Riding Curves by Christa Wick Page B

want
to."
    His lips pressed against mine, the
first time our mouths had met since that weekend at the lake house.
His tongue gently forced me to open to him. He shifted our bodies
until he had one arm around me, the other one controlling the tilt
of my head as the kiss deepened. When he finally let me up for air,
he buried his face against my neck.
    "I know you've planned a life away
from here--"
    "No!" Shaking my head vigorously, I
clutched his shirt until I could calm down enough to speak. "I
haven't spent a penny of my signing bonus. I'm just on the hook for
a couple hundred dollars if I cancel the lease, and…I need a
job."
    I frowned at that last bit, but Aiden
only grinned.
    "I'm sure your dad wouldn't have a
problem if we hired a miscommunication--"
    I slugged him playfully before he
could finish the joke. Then I wrapped my arms around his neck and
kissed him, both of our hands beginning to roam.
    ******************
    Aiden's strokes turned to tugs and
pulls until he had me mashed up against his bedroom wall while he
brought the lights down to a sensual level and nibbled at my neck.
My head tilted in ecstasy and to allow him full access to my
throat, I opened my eyes just long enough to see a white box on his
dresser. One corner was slightly crushed and the ribbon drooped
like a wilted flower.
    "What's wrong, love?"
    Feeling him tense, I realized that I
had tightened while looking at the box. I tried to relax and
gestured shyly with my chin. "Is that…"
    I trailed off, not wanting to remind
him of the scene in the hotel.
    "Yeah." His snort managed to sound
embarrassed, which made my chest swell and my possessive grip on
his shoulders dig a little deeper.
    I shifted my head until I could see
his face. The way his dark eyes glittered did strange, delightful
things to my body. "What about…you know…"
    I rolled my eyes before looking back
at him. "Wasn't at least one of them curious?"
    Chuckling, he buried his face against
my neck. "They were all curious, but they needed the
warning."
    "What warning?" I groaned my way
through the end of the question as he put his hands on my hips and
tugged me closer to the bed.
    Stopping at the edge of the dresser,
he palmed my breast and kissed the corner of my mouth. "That my
heart wasn't theirs to take. The pin and its box stayed there until
I mailed them."
    A quiver ran through me at the
intensity of his voice and the look in his eyes. It was a cold
thing to do -- to those other women. But heat flared across my
breasts and thighs at the realization I would have been "the woman"
in Aiden's life -- the one that got away and for whom a small part
of him would have always pined.
    It was only fair, he held the same
place within my heart. And I prayed each of those women would one
day find the same happiness, just not with my man because I didn't
plan on ever letting him go again.
    My eyes growing moist again, I pointed
at the box with my chin. "Can I?"
    "You don't want me to re-wrap it?" He
lifted a brow, his gaze a little cautious. "It's pretty banged
up."
    I shook my head, conscious of how
puffy my face still was as my smile squashed everything
up.
    "I don't know." He brushed a hand
against his cheek and sucked at his bottom lip. "That's a lot of
build up for what's inside. It's just a slinky bit of silk I wanted
to strip off your body, baby girl."
    "Oh my." Smiling, I pushed
at his chest then reached for the box. "You just lost your chance
to say no , Aiden
Perry."
    I opened the box, immediately
mesmerized by the silk camisole colored a dark gunmetal gray with
its bust and bottom hem edged in matching lace. Lifting it from the
tissue paper, I noticed how thin the silk was and knew even the
weakest light would make the fabric transparent enough for Aiden to
trace the contours of my flesh. Thinking of his eyes on me like
that, I didn't want to run and hide. I wanted the camisole on so I
could drive him crazy before he teased it off my flesh.
    He cleared his throat, once again
sounding