Instead of heading straight home, she stopped at the grocery store and spent an hour debating on whether she wanted to stuff her face with Chocolate Fudge Swirl or Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream. In the end, the decision to get both won out, then she took a cab home. She fumbled in her purse for the keys after clearing the final steps to her floor.

  "What the hell? Where is Douchey?"

  Her head snapped up at the angry voice and she saw Gus sitting on the ground with his back against her apartment door. Shoving away the flutter in her chest at the thought of him waiting up for her, she put on her best don't-fuck-with-me face.

  "It's Donny."

  "Right, Douchey. Where is he? He should have walked you to your door," he grumbled and stood to his full height. Even when he was angry, she felt safe with him. It was calming to know that hadn't changed.

  "Back off, Gus. I took a cab home."

  "Do I need to break his face?"

  She rolled her eyes and unlocked her door. "No, Mr. Macho, you don't. I'm fine. Just tired."

  "Listen, Aiden. I'm sorry I was rude to Dennis."

  "Donny."

  "Whatever. I just think you deserve better than a guy like that."

  With a resigned sigh, she pushed open her door before turning to face him. "Thanks, Gus."

  Silence. He stared back for a long moment before shifting on his feet.

  "So, um, you're not going to try and see him again, are you?"

  "No. He was a creep and it was probably the worst date I've ever been on with no help from you with your attitude."

  She almost missed it, but she could swear his lips turned up into a pleased grin and it made her anger boil.

  "I could have told you he was a creep, but I'm glad you won't be seeing him again."

  "I probably won't be seeing anyone again with you as a neighbor."

  "Well, you deserve a guy who can handle someone like me. A guy who doesn't mind you having me for a friend." That dreaded f-word was going to follow her around for the rest of her life. She deserved that, but wasn't about to admit it.

  She walked into her apartment with him close on her heels. "Whatever, Gus. I'm tired and want to just go to bed and forget this night ever happened."

  "We need to talk, Aiden."

  "No. We don't. And even if we did, I wouldn't tonight. Just please, leave me alone."

  He frowned. "I can't do that."

  She tossed her purse and ice cream on the counter, kicked her heels off, and started down the hall without looking back. "Try."

  She should have known his unnatural speed would get the best of her. After only making it a few feet, he grabbed her arm and turned her around with her back against the wall. "You know me better than anyone, Aid, so you know I'm not going anywhere. Now I have things to say and I think you do, too."

  "I think you've said enough. We are friends, Gus. Friends don't chase off potential boyfriends or-"

  "You said he was a creep."

  "Yeah, but what if he wasn't?"

  "But he was."

  "Argh! I don't want to do this tonight. There is no point in even diving into this since-"

  Before she could finish her angry rant, his lips were on hers, hard and demanding. Electricity pulsed through her body and ended at her center. Like pouring gasoline on an already raging inferno, she lit up. But like always, he pulled back and his lips were gone as quick as they came.

  Wide eyed and panting, he stepped back far enough that she could catch her breath but stayed close enough that she couldn't move away from the wall and run to her room like she wanted to. At least, not without him catching her first.

  "There," he said roughly. "Now you have to listen."

  Aiden's eyes snapped open and the anger she had been reigning in for his own safety suddenly took a turn. She was sick of people telling her to listen.

  "I don't have to listen to a damn word you say and you have no say in what I do with my life." She was going to break down if he didn't leave soon. This emotional rollercoaster of a day had taken its toll on her.

  "What if I want a say?"

  Her voice waivered, "I don't understand why you care so much."

  "Because I fucking love you."

  Her heart slammed to a halt. "What?"

  He swayed forward, closing the distance between them in an instant . "I said… what if I want a say in what you do? What if I want to be more than just your friend who lives next door? What if I want you to belong to me in every way possible?"

  She felt herself melt right there in front of him, a puddle of mushy, lovesick goo on the floor at his feet. "And the other part?"

