AIDAN
It’s almost nine o’clock when I finally leave Bones on Friday night. Having a section of the back blocked off deterred most of the business, so I chose to close the doors again until all the updates are finished. Alone in the quiet, I spent three hours sitting in the office staring at a wall, but I didn’t really come here to work. I just needed to go somewhere that didn’t remind me of her.
The walk back to my house gives me time to reflect on just how bad I screwed up with Jo. I might have fucked things up between us for good, but I don’t regret it. I’m over the meaningless sex, and I need her to admit that she is too. What Joanna and I have, whether it be a fated bond or not, it’s got so many strings I’m losing count.
I trek up the small hill that leads to the movie theater and see a car idling in the parking lot. The headlights are off, and all I can make out is a head of chestnut hair cast in shadow.
Joanna turns off her car when she sees me. I wait quietly with my hands in my pockets while she gets out.
She chews on her bottom lip and rubs her hands against the fabric of her jeans. “Hey.”
I smile sheepishly. “I didn’t think I’d see you for a while.”
Her hair is down, and she tucks some of it behind her ear. “I wanted to apologize for what I said.” She shifts her weight back and forth on her feet. I’ve never seen her this nervous. “I just…it’s a lot, you know? I’m not used to dealing with stuff this big, and it’s hard. I still don’t understand it.”
“I know. You don’t have to apologize, Joanna.”
She scoffs and wipes her nose. “No nickname tonight?”
I tilt my head, confused. I hadn’t noticed the change.
“Never mind.” She starts to get back in her car. “I just wanted to say sorry in person. I’ll go.”
I place my hand on top of the car’s frame to stop her. “Where are you going?”
She looks up, my chest heaving inches from her face. “Home.”
Those brown eyes search mine, waiting for me to ask the question that’s on the tip of my tongue. “You don’t want to come inside?” I ask.
She presses her back to the car, trying to create space with what little I’ve given her. “I thought you’d be done with me.”
My chest aches as I look down at her, the tops of her lashes fanning across her cheeks. She looks so sad, and despite any doubt from early today, I want to erase the frown on her face. I want her to know that it’s going to be okay. She can scream and kick and fight her way through this, but I’m not going anywhere.
This bond won’t let me.
I cup her jaw lightly, rubbing my thumb against her cheek as I lean in. “Do you trust me?”
A single tear falls from her cheek, and I wipe it away. She nods. I believe her, but I still don’t believe she trusts herself. It’s a small crack in her exterior, just an inch, but it’s enough.
My lips skim hers, and finally, that last bit of the wall she tried to erect between us crumbles away.
Joanna fallsback onto my bed as I kiss her neck, her long, beautiful hair fanning around her. We made it as far as the foyer before we started ridding one another of our clothes. I was already shirtless before slamming the front door shut. She straddled my waist, and I carried her up the stairs as she tossed her shirt and bra onto the steps, her mouth barely leaving my neck, my lips. When I set her down in my bedroom, she shimmied out of her jeans as I unbuttoned my pants.
Small little giggles burst out of her when her jeans get stuck on her calves, and the sound shoots straight to my heart. This soft, playful side of her is what I’ve wanted to see all along. This, along with the juxtaposition of the sultry look of heat in her eyes, I’m wholly captured by her. I don’t know the true meaning of love, but for her, I will die trying.
Being naked with Jo is heavenly—one less barrier I have to worry about getting in the way of her perfect body. She sighs as I kiss my way down her chest and pinch both nipples. Her back arches off the bed, but I press my palm to her stomach to flatten her. The heel of my hand settles in the dip of her belly button as I continue to tease her breast. She squirms beneath me, my full erection pressing into her thigh, so close to where she’s desperate for it to be.
Together, we’re balancing on a razor’s edge, and every place our bodies connect feels like lightning striking my skin. My senses are heightened to the extreme, and I’m afraid I can’t hold back much longer.
Joanna wraps her legs around my waist and yanks me closer. I squeeze her waist then slide to the underside of both breasts and cup them gently.
“I can’t decide which part of your body is my favorite,” I confess in a deep murmur.
The only light in the house casts a subtle glow from the den to where we’ve secluded ourselves upstairs in the loft, andI can just see the confident grin she’s making. “Do you have to choose?”
I drop my head between her breasts and kiss the space there. “No,” I say as my lips drag against her skin. “I don’t suppose I do.” I summon the little strength I have and step away from the bed. “Come to the edge,” I instruct her.
Now in a sitting position, she wraps both arms around my neck and lets her thighs fall to either side of my hips.
