Tempted (A Player Brother Romance Book) (A Standalone Novel) (Player Brothers Book 1) (29 page)

"Yes, Blair,” he said softly. "That is
so." Something about his voice when he spoke caught my attention. He had
lost the confrontational defensive edge.

He glanced up from underneath his eye lashes, giving
me a look that would have melted me up until the last night he was here. I
leaned back and listened.

"I want you to know, I don't expect you to
forgive me. Not in the slightest. But I just want you to know, I had to tell
you in person that I didn't mean a word of what I said the other night. Not a
single word."

My cool disposition was starting to crumble.

The last thing I wanted was for him to see me fall
apart, but with the pain and anger rising up to the surface I feared that is
exactly what was about to happen.

"Then why did you say it!" I said in a voice
sharper than I intended.

He lowered his eyes and shifted in his seat, as an
uncomfortable silence passed between us.

I stared him down hard, sending daggers through my
eyes at him.

He kept his eyes averted, tapping his fingers
alongside his coffee mug. He took a sip of the hot liquid and then set it down
on the table.

For the first time in our lives I noticed the palpable
difference between us.

Every other time, we had held on to the undercurrent
of our friendship, something I had thought would always be there.

But this time it was gone.

I felt certain that he noticed it too, the way he couldn’t
bring himself to look at me. Finally he spoke again.

"There's no excuse, Blair,” he began. "Try
to understand. My mind wasn't in a good place. I wasn't right, but... I thought
you had tried to hurt me and I wanted to hurt you back just as badly."

"But why did you think that I had told the firm
anything?" I asked.

"I knew that you were the only one who
knew."

"But... I hadn't even told Kelsey. I hadn't told
anyone. How did the firm find out? Who told them?"

"I did,” he said with a sheepish look.

"What?"

This I had to hear.

"That meeting, it turns out they were vetting me
for the part,” he said. "I didn't know it at the time, but... Part of
their policy is to ask about any medications that I might be on. Of course I didn't
recognize that's what was happening, so I jumped to the conclusion that they
were asking about the Amphetamines. I thought you had ratted me out," he
finished, letting his words fade into silence as he sat with his elbows on his
knees, his hands hanging limp in front of him. "So I admitted to the
addiction, and left the office. After I met up with my doctor friend, I spent
the next couple of hours driving around trying to figure out how to confront
you about it. Things got a little bit out of hand as you already know, and I’m
so, so sorry."

"Wow,” I said.

I didn’t know how else to respond.

"The things you said really hurt me, you
know."

I would never admit it, but I felt a little bit angry
with myself for still feeling attracted to him, the way his wet hair had fallen
over his forehead made him look even more pitiful than his words belied.

I really wanted to stay mad at him for a little while
longer.

"I know,” he said simply.

He raked his hands through his hair sending it
standing in all different directions. Without thinking I laughed and reached
forward to smooth it down, before I realized what had happened. I pulled my
hand back when he looked up at me, as if I had touched a hot stove.

For the briefest moment I had let the door open once
more.

A tiny inkling of that familiarity had snuck through,
just enough to make me want to find it again. He noticed the moment also, and
reached out to take my hand before I had pulled it back all the way. I sat
frozen, caught between my anger towards him and my desire to rush into his
arms.

He kept his eyes fixed on me and laced his fingers
through mine, carefully as if he didn’t want to disturb the delicate dynamic. I
recognized a need in his eyes, different that I had seen before, not longing,
not desire, but something more, something that I couldn’t yet define. I didn’t
know what I feared the most. The look in his eyes or the thought that there
might be a similar look in mine looking back at him.

"Dammit Blair," he said in a low voice,
almost as if speaking to himself. "I love you. I don't want to mess this
up."

"What?" I said unsure if I had heard
correctly.

"I said I don't want to mess this up."

"No, before that."

"'Dammit Blair'?" he said. I noticed as he
spoke a tiny crook of a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"Aiden..,” I said giving him another glare.

 
With that he
clasped my hand fully and pulled me around the coffee table and over next to
him on the couch.

"I said, I love you, Blair." He hadn’t taken
his eyes off of mine during the whole conversation. "Did you hear me that
time? I love you, Blair Michaels."

Again I found myself unsure how to respond.

Of course this declaration didn’t change the hurt that
I still felt, though it had diminished a great deal since he had arrived. But it
did change the expectation of what I wanted from him. The man before me now, I
knew without a shadow of a doubt was the same Aiden that I had grown up with,
sweet, charming, sensitive.

Of course I loved him.

Despite this realization I wanted to stay mad at him,
and part of me was still a little angry that he chose these words to break down
my defenses, as if he knew they were the only words that could reach me. I took
a deep breath and exhaled slowly keeping my eyes steady on his.

"I love you too, Aiden Stephen Player,” I said
with certainty.

"Middle name?" he said with a grin as he
placed his hand behind my head and pulled me closer. "I must be in trouble,”
he murmured.

"Have no doubt,” I responded before my lips
succumbed to his. "You are."

We had a lot of things to work through, that much
remained certain, but I had seen a darker side of him and knew that I could
forgive him. He had also seen a side of me that I wasn’t proud of.

We lounged on the couch for a while, enjoying each
other’s kisses, something I had thought I would never have again. Ever so
slowly it began to come back. I knew this was a new beginning for both of us,
but I still felt a little bit hesitant.

