The Proposition

by Katie Ashley

  Since Megan had been thrilled by the prospect of Emma baby-sitting, she couldn’t imagine that she would have changed her mind. When Emma peeked through the blinds, her heart leapt into her throat.

  It was Aidan.

  What was he doing here? When she had talked to him the night before, he had told her it would be another week before he came home. Glancing down at her faded Scooby Doo pajama bottoms and ratty tank top, she shook her head. There was no time to try and make herself more presentable. Of course, explaining Mason’s presence was going to be a little more difficult.

  She threw open the front door. Beau scurried out into the night, yapping and wagging his tail. He mowed into Aidan and almost knocked him down as Emma hurried out onto the porch. “Hey! What are you doing here?”

  Aidan scratched a wiggling Beau. “My last few meetings got rescheduled for next week. I hopped the first plane home, so I could surprise you.”

  Swaying on her feet, Emma fought to catch her breath. He had actually done something spontaneously romantic? “Aw, that’s sweet. It’s a very nice surprise.”

  Abandoning Beau, he closed the gap between them. “I also wanted to come straight over here to see if you had given anymore thought to us having more.”

  “I have.”

  Aidan’s brows furrowed. “And?”

  “The answer is yes,” she replied with a smile.

  Aidan’s expression turned over like a switch from apprehension to happiness. “I’m so glad to hear that. I’ve been thinking about it the whole time I was gone.”

  “So have I.”

  “Most of all, I wanted things resolved before I have to go back to DC.”

  “When do you leave again?”

  “Tuesday.” Emma’s chest tightened at the prospect.

  Aidan’s hungry eyes roamed over her, and he grinned. “Barefoot and pregnant, huh? Now all I need is you to go in the kitchen and fix me some dinner.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I would have cooked you something if I knew you were coming. The best I’ve got is the left-over pizza I ordered in tonight.”

  He pulled her to him, crisscrossing his arms around her waist. “I’ll forget all about dinner if you’ll come inside and give me a real homecoming,” he teased, licking a moist trail up her neck.

  She shivered with her building need, but then shook her head. “Um, I don’t think that’s going to be possible.”

  “Why not?”

  “I have company.”

  Aidan’s arms tensed around her. He jerked his head back to stare at her with a puzzled expression. “You have a guy with you?”

  She nodded. “A very handsome one, too.”

  His jaw tensed. “But you just said…you just agreed to having more with me.”

  She bit her lip to keep from grinning at his outrage. “I know. But he was here before I knew how you felt. And I have to admit, there’s just something about this guy I can’t resist.”

  Without another word, he slung out of her embrace and barreled in the doorway. “Wait, Aidan, I’m—”

  He ignored her and busted through the foyer. Hot on his heels, she tried to catch him before he started yelling and screaming for the imaginary guy to get the hell out of there, least of all before he woke up Mason. She watched as he skidded to a stop and froze in front of the Pack N Play where Mason slept.

  He whirled around. “Mason. You mean I just got all worked up over a baby?”

  She giggled. “Yes.”

  Aidan exhaled in a wheeze, and he bent over to rest his elbows on his knees. “I can’t believe you just did that to me! I was expecting to have to throw some dude out of here.”

  “Oh, just what every girl wants—a possessive, raging Knight in Shining Armor.”

  He scowled at her and swept one of his hands to his chest. “No, shit, I think I’m having a heart attack or something.”

  Emma walked over to him and pressed her hand over his heart. “Aw, poor baby, want me to kiss it and make it better?”

  He poked out his bottom lip and gave her a puppy-dog face until she leaned in and kissed his heart over his shirt. “Thank you.” He cast a glance over his shoulder at Mason. “So what exactly is he doing here?”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed against him. “What can I say? I have a thing for the men of the Fitzgerald family.”

  The corners of Aidan’s lips turned up in a slight smirk at her statement. “Is that right?”

  “That and Megan’s overwhelmed with exams right now, so I offered to keep him to let her get some uninterrupted work done. Plus it’s good practice for me.”

