The Assistant (10 page)

He licked my face and I pushed his head
down.  “King, enough.”

He squished his butt down between the chair
and my legs before resting his upper body across my lap.  I pushed at his body
but it was like trying to move a rock and I gave up with a soft sigh as Joe and
Aiden walked into the living room.

“King, down.”  Aiden frowned.

King, panting happily, ignored him
completely before licking the side of my head.  I wiped the drool from my ear
as Aiden frowned again.

“King, down.  Right now.”

“It’s fine.  I don’t mind.”  I stroked
King’s head and the dog sighed deeply and rested his chin on my arm before
closing his eyes.

Steve laughed.  “He certainly seems to like
you.”

“Yeah.”  I made another soft grunt when
Madison and Tyson climbed into the armchair and draped their small bodies
across King’s.  They patted him and stroked his ears as his tail thumped
happily against my leg.  I tried to breathe shallowly and wondered if I would
actually hear the sound of my ribs snapping under the kids’ and King’s combined
weight.

Joe and Aiden were making the rounds,
hugging and shaking hands with the others, and I smiled at Tyson as he leaned
over the dog and stared at me.

“You’re pretty,” he announced.

I laughed.  “Thanks.  You’re very
handsome.”

“I know.  I’m only five and I already have
a girlfriend.”

“You do?  What’s her name?”

“Mindy.  We’re in kindergarten together.”

“That’s nice.”  I winced as King shifted
and one of his nails dug into my thigh.

Aiden dropped into the armchair on the
other side of the fireplace and frowned at me.  “You’re being crushed, Lina. 
King doesn’t need to sit on your lap.  He – “

“Hello, Aiden.”

A look of apprehension crossed his face
before he masked it with a polite smile.  “Susan!  I didn’t know you were going
to be here.  I thought you were in London.”

I watched as Susan nearly skipped across
the room.  She had changed into a tight low-cut shirt and jeans that I was
pretty sure she had to oil herself up to get into.  Her body was amazing, tight
and firm, and absolutely nothing jiggled as she hurried toward Aiden.  She had
combed her hair and applied makeup and I realized with dismay that the girl was
stunning.

Jealousy, strong and unpleasant, flowed
through me when she plopped herself down on Aiden’ lap and kissed him firmly on
the mouth.

“Aren’t you happy to see me?”  She pouted
prettily as Aiden gave her a strained smile.

“I am.  How’s London?”

“So great.”  She smoothed her hand down his
chest.  “I’ve been having a really great time.”

“Good.”  He shifted uncomfortably under her
and Stephanie cleared her throat.

“There’s another chair right beside me,
honey.”

“I know,” Susan said cheerfully.  She
continued to sit on Aiden’s lap as he glanced quickly at me.  I kept the
polite, disinterested look on my face but inside I was nearly seething with
jealousy.  I wanted to stalk over there and yank Susan off of his lap by her
long, soft hair.  I took a deep breath and shook off the image of me punching
Susan in the face.  I outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds.  How
difficult would it be to pound her into oblivion for touching Aiden?  Not that
difficult, I decided.

Tyson had crawled over King and was leaning
against my chest.  He smiled up at me and patted my face before resting his
head against my shoulder.  I tried not to wince.  I had a bruise from where
Aiden bit me that night in his office, and I tried to subtly move so that Tyson’s
head wasn’t resting directly against it.

He lifted his head and squinted at my neck
before pushing the neckline of my t-shirt to the side.  “What’s that?”

He pointed to the bruise as Stephanie
frowned.

“Oh honey, what happened?”

“Uh, I ran into the doorframe in the middle
of the night,” I lied quickly.  “Serves me right for not turning on the light.”

I pulled my t-shirt out of Tyson’s hands
and quickly covered the bruise before glancing at Aiden.  He was staring at me
with a sick look on his face and I gave him a curious look.

Susan cleared her throat loudly.  “If I had
known you were spending Christmas with us, Aiden, I would have brought the
present I bought you in London.”

“You didn’t have to buy me anything,” Aiden
replied.  He shifted again before asking politely, “How’s the teaching job
going?” 

“Oh great, great!”  Susan enthused.  “I
love my kids.”

She turned and smiled at me.  “I teach
gymnastics.  I used to be a professional gymnast.  Almost made it to the
Olympics a few years ago.”

Shit.  A gymnast. 

I didn’t have a chance of winning a
catfight with her, she’d be solid muscle and bendy as hell.  Besides, it didn’t
matter.  Given a choice between a gymnast and my fat ass, what man wouldn’t
want to bang the goddamn gymnast?  I plucked self-consciously at my t-shirt
that was clinging to my round belly and gave her a faint smile.

