25. Emma
25
Emma
G uilt gnaws at my stomach when Garrett glances over at me.
“Tell me,” he says. His tone is casual, but the tick of his jaw gives away his underlying tension.
I nibble the inside of my cheek, trying to arrange the words in the gentlest possible way. Truthfully, I haven’t thought much about quitting over the past week. I’ve been too preoccupied thinking about Garrett and trying to figure out what’s going on between us. The idea of quitting True North used to fill me with a vindictive sense of joy and freedom, but now that Garrett and I have slept together, I feel nothing but guilt over keeping it from him for this long.
“I’ve been planning to quit once we get back to Denver,” The words whoosh out of my mouth in a frenzied fashion then hang in the air between us for several long heartbeats.
When I risk a glimpse at Garrett’s reaction, I regret not choosing my words more carefully. I expected him to be angry or annoyed, but instead he just looks sad. His shoulders slump and the corners of his mouth turn down into a frown. He stares ahead with a pensive glare.
“Did you come to that decision before or after we slept together?” he eventually asks.
“Before,” I blurt out. “Long before. Pretty much since the moment we met.”
Perfect. That’ll make him feel a lot better. Great job, Emma.
Sighing heavily, I try again. “I got the wrong impression when we first met. I realize that now, but it doesn’t change the fact that this was never my dream job. I took the job because the hiring bonus helped me pay off my student loans, but my dream has always been to work in fashion. It’s not personal, and it has nothing to do with everything that’s happened between us on this trip, Garrett.”
He scratches the scruff on his jaw and stares off in the distance. His tongue prods at his cheek before he finally speaks. “There’s nothing I could do to make you reconsider?”
I slow to a stop in the middle of the trail. When Garrett follows suit and turns to face me, I slip my other hand in his and thread our fingers together. Then, I shake my head slowly. “I can’t see us working together if we keep sleeping together, and I definitely can’t see us working together if we stop sleeping together. It’s too complicated. So no, I don’t see myself staying at True North much longer. The answer is still the same even if the question has changed.”
Gray eyes stare deeply into mine. “That’s fair,” he sighs. “I don’t like it, but it makes sense. We’re better off not working together if we keep sleeping together.”
If.
If we keep sleeping together.
His words echo mine. We’re both dancing around the real question, avoiding an answer the other might not want to hear.
But I need to know.
Summoning all my courage, I keep my eyes locked on Garrett’s face and ask, “Are we going to keep sleeping together?”
A hint of a smile ticks at the corner of his mouth. “Emma, you have to know by now that I’m crazy about you, so I’d say the ball is in your court now. What do you want?”
“I definitely want to keep sleeping together,” I say a little too eagerly. My teeth clamp down on my lower lip for a second then I hesitantly add, “but…”
The words stick in my throat. A gust of wind blows a few strands of hair loose from my ponytail. They dance along my face, tickling my nose. Garrett reaches up, smoothing my hair back. Once he’s done, his hands slide down to cup my face.
“But what?” he asks.
“But it can’t just be sex,” I say, swallowing down a lump in my throat. My voice comes out tight and strained. My eyes pull away from his, focusing instead on the collar of his shirt. “There are certain feelings involved, but if that’s not something you can deal with then…”
A mouth crashes against mine, cutting me off. I melt into the kiss, brushing my lips over his and leaning into his touch.
Garrett smiles against my mouth. “I can deal with that.”
Before I can respond, his lips are on mine again. His tongue licks the seam of my mouth, and I part my lips to deepen the kiss. Hands hook around my thighs, lifting me up to wrap my legs around his waist. A tiny yelp escapes my throat. No one has ever picked me up before, and I have to admit it’s a turn-on that Garrett was able to do it with such ease. His hands cup my ass, holding me up while he carries me off the trail and into the dense forest.
The caveman vibes hit hard, and I’m surprised by how much I enjoy it. My back lands against the bark of a tree. Garrett pins me there, his hardness pressing against the middle of my widely spread thighs.