  “Wait, so he’s spending the night?”

  “Yep.” She leaned up to teasingly nip his lips with her tongue. “But he’s sleeping in the Pack N Play, and you get to be in the bed. With me.”

  “Hmm, I like that scenario.” He kissed her hungrily while guiding her back towards the couch.

  “Whoa, wait a minute. I didn’t mean for us to get started now,” she murmured against his lips.

  “When is there a better time?”

  Emma let him push her down onto the cushions. “We really should wait until Mason goes down for the night. He’s going to need a bottle and a bath.”

  “He’s fine.” He eased himself on top of her, still careful not to bear too much weight on her. While one hand delved under her tank top, the other went for the waistband of her pajama bottoms and then stopped. “Damn, are these Scooby Doo?”

  She giggled. “I wasn’t expecting company, and I have a slight obsession from growing up with the old cartoon.”

  “They almost killed my hard-on.”

  She slid her hand between them and then quirked her eyebrows. “Seems fine to me.”

  “Hmm, keep doing that, and I think it’ll be more than fine.”

  She kept rubbing him through his pants while he licked a hot trail down her neck to her breastbone. As he lowered the straps on her tank top to bare her breasts, a shriek came from the other side of the room. For a minute it didn’t register with her, but then Mason started wailing loudly. She immediately broke their kiss and jerked her hand off his cock. “Stop…baby,” she panted.

  “No, it feels so good,” he murmured against her collarbone.

  Emma rolled her eyes and smacked his chest. “Aidan, are you deaf? Mason’s crying.”

  “Oh shit.” With an agonized groan, Aidan pulled away from her. She slid out from under him and hurried over to the Pack N Play. Mason held his arms out to her as giant tears slid down his cheeks. “Aw, shh, it’s okay, sweet boy,” she said, scooping him up. His cries quieted a little when he was in her arms. “What’s the matter angel? Are you hungry?”

  Emma kissed Mason’s cheek and rubbed wide circles over his back while he grinned at Aidan over her shoulder.

  “What a little cock-blocker,” Aidan grumbled.

  Emma gasped and whirled around. “What did you just call him?”

  “A cock-blocker, which is exactly what he is at the moment.”

  Mason screeched a cry, and Emma hugged him tighter. “Don’t listen to Uncle Aidan, sweetheart. He didn’t mean it.”

  Aidan motioned to Mason. “Look at him. He’s perfectly fine as long as you’re holding him.”

  She shook her head. “You’re a complete and total asshole.”

  “You shouldn’t cuss in front of the baby,” he chided with a grin.

  Emma widened her eyes. With a huff, she walked over to Aidan. “It’s almost time for him to eat. Hold him while I go fix his bottle.”

  Surprisingly Aidan didn’t protest when Emma thrust Mason into his arms. Mason immediately stopped snubbing and stared wide-eyed at Aidan. “Yeah, that’s right. You’re stuck with me now, and I don’t have a nice rack for you to snuggle up to.”

  Emma smacked his arm. “Don’t you dare talk to him like that! He’s only a baby! Breasts are just food to him, pervert!”

  “Damn, Em, when did you get so violent?” he joked.

  Mason gave Aidan
a toothless grin when Emma stomped off. Aidan chuckled. “I guess she’s right, huh? But one day you’ll understand what it’s like to be left at half-mast by some chick.”

  “I heard that!” she called to him as she slammed the refrigerator door. After heating the formula, she returned to the living room just as Mason started to get fussy again. Aidan started to hand him back to her, but she shook her head. “Can you give it to him while I go run his bath?”

  He gave her a playful smirk. “And if I refused, does that mean I wouldn’t have any chance of getting back in your Scooby Doo pajamas tonight?”

  “I would say the odds would be slim to none.”

  Aidan took the bottle from her. “Guess it wouldn’t hurt for me to feed him. It’s been awhile since one of my sister’s forced me to do this, so I’m a little rusty. But you’re on your own for the diaper changing.”

