Chasing His Rejected Wife
Chapter 61 -

CW: Slightly NSFW Jessica

For a moment, I was too stunned to move, my entire body frozen, pressed up against Aiden as my brain struggled to process the hows and why I had ended up cuddling with my ex-husband. More details filled my mind; my face was not only

smushed against his very solid chest but I was practically tucked into his neck, his arm a pillow under my head, chin resting on my head and I could feel and hear his soft breaths against my hair.

From the steady, relaxed cadence of his breaths, he appeared to still be fast asleep. A fact I was thankful for because it was already bad enough to wake up in his arms, but to have to deal with his reaction? I wasn't ready for that. And that meant I had to extricate myself gently but quickly without waking him.

Carefully, I lifted my head and assessed the situation while trying not to blush at how the hem of my sleep shorts had ridden up, exposing my ass cheeks, or how my top was all scrunched up underneath Aiden's arm, so he was practically touching my bare waist. Even more damning, we lay on his side of the bed, and from the rumpled bed sheets, I must have been the one who had somehow rolled over to his side during the night. Fuck my life.

I held my breath and tried to move, scooting away inch by inch, my lower lip gripped between my teeth. I tried to pry his arm away from my waist and froze when he stirred and grunted something unintelligible, but soon settled back to sleep. I waited for what felt like forever, but could not have been more than a minute or two at the most and tried again. I let out a sigh of relief as I succeeded in getting his arm off me. Carefully, I turned until my back was to him, my face pressed against the sheets, my nose being tickled by soft threads.

A sneeze caught me unaware, the sound exploding out of me before I had time to muffle it. Belatedly, I clamped a hand to my mouth, my head whipped to the side to check if Aiden had woken up. His eyelids fluttered but remained closed, a small frown puckering between his brows. He moved a bit as if searching for something, then he reached out...

The arm that I had just gotten off me landed on my waist once more, and this time, he dragged me closer to the heat of his body, our legs tangling, his body curving around mine He inhaled and buried his head against my neck, his warm breath fanned over my skin, setting off goosebumps.

"Mmm..." He rumbled against my neck, the hand on my waist tightened and pulled me impossibly closer. "Jess..."

He seemed to soon settle back to sleep with me plastered against him. Meanwhile, my brain had dissolved into chaos, neurons misfiring in full-on panic mode, as his erection, hard and heavy, pressed against my ass.

I lay there, incapable of thought, every available nerve in my body focused on where we touched, alarm bells going off in my head. While in my lower regions, things rapidly heated up, coils of desire unfurling deep in my core, leaving me hot and wet. Without conscious thought, my hips rolled in a slow, grinding motion against that hard length, followed quickly by horror at what I had just done.

Aiden's breathing quickened and - dear goddess, did he just...did he just grind against me? He did it again, I had to cover my mouth to muffle the moan that escaped. Pleasure ripped through me as we ground against each other, our breaths harsh and fast. The arm on my waist began a slow, torturous glide up my body until Aiden's hands cupped my breast and I let out a whimper of need as his thumb brushed over my nipple, hard and distended, causing me to arch into his touch, wanting, craving more. It had been so long since I'd been touched like this, and at this moment, my entire body sought after a sweet release.

Aiden began pressing kisses down the curve of my neck, my head falling back to give him better access. He trailed a blazing path down my neck and shoulders, while his fingers squeezed and played with my breasts and his erection wreaked havoc on me. He nudged my legs apart and angled between them, bringing his cock flush against my wet center, and I could feel it throbbing through my thin, cotton shorts. We were both panting now, I was strung as tight as a string, teetering on the cusp of an orgasm.

At this point, I wasn't sure if he was still under the effects of sleep or fully awake and aware of what we were doing. And much as I wanted him to be aware, a part of me - the part that knew that awkwardness that would come once the madness was passed - hoped he wasn't. That when he woke up, he would dismiss it as nothing but a fever dream.

Then, a loud buzzing sound permeated the moment. Behind me, Aiden went still and a pit of dread yawned open in my chest. Before he could react or say anything, I tore free of his grasp and bolted off the bed, my entire body ablaze in mortification.

