Tempted (A Player Brother Romance Book) (A Standalone Novel) (Player Brothers Book 1) (12 page)

My body ached and when he leaned over me once more I
realized that he had somehow slipped out of his pants without my knowledge and
was now completely naked. The form of his body, accented by the sexy tattoos on
his arm, made me want to open up to him. To welcome him with everything I had
to offer.

Still he held back.

I felt the tip of his cock resting against the flesh
of my thighs, teasing the sensitive area that ached for him. He kissed me
lightly, letting his lips linger over mine. I became so enraptured with the
smoothness of his lips on mine, so engulfed with the endorphins already rushing
through me that I barely noticed when he entered me. I felt myself filled with
him in one seamless motion, intensifying the kiss that now enveloped our entire
body.

His rhythm and mine matched perfectly, as if our
bodies had become one. He brought me to the edge of ecstasy, pulling me back.
With my legs wrapped tightly around his waist, he pulled me up to sitting and I
pulsed against him as he reached depths I had never felt before.

I cried out, barely able to handle the sensations and
yet desperate for more.

He remained inside me, covering me with kisses, on my
neck, my mouth and my breasts, as his hands plunged through my disheveled hair.
I traced my fingertips along his collarbone marveling at the sculpted beauty of
his body, perfect like an ancient statue, I thought. Then I placed my lips
along the very same curvature of his bones, hearing him moan at my kisses. For
the final time, I felt the pleasure began to crest, taunting my body for final
release. He whispered in my ear.

"Tell me when," his rough voice pleaded.
"Tell me when you’re ready."

"Now," I said, barely able to form words.
"Now!" I threw my head back as he pulled me down hard onto him to
maximize my release. "Oh god, yes! Yes!" I screamed as the orgasm
rushed through my body sending me into convulsions of delight unlike I had ever
felt.

I felt him shudder in my arms as our pleasure crested,
goosebumps erupted over his skin, which made me smile,
a
bold sense of accomplishment flowed through me. He landed his forehead on my
shoulder, as we both repositioned, lying once more on the carpet curled in each
other’s arms.

It was in this manner that we fell asleep.

No words spoken and none needed, the only thing covering
over our naked bodies was the moonlight landing through the open patio window.

Chapter
Five

The first tendrils of dawn woke me before I even
opened my eyes. Immediately I sensed something wrong. The surface beneath me
felt strange, not like my bed at all.

Carpet.

Perhaps this feeling was the last remnants of a
forgotten dream. I turned to stretch, still with my eyes closed as the light
invaded by closed lids. My head pounded like a drum, and I put my palm on my
forehead to try and calm the feeling. A mile panic crept into the back of my
mind.

What had happened, I wondered.

It began to come back to me in images and flashes, the
sensations brought by the drunken flirtations which had let to, what? Little by
little the events of the night before seeped into my conscious memory. Starting
with the date, the fun at the restaurant, the walk at the beach, and then...

"Fuck," I mumbled against the pounding of my
head. "Fuck. Oh no," I said hoping it had all been a dream, but
already knowing better.

I opened my eyes and sat up with a startle, confirming
my fears.

"Fuck."

Aiden's apartment looked different in the morning
light, wan, pale and stark. I sensed Aiden sleeping next to me, hearing his
steady breathing. I kept my eyes averted to avoid seeing him recalling that we
had passed out on the floor with nothing so much as a blanket.

With a pounding heart I shuffled around looking for my
clothes. He began to stir just as I pulled the dress over my naked body and
shoved my bra and underwear into my purse.

Last night was one thing, but I didn’t want him to see
me unclothed with sober eyes.

My hangover had distracted me but an even more
horrifying truth slowly began to dawn. Today was the day that the court case
officially began. We only had a few hours to get to the justice building, and
worst of all I had slept with Aiden.

This was bad.

Very, very bad.

"Get up," I said, urgently nudging him with
my toe. "Aiden get up, get up!"

I grabbed my purse and shoes. I realized that he had
to drive me back home as he had picked me up the night before. Aiden stirred
again and moaned. I tried to keep my eyes away, but even in the panic of the
morning I couldn’t help but notice his spectacular form.

Time and place, Blair. Time and place!
I mentally scolded myself.

"Aiden wake up. We have court in three
hours."

Those words seemed to have gotten his attention as he
opened his eyes, sat up and reached for his boxers. He pulled them on and stood
up rubbing his hand over his hair which stood out in every direction.

"What happened?" he mumbled.

His lack of urgency was infuriating.

"What do you think,
happened!
"
I blurted. "Look, there's no time for this. You need to take me home right
now, so we can get ready and get to the court room."

He blinked at me. "Court room?"

"Aiden," I said, trying not to raise my
voice. "The trial starts today if we could decide on a jury."

"Oh, right,” he said as some semblance of life
seeped into his eyes. "The trial. You want some coffee?"

I smacked my hand against my forehead losing my
patience. "Aiden you have to take me home, right now! Wake up and be
serious! I have worked too hard on this case to let things slip out of control
now!"

"Are you angry?" he said as he casually
strolled to the kitchen and began to fill the coffee carafe with water.

He was making coffee.

Was he even serious? I followed him, not ready to let
up.

"Am I angry?" I fumed. "Of course I'm
angry!"

He turned to face me and crossed his arms over his
bare chest. The sight of his muscles flexing caught my attention which made me
that much more infuriated.

