Love notes (31 page)

Yet every thought of Aiden had
brought a new flood and she’d drowned in her own misery.

Now she lay listening to the
church clock strike ten and wishing herself back in London – or
California, or anywhere else a million miles away from Aiden – but
the better part of a bottle of wine had committed her to staying
the night. Eventually she fell into a fitful sleep punctuated by
disturbing dreams in which confused pictures of Aiden raced through
her head. Only in them, he was the one running away.

Away from her and toward
Cally.

Taking Cally in his arms and
kissing her the way he’d once kissed Erika.

Loving someone else when he
could still have been loving her had she not been fool enough to
throw it all away.

Erika couldn’t bear it and shot
awake. The dream had been so vivid she imagined she could still
hear Aiden calling her name, over and over, and she sat up,
breathing hard. But then the sound came again, accompanied by a
knock, and she realised it was no fantasy.

“Aiden,” she called out, praying
her mind and half a bottle of wine weren’t playing tricks on
her.

His sigh of relief carried
through the thick door. “Thank God. Let me in,” he said. “I need to
see you.”

Erika’s hand hesitated on the
latch, knowing her heart wouldn’t survive another confrontation. “I
don’t want to argue any more,” she said. “I can’t…”

He rushed to reassure her. “I
won’t argue. I promise. Just let me see you.”

Knowing she owed him at least a
fair hearing, Erika unlocked the door and stood aside. In the
semi-darkness Aiden overpowered the small bedroom, his head grazing
the ceiling and his shoulders too wide for the confined space.
Unable to see her, he switched on the bedside lamp but Erika turned
away to hide her tear-blotched cheeks. He caught sight of her and
groaned.

“Oh, no. Look at your lovely
face,” he said, taking it between his hands and wincing at her
swollen lips and heavy eyes. “I am so sorry, my love. Can you
forgive me?”

He bent to kiss her, his lips
merely brushing hers, teasing and coaxing her, but she refused to
yield and turned her head aside.

“Don’t.” She pulled his hands
away even though it nearly killed her to lose his touch. “We’re
over. You said so yourself. You’ve moved on.”

Aiden shook his head
emphatically. “I was hurt and angry. I lashed out.” Troubled eyes
begged her to believe him. “How could I ever move on from you?”

“But Cally…?”

“I don’t love her and never
will, no matter how much she wants me to.” He had the grace to look
guilty. “I love you, not her.”

“You love me?” Not past tense,
but very much in the present.

“Why else do you think I’m
here?”

Erika wished her heart dared
make the leap of faith required to believe him but its pieces were
scattered too far apart. She couldn’t allow her hopes to be raised
and dashed for the second time that day. She felt too fragile
already.

“For all I know, you’ve only
turned up looking for sex,” she said, confusion making her sound
sharper than she’d intended. “But I refuse to wind up as Cally’s
version of Little Miss Naked.”

A very naughty smile played
across Aiden’s lips giving Erika’s libido a jump-start. The thought
had obviously occurred to him.

“Well that’s my evening ruined
then,” he said, feigning disappointment. “Although, I remember you
using me for sex once upon a time. Surely I’m allowed my turn.”

“You enjoyed it,” she snapped,
not wanting to think about Yorkshire and wishing he didn’t look
quite so sexy.

Good enough to eat, in fact. His
white T-shirt accentuated his early tan and his jeans clung around
his hips, reminding her of the taut, powerful, very creative body
lying underneath.

“I hardly had to force you,” she
reminded him.

“I won’t pretend I didn’t love
it.” His eyes widened fleetingly. He obviously saw nothing to be
ashamed of. “Being thrown on the bed and pleasured to within an
inch of my life by a beautiful woman made me realise what I’d been
missing for five years.”

“Well I hope you’ve not come
back to refresh your memory.”

“Is that an offer?”

“Definitely not.”

Aiden’s smile broadened
seductively and Erika’s guard dropped just enough for him to detect
the beginnings of a thaw. He unashamedly took his time enjoying the
sight of her in the tiny vest and shorts she’d worn to bed. His
eyes feasted on her newly rounded hips and breasts that stretched
her top disturbingly thin and semi-transparent. She blushed and
wished she’d thought to cover up before opening the door.

