Page 31 of High Stakes

I open my mouth to set him straight, tell him he can’t just drag me from my own bed and force me to sleep in is. But he wraps a strong arm around me, tugging me back into bed and almost wrapping himself around me. My backside is pressed firmly against his crotch, and I am so aware, that each wriggle makes me blush deeper. “You keep moving like that and I’m gonna have a premature accident in my shorts,” he murmurs.

“This is not appropriate,” I whisper, stilling as his erection pushes against me.

“Don’t pretend we weren’t on the same page, Bella.”

“You know this isn’t normal, right? Your behaviour is so frustrating.”

“Being around you is frustrating,” he mutters. “I’m certain I asked for peace.”

“Let me leave and you can have your damn peace.”

“I prefer you next to me.”

I sigh, “Where’s this going, Aiden?”

“One day at a time, Bells.” His alarm sounds and he groans, pressing a kiss to the side of my head before unwrapping his arms from around me and jumping out of bed. He stretches, not bothering to hide the bulge in his shorts. “Shower,” he tells me, “I have meetings this morning, I’ll drop you to work.”

“I can make my own way,” I say, training my eyes to his face rather than them travelling to his cock.

He smirks like he knows just where I want to look, “Now, Bella,” he says firmly.

I roll my eyes and get up from the bed, stomping to the door. “Not your shower,” he says, and I freeze. “My shower.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Walk or I’ll carry you,” he tells me, shrugging. When I don’t move, he closes the gap, “Suit yourself.”

“Okay, okay,” I say, before he can grab me. “Whatever you say.”

I step into his en-suite, closing the door. I lift the t-shirt, dropping it to the floor and step into the shower. Steam billows out the second I turn it on, and I groan as the hot water relaxes my muscles. My mind is racing, wondering what the hell Aiden is playing at. One minute we’re fightingand now we’re . . . well, I don’t know what we’re doing. We need to talk, that’s for sure.

The door opens and Aiden steps in. “Jesus,” I hiss, using my arms to cover myself best I can.

He ignores me, stepping into the shower. I automatically step to the side, and he steps under the spray, closing his eyes as the water hits his face. I watch mesmerised. His cock is standing proudly. “Aiden, what are you doing?” I manage to croak the words out. I could easily get out of the shower. I could tell him this isn’t happening and pack up my stuff, but instead, I wait for his answer because as shocked as I am at this turn around in behaviour, I’m also intrigued.Where could this lead if I allow it?

“Are we going to analyse everything from now on?” he asks, turning to face me.

“I feel like I missed the conversation where you asked me if any of this was okay?”

He pushes the water from his face, slicking his wet hair back, before fixing me with those gorgeous blue eyes. He takes my hand, and I let him. Then he tugs me closer and slides a hand along my jaw, cupping my cheek. “Conversations are so over-rated,” he says, tipping my head back slightly and placing his lips to mine. The kiss is soft and gentle, and all I can think about, is how his cock is pressed against my stomach. When he pulls back, his eyes are fullof lust. I run my hands over his broad chest, my own breathing coming out ragged. I glance down, biting on my lower lip whilst contemplating my next move. Before I can talk myself out of it, I reach for his cock, taking the thick length in my hand. Aiden inhales sharply, also looking down between us. “Show me how you like it,” I whisper. It’s not like I haven’t ever touched a man before, I’ve fooled around. But I’ve never been confident at taking the lead.

Aiden places his own hand over mine, squeezing it so I’m gripping it tighter. Then we begin to move back and forth, slowly at first. Aiden closes his eyes, letting his head fall back. It’s empowering to know I’m making this man feel a certain way and I lean closer, placing kisses along his chest. He speeds up his hand, then uses his free hand to grip my hair, tipping my head back and kissing me again. He stiffens, groaning deep from somewhere in the back of his throat, before coming hard. Hot spurts of liquid hit my stomach, and he stares at it, shuddering, while the rest drips over our joined hands.

“You’re going to make me late.” He smiles against my lips. He releases my hand, holding it under the spray and washing his come from me. Then he turns me away from him, pressing his front to my back, and running his hands down my body, over my breasts and down my stomach, rubbing his release into my skin. The entire encounter ishot and if he was to press his hand between my legs, he’d feel just how much I want him right now. I’ve never met a man that’s made me want him like this.

As if he can read my thoughts, he presses a kiss to my head and steps away, getting out of the shower and grabbing a towel. I risk a glance his way and he offers a small smile, “If I stay in there a second longer, I’m gonna lose control.” And he goes back into the bedroom.

I release a long breath, switching the shower to cool and letting the water run over my face and down my body. I have to be stronger than this. He’s a walking red flag and I’m literally ready to fall to his mercy.

We drive to work in silence. It’s exactly how we got ready too, moving around one another in the kitchen in silence as we filled our coffee cups to go. I want to talk. I need to ask him what the hell is going on. If this is real and he’s told Laurie he can’t see her again. But instead, I sit in the silence, enjoying whatever this is and pretending there aren’t a thousand questions buzzing around my head. Ones that could potentially ruin it all.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Aiden

I feel like I’m back in control. Like I have this handled, and Jakes stupid game is a done deal. Bella was practically on her knees for me this morning and I didn’t even touch her. A few more weeks and I’ll do what needs to be done and walk away. It’ll be easy.Right?

I scrub my hands over my face, I want to believe that, but I’ve spent the entire morning focused more on her than mydamn meetings.

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