Too Wild to Tame Read online

  Aaron didn’t come back to himself until Grace crawled up his prone body, tucking her head beneath his chin, her tits heaving against his shuddering stomach. “I needed that, too.”

  His lethargic laugh was rife with disbelief, but he sobered quickly, the feel of Grace in his arms too important to make light of. “They broke every rating scale when they made you, Grace.”

  For a moment, they were both still, until Grace tilted her head to press kisses along his neck, assuring him as she always did when he spoke outside his comfort zone. “I think about you almost every minute of the day. I want that to be okay.”

  Invisible hands closed around his heart, making the pumps feel labored. “You’re not alone.”

  Grace sat up, a blush decorating her cheeks, and she went about the task of arranging his clothing back the way it had been. With delicate fingers, she zipped his pants, smoothing a hand up his fly to refasten his belt. And he let her. He watched her through a dreamlike haze and…let her. Allowing someone else to perform such an intimate process would have been beyond him a matter of days ago, but now it was just something inside recognizing the needs of another. Grace. The consuming responsibility of allowing that need to be met. Being fulfilled in return.

  “Hey.” Aaron sat up when she was finished, taking her chin between his finger and thumb. “I would go to sleep with you right now, if I could.”

  “I know.” She rocked forward on her hands and kissed him, sliding their damp lips together. “Now, get back to work. You have a date tonight.”

  I’m in love. I’m in love with you, Grace. I’m…“Fucking right I have a date,” he managed. “You think I could forget?”

  A few minutes later, with a final look at Grace over his shoulder, Aaron walked out into the cold, allowing a smile to form on his face.

  * * *

  Grace’s influence must have caused Aaron to grow a conscience, or unearthed the one he’d buried, because conversing with the senator after having Grace’s mouth working between his thighs wasn’t easy. Not by any stretch. He schooled his features and recited the Gettysburg Address in the back of his mind while they went over poll numbers and Aaron updated Pendleton on the camp’s progress, which the influx of college student volunteers had actually put ahead of schedule. Deliveries had been made, checked against receipts, and unloaded. Local restaurants had donated food and beverages for the workers, the news media was having a field day with not only the senator’s involvement, but human interest stories about some of the volunteers who’d actually attended the camp as youths.

  As anticipated, the media was quick to sink their teeth into the story of four—not five—girls who’d been victims of Ray Solomon and the fire that had taken their lives. Aaron was grateful to have Grace removed from the public eye while the questions were fired at him and the senator, and he hoped the story would take a backseat to the rebuild sooner rather than later. To be on the safe side, he took Peggy and Sage off the project he’d designated for them to work with Grace and keep her away from the cameras. The Pendletons might have kept Grace out of the spotlight, but Aaron’s number one rule was never underestimate the media. He wouldn’t start now when Grace’s comfort was at stake.

  Goddamn, he could barely concentrate under the newfound need to protect her. Maybe because he’d never experienced the urge, but there was no ignoring it now. It had been brought on by the flood of admitting how he felt. Love. What the fuck was he supposed to do with it? He’d barely gotten through asking her out on a date, knowing it could breed commitment. When it came to his job, Aaron knew what was expected of him. Success. He didn’t know how to achieve that with another person. Everyone in his life, his parents, siblings, knew he could be counted on for logistics, but sure as shit not affection. Grace…she needed more than the plan man. She deserved everything.

  Okay, asshole. Regroup. First step was getting used to loving someone. That was enough of a feat for now. After tonight, after their date, he would go from there. No decisions needed to be made while the ground beneath his feet was still quaking.

  The senator’s hand clapped him on the shoulder, bringing Aaron out of his boiling mental stew. They were sitting in the makeshift office Aaron had set up in the mess hall, going over his upcoming statement to the press, taking what the speech writer had written and putting Aaron’s specialized spin on it. “Okay,” Pendleton boomed. “I’ve got my marching orders. Let’s go make the evening news.”

  “Better yet, let’s get your name trending,” Aaron said, his words sounding empty and insignificant when they should have filled him with adrenaline.

