Alarm
This is what happened when you didn’t plan. Hopefully, Aiden would have a spare.
Climbing back into bed, I sat up against the pillows with the blankets pulled up to my chest, laid my hands on top of the comforter, and waited. A few minutes later, Aiden came back in the room, dressed in shorts and a white t-shirt. He looked down at me, and I thought he looked a little nervous, too.
“You sure you don’t want me to take the couch?” he asked. “It’s really not a problem.”
“It’s okay.” I swallowed hard.
“Okay,” he repeated. He slipped into the bed beside me and lay on his side, looking into my eyes but not touching me.
I was drawn to the contrast of his tattooed arms against the white sheets of the bed. Even in the dim light, Aiden’s dark features seemed to glow.
“Are you glad you came with me?” he asked. “You are really hard to read.”
“I am,” I told him. “It’s so beautiful here.”
He stared at me for a long moment, and I glanced down our bodies to visually measure the meager space between us. We weren’t touching anywhere, but I could still feel the heat from his body.
“I have to admit I’m a little nervous,” he said. “I’ve never brought a woman here before.”
“You haven’t?”
“Never. I haven’t lived here all that long and haven’t dated anyone since I moved here.”
“How long have you had this place?” I asked.
“Eight months,” he told me.
“Where were you before?”
“I had a place in town,” he said, “not on the beach.”
“Why did you move here?”
“Came into some money,” he said casually. “I wanted to get out of the area I was in, and this place was up for sale. It’s hard to get into places right on the beach, but this one was in foreclosure, and I had the cash to make a decent offer. It’s worked out well though I’m not here that often.”
“Because of work?”
“Yeah, I travel around a lot.”
I wondered just what he did to come into so much money but didn’t ask. I had the feeling I wouldn’t like the answer, assuming he would even be inclined to tell me. It was probably best I didn’t know the details.
“Get some sleep.” Aiden rolled to his back, leaving his broad shoulders closer to touching me than they had been when he was on his side. “Maybe I’ll get you up early to watch the sunrise.”
And with that, he smiled and closed his eyes.
SIX
I did not sleep.
As tired as I was, I couldn’t. Sleeping in the same bed as Aiden Hunter was nothing like sleeping with my previous boyfriend. Zach was an attractive enough guy, but he had a slim and wiry frame—nothing like Aiden Hunter’s body. He took up a good half of the large bed just with his mass. It was impossible to ignore his presence. I was far too acutely, insanely aware of the glorious warm body beside me.
Strangely enough, I found I was a little disappointed that he hadn’t made a move on me. I wasn’t sure I was ready to have sex with him, but I was surprised he hadn’t at least tried for a little more making out. Did he change his mind? Maybe he already regretted asking me to come to Florida with him.
I lay there, listened to him breathe, and stole glances at his muscled chest and arms in the dim moonlight. I resisted the urge to run my hand over the artwork on his skin because I was afraid he’d wake up, and I’d be caught. Instead, I kept myself still and quiet as I watched him sleep. It was a long time before I finally drifted off.
In the moonlight, Aiden’s eyes open and he catches me watching him. He takes my hand and places it against his chest before slowly drawing my fingers over his inked skin all the way down to his navel. Without a word, he rolls over and pins me to the bed. He uses his leg to spread my thighs, and he’s heavy on top of me as he presses me against the mattress. He’s rough. He’s grunting as he moves on top of me, and I wrap my legs around him and hold on as tight as I can…
I was breathless as I woke from my dream. It was the middle of the night, and I found myself snuggled up against Aiden’s side with one arm tossed around his stomach. I’d driven Zach crazy and often out of the bed when we had been dating. He said cuddling made him hot and sweaty when I did that.