SIX MONTHS LATER….

Kate looked down at her vibrating mobile with a frown. Why would her secretary pass her any calls when she had given her strict instructions not to disturb her while she was in the middle of an important audit?

Staring at the unknown number, she swiped the screen to take the call feeling annoyed that she had to write everything down so as not to forget what she had been doing.

“Mary? What is it?” she snapped busy in writing down her figures.

“Sorry Kate. This is important,” her secretary told her and before she had time to protest, the latter put the call through.

“Kate?” greeted the familiar voice she had been dying to hear all weekend but instead of feeling happy she got even more irritated. It had been more than six months now since she had seen him and she had fought everyday with him to weaken his resolve. But Aidan had been stubbornly sticking to the stupid promise he had made to her father. Not even once had he relented and met her secretly and it was a punishment she had not deserved.

“What do you want?” she sneered her voice coming out even harder than she had intended. But she was beyond caring. It was always the subject of their conversation; when would they meet? And Aidan seemed to pacify her each time with a new tactic without however giving in to her pleas.

“Ooooh, somebody’s angry,” drawled the voice at the other end and Kate was so exasperated that she wanted to cut off the call. “How are you? I have missed you too,” Aidan mocked her.

“I’m alive,” she retorted hotly. “And thanks for bothering to call me back. Where the hell have you been all weekend? I was phoning you like mad. Even Meredith had no idea where you were,” she said angrily straightening to take the phone she had been holding with her shoulder as she had finished noting down her figures.

“I’m in Italy on a business trip. I’m sorry I had no time to call you on Friday to warn you that I would not be available. You know how things can get hectic in the office,” he told her and Kate had to hyperventilate not to react. Yes! She knew. But they were already not seeing each other and the least he could do was find some time to at least phone her.

But if she protested once more, they would pick up a fight and end up not talking to each other for another week. And she did not want that. She had missed him too much and wanted to spend a few moments with him on the phone before getting back to work.

“Where are you now?” he asked her and so she curbed her anger to tell him that she was in Manhattan itself.

Her mood was back to normal; normal was happy nowadays as she was looking forward to seeing him in another month. It had been 182 days and counting since she had last seen him and her love had not changed one bit. Which was normal; if it hadn’t changed in seven years, it was hard for it to change for seven months.

Aidan always had the ability to lift up her mood even when she was in her worse condition and as she disconnected the phone, she smiled to herself foul mood evaporated. Humming to herself, she continued with her auditing and noted down her figures in rough. She would have to derive a report afterwards and it was better to note them down.

As she got out of the office, she jumped into her car to drive back to the main office. As soon as she reached, her father was waiting for her at the reception with a worried frown on his face.

“Kate? Aren’t you at the airport yet?” he asked her sounding in a hurry.

Kate frowned back. “No. Why? What happened?”

“There has been a fire in the New York branch. We have to leave immediately,” he told her and before Kate could ask him anything, he dialed a number and seemed to talk to someone in an urgent tone.

Finally, grasping the emergency of the situation, she called her secretary for more details and went directly home to pack a few things. Thankfully, the housekeeper had her bag already packed at Caitlin’s instructions and she left for the airport almost immediately. It was going to be a hectic week as she would have to assess the loss closely. Damn!

Lost in her thoughts, she tried to phone several contacts in New York but no one was attending her call. No wonder. They must be busy trying to calm down after the fire. From what she had gathered from Mary, it was pretty serious. Her father had texted her to inform her that he would join her in the afternoon as soon as he wrapped up some work in the main office.

As she got down the New York airport, she caught sight of a familiar figure and her heart missed a beat. Could it be Aidan? No, silly! He was in Italy. Her lovesick imagination was playing games on her as she was so dying to see him.

But when she got closer to the figure, there was no denying that it was Aidan indeed. Her heart almost burst with the emotion she felt on seeing his beloved face after such a long time. It took her much effort not to drop her luggage and run to him.

As she reached him, he was grinning widely and she forgot everything about work and jumped in his arms.

“Hey,” she greeted shyly feeling at a loss of words after seeing him after so many months.

“Hey yourself, pretty,” he greeted and kissed her lightly on the mouth. “Missed me?” he asked still grinning from ear to ear.

“Of course,” she said poking him gently in the chest. “It’s been so long and what a nice surprise. But weren’t you supposed to be in Italy?” she asked as an afterthought since her happiness was too huge for her to be able to think like a normal human being. “And how did you know I was coming?” she asked again after a few seconds trying to assimilate the situation.