He held my face in his hands and took turns gazing
into my eyes, almost as if seeking something there, permission or forgiveness I
couldn’t tell. He kissed my face, from my lips to my eyelids and back again,
around my forehead along the edge of my hair line. His fingers tangled into my
hair as he held my close to him, and I nestled into his embrace placing my
hands upon his chest.

The feel of his heartbeat under my palm had become the
elixir to which I was helplessly drawn. My fingertips touched the flesh just at
the neck line of his tee shirt, and I found myself compelled to trace along the
edge of the fabric, up the side of his neck and around the curve of his ear.

He pulled in his breath as my hands moved across his
flesh, making me feel a growing sense of power. My own body had begun to
respond as well, all the previous anger melted away and transformed into desire
for him despite myself.

I held back but my lips betrayed my need and I brought
my teeth down in gentle pressure upon his lower lip. He drew back for a moment
at the pain, but smiled and shook his head before he leaned in placing his
mouth on the curve of my neck.

We spoke without words as our hands traveled over each
other’s bodies.

I hadn’t yet decided if I wanted to invite him to my
bedroom.

I knew I wanted to.

The question remained as to whether or not I should.

I considered the words of Kelsey and those of my
mother, both who had encouraged me to enjoy life a little bit more. With my
head lying against the back of the couch, and his arm around my shoulders, I
considered the surge of adrenaline that accompanied his touch, his hand at my
waist,
his
lips on my skin.

I knew that I had a whole world of possibilities
before me.

For now I didn’t have to worry about any of them. I
had the love of my life wrapped in my arms. His fingertips had found the hem of
my shirt. He slipped his hands underneath the fabric and traced the flesh of my
stomach, sliding along the edge of my jeans. He noticed that I my breath caught
at his touch, and he smiled at my reaction. I began to tug his tee shirt off
over his head but stopped before I did so.

"Wait," I whispered, smoothing the fabric
back down. "Come with me."

Taking his hand I pulled him from the couch and led
him down the hallway and into my bedroom. It wasn’t as spacious as his, and
perhaps not as modern. I noticed that he didn’t mind the layout as he hadn’t
taken his eyes off of me yet.

I pulled him down onto the mattress, pushing aside the
plush animals and tossing them to the floor. He pulled off his tee shirt,
revealing the sexy swirls of tattoos on his arms and shoulders.

I pulled him down and threw him over, straddling his
torso. There was something I had wanted to do since the first day I had seen
him and today would be the day.

I pulled my tee shirt off and watched his eyes widen
upon the realization that I hadn’t been wearing a bra. I smiled and leaned down
to kiss his mouth once more, letting my nipples graze across his bare chest.
His fingers clutched at my hips, curling around the belt loops of my jeans. I
raised back just a little bit with a mischievous smile on my face, and
whispered in his ear.

"Lay completely still,” I said.

He nodded but I could sense that his teeth were
clenched together and his breath had grown ragged. I moved my lips from
alongside his ear and traveled down the side of his neck, letting my breath be
the only thing that made contact.

Until I reached the first curl of his tattooed skin.

I flickered my tongue along the ink markings, tasting
the saltiness of him and the remnants of rain that had dried on his skin. With
one palm remained planted on the center of his chest, I traveled along the
length of his arm, tasting and kissing as I went. His body twitched at my
touch, and he let out a small moan with each breath. His arm muscles tightened
underneath my touch and I traveled back up the other side of the markings.

When I reached his shoulder, I traveled down the
middle of his chest letting my hand slide over, absently tracing a circle
around his nipple as I found it. He pulled in a sharp breath once more,
struggling to keep control.

"God, Blair,” he moaned. "Do you know what
you do to me…
"

I had an idea.

But I wanted to do more of it before I made up my
mind. The rush I felt at his reaction compared to nothing else, not even
winning a court case. My mouth found his other nipple and I let my tongue trace
circles mirroring the other side with my fingertips.

I felt my own body respond in the same way, my nipples
growing hard. My stomach lay across him, leaning against him and I felt his
manhood grow beneath me, straining against the fabric of his jeans. I couldn’t
resist the temptation and I moved one hand to caress the promising package. His
hips twitched at my touch.
 

"Soon enough," I whispered.

I wanted to play with him for a little while longer,
before I let him have his way.

While my fingers fumbled to unbutton his jeans, I
kissed down the length of his taut abs, catching out of the corner of my eyes,
his hands clenched into fists, clutching at the fabric of my sheets.

At last I unleashed his member, letting it spring
forward hard and pulsing with expectant need. I wrapped my hand around his
shaft and lifted my head to look into his eyes. I gave him a small smile, as
once more my breasts pressed against him more firmly this time.

The way his body lifted just slightly off the mattress
every time I touched him drove me crazy. I felt as if I had total control over
him, and he was letting me have my way.

I leaned up and kissed him gently on the lips and my
fingers slowly began to massage his cock. As if to clue me in to his eagerness
and frustration he bit my lower lip, much as I had done to him before. I could
the see the fire behind his eyes when I looked up at him.

"You're going to pay for that,” I said with a
hint of a smile.

"I hope so," he whispered.

I kissed my way back down his chest, tracing my tongue
down the core of his abs, and flicked the tip of his head, tasting him for the
first time. He let out a moan, and I played with him tracing my tongue around
his firmness, licking and dancing my lips around his head.

I had wanted to take more of him, but his manhood had
proven to be much larger than I had expected. I would never let him on to that
though.