  He cupped her face and looked deep into her eyes. "I want you, Aiden. More than I want my next breath. I can't stop thinking about you, day or night, you're always on my mind and it's driving me insane. I know there is a chance this might fuck everything up between us, but I can't stand back anymore and watch you live your life without me."

  "You are in my life," she whispered.

  His gaze fell to her lips. "No. Not the way I want to be. I want to be your world…" his deep breath was the only sound in the room when he paused, letting his words soak into her soul. "The same way you are mine." He kissed her forehead, "I want to go to sleep next to you every night and wake up to your beautiful face every morning." He softly kissed her cheeks. "I want to make you dinner every night because you're a horrible cook." She scoffed, but it didn't hold any power whatsoever and he chuckled as he kissed her nose. "But most of all? I just want to be there, with you, for you, against you. I want to fight with you and then say I'm sorry for being an idiot, then feel you in my arms after you forgive me for the hundredth time. I want to see every picture you take and every painting you paint and I want to be able to tell people, that's my woman. She's mine."

  He pressed his forehead to hers and breathed her in. Her eyes closed as her racing heart slammed against her chest harder and harder with each word he spoke. "I want to be the man that loves you more and more every day, for the rest of your life. Even longer. Let me be that man, Aiden." His voice was hoarse, pained, filled with an anxious need that she understood all too well. "I swear I'll get down on my knees right now and beg you because I'm not above doing anything to make you mine. I'll do whatever it takes. No more waiting."

  All she could do was breathe, every single inhale pulling more and more of him into her soul, into her heart, until it was full to bursting.

  He loved her.

  She loved him.

  He was holding his own breath, stilling cupping her face, his thumbs reverently caressing her cheeks, her nose, her lips; his blue and grey eyes followed every path he made.

  "Gus…" He flinched the tiniest bit, as if her voice had pulled him out of a trance, but he waited.

  "I love you, too," she breathed.

  His crooked grin made her overflowing heart stutter. She didn't have a chance to smile back because his lips crushed hers in the next second and his body pressed her against the wall, every inch of her in contact with him.

  She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck, his hands dropped to her hips, grinding her against him. She gasped, giving him the opening he needed to slip his tongue past her lips to tangle with hers. Her fingers burrowed into his hair and tugged, making him groan and deepen the already scorching kiss. Every cell in her body lit up and it felt incredible, alive… free. Her life was in her own hands and even if she had no control of the future, she could control the present and the present is exactly where she wanted to be.

  Strong hands cupped her ass and suddenly, she was lifted up, her breasts rubbing deliciously against his hard chest. Her legs wrapped tightly around his waist forcing her dress to bunch at her hips as he pressed between her thighs, trying to get closer. It would never be close enough.

  His kiss softened as he supported her with one arm, slamming his palm on the wall next to her with the other to steady them. It was intense and passionate. It was like nothing she could ever imagine on her own.

  He let her fall just enough so he could press the hard ridge of his arousal against her core. His jeans and her panties were the only barriers between them and stars flared behind her closed eyes when she felt him there. It had never felt like this before. The need for him was endless, forceful. Thoughts of tomorrow didn't matter. All she could see was now. All she could see was him.

  He circled his hips against her, groaning as liquid heat pooled at her center. Her whimper was inevitable and he tore his mouth away. "God, Aiden. I can feel…"

  She could only imagine what he felt, but the ache between her legs was dangerously close to killing her. She was ready for him.

  "This is forever, Aiden," he growled. "I won't accept anything less."

  "Good. Oh!" she cried when the hand on the wall swiftly dropped between her legs.

  His finger slipped under her already soaked panties and slid back and forth over her. "Christ, Aiden. You need me here?" He sank that finger inside of her and buried his face in the bend of her neck, licking and nipping down over her collar bone to the swell of her breast, adding to the rising pressure at her center. His thumb circled that swollen bundle of nerves and she cried out in sweet agony.