  Emma swept her hands to her hips. “So let me get this straight. You’re basically only feeding Mason not to help me out, but to ensure you’ll get laid tonight?”

  “I consider it a win-win situation for both of us.” He gazed down at Mason who was sucking his bottle down. “And for him, too.”

  “Just when I think you’ve moved past being a sex-crazed asshole, you act like this.”

  Aidan cocked his eyebrows. “All my married friends have warned me about how bad your sex life takes a dive after you have kids. I guess you’re giving me an early warning, huh?”

  “You’re impossible!” She stalked off to her bedroom. After slipping inside the bathroom, she turned on the faucet and tested the temperature. Once it had filled up enough, she turned off the water and headed back into the living room. With Mason in the crook of one arm, Aidan flipped channels on the remote with the other.

  “Did you burp him?”

  He glanced away from the TV. “Huh?”

  She rolled her eyes and took the empty bottle from Aidan. “I’m gathering that you never had much to do with your nephews and nieces when they were babies?”

  “Not a whole lot. Why?”

  “Because once you give a baby a bottle, you have to burp them, or the gas will cause them pain.”

  “Fine, I’ll burp him.” Aidan brought Mason to his chest and swatted his back.

  “A little harder,” Emma instructed.

  After Aidan gave two quick pats, Mason burped loudly and then promptly spit-up all over his shoulder. “Jesus Christ!” Aidan cried, staring down in horror at his shirt.

  “Oh, calm down. It’s just a little spit-up.”

  “This is a hundred dollar shirt, Em.”

  “You act like he did it on purpose.” She handed him the box of wet wipes from the table and then picked Mason up. “While I’m giving him his bath, would you do me a favor and put the Pack N Play in my bedroom?”

  “Yeah, whatever.”

  “Thank you.”

  As she went down the hall, she heard Aidan grumbling to himself as he washed off his shirt. Once she got Mason bathed and into his pajamas, his eyes were heavy. Peeking out the bathroom door, she saw the Pack N Play set up and realized Aidan had done what she asked. That redeemed him a little in her eyes. She rocked Mason for a few minutes in the glider until she knew he was sound asleep.

  When she started out of the bedroom, she thought about Aidan’s sarcastic comment about babies and sex. She was still irritated with him for being selfish, but she didn’t want to turn him totally off the idea of marriage and children when things were going so well between them. Raging a war within herself, she finally let the devil on her shoulder win out, rather than the angel. After all, she loved being right, and she was going to prove Aidan wrong if it was the last thing she did.

  She tiptoed over to her dresser and opened the bottom drawer. Buried at the bottom under bras and panties was a black corset with spaghetti straps and garters that Casey made her buy for baby-making. She hadn’t ended up needing it. With its frilly black panties, it was definitely the most daring piece of lingerie she owned. Fortunately, she could get away with leaving the last few snaps unbuttoned for her expanding belly.

  “Yep, this will do the trick,” she whispered. Grabbing it, she hurried into the bathroom and changed. When she eyed herself in the mirror, she didn’t look like an expectant mother sporting a tiny baby bump. She looked like a full-fledged vixen.

  She padded down the hall. When she got into the kitchen, she could hear the high energy voice of a sports reporter echoing through the living room.

  “Mason’s asleep,” she announced.

  “He didn’t give you much trouble?” Aidan asked, never taking his eyes off the television.

  “No, he went to sleep like an angel.”

  “That’s good.”

  “Want a beer?”

  “Yeah. That’d be nice.”

  She got one out the fridge and walked slowly over to the couch. He didn’t even look her way when she handed it to him. He popped the top and took a swig.

  “What are you watching?”

  “The Braves game.”

  “You wanna play a game instead?” she asked coyly.

  He took another sip of beer before turning to look at her. As his gaze swept over her body, he spewed the liquid out of his mouth. “Jesus, Em, what the hell are you wearing?”

