From One Night to Forever (18 page)

Kacey cocked a brow and harrumphed. “Why is that?” She lifted the can to her lips for a sip.

“I wanted to check on you.”

The can jerked in her hands and drops of the red margarita spilled on the front of her dress. She swore and wiped them briskly. “You don’t have to check on me.”

“I know I don’t have to, but that doesn’t change that I want to. How did things go at your dad’s party?”

Her hand gripped the small can, causing a slight bend in the aluminum. “The same as always. He was glad I was there. His family was cordial. Brenda’s family wasn’t.”

Aaron’s body tensed. “Were they rude to you?”

Kacey put the can down and tried to wave it off, but her lips were tight. “Not exactly. Just a little cool with their reception. It’s normal. Not many of them are happy to have Cliff’s bastard around.”

Anger shot through his body. His hands balled into fists. “Did they call you that?”

“No. No one’s called me that since I was four and the entire situation first came out.”

Aaron cursed and ran a hand over his face. “How could someone say that to a child?”

“It wasn’t exactly to me, just about me. In the middle of a grocery store as Cliff tried to keep my momma and Brenda from fighting.”

Aaron frowned and his mouth dropped. “You’re kidding.”

She took a sip from the margarita. “I wish I were. The entire situation with them started out so volatile. Now they all act as if everything is cool and they didn’t once fight over Cliff in the middle of the grocery store.”

“Maybe they matured.”

“Or maybe they’re just crazy,” she said with disgust. “I don’t get it.”

“There’s nothing to get. Your mom and Cliff got together and you were born, which to me is a great thing no matter the circumstances. Things were bound to be bad when the situation got out, but then cooler heads prevailed and they all learned to deal with the situation because regardless of how the adults behaved, the sweet, beautiful girl who came from that had nothing to do with it.”

Kacey’s wide, dark eyes turned to him, and something tightened in Aaron’s chest. “You don’t have to feel bad for their mistakes. They found a way to make things work and you had the love of your mom and your dad. A lot of people don’t get that.”

“I know, but is it wrong that a small part of me wanted what you had? Two parents, married, in love.”

“Boring,” Aaron said, waving his hand. “When you look up ‘perfectly boring married couple,’ you see my parents. They worked, took care of me and my siblings, and worry about us in between family meetings and Sunday dinners. No excitement at all.”

She rolled her eyes, but smiled. “If you had my family, you’d appreciate boring.”

Maybe he would. He did appreciate his parents and the stability they provided. But even with all that, he didn’t envy their life. The weight of responsibility that he and his siblings put on them.

“Always trying to one-up me,” Aaron said. “It’s why I like you.”

Her dark eyes met his. Something sparked and her sad expression turned into a sweet smile.

“I like you too, Aaron,” she said, her voice a low, melodic sound that sent another type of heat through his body. Kacey smirked. “Sometimes.”

Aaron chuckled and her sexy laugh joined his. “Only sometimes, huh?”

He also liked her sense of humor, and her teasing jabs. They made him want to kiss her. Made him think about how much he’d liked kissing her and how great her slim legs felt when they were wrapped around his waist. How easily he’d lost himself when they’d slept together.

Kacey shifted on the top of the dryer. She picked up the can and ran a finger across the rim. “Well, you’ve checked on me. You can go back to Tara now.”

To hell with Tara. “I don’t want to.”

She sipped from the can and licked those wonderful full lips of hers. “What do you want?”

No hesitation. “To kiss you.”

Kacey’s already speeding heartbeat jumped another level. She should insist he go back to Tara, finish her drink, and go home. But the second she’d seen her family friend pressed up on Aaron, her brain screamed “mine” and she’d wanted to grab Tara by her long ponytail and jerk her away from Aaron’s side. Especially since Aaron didn’t appear to mind the attention. She was already emotional from Cliff’s party, which she could blame for the extra shot of jealousy coursing through her. Besides,
she
had walked away, and he followed.

“Then kiss me,” she said in a soft but confident voice. Though he could still walk away and go back to Tara.

Aaron closed the door and strolled across the small space to stand before her. A thrill of victory swelled within her. He’d made his choice, and she had no intention to squander her triumph.

