Chapter 21: Chapter 21

I told myself I was going to leave her purse on the doorstep and leave. I already spent all day and evening with her; I don’t need to take any more of her time. I really did have pure intentions until I saw the door to the house slightly ajar.

“Emma,” I hiss under my breath, ready to lecture her on leaving the house not only unlocked but with the door hanging open. Bringing my knuckles to the door, I knock and wait for her to answer.

My mind swirls with the different lectures I could give her. I know she mentioned thinking it was safe here, but I’d rather her not take her chances. Her carefree attitude about the world is one of my favorite things about her, but not like this. Not when her safety is in question.

A low growl comes from deep in my chest when she doesn’t come to the door. I run a hand over my mouth, trying to think through what I should do. I don’t know the code to lock the door from the outside, and I probably should make sure everything is okay in there since she didn’t answer.

Deciding to check on her, I push the door open and step in. It’s eerily quiet. My heartbeat picks up as I begin to walk the house, trying to figure out where she is. There’s no sound coming from the kitchen or the living room, so with her purse in hand, I begin to walk down the hallway that leads to the bedrooms.

All the doors down the hallway are open except for one. Since I haven’t found her in any other rooms, I’m left guessing the room with the closed door must be hers.

I stand in front of the door, wondering what I should do. If she’s sleeping, I don’t want to bother her. Although it wasn’t too long ago that I’d dropped her off on the doorstep and felt the intoxicating press of her lips against mine. I don’t think she’d be asleep yet, but I can’t be positive. It’s possible she could be in the shower, but I don’t hear the sound of running water at all.

Before I can think about my next move, a small moan comes from the other side of the door. Worry courses through my veins as I push the door open to make sure she’s okay.

Everything happens in slow motion.

Emma screams. She throws her arms into the air and pulls the covers over her face.

A loud thud rings through the room as I freeze in the doorway. I blink, trying to figure out what I just walked in on.

“What are you doing here?” Emma asks nervously from underneath the blanket.

“Ummm…” I begin, wondering what’s making a deep buzzing sound from the other side of the bed.

“Get out!” Emma shrieks, still not showing her face.

“You left your purse in my car,” I explain, taking a cautious step into the room.

“Don’t come any closer,” she demands, her face popping out from the top of the blanket.

I look around the room for a minute, finding her clothes strewn about everywhere.

“What is that noise?” I ask, walking toward the buzzing sound that hasn’t let up.

“Stop!” Emma yells, clutching the blankets to her stomach as she sits up. She’s wearing an oversized T-shirt with the neck cut out. It slips down her shoulder, showing me a dangerous amount of her skin.

Her plea for me to stop works. I stop at the foot of the bed, unable to see what is making that noise. She stares at me with her eyes wide and her cheeks flushed. Wet hair sticks to her face as she keeps her body pressed into the mattress.

I hold up her purse. “Like I said, you left this in the car. I was going to drop it off on the doorstep and leave, but then I noticed the front door was not only unlocked, but it was hanging open. I wanted to make sure you were okay…”

“You would decide right now to be chivalrous,” she mutters, her words coming out hurried.

“So you’re okay?” I scratch the back of my neck, keeping my eyes on her. “I heard noises and got worried…” My words falter because I don’t know what else to say. With her staring at me with an unreadable look on her face, I can’t figure out if she’s upset that I broke in. Maybe she should be. Maybe this was a mistake.

“I’m fine. Can you go now?”

“Let me just make sure the AC is running okay in here. That buzzing sound doesn’t sound right, and I want to make sure you don’t get too hot ton⁠—”

“It’s Jerry!” Emma yells, her palms hitting the top of the comforter. “You hear Jerry. Nothing is wrong with the AC.”

Unwelcome jealousy courses through me. “Jerry?” I get out angrily, taking large steps to where the sound comes from. Is there a man somehow hiding in here?

“Wait, no!” Emma screams, her body scrambling along the top of the bed as my eyes land on the source of the sound.

I’m faster than her. My fingers wrap around the base of a hot pink vibrator.

“Don’t touch Jerry!” Emma shouts. She tries to grab it from my hands, but I pull it from her reach.

Her face gets even more flushed, and I know I should leave her alone. She clearly never expected me to walk in, but my feet stay planted. I can’t move. “Are you calling your vibrator Jerry?”

She pushes her wet hair from her face, sitting back on her legs before she answers. I don’t hear whatever answer she gives me because I let my gaze slip from her face to discover she’s naked from the waist down.

Emma yelps, pulling the T-shirt down over her thighs to block my view. But it doesn’t matter. I saw the glisten between her thighs from her arousal. The pretty pink of her pussy. How it seemed to still be begging for a release even after I walked in.

I swallow, blood thrumming through my ears as I come to the realization I can’t leave this room, not unless she asks me to.

The vibrator pulses in my hand, stealing my attention. I’m just now noticing the wetness across the tip of it from where it’d been inside her moments ago.

Fucking hell.

“Preston.” My name comes out cautious. It catches at the end, and I don’t know if the way my name leaves her mouth is a good or bad thing.

