“Fuck! I’m cumming!”
He grabbed my hips and slammed into me one last time before he went completely still.
“That was amazing, Aidan,” I whispered, too exhausted to even move.
“You’re amazing,” he said and kissed my shoulder, pulling out of me.
It was funny how I already missed him inside of me, thinking how I wouldn’t ever get tired of this. I wouldn’t ever get tired of him. I turned to look at him over my shoulder, experiencing a potent wave of something that I could only call love.
Oh, God. Yes. I loved Aidan. I loved him so much and I wanted to make him happy. I smiled internally, feeling happier than ever.
“Aidan?”
“Yes?”
I decided to take a leap of faith and be honest with him. “I love you.”
I totally hadn’t expected what he did next.
He pulled away from me, looking distressed and disappointed at the same time. “Oh hell no, Catherine.”
8
“What do you mean ‘hell no’?” I hated how whiny my voice had sounded.
He shook his head. “How could you let yourself fall in love with me?” His glare sliced me deep, immediately creating wounds that grew bigger the more distant he got from me. The earlier atmosphere was gone, leaving nothing but the cold that engulfed me and made me feel so small.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. I’m completely serious. I told you about my complicated past. I’m not able to love somebody like that anymore. Why are you setting yourself up for hurt from the start?”
I started trembling, feeling extremely vulnerable and naked standing like this in front of him. I darted toward my dress and rushed to put it on, fighting the tears. I wouldn’t cry in front of him. I felt humiliated enough.
“So what are we doing, Aidan?!” I burst when I spun around to face him, fully dressed. “Why are you so gentle and caring one moment and then so cold the next one? I see that you feel something for me too, but you’re fighting it so much, and it’s making me crazy!”
“Of course, I feel something for you. You’re my sister’s best friend—”
“Oh, cut that crap! Enough with that ‘my little sister’s best friend’ bullshit. If you saw me only as a friend or even a sister, you wouldn’t sleep with me, Aidan! You wouldn’t look at me the way you do!”
He was just looking at me, not providing me any answer, and I grew so tired of this. I grew tired of playing these games with him and hoping for more. He was truly beyond repair.
“You know what? Forget it. You’re right. I made a mistake. I was a fool, but now I’m done with you.”
The tears blurred my vision, which was my cue to get out of here right this second. I grabbed my bag and marched to the door.
“Catherine...,” he finally spoke, his tone pleading, but it had no effect on me. I just wanted to go to my bed, which was actually his—oh the irony—and cry my heart out. I wanted to forget everything that happened between us and just start anew. Maybe meet someone new and heal.
Yes. That would be the best.
“Don’t speak to me. Goodbye, Aidan.”
Without even waiting for his answer, I flung the door open and stormed out, rushing through the dark, empty hallways blindly. The first tears had already found their way down my face, and I was grateful that I managed to hide them from him. If I cried in front of Aidan Dowell, that would be the cherry on the top after all the disasters with him.
By the time I got out of the building, my vision was completely blurry from tears and I barely saw where I was going. I heard Aidan calling after me, but I didn’t turn around, scared I might completely lose it if I looked at him now...
“Catherine! Please! Let’s talk!”
“Leave me alone!”
I started crossing the street with the heart in my throat, hoping he wouldn’t try to stop me, but then I heard the car screeching, and Aidan shouted, “Catherine!”
And the next thing I knew, everything was black.
* * *
“Ugh.” I fluttered my eyes open, feeling like I’d been pulverized. Everything hurt.
“Cat! You woke up!” I heard Elle say, but the lights were too bright and I couldn’t see anything clearly. I had no idea where I was or how I’d gotten here.
“Why do I feel like someone pulled a Joker on me and beat me like crazy?” I muttered, slightly dazed. Somehow, I managed to focus on Elle, finding her sitting next to my hospital bed. “Oh, hi. Came to see me before I die?”
She rolled her eyes. “Drama queen. I just wanted to make sure you appointed me as your heir and left me everything you own before you die.”
I chuckled, but I regretted it since it hurt to laugh. “Oh yeah. I’m leaving you all my estates and private islands. I’m even leaving you my limousines and two husbands.”
“I don’t need anything, sweetheart, but those two fine males.” She winked at me, but then her face turned serious. “How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?”
“Everything hurts. What happened?”
“You got hit by a car in front of Aidan’s company last night. He immediately called the ambulance and they managed to help you before things got worse.”
I frowned at the mention of Aidan, remembering at once what had transpired before I got into an accident. I looked around the plain, sterile room as if he might come out of nowhere, but I was met with one big fat nothing. I was disappointed, even though I knew very well I shouldn’t feel this way.
“You have bruised ribs, but thankfully, you don’t have any fractures or internal bleeding. They will keep you here a couple more days to make sure you’re out of trouble, but overall, you were more than lucky.” She shook her head and took my hand. “How did this happen? The driver claims you started crossing the street without even paying attention to any oncoming vehicles.”
“They’re right. I... I was too upset and I didn’t even see the car...”
