Bared (15 page)

Aidan ended the call and went to shower.

He wasted no time, in and out, and dressed in a matter of ten minutes. On his way out the door, he hit the garage door opener. He grabbed his backpack off the hook and stuffed in the items he needed for the day. Then he strode by his black Audi, slid into the backpack, and jumped on his bike.

In seconds, he was out of the garage and closed the door behind him. He tore through Vegas streets, daring a cop to stop him now. Tickets were of the past, since Kyler had a way of getting him out of the last two. Truthfully, he didn’t give a shit, either. He’d take the ticket and continue on.

Today, he had a mission.

He turned onto Cora’s street and the bike hummed beneath him, roaring to go faster.
Soon, girl, soon
. He’d always felt rejuvenated and moving forward on his bike, as life sometimes seemed to halt time.

When he reached Cora’s house, he pulled into the parking spot behind her girly car, which suited her. He pressed his foot against the kickstand, and within seconds he approached her front door. He rang the doorbell, not caring that it was nine o’clock in the morning.

The moment the door opened, he chuckled, unable to stop himself.

Cora stood in her pajamas, appearing much younger than he’d ever seen her. In fact, she looked like the twenty-five-year-old she was. Lingerie and her sassy attitude always made her seem older. Sometimes he forgot he was eight years older than her. Plus, he hadn’t ever seen Cora without dark, sexy makeup on, and she looked a lot more innocent. Her hair was completely disheveled, sticking up wildly.

Beautiful
.

Her eyes … those eyes that were the prettiest blue, widened. “Aidan?” She looked down to herself in her pajamas and then ran her hands over her hair. She lifted her head with rosy cheeks, and she blinked repeatedly. “Sorry, I just woke up.”

“Don’t be. I know I’m catching you by surprise.” He smiled, watching her try to reorganize herself. He liked that she worried what she looked like for him. In fact, he preferred her appearance now to when she was done up. “You look incredibly cute like this.”

“Perfect.” She rolled her eyes. “Isn’t that what every woman wants a Dom to say?” She shuddered. “Cute.”

He laughed, the swell of tension slowly fading from his body. “Mind if I come in?”

As she opened the door wider, her voice had lifted with sass. “Sure, why not. You’ve seen me in my jammies, it can’t get any worse.” After he stepped into her house, she tilted her head. “How did you know I was off, anyway?”

“Presley told Dmitri, which made its way back to me.”

“Oh.” She frowned.

Aidan restrained his chuckle. “I didn’t hear anything else except that.” Of course, he knew Presley had come to Cora’s last night. Dmitri had told him at dinner, and that he wondered why she had taken a couple days off work.

Aidan had wondered, too. Now he was only too glad she had.

Cora pulled her hair into a ponytail and then let it flow down her back. “Okay, let me go get dressed.”

“Please wait.” He shut the door behind him. “I have a question for you.” He leaned against the door, watching her shift uneasily on her feet. His gaze slid down to her puckered nipples through her thin T-shirt. He pondered if that was arousal or that she was cold.

It interested him to find out.

Not now
.

He lifted his gaze to her, and she gulped. “And the question is …?”

Aidan made mistakes with her, but he’d be damned if he didn’t correct them. She talked openly with Porter. He wanted that. She needed a closer relationship, and damned if he wouldn’t give it to her.

He was sick of being jealous of Porter. “Want to come rock climbing with me today?”

Her eyebrows shot up. “As in climbing the side of a cliff?”

“Well, we could climb a boulder.” He inhaled the coffee brewing in the kitchen and dropped his gaze directly in line with hers. “Somehow I think that would lack excitement.”

She hesitated, watching him furtively while nibbling her lip. “Is it … safe?”

“No, Cora.” He snorted, shaking his head at her. “I plan to take you rock climbing so you’ll plummet to your death.”

Her eyes sparkled. “Well …” She finally shrugged with a flick of her hair over her shoulder. “Guess I should go. Don’t want you to one-up me.”

Now, that sounded like the Cora he’d cared for these past years—strong, confident, and determined. With her in his presence, everything was good. He needed this, more than he
thought he ought to. “You had no plans?” he asked.

She smiled, giving him a playful grin. “Cleaning the house, grocery shopping, and being lazy.”

