Page 98 of Pretender

We look at each other for a beat. There’s a lot happening behind his eyes now and I need him to say it. He does that thing again, he forces his smile down, rolling his lips, sucking the bottom lip in between his teeth. And there’s the dimple. Oh, shit. Fucking hell. I’m about to tell him it doesn’t matter. Just fucking kiss me already.

But I wait. I need to hear it.

“At first, I didn’t realise.” He keeps his eyes on mine, his smile gone now, but he’s still working his bottom lip as he thinks. “I’ve not told you yet because I respect your boundaries. I didn’t want to scare you away.”

“What are you saying?” The butterflies rush wildly in my stomach.

“I thought of you when my mum asked, because… Linnea, I think of you always.”

“Oh.”

I’m frozen with my mouth in that ‘O’ shape. My mind races. The classic list of reasons not to do it. Not to jump on the plane. Stay safe.

But what he just said…

I let a smile unfurl. “That’s a good enough reason for me.”

He jumps down from his barstool and steps between my legs. He cups my face and presses those magnificent lips against mine in one fluid move.

The sensation is mind-blowing. My nerve endings light up like mini fireworks. My lips, the part of my jaw he’s cupping with one hand, and the nape of my neck where he smooths his other hand—every inch of me tingles from his touch. He threads his fingers through my hair, fisting it, tilting my head for a better angle. I open for him, whimpering, and wrap my arms around him as if we could get any closer.

His tongue finds mine, it’s soft yet deliberate, and then he does what I fantasised about: he groans, and it’s as sexy as I imaged. He groans as if he can’t get enough. And when I arch against him, it’s clear how much he wants me.

The press of his length, hard and large against my centre, makes heat uncoil in my stomach, pooling between my legs, lighting me up all the way out into my fingertips.

He envelops me, wraps around my brain, my heart, deep into my core.

But it’s not enough.

I need more.

Clawing at his back, another moan escapes me.

“Linnea,” he growls against my mouth, the bass of it vibrating through his chest and into mine. He kisses down my jawline and into the side of my neck and I hum with pleasure. “I don’t want to go too fast, but if you keep making those noises, I’m going to explode right here in your kitchen.”

I laugh and bury my face in his shoulder, inhaling that intoxicating scent. Warm skin, a hint of cologne, lightly salty. After all this time, I finally want him so badly I can’t find the words. The man I’ve actively resisted since the day I met him. And he wants me too. He thinks about me always.

“Don’t stop,” is all I manage to get out and I stretch up to find his mouth again. He pulls me flush to him and I wrap my arms around his neck this time. A low chuckle escapes him, the sound of it and way he smiles against my lips make my insides flip.

His hands are in my hair, his hard body pressed against mine. I want him to take me right here. It’s not the smart thing to do—I know it’s not. My feelings are a mess. What happens after? After what? What are we about to do?

He slows down as if he can hear my mind racing. He kisses me slowly, purposefully … and it works—my mind stills. It’s turned to mush again.

High on the rush of Aiden’s touch, his lips on mine, a ringing sound only partially registers. It rings again, and Aiden groans.

Is it the doorbell? I’m not expecting anything.

“Ignore it,” I mumble and kiss him again, humming.

It’s when I hear the key in the lock I remember.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

it’s something

AIDEN

I’m kissing Linnea. It’s like I’m a teenager again, trembling with nerves, every particle in me on fire. Completely lost in her softness, her mild sweet scent, those delicious little sounds she makes. This is where I belong and could⁠—