Aidan laughed at her questions and kissed her promptly on the mouth once again and without replying, he dragged her from the airport towards the exit.

“Wait! Where are we going?” she asked trying to tug at his hold but he was too strong for her.

Five minutes later, she found herself in his limousine and before she had time to react, they were already heading for somewhere. “Wait, Aidan! I’m not here to meet you unfortunately. I’m here in business and…,” she was interrupted when his lips descended on hers and he took possession of them in a primitive way which had her wild with desire.

Feverish, she kissed him back with all she had kept inside and they finally broke apart for some air. Panting, she stared at him knowing she was wearing a lovesick expression and whatever she had been saying had disappeared out of her frivolous mind.

“I need you,” he said roughly and kissed her again passionately until her blood sizzled with desire and she felt the liquid at her core pool up and she had to squirm to retain herself. She was having a mini orgasm and she could hardly wait before getting out of the car to ravish him.

When they reached, she saw indistinctly that it was a lavish apartment but she was too much on fire to notice anything else. They were allowed inside and as they passed the security guards inside the car, she felt his hand caressing her knees, drawing circles and getting higher which was sending crazy signals there.

As soon as they entered the apartment, she jumped on him and tore his shirt. Thankfully, he didn’t stop her and she was all over him like some starved wolf. After a few kisses, she was more than ready for him and it was then that she suddenly remembered the purpose of her visit.

Standing up abruptly, she tried to arrange her clothes hurriedly and flung a hair in her disheveled hair. Damn her raging hormones. She was going to be in a fit when she reached office and she was already berating herself for having behaved in such an irresponsible way.

But she shivered when she felt him hug her from behind and placed his mouth near her nape. It sent goose bumps down her spine and she had to mentally slap herself not to react and lean against his body.

“Aidan, I have to go,” she muttered in a plaintive voice when he rained kisses down her neck sending more sensations throughout her body. Without replying, he unzipped her dress slowly and caressed her back still manipulating her with the damned circles he was drawing. It was like she was drugged with the feel of him.

“There’s no fire,” he mumbled as his lips followed his hands draining light kisses on her back and she had to lean forward to keep her jelly legs from giving away. Why the hell was he saying that there was no fire. There was such a flame inside her right now. She stopped thinking as he untied her bra and the dress fell in a pool around her feet along with the undergarment.

Still standing with her back to him, she whimpered as he reached from behind and lightly grazed both her nipples. Staggering, she leant against him her flimsy legs no longer able to support her weight. And in so doing, she gave him more access to cup her breasts which were already rigid with desire.

When she thought she would collapse at the sensations flowing through her, his hands went down to cup her core and as he caressed her, she felt her orgasm coming up. Just before she reached her peak, he turned her round and gently pushing her on the bed entered her with a thrust. And encountered the barrier of her virginity. He seemed to freeze at the obstacle but it was too late.

Slowly, he moved his shaft inside her little by little as if afraid he might hurt her and Kate was too excited to wait. With one thrust of her own, she lifted her hips and felt him inside her. He growled appreciatively and they rocked together on an age old dance to finally collapse into exhaustion after their respective orgasm.

Spent, she laid in his arms and suddenly she got his meaning. There was no fire! It meant that there was no fire in the office! Damn she had been so aroused that it had been hard for her to think clearly.

Standing up with the sheets to cover her naked body, she poked him less gently this time. “What do you mean there’s no fire?” she asked in fury.

Aidan looked at her with unfocused eyes. “Man! This was the best sex in my life,” he said roughly and pulled her down to him but she resisted him. “You were a virgin,” he said wearing the same lovesick expression she had worn some hours earlier.

“Aidan! You tricked me into coming here, didn’t you? And my whole family was in cahoots with you, right?” she asked not really upset but she had to know whether there was actually an emergency at the New York office.

He smiled. “Yes. When I phoned you, you were in such a bad mood that I phoned your father right after. And asked him the permission to bring you over here. In pretext to meet my mother. And boy he agreed! He told me that he honestly didn’t believe I would stick to my promise and it only proved how much I love you,” he drawled and when he pulled her this time Kate offered no resistance.

“Oh Aidan I love you too,” she sighed glad that there was no work and she could actually be with Aidan for the rest of the day.

Following her line of thoughts, Aidan informed her that she could stay here for a week as her father had already asked someone to finish her audit she had started that morning. Happy, she snuggled in his arms feeling like she was luckiest girl on earth.

“Now it’s time for you to become Mrs. Katherine Aidan Waldorf forever,” he said with a tender kiss and she liked the sound of that.