Made For Us (12 page)

Another strong gust of wind rattled the windows, and Zoe shivered and wondered where exactly Aidan was. He had been gone a long time. A quick look at the clock showed that it had been over two hours since he’d walked out. Zoe wanted him to come back, to know that he was safe—and decided to make a bowl for him for whenever he came back.

Which would hopefully be soon.

As if conjuring him up in her mind, she gasped at the sound of the door closing and turned to see him standing in the doorway. He was soaked. His hair was slicked back and his jeans and T-shirt clung to him like a second skin. Zoe’s mouth went dry at the sight. In her mind, she instantly conjured up images of peeling those clothes off of him—some with her teeth—and taking him back to the bedroom to warm him up.

Damn, maybe I need to go stand in the rain to cool
off.

Neither said a word; they simply stood and stared at one another, unsure what to say or how to act.

Rather than continuing to stand there in what was soon to be a puddle of her own drool, she cleared her throat. “Um…I just started heating up some soup for us to eat. It’s cream of potato. I don’t know if you like that sort of thing or not, but I’ve also got some chili, some stew… I can whip up some sandwiches if you’d prefer or—”

“Zoe,” he said, his voice raw and deep. She paused and looked up at him. “The soup is fine. I’m just going to go change.”

“Oh. Okay.” Thank God he finally stopped her from yammering on. She normally only babbled like that when she was nervous, and she had never experienced that with Aidan, not even at their first meeting. But suddenly everything seemed different. Strained. It was tempting to turn the television back on just so she could find out how much longer they were going to be dealing with the storm.

But she was too scared to do it.

In the meantime, she busied herself with rubbing a dishtowel over Baron, who had come in right behind Aidan, all dripping fur and muddy paws. She put out a fresh bowl of water for him and topped off his kibble dish. Then she turned back to the soup. It was late afternoon, so…was this lunch or dinner? Technically, they’d skipped lunch, so she guessed they’d call it an early dinner. The lights began to flicker and she hoped the electricity would stay on, at least through their meal. She didn’t want to contemplate passing the time with Aidan in the dark.

Turning off the burner, she prepared two bowls of soup and placed the bacon in the microwave to heat it up. Within minutes, Zoe had everything on the table and was waiting for Aidan. Wait…should she wait for him? Should she just start eating? Unfortunately, her mother had raised her with good manners, so no matter how loud her stomach was growling and protesting, she decided to wait.

“Sorry that took so long,” Aidan said not two minutes later when he stepped out of the bedroom. “Wet jeans don’t really cooperate when you want them to.” His words were light and easy, as if they hadn’t screamed at each other earlier.

“No problem.” If he could be cool and casual, so could she. “I just finished putting everything out.” They sat down and ate in silence for the first five minutes before Zoe decided there was no way she could go through the remainder of the storm acting like two polite strangers. “It sounds like it’s getting worse out there.”

He nodded. “I was working down in the garage and had the radio on. It seems like despite how fast this storm came at us, it’s suddenly stalled. The current forecast said it’s staying over us well into tomorrow.”

That was so not the news she was hoping for. “Is that normal?”

“No. Most of the storms I’ve seen came and went over the course of maybe up to twelve hours from start to finish. I don’t ever remember one just stalling out over the area.”

“Great,” she muttered.

“Well, the good news, if there is any, is that it’s starting to weaken. We’re going to be bombarded with wind and rain and there will definitely be flooding—”

“I thought you said this was good news,” she interrupted.

“If it had stayed over this area with the intensity that it hit with, there would be a lot more widespread damage. Now, hopefully, it won’t be as bad.”

Right
, she thought miserably. So maybe not
everyone’s
house will be floating in the Atlantic, only hers. But saying that wasn’t going to help the situation, and she really did want to get through the rest of this storm at least on speaking terms with Aidan.

“What were you working on?” she asked instead. “You were gone a long time.”

“The generator. I was making sure everything was hooked up and in good shape. I haven’t used it in a while.”

