Page 34 of The Night Ride
I didn’t listen to a single one.I was so tired of fighting what I wanted.
“Fuck,” he whispered.
His lips crashed into mine with grenade like force.My hands slid up his muscular chest until I looped them around his neck and held on.He pulled me closer until our bodies were plastered together.It felt like I’d been waiting for him my whole life.And kissed me in a way I’d only been kissed once before—by him—five years ago until it felt like every fiber of my being was attuned solely on him.The rest of the world ceased to exist.It was just the two of us, locked in a timeless embrace.I never wanted the kiss to end.Nothing else mattered but this, here and now in this moment.
Desire lashed me.I wanted to climb him like a tree and hang on for dear life.This was stupid and reckless and…oh god, I no longer cared as he sucked on my bottom lip and grazed it with his teeth.
I pressed closer, aching as his hands trailed down and cupped my ass.Oh god, I wanted us both naked.I yearned to feel him inside me.
I craved him.It was that simple and that complex.
My legs were shaky and weak-kneed.I kissed him with equal fervor, drowning in the pleasure infused sensations bombarding my form.Aiden was larger than life and in his arms, he eclipsed the sun.No other man had ever compared to him.But then he was the gold standard, the man I used to compare every other guy I had ever dated with.Not a single one had ever measured up.
Because they weren’t Aiden.
Since I was fifteen, I had gazed at him with stars in my eyes.The same emotions had shot through me when we reconnected when I was twenty-one.The night I wanted to give myself to him, body and soul.Instead, he left me on that dance floor broken-hearted and wondering why I hadn’t been enough.Because deep down I’d known that I had transformed my body for him, and I had still been found lacking.
The thought ripped me out of the amorous mood.I shoved against his chest, giving him a signal to back off.
Aiden was a gentleman and lifted his mouth, but he didn’t release me.
“What’s wrong?”His gaze dipped to my lips.And I almost ignored the warnings blaring in my head.
But I needed to know the truth, no matter how hard it might be to hear it.“Why did you push me away that night?”
“Beth.”He winced and dropped his arms, backing away.
I followed him, unwilling to let it go.“No.No more bullshitting.When you realized who I was you walked away.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose and then growled.“Dammit, you were my friend’s little sister.You were completely off limits.I never should have touched you or flirted with you.I never should have imagined you the way I did.And I sure as shit shouldn’t have kissed you that night.”
“But you wanted me.”
“Of course I did.What kind of question is that?How could I not want you?You were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.”
I brushed off his compliment, even as my heart swooned.Because I was angry and hurt over what he did.“Yet you still walked away like it meant nothing to you.Like I meant nothing.”I slapped my hand against my chest, my bottom lip trembling.
“Dammit, Beth, I was trying to do the right thing.I never should have touched you.After that your brother never trusted me after I broke faith with him.”
“And what about me?You left me to fight another battle on me own, just like everyone else in my life.”I pressed my lips still swollen from our kiss together.Because it was all so goddamn tragic.
“Shit, I’m sorry.I didn’t know what to do.”He reached for me.But I took a step back, putting distance between us.
“Clearly.But I don’t think this,” I gestured between us, “is a good idea.”
“Why?Because of what happened five years ago?”
“We had a moment five years ago, nothing more, nothing less.Just like we had one tonight, but it means nothing.”
“Bullshit.There’s more than that between us.”
“There might have been once.”Once upon a time I would have given him all of me, body, heart, and soul.But that was when I still believed in fairytales and happily ever afters.
“But not now?Is that what you’re saying Beth?You’re denying the chemistry between us.”
“I’m not denying that there’s heat between us.But I’m not willing to settle for someone who only wants a roll in the sheets.And when it comes down to it, I don’t trust you to stick when things get hard.Why would I?You left me to deal with my brother alone.”
“Beth, I—”
