Despite my reticence, it was a pretty awesome night. O’Connell was happier than I’d ever seen him, and Kieran was right to make us come out like this, even if O’Connell couldn’t drink. Perhaps this was why stag and hen nights were thought up in the first place. To be surrounded by our friends who celebrated the commitment that we were about to make, who supported us in our decision, even if they didn’t understand it, was pretty special. A few hours later, we were at a club, and my feet were killing me from all the dancing we’d done. Desperate for a drink, I was about to abandon Nikki when a strong pair of hands grabbed my hips and pulled them back so that my rear was pressed against a rock hard erection. I smiled, smelling his aftershave and the delicious scent of his skin. Tipping my head back against his shoulder, I let him guide our hips to the rhythm of the song. He pushed aside my hair with his nose and laid tiny little nibbling kisses along my neck that make me damp and needy. When he reached my ear, he nipped lightly at the lobe and whispered to me as he spread one huge hand across my stomach, making the ache even worse.

“Three days, baby, and you’re all mine.”

His deep voice whispering to me in the dark was so erotic. I couldn’t wait to get home so that he could give me what I wanted. He knew exactly what he did to me, but two could play at that game, and I had the same power over him that he had over me.

“I’m already yours,” I replied, knowing it was true.

“Yeah, but in three days, you’ll have my name forever. Do you know how fucking hard that makes me, knowing you’ll be my wife?”

“Mrs, O’Connell,” I mused happily.

“Babe, get used to saying it, ‘cause on our wedding night I’m gonna make you scream it.”

The anticipation of knowing he meant everything he said had me imagining everything that he was going to do tonight. As the tempo of the music increased, he grinded his pelvis against me to the beat, and I did the same. The whole evening had been foreplay for what was to come, and my skin was on fire. This virile mountain of a man exuded confidence and self-assurance. He was the toughest, most dangerous man in here, and he knew it. That self-confidence was like a pheromone to women who all wanted to be owned by him. Those amazing, wolf-like eyes found me wherever I was and told me that I was his and he was mine. It didn’t help that his intense stare made me instantly wet. He used this to his advantage, often.

“Let’s go, baby. If I don’t get to sink myself into that gorgeous body of yours soon then I’m gonna take you inside this club.”

The thought of doing something so personal, in such a public place, was horrifying. O’Connell had given me confidence in my sexuality, but there was a limit as to how far that confidence extended. I turned to face him and wound my arms around his neck.

“Just let me go to the toilet and grab my jacket, and we’ll go,” I promised.

His hungry lips found mine, and he kissed me like it was the last time he’d ever see me. His huge body wrapped around mine made me feel tiny and cherished, and I kissed him harder, knowing that it made us both hungrier. His hands never left my hips as he guided me back to our table, where I left him with the boys to go and find the bathroom.

“I’ll come with you,” Nikki volunteered.

Tradition dictated that we’d make friends with a small posse of women in the toilets, and tonight was no different. It was packed with women fighting each other, like territorial jungle animals, for the tiniest scrap of mirror to refresh their makeup. They made us smile as they recanted, with enthusiasm, their relative successes or failures of the night. I’d had such a wonderful time I figured nothing could sour my good mood. Fate often reminded me that I was wrong, and it was at that point that I ran straight into Katrina. It was patently clear from the way that she was staggering around that she was absolutely out of her mind drunk. I really shouldn’t judge. It wasn’t too long ago that I was in her shoes, publically vomiting on my boyfriend, no less.

“Well, look who it is,” Katrina slurred. “Miss hoity fucking toity, out celebrating her engagement.”

“Hello, Katrina. How are you?” Relishing in the fact that my relative sobriety gave me the moral high ground, I made a conscious decision not to sink to her level.

“Why are you getting married then?” she asked me, completely ignoring my question.

“Not that it’s anyone’s business but ours, but we’re getting married for the reason that people usually marry. We love each other, and we want to spend the rest of our lives together.”

“Oh, fuck off,” she scoffed loudly, looking completely unbalanced. “Everyone knows you’re up the duff. Getting knocked up is the only way you could trap a man like O’Connell, so as far as I’m concerned, he’s fair game.”

Nikki lunged forward as she got ready to put her in her place, but I put my arm out to stop her. I wasn’t just O’Connell’s girlfriend anymore. In three days, I would be his wife, so it was about time I stood up for myself and showed everyone what that meant.

“I’m not pregnant, Katrina. Con hasn’t been trapped into anything. He’s marrying me because he wants to. If you want to know why he’s with someone like me and not you, look in the mirror. You’re so full of hate and envy it makes you ugly on the outside. Take my advice. Stop being a bitch and find your own man. That having been said, if you insist on coming after mine...bring it on.”

I didn’t shout, or scream at her, I just laid it all on the line with as much dignity as I could muster. What she did with it was up to her, but I was done being a doormat. I would fight for O’Connell, but I didn’t need to. If he ever found out about all of the attitude she’d been swinging my way, he’d shoot her down in seconds.

“Fuck off,” she yelled back at me again. “You might think your shit doesn’t stink, but you’re no better than I am. Cormac might be all about you now, but he won’t stay away from girls like me for long. I can give him what he needs. So the next time he goes out with the boys and comes home smelling of my perfume, you won’t need to wonder what happened, because I’ll be happy to fill in the details.”

“Goodbye, Katrina.” I said aloofly.

“That’s it?” Nikki questioned, as we walked off. “That’s all you’re going to say to her after the shit she just said to you?”