Lily and the Beast 2 (10 page)

“Hardly,” he snorted.  “You’ve shamed our entire family.”

That nausea tightened into anger, heat rippling up to my scalp.  “
I’ve
shamed the family?”  My voice climbed higher as I stared at him, incredulously. 

“Keep your voice down,” he hissed.

“It’s
your
fault I had to do this!” I spat back at him, not caring who heard.  His lips pressed together, and he still wouldn’t look at me.  “No one else stepped up, I had to.  Not Cassie, not Darlene.  Do you think I enjoyed whoring myself out for you?”  Okay, maybe I had, but that was
entirely
beside the point.  He couldn’t have known how Aidan would treat me at the time he agreed to the deal.  And still he said nothing, not even glancing in my direction.

“I should’ve let you go to prison,” I said, shaking my head.  “You did the crime, how come I had to do the time?”

“A year wasn’t a bad bargain, and he even let you go early,” he said feebly and I stood, sick of being in his presence. 

“Yeah, no thanks to you.”  I didn’t tell him that I fully planned to go back to Aidan, not because of his stupid contract, but because I’d fallen in love with him.  I didn’t tell him that Aidan was the best thing that’d ever happened to me, I was too livid.  “You know, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at
you
the same way again.”  And with that, I turned on my heel and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” he called after me.

“I’m going out.”

I didn’t have a destination in mind as I started to walk, hands shoved deep into the pockets of my long coat.  I couldn’t believe what an incredible assmunch my father was being, acting like
I
was the fucking criminal in the family.  Like my behavior was something to be ashamed of when it was his fault I’d gone to Aidan’s in the first place.  I should’ve told him I liked it.  Hell, I loved the things Aidan and I did together, every sordid, kinky bit of it.  If Aidan decided to chain me naked to the bed for a month as nothing more than his sex kitten, I’d say
hell yeah, bring on the collar and cuffs!
 

For the first time in my life, I felt like going to a motel, even a cheap sleazy one, instead of going back to my father’s house.  I didn’t think I could stomach seeing him again until I’d cooled off, and hanging out with my sisters wasn’t likely to speed that along. 

Somehow, I ended up at the park, taking a seat at the end of a bench to watch the kids at play.  To all outward appearances, I was no different from any of the other nannies, watching their charges (or scrolling through their phones), but I felt apart from them.  Cutoff from the real world, even though I sat smack dab in the middle of it.  I needed something to soothe my nerves, and there was only one person I wanted to turn to.

“Hi,” I said, after Aidan picked up the call.

“What’s the matter?” he demanded, somehow sensing something was wrong from that single word. 

“Nothing.  Everything…”  I poured out the entire story to him, from my lame sisters to my judgmental father, word for word.  When I was done talking, the line got really quiet, and I wasn’t sure he was listening.  “Aidan?  Are you still there?”

“I’m here.”

“So what do you think?  Am I overreacting?”

“I think they’re a bunch of assholes who don’t deserve you,” he said, and I had to laugh.

“I think that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“I guess I need to work on my sweet talk then.”

“No, this was exactly what I needed to hear,” I smiled, settling more comfortably on the bench as some of the stiffness went out of my shoulders.  “It just kind of caught me off guard, you know?  This wasn’t how I expected the visit to go.  I mean I’m glad Dad isn’t dying, but…”

“Come back home then.”

Home.  I realized my home was with Aidan, not here with the strangers I called a family.  The thought warmed me more than the sun that chose that moment to peek between the clouds.  “I will, but I need to do a few things first.”

“Things like what?”

“Just a few things, wrap up some loose ends.  I left town sort of quickly last time, you know?”

“Yeah, I guess I can understand that,” he allowed.

“I just wish I didn’t have to stay at my dad’s place.  I don’t even have my own room anymore, the nurse took it over.  Thanks again for sending her, she’s fantastic,” I added, remembering my first impression of Jillian. 

“I’ll tell you what.  Why don’t you check into the Waldorf Astoria for a few nights?  Then you don’t have to see those assholes unless you want to.”

