Page 30 of A Man of Prestige

“It also means we could all die,” Ella says quietly.

There’s a long pause as we all consider those words.

“But at least we’ll die trying to do the right thing,” I say. “Remember our oaths as doctors?”

She nods.

“We’re taking it a step further. Not only are we not doing harm, but we’re also trying to fix things, once and for all,” I say.

“Well, then, what are we waiting for, let’s go kick some ass…I mean asses? Hell, I don’t fucking know, but we should most definitely be getting to work,” Ella says.

Conner laughs. “I always did like you.”

Ella’s face flushes, and it unlocks something in me, a memory, a feeling, I don’t know, but I do know I need to take her back to my home right now.

“OK, well, back to the office it is, then,” I say as I take Ella by the arm, and we head back to my house. She gives me a curious look at our abrupt departure, but I keep looking forward. The air feels thicker as we walk. The impending storm outside mirrors the invisible one that’s brewing around us.

Chapter14

Ella

I haveno idea what we’re doing. We’re heading toward his home, through a trail that meanders between trees and then into an opening behind his garage. I can see a man walking the perimeter of Conner’s property in the distance, but he pays us no attention.

My head is spinning with the information we just put together. There’s so much to unwrap, so many more nuances to flush out, but here we are, going back to Aiden’s home.

He opens a side door and keeps walking us forward until we reach his bedroom. I’m confused as I stand there in the stark white room with the giant bed and dark gray sheets.

He finally stops moving and looks down at me, cupping my face in his hand. His eyes search mine. I don’t know what he wants.

He doesn’t speak as he begins to remove my clothing and then his own. Piece by piece, our clothes pile around us until we’re both naked. Only, it feels more than a physical nakedness, it feels like we’ve stripped away the world around us, baring our souls to each other for the first time in many years.

“No more games. You left me once. You didn’t even give me a chance to explain or apologize for our argument. You dictated the course of our lives, Ella. But the universe is a funny place, and it brought you right back to me. So now, we’re doing this.”

“D-doing what?” I whisper.

He steps forward and takes my head in both his hands. “I’m going to make love to you and then we are going to talk. We are going to discuss all the things we haven’t been talking about, all the things we’ve kept buried over the past few years. And then…we’ll see what happens.”

I open my mouth to reply, but he doesn’t let me. Instead, his lips crash to mine. He doesn’t just steal a kiss, he robs it from me, taking a little piece of my soul in the process.

My body freezes as his tongue swipes against mine. My brain is at odds with itself. My left side says to do this, to allow myself to feel for the first time in years. My right side has alarm bells going off and says to run away and never look back because this can’t end well. I desperately want to listen to my right side. I want to protect myself from the inevitable hurt that I know is going to follow this, yet I can’t stop. I don’t want to stop. I want this. I want him.

My irrational self takes control as I reach up and thread my fingers through familiar locks of hair. Aiden groans and tugs me against him. And for the first time since the night that I disappeared from his life, I feel the full length of his body against mine without any barriers.

I’m not sure what snaps inside of me. But a wall I built with his painful words begins to crumble as I let him own me with this kiss.

He reaches down behind my thighs and begins to lift me as I wrap my legs around his waist, feeling his erection press firmly against my belly. He walks us to his bed as he continues to kiss me. It’s unhurried, as if the weight of the world isn’t on our shoulders. He slowly leans me down until I fall flat on the bed, my legs dangling off the edge.

His kisses begin to trail down my neck to my breasts.

“Dear God, I’ve missed these,” he murmurs against my right nipple as he takes it in his mouth and sucks on it. My back arches involuntarily as he trails wet kisses over to my left nipple and repeats the process.

Once he’s satisfied with his reacquaintance of my breasts, he leisurely travels down my abdomen, tracing my belly button with his tongue as he nestles between my legs and begins to crouch down. I feel his hands making light strokes on the insides of my thighs. He doesn’t have to ask, I spread them as his face moves to their apex.

His thumbs caress my folds before spreading me open. His tongue presses against me but doesn’t move for a long moment. I squirm and his one hand comes up and presses down on my belly, compelling me to stop.

When I finally comply, he rewards me by flicking his tongue against my clit. I gasp as he takes it into his mouth and sucks while continuing to flick it with his tongue. I feel my body barreling toward a release as he slides a finger inside of me. He slowly drags it out and back inside of me before finding my G-spot. And then I’m gone. My climax hits me hard.

I scream incoherent things while he continues to drag out my release. I don’t have time to string my thoughts together as he moves back up my body and slides inside of me.

---