Slowly his eyes open. He looks confused before his mind seems to settle in real time. “Why are you staring?” he asks groggily.
“Just admiring the view.” I smile, pushing strands of his hair away from his forehead. I don’t ever want to leave this bed.
My skin heats when I feel his thigh brush my leg as he lifts it over my hip. He’s so pliant when we’re like this. Normally he’s so closed off, but here in bed with me he just seems to let all that go. All the stress and evil he seems to live with just seems to melt from the hard lines of his face.
My fingers touch and trail along his skin.
I cup his face and lean in, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. “I want to check your back, then do you want to help me? I have a recipe I want to try.” Aiden nods and I press a kiss between his eyes.
“Why are you so nice to me?” Now his hands roam and touch along my back.
“Why wouldn’t I be kind to you?” My thumb brushes his cheek. “How’s your back feeling?”
“Sore. I don’t know how much help I’m going to be. I feel tired.”
“I’m sure.” I kiss his lips. “You don’t have to help. You can just watch.”
His throat works before he nods. “Thank you.”
My fingers ghost down his cheek. “What happened? This scar?” I’m curious but I also want him to talk to me.
“I got into some trouble at school and they sent the police to our door. I’d been out sick, but my mother wouldn’t get my assignments for me, so I missed them. I always tried so hard, and I wanted to get good grades. In my mind back then, I thought if I did, I might be successful enough to run away from Ivan and my mother. The teacher wouldn’t let me make up my assignments, though, so I got pissed and set my failing report card on fire and threw it in the trash. I know it was wrong.”
I watch him swallow.
“They let me go on a suspension, but the damage was done at home. Ivan told her to discipline me. So she beat me.” He biteshis lower lip. “That wasn’t enough for him, though. I’d brought the police to his door. This was before Katya was born.”
“And how did you get the scar?”
“He held a knife to my eye and sliced deep down my face. He told me the next time I called attention and brought the cops to his door I’d lose an eye.”
“Aiden, that’s horrible.”
My fingers smooth through his hair as he looks like he’s trying to fight the oncoming emotion welling in his eyes. “I’m used to it.”
I pull him into my arms and hold him. I feel him shake softly and cup the back of his head. “Doesn’t make it right.” His being used to it makes it worse.
Finally, he pulls back, rubbing his face.
“What are we going to do today?”
“Who are these for?”
I write down all the ingredients I’m going to need for these cupcakes. We could go downstairs and do this there, but I don’t want to leave my apartment yet.
More than that, I don’t want Aiden to have to put on clothing.
His tan thighs are a bit distracting. How bad I want to be between them is even more so.
Back to work.
Jane only needs three different flavors, and since it’s for an art opening, I want to decorate them specially. “My sister is an art dealer, and a client of hers has ordered them for a showing. Just testing out some flavors, that’s all. I’m going to make a rose pistachio cupcake, a raspberry cupcake with raspberry cream in the middle, and then a chocolate-covered strawberry cupcakewith strawberry buttercream. They all have to have pink icing, but different kinds of flavors. I just want to test out the frosting for the raspberry one.”
“Are you making frosting?”
I nod, grabbing a bowl. “Just a simple one. The butter I need for the other buttercream is downstairs. I just wanted to try out the whipped cream frosting for the raspberry-cream cupcakes.” I push the bowl between us. “Want to try?”
“Are we making the cupcakes now?”