The Waldorf Astoria?  That was the first place that came to mind when he thought of staying in the city?  “Oh, I can’t afford…”

“You belong to me, right?” he cut me off.

“I guess I…”

“And I take care of what’s mine,” he continued, not missing a beat.  “I insist.  All I need to do is make one phone call and it’s done.  Actually, I can take care of it online while we’re talking.”

“You really don’t need to do this.  I can find a place on my own.”

“Of course you can.  That’s not the question at hand.”

“Fine, but I don’t need to stay anywhere so opulent.  Especially just for a few days.”

“It’s a done deal.  You’re booked in the Towers Penthouse suite.”

I had no idea how much that cost, but my guess was it was more than most people paid for an entire month’s rent.  “I don’t know what to say.”

“Thank you is the usual social convention, I believe.”  The smirk in his voice came through loud and clear.

“Then, thank you, Aidan.  I appreciate you looking out for me.”  And despite my saying I didn’t need him to, it sure felt good to have him in my corner.  “I wish you were here with me.”

The smug confidence faded from his tone.  “That isn’t possible.”

“I know.”  I didn’t expect him to blow through all of his boundaries all at once, it didn’t stop me from wishful thinking, though.  “I just miss you.”

“I miss you too.”  His simple admission brought the smile back to my lips. 

“I miss you more.”

His voice dropped to a lusty purr.  “Oh?  Tell me about it.” 

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

I glanced at my surroundings.  “Because I’m at a park.”

“So?  Are you sitting next to a bunch of nuns?  No one’s listening to you, I promise. Tell me what you’re missing.”

How could I resist that voice?  “I miss… you, all of you.  I miss the way your arms feel around me, and…”

“And what?”

“And the way your beard tickles when you nuzzle up against my neck.”

“Is that the only thing you miss?”

I licked my lips, looking to my left.  I didn’t think the girl on the next bench could hear me over the playing kids, but I wasn’t entirely sure.  “I miss the way it tickles against my, um… thighs too.”

“Just your thighs?  What about my tongue?”  His voice dropped to a lower register, incredibly intimate at my ear.  “Do you miss the way that tickles too?”

“Yes, tickles and more,” I admitted, a little breathless.

“I wish you were here now, I’d show you what I can do with my tongue.”

“Believe me, I remember.”

“Not well enough, or you’d be back by now.”

“I just got here,” I laughed.

“I know.  But damn, my cock misses you already.”

Just hearing him talk about his cock had me pressing my thighs tighter together, picturing it in his hand as we talked.  Was he stroking himself?  I had to push that thought from my mind or I’d end up arrested for immoral acts in a public park.  “It won’t kill you to go a few days without having sex, you know.  They say absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

“It’s not doing my balls any favors though.  They’re blue already.” 

“My poor baby,” I laughed at his disgruntled tone.  “I’ll have to fuck you twice as hard when I get back then.”  I couldn’t help but tease. 

“There’s my dirty girl.  Tell me what else you’re going to do when you get back.”

Oh yeah, I think he was stroking it.  “I think I’d rather surprise you.  In fact, maybe I’ll pick up a few new things for the playroom while I’m in the city.”

“Things like what?”

“You’ll have to wait and see.”

“You’re a cruel mistress.”

“But you love every second of it.”  He didn’t respond, and maybe I’d strayed too close to the L-word for his comfort.  “I should probably go.  The nannies are giving me weird looks.  Probably because I’m sitting here squirming while I’m on the phone with you.”

“Call me tonight, we’ll talk more.”

“I have a better idea.  Do you have Skype on your computer?”

“You mean like a video chat?”

“Yeah, wouldn’t that be sexier?”

“No.  No it would not.”

Shit.  Just like that, the playful sexiness was gone, replaced by tension, or maybe even anger.  “You wouldn’t have to show me any part of yourself you’re not comfortable with, but you know I…”

“I have some work to do.  I’ll talk to you later.”

