King’s Queen by Marie Johnston

Chapter 14

Kate

Sunlight shonethrough the driver’s side of the window, highlighting Aiden’s strong profile. He wore jeans and the same Princeton sweatshirt from the night we’d reconnected with explosive results. Our winter jackets were tossed into the back seat with our luggage and we were on our way to King’s Creek.

Aiden and I had met up a few times a week for the last couple of weeks. We’d met for lunch one day. He’d invited me to his office too, but I hadn’t gone. All I could think about was his promise to take me over his desk. As much as I wanted that, I wasn’t brave enough to go knowing it might happen. And that Phillip would know what we were doing. And his dad. So maybe that’d have to stay a fantasy for a while.

My hands flew as I finished telling him my story. I’d been talking nearly nonstop since we’d left the house, but now that I knew he was not only listening, but enjoying my rambling, I was unfiltered.

“So then Mom says, ‘Hey, there’s this package for you.’ ” I paused to wait for his reaction.

He knew damn well what package I was talking about. He slanted a look at me, mischief in his eyes.

“Yeah,” I said. “I didn’t recall ordering anything but I didn’t think twice about opening it right at the table in front of her and Randall.”

Aiden broke into a grin. “Oh, no.”

“Oh, yes, Aiden.” I cut off a giggle. “Oh. Yes. And I see there are books inside, but the thing is, they were packed upside down. So I pull them out.”

His deep chuckle vibrated through the cab.

“Randall almost chokes. And I turn the book around to see what’s wrong and there’s a woman with her legs around a guy. The one in my other hand is a woman in a negligee surrounded by four men.”

“I tried to pick authors you might not have read.” He tried to swallow his smile and failed. “For research purposes only.”

My insides warmed. Not only had it been a thoughtful touch, it’d been personal. It wasn’t the trendiest perfume in the one-percent crowd. Or a gaudy diamond ring. He’d taken the time to think about what I’d actually like. “To make it worse—”

“It gets worse?”

I nod. “Mom says, ‘When you’re done, can I read those?’ ”

“Sharon reads reverse harem?”

“She does now.”

“Randall’s going to thank me.”

“That’s gross, Aiden. I’ve heard them once already and almost suffocated myself with my pillow trying to muffle the noise.”

He laughed, then his smile faded. “Are you sure it’s okay you’re not spending today with your parents?”

“Mattie and Jason are each doing a quiet Christmas Eve and going to their in-laws’, or in Mattie’s case, not-yet-in-laws.” Mom and I had talked before I’d left. I wasn’t sure if I should ask Aiden now or wait to see how the holiday went. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve and we planned to drive home Christmas night. I worked the day after. I’d ask now. This weekend wasn’t meant to be a test. “But, um, Mom and Randall want to do a meal on New Year’s. You’re invited.”

Surprise lifted his brows. “Yes. Sure.”

Was I glowing? He hadn’t hesitated.

So far, I’d been doing good on working on myself and how I responded to Aiden. When he had to work, which was still all the time, I made other plans that weren’t picking up extra shifts or sitting at home. I helped Jason with the boys while Sophie was at work. I went to Violet’s school recitals. Aiden had been invited, but he’d been working ahead to prepare for the time off he was taking today and tomorrow, and Christmas of course. Except, he’d do some work each day, but he was trying to strike more of a balance.

I put my elbow by the window. Between commentary on my coworkers’ lives, my interactions with patrons, and thoughts on new books I’d read for work and for fun, I had plenty to ramble about.

But I didn’t want to ramble more. The shift in the dynamics of our relationship had unearthed more than a few questions and I was committed to asking them. “Why don’t you talk?”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I can fill this entire trip with work stories alone. But you never do.”

“Your work stories are interesting. Mine aren’t.”

I loved my job. The library staff. The patrons. I couldn’t quit talking about them, and Aiden was my trusted source for all things normally confidential. With Aiden I assumed I was on a need-to-know basis and I didn’t need to know. No doubt he had confidentiality requirements that extended to the billions of dollars he managed.

Your work stories are interesting. Mine aren’t.

I worried my lower lip for a moment before I broached the new questions that had popped into my head. “Do you like your job?”

“Work is work,” he said automatically.

I sucked my lower lip between my teeth again. His tone was neutral. Robotic.

Had his brothers used the term because Aiden had gotten so adept at shutting off his emotions in a job he didn’t care for that it spilled over into his personal life?

“I thought you wanted to work at the company.”

He lifted a shoulder without moving his hands off the wheel. “It was expected.”

A horrible realization sank into my gut as solidly as a rock in a wading pool. “If it wasn’t expected, you wouldn’t have worked at the company?”

His mouth tightened so briefly that I might’ve missed it if I hadn’t been scrutinizing him for all this new information. “It’s a family company.”

“Did your dad tell you that you had to work there when you were done with college? Your grams?” I could see Emilia doing that.