“Wow!  Congratulations.”

“Thanks!”  She started to settle more
firmly on to Aiden’s lap and squeaked in surprise when he twisted out from
beneath her and stood.

“Sorry.”  He gave her an apologetic smile. 
“But I’ve really got to rescue Lina from King.  He’s going to crush her
ribcage.”

He moved toward me and lifted first Madison
and then Tyson off of King’s broad back before taking King’s collar.  He pulled
firmly.  “King, down.”

The dog made a snort of displeasure but
jumped down obediently before lying in front of the fire.

I took a deep breath and unfolded my legs
from the chair.  “Thanks.”

I winced as I rubbed at my ribcage and then
blinked in shock when Aiden dropped into the chair beside me.  The armchair was
large but he was a big man and I was no delicate flower.  I twitched when he
slid his hands under my ass and shifted me until I was half sitting on the
chair and half-sitting on his lap.

“Comfortable?”  He gave me a smile tinged
with desperation and I hesitated before nodding and relaxing against him.

“Sure am.”

“There’s another chair by mom,” Susan said
sweetly.  “I’m sure that would be more comfortable for you, Lina.  We wouldn’t
want Aiden to be the one with the crushed ribcage, now would we?”

That’s it.  I don’t care if she’s a gymnast
– I’m kicking her tight little ass.

As if sensing my thoughts, Aiden slid his
hand under my hair and gripped the back of my neck, holding me firmly in place
as Stephanie said sharply, “Susan!”

Susan glanced at her mother.  “What?” 

Stephanie gave her a pointed look, her pale
face was flushed with anger, and Susan sighed before looking back at us.  A
small frown line appeared between her eyes.  Aiden was kneading and rubbing the
back of my neck, and she smiled stiffly at us as Stephanie clapped her hands
briskly.

“Who wants more hot chocolate?”

“Lina, c’mere for a minute.”  Tyson tugged
on my pants and I dried my hands before following him to the doorway of the
kitchen.

“What’s up, little man?”

“Just um, stand here.”  He positioned me in
the doorway as Beth laughed quietly.

He gave me a nervous look and I ruffled his
hair.  “What can I do for you, buddy?”

“Look up,” he said shyly.

I glanced above me, a smile breaking out on
my face, at the plant hanging from the doorway.

“Do you know what that is?”  Tyson asked
eagerly.  He held my hand in a sweaty little grip and I winked at him.

“Why don’t you tell me what it is?”

“It’s mistletoe!”  He crowed.  “You have to
kiss me now – it’s tradition!”

“So it is.”  I bent down and winked again
at him.  “Pucker up, little man.”

He pursed his lips and I kissed him quickly
on the mouth before straightening.  He giggled and hugged me around the waist. 
“I like you, Lina.”

“I like you too, Tyson.”

Beth picked up a tray of veggies in one
hand and held out her other to Tyson.  “Okay, Romeo, come back to the living
room with me.”

He took her hand and stared eagerly at me. 
“Are you coming, Lina?”

“I sure am.  Just give me a couple of
minutes,” I replied.

“Okay.”  He followed Beth down the hallway
and I sighed and leaned against the doorframe before closing my eyes.  I rubbed
my forehead wearily.  I had the beginning of a tension headache and I wondered
if there was any way in hell I could fake some kind of emergency and get my ass
out of here.  I wanted to go home, crawl into my bed, and forget all about
Christmas and Aiden and –

“Lina?”

I jerked and opened my eyes.  Aiden was
standing in the doorway staring at me in concern.  “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” I replied shortly.  “Did you know
they invited me for Christmas?”

He hesitated and then nodded.  “Yeah, they
mentioned it to me.”

“Why didn’t you tell me they invited you as
well?”  I scowled at him.

“Because I knew you wouldn’t come and I
wanted to see you,” he said simply.

I sighed and rubbed at my forehead again. 
“What the hell for?”

“I owe you an apology.  Actually,” his brow
darkened, “I owe you three apologies.”

“Oh yeah?”

He nodded.  “I’m sorry for what I said to
you in the office.  You don’t belong to me, and I had no right to question you
about your relationship with Parker.”

I didn’t reply and he cleared his throat. 
“I also wanted to apologize for earlier.  I said I wouldn’t touch you again and
then I did.  I, uh, was a bit desperate to get away from Susan.”

I snorted.  “Yes, because it sucks so much
to have a hot, beautiful gymnast practically begging you to fuck her.  Poor
Aiden.  It must be so taxing to have gorgeous women throwing themselves at you
all the time.”