“I still don’t understand,” she
said, wishing the room were bigger so she could put real distance
between them. “A few hours ago, you hated the sight of me. You
practically threw me out of the house.”

”I could never hate you.” The
hungry look in his eyes signalled his very different feelings
toward her. “But I did a lot of thinking after you’d gone.”

“About what? You were set on
selling up and moving on with Cally.”

He inched forward but Erika
backed away, right up against the dressing table so she could go no
further.

“Even if I did love Cally, she
wouldn’t have stood a chance once I’d heard your CD,” he said, less
than a foot away from her now.

Without taking his eyes off her
face he let his fingertip drift down her bare arm from shoulder to
wrist, watchful for the merest trace of a response. Erika struggled
to suppress the rush of sensations igniting within her and
concentrate hard on what he was saying. She couldn’t afford to lose
her reason with her future at stake but the nearness of him made it
impossible to think straight.

“I lay on the sofa and listened
to it a dozen times,” he went on. “Really focussing on the
lyrics.”

“Did you like it?”

“I’m not here as a music
critic.” His laugh sounded more like a groan. “But those songs came
from somewhere deep and pure. I finally understood why you sent me
away and how much it cost to let me go.”

“It was too high a price.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I missed you every minute.”

“I know.” His voice dropped to a
whisper. “Although I’ve spent a year convincing myself you never
really loved me.”

“But I did love you. I loved you
so much.” She gripped the front of his T-shirt, her voice urgent as
she looked up at him, willing herself not to cry again. “And I
still do.”

She held her breath when he
shook his head.

“After hearing those songs, I
don’t think love is a big enough word for the way you feel about
me. I’m everything to you. How can I walk away knowing that?”

Taking Erika by surprise, Aiden
leaned forward and kissed her shoulder, his teeth grazing her skin
in a playful bite. His lips scalded, setting her nerve endings
ablaze. Like a fire-brand they followed the trail his fingertip had
left, all the way down to her wrist before he picked up her hand
and kissed each finger in turn.

Her resistance
disintegrated.

“Don’t play false with me,” she
whispered, her breath quickening. “My heart’s broken enough. Unless
you’re serious about coming back, leave now.”

Aiden braced his hands on the
dressing table, either side of her hips, imprisoning her. His face
came level with hers and he tilted his head as if to kiss her but
tantalisingly held back.

“I can’t write a song about how
I feel,” he said, dropping his lips to the soft hollows of her neck
and barely brushing her skin with his tongue. “I don’t have enough
words to say how much I love and want you.” His stubbled chin
spiked her cheek and the warm, masculine scent of him overwhelmed
her. “But I can use my body to show you.”

Kisses trickled up to the tender
skin behind her ear, bringing a soft sigh of pleasure from Erika.
She put her hands against Aiden’s chest, maintaining the pretence
of resistance but her palms moulded themselves around his pecs and
her fingertips picked up the roughness of hair through his
T-shirt.

Her body took the leap of faith
her head daren’t make and pressed against him.

“I’m the love of your life,”
Aiden said needlessly, his voice a sigh against her skin. He pulled
her hard against his body. “Although I didn’t need a CD to tell me
that.”

His mouth seared her cleavage.
Erika pulled his head closer and surrendered herself to his hot
tongue as it tasted the hollow between her breasts and swept under
her top.

When Aiden pinched her nipples
suddenly she let out a sharp cry of surprise. He looked up
anxiously to check he hadn’t been too rough but her parted lips and
wide, bright eyes told him a different story. Watching her
reactions, he did it again, very deliberately, and Erika thrust her
breasts forward against his hands with a ragged moan, begging him
to do it a third time.

She no longer cared whether
Aiden wanted her for the night, or for the rest of time. Her body
existed in the present and, right now, it longed to feel, taste,
touch and absorb him.

Without giving herself time to
hesitate, she sat up on the table top, wrapped her legs around his
hips and wrenched him toward her.

Aiden’s cock thrust against her
belly; an unyielding ridge behind the buttons on his jeans, and
Erika’s pussy swelled at the thought of the pleasures she had yet
to come.

