Page 14 of Lust & Lies

AIDEN

STIRRING MY FOOD, I watched my wife eat. Wife. That word had a nice ring to it. In my heart, she was indeed that. My wife. My life partner. My everything. We had wedding rings. There was even a wedding photo.

All I needed now was another ceremony. Another honeymoon. Another chance to get this right. I’d wait until I’d won her heart all over again before bringing up a wedding. Since I couldn’t tell her the truth, I’d just say we were renewing our vows.

I knew a preacher who wouldn’t ask questions. This ceremony would be special. And this time, I wouldn’t fuck things up with her. She was my life. Had become my life the moment I first laid eyes on her.

However, life had a funny way of fucking us over. Not this time. This time, nothing would get between us. I wouldn’t fucking allow it. She stared over at me and frowned.

“Why aren’t you eating?” she asked.

“I am.”

“Liar. I haven’t seen you take one bite.”

“I’m getting full from watching you eat,” I told her.

She laughed, the sound accompanied by a snort. Fucking adorable. I needed her closer to me. I wanted to feel her warmth. To hold it. To keep it. To own it. No one else could experience it... only me.

“If I watch a movie, will that disturb you?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Not at all.”

I leaned forward and placed my food on the center table, then grabbed the remote. After turning on the television, I signed in to my streaming service. From the corner of my eye, I saw Noe leaning to the side in her chair, trying to get a good look at the screen.

I browsed for something familiar. Something she’d watched before and loved. The moment I found it, I hit play. A zombie comedy: action, chaos, a splash of romance, and a whole lot of blood.

It was one of Noe’s favorites. She was now leaning so far to the side that I was convinced she was going to spill her plate if she didn’t stop trying to see the television. I patted the cushion next to me.

“Want to watch a zombie movie with me?” I asked.

Her eyes lit up. “Zombies? Have you seen it before?”

I nodded. “A few times.” With you.

“Have I seen it?” she asked.

“You’ll know once you start watching it.” I knew that would make her even more curious about it.

With a roll of her eyes, she mumbled, “Yeah, yeah. We’ll see.”

I pressed pause so she wouldn’t miss anything. “Come on, beautiful, before it starts and you miss something.”

“Since you asked so nicely.” Smiling, she rose from her seat and set her food on the center table.

She walked back to her chair, grabbed her throw blanket, then moved to the couch I was seated on and settled down beside me. It was something about having her right next to me that calmed the negative voices in my head. The ones that told me this illusion could shatter at any second.

“You ready?” I asked as she pulled the blanket across her lap.

“I am.”

I pressed play. The movie resumed. As the opening credits scrolled, I reached for both bowls and handed hers to her.

“Thanks. Is this movie bloody?” she asked, eyes on the screen.

“You’ll have to wait and see.”

“You’re no fun,” she pouted, still not tearing her gaze away from the television.

It didn’t take her long to be entranced by the movie, giving me a chance to watch her without her asking me what I was staring at. Every time she smiled at the screen, my chest tightened.

She was enjoying the movie. And I was enjoying being this close to her. It was true what old people said: You appreciate things more after you lose them. You cherish things more when you don’t know how long you’ll be able to hold on to them.

I didn’t know how many nights she and I would spend like this. All I knew was that she was here with me right now, smiling like nothing had ever gone wrong between us. Because for her, nothing had ever gone wrong between us.

I barely touched my food, choosing to watch her instead, noting the way she wrapped her slender fingers around the spoon. I watched her shoulders tremble when she laughed so hard that she had to catch her breath.

I watched her lips part on a gasp when the first zombie appeared on the screen. I took note of how she tensed when a kid raced down the street, trying to escape a horde of the undead.

Of course, he fell and took damn near three minutes to get back up. And I became a captive to her beautiful smile when the hero of the movie shot the zombie in the head, saving the child before it was too late.

“Kill shot,” she whispered, before eating more of her food.

Kill shot.

Those would be the two words she uttered. I faced the screen and began eating. We watched the movie in silence. It was a comfortable silence, reminding me of the old days. Days when she forced me to watch movies like this with her.