"Do you feel as if I took advantage of you last
night?" he asked as he scooped the coffee grounds into the filter. I felt
a little bit taken aback by the question, but that thought hadn’t crossed my
mind.

"Well... no,” I said, confused by suggestion.

"Okay," he said. "You’re obviously
upset. I'm trying to figure out why." The calmness of his voice and
demeanor irritated me even further.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my pounding heart
which didn’t do a thing to ease my headache.

The coffee gurgled cheerfully through the filter
making me want to pick it up and throw it through the window.

If I had told myself the truth, it would have been
that I was angrier with myself for letting my attraction to him distract me
from the task at hand. I should have known better than to go out with him the
night before our court date. I don't know why I had never made the connection
before.

He turned and opened the cabinet lifting down two travel
mugs. He poured coffee into each one and turned to me with a raised eyebrow.

"I take mine with milk," I mumbled under my
breath.

He opened the refrigerator and poured a dollop of milk
into each mug, twisted the lids back on and handed me one.

"Wait here,” he said. "Let me grab some
jeans. I'll take you home and then meet you at the courtroom in a few
hours."

He left and disappeared to his bedroom. I fumed over
my coffee as I took a small sip unhappy with the fact that the coffee tasted
great. A few minutes later, we were in his car headed towards the highway to
take me home. The coffee had helped my headache a little but my fury hadn’t
subsided one bit.

I felt as if I had worked my whole life to get to this
point professionally just to have it crumble to pieces moments before I was to
step into the courtroom. This was more than just a youthful indiscretion. I
felt as if the world were imploding in slow motion, collapsing around me with
me in the center, everything falling to pieces.
 

"What is it?" Aiden asked, glancing at me
from the driver's seat. "Why are you so upset?"

"What do you think?!" I spat. I heard my
voice rising to an unnatural level.

"Blair, you need to calm down,” he said.
"This isn’t that big of a deal."

"Don't tell me to calm down!" I yelled, now
in a fever pitch.

"Okay, hold on,” he said. "We aren't going
get anywhere just yelling at each other, so I'm going to ask you a few
questions and I want you to be completely honest with me, okay?"

"Fine," I said, my mind still whirling to
figure out his angle.

"First, do you think that I took advantage of the
situation?"

"No," I said, wishing I could put the blame
on him, but knowing that wasn’t the real root of my emotional state.

"Do you feel as if
you
took advantage of
the situation?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. "No," I said.

"Good, okay. Third question, are you mad because
we slept together?"

I hadn’t expected this question.

"Yes," I said.

"Now we are getting somewhere," he said.
"Can you explain why?"

"Come on Aiden," I said. "It was
unprofessional. We should have known better. This could ruin everything for
both of us."

He emitted a small laugh which prompted me to shoot
him a furious glare.

"Of course we should have known better,
Blair."

"What's that supposed to mean!" I said.

 
"Hear me
out okay?" he said still trying to calm me. "I’m attracted to you,
and I’m pretty sure you’re attracted to me too. Sometimes when people are
attracted to each other, sex happens! We are human beings. This is what we do!
Don't try to over think it."

He turned down the road that would lead to my block.
His words had struck a chord with me, and I didn’t want to discuss it any
further. I crossed my arms and turned away from him looking out the window. I
watched the trees glide by as we approached my neighborhood.

“Job over boys,” I mumbled to myself.

Once I got home I would only have about an hour to
shower and get dressed for court before I would have to get out the door to
make it on time. Aiden's lackadaisical response offended me to no end, but I couldn’t
decide if it was because it clashed with my thinking or because his words held
a little bit of truth. Though my headache had largely subsided, I didn’t feel
as if I had my game face ready, and this wasn’t just about my pride.

I was mad at myself.

Remembering the faces of the family of the murder
victim, and questioning the fate of the accused, I knew that if I screwed up
today we could be sending an innocent man to jail for a long time.

"Blair," Aiden began but he had just pulled
into a parking space in front of my building. I pulled away from him opening
the car door. I had nothing more to say because I had to get ready.

"I'll see you at court,” I said and slammed the
door shut.

I trotted up the stairs hearing him calling after me,
having rolled the window down. I ignored him, keeping up my rushed pace until I
stepped into the safety of my apartment. I heard Kelsey moving around in the
kitchen already up. Great. Hearing the door she stepped out of the kitchen to
greet me.

"I guess the date went well?" she said,
making a show of looking at her wrist, pretending to check the time.

"I'm sorry Kelsey,” I said. "I can't talk
now, I have to be at the court house in an hour and a half."

"Wow," she said. "This gives new
meaning to the phrase, 'walk of shame'." I brushed past her to get to my
room. "Oh, your mom called about an hour ago."

"I'll have to call her later,” I insisted as I
grabbed a fresh suit from my closet and headed for the bathroom. "I really
am running late."

"Blair," Kelsey said. "She's at the
airport. She needs you to pick her up."

"Shit," I said stopping in my tracks.

I had completely forgotten that my mother had said she
was coming for a visit. When the court date got moved I had been so consumed
with Aiden's attention that it hadn’t even occurred to me that the new dates
would interfere. I certainly didn’t have time to go and pick her up at the
airport, but I didn't want to leave her stranded either.

I looked desperately at Kelsey, who looked the picture
of calm in her plush bathrobe, towel wrapped around her head and sipping on a
freshly brewed cup of coffee. I must have looked the polar opposite, still
wearing my disheveled black dress from the night before, my hair looped in a
throw away pony tail with ends sticking out every direction.