The Wedding
Chapter 1:
Hope could hardly believe she would be marrying Aiden the next day. The months leading up to the wedding had flown by. She was so in love with him. In fact, she was even more in love with him than she was when he had proposed to her, if that was possible.
She was meeting Aiden for dinner before their parties started. She didn't want to spend tonight without him, but it was tradition, so she had to. She knew that it would be the last night they'd ever have to spend apart unless he was away on business. Knowing this made the night without him bearable.
She arrived at the square, and Aiden was already there waiting for her at a table. When she got there, he stood up and kissed her.
"I can hardly wait to make you my wife tomorrow," he murmured against her ear.
She smiled. "And I can hardly wait to be your wife."
They kissed each other again, then Aiden held her chair out for her.
"Thank you," she said as she sat down and let him push her chair back in. "I'm marrying such a gentleman! Who says chivalry's dead?"
Aiden grinned and took his seat in front of her. "You are my queen. I shall treat you like nothing less."
She blushed. "You always say such sweet things to me."
Aiden took her hands in his from across the table. "They're all true. I love you, Hope. You're my everything."
"And you're mine. I love you so much!" Hope said.
They kissed across the table, then looked over their menus.
Five minutes later, they had ordered, and their conversation drifted to their bachelor and bachelorette parties.
"I don't know what Daniel, Rafe, Lucas, and Eric have planned for me, but why don't we both agree to a 'don't ask don't tell' deal? I won't ask you what went on at your bachelorette party, and you don't ask me what went on at my bachelor party." Aiden suggested.
Hope nodded. "I can agree to that. But no taking any strippers home or anywhere else for one last romp in the hay before you're a married man."
Aiden shook his head. "Hope, how can you even say that? You know I would never—" Aiden stopped himself when he saw the grin on Hope's face. "You're joking."
Hope rolled her eyes. "Obviously." Her gaze met his, and her expression became serious. "I know that doesn't even have to be said, right?"
Aiden nodded. "And the same goes for you. I don't want you taking any stripped home for one last hurrah before you're married either."
"Not a chance." Hope gently rubbed her foot up his leg from underneath the table. "Besides, why would I need another man to please me when you already have everything I could possibly need in a man?" She smiled suggestively at him.
Aiden blushed.
Hope laughed. "I've never seen you blush before!"
Aiden laughed too. "Well, now you have. People could overhear us, you know."
Hope shrugged, "Let them. I'm only stating what's true. I have everything I could ever want in a husband with you, and I can hardly wait to marry you."
"I feel the same way about you. You're everything I ever wanted in a woman. You're a dream come true," Aiden said, taking her hand and kissing it again.
Hope smiled. And you're mine.
Aiden smiled back at her.
They had enjoyed their dinner, and now they had to get back to their own places to prepare for their parties. They hadn't found a place together yet, but planned on finding one right after their honeymoon. For now, they had been living separately, but Hope would move into Aiden's place until they found a house. Bo would resume living in old house he shared with Hope whenever he was still in Salem.
"You know, I have the perfect idea. How about we live at the Salem Inn? The kids can have their own separate rooms a few floors down, and you and I can have our own room several floors above theirs," Aiden joked. He kissed Hope's neck.
Hope smiled. "Sounds Heavenly, and Ciara would certainly love having her own hotel room, but…" She laughed. "No. Just no."
Aiden laughed too. "I know, I know. Maybe one day once both kids are out of the house we can get our own place on the beach. A place that is just ours that we can go to get away from the craziness of Salem."
"Sounds like paradise," Hope said, wrapping her arms around him.
"Every day with you is paradise," Aiden replied.
They kissed.
After a few moments, they broke the kiss.
"All right, I really must go before Jennifer comes over and drags me away herself!" Hope joked.
Aiden sighed. "The next time we see each other, we'll be getting married."
"Yes, we will," Hope said with a smile.
They kissed again, then Hope left.
Aiden sighed content. "Man, I love that woman!" he said.
