But she didn’t.
Charlie moved to stand directly in front of him. He lifted her dress to the tops of her thighs, bunching the shimmering fabric. “Hold this,” he ordered.
“You are aggravating in the extreme.”
“So I’ve been told.” He pulled her panties down to her thighs. It was tempting to kiss her there, but he forced himself to stay on task. Aiden held the small vibe against her clit as he shifted the lace back into place. It took a few seconds to maneuver it to exactly where he wanted, but then he sat back on his heels. “You can let go now.”
“This is an important night, Aiden.” She shifted, a frown on her face. “We don’t have time for your sex games to distract me.”
He pulled out his phone and brought up the app he’d downloaded when he bought the sex toy. A flick of his finger and her entire body tensed. Aiden didn’t bother to hide his satisfied smile. It fell away when he touched his pocket and the little box it held. “One more thing.”
“I swear to God, I draw the line at anal plugs, so don’t even think about it.”
That surprised a laugh out of him. What surprised him even more was how good it felt. When was the last time he’d laughed freely in a way that wasn’t calculated?
Aiden couldn’t remember.
He stood and pulled out the ring box. “I’d go down on one knee, but that isn’t the kind of relationship we have.”
“No, it’s not.” She looked a little sick, but she held out her hand so he could slide the ring onto it. “Aiden, it’s beautiful.”
“It was my grandmother’s.” It had taken some shady work to figure out Charlie’s ring size after he’d first met her, so that he could get the ring resized. He hadn’t told anyone about it. Though he’d been as sure of her as he could be of a near-stranger, he hadn’t wanted to admit the lengths he’d gone through, in case things didn’t pan out.
If anything, she looked even more horrified. “I can’t wear your grandmother’s ring. It’s not right.”
“You have to. As oldest son and heir, that ring rightfully belongs to my future wife. It would be more than a little suspicious if Ididn’tgive it to you.”
She touched the massive diamond. It was in the same setting as when his grandfather had proposed, little rubies and garnets surrounding the diamond, to represent colors in the O’Malley crest.
It felt a whole lot like he’d just branded Charlie.
It didn’t bother him nearly as much as it should.
Chapter Nine
Charlie was going to kill Aiden. He didn’t let up on that goddamn vibrator for a second during the ride over to the party. Between that and the giant diamond ring that she swore was weighing her hand down, she didn’t feel like herself anymore. Shewasn’therself anymore.
By the time the car pulled to a stop, she was panting a little, her body so primed for him, she was putting serious consideration into breaking her own rule and begging.
And then the vibrations between her legs…stopped.
She took a breath, and then another. “I hate this.”
“No, you don’t.” Aiden glanced out the window and then at the expensive watch at his wrist. “We have a little time.”
“What—oh.” She found herself in his lap, her back against his chest.
“You might think this is a mercy.” He pulled her dress up and slid his hand into her panties. “It’s not.”
She didn’t care. All that mattered was his hand workingbetween her thighs, taking up where the vibrator had left off. Charlie let her head rest on his shoulder as he fucked her with his fingers. “God, Aiden.”
“Tonight, bright eyes. If you make it through this dinner without sticking a fork in my jugular or embarrassing us both, I’m going to be inside you tonight.”
And just like that, she was coming, his free hand over her mouth to muffle her cries. He didn’t gentle his touch, ruthlessly driving her over the edge again, until all she knew was the man at her back, his fingers buried inside her.
He adjusted her panties, and she sobbed out a breath as the vibrator came into contact with her oversensitive clit. She was aching from the orgasm, and the sheer deviousness of what he’d just done struck her.
Charlie pushed off him, cursing. “Maybe I don’t want that cocktease of yours.” She couldn’t catch her breath. He wasn’t doing this. He couldn’t. When he made a move to get out of the car, she grabbed his arm. “Aiden.”
