Chapter Seven
Emmett
Having Briar in my home—my refuge—is a double-edged sword. She’s perpetual sunshine, and her bubbly optimism shines a light on the darkest corners of my cold heart, making me crave the warmth she promises. On the other hand, I know she’ll leave soon, heading back to college and leaving me here with just the memories of a few days of bliss to last me the rest of my life.
Hope blooms in my chest when I look at her and see her already watching me. Every now and then, I wonder if she could ever be happy here. Could I make her happy? She’s young, just twenty-three. Untainted. With a bright future ahead of her. She deserves so much more than I can offer her.
She should be wined and dined by men her age who can make her dreams come true. I’m forty-one, and while I have money saved, I live alone on a mountain, and I’m happy here. She hasn’t yet mentioned wanting to leave, but it’s only a matter of time.
I look at her, sitting on the couch with my laptop on her lap, looking through photos she’s taken, mumbling to herself about edits she’ll make when she’s got her software.
“Briar?” I say softly, grinning as her head immediately whips around to look at me. “What’s your favorite dessert?”
“Cinnamon rolls!” she shouts without hesitation.
Nodding thoughtfully, I move around the kitchen grabbing ingredients, wracking my brain for ways to buy myself time until I can convince her to stay. She calls out for me just as I put the rolls in the oven. Her arms reach up for me when I walk into the living room, an adorable pout on her pillowy lips.
“I need to go to the bathroom, please,” she says.
“Of course, sweetheart,” I say, pulling her up against my chest. Instead of carrying her bridal style, her legs wrap around my waist, and she clings to my torso like a spider monkey. I bite back a groan when her core brushes against my rapidly hardening cock as she settles against me.
“Thank you, Emmett,” she says quietly, leaning in and pressing her lips against my scarred cheek, giggling when my beard tickles her soft skin.
“My pleasure, sweetheart,” I whisper, kissing the crown of her head. She has no idea just how much pleasure I derive from carrying her around.
She’s never shied away from me despite the scar that is so off-putting to so many. The second night she was in my bed, she pulled me down to her when I sat her dinner tray on her lap. Running her fingers over the scar, she asked me what happened, listening intently while she ate and iced her ankle, giving her the soft version of events, and she was near tears when I finished.
“I need to run into town later,” I say when I bring her a warm cinnamon roll a little while later.
She pats the spot beside her on the couch, and I sit, pulling her legs up onto my lap with a quick “to elevate your ankle” excuse when she gives me a quizzical look.
“What, no foot rub?” she teases when my hands rest on her shins.
I throw my head back and laugh at her cheekiness, but I’m secretly delighted that she’s comfortable telling me what she wants.
She groans as my thumb draws firm circles on the arch of her uninjured foot, and my dick tents my sweatpants as I imagine other ways I can elicit those moans from her while I lazily explore every inch of her body.
“Town,” I say again, quietly. “Do you need anything?”
She tilts her head to the side, thinking, and I’m petrified that she’s going to ask me to take her with me so she can head home.
“Nope,” she says instead. “Don’t stay gone too long. I kinda like having you around.”
My heart thuds in my chest, and I stand, propping her bad ankle on a stack of pillows.
“Back soon. Be good.”
Shady Rock is a beehive of activity, and it doesn’t take long before the gossip reaches me. There’s a missing woman. A kayak was found washed ashore on the Buffalo, and she never returned to the outfitter.
Several volunteers are passing out lime green flyers with a grainy, blown up driver’s license photo of Briar in the middle, asking for anyone with information to contact the hotline.
Nope.
I avoid eye contact with everyone, which isn’t hard since most people scurry out of my way on the best day. With the threat of losing the woman of my dreams, my aura is thunderous, and even the locals who know I’m no threat cross the street to avoid me. Good.
I gather my supplies and hightail it out of town quickly, needing the reassurance of Briar’s presence to calm my frayed nerves.
“You’re home early,” she says when I storm through the front door, desperately trying to relax before I abduct her and go on the run to keep her with me forever.
“Got what I needed. Too many people.”
“Can we have pizza for dinner?” she asks, changing the subject. My girl loves people, I remind myself. Just one more reason this could never work.
“Absolutely, sweetheart. Wanna help me?”
“It’s sticking,” Briar says, perched on a stool at the island, rolling the dough while I make the sauce.
A wicked grin spreads across my face as I grab the paper bag beside me and turn to face her. “That’s because you need more flour,” I say, reaching into the sack, tossing a small amount of flour at her.
She gasps in surprise, her eyes comically wide as she searches for something to get revenge. She pinches off a bit of sticky dough and launches it at me, laughing hysterically when it splatters against my forehead and falls on the floor between us.
A loud knock on the door breaks through our raucous laughter, and I call a truce before moving to answer the door.
“Hey, Emmett,” Sheriff Sands says. “We’re going door to door along the river looking for anyone who might know anything about a missing woman.”
“Huh,” I say, noncommittally, knowing it’s all about to come crashing down around me.
“Name’s Briar Collins. Twenty-three. Missing two days.”
