Aaron's Kiss Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 7) (14 page)

~CHAPTER FOURTEEN~

Sara was just getting into the huge garden tub in the bathroom when she heard footsteps coming down the hallway. There was only one person she could think of who walked like that, and she really did not want to see him. Not now—likely, not ever.

As she lay in the warm water, she thought about Aaron. Did she really hate him? Yes...no...maybe. Okay, maybe she didn’t hate him, but she didn’t like him either. At least she didn’t want to like him. He was overbearing and arrogant. But he did have her safety in mind. And he was incredibly handsome and sweet—sometimes. There were times when he was yelling at her, she never knew whether she really wanted to smack him or pull him into her arms and...what? Strangle him? Possibly. It sounded like a good idea. She could see herself wrapping her arms around his neck, her fingers touching the back of his hair, squeezing him until he came close to her. Her mouth, maybe.

Frustrated, she got out of the tub and began drying herself vigorously. Damned man had her so upset she didn’t know which way was up or down. And now…and now he was coming into the room.

The bedroom to which she had been taken when she arrived this afternoon was different than the one that she had been in previously. This one was elegant and bright. Not that the other room wasn’t nice, but this room, she loved.

The bed was an oversized king canopy with an ecru-colored lacey cover over the top. The four posts that held it in place were dark cherry and fashioned with pineapples carved into them just at eye level. The coverlet was done in an array of pinks and purple velvets, and then accented with embroidered flowers at each corner of the six by six squares. The furniture was also cherry, a large dresser she thought was called a highboy, and a vanity with a smallish chair with a cushion that was covered in the same pattern as the spread. There were no curtains adorning the three floor-to-ceiling windows. In their place were shutters of the same dark cherry as the furniture. The hardwood floor had a beautiful wool rug that had the same motif as the rest of the room. Sara was just tying the white chenille robe when Aaron stepped through the open door.

“Are you still angry with me?” She ignored his question. “You have to realize, Sara, how lucky you were that you’d not been raped or murdered out there alone.”

She just glared at him, walked to the vanity, and sat down. “I’m getting dressed, go away.”

She had made the decision while trying to relax in the tub to no longer be polite to him. It was dangerous, she thought. Not that she had been over effervescent to begin with, but now she was not holding back, damn it. She thought it might be necessary to keep her sanity.

“I’ve come to talk to you,” he said as he sat on the bed. “There are a few things we have to work out, like what I expect from you.” Sara did not acknowledge him in anyway, but continued to brush her long hair. “Ah, so we are going to be childish, are we? Fine, I’ll do the talking.”

“There’s a big surprise,” she said softly. She knew he heard her. There was nothing wrong with his hearing.

“At precisely six o’clock I will be back in here to escort you downstairs. You will be ready to receive guests with me. What I want from you is anything you might feel from the people in the room. I don’t care how mundane you feel it is. I want to know about it. You feed me the information through telepathy and none will be the wiser. Any questions?” She didn’t answer him. “No? Fine. I’ll see you in two hours.” He turned and left.

~~~

Minutes after he left her to her bath, Mel contacted her.

“
Hello, little warrior. Tonight is your big date, is it not? I so wish I could see you in your gown in person
.”

“
You know it’s not a date. Something’s wrong. What’s the matter? You never contact me this time of day
.” She suddenly had visions of Sherman finding out where his mate was and killing everyone on site.

“
Everything is fine. I’m fine. I left the nursing home yesterday. I’m now in Molavonta. I’m safe. I’ve sealed myself in my high tower, and will stay here until I’m able to come to you. I’ll be where you are in two days
.” Sara relaxed a little, but tensed at her next words. “
Sara, you will need to make time to talk with me. It is imperative that we get things in order before Sherman finds out that I’m back in the Kingdom of Molavonta again. Things need to be finalized, you understand me
?”

“
Yes, I understand
.” Sara did not like her tone, or what she was saying. But she was her queen.

“
I will see you on Sunday at sunset then. I want you not to worry, little one. I’m very strong now. You’ve done well. Have fun this evening and be the belle of the ball
.” The connection closed with a mental hug from Mel. Sara couldn’t help but smile at the feeling it evoked in her heart.

~~~

At ten to six, just as Aaron was heading up the stairs to get Sara, Duncan came from the kitchen with a message for him.

“The little miss called. It seems she’s having some difficulty with her clothing. She asks that you would please give her a few minutes and she will be down shortly.”

“What kind of clothing problems? She’s wearing her dress, isn’t she? Please tell me it’s not her flight clothes? That would be just like her, to piss me off, you know?” He thought that if she did come down in her uniform, it would be no less than he deserved. He had been a rude, overbearing ass to her all day.

“I’m sure I don’t know, my lord. She said that she will be down, for you not to get your, I believe she called them ‘panties’ in a twist and start pounding on the door. She said that it would not make it any easier for her to figure things out.” Aaron was sure there was more to what Duncan was telling him, but decided that he would let it go.

At twelve after the hour, Aaron started up the stairs to get her. Guests would be arriving soon, and he wanted her beside him. In what capacity, he just wasn’t sure yet.

The mistress from this afternoon told him he must decide if he wanted her for his mate, that she needed to get Sara together with someone who would be a partner to her for life. She could just as easily sever that potential bond before it was too late for either of them if he did not want her. Did he? He was not any closer to knowing the answer to that than he had been earlier.

Aaron heard her speaking before he saw her, which was a good thing or he may have fallen on his face without the extra few seconds of warning. As it was, he gripped hard on the banister and watched as she made her way down the long, winding staircase, her heels clicking on the stone steps.

