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 na**d 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 br**sts, 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 br**sts. 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 ni**les. 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 h*ps 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 na**d 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.”

“I’m always ready for you, my love,” she whispered.

He brought both of his hands to her waist and gently raised her up. He then guided his erection between her wet folds. As Emma slowly slid down on him, Aidan feathered tender kisses along her collarbone. After he was all the way in, he shuddered with pleasure. “Oh God, I’ve missed the feel of you.”

When he lifted his head, she smiled down at him. “I’ve missed every glorious inch of you, too.”

He laughed. “There you go stroking my ego.”

“I think we fit together perfectly.” She gazed down to her expanding belly. “Well, except for that getting in the way.”

Aidan pushed the long strands of auburn hair out of her face. “Don’t ever think Noah’s in the way. He will always be the string that ties us together. He’s our love growing inside you. He may not be the reason why I fell in love with you, but he’s the reason why I got another chance at life.” He gave her a deep, lingering kiss. “You saved me, Emma.”

Tears sparkled in her green eyes, and her chest rose and fell in harsh breaths like she was trying to keep her emotions from spiraling out-of-control. “Oh Aidan.” She cupped his face in her hands. “I love you so much,” she murmured against his lips.

Pressed chest to chest, Emma began to lift her h*ps as Aidan raised his. She panted in his ear as the slow, languid strokes took him deeper and deeper. Wrapped together, they kept their eyes on each other. They were a tangle of arms and legs—but they were one.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Two Weeks Later

The shrill ringing of her cell phone roused Emma from a deep sleep. Fumbling her hand along the nightstand, she finally gripped it in her hand. Almost robotically she slid her thumb across the answer key and brought it to her ear. “Hello?” she croaked.

“Em!” Casey shrieked before dissolving in sobs.

Emma jolted awake like she had downed several cups of coffee. “Case, what’s wrong?”

In between hiccupping sobs, Emma could decipher only a few words. “Jason. Groomsman. Alcohol poisoning after the Bachelor’s Party. Hospitalized. Short one of the bridal party. Wedding ruined.”

Emma pulled herself into a sitting position. “Casey, take a few deep breaths and calm down, okay? The wedding is not ruined just because some asshat groomsman drank himself into the hospital.”

“But we rehearsed everything with seven groomsmen. The pictures will be all screwed up!”

“Isn’t there another one of Nate’s friends or relatives that could fill in and wear Jason’s tux?”

“I don’t know! Besides who the hell is going to fit into a 6’4 bodybuilder’s tux anyway?!!?”

Emma glanced over her shoulder at Aidan sleeping soundly, and an idea popped into her head. “Um, well, Aidan has a tux.” There was a long pause on the other end of the line. “Are you still there?”