He moved another hair from her face, taking a last longing look with the intention of saying goodnight. Every part of his body was yelling at him, but he didnât care.
He wanted her to be able to face him in the morning, and deep down, he knew this was not the way it should be between them. âJust one chooses to dominate⦠I see drunk Emma sometimes in PA Emma. When she occasionally relaxes too.â
He had lost all his merriness, sobering up hard and lingering when he should have been walking out. âMaybe she doesnât know how to relax all the time,â she confessed with a conspiratorial wink.
Emma couldnât look anything but gorgeous to him. âI think sheâs scared,â he answered thoughtfully, unsure if it was her he was talking about anymore or him.
~Was he too scared to try to move things on?~ ~Was her being drunk an excuse?~
âWhy?â She watched him carefully, that sweet, inquisitive expression on that flawless face. He stood up, his hands moving to cross across his chest, and moved away from her.
Putting distance between them deliberately. âBecause letting her guard down means she lets go of a bit of control, and she likes to hold it all together. Letting go makes her vulnerable, leaves her exposed, and thatâs worse than death for her.â
His voice was steady and low, betraying none of his emotion; itâs what he knew about her, but she didnât know it was about him too. Moving in on Emma was letting his guard down fully, removing the final barrier which had kept him safe from complete devastation.
Wimping out was about protecting him as much as her. Protecting his heart from being broken again. âIf Iâm vulnerable, people can hurt me⦠Men can hurt me,â she whispered into the roomâs darkness, sounding suddenly fearful, bringing him out of his head and that fierce protective instinct for her coming out to play.
Watching her, he bent so his forehead met hers and pressed their noses together, an awkward position for him but as natural as breathing. He wanted to comfort her and make her feel safe.
He would always keep her safe. It took precedence over everything. âIâd never let anyone hurt you, Emma,â he breathed against her.
His hands came down to hold his weight on the mattress at either side of her thighs so he could stay leaning over her, bringing them close enough to breathe the same air and smell her gentle tropical skin.
âWhat if you couldnât stop them?â She suddenly sounded so young and vulnerable, and he wanted to squeeze her badly. He would die to protect her, always.
âIâd always stop them,â he promised with conviction in his voice because he truly meant it. Emma sank toward him impulsively, looking like a lost child, reaching up so she could wrap her arms around his neck and brought their foreheads to touch.
He wanted to close his eyes at how she initiated this cuddle and imprint it to memory. She didnât often initiate touch at all. âYou wonât always be around,â she said quietly.
âIâm always around if you havenât noticed,â he said softly, bringing attention to the fact that since he had met her, he had engineered almost a constant presence on purpose. Even before he knew what she was becoming to him, he had always wanted her around him.
He felt her lift her head and tug him closer, so their eyes could lock. The most intimate thing Emma had ever done, and he had to steel himself back to stop the impulse to kiss her again.
She looked so trusting, which only calmed his fire. âI guess,â she whispered to him. âLet go, Emma ⦠trust me to look after you ⦠if not long-term, then for these two weeks at least. Trust me to protect you.â He was almost begging her.
He wouldnât do this drunk, but if she were this way tomorrow, then maybe he would. Sober, he would kiss her if she let him. âIâll try,â she whispered, not loosening her hold on him.
âGood girl.â His arms came around her, pulling her up to him slightly for a gentle embrace to say goodnight and leave before he did anything stupid, lifting her from the bed for a full-body embrace.
âDonât say that to me.â Her voice was childish. She paused mid-hold, causing him to halt. âWhy?â He was suddenly confused at what he had said.
~Good girl?~ ~What was wrong with that?~ âJust donât â¦â she said a little more firmly. He smiled in acknowledgment and slowly pulled her the rest of the way to cuddle her.
Dismissing it for a conversation when she was more lucid. Emma snuggled into him a little too readily, making his body react in the worst way for this given situation; he had to release his hold or impale her.
The sudden release of her body made her stumble awkwardly, and Jake cursed himself internally, reaching to catch her and losing his footing as his toes hit the bed leg painfully. ~Fuck.~ ~Graceful this was not.~
He leaned forward too far to keep hold of her and completely lost his balance, too drunk for these maneuvers. Even though she weighed practically nothing, he went down on top of her, nose to nose, and laughing like fools at the awkwardness of their ungraceful collapse.
His face was so close to hers and his body fully connected in such an intimate pose that for just a second, he couldnât react, his mind a whirling mess of ~kiss her ⦠donât kiss her~. Instead, he stared like a dumb asshole and couldnât foresee Emma lunging at him full force in a flash.
