Chapter 34

(Aaron)

Loud music and pain are the first things I notice when my mind clears. The second thing I noticed was the look on Rylan’s beautiful face. Her eyes are wide as she stares at me, and at first, I had no idea what could have put that look in her eyes.

That was when I looked down at my hands. Oh, that is where the pain is coming from. My knuckles are torn and bloody. I chose not to use gloves or hand wraps but instead chose to bare-knuckle the heavy bag.

Most of my movements after I got home from my appointment with Dr. West are a blur. I have no idea how long I have been here in the gym trying to fight back my nightmares. A glance at the clock on the wall above the door shows that it is after seven.

How long has Rylan been standing in the doorway? How much of my war against myself did she see? Will she want me to talk about it with her?

She must see the panic in my eyes when I look at her again, because she just smiles at me weakly. It is then that I see the fatigue around the edges of her eyes. We must have both had shitty days.

“How long have you been here?” I ask her as I walk over to where I left a towel and a bottle of water. I grab the water first and drink half the bottle before I put it down. Then I grab the towel and walk towards her.

“Here in the doorway or here in the house?” Her voice sounds worried, tired, and slightly irritated all at the same time.

“Did you wander the house looking for me or...” I trail off when she reaches for my hand.

I watch her face as she examines my knuckles. Pain flashes through her eyes before a lone tear slips from her eyes. My throat clogs as she looks back up at me. There is no pity in her eyes, and for that alone, I am grateful.

“Let’s get these cleaned and wrapped,” she says quietly before leading me out of the gym.

I don’t tell her that there is a medicine kit down here in the gym, but instead just keep my mouth shut as she leads me into the house and up to my room. Once I enter my room, she leads me straight into the bathroom.

“Sit,” she points at the counter next to the sink, then reaches under it to grab the medicine kit.

We lapse into silence as she cleans and then bandages my knuckles. When she is done, I watch helplessly as she slowly kisses each one. Her eyes meet mine when she is done with her kisses.

I open my arms to her, and she slides into my embrace with a soft sigh as she settles against my chest. Before I can stop myself, I start telling her about that day. When I am done, she is crying in my neck. Her shoulders shaking with her soft sobs.

For the first time in years, I cried with her.

Thirty minutes later, after a shower and redressing my knuckles, we are both out back by the pool. There is a fire going in the fire pit as we snuggle together on a lounge chair. Rylan has been quiet since we got settled.

“What happened when you met with your father today?” I ask her as I reach for the wine bottle to refill her glass.

Rylan’s body stiffens at first, then her shoulders slump. I already know that whatever happened wasn’t good. It was in her eyes when she looked at me when we were in the gym. There was a sadness there that had nothing to do with what she saw when she opened the door.

She doesn’t say anything right away, so I just hold on to her as she gathers her thoughts. I lean back against the lounger and pull her with me so that she is now lying on my chest with her ass between my legs.

For the first time since I had my first taste of her, sex is not on my mind at all right now. All I want to do is provide her with the quiet comfort that she showed me. Just being here for each other like this is something that is important for us.

“My father dropped a few bombs on me and my brother today. Andrew didn’t seem to handle it well. I don’t blame him at all, not since a lot of what our father said had to do with Eva, Andrew’s mother.”

There is sarcasm in her voice as she says the last part. I know her relationship with her stepmother has never been good. From what she has told me in the past, her relationship with Eva was a nightmare. After meeting Rylan’s mother, I can understand some of it.

Those two women did a number on all people in their lives.

I don’t reply to her but squeeze her hand gently to encourage her to keep talking and to let her know that I am listening to her. This woman has had my attention since the day she walked into that dusty military base all those years ago. She has had my full attention since that charity auction, where she paid a substantial sum of money to be my date.

“My father summoned us to that hotel room to tell us that he is sick. Lung cancer, no doubt from all the fucking cigars he smokes.” Her voice trembles as a small spike of anger edges its way through the sadness. “He is moving here to get treatment.”

I can tell by the way her shoulders sag that she is fighting back the tears. She turns to face me, and I can see the shimmer of them in her eyes. I motion for her to twist around so that she can snuggle fully against my chest. Once she is settled with her head tucked under my chin, the quiet sobbing starts.

All I do is hold her tightly as she cries, murmuring softly in her ear that I got her. When her sobs subside, she snuggles me like I am her life-sized teddy. Soon she is asleep on my chest.

I close my eyes and rest my head against the lounger. Today has been a terrible day for both of us, and I am beyond grateful that we have each other to lean on. I was so adamant that I could get through this life without dragging Rylan into my nightmares for far too long. Now that I have her here with me, I can’t believe I wasted so much time with her.

After a while, I slip out from under Rylan, with one knee still on the lounger I pivot to face her, then slide my arms underneath her to lift her into my arms. Her eyes flutter open as I turn towards the door to head out of the room. She wraps her arms around my neck before she lays her head on my shoulder.

“What time is it?” She mumbles.

“Time for sleep. We both had a rough day.”

“There is more I wanted to tell you,” she says before she yawns again.

“It can wait until you get some more sleep. I am not going anywhere.”

I feel her nod her head against my shoulder, so I don’t say anything more. When I reach my bedroom, I walk straight to the bed and pull back the covers before laying her down gently. Normally I would sleep naked, but tonight is more about comfort than anything, so I leave her there and head to the bathroom to shower.