“Yeah, Grams and DB were pretty clear about their expectations for me. Beck talked about starting his own company even in high school. Xander obviously wasn’t going to be an office jockey. And Dawson loves ranching, so we all knew he’d be running the cow-calf operation as soon as he was able.”

“And you’re the oldest,” she finished. “But you wouldn’t have chosen the company?”

“I didn’t have to. It chose me,” he said with zero emotion.

I tried a different tactic. “If you could’ve gone to school for anything, what would it have been?”

“I never thought about it, since it never mattered.”

I switched my gaze to stare out the windshield. The snowy landscape on each side of the interstate was sparse and stretched as far as the eye could see. Brown grass stuck out in tufts, almost as plentiful as the snow.

Sadness filled my heart. Randall and Mom had worked to give my brothers and me the option of college if we wanted it. They couldn’t have afforded to pay the full amount, but they’d put away as much as they could. My brothers had each chosen technical programs and I’d gone to a university. After that, I’d chiseled away at my student loans until I was married. Then Aiden had taken care of the entire amount with one hammer blow.

I hadn’t taken it for granted that I could continue my education after high school graduation. What I had taken for granted, and only realized now, was that I’d been able to choose whatever program I wanted. I’d envisioned myself as a kind librarian with an ever-ready smile, like the ones that had helped and nurtured me while growing up.

Aiden hadn’t chosen his career. He might hate his job and none of us would know. That…sucked. He made an obscene wage, but it had been at the cost of the rest of his life. He gave King Oil his everything, but it gave him little in return.

* * *

Aiden

I clickedthrough finance reports from our sites in North Dakota. A few sites around Williston were still moving oil, but several were shut down until the price of a barrel rose. It wasn’t ideal, but that was the current climate.

It was early Christmas Eve and Kate was the only one sleeping. Bristol and Dawson had woken shortly after me and gone out to do chores. I was finishing work so I didn’t have to be torn tonight for the meal.

Our arrival hadn’t been as awkward as I’d anticipated. Dawson and Bristol had greeted Kate like normal and then they’d sat us down and showed us their growing plans for the sobriety ranch Cartwright Cattle would soon become. Bristol wanted it done right, so she and Dawson were taking their time, adding ideas and striking thoughts throughout the winter. Next month, they’d start researching companies to make Bristol’s dream into a reality.

Upstairs, the bedroom door opened and a few seconds later another door closed. Kate was in the bathroom. My gaze drifted up the stairs and followed the railing that divided the bedroom area from the living room and kitchen space.

I clicked to another report. Tried to concentrate. My gaze rose to the second level. She’d be naked by now.

The entirety of our relationship, we’d never had sex in this house. I hadn’t wanted to make Kate feel uncomfortable at the thought of fucking under Dawson’s roof. Or having sex while one or two of my brothers, and maybe even Dad, slept nearby.

I sucked in a breath and adjusted my thickening dick. Sitting in jeans with an erection didn’t make it easier to forget about my naked wife. I forced my eyes back to the report. Which site was this again?

Dawson and Bristol were still outside. If they came in and heard us, it’d serve them right. Dawson might rethink the robot bullshit. I flipped the lid shut on my laptop and bounded up the stairs.

The shower was running. I gripped the doorknob but it didn’t turn. Damn. That was what growing up with one bathroom did to a girl.

I ran down to the office, found a paper clip, and straightened it as I sprinted up the stairs. It took two seconds to pop the lock and I was inside. The double shower curtain hid my nude wife.

Kate’s soft humming stopped. “Hello?”

“It’s me.” I locked the door behind me.

“Oh. I’m almost done.”

“I’m not,” I growled as I ripped my sweater over my head. I’d picked the beige cowl-neck one that Kate liked, but she’d have to wait to see me in it.

She peeked out the door of the shower, her gaze landing on the hard-on I’d just freed from my pants. I kicked out of them, took my socks off, and stalked across the bathroom.

Her eyes went wide.

I answered her unspoken concern. “They’re still out doing chores.”

She flicked her gaze behind me like she was checking it was just us, then she pulled back the shower curtain wider to let me in.

I crowded her against the wall and the warm water spray hit my shoulder. I didn’t want her anxious or mortified at the thought of getting busted, so I would make this fast.

Soap suds drifted down her shoulders onto her breasts. I flicked the bubbles away. “You missed a spot.”

She puffed her chest out and her nipples grazed my skin. “Want to help me finish?”

I gave her a slow grin as I kneeled. She planted her hands on the wall as I hooked a leg over my shoulder.

It didn’t take long with me tonguing her clit to get her wet and more than ready. She fought to keep her whimpers and moans quiet, but I could feel them vibrate through her ripe body.

I rose, sliding my hands up her slippery body. Stealing an extra second, I got my footing just right so we didn’t slide around like we were ice dancing. I gripped her hips and she let out a startled gasp as I lifted her. She automatically wrapped her legs around my waist and positioned her wet center over my straining erection.

