Hard to Handle

cringed, feeling sixteen and unsure of herself all over again.

Sadie scurried into the den, decorated in deep, forest-green carpeting and burgundy and cream plaid wallpaper. A rolltop desk and bar stood on one side of the room, a large leather wraparound couch and fireplace on the other. It was a guy’s space, furnished by Aiden’s dad, she guessed, given the deer head mounted on the wall. Ew. She made a face and entered the adjoining room, closing the door behind her with a quiet click.

This looked more like Aiden’s space. The furniture was more feminine than it should be—picked out by his late mother, she assumed—but Sadie could tell Aiden spent his time here. His shoes were lined against the wall, workout clothes tossed over the back of the desk chair, and a sleek black laptop rested next to a lamp near his bed.

His bed.

Never before had an unmade bed—with rumpled black bedding—looked so inviting. If Aiden could make her eyes roll back into her head in the corner of a banquet room, what could he do with all this space and a closed door?

Tonight she’d find out. She dropped her high heels on the floor and padded over the neutral gray carpet to the attached bathroom to freshen up. After she used the facilities, washed her hands, and repaired her helmet- head with damp fingers, Sadie stepped back into his room.

Aiden was sitting on his bed, but stood when he saw her, rubbing his palms down his suit pants in a nervous gesture. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

“I have everything ready.” He pointed to a rolled sleeping bag and duffel on the floor.

Sadie approached the pile of gear as warily as she would a cobra in a basket. Camping? Please, not camping. Sadie’s idea of camping was a cheap motel.

Aiden lowered his eyebrows as he studied her. “What’s wrong?”

“This makes it look like we’re braving the elements.” She gave him a pleading smile. “Can’t we just stay in here?”

He shook his head, stalking toward her with dark intent in his eyes. He glanced at the ceiling. “My dad’s room is over this one,” he said, keeping his voice low. “And I do not want your screaming to wake him up.”

Sadie’s eyes went wide. “Screaming?”

Aiden leaned forward and kissed her, a rough, possessive kiss as he slid his hands beneath her dress. His palms cupped her bottom and he lifted her, settling her onto his lap as he sat on the edge of the bed. She clutched his neck as she straddled his legs. “You don’t strike me as a girl who can keep it down during sex,” he whispered, his hot breath in her ear sending trails of goose bumps down her arms.

He moved his lips to hers.

“I can control myself,” she breathed against his mouth.

He kissed her again, deeper, with tongue.

“I mean, I think I can,” she breathed when he pulled away.

“Think so, huh?” Challenge flared in Aiden’s eyes. There was nothing she liked seeing more. He reached behind her and unzipped her dress, sliding her top to her waist. Sadie’s breaths came rapidly as he revealed her breasts. He stared for a few seconds before running his hands over her nipples. They peaked in response.

“Beautiful,” he murmured, leaning forward and laving her skin. His tongue circled one nipple, leaving it to cool as he moved his head to work on the other.

Sadie’s head dropped back on her neck. His fingers gently pinched one nipple as he suckled the other. It was too much. It wasn’t enough. She wiggled against him, aware of the high mewling sounds emitting from her throat as he tongued and pulled her. The pulse between her legs grew to a painful throb.

“Aiden,” she whispered. Or squeaked. She couldn’t quite get her vocal cords to do what she wanted them to.

He extracted her nipple with a soft pop, then darted his tongue around the bud, biting her ever so softly. She pressed her lips together to keep the cry from pushing out of her throat. Aiden smiled against her skin, knowing he had her, and did it again, this time pinching her other nipple in tandem. She bucked against him and let out a brief whimper she was powerless to hold in.

He took the sound as encouragement to continue and dove back in, pinching, licking, suckling, and pulling as Sadie clutched on to the back of his head for support. Then she was flying apart, releasing his head to cup her mouth with both hands to keep from wailing Aiden’s name at the top of her lungs.

She collapsed against his shoulder, one arm holding on to his neck, one palm secured over her mouth. She dropped her hand only when she was sure she wouldn’t yell the word more!

Aiden swept his hands up her back and held her against him. When she finally had the strength to lift her head, she found him grinning to beat all.

“Fine,” she said, giving in. “Let’s go camping.”

*  *  *

Aiden had brought Sadie to the tree house behind his parents’ house last year. She hadn’t seen what he’d done to it since and he found himself excited to show it to her.

But he was more excited for what he’d get to do to her after.

She climbed the wooden slats to the top, commenting they were easier than the rope ladder she’d scaled the last time she was here. He let her go ahead of him, shouldering the duffel and sleeping bag as he kept his eyes securely fastened to her butt as she climbed.

Every inch of this woman was more beautiful than the last. Aiden could hardly wait to have her completely nude and beneath him tonight. And on top of him. And in front of him. He didn’t want Sadie in any way…he wanted her in every way. Heart, soul, body, and mind. With any luck, this trip to the tree house would pave the way for getting what he wanted long-term, too.

She entered through the floor and he heard a soft gasp and climbed in behind her. “Oh my God, Aiden.”

He could get used to hearing that a lot tonight.

Aiden stood to his full height, the recently remodeled tree house easily six inches over his head. He dropped their effects on the smooth wooden floor as Sadie took in the room. She swiveled her head toward the windows, the ceiling, the floor that latched and locked, to the mattress, easy chair, and footrest. It wasn’t expansive—he could walk the width of the room in five steps—but what it lacked in space, it made up for in privacy.

“The last time we were here, this was a dusty, cobwebbed shell,” Sadie said.

He and his brothers and father had originally built the ramshackle hideaway when Aiden was twelve. It hadn’t aged well.

“When I moved in, Dad and I made the remodel of this place our project.”

After Mom passed, his father was at loose ends. And since Aiden couldn’t get the man to talk about her, Aiden suggested they redo the tree house for Lyon so Dad had something to do besides watch television until he fell asleep in his chair. After the place was rebuilt, Aiden had spent a few nights out here himself. Nights when the house felt a little too familiar, or the grief a little too oppressive.

“We’d come out here every night after work until the weather got too cold,” Aiden told her, referring to the brief, miserable stint when he’d worked at the factory with his father. “We finished it in the spring.” He smoothed a hand along the wall until he found the switch for two small sconces on either side of the bed. They blinked to life, bathing Sadie in a soft, yellowish glow.

She quirked a brow at him. “Impressive.”

“Has everything but a bathroom.”

She wrinkled her nose. “But the house is so far away.”

He crossed the short distance between them and clutched her hips. “Yeah, which means you can be as loud as you want.”

Sadie tucked her fingers in his belt loops and pressed against him. “Yeah, well, so can you,” she purred up at him.

He bent forward and took her waiting mouth, backing her to the bed before forcing himself to stop. “You probably want a blanket on that bare mattress,” he reminded himself aloud. He could have thrown her down on it