Deity (Covenant #3)(50)

“Look,” Aiden said, his hands rising into the air. “Get mad at me. Hit me. It doesn’t change anything.”

I moved toward him, to push him but not actually hit him. “You can’t—”

Aiden caught both my wrists and hauled me into his lap, switching my wrists to one hand. He sighed. “I didn’t mean for you to actually hit me.”

Too stunned to respond, I just stared at him. Our heads were only inches apart. My legs tangled with his, and then he reached up with his free hand, smoothing the mess of hair back from my face. My breath caught as my heart sped up. Our gazes locked and his eyes turned to quicksilver.

He cupped the nape of my neck. I heard his sharp intake of breath. Then he let go of my wrists and grasped my hips. Before I could blink, I was on my back, and Aiden hovered over me. Using one arm to support himself, he lowered his head and brushed his lips over my swollen cheek.

“How do we always end up like this?” he asked, voice rough as his gaze traveled away from my face and down my body.

“I didn’t do this.” Slowly, I lifted my hands and placed them against his chest. His heart jumped under my palm.

“No. This was all me.” The lower half of his body shifted down. Our legs were flush. His eyes searched mine. “It gets harder every time.”

My brows rose and I bit back a giggle. “What does?”

Aiden grinned and his eyes lightened. “Stopping before it’s too late.”

In a second, everything—the rift that had come between us the day I’d given him that stupid pick, what I’d seen in the Catskills, the mess we were in, and even Seth—everything vanished. The words came out of me in a rush. “Don’t stop.”

Chapter 15

AIDEN’S EYES SEEMED TO GLOW FROM WITHIN AS HE stared down at me. Like in the library, I knew he wanted to kiss me. His resolve was cracking and the hand against my cheek trembled.

I slid my hands down his taut stomach, stopping above the band of his pants. More than anything I wanted to lose myself in him, to forget about everything. I wanted him to lose himself in me.

He sucked in air, lips parted. “It probably would be a good idea if Leon or someone else was watching you during the night.”

“Probably.”

His lips tipped into a crooked smile as his hand drifted away from my cheek, down my neck and under the collar of my sweater. I jumped a little when his hand skimmed over my shoulder. “People say hindsight is always twenty-twenty,” he said.

I didn’t care about people’s eyesight. All I cared about was his hand on my skin, pushing the sweater down my arm. “When… when does the next babysitter arrive?”

“Not until morning.”

Butterflies went crazy in my stomach. Morning was several hours away. A lot of things could go down in those hours. “Oh.”

Aiden didn’t respond. Instead, his fingers skimmed over the tags on my arm and then he closed his eyes. A shudder rolled through his entire body, shaking me to my core. Then his head dipped and dark waves of hair fell forward, but not quick enough to shield the hunger in his stare.


I tensed, my chest tightening. His breath was warm and tantalizing on my lips, and then they brushed across mine so softly. That simple act stole my breath, my heart. But even as he pulled away, I realized that he couldn’t steal something he already had.

Aiden rolled onto his side, pulling me along with him. He eased one arm under me, cradling me to his chest so tightly I could feel his heart thundering. There was something under his shirt that pressed against my cheek. I realized it was his necklace.

“Aiden?”

He lowered his chin to the top of my head and drew in a deep breath. “Go to sleep, Alex.”

My eyes snapped open. I tried to lift my head, but I couldn’t move an inch. “I don’t think I can sleep now.”

“Well, you better try.”

I tried to wiggle free, but he moved his leg, clamping one of mine between his. My fingers curled into his thermal. “Aiden”

“Alex.”

Frustrated, I pushed on his chest. Aiden’s laugh rumbled through me, and even though I wanted to smack him, I started to smile. “Why? Why did you kiss me? I mean, you did just kiss me, right?”

“Yes. No. Sort of.” Aiden sighed. “I wanted to.”

My smile started to turn giddy. It was like there was a part of me that had no perception of the outside world or all the consequences—the part that was completely controlled by my heart. “Okay. Then why did you stop?”

“Can we talk about anything other than that? Please?”

“Why?”

His hand moved up my back, delving into my hair and sending shivers over my skin. “Because I asked you nicely?”

Being this close to him wasn’t helping. Every time I breathed, it was full of his aftershave and the scent of sea salt. If I moved, it only brought us closer. There was no way in hell I was sleeping any time soon. “This is so wrong.”

“That’s the truest thing you’ve said this evening.”

I rolled my eyes. “And this is completely your fault.”

“Not going to argue with that.” Aiden shifted onto his back, and I ended up pinned to his side. I tried to sit up, but he locked his arms together. My head ended up on his shoulder with my arm trapped against his stomach. “Tell me something,” he said after I stopped struggling.