Pulling on her skirt, she slowly lifted the material to gather around her thighs and spread her legs. She motioned with her head for him to come closer.

“If I kiss you I can promise you, I won’t stop at that.”

Kacey grabbed the waistband of his dark blue shorts and jerked him forward. “I’m familiar with your lack of self-control.”

She licked her lips, thinking about how he’d lost the cool façade he carried around right before he climaxed.

“So you think I have little control?”

“I’m not complaining.”

His large hand slid up her thighs and gripped the soft flesh. “Let’s test your self-control.”

“Mine isn’t the one in question.”

“Remind me of that when we leave this room.”

Aaron cupped the back of her head with one hand and kissed her. Kacey clutched his red cotton T-shirt and pulled him in. She didn’t care about anything thanks to the magic of his kiss. The sweet glide of his tongue against hers and the firm pressure of his body had her slanting her head to the side to get closer.

She breathed deep, and fast, getting drunk off the smell of soap, sweat, and the spicy masculine fragrance that heated her blood. She knew all the reasons why they shouldn’t be here, how easily they could get caught, and she didn’t care. All she wanted was Aaron, who’d called her beautiful and said the situation with her parents wasn’t her fault. Something she knew, but she liked hearing from another person.

Now she needed him. Wanted him. And based on the urgent grip of the hands on her head and thigh, he felt the same. The kiss was full of the same thoroughness that he’d shown that first night, but edged with the pent-up desire they’d tried to ignore.

Aaron’s hand on her thigh slid up to the throbbing pulse between her legs. Kacey spread farther, and pushed her hips forward. A deep moan rumbled through his chest, and his long fingers massaged her through the damp material of her panties. Pleasure pulsed through her body. She gasped, her head falling back, and she bit her lower lip to hold back her shout. Aaron pressed hot kisses along her neck, alternating between fast brushes of his lips and light nips with his teeth. His body was rigid, tight with desire that she wanted unleashed.

Had only two weeks passed since they’d had sex? She felt as if she hadn’t been touched in over a year.

Pushing her panties aside, Aaron’s fingers slowed their quick movements to gently knead her wet folds. Kacey’s mouth fell open. Her nails dug into his shoulders.

“Oooh, yes.” The words were a loud moan.

Aaron sucked the sensitive spot at the base of her neck. “Control, Kacey, you don’t want anyone to hear you.”

The hand on her head dropped to her breast. He squeezed before lifting the flesh and lowering his head to pull at the tip through her dress. She clamped her lower lip between her teeth and stifled a moan. Thoughts of control were irrelevant when he touched her like that. Kacey reached for his erection, but he pulled his hips back.

“Not yet,” he said in a deep, rumbling voice.

Aaron straightened. His lids were low over his hypnotic, dark eyes and he stared into hers. He gathered the ends of her dress around her waist and pushed the material further up and around. Kacey’s short, fast breaths sounded ten times louder in the small space. The sound was anxious and urgent, giving away how much she wanted this. He slipped his fingers into the waistband of her panties and pulled. Kacey lifted her hips, and he eased them down her legs. The slow scrape of the material against her legs made her breath come faster, harder.

He stuffed the wet material into the pocket of his shorts. Again she reached for his waistband, her fingers trembling with the need to get to the growing hard bulge clearly visible behind his zipper.

“Not yet.” His teasing, sexy smile split his lips.

“I don’t have all day,” she said in a rush.

“This won’t take all day.” Sure hands gripped her hips and pulled her forward. Cool air and his scorching stare covered her exposed sex. “Control,” he said before licking his lips and lowering his head. Then his tongue was there, slowing running from bottom to top in long, sure strokes.

Kacey cried out. Then bit her lip. How could she possibly keep up a façade of control when this man had a tongue that should be in the sexual hall of fame? His full lips covered her swollen nub followed by steady pulls. Make that
his entire mouth
needed hall of fame recognition. Aaron raised a hand to palm her breast, his fingers making delightful circles around her nipple while his mouth created magic between her legs.