  “Sure,” Pendleton said absently, gathering the numbered notecards. “I have to hand it to you, Clarkson, you’re worth your weight in gold. You talk a big game and you back it up. Not a lot of people in this field can deliver on both.”

  Aaron stood, shaking the senator’s hand. “Thank you, I appreciate—”

  “That’s why I’m sending you to New York.” The silence from hell ensued while the quaking under Aaron’s feet turned into an eight on the Richter Scale, the destruction of buildings blaring in his ears. “You’ve gotten the ball rolling at YouthAspire, put the plans in place, and my team can take it from here. We need you at headquarters, where you’ll be more valuable, not in the mountains of Iowa.”

  This was everything he’d wanted. Hell, his family was staying in Iowa to help him, but the master plan was to meet in New York anyway. Nothing had changed…except Grace. But she was a whole motherfucker of a game changer, wasn’t she? Grace wouldn’t be in New York. She would be here, out of his reach. Saying words he wouldn’t hear, needing to touch him and not having the option.

  He was going to be sick. His stomach was curling in on itself, preparing to expel the contents of his breakfast, and perspiration was forming on his brow.

  “Have to say, Clarkson, I thought you’d be over the moon about this.”

  And that’s when he knew the senator had an ulterior motive for sending his ass out of the state, away from his daughter. God, he couldn’t even fault the man. Fathers didn’t allow their daughters to attach themselves to men with Aaron’s reputation. Especially men who aspired to the presidency. There might have been a sliver of a chance for him and Grace if he hadn’t done something so unforgivable in California. Something that had meant exactly nothing to him could keep him away from the person…who meant everything.

  It would have been so easy to say no when he’d answered that knock on his apartment door. So easy to rebuff the polished proposition. But he hadn’t. He’d let a woman use him as punishment for her unavailable husband. Now he and Grace were going to be separated by half a continent because of something he’d done without any emotion or thought of the consequences.

  “I know this is about Grace.” He barely got the words past numb lips. “But you don’t understand—” I love her. I would die before hurting her.

  “Oh, I understand how men like you operate. You won’t be operating with my daughter.” With concise movements, Pendleton tucked the notecards into his coat pocket and strode for the door. “I want her home by tonight, sleeping in her own bed, instead of God knows where, with you. And I want you on the road in the morning. Those two things don’t happen, you don’t keep your job. Are we clear?”

  Aaron’s eventual nod could have come from a stone statue for its stiff reluctance, but he had no choice. Not when he knew the chances of him giving her the healthy, loving relationship she deserved were slim to none. What would he offer her anyway without a job to his name?

  As soon as the door closed behind the senator, Aaron dropped like a boulder into a folding chair, staring at the wall but seeing only Grace. He’d promised her a date, and he wouldn’t let her down. He wouldn’t hide the fact that he was leaving Iowa prematurely, but the revelation could wait until the end of the night. Until then, he would savor every moment.

  Chapter Twenty

  Grace didn’t see Aaron again that afternoon. With the rumor of free beer passing a
mong the volunteers in excited murmurs, they began to disperse, leaving the camp in a state of suspended animation. Jobs were halted and instructions for the following day passed on through the appointed supervisors in red, who were also quick to remind the students and staffers not to show up too hungover the following morning, as the real work was only beginning.

  Aaron was nowhere to be seen as the volunteers piled into vans and hybrids, faces lit up by their cell phone screens as they chatted excitedly. Grace tried not to panic that he’d canceled their date. He wouldn’t do that. No, he was probably holed up somewhere, working on something spectacular for the following day.

