I stood and rounded the table as he pulled me onto his lap. “What is it?”
“It’s just…you and me, this isn’t us.”
“Us is yet to be determined. I happen to enjoy the ritual of it all, but I didn’t realize it would upset you,” he said as his fingers brushed over my knee. I turned to face him, pulling him closer and taking in his scent. He was wearing cologne that I was unfamiliar with but smelled incredible. I breathed in deep, leaning into him, letting him stroke my skin.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to seem ungrateful.” I saw fire in his eyes as his fingers traced my knee in slow, small circles. I lifted his wine glass, taking a sip and leaned in to kiss him. He sucked the wine from my lips, and I moaned, tracing his lips with my tongue. I felt him harden underneath me.
“Are you wet for me, Nina?” His fingers drifted further up my leg, but only slightly, stroking the tender skin beneath my knee.
“Mmm,” I whispered, lost in his touch. The door opened, and neither of us moved as our wedge salads were placed on the table. Our eyes were still locked as the waiter disappeared as quickly as he came, closing the door behind him.
“Hungry?” he whispered, taking my bottom lip in his mouth and sucking gently as his finger eased up my thigh underneath my dress, stopping at the skin just between my thigh and the hem of my panties.
“Very,” I said, leaving no doubt of the source of my hunger. My arm wrapped around his neck as I opened my legs further, welcoming him.
He pulled my dress down, covering my exposed skin and let go of my lip. Frowning in frustration, I made my way to my seat and returned my napkin to its rightful place. I cut a portion of salad, not looking up, because if I did, I knew I would beg him to take me. I was ravenous for him, for the release. I wanted to get lost in him so I didn’t have to think about anything. He was trying, for me, and I owed it to him
to do the same.
“Tell me more about you, Aiden. I want to know everything,” I said, picking up my wine, noticing he hadn’t touched his salad. I paused with my glass halfway to my lips. “You aren’t eating.”
“I thought we were passed this…the hiding.” His stare was debilitating and beautiful, and I wanted nothing more than to ease his mind.
“We are.”
“We’re not.”
Smirking to lighten the mood, I finally brought my wine to my lips and inhaled the glass. “We seem to be arguing a lot tonight.”
“Tell me what happened.” It wasn’t a request. It was an order.
“Discussing our exes, isn’t it a little soon?” My smile seemed to trigger his anger.
His fist came down hard on the table, making me jump. There was a slow burn in his eyes, and his chin was set in determination. “I want your attention, all of it, and someone has taken that ability from me. I want to know what happened.”
Sitting motionless, I saw the demand in his stance. He was running out of patience, and I was screwing this up.
“I unknowingly got involved with a married man. I trusted him completely, and I fell hard, really hard. And I can honestly say we were happy. He treated me…” I paused, terrified of saying the words to the man who was doing an incredible job of trying to make me forget.
“He made me happy. We were happy.”
Twisting the stem of my glass with nervous hands, Aiden picked up the bottle, filling my glass as the doors again opened and she crab soup was delivered to the table. When we were alone, I continued bracing myself for his judgment.
“When I found out he was married, I continued sleeping with him, but…he’d changed. Not only did he betray me, he started treating me like a possession. Our connection was broken. It continued for months. I was miserable and decided to do something about it. I finally broke it off…” I paused again, fear racing through me, “…the day I met you.”
“You didn’t leave him for me,” he said, matter-of-fact, spooning his soup.
“No, I—”
“I wasn’t asking. So he’s barely a ghost in your bed.”
I felt the chill emulating from him. He looked up through a spoonful of the rich, creamy soup, and I nodded.
“Okay,” he said quickly, nodding at me to resume my eating. I grabbed my spoon, relieved that much was out of the way.
“Your turn.”
His eyes matched the flame that flickered between us in the dark room as the sun disappeared from view.