Fight With Me (Fight and Fall) (26 page)

             
I slowly pull away from him, looking deeply into his eyes.

             
“I’m okay. Are you?” I ask him truthfully.

             
His mouth twitches, as he blinks his eyes a few times.

             
“Not really. I was up all night worried about you. I shouldn’t have left you with him last night, Emma. I’m sorry,” he says, his forehead creased.

             
“I made the choice to stay with him. He didn’t hurt me, Colin. Aiden isn’t like that,” I say, defending his jealous behavior last night.

             
“He was out of control, Emma. He could have hurt you,” he says adamantly.

             
I shake my head side to side, trying to make him understand.

             
“He saw your hands on me. He just freaked out, and I’m sorry that he got the wrong idea. I was just trying to comfort you, and he didn’t understand that,” I say.

             
“You were
just
trying to comfort me?” he asks unbelieving.

             
“I was upset, you were upset, and we both had something in common. I was trying to make you feel better,” I say lamely.

             
“Emma, I don’t believe that, not fully. I believe you wanted to make me feel better, but I think there’s more to it than that. You and I, there’s something between us. It’s not one-sided. I just know it can’t be,” he says to me, his voice rising slightly.

             
“Colin, I’m sorry, but you have it all wrong. We don’t know each other and I’m…” I say.

             
“Emma, please, don’t lie to me. If you’re scared, I understand. This feeling I have, it’s not something, I…” he says pausing, looking downwards.

             
I follow the direction of his eyes, cringing as I my eyelids close. I feel his warm hand reach my left one, bringing it up closer to him. He swirls the pad of his thumb over the stone, obviously trying to distinguish if it’s truly on my finger.

             
“Is this what I think it is?” he says, his voice eerily calm.

             
“Yes,” I whisper, feeling guilty and strangely sad.

             
He releases my hand, turning his body away from me. I clamp my lips together, trying to not say a word. What can I say to make him feel better and diffuse the situation?

             
My hand instinctively reaches out towards him, my palm landing on his back. I wish I could retract it, I wish I could destroy the need to comfort him.

             
I feel him instantly go rigid beneath me, the muscles straining. He sighs loudly, turning around once again to face me. I draw my hand back once again, but he catches me before I’m fully able to.

             
“No, Emma,” he says, his palm curling around my wrist. “Just let me have this,” he whispers, bringing my hand up to his face.

             
He looks me straight in the eye as he kisses my palm, his lips chilled and soft against my skin. I know I should pull away and end this but I don’t. He moves my hand to his face, my palm resting flat against his cheek. He leans his face closer to mine, intent in his eyes. I stand frozen, unable to stop what he’s about to do. I close my eyes, when I feel him retract my palm, the cold air hitting my hand once again.

             
I blink my eyes several times, almost as if I had woken up out of a dream.

             
“I’m sorry. Forgive me, Emma,” he says, his body shaking with unfulfilled need.

             
I nod at him, still entranced by what almost occurred between us. 

             
“That won’t happen again, I promise. I’m just a cop working on your case and nothing more. I wish you nothing but happiness in your marriage, Emma. Enjoy the rest of your night,” he says stiffly, turning away from me.

             
I watch him slowly walk away, as I stand there dumbstruck. I shake my head a few times, walking back to the entrance of the bar. Something tells me to look back, pulling me towards the direction Colin just headed.

Sure enough, I see him
standing on the corner of the street, watching me. I see his still form brightened by the street light, hopelessness carved into his face. Anger, guilt, regret, all these feelings rush through me.

He was right when he said I was lying to him. He’s not just some cop assigned to my case. He’s…more. When he touches me, I
do
feel something. Something I shouldn’t feel when I love and belong to someone else.

             
I mentally force myself to forget about these thoughts, leaving Colin and my torn feelings alone in the street.

“Thanks guys,” I say to Lucas and Leslie as they drop me off at the house.

             
“No problem, girl. Sorry about Lucas,” she says from the driver’s seat, nodding to the backseat of the car.

             
I chuckle at Lucas’s docile, nearly unconscious form. The poor guy got a little too tipsy and couldn’t handle his liquor. We had to leave Leo’s bar before he humiliated himself to the point of no return.

             
“No, it’s totally fine. I like a little free entertainment,” I say amused.

             
I hear groaning in the backseat, as Leslie cringes at the sound.

