“I want to taste you the way you did me.”

  Fuck me, this girl is my kryptonite.

  “Aiden?” She doesn’t continue until I look at her. “I promise I’ll make it good for you.”

  “Anything you do will be perfect.” In one swift move, I sit up and lift Lizzie off my lap. She frowns and reaches for her bra, but I grab her wrist and tug her down until she’s kneeling between my legs. “I’ll try to give you a warning before I come, but I’m telling you now, as soon as you get your mouth on me, I won’t last long.” I bend down and capture her lips in a searing kiss before sitting back and spreading my knees. “Get my cock out.”

  Lizzie’s pupils dilate. Her chest rises and falls, her tight nipples begging for my mouth as she does as I command. When her tongue darts out, and she takes her first lick, I sigh deeply and rest my head back on the couch.

  I want to watch her suck me, but right now, it’s taking every ounce of control I have to keep myself together.

  “Aiden?”

  “Hmm?”

  I open my eyes to the sight of Lizzie naked between my legs. Her delicate hand is wrapped around my cock, pumping in long, slow motions as she watches me. She reaches up, pushing her hand under my shirt. My stomach jumps beneath her touch.

  “Will you take your shirt off?”

  Gladly. I reach behind my head and pull it off. Something wild flashes in Lizzie’s eyes, and then she dips her head. Her hair slides forward, and I gather in it my hands so that I can watch her take me into her mouth. Her eyes flick to mine for a brief second before she closes her lips over the head of my cock. She flattens her tongue along the base of my cock and sucks hard as she moves up and down. Her tongue swirls, my balls tighten, and when her teeth scrape gently against the sensitive head, I realize that I don’t have any control. This woman has it all. She owns me.

  Lizzie Donovan owns me—heart, body, and soul.

  “Lizzie.” Her name is a prayer as it falls from my lips.

  “Does that feel good?” she asks.

  “Too good.” I gently grip the back of her head and guide her to my cock. “Don’t stop.”

  And she doesn’t. Lizzie pumps my shaft while sucking me like a damn lollipop until a shiver races down my spine. The sight of her on her knees in front of me, sucking me off, obliterates me.

  It’s too much all at once.

  “Lizzie.” I grip her hair and try to pull her back, but she doesn’t let me. “Sweetheart, I’m—”

  I don’t even get the words out before Lizzie has her arms looped around my knees, holding me to her. She cups my balls, rolling them in her hand, and I come. My hips jerk wildly as she hums around my shaft. I empty myself into her mouth, and she sucks until my cock stops throbbing, and I collapse back onto the couch.

  She eases back and wipes her chin with her arm. “How was it?”

  I smile and shake my head. This girl has no idea what she does to me. I pull her onto my lap and kiss her. “Fucking perfect. You’re fucking perfect. Are you sure you haven’t done that before?”

  Her cheeks turn pink, and she shakes her head. “You’re my first.”

  “I like being your first.” I curl my hand around the back of her neck. “I want to be your last.”

  Lizzie’s answering smile turns to a yawn. She’s exhausted, and so am I, but I’m not ready to let her go. I want to keep her here with me, in my arms, where I know she’s safe. I’ve never felt the need to protect and claim, but with her, I want to do both.

  “Stay with me tonight?”

  “Will you cook me breakfast in the morning?”

  “I’ll do anything for you, Lizzie. There’s no limit.”

  15

  Lizzie

  I want a man with a good sense of humor, a dirty mind, and a beautiful heart. –Liz

  “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Calvin says. He leans a hip against the bar where I’m standing and looks out at his wife.

  Millie does look gorgeous, but in my eyes, she doesn’t hold a candle to Lizzie, who is twirling around the dance floor with my cousin’s little girl. They’re dancing and laughing, and when Lizzie spins her around, the little girl laughs, and my heart constricts.

  “She’s breathtaking.”

  “I have a feeling you aren’t talking about my wife.”

  I smile and look at Calvin. “Millie looks beautiful, too.”

