King's Queen Page 15

  I sighed. “It’s not like you told me about all your exes.”

  “I don’t have any exes.” At my doubtful look, he added, “Not long-term ones.”

  I crossed to the island. Our divorce papers were in a haphazard stack. Aiden never left less than tidy piles. “Well, I had a long-term boyfriend in college. That was Gabriel.”

  “How long?” Aiden tracked me.

  I flipped through the papers. They lay like they’d been tossed. Had he even read them? “How long what?”

  “Did you date him?”

  I thought back to those days. College seemed so long ago. Gabriel and I had been young, idealistic. We were going to save the world with nothing but our brains and our ambition. “Not quite two years. But he got a job offer in California and I’d already been accepted to the master’s program at Montana State. It was an amicable breakup.”

  His expression darkened. “And suddenly you ran across him?”

  “Yeah, Aiden. Coincidentally, we were in the same diner—in the busiest gas station in town. He was here for a conference.”

  “And he’s single?”

  Aiden’s rapid-fire questions were unlike him. Normally, I’d find the way he latched on to the topic of Gabriel fascinating. Aiden King, jealous? But Aiden had asked for more time and he was doing nothing but working. “Yep,” I said, popping the p.

  His jaw worked. “How convenient.”

  My patience hit the wall and tipped it over. He wasn’t jealous. He was just pissed I had the audacity to not sit around and wait on him. I knew how that would end.

  I wasn’t interested in Gabriel, but I had a point to make.

  “You know what was also convenient? How he listened to me. I talked about library science and he didn’t tune me out. Did you know that someone can have a conversation with me and not check their phone? Not be on a computer? Not have their mind drift off to work? I talked to him, and get this—he talked back.” I lifted my hands like who knew. “He remembered things about our relationship, and then he listened. He. Paid. Attention.”

  Several emotions cascaded through Aiden’s fathomless eyes. Raw jealousy. Unfiltered hatred. Primal aggression.

  I took a step back. My reserved and collected husband was ready to go nuclear.

  He prowled closer. I couldn’t back up. The hard slab of the island pressed into my ass.

  “He paid attention? Does he know your favorite color is eggplant, but you can’t stand the vegetable? You think its texture is like eating wadded-up wet toilet paper. You like cats—and dogs—you fucking love animals, but you’re afraid that if you take one in, you’ll empty out all the pounds and shelters in town.” He was inches away from me, his gaze only growing more intense. “You love flowers but you hate cleaning up the mess they leave behind when they die. When you walk through a cloud of cigarette smoke and everyone else complains, you don’t because it makes you think of your mom, and even though you live in the same town, you still miss her. You like our big bedroom and the king-size bed because you like feeling that you can twirl around like you’re in The Sound of Music. And the decorations on the walls drove you nuts when you moved in because they weren’t important. They were meaningless. And after a small house with limited space, you wanted to fill the walls with pictures. That’s why you chose Mama’s pictures. Because you knew I wouldn’t say no.”

  My mouth gaped. By now he was pressed against me, a wall of big, determined man.

  “Do you think I don’t pay attention to you when you talk about work? That I don’t know the names of every single one of your coworkers and their quirks that drive you nuts, like how the new circulation-desk part-timer snorts all the time when his allergies are acting up? Or the reasons you think they’re the best group you’ve ever worked with? You love how they write down every day on the calendar and your favorite is National Muffin Day because you fucking love muffins. I know who your favorite regulars are, that you get attached to the homeless who spend their days there. The ones you cried for when the drugs won in the end. The ones you worry about that move on to other towns and you don’t know if they’ve found the help they need. I know which interns you thought would go far and the ones you wished would just go. I know that your two favorite times of the year are going to work cattle, but it’s not the working cattle part, it’s being with everyone. It’s being with me. I know you have a love-hate relationship with the big diamond ring I bought you.”

  He crowded closer until I laid my hands on his hard chest.

