The answer was definitely yes.
“You’re so full of shit,” Carter mumbled as we pulled into the hotel, driving down the familiar internal streets to our cabin.
It was a shame he had so little confidence in himself. Without it, getting him to see that hecouldbe honest—with himself and everyone else—was going to be a challenge.
Luckily, I was always up for a challenge.
13
Carter
I hummed happilyas Aiden kissed me, warm body pressing down on top of me, strong thighs framing my hips. Warmth trickled south, a slow build of arousal that made me squirm under him, chest tight with joy at having him like this.
This felt sogood. Why had I waited so long to ask?
Had I asked for it, or had Aiden just pounced on me? I couldn’t remember now. Didn’t matter. As long as he was kissing me, slow, thorough, and deliberate, I didn’t care who started it as long as it continued.
He laughed as he nuzzled and mouthed his way along my jawline, sucking on my earlobe and sending a jolt of pleasure down my spine as he nudged a sensitive spot with his tongue, making me squirm again. Aiden wasgood.
Of course he was. He was experienced and worldly and comfortable in his own skin, he’d been with womenandmen, he knew it all. Aiden probably could’ve made people come in their pants with a smirk.
I gasped as he nipped my neck, tilting his head back up to kiss him again, not done with his mouth, not sure I ever would be.
Aiden burst into a swarm of butterflies.
Someone pulled the ground out from under me, and I woke with a thump, blinking up at the swirling clouds outside the glass ceiling of the cabin.
Beside the couch.
Where I’d fallen asleep.
“Carter?” Aiden asked, pulling headphones out of his ears and walking over to me as I sat up, dazed and slightly sore from the fall. He looked me over, stunning jewel-colored eyes dark and worried. “You okay?”
It’d been a dream.
A knot of guilt made me feel like I was going to throw up for a moment, but it eased back as Aiden helped me up, a burst of tingles running down my arm instead.
“I’m…”
Aiden’s lips looked sosoft.
“Fine.” I swallowed, tearing my gaze away from him. I knew I was blushing, but I hoped he’d take it as embarrassment over falling off the couch in my sleep.
Aiden eased me back down, sitting beside me, worry rolling off him in waves.
Once, I could explain away as a momentary lapse in judgement. But now Aiden was in my subconscious, and I’dlikedit.
Even now, as he sat close enough for me to feel the warmth of his body, the pit of my stomach twisted uncomfortably.
I wasn’t ready for this. I couldn’t handle it.
“You donotlook fine,” Aiden said. “I’ll get you a glass of water.”
He was gone before I could protest, leaving me with the ghost of his hand on my arm and the increasingly faint memory of his mouth pressed to mine.
Yeah, I probably didn’t look fine, on account of being in the middle of the biggest shock of my life.
Dreams don’t mean anything, I told myself while Aiden poured water into a glass for me, the distant sound of it grounding my thoughts. It was just a dream. It wasn’t real.
