Page 41 of Foxx
“So, he’s done this before?”
“No,” he answers honestly. “He usually goes to the whore house on Borland Street. He’s never tried to claim any women from my club. He knows better.”
“Why me?” I ask, sitting on the bed to untie my shoes and pull them off my aching feet. Hours in heels makes me desperate to climb into that tub, and then into bed.
“I don’t know, but the reason you’re here is so you don’t have to find out.”
Aiden looks down at me. My shirt slid off my shoulder when I bent down. His eyes start at my feet and drift upward as I uncross my legs and lean back on the bed just to fuck with him. Every time Aiden looks at me like that, it tells me he wantsme just as much as I want him. But I’m very aware of who he is, and no matter how good he looks standing over me, I need to figure out what secrets this house is hiding. His heated gaze fuels me to torment him even more, and I lift my chin as I slowly widen my legs.
“You’ve got shit to do, right? Feel free to leave then,boss.” I gesture to the door. “I’ll be just fine here in my ivory tower, unless you’re planning to watch yourhelpget ready for bed?”
Aiden walks toward me, stopping between my spread knees. He reaches down and trails the back of his knuckle softly over my cheek, before sliding both his hands down my arms to grip me so tight that my breath hitches. He pulls me up and into his chest. It’s like hitting a wall, and it takes my breath away.
“I’m not a gentle man, Mia, and every time you try to fuck with me, you’re testing me. Meaning I won’t be responsible for what happens when that levee breaks…” His words trail off in warning.
I reach up between us and hit his forearm with my own, hard enough to break his hold, then grip his arm tight. “Who said I wanted gentle?” I counter, leaning into him farther, still holding his arm. I’m someone else entirely right now. Someone whose plan to hurt him doesn’t exist. The moment Aiden touches me, I no longer think about ways to bring him down,onlyhow to make him break with pleasure.
A deviant smirk plays across his plush lips.
“Just like my bike, you have toearnmy cock, pretty girl.” His eyes move over me, and he slides his hand up to palm my breast through my shirt, making my core instantly come to life. “And if I wanted you, I’d take you…and I’d fucking tear you apart.”
I reach up and smack him hard across the face, letting out a desperate huff as I do.
He doesn’t even hesitate. He turns me around and pushes my upper half down onto the bed, then smacks my ass so hard I wouldn’t be surprised if his handprint was embedded in my skin for weeks. But more than it stings, it bruises my pride, because it sends heat pulsing to my core. When I stand to face him, fueled with an unwillingness to back down, he’s gritting his jaw, chest heaving with what I’m certain is the same want I feel.
“You wanna keep fucking hitting me?” He leans in closer. “I’m gonna start smacking back,” Aiden growls.
This is nothing like some tussle with Briggs. Aiden is bigger, stronger, and more unpredictable. Not to mention, fighting has never turned me on before.
I’m just fast enough, and he’s just unsuspecting enough, for me to be able to lunge at him and knock him off balance. His back hits the wood floor and I climb on top of him, wrapping both hands around his thick throat. Somewhere in my subconscious, I know this is the worst way to try and choke him out, but I do it anyway, my anger getting the best of me as I use all of my strength.
He grins up at me, his face barely reddening, and I get the sinking feeling that he’s letting me choke him, because…he’s fuckingsmiling at me?
I’m so fucking annoyed that I squeeze harder, pressing in the places Briggs taught me. I swear to Christ he rolls his eyes before he makes a grunting sound and then his hands come down on my ass as I straddle him. He squeezes so fucking tight that I cry out.
“Are you done fucking playing now, Rhiannon?” It takes little effort on his part to flip me off him. My back hits the wood floor, and so does my head, hard enough that a dull buzzing begins as he leans down.
“Behave. This is the last time I’ll warn you, brat.”
Aiden pushes off me and stands, looking down, his chest heaving, and I grin at the beautiful, angry red imprint of my fingers around his throat. At least I accomplishedsomething, and I can tell by the way he’s looking at me that he’s full of shit. I couldfeelhow hard he was growing as I choked him, but he fights it just like I do, and it does nothing but spur the growing ache between my own thighs. Regardless of who this man is, this is what I’ve always fantasized about. Someone to challenge me. Someone to fight with. Something raw and passionate. Somethingreal. A desperate need that can’t be stopped.
Hewouldtear me apart. I know he’s right, but God help me do I ever fucking want it.
“Now, go to sleep,” he growls, reaching down to adjust his hardened dick through his jeans, and my slutty body tingles at the sight. “And lock your fucking door.” He slams it hard on the way out.
I fall back onto the floor and look up at the ceiling, understanding exactly what he means.
He wants me to lock the door to stophimfrom coming in. But I have other ideas, and I’ll stay awake as late as I have to, because tonight my search begins. Every nook and fucking cranny.
Chapter 24
Mia
There is no sound as I peer through the crack in my door just after three a.m. No light either as I move through the house in socked feet, intent on remaining silent. The entrance of the hall leading to Aiden’s bedroom has a closed barn door over it, which means I have the entire house, aside from his quarters, to search.
When I reach his living room, I use only the light of my phone to open every drawer in his long walnut cabinet, though I find nothing of interest: only matches, emergency candles, manuals for various electronics, his security system warranty.
Frustrated, I move as quietly as I can to the kitchen. The space is immaculate, so clean and organized. Every coffee mug is the same chunky white ceramic and matches the design of Aiden’s plates and dishes. Towels are neatly folded away in drawers, and even the food in his pantry is perfectly organized.