  Calvin grins and shakes his head. “It’s about damn time.” He pulls me in for a hug and slaps my back a few times before pulling away. “I’m happy for you, brother. You couldn’t have picked a better woman. How does it feel to finally be taken?”

  “Amazing and terrifying.” I rub a hand on my jaw. “What if I lose her?”

  “You won’t,” he says with an air of confidence that I wish I had.

  “How do you know?”

  “Because your feelings for her are real. When it’s real, it’s different—sacred. You’ll hold onto her as tightly as I’ll hold onto my wife.”

  “Wife.” I shake my head. “I can’t believe you’re married.”

  “Tell me about it.” He laughs and dips his hands into the pockets of his suit. “One day, we were running around the yard, playing basketball and fighting over who would get the red popsicle, and the next, we’re here, staring at the women we love, wondering what we did to get so damn lucky.”

  The fast song ends, and when one of my other cousins asks Lizzie to dance, she smiles and takes the offer. Blake is sixteen and has nothing but stars in his eyes as he twirls my girl around the dance floor, and I can’t even blame him. She’s beautiful in her light pink dress, her hair done up, and those glossy lips.

  Lips that I can’t wait to kiss.

  “What are you two doing over here?” Dad takes a spot on the other side of me and grabs a champagne flute off the tray of a waiter passing by.

  “Aiden here is going to spend the evening ogling his new girlfriend.” Calvin cuffs my arm and looks at Dad. “And I’m going to ask my beautiful wife to dance.”

  Dad smiles proudly as Calvin steps onto the dance floor and pulls Millie into his arms. When his eyes turn to me, his smile only grows. “Girlfriend, huh? I thought I saw you and Lizzie getting a little cozier than usual.”

  “It’s new.”

  “How new?”

  It’s on the tip of my tongue to blow him off. I’ve never been one to talk to my parents about my feelings. It’s not that I couldn’t; they were always there for me, but I’ve never wanted to. I’ve always been private, keeping most things to myself except when it comes to Lizzie and Calvin. Those two have always had an open-access pass.

  “I’ve loved her for a while.”

  Dad smiles and nods as he takes a drink. “Your mother and I always hoped you’d end up with Lizzie.”

  I laugh, finish my beer, and set it on the bar. “Mom probably creamed her pants when she found out Lizzie was my date to the wedding.”

  “Aiden,” Dad chides. He shakes his head and tries not to smile. “Why do you have to be so crass?”

  “It’s the truth. She hates my profession. It about killed her when I didn’t accept the scholarship to her alma mater.”

  Dad stands up and tilts his head. His brows are pulled tight, but not in anger. “Is that really what you think, that your mother isn’t proud of you? That she hates your profession?”

  Something uncomfortable pulls at the center of my chest, making it difficult to respond.

  “Your mother loves you.”

  “I know that.”

  Dad shakes his head and rests a hand on my shoulder. “Since the second you learned to crawl, you haven’t needed us. It didn’t bother me so much because I was proud that you found your independence at such a young age, but it was hard on your mom.”

  “How so?”

  “Because you were her youngest—her baby—and you didn’t need her for anything. You never asked her to tuck you in at night, and oftentimes, you’d play so hard that you’d fall asleep without telling us goodnight or saying I love you. Calvin was always showering her with kisses, asking for her help, wanting her around. But not you. You had everything under control, and that was hard on her. It got even worse as you got older. You didn’t ask for help picking out colleges or filling out applications, you just did it. You knew what you wanted, and you went for it.”

  “Because I knew if I told Mom what I wanted to do, she’d try and talk me out of it.”

  “Maybe, maybe not.” Dad shrugs. “But we’ll never know because you didn’t give either of us a chance. Despite what you might think, your mother loves your creativity, and she’s damn proud that you’ve found success doing something you love.”

  “Then why did she always try to talk to me about being a lawyer or a doctor or an accountant like Calvin?”

  “All Mom ever wanted is for you boys to get a good education and a steady job so that you could support yourself.”

  “You sure about that?”

  “Positive. And if you’d get rid of the chip on your shoulder and not act so damn defensive when you’re around her, you might realize that all she really wants is to be an active part of your life.”

