At Villan Estate.
After their early morning steamy encounter, and their second bath together, they decided to cuddle in bed a while longer. Now dressed in a fresh pair of Aiden's boxers and another one of his t-shirts, Claire was laying in his embrace as they both enjoyed each others company.
They were both on their sides as they gazed at each other. Aiden was entertained by playing with one of her fiery curls, while Claire's traced the lines of his face. Being lost in thought, she felt like asking him something that had been weighing on her mind since the moment they met.
"How come you're so relaxed when it comes to me?" She stared at his chiseled jaw in admiration. Not many managed to keep it that way while having the kind of hectic schedule she knew he had to have. She made a mental note of watching him train and see for herself what his secret to having such defined lines was.
"What do you mean Angel?" Aiden was definitely most relaxed when he had her in his arms, but he sensed that wasn't what she was referring to.
"Well..." She looked up at his eyes and stopped for a second. His pools of honey were so focused on her hair that she couldn't help but smile. She loved the way he always seemed mesmerized by her. "You never really ask me about anything. I know you trust me, but isn't it too much?" She had already asked about it before, but she still found it hard to believe, or better said, understand. "I mean, isn't it normal to be up to the brim with questions? Hell, you didn't even get mad at me for making a mess in your house Aiden."
At that Aiden looked down at her and met with her gaze. Her jade eyes were as beautiful as the first time he saw them. How they could hold him captive so easily was beyond him. But not knowing the answer to that particular question didn't bother him in the least. He lowered himself enough to give her nose a quick peck before leaning back again to answer her. Not once did his fingers stop twirling her strand of hair.
"You won't stop asking until I give you a straight logical answer will you?" He could see the anticipation in her eyes as she nodded yes. He chuckled and caressed her face lovingly. She looked exactly like Lily did every time she was in the midst's of learning about something she was very interested in. She truly was a miniature version of his little lady.
"Fine." He said as he sighed in defeat. "And here I was determined on only ever giving you romantic answers." His silly words made her giggle which in turn made him smile. If it were up to him, he would listen to the melody of her giggles and laughter all day everyday.
"Well in all honesty Angel, trusting you is the only choice I really have. If I want to be by your side that is." He began to explain as she paid close attention. "As much as it irks me to admit it, even without you having to tell me everything, I know you have more cards to play than I could ever count. It doesn't matter how much money, resources, connection or power I have. I'm painfully aware that compared to you, I'm at a noticeable disadvantage."
Claire started to understand what he meant. In terms of power, he was definitely the one in the lead, but she had something he could only dream of. Complete and utter secrecy. Only a handful of people knew about her and her people's existence. Besides that, everything she possessed was also unknown to the entire world. So the fact that she was a lethal hidden weapon was undeniable.
"But that doesn't explain why you seem to be so okay with staying in the dark. You never push to be in the know. And don't tell me that's the way you're used to doing things because I could see the tension between you and Jacob at my office. He's used to you gathering as much information as you see fit." She knew he was restraining himself when it came to her. He wasn't necessarily tiptoeing around her, but she rejected the belief that he simply had blind faith in who she was. No matter how fast they had begun to fall for each other, her rational side refused to succumb to such and ignorant notion. Love should never be blind. That much she was sure of.
Aiden could practically see the gears in her head turning and he couldn't judge her. He didn't feel insulted by the way she continuously doubted his devotion towards her since he too found it surprising that he even had it in him to begin with. He himself had trouble explaining why he trusted her enough to not even care about asking her for more information.
After all, it was more of a feeling than it was a reason.
"Truthfully?" He asked her as he watched her eyes grow wider with anticipation. Why it was so important to her, he didn't know.
"Yes please." She replied as she snuggled a bit closer to him.
"I don't really know." His expression was a pensive one, so Claire opted to hear him out before reacting. "At first you seriously intrigued me. Not just as a woman, but as a person as well. Everything from how you carry yourself with confidence and poise, to the way your eyes hold entire conversations with me without ever having to say a word. It all makes me want to never look away." He moved his hand from playing with her hair to caressing her cheek with his thumb. "And just when I thought 'Ah, I finally found somebody worth while' ..... I saw you with Lily."
At that Claire's head was swarmed with the memory of exactly how he saw her with her little flower for the first time. It was a less than ideal situation to say the least.
"That was one heck of a day huh?" Her eyes slightly lost their earlier twinkle from wanting to hear his explanation. Every time she thought about how that day felt like the end of her world, she couldn't help but be overwhelmed with emotions.
Aiden hummed in reply as he pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Heck of a day indeed." Leaning back, he focused on her eyes as he continued to caress her. "When I finally caught up and saw you struggling to not let fear consume you while being slumped on the floor... and then when you kept it together for Lily.... I couldn't help but look at you in awe." His words were sincere. The moment he saw the two red head angels hug and console each other was the very moment he decided he wanted her. He wanted them. "I had never felt more drawn towards anything in my entire life."
He had everything anybody could only dream of obtaining. Wealth, opportunities, admirers, connections and even good health. And although he had long felt something was missing from his life, it wasn't until he saw them that he realized what that 'something' was. It was them. It was his girls. It was the possibility of a family the they represented. A family he wouldn't need to share with poisonous people like he had to do with his siblings. A family he could call his and only his. One he could take care of. Protect. And better yet, expand!
The thought of having that kind of family to come back to everyday made a genuine smile bloom on Aiden's face.
"I honestly can't properly express with words exactly why I feel so as ease and relaxed when it comes to you." He continued his reasoning. "And in regards to not asking you about stuff or pressuring you to open up to me, the reason is beyond simple." He saw her eyes sharpen again making him have to suppress the urge to laugh. She truly was too cute. "I don't want to."
Claire felt her heart skip a beat. There it was again. Yet another resemblance to a person she refused to forget. It was nothing about his appearance that felt familiar, but the way his mind worked. How his words always seemed to match the words of the person who had long ceased to exist in her life.
"I don't want to do anything that could jeopardize the comfort that you feel around me. And if that means I have to wait years for you to willingly share everything with me, then so be it." He finished saying as he concentrated on whatever was going on inside her eyes.
'I was never worth all this.' She thought to herself as she skillfully prevented from any of her inner turmoil to show on her face. And although she was successful in doing so, Aiden had studied her enough to understand his response caused some some of reaction in her. One she wasn't willing to share with him or explain.
'Baby steps.' Was all he thought as he patiently continued to caress her cheek in a loving manner.
"I really need to step up my game." Claire began to say as she tried to distract herself from the dark thoughts that had started flooding her head. "I've been mostly on the receiving end all this time." She snuggled closer to him and pressed her cheek to his chest. Concentrating on his heart beat, she began to slowly exhale. The rhythm trapped inside his chest was truly therapeutic to her.
Aiden chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her and pressed her even tighter against himself. "Even though that's not true, I'm excited to see how you're going to go about that." He kissed the top of her head before he closed his eyes. His little lady really did have a way of relaxing him in body and in soul.
After a while of comfortable silence, Claire spoke in a soft voice which made Aiden slightly come back from his almost asleep state.
"Can we stay like this for a while?" She asked him as she took in a deep breath of his intoxicating scent. "I don't want to go back to reality just yet."
Aiden hummed in response. "That was the plan from the beginning Angel."