  “You thought I was ignoring you when I talked to other women? The whole time I was talking to them, I was wishing they’d just fucking leave so I could spend some quiet time with my wife. Time I don’t get enough of and it’s all my fault.”

  “I…” Had no clue what to say.

  “Want me to keep going? I can do this all night. I know you, Kate.” He hitched my ass onto the island. Papers scattered under me and behind me, but I couldn’t take my eyes off his. “I might not know the parts of yourself you’ve purposely hidden from me, but I fucking know you.”

  His lips crushed mine. My resistance was gone. All the things he’d said ruined me. He paid attention. To me. All this time I’d thought he was ignoring me, or avoiding me, but he’d listened. His hands were everywhere. Dragging my leggings under my ass. I wiggled enough to help him. I had to be closer to him, to feel his hot skin on mine.

  My ass pressed against the cool countertop, but I widened my legs. He wedged in closer and thrust his tongue in my mouth. I was greedy for everything he had to give.

  When he slipped his hand between us to unzip his jeans, I shamelessly rubbed myself against him. He flipped his hand around and stroked through my wet heat, stopping on my clit. I groaned. Behind his hand, his erection was wedged between us.

  His hold tightened around me, but he managed to position his cock and thrust. I cried out against his mouth. Nothing but pleasure. A painful emptiness that only he could fill. He was impossibly hard, filling me until I knew nothing but him. Both his hands were behind my ass now. There was no thrusting, no pistoning. He could barely work himself in and out, we were as close as two people could get.

  All I knew was him, stroking me higher. I’d been without him too long. I didn’t need more than a couple of pumps before I was cresting my peak. I fisted my hands in his hoodie and moaned into him. Needy whimpers left me, swallowed by him.

  My body went rigid, and molten lava filled me until it erupted. I broke the kiss to yell his name.

  He grunted, slamming into me harder and harder, forcing me higher and higher. I drew my knees up and let him work me until his body tightened and he threw his head back. His arms were around me and he held me in place as he emptied inside of me.

  Aftershocks undulated throughout my body and I squeezed every last bit of pleasure out of them. I was supporting his weight, but he kept me from sprawling across the countertop.

  Aiden raised his head. He peeled a hand off my ass and cupped my chin. “I’m going to take you to the bedroom, strip you down, and fuck you properly.”

  A tiny tendril of logic rose up, but I quashed it. My body thrummed from only a couple of minutes with him and I wanted more. “Okay.”

  He lifted me and I had to reach back and swat off the papers stuck to my ass. I tried not to think about what we’d just done. It wasn’t the sex. It was that we’d had sex on the divorce papers.

  Aiden

  * * *

  Kate clung to me, her legs around my waist as I carried her through the living room, down the hall, and to our bedroom. I left the light off in the room. Ambient light from the kitchen was enough. For now. I wasn’t going to do anything to scare Kate away—unless devouring her whole made her run.

  I laid her on the bed and stood back to strip myself of every stitch of clothing I was wearing. She propped herself on her arms and watched me undress. I loved it and might’ve slowed down a microsecond to savor the look in her eyes. Greedy. Insatiable. She wanted more of what we’d done on the
counter.

  Before this, I’d had sex with Kate like I had romanced her. Textbook slow and tender. I’d work to make her feel desired, cherished, and to bring her to no less than two and usually three orgasms. I loved it. She loved it.

  But we both wanted more. I got that now. She’d accused me of holding back and I had. I’d done so because it was either necessary to stay quiet, or pointless to speak up.

  Nothing about Kate was pointless.

  Slow and sensual vanilla sex was no longer good enough. If I couldn’t get across in words yet how phenomenally important she was to me, then I’d show her how desperately I needed her with my body. And then maybe soon, I could do it in other ways.

  “This is going to be fast and rough again.” My voice was gruff.

  Her breath caught and shining eyes met mine. “Promise?”

  “The next time you’re in the office, I’m taking you over my desk and I don’t care if it’s the middle of the fucking day.”