“What were you doing in here?” I ask, my voice hoarse with lust. In a few simple moments, she’s turned me on more than I’ve ever been, and I haven’t even touched her. The sight of the wetness between her legs, paired with the mental picture of her using the vibrator to get herself off, has me going mad.

“You know the answer to that,” she whispers, shifting her weight on the bed. “You weren’t supposed to come in.” She looks down, her fingers anxiously pulling on the fabric of her shirt.

“Now isn’t the time to get shy on me, rebel.” My fingers tighten around the vibrator as it takes everything in me to stay where I am instead of taking a step closer to her. If it were up to me, I’d already have her thighs spread open as I show her that her mouth isn’t the only thing I can kiss well.

“Sorry, I haven’t ever had someone catch me using a vibrator, so this is kind of new territory for me,” she remarks, finally getting the nerve to meet my eyes.

I smile. There’s the Emma I know.

“Good,” I answer. “I don’t want to think about anyone but me seeing you with your thighs spread wide so beautifully.” I swallow, taking a step toward her. Will she let me touch her? Should I allow myself to touch her? “Fuck, picturing that might be the most exquisite sight I’ve ever imagined.”

Emma’s eyelids flutter shut with a moan. The sound of her arousal has me closing the distance between us until my shins are pressed against the mattress.

I lift the vibrator to my lips, peeking my tongue out to lick the tip of it. I groan at the taste of her as my eyes stay locked on hers. I need more. Flattening my tongue, I run it along the vibrator in a slow, long lick, reveling in the way it tastes of her.

“What are you doing?” she whispers, her eyes hooded as she watches me closely. I lift my arm, holding the still-pulsating vibrator in front of my face.

“Did you come yet?”

“No.” The word is said under her breath, so low that I almost miss it.

“Do you still want to?” I press, imagining what it sounds like when she comes. Is she loud when the orgasm takes over? Do her moans echo off the walls? Or will the orgasm be so intense that her moans get stuck in her chest? Fuck, I’m desperate to know.

“Preston.” She rocks back and forth on her knees, rubbing her thighs against one another.

“Answer the question. Do you want to come, rebel?”

She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. Her fingers have gone white with how tightly she grips the hem of her T-shirt. She nods, keeping her wide blue eyes trained on me.

My eyes flick to the vibrator in my hand and back to her. “Can I make you come?” Slowly, I place one knee on the mattress, then the other, until my weight is fully supported. I still don’t touch her, waiting for her to answer me.

“How?” Her voice breaks at the end. The unmistakable sound of pure want in her voice has my cock throbbing. I fight the urge to stroke myself to relieve even the smallest amount of pressure. No matter how badly I want to, I don’t. Right now, this is all about her.

“Lie back,” I instruct, ignoring her question.

She watches me carefully, not budging an inch.

“Was my direction unclear?” I growl.

“Should we be doing this?”

“I won’t even touch you. I’ll just use the toy. It’ll just be like I’m not even here.”

She still doesn’t lie back, but her body does seem to relax slightly. “Oh, I know you’re here. It’d be impossible to forget that.”

I smile, relishing in her words. “Lie back,” I repeat, aching to see all of her. I want to make her feel good like I want my next breath. I’m desperate for it, but I need her to take the lead—at least at first—to make sure she’s okay with what’s happening.

She moans—or maybe it’s more like a groan—but she does pull one knee out from underneath her. “I’m going to be so embarrassed about this the moment you leave.”

“Don’t you dare get embarrassed. I’m so fucking turned on by the thought of you touching yourself minutes after I dropped you off. Tell me, was our kiss so good you had to touch yourself to thoughts of me just to relieve some of the tension?”

Her head falls backward. “Preston.” My name comes out more like a moan, forcing me to fight the urge to toss the vibrator to the side and use my tongue instead.

“Are you going to be a good girlfriend and follow directions?”

She bites her lip and nods. Time seems to slow down as she pulls her other leg out from underneath her and leans back. She props herself up by the elbows, letting her shoulders rest against the plush pillows behind her.

My tongue peeks out to lick my lips as I take a moment to look at her. She’s so fucking sexy, and I love that she knows it. She uses it to her advantage, and it’s making me fucking weak for her.

“Spread your thighs,” I demand.

“You do it.”

She yelps when I place the tip of the vibrator against her thigh. “Preston!” she yells, her thighs inching open slightly.

“What?” I ask innocently, crawling up the bed until my free hand rests on the pillow next to her head.

“I shouldn’t be so turned on right now,” she mutters, lifting her hips slightly.

“It’s about to get even better.” I guide the vibrator to her inner thigh, relishing in the small noises she makes. “Now, open your thighs.”

Emma surprisingly does as she’s told—kind of. She parts her thighs just enough for me to see her but not enough for me to slip the vibrator between them.

“More,” I demand, inching my face closer to hers.

She smiles and reaches up to place her hand on the back of my neck. She applies pressure, pulling me closer to her until our lips almost brush against each other. “Do it yourself.”