"A man’s got to stake a claim and protect what he avows as his own."
Savannah arched a brow at me. "Are you trying to stop being my favorite person? ‘Avows as his own?’ Who talks like that?"
"Me." I smiled at her. "Seeing as this has to be a new thing, I figured I wouldn’t stay your favorite for long anyway."
She smirked. "Aim low and you’re never disappointed, huh?"
"Something like that." I laughed. "Anyway, Savannah has a point, Jen. Why the fuck are you calling at this hour anyway?"
"I’m freaking out, Aidan, and not just because you’re laughing. Did Finn tell you about that bastard I was dating?"
"Surprisingly enough, honey, Finn and I have more important things to discuss than your sex life."
"It should be the top of everyone’s agenda. I’m offended it isn’t."
"I’m sure." I heaved a sigh. "I do know that you keyed the guy’s Ferrari. That was mean, Jen. Mean."
"He was fucking around on me. That was a way more expensive mistake than my giving his car a little love tap."
"Maybe if he owned a Ford, not a Ferrari. Changing the bumper sticker on those things costs ten grand."
"You’d know, Daddy Warbucks." Jen grumbled, "Anyway, I can’t afford the settlement, so I have to go to court, unless I can convince him not to."
"And giving him a blowjob didn’t work?"
"Aidan!" Savannah chided.
Jen blew a raspberry, which, without the visual, just sounded like a massive fart. "I mean, I tried, but he said no blowjob was worth that much."
I laughed. "I can’t blame him."
"I need help," Jen whined. "Please? Finn won’t. He says I made my own bed and I need to lie in it, but I make my bed every day and Tinkerbell hasn’t popped up to save my ass."
"Why should I save it?"
"Because you like me?" she wheedled.
"Since when?"
She huffed. "Aidan! I’ll ask Aoife!"
"And that’s a threat, why? If Aoife can’t get Finn to do her bidding, then how the hell would she get me to do the same?"
"Aoife’s a pushover around Finn. He blows her brain out with orgasms or something. Lucky bitch." She pshawed. "Whereas you have no orgasmic power over her. She’ll stop making you those cronuts you love. I know she will. She doesn’t want me to go bankrupt as much as I don’t want to go bankrupt because she’ll have to feed me until kingdom come—"
"Christ, Jen," I complained. "I already told you to bring him to The 68. I said I’ll adjudicate, didn’t you hear me?"
"Oh. No, I didn’t. I was more confused about what the hell you were doing on my best friend’s phone.
"Although, adjudication might not be enough. I think he came out lucky with a scratched boy toy instead of me literally scratching that toy dangling between his legs.
"Savannah, I told you he had a micropenis, didn’t I?"
"I don’t think five inches constitutes a micropenis," was Savannah’s amused retort.
"Well, it does in my book." She huffed. "Okay, I’ll tell the prick to come to The 68. You may have to hold me back, Aidan."
"I expect nothing less from you, Jen," I commented.
"Don’t worry, I’ll be there too," Savannah chirped, earning herself a glower from me. She shrugged. "What? You think I want to miss out on that show? It’s going to be better than Jerry Springer."
I rolled my eyes, but accepted that she was right, that it would probably be hilarious. It also meant I’d have to stack on security in the bar, but that was fine. Some fucker would probably appreciate the overtime.
"This is my life, y’all," Jen complained. "Not a daytime talk show."
"You’re living your best life," Savannah retorted unapologetically. "That comes with consequences."
Jen blew another raspberry. "Okay, I’ll see you guys tonight." She paused. "Thanks, Aidan." Those two words came out in a rush like she was swearing, then she hung up the phone.
I shook my head, then turned to Savannah and murmured, "You need to get on the bed—"
"Promises, promises—"
"—so I can put a fresh bandage on your thigh."
She crinkled her nose. "I’d prefer the orgasm from your not-so-micro penis."
My lips quirked. "Good to know I measure up."
"Like you have any worries in that department," she scoffed, her gaze dropping to my package which was shielded by white terry cloth.
When she licked her lips, the damn thing twitched, but I groused, "Savannah, behave. I need to change your bandage before we head down to your place for your things."
She pouted, but did as I asked, trudging over to the bed and lying down on the mattress with an artlessness that I actually appreciated.
She didn’t drape herself over the covers, didn’t tilt her head to the side and prop it on a tensed arm while sucking in her belly so that the space between her abdomen and ribs turned concave. She just lay there, waiting for me to do as I said.
Models and mistresses, they were all the same. Of course, Savannah was neither. That was probably why she was an alien concept to me.
A woman who wanted me for me.
Despite what I was.
In spite of what I did.
If anything, because of what I did.
It was almost disturbing.
But I liked it too much to really complain.
With a grunt, I ambled over and settled myself on the bed at her side.
She watched me as much as I watched her, taking in each step like a cougar sizing up a kill, and fuck me if that didn’t get me harder than it should.
I tried to keep it clean, tried to be methodical with it, but she didn’t make it easy on me. Every time I touched her, her skin pebbled with goosebumps and she shivered. Not an artificial one, but a genuine little quiver, as if my touch were as powerful as an electric shock.
Whenever she responded like that, it made me glance at her, and when our gazes collided, it was like the fucking world stopped.
By the time I was done cleaning the wound and bandaging it, she was trembling like a goddamn leaf and I was as hard as nails.
I blew out a breath as I rasped, "I’m not alone in feeling this way, am I?"
I could see that I wasn’t, but I needed verbal confirmation that this was weird as hell.
Slowly, she licked her lips, and I swore to God I could feel the tip of that little muscle around the glans of my cock.
"No, you’re not. You know that though. You know it’s been like this since that first day," she whispered. "Even when I was scared of you, you drew me to you like you were a magnet. I thought it was me fangirling but that was why it hurt so much when you disappeared."
"I didn’t disappear," I corrected. "I saved you from me."
She sat up, pressed her hand to my thigh. "You’d never hurt me."
"There are different kinds of hurts in this life, Savannah. You know that as well as I do."
Her brow furrowed, but then, slowly, as if it were a storm cloud marring a crystal clear day, it abated. "I’ve been in danger all my life, Aidan. Relatively speaking. My dad saw to that just by being who he is. You think that’s the first intruder I’ve had to deal with? My sister was kidnapped, for God’s sake. Camden routinely deals with insane stalkers." She pursed her lips. "Nothing in this life is safe. You should know that by now."