More Than a Man (9 page)

“Noelle’s here, Viv,” Rich announced. Both
her mother and Joy turned. Horror froze Vivian’s features, her eyes
wide her lips slightly parted. Joy quirked a perfect dark brow at
her sister.

She felt her shoulders stiffen, felt the hope
die in her chest. Why did she ever think her mother would accept
her decisions?

Swallowing, she walked out onto the patio. If
Aya hadn’t pressed the issue earlier, she probably would have
chickened out and introduced him by name only, omitting his
position in her life. Unwilling to hurt him, she mustered her
courage. “Hi, Mom, Joy. This is my husband, Aya. Aya, my mother
Vivian and my sister Joy.”

Vivian shot to her feet, smoothing her skirt.
“Oh! I didn’t realize. Um, how nice to meet you, Aya.”

Joy rose slowly to stand next to their
mother. Noelle avoided her sister’s curious glances.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Lytton.
You’ve a lovely home.”

Noelle jerked around to search his face. What
did that mean?

“Thank you.” She blinked and fell silent.

Joy held out her hand and Aya took it.

“What a pleasant surprise,” Joy said
earnestly, her smile as genuine as their father’s had been.

Aya smiled back, his teeth very white against
his golden skin. It struck her in that moment that she hadn’t seen
him really smile. Little half-smiles and quirky grins, but not a
full-blown smile. And his first smile was for her sister. Some
emotion squeezed her heart and emptied her lungs. Deity, what was
wrong with her? She wanted him to be friendly.

Forcing air back into her lungs, she put her
hand on Aya’s arm. The contact steadied her, grounded her. In just
a few hours he’d become more important than she could have
imagined. It was so fast with him.

“Steaks are ready,” Rich announced.

“Dad grills a fantastic steak,” Joy said,
addressing Aya.

“But not enough unfortunately.” Vivian bit
her lip. “We weren’t expecting more than the four of us for
dinner.”

“It’s fine,” Aya said before Noelle could
step in. “I’m vegetarian.”

“Oh.” Her mother wrung her hands before
turning away abruptly. “We’ll figure something out. I’ll just be a
minute.”

She edged past Aya and into the house, the
click of her heels audible in the sudden silence. Noelle and Joy
stared at one another. The younger woman spoke first.

“You should’ve called or texted or
something,” Joy said. “You know how Mom gets about hospitality.
She’s going to be a wreck the rest of the night, worrying that Aya
feels unwelcome.”

Noelle stiffened defensively.

“Joy.” Her father’s voice held a low note of
warning.

“I don’t feel unwelcome,” Aya interjected
before she could respond. “Please tell her this is fine.”

“Aya,” her father called from the grill, “why
don’t you have my girls give you a quick tour of the house so
you’ll know where everything is?”

The interruption felt like a reprieve. Noelle
latched onto it and steered Aya toward the house.

* * *

Dinner was strained. She couldn’t fault Aya.
He drew Joy and her father into casual discussion, and even tried
to talk with her mother. But Vivian didn’t even make a pretense at
polite conversation. Instead, she answered questions briefly before
pressing her lips together.

Noelle picked at the meal, pushing small
pieces of steak around her plate and barely nibbling on the salad
and vegetables. Vivan’s disapproval couldn’t have been more
plain.

By the time Joy brought out dessert, Noelle’s
nerves were stretched tight.

“Are you fitting in well, Aya?” After being
closed-mouth all evening, her mother’s abrupt question cut sharply
through the tense atmosphere.

“Mom. He only arrived this morning.” Maybe
she could head off whatever salvo her mother was preparing. Aya,
seated next to her, laid a hand on her knee under the table. She
jolted hard enough to bump the table, drawing curious looks from
her family. Noelle stared at her mother. What was she getting
at?

“Well, he must have met some of your friends.
Or at least Kendall? She’s at your place all the time.”

Noelle sucked in a calming breath.

Aya cocked his head and gave Vivian a small
smile. “No, Mrs. Lytton. I haven’t met any of Noelle’s friends yet.
Though I understand they’ll be over for a party tomorrow
night.”

“A party? Isn’t it a little early for a
marriage party?”

Noelle felt heat creep up her neck. She
fiddled with the tablecloth. “It isn’t a marriage party.”