I thrust up, and as soon as I pushed in, she flexed and lowered herself.

My groan was not quiet. I couldn’t get enough of my wife. We didn’t have sex every time we got together, but we’d managed it a few times since that first night. The way her body gripped mine and made my eyes cross, I’d think we hadn’t had sex for a year or two.

“You feel so fucking good. This isn’t going to take long.” I crushed my mouth over hers and pressed her back against the wall. I licked into her as I thrust, steadily increasing my pace.

She was riding me the best she could while plastered against a shower wall. I tried to loosen my hold on her legs to wedge a hand between us, but my feet started slipping.

The tight fist of her body would push me over far sooner than her, and I wasn’t finishing before her, not even for a quickie. I broke our kiss. “Touch yourself.”

Her gaze jerked up to mine, her pupils dilated. I pumped in and out, waiting for her to make her decision. I’d never asked before and she’d never done it.

Timidly, she broke her hold around my shoulders and slipped her hand between our bodies.

Goddamn, that was hot. Another groan that wasn’t quiet.

Her knuckles brushed against me as I thrust. I could feel the tiny circles she was making, the friction growing the heat between us.

Her moans were coming faster, growing louder. I captured her mouth, but my grunts weren’t muted like I’d hoped. The force of my pumps increased along with the motion of her hips. Our teeth bumped and she giggled, but then gasped as the tip of my cock grazed the perfect spot inside of her.

I tried to shush her but it came out more a chuckle. We tried to kiss again, but she was so close. Her body tightened, the vise of her legs biting into my sides.

She crested, her orgasm rippling over my most sensitive skin, and as she cleared the top, she opened her mouth to cry out, then jerked like she’d just remembered we were trying—and failing—to be quiet. Her head thunked the wall, but her body was still spasming in climax. Another giggle cut through a moan. Then she tried to suppress the moan and laughed again.

I grinned, then my own orgasm hit. I clenched my teeth, but damn, blistering ecstasy mixed with my wife’s laughter spurred my own.

“Shh,” she admonished, her smile wide.

“You shush. You were louder.” I chuckled and gasped as humor-laced aftershocks cascaded through my body.

“Oh my gosh. Good thing we tried this when they were gone,” she whispered.

I helped her unhook her legs. Before I stepped out, I touched her lips in a firm kiss. “I’ll let you finish.”

I snagged a towel as I got out and replaced it with a new one for her. I dried off and redressed. My hair routine the days I worked from home was becoming a halfhearted finger comb.

By the time I got downstairs, Dawson was rummaging through the fridge. Kate was going to die inside when I told her Dawson had returned at some point during our sex session. He glanced at me, lingered on my wet hair, quirked a brow, then lifted his gaze to the bathroom. As if on cue, the shower clicked off.

He shook his head. “And to think Bristol put me off last night because you two were here and she was afraid you’d know we were doing it.”

“She afraid you’re too noisy?”

He turned his attention back to the contents of the fridge and scratched the side of his head with his middle finger. I chuckled and practically bounced to the table.

He leaned back out of the fridge and pondered me the entire way.

I readied my computer but couldn’t ignore him. “You’re wasting energy.”

He let the doors swing shut but didn’t take his gaze off me.

My brother wasn’t going to ruin my morning, yet his attention wasn’t negative. It was… I couldn’t identify it. “What?”

“Nothing. It’s just nice seeing you like this.”

“It’s nice to feel like this.” The confession came easily.

He left it at that and opened the french doors of the fridge again. “Damn.” He disappeared behind the panels like he was going to climb inside. “How could I run out of butter? It’s a travesty.”

“I’ll run and get some.”

“Nah. I can get it.”

“Dawson, you’re doing all the cooking. I can run to town.” I’d see if Kate wanted to come. “I just need to warm up the pickup.”

I could start my pickup with my phone. I hit the button and frowned when I got a failed message. I tried again. Same thing.

“Something wrong?” Dawson drifted over, his hands stuffed in his jeans. His hair stuck up in hunks. He must use the same finger-comb method I did, only I hadn’t worn a stocking hat all morning.

“The pickup’s not starting.”

We both got in our boots and coats and went outside. I tried to start the pickup. Nothing. “Battery’s dead. The farm store open?”

Dawson ducked his head. “Until noon, I think.”

“Can I borrow your ride?”

He didn’t say yes, but a slow grin spread across his face and his eyes sparkled even though clouds packed the sky. I narrowed my eyes and his smile grew.

“The thing is, Aiden, I might need my pickup.”

Like hell. He could use Bristol’s. She hadn’t upgraded her old beater, but it purred like a two-ton kitten after a few days at the shop.

“When Beck and Xander come to town and need wheels, they use the other pickup.”

The only other pickup was… “You asshole.”