Moonlight Road (Virgin River #11)(46)

“What if there’s more to me than meets the eye?” he asked her.

She smiled. “Lucky me. Here’s what I want to know about you, Aiden. I have a good income—are you after it?”

“I’m not after that, no,” he said suggestively.

“Are you likely to use me? Treat me abusively? If we were involved, cheat on me?”

“Never. And we are going to be involved.”

“Want to know what I like best about you? That you aren’t afraid to be yourself. When I met you, I’m pretty sure I was insulting—making cracks about your appearance, your smell…” She giggled. “Lord, did you stink! My brother-in-law, Ian, he said that until he got to know me a little better, he thought I was snooty. I’m not. But I know I can be judgmental. I was pretty hard on him, too.”

“And stubborn,” he said with a smile.

“And that. And the truth is—I’m always afraid to be myself. I’m always trying to measure up.”

“There’s no reason for that,” he said. “You’re perfect.”

“I was fighting for my life in school, Aiden. My way of dealing with the pressure was to be perfect. Or maybe better than perfect. And then later, in my practice? My clients are my clients because they’re incredibly successful and are closely scrutinized by the IRS.”

“Understandable.”

“I apologize if I offended you when we were first getting to know each other….”

He grinned. “And I apologize if I gave you a concussion.”

“You chased away my bear. That zeros the debt. Can we go home soon?”

“Aren’t you enjoying the redwoods?”

“I love the redwoods. But I’m hungry and it’s a very busy weekend coming up. I’m having company and I want you to pick a time to come over and meet them.”

“There’s a town party for the Fourth,” Aiden said. “Monday at Jack’s. Well, behind Jack’s. Preacher’s going to fire up the barbecue and my whole family will be there. Will you and your family come?”

“Do we have to be invited? Because no one told me about it…”

He was shaking his head. “Everyone is invited. I think your sister and brother-in-law know a lot of the folks from town. They’d probably enjoy that.”

“The point is,” she said, “there will be lots of people around all weekend. Starting tomorrow evening for me, when Marcie arrives. So before all that starts, I want a little time alone with you.”

He was quiet for a moment; his eyes shone intensely into hers. “Are you ready for that, Erin?” he asked solemnly. “To be alone with me?”

“We’ve been alone plenty of times,” she said in a whisper.

“This time it’s going to be different.”

And she swayed toward him, offering her lips again. Her eyes drifted closed. In a breath she said, “Okay…”

All the way back to Virgin River the only thing Aiden could think about was Erin, her delicious mouth, the sweet scent of her skin and hair. While they made small talk about what they could have for dinner, he anticipated the satiny feel of her skin against his and he couldn’t wait to get past this first time with her so they could have so many, many more times. They stopped at a Fortuna grocery and bought a roasted chicken, salad greens, shoestring fries for the oven and a bottle of wine. And as they drove and made more small talk—about the town party, the number of people who would want their undivided attention and how inconvenient that suddenly was—all Aiden could think about was how many different times, ways, places and positions he wanted to get her in. He was trying to remind himself that women didn’t like to be rushed.

But, when they got to the cabin, he shoved the groceries into the refrigerator, grabbed her wrist and said, “Come on.” She laughed as he dragged her to the bedroom. When he got her beside the bed, he pulled her against him so she’d know that he was as hard as a baseball bat…as if she hadn’t gotten that message the previous few hours, especially when pressed up against a redwood. He covered her mouth in a searing, desperate, hungry kiss that made her moan. The moan came from so deep inside her that he was anxious to chase it, find it, please it and worship it. “God,” he said. “Oh man, oh God…”

“Just how long has it been, Aiden?” she asked him softly.

“I can’t even remember. But don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you.”

“I’m not worried,” she said.

He began pulling at her clothes while he kissed her. His hand was on the back of her head, his fingers splayed and threaded through her silky hair, his tongue in her mouth as he devoured her. He fell with her onto the bed, tugging her shirt off. Pretty soon she was helping him. They kicked off tennis shoes; shorts and shirts went flying and they were writhing together in just underwear. To his absolute delight, it was her hand that slipped under the waistband of his boxers, grasping him. And with that, he groaned and she gasped. That was always a good sign, he thought. A little gasp. He was pretty sure that meant he was of sufficient size to please her.

He struggled with her bra—it wasn’t the easy kind. The clasp was in the back, so he rolled her a bit and worked it clumsily, but it finally gave way. She had to let go of him to let the straps slip off her shoulders and he heard a sound of disappointment come from himself. Then he heard his groan of pleasure when she put her hand back on him. Next, her panties. Where were the panties? His hands ran down her belly and hips. “Where are your panties?” he asked breathlessly.