Close Contact (Clarke Brothers Book 3) Read online

  He scoffed. “Again? What the hell are you—oh. Oh. I see. This shit isn’t about me at all, it’s about what that other motherfucker did, and I have to pay for.”

  “You’re deflecting. The fact of the matter is, you’re in my apartment pretending we’re meant to be or something when the truth is, we’re barely a step above strangers!”

  “I’m deflecting?” Aiden let out a dry laugh, putting the mug down on the dresser before he stalked up to me, making my simple Dove soap smell like something specially formulated to make me crazy. “Look me in my damn face and tell me I honestly feel like a fucking stranger to you, Kima.”

  When I didn’t – couldn’t – answer, and couldn’t look him in the eyes either, he grabbed me under the chin, turning me to face him.

  “You can’t say it, can you? Cause you know that what you feel is the same as me. And it scares you. So you’d rather pretend it doesn’t exist.”

  “You’re damn right,” I told him, snatching away from his hold. “Because feelings and facts are two very different things. Trusting feelings has never gotten me anything but hurt. Facts have never led me astray.”

  “Fine then – here’s a fact for your ass,” Aiden said. “I’ve wanted you since the first time I tasted your food. Yes – even before I saw you. Your fineness was a bonus,” he added, completely serious. “The more I learned about your story, how you quit your job to build your restaurant with nothing but your savings, how you managed to survive after being fucked over by your business partner, your philosophy about the food, your desire to give back to the community… all of it. This whole damn program we’re doing, helping the struggling restaurants… the whole idea is because of you. Because you needed it. But I was a stranger, and if I’d tried to just hand you a check… you would’ve run in the other direction.”

  “You’re damn right,” I confirmed, stepping away from him. “I’m not convinced I shouldn’t be doing that now.”

  “Just hear me out,” he asked. “What I’m saying to you is that… sex was never a consideration in how I felt about you, in me wanting you, before it actually happened. I do feel like it was confirmation though. I know you want to pretend there’s nothing except sex between us, but… you really can’t.”

  I blew out a sigh, shaking my head. “Aiden, are you really telling me you don’t think what you’re saying is nuts?”

  “Oh it absolutely is,” he agreed, with a dry laugh. “But… it’s also the truth. I want you, Kima, and if I have to not fuck you to prove it, I will. But I haven’t been moved by anyone, in a long time, until you. And I’m not going to just act like it isn’t happening.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean, you haven’t been moved by anyone in a long time?”

  “I mean exactly that,” he answered. “I was married, and then… I lost her.”

  “Lost her as in… she died?”

  “Yeah,” he told me, with a little nod. “Damn near fifteen years ago. And I’m not saying that you’re going to be my wife, or… whatever. I’m just saying that… nobody has moved me, made me feel like… trekking through the city in the middle of a storm… until you. I know we still have a lot of getting to know each other to do, and that’s not a problem for me. But I’m not that motherfucker who broke your heart, and tried to destroy your dream. I’m the one who wants nothing more than to help you put it back together.”

  I ran my tongue over my dry lips. “My dream, or my heart?”

  “Both.”

  For some reason, that single word broke the wall on every latent emotion I’d been holding back, making tears spring to my eyes as I shook my head.

  “No. This isn’t real.”

  “This is absolutely real,” Aiden countered, wrapping me in his bare arms, in an anchoring sort of hold I couldn’t help melting into.

  It was just that good.

  Just that solid.

  And when yet another boom of thunder roared out, shaking the building…

  I didn’t even flinch.

  4

  Kima

  I really couldn’t remember peace like this.

  Ever.

  It was worrisome.

  Obviously I understood that worry was a ridiculous reaction to peace, but… it was just a little too good to be true.

  Something about this had to be wrong.

  Then why does it feel so damn right?

  Hell… right seemed like an undervaluing of the way it felt to wake up in Aiden’s arms.

  He barely stirred as I turned to him, staring in admiration and wonder at his handsome face.

  We had not engaged in any sexual activity last night, true to his word.

  Which… really turned me on.

  Of the clothes I’d hung for him, the only thing he had on now was his boxers – an easier barrier to overcome. He came to life in my hands almost as soon as I touched him. His eyes were still closed, but his body was very aware of what was going on.

  My gaze skipped briefly to the flashing digital clock on my nightstand – at some point in the night, the power had come back on. I was looking for the time, but decided the incorrect numbers blinking at me didn’t matter.

  Not right now, at least.

  With Aiden’s dick in my hands, it was really hard to care what time it was.

  I peeled the covers off both of us, bathing the contrasting hues of our skin in the morning light coming through the blinds. As I pushed myself lower on the bed, the man himself finally stirred. I fisted his shaft with one hand, cupping his balls with the other as I covered him with my mouth. Then, finally, his eyes drifted open to meet mine.

  “Good morning to you too,” he groaned, offering me a lazy, satisfied grin as I took him down my throat.

  In response, I sucked him harder.

  It did, indeed, feel like a good morning.

  Aiden’s fingers dug into my hair, fisting a handful as his hips bucked upward, stroking my mouth. My eyes flashed up to his, offering a warning glare and a little too tight of a squeeze to his balls.

