End Game: A Gamer Romance Page 9

  “All good.”

  “It’s great to be around others I spend so many hours gaming with online. Normal people don’t understand, do they?”

  “Normal people.” I laugh and pull a chair out to sit opposite him. “I get what you mean though, I thought I’d be able to understand you better if we were face to face, but you’re as hidden as you are behind a computer screen. I can’t tell if you’re sarcastic or serious.”

  “Says the girl with no filter.” He leans forward. “I find you easily readable, Evie.”

  I shiver. “Am I?”

  “Yes.” The chair creaks as he shifts positions, body edging closer.

  Oh holy crap, no. “You keep calling me Evie. You never have before.”

  “Because Evie is sitting in front of me, not a two-dimensional set of pixels. Can I tell you something?”

  “You usually speak your mind.”

  Aaron glances around. We’re half-shadowed, nobody else nearby. “You weren’t what I expected.”

  “Neither were you.”

  He lowers his voice. “No, I mean do you realise what a huge bloody shock seeing you today was? You look nothing like I imagined.”

  The tension between us switches, fuse lit.

  “And why are you shocked by me?” I ask.

  We refuse to move, another Sin and Thor challenge resting beneath Aaron and Evie’s inevitable moment. But who moves first?

  “Because you’re freaking gorgeous. I actually really liked the Evie I’ve become friends with online, and wanted to meet you, but didn’t expect you to look like this.”

  I need to change this conversation because if he even remotely implies he wants his hands on me, I’ll oblige in seconds. “How drunk are you?”

  “Don’t put yourself down.”

  I stiffen as his knee touches mine. “You have no idea how surprised I was by how you look.”

  He smirks. “I was looking forward to seeing your reaction after all those snarky comments about my real appearance. We both bought into the ‘how gamers look’ clichés, huh?”

  “I guess we did.” I stand, aware I need to move away before I do something I’ll enjoy but regret. “I should finish up, I’m tired.”

  Aaron grabs my hand, warming my cool fingers, and fireworks burst under my skin, shooting up my arm. “Are we duelling again?”

  “What makes you say that?”

  Aaron drops my hand and stands too, his frame blocking sight of the house, of everything but the intense man looking down at me. “Your defences are up.”

  “You’re the one who’s spent the evening deflecting.”

  “Drop your barrier, then, and I will too.” Aaron steps closer, with a self-assurance I’d expect from a man like him, and he touches my face.

  Aaron waits and I don’t respond, as if he silenced me with a game ability. He moves closer, mouth almost—but not—touching mine.

  Waiting.

  What the hell do I do?

  What do I do? What I don’t do is overthink this and instead enjoy the moment: a man as freaking hot as Aaron is attracted to me. I reach out and run the back of my hand against his rough cheek, connecting with the warmth, as if checking he’s really here. My fantasy Thorsday, the mysterious man with the sexy voice, who I haven’t managed to stop ogling at every opportunity since I saw him.

  I close my eyes. “Are we still Thor and Sin?”

  “No. Aaron and Evie.”

  He curls a hand around the back of my head, and I’m unable to contain my body’s reaction to him. Men? I can take or leave them the first time we meet. None ever fired a desire to get down and dirty with them until we’d kissed or touched. This guy? Holy mother of all things hot and forbidden. Aaron doesn’t need to touch me, or even look at me in any particular way and my body lights up. He could offer me a drink and all I’d hear are the words ‘would you like me naked?’

  Now he’s close and his body language suggests something along those lines.

  “Thorsday crits Sinestre. Crushing blow,” I mumble and push my lips against his.

  Aaron laughs against my mouth and grips my head to him. His kiss is rough, powerful, hungry, and I kiss him harder than I have a man for years. He’s intoxicating; the frustration this guy’s caused me in recent weeks spills out.

  In the evening, on the deck, beneath the party lights and cicadas serenading, I tease out the passion I always knew lies carefully hidden inside this taciturn man. Right now, I’d shamelessly like to discover what lies not so carefully hidden beneath his clothes too. His arms around my waist, mine in his hair, we click like puzzle pieces in a picture we can’t solve yet.

