STORY EXCERPT

Driving home, Aly didn’t dare let her thoughts drift. The roads were slick after the rain, so she had to really concentrate. She almost missed the turning down to Aiden’s house and once on the little lane, she slowed down as the surface was a lot muddier than it had been this morning.

Pulling up outside the house, she sighed. It was so nice to have somewhere like this to come home to. It was the type of house she had always dreamed of living in. Everything fit. The décor, the furnishings, and even the quilts on the bed were just what she would have chosen herself.

Giving herself a mental shake, she climbed out and headed for the front door. She opened it with her key and then remembered that she hadn’t had another one cut today. She must get that done on Monday.

The house was warm and inviting as she stepped into the hall. The smell of something Italian drifted from the kitchen and she sniffed in appreciation.

Taking off her coat and kicking off her shoes, she sighed with pleasure as her feet recovered from her busy day. Walking through to the kitchen she stopped at the doorway at the sight in front of her.

Aiden stood at the cooker stirring something. He turned as he heard her come in.

“Hi there. You look tired, sweetheart. Sit yourself down and I’ll make you some tea. Dinner will be about eight if that’s OK with you? I’ve made a lasagne and I’ll do some garlic bread with it if you like that? If not I won’t bother. Don’t you think it’s awful if a couple eat supper together but only one has garlic?”

Aiden almost kicked himself at the way he was babbling on, not giving her a chance to talk.

“Anyway, how was your day? Was it as busy as you had thought?”

What the fuck was wrong with him? When had he turned into a gibbering geek?

As usual, she answered shyly, her nervousness around him still very much in evidence.

“It was busy. We almost sold all the Halloween stuff in stock, despite the awful weather. That’s good for Jan because it means she isn’t left with tons of stock to store. It was so busy we didn’t even eat lunch, just the doughnuts that Brett bought us this morning. And even then we didn’t have them until after one. I have to admit that I am very hungry and that smells wonderful.” She indicated the pot that he was stirring.

Leaving his stirring, he went across to the fridge. Her nerves went on alert as he passed her. He pulled open the fridge door and grabbed something from inside which he put on the table in front of her. Although his closeness flustered her somewhat, she looked down at the plate and her mouth immediately started to water.

Placed in the centre of the plate was a muffin.

“Eat,” he urged.

She looked up at him through her lashes and knew that he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Pulling the wrapper off, she took a small bite, almost groaning with pleasure as she realised that it was blueberry, her favourite.

Aiden went back to his stirring at the cooker.

“Supper is a couple of hours away so that will keep you going until then.”

As Aly savoured the sweet treat she asked, “Where did you buy this? In town? Blueberry is my favourite and this is great.”

Somewhat embarrassed, he confessed, “I made it.”

She blushed. “What? Oh sorry, that was rude of me. Did you really make this? Today?”

Nodding, he continued with the dinner preparation as he admitted, “I enjoy baking when I get a chance. Today has been wet and windy so I just thought I would knock these up this morning. There are more if you’d like. Just help yourself.”

Without thinking, she blurted out, “A good cook as well as everything else,” then blushed as she realised what she had said.

He grinned at her. “Everything else?”

Aly got up and crossed the room to slap his arm playfully.

“Well you are good at construction I heard.”

He laughed. “Quick catch, sweetheart.”

The atmosphere, which, up until then, had been slightly tense, eased as he teased her, causing her to blush even deeper. She quickly changed the subject.

“Do you need a hand with supper, or is it OK for me to pop up and shower before we eat? I’d like to get out of these work clothes and into something nicer.”

Again, teasing, he raised his eyebrows.

“I’m good with supper, thanks, but you getting out of those clothes sounds good to me, baby.”

Before the blush took over her whole body she rushed out of the room to the sound of his soft laugh.

ADULT EXCERPT

His next words made her blanch.

“Stand up.” Despite her nerves she stood. “Strip.”

“What?” She couldn’t keep the shock out of her voice.

He waved his hand at her. “You heard. Strip. Everything off.”

Her thoughts threatened her composure and her hands shook.

Oh Lord. A real Dom. Can I do this? What if he takes one look at me and hates what he sees?

“Wait,” he barked out the word as she stood, indecision written all over her.

She gave him a quizzical look as she battled with her natural shyness and tried to decide whether to obey him.

He continued, “What was that negative thought that just went through your head?”

Again her thoughts jumped in.

How did he know? Were Doms psychic, too? Could she admit her fears to him? He was such a good-looking man she couldn’t see that he would be interested in her.

“I’m waiting, Aly.”

She decided to confess her fears. “I was just thinking that you might be put off by my body once I got undressed. I’m not a skinny little model type like that Lindsay woman. I’m not sexy like her.”

Before she knew what was happening, he had grabbed her arm and swung her round, swatting her ass as he moved.

“Ouch.”

“Don’t ever put yourself down like that again. You are a hundred times more sexy than that bit of trash. If I ever hear you doing that again I will give you five more of the same.”

He pulled her round to face him again, pulling her forward so that she stood between his open legs.

“Now, I want you to strip. And I don’t want to hear any more of your self-deprecations.”

Slowly, she stepped back. In her head the battle was still raging as to whether she could do this.

Aiden sat patiently, seemingly impassive as he watched the myriad of emotions flitting across her face.

He smiled at her, deep brown eyes watching and waiting. The fact that he seemed not to judge her helped to make her decision and she started to pull her sweater over her head.

She dropped it onto the floor next to her and reached behind to unclasp her bra. As she let that fall on top of her sweater her nipples peaked at the sudden change in temperature. Resisting the urge to cover herself, she sneaked a peek at Aiden. Her eyes homed in on his crotch and there was no doubt that this was affecting him as much as her.

This knowledge gave her the courage to proceed. She quickly slid down the zip on her skirt and let it fall. Stepping out of it, she kicked it to one side. A frisson of nerves almost made her baulk at the final hurdle but she banished all negative thoughts from her mind as she pushed down the sides of her now-soaked panties.

The scent of her arousal filled the room and made her cheeks flare with embarrassment.

Aiden reached out his hand and a growl rumbled through him as she stepped back to avoid his touch.

“Be still.”

His eyes raked down her body, taking in her full breasts, slightly rounded tummy and the dark curls covering her mound. Just below, at the juncture of her thighs he could see the proof of her arousal glistening as juices leaked from her moist pussy.

“Now, my sweet little English rose. I want you to go upstairs to my room and sit on the bed. I’ll give you five minutes. There are some rules though and I expect you to follow them.

“In the bedroom, my word is law and I say what happens and when. This does not mean that I won’t consider your every need. If you think things are going too fast for you, then I want you to say yellow. Then we’ll talk about what’s worrying you and try to sort it out. If you want things to stop for good you must say red. Everything then comes to a halt. You won’t need to explain anything or apologise. You can go back to your own room then and we’ll forget this ever happened. No hard feelings and we go on with our normal arrangement until you leave. Do you understand?”

He offered up a silent prayer.

Please say yes! I don’t think I could bear it if you said no!

She nodded.

With relief in his voice he insisted, “Words please, Aly. I need to hear you say it.”

“Yes, Aiden…um, Sir.” Her shy use of Sir made him smile, more pleased than he would ever let on. “Five minutes,” he reiterated softly.