He stiffened at her words. “When?”
“Okay, if, but you know what I mean. I’d hate to cause him any pain.”
He nodded because he did. It only made him care for her more. She was concerned about Dillon’s welfare in all this. How could he not adore this woman? “I’ve never brought any women into Dillon’s life. I…haven’t had any women in my life anyway. Not since…” He cleared his throat. “So I understand your concerns. I have them, too. But what I feel for you isn’t casual. I want exclusive. If we need to play the ‘we’re just friends’ game in front of people for a while, then I’ll do it. Not because I want to, but I’ll do it for you.”
She tightened her hands around his. “No, I don’t want that. To be just friends, I mean. I really like you. After today I feel like I should hold onto you and never let go.” Her cheeks flushed pink. “But maybe around Dillon we don’t put a label on you and me. Other than friends. For now, anyway. I just…I never want to hurt that kid.”
Aaron scrubbed a hand over his face. She said the absolute perfect thing and he knew she wasn’t trying. He wasn’t letting her go and as far as he was concerned, they wouldn’t be breaking up. She’d woken something up inside him, made him feel alive, and he wasn’t stupid enough to let her go.
“Come to bed with me tonight?” It came out more like a plea than anything but he didn’t care. He needed this woman like he needed his next breath. He wasn’t even sure they were at that point yet—well, he was at that point. But she’d been through a hell of a lot recently.
Her eyes went heavy-lidded as she got off the chair and moved to stand between his spread legs. Wordlessly she slid her hands up and around the back of his neck, linking her fingers together.
He settled his hands on her hips and tightened his grip. For a long moment he just stared at her. Her eyes were dilated and her breathing was erratic.
His own heart was beating out of control as he looked into her bright blue eyes. After months of holding back, of denying what she meant to him, he was walking a tightrope of control. Now that he had her within his grasp it was hard to think straight.
He reached down and grabbed her ass. She let out a yelp of surprise as he hoisted her up, but she didn’t pause as she wrapped her legs around him.
He crushed his mouth to hers, wordlessly demanding everything from her. After tonight he knew there would be no going back for him. As her tongue teased against his, he walked them out of the kitchen, her lithe body plastered to him.
Very soon they were going to be skin to skin. His body shuddered as he thought of it, of finally having her completely bared to him.
When they reached the foyer, he paused by the bottom of the stairs then veered into the living room. They weren’t going to make it to the bedroom.
The Christmas tree lights and the faux fire from the fireplace gave them more than enough illumination. It would let him see her fully, as he needed right now. As they passed the couch, he blindly reached out and grabbed some of the blankets.
Somehow he tore his mouth from hers. “In here okay?” It seemed those were the only words he could force out.
“Oh yeah.” The heat in her voice slid through and around him.
He worked quickly to toss the blankets on the floor before tugging her down onto them.
Laughing, she tumbled onto the blankets and cupped his face. “I’m not going anywhere, Aaron,” she whispered.
He just nodded. Hearing the words did a little to soothe all his jagged edges, but not much. Almost frantic, he tugged her jeans off to reveal tiny black panties barely covering her mound. The twinkly lights from the tree played off her smooth ivory skin, and her auburn hair seemed brighter.
Part of him wanted to carry her upstairs to his bed but he needed to be in her right this second. Before he could make a move to finish undressing her, she pushed up and stripped off her sweater. Her tiny black bra barely covered breasts he’d been fantasizing about for way too long.
He could see the outline of her hard nipples through the lacy material. When his gaze finally strayed back up to her face, he found her watching him with a sensual half smile.
“You have this look on your face, like you want to…” Even in the dimly lit living room he could see her cheeks flush that sexy shade of pink.
His cock pressed insistently against his pants. Too fucking bad for him. “What?” he murmured. “Like I want to eat you?”
She made a sort of coughing sound as she nodded. There was an innocent quality about her that he adored. Last night when he’d told her what he’d wanted to do to her, how he’d wanted to shove her dress up and eat her pussy, he’d loved getting a reaction out of her, loved seeing that sweet blush on her cheeks. Tonight he wasn’t going to stop at just tasting her. He was going to fully claim her, show her how good they could be together.