Days when I complained about having work to do, but eventually gave in because she could be very persuasive. From now on, work would never be more important than moments like this. Nothing would.

I relaxed against the cushion and placed my arm over the back of the couch, knowing that at any moment she’d stop sitting on the edge of her seat and decide to relax. Halfway through the movie, she curled her feet onto the couch and leaned back against the cushion.

Her head was now resting on my arm. If she felt it, she didn’t say anything. Maybe she was too engrossed in the movie to notice. But I did. Smiling, I kept my eyes glued to the screen as the hero carried the woman he loved into a farmhouse so they could hide.

The bowl she’d eaten from sat empty on the center table with mine right beside it. At one point, she scooted closer to me. Her eyes stayed on the screen. Then she spoke, so softly I almost missed it.

“I don’t remember this movie, but I know I’ve seen it before,” she whispered.

“Yeah?” I whispered back, like we were in a movie theater or something.

“Yeah. I knew a joke was coming before they said it. I didn’t remember what the joke was going to be.

But I felt something funny was coming. And I knew the lady with the red hair was going to die a horrible death.

I didn’t know when or how. But I knew she was.

Oh, and I knew that Mike guy was a traitor before he led them to that rundown building.

” She paused. “It’s a weird feeling when you remember something, but don’t remember it at the same time. It’s strange.”

And here I was, hoping she’d stay that way, trapped in that strange feeling, lost in that cloud of uncertainty. Guilt hummed through me, making me hate myself even more than I already did. But I could never hate myself more than I loved her.

My love for her, that stubborn love, that relentless love, that obsessive and endless love, was the reason I was doing all of this. So, guilty or not, I wouldn’t give up on her, on us. I wouldn’t let go. Ever!

For a while, neither of us said anything. The movie played on, actors talking, music growing more intense, but I couldn’t tell you what scene we were on. I wasn’t watching anymore.

My attention was on the slow rhythm of her breath, the way it dipped a little more every few minutes. She was starting to doze off. By the end of the movie, she was tucked against me, eyes shut, fingers resting against my thigh.

I didn’t move. I didn’t speak. I barely fucking breathed. I didn’t do a damn thing except sit there and hold her. She hadn’t fallen asleep against me in years. Holding her like this damn near brought tears to my eyes.

How could anyone expect me to give this up? How could anyone expect me not to fight for this with everything I had? No regrets. No matter how things turned out, I wouldn’t regret the things I’d done to bring this woman back into my life.

I didn’t care about what anyone thought of me. I didn’t fear the judgment that could come later. None of that mattered to me. I knew I’d do it all again if I had to. Every damn bit of it, if it meant getting her back.

She stirred in her sleep, causing the blanket to slip. I adjusted just enough to pull the blanket higher up on her without waking her. My arm remained where it was. She stirred again, turning to her side, facing me.

Her head slipped to my chest, and she snuggled there, right where she was meant to be. I watched her sleep for a while before a yawn escaped me. If I carried her to bed, she’d wake up.

Deciding we’d remain where we were, I let my head rest against hers, eyes closing as another yawn escaped me. My last thoughts before I drifted off to sleep were: It’s been too damn long since we’d fallen asleep together like this. I missed this. I missed her.

NOELLE

I woke slowly, my mind still groggy from sleep. I didn’t even remember falling asleep. I moved, preparing to stretch, then realized I wasn’t in bed. Something warm was pressed against my cheek, and it was rising and falling with each breath I took.

Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

A heartbeat?

My eyes snapped open. No. It wasn’t rising with each breath I took, but with each breath he took! Aiden. My face was pressed against Aiden’s chest. That wasn’t even the worst part. My leg was draped over his.

His arm was wrapped around my waist, holding me against his side. When had all of this happened? Lifting my head slowly, I blinked up at him, still drowsy. His eyes were closed, and his face was turned in my direction.

I took a second just to stare at him. My husband. He was so damn handsome. Most people looked innocent in their sleep. Not him. He looked just as wicked as he did when he was awake.

Was he dreaming about me? My gaze dropped to his lips. I would not kiss him while he slept. I wasn’t a pervert. At least, I didn’t think I was. I still couldn’t believe we’d fallen asleep like this.