  Grace was caught in the middle stages of dressing, sitting on her bed in the cabin with Old Man curled beside her, still trying to come down from the buzz of everything that had happened during the day. The camp’s functionality had grown by leaps and bounds in the matter of twenty-four hours…and then there was Aaron. What they’d done in the infirmary. Or what she’d done, rather. Wanted to do again at the earliest opportunity. Fingertips pressed against her lips, she remembered the way Aaron’s happy trail had looked, descending from his belly button. Black, masculine hair that didn’t match the rest of his polished appearance. No, there was nothing smooth about the way his abs had swelled up and dropped with sudden intensity, a physical symphony conducted by her mouth. Those hands in her hair…

  She hadn’t brushed it since then and she wouldn’t. At some point, her locks would need detangling and those knots would be a trial, but tonight wasn’t for worrying. It wasn’t her first date, in terms of going somewhere with a member of the opposite sex. But it was her first time wanting to sprint toward the event like an Olympian. Her first time labeling an outing a date. If Aaron meant everything he’d said that afternoon, she didn’t have to hold back around him…at all. How was she going to handle the sudden liberation of everything she’d struggled to keep inside so long?

  Didn’t matter. Grace’s lips curled into a smile. Didn’t matter. Aaron wouldn’t let her feel awkward or out of place. He might even be a little awkward himself. And if making that wickedly intelligent man act awkward wasn’t something to look forward to, she didn’t know what was.

  Grace looked up from buttoning her shirt when Peggy and Sage straggled in, looking like they’d been off-roading in a convertible. Peggy’s curls were weighed down, clearly having lost the battle with exhaustion. Sage just looked shell-shocked. Belmont filled the doorway behind them, watching the wedding planner with anxious concern that immediately became a fifth presence in the room.

  “Told you not to push yourself.” Belmont slapped his fist against the doorjamb and kept it there. Old Man leapt off the bed to go butt his head against Belmont’s legs, but the extra-large man only managed an absent nod before zeroing back in on Sage. “You’re limping.”

  “I’m fine.” Contradicting her statement, Sage whimpered as she fell onto her bed. Which made Belmont look like someone had unloaded a round of bullets into his gut.

  Belmont pressed his forehead against his propped fist and breathed. “Back in New Mexico, you promised me you would cut your bangs when they started to cover your eyes.” Old Man started to yowl. “If I’d been able to see your eyes, I would have known you were tired. Cut them tonight.”

  Sage squared her shoulders, as if preparing for battle. “You can’t just order me to cut my hair.”

  Tense moments passed with Sage’s words hanging in the air. They all held their breath when Belmont entered the cabin, his boots thunking on the wooden floorboards. He moved slowly, but his lack of speed was more intimidating than if he’d broken into a dead run. He came to a stop in front of Sage, who seemed to have no choice but to tilt her head back to maintain eye contact with the towering Belmont. Color leached from the room’s atmosphere as Belmont reached a hand out, brushing Sage’s bangs to one side, the way a giant might take care with a kitten. “Please,” Belmont said in a gruff voice. “I need them.”

  “Okay,” Sage whispered, giving a wobbly nod. “Okay.”

  Grace swore none of them breathed until Belmont left the room, the absence of his bulk making the cabin’s interior feel triple in size.

  “Well. I’ll get the scissors,” Peggy said, pulling her suitcase from beneath the bed. “You’re all dolled up, Grace. You got something special happening tonight?”

  The way Peggy asked the question, Grace knew Aaron had shared their plans. And why did that send a flock of birds winging in her belly? She was the girl Peggy’s brother was dating. “What have you guys been up to all day?” Grace asked, instead of answering. “I didn’t see you around camp.”

  Peggy and Sage exchanged a sly look. “Oh, we’ve been here and there. Behind-the-scenes-type stuff. Real hush-hush.”

  Sage still appeared to be in her mesmerized state. “Aaron is still up there.”

  With a gasp, Peggy launched a balled-up sock at Sage’s head.

  “Up where?” Grace questioned her, picking up the socks that landed at her feet, tossing them back to Peggy. “Where’s Aaron?”

  “I’m right here.”

