Hard to Handle (Love in the Balance 2)
“Fine,” she said, giving in. “Let’s go camping.”
* * *
Aiden had brought Sadie to the tree house behind his parents’ house last year. She hadn’t seen what he’d done to it since and he found himself excited to show it to her.
But he was more excited for what he’d get to do to her after.
She climbed the wooden slats to the top, commenting they were easier than the rope ladder she’d scaled the last time she was here. He let her go ahead of him, shouldering the duffel and sleeping bag as he kept his eyes securely fastened to her butt as she climbed.
Every inch of this woman was more beautiful than the last. Aiden could hardly wait to have her completely nude and beneath him tonight. And on top of him. And in front of him. He didn’t want Sadie in any way…he wanted her in every way. Heart, soul, body, and mind. With any luck, this trip to the tree house would pave the way for getting what he wanted long-term, too.
She entered through the floor and he heard a soft gasp and climbed in behind her. “Oh my God, Aiden.”
He could get used to hearing that a lot tonight.
Aiden stood to his full height, the recently remodeled tree house easily six inches over his head. He dropped their effects on the smooth wooden floor as Sadie took in the room. She swiveled her head toward the windows, the ceiling, the floor that latched and locked, to the mattress, easy chair, and footrest. It wasn’t expansive—he could walk the width of the room in five steps—but what it lacked in space, it made up for in privacy.
“The last time we were here, this was a dusty, cobwebbed shell,” Sadie said.
He and his brothers and father had originally built the ramshackle hideaway when Aiden was twelve. It hadn’t aged well.
“When I moved in, Dad and I made the remodel of this place our project.”
After Mom passed, his father was at loose ends. And since Aiden couldn’t get the man to talk about her, Aiden suggested they redo the tree house for Lyon so Dad had something to do besides watch television until he fell asleep in his chair. After the place was rebuilt, Aiden had spent a few nights out here himself. Nights when the house felt a little too familiar, or the grief a little too oppressive.
“We’d come out here every night after work until the weather got too cold,” Aiden told her, referring to the brief, miserable stint when he’d worked at the factory with his father. “We finished it in the spring.” He smoothed a hand along the wall until he found the switch for two small sconces on either side of the bed. They blinked to life, bathing Sadie in a soft, yellowish glow.
She quirked a brow at him. “Impressive.”
“Has everything but a bathroom.”
She wrinkled her nose. “But the house is so far away.”
He crossed the short distance between them and clutched her hips. “Yeah, which means you can be as loud as you want.”
Sadie tucked her fingers in his belt loops and pressed against him. “Yeah, well, so can you,” she purred up at him.
He bent forward and took her waiting mouth, backing her to the bed before forcing himself to stop. “You probably want a blanket on that bare mattress,” he reminded himself aloud. He could have thrown her down on it as is. He made quick work of spreading out the sleeping bag and propping open the windows. A cool breeze and the soft chirp of crickets wafted through the screens.
This was her first time. He wanted it to be as perfect as possible. He didn’t think it could get more perfect for him. Especially when Sadie sat on the edge of the mattress and unzipped her dress.
Aiden knelt on the floor in front of her and watched. There was such a vulnerable, open light in her dark eyes. She kept her focus on him as she shimmied out of her dress, revealing the breasts he hadn’t gotten enough of and the triangle of black panties he’d felt but hadn’t yet seen. Scalloped lace edges swept over her hips—beautiful, curved, rounded hips that lead down to a pair of creamy thighs. Hips he’d kneaded beneath his palms, but until just now had never laid eyes on.
She reached for his shirt and unbuttoned it, one button at a time, keeping her eyes on his. He didn’t dare look away from the openness of her face; the sheer look of trust that would have brought him to his knees if he wasn’t already on them. This was all he wanted. Sadie. One-hundred-percent willing, pure Sadie.
She ran her fingers along his chest, exploring him with her eyes and hands while his breaths shortened. When she tugged the shirt from his waistband, he stood and joined her on the mattress.
She worked his belt, sliding it aside and unbuttoning his pants. “This is where you stopped me last time,” she whispered, a hint of mischief in her eyes.