  I stumble against his feet as I attempt to push myself closer and he places a hand above me on the wall, the other on my ass holding me against him, and the need shakes through. How? He’s only kissed me. This is insane.

  I wrench my mouth away. “Holy crap, Aaron.”

  He brushes fingers across my swollen lips, eyes burning to reflect the fire he’s lit inside me. “So what do we do now?”

  14

  I open the door to my room, head spinning with the sensation coursing through my veins. Aaron hasn’t let go of my hand since we walked in from outside, and as we enter, his arms slide around my waist as his broad back presses against mine. I said no alcohol, but this intoxication has more to do with my shameless lust for this man’s body. There’s no subtlety or mixed signals here.

  I move from his grasp and turn; he pushes the door closed with one hand before seizing my face in both and crushing air from my lungs with a kiss. I wrap my arms around his neck, clinging to Aaron as I push my body against his; desperate to be engulfed physically by this man, for him to hold me tight against the shaking running through threatening to overcome me.

  We don’t speak as he backs me towards my bed, and I trip over shoes strewn across the floor. We knock the edge of my desk, where the computer monitor flickers to life, the dim light illuminating my room. And him.

  If we stop, we talk. If we talk, we might stop. The dilemma runs through my mind, the way Aaron’s hands run the length of me, beneath my dress, on my ass, as he holds me against him. I trip again, his weight pushing me backwards until I land on my bed. I don’t let go, pulling him onto me, relishing his hard body pressing down on mine.

  The pause is momentary before the bruising kisses start again, but his hands don’t move anywhere else. I push his t-shirt upwards, dragging my nails across his back and around to his abs. In a swift move he sits, pulls the tee by the shoulder and drags it over his head. Muscles flex as he does, the light in the room casting shadows across the raw Aaron; the man beneath.

  We pause. Uncertain? I’m trembling, mouth and cheeks smarting from his rough passion and the ache between my legs growing with every second. I need his touch. Him. Aaron drags both hands through his hair and looks down at me, mouth parted, before pushing the short dress above my thighs, his fingers running along the skin, leaving a burning trail. He watches as he traces heat along my inner thigh, before lifting his eyes to mine. My heart thumps in anticipation. Aaron? Hesitant?

  His hand slides higher. “Tell me to stop.”

  The words aren’t spoken as ‘tell me to stop if you don’t want this’, but almost a request.

  Good luck, buddy, because there is no way in this world, or any other, where I would say those words.

  I push myself upwards. “Don’t stop,” I whisper back, mouth against his neck. He smells all kinds of delicious, and I nip him, wanting his taste too.

  Aaron’s thumb skims across my panties, barely touching, but the sensation against my sensitive flesh shoots through and I dig my fingers into his back, his face remaining against my cheek. He hesitates again.

  This isn’t him. Aaron isn’t cautious. Unless…

  “Aaron, do you have a girlfriend?” I breathe out, hoping to hell the answer isn’t yes, or worse that he pauses before he says no.

  “Nobody,” he replies, lips moving across my ear. “No.”

&
nbsp; “Do you want to stop?” I whisper.

  “No.”

  “Then don’t.”

  Aaron’s lips hit mine again, and he pushes his tongue into my mouth as we kiss with the ferocity we did outside. His hand presses against me, through my panties and I’m embarrassed by the low moan escaping as he does. My kiss deepens, urging him on as hedonistic Evie once again takes over.

  We fumble with clothes, unzipping my dress and him kicking off his jeans, mouths and hands leaving each other for the briefest of seconds between, until I’m a panting mess in front of him.

  All that’s between us are two items of clothing I don’t intend to stay on, including his briefs barely constraining what looks like an impressive erection. I clench my thighs together against the new, dampening heat.

  He drags me onto his lap and I look down at him, smoothing hair from his face, and run a hand along his length. “I have condoms.”

  His mouth tips into a smile, eyes darkening further. “Thank fuck for that.”