By the time I am done and in a clean pair of sleep pants, my beautiful girlfriend is fast asleep in the center of my bed. She is snuggling my pillow, and her raven hair is fanned out behind her on her pillow. I take a quick picture of the scene she presented to me, then climb into bed behind her.

After about twenty minutes of trying to sleep, I am about to give up when Rylan turns in my arms to snuggle against my chest. Her head is right over my heart. With her right where she belongs, I fall into a deep dreamless sleep.

When I wake up the next morning, Rylan isn’t in bed with me, but the door to the bathroom is open, and I can hear the shower running. A glance at the clock on the bedside table shows that it is past six in the morning. I am surprised I slept so late since I am normally up by five.

After throwing the covers aside and getting out of bed, I strip my sleep pants off before I head to join her in the shower. Rylan lets out a startled squeak as I step into the shower behind her. She shivers as I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her back against my body.

“Good morning, beautiful.” I say, then place a kiss on her bare shoulder. “Why did you let me sleep in?”

She turns around in my arms and smiles up at me. “You looked so peaceful, and after what happened yesterday, I figured you needed the sleep.”

“I am not tired now.” I give her a smirk as her eyes flick downwards briefly.

“That part of you is always ready to play.”

“It wasn’t until I got in here and saw your naked and soapy body, all glistening wet.”

She moans as I grip her ass with both hands. “Then you better make it quick because I have got to stop by my house to change for work.”

I swiftly turn her so that her back is against the marble wall of the shower, then lift her up so she can wrap her legs around my waist. My cock is throbbing with need for her, and I slip inside her in one smooth upward thrust. I don’t move right away as I savor the feeling of her wet, hot pussy.

“You know, if you kept some of your clothes here, that wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Shut up and fuck me, Aaron.”

“As you wish.”

Thirty minutes later, we are both lying on my bed, breathing heavily. Once we can breathe normally, we get dressed, then head downstairs for some much-needed caffeine. Since I am not going into the office today, I plan to get as much work done from home as possible before I go to my group therapy session later tonight.

I am not looking forward to that after yesterday’s blackout, but I am determined to follow through with what I have started.

Rylan tells me the rest of what happened yesterday as we get caffeinated and eat a quick breakfast. I am shocked, to say the least. Not only is her father sick, but now he is getting a divorce from his wife. A wife who he believed was faithful even through his one and only affair.

As it turns out, she cheated too.

I have never understood cheaters. Why cheat instead of just ending the relationship that you are obviously unhappy in? Cheating just hurts everyone involved. Not to mention, it is just disgusting. That coming from a man whore like me is saying a lot.

I may have slept with a lot of women in the past, but none of them were married, nor was I in a relationship with them or anyone else.

“Oh, I have a question for you.” Rylan says as she gets up from the kitchen table to rinse her plate and coffee mug.

“Ask away.”

The way she is biting her lower lip when she turns back to face me is both extremely sexy and cute at the same time. Whatever she wants to ask me must be something that worries her. I smile at her to encourage her to ask whatever it is that she needs to.

“What are you doing with the penthouse now that you are in this house permanently?”

The penthouse that I haven’t been to in months. I almost forgot that I even have that place still. I know at some point I was going to let my parents use it whenever they came to visit, but now that I bought the house not far from this one, there doesn’t seem to be much of a reason to keep the penthouse.

“Why? What do you have in mind?”

“Well, now that Rosalyn is going to be in California for good, I was thinking of a more long-term living situation for her. Somewhere she will be much safer from that dickwad husband of hers.”

“Somewhere more secure.”

“Yes. He can find out where I live quite easily as it is a matter of public record, and I don’t want him to have a chance to get to her when I am here with you. She is going to be working at Mercy General as a nurse, so she could pay you something so that she feels like she isn’t living there for free.”

I make a face at her, and she smiles.

“We fixed the elevator so that it goes to both penthouses now, and there is a guard in the garage at all times. It is a good place to make her feel safe, that is for sure. Plus, Annora and Grace are just an elevator ride away if she needs anything.”

“I am enjoying having my sister with me, but I know she will eventually want to spread her wings and move out. Having her in your penthouse for now would be a big relief to me, knowing that she is at least safe there.”

“Alright, when do you want her to move in?” I ask her as I mentally calculate how much to charge her sister rent. I know that there is no way she can afford the full brunt of the bills for that place on a nurse’s salary.

“Let me talk to her first to see if she would even be interested in that, and then I will get back to you about it if she decides to move in.”

I nod my head, then pull her against me to give her a soft kiss. “Now you had better get to work before I decide to ravish you again.”

Rylan laughs that deep, throaty laugh of hers that causes all the blood in my head to rush straight to my cock. She kisses me back, then grabs her bag and rushes out of the house, leaving me with a raging boner and a smile on my face.

I could get used to mornings like this with her. If she lived here with me, this could be us every morning. Woah, where the hell did that thought come from? Moving in together is a big step, and I am not sure we are ready for that yet.

One step at a time, dumbass.

*Authors Note*

*To all my lovely readers, thank you for being patient with me and my downtime. To those not already in my Facebook group, NorthRoseNovels, please join it if you want to be able to know when chapters are updated or on hold. I am very transparent with those in my group and my editor about when I have delays and why.*