             
“Lucas, I love you, but please don’t throw up in the car. That smell will last forever! Just wait until we get home,” she pleads sweetly but sternly.

             
Yikes! I don’t envy her or Lucas tonight. I’m so glad that my medication prevented me from consuming any beverage of the alcoholic variety. I could be Lucas right now, a candidate for a new liver transplant.

             
“
Have fun
,” I sing-song to her, as I gently shut the passenger car door behind me.

             
She playfully flips me off, and I chuckle as she drives away.              

As much as I was enjoying the night,
at least most of it that is, I realized that there was something, or should I say
someone
, missing. I was so anxious to leave the bar, practically one foot out the door and that much closer to being with Aiden again.

Trying to ignore that gnawing feeling at the pit of my stomach, the one
Colin put there, I open the door to the house, feeling the door quickly give way. I see Aiden on the other side of it and I smile at him, amused by his timing.

“
Are you psychic?” I ask, arching an eyebrow, any and all conflicting feelings forgotten.

He looks at me sheepishly, shrugging.

“Maybe. I wasn’t waiting by the door or listening to a car engine or anything,” he says, now smirking.

“
If it was anyone else I would be creeped out, but because it’s you, I’ll let it slide. It’s kind of cute actually,” I say, gravitating closer to him.

I move my hands up towards his face, running my fingers through his hair. He sighs loudly, blatantly enjoying the attention. He moves his hands down to my waist, pulling me closer against him. I inhale, loving the scent that can only be his.

“I missed you, baby,” he whispers to me, squeezing me gently with his calloused fingertips.

“I missed you too. I had fun
, but not as much as I would have, had you been there,” I say seriously.

He looks at me
fixedly, a proud look on his face.

Did he really think that I wouldn’t miss him
at all? That I would actually look forward to my last night of so-called freedom?

“How about I show you just how much I missed you?
I still owe you a thank you, unless you forgot,” I say tongue in cheek.

He chuckles softly,
obviously amused by my offer.

“How about I show
you
, Emma? It’s all about you tonight,” he says throatily.

“Well, in that case, what are you waiting for?” I say smartly.

“Not a thing,” he says smirking, reaching for my hand. “Are you ready?”

I smile broadly,
more than ready.

“Born ready,” I say matter of fact.

“We’ll see about that,” he replies mischievously, guiding me into the bedroom.

I wake up to the sound of music, a soft and melodic combination. I blink my eyes several times, stretching my tender muscles. Damn, I ache in places I didn’t even know I could! I guess going out last night, combined with Aiden’s overly enthusiastic welcome-home, really took a toll on my body.

I’m finally able to take in my surroundings
, when I notice two things: Aiden is not next to me in bed and it looks as if it’s dark outside. Did I really sleep all day and am just now waking up? Yeah, I guess this is my body’s way of telling me that I needed to recoup.

I yawn loudly
, as I swing my legs over the bed and onto the hardwood floor. I walk out into the living room, the volume of the music heightening. Hmmm…the record player is on but no Aiden in sight. I wonder where he could be. I don’t think he left the house, because he’s too protective to leave me alone.

As I start to head out the front door to make sure
his bike and truck are outside, I hear the back door slide open. I freeze, hoping that it’s only Aiden.

Before I can turn around, my muscles relax and my finger
s unclench at the sound of Aiden’s voice. Thank God!

“Baby, what are you doing? I thought you were still asleep,” he says nervously as he walks over to me.

When he reaches me, I latch onto him, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck.

“I just woke up
, and you weren’t in bed. I figured you were still here, but I wanted to make sure. When you came in from out back, you scared the shit out of me,” I say breathlessly.

“
Shhh, Emma. Everything is fine. I will never leave you alone. Don’t ever be afraid that something will happen to you again. I’ll protect you. I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up. I kind of had some things I needed to take care of,” he says clearing his throat.

I squeeze him, assuring him that I’m okay now.

“Oh yeah? Like what?” I ask curiously.

“Just
gimme one more minute, and I’ll show you,” he says smirking.

I arch my eyebrow at him
, releasing my grip. I wonder what it is that he has to show me.

He turns away
from me, going to the back door once again, closing it behind him. I ruffle my hair, anxiously awaiting his return.

A little over
a minute later, he returns with a thoughtful look on his face. Before I can ask him about his expression, he goes over to the record player and grabs another album, dropping the pin onto the newly chosen vinyl.

