He grinned, but there was something in the depths of his eyes that she didn’t immediately comprehend. A look of concern, or hesitation. But a moment later, he was scooping her up and saying, ‘I thought you’d never ask, Mastrangelo.’
Held cradled against his chest like that, she felt so petite and fragile, so protected and cossetted, that she had to immediately tamp down a sense of how much shelikedfeeling protected. It reminded her of how he’d made her feel as a teenager. Like he would always shield her, always be there to care for her, whenever she needed it. She’d mistaken his physical strength for something else entirely. She’d been mistaken about a heck of a lot of things back then. She’d seen what she’d wanted to. That hadn’t been fair on either of them.
‘But this is just sex,’ she said, after a beat. ‘It doesn’t mean anything. Okay?’
His response was to kiss her. Not a brushing of lips, but a proper, heart-squeezing, stomach-looping, knee-shaking, bone-melting kiss. The kind where his lips pushed hers apart and his tongue slid in and glided with hers, like some kind of erotic, tangly dance. When they reached the bed, he laid her down on it in the same motion that he brought his body over hers, his weight mostly held by his elbows, but just enough on Sienna to make her body throb with a hot, desperate need.
She knew this was a form of temporary delirium. Brought on by the heat and the beauty of the island, by the sense she’d carried for more than ten years that she and Aiden had never really had any proper closure, that somehow, what they’d been back then sort of deserved a better send off. But it was also just about desire.
She wanted him as much as she had as a teenager. That hadn’t changed over time. She’d thought it had. She’d thought she’d outgrown whatever feelings she’d once had for him, but she was starting to recognise the merit of a ‘chemical reaction’ argument. Like adding heat to water and expecting it to boil, being near Aiden ‘Walk Out On You’ Carter just did something strange to her insides. And that was okay with her, because she wasn’t going to be around him for much longer.
Surrendering herself to this was way easier – and more fun – than ignoring it.
Plans for revenge seemed so petty now. So unnecessary. He’d walked out on her, and she’d deserved better, but it was a long way in the rear-view mirror. There was no sense holding that grudge for the rest of her life.
She’d learned a lot from how he’d treated her. It had made her stronger. Harder. And it had shown her that she could cope with a hell of a lot more than she’d ever realised.
She hadn’t needed him to protect her, in the end. She’d done a pretty damned good job of that, all on her own. She’d never rely on anyone else again.
His hands caught the flimsy material of her shirt and pushed it up her body. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and the moment his palms connected with her bare breasts, his fingers tracing her nipples before squeezing them, so she convulsed. ‘Aiden,’ she groaned against his mouth.
‘Too much?’
She shook her head, lifting her feet onto the mattress and arching her back. ‘Not enough. Not nearly enough.’
She felt his smile against her mouth right before he kissed her, hard, heavy, desperate and demanding, only breaking away so he could push her shirt the rest of the way off her body, and then, so his mouth could drag over her collarbone, towards one breast, which he seemed determined to worship. His tongue flicked her nipple, then sucked it into his mouth, the warmth of him, the touch of his fingers on her other breast, the weight of his body, the way he smelled, like the beach and summer, and soapy, too, as if he’d just showered. She lifted her hips, so she felt his arousal through their far-too-many layers of clothing, and tilted her head back on a groan of exasperated need.
Her hands seemed to remember, belatedly, that they could explore, too, and she ran them under his shirt, over his back, feeling his smooth, warm skin, then pushing them lower, driving his fingertips into his shorts, curving over his buttocks – so hard and muscly, there was no mistaking this man’s athleticism.
‘God, Aiden, work out much?’ she asked through pants of breath, as he transferred his mouth to her other breast.
She swore then, the pleasure almost blinding in its intensity.
‘I could ask you the same thing.’
Something fluttered in her chest. Pleasure, because of his compliment. Pleasure she didn’t want to feel. At least, she didn’t want to feel it because of him. Not that kind of pleasure, anyway.
‘Less talking,’ she decided. ‘More undressing.’
His laugh was hoarse. ‘You’ve gotten bossy.’
She rolled her eyes. ‘Opinionated and assertive, and neither of those is a bad thing.’
‘Nope. Definitely not a bad thing.’ He pulled away from her then, standing at the foot of the bed, looking down at her. ‘You’re really sure about this?’
She pushed up onto her elbows, staring at him, aghast. ‘Seriously?’
He held his hands up placatingly. ‘I was just going to say, before this goes any further, I should probably go get something from my room. Unless you happen to travel with a stash of condoms?’
She felt the colour drain from her face.
A sharp blade of panic sliced her to the core.
A condom.
Ofcoursethey needed to use protection. She wouldneverever risk accidentally falling pregnant to anyone, let alone Aiden. Just the thought of going through all that again turned her insides to ice.
‘It’s okay,’ he said, moving towards the door. ‘I’ll be right back.’ He’d obviously misunderstood her reaction. Or maybe he hadn’t even clocked it. Either way, she was glad. She didn’t particularly feel like talking about the precautions she always took. She was on the pill, and she always practised safe sex as well.