“You should have a marriage party,” Joy
declared.

Noelle shrugged, uncomfortable. Kendall’s
original idea had been a combination of wedding shower and
bachelorette party. A surreptitious call to her from the bathroom
had clued her into Aya’s early arrival. Kendall had only rolled her
eyes and muttered about canceling the strippers and sexbots. She
might have been kidding. Maybe.

“It’s really more Kendall’s deal than mine,”
Noelle evaded.

Her mother’s face froze. “Oh. I didn’t
realize you’d told your friends you were getting married
again.”

“I didn’t tell them.” Twisting the cloth
between her fingers, she swallowed the guilt. She hadn’t told them.
Kendall had guessed, but that wasn’t the same.

Aya pulled his hand from her leg. A quick
sideways glance at his face had her hunching her shoulders. He had
the same look on his face he’d had this morning when she explained
it was easier not to tell anyone. And wasn’t this just proof she
was right? If Kendall hadn’t guessed, she wouldn’t be in this
position. Ignorance was bliss.

“You didn’t tell anyone?” Her mother
pressed.

She shrugged again. Why were they having this
conversation? She wasn’t a teenager any more, she was entitled to
her privacy. “No.”

The look her mother gave her was partially
irritation and partially something she couldn’t identify.

Joy cleared her throat. “Well, I’m sure
meeting Noelle’s friends will be fun. They’re a pretty interesting
group.”

Noelle narrowed her eyes at Joy. “I like
them,” she muttered.

Abruptly, Aya stood, pulling her with him.
“If you’ll excuse us for a few moments, we have something to
discuss. Please, there’s no need for anyone else to get up.”

Gripping her wrist, he led Noelle to the
guest bathroom.

The sound of the door closing echoed in her
ears. She spun to confront him, angry and mortified at being
dragged off like a recalcitrant child.

"This is my parents' house. We’re in the
bathroom
, for pity's sake," she hissed.

He shook his head slowly, leaning back
against the door. "I don't care where we are. You’re acting like a
brat.”

“I’m acting like a brat? My mother sticks
pins in you and I am the brat?”

His brows drew together. “What do you mean? I
have no problem with your mother. She’s a little hesitant, but I
can understand that.”

“Hesitant.” She snorted. “Aya, she made up
her mind the moment she saw you not to like you. She’s spent the
whole evening alternately cutting you off and setting verbal
traps.”

The furrows on his forehead deepened. “What
are you talking about?”

She stared at him, only belatedly realizing
her jaw hung open. She closed it with a snap. “How could you not
notice? In the garden, when we first walked in, she was horrified.
She couldn’t even manage a civil conversation with you at dinner.
The whole thing about meeting my friends and fitting into my life,
as if you were somehow defective and it would be a problem.”

The frown lines smoothed a bit and the
confusion cleared from his greenstone eyes. Slowly, Aya shook his
head.

She crossed her arms defensively. “What?”

“You don’t understand your mother at all, do
you?”

“Did I give you the impression I did? I have
never understood my mother. I know she loves me, in her way. But
she wants me to be like her, and I am so not her. She disapproves
of my partnership with Kendall, of my friends, of my house, of
my—of you.”

His eyes narrowed. “You were going to say
something else. What were you going to say?”

Noelle shrugged, looking away from him. “It
doesn’t matter.”

“It matters. But there’s something more
important here, Noelle. You are wrong.”

“Wrong? About what?”

“About your mother. She isn’t being rude to
me. She’s afraid.”

Noelle rolled her eyes. “That’s ridiculous.
My mother isn’t afraid of anything.”

Aya grabbed her shoulders, drawing her eyes
back to his. “Yes, she is. She’s afraid of you. And I have to say
that given your attitude, she’s right to be. She wasn’t horrified
when we showed up. She was shocked. Who wouldn’t be, since you
couldn’t even be bothered to do her the courtesy of sending a text
to tell her I was coming?”

“I think I know better what was going through
my mother’s head than you do. You only just met her.”

“And that’s exactly why I
do
know.
You’ve built this up so that you expect the worst from your
mother.”

She knocked his hands from her shoulders and
stepped back from him. “Excuse me? You think I’m making it up?”

