Author's Note: I loved Jackson and Lydia. I felt like their relationship was very honest. I love how even though they had legitimate issues they could both get upset about, they only ever fought over the little things. They remind me a lot of two friends of mine, commonly mistaken for shallow and uncaring, but actually just two very honest people who didn't know how to deal with their overwhelming need to be wanted. I imagine Jackson leaving really hit her hard and that having sex is really the only way she knows how to ignore those unwanted feelings of being unwanted.

...

Distraction

...

Lydia was in front of her dresser, trying to decide on something to wear for tomorrow when she found it. She had already gone through her drawers so when none of her clothes seemed to be giving her inspiration, she turned to her accessories. She had just opened her jewelry box, prepared to create an outfit out of nothing more than a few pieces of slightly tarnished metal when her fingers brushed against the chunky silver.

It was Jackson's class ring...or his old one anyway. She still remembered the day he'd given it to her.

...

"Jackson stop!" Lydia managed to call out between fits of laughter. She hated being tickled and Jackson knew it.

"Hahahaha yeah right!" He rolled her off her bed and onto the floor, laughing in her face as he loomed over her, "Watching you squirm around and snort is the most fun I've had all day." He dug his fingers into her sides again, harder than he probably needed to, but that was how Jackson was.

Lydia was getting angry. Unfortunately, it's hard to convince someone you're pissed at them when you're giggling.

She hated this.

"Jackson...Jackson cut it out...I'm serious!" Lydia flailed her arms at him, pushing against his chest. When that didn't work, she went for his face: if he was gonna be a dick, then she was gonna play dirty. Predictably, Jackson was none too happy about the assault on his 'perfect bone-structure' face, swatting her arms away, using the back of his hand.

"Ow, Shit! Jackson that freakin hurt!" Jackson' smug smile faded slightly as Lydia held her arm in her hand, checking for damage.

He eyed her arm as well, scoffing out loud when he saw what she had thrown a fit about. There was a definite scrape on her forearm, the skin bright pink with flakes of it fanned out to show that the outer layer had been pierced.

There wasn't any blood though and Jackson rolled his eyes and tried to brush it off saying, "Oh come on Lydia, it's nothing, just a scratch." He raised an eyebrow, asking for permission, leaning down when he got it to kiss her tender skin. "See? Nothing a kiss from a handsome prince can't fix." He smirked, full of himself.

Lydia took the opportunity to throw him off of her while his guard was down. She laughed to herself when his face fell in surprise at being so roughly pushed off and made her way back to her bed where she perched herself, straightening out the wrinkles in her dress.

" Maybe, it's time for the prince to get himself a royal manicure, " she mocked him, " no man's nails should be that long, prince or not."

Jackson brushed himself off and joined her on her bed.

" That wasn't from my nails, stupid," he proved his point by extending his arms to display his flawless fingers for her, " it was probably my ring." He offered, wiggling the ring finger of his right hand where a gaudy piece of jewelry rested.

"Oh, so it was your jewelry? How manly." She teased, knowing he would get unreasonably defensive in response.

"It's a class ring. It's not 'jewelry'. It's more like...a token of success." He smiled, satisfied with his own explanation.

Lydia snorted. Jackson was so ridiculous sometimes.

"It's a ring Jackson. Not a freaking medal."

Jackson stood up, obviously insulted.

"Fine then, take it." He pulled the offending ring off his finger, thrusting it in front of her.

" I don't want that. It's bulky...and tasteless. Suits you better." Lydia struck another nerve and Jackson let out a heaving breath.

"Just take the damn thing. It's jewelry, right? Girls love jewelry." He opened her palm himself and pressed the ring into it.

Lydia sighed in amusement at Jackson's frustration, but complied, getting up to drop the accessory into the appropriate box on her dresser.

"I'm never gonna wear that thing, " she turned around to find Jackson behind her, "Even if it wasn't ugly as sin, it's still way too big for my delicate fingers." She emphasized the statement by bringing her hands up to curl in his hair.

"Yeah? Then you can just take it out every once in a while to stare at longingly while you think of me and how much you want me." He dipped his head down and gave her a kiss, short and sweet, much like its recipient.

"You're so full of yourself." Lydia laughed, loving him despite his huge ego.

Jackson laughed too, responding with a smug, "Yeah, well you're gonna be pretty full of me too in a minute."

And they clashed together.

...

Lydia frowned at the ugly thing, rolling it in her fingers. She was mad. Jackson wasn't supposed to leave her. She wasn't supposed to actually be 'staring longingly' at this stupid, overpriced, piece of junk.