“Aidan…”

“I’ll call you later.”

~~~

But he didn’t. 

I wasn’t sure if I should call him, or what.  I’d gone back to the apartment to pick up my suitcase, leaving the extra luggage behind and getting the hell out of there before I said anything else I might come to regret later.  So far I had no regrets on that score, but I started to feel weird about the way I’d left things with Aidan. 

He clammed up so fast whenever I pushed seeing him, and the stupid thing was – I loved the way he looked.  He had nothing to feel self conscious about around me at all.  I didn’t care about the scar, I didn’t even really see it anymore when I snuck a look in his direction.  It was part of him, and I loved him, and that’s all that mattered to me.  He meant more to me than a pretty face. 

That got me to wondering – was that all I was to Aidan?  I mean, I knew he cared about me in his own way, and didn’t seem to mind when I hung around outside of the bedroom, but did he see me as a person outside of his sexual playmate?  Yes, I’d promised to go back to him, I loved him.  But we hadn’t really talked about what that meant.  Would I spend the rest of my life lounging around the house, waiting for him to be done with work for sexy fun time? 

The hotel room was amazing.  No, strike that.  It wasn’t a room, it wasn’t even a suite, it was like a fucking luxury apartment.  I’m talking about a huge living room, full kitchen, two bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, and a dining room for ten.  Talk about a waste of space for one person!  I almost thought about calling up some old friends for a slumber party, but really, what I wanted the most was to share it with Aidan. 

We’d gotten so wrapped up in each other, I didn’t know how to be alone anymore.  I tried taking a soak in the huge bathtub, but I got restless even before all the bubbles melted.  I turned all the TVs on for some background noise, but it was hard to follow what was going on with any of the current shows, so I settled for a
Friends
marathon on TBS.  I even stayed in, ordering up from room service instead of going out to eat, because I was afraid I’d miss his call, but it started to look like he was avoiding me.

Maybe it was weak of me, but I sent a text to Michael when I didn’t hear from Aidan.  Not like a
wanna hook up
text, but letting him know I was in town in case he wanted to talk.  I realized I hadn’t once thought about contacting him since Aidan had given me my phone back, and I figured I owed him an explanation of my bizarre behavior.  For closure, if nothing else. 

Michael called right away.  “You’re in the city?  I can be at your place in an hour,” he offered before I had a chance to say more than hello. 

“No, I’m not at home.”

“Where are you then?”

I heard the frown in his voice; I’d gotten really good at picking things up by ear.  I hesitated, not wanting him to show up at the expensive hotel with a hundred questions I didn’t want to answer.  “I’m staying with a friend.” 

“Well, let’s meet up.  Tell me where, I’ll come and pick you up.”

“No, not tonight.” 

“Tomorrow then?”

I hesitated, waffling back and forth over whether it would be better to tell him it was over on the phone now and be done with it once and for all, or to meet him in person.  I knew I’d want to hear something like that face to face.  “Okay, we’ll meet tomorrow.  How about at Café Roma?  I’ll meet you there around two o’clock?”  That would give me some time to go shopping for a few of those toys I’d mentioned to Aidan.  If sex shops were open that early, I had no idea. 

“Actually, I’m not sure I can get to that part of the city by two.  How about we meet for drinks at six?”

“Sure.  Where?”

“There’s a cute bar right around the corner from my apartment, it’s called Play It Again.  They have all this great movie memorabilia stuff from the 40’s.  I think you’d really like it.” 

Distracted by the bar, I almost didn’t pick up on the apartment bit.  “You’re living in the city now?  Since when?”

“Yeah, I moved in a couple of weeks ago.  It’s kind of small, but it fits my needs for the moment.”

“What happened to your classes?”

“A lot’s happened since I last saw you.”

“For me too,” I allowed.  “Okay, drinks tomorrow at six?  We can catch up then.”

“Great, it’s a date.  I’ll text you the address.”

I didn’t argue the date bit.  I just said, “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”