Claire groggily stirred awake. She had fallen asleep at some point without her noticing it.
Her head was laying on top of something rather firm confusing her. Half opening her eyes, she was met with fancy soft fabric touching her nose. Focusing, she recognized it was Aiden's suit vest, immediately making her smile. It was nice feeling his warmth wrapped around her.
He had placed his arm under her head to use as a pillow, replacing the one she was already using, and kept her close to him by placing his other arm around her waist. It made her feel fuzzy inside.
Being as tired as she was, it didn't really surprise her that sleep took over her so quickly after laying down. But what did seem unexpected was the fact that she had slept soundly and without disturbance both times she was with Aiden.
"Well this was a nice nap." Claire mumbled as she buried her face in his chest. It was very rare for her to enjoy her sleep like she had done so with him.
"Tell me about it." Aiden said in an equally groggy and satisfied voice. He had woken up as soon as she had started to move.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up." Looking up at him she saw a small birthmark on the left side of his neck. She hadn't noticed it before.
"No worries. We should head to lunch soon anyway." He replied as he lifted his hand from her back for a moment to look at the time on his watch before placing it back to lovingly caress her. It was already noon. "Unless you want to sleep some more."
Aiden looked down at Claire's face and he was in awe. Her eyes were still dewy from having just woken up, she had a bit of bed head and a content smile was formed on her rosy lips. Having her wake up in his arms, even of it was from a simple nap, just felt right.
"You were right by the way." He continued before she was able to reply. "This was definitely a recharging kind of hug." A soft chuckle rumbled out of his chest as he tightened his grip around her waist.
Claire willingly let herself be smothered in his arms as she genuinely enjoyed their closeness. He could surely make her skin tingle without even trying, but when they snuggled so closely together like that, her entire body relaxed.
"I told you it was." She said as she giggled. "But we should get going. We have a lot to discuss. I have a couple of things on standby until we do."
As soon as she finished saying they should go, he gripped her chin and swooped down to capture her lips. Pressing his lips on hers for a short moment before pulling back, just enough to for him to speak.
"Then I'll have this good morning kiss before we leave Angel."
Claire grinned before she kissed him back.
"Then I'll take that one for the road." She said making them both chuckle.
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Aiden had left Claire's office before her and was now waiting at the underground parking lot of Flinn Corporation's office building. Although he would have loved to leave together, he understood that doing so would call attention towards her.
About ten minutes passed and Claire stepped out of the elevator to meet up with Aiden again. She inwardly smiled when an army of his bodyguards surrounded her as soon as she took the first step outside. Not letting anybody know who was inside their man made circle. Having somebody, besides her family, take her secrecy so seriously was nice.
"I'm guessing you already have everything covered again?" She asked as soon as she sat down inside the car.
"Do you even have to ask?" He smirked while signaling the driver to leave.
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At Café Estelar.
Just like she had suspected, Aiden had entirely bought out another luxurious restaurant for their lunch. Claire wasn't exactly impressed by him being able to do so, but it greatly pleased her that he continued to respect her wanting to stay hidden.
"Aren't you going to ask me the reason behind all my privacy rules?" She asked him as their waiter, or rather one of Aiden's men playing the role of one, left to place their order.
Similar to their first attempt to eat out, everything in the place was rearranged to meet her conditions. The only visible difference between both outings was that the first time it was an obviously romantic setting, but this time it had a more casual atmosphere.
"What for?" Aiden replied as he poured some white wine in her glass. "The way I see it, there's only one of two options to choose from."
"Oh really? Please enlighten me." She said between sips.
"The first one is you're hiding from somebody. A person you still aren't able to take on in terms of power." He explained as he leaned in on the table with his arms crossed on top of it. "The second one is that you're a very shy person."
They both chuckled before he continued."And judging by the fact that nothing about you is shy, I'm guessing it's the latter."
"That's pretty vague don't you think? Anybody could assume that's the reason behind my way of living." Claire raised an eyebrow at his deductions. He wasn't completely off the mark.
"True. But that wouldn't explain your family's way of living." At that Claire's eyes sharpened a bit. Something Aiden quickly caught. "Besides me, there isn't another person with a high enough power range in the country's business circuit that you wouldn't be able to match or at least go head to head with. And seeing as you and I aren't enemies of any sort, that only leaves the people who outrank you in the underworld. Meaning it has to be somebody with a high ranking title in one of the founding clans." He said as he tilted his head a bit and rested it on top of his fist.
"So in conclusion, no. I don't need to ask why, but who." Thanks to the slightly irked expression on her face, he knew he was right.
"Playing detective are we?" Claire replied with a low chuckle. His accuracy was scary.
"What can I say? I'm just that into you Angel. Nothing you say or do will slip from my memory. It was just a matter of connecting a few dots." Aiden wore a wolf like grin as he reached over the table and tucked a stray lock of her hair behind her ear. He then left his hand on her cheek to slowly caress it. "But it's to early to ask such a big question so I'll save it for later."
"Good to know your feet are still on the ground." Even though she answered sarcastically to make him chuckle, which he did, she was still grateful for the space he was giving her.
"Then how about I ask you something instead?" She said as she leaned into his touch. His hand was so big it was as if half her face could fit in his palm.
"Go ahead." Being so happy about how she hadn't refused his touch, not once since they met, Aiden wouldn't even mind giving her his social security number if she were to ask for it at that moment.
If Claire knew about his being the Blood Raven, she also knew where the name was born from. The stains on his hands were the kind that no amount of holy water could ever wash away. But there she was. Constantly leaning further into his embrace. Into his blood stained hands without hesitation, fear or disgust.
"Hiding away isn't my ideal way of living, but I need to do so for a while longer. Now that were seriously pursuing this..." She used her hand to gesture them both. "I assume you're also ready to wait and sneak around with me until I can freely do as I please. Right?" She looked at him with an apologetic expression on her face.
Like Claire had told him before, she wasn't glad about having him or any other person involved in her messy life. But since he already had one shoe in the door, she wanted to be double sure he was prepared for how it would affect his life.
"Not at all Angel. In fact, it never crossed my mind to sneak around." Aiden replied making Claire's eyebrows stitch together in confusion.
"What do you mean?" She asked while she felt a small sharp pain in her chest.