"I had a feeling you guys were going to bring me to the strip club!" Hope said as she, Kayla, Jennifer, Maggie, and Adrienne and Caroline all headed into the strip club.
"Come on! It's a rite of passage at a bachelorette party!" Adrienne said with a grin.
Hope grinned at her. "I suppose it is." Adrienne was going to be a bridesmaid as well. Hope didn't know how on earth she had forgotten about Adrienne, but luckily she had remembered her and invited her to be a bridesmaid before word had gotten out about hers and Aiden's engagement.
Since there were four in her party, Aiden had ended up inviting Lucas to be his forth groomsmen.
Caroline of course didn't want to be part of the wedding. Hope knew she wouldn't want to be that is why she hadn't asked her to be. However, Caroline did give her her blessing. She just felt like she would be betraying her son if she were in the wedding. Hope completely understood.
They found a table in the front.
"I hope they have a hot young blond with a tight butt!" Caroline said.
They all looked at her.
Kayla gasped. "Mother, that's gross!"
Caroline shrugged. "What? I may be old but it doesn't mean I don't still have my sex drive. Why should I have to settle for someone old just because I'm old? I need someone who still has the energy to get the job done!"
Hope, Adrienne, Jennifer, and Maggie all laughed. Kayla, however, looked like she was about to vomit.
"Ew! Mom, please don't talk like that in front of me!" Kayla whined.
"What? It's nothing you don't know about. Heck, how do you think you got here?" Caroline asked.
"Okay, Mom, please. I'm serious, stop. I'm gonna be sick," Kayla said.
Caroline shook her head. "All right, fine. But you best look away if a hot young blond gets on stage because things will get dirty!"
Kayla put her hand to her forehead. "Oh gosh."
Hope, Jennifer, Maggie, and Adrienne all laughed again.
A cocktail waiter came and they ordered their drinks. They made small talk until their drinks arrived. Then, once the waiter had gone, the lights dimmed, and the show began.
"Ladies, ladies, ladies, do I have a treat for you!" the MC announced. "First up is Frank the Fireman. Only this fireman doesn't put out fires, he starts them. His favorite hobby is setting all the ladies ablaze-in the very best way of course."
The whole room cheered.
"Now, are you ready for him to get you hot?" the MC asked.
The cheers were louder this time.
"All right, give it up for Frank the Fireman!"
A siren sounded, and out came Frank. The guy looked like he spent 8 hours a day at the gym. The way he worked the fire pole, Hope was sure he must. The guy looked like a typical beefcake to Hope His muscles were way too budging for her taste. She bet Aiden would look super sexy in the fireman's outfit though.
She licked her lips as she imagined the scene before her.
Aiden slowly walked toward her. "Do you have a fire that need's putting out?" he asked.
She placed her hands over his chest. He was wearing fireman's pants and suspenders, but no shirt. "I'd rather you added fuel to it," she murmured.
"Maybe I should stroke it," he murmured, his hands roaming down her body.
Hope smirked. "I believe the term is 'stoking' the fire."
"Not for me," Aiden, replied, licking his lips and undressing her with his eyes.
Hope smiled, and brushed her lips against his ear. "I think I'm gonna like you're way better."
"Oh, I guarantee you will," he murmured, picking her up and whisking her off to bed.
Hope sighed, and rested her chin in her hand and her elbow on the table. She wished she could be with Aiden right now.
Kayla gently nudged her. "Hope! You're not even looking! Look! It's about to get good."
Hope looked. Frank the Fireman had everything but his underwear off, but his fingertips were playing with the waistband of his fire engine red boxer briefs.
How appropriate, Hope thought with an eye roll. Fire engine red.
"Are you guys ready to see my big, beautiful hose?" Fireman Frank asked.
While everyone else screamed their approval, Hope burst out laughing.
"This is so stupid!" Hope said, unable to stop laughing.
Kayla, Maggie, Jennifer, Adrienne, and Caroline all looked at her as if she were crazy.
She shrugged. "Well, it is."
They shook their heads as her and went back to watching Frank the Fireman, who was only bluffing about showing his hose.