  Hel-lo. That deep voice held the signs of strain, probably from repeating himself and issuing orders from dawn until dusk, but the scratchy quality only affected Grace more, sending a mudslide of lust and anticipation crashing through her middle. God, the way it would sound in her ear…

  And all those thoughts hit before he stepped into the cabin. When he did? Yowza. The tips of his hair were still wet, the dark ends sticking out from beneath the black beanie. He wore a heavy jacket, but it was unzipped so she could see the thin gray sweater beneath, the way it highlighted the definition of his muscular upper half, the flat stomach disappearing into his snug-in-the-right-places jeans.

  I can’t handle him like this. Dressed down and comfortable. Like she could tackle him onto the grass without worrying about ruining something expensive. Throw in his unwavering stare from beneath the edge of his beanie and Grace wouldn’t have minded if their date started and ended back in the mess hall tent.

  There was more, though. His eyes were warm. So much warmer than she’d ever seen them, and finally, the softer edges of him were visible. The humor that had slowly gone from biting and sarcastic to conspiratorial. But still so Aaron. Right now, he was looking at her as if they shared a great secret together and she wanted that. Wanted to communicate in ways no one else understood. Maybe they already did.

  “Yeah…” Peggy’s smug voice popped the fantasy bubble over Grace’s head. “You’re going to want me to shop for you more often, Aaron.”

  “You might be right,” he murmured, coming toward Grace, propelling her heart into an erratic tempo. She expected Aaron to hold out a hand and pull her to her feet so they could leave. Instead, he stopped between her bent knees, leaned down to plant his hands on the bed…and French kissed her in a slow, leisurely fashion. Right there in front of his sister and Sage. It wasn’t over fast, either. No, it went on until Grace’s supply of oxygen ran out. “Ready to go?” Aaron asked, pulling back, his gaze glued on her mouth.

  “I don’t know,” she breathed. “Yes.”

  The edges of his lips ticked up. “Didn’t think I would kiss you with an audience, did you?”

  “No.”

  He made a warm noise in his throat, then leaned in to speak quietly against her ear. “As soon as we’ve been on this date a respectable amount of time, I’m going to return the fuck out of that favor you gave me today.” His lips grazed her lobe, sending a shiver down her back. “Those tights are going to be very easy to tug down…for what I need to do. Is that why you wore them?”

  Grace was already nodding, her consciousness dwindled down to Aaron. Nothing and no one else existed but this dynamic man crowding her on the bed, making risqué plans in her ear. “Yes.”

  “Why aren’t you touching me, Grace?”

  She didn’t realize her eyes had closed until they popped open, the rush of pleasure pausing at the concern in Aaron’s voice. That same pause
allowed her to notice her hands, which were balled into tight fists to keep from reaching out. But she didn’t need to keep herself in check, did she? No sooner had the reminder been made than Grace shoved both of her hands under Aaron’s jacket and yanked him forward, causing him to lose his balance and land partially on top of her, making the mattress groan.

  But he only laughed that new, spectacular laugh, dropping a hard kiss onto her mouth. “Better.” With a regretful sigh, Aaron gave Grace’s forehead a nudge with his own, before standing, taking her hand to pull her off the bed. He glanced over his shoulder and gave a wry smile. “Turns out there is something that can make my sister stop talking.”

  Scissors clearly forgotten in her hand, Peggy visibly shook herself. “Grace, what have you done to my brother?” She shared a baffled glance with Sage. “Seriously, did you hypnotize him?”

  “Something like that.” Aaron threw an arm around Grace’s shoulders and led her toward the door. “Don’t wait up.”

  * * *

  Aaron wouldn’t think about parting ways with Grace after their date. In fact, he hadn’t even told his siblings they were hitting the road in the morning, because he knew they’d give it away somehow. Grace was more perceptive than people gave her credit for, and nothing was going to ruin her night, so he’d shot Peggy a quick text to be ready for departure just before leaving camp. And was now staunchly ignoring the incessant buzz of his phone.

  Every inch of his body was riddled with pain. And it had nothing to do with the physical labor he’d thrown himself into after his meeting with the senator. No, it was a direct result of the catastrophe taking place inside his sore rib cage. The ache radiated out, delegating pain to other parts of his body, knowing the inexperienced organ in his chest couldn’t handle it all.