  As I lean across to reach out for my nightstand drawer, he nips my ass and I slap at his face, with a laugh. “Aaron!”

  “Love your ass, been wanting to do that since you suggested you were going to strip for me.”

  I turn around, wrapper in hand. “I did not say that!”

  He grins. “Happened anyway.”

  Pouting, I rip the condom wrapper open, and he raises a brow. Oh no, does he think I have this nonchalance because I sleep with random men all the time?

  “I guess you’re not telling me to stop, then?”

  “I’d rather pause now than stop later,” I reply and hand him the condom.

  His mouth purses slightly. “Pragmatic lady.”

  No, but if I’m caught in an unstoppable moment with you, I won’t want to stop. “I guess I am.”

  As he rolls the condom onto himself I push hair from my face, feeling slightly odd we’re chatty in the middle of a situation I half-expected to be fumbling and awkward.

  Aaron presses me to the bed again, mouth immediately on my breasts, sucking and teasing my nipples between running his tongue across my skin. His large hand runs upwards, between my thighs, and he dips a finger between my panties and the sensitive sex I’m aching for him to explore. I push myself against his hand, digging my fingers into his shoulders as the lightning arcs along my nerve endings.

  Sitting back, he pulls the thin lace away until I’m naked in front of him. He looks down, eyes hooded and breathing shallow. “You’re one hell of a sexy girl. The moment I saw you I wanted you like this.”

  “Same,” I manage to breathe out.

  “Naturally.” He dips his head down and mouth covers mine again as he pushes his tongue into my mouth.

  His hard length presses against me, and I curl my hand around it, stroking while I kiss with the desperate need to take the last step with him. We wrap together on the bed again and the tip of him slides against my damp heat, intensifying the ache. Slowly, Aaron edges inside me, and he pulls himself away again.

  I’m arrested by the look on his face as he touches my cheek, eyes searching mine. Whatever happens, this will stay with me because guys rarely look at me like at these moments. There’s a strange reverence, and something else behind the control he has in this moment not to hold me down and screw me hard. Aaron looks as if he’s about to speak, but I don’t want to talk anymore.

  I kiss and tug his lip into my mouth, and push myself up to meet him, grip him with my legs, to stop him pulling back completely. He fills me again, soothing the delicious ache for him but sending crazy need through. When I mumble out my pleasure, he lets go of the control, as he flexes his hips and pushes into me again and again, the sudden intensity overwhelming.

  Aaron slides a hand around my back and pulls me upwards, mouth closing around my nipple again. The overload of sensation shocks me at how close to the ached-for release I’m heading. I close my eyes as I spiral higher and higher, losing sight of everything but his hands and mouth on me. He fills and stretches me, hitting a spot that triggers a new surge of pleasure.

  The strength in his arms, the weight, the way he holds me as if he doesn’t want to let go overwhelms. He places a hand between us and presses against my clit and with this one touch, I’m lost, unable to hold on any longer as the orgasm hits and I spin away from him into the stars.

  Eyes closed, I ride the wave building again and he isn’t far behind, his urgency growing again. He pushes himself hard one last time and swears loudly. We grip each other, kissing, touching, neither wanting to move as the intensity binds us and the pleasure pulses through.

  Rolling onto his side, Aaron pulls me towards him and squeezes me tight. “Ah, too soon,” he whispers against my hair.

  “I’m good,” I pant out, face against his damp chest.

  “You were too ready, drove me fucking nuts.”

  “I’m good,” I mumble out again. The fastest sex I’ve had in a long time has also caused the most incredible, mind-shattering orgasm than I can remember. My body remains lit like the fairy lights outside, heart rate refusing to slow.

  Aaron strokes my hair from my face and kisses the side of my cheek. “I hope you have more than one condom.”

  Now that’s what I want to hear.

  15

  Two steaming coffee mugs in hand, I walk into my bedroom to find Aaron sitting at my desk chair, running his fingers along my computer keyboard.

  “Nice rig, Evie.” He swivels in his chair and stretches his long legs out as he holds his hand out for the cup.

