The Proposal(62)

He shook his head with disgust. “You never should have had to wait, Em. Part of me wanted you and Pesh to end up together. I knew he could give you everything I should have without question, and his love wouldn’t be tainted by cheating.”

Emma brought her finger to his lips to quiet him. “Stop beating yourself up. You made a mistake, and now it’s forgiven.”

Aidan sucked in a breath. “Really?”

“Oh yes.” She gave him a lingering kiss before pulling away. “And I should have never gone out with Pesh tonight or had him over. Not only was it disrespectful and hurtful to you, it was stupid of me to try to tempt fate. Besides, he could never give me what you have. You made my dreams come true by giving me Noah. The fact that I fell in love with you exceeded anything I could have ever imagined. And now that I know you love me back—” A sob cut off her voice.

Aidan tenderly swept the tears from her cheeks. He couldn’t bear seeing her cry, especially since everything was finally right between them. “I’m serious about marrying you, Em. But I want to propose to you the right way—not half-naked and sporting wood. I want to ask Earl for his permission, and I want to get down on one knee and put a ring on your finger. You deserve that, and I want you to have it.”

Her green eyes widened. “Really?”

He bobbed his head. “I swear.”

“Oh God, you make me so, so happy!” she cried, throwing her arms around his neck. Rocking her back and forth, he squeezed her tight. “I love you, I love you, I love,” she murmured into his ear.

“I love you, too,” he replied.

She squirmed against him, and when he eased up on his embrace, she stared up at him with a combative mixture of both love and lust in her eyes. “Make love me to Aidan,” she pleaded.

“Is that what you want? Because there’s nothing else in the world I would rather do.”

Grinding her pelvis against his, she said, “I want you more than anything in the world.”

Aidan’s hand went to the zipper on her back. He slid it down agonizingly slow. Emma wiggled, trying to hurry out of the dress. “Why are you taking so long?”

He chuckled. “I didn’t realize you wanted to be naked so much.”

Her green eyes blazed up at him. “I want to be as close to you as I can. I need to feel your skin on mine. Then I’ll know this is all real…we’ll be full circle to where we started from.”

With a groan, Aidan jerked the straps of her dress off, letting it puddle to the floor. He unhooked her bra and whisked it away. As his hungry gaze took in her breasts, he licked his lips in anticipation. “Is it just me or—”

She rolled her eyes. “Way to ruin a moment.”

Aidan chuckled. “Sorry, but I couldn’t help noticing that they’re…bigger.”

“Yes, and they’ll probably grow even more. Don’t you remember I told you they would?”

“It must’ve slipped my mind.” With a smirk, he said, “Trust me, I’m not complaining.”

She grinned. “I didn’t think you would.”

He kissed along her cheek and nibbled her neck as his hands cupped and kneaded her ample breasts. His lips came back to hers as he caressed her flesh until her heaving breaths came harsh against his lips. He broke their kiss to suckle one of her nipples. She tugged the strands of his hair as he swirled his tongue over the sensitive bud. When he grazed it with his teeth, she cried out, arching into his mouth.

Once he had worked one nipple into a hardened peak, he kissed his way over to the other. All the while, Emma began to grind herself against his erection. “I want you now, Aidan. Please,” she panted.

“It’s been too long, hasn’t it?” he murmured against her breast.

“Oh, yes,” she cried, thrusting her hips against his hand as it dipped below her waist.

His thumbs slid inside the waistband of her panties and then pulled them down her thighs. When they dangled at her knees, she kicked them off. Her fingers then went to his boxer shorts to slide them off his hips.

Standing naked together, they gazed into each other’s eyes. “I think we can skip most of the foreplay, don’t you?”

“Mmm, hmm,” Emma murmured sliding her hands up Aidan’s bare chest.

He eased himself down on the side of the bed. Taking Emma’s hand, he tugged her to him. She kept her eyes locked on his as she rose up to straddle him. When the warmth between her legs covered his cock, he moaned. “Wrap your legs around me tight, Babe.”

Emma quickly obliged, and then Aidan pushed them back to the center of the bed. Then his hand delved between her legs, causing her to whimper. As he thrust a finger into her core, he felt her walls clench around him. “I just wanted to make sure you were ready for me.”