Page 1 of Wilde In His Arms

Chapter one

Ariagroanedattheknock on her door at the unforgivably rude hour of 9:43 a.m.Everyone she’d actually answer the door for knew she didn’t get up before noon.Not when her shifts ended at two a.m.or later most nights.Since she hadn’t gone to sleep until four, she burrowed into her pillow, hoping the asshole at her door left, so she could get some more sleep.

The knock came again, this time more insistent and persistent.

She ignored it again, until she heard a gruff voice shout, “Aria!It’s me.”

Yeah, that voice made her belly quiver with anticipation and her heart leap.It made her conjure one dirty thought after the next of what the man who owned that voice could do to her body.And right now, it made her tighten her thighs as heat bloomed between her legs.

“Ar-i-a!”Another round of pounding on her door.This time with a dose of irritation.

Yeah, well she had reason to be upset, too, even if she still desperately wanted him.

Stupid hormones!

She’d texted him sixteen days ago.Sixteen!And heard nothing back.

All of a sudden he can’t wait to see me.

It wasn’t uncommon for them to go days between a text or call.They lived in different states.Worked long hours.But sixteen days.It was the punctuation mark on their long-distance relationship.

If you could call it that anymore.

This past stretch of no communication was the longest, but certainly not the only time they’d gone without speaking for days or even more than a week.

She threw off the covers and sat up, finger-combing her hair away from her face.

Nick had a demanding job with the FBI.He lived in Montana.He traveled for work.

Well, she had a demanding job, too.She lived in Wyoming.Her family and business were here.And because of that, and the fact that Nick’s brother Mason was married to Aria’s sister, Lyric, it meant that Nick came to town to see her when he had time and wanted to visit his brother, too.In the beginning, he found the time to come often.A few times a month.It gave them time to get to know each other in between having the best sex ever.Because they gave in to their desires so easily.And after those mind-blowing moments, they whispered secrets in the dark.She’d never shared so much of herself, or been so desperate to learn everything about someone else.

She stood and headed for the door.

After a bad breakup with her ex—because the asshole cheated on her—she hadn’t wanted anything serious.The spark that ignited between her and Nick when they met was all she thought she needed.Well, that and the fireworks in the bedroom.She loved losing herself in his arms.He wanted her.He treated her like she was the sexiest woman he’d ever seen.Like he needed her to blot out all the bad he saw on the job with the amazing way she made him feel.He made her feel that way, too.Their stolen moments a day here, two days there, were enough.

Until they weren’t even close to what she thought they could have if they truly committed to each other.

She started catching feelings that very first night they snuck off together.Feelings that grew each and every time he showed up and smiled that smile and looked at her like she was his every dream come true.In the beginning, she wanted to believe it was just sex.A bit of fun.But he blew her mind each and every time.

Multiple orgasms do that to a girl.

But there was something more there in the morning-after that first time, when they stood in her open front door and he turned to say goodbye and instead said, “I don’t want this to be a one-time thing, and I can’t make any promises because I don’t live here and my job is crazy-demanding.I don’t want to go, but I can’t stay.”

She’d fallen for his open heart and blatant honesty.“Then I’ll see you when I see you.”She had delivered that line with a sexy smile, letting him know she’d be there when he came back, happy to take him into her arms for however long it lasted.

But now…months later, her sister married to his brother and pregnant, Jax married and expecting a baby, too, and Melody, her baby sister, about to be the next one down the aisle, and she and Nick were still in the same place they always were—always happy to see each other and fall into bed but never any closer.No promises made.No plans for the future.

What the hell were they doing?

What were they to each other?Lovers, yes.Friends?Sorta.They mostly lived in the moment.

And when she opened the door and stared into his tired eyes and handsome face, she knew this was the last time they’d be together like this.Because damn he looked good.But she couldn’t keep doing this to herself.Because every time he left, he took a piece of her with him.Soon, there’d be nothing left of her.

This time had to be goodbye.

Because she still wanted to be a wife and mother.More than that, she wanted a man who loved her like the air he breathed.And while she felt that kind of connection to Nick, he’d never shared his feelings.

Neither had she.She’d done that once and got burned.But he had to know.Right?

---