Page 86 of Winning the Nightcap

“I can understand wanting to protect the people you love from experiencing anymore hurt. But Aiden, I can’t imagine you being anything like your father. Not with what you’ve shown me, not with how you act around your family, or how you act with me.”

“It’s taken time for the hypervigilance to settle, but the longer we were on our own, the better I felt. The fear of being anything like him…it can be stifling.” I shake my head, trying to will away the uncomfortable pit that’s settled in my stomach talking about this.

“Hey…” Bec says softly, reaching over the arm of my chair to grasp my hand in hers. “It’s okay to be scared. Being afraid only makes you human, and the fact that you even think like that shows that you’re not like him at all.”

I squeeze her hand and let the feeling of her palm against mine ground me for a moment as I consider what she’s saying. I normally try to bury the hurt and fear, afraid that talking about it will make it more real. But giving it a voice tonight didn’t make the pain worse like I expected it to. Instead, it feels like the ache in my chest has dulled, just a little.

“Pretty sure I owe you a few truths for that one,” Bec says. “That was a weightier answer than my favorite dessert.”

I chuckle, relieved by Bec’s effortless ability to make life’s burdens feel a little lighter.

“I’m holding you to that.”

“Really, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“You didn’t. I told you before that I want to know all of you, nothing watered down. It wouldn’t be fair of me to ask that of you without offering the same. Besides, I think you’re right. Spending time in a place like this,” I pause to take a deep breath, looking up at the clear sky littered with stars and the light from the moon, “it really does put things into perspective.”

I can hear her draw in a deep breath beside me, her gaze lifting to the sky as well before breathing out slowly. “It’s beautiful. Aiden, I need to thank you.”

Our eyes connect as she stands, pulling me to stand in front of her before wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her chin on my chest.

“For what?” I whisper, letting my hands fall to the base of her spine, pulling her closer.

“For bringing me here. For telling me more about you even though it’s difficult. For being you and making it easier to feel like I can be me too.”

The impulse to tell Bec that I’m falling for her tugs in my gut, but I push it down, feeling too raw from our conversation. But I still want to show her.

While words come easier than ever before when I’m talking to Bec, the way our bodies connect is effortless. When I tilt her jaw to kiss her, all the negative emotions my memories drudged up fall away, leaving only the feeling of her warm body in my arms and her soft lips pressed to mine.

I pull away long enough to ask her again, “Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” she mumbles against my lips before kissing me again.

“I dare you to get naked and wait for me in bed. You have three minutes to get ready while I lock up.”

A radiant smile overtakes her face, and I shiver at the loss of her warmth as she pulls away from me and runs inside.

I smile to myself as I turn off the gas fire pit, close up the cabin, and let my imagination take hold while I picture how Bec will look waiting sprawled out for me.

The sight that awaits me when I walk into the bedroom isn’t what I expected.

It’s so much fucking better.

“You cheated,” I say with a mock accusatory tone.

Bec is smirking at me while kneeling in the middle of the king-size bed, her knees spread open as she sits back on her heels, wearing nothing but a black lace lingerie set. The sight alone has me rock hard, and my cock aches, straining against my pants.

She shrugs, the movement knocking one of her bra straps off her shoulder. “I figured you wouldn’t mind. I assumed you’d want to unwrap me yourself.”

She reaches both hands up and grips her breasts, squeezing them for me, and my mouth waters at the sight of her cleavage and rosy pebbled nipples.

I reach behind my head and rip off my shirt. I take three steps before I’m climbing on top of her, placing one hand between her shoulder blades to cushion her fall.

“You came here with that in your suitcase, knowing how delicious you’d look waiting in this bed for me?”

“No, remember? I didn’t pack my bags,” she says, before giggling into my neck as I nibble on her earlobe.

“Remind me to send Ellie a thank-you.”

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