Chapter 101 - Pinch me

Aiden and Sarah are holding each other on the beach. The weather is perfect. It's a warm sunny day, but not too hot. The sand below them is soft and warm, and sky is clear, without a single cloud. With tall rock formation providing privacy, they feel like the only people in the world.

Sarah's eyes are closed. She is listening to Aiden's heartbeat mixed with the sound of waves and enjoying the moment while her fingers are slowly tracing the outlines of his abdominal muscles. Her Greek God. 'Really… can he be any more handsome?'

She took a deep breath and returned to her thoughts how this is... perfect. Since two of them got together, there were numerous perfect moments. Sarah smiled as she tried recollecting them. She can't believe that one man can make her world expand so much and at the same time everything is connected only to him.

Aiden enjoys holding Sarah while her head rests on his chest. He observed that Sarah thought about everything. She didn't pack only food and drinks, but also towels, large picnic blanket as well as change of clothes. Aiden ran his fingers through Sarah's damp hair and thought how beautiful she is, and smart, and his. He smiled.

"What do you think?" Sarah's question pulled him out of his thoughts.

"About?" His left eyebrow was raised while asking clarification.

Sarah cleared her throat. "This place…"

"It's unique… I like it."

Sarah smiled. "I'm glad you do. Now that you saw it, maybe you get more ideas what to build here? I would like to get most of the construction done before we move in."

"Hmm…" Aiden pursed his lips. "… a beach house."

"Yes. The whole house is a beach house."

"Not that… a smaller one. Right there." He pointed where beach begins. "With a large open space where we can eat and relax right next to the ocean."

Sarah looked in the direction where he pointed and thought for some time. "Sounds great!" She showed a big smile and hugged him tightly. "Pinch me."

"Why?" Aiden never understood unreasonable requests. And he didn't like the idea of hurting her, so that was an unreasonable request.

"Life right now is perfect, and I'm afraid that I will wake up and realize that it's not real."

He chuckled. "If that is the case, why do you want me to pinch you? What will you do if this is not real?"

Sarah sulked. "A normal person would just pinch me and not put me into an existential crisis."

He laughed thinking how Sarah is unreasonable and brilliant at the same time. "If I'm normal, you would not look at me."

Sarah lifted her head and looked at him with a complex expression.

Aiden observed Sarah's beautiful face which didn't get any uglier because of her light frown. He gently pressed his index finger between her eyebrows. "What are you thinking now?"

"What if we didn't end up together?" She was troubled. If she didn't take on his project, if he was not persistent to be close to her, if she didn't hug him that evening, if he didn't come to the Christmas company party, if the snow storm didn't happen… if she didn't get an apartment in Fairfield… if she didn't fight with her father… so many things happened seemingly unrelated, coincidental, for two of them to end together where they are now. Right now. On this beach. If any of those things didn't happen, would they be here, now, together? She found this uncertainty unsettling.

He shook his head. "Not possible."

"How come?" His answer and confidence made her feel better, but she needed more.

Aiden's eyes locked onto Sarah's, as if he understood the worries in the depth of her heart. His gaze told her to trust him. That he will not betray her. That he will do everything in his power to protect what they have.

He undid ties of her bikini in an unrushed manner with his slender fingers while speaking slowly... deliberately making large gaps between words. "Because this, us, is destiny. Remember? No matter what we do, we will be together. And there is nothing, absolutely nothing, anyone can do to keep us apart."

Sarah was not able to look away from his dark eyes. She was spellbound. And his every word reached her heart and redefined her existence. Everything about him felt right. Being with him felt right.

Later, whenever she remembered that afternoon on the beach, one word showed up in her mind: perfect. Blue water meeting with white sand, surrounded with dark rocks and a greenbelt. Sound of waves mixed with their moans. Feeling his skin on hers while satisfying their need to be one over and over again. She fell in love with that beach the moment she saw it few years ago, and now that she shared it with Aiden, she fell in love with it all over again.

...

They reached their apartment in LA late in the evening. Tired, but very happy how the day went. It was a day that both of them will remember for a long time. That day marked beginning of a new chapter in their lives. The day when they committed to build their house, on that lot with a white beach in front and a cave below.

Next morning Sarah and Aiden of them went for a walk after breakfast and ended up spending time in a park.

"Ah, I find all this so nice, that I don't wish to go back." Sarah loves the weather. Everything around her screams: sunny and relaxing.

"We can stay longer." He was happy to indulge whatever desires she has.

Sarah shook her head. "Vivian is back on campus, and there are projects to be done, and any more of this weather and I will not want to leave. Ever. It's difficult to focus on anything productive, my brain thinks that I'm on a vacation."

Aiden checked time on his phone. "If we are leaving today, we should head back now so that we have enough time to pack."

Sarah was suspicious. "Really? I thought we still have time. It's early."

He flashed a mischievous smile and looked at her suggestively.

"Oh..." Sarah realized what he meant, and blushed. "Let's go back...".

He laughed. "I'm amazed that you are still blushing so easily."

Sarah's cheeks got deeper pink color.

Aiden kissed both of her cheeks and whispered in her mouth just before kissing her. "I like that. Don't change."

...

Sarah and Aiden are in the bed, breathing heavily after a vigorous activity. Sarah is getting out of the bed while complaining. "Time to shower, or we will be late. Seriously, when you go for my neck, I lose all senses..."

Aiden pulled her back into the bed. "Only neck?"

She let out surprised yelp when he pulled her back on the bed without a warning.

He lifted her arms above head and kissed her on the side, next to her left breast.

She shivered, and heard him ask: "How about here?".

He didn't wait for a reply. He kissed just below her navel.

She felt his tongue move over her skin before he sucked lightly. Her whole body twitched.

"And here?" He lowered himself and kissed inside of her right thigh. "Here?" He looked at her face.

Sarah's eyes were closed and she was biting her lower lip in expectation what he will do next.

Aiden made Sarah roll over on her belly and kissed middle of her back. His lips traced down her spine. "Here?"

She felt his breath caress the bottom of her back.

His hot palms were holding top of her thighs firmly, Sarah could feel his thumbs close, very close to cradle of her thigs and she wished that he moves his hands just a big higher.

"It's time for shower." His voice snapped her out of her daze.

Sarah lifted her head out of the pillows and looked at him in disbelief. "Huh? You are stopping now?!"

"Shower, or we will be late.", he teased her. His devilish smile enchanted her.

Sarah cleared her throat. "I think that we still have some time."

Aiden lowered his head and his kisses went up her spine slowly. He enjoyed listening to all the sounds she made. When his lips approached her neck area, he lifted her hips slightly and took her from behind.

They missed their flight.