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The game keeps going like this until hundreds of cards and multiple hours have passed, and we’ve only disagreed on a handful of questions. Annoyingly, one of those was “sleep on the left or right side of the bed?” which is kind of the same thing as agreeing. On the surface, it looks unavoidable that we have a connection.
Why is it so hard to give in to it?
“All right,” says June, pulling a card. “Last one and I’ll let you go. Think about this one carefully. Head or heart?”
She lets the question hang in the air for a long moment, then holds up her hand to do a silent countdown on her fingers. As she closes her thumb into a fist, we give our answers.
“Head,” I say confidently.
“Heart,” says Aiden, our words overlapping. I blink at him in surprise and he mirrors me.
June rises to her feet. “Nobody’s perfect. We always have differences and things we can’t agree on. But that’s what compromises were invented for. Sparks can become fires, but fires can be destructive.”
We both get up too. My legs are shaky, unstable. June continues her monologue. “You’re both incredibly strong people, so sure of who you are. I admire that. It’s a good thing to be. But sometimes the cost ofnotacting can be higher than the cost of acting foolishly. Listen with open heads and hearts. That’s all I have to say.”
“Thank you,” says Aiden. “We’ve had a great weekend.”
I raise a dubious eyebrow. June wraps her arms around both our shoulders and pulls us in to whisper conspiratorially, “Let’s finish it with a bang, hmm?”
With that, she winks at us and waltzes out of the room, waving before she turns down the corridor. My face flushes as the subtext of her comment. Maybe we could have been subtler.
We stand, almost facing each other, for a long moment. The air conditioning clicks on and grumbles through a vent in the ceiling. “Come on,” I say, holding out my hand. Aiden stares at it for a heartbeat, then takes it. “Let’s go back to the room.”
“And…?” he says, smirking.
“And,” I say firmly, “we’ll see what happens.”
CHAPTER28
AIDEN
There must be something in the air in this room because the second the door shuts behind us, we’re kissing and wrestling with clothes and limbs. I push Candice back against the door, her hands immediately sliding to my waist, one of her legs rising to join them. Every time I’ve touched her this weekend, I’ve felt like I’m hurtling towards something that could make or break me.
So much is at stake here, but as long as her hands are on my body, I don’t care about anything except her.
I dip my head to kiss her neck, and as she tilts her head away, she moans, her hair falling wildly into her face.
All this time, I’ve remembered her as beautiful, but I’d forgotten just how much. Everything about her is designed to make me crazy; her stubbornness, her fire, her warm, alluring body. I nip at her skin with my teeth, gently enough that it won’t leave marks but enough for her to shiver, her whole body reacting, moving as I slide my hands over her hips, her belly, her breasts. Here, in the nape of her neck, her perfume is overwhelming, but I never want to get the smell of her out of my lungs.
She’s burrowed deep inside me and has dug her claws in, and she doesn’t even know it.
I pull her shirt out of her pants, fumbling with the fastening. I need to feel her heat. I need her.
Finally, the button gives and I push my fingers into her underwear. She’s already so wet, and knowing that sends a rush of hot blood to my head and groin. I dive deeper, brushing my lips over her skin, and she moans. Her fingers tighten on my back as I keep going, her mouth finding mine again, desperately meeting me in a kiss we both need.
She tremors around me, clinging on to me like I’m her only anchor in the world. I don’t let go until she tugs my hands away. It takes me a moment to understand, but as she flips us round and slides to her knees, taking my pants to the floor as she goes, I let out a groan of desire. I’m glad I have something to lean on because her mouth is as magical as the rest of her.
We could have everything, if she’d let me drop to my knees and ask her to be my wife. We could fix every single problem we have, personally and professionally, and be the strongest we’ve ever been. We could have something that would be the envy of everyone — a marriage and an empire. With her, I could be more than the loser who let everything fall apart around him.
I just need her to agree with me.
And right now, from where I’m standing, we’ve never been more in agreement.
I stop thinking altogether as I climax, the potent combination of emotions and pleasure tearing through me until I think I’m going to fall over. My legs wobble as my brain turns back on, so I slide to the floor to sit with Candice. Her face is pink and her hair a mess, but she’s still the most gorgeous person I’ve ever seen.
“Marry me,” I say, breathless. “Please. Marry me.”
“Aiden…” she says, her lips wavering as she breathes out. “Let’s not do this now.”
