No Kissing Allowed (No Kissing Allowed #1)(33)

“Aidan, please,” I begged, not recognizing the desperation in my voice. I’d never needed anything like I needed this release.

In one swift move, his boxers were off, and he reached for a condom from his nightstand. His sudden absence made my body shake with the need for him to return. And then he was back over me, his lips crashing onto mine in a kiss that felt less like a kiss and more like a long, deep breath after being underwater for far too long. We lost all restraint, our hands everywhere, and then he thrust inside me and all I could do was scream out his name, over and over, until my insides felt boneless and utterly content. My body quaked one final time as Aidan released, and then his body relaxed against me, our breaths heavy.

He combed my hair gently as he pulled my back flush against his chest, and I closed my eyes, exhaustion taking over, yet a part of me still wanted more. Would I ever get enough of this man? Memories of our first night together poured in—hot kisses, overwhelming passion—but this was something else. Something more.

“Cameron?”

“Hmm?”

“Stay for the weekend.”

I stilled in his arms, sure I hadn’t heard him right, then turned around, blinking as I peered up at him. “What did you say?”

“Stay with me for the weekend.”

A smile played at my lips, refusing to be contained. “All right.” Nuzzling my head under his neck, I drew in his all-manly smell, content that for now I didn’t have to worry about our jobs or forever. For now.





Chapter Sixteen


“So, Lucy broke her ankle?” I asked as I lay back on the couch, my legs on Aidan’s lap. I’d been on the phone with my mom for twenty minutes, listening to the full family update, and for once, I didn’t want to hurry her off the phone. There was something about being here with Aidan and talking to Mom that made it all feel very real. A part of me wanted her to ask where I was, what I was doing here, all so I would have to look at Aidan with my eyebrows lifted, because God, did I ever want to know. What was I doing here?

Hoping.

That was what I was doing. Despite my agreement to follow the rules, I found myself hoping for more. I liked being with him, liked the feel of his warm arms around me.

“What was that?” Mom asked.

“Oh, I didn’t say anything.”

“Not you. Eric. What? What!” she called out, shattering my eardrum.

“I’m talking to Cammie. What? No. Cam-mie!”

“Mom?”

“No, not Sally. You need to go see Dr. Hand!”

“Mom?”

“There’s nothing wrong with hearing aids if you need them!”

“Oh my God. Mom.”

“What?”

“You sound busy. Why don’t I call you tomorrow?”

I heard a ruffling sound, following by a spraying sound. She was cleaning, likely something that was already clean. “All right then, love. Talk to you tomorrow.”

I hung up and set the phone on my stomach, smiling at the ceiling.

“Why was your mom screaming?” Aidan asked as he flicked between two games on the TV.

“Oh, she wasn’t. Well, technically she was, but she and Eric like to scream out at the other from across the house. Or across the yard. Or anywhere, really.” I smiled again. “It’s just one of their things.”

Aidan’s face hardened. “Yeah, screaming was one of my parents’ things, too. Or maybe just my dad.”

“Did he yell a lot?”

A commercial flashed across the TV, and both our eyes turned, picking it apart, analyzing, trying to see how we might have done it differently.

“God, that was terrible.”

“It’s a Graham Group ad,” Aidan said with a nod. “He’s too traditional. Always has been. But to answer your question—no. He wasn’t a yeller. He preferred to make my mom feel like she didn’t deserve to be his wife, didn’t deserve to even be in his presence. I remember one Halloween we were going to a holiday party at his office. All the kids were supposed to dress up and the offices would each give out candy. Well, I wanted to be a dinosaur, but Mom couldn’t find a costume, so she decided to make it. The costume looked like a pickle with teeth, but she was so proud. Until Dad walked in the door. I’ll never forget the look on his face when he saw me. Like he’d never been more disgusted in his life. He grabbed my mom by the arm and dragged her up to my room, me crying after them, and started throwing all my clothes out of my closet, ordering her to take that shit off me and put on something presentable. She’d worked for weeks on the costume, only to have him throw it in the trash.”

“I’m so sorry.”

He shrugged. “It’s done. Besides, that was mild.”

I thought of what I could say to make him feel better, but our pasts couldn’t be erased with kind words in the present. They were a part of us, a living, breathing thing in our lives. I hadn’t met Aidan’s father, but the more I heard about him, the more I understood why Aidan was afraid to end up like him. Then I realized that with his mother gone and his jerk of a father, he had no one. No family to visit with. No place to go for the holidays.

“Do you have other family?”

Aidan cleared his throat and glanced out the window. “Not really. I’m not close with my extended family.”