  This was my show, not his.

  He let out a frustrated groan, but tucked his hands behind his head – signaling that he’d gotten the message. I pulled up, running my tongue up the line along the bottom of his shaft, then treating – teasing – the head with slow circles, savoring it before I took him fully into my mouth again. Swallowing him, as deep as I could possibly go.

  “Shit,” he hissed, in tandem with another involuntary buck of his hips. I kept him down my throat as I slid my thumb over that extra-sensitive skin behind his balls, making him curse again.

  Grab my hair again.

  This time, I didn’t mind.

  His lack of control now made me even more intent on driving him crazy, my head dipping up and down and side to side in a dual motion as my tongue swirled around him. His grip on my hair tightened with each stroke, with each breath I pulled through my nose. I hummed around him as tension built in his thighs, as his grunts and moans of pleasure grew louder, and deeper until he finally snatched me still, keeping me in one place as his cum pumped down my throat.

  A moment later, he relaxed onto the bed, satisfied.

  I fell away too, needing to catch up on all the breathing I’d missed.

  He only gave me a few seconds for that.

  Then, he was hauling me up the bed so our bodies were even, turning me onto my back and spreading my legs, then sinking into me as his mouth crashed down onto mine.

  Like he’d just been waiting for the opportunity.

  “Feels good to be home,” he groaned against my lips, making me laugh.

  That moment right there, neither of us giving a damn about morning breath should’ve been my cue to push him off me and take off running, but instead… it just brought up another smile.

  “I thought you weren’t going to fuck me?” I teased between strokes as he lowered his body to mine, hips moving in a slow grind.

  “You seem to have gotten the message well enough without either of us suffering t
hrough that.”

  My eyes drifted closed as his mouth dropped to my neck, offering gentle nips and subtle licks that had me squirming. “So you think the absence of your dick should be labeled suffering, huh?”

  “Damn right,” he grunted into my ear. “It sure felt like punishment when you were keeping my pussy from me.”

  “There you go with the possessiveness again.”

  Aiden sat up, grinning at me as he hiked my leg up over his shoulder. “I thought we came to an agreement last night.”

  I had no chance to respond to that before he was buried in me again, balls deep with no relief, his bottom lip pulled between his teeth as he hammered into me. I couldn’t have formed words if I wanted to, and I didn’t want to, preferring instead to allow myself to just… be in the moment.

  All the pleasure.

  All the beauty.

  All the… intimacy.

  All the things I’d shunned in favor of prioritizing the business, and then settled for a false version of only to get screwed over – an experience that had me terrified of… this.

  Of Aiden.

  The real thing.

  When it hit, the orgasm knocked the wind out of me.

  Even after he came, Aiden didn’t stop moving – he laid on top of me, slow-stroking me deep as he kissed me, and kissed me, and kissed me, and I… couldn’t recall anybody, ever, making me feel quite this way.

  So completely free.

  “We have to go to work at some point,” I whispered to him, drawing a groan from deep in his throat as he finally, regretfully, pulled out of me.

  “Have to?” he asked, falling onto his back beside me, with his head turned in my direction.

  “As much as I’d enjoy trading orgasms with you all day… yes.” I pulled myself up into a seated position, very much enjoying the way his gaze followed my body. “Don’t you have a new menu launching today?”

  “Shit, don’t remind me,” he muttered, moving to put his head in my lap, and taking a deep inhale of my pussy. “This is the only place I want to be.”

  “I will not be responsible for you shirking responsibilities.” I grabbed at the thick coils of his hair, pulling his head up so he was looking at me. “I’ll see you tomorrow, for our meeting.”

  Instead of agreeing to that, he dipped his head back between my legs. Before I could stop him, his tongue was on my clit, his arms locked around my thighs to keep me from getting away.

  Okay.

  Maybe we could trade orgasms a little longer.

  Nothing from Aiden’s mouth felt like a lie.

  As much as I, in the back of my mind, was cautioning myself against taking this too seriously, whatever it was… every compliment he gave as we finally cooked together was like a balm to my soul.

  And sure, maybe it would’ve gone differently if we weren’t sleeping together, but now that this “meeting” was actually happening, I felt more than a little silly for having put it off so long.

  I was actually having fun.

  And learning a lot.

  Even though you’d think it was the other way around, from the way Aiden kept stopping to stare at me in admiration.

  “Would you stop?” I insisted, glancing at him before I gave my attention back to the steamed dough I was about to pull from the boiling water where it had spent the last hour.

  “I’m not stopping shit,” he countered. I could feel his grin as I lowered the bag I’d used onto my sanitized cutting surface, but didn’t look at him until I opened it to reveal the guava duff – the decadent, traditional Bahamian dessert he’d insisted on. “That looks… exquisite, Kima,” he said as I cut into it, revealing the spiraled fruit inside.

  He’d helped with much of the prep work, but I’d been the one to do the delicate construction, and walk him through the recipe, which was pretty intricate.

  As hard as I tried, I couldn’t hold back my smile.