But he did. And she was.

Angry, she threw the ring back in her jewelry box, slamming the lid down with spite. She didn't want to deal with this right now. Fuck being a woman and being constantly stuffed to the brim with emotions.

She needed a distraction-and she didn't mean homework or a good book. She needed a big, tan, muscular distraction to stop making her think and start making her feel.

And she knew just who to call.

...

"God, it took you long enough. I've been waiting for like hours." Lydia's voice was scolding, but the mischievous curl of her lips suggested that she wasn't mad at all; just eager.

"Hours? You texted me like ten minutes ago."Aiden tried to respond, but Lydia cut him off mid-sentence with a fast kiss.

Her arms stayed wrapped around his neck, her new closeness sending wafts of her scent at his face. She smelled strongly of vanilla. The overbearing sweetness of it flooded his nose, fogging his brain. He wanted to stay there and bury his face in her curls, but Lydia was impatient, as usual.

"Don't just stand there; touch me. I didn't invite you over so you could stare at me and look pretty." She pursed her lips and Aiden could feel his hunger for her growl deep within him. Man did he love looking at those lips. He fantasized for a second what they might taste like before realizing he didn't have to and went in for a much wetter kiss than their previous one.

He didn't wait long before gliding his tongue across her lower lip, asking for admittance which was eagerly granted. They kissed, Aiden a little taken aback by how skilled Lydia's mouth was. He hadn't had the opportunity to kiss many girls, but he thought that even if he had, she would still rank number one in that department. He let his brain wander downward, wondering what else that smart little mouth of hers was good at.

He pulled away for a moment checking himself before he got too heated. Lydia was sexy, yes, but Deucalion had a plan: get close to Lydia, but not too close. They were aware of Lydia's track record with guys. After she got what she wanted, she got bored, fast. So this was going to take a lot of restraint.

Lydia wasn't having any of that though. She pushed up onto the balls of her feet, trying to capture Aiden's lips again only to have him pull back with a twisted smile. She huffed out a half-hearted laugh, trying to hide her annoyance, but shot him a look that said "you better not do that again" as she leaned up for take two. She rolled back onto her tiptoes and again she found herself brushing only air with her lips. Lydia was irritated. And she didn't bother to hide it this time.

"Are you gonna kiss me or not?" She shoved him up against her bedroom door. "Cuz if not then you can leave and I can text someone else." And she was serious. She had a whole slew of guys who would drop whatever they were doing just to be with her. All she had to do was press a few buttons.

Aiden could see the fire in her eyes crackle when he but his lip and raised an eyebrow at her, "You're used to getting what you want, aren't you?" He brought his hand up to tuck some of that strawberry hair behind her ear.

Lydia hated the softness of the gesture, and countered it with one of her own, dipping a finger behind the waistband of his pants and boxers, dragging the back of her nail lightly across the sensitive skin there. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I am."

Lydia didn't need the hearing of a wolf to hear Aiden's breath hitch, a positive sign that she had indeed, risen his pulse.

Aiden was having trouble finding reasons why he should stick to the plan and not lay her out right then and there. God she was beautiful. And the way she talked, like she actually thought she was the one in control here. It rose something other than his heartbeat. He wanted to show her who was really in charge. He wanted to push her against the wall and hold her wrists up with one hand, while the other one kept busy down below. Show her just how helpless he could make her.

But that would be playing her game. That was what she wanted. And he couldn't give it to her, as much as he wanted to. So he stuck to the soft touches and tender caressing.

He bent his head down to kiss her neck and she let him lead her to her bed where he sat her down, still standing in front of her. He moved his lips from her neck to her jawline, flicking his tongue against the soft spot under her ear. The slightly salty taste of her skin mixed with the sweet scent of her perfume created an enticing flavor that Aiden wanted more of. He traveled down to her shoulder, tracing the line of her collarbone with his mouth. He heard her heartbeat stutter and smiled against her skin.

"You like that?" It was less of a question and more of a boast of victory, the way he hummed it from the back of his throat. She answered by moving the hands that had been propping her up on the bed and using them to grab hold of Aiden's shirt. She tugged at it, letting him know that she wanted him on top of her, but he wasn't finished yet.

He chuckled under his breath and chastised her for her impatience, "Ah,ah! Keep your shirt on pretty lady, not yet." He could hear her take in air, ready to retort something back at him so he made his move quickly before she could, planting his lips at the base of her neck and sucking hard. The diversion worked at shutting her up and he continued to pull at her skin with his lips, feeling the tiny blood vessels begin to break under the surface. He tongued the bruise for a bit before finally freeing her. He was so satisfied with himself for catching her off guard that he forgot how quick she was and was consequently caught off guard himself by her next move.