“I know, I know, I’m late, but I had trouble with this bra thingy. A torture device, if you ask me. It has twenty-two eyehooks up the front. And since I didn’t try it on in the shop, I wasn’t sure how to put it on.” As she spoke, her arms moved and made her breasts move as well. He could feel the drool forming on his tongue. “Then if that isn’t bad enough, it’s mashing my entire bosom into a puffed up mass to have it spill out of the flippin’ thing. Once I got the stupid thing on, I realized I needed to take it off again. Have you ever tried to pull on stockings with boobs in your face? Not possible, let me warn you. Of course, they aren’t the regular pantyhose either. Oh no, they’re these sheer socks that pull up to the mid-thigh. How I’m expected to keep them up all night is beyond me! Then back into the iron maiden thing. It’s not that I don’t like the dress and shoes, but just look at these things. Why one wants to walk on their toes like this all night is beyond stupid.”

Sara had been walking down the grand staircase as she ranted. Aaron watched each step she took, looking at whatever she had been going on about at the time; bosom, chest exposure, legs. Now she stood before him, one step up so that they were eye level. She was looking at him expectantly while waiting for him to make a comment about the state of her shoes she was now showing him—or some other nonsense; he simply could not remember what she had been saying. She was his. All his, and he needed to stake his claim right now.

When she dropped the hem of the dress and stood up, he reached out and cupped his hand behind her neck, pulling her into his embrace, into his kiss.
Mine,
was all he thought before he covered his mouth with hers and devoured her.

Aaron tasted her lips, pulling the lower one into his mouth, and then ran his tongue along the seam, requesting permission to enter. She leaned into him and allowed him in.

“
Aaron, please
,” she begged, whispering desperately through his mind. He answered her by pulling her tighter against him, slipping his thigh between her legs, and cupping her ass with his other hand and pulling her harder against his cock. Need was a living, breathing thing between them now, and it was not going to be denied, he thought.

Neither seemed to realize nor care that there were people standing around them in the entrance hall, their sudden need overpowering all reason. When Colin cleared his throat for the third time, Aaron reluctantly pulled away, but did not release Sara.

“Shall we turn everyone away, or can you two hold off until everyone is gone? Just say the word, and I’ll get rid of everyone who comes to the door.” Aaron turned to look at his best friend and saw his cocky grin. He smiled when Colin winked at Sara.

Aaron turned back to look at the woman in his arms who was currently turning several shades of red from her embarrassment at getting caught practically making love on the stairs. He had no doubt whatsoever that that would have been where they would have ended up had they not been interrupted.

“No, Mr. Larimore, that won’t be necessary.” She blushed deeper when Aaron pulled her tighter in his arms. “I don’t know what came over me. I must have slipped. Yes, that’s it. Thank you, Mr. Mac…Aaron, for catching me. I’m okay now. Let’s get this over with, shall we?”

Before she could take a step away from him, he pulled her back into his arms and kissed her again. “Make no mistake, Sara love, you did not fall, and we are going to finish this tonight.” He kissed her again, and then pulled away from her with a great deal of reluctance.

When the first guests arrived, Sara had not left his side; not that she could have as he had not let go of her hand once since they had kissed on the stairs. She was relaying him information automatically and without much thought as to what she was telling him. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and laughed.

“
When I said to tell me everything, love, I thought you’d just send me snippets of information, not life stories
.” Sara had just finished telling Aaron about a woman’s, Abby Allen’s, one-sided conversation with herself about her and her mate’s horrible experience just that evening and the human they had encountered. The human had touched Abby, and she was sure that she smelled just like the human, all scented up with cheap perfume and body odor. Sara had been giving Aaron her opinions right along with the story.

“
I’m sorry. I know you said everything, but I’m sure you didn’t mean that mundane
,” she groused at him.

“
No, probably not
.” He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. He watched as her pupils dilated. “
But it is fun to watch and hear you get all flustered
.”

No one could guess the couple was talking to each other. They likely just assumed that Sara was told to be silent, and she was obeying. She was nothing more than a snack for the master anyway, and a very nice-looking snack at that.

“
I’m not flustered, thank you very much. I’m reflective
.”

“
Oh, and what’s the difference? Because I have to tell you, I’ve never been more flustered in my life. All I can think about doing right now is throwing you against the nearest wall, lifting your dress, and seeing what other delights you have under there
.” He pulled her closer to him and nipped at her neck. “
You never told me about what your panties are like. I know about your stockings, which I will take great delight in removing from you one leg at a time, rolling them down, inch by incredible inch, kissing the exposed skin as I go. Then there are those enticing twenty-two eyehooks that I can’t wait to open one at a time until your breasts spill out into my hands and my mouth. Oh sweetheart, I want to suckle on your nipples until you come
.”

“Oh my,” she whispered to him breathlessly.

“Yes, my dear, ‘oh my’ about covers it for now.”

Aaron could not wait to have her beneath him, riding him, naked with him, and after the last two hours of people falling at his feet, he wanted to taste her in the worst way. He was not waiting any longer, damn it. He began making his way to the nearest room with a door and a lock. His strides made short work of the otherwise long trek across the grand hall, dragging her right along with him. When they got to the powder room just off the main hall, he pulled her in behind him and shut the door. He jerked her body to his and was kissing her before she could speak, much less protest.

God, he wanted her. It was several seconds of heavy breathing and heated kisses later when he heard the door lock engage. He pulled back from her and grinned. “Good girl,” he said before he lifted her up by her bottom, sat her on the vanity of the small room, and positioned himself between her legs. When she hooked her ankles together behind him and around his hips, he nearly cried with relief. But kissing her was no longer enough. No, not nearly enough at all.