Her legs tightened around him.
He wasn’t going anywhere.

Or, at least not until she’d had
her fill of him.

Aiden’s restraint snapped and he
ground his mouth down on Erika’s, kissing her as if he hadn’t held
her for a lifetime. She bit his tongue when it thrust into her
mouth and savoured the taste of him, relearning the delicious
flavours of his body.

The seams of her vest cracked
when Aiden slid his hands under it, his haste to touch her making
him careless. The weight of her naked breasts brought a low moan of
desire from him that reverberated through Erika and thrilled her to
the core of her bones.

Adrenaline surged around her
body. Longing to feel Aiden’s skin against hers, Erika yanked his
T-shirt off over his head and spread her hands against his powerful
chest. The thick hair across his pecs tickled her palms and
shadowed the unyielding muscles that carried gentleness, as well as
strength. Erika got turned on just looking at it, let alone
imagining how that rough, sexy chest would feel against her skin
when he fucked her.

Starting at the base of his
throat, she devoured him. Her tongue snaked along the muscle lines,
damping the hair into dark trails. She bit and kissed until Aiden
could do nothing except loll back his head and abandon himself to
the heat of her mouth across his skin.

From a deep, lustful place
within him a groan erupted and he tangled his hands in her hair.
Not that Erika needed any guidance. She knew instinctively where he
craved her touch – when to bite, when to tease, where to push the
boundaries of pleasure.

Excitement overheated his body
and drew out the hot, virile essence of him that made Erika’s
tongue tingle at the traces of salt on his skin. She licked her
lips.

The buttons on his jeans
scratched against the edge of the dressing table, screaming at
Erika to undo them, and she pushed him away so she could reach.

But Aiden didn’t give her the
chance.

Passion took control and he tore
off her vest, flinging it aside impatiently. His greedy mouth
continued the exploration his fingers had begun – down between her
breasts, around her hard nipples and into the soft flesh under her
arms. He feasted on her, finding erogenous zones Erika had never
known existed, until the world began and ended with his tongue.

“Don’t stop,” she begged when
his mouth opened wide and sucked around her nipple. Her body
cramped at the kick of ecstasy. “You’re making me so hot for
you.”

Aiden’s lips formed a smile
around her breast. “Maybe I’d better check you’re telling me the
truth.”

As Erika inhaled sharply,
Aiden’s tongue travelled down her breastbone to her navel and
swiped across the fabric of her tiny shorts. He smelled how wet she
was and rushed to taste her. Dropping to his knees, he pushed her
legs wide apart and allowed himself a very satisfied smile.

The damp fabric moulding around
the outer folds of her pussy made him lick his lips before he
leaned forward and bit the soft flesh above it. The muffled
movements of his tongue and teeth through the flimsy material sent
every sensation rushing into the place between Erika’s legs. She
cried out, wanting him there and then, but Aiden intended making
her wait.

Instead, he went for the slow
build, taking his time exploring every pleasure point along the
inside of her thighs. His strong hands encircled her knees, pinning
them wide so she couldn’t have escaped, even if her legs had had
the strength to support her.

In a swift, sudden movement he
pushed her knees together and whipped off her shorts, flinging them
to the other side of the room. The sudden coldness of wood against
her bottom made Erika laugh. But the laughter turned to a deep
inhalation of pleasure when Aiden spread her legs again and plunged
his mouth into her hot, juicy pussy.

With a cry they must have heard
outside the room, Erika’s body imploded and folded itself around
Aiden’s tongue. She grabbed his head to pull his tongue harder
against her clit while his rough chin grazed the tender folds below
it.

Her pussy became combustible. A
thousand explosive sensations set fire to her and threatened to
burn out of control. Her body no longer belonged to her. Aiden
possessed her, enslaving her with his touch and controlling every
reaction by the slightest movement of his expert hands.

He nibbled her sex’s soft lips.
His fingers entered her and massaged her G-spot while her body
clenched around the intense sensations deep within her core. The
pleasure zones along her inner thighs ignited and he fanned the
flames with feather-light kisses until she begged him to make her
come.