He blushed.  “Putting aside the fact that
she’s my best friend’s daughter, she’s not my type.”

“Of course she isn’t.  No man wants a chick
who can bounce a quarter off her ass and put her legs behind her head.  That’s
just ridiculous,” I scoffed.

“I don’t want her,” he insisted before
repeating himself, “She’s not my type.”

“What is your type?  Hmm?”  I scowled at
him.

“You.”

I swallowed looked away from his dark
eyes.  “Sorry, I don’t do the ‘wham, bam, thank you, ma’am’ thing.”

“I know,” he sighed.

There was a moment of silence between us
before I glanced up at him again.  “What’s the third apology?”

He reached out and pulled gently on the top
of my t-shirt.  The sick look returned to his face as he studied the bruise. 

“This,” he said hoarsely.  “I’m so sorry,
princess.  I didn’t realize I had bitten you so hard.  I was feeling a little
crazy that night and I took it too far.”

I studied him carefully.  His face was
ashen and he couldn’t stop staring at the bruise on my soft flesh.

“Aiden?  Hey, Aiden?”  I touched his face
gently and he shuddered all over before raising his gaze to mine. 

“It’s not that big of a deal.  Really.”

“You’re bruised,” he whispered. 

“I bruise easily,” I replied.  “Always
have.  You should see the ones on my ass.”  I tried to joke with him and
groaned inwardly when his eyes widened.

“Fuck!  I’m a goddamn idiot.  I should have
discussed with you a safe word or something.”

“Even if we had discussed a safe word
beforehand, I wouldn’t have used it,” I said earnestly.  “It didn’t hurt at the
time and I – I liked it.”

Desire flared in his eyes and my body
responded immediately.  I could feel my nipples hardening and I rubbed my
thighs together in an effort to ease the sudden ache between them.  I stared
into his eyes before licking my lips, and he groaned and looked away.

“Don’t look at me that way, princess,” he warned
hoarsely.  His hands were closed into tight fists and he took a step back.

“What way?”  I whispered.

“Like you want me to fuck you,” he
muttered.

My entire body was throbbing now.  The
noise of the others in the living room had faded away completely and I studied Aiden’s
mouth, remembering how firm his lips were, how warm his mouth was against
mine.  With madness singing her sweet song in my ear, I stepped closer until my
breasts brushed against his chest.

He groaned loudly and reached to cup them
before dropping his hands back to his side.  I pressed my belly against his
erection and smiled up at him.

“Look up, Aiden.”

He looked up obediently and I traced my
hand over his broad chest. 

“It’s mistletoe.”

“Yeah,” he replied in a low throaty groan.

“You have to kiss me.  It’s tradition,” I
whispered.

He stared down at me, his gaze nearly
setting me on fire with lust.  “Lina – “

“Kiss me, Aiden.”

With another low groan, he bent his head
and touched his mouth to mine.  I parted my lips immediately, wrapping my arms
around his neck as he moved his hands around my waist and drew me up against
his hard body.  I stood on my tip toes and pressed my breasts into his hard
chest.

He kissed me softly, his lips coaxing and
his tongue gentle as he drew my tongue into his mouth.  He sucked lightly on it
before tracing my lips with the tip of his tongue.  I moaned into his mouth. 
Aiden had never kissed me like this before.  He was treating me like I was a
fragile flower and although there was a part of me that enjoyed his gentleness,
I missed my demanding and rough Aiden.

“Harder,” I muttered against his lips. 
“Kiss me harder, Aiden.”

“Lina, I don’t want to – “

I cut off his comment by thrusting my
tongue into his mouth.  I kissed him hard, trying to force him to kiss me back
in the way that I wanted and, after a moment, he was taking my mouth in hard,
biting nips and licks. 

I sighed happily as he ravaged my mouth. 
This was the Aiden I wanted, the Aiden I needed.  I wanted him to be demanding,
to push me to my limits and to take what belonged to him.  I could try and deny
it all I wanted but he was right.  I was his.

We sprang apart guiltily when Stephanie
cleared her throat.  Gasping, my face bright red and my knees shaking, I stared
wild-eyed at her.

“Sorry to interrupt,” she said cheekily,
“but I need to get dinner started.”

“Of course,” I said.  “Excuse me, I just
uh, need to freshen up and then I’ll help you.”

“Take your time, honey.”  She winked at me
before squeezing Aiden’s arm playfully.

Blushing furiously, I escaped down the
hallway.

* * *

“That, sugar, was a delicious meal.”  Joe
rubbed his belly and smiled at Stephanie.