“So what is it good for…like a couple of lights? The refrigerator?” She looked at him and gave him a helpless smile. “I have no idea how much power those things give off.”

“Such a girl,” he said with an easy grin and leaned back in his chair. “Thank you for the soup. It was delicious.”

“You’re welcome. Now tell me what I need to expect. I packed up a bunch of candles and some flashlights in my suitcase. Should I get them out?”

He shook his head. “Not necessary. The generator will go on automatically if the power goes out. It’s not one of those loud ones that runs on gasoline. This is much easier, and don’t worry, it powers everything. You’ll hardly notice a difference.”

“Oh.” The sigh escaped before she could help it.

“What? What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” she said quickly as she stood up and began to clear the dishes. There was no way she was going to admit that she might have preferred a couple of hours of candlelight to his superefficient generator. He’d think she was an idiot, probably more so than he already did.

Turning to get the rest of the things from the table, Zoe let out a small squeak when she found Aidan standing directly in front of her. “Geez, Aidan,” she said breathlessly. “You scared the hell out of me.” Just in case he needed clarification for that scream.
Smooth, Zoe.
Doing her best to step around him, she got flustered when he kept blocking her every move. “What?!” she finally yelped.

For one long moment, Aidan could only stare at her. Her face was devoid of makeup, and if anything, she looked more beautiful than he’d ever seen her. Her eyes were brighter, and even though he knew she’d been crying, and with good reason, the sight of her simply took his breath away.

She whispered his name and it snapped him out of his trance.

He had meant to ask how she was doing; his sole intention for getting up and approaching her had been to make sure she was okay. But now?

“You are so damn beautiful,” he said softly, slowly lifting his hand and skimming his fingers along the soft skin on her face. Her eyes slowly closed and her lips parted on a sigh. His other hand came up and caressed her other cheek. He marveled at the softness of her skin and smiled at the faint line of freckles that went across her nose, things that were lost to him when he was forced to keep his distance.

Time seemed to stand still, and it didn’t matter that a storm was raging outside or that they had been fighting with one another for weeks. The only thing that mattered right now was Zoe. It would have been so easy to just lean forward, to press his lips to hers, but Aidan had never been one for going the easy route.

Zoe opened her eyes and almost melted. Aidan’s gaze, so deep, so blue, was focused on her with a passionate intensity she had never seen before. His hands, hands roughened from years of work, touched her with infinite gentleness. They traced her cheeks, then her chin, and slowly skimmed down the column of her throat; her entire body cried out for the same attention.

She wanted more and she needed to know that Aidan was aware of what he was doing, that he wasn’t going to pull away. Reaching up, she placed her hands on his and stilled his movements. “What are we doing?” she whispered. The smile he gave her in return finished the job of melting whatever parts of her were holding out.

“If you have to ask, then maybe I’m not doing it right.” Leaning his head down toward hers, Aidan stopped when there was barely a breath between them, his lips almost touching hers. “I’ve wanted to do this since I first saw you touching the flowers outside the model home.”

Zoe laughed softly, unable to help herself. She removed her hands from his and slowly looped her arms around his neck. “You wanted to invade my personal space and talk to me?”

He chuckled and rested his forehead against hers. “Yes. That’s exactly what I wanted to do. And now that I’ve done it, I guess I can walk away.”

“Take one step and I may have to kill you,” she said with another laugh of her own as she did her best to pull him closer.

And then it wasn’t funny anymore. It was very serious. It was everything. Aidan cupped Zoe’s face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers. He felt her sigh and relax against him, and it felt like everything he had ever wanted and like nothing he had ever known. Her lips were soft and pliant under his and for the first time in his life, Aidan didn’t take. He didn’t plunder. He gave, and he savored.

It was a kiss of exploration and for now, it was enough. They each enjoyed the sensation of discovery. Aidan’s hands traveled up into Zoe’s hair; he loved the fullness, the texture. He particularly loved the sounds coming from her as he gently anchored his hands into it. Tilting his head slightly, he finally allowed his tongue to trace the fullness of her bottom lip.