“Yeah, Grady. She’s… she’s here,” I admit, my heart breaking as I utter those damning words. “Found her injured on the riverbank.”
“Can I come in, Emmett?” he asks, though we both know it’s just a formality.
I nod, stepping aside and opening the door wider to let him inside.
“Briar,” I say gently as we approach the kitchen where she’s cleaning up our mess as best she can from her stool.
She glances up, her smile disappearing as she sees the sheriff.
“Miss Collins?” he asks.
“Yes,” she says hesitantly.
“Got a lot of people out lookin’ for you, ma’am. Glad we found you safe. Emmett here’s a good’un.”
“I’m sorry to worry everyone.”
“I’m gonna need to get a statement from you,” Sands says.
“You can chat in the living room. I’ll give you some privacy,” I offer, lifting Briar off the stool and moving her to the couch before walking away, my heart shattered.
“Emmett!” Briar calls loudly sometime later. She sounds pissed, and I know I deserve it.
“What the fudge?” she shouts when I walk into the living room. “You knew they were looking for me?”
The sheriff is gone, so it’s just us once again, exactly how I like it. Or liked it until I fucked up and made her upset.
I wince, refusing to answer, my silence confirming her suspicions.
“What is wrong with you, Emmett?”
I shrug. I have no defense for my actions. As soon as I knew they were looking for her, I should’ve told them. Told her. But I selfishly kept silent, wanting more time with her. This is the reckoning I feared.
“Come here,” she demands, pointing to the couch. I comply, needing to be near her while I can before she leaves for good.
“I—I wanted you to stay. And I knew I needed more time with you to convince you,” I say quickly, hoping my honesty will reach her.
“Then, why didn’t you just say that, you dumbass?“ she shouts, gesturing wildly with her hands. “Because if you had, I would’ve told you that I want to stay!”
“You do?” I ask, bewildered.
“Yes. But you had to go and turn a swoon-worthy, fairytale rescue into a county-wide incident! Oh my god, we’re never going to live this down,” she wails, burying her head in her hands.
“I’m sorry, Briar,” I say, moving closer to her. “I should’ve said something. But I was sure you’d leave as soon as you knew, and I couldn’t face it. I want you to stay, sweetheart. I—I know it’s only been a few days, but I love you.”
“Prove it.”
I reach out, my fingers wrapping around her biceps as I pull her into my lap, my lips crashing down on hers, swallowing her yelp of surprise.
My hands dig into her hair, finally twining the soft strands through my fingers as I angle her head to deepen the kiss, our tongues dueling for control. I should’ve known my feisty girl wouldn’t submit without a challenge.
She’s straddling me, her hips rocking achingly slowly, dragging her molten core against my painfully erect cock, making both of us groan with need.
“Take me to bed,” she pants against my lips. “I need you, Emmett.”
Needing no more urging, I stand, my hands gripping her ass and dragging her up and down against my cock as I walk us to the bedroom, tossing her gently on the bed and following her down.
Dragging the t-shirt over her head, I marvel at her perfect breasts, her dusty pink nipples pebbled and pleading for my tongue. Her nails rake down my back as I suck a nipple into my mouth, gently nipping it with my teeth before turning to the other, giving it the same treatment.
“Off,” she gasps, pulling at my shirt. Pulling back, I support my weight with one hand, using the other to tug my shirt over my head, tossing it behind me and descending on her body again. I work my way down, licking my way to the waistband of her shorts.
It’s been way too long since I’ve done this, and I pull back, looking up at her.
“What’s wrong?” she pants, watching me with a heated expression.
“I don’t want to disappoint you,” I blurt. “It’s… been a while.”
“Love me, Emmett. That’s all you have to do,” she says, sitting up, pulling me to her. She devours me, consumes me, restores me. “And let me love you.”
I push her back gently, pulling her shorts down and descending on her like a starving man, determined to prove my love for her through my mouth, hands, and cock.
Her pussy is dripping for me, leaving no doubt that she wants me. I lick her from pussy to clit, greedy for every whimper she makes. She’s sweet, already my favorite dessert. Her thighs close around head, trapping me against her, and I decide this is how I want to die.
My tongue pushes into her pussy, making her cry out as my nose rubs against her clit, catapulting her toward her first release. I continue, wanting to feel her shatter. Her juices flood my mouth as she comes apart for me, her hands running through my hair as she pants.
Her thighs drop to the side as she comes down from her high. Pulling back, I look up at her, watching her palm her breasts, her head thrown back and her eyes closed.
“How many times can you come for me, sweetheart?” I ask, smirking when her eyes fly open and meet mine. “Three?” She whimpers. “Four?” She nods. “Five?” “Six?” Her eyes widen. “Challenge accepted.”
I stand, pulling my pants off before I join her on the bed again, desperate to be inside of her. “I’m clean,” I say. “I don’t want anything between us. Ever.”
“Take me raw,” she groans, pulling me down on top of her, her legs winding around my waist, her feet on my ass pulling me into her, whimpering as she stretches to accommodate my cock.
“I’m going to love you all night long and for the rest of my life,” I promise, entering her in one long push.
“I love you, Emmett. Now and forever.”