Aya’s expression closed. “No, not making it
up. But you aren’t reading it right. The reason she didn’t say
anything at dinner was because she was afraid of saying the wrong
thing.”

Right. Sure. “And I suppose that crack about
fitting in was in my head? And Joy’s jab about having interesting
friends?”

He made a noise in his throat. Not exactly a
growl, but definitely irritated. “No. You are deliberately
misunderstanding me. I’m telling you that what you are reading as
disapproval and rudeness is more likely shock and concern.”

“Concern.”

“Yes, concern. Concern she would anger you,
concern she would say the wrong thing, and concern for you.”

“You just don’t see the full picture. From
the time I was small I understood I wasn’t exactly what my parents
wanted.”

“What are you talking about? Your parents
must have wanted you or you wouldn’t be here.”

Noelle shrugged off his incredulity. “They
ordered Joy from Babyporium. Clearly I wasn’t exactly what they
wanted.”

Aya froze, staring at her. He ran a hand over
his face.

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “Not much to say
about that, huh? I see it for what it is. You are the one trying to
make it pretty.”

He shook his head again. “I don’t think
you’re seeing it accurately. Your parents love you, Noelle, and you
have to see it or you are going to be miserable. Can you not trust
my judgment on this?”

“No. I can’t. I’ve known her a lot longer
than you have.”

Aya blew out a breath. “We’re going in
circles. I want you to at least agree to think about it.”

“Why should—”

“Noelle. Please. Just think about it.”

She huffed out an irritated sigh, barely
resisting the urge to roll her eyes at him again. Whatever it took
to get him to drop this discussion. “Fine. I’ll think about
it.”

After a long moment, Aya’s face cleared and
he straightened from the door. “Good. Now, you need to blow off
some steam, so I'm going to make sure you do. On my terms."

She glared at him. "What does that mean?"

His eyes narrowed to hard green slits. "Come
over here."

Noelle shook her head. She had to force her
feet to stay still, though. Everything in her yearned to close the
few feet between them.

He quirked one dark brow and smiled. It
wasn't a happy smile. No, this smile made dark, hot promises.
Promises meant to be made in the middle of night, in the privacy of
a bedroom. Not in the bright lights of her parents' guest
bathroom.

Fear and the thrill of arousal crawled under
her skin, blunting her temper. The fear of being caught, the thrill
of the risk. Aya made
her
want to take risks. She'd never
thought of herself as particularly adventurous. That was one of the
reasons she'd wanted adventurous, risky mates. Maybe she'd been
wrong about that.

Aya's hands moved slowly to the placket of
his slacks. Long fingers worked the fastenings. He reached inside,
freeing his erection. His splayed hands framed the thick length, an
erotic work of art and lust. She wanted it.

His deep chuckle echoed in the bathroom. “You
want it? Come over here.”

Mesmerized by the promise of his cock, she
stepped toward him.

“Stop. Take off your panties.”

She froze, her eyes flying up to his.
Oh,
Deity
. He was going to fuck her right here. Hurriedly, she
shoved her hands under the skirt of her dress and pushed her
panties to the floor. She had to step backward out of the tiny
scrap of fabric.

He held out a hand and crooked his fingers.
“Give them to me.”

Surprise snapped her brows together. She
scooped the panties up and handed them to him. Without comment, he
stuffed them in his back pocket.

“Good. Now, on your knees.”

“What?” Her eyes widened so much they felt
dry.

“You heard me.” His head tipped, chin
indicating the jade rug. “Knees.”

Heat flooded her body. The hard tone of
command hit all of her buttons. She hadn’t known she wanted to be
pushed so far. She kept her eyes on his, folding her legs until her
knees hit the cold tiles. Was she really doing this?

“Very good. You may use your mouth, and only
your mouth. If you behave, I’ll make you come.”

Noelle shivered. The bra she’d put on in
deference to social nicety chafed against her nipples, reinforcing
her arousal. She didn’t want to like it so much, but there was no
arguing with her body. She knew she could stand up and he’d respect
her wishes. Knew he would back off the dominant behavior and let
her go back to something only slightly exotic. She also knew if she
didn’t balk he’d continue to push her, to find where her boundaries
actually were. Not where she thought they should be, not even where
she
thought
they actually were.