Her mouth connected with his so suddenly that she almost winded him and took a millisecond to realize that she was kissing him. Emma was kissing him! ~Fuuuuuckkk.~
His heart somersaulted to his abdomen and sent all manner of craziness inside of him. His mouth and hers entwined in seconds, moving into the one thing he had wanted for so long and being hit with an overwhelming onslaught of emotions and sensations all at once.
Euphoric tingles and extreme hunger, losing himself in her taste. ~Goddamn, she tasted like peaches and cream, and her soft lips and softer tongue were made for devouring.~
She kissed like an angel, a little unsure at first, obviously inexperienced, which only made him want her more. He knew he should stop it, but he couldnât.
The second her lips met his, he was lost to her, and no amount of willpower would drag them apart right now. He was adjusting his body to lean all over her without crushing her and losing himself in the kiss in ways he had never experienced.
~This was love.~ ~He couldnât deny it anymore.~ ~The way she felt, what kissing her made him feel.~ ~He was lost with no hope of a comeback after this.~
His hands moved to her hair and around her throat impulsively, wanting to hold her to him and claim her. Softly holding her still so he could lead the kiss, showing her how to mold to him as she found her way.
Her movements became more confident and met him flawlessly. He loved that it was obvious she hadnât done a lot of kissing this way. Her inexperience was noticeable, but she was adjusting herself instinctively to him.
She was his perfect pure angel. ~God, she was made to kiss him.~ He could feel her heart rate increasing under him, her body moving to accommodate him more comfortably, and her breathing getting shallower as she got more turned on.
Jake knew this was heading for sex without a doubt, and he knew he might not have the willpower to stop it, lust consuming him and love driving him. He caught her hands in his and pressed them against the mattress beside her head, pulling away to catch his breath momentarily, trying to slow things down and gain control.
Trying to rationalize this, but he couldnât. The way she was looking at him just pulled him back down. He had no control over this; she had opened a floodgate, and he wanted her so badly that he had no say.
His head was blanking his thoughts out and just lost to the sensations. He dropped back to that inviting mouth and gave himself all in, no regrets, no holding back, just kissing her more passionately and harder.
Both were breathing hard and fast. Emma responded enthusiastically, arms wriggling to be free to go to him. Legs moved around his waist, inching herself against his abdomen even though he was trying to keep his distance.
She was pushing against his body suggestively in time to the kissing and making him groan wildly. He knew Emma was no virgin; she had mentioned boyfriends from her teens, but she clearly had never been a casual sex person, which made this all the more intoxicating for him.
Her movements were not skilled and honed. There was an innocence and almost awkwardness, holding onto him as though asking him to guide her. He had been with enough women in his lifetime to know this was nearly as close to her being a virgin as he could get, and he fell in love with her all the harder.
~She wouldnât go all in for just a drunken night, surely?~
He pulled away and kissed her again, sucking her bottom lip seductively and testing how far she might want to go. She writhed under him, reaching up to try to kiss him again.
Her body was fully molded to his, and despite his obvious arousal, she wasnât backing down but pressing herself to him. Jakeâs head was cloudy with lust, and he could no longer think straight.
Nothing except getting her body naked and being inside her. She was clinging to him and trying to pull him further into her, moaning at his touch. Moaning as his tongue moved back into her mouth slowly, she began scrambling her hands free to haul him down by the shoulders greedily as though being pinned together was not close enough.
There was no denying she wanted this as much as he did, and he was beyond stopping it. His hands moved to skim the side of her breast, reveling in how fucking sexy her body was to him.
Holding his weight up so he could shift against her harder. Bringing his groin to her pelvis and parting her legs further, there was no denying where he was pushing this.
She just opened up and let them connect. Her body heat scorched hot in the apex of her thighs, fueling his desire. He groaned against her mouth, her body too perfect for words. His hand moved down to trace her thigh and head toward her heat, ready to take this a step further without hesitation.
That point of no return. There was a massive bang in the hall behind them. He had left the door wide open, and the sudden noise made him jerk around quickly, shielding her to protect her from whatever it was.
There was lots of hysterical screaming as the door filled with a dark, looming figure of a man. Jake pulled away from her reluctantly to turn and look. Confusion cleared his foggy brain.
âWhat the fuck?â Jake was shocked yet angry that he had finally gotten to this point with the girl of his dreams, and some asshole was wading in to ruin it. He was still on top of her, braced on his arms, but their bodies were still entangled achingly.
âJake? Jake?â The voice at the door sounded hysterical. He recognized Richardâs voice instantly.
âWhat is it?â he snapped, raging that this was his fucking life right about now. âItâs Daniel. He fell off the boat⦠We canât find him.â
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