  That’s not how I’ve been with my mom, is it? I think back to all the times I blew her off when she wanted to talk about the future, all the times I rushed phone calls or canceled lunch dates. My eyes dart across the room. Mom is standing in the corner, watching everyone dance, and for the life of me, I can’t remember why I treated her that way.

  I had a great childhood. Even though I never asked her to come to any of my stuff, she was always there. Pouring rain, sunshine, or snow, she was at every soccer, basketball, and baseball game. She never missed a Christmas play, band concert, or class party. She was always the parent volunteering to bring in snacks or drinks, and I didn’t realize until now how lucky I was, how good I had it.

  My heart constricts as memories flood in.

  In the third grade, I fell and busted my head open and had to get stitches. I was sitting in the emergency room, and Mom tried to hold my hand, but I pulled away.

  “I’m tough,” I said.

  “I know you are.” She backed away and sat in the corner, wringing her hands together as my head was closed up.

  In ninth grade, she asked me if I liked any girls or if I had a girlfriend. I rolled my eyes. “Mom,” I scoffed.

  “You can talk to me about anything, Aiden. Even girls.”

  “I’m not talking to you about girls. Ever.”

  “Calvin does.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m not Calvin.”

  I cringe remembering how harsh I was, and I have no idea why. I wasn’t a bad kid growing up—I rarely got in trouble—but Dad is right, I had a chip on my shoulder. I was an independent kid, an angry teen, and a wild young adult. Now, it’s time I mend some fences that I inadvertently broke.

  “Excuse me,” I say to Dad.

  He nods and claps my back as I stride across the dance floor. One slow song rolls into the next, and when I stop in front of my mom and hold out my hand, her eyes widen.

  “May I have this dance?”

  She blinks as though she can hardly believe what’s happening, and eventually nods. “Sure. I mean, yes. Yes, I would love to dance with you.”

  Lizzie catches my eye and winks when I lead my mom to the dance floor. Mom keeps a good foot between us and rests her hand stiffly on my shoulder as though she’s scared to touch me. I cup her free hand in mine, but it too is stiff and cold.

  I did this. I slowly created this rift over several years without even realizing it.

  “The wedding was beautiful, wasn’t it?” Mom says, looking around, her eyes landing on everyone in the room except me.

  “Thanks to you.”

  She startles and looks at me. “I didn’t do much.”

  “That’s not what Calvin told me. He said you helped them plan most of it—you even drove two hours to pick up some decorations that Millie had to have.”

  “That’s what moms are for.”

  “Maybe someday you’ll help me plan my wedding,” I blurt.

  Mom blinks. A smile starts to form on her lips, but never really makes it. Her eyes dart to Lizzie, and I know there are probably a million questions she wants to ask, but she keeps it bottled up inside.

  “Lizzie and I are dating.”

  “You are?” That almost-smile is back again, this time, it stands strong, but I still want more.

  “Yup. I finally pulled my head out of my ass and realized what was staring me right in the face all these years.”

  “I’m happy for you,” she says, not asking a single question. Damn, she’s a tough nut to crack.

  “She made me work for it, but I wore her down.”

  “I wouldn’t expect anything less of our girl.”

  Our girl. Now, we’re getting somewhere. “You approve?”

  Her brown eyes study mine. “Of course, I do. Lizzie is wonderful and absolutely perfect for you. How did…?” Mom’s words trail off, and then she shakes her head. “Never mind.”

  “No, ask me. Please.”

  “Okay. How did her parents take the news?”

  “Christine was happy. Marcus threatened to bury me in the back yard.”

  Mom barks out a laugh. “That sounds like Marcus. But he’d have to get through me first.”

  “Yeah?”

  Mom looks at me, a sheen of moisture in her eyes as she nods.

  “I’m sorry for how I’ve treated you over the years. I love you, Mom.” I stop dancing and pull her in for a tight hug. We probably look weird standing in the middle of the dance floor hugging, but this hug is way overdue, and I don’t give a damn what anyone thinks.

