"Get out," she’d said, taking one look at his greek god—like body and apparently deciding she was going to pass.
She sat down at her dresser and took in her new hairdo. And as she did, so did he. His mouth went dry, jaw dropped to the floor. She was wearing a knee length, violet dress. On her feet she wore classical black high heels. Aaron had always had a thing for black heels. Everything came together with a charming diamond necklace to subtly draw attention to her rack, which ladies and gentlemen, was also fantastic. And then of course there was the new haircut. Gone was the girl next door. There was no ponytail today and probably wouldn't be for a while. The way the chin length haircut framed her face made it look like red hair was invented for her.
Wait, did she just tell him to get out?
Aaron promptly slipped out of the bed and went to stand behind her, making sure she got a good look in the mirror. She looked, of course she did, she ran her eyes all the way down his body, surveying him like she was considering buying a slave and then went back to looking at herself and touching up her makeup.
“Impressive,” she said apathetically. “Five stars.”
What the hell was happening? This was not a response Aaron Condor was used to. Stay calm Aaron, she’s just playing with you. On the inside, she’s a wreck. A complete mess. They always are.
“Usually this goes a little differently,” said Aaron, turning on the charm. “Usually I show up in someone’s bed and I get a ‘how do you want me?’ not a ‘get out.’”
As he approached, Aria felt her pulse quicken. Of course his body was doing things to her. She didn’t think he would go this far this quickly. Hell, just last night he was a being a fucking gentleman, as much as Aaron Condor could be asked to be a gentleman at any rate. He had looked, boy had he ever, but he didn't try anything. Now here he was ambushing her in her bedroom!
He was standing right behind her now, bending his head down to her neck, staring down her dress as he watched her in the mirror.
"Sounds like your ‘usually’ is screwing a bunch of airheads," she answered, turning around, just as his lips grazed her neck.
She stared straight at his package, put a finger just above it and dragged it up his six pack before putting her finger in her mouth and sucking it.
"Like I said, impressive," she said, her eyes darkening.
She got up, grabbed his head by his hair and pulled his face down to hers so that she was looking him straight in the eye.
"Still not impressed though."
He snaked an arm around her waist, his head dipping down to her chest. She inhaled sharply as she felt the skin of his face, his hot breath, make contact with her breasts, her chest, shoulders and neck, felt his hands go down her arms, down her sides before he slid them down and grabbed her ass. He looked into her eyes. They were dark with lust.
When Aaron got to Elegantor Ludo, Emily had already made it up to her room. He walked through the doors like he owned the place, past The Purple Guard soldiers who didn't dare intercept the pissed off prince and banged on the room door. When she didn't open up, he shot the lock and kicked in the door. He walked straight up to Emily and grabbed her shoulders. "Talk!" "Trust me, you don't want to be involved in this," said Emily. "I'm sorry, did someone else just save your ass? Explain yourself!" Troy and his men showed up then. "Secure the room. Find the kid," he said, watching them fill the room. Emily whipped her head in Aaron's direction. "You called him?!" "What kid?" Aaron asked. Emily and Troy exchanged heated glances. "You know what? Forget this. What does all of this have to do with Adele?" He'd meant to say Aria, but Aaron was tired and confused out of his mind.
2019, December 22ndWhen CC got home that morning, the sun was already high up in the sky. Bart was waiting for her on the porch of the Arden Mansion. This was home now. They'd started living together because CC wanted to be with Bart so that she could hold him at night when the loss of Ethan overwhelmed him. How things had changed. They'd been at each other's throats for the last few days and it always ended the same way. It needed to stop. They had to actually talk. "I'm sorry Caroline. I don't know what else to say. Aria called and said-" CC sighed. "Can her name not be part of the first sentences that come out of your mouth right now? I'm super wasted and I just want to go to bed." Bart turned around and squatted in front of her, offering her a piggyback ride. She smiled. It was a start. She could be mad and still want to touch him. CC wouldn't look at him, but she'd gotten onto his back. Her hands had slipped up his shirt, onto h
2019, December 19thAaron was burning the candle at both ends. He and Jesse had been following both Emily and Troy around for the last 10 days and it was starting to take its toll. He honestly didn't have the foggiest what the big fuss was about, but they were both on the move constantly. And they were both packing some serious heat. Emily had Hotel Elegantor Ludo's penthouse suite drowning in Purple Guard soldiers and Troy wasn't being shy about showing off his manpower either. This was it. Whatever or whomever the big hype was about, shit was going down today. He now knew the identity of the woman in the photograph. Once his head cleared after his drunken night in Maine, he had Jesse find someone to clean the photograph up and find out who she was. She turned out to be Troy's dead sister, Diane. Aaron had been stewing, turning this information round and round in his head. Was that it? Did she somehow survive the war after all? And what would become of Aria and h
When at last he did quiet down, she got up and went to him. Troy got up too and walked away. He remembered what last night had been like. He could have really hurt her. And talking about this stuff that he really shouldn't have talked about, especially not with the woman who he could have choked to death last night, left him shaking with dark rage. All this time spent worrying about who was watching and he had been the one holding her life in his hands. She wanted to say the right thing, to say so many things, but when she finally laid her head against his back all she could say was, "You were right. Your dad was a dick and so is Dean." This earned her a little chuckle. He focused really hard on stilling himself, the anger. She'd seen it once and not flinched, but Troy didn't want her to see it again. Even her acceptance of it was dangerous. He kept going back and forth on what to do, whether they should be together. "I'm sorry I didn't ask before. I ju
Troy entered the nursery first. He took baby Ethan out of his crib and sat down with him on the carpet."Hey kid. You've been waiting a long time for your Aunt Aria, haven't you? I know how you feel. I think I've been waiting a long time for her too."This earned him an eye roll and a smile."You're that guy now? You're going to use your mad baby skills to hit on me?"Troy shrugged, holding out his hand to her."Not much else he can do at this point other than get me into your pants."Her eyes widened and she chuckled. Taking his hand was as effortless as the night he'd offered it to her for the first time, even as she faced this difficult situation. He sat across from her, the baby in between them as they held hands. The moment didn't feel like Aria was afraid it would. It would always hurt that Ethan was gone, that they all were, but this was her family now. The little guy laying his hand into hers and the big goof behind him, watching her and the baby, alw
2019, December 22nd"So which one was it? Boyfriend A or Boyfriend B?"Aria smiled, taking her place next to Troy by the piano."You know, A for Aaron, B for Bart," he said, handing Aria her violin."You're just full of surprises, aren't you? I suppose you really are the jealous type."Only when she held her violin up to her shoulder and started playing did Troy's fingers find the keys of the piano. Was it silly how she liked that he just assumed she would play with him now? Aria was so angry over the last two nights that she didn't see how intertwined they'd become, how he gave her little bits of himself everyday. They hadn't played together in two nights, which meant that neither of them had played at all because they almost never played alone anymore."Which one?" he persisted. "So I can know how jealous I should be.""If you must know, Barry came by to see the baby."She still couldn't say it, couldn't call him Ethan. Troy brushed off his concern.