“Nothing important, then?” She shook her head and he added, “Great. Go put on some tight clothes and sneakers.”

Her face beamed with the waggle of her eyebrows. “Tight clothes, you say?”

Taking the couple steps toward her, he erased the distance, pulled by the electricity so powerful between them. The sun beamed through the windows at the door, and he was transfixed by her natural beauty. Her soul shined in her eyes, and that didn’t need makeup to accentuate it. “Tight, comfortable clothes for rock climbing.”

“Oh, no fun.” She smirked up at him, her gaze lit with an inner glow. “That sounded like
interesting
rock climbing.”

“Remember …” He stared at her pouty mouth. “I don’t plan to let you fall to your death.”

She gave a crisp nod. “Okay, tight clothes it is.”

“Smart thinking.” He searched her face, licking his lips. Somehow sexy Cora in the dungeon didn’t match the simplicity of her now. And he rather enjoyed seeing what she looked like in the morning—a little bit messy looked good on her. “Don’t worry, I’ll bring the rope.”

When he leaned away, her lips parted. “Speechless.”

“Good.” He grinned, giving her a swat on the ass. She squeaked and lurched forward, and he added, “I like you that way.”

Chapter Fourteen

An hour passed as Cora pressed against Aidan’s back. His bike tore through the Las Vegas streets and entered the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area. She had wished the ride had been longer; being there with him made her live in the moment, not acknowledging the past or the future.

Cora didn’t know what Aidan’s intention was by bringing her out here today, but she didn’t care. She wanted to stay just like this for as long as possible. The last hour had been the closest she’d ever been to being held by him.

Sex or aftercare in the club didn’t count.

This had been easy companionship, a prime male’s body against hers, with no expectation other than warmth and easiness. Besides, she smiled at how Aidan handled the motorcycle with efficiency and determination, exactly as he handled her body.

By the time he stopped the motorcycle in a small gravel parking lot she had no desire to be anywhere else. Surrounded by forest and inhaling the clean air, her back ached from the backpack filled with climbing gear.

With a weightless gaze, he took the backpack from her and settled it onto his shoulders. After he gave a catlike stretch, he winked at her. “Come, luv. It’s time to hike.”

“Giddy up.” She grinned.

He chuckled and approached the path through the forest with an easy, unhurried stride. She closed her eyes and tipped her head back, reveling in the hot sun. As his foot crunched against a branch, she hurried after him.

Silence fell between them and she allowed it, not filling the quiet with small talk. As the smoldering air brushed across her, a hawk soared high in the sky above, almost guiding their route. A floating sensation overwhelmed her with each step, like all her burdens had been removed.

“Ah, we’re here.”

Cora blinked out of her thoughts, nearly banging into Aidan’s back. She followed his gaze and looked up the large cliff,
and up … and up …
She turned to him. “You’re kidding,
right?”

He took off the backpack and his eyes squinted with a twinkle of mischief. “You did agree to go rock climbing.”

“Yeah,” Cora said with a firm nod. “I said climb a
rock
.” She pointed to the cliff. “That’s more than a rock. It’s a damn mountain.”

He laughed. “Believe me, it’s not.”

Cora scanned over the
mountain
. “Sorry to break it to you, but if I can’t see the top, then it’s a mountain.”

Aidan grinned and shook his head at her. He opened the backpack and pulled out ropes and harnesses. The gear that seemed appropriate for a dungeon had heaviness weighing her lower half. And she gulped down breaths at the size of that damned mountain.

Looking weak?

Nah, that wasn’t Cora.

Stuffing away her reservations, she held her shoulders high. She tilted her head back and scanned up the rock, noticing a long rope dangling from the top of the rock right to the bottom.

“Where are the bolt thingies?”

Aidan zipped up the bag, glancing to her. “That’s sports climbing, and you need experience to belay.”

Cora folded her arms. “To
what
?”

His mouth arched slightly as he approached her. Normally, she didn’t have his full attention unless they were in the dungeon. And when Aidan walked to her with a harness in hand her body zinged to life. She shivered and glanced away. It made the moment at once simple and not simple at all.

