“You okay?” His voice was amused, and I felt his hands rubbing my back and massaging my shoulders.
“This movie is scary,” I said softly. I wondered if he could feel my heart racing.
“It is a horror movie.” He chuckled close to my ear, and I felt my body growing warm as he shifted on the couch.
“I know it’s a horror movie.” I moved back slightly, but his hands held me to him. “That doesn’t mean I don’t still get scared.”
“Don’t worry, Alice.” His fingers played with my hair. “I’ll take care of you.”
“You think I’m a baby,” I said and looked into his eyes.
“I don’t think you’re a baby,” he said and moved his face closer to mine.
“You don’t?” I said and moved even closer to him.
“No,” he said. “If I did, I wouldn’t be doing this, would I?” And he pressed his lips against mine.
“Hmm,” I said and closed my eyes. I grabbed the back of his head and brought him closer to me. I felt his fingers in my hair as well and a part of me melted. His lips were gentle and firm next to mine, and I felt his tongue sliding into my mouth roughly as his kiss became deeper and more assertive. His fingers ran down my back, and I pressed myself into him, allowing my breasts to graze his muscular chest.
He groaned as I shifted on his lap and I reveled in the guttural sound. It was manly, strong and lusty, and it made me feel powerful. I shifted in his lap again and his fingers tightened on my waist and shifted me farther towards him.
“You taste like peaches,” he muttered against my lips, and I sucked on his lower lip for a few seconds, tugging on it gently and then nibbling it with my teeth gently. “Oh, Alice.” He groaned and ran his fingers down the side of my body, going slowly over the sides of my breasts.
“Yes, Aiden?”
“What are we doing?” He shook his head and his eyes gazed into mine questioningly.
“Whatever we want,” I said softly as bells went off in my head. “I think we’re both adults. We can do whatever we want to do.” I ran my hands through his hair and kissed him again. I could feel a bulge underneath me and I knew that he was hard. I hid a smile and shifted on his lap again so that I could rub my ass on his hardness.
“Alice.” He grabbed my waist again and held me still. “Didn’t you have a date tonight?”
“Perhaps.” I gave him a small smile. “But I’m not in a relationship. I’m still waiting for a guy that’s as adventurous as me,” I said, dropping the first crumb onto the ground for him to consume.
“Adventurous?” He looked at me curiously and I tried to hide my triumphant smile. I wanted to come straight out and tell him that I knew that he was interested in BDSM. I wanted to tell him I knew he was a Dom. I wanted to tell him that I was willing to try almost anything in the bedroom with him; that I’d had a crush on him for years and that part of me felt like I’d been falling in love with him for years as well, but I knew I couldn’t tell him all that.
“Yes, I want a man who can take me on journeys I’ve never been on in the bedroom,” I said simply and stared into his eyes with a small smile. “I want a man who can teach me things I didn’t already know about.”
“You want someone to teach you things?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes.” I nodded. “I want a professor. I’m willing to be his student,” I said boldly, knowing that I was being very obvious.
“Have you found the guy?” he asked and I watched as he licked his lips. I felt as if he could hear my heart thudding as I stared at him.
“Perhaps,” I said coyly.
“Perhaps, huh?” he said with a smirk. “You always were a sly one, Alice.”
“I’m not sly.” I shook my head.
“I think a twenty-two-year-old Aiden would beg to differ.” He laughed.
“I wasn’t thinking,” I said with a blush. “I just wanted to be with you.”
“I took your virginity,” he said softly and I couldn’t tell if he was asking a question or just stating a fact. I didn’t answer him.
“But you knew it was me and you still went ahead.”
“Yes, I did.” He nodded.
“Why?” I held my breath.
“Why do you think?” He cocked his head and stared at me, seriously this time.
“I don’t know.” I bit my lower lip and then slowly got off of his lap. “Do you want to go to my room?” I asked him softly and reached down and grabbed his hand.
“Your room?”
“Yes, my bedroom.” I gazed at him, not disguising the lust in my eyes. I fluffed my hair and stood there, basically offering myself on a platter. “I have handcuffs in my room.”
“Handcuffs?” He repeated my words and stared at me for a few seconds taking in what I was offering. Then his phone started beeping. I saw him look at his phone and then frown slightly. He jumped up, placed his phone on the coffee table and looked at me. “Excuse me, I need to go to the restroom.”
“Oh, okay,” I said and watched as he left the room. And then I did something that I knew I shouldn’t do. I’m not normally a nosey person—I swear I’m not—but I couldn’t stop myself from looking at his phone. I pressed the screen with my fingers and to my astonishment the phone came to life. There was no lock on the screen, and I froze as I realized that I could just press the messages icon and see who had texted him. And of course, whose name did I see when I pressed messages? None other than Elizabeth Jeffries.
I groaned and made a face at the phone before turning to the doorway to make sure that Aiden wasn’t on his way back in yet. I listened carefully and I could hear him humming in the bathroom. I smiled to myself and grabbed his phone, once again looking around the room, even though I knew I was the only one there. I clicked on Elizabeth’s name, feeling guilty. My face was warm as my fingers fumbled on the screen. I looked around the room again and up at the ceiling, as if I thought that someone had placed hidden cameras in the room just to trap me in this moment. I heard a creak and dropped the phone as my heart thudded. Had Aiden snuck out of the bathroom without me noticing? Was I about to be busted before I’d even gotten to read the messages? I took a deep breath as I realized that the noise had come from my upstairs neighbors. I quickly grabbed the phone off of the floor and checked that it wasn’t cracked. The last thing I wanted was to have to buy Aiden a brand new iPhone. My handbag fund was getting lower and lower each month.
I pressed home on the phone and quickly got back to the messages screen again. I clicked on Elizabeth Jeffries’s name and waited for the messages to load. I looked at the smiley face at the bottom of the screen and frowned. How dare they send smiley faces to each other? I quickly scrolled up the screen so that I could read all the messages that were available on the phone before Aiden walked back into the room. I rolled my eyes at the obvious flirting. Elizabeth was asking him if he wanted to come over to try her lasagna. Lasagna, my ass, I thought as I read the message. Then she asked him over to try her roast chicken. Then they talked about going to the museum and she was thanking him for taking her. My fingers gripped the phone as I read a message from her asking him if he wanted to go camping this weekend. He’d responded with a flirty message saying “only if you promise to keep the bears away from me” and she’d replied, “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.” I could feel my face growing warm as I kept reading. My stomach was churning and my head was starting to pound. I was starting to feel upset. Why was Aiden flirting back with her if he liked me? How could he kiss me, but go to her house for frigging pasta? What was going on here? Did he like Elizabeth or did he like me? And was that why he’d gone to the bathroom as soon as he’d gotten her text? Had he gotten carried away with himself with me on his lap? And then her text had reminded him of her? I frowned as I put his phone back down on the desk. All of a sudden, I didn’t feel so light and excited.