Then someone bumped into us. We parted. Aiden tangled his fingers around mine and stared down at me, his eyes wide like he’d had no intention of kissing me in the middle of the dance floor with everyone in Mustang Mountain looking on.
“Do you want to get out of here?” he asked.
At my nod, he led me toward the door. In my lovesick stupor, I almost forgot to grab my coat, but remembered as we passed the coat closet on our way out. He helped me shrug it on over my shoulders, then wrapped his arm around me. Together, we walked out of the community center and toward the truck.
I wasn’t sure what he had in mind, but there was no turning back now.
CHAPTER 7
AIDEN
I silencedthe voice in my head that urged me to put on the brakes. All I could think about the whole ride back to the ranch was how it felt to kiss Paisley. And how much I wanted to do it again.
As soon as we stumbled inside the bunkhouse, my hands tangled in her hair. Her coat fell to the floor, and our lips smashed together. My senses overloaded with the smell of her perfume, the sound of the low moans coming from the back of her throat, and the sweet taste of wine on her lips.
I slid my fingers over her satin skirt in an attempt to hike it up her thighs. I’d tried to fight the attraction, but when I’d seen her standing on the dance floor in a form-fitting dress that clung to her curves, I’d lost it. And when another man had touched her, all I could see was red.
With her back pressed against the wall, I cupped her ass with my arm and lifted. Caught between my chest and the unyielding paneling, she wrapped her legs around my waist. The skirt shifted as her high heels hit the floor. I plunged my tongue into her mouth and took control.
What we were doing was so wrong, but it felt so right. She molded against me, her soft curves a perfect fit to my hardangles. The heat between us could have set the whole damn bunkhouse on fire. I hadn’t been with a woman in over nine years. My cock strained against my zipper. Paisley ground her hips into mine, the friction driving me wild.
Not yet. I wanted to savor every moment, store it away in my memory to relive whenever I needed to remind myself that someone wanted me. Even if she only needed me in the heat of the moment, it was a start.
I pushed off the wall and carried her toward my side of the bunkhouse. Remembering my pillow and quilt were still in the barn, I changed direction. On our way across the room, my leg bumped into the small dining table in our shared space.
“Touch me, Aiden.” Her voice came out breathless, her lips barely losing contact.
Desperate to give her exactly what she wanted and so much more, I rested her ass on the edge of the table. “Are you sure about this?”
She nodded, giving consent without breaking our kiss. Her palms skimmed down my shoulders and started working my buttons free. At the same time, I slid my hands under her skirt and up her smooth thighs. Goose bumps pebbled her skin. My shirt fell away, and I pulled my arms free.
She leaned back, her gaze raking over my bare chest. “You’re rock hard.”
“Baby, you have no idea.” I took her hand and showed her exactly how hard I was.
Her eyes widened as she bit down on her bottom lip. “It’s been a long time for me.”
Warmth spread through my chest at her show of vulnerability. I needed to reassure her, so I squeezed her hands. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, Paisley.”
Nodding, she shifted her gaze to where our hands joined. “I want to do this. I’m just…”
“What, baby?” My fingers nudged her chin upward until she met my gaze.
“I’m afraid you’re going to break me.” Those big green eyes held volumes of truth. Her seriousness threw me. So much that I couldn’t help but try to lighten the moment.
“If you’re worried about it fitting, I promise you can take me. We’ll go slow.”
She held my gaze and shook her head back and forth. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.” The truth was, I was scared shitless. This woman had the ability to ruin me in more ways than one. I’d never been prone to taking a chance when it came to matters of the heart. But Paisley made me want to try something different. Made me want to be a man she could depend on. I hadn’t quite wrapped my head around that yet. “Maybe we should rethink this?—”
Her lips crashed into mine, stopping me from saying anything more. At that point, I forced my brain to take a backseat while my body took over. I tugged the dress up, and she lifted her arms over her head to let me peel it off her. She didn’t have on a bra, and my eyes drank her in.
“Come here.” I lifted her up and carried her beyond the curtain marking off her side of the bunkhouse. Even in the dim light, I could see the house plants on her windowsill and framed art she’d hung up around the room. We were as different as night and day, belonged together about as much as peanut butter and pickles. But something inside her drew me toward her like a freezing man desperate for the warmth of a fire who knew he was going to get burned.
She laid back on the bed and pulled me with her. I buried my nose in her hair, inhaling the sweet scent of her shampoo. Her fingers went to the button of my jeans. Within seconds, I’d shed my pants and kicked them onto the floor.
Starting at her neck, I kissed and nibbled my way down her body, stopping to pay homage to the most gorgeous set of tits I’d ever seen. I brushed my thumb over one nipple while I sucked the other into my mouth and swirled my tongue around the hard bud.