When the heat of his body engulfed her, she turned to him. He stared at her with those shadowy eyes that held such power and she damn near went boneless. He cocked his head, eyes zeroing in on her mouth. “Clipping the rope into the bolt is tricky. This is easier, believe me.” He held the harness up. “Let’s get you into this.”

Cora closed the distance, and Aidan got right to work. Her body hummed with each move and with every brush of his fingers against her skin. In Club Sin, his touches were always sexual, with intent to arouse, and now was no exception.

She studied his skilled fingers working her harness, and a slow, delectable burn engulfed
her. When he cleared his throat, Cora’s gaze flew to his eyes. A small smile broke over his face, and she grabbed for her thoughts through the filament of hazy arousal. “It’s easier to climb, says the man whose body is packed with muscle.”

His fingers froze on the harness and his eyes flared, smoldering with intoxicating dominance. “Compliments are nice, but you’re still getting up there. Besides, it’s only a five-point-six grade.”

Swallowing hard, Cora rolled her eyes. “Which means in English that a nonclimber can understand?”

His mouth twitched. “It’s not difficult.”

Aidan continued to move Cora this way and that, getting her into the harness, and she stole looks at him. His assistance was sensual, seeping fire into her loins. The harness fit very much like the ones they used on a sex swing, hugging her lower half like a pair of shorts with missing pieces in all the important areas.

Match that with the ropes hanging down from the top of the cliff, and she understood why Aidan leaned toward this sort of sport. The gear, from the harness to the ropes, were items also found in the dungeon. Perhaps this is where Aidan’s love for kink developed. Maybe using the items in the sport gave him his fantasies.

Ideas she was quite fond of.

He finished with the final clip on her harness and added, “It looks hard, but trust me, you’ll be all right.” He straightened, holding her stare. “Wait until you see a five-point-twelve grade. You’d think this was a baby rock face in comparison.”

She glanced up the mountain. It didn’t look babyish to her. In fact, it might as well have been Everest. Though her hands trembled, his beaming face left her breathless. Rock climbing and the outdoors warmed his gaze in a way she’d never seen. Her smile couldn’t be contained. “How do you know about grades and such?”

He shrugged, giving the straps on her harness a tug. “I have a book.”

Stepping back, he gave her a once-over. With a firm nod, he added, “You’re good to go.”

“Um …” Her heart hammered as she turned to the cliff. It still looked huge, and she heaved a sigh. “Don’t you think it’d be better to—I don’t know—start with a climbing wall in a gym?”

Aidan gave a half shrug. “You’ve got this. Cliffs in Nevada have more sandstone than
anything else. It has texture and is easier to climb.” He approached the backpack, and Cora’s gaze zeroed in on his tight ass.

She licked her lips.
Damn
.

He reached into the backpack and took out a small black bag. “You’ll need this, too.” With fingers far steadier than hers, he wrapped the strap around her waist and fastened it. His features softened, implying calm, as he added, “Before you start your climb, dip your fingers into the chalk. It’ll keep them dry.”

Cora glanced to the white chalk and snorted. “Which is a good thing, since my palms”—
and panties
—“are already soaked.”

His unforced laugh warmed her; regardless, her insides jumped around with the desire to flee. With a deep, satisfied breath, Aidan leaned away and regarded her. She’d never noticed the light brown highlights in his hair. It was normally so dark in the dungeon she’d never experienced those softer shades.

Her palms itched to feel the strands through her fingers.

She nibbled her lip and looked to his face, and discovered Aidan’s smirk. His gaze darkened, catching Cora’s breath as he reached for his shirt. She froze, pinned to the spot, as he removed his shirt and dropped it onto the ground.

The sun beaming down on his tanned, smooth shoulders had her fighting off a way-too-obvious shudder. An impossible feat, since he had suntan lotion making his skin glisten. At her soft sigh, his hands clenched briefly before they released.

His jaw clenched and he took a step forward. Then he stopped a foot away, seemingly fighting the same desires. He shut his eyes for a moment. Once they opened, his smoldering expression had vanished.

Cora’s heart panged. All the same, it reminded her of his cold distance in the dungeon, controlling her arousal. She shook her head and concentrated on the task. First thing first, climbing the damn rock and not dying in the process. “Okay, details to keep me alive.”