  No words are spoken, Mom simply wraps me in her warm embrace and cries through the rest of one song and halfway into the next. Eventually, she pulls back and wipes a hand under her eyes.

  “Great, now I probably look like a mess.”

  “You look beautiful. I’m sorry it took me so long to apologize for the way I’ve acted over the years. I was stubborn, and you didn’t deserve my attitude. I’m sorry I never really let you in.”

  Mom shakes her head. “You don’t have to apologize. It’s my fault.” She drags in a shaky breath and then blows it out. “After you were born, I suffered from post-partum depression. I didn’t have that with Calvin, so I didn’t really know what to expect. It hit me hard. The first few weeks of your life, I felt so disconnected. I cried all the time. The doctors told me it was just the hormones and that it would go away in a few weeks. And it did…it went away, but I felt like the damage had already been done. I felt like I’d missed such a crucial time in the beginning of your life to really build a bond.”

  She starts to cry again, so I pull her back to me. “It’s not your fault. How about we forgive each other for our shortcomings and try to move on?”

  “I’d really like that.” Mom sniffs and looks up at me. “I just want you to be happy, Aiden.”

  “I am happy, and I’d be even happier if you and Dad would have dinner with Lizzie and me tomorrow.”

  “Really?”

  Christ, when is the last time I’ve asked my mother to do anything with me? For the life of me, I can’t come up with an answer.

  “Please.”

  Her eyes soften. “We would love to. I’m watching Louie while your brother and Millie are on their honeymoon, but he’ll be fine for a few hours.”

  “Great.”

  “And maybe then, you can tell me all about this new video game you’re designing. I hear it’s going to be quite the hit.”

  “Calvin told you about that?”

  She shakes her head. “There was an article in this month’s issue of Wired.”

  Holy shit. “That’s a gaming magazine.”

  Mom smiles. “I know. I subscribe to it.”

  “But…why?”

  “Because it’s what you love.”

  “I thought you hated my profession.”

  Mom shakes her head. “Never. I just didn’t know much about it. Anytime I tried to talk to you about it, you blew me off. I didn’t know if you were getting into a job that made almost nothing, and you’d end up living in my basement, or if you’d make millions.”

  “Not millions, but definitely six figures.”

  “I’m proud of you, Aiden.”

  “I love you, Mom.”

  “I love you, too.” This time, Mom doesn’t hesitate to pull me into her arms.

  “Can I cut in?”

  Mom and I look up at Dad. He’s smiling warmly at his wife, and I take a step back. “Dinner tomorrow,” I remind her.

  “We wouldn’t miss it.” Her eyes leave mine when Dad twirls her around the floor. The warmth of her laughter filters through me as I watch them dance.

  “Is everything okay with your mom?” Lizzie says, wrapping her arms around me from behind. She rests her head against my back, and I lay my hands over hers.

  “Everything is great. They’re coming over for dinner tomorrow night. I told Mom you’d make a five-course meal.”

  “What?” Lizzie screeches. I turn and laugh at the look of horror on her face. “Aiden, I can barely make mac-n-cheese.”

  “I’m joking. We’ll order in.”

  She slaps my arm and tries to walk away, but I don’t let her. “Dance with me,” I say, pulling her into my arms.

  “But this is a fast song.”

  “Does it look like I care?”

  Lizzie kisses my cheek. “I think your cousin, Blake, is in love with me.”

  “I know he is. It was sweet of you to dance with him.”

  “He’s a good kid. One of these days, he’ll be a heartbreaker like you.”

  “I’ll never break your heart.” My grip on her tightens when I realize that I’ve already broken her heart. “Not again, at least.”

  “I know you won’t.” Lizzie nuzzles against me and runs her hands up and down my back. “Have I told you yet how hot you look in this suit?”

  “Only thirty times. But you can say it again.”

  “You look hot in this suit. I can’t wait to strip you out of it.”

  I growl, pick her up, and twirl her around. She laughs. It’s the sweetest sound in the world, one that I’ll treasure for the rest of my life. “You look gorgeous today, too, sweetheart.”