Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 52227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 209(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52227 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 209(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Brooke paced the living room in an attempt to calm down. Again. She’d convinced her mother and Alex to give her space to think, and Remy went to find Raven, who had gone to the den to wait.
Alone, she understood Aiden needed to protect the people he loved, but he was forgetting one very important thing, and she had every intention of sharing it with him.
Brooke stormed to his bedroom, a woman on a mission. She was so done with Aiden’s lone wolf crap and she wouldn’t let him have his way again.
Fueled by her anger, she shoved his door open and didn’t care when it banged into the wall.
Aiden spun around from where he stood by the bed, folding clothes into a large suitcase. “Brooke?”
She slammed the door shut behind her and leaned against the white wood. “Let me make something clear to you, Aiden. You took charge of my life once and I am not letting you do it again.”
His jaw clenched before he let himself speak. “I’ve made up my mind.”
“Oh, I’m aware. So you’re packing already?” she asked.
“Yes. I’m leaving in the morning.” He picked up another shirt and folded it, placing the garment in the suitcase.
“I see.”
He faced her, narrowing his gaze, his wrinkled brow showing his confusion. She knew he expected a shouting match, but that wasn’t what she planned to give him.
Strolling over to where he stood, she folded her arms across her chest and tilted her head to the side. “Okay, where are we going?”
He was in the process of tucking a pair of well-worn jeans into the suitcase when her question obviously registered. Pausing with the jeans in his hands, he looked at her with his eyebrows drawn together, creating a crease in his forehead.
He was clearly still a confused man. “Did you just say we?” he asked.
Brooke treated him to a patronizing smile. “I certainly did.”
Aiden groaned, running his hand through his hair. “Brooke, I can’t take you with me.”
She realized he looked bone-deep tired. Not just sleep-deprived like her, but emotionally depleted, and she understood the feeling.
But she wasn’t backing down. They were in this together. “Why not?”
“For one thing, I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, and like I said, I’ll need to cut contact. With everyone. I won’t rip you away from your life just because my actions have put me in danger.”
And here it was. The old Aiden coming out to play. Instead of allowing her anger to overwhelm her, she faced him, stepping into his personal space. “Aiden Sterling, are you trying to make decisions for me again?” she asked, her voice harsher than she’d intended.
He jerked his head back and she saw him as he put the pieces together in his mind.
But she had no patience for him to figure it out. “I refuse to let you decide what is best for me again. And before you try it, you’re not going to push me away, either. I’m not that insecure girl you left behind once before. I love you too much to let you go without a fight. And this time, I know you love me, too.” Shocked by her own declaration, she clamped her mouth shut.
But she shouldn’t be so surprised. Aiden was the one person who could make her forget herself. And now that she’d said the words? She wouldn’t take them back.
She stood firm, holding her breath, waiting for his reaction. Expecting the argument that he couldn’t drag her with him away from her home, family, and job.
Instead, he closed the distance between them, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her long, hard, and deep. His tongue tangled with hers, giving her the answer he hadn’t yet said.
His hands traveled down, cupping her ass and lifting her so she could wrap her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.
Once he had her in place, he tilted his head back long enough to say the words. “You’re right, sweetheart. I love you, too.”
After that, she fell sideways on the bed with Aiden beside her, still kissing and pulling at each other’s clothes. He shoved the suitcase onto the floor and kissed her again, her body clamoring for his touch.
Rolling her onto her back, he settled his hips between her parted thighs. Somehow, she’d managed to strip down to her panties. Aiden’s shirt was gone, leaving him in his jeans. The rough fabric abraded against her sex as the hard ridge of his erection rubbed her in just the right spot.
She jerked at the arousing feeling, needing more. He broke their kiss, and Aiden licked his way down her chest, flicking his tongue over one taut nipple, his hand squeezing the other breast. The sensations were delicious and completely overwhelming.
She grabbed his belt buckle, unbuttoning his pants and reaching inside to grasp his cock in her palm. Aiden let out a low groan and took her mouth in another kiss, this one a sloppy, frenzied connection of lips, teeth, and tongue. She’d never felt anything like the wildness between them.