ARIA
TWO WEEKS LATER…
Something shifts next to me, and when I open my eyes, the sight in front of me is jaw-dropping. Panty-melting. It’s still dark outside, but Carson is sitting on the edge of the bed, trying to wake up. He yawns and stretches, and when he does, every muscle in his back ripples with power. He glances at me over his shoulder, his expression adoring.
When he sees I’m awake, he grins, twisting to lean back and give me a kiss. I’m enveloped in the soft scent of his skin. Coconut and musk and sunshine. Carson always smells like pure happiness to me, but there’s another scent layered in there this morning; one I’m not sure he should go out in public with.
“Where are you going?” I ask, my voice raspy with sleep.
“I have that interview down in L.A. I’ll be back this evening. We can get some takeout… maybe go for a swim…” He gives me a devilish grin and walks his fingers over my bare stomach, sending a shiver through me.
“Mmm… yes, please,” I sigh happily. “But, before your interview, you might want to go wash your beard.” I grin at him as he arches a brow and strokes it with confused eyes. But then it clicks, and he throws his head back laughing.
“Iwasplanning on showering, but now maybe I won’t.”
“If anyone gets near your face, they’re going to wonder why you smell like pussy,” I tease.
Carson rolls, lightning fast, and pins me underneath him, my wrists in his hands. He pushes my legs apart with his knee and settles on top of me. He rolls his hips, grinding against me. “Good thing you’re the only one getting near my face, then.” He kisses my neck, nipping at it playfully. I arch up into him, but his grip on my wrists doesn’t let me go far.
“In fact,…” God, his voice. It rumbles through me, every word dripping with sex. “Maybe I need a refresher… really keep everyone else at a distance.”
“Are you saying my pussy is a deterrent?” I laugh, trying to tug my wrists free.
Carson lifts his head to look me in my eyes, a scowl darkening his face. His hair falls round his cheeks, curtaining us in as a grumpy growl reverberates in his throat. “Fuck no. But if I smell like this—" he grinds his hips against my core again. “I sure as hell won’t let anyone get close enough to know what’s mine.”
My cheeks heat. “Well, that’s much more flattering—"
His phone buzzes, lighting up the dark room, and Carson groans. “I’m going to be late if I don’t get going. You—” he nibbles my neck. “Can just stay in bed all day. I’ll have breakfast brought up.”
“Um… no,” I laugh, getting my hands free and pushing at his chest. “I’ll make my own breakfast and go for a run. Later. When the sun is actually up.”
“You don’t let me spoil you enough, you know that?”
“I know,” I pretend to look chagrined. “I’m such a pain in the ass. Whatever will you do with me?”
“I have plans...” Carson gives me a panty-devastating smirk and licks my neck before hopping up.
“Gross!” I laugh, wiping at the wet streak. “Down, boy.”
“Oh, I’ll go down.” I watch his gorgeous backside disappear into the bathroom, but his voice echoes behind him. “You better get your rest! You’re going to need it!”
I laugh and cuddle back into the bed. I haven’t so much as napped in my own bed in weeks and I’m sure as hell not tempted now. The sheets and pillows smell like him. Burying my face in his pillow I inhale, the faint scent making my heart sing. I close my eyes and drift off.
Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Bzzzt.
I crack one eye open. Light is streaming through the long gauzy curtains, but what woke me up is the annoying, incessant buzzing of my phone. One call stops, then text messages ding, then the buzzing starts up again. “What in the…” I trail off, glancing at my screen.
Sixty-eight unread text messages. That’s what my notifications say, but it has to be a mistake. I’ve been hacked or something. It’s rare for me to get more than one or two messages a day besides my dog walking clients, and they all know I’m unavailable.
An unfamiliar number lights up the screen. Out of curiosity, I hit answer and hold the phone to my ear.
“Hello?”
“Oh, baby! It’s you! Oh, mah lord, I can’t believe I finally found you!”
My heart plummets, falling so far it lands in stomach acid. “Mom?” It’s been so long since I heard the woman’s voice, I honestly can’t be sure if it’s her or some kind of horrible scam. Either way, I’m not happy.
“Ariella, baby! Yes. It’s me. Your mama.” She says it like she’s overjoyed to be speaking to me, but I haven’t seen or heard a peep from her in the last decade. If I’m being honest, I thought she had probably OD’d or something.