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He looked into her eyes as he thrust his hips and she worked his dick, the desire and need in her gaze not for her own body’s release . . . but for him and his pleasure. The connection was so intimate even though he wasn’t inside her, and he wondered how he was going to spend the next fifty years never experiencing this, or her, ever again. The thought was so extreme, so unlike anything he’d ever imagined he’d feel for a woman, and his heart gave an odd twist in his chest.
“Aiden.” The whispered sound of his name slipped past her lips, as if she knew what was going through his mind, as if she felt the same way.
That sensation in his chest tightened, almost hurt, and he had to find a way to make it stop. He tangled his fingers in her hair and pulled her head back so that her mouth was tipped up right beneath his. Their breath mingled and their gazes remained fixed on each other’s right before he claimed her mouth with his own. Knowing he was most likely tasting her for the last time, his kiss turned hungry and desperate and demanding, and she returned it with just as much fervor and passion.
He groaned as the start of his release began in the base of his spine and quickly gathered momentum as he pumped harder and faster into the snug clasp of her hand. His balls drew up tighter, and with another surge of his hips, his orgasm slammed through him, his entire body jerking uncontrollably as his release jetted all the way up to her breasts and left a sticky trail down to her stomach until there was nothing left in him.
With a rough, satisfied groan that felt ripped from the depths of his soul, he collapsed on top of Daisy, somehow managing to keep most of his weight off her with his arms while he recovered from such a debilitating release.
When he finally managed to pick up the fragments of his sanity, he pushed himself back up so he was straddling her hips again. He smirked at the milky fluid pooling on her skin. Did it make him an asshole that he liked seeing his come on her like that? As if he’d marked her as his woman? Probably, but it was hot as fuck, even if she wasn’t his to claim.
“Jesus, Daisy,” he said in a chastising tone. “Look at what you did.”
Her eyes widened. “What I did?” she asked incredulously.
He frowned at her, trying not to laugh. Because that’s what Daisy made him want to do . . . laugh and enjoy every moment with her, and those minutes were ticking away quickly.
“It was your hand stroking my cock that made me come, and now there’s a big mess,” he said, making his voice stern. “Looks like we’re going to need to take a shower together to get cleaned up.”
Her lips quirked at his idea, which was clearly a ploy to spend more time with her before they really had to part ways and leave all this behind. “You’re shameless, Aiden Stone.”
“Yeah, I am, Daisy Parker,” he admitted freely as he spontaneously leaned down and kissed her soft lips before sitting back up again. “And you fucking love it.”
He’d been
teasing, but that last comment hung between them as if they both feared the goddamn word love, which clearly they did. The context of his remark had nothing to do with that vulnerable emotion, yet the unguarded look in her big, soft green eyes and the rapid beat of his heart in his chest made him wonder if a part of each of them hadn’t gotten out of this one-night stand unscathed.
It didn’t matter either way, he purposely reminded himself as he broke eye contact with Daisy, then moved off of her while inhaling a slow, deep breath to ease the tight sensation in his chest. He held out a hand to help her off the bed while forcing himself to revert back to charming, easygoing Aiden, to the guy who didn’t do relationships or invest his heart when it came to women for a very good reason . . . even if this particular woman was suddenly testing his years of logic.
“Come on,” he said with a grin that showed off his dimple and diffused the too serious moment that had settled over them. “I’ll wash your back if you’ll wash mine. Oh, and I’ll wash that mess I made on your stomach, too,” he teased, winking playfully at her.
“Deal.” She smiled back at him, seemingly as relieved as he was that they were back to fun and casual.
* * *
Daisy barely recognized the well-fucked woman in the mirror staring back at her. Oh, she was very familiar with her wavy brown hair that was a whole lot disheveled and the facial features that were hers, but her glowing complexion from a night of indulging in an excess of orgasms, the reddened lips puffy from Aiden’s demanding kisses, and the chafe marks on her neck from his scruff were completely foreign to her. She even had matching beard burns between her thighs, and that was a first for her, considering no other man had ever gone down on her in a single night as much as Aiden had.
She shivered and involuntarily clenched her legs together at the memories of that wicked mouth of his doing equally dirty things to her. He’d effortlessly stripped away every inhibition she’d ever had and screwed her in ways that should have shocked her—or at the very least caused a flicker of embarrassment for how indecent some of his demands had been and how eagerly she’d obeyed—but had thrilled her instead. The pleasure he’d given her had been incomparable, and probably always would be.
She had absolutely no regrets about her night with Aiden—not the copious amounts of hot sex and not the personal stories they’d shared about her ex and his father and family. Not many people understood the devastation that came with that kind of deception from someone you loved—Daisy’s mother certainly hadn’t sympathized with her situation, and she had no other family or siblings who could have rallied around her with at least some kind of emotional support.
So, while last night had initially been all about pleasure, it had ended up encompassing so much more than a superficial hookup. The hard part was reverting back to friends and pretending as though Aiden Stone hadn’t completely shaken up her feelings for him . . . which had gone from friendship and attraction to something more emotional and intimate. There was no denying that when she’d looked into his intense dark eyes as he’d straddled her waist and thrust into her hand there had been a shift between them, a connection she knew they’d both felt, but neither of them were prepared to examine any deeper than just knowing it existed.
They’d both been hurt to the point that exposing themselves to that kind pain again, on any level, was too great a risk, one that she wasn’t inclined to take again anytime soon. And there was also the added obstacle of the two of them being employed with the same firm—and the potential fallout if things didn’t work out or something happened to cause tension between them. No, being friends was the safest route to take for a dozen different reasons.
Right now, building her career was her relationship and focus, and she didn’t want or need any other distractions in her life to derail how hard she’d worked to get to where she was today. Her career was the one thing she knew she could control in her life and the one thing that gave her drive and purpose. The last thing she’d ever do was jeopardize the promotion she’d spent the past three years working toward, or the Darlington account, which was her first big client since stepping into the role of Manager of Design and Development. She had something to prove, to herself, that she could succeed on her own, to Sabrina, for believing she could handle the position, and to her mother, who’d finally expressed a glimmer of being proud of her daughter after the disappointment she’d been with Troy.
So, while she was grateful for her night with Aiden, going forward and for the foreseeable future, she needed to put away the sexed-up woman in the mirror. With that in mind, since they’d be heading to the office for a few hours after they landed in San Diego, for the flight home, she changed into a pair of black slacks, a loose, buttoned-up top with a Peter Pan collar, and a cropped jacket. It wasn’t the same as wearing one of her conservative business suits, but it was close enough. The outfit was plain and simple yet reserved enough to put everything back into perspective.
She brushed out her hair, trying not to think of all the provocative ways Aiden’s fingers had tangled, grabbed, and pulled the strands as he’d driven her mindless with pleasure, and deliberately smoothed it away from her face and twisted it into a tidy knot at the back of her head. As she finished, her phone pinged with a text, which was from Aiden.
I requested a ride to the airport from Uber and they should be here in ten minutes. Ready to head down to the lobby?
She typed back a response. Yes. I’ll meet you at the elevators.
After putting the rest of her toiletries away, she gathered up her carry-on luggage, laptop bag, and purse, and a few minutes later, she was heading around the corner where the elevators were located. Aiden was already waiting there, and he turned his head to look at her as she walked toward him.
Despite her earlier lecture and their agreement to keep things amicable, Daisy’s stomach did a stupid somersault at seeing him, even though they’d only been apart an hour. He was so gorgeous and sexy and now completely off-limits.
