Who Said I Wasn't Ready?

At the City's Center base.

As soon as their men brought back Aiden's home intruders, Claire's people got to work on them.

Anna was sitting on the cold tiled floor leaned against the wall as she waited for Colton.

As soon as their people came back, they immediately moved the men they had brought with them into the room she was silently waiting by. Although she had never stepped inside it, due to Colton's and Claire's strict orders for her not to, she knew what went on behind the closed door. And she was sure it was nothing short of inhumane.

It had already been hours since she first started to wait, but she couldn't find it within herself to go anywhere else. Ben was watching over Lily in case she woke up and felt confused as to why she was back at the base and not at the Villan estate, Claire had stayed the night with Aiden and any other person she was even remotely close to was either working or sleeping. And being the anxious wreck that she was, she desperately needed to be close to whatever brought her the tinniest bit of comfort. That currently being the soundproof door she knew Colton was somewhere behind of.

It didn't matter if they openly admitted it or not. The fact was, that consciously or subconsciously she gravitated towards him. Especially in her times of need.

A few more minutes passed while she absent mindedly stared at the door. While lost in her thoughts,it finally creaked open. Revealing Colton's frustrated expression as he stepped out and closed it behind him.

He was about to turn to walk down the hallway, when he stopped and looked down at one of the only three women in the world who had the power of making his fatigue vanish into thin air as if it were never there in the first place.

But the unexpected happiness of seeing her after the hours of torture he just witnessed was short lived once he noticed exactly what she was doing. "I told you I had this handled. You should have gone to bed." He softly said to her as he got closer. Her anxious expression, and the fact that she was hugging her knees while ignoring the fact that she was sitting on the cold floor, was evidence enough for him to understand she was losing her grip on her "nothing gets to me" facade.

"I wanted you to tell me everything you got out of them as soon as possible." She lied to him as she stood up. Her legs were a bit shaky and numb from having sat in such an uncomfortable position for so long.

Colton let out a sigh. The wall she had built between them was as high as ever. It was obvious she was lying about her reason for being there, but he decided to leave it as is. They were both too tired for him to initiate their usual push and pull game. "Well it's just as we thought. It wasn't Malcolm's, but his piece of shit son's doing." He used his good hand to brush his fingers through his already severely disheveled hair. Out of nowhere, he felt her grab his hand as soon as he put it back down again. Immediately drawing his attention towards her.

"But the team never managed to get the shadow that got away Colton." She didn't even notice she had grabbed on to him with both of her hands since the fear had started to bubble up inside her. "It was too big of a loss for them.Too bit for him not to go towards the clan leader. Even if it was Malcolm's idiot son who ordered tonight's op, it's just a matter of time before he catches wind of the news and comes after all of us-" She had began to ramble when Colton pulled his hand out of hers and placed it on her cheek. Taking a step closer to her, he felt how she now chose to hold on to his shirt instead.

"Hey." He said to snap her out of her panicked state. His voice was soft and tender as it always was when it came to her. Well, when he was not being mischievous in any case. "It doesn't matter if he finds out about all of us today, tomorrow or the day after." He brushed his thumb against her cheek as he saw how her eyes pleaded for reassurance that everything was going to be alright. "I already told you that this time things are different. Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you." She immediately replied as she failed to notice how close they were to one another. "But I-I..."

"Then that's all you need to focus on Babe." He interrupted her again. "You've seen how much we've prepared for this, so there's no need for you to let the fear win even before anything has truly begun. So focus on that. On the trust you have in me, on the faith you have in Claire and on the fact that this time around we aren't going to be the ones who end up losing anything....or anybody else dear to us. Okay?"

Anna looked up at him and saw the determination and confidence that she was seriously lacking. With a slight nod she agreed with him."Okay."

"Good." He quickly gave her a kiss on the forehead before she came back to her senses and reverted back to avoiding him. Taking a step back, he looked down the empty hallway and gestured for her to follow him. "Now let's both try to get some shut eye. Tomorrow's going to be one hell of a day."

He started to walk away as Anna slowly followed behind. Not a few seconds later, her cheeks were as red a tomatoes as she realized what had just gone down between them.

Meanwhile, Colton prevented her from seeing the more than satisfied grin on his face.

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At Villan Estate.

Claire slowly stirred awake. Being so accustomed to always wake up at sunrise, her body had a natural alarm clock regardless of how many hours of sleep she had or what day it was. She groggily opened her eyes and was immediately greeted with the face of the man she had been falling so hard for.

