ARIA’S POV
The rain pattered steady against the windows of Xander’s garage apartment, the sound soft and rhythmic—like the whole world had slowed down just for us.
The door was locked. The lights dim. And I was straddling him on the old couch, shirtless, wearing nothing but his boxers and my nerves.
My breath came in shallow bursts as his fingers moved between my legs, sliding through my slick folds like he already knew every part of me by heart. I moaned into his neck, my nails digging into his shoulders.
“Xander,” I whispered, barely able to speak. “I’m ready.”
He didn’t move. Didn’t even blink. His fingers stilled, resting against me, hot and wet.
His eyes found mine, steady and unreadable. “You sure it’s not about proving something?”
The question hit harder than it should’ve.
I hesitated. Then slowly reached for his hand—the one between my legs—and pulled it up to my chest. Pressed it right over my pounding heart.
“No,” I said, voice clear this time. “It’s about wanting. And right now, I want you.”
His jaw clenched. Something raw flashed in his eyes. He brought his forehead to mine, close enough for our lips to brush.
“Then tell me how you want it,” he said, his voice low and steady, vibrating through me. “Every detail. Start with where my hands go.”
My mouth went dry.
“Your hands…” I guided them to my waist, “right here. Hold me when I move.”
His grip tightened instinctively, his thumbs dragging slow circles across my skin.
“And?” he pressed.
I swallowed, heat flooding me. “I want you to kiss me. While I ride you. Like you can’t help it.”
His breath hitched. “Fuck.”
He kissed me then—hard, deep, like I’d triggered something dangerous in him. His hands flexed on my hips, pulling me tighter against the bulge pressing through his sweats. I ground down instinctively, and we both groaned.
“You’re soaked,” he muttered against my mouth. “You’ve been dripping on me this whole time.”
“Because you won’t stop teasing.”
He smirked, cocky and breathless. “You love it.”
I kissed him again, moaning into it as he slid his fingers back between my legs. He circled my clit with maddening precision while I moved against him, chasing the friction, the pressure, the everything.
“You’re making it hard to be patient,” he said, voice strained.
“Then don’t be.”
He froze.
“Aria…”
“I want you inside me.”
The air went still. His hands stilled.
Then he looked at me like I was the only girl on the planet. “You have no idea what that does to me.”
“Then show me.”
He cursed under his breath, then cupped the back of my neck and pulled me in for a kiss that melted my spine. His other hand slid under the waistband of his sweats, and I felt the thick, heavy press of him against my thigh.
“Condom’s in the drawer,” he said, breathless.
I reached for it, heart racing. My fingers brushed the foil packet, and for a second, the world shrank down to just the rustle of plastic, the wet sound of him still working my clit, and the heat building between my legs like a threat.
But just as I handed it to him, he stopped.
He looked up at me—eyes dark, jaw tight, restraint etched into every tense line of his body.
“Aria,” he said, barely able to breathe, “I need you to know—if we do this, there’s no going back. Not for me.”
My lips parted, ready to say yes, please, anything—
But then he pushed two fingers back inside me and pulled me into his mouth.
I gasped, the world tilting as he laid me back onto the couch, settling between my thighs, licking me with the kind of focus that made my head fall back and my hips grind into his face without shame.
“Xander—fuck—oh my God—”
He moaned against me, sucking and fucking me with his fingers like he was starving and I was the only thing that could feed him. I came hard, thighs shaking, one hand in his hair, the other clawing the armrest.
Before I could come down, he climbed back over me, breathing hard, sweat at his temple, dick still rock hard against my thigh.
“Not yet,” he said, brushing a kiss across my lips. “When it happens, I want you to be so far gone you don’t even remember who you were before me.”
I blinked up at him, dazed. “And right now?”
“Right now,” he said, nuzzling against my neck, “I just want to ruin you a little more.”
30
