I cried out, barely able to handle the sensations and yet desperate for more.

He remained inside me, covering me with kisses, on my neck, my mouth and my breasts, as his hands plunged through my disheveled hair. I traced my fingertips along his collarbone marveling at the sculpted beauty of his body, perfect like an ancient statue, I thought. Then I placed my lips along the very same curvature of his bones, hearing him moan at my kisses. For the final time, I felt the pleasure began to crest, taunting my body for final release. He whispered in my ear.

"Tell me when," his rough voice pleaded. "Tell me when you’re ready."

"Now," I said, barely able to form words. "Now!" I threw my head back as he pulled me down hard onto him to maximize my release. "Oh god, yes! Yes!" I screamed as the orgasm rushed through my body sending me into convulsions of delight unlike I had ever felt.

I felt him shudder in my arms as our pleasure crested, goosebumps erupted over his skin, which made me smile, a bold sense of accomplishment flowed through me. He landed his forehead on my shoulder, as we both repositioned, lying once more on the carpet curled in each other’s arms.

It was in this manner that we fell asleep.

No words spoken and none needed, the only thing covering over our naked bodies was the moonlight landing through the open patio window.

Chapter Five

The first tendrils of dawn woke me before I even opened my eyes. Immediately I sensed something wrong. The surface beneath me felt strange, not like my bed at all.

Carpet.

Perhaps this feeling was the last remnants of a forgotten dream. I turned to stretch, still with my eyes closed as the light invaded by closed lids. My head pounded like a drum, and I put my palm on my forehead to try and calm the feeling. A mile panic crept into the back of my mind.

What had happened, I wondered.

It began to come back to me in images and flashes, the sensations brought by the drunken flirtations which had let to, what? Little by little the events of the night before seeped into my conscious memory. Starting with the date, the fun at the restaurant, the walk at the beach, and then...

"Fuck," I mumbled against the pounding of my head. "Fuck. Oh no," I said hoping it had all been a dream, but already knowing better.

I opened my eyes and sat up with a startle, confirming my fears.

"Fuck."

Aiden's apartment looked different in the morning light, wan, pale and stark. I sensed Aiden sleeping next to me, hearing his steady breathing. I kept my eyes averted to avoid seeing him recalling that we had passed out on the floor with nothing so much as a blanket.

With a pounding heart I shuffled around looking for my clothes. He began to stir just as I pulled the dress over my naked body and shoved my bra and underwear into my purse.

Last night was one thing, but I didn’t want him to see me unclothed with sober eyes.

My hangover had distracted me but an even more horrifying truth slowly began to dawn. Today was the day that the court case officially began. We only had a few hours to get to the justice building, and worst of all I had slept with Aiden.

This was bad.

Very, very bad.

"Get up," I said, urgently nudging him with my toe. "Aiden get up, get up!"

I grabbed my purse and shoes. I realized that he had to drive me back home as he had picked me up the night before. Aiden stirred again and moaned. I tried to keep my eyes away, but even in the panic of the morning I couldn’t help but notice his spectacular form.

Time and place, Blair. Time and place! I mentally scolded myself.

"Aiden wake up. We have court in three hours."

Those words seemed to have gotten his attention as he opened his eyes, sat up and reached for his boxers. He pulled them on and stood up rubbing his hand over his hair which stood out in every direction.

"What happened?" he mumbled.

His lack of urgency was infuriating.

"What do you think, happened!" I blurted. "Look, there's no time for this. You need to take me home right now, so we can get ready and get to the court room."

He blinked at me. "Court room?"

"Aiden," I said, trying not to raise my voice. "The trial starts today if we could decide on a jury."

"Oh, right,” he said as some semblance of life seeped into his eyes. "The trial. You want some coffee?"

I smacked my hand against my forehead losing my patience. "Aiden you have to take me home, right now! Wake up and be serious! I have worked too hard on this case to let things slip out of control now!"

"Are you angry?" he said as he casually strolled to the kitchen and began to fill the coffee carafe with water.

He was making coffee.

Was he even serious? I followed him, not ready to let up.

"Am I angry?" I fumed. "Of course I'm angry!"

He turned to face me and crossed his arms over his bare chest. The sight of his muscles flexing caught my attention which made me that much more infuriated.

"Do you feel as if I took advantage of you last night?" he asked as he scooped the coffee grounds into the filter. I felt a little bit taken aback by the question, but that thought hadn’t crossed my mind.

"Well... no,” I said, confused by suggestion.

"Okay," he said. "You’re obviously upset. I'm trying to figure out why." The calmness of his voice and demeanor irritated me even further.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my pounding heart which didn’t do a thing to ease my headache.

The coffee gurgled cheerfully through the filter making me want to pick it up and throw it through the window.

If I had told myself the truth, it would have been that I was angrier with myself for letting my attraction to him distract me from the task at hand. I should have known better than to go out with him the night before our court date. I don't know why I had never made the connection before.

He turned and opened the cabinet lifting down two travel mugs. He poured coffee into each one and turned to me with a raised eyebrow.

"I take mine with milk," I mumbled under my breath.

He opened the refrigerator and poured a dollop of milk into each mug, twisted the lids back on and handed me one.

"Wait here,” he said. "Let me grab some jeans. I'll take you home and then meet you at the courtroom in a few hours."

He left and disappeared to his bedroom. I fumed over my coffee as I took a small sip unhappy with the fact that the coffee tasted great. A few minutes later, we were in his car headed towards the highway to take me home. The coffee had helped my headache a little but my fury hadn’t subsided one bit.

I felt as if I had worked my whole life to get to this point professionally just to have it crumble to pieces moments before I was to step into the courtroom. This was more than just a youthful indiscretion. I felt as if the world were imploding in slow motion, collapsing around me with me in the center, everything falling to pieces.

"What is it?" Aiden asked, glancing at me from the driver's seat. "Why are you so upset?"

"What do you think?!" I spat. I heard my voice rising to an unnatural level.

"Blair, you need to calm down,” he said. "This isn’t that big of a deal."

"Don't tell me to calm down!" I yelled, now in a fever pitch.

"Okay, hold on,” he said. "We aren't going get anywhere just yelling at each other, so I'm going to ask you a few questions and I want you to be completely honest with me, okay?"

"Fine," I said, my mind still whirling to figure out his angle.