Page 27 of Stranded
“I don’t need you to take care of me, Aiden.”
“But will you still let me do it?” I kissed his chest. “I promise there are perks involved. You’ll have free use of my body.”
“Free use?”
“Yes. You can fuck me any time. Do whatever you want to me, and I’ll never say no. Doesn’t that sound beautiful?”
His hands shifted down to my ass, and he squeezed hard. “Sounds dangerous, Deni.”
“So you’re not gonna be my Daddy?” I opened my eyes and pouted. “Just so you know, it’s already too late. You’ve ruined me for other men, and I’ve already claimed you.Daddy.”
12
JACKSON
Jealousy wasn’t really something I’d experienced before Aiden. Even when I suspected Melodie was sleeping with other men, I’d felt disappointed and hurt but not quite jealous. By the time I met her and Aiden, I’d grown up in a cruel world where I never truly trusted anyone, even the day I said my wedding vows.
That skepticism of people’s “goodness” had kept me alive longer than most Marines I knew. Trust got men killed. Attachment made them reckless.
But Aiden had somehow slipped past every wall I’d built without me even realizing it was happening.
And jealousy weighed heavily in my chest as we entered a gay-friendly pub next door that the motel’s front desk clerk had told us had half-off on Wednesdays. The place was crowded and loud, filled with the clinking of glasses, bursts of laughter, and music. The smell of fried food, stale beer, and cigarette smoke hung thick in the air, making me hang back and question whether this was really the place I was taking Aiden on our first “date.”
He’d insisted it was a date even when I’d told him on our walk over to stop calling it that. I wanted our first time to be somewhere special and memorable. Not a hole in the wall with stains on the floor and mismatched booths.
Aiden didn’t seem to be bothered by any of it. He walked ahead of me toward an empty booth near the back, swishing his hips and completely oblivious to the way heads turned and eyes stared at his bare legs when he passed.
Or maybe he wasn’t oblivious at all.
He always loved standing out and bringing attention to himself, and he did just that in the dress he’d bought earlier. How he’d managed to turn something oversized and simple into something sexy blew my mind. The belt he’d bought for practically nothing cinched around his waist so tight, it emphasized just how extremely slim he was there. The fabric flirted around his pale thighs, leaving his legs bare, and had heads turning the second we walked into the pub.
People noticed him.
Fuck, did they notice.
Men looked up from their drinks when he walked past. Women stared too. Aiden moved through the room like he was born for attention, completely at ease under every lingering glance, while I stayed half a step behind him, painfully aware of the scar tissue stretching across the side of my face.
I still wasn’t used to that part.
Before the explosion, I’d never thought twice about my appearance. I hadn’t ever been striking, but I’d been good-looking enough to have my choice of partners. Now I noticed every flicker of surprise when strangers did a double-take after seeing me. I saw every momentary hesitation before they corrected their expression.
Standing in Aiden’s orbit only made the contrast between us worse. He was beautiful in a way that pulled people in instantly,while I looked like something fire had tried and failed to finish destroying.
Could anyone else tell he wasn’t wearing a stitch under that dress?
As though sensing me falling behind, Aiden reached his hand out and glanced over his shoulder at me with a smile that made my breath catch in my throat. Of all the people in that pub, that smile was only for me. I took his hand to reassure him I was still with him, and we walked the rest of the way to the booth.
Aiden sat and pulled me down next to him. I was conflicted, wishing I was opposite him so I could look at his face all night, but also enjoying how tightly he pressed himself to my side, although there was plenty of space in the booth. When I released his hand, he planted it on my thigh like it was the most natural thing in the world to do. He was basically bouncing beside me.
Had the men he usually associated with not treated him well, that he got excited at being taken to a rundown pub?
“Why are you so happy?” I couldn’t refrain from asking.
“Are you kidding me?” He swiveled his head around, his smile even brighter in his face. With no makeup on, his freckles stood on and made him look adorably sweet and so fucking young.
I cringed thinking about some of the things I’d done to him in that cabin.
If I didn’t go to Hell for the lives I’d taken in my job, I was sure to get a first-class ticket there for touching him.
