Chapter 5 Emma
five
Emma
We barely make it through the cabin door before Leo has me pressed against it, his mouth devouring mine with desperate hunger.
I can still taste the remnants of our earlier encounter at the bookstore, but my body is already responding to his touch like I haven't been thoroughly satisfied twice today.
"Bedroom," I gasp against his lips.
"Too far," he growls, lifting me easily. My legs wrap around his waist as he carries me to the couch, laying me down with surprising gentleness for someone so large.
In the fading afternoon light, he looks like something from a fantasy—all hard muscle and masculine beauty, his eyes dark with want as he strips off his shirt. I reach for him, needing to touch, to feel his skin against mine.
"Patience," he rumbles, catching my hands and pinning them gently above my head. "Let me take care of you."
His mouth finds my throat, teeth grazing sensitive skin as his free hand works at my clothes. Soon I'm naked beneath him, spread out on his couch like an offering, and the way he looks at me makes me feel like a goddess.
"So beautiful," he murmurs, releasing my hands to trace patterns on my skin. "Can't believe you're real. Can't believe you're mine."
"Prove it," I challenge, emboldened by the desire burning in his eyes.
Something primal flashes across his features. "Careful what you ask for."
He moves down my body with deliberate slowness, hands and mouth claiming every inch of skin. When he settles between my thighs, the first stroke of his tongue has me arching off the couch with a cry.
"Already so wet," he observes with satisfaction. "You love this, don't you? Love having my mouth on you."
"Yes," I gasp, beyond shame or pretense. "God, yes."
He takes his time, building me up with maddening precision until I'm sobbing his name and clutching at his hair. Just when I think I can't take anymore, he slides two thick fingers inside me, curling them to hit that perfect spot.
"Come for me," he commands against my clit. "Let me taste how sweet you are when you fall apart."
I shatter around his fingers, my body clenching rhythmically as pleasure crashes through me in waves. But he doesn't stop, doesn't give me time to recover before he's working me toward another peak.
"Leo, I can't—"
"You can," he says firmly. "Give me another one."
His persistence pays off when I come again, even harder this time, my vision blurring at the edges as sensation overwhelms me. Only then does he move up my body, positioning himself at my entrance.
"Tell me you're mine," he demands, the head of his cock pressing against my slick entrance but not entering.
"I'm yours," I whisper.
"Say it louder."
"I'm yours, Leo!" The words echo through the cabin. "I'm yours completely."
He drives into me then, filling me so completely I see stars. The stretch is perfect, the fullness exactly what I need.
"Mine," he growls, starting to move with deep, powerful strokes. "My woman. My future wife. My everything."
The possessive words combined with the angle of his thrusts have me climbing toward another peak impossibly fast. When he reaches between us to circle my clit, I explode around him with a scream that probably echoes across the mountain.
He follows me over, driving deep one final time as he spills inside me with a groan.
Afterward, we lie tangled together on the couch, both breathing hard. His hand strokes lazy patterns on my back while I listen to his heartbeat slowly return to normal.
"I have to go back to Vancouver," I say quietly. "To pack, give notice, tie up loose ends."
His arms tighten around me. "How long?"
"Two weeks, maybe three. There's my lease, my job, arrangements to make."
"I could come with you."
The offer makes my heart squeeze. "You'd do that?"
"I'd do anything for you." He tilts my chin up, making me meet his gaze. "But I think you need to do this yourself. Prove to yourself that you're choosing this life because you want it, not because I swept you off your feet."
He's right, and I love him even more for understanding that. "What if I get there and panic? What if being away from you makes me realize this is all crazy?"
"Won't happen." His confidence is absolute. "You know what we have is real."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because you're not the type to make rash decisions. You're careful, methodical. If this were just lust or vacation madness, you'd have already talked yourself out of it." His thumb traces my lower lip. "But you haven't. Because deep down, you know this is right."
Before I can respond, my phone buzzes from somewhere in our discarded clothes. I reluctantly extract myself from Leo's arms to find it, frowning at the unknown number on the screen.
"Hello?"
"Emma? It's Derek."
My blood runs cold. Derek. My cheating ex-boyfriend, calling me in the middle of the mountains while I'm naked on my new lover's couch.
"What do you want?" I ask, suddenly very aware of my nudity. Leo's eyes sharpen, reading my body language.
"I wanted to apologize. The whole thing with Miranda was a mistake. I miss you, Em. I want to work things out."
"Work things out?" I can't keep the incredulity from my voice. "You cheated on me with your secretary, Derek. While I thought you were at a conference, you were posting vacation photos from Cabo."
"I know, I know. It was stupid. But we're good together, you and me. We make sense. I can get past this reckless phase you're going through—"
"Reckless phase?"
Leo sits up, his expression darkening as he clearly hears Derek's condescending tone through the phone.
"Come on, Em. Quitting your job? Running off to the mountains? This isn't you. You're practical, sensible. We can get you another position at a good firm, get back to our plans—"
"Our plans?" I'm standing now, pacing naked across the living room while fury builds in my chest. "You mean your plans. The ones where I work eighty-hour weeks to fund your lifestyle while you screw around with other women?"
"That's not fair—"
"What's not fair is you calling me after I've found something real." I look at Leo, who's watching me with pride and something fiercer. "Someone who sees me as more than a meal ticket."
"Someone? Em, please don't tell me you're rebounding with some random guy you just met."
"I'm not rebounding." My voice is steady, certain. "I'm moving on. I'm in love."
The silence on the other end is deafening. When Derek speaks again, his voice is tight with anger. "You've known him what, a few days? This is classic you, Em—running scared instead of dealing with real problems."
"The only problem I'm running from is you." I'm done with this conversation. "Don't call me again."
I hang up, hands shaking with adrenaline. When I turn around, Leo is there, pulling me into his arms.
"You okay?" he asks, his voice gentle.
"Better than okay." I press my face against his chest, breathing in his scent. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For not saying anything. For letting me handle it myself."
"Not my fight." His hand strokes my hair. "But if he keeps calling, it will be."
The protective edge in his voice sends warmth through me. "He won't. Derek doesn't like being told no, but he's not stupid enough to push when he knows he's lost."
"Good." Leo tilts my chin up, his eyes serious. "Because you have lost him, haven't you? Completely?"
"Completely." I rise on my toes to kiss him softly. "There's no going back, Leo. Only forward."
"With me?"
"With you. Always with you."