I hear a familiar tune coming from the speakers, recognition dawning on my face. He must have gone into my iPod and found out this is one of my favorite songs.
No One’s Gonna Love You
by
Band of Horses
floats through the room, causing my heart to quicken.

He looks at me smiling, an all-knowing look in his eyes
, as he reaches out his hand towards me. I walk over to him, placing my hand in his palm, a dazed expression on my face. He threads his fingers through mine, his warm skin a welcome contrast to mine. I follow him through the back door, my eyes trying to adjust to what I’m seeing before me.

White lights are strewn all across the deck, almost like a canopy of
luminosity above us. Candles are everywhere, carefully outlining the trail of red rose petals trailing down the steps of the deck. I look farther down the beach near the water, and I see Leo standing in the sand, wearing a fancy suit of all things.

My breath hitches as I look at Aiden, hoping that I’m not imagining what
I think the surprise is.

He moves his left arm toward my face, brushing my cheek with his scarred limb.
I’ve noticed that he’s barely worn the prosthesis anymore, not since my attack, and I’m proud of him. I think that he doesn’t wear it as much, to be true to himself and show me that he’s not afraid of hiding the truth anymore.

I look into his eyes, seeing so much love and emotion behind them.
My eyes start to water, unable to control every feeling rushing through my body. Everything that I have ever done or that was ever done to me, means nothing compared to this moment. I would do everything all over again, knowing that it would bring me here. Everything was worth it just to see this look on his face.
He
was worth it.

“Emma,
I love you. I know I tell you that all the time, but I just want you to know how much. These past few months have been the best and most difficult of my life. Seeing you hurt and in pain changed something in me. It made me realize that life is hard and unbearable at times but finding someone to share it with is the most important thing. You made me want to be the best version of myself, baby. Without you, I’m nothing. You brought me to life and showed me that no matter what happens during the day, I have you to come home to at night. I don’t ever want to be apart from you. I may have jumped the gun and planned all of this behind your back, but I wanted to surprise you. I know how difficult it has been for you lately, and I admire you so much. I wanted you to know that being my wife is so much more than just a ring and a piece of paper binding us together. It means that I’ll always be here and that I’ll never stop loving you. All I want is to make you happy and be the husband that you deserve. I know that we have our pasts that make us who we are, but they don’t define us anymore. You’re my future. Will you marry me, Emma? Officially, that is?” he says smiling.

I
beam broadly at him, wiping away a few stray tears that managed to escape.

“Of course, Aiden. No matter how many times you ask me, I will always say yes. I’d be an idiot to say no,” I say chuckling through the tears. “I’ve made so many mistakes in my life, Aiden. Meeting you and agreeing to be your wife was the best thing I ever did. I would relive every horrible moment in my life if it meant being here with you. I realized I can conquer anything with you next to me. I don’t want to spend another second without you as my husband. As much as I loved Jeremiah, I did the wrong thing by marrying him and cheating us both out of love. I didn’t really believe in love until you practically made my heart beat right out of my chest.”

“Emma, c’mere,” he says wrapping both his arms around me as he kisses my forehead.

“I love you,” I say into his chest.

“I love you too,” he murmurs back, resting his chin on my head.

I mentally shake myself, trying to get my shit together. I’m glad we said what we did to each other and not in front of Leo. I wouldn’t want him to hear all of our sappy talk. Yeah, embarrassing.

Wait, I just realized that Leo is here. Is he going to perform the ceremony? It would be kind of weird and random for him to be standing on the beach in a tuxedo just for shits and giggles.

“Is Leo here to marry us?” I ask confused.

“Yeah, awhile back I asked him to take classes online to become an ordained minister. I wanted to ask you to marry me months ago, as you know, that way somebody we know could do it. I don’t know about you but I didn’t want a stranger to be with us when it happened. It seemed too private and personal, and Leo is one of few people I trust. He was happy do it, plus he says that being a business owner and an ordained minister makes him feel accomplished and well-rounded. He wanted bragging rights,” he says smiling.

“Well, I’m glad you got him to do this for us. Everything you did here is so beautiful and perfect, Aiden. It’s more than I imagined it would be.
Thank you,” I say looking up at him.

“You’re more than welcome, baby,” he says brushing my hair behind my ear. “Now, if you’re ready, I think we should go down to the beach and make it official.”

“Okay. Let’s get hitched!” I say enthusiastically.