Her eyebrows furrowed with disapproval. “Aidan mentioned that you two had a fight.”
I looked away, my insides churning. “I don’t want to talk about him.”
“Cat, don’t run away from that. Don’t run away from him.”
“Please, Elle. He’s messed up and he’s clearly not interested in anything serious with me, so I’m tired of making the same, foolish mistakes.”
She didn’t speak immediately, looking like she was contemplating about whether she should tell me what was on her mind or not. “You know,” she began, “Aidan told me what happened last night... I don’t think you should take him seriously. He’s just confused because he loves you, but he doesn’t know how to express it in the right way.”
I snorted, which brought a new wave of pain. “Love me? That’s a good one. He doesn’t love me, Elle. He doesn’t even know if he wants to be with me—”
“Of course, he loves you. You didn’t even see the way he looked last night. He was terrified of losing you. I’d never seen him like that, not even after Alicia’s death.”
I flinched, confused by her admission. “It can’t be. Besides, Alicia was special. I couldn’t even compare to her.”
“And you shouldn’t compare yourself to her. While I truly believed that the two of them were meant for each other, we can’t just ignore the fact that you always occupied some part of his heart. You were always there, honey. He just needed time to realize that.”
“What do you want to say?”
“I want to say that this is your chance to finally let yourselves love each other. You both have suppressed it for so long—both denying your feelings. Alicia’s death was horrible, but they were never meant to be. If they were, she would be here now. You, however, are here, so you two should stop acting like children and accept your feelings.”
I looked away and crossed my arms, wincing when the action brought me a flash of pain. “Still, if he loves me, why isn’t he here?”
“Oh for Christ’s sake, Cat! Don’t act like a child! He spent the entire
night next to you, and he didn’t want to be separated from you even once. I barely managed to make him go home and take a quick shower before you woke up. He didn’t sleep a wink because he was really worried about you. Give him some credit.”
My heart contracted painfully at the thought of Aidan being next to me all the time. I wondered where we stood at the moment. I’d told him I loved him, but that didn’t end well at all, and now I felt discouraged. Unless he said he loved me too, I wasn’t sure I was able to say those words that easily again.
“Please, just try. Okay? I talked to him about this a few hours ago, and he admitted that I was right and that he wanted to be with you. You two are meant for each other, which I told you from the start, remember?”
I returned her smile, recalling the moment when Elle declared that Aidan and I were going to be husband and wife one day. She’d thought we were perfect for each other, completely sure that one day we would find a way to be together.
“So you think it would be best to get over our issues and start from zero?”
“Exactly. You two are so good for each other, and you don’t even see it because you’re so focused on negative things only.”
“You’ve always been such a philosopher, Elle,” I joked. “Always the calm and forgiving one.”
“Well, someone has to be smarter than you two, children.”
The moment we burst into laughter, the door opened and Aidan entered. I froze, unusually anxious about his reaction after the last night.
He was clean-shaven and in a new suit, looking as gorgeous as ever. If Elle hadn’t told me that he hadn’t slept at all last night, I would never have guessed it, since his face didn’t reveal anything. It was unfair, indeed, because I didn’t have such good genes at all. Not even a ton of makeup saved me from my “sleepless night” look, let alone my clear face.
“Hey,” he said and approached my bed, and the tension in the room skyrocketed at once.
Elle looked between us and retreated toward the door, realizing we needed some privacy. “I’ll be outside so you can talk. Okay?”
I barely even looked at her as I nodded, returning Aidan’s intense stare. She went out and closed the door, the shutting clicks the only sound that could be heard for a while.
9
“Well, say something,” I told him after a minute of shared silence, having grown uncomfortable under his piercing stare.
Now that he was closer to me, I could see some deep sadness in his eyes that I had never seen before when he spoke, and my heart sped up because he was this worried about me.
“I’m okay—” I started, but then he came closer and kissed me, making me forget about everything for a couple of blissful moments.
When we separated, I was left breathless, bewildered that he was able to make me lust after him even in my current condition. It had always been easy for him to make me feel all kinds of emotions.
“I thought I’d lost you,” he muttered and hugged me, careful not to hurt me because of my injuries.
“Oh.” His admission surprised me, and I actually needed a few of seconds to think of a proper answer. I remembered what he’d said—about not actually being able to know if I would die tomorrow or not—and I felt so horrible for him. “I’m okay, so you don’t need to worry about me anymore.”
“I’ll always worry about you.” He sat next to me on the bed and caught my hands, never taking his eyes from mine. “I was so scared when I saw you on that street—so motionless. So pale. There was a lot of blood, and for a moment I thought that was it... Just like Alicia.” Oh, my God.
He closed his eyes, and I finally noticed the lines of worry that had settled on his face. He looked tormented, and I hated seeing him like this because of me. Now I understood how hard this must have been for him, especially after what he’d experienced with Alicia.
“It’s okay, Aidan. Look at me.” He opened his eyes and I offered him a soothing smile. “I’m fine, and nothing bad will happen to me. I’m not going anywhere.” I exhaled a long sigh, annoyed with myself for making the people I cared about worry about me. “I was careless when I crossed that street, but I’ll make sure I don’t make that mistake ever again. I’m sorry for making you worry. I also want to thank you because you reacted immediately and called the ambulance.”
