Is this destiny?

Aiden carried Sarah to the bathroom, and they got in the shower together.

Her legs were shaky, so she clung onto him. He enjoyed the fact that she is in such a state because of him.

Aiden lathered her body gently, making sure no spot is left neglected before rinsing her carefully. He placed her in the tub full of warm water and bubbles and gave her a lingering kiss before going to shower himself.

Aiden got in the tub behind Sarah and pulled her to lean on him.

Sarah enjoyed feeling of his chest on her back. His arms covered hers and their fingers intertwined. \'Perfect\', she thought.

"Why eight?", she asked suddenly.

"Eight what?"

"Eight bedrooms, eight chairs in media room, eight chairs at the dining table, eight barstools at the poolside bar…", Sarah explained.

Aiden smiled. "You don\'t miss things…"

"I like to count, and sometimes I notice patterns."

Aiden took his time before responding. "Some time ago, I thought I had seven friends. When I started on this, my intention was to make a hangout place for us. Before this place was done, we were not friends. The end."

He did his best to sound detached, but that only told Sarah that it was something unpleasant to talk about.

"Oh…" Sarah was not sure how to respond to this. She had more than plenty of broken friendships. It\'s never easy to go through that.

Sarah was surprised that he said more: "You met two of them at Jeff\'s birthday party."

Sarah craned her neck to look at him, showing that she does not understand and needs more information.

"Do you remember Noah and Liam?", Aiden asked.

Sarah\'s brow furrowed when she remembered two guys who were hitting on Isabella and her, and they were not polite about it… it seems that there was some history behind that behavior. Sarah nodded in confirmation that she remembers. She forgot that she beat them up.

When she thinks about Noah and Liam, they were unpleasant toward Aiden and her, she can\'t imagine that they were on good terms previously. It seems that whatever happened between them was not a small thing. "I\'m sorry."

"Don\'t be… It\'s not like I was the only one at a loss." He didn\'t want her to feel sorry for him. He does not deserve it.

Aiden saw Sarah looking at him questionably for a second before she gave up and turned away, leaning her back on him.

Sarah wanted to know what happened, but then decided not to probe into the topic. It\'s probably an unpleasant memory for him regardless if he was the victim or not. And no matter what happened, it does not concern her. It\'s in the past. If he wants to talk about it, he will.

"Sarah, I\'m not a good guy… You had your share of trials, and you stayed true to yourself. As for me… I gave in to my demons."

Aiden sees her as someone who is so good that nothing can corrupt her. Everyone she touches can\'t help but look her way with an urge to improve themselves. And he is happy that she is by his side. He believes that her light made him change his ways.

Sarah knows how it is when you are in a dark place, everyone faces challenges through life. She also knows that she is lucky to have a loving family who was by her side all the time, supporting her and helping to fight off whatever came her way.

When she looks at Aiden, she can tell that he is not close to his family how she is with hers, and he tends to keep his thoughts and feelings bottled up. And that can only put him into a situation that even if someone is willing to help him out, they don\'t know that he is in a need of help.

When she thinks that he was in a need of someone to listen, to help out, and he was all alone with no one to turn to, makes her heart ache.

"That does not make you a bad guy. That only means that you were by yourself. But now you have me."

Her words made his heart swell. He thought how it\'s astonishing that someone like Sarah can love him.

Sarah observed his expression and can tell that he is troubled. It seems that whatever happened in the past is haunting him. She can only hope that her words give him some comfort and that he knows that he is not alone anymore.

"You can\'t change the past. Think of it as something that made you who you are now. And right now, I love you, and we are together. See the ring?" She lifted her left arm, showing the engagement ring. "The present is biggest, because it\'s the only thing that counts."

Aiden knows that she is not aware of his past, but her words made him feel that she accepts him unconditionally. It was a good feeling. "Thank you." He wrapped his arms around Sarah and rested his forehead on hers.

Sarah enjoyed his hug. His arms are firm and gentle and make her feel safe.

She tilted her head and kissed him. And he kissed her back.

His hug tightened as his lips moved to her neck and it felt so good that her fingers gripped his back, pulling him closer.

Aiden let out a low humming sound. "It seems your energy is back."

Sarah\'s body shivered. She knows what his words mean, and she has no intention to deny it. His every kiss makes her more aware of the void in her lower abdomen, throbbing from desire to feel him.

He moved to the middle of the large tub; she was on his lap, lost in his kiss.

Sarah was not aware at what point her body turned and she got on her knees, gripping the edge of the tub. Her eyes were closed in anticipation as he tilted her hips making her feel more exposed.

She almost lost her grip when she felt his kiss followed by his tongue exploring between her folds.

And then all the sounds stopped, except for her breathing… all feelings stopped, except for the one at the cradle of her thighs… all other senses shut down one by one before everything exploded.

Sarah was back in his lap.

"Do you need a minute?", his hot breath swept into her ear.

And she was back on her knees, gripping edge of the tub… Her gasps mixed with his grunts as he took her from behind.

…

"How was that?", Aiden asked as he caressed Sarah\'s cheek while laying next to her in the bed.

"Are you fishing for compliments?", Sarah looked at that devilish smile of his which told her that he knows how THAT was. But he still wants to hear her say it.

"Will you give me one?", he shamelessly persisted.

She smiled and laced her fingers in his hair while giving him a long kiss. "It was amazing…", Sarah whispered and kissed him again.

Aiden let out a low humming sound of approval and cradled her in his arms. He took a deep breath, inhaling her scent and kissed her neck. "Mine…", he murmured.

…

"Let me know when you want to eat. I will get food here… or do you want to eat downstairs?", Aiden didn\'t want to get out of the bed, but time to eat passed long ago and he knows that Sarah must be hungry as well.

"I could eat. Here is perfect." Sarah didn\'t want to get out of the bed either. "Don\'t forget the ice cream…", her voice trailed off when she saw his mischievous smile.

"To eat!", she exclaimed when she remembered what he did with the ice cream in the gazebo. He never admitted it, but she knows that he dripped ice cream in her cleavage on purpose.

He didn\'t respond, but his smile became more mischievous somehow. He walked out to the living area.

"We are leaving in the morning… what do you want to do until then?", Aiden asked when he returned to bed a minute later.

Sarah hugged him and pulled him down on the bed. She rested her head on his shoulder. "Here is perfect… next to my fiancé."

She didn\'t want to do anything other than cuddle with him.

Aiden smiled and held her tightly.. He was happy.