Aiden had his eyes closed, but his arm was still locked in place around her waist as the other served as her pillow. He hadn't moved from that position the entire night. Not that Claire's arms had stopped hugging his torso either. They were snuggled together in the most warm and comforting embrace she had ever experienced.

Looking up at his face, she felt breathless. His disheveled hair, his sharp jawline and the way he seemed so at peace while sleeping, made her not want to get up. Being in his arms while staring at what she could only describe as the most handsome man to walk the earth was enough for her to want to stay like that forever.

She thoughtlessly lifted her hand up to his perfectly sculpted face and began to retrace it. His jaw, his eyebrows, the bridge of his nose and finally his lips. Her cheeks slightly blushed as she remembered how tenderly he kissed her while bathing together the night before. He respected her, cherished her and didn't even seem to mind going at any other pace than her own, which had continuously given the butterflies in her stomach even more reason to flutter. He was truly a gentlemen.

With that in mind, she couldn't help herself from lifting her face and pressing a soft kiss against his lips. Causing a wide grin to bloom on Aiden's face.

"I could get used to this." He said with a deep morning voice. He slowly opened his eyes and looked down at his now getting redder by the second little lady. "Good morning Angel."

"I thought you were asleep." She replied in a small voice as she started to lower her hand, but Aiden quickly caught it in his and brought it to his lips again.

"I've been awake for about an hour now." He said as he planted a kiss on her fingers tips. "I just couldn't get enough of you, so I decided to stay in bed." His smile was a genuine one as he saw the blush on her cheeks spread even more.

Little did he know that the reason behind her growing blush wasn't because of his sweet words, but because of the way his husky morning voice kept sending chills down her spine.

"I still haven't heard my morning greeting." He said to her as he placed another kiss on her hand. This time on the inside of her palm.

"Good morning." She replied with a small smile to which he hummed in response to.

He was drinking in her image as his heart trembled with happiness. Her eyes were still dewy from having just woken up. Her fiery locks of hairs were spread over his arm and her lips were as plump and inviting as they always were. The only difference being that this time, he was painfully aware of how close they were. Like any other man, early mornings were always his most sensitive time of day. And seeing as they had shared an unexpected amount of intimate moments together in the past 24 hours, his senses were more than awake.

Claire could see his gaze contained a mixture of both affection and desire. Something that brought her great joy seeing as she had just woken up. Seeing him want her regardless of her bed hair, bare face and the still visible dark circles under her eyes, was making her feel beautiful even though she knew she had to look like a mess. But then again, he had always made her feel that way.

Feeling determined, she lifted her face again and pressed another kiss against his lips. But this time around she made sure to take her time. Aiden on the other hand had no complaints. Letting go of her hand, he opted to gently grab the back of her head as he responded to her kiss by lowering himself enough for her not to strain her neck. It wasn't until he decided it was time to pull back that he was surprised.

As he started to pull back, Claire grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him back down to meet her lips again. This time, engaging in a much more passionate kiss. She pressed herself against him as one of her hands slip up all the way to his hair to keep him from ending the intense moment. Aiden understood her intentions, and decided to indulge them both with a steamy morning session.

Flipping her over, he was now on top of her. Holding most of his body weight with one arm, he gripped her waist as he seeked permission to explore her mouth with his tongue. As soon as she granted it, he wasted no time in tasting her excruciating sweet mouth. Slightly pressing his body against hers, he could feel her silhouette perfectly against his own. Everything about her was divine and his entire body was aware of it. Especially his lower half.

The way her waist felt in his grip, how her scent hazed his thoughts and the enticing sounds she was making as she slid her soft hands up his back were all pushing him to the edge. And seeing as he didn't want to cross any of her boundaries, he decided it was time to stop. Pulling his head back, he heard her let out a small cry from the loss of his lips. Making him tighten his hold on her even harder in an attempt to not let his friend downstairs dictate his next move.

"We should stop here Angel." He breathed out as he saw her trying to catch her own breath. The way her hair was sprawled all over the pillows and her flushed expression only added more fuel to his already growing flames. She was too beautiful to resist.

"Why?" She asked in reply which made his eyes turn slightly darker. She was truly testing his self control.

"Because I don't want you to feel pressured into doing anything you might not be ready to do." He pressed a kiss against her forehead with the intention of calming them both down when his little lady decide to truly fan his raging flames with her next words.

"Who said I wasn't ready?"