Voices came from the other side of the laundry room door. Kacey stiffened; her eyes popped open. Oh, God, she couldn’t be caught like this. She tried to push Aaron away, but damn the man and his hall of fame tongue because he made quick, lazy flicks across her clit. Blood rushed through her ears. Her lids fluttered closed, and the hand at his shoulder gripped and pulled forward instead of pushing away. His soft curls brushed her fingers and who was she to not succumb to the temptation and dig her fingers into the thick mass?

“The nursery is over here,” Camila’s voice came from the other side. Followed by another female’s.

They needed to stop. He’d made his point, and she had definitely lost control. Aaron slid his finger into her, and she clenched around the thick digit.

“Mmm, damn, Kacey, I love it when you squeeze me,” he said, his lips brushing against her.

Kacey bit her lips, but the movement barely stifled her moans. Aaron’s lips covered her clit again. The voices continued. Kacey lost herself in the pleasure. One hand balled into a fist on the cold surface of the washing machine, the other held Aaron’s head in place. Aaron started the quick flicks and her hand jerked, knocking over the can of strawberry margarita. The can tumbled between the washer and dryer. The sweet smell of the drink filled the room.

She was sure someone had to have heard and would burst through the door. Aaron added another finger and then slid his fingers in and out in long, deep strokes. The president could walk in right now, there was no way she’d be able to stop. Her teeth pressed into her lower lip, and the sound of Aaron’s efforts combined with her muffled moans and heavy breaths echoed in the tiny area.

She gripped his hair and twisted her hips. “Oh God, oh God, oh God,” she cried out. Control snapped. Her orgasm exploded through every cell within her. Strong spasms rocked and pulled at her midsection, and she slapped her hand against the washing machine then pulled her lips between her teeth to keep from yelling again.

Aaron’s fingers slowed and he moaned against her still trembling flesh. After one final intimate kiss, he stood and stared at her in the eye. His lips lifted in a cocky grin. “Good job maintaining control.”

Kacey’s head fell back and she panted. A lazy grin spread across her face. She was too sated to care that he’d won this round.

“But I’m not done.”

Kacey lifted her head. He was a blur as she looked at him through slitted lids. He reached into his back pocket and pulled something out. Kacey’s eyes widened.

“You carry condoms in your pocket?”

He opened the small foil pack and slid the protection over his long, curved cock. “I’m always prepared.”

He griped her hips, pulled her forward, and then slid, fast and hard, into her. Kacey’s head fell back again. “Oh my God, yes!” she said in a long, slow moan.

He pulled her forward, one hand at the back of her head, the other clenched to her hip. He kissed her neck and pounded into her with sure, steady strokes.

The pleasure was intensified, her body still sensitive and on high alert from her orgasm. She lifted her legs to wrap them around his waist. Her hand gripped his butt and added her own push to his strokes.

“Squeeze me, Kacey.” Aaron’s low, desire-filled voice rumbled against her neck.

She did, feeling every thick ridge and the unique fit of him within her body. Her legs shook. She focused on the pleasure, lost everything, and opened herself up to accept the exquisite ecstasy created by their union. The trembles started low in her midsection, then steadily spread out until they burst into another orgasm. She clenched him; her shoulder muffled his cry as his own orgasm tore through his body.

Kacey didn’t care who heard. Not at this moment. This moment was too perfect to care about anything else.

• • •

Kacey left the laundry room first, after cleaning up as much of the spilled strawberry margarita as she could with one of the towels in the laundry room. She went out the back door. Aaron was to come out a few minutes later and make his way to the backyard. To her surprise, when she walked through the kitchen no one stopped her or asked where she’d come from. Camila just smiled and kept on talking. Kacey’s face flamed. She could only hope her sister-in-law and whomever she’d shown the nursery to hadn’t overheard Kacey’s lack of control in the laundry room.

The cookout was going on in the backyard as it had before she’d gone upstairs. People laughing, talking, the grill still smoking and covered with enough food to feed the entire neighborhood. Which, knowing Reggie and Camila, they’d invited.

She glanced at Tara, sitting on the bench near the house looking at her phone then looking at the house. Probably checking the time and wondering where Aaron had gone. Kacey grinned, thoroughly pleased that Aaron would not be going anywhere with Tara.

“Where have you been?” Monique’s voice broke through the noise in the background.