He kisses me for minutes, hours, days…I’m not even sure how long. But eventually, Garrett sets me down. Leaves and twigs crunch under my feet. Fingers hook in the waistband of my leggings and panties, pulling them down in one swift, rough motion. After yanking off my shoes, he casts the whole pile of clothing aside, leaving me bare from the waist down. His hand slides between my legs while my fingers desperately work to undo his belt and jeans. I gasp when Garrett’s fingers plunge inside me.
“So wet already,” he murmurs against my neck.
“Mmhmm,” I manage to hum in reply as his fingers curl inside me with expert precision.
“Is this why you have to quit, Emma? You’d just be walking around the office in those little dresses of yours, dripping wet for me all day long? Just waiting for me to bend you over my desk and give that pretty pussy of yours some attention?”
“Yes…please, Garrett…”
I don’t even know what I’m begging for. There isn’t a desk for miles, and he’s already showering me with the type of attention I need.
“Please what, Emma?”
“I need you, Garrett,” I whisper hoarsely between ragged breaths.
He pushes his pants halfway down his thighs and fists himself in one hand, closing the small gap between us. He slides over my wet slit and presses against my entrance. When he thrusts inside, it’s a rough stroke that hitches my breath and stretches me around him with a delicious burst of pleasure. He grabs my thighs, lifting me again. He sinks a little deeper inside of me and we both moan.
Garrett moves in harsh but steady strokes. My head falls back against the tree, and I clamp down on my lip to keep from moaning too loud. He buries his face in the crook of my neck, letting his hot breath skate along my collarbone in a series of grunts and growled curse words.
With every thrust, delicious pressure nudges my swollen, sensitive clit. I feel the tension building in Garrett, too. His fingers dig into the underside of my thighs. His thrusts become more frenzied, his pace more sporadic and uneven.
“Gonna come inside that pretty pussy,” he growls against my neck.
“Yes,” I rasp. “Please, Garrett…”
“Gonna fill you up and watch you squirm for the rest of the day to keep all my come from dripping out of you.”
His dirty words coil through me, making my inner walls clench harder around him.
“You know why, Emma?” He pulls back to look at me, his eyes dark and his jaw tight with tension. I stare back, unable to produce a single thought or word. “Because you’re finally mine, aren’t you?”
I nod desperately.
“Say it.”
“I’m yours,” I say, my voice breaking in the middle.
Warmth washes through me as I come apart. The moan that escapes my lips is neither quiet nor demure. It’s a primal noise that I barely recognize as my own.
“That’s it,” Garrett coaxes. “That’s my girl.”
My inner walls clench around him and within seconds, a different kind of warmth pulses through me as Garrett growls against my cheek. I savor the feeling of his body tensing around me. The sound of his choppy breath. The taste of sunlight and salt on his skin.
Garrett rests his forehead against mine for a second, catching his breath and steadying himself before carefully setting me down. He keeps a firm grip on my hips until we’re both sure that my knees won’t buckle. Eventually, he takes a step back to pull his pants up to his waist and buckle his belt.
I’m much slower with my movements. My legs wobble as I bend to fetch my clothes. Without an ounce of grace or balance, I try and fail to step into my panties. A hand reaches out to steady me.
“Here,” Garrett says, placing my hands on his shoulders. He dips down to pull my panties into place then gets to work on my leggings, which is no easy feat. Once I’m decent, he kneels before me, sliding my foot into my sneakers and lacing them up.
I’m still slightly breathless and wobbly when he stands.
“Do you need a piggyback ride to camp?” Garrett jokes.
“I’m good,” I say with a laugh. “I just need a second.”
“Take your time.”
He makes it sound as if we have all the time in the world. As much as I’d like to believe that’s true, I can’t help but feel like there’s a clock ticking somewhere in the distance. Like there’s an expiration date looming in the not-so-distant future. Like the man standing before me right now might not exist outside of the wild.
At some point, we have to return to civilization, and I’m not sure which version of Garrett North awaits me there.