Disappointed cries could be heard all throughout the room, but Hope barely noticed as she went back to her Fireman Aiden daydream. After all, she still had a fire that needed stroking.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the street was the strip club for men, which was exactly where Aiden's groomsmen had decided to bring him.
"We got lucky! Tonight is Double D night!" Lucas said. "I got my dolla' bills ready."
"Yeah, well, I'm giving out twenties, so I'm going to get to see all the good stuff!" Daniel stated.
"Think again! I'm giving out hundreds!" Brady said with a smirk.
"No fair! Not everyone can afford to splurge like a Kiriakis," Rafe grumbled.
"I'll buy you each a private lap dance, but Aiden gets his first from any one he wants!" Brady said.
Aiden smiled weakly at him. They had run into Brady in the Square on their way here. He had asked where they were going, and they told him. Aiden had felt compelled to invite him. He was more than surprised when Brady said yes. They weren't on bad terms anymore, but they still weren't exactly the best of buddies. "Thanks." He didn't want to be rude, but he really didn't want a lap dance unless it was Hope that was giving it to him.
"I don't even think I should be here," Eric said.
"If you don't want one, I'll take yours too!" Lucas stated.
Rafe shook his head. "No, we should play scissors, paper, rock or something for it!"
Brady nodded at Eric. "You started having sex again. It's not like you're a saint anymore," he joked. "Have a little fun."
Eric shot him a look. "How do you even know that?"
"Nicole might have complained to me about you sleeping with, in her words, "that disgusting bitch, Serena.'" Brady replied.
Eric shook his head. "I should have known. If Serena hadn't left town, I swear she or Nicole would be dead, the other having killed her."
"Scissors, paper, rock!" Lucas, Daniel, and Rafe said together.
"I won!" Daniel said.
"Are you crazy?" Lucas asked, giving him the stink eye. "No way! Rafe and I both have paper. Paper covers rock!"
Daniel smiled smugly. "I'm such a big rock that you both tore trying to cover me."
"You're so full of it!" Rafe said.
"You lost," Lucas said to Daniel.
"It's all a matter of perspective," Daniel said.
"Yeah, the right perspective, like the actual rules of the game!" Rafe said.
Aiden tuned them out as he began to picture Hope giving him a lap dance he'd never forget.
She slowly began to sashay on a chair in front of him to Alannah Myles' "Black Velvet." She was wearing only a black lace bra and underwear. She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled, her legs straddling the chair in the way he wanted them to straddle him.
He moaned.
She held onto the back of the chair, and tilted herself all the way back until her hair touched the floor. He hadn't even known she could bend that far. Again, he moaned.
"Why don't you get off that chair and give me some attention instead?" he asked.
She smiled again, then effortlessly lifted herself into an upward position. Then, she swung her legs around to the front. She slowly stood up and slowly sashayed over to him. She began to undo his tie. "What can I do for you, Mr. Jennings?" she asked.
He sucked in a breath and slowly let it out. "Anything you would like to do," he managed to get out.
She got his tie undone and flung it to the side. She then began unbuttoning his shirt, kissing down his chest as she exposed the skin. "Are you sure? Because there are a lot of things I'd like to do to you. All good things of course. We could be here all night." She looked up at him, batting her long, sexy lashes. "Are you up for it?"
He pulled her close and ground himself up against her. "Oh, I'm definitely up for it!"
She grinned. "I can see that." She brushed her lips against his ear. "Or rather, I can feel it," she purred.
"So what are you going to do about it?" he asked.
"Oh, you're about to find out!" she said, backing him to the bed.
He moaned yet again, feeling like he was about to explode with want for her.
"Dude! Where'd you go? Your lap dance is here. I know we were going to let you pick, but she really wants to be the one to give the bachelor his lap dance!" Lucas said. He gently elbowed Aiden. "You lucky dog!"
Aiden snapped back to reality as a huge chested—bare chested—woman stood in front of him wearing nothing but something that looked more like hot pink dental floss than a hot pink thong.
