Oh, Lord. This was ridiculous.
I tried to shimmy a little away from him without being too obvious, turning in toward Eilidh, but all that did was turn my ass in Arran’s direction, and I swear I felt his burning gaze on it.
That only reminded me of him crawling down my body as I laid flat on my stomach last night, feeling his sexy kisses map my curves. When he’d kissed my ass cheeks and then gently bit one, I’d been surprised by how erotic it was.
Now my breathing seemed too shallow, too loud, as my skin tingled. Every inch of my body felt too sensitive, and all Arran had done was sit next to me.
This was insane!
“Excuse me, cutie,” I murmured to Eilidh. “I need to use the restroom.”
“Okay.” She slid away and I shot up off the couch, hurrying toward the front to the downstairs bathroom.
Once inside, I turned on the cold tap and held my wrists under it. Granny taught me that trick. It was a way to cool or calm down, depending on the situation, without ruining your makeup by splashing your face.
I jumped in surprise as the door opened and Arran walked in, closing it behind him.
Whirling around from the sink, I glowered. “What are you doing? You can’t follow me in here while the kids are right outside.”
He scowled as he bridged the distance between us, forcing me to lean into the sink as he pressed the entire length of his body against mine.
“Arran,” I whispered.
“I didn’t blow you off this morning, by the way,” he surprised me by saying as he searched my face.
“What?”
His frown deepened. “I deduced from your very terse and uncharacteristic ‘OK’ that you thought I was blowing you off. I wasn’t. My contractor called at five in the morning to tell me the windows we’ve been waiting on were being delivered at six a.m. I had to get out there to accept the delivery. I wasn’t blowing you off.”
Oh.
Okay.
“I believe you.”
The crease between his brows disappeared, and he smirked. “Good.” Then, before I could even compute what was happening, his mouth was on mine, his arms around me, and I was plastered to his body as he devoured me.
Need bloomed between my thighs as I matched his voracious kiss. I wanted to unzip his jeans and yank down my sweatpants and feel him thick and deep inside me more than I’d ever wanted anything.
As he groaned into my mouth, I almost lost all reason.
Until the faint sound of music from the television infiltrated my senses.
I yanked my mouth from Arran’s and gaped at him. “What was that?” I pushed against his chest now, and he reluctantly released me.
Skirting around him, toward the door, I stared warily at him. Mostly because I’d met no one who had the power to fry my brain with lust like he did.
“I want you again, Ery,” Arran said gruffly, his eyes hot with desire.
I wanted him too.
There was no denying that.
I’d barely thought of anything else but him all day. The need to talk to someone about it was surprising, too, but I couldn’t confess this to the people I trusted because the people I trusted were Arran’s family. It was too convoluted. And it had to remain a secret. The more times we gave into our attraction, the harder it would be to keep it a secret.
“We can’t.” I reached for the door handle. “It’ll just complicate things.”
“Ery—”
“No. I’m going back out to the kids, and when you appear, you’re going to tell them you have things to do and you’ll leave.”
His eyes flashed with anger. “So I can’t even spend time with you now? That wasn’t the deal.”
Remorse flooded me. “I don’t mean it like that. I just mean … maybe we need a little time to readjust to friendship only. Tonight isn’t that night, Arran, clearly. So please, just let me look after the kids alone. We’ll go for our run tomorrow. It should feel normal between us in that setting. Familiar. Routine.”
Arran’s expression darkened, and the fun-loving guy I knew so well disappeared as he sneered and said, “If that’s what you choose to believe. Fine.”
“Arran—”
“No, no. We’ll go for a run tomorrow, and we’ll miraculously forget that last night we had mind-blowing sex that makes me hard every time I think about it.”
My body responded instantly to his words, tight nipples, dampness between my legs. His nostrils flared as if he sensed my physical reaction. He probably did.
“It’s too complicated,” I repeated weakly and then fled the bathroom.
A few minutes later, Arran appeared in the living room to tell the kids he had work to do. They complained, and he winced with guilt, which made me, in turn, feel remorseful. He didn’t look at me again before he left the house.