Page 70 of Seduced in Ink
“Aaron.”
“What? I’m not allowed to look?”
“If you look, I’m going to my knees, and I’m going to suck that cock into my mouth.”
“And now I want to get hard again, but I think I’m completely spent. You’ve milked me.”
They both visibly shuddered at that word.
“Oh my God, never say that phrase again.”
“I am so sorry,” Aaron said with a laugh, mock horror on his face. “I don’t know what I was thinking. That was a horrible, horrendous thing to say.”
“It was. And now we’ll have to go find salt and throw it over our shoulders and spin outside twice to make sure it never comes back to haunt us.”
“Let’s get dressed. We have a bunch of seance shit to do so I don’t ruin the evening.” Aaron frowned. “What is the plan for the day?”
She swallowed hard, not knowing what to say. She should have talked to him about what had happened with Guy yesterday, but he’d been acting so weird. She had wanted to focus on Aaron, and her, and whatever the hell they were together. She hadn’t wanted to think about the fear that had hit her when she was with Guy.
Aaron frowned. “Talk to me. What put that look on your face just now?” He held her close, and she let out a deep breath, needing to inhale his clean scent. Needing to breathe. She knew she shouldn’t rely on him so much. Because once she started, it would hurt like hell to walk away. But there was no stopping it right now. Not when she needed to breathe. Needed him.
“Is it your mom? Did she say something after you left with Guy?”
At the sound of Guy’s name, Madison shuddered, and Aaron squeezed her harder.
“Talk to me, baby.”
“I need to get dressed. I don’t want to talk about this naked.” She already felt exposed. When Aaron didn’t make a joke about her being naked, or him, she knew that she’d worried him. She was anxious herself.
She quickly pulled on a pair of jeans that her mother would never approve of, but they made her happy, as well as a flowy top that was her comfort. Aaron put on jeans as well, and a cotton shirt that molded to his muscles. At any other time, she would have held him close, wanting to feel those muscles through the cotton of his shirt. But she didn’t do that now.
Instead, she wrapped her arms around herself, grateful when Aaron came forward and held her close.
“Yesterday, Guy got a little handsy and wouldn’t let me go. He got all possessive and weird.”
Aaron froze, his whole body going taut as she told him exactly what had happened outside the coffee shop. Aaron took a step back and pulled at her arm. He tugged up her sleeve, the flowy fabric bunching at her elbow, and then he frowned, a scowl covering his face.
“I didn’t leave these bruises,” he whispered. “I saw the marks on your hips. Those were from me. But these are from him?” he asked, his voice shaking.
She looked down at the palm print. “I didn’t even notice. I knew he’d probably hurt me, but I didn’t notice.”
“I’m going to kill him,” he growled.
“No, don’t.” She reached out, grabbing his arm, and then froze as she noticed that the gesture was the same as Guy had done to her. Aaron cursed under his breath and then gently cupped her face. “You didn’t hurt me. You’ve never hurt me.”
“I left bruises on your hips.”
“Consensual bruising. You asked me every step of the way what I wanted, and I did the same to you. Everything we’ve done has been with our consent.”
“Guy bruised you.”
“I know,” she said, her voice shaking. “And I hate that I couldn’t really fight back. He left me almost powerless. The whole point of you and me doing this thing was for me to find my power. And then I just let him—”
He cut her off. “No, you didn’t let him do anything. When we get back to Boulder, I’m going to talk with my cousins. They’ll be able to tell me exactly who to talk to for some self-defense lessons. I’ll take them with you,” he added quickly.
“Really?”
“I don’t know what I’m doing either, except for play-fighting when I was younger. We’ll take classes, learn to defend ourselves, and never feel helpless again. But I’m going to fucking kill him.”