Page 84 of Hunt for the Roses
Every hour.
Her and me.
I decide to leave the coffee brewing by itself and make my way to where Aria is. When I reach the entrance of the living room, I stop when I notice Aria standing and looking out the window behind the sectional. Her shoulder is leaned on the window frame, and her head is tilted as she looks out the window with a blank stare. She’s not frowning, but she’s not smiling either. I slightly furrow my brows as I watch her for several more moments, trying to make sense of her body language and figure out what’s going on in her mind.
A few thoughts run through my mind, thoughts I want to voice out loud, but I chase them out as quickly as they come. Instead, I quietly turn around and head back to the kitchen to grab two coffee mugs out of the cabinet, and place them on the counter. I brace my palms on the edge of the counter as I look out the window over the kitchen sink, still immersed in my own head. I guess my greatest fear right now is Aria regretting last night, and I can’t even begin to fathom how much that would absolutely destroy me.
“Hey.”
I turn around to see Aria at the kitchen entryway in just my brewery t-shirt that hangs low enough to cover her ass, but high enough to show off her toned legs. Her hair is tousled to one side, and she’s staring at me with a slight smirk that makes my heart flutter repeatedly.
Her effortless beauty never ceases to take my breath away.
I walk toward her and stand in front of the kitchen island, resting my palms on the counter behind me. I lean back and tilt my chin up at her as I say, “That’s a good look for you.”
Aria playfully raises her brows as she walks toward me. “Good enough that I can keep it?”
I squint my eyes as I tilt my head. “I didn’t say that,” I say teasingly.
Aria chuckles as she comes up to me and wraps her hands around the back of my neck.
I bite my lip as I lift the hem of her (my) shirt up with one hand to reveal her panties, and I knead her ass cheek in one of my palms. Aria bites her lip as she slides her palms from the back of my neck, down my pectoral muscles, and over the rippled contours of my abdomen.
“You know you can have whatever you want of mine, right?” I say.
Aria tilts her chin up so that her lips graze mine. “I think I want something of yours right now,” she coos, gently biting my bottom lip as she finishes her sentence.
As much as Aria’s turning me on, I feelunsure. I start to wonder if Aria felt the same way I did last night. If last night meant everything to her as it did to me. But what if she’s just craving sex because she hasn’t been intimate in so long? What if it was Kyle she was thinking about when I saw her by the window just now? Was he really the first person she thought of the morning after our first night together?
Before getting in my mind too much again, I decide to channel my thoughts into my next actions. The reality is, I can’t resist Aria who’s standing in my embrace half naked, but there is still a feral urge building inside me that needs to get answers to all the questions I have. It’s like an itch I have to scratch even though I know when I itch it, it’s only going to make the scab worse.
I have to know I’m good enough.
I have to know I stand a chance.
I have to know I can live up to what she once had.
“You gonna tell me what you were thinking about by the window?” I ask.
Aria bites her bottom lip, and I can’t tell if it’s her nervousness or horniness making her do it, but something snaps within me when she doesn’t respond right away. I may as well use my strengths to my advantage to make me the focal point of her thoughts, because if she’s not going to think about me of her own will, I’m going to make sure I’m the only one on her mind right now.
I take both my hands to bunch up the hem of the t-shirt she’s wearing, and lightly trace my fingertips back and forth along the waistline of her panties. “If you don’t want to talk, maybe you should just tell me what you want,” I taunt.
“You,” she whispers as her fingers curl into my chest.
I slowly bend down and hoist her up from behind her thighs. Aria gasps as she wraps her hands around my neck, and I turn to sit her on the edge of the kitchen island counter.
I peel her hands from around my neck and bring them around my waist. When I cup one side of her face, I bring her lips to me for a deep and sensual kiss. Aria moans against my lips as our tongues seek each other, and then I hook both my hands into either side of her panties.
I break our kiss as I start to slide her panties down her legs. “Take your shirt off,” I rasp.
Aria’s hands go to the hem of her shirt to lift it over her head, exposing her full, ample breasts, and I toss her panties on the floor right after she completely discards her shirt. My cock stiffens painfully against my boxer briefs at the sight of Aria completely naked on top of my island counter, and the last thing I want to be is a gentleman right now.
I take Aria’s chin between my thumb and forefinger, bringing her in for a few light kisses, and then I pull back just enough to graze my nose against hers. “Spread these legs for me,” I whisper.
Aria exhales a breath against my lips, and I can tell by her timid movements she wasn’t expecting my dirty talk, but she’s turned on, nonetheless. Aria leans back on her palms and timidly slides her knees further apart, not fully committing to what I just requested. I tighten my jaw as I hold her gaze and palm the backs of her knees up to plant her feet flat on the edge of the counter, and Aria’s eyes widen in apprehension as I spread her out. I rest my hands at her knees to spread them open for me, and without any warning, I lower myself to one knee, and just feast on her.
“Oh, god!” Aria cries out as she throws her head back.