I heard him call out my name through the horrified ringing in my ears, but I didn't stop, didn't turn around as I scrambled into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. The instant I was alone, I buried my face in my hands and burst into tears, letting all the shame, horror, and pain out. I sank to the floor, drew my knees up, and cried harder, huge wracking sobs that shook my entire frame.

What had I done? Why was I such a glutton for punishment? Why the fuck couldn't I stay away from the man who had hurt me in so many ways and still possessed the capability to inflict even more?

All these questions and more kept running through my mind, putting me through an emotional wringer. And it wasn't just because of what had happened a moment ago, no, this was the culmination of all of the events that had led up to that moment. I hated how vulnerable I was when it came to Aiden. If any other person had treated me with even less than what he had doled out, I would have cursed them to the pits of hell and walked away without a second thought. Yet here I was; weak and pathetic. Stuck in love with a man who clearly had no such affection for me. Sure, he may have gotten over his hatred for me, but what he felt now was definitely not love. Lust, maybe...but was I just going to settle for that?

Aiden knocked at the bathroom door, soft and tentative. "Jess." He said softly. "Can you come out, please? Or at least let me in so we can talk."

I cringed, buried my face between my knees, and ignored him. Talking was the last thing I wanted to do, and I wanted to face him even less so.

I heard him sigh, but I couldn't tell if he was getting impatient or something. "Sweetheart, please open the door. I'm worried about you."

"Don't call me that!" I whisper-yelled, not even sure if he heard me. The endearment was like a mockery, especially since we both knew that I was the farthest thing from being his sweetheart. "Leave me alone, I don't want to talk to you." There was a brief silence at the other end of the door. Then Aiden said. "Alright. I'll leave the suite and give you some space if you want. Just please, stop crying. You did nothing wrong, okay? There's nothing that happened that is your fault." I didn't answer, merely listened, my gaze morose, eyes red-rimmed and aching. He could reassure me a hundred times, but it would not change the fact that I was the one who had someone rolled over the bed to him...the one who had first started all this mess.

Aiden waited for a few seconds but then he sighed again and I heard his footsteps pad away. I sat there for several minutes until I was sure that he was truly gone, then rose, my knees and entire body aching as I exited the bathroom. I avoided looking directly at the bed, unwilling to see the rumpled sheets that served as evidence of my foolishness this morning. I picked up my phone, just as a call from Anna came through.

"Hey, Chica!" The sound of her cheerful voice brought me a measure of comfort and my misery lifted a little. "How's Austin? Is it as hot as the forecast says? How are my little bundles of joy?"

"Hey, Anna." I forced a cheerful note in my voice. I didn't want to worry her with my problems, plus I felt too ashamed to admit how weak I was. "Everything's fine. It stormed last night, and it's pretty cool this morning." I rubbed my belly and smiled genuinely. "The babies are quiet, thank God. How are you?"

We chatted for a while, with Anna catching me up on her doings. Then, she seemed to remember something. "By the way, did you see your mother?" her voice took on a worried tone. "I hope she didn't give you too much grief over the divorce. I tried to head her off you, but you know how she is when she's got a bee up her ass."

"It's fine, I didn't get to see her actually," I replied. "She sent me a text saying she had to go back to LA quickly. So, thank heavens for that small mercy."

"Oh, you didn't see her?" Anna sounded surprised. "Hmm...I guess Jay saw wrong then."

Jay was a bartender who worked for her. I screwed my face in confusion, wondering what Jay had to do with my mother. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Jay mentioned that he saw Whatshisface and your mom together that day, just as he was going home from his shift. He said he noticed her getting into the asshat's car about a block away from the bar. And I assumed he'd come to pick her up and bring her over to see you or something."

Aiden had seen my mom? When? I remembered he'd asked me if I had talked to her when we were on the plane, but he'd never mentioned seeing her or even picking her up. What was going on?

"Um...I don't know, Aiden didn't mention seeing her. But maybe she must have called him when she couldn't reach me."

"Hmm...it's weird that he didn't tell you about it. You should ask him about it."

"Yeah, I will... um, can I call you back later? There's something I need to check."

We said goodbye and I hung up. I sat staring into space for a while, my mind a whirlwind. Then I picked up my phone again and opened that text message that I still hadn't replied to. My fingers typed out a few letters and I hit send before I could change my mind.