"Do you want to touch them? You totally can. Not all of us girls are cool with it, but I am," she said. She was a beautiful girl with wavy blonde hair. Still, she was no Hope.
"No, thanks, but I'm sure any of them would love to. Well, minus that one maybe." Aiden nodded at Eric. He then turned to his groomsmen. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude, but I'm just not feeling this tonight."
"Feeling what? The strip club? Come on, Aiden, this is fun! It's what guys do at their bachelor parties!" Lucas said.
Aiden shook his head. "Yeah, well, not me. Not this time anyway. You guys can stay. I think I'm just going to go for a walk and then head home. I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow. Thank you all though. I appreciate the effort."
Lucas shrugged. "All the more for me!"
"I should go too," Eric said, standing up.
"No, you're staying," Brady said, pulling him back down.
Aiden didn't know why Brady was so adamant about Eric staying, but he wasn't about to stick around and be forced to stay too. He quickly took off, wishing he could see Hope. He knew how she felt about not seeing each other again until she was walking down the aisle, so he couldn't see her. Still, it didn't mean he could go back to his fantasy and see her there. He moaned as he headed out of the club and imagined Hope removing her black lace bra to the beat of "Black Velvet." And yes, he pleased.
Hope was looking down at her phone and didn't realize she was walking right into someone. "Oh! I'm sorry, I—"She looked up. "Aiden!"
"Hope!" he said in surprise. "What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be at your bachelorette party!"
Hope raised an eyebrow at him. "I might ask you the same thing. What about your bachelor party?"
Aiden winced. "There were strippers, and all I could think of is you. I wanted to be with you, not some stupid stripper."
"Oh my gosh!" Hope said.
"What? Too cheesy?" Aiden asked.
"If you're cheesy then so am I. I left mine for the same reason! The strippers were all so laughable and unappealing to me. While Caroline was screaming for the young blond life guard named Larry that she as drowning and needed mouth to mouth, all I could think of was getting mouth-to-mouth from you." She grinned, and pulled him closer by the waist.
Aiden smiled. "Mouth-to-mouth? I think I can manage that."
They kissed for a moment before Aiden broke the kiss. "Mm… Wait. Caroline was there at the strip club?"
Hope bit her lip and nodded. "She was the raunchiest woman in the room! Some of the things she called out made me blush. I refuse to even repeat them. It got so bad that Kayla had to get another drink."
Aiden laughed. "That's hysterical! I would have loved to have seen that!"
Hope shook her head. "No you wouldn't. It was quite disturbing, trust me."
"I'd rather kiss you anyway," Aiden said.
Hope grinned, and they kissed some more.
Aiden broke the kiss again. "Wanna take this back to my place?"
Hope moaned. "You have no idea how much I want to, but we can't. I know it is just a silly superstition, but I don't want to see you until—"
"You're walking down the aisle to me. I know," Aiden finished for her. He sighed. "Well, then we better call it a night before I get any more tempted than I already am.
Hope grinned. "All right. It's not just about superstition, you know. It's more romantic this way."
Aiden smiled. "Whatever my Queen wants, my Queen shall get." He kissed her again. "I love you, Hope, and I cannot wait to make you my wife tomorrow."
Hope smiled, and gently stroked his cheek. "I love you too, Aiden. So much! I can hardly wait to be your wife."
They kissed a little bit more, then Aiden broke the kiss. "I'm telling you we have to stop now before we hit the point of no return."
Hope grinned. "All right." She kissed his cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow, Mr. Jennings."
He grinned too. "See you tomorrow, Mrs. Jennings-to-be."
Hope grinned even wider, and blew him a kiss, then took off for her home. She could hardly wait to become Mrs. Aiden Jennings. One more night! She squealed to herself and smiled, then got into her car and drove home happy, excited, and anxious all in one. "Tomorrow," she whispered. "Tomorrow all my dreams will come true. Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow," Aiden thought as he lie in bed that night. "Tomorrow I'll never have to go to sleep without Hope again." He fell asleep happy, knowing that tomorrow, his dream would come true.