Daisy's Choice (A Tale of Three Hearts) (65 page)

Daisy’s breasts escaped the tangled sheets with the arch of her back as he then gave slow strokes that had her stuttering words of praise. Her lashes fluttered. The whites of her eyes, only seen as her irises, rolled back. She ran her tongue over the full curve of her top lip. Oh, how they throbbed from his constant sucking and nipping. The currents of pleasure rippling through her veins went south. Every sensation was drawn to his tongue action with the knot of pleasure coiled so tight she breathed hard. Fists pounded to the mattress with the mounting pressure tightening the muscles of her vagina.

They’d been at it so long she lost an accounting of time and space. She was suspended on a plane somewhere between reality and something far more sublime. Aiden loved on her continuously and fucked her every which way her body could bend. He licked, sucked, fingered and felt up every inch of her. There was so much in and out action that she thought she’d pass away from motion sickness. Daisy was allowed escape once when he slept. She sneaked in only one shower, and even in the steamy glass enclosure, he found a way to pin her down and make love to her doggy-style. She could take no more.

“
Aiden, please,” she grunted. Teeth gnashed and hips bucked as his tongue did a figure eight around her clit and then began flicks like a boxer with a punching bag. She gripped his hair. Instead of snatching it up, she forced it down and clamped her thighs shut. With his face buried deep, she braced for the pelvic earthquake that would leave her creaming until she was dizzy.

Daisy cried out loudly. Tears of sheer ecstasy formed beneath her tightly shut lids. He slid up her body and she was still panting. He had all the access he needed. She got his tangy tongue in her mouth, salty with the taste of her as he thrust inside her once more. Gripping his hips, she turned to slow the intensity. Nails bit into his skin as she held on to him with their body’s slick, sticky, feverish. The sexy friction of his thrusts rattled the headboard, causing it to bang a tribal beat into the wall.

Then the action slowed, eased and his body locked.

"Love you… love you… oh fuck! I love you,” he grunted, feverishly pressing kisses to her lips and face, over and over. Aiden gave her rapid tight jerky thrusts. His chest hovered over her face. Her legs pinned and hooked over his arms now to get deeper. With thirsty lips, she tasted his hot salty skin, licking at his shoulder when he dropped on her while working his hips and hers. They both climaxed in exhaustion. Their bodies gave out like a blown bulb; once hot now flashed cold. The weight of his chest and pelvis was suffocating her. She pushed at his chest.

“
Aiden, please… move,” she panted.

He groaned, but withdrew. At last! She put her hands to her face and wiped down the sheen of sweat, and her tears of exhaustion. “Sleep. I need it,” she wheezed, trying to regulate her heartbeat.

“
No. You need to eat.” He reached over and picked up the phone. She listened as he ordered lobster tails, steak and pasta in clam sauce, wine and fruit, noting he wanted extra Kiwi, her favorite. He remembered somehow. Daisy rolled up against him, moving out of the wet spot.

“
There. Done,” he said, hanging up.

“
You’re too good to me,” she chuckled.

“
You haven’t seen anything yet,” he smiled, running his hand down her arm, holding her to him.

“
I have to get back soon. Pete—”

“
I know. Take my jet.”

“
My car?”

“
I’ll buy you another one."

"Seriously, Aiden. When I land I need transportation."

“
I'll have one waiting for you when you land.”

“
But—”

“
Let me do this for you. I don’t want you driving all the way back, and it buys me a little more time with you?”

She looked up at him. “We have to tell Amy the truth. Pete's her father.”

“
I wish I could… I should have never told the kid she was mine. She’s too young to understand this.”

Daisy smiled at his attempt to be compassionate. “I let you, Aiden. We’re both guilty. But Pete and Amy deserve to know each other. I want to move on from all of the heartache, the pain.”

“
He’s made threats,” Aiden mumbled. She could feel him stiffen, looking up again from his chest. There along the line of his jaw, she could see his pulse twitch. His green eyes locked on the ceiling fixtures.

“
So have you. The threats are over, baby. Pete and I spoke, and we understand each other.”

“
He hates me, Daisy. The man doesn’t want me around his daughter. And to be honest, even now, knowing that she's his, part of me feels the same way about him. I love you both. It’ll take time for this thing with Pete and me… to settle.”

Daisy threw her leg over his thigh and pressed her achy sex into him to soothe her as well as him. She rested her chin on her hands that lay flat on his chest. Aiden moved her tangles from her face so she wouldn’t have to. His head was propped by the pillow. They stared at each other for long minutes—in silence.

“
You asked me to marry you?”

“
I meant it.”

“
I know,” she smiled. “I won’t marry you, Aiden, unless—” She looked down and then back up to him once more. “Until I’m sure that Amy is okay. That we can do this and she won’t be hurt.”

“
I told you I love her.”

“
I know you do. I believe you. But let’s be honest. I need to work some things out with Pete. And… Aiden, to be honest the best way to do that is… with—”

“
Without me?”

Daisy sighed. “Don’t take offense, okay?”

“
I understand, Daisy. She’s his. I have no say.”

“
But, sweetie you do.”

He lifted and she fell over. “Aiden?”

