*** Melanie ***
Ryan is raging as he drives my car like a maniac through the streets back to our side of town. “She thinks she can just bring some other man into my house with my kid in it. Well, she’s got another thing coming, she is getting no divorce from me, the whore. Who does she think she is?”
“But I thought that was what you wanted Ryan, to be able to divorce Eva and move on with me? I don’t see why you are so angry. She was the one who caught us in the act, remember,” I tell him. The words are hardly out of my mouth before he stops the car abruptly.
“Get out now!” he shouts at me; his eyes are wide and wild and his spit flies everywhere, making me cringe. “Get out of this fucking car now, Mel, before I punch your face in.”
Tears roll down my face. “This is my car; we are driving to my house. I am not a pushover like Eva, you can’t talk to me like you talk to her.” I stand up to him for the first time knowing if I allow this to happen, this will set the tone for the rest of our relationship and I cannot tolerate that. My children live with me three days a week and I cannot have them coming into a volatile and abusive situation. If I want things to work with Ryan, he has to toe the line too.
“All I am asking for, Mel, is a bit of support here. My dog of a wife is trying to fleece me and screw me over and I thought you of all people would have my back. Did you see the size of that guy she tried to intimidate me with? Well, I am not scared of him.” He changes so fast I feel like my head is spinning, what is it with him today? Or am I finally seeing Ryan for who he is?
“The big fella said he wanted Eva and he will make her his after you are divorced, so I don’t think anything has happened between them yet,” I remind him.
“Yes, I do know that, Mel, I’m not stupid. I know my wife, she is frigid as fuck, and she won’t just put out. She’s not like you.”
His words sting me and my pride. Why is he being such an asshole?
“Well, I can use the kid to my advantage at last. He is not allowed near her. I forbid it,” he tells me smugly.
“But you said she had nothing to do with you, Ryan. Why are you bothered? And I don’t think social services are going to back you up after you refused to collect her when Eva was missing.”
He stops the car yet again but this time he also grabs me by the face. “Because I can. She has humiliated me and now she will pay for the rest of her sorry life for it. I will teach her to try and cross me!” With a twist of the wrist, he bounces my head against the window, and I feel a lump rising in my throat.
What have I got myself into?
*** Eva ***
I get my stuff from the house and change into my own clothes. Aiden’s eyes wander in my direction when I take off the hoodie that was loaned to me and a little thrill of desire runs through me. Maybe he does like me in that way?
“You do look so much better in your own clothes, Shortie,” I hear him say as I fasten the buttons to my blouse. “But I bet you’d look even better with no clothes on at all.”
Oh, my word! How does he do that? I feel myself dampen at his very words, the dull ache is back in my tummy, and my instantaneous response to him embarrasses me. He comes closer to me, so close that I can feel his body heat.
“I will wait for you to be ready, Eva, but have no doubt in your mind I want this, I want you. I want us. And I want you to know that I will stop at nothing to make you mine and make you happy. I wanna kiss you so, so, badly.” He cocks his head to the side, regarding me with his gorgeous green eyes.
For the first time in as long as I can remember, I decide to take what I want. I want to kiss Aiden too. Maybe this is too fast, but I can’t deny that I feel in awe of the man before me, I feel yearning for him and for what we could be. I lean up towards him and touch his jaw with my fingertips and lightly brush my lips over his. I honestly feel that ping moment, the one you see in the movies. It feels like fireworks are going off around us, over us, on us.
“What was that?” he asks me with a small frown.
Oh no! Alarm bells take the place of the fireworks in my head. He didn’t like my kiss! He didn’t like what I did.
“I kissed you. I thought you wanted to kiss me?” Maybe Ryan is right, maybe there is something wrong with me. Aiden doesn’t speak; instead, he pushes me until I feel the wall against my back, and in one swift moment he holds both my hands above my head and places his knee between my legs, spreading my thighs apart, then he kisses me, hard and passionately. I allow my tongue to dance with his and feel a rumbling in my chest when I do.
My body lights up like someone has thrown a switch. It has been a long time since I have been kissed, and never have I ever been worshipped like Aiden worships me now. He kisses me in a demanding but controlled way, it is hard and passionate and yet soft and yielding at the same time. My heart rate has doubled. I forget where I am and what I am supposed to be doing, all that matters is Aiden and his kisses.
He pulls away from our kiss all too soon for my liking. “That is a kiss, Eva. Goddess, you are so delicious I could eat you up!”
I am so disconcerted by my involuntary yelp, but I feel hot and warm down below. How could Aiden bring me so close to climax with just his words and kisses? My own husband failed to get me to this point ever and I have achieved it by myself only on a couple of occasions.
“Do you feel how good we could be together, Eva? Do you feel how much I want you and you want me?” I nod my head while I look in his eyes, and he smiles at me. “Good girl, I can see how close you are, how long has it been? I don’t think I’ve ever made anyone come through kissing.”
I am mortified that he can see what he has done to me. I am such an idiot.
“Hey, don’t be embarrassed. I am an Alpha and you are my fated mate, that’s how our bond works, it makes you desire me and vice versa. I want you just as bad. Now how far do you want to take this? Because I’m there, Shortie, I want this more than anything.”
I back up from him. “I’m sorry.” This is too fast; I am frigid and useless, and I can’t do this right now. I’m barely separated and my daughter is still missing, and Aiden is still practically a stranger to me even though I feel closer to him and more connected to him than I have ever felt to anyone ever before. He takes my face into his hands, seeming to understand my fright and alarm at how fast things are developing between us.
“I will wait until you’re ready, but never doubt my desire for you, Eva. You’ve seen it for yourself now.”
Taking a step back from me, he points to the photographs of Summer I have on my walls.
“Come on, let’s go find your little girl. She’s cute by the way, she looks a lot like you.”
His words make me smile; my little sunshine, my pride, and joy! He’s not only including her, but he is also acknowledging her and her importance in my life.
Alpha Aiden Goldrick feels like a dream come true. My dream come true.
My house phone ringing brings me out of my aroused stupor. I dive to answer it and hear Salma’s voice at the end.
“Eva, thank god, are you safe? What happened? Sorry, you’ll have to tell me later, I am trying to track Summer down, as soon as I found out you were missing, I tried to get Summer. Meet me in town as soon as possible.”
“I’m coming with you; I want to help,” Aiden says at once and I thank my lucky stars for bringing Aiden to me. Without him, this may never have happened but without him, I would still be living a lie, a loveless lie. Without him, I may never have realised my true strength.