his hands under Erika’s bum to pull her towards him but she was too quick. She slid her hand down over her belly and began fingering her pussy while Aiden watched.

  “Is this what you want?” she asked although the look on his face made the question unnecessary. “Because it’s mine and I don’t know if I want to share.”

  “It isn’t optional tonight. We’re playing by my rules.”

  Without taking his eyes off her playful fingers, Aiden removed Erika’s shoes and reached under the small of her back to undo her suspenders. When he rolled her stockings down over the thighs she expected him to throw them aside but he grabbed her wrists, completely catching her off guard.

  “It’s rude not to share,” he said gruffly, winding the stockings around her wrists and pushing her hands up over her head. “And tonight’s about what I want.”

  A triumphant smile twitched the corners of his mouth. Erika could easily have freed h
erself – the ties were so loose – but where would be the fun in that, she thought?

  Aiden straddled her and his cock nestled in the cleft between her breasts while the smell of pre-cum wafted up to her. With her hands over her head, her nipples thrust up at Aiden, tempting him to touch them and he didn’t deny himself.

  With his fingers squeezing her nipples to hardness he began kissing down the length of her body, starting at the sensitive skin behind her ears where he lay a trail of kisses so light they felt like butterflies’ wings. When his lips finally closed around her nipples, Erika arched towards him, urging him to take her deeper into his mouth.

  “Bite me,” she sighed. “Bite me hard.”

  And, this time, Aiden didn’t mind doing as he was told.

  Shards of pleasure darted down into Erika’s pussy when his teeth closed around her nipple. He moved to nibble the soft skin under her arms, his tongue drawing delicious circles around her breasts before trailing the length of her cleavage.

  “That feels so good,” she sighed, surrendering herself unashamedly to pleasure.

  When Erika had seduced him there hadn’t been time for foreplay and she’d forgotten how good Aiden was at it. He kissed, sucked and licked her to within an inch of orgasm, all the while moving slowly down her body until he once more knelt between her legs.

  “Let’s see how good you taste.”

  Again his hands cupped her bum and pulled her towards his eager mouth. Erika didn’t resist this time.

  The first slick of his tongue along her pussy made Erika cry out in pure joy. The second made her tilt her hips to thrust her clit up into his hot mouth. On the third, her entire body tensed, every sensation concentrating where his body joined hers.

  “Don’t stop,” she breathed. “There. Right there.”

  Aiden’s lips scorched along the inside of her thighs and down to the pleasure points behind her knees. Erika rested her heels on his back and gave in completely to desire, not caring that Aiden was doing all the work.