She laughed.  “Wait until tomorrow’s
dinner.  It’s even better.”

I jumped up from the table and began to
clear the dishes.  Ellie and Beth soon joined in but Susan remained at the
table.  She had managed to snag a seat next to Aiden and she was nearly sitting
on his lap.  I picked up the bowl of carrots and ignored the jealousy I felt
when Susan’s hand slipped under the table.  Aiden’s eyes widened briefly and I
knew without a doubt that she was grabbing his junk.

He moved his own hands under the table and
a moment later Susan’s were folded neatly on her own lap.  She gave him a
seductive pout and he frowned lightly at her before shifting his chair away from
hers.

I sighed inwardly as I scraped the left-over
carrots into a plastic container.  Susan wasn’t his type, Aiden had said so
himself, so why was I so worried and disgruntled over her obvious flirting.  If
he hadn’t slept with her yet, why did I think he would now?

“So, we need to discuss sleeping
arrangements,” Stephanie said suddenly.  “Now that Susan is here, we’re short a
bed.”

“I can sleep on the couch in the living
room,” I volunteered immediately.

Stephanie shook her head.  “It’s much too
short, honey.  You won’t be comfortable at all.”

“I don’t mind, really,” I replied.

“Aiden, you have the pull-out couch at your
place, right?”  Stephanie said innocently.

He nodded.  “I do.  Someone’s more than
welcome to use it.”

“I’ll sleep over at Aiden’s place.  It’s my
fault we don’t have enough beds,” Susan piped up before stroking Aiden’s arm. 
“Thanks, Aiden.  I really appreciate your hospitality.”

Aiden gave Stephanie a decidedly panicked
look and she shook her head.

“Honey, your father and I haven’t seen you
in months.  We want you to stay here with us at the house.  I’m sure Lina won’t
mind bunking at Aiden’s place.  Will you, honey?”

Aiden’s gaze swung to mine and I almost
giggled at the silent pleading in his eyes.

“Of course not.”  I smiled cheerfully at
Stephanie.  “If Aiden’s okay with it.  He sees me every day at work.  He might
want a break from my face.”

“Nope.  I’m happy to help out,” Aiden said
quickly.  “But I was going to head back now and get the fire built up.  It’s
supposed to be freezing tonight.”

I swallowed heavily, remembering the last
freezing night I had spent in Aiden’s cabin, and snapped the lid on to the
plastic container as Susan sighed loudly. 

“Mom, I’ll see you and dad plenty during
the day.  I don’t see why I – “

“Susan, be a dear and help Ellie and Beth
clean up so that Lina can gather her stuff to take to Aiden’s, would you?”

“Sure,” Susan muttered.  She stood and I
smiled briefly at her, ignoring my childish feeling of triumph, and hurried
from the kitchen.

* * *

“You okay?”  Aiden asked.

“Yeah,” I puffed.  The snow was deep and,
busy staring at Aiden’s ass, I had tripped and fallen flat on my face.  I
picked myself up and brushed the snow off my jacket before straightening my
toque.  “Just clumsy.”

“Here, take my hand.”  He held his hand out
and I took it gingerly as he shifted my suitcase in his other hand.

“I can take that.”  I reached for my
suitcase and he shook his head.

“I’ve got it.”

King barked loudly before bounding ahead of
us.  He plowed through the soft snow with his face and I laughed as we followed
the path he made in the snow.

“Rex used to love the snow.”  I smiled at
Aiden.  “He would run like crazy through it at the dog park and roll around.  I
called it his ‘Rex Angels’.”

Aiden squeezed my hand.  “Are you going to
get another dog, Lina?”

“Yes.  I wasn’t sure at first but I miss
having a dog.  I’ll go to the animal shelter after Christmas and find one that
needs a home.”

“You’re a good person,” Aiden said
suddenly.

I laughed.  “Adopting a dog from the
shelter doesn’t make me a good person, Aiden.”

“It does,” he replied. 

We walked silently for a few minutes. 
Thanks to the moonlight and snow, it was easy to see the cabin looming ahead of
us.

“Thanks for your help back there,” Aiden
said gratefully.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean for agreeing to stay at my place
instead of Susan.  I know you wanted to use the holidays to get away from me
for a while.”  His face was carefully neutral.

I sighed.  “Aiden, it’s not that I don’t
want to be around you.  I just – I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to
socialize outside of work.  You don’t want a relationship and I’m not looking
for a fling with my boss.  Besides, I’m not that great in the sack and I’d like
to leave our sexual adventures on a high note.”  I winked at him, trying to get
him to laugh.