Lydia curled her fists into the fabric of Aiden's shirt and yanked him down and on top of her. He was still on his feet, but looming over her now, as she reclined into her blankets below. She could see the surprise in his eyes: she was stronger than she looked. She watched as it quickly turned to anger, his eyes flashing red and his fist flying out to take hold of her wrists above her head.

Yes. This was what she had been waiting for. She felt hot anticipation spread through her stomach as she watched his Adam's apple vibrate from his low growling. She smiled and waited for him to ravage her, rip her blouse open with his teeth or yank her hair back and bury his face in her chest.

But Aiden only blinked his eyes back to brown, his fangs receding back into his gums.

Shit. He had let her get to him. But he couldn't just stop now. She'd label him too weak and lose interest. So he went with it, squeezing her wrists with one hand while delicately stroking her with the other, giving her a balance of rough and tender touches.

He started in the middle of her inner thigh, running the back of his knuckles so lightly across her that it would have tickled her had she not also been focused on the sharp pain of her wrists being crushed together. He turned his hand over, the warm pads of his fingers contrasting with the coolness of her skin. He rubbed his thumb along the hem of her skirt before finally, he slipped underneath it, gliding his hand upward until her inner thigh was no longer cool, but hot. He knew where the sudden heat wave was coming from and it took every ounce of willpower he had to stop his hand from going any further.

Lydia had been excited when Aiden had momentarily wolfed out and restrained her. Lord knew he'd done enough restraining of himself. She figured his hesitance was all part of the Alpha pack's plan to get her to stay with him. She was positive it was some kind of mind game, but despite knowing this, she couldn't help but play along. There would always be that competitive streak in her that needed to win. She was determined to beat Aiden in this battle of sexual frustration. As it was though, she didn't think she was doing very well. His contradicting touches, the crushing wrist restraint and the barely there leg touches, had lit up her senses in a way that felt like electricity. The higher his hand went up her leg, the higher the sea of tiny bubbles in her in her lower abdomen popped. And the harder he pushed her hands into the mattress below, the harder it was for her to want to not fight him. Part of her loved to be controlled like this in the heat of the moment, but the other part didn't trust Aiden enough to really be okay with giving him the reigns. Still, she couldn't deny that he made her hot. She was starting to understand the phrase 'hot and bothered' on a new level.

Then Aiden's phone buzzed in his back pocket and Lydia rolled her eyes, knowing he wasn't going to ignore it. Probably some all important wolf meeting he had to run off to or something.

Aiden exhaled, releasing a tension he hadn't even been aware of in his shoulders. He let go of Lydia's wrists at last and took a seat next to her on her bed. She was visibly irritated by his sudden retreat, but she sat up and didn't voice her annoyance. Aiden knew who the text was from without looking.

"I hate to be a total boner killer, but I told Ethan I'd pick him up from his date with Danny." Aiden watched her massage her wrists, already turning from pink, to red, and then maroon.

"I thought you each had your own bike." Lydia stated, squinting her eyes.

He laughed, "Uh, yeah...well not exactly. Technically, the bikes belong to Deucalion, he just lends them out to whoever needs them, but since your little friends screwed with them while they were in our possession he only lets us borrow one at a time now."

Lydia pushed out her lips and stood up from the bed, "Whatever. If you have to go, go. You know where the door is."

Aiden followed her to the door which she opened for him and turned around for a kiss before leaving. Lydia dodged and presented her cheek instead, which he settled for, saying a final, "See ya later" before disappearing down the stairs and out the door.

When she was sure she was gone, Lydia sat down, puffed her cheeks out and blew a steady stream of air through her lips. She was pretty sure she had lost that battle today. She decided not to get too hung up on the matter though.

There would be plenty of opportunities for payback in the near future.

Right now all she wanted was someone to help put out the fire Aiden had sparked inside her. So she sat back down at her desk and perused through her contacts searching for someone to spend the night with, but not the morning.

...

AN: Thank you for reading! This is my first attempt at anything even remotely romantic. I'm pretty awkward when it comes to that kind of thing so I'd love some feedback on whether it sounded too forced or mechanical. Also, I'm never sure if my Lydia is in character or not. I don't know about you guys, but I always find it harder to write for girls than boys. Probably because in reality, we women think so fast and over-analyze every detail so much that it would be almost impossible to capture that on paper.