  “It’s served warm,” I explained, grabbing the plates I’d chosen for this purpose. “We’ll top it with the rum sauce we made, and a sprinkle of sugar across the top.”

  “What else can I put the rum sauce and a sprinkle of sugar on top of?” Aiden asked from behind me, his hands on the counter to box me in as his mouth dropped to my neck.

  “Chef Clarke,” I scolded, turning to face him with a clean serving spoon in my hand, which I used for emphasis when I told him, “Can you please act like we aren’t the only ones here?”

  “Why? Are you ashamed of me or something? I’m ugly?”

  He couldn’t even keep a straight face for that – the man knew exactly how fine he was.

  “I’m not ashamed, I just… would rather not give the impression that I paid for this opportunity in pussy,” I explained, which only served to deepen his amusement.

  “That’s not the arrangement? I thought it was.”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “No,” I half insisted, half admonished, as Aiden dipped his head to kiss me, his hands at my waist eliciting girlish giggles I couldn’t seem to tamp down.

  “Ahem.”

  A distinctive new voice in the room – Andre Clarke – snatched me out of the playful mood, and even cool as a cucumber Aiden went stiff for a moment.

  Surprising, since I’d never gotten the impression he was intimidated by his brother. I took a deep breath before I turned around, knowing we were caught red-handed, and that I would likely have some explaining to do.

  To his mother.

  I quickly realized she was why Aiden had gone a little stiff, likely in surprise at her presence. He recovered immediately though, releasing me from his hold to walk over and greet her, while I stayed frozen where I was.

  His mother.

  The resemblance was too strong for the woman to be anyone else.

  The same honey-brown skin and dark chocolate eyes, the exquisite bone structure… and then, of course, there was the marked interest on her face as she stared at me, only stopping long enough to return Aiden’s greeting before her attention came right back to me.

  “Mama – this is Kima Nolan,” Aiden said, threading his fingers through hers to bring her over to where I was standing. “She is the owner and executive chef here at Tigress. Kima, this is Amelia Clarke, my mother.”

  I plastered on a smile I hoped could adequately cover the fact that I was nervous as hell, and extended a hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Clarke.”

  She ignored my hand, pulling me into hug as she admonished me to “bring my pretty chocolate self here.”

  “Andre complained about you mixing business with pleasure, but I see why – this woman is gorgeous, son,” she gushed, causing the brothers both to frown.

  “You told mama?” Aiden asked. “Really?”

  “I didn’t tell,” Andre countered. “We were talking, and it came up. And I’m glad it did, since we walked up and here you are sucking face with her.”

  My eyes went wide. “You told your brother? We just talked about this like two days ago!”

  “I’ve known about you two for weeks,” Andre muttered, and somehow, my eyes went wider.

  “Shut up,” Aiden warned his brother, who shrugged and picked up a spoon to start poking at my dessert.

  As if I didn’t already have enough to be pissed about.

  “You’ve been on his mind for at least a year,” Amelia spoke up, squeezing my hand, which I hadn’t even realized she was holding. “He said you make better chicken wings than I do, and girl I almost came to hunt you down,” she laughed, a musical sound that instantly lightened what was shaping up to be a very tense mood.

  Could I really be mad he’d told his brother about us, knowing now that he’d told his mother about me?

  I couldn’t be certain about it right now, but from the look on Aiden’s face… it felt important.

  “I’m sure they aren’t better than yours, just different,” I said, hoping it was the right thing – I couldn’t remember the last time I’d met a man’s mother, I had no idea ho
w to talk to this woman!

  She shook her head though. “No, honey, I placed an order – you know how to cook a piece of chicken!”

  “And whatever this is,” Andre grunted, his mouth full.

  “It’s not even plated,” I whined.

  Andre swallowed, then stuck the spoon back into the dessert. “My bad.”

  “He does this all the time – grown ass man with no manners,” Aiden explained.

  “Give me that,” Amelia said, reaching over the counter to take the spoon from Andre before he could get it into his mouth. “Oh that is good,” she gushed a moment later. “What is this?”

  “Damn, y’all eating without me?”

  I looked up to see Addison coming through the double-doors of the kitchen. Unlike Andre, I knew he was supposed to be showing up, to finalize the social media plans for the grand opening. What I didn’t expect was for him to join the quickly-developing argument between him and his adult brothers, complete with Aiden complaining that he was here first, had helped make it, and still hadn’t tasted it.

  It was not a scene I would have ever imagined getting to observe, and certainly wouldn’t have expected it to be… cute.

  I didn’t bother trying not to smile as I took a step back to just watch and listen. I had to force myself not to clam up when their mother stepped back to join me though.

  “Look at them – big babies, all three,” she laughed. “I swear they’re grown men when they’re apart, but put them together, and they bring the little boy out in each other.”

  “I think it’s kinda sweet,” I told her, emboldened by her warm energy.

  “Absolutely. They do everything together. Even settling down,” she hummed, making my face go hot. “Addison finally got the showgirl he was pining over, Andre got someone to be mean to him to balance him out, and my Aiden…” she let out a contented sigh, tearing her gaze away from her sons to look me in my eyes. “My firstborn seems to have –”