  “Thanks. GTX 1070.”

  “You tried overclocking with this?” He studies the computer tower.

  “Yeah. Need better cooling though, the fans went into overdrive.”

  His beautiful mouth tips up at one corner. “I like a girl who talks geeky to me. I don’t think I’ve ever met one who does.”

  “Yeah, I bet you’re not usually interested in the size of their rig.” I can’t help smiling back.

  “I don’t usually give girls rings on first dates either.” He spins back around and moves the mouse. “Show me what the game looks like on here.”

  “Rings?” Surely a night in bed together isn’t a date and there were no rings… “Oh, you mean Droog?”

  He responds with a soft chuckle. “I do.”

  I set my mug down in the usual space away from spilling distance and lean across Aaron to login. I’m too aware of how close this puts his face to my breasts, thankful my t-shirt’s on the baggy side. Last night played over in my mind in an arousing repeat as I made the coffees, joined by my usual confusion whether I should’ve. Compared to my last one-night encounter, the answer’s a resounding ‘yes’. Plus, the post-sex awkwardness didn’t appear this morning as we lay in bed chatting as if we’ve known each other months. Well, chatting and other things.

  Near Aaron again, my insides wind into a tight ball as his hand rests against my back, natural, again as if we’re a couple and not just a lust-fuelled one-off. I fight my temptation to turn and kiss him again, because each time I do, the worse it will be to know there’s little chance this could happen again.

  What’s stranger is how much I crave more, not just the physical Aaron, but to spend more time around the man who a different part of me wants. Is this his mystery or the strange connection I felt the moment we first looked at each other; the one which built on the weeks growing to know each other online.

  “Complicated password,” he remarks.

  “You saw what I typed?”

  “Kind of. Probably would’ve memorised it if it was something ordinary. Smart girl.”

  I step back and chew a nail. “Do I have to keep playing the guessing game about your job? Mathematical brain. Do you work in IT?”

  “Nope. I know a lot about my hobby, as I’m sure you do… Nice!” He indicates the screen. “Not as good as—”

  I throw him look. “As good as yours?”

  “Naturally.” Again, I’m uncertain he’s teasing or is clu
eless that his attitude sucks.

  Aaron shoves the chair back and sips his coffee. “I never took a good look at your room last night since you were busy tearing my clothes off.”

  “You won’t make me blush if that’s what you’re trying to do.”

  Aaron pokes his tongue into his cheek and sizes me up. “Wasn’t interested in looking at anything else last night anyway.”

  In a sudden move, he jumps up and crosses to my tall shelves crammed with books and DVDs. “Old school, huh?”

  “Collections from before everybody watched online.”

  He pulls out one of my old Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVDs. “I’ve never seen this show.”

  “What?” I gasp. “Then no way can we be friends!”

  “Not a Joss Whedon fan.”

  I practically choke on my coffee. “Friendship over. I’m shocked and insulted. I love all his work.”

  Aaron carefully tucks the DVD away. “Always something we’ll disagree on.”

  “Such as who’s the best player?”

  He crosses and wraps an arm around my waist, and we bump noses. “There’ll never be any doubt there: me. You have to admit I have some skills you never knew about.”

  Luckily, he accompanies his words with a laugh and I groan at him. “If you make one comment about what you can do with your sword, I’m laughing you out of this room.”

  “Ha!” He flicks my nose and steps back. “I need to leave soon anyway.”

  My stomach flops. “Oh. Early flight?”

  “Two.” He checks his phone. “Your fault we stayed in bed. I only have time for whatever you’re making me for breakfast. A cup of coffee won’t do.”

  I pull open my bedroom door and gesture out. “Um. Not totally my fault. If I didn’t doubt you were joking, I’d be telling you to make your own bloody breakfast.”

  He turns on the grin he could’ve charmed me with from day one, if I’d seen his face.

  “Of course.”

  *

  Aaron sits at the table munching toast and scrolling through his phone. Slightly annoyed his attention is elsewhere, I do the same.