  "I'm going to make you come with my fingers, then I'm going to make you come with my mouth," he groaned against her skin adding a second finger and thrusting in and out of her. "And when I've tasted enough of you and you think you can't take anymore, I'll sink inside you and prove you wrong."

  With a flick of his thumb she was lost. The waves of ecstasy crashed into her as she called his name and pulsed around his unrelenting fingers. "Gus!"

  He released a deep rumble and placed tender kisses along her neck while she came back down. "Not done with you, baby. Not even close."

  He carried her to the bedroom, his hot kisses searing her skin while she melted into him. Instead of falling to the bed, he stopped at the edge of it and let her body slide down his until she was steady on her feet.

  He kissed her. A long, luxurious kiss that made her toes curl into the carpet. Then his fingers found the zipper at the back of her dress and pulled it down slowly. It was the most erotic experience of her life. The sharp sound of those metal teeth separating made the anticipation build.

  The material slid over her skin and pooled at her feet, leaving her in her black strapless bra and black lace thong.

  Gus stepped back and his heated gaze roamed every inch of her. He wiped a hand down his face and smiled. "I've waited so long to see what's been under all those fucking clothes and now that I see it… God, Aiden. There's no going back."

  Her timid smile did nothing to stop the hot blush that spread over her. His gaze was drawn to her breasts and the rumble from his chest made her core clench.

  "I knew it," he whispered.

  "Knew what?"

  "That blush. I knew it covered every inch of your flawless skin. Gorgeous."

  Her shallow breaths were hard to control and her full, sensitive breasts strained against her bra with each inhale. He wasn't even touching her and she felt like she was going to come again. It was a heady feeling.

  He closed the distance between them and lightly grazed his fingers over her collar bone, following the flush of her skin down to the tops of her breasts.

  "I don't deserve you."

  She frowned. "Why would you say that?"

  His hands snaked behind her and deftly unlatched her bra. "Because it's true. But I'll be damned if I don't spend the rest of my life trying."

  He threw her bra over his shoulder and devoured her with his eyes. The blue and grey swirling together in a thunderstorm of heat. His fingers trailed down the center of her chest before sliding over to circle her pebbled nipple.

  "You're torturing me," she sighed in frustration, needing hard and fast, not slow and tender.

  "I'm savoring you," he muttered and finally cupped her breast, encasing the soft flesh in his warm hand.

  "Ah… savor me later." She was torn between taking things into her own hands or enjoying the slow build he was so carefully working for.

  "I'll savor you every time, Aiden. When it's fast and hard, I'll relish it. When it's slow and gentle, I'll savor it. Because I know for a fact it will only get better and better."

  His thumb slid over that stiff peak and his head bent down to her neck, kissing the dip right at the base of her throat. It was a sensation she had never felt before and goose bumps broke out over her skin. He nipped and licked, kissed and suckled his way down. When his wet tongue flicked over her nipple, she arched into him, pressing closer to that skilled mouth. He understood what she wanted and he gave it to her, pulling her flesh into his mouth and sending her spiraling.

  He pressed her back until her legs hit the bed and with his arms surrounding her, carefully laid her down on the mattress and hovered over her. His attention moved to her other breast and her fingers clutched his hair and held him there. He could do this for the rest of her life and she'd never get tired of it.

  He pressed his knee between her legs and spread her open, settling his hips at her center and grinding against her.

  "Please," she moaned.

  Suddenly he was gone. Her head lifted to look at him and what she saw made the loss of him for that one moment worth it. He pulled his shirt over his head, revealing that hard body he worked so diligently for. His abs rippled and those sleek muscles running down his sides made her mouth go dry. She watched as he pulled open the button on his jeans and slid the zipper down.

