Bared (Club Sin 2)

He wasted no time, in and out, and dressed in a matter of ten minutes. On his way out the door, he hit the garage door opener. He grabbed his backpack off the hook and stuffed in the items he needed for the day. Then he strode by his black Audi, slid into the backpack, and jumped on his bike.

In seconds, he was out of the garage and closed the door behind him. He tore through Vegas streets, daring a cop to stop him now. Tickets were of the past, since Kyler had a way of getting him out of the last two. Truthfully, he didn’t give a shit, either. He’d take the ticket and continue on.

Today, he had a mission.

He turned onto Cora’s street and the bike hummed beneath him, roaring to go faster. Soon, girl, soon. He’d always felt rejuvenated and moving forward on his bike, as life sometimes seemed to halt time.

When he reached Cora’s house, he pulled into the parking spot behind her girly car, which suited her. He pressed his foot against the kickstand, and within seconds he approached her front door. He rang the doorbell, not caring that it was nine o’clock in the morning.

The moment the door opened, he chuckled, unable to stop himself.

Cora stood in her pajamas, appearing much younger than he’d ever seen her. In fact, she looked like the twenty-five-year-old she was. Lingerie and her sassy attitude always made her seem older. Sometimes he forgot he was eight years older than her. Plus, he hadn’t ever seen Cora without dark, sexy makeup on, and she looked a lot more innocent. Her hair was completely disheveled, sticking up wildly.

Beautiful.

Her eyes … those eyes that were the prettiest blue, widened. “Aidan?” She looked down to herself in her pajamas and then ran her hands over her hair. She lifted her head with rosy cheeks, and she blinked repeatedly. “Sorry, I just woke up.”

“Don’t be. I know I’m catching you by surprise.” He smiled, watching her try to reorganize herself. He liked that she worried what she looked like for him. In fact, he preferred her appearance now to when she was done up. “You look incredibly cute like this.”

“Perfect.” She rolled her eyes. “Isn’t that what every woman wants a Dom to say?” She shuddered. “Cute.”

He laughed, the swell of tension slowly fading from his body. “Mind if I

come in?”

As she opened the door wider, her voice had lifted with sass. “Sure, why not. You’ve seen me in my jammies, it can’t get any worse.” After he stepped into her house, she tilted her head. “How did you know I was off, anyway?”

“Presley told Dmitri, which made its way back to me.”

“Oh.” She frowned.

Aidan restrained his chuckle. “I didn’t hear anything else except that.” Of course, he knew Presley had come to Cora’s last night. Dmitri had told him at dinner, and that he wondered why she had taken a couple days off work.

Aidan had wondered, too. Now he was only too glad she had.

Cora pulled her hair into a ponytail and then let it flow down her back. “Okay, let me go get dressed.”

“Please wait.” He shut the door behind him. “I have a question for you.” He leaned against the door, watching her shift uneasily on her feet. His gaze slid down to her puckered nipples through her thin T-shirt. He pondered if that was arousal or that she was cold.

It interested him to find out.

Not now.

He lifted his gaze to her, and she gulped. “And the question is …?”

Aidan made mistakes with her, but he’d be damned if he didn’t correct them. She talked openly with Porter. He wanted that. She needed a closer relationship, and damned if he wouldn’t give it to her.

He was sick of being jealous of Porter. “Want to come rock climbing with me today?”

Her eyebrows shot up. “As in climbing the side of a cliff?”

“Well, we could climb a boulder.” He inhaled the coffee brewing in the kitchen and dropped his gaze directly in line with hers. “Somehow I think that would lack excitement.”

She hesitated, watching him furtively while nibbling her lip. “Is it … safe?”

“No, Cora.” He snorted, shaking his head at her. “I plan to take you rock climbing so you’ll plummet to your death.”

Her eyes sparkled. “Well …” She finally shrugged with a flick of her hair over her shoulder. “Guess I should go. Don’t want you to one-up me.”