  She drew in a deep breath. It would’ve lifted her spectacular breasts if her sweater were off. I’d rectify that. I kicked out of my pants and prowled across the bed to her. My dick was hard like I hadn’t just had the most powerful release of my life. I’d been without my wife for too long. There’d been no one but her since I was told I had to get married within months.

  There really hadn’t been anyone before her either. I could have gotten laid whenever I wanted, but I hadn’t chased it. I’d been too busy and there’d been no one worth letting the work pile up for. There’d have been small talk and dating and the more that partners inevitably expected. Like Kate said about fancy restaurants and dressing up—tedious.

  I stopped my progress to lift her sweater over her head. “Do you know how often I’ve fantasized about fucking you on my desk, Kate?”

  “You have?”

  “I was late for a meeting once. Had a hard-on I couldn’t get control of.”

  Wonder dominated her gaze. “For me?”

  “All the damn time.” I snapped the latch to her bra and her breasts fell free. Thank fuck for front-latching bras. The straps fell down her arms and she lifted her hands and tossed it aside. “Do you fantasize about me?”

  “All the time,” she said in that breathy voice I craved.

  I pressed her backward with my body until we were stretched out in the middle of the bed. I wedged her knees apart with mine. Her wet center opened for me, making a perfect, cock-teasing cradle.

  I kissed the corner of her mouth and worked my way down her chin, her neck. Her breasts with her peaked nipples were my first target. “Tell me one.”

  “Th-the plane.”

  I smiled around a tight peak, my hand massaging her other breast. Licking across her nipple, I enjoyed her shiver. “The bedroom or the quad seats?”

  “Anywhere. I want to be in the mile-high club. With you.” She arched her back as I switched to the other side. “Do private planes count?”

  “We’ll make it count.” I brushed my fingers down her side, over her hip, then down her slit.

  Another shiver, this time mixed with a moan. “Aiden.”

  “You’re so fucking wet.” I kept moving down her body, using my lips and tongue the entire way. “I love getting in bed and asking if you’re still awake, and when I touch you, you’re already soaked.”

  I didn’t need the light to know her face was on fire. By the time I was done, she’d flush down to her belly button. “You’re really good at sex.”

  “I’m going to be really bad in all the best ways.” Then I quit talking and put my mouth to use.

  My tongue swiped over her clit and she let out a long groan. I didn’t have to hitch her leg up to get more access. She bent her legs and ground her heels into the mattress.

  Her knees were going to be up to her fucking shoulders by the time I was done.

  Gripping her hips and pulling her to me, I feasted. Her knees hitched higher and she buried her hands in my hair.

  “Oh, god, Aiden.”

  The early ripples of another climax were already beginning. Her arms crushed her boobs together as she gripped my hair. Her body was coiled tight, but pliant where it counted the most. Hair swirled around her head. This was the most wanton my wife had ever looked. Open. Demanding. If I tried to pull away—which I had zero plans of doing—she’d yank me back to her.

  I didn’t have to use my fingers to get her to come on my tongue, but I inserted one anyway. This wasn’t going to be another run-of-the-mill orgasm. I stroked in, then out, then added a second, matching the rhythm of my mouth. We might’ve been vanilla, but I knew what she liked.

  Her moans were steady. Muscles tensed around me as she tried to rotate and rock her hips, but I held her tight.

  I closed my mouth around her nub and attacked.

  “Oh my god!” She bucked once and released my head like she was trying to steady herself but the rocking wouldn’t quit. “Oh my god—Aiden!”

  It was the longest orgasm I’d ever wrung out of her. She hollered my name and it echoed through the house. My neighbors were over a mile away, but they could’ve heard it.

  When she collapsed on the mattress, I raised my head but kept my fingers in her clenching, spasming body. I gave them two slow pumps and her entire body shuddered.

  “I don’t think I can take any more,” she gasped.

  “You can, love.” I withdrew my fingers, and to be wicked, I swiped upward, teasing her clit. She barked out a cry and I grinned. “Just let me do all the work.”

