Chapter 9

“No!”

As her voice echoed across their small living room, Anna tightened her brows. She faced her husband sitting beside her on a plush sepia couch. Behind him, translucent tan curtains swirled in a warm night breeze coming through open glass patio doors.

“Oh, come on.” Rory said, while running his hand along her hip. “Your expression in the picture. And, I know how much—”

“I’m your wife, Rory.” Even as the faint image of Aiden’s gray pools twinkled in the dim orange of the early morning sun, her breath hitched. Although portraying the reluctant spouse in Rory’s fantasy, she was also playing a new game. No, it was no game. Not with Aiden. “Yours.”

At Aiden’s place the entire night, something had passed between them. Even before her handjob, and his ... She swallowed. Rory hadn’t asked, and Anna hadn’t offered how she’d lost her panties and stockings.

“Third base is one thing.” After placing her fingers over her husband’s, she squeezed while struggling to maintain her glower. “I shouldn’t have done that. It’s not right. To just—”

“—taunt him and run away?” he murmured.

With her pulse hammering, Anna stared at him. Had he caught on? Did he really want it to happen as much as she did? At that, she gulped as her hand crushed his. An icy sliver of fear sliced through her. What would happen if Aiden actually fucked her?

In silence, Rory’s eyes gleamed over the rim of his drink as he sipped. After lifting her glass to take a long gulp, she thumped it on the armrest. A heavy sigh slipped from her as she held his gaze.

“No, Rory. I don’t want to tease him. Not at all.” Her chest tightened. “What do you want? And why, Rory?”

“Simple, sweetheart. It’s the same as before. You’re gorgeous and mine, right?”

Although Anna nodded, the memory of what she’d told Aiden flashed into her. She loved Rory. Would always return to him. And Aiden was fine with that. He only needed a—companion. But ... As she gazed into Rory’s anxious yet patient face, her heart raced. But she wanted more. Craved what Aiden promised. No, no mere promise. She knew better. It was what he would give her.

“Look, Anna.” He tried to tug his hand free, but she clamped tighter, holding it in place. “I’ll be right there.”

“You really want to watch your wife”—despite starting strong, when Aiden’s eyes, soft and alluring, appeared before her, Anna’s voice became a low wavering whisper—”getting fucked by a stranger?” Despite remaining motionless, he sent his tongue zipping along his quivering lips. “You do. You really”—she gulped—”want to see me with him,” Anna whispered. With every nerve in her body tingling, she kept her gaze locked on her husband’s unmoving face.

“Aiden’s not a stranger,” her husband replied. “You cooked dinner for him. And—”

“So? I should what? Just call him, Rory?” After shoving to her shaky feet, she released his hand and swayed towards their mirror-backed bar. “Or perhaps I should go knock on Aiden’s door? ‘Hi, neighbor. How’re you doing? I’m here to fuck. My husband sent me.’”

At her reflection, a tremor sped through her. All her life, she’d suffered enough ogling stares. Wolf-whistles. Muted, and not-so-muted, comments. She possessed what men coveted. But Aiden ... Oh, he was attracted to her. But not only to her silhouette. A low groan slid from her when she caught the reflection of Rory’s lust-filled expression. At Aiden’s ghostly visage, the groan deepened. And deep inside her core, the hungry fluttering began.

“You’re a fucking pervert, Rory,” she mumbled.

After pouring herself another full glass of Merlot—not as nice as the one at Aiden’s—rather than returning to the couch, she sat on a matching chair. Once she’d crossed her legs, she took a long sip while inspecting her husband’s face. No retort. He remained silent. When Aiden’s smile appeared—the one he’d had as she’d tugged that hefty pulsing shaft from his trousers—she gulped.

She was as much a pervert as Rory.

“How about this?” His voice, while low, was calm. “If he’s in the tub tonight, I’ll—”

“No.” Anna’s hand shot up. “If he’s up there, I’ll be the one to approach him. You’re not my pimp, Rory.”

“I love you, Anna.”

“Yeah, I know.” With the image of being ridden by Aiden already spinning into her brain, she downed a much longer sip before chuckling and adding. “And I love you too, you perv.”

When, after a laugh, he tilted back to empty his glass, a shudder rippled through her. The images from Aiden’s mind. There’d been no mistake. He’d wanted to fuck her right after the dinner. But had sent her home to her husband, even knowing how much she also wanted that to happen. Oh, and the hunger she’d sensed within him. Again, she gulped.

Along with poor Aiden, she craved the next move in the new game.

Later, no sooner had she stepped onto the rooftop behind Rory than she spotted the back of Aiden’s head. Once again, he was lounging in the hot tub. As a gentle breeze plastered a wispy black coverup to her, she moved to their usual table. After placing a towel over a chair, Rory faced her, then glanced at Aiden. In the bluish shimmering from small waves scudding across the pool, his eyes glowed.

“Are you sure, Rory?” While Anna slipped from the coverup, another warm gust sent her unbound tresses swirling. “This is what you really want?”

Rather than answering, her husband’s twinkling eyes roamed the tiny red swimsuit she’d worn the first time they’d met Aiden. Only after he’d finished inspecting her did he meet her gaze. Even then it was only a passing glance before he turned to Aiden’s hair, also moving in the wind.

“Remember, you wanted this, correct?” she said.

At the quick bob of his head, her heart raced. After sweeping her palms along both thighs, she leaned in to place a swift kiss on his lips. They quivered as she pulled away. With his gaze on Aiden, he missed the shudder that shook her. But at her quiet gasp, he turned to her, his head tilting.

It was Aiden. He’d sensed her. Pulses of desire were sending ripples through her as the rooftop wobbled.

“Oh,” escaped her at the rising hunger. Both Aiden’s and hers.

“I love you,” Rory whispered from somewhere in a growing haze that wasn’t Aiden.

“I love you, too, babe.” With heat rising along her cheeks, she flashed his blurry visage a taut grin.

After a swift gulp of wine, she turned from him. And as he slipped into the pool’s shimmering blue waters, she moved towards the tub. Although she couldn’t see Aiden’s eyes, the intensifying focus of his mind drove her pulse higher. Surrounding him, flames. Ghostly. Spiraling upwards. Reaching for her were tendrils of orange. Music, soft at first, grew stronger with every padding footfall.

“Are you sure?”