I looked over my shoulder at the television. It was off. He must’ve turned it off after I fell asleep. Gritting my teeth, I started to lift my leg off him, only to freeze when he stirred. I stared his way to find his eyes already fluttering open.

I quickly pulled my leg away, only to be pulled fully into his lap as his eyes opened. Sprawled across him, I met his gaze.

“Did you just wake up?” he asked, voice thick with sleep.

“Uh, yeah,” I whispered. “When did I fall asleep?”

He yawned, dragging his hand down his face. “You fell asleep right before the movie ended. I didn’t want to move you. So, I let you sleep. I must’ve fallen asleep while watching you drool on me.”

“Shut up. I don’t drool. Do I?”

He smiled.

“Don’t answer,” I told him, too embarrassed to hear the truth. “I need to finish the movie to see how it ended,” I mumbled before yawning again.

“You’re too sleepy for that. We can watch it tomorrow evening.” It was his turn to yawn.

“Yeah, let’s do that.” My gaze moved to the window. “It’s not even nighttime yet, and we’re sleeping like old people.”

His deep chuckle brought my full attention back to him. This man didn’t even have to try to be sexy. He just was.

“I feel like I could sleep the rest of today and all through the night,” he told me.

“Me too.” My body decided to yawn again to prove it.

“You’re so sleepy, your eyes are starting to water,” he pointed out.

“I know,” I told him, rubbing my eyes as I was hit with another yawn. Damn. Was I a yawn machine or something?

“Come on, Sleeping Beauty,” Aiden said, as he adjusted his arms, one sliding underneath my thighs. “Let’s get you to your bedroom.”

My bedroom. Not our bedroom. Mine. As in separate. As in he wasn’t staying. We weren’t sleeping together. Disappointment threaded through my heart as he stood, lifting me with him. My arms involuntarily wrapped around his neck, hands locking at his nape.

“I lost my memory, not my ability to walk,” I told him, slightly irritated with our sleeping arrangements but trying not to let it show.

“Your eyes are watering so much, I’m afraid your blurred vision will have you bumping into walls,” he joked.

“Yeah, yeah,” I mumbled, relaxing against him and resting my head on his chest.

I may as well enjoy this moment of closeness, since I’d be all alone in my bedroom soon. He carried me out of the room and down the hallway. Just a day ago, I felt uncomfortable around this man.

Now, in his arms, I felt safe and secure. He carried me up the stairs like I weighed nothing at all, his muscles flexing against me. With strength like this, he had to be a beast in bed.

Damn, I wished I could remember what his cock felt like inside of me. And how it tasted. Ugh! Noelle, get your mind out of your husband’s pants. We strode down another long hallway, finally stopping at a door.

“You can put me down now,” I told him, knowing he needed a free hand to twist the doorknob.

“Or,” he started. “You can open the door for me so I can carry you into the room.”

“Oh. Yeah. I can do that.”

Why the hell was I blushing? It wasn’t like he was about to do anything other than carry me into the room. Despite knowing that, my silly pussy started convulsing, throwing a tantrum, wanting him to remind her of what she was missing out on.

Ignoring her tantrum, I lowered my hand from his neck and leaned forward to twist the doorknob and push the door open. My breast brushed against his chest as I did so. At that moment, my sexy as sin husband decided to lean down and press a kiss to my forehead.

What the hell did he do that for? Couldn’t he sense my pussy stumping her foot, demanding his attention? This would only make her angrier. I stared up to find him smiling down at me. Forget smiling. I wanted him to do something else with his lips.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish, Mr. Park,” I told him.

His wicked smile widened. “I’m just kissing you goodnight, Mrs. Park.”

This motherfucker!

“It’s not even night yet. Put me down,” I mumbled, pushing against his chest.

If he wasn’t going to put his dick in me, he may as well not touch me at all.

“I’ll put you down once I get you in the room,” he said, stepping into the dim bedroom and kicking the door shut behind him.

He’d shut the door. I stared up at him again. Did that mean he was going to stay? My pussy and I were holding our breath, waiting to see what our husband was going to do. Would he flee, or would he man up and stay the night with us?

I guess we were about to find out.