  I was on my knees, shoving her thighs wide and using my hands to hold her open. The tip of my erection glistened and twitched, more than a little excited. I’d been terrified these days were over. But each time we did this, each time I could show her how we fit together, how it was meant to be, would secure our future together.

  I took more time sliding inside than before. Inch by inch, I stretched her. Her eyelids fluttered and she looked down at our connection. “I love when you’re inside me.”

  A force pumped through my cock, demanding I take her hard and fast. “It’s the only place I want to be.”

  That was the God’s honest truth. I had responsibilities. Obligations. People across the country relying on me. But if I could choose, this was where I would be every chance I got. Lost in my wife’s body.

  I powered in until I was buried. I could lean over her, take it slow, coax another orgasm out of her. The usual.

  I loved our usual, but tonight wasn’t the night for it.

  I slid out and pounded back in. She gasped and gripped the comforter.

  “Hang on,” I said through gritted teeth. I thrust, over and over. Her mewls and her gasps and the way she grappled for the headboard to meet each thrust fueled me. She was propane and I was a lit match.

  My hands around her legs, I kept up the erotic assault. I shoved one of her legs higher and changed my angle. I knew what worked for her, but it was time to find out what else got her off. I knew what got me off—Kate’s lush body. Seeing her lose control when I used only my tongue or did nothing but stroke in and out drove me crazy.

  The force of my thrusts moved us across the bed. Her hands were splayed against the headboard, providing enough force to keep me from ramming her head against the wood.

  “Fuck, Kate. I fucking love your tits.” The creamy globes bounced and jiggled. I couldn’t take my gaze off them. Had I ever told her how much I loved her body?

  A flood of heat washed over our connection and she rocked her hips harder.

  Yes. She was nearing another climax.

  “Come for me, Kate. Show me how much you like this.”

  Searing pressure built at the base of my spine. I was ready to blow, but I couldn’t, not until Kate got off again.

  The noises coming from her were too jumbled to be words. The top of her head was dangerously close to the headboard. I was not going to give my wife a concussion.

  I jerked out and she let out a shout at the loss.

  Flipping her over,
I didn’t give her time to balance on her hands and knees before I placed myself and slammed inside. I stayed on my knees but draped myself over her back, one arm around her and gripping a warm, molten breast, the other stopping when I could lay a fingertip on her clit.

  The force of my pounding was enough movement for her clit. My chest covered her back and I growled in her ear. “Give it to me, Kate.”

  Her whimper was close to a cry, but she bowed and kicked her hips higher into me. The walls of her body squeezed me until my eyes damn near rolled back into my head.

  I would not come until she did.

  She lasted another second before she dropped her chest to the bed and cried out through another climax. Wet heat wicked over me until I threw my head back and roared her name. I lost count of how many times I slammed into her at my crest. At some point, I’d gripped her hips to keep her still while I emptied into a furnace so intense I had a hard time remembering my damn name.

  I dropped down but rolled to the side to keep from crushing her. “You all right?” I panted.

  “No,” she said, her voice muffled by the blanket. “I’m not all right in all the best ways.”

  My breath eked out. Good. I hadn’t fucked up. With this at least. I wrestled enough of the blanket over to cover her. I was hot enough I could be steaming. She’d taken everything from me, but I’d give her more. I’d give her more all night long.

  “Get a little rest,” I murmured and brushed her hair away from her face. “But, Kate?” Drowsy hazel eyes met mine. “I’m nowhere near done tonight.”

  Chapter 13

  Kate

  * * *

  Rhythmic pounding woke me before my brain could register where I was.

  My bed. In my bedroom.

  I sighed and let the comfort of our California king bed with its primo mattress sink into my bones. I’d slept like a stone last night. No horns. No arguing neighbors. Nothing but the heat of my husband’s body around me. A marching band could have gone by the window, and as long as I was in Aiden’s arms, I would have slept soundly.