  She glanced down at her ensemble like it was the most normal thing she owned. “Just a surprise for you. Don’t you like it?”

  “Oh I like it.” Aidan licked his lips, his eyes lingering on the cleavage spilling out of the bustier. “It’s just I thought after I had acted like such a freaking prick, I was striking out in the sex department tonight.”

  “Well, I should give you a good spanking for being so bad earlier.”

  Aidan laughed. “I think I might enjoy that.”

  With a suggestive smile, she rose off of the couch. Aidan’s gaze widened at the sight of her garters and lacy thigh highs. She took a pillow off the couch and dropped it on the floor. Bending over him, her fingers went to the button of his pants. “I wanted to finish what we started earlier before we got interrupted, if that’s okay.”

  “That’s fine with me.”

  She slid his zipper down, and Aidan lifted his hips to allow her to pull his pants off. His erection strained against his underwear. Kneeling between his legs on the pillow, she ran her hands up and down the inside of his thighs, her fingernails scraping against his sensitive skin. “Please, Em,” Aidan murmured.

  Emma smiled sweetly at him as she pulled down the waistband of his underwear and freed his erection. Taking him in one hand, she licked a slow trail from root to tip. Her tongue flicked and swirled around the head. She suctioned just the head in her mouth and then released it. Aidan groaned. “Babe, don’t tease me. It’s been too long.”

  She continued her slow assault on him, feeling him grow larger with her ministrations. She blew air on his glistening tip, which caused a low growl from Aidan. When he started to protest again, she slid him into her mouth. Aidan gasped and bucked his hips, causing her to take him deeper. She slid him in and out, sucking hard on the rim of his head, while gripping him with her hand. Each time she did, he moaned in pleasure. “Oh Em, oh fuck!” She sped up the pace as his fingers tangled into her hair. “I’m going to come if you don’t stop,” he warned.

  But she wanted all of him so she just kept working her mouth over his cock, taking him deeper and deeper each time along with suctioning more pressure around him. Finally, he cried out, lifting his hips and bathing the inside of her mouth with him. She licked and sucked until he was dry, and when she gazed up at him, his eyes burned down on her. “God, that was good!”

  “I’m glad you liked it.”

  He bent over and pulled her onto his lap. Emma felt herself grow wetter as she straddled him. Aidan’s hands found their way to her breasts, lifting them out of her bustier. As he cupped them, he glanced up at her with a smirk. “I think I get the meaning of your little game now.”

  “My game?” she asked innocently.

&n
bsp; He nodded. “You wanted to prove to me that you can have a baby and still have a hot sex life.”

  She arched her eyebrows. “Oh, do you think that what I just did was really that hot?”

  Aidan rolled her nipples between his fingers, causing them to harden. “You wearing something this sexy and then sucking me off? Hell yes, that’s incredibly hot.”

  “I just wanted to welcome you home.” She rubbed herself over his slackened cock, bringing it back to life with several determined thrusts of her hips.

  “Em, you’re driving me wild,” Aidan murmured, his lips brushing against her breasts.

  “Take me to bed then,” she commanded.

  “With pleasure.” He gripped her by the hips and pushed her onto her feet. As he stood up, he dropped his underwear.

  “And hurry up and take off your shirt. It smells,” Emma instructed as she started to the bedroom. She swayed her hips provocatively to get his attention. She snickered when she heard the buttons popping on Aidan’s shirt and them scattering across the hardwood floor. Only he would ruin an expensive shirt for sex.

  She barely made it down the hall before he reached her side. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into his arms. His breath scorched against her cheek. “I’m going to make you come so hard you’ll scream my name.”

  Emma shivered in anticipation as she pressed herself against Aidan. “Shh, we’ll have to be quiet, or we’ll wake Mason,” she replied.

  Aidan snickered. “I didn’t expect an audience.”

  “Well, what do you suggest?”

  He glanced across the hall and then pulled her into the guest bedroom. He started to shut the door, but Emma shook her head. “I won’t be able to hear Mason.”