Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Case
I claim her lips in a soft kiss.
I want more. Fuck, do I want more, but I work to control the need that has been building inside of me for days.
Emma steps into my touch. I tighten my grip on her waist when I feel her hand in the back of my hair.
Instinctively, I reach for her neck, tilting her head to just the right angle before I draw my tongue over her bottom lip.
The sound that escapes her ignites a fire in the base of my spine.
I’m hard. My dick is so fucking hard.
Tugging her closer, I groan when she slides her tongue against mine in a greedy kiss.
“Case.” My name has never sounded as sweet as it does at this moment, falling from the lips of this woman.
She feathers kisses over my jaw.
“Emma,” I say in a strangled tone that’s so full of desire it draws her eyes up to meet mine.
“That was…” whatever the fuck she was going to say gets lost in our need for each other.
I hold her against me, deepening the kiss until I feel her hand glide over my cheek.
Her touch is gentle. It’s soothing.
I pull back out of a sheer need to breathe.
Why the fuck is my heart hammering so hard?
“That was the kiss,” she mutters. “The kiss.”
From somewhere inside of me, I find the strength to talk. “The kiss?”
My question brings a flush of pink to her cheeks. “It’s nothing.”
Anything this woman does or says is everything to me. “Tell me,” I insist as I dig my fingers into the soft flesh above the waistband of her jeans.
She brushes her lips over mine in such a tender way that I swear my knees are about to give out.
“That’s a fairytale kiss,” she half-laughs.
I won’t laugh because I see caution in her eyes. I can feel hesitation in the movement of her fingers over my chin. She’s confessing something personal to me. “What does that mean?”
I slide my fingers over her cheek. I want her to feel safe with me.
Her gaze drops to my lips. “It’s the kind of kiss you only see in the movies.”
I take her mouth again in a slow kiss that ends with a draw of my teeth over her bottom lip.
“That’s what I mean,” she says breathlessly. “I felt that everywhere.”
“I did too.”
“It was a fairytale kiss for you too?” she asks with a smile.
It was a once in a lifetime kiss. I’ve kissed more women than I care to admit, but it has never reached inside of me this way.
Nodding, I inch a fingertip over her bottom lip. “You can kiss, Emma. Jesus, can you kiss.”
With hooded eyes, she bites my fingertip. “I can do a lot more.”
I close my eyes to ward off the mental image of her dropping to her knees to take me in her mouth.
Slow. I have to take this slow. She deserves that. Hell, I need that.
I’m a kiss away from blowing my load.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
“Was that too much?” She whispers with her lips pressed to my chin.
“Not too much,” I growl out. “I have to catch my breath. I need to think.”
Think about what I want first. I want to taste her. I want to fuck her. I want it all.
“Is it Drake? Do you need to think about him?” Taking a step back, she lowers her voice. “I know he’s your best friend. I know that he wouldn’t…”
I stop her with a deep kiss. I linger there, sliding my tongue over her bottom lip, breathing her in.
“Don’t talk about him,” I whisper, not finding the will to say his name. “Don’t.”
“Case! Are you here?”
The sound of Maya’s voice approaching the open office door sets Emma back two steps. Her hand jumps to her swollen lips.
Panic sets over her expression.
I step toward her, but that only moves her back another three steps with her hand waving in the air between us. “We can’t.”
Fuck. Just fuck this.
“Oh, hey.” Maya appears at the office door. “We need to talk.”
Emma half-turns until her blushing face is out of Maya’s view. “I should go.”
“I’m sorry.” Maya’s gaze darts from me to the back of Emma’s head. “Did I interrupt something?”
“No.” Emma lets out an exaggerated laugh. “I came to tell Case about a boy I met today. He loves one of Cabbott’s games. I wanted Case to know because they work hard on every single game and app they develop. But I told him, so there’s no reason for me to hang around here anymore. I’ll go now.”
Maya looks to me for guidance, but I stand in silence, staring at Emma as she gathers up the purse she dropped into one of the chairs in front of my desk.
Stress taints her every move. Her hands are shaking. Her smile is pinned on to hide what’s really going on inside of her.
Regret. I sense it. She’s regretting the kiss already.
“Emma,” I call out her name. “I’ll see you at home later.”
When she turns to look at me, my suspicion is confirmed. Regret swims in her eyes behind the tears that are welling there.
Nodding, she hurries past Maya. “It was nice to see you again,” she mumbles before she’s out of the door.