Aiden chuckles by my obvious delight, threading his arm through mi
ne as he walks me down the steps toward the beach. We stop in front of Leo, and I see that he has a wide grin across his face, his blue eyes twinkling.

“It took you two long enough. I was worried that she changed her mind,” Leo says chuckling as he looks at Aiden.

“If that were the case, I would’ve had to carry her down here and force her to marry me,” Aiden says laughing.

“Hey!” I say playfully slapping his arm.

“Well, Leo went through a lot of trouble to get his license. It’s the least we could do,” Aiden says smartly.

“Okay, kids. It’s time to start the vows. Do you have the rings, Aiden?” Leo asks.

He nods his head and Leo clears his throat, obviously taking this marriage thing very seriously. Wow, I’m impressed. This is like a legitimate ceremony. I’m excited to see the rings Aiden picked out for us. He really took this entire thing to heart and I’m touched.

Aiden and I face each other, his right hand holding mine as I hold his left arm.

"Aiden Crowe, do you take Emma Blackwell to be your wedded wife, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love, comfort, and honor, to keep her for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health? And forsaking all others, be faithful only to her so long as you both shall live?"
 

“I do,” Aiden says to him but looking directly at me.

"Emma Blackwell, do you take Aiden Crowe to be your wedded husband, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love, comfort, and honor, to keep him for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health? And forsaking all others, be faithful only to him so long as you both shall live?"
 

“I do,” I say, my voice slightly
quivering.

I watch Aiden produce the rings, admiring the shiny, silver exterior. He hands me the one meant for him and I squint, noticing the beautiful scrawl on the inside of the band.

Emma Evermore

“Repeat after me. With this ring
, I thee wed,” Leo says, looking at Aiden.

“With this ring
, I thee wed,” Aiden repeats, slipping the cool, smooth silver onto my finger.

I look down at it, noticing the familiar style to my engagement ring.

“With this ring, I thee wed,” I say placing the ring on Aiden’s calloused hand.

“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride,” Leo says.

Aiden looks deeply into my eyes, as he leans down towards my face. He gently places his warm, firm lips against mine as my heart races. I run my hands up his shoulders and into his hair.

I hear a voice being cleared in the background and a murmured, “I think I’m not needed anymore for the night. Have fun, kids.”

Aiden smiles against my lips, wrapping his arms around my waist and lifting me up against him. He kisses the breath right out of me, as I hook my ankles around his lower back. I feel him walk us backwards toward the house, but I make sure not to break contact with his mouth. As much as I’m curious as to where we’re going, nothing will stop me from kissing him senseless.

He turns us around and places me gently on top of a blanket on the ground, his lips never leaving mine. I notice that he’s taken me to the very spot underneath the deck where he seduced me only months ago. I think this is my new favorite spot. It holds some very nice memories.

He moves my legs wider apart, placing his hands under my ass, exposing me. He thrusts against me as we both moan, the pressure of him almost unbearable. I claw at his back, practically tearing off the fabric of his shirt in the process. I want it off as soon as possible! I need to feel his skin, the perfectly imperfect flesh underneath my fingertips.

He obviously senses my distress, as he removes his hand from underneath me.
His lips leave mine as I look up into his eyes, a starved look on his face. He maneuvers his shirt off, almost immediately returning to my mouth. His tongue dances with mine, invading my mouth like he owns the place.

“I want you, baby. But we can’t. I promised I wouldn’t touch you until you were fully healed,”
he murmurs reluctantly against my mouth.

“Ugh, you touched me last night! Why can’t we go all the way right now?” I pout, pulling away from his lips.

I inwardly smile, remembering his tongue plunging into me last night.

“I couldn’t help myself. I needed to remind you who you belonged to, Emma,” he murmurs.

I freeze beside him, wondering if I’m being paranoid. Could he be referring to Colin and if so, how did he know that we talked last night?

“Aiden, what…” I say.

“Emma, let’s not talk about it. I don’t care about anything except you and me right now. Nothing else matters. Let’s just lie here and hold each other,” he says softly.

I nod at him, my heart contracting painfully within my chest.
The fear of losing him because of what almost happened between Colin and I, causes me to lose my breath.

“Promis
e me that you’ll never leave me, that we’ll never be apart. That it’ll be you and me against the world,” I say, curling up against him.

“
No matter what, I won’t leave your side, Emma. You didn’t see the inside of your ring, did you?” he asks me.