God, she was sweet. With a small whimper, she clutched him closer and then opened her lips to let him in. Aidan groaned with the first contact of his tongue against hers. It was slow, sweet, and erotic. Why had he never appreciated the wonder of kissing? Sex could be good and satisfying, but this? This feeling of being pressed together and simply building up to the next thing was almost more satisfying than any sexual experience he had ever had.

Maybe it was just the thought of what it would be like to make love to Zoe, or maybe it was just Zoe herself. His hands left her hair and skimmed back down over her cheeks, her throat, her shoulders. They slowly grazed the swell of her breasts before grasping her hips. He felt dizzy; his legs felt weak. Were they really still standing in the middle of the kitchen? The sofa was only ten feet away, but that would require moving and moving would force his lips to leave hers.

Not something he was willing to do at the moment. Or anytime soon.

Moving his hands from her hips, he reached around and boldly cupped her rear. And lifted. Zoe gasped against his mouth but as soon as he placed her on the countertop, she was the one who dove back into the kiss.

This
is
better
, Aidan thought. He moved in close and smiled against her mouth when she wrapped her legs around his hips.
Yes
. Slow was good, but moving things forward was even better. With his hands still on her bottom, he pulled her snugly against him. If she didn’t argue with him grabbing her and putting her on the counter, he figured Zoe probably wasn’t going to complain about the erection that was now firmly pressing against her.

He was right.

Zoe hummed her approval of the new position and the proof that Aidan was attracted to her.
Oh
my
. She’d known he’d be a good kisser, known his hands would feel amazing on her body. And now that she’d had a small sampling of what the man was capable of, she wanted more.

Her entire body was aching for more—more of what they were doing and more of him in general. Zoe was more turned on than she expected. What would happen if she were to turn the tables on Aidan and become the aggressor? Did his need for control go all the way to the bedroom?

Dare she try to find out?

She didn’t need to. As if reading her mind, Aidan slowly moved his lips away from hers, across her cheek, and down her jawline, to the pulse beating in her neck. “I could stand here and kiss you all night. But I’d much rather move this to the bedroom…and kiss you in other places.”

She almost purred.

“I’m a big fan of other places,” Zoe said with a sigh as her head fell back. Aidan’s mouth and tongue were doing wicked things along her throat, and she wanted him to have full access.

Aidan couldn’t help but chuckle slightly against her. He couldn’t remember a time he’d been so turned on and filled with humor at the same time. It was a good feeling, a really good feeling.

And it was about to get a whole lot better.

“It’s good that we’re on the same page,” he whispered between heated kisses. He couldn’t get enough of kissing her, touching her, breathing her. It was sensory overload. As much as he wanted to move things to the bedroom, he couldn’t make himself stop what he was doing.

“Aidan?” Zoe pulled her lips from his and reached up to cup his face. “Either take me to the bedroom or take me right here, right now.” She was curious to see his response to having someone else calling the shots. One dark brow arched back at her. She mimicked the expression.

And then without a word, he lifted her up and flung her over his shoulder. Zoe let out a yelp of surprise and then she simply laughed with glee. Aidan took her to the bedroom and kicked the door shut before she had a chance to catch her breath.

* * *

The small lamp on the bedside table flickered off and then came back on a minute later. “So the power really won’t go out?” Zoe asked quietly as she snuggled closer to Aidan, a sleepy smile on her face.

He shook his head. “Nope. The generator will make sure we’re okay.”

“Oh.” She sighed sadly.

Aidan tucked a finger under her chin and gently forced her to look at him. “That’s the second time you’ve responded that way. What’s wrong with that?”

With a shrug, she said, “It’s just…well…there’s something romantic about being stuck in a storm with nothing but candlelight.”

“Zoe, it would be ninety degrees in here if the power went out. Now it doesn’t have to be. The generator is powerful enough to run the air-conditioning and all of the appliances. We won’t miss any of our modern conveniences. We’re lucky. Not everyone has one of these.”

The chuckle escaped before she could help it. “You’re such a guy.”