  "I'm going to be honest," he muttered, his hooded gaze locked on her as he pushed his jeans down, taking his boxer briefs with them. Her eyes widened at the sight of him, he was big. Hard. Ready. "You might have to wait for my mouth, because that beautiful body needs to be taken hard, and the sounds you make… fuck… those sexy sounds will make me come before I make it inside you and Aiden? I desperately want to be inside you."

  If she thought she was turned on before, it was nothing compared to this. His words were erotic and hungry, so damn sexy, making her vibrate with the need for him to do exactly that.

  "Come here." She reached for him and he spread out on top of her, gathering her in his arms and kissing her like a starving man.

  "I love you, Aiden," he murmured against her lips. "Love you so damn much."

  "I love you, too."

  His hand slid down the front of her, lightly pressing into her skin and leaving a trail of goose bumps behind. He curled his fingers over her lacy thong and yanked them down her thighs. She helped him maneuver the flimsy scrap of material down her legs and kicked them off. His hand cupped her firmly as he pressed the tips of his fingers to her slick opening. She gasped and lifted her hips for more.

  "I have a condom in my wallet," he whispered, brushing his lips over hers and looking down at her.

  She knew what he was asking and the last thing she wanted was a barrier between them, not after all the barriers they had finally knocked down. She was on birth control, but the safety precautions that had been ingrained in her mind made her hesitate.

  He removed his hand and started to lift off of her. "I'll get it, baby. I just want you to know that I'm all in with this."

  She grasped his arm and pulled him back down to her. "No, I know it might be stupid, but I don't want anything between us. I'm clean and on the pill."

  He kissed her hard before smiling and caressing her lower tummy. "Me, too."

  A giggle bubbled to the surface and his brow arched in question. "You're on the pill?" she asked with an innocent smile.

  He shook his head, amusement clear on his face. This is what she loved with him, the silliness, the joy. She was right where she needed to be and she was never looking back.

  "You're gonna pay for that," he growled.

  "Promise?"

  He slid between her legs and pressed the tip of his hard arousal against her. A moan wrenched from her throat, effectively ending her giggles as he slid up and down her seam before stopping where she needed him most.

  "I'll promise you the world if it keeps you right here with me."

  "Don't you know, Gus? You've already given me the world." He slid just inside her, stretching her and sending a gush of heat to her core. She closed her eyes and he stilled, reverently kissing her face, her chin, that mind blowing spot at the base of her throat.

  "Have I?" he asked huskily, the emotion in his voice unmistakable.

  "Yes," she breathed, lifting her hips for more. "You. You've given me you. That's all I want."

  He growled against her neck and thrust hard, burying himself completely inside of her. She cried out in pleasure and it spurred him on. He meant what he said about her body needing to be taken hard.

  "Gus…"

  "Hold onto me, love."

  He thrust in and out of her in a steady rhythm which she met head on. His mouth never left her skin and the slow build from before was suddenly full to bursting. She wrapped her legs around him and pressed her heels against that perfectly muscled ass, pleading him with her body to take her harder.

  He did.

  He snaked a hand beneath her and lifted her hips off the bed, the new angle helping him find that spot inside that would send her over the edge. She reached for it, higher and higher, ready to welcome the bliss he wanted to give her.

  "I know you're close, baby. I can feel it," he mumbled against her skin and latched onto her breast, pulling her nipple into his mouth and flicking his tongue over it.

  Higher and higher. God, would she ever reach it? She was surrounded by him, every touch adding to the pressure until it was all she could do to hold on.

  "You know I'm yours, love. Give me you, now," he implored and thrust deep and hard.

  It felt like an explosion, a detonation that only he had the power to create. "Yes! Oh God, Gus!" White lights exploded behind her eyes and every muscle in her body pulsed with that rush of heat.

  That sexy rumble rose from his chest as he clung to her and thrust once more, finding his own release and emptying himself inside her. She welcomed his weight as he collapsed on top of her, his lips making their way back to her mouth and tangling their tongues together in a glorious kiss.

 

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