Chapter 288
Aria’s POV
Darkness cradled us both, our mingled breaths the only sound between us. Time stretched and contracted until my lips felt parched from our earlier heated exchange.
God, I needed water.
I shifted slightly against Aiden’s solid frame beneath me, instantly feeling him tense. “Baby,” he groaned, his voice husky with restraint. “What’s wrong p>
I heard the unspoken warning in his tone—if I kept squirming against him like this, his impressive self-control would snap.
“I’m thirsty,” I whispered, feeling the vibration of his chest as he let out a low chuckle.
Aiden patted my back gently, signaling me to move. I rolled off him reluctantly, my body still tingling from where we’d been pressed together. He sat up and switched on the bedside lamp, bathing our bedroom in a soft golden glow.
“I’ll get you some water,” he said, sliding out of bed.
The mattress rose as his weight left it, and I sat up, pressing my palms against my flushed cheeks. My heart still pounded like I’d run a marathon—all from just making out with him. The things this man did to me p>
Footsteps approached, and Aiden reappeared in the doorway, water glass in hand. My eyes drifted over his broad shoulders and the defined muscles of his chest. Even after all this time, the sight of him still made my mouth go dry for reasons completely unrelated to actual thirst.
“Here,” he said, extending the glass to me.
Our fingers brushed during the exchange, sending a tiny jolt through my system. I took several long sips, feeling his eyes on me the entire time. When I glanced up, his gaze had darkened again.
“Want more?” he asked, his voice deeper than before.
I shook my head, setting the half-empty glass on the nightstand. “I’m tired now,” I admitted, feeling the day’s events suddenly catching up to me.
Aiden’s lips curved into that smile that always made my stomach flip. “Sleep then. I’m turning off the light p>
Darkness enveloped us again as I slid under the thin sheet. The mattress dipped beside me as Aiden settled in, his familiar cedar and sandalwood scent wrapping around me like an invisible embrace. I gravitated toward his warmth, my eyelids growing heavier by the second.
As consciousness slipped away, my last thought was wondering why Lillian hadn’t texted me back yet.
My dreams were… vivid, to put it mildly. Aiden and I were in a movie theater, his hands roaming my body while strangers sat all around us, the screen flickering in the darkness could feel his lips on my neck, his fingers slipping beneath my clothes while I tried desperately not to make a sound p>
I woke up with my face burning and my body aching with need. My hand instinctively reached for Aiden, but his side of the bed was empty and cool. The air conditioner had been turned off, and a gentle breeze drifted in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, carrying the fresh scent of morning.
Grabbing my phone from the nightstand, I checked the time. Nearly 9 AM. I also checked my messages-still nothing from Lillian. Strange. She usually responded within minutes, even late at night. Had she gotten drunk at her team’s celebration dinner?
I set my phone down and decided to check in with her after breakfast. But even after
I’d eaten and called her twice, there was still no answer.
A knot of worry tightened in my stomach. It wasn’t like Lillian to go radio silent like this. We’d been friends since college, and she always kept in touch, even during her busiest times.
What if something had happened to her last night? The celebration had been at that new upscale bar downtown. Could she have gotten into trouble somehow?
I tapped my fingers against the kitchen counter, debating whether I was overreacting. Maybe her phone had died.
About half an hour later, I finally got Lillian’s text. I exhaled in relief – I was seriously about to drive over and check on her if she didn’t respond soon.
I stared at her unusually brief message, my eyebrow arching slightly. Strange. When had Lillian become so terse? Something felt off, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what exactly bothered me about it.
Pocketing my phone, I decided to head to the hospital to visit Dad. Friday afternoons apparently brought out everyone with a medical concern – I circled the parking structure twice before finally squeezing my car into a spot near the back.
The hospital parking layout confused me. I wandered around trying to find my way, eventually emerging through what turned out to be the outpatient clinic entrance rather than the inpatient wing I
needed. I’d just my beatings and figured out which direction to head when I spotted a familiar face.
“Aria,” Owen Duncan said, his hazel eyes flickering with recognition as he spotted
me.
I glanced at Vivian standing beside him and simply nodded back. “Owen p>
“Are you feeling unwell?” he asked, his voice carrying that perfectly practiced concern that never quite reached his eyes.
“No, my father’s been admitted,” I replied, the weight of those words sitting heavy on
my chest.
I didn’t know Owen well enough for a
lengthy conversation, so after exchanging a few obligatory pleasantries, we parted ways. Ast walked toward the inpatient building, my phone buzzed again – probably Aiden checking in smiled despite myself wondering how the man who once intimidated half of Manhattan’s business elite had become the person who texted to make sure I’d eaten lunch.
My thoughts drifted back to last night, heat rising to my cheeks as flashes of our bathroom encounter replayed in my mind. I’d never been with anyone who could read my body like Aiden did – who knew exactly when to be gentle and when I needed something else entirely.
I pushed those thoughts aside as I approached the hospital entrance. Dad needed
me focused right now, not daydreaming about my husband’s particularly talented hands.