There was a knock to the front of the suite. “I’ll bring in the food. Why don’t you run a bath or something,” he mumbled, picking up his robe and walking out. Daisy ached when she sat up. Her legs felt like the bones had atrophied from all the contortionists' moves. She actually rubbed feelings back into her legs while watching him stalk out. He was going to pout. In a perfect world, he wouldn’t. He’d be secure and not jealous. He’d act like her prince always. In this perfect world with his temperament silence was the best he could offer.

Shaking was willing to accept him as he was, “Yeah, well to hell with a perfect world.”

****

“
Hi, Mrs. Stevens. It’s um… it’s Pete.” He paced the floor, hand clenching and unclenching. His throat closed as he tried to form the words. He kept swallowing, trying to force his nerves to settle back down. “Yes, I’m sorry. I know it’s getting late. I was wondering if, um… you heard from Nina? Her plane landed and I thought she might have called you.”

He listened as Nina’s mother began fussing in Spanish. She was Dominican. “
Si… si
.” He was clueless as to what she was saying. “I’m sorry for calling.
Gracias
.”

He closed the LG window on the phone and dropped it in the chair. Nina was home. Now, he was sure of it. She was gone. Gone. His Nina had bailed. This time it was his fault. Pete leaned forward. His stomach muscles clenched. He hadn’t eaten a thing all day. First, he sat in the airport. He just sat there thinking she’d turn around and come back to him. When she didn’t, he checked the prices of the next flight. Not another one was scheduled to depart until the next day. Her flight and the other were both packed with full seats. There was nothing he could do.

Pete later drove around Mango Grove. He parked his car at the beach and sat on the hood of the car. The ocean loomed vast and so was his regret, all the way to the beginning with Nina. He wanted to go back and fix their love. At the very least, he wanted to let her know he loved her. Now the words seem to have lost meaning. His actions and the thing he hadn’t done, those deeds were the ones he would need time to undo. If there was time.

The phone rang.

Pete was apprehensive. Possible shock kept him immobile, but by the second ring, he was on his feet, over to the bed, snatching it off the cradle and pressing it to his ear. “Hello?”

“
Hi, Pete,” Daisy said in a lowered voice, whispering.

“
Daisy?”

“
Yes, I called your cell and kept getting your voicemail.”

Pete realized he still clutched the phone in his hand. He must have dialed Nina’s numbers hundreds of times. “Oh, okay. What’s up? Are you back?”

“
Hold on.” He heard a door close. “No, I’m not back. I um wanted to know if you wanted… well I won’t be home tonight, I’ll be there in the morning though.”

“
Morning?”

“
I talked to Denise. Mama cooked. If you like, you and Nina can go over and spend some time with Amy, alone.”

Pete blew out a deep breath. Before now, he’d jump at the opportunity. But now he was weighted down with regret. He needed his woman. He was also a second away from catching the next flight to go after her. “Yeah, cool, thanks.”

“
Pete.”

“
Yes?”

“
Tomorrow morning we tell her. Is that okay? Don’t do it until I can join you. It’s all I ask. I… well she’ll be confused. I want to help her understand.”

“
Let me guess. You’re in Vegas?”

When she didn’t answer, he scratched at his brow. “Fine. It’s okay, Daisy. I just asked because… well I got a situation and… fuck it. I’ll be here when you get back. Yeah, I want to see Amy. I’ll go see her.”

“
Everything okay?”

Pete nodded in response instead of answering.

“
Pete?”

“
Everything’s fine. Call me when you get in.”

“
Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He set the phone back on the cradle. Then he picked it up again, dialing, waiting, counting down the rings.

Hi, you’ve reached Nina. Leave a message and I’ll get back wit ya!

“
Nina, babe. I… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I love you. Call me. Please don’t make me do this over a voicemail. Let me talk to you.”

He hung up. Pete put his face in his hands and worked it over his weary eyes. He was so tired. But he wasn’t a quitter. Nina loved him. He just had to remind her of the reasons why. He had to get back to Hollow Creek. Picking up the phone, he dialed the reception desk in the hotel.

“
Hi, I need the number to Delta Airlines.”

****

“
Where is he?”

“
I’m not sure, sir. He said he had meetings.”

“
Don’t give me that bullshit. You find Donovan and you tell him to get his ass back to Shamrock, and you call me the minute he steps foot in the hotel. Are we clear? Now damn it!”

He slammed the phone down. It nearly cracked in his hand from the force. Daisy said the bastard told her about Maxine. To what end? To send her away from him permanently? Donovan had done things in the past to ensure the best for his business. He kept him out of many sticky situations with the Gaming Commissioner and with the law period. However, this felt wrong. His actions were kind of rogue.

Aiden paced. He could trust so few people. In fact, Donovan McBride was the only man he did trust. A surrogate father, he had been there in the bleakest of times. But Maxine? What happened to her screwed with his head for months and Donovan knew it. He reminded Aiden of their shared past when his hunt for Daisy bordered on relentless. Donovan also knew how much he wanted Amy and why he felt the way he did for her. Hell, he was the one to tell him that Amy existed. Why the flip? Something wasn’t gelling.

“
Everything is in order, sir.”

Aiden looked behind him. A young man waited patiently with another. They’d arranged the meal and table setting the way he liked.

“
Anything else, sir?”

He motioned to one of them. “The jeweler. Tell him I want to see him with the finest engagement diamonds in two hours. Here.”

“
Yes sir.”