His hand was cold when he cupped my cheek, and I leaned into it, needing his touch. “You don’t even have to thank me. And don’t blame yourself. If anyone is to blame it’s me. I was the one who acted like a coward. If I hadn’t said those words—”
“Don’t do that. Don’t blame yourself. You’ve been doing that to yourself enough.” I decided to tell him exactly what was on my mind. “Just like this accident wasn’t your fault because no matter what, I should have been more careful, Alicia’s death also wasn’t your fault. So you have to learn to forgive yourself. She was a grown-up person who made choices for herself, and her choice was to be there in that moment. You couldn’t force her to do something she didn’t want to, so you have to respect her choice.”
He pinched his eyebrows together, glancing away. “It’s so hard. I used to blame myself for so long that I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to get over it.”
I cupped his chin and pulled him gently to look at me. “I’ll help you with it. I’ll try to ease your pain and make you happy.”
The next thing I knew, I was being pulled into a hug, his beautiful scent engulfing me. “You have no idea how much you mean to me, Catherine, do you?” he muttered into my hair, letting his hands roam all over my back. “I feel like we’ve been chasing each other around these days, but it’s so wrong. I don’t want to run away from you. I could’ve lost you too so easily, and I realized I was a complete fool.”
He palmed my cheeks and leaned his forehead against mine. Our warm breath mixed, our hearts beating as one. “I love you, Catherine. I love you so much, and if you let me, I would like to make you the happiest girl alive.”
I felt as if my heart had just stopped working, and I needed a few moments to find the right words. Happiness permeated me, erasing all the bad stuff that happened between us and leaving fertile ground for more beautiful moments like this. I’d never felt this way before, and it was like gold. He made me feel special and amazing.
“Oh, Aidan.” I grabbed his head and kissed him, trying to show him the scope of my feelings through our kiss. “I love you too. I love you so much, you silly man.”
“So will you be with me? Will you be my partner in love?”
“Of course, I will. I need you.”
“I need you too, beautiful.”
He pulled me in for another kiss, and I almost completely forgot we were in the hospital, my fingers itching to undress him and touch his skin. Our hands explored each others’ bodies as our kiss grew more heated, and I became seriously horny, feeling nothing but this burning need to have him deep inside of me.
Just as Aidan started kissing my neck, I heard giggles coming from the door, breaking the spell that had held us together.
“What the—”
Aidan and I separated from each other and looked at the intruder, both bewildered when we spotted Elle with her smartphone aimed at us. She was grinning like a lunatic.
“This is amazing!”
“What are you doing?” Aidan asked her.
“I’m filming you two! I’m going to put this on YouTube and make it viral!”
Aidan’s face was completely stone-faced as he glared at her. “Stop filming and cut that video.”
“Oh don’t be so serious, bro,” she cooed at him. “Come on—smile for the camera!”
He stood up and lunged at her, but she easily evaded him, darting to the other side of the room with a huge smile on her face. I was laughing, amused by this whole situation.
“Leave her be, Aidan. She got her Christmas present earlier.”
Elle put her phone back into her purse and grinned at us. “That mouth-to-mouth action was hot. Even though we’re in the hospital, you t
wo totally nailed that kiss!”
Aidan let out an exasperated sigh. “You’re gross, Elle. I don’t want to hear my sister talking about my kissing. You’re just jealous because you’re all alone and will die surrounded by cats.”
“Ha! You wish! I have my fair share of boyfriends, thank you very much.” She sat on the chair next to my bed. “On a serious note, I’m glad you two managed to deal with your issues. You’re too perfect for each other, but both of you can be blind sometimes and miss some obvious things.”
Aidan rolled his eyes and sat back next to me. “Okay, Cupid. You know, you should change your profession. You should open a matchmaking agency or something like that.”
Elle and I burst into laughter, and Aidan followed soon. I felt warm. I felt warmer than ever before, and as I looked at Aidan and Elle, I concluded that I’d come back home. They were my second family, the people who made me the happiest, and it was all that I’d ever needed.
Aidan met my gaze, and his smile told me he knew exactly what I was thinking about. No matter what, we were going to come out of this stronger than ever, because I was always his, and he was forever mine. That’s how it was supposed to be.
Epilogue
“I’m so excited for you!” Elle said and clapped her hands, excited about my dinner with Aidan even more than I was. I was expecting her to start jumping and squealing like a kid because all she did for the last half hour as I applied my makeup was babble on about how cute Aidan and I were together.
We’d been together for a week, which had been the best of my life. I had left the hospital five days earlier, and I felt so much better. Aidan had made sure I had everything I needed, taking care of me like an overprotective parent. He’d even stopped going to the office for me, and I barely managed to convince him to go to work today, assuring him I was fine and wasn’t going to fall apart just because he wasn’t next to me 24/7.
Always You: A Billionaire Second Chance Romance Page 7