CHAPTER 51
Krusk
After the police had taken Adrian, he’d hissed threats at my clan and I before turning to give Emma the death glare.
“This is not how you treat family, Emma,” he’d screamed at me.
“I chose my family, Adrian,” she’d said, calmly, taking my arm as she gave a little wave with her fingers. “And you’re not part of it.”
I shouldn’t be insanely proud that she’d claimed me in front of her psychotic criminal uncle, but I was. I was giddy with it. Especially after I guided her inside her house.
Because it’s hers now.
The door clicked shut behind us, and for a moment, the street outside felt quieter than it had any right to. The house smelled of dust, polish, and the faint trace of the cigar smoke Adrian had left behind—a reminder that danger didn’t disappear just because he slinked away.
My mate ran her fingers along the banister, eyes narrowing as she took in the space. “It’s… ours again,” she whispered, a mix of relief and awe in her voice.
I stepped closer, letting my arm brush hers, not wanting her to think that I wanted to lay claim on anything that she owned. Especially after she’d fought so hard for it. “Yours,” I said, low and rumbling. “And nothing—or no one—will take it again.”
She looked up at me, eyes bright. “I can’t believe that was so easy,” she said, though I could see the humor fighting with admiration in her gaze. “Thank you.”
I grinned faintly, rubbing my thumb against her lower lip. “I don’t know that I’d call it easy.” I let my chest rumble, a mix of pride and warning. “But when it comes to you, Zemar, protecting you is… enjoyable.”
She laughed softly, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “I like that,” she said, squeezing my hand lightly. “Being protected. No one’s ever done it other than my dad.”
“Well, I’m your new protector,” I told her, leaning a little closer to press a gentle kiss to her nose. “I’ll do my best to be as good of a protector as he was.”
She swallowed hard, nodding, not able to speak for a long moment before she said, tears sparkling at the corner of her eyes. “You’re doing an amazing job already.”
She took a deep breath, moving toward me until she was pressed against me, wrapping her arms as far as they could go around my waist, tipping her head back and staring up at me.
“Thank you for avenging my dad, too. I... I wish I’d known.
” She bit her lower lip before she blurted, “I’ve been such a coward.
Burying my head in the sand. I was such an idiot. ”
“How’ve you been an idiot?” I asked, shaking my head. “You had no idea what was going on. You were keeping that same beautiful head above water, treading until you were exhausted. Why would you think you’d have time to figure anything out?”
I stared down at her, waiting for her response, but the sparkle of tears swelled in her eyes again and she squeezed them shut. “Thank you. I still don’t know if I’ll ever forgive myself, but thank you for saying that.”
I leaned down to press a chaste kiss to her lips. “It’s nothing that isn’t true, Zemar.”
Savla cleared his throat from the corner of the room where he’d stayed after everyone had left. He lifted his hand in an awkward wave. “I’m still here,” he announced and we both blinked at him.
“Why didn’t you say something before?” Emma demanded, turning away from him to swipe at her tears.
“I tried, but it never seemed like the right time,” he admitted with a shrug.
I rolled my eyes, waving at him to exit the house. He shrugged, snatching my keys from the table and heading outside. “I’ll be in the car. I expect that you’ll want to start packing up Grandma to bring her home?” he called over his shoulder with a wink.
“I want to clean all of his stuff from the house first,” Emma grumbled, waving her hand in front of her face.
“It really does smell like a cigar bar in here,” I told her, scrunching my nose in disgust.
“Grandma’s going to hate that,” she sighed, peering around. “And it looks like he redecorated.” Her little scowl told me everything I needed to know about what she felt about his taste.
“What do you need my help with first?” I asked, and she turned to grin at me, lifting to her tiptoes. I ducked my head, giving her what she wanted, pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. I didn’t allow myself to take it any further.
She was busy, her mind was probably whirling with plans, and I had to respect that.
“You’ll help me?” she asked, wrapping her arms around my waist.
I nodded, frowning down at her. “Of course. Anything you need.”
“You,” she whispered. “Just you.”
The love that I had for this female and the emotions that her words created inside of me threatened to overflow my chest. How the hell had I been able to win this magnificent, beautiful, Goddess of a woman?
“I’m going to call the interior decorator my dad hired to do the place in the first place,” she told me, resting her head against my chest. “Hopefully she has some old files. I just... I don’t want to see the house looking this way. Like it’s his.”
“Call her now,” I told her, not wanting her to be uncomfortable for a moment longer.
She gave a small laugh, releasing a long breath.
I wondered if she’d been holding all of that tension and stress inside her.
Now she could release a little of it. Her uncle was going to jail for a very long time, and now that the forged documents were identified, the probate could continue with the original.
“I’ll call her later,” she whispered. “For now, let’s go home.”
I froze, not sure I’d heard her right.
“Home?” I asked, running my palm down her soft back, praying that I understood what she was saying. That I hadn’t misinterpreted her.
“Oh,” she gasped, her eyes flickering up to meet mine. “I... Do you mind if I stay with you?”
The hesitance in her voice was my undoing. I cupped her precious face in my hands, searching her expression to see if that was what she really wanted. I couldn’t possibly be that lucky. I’d already gotten far too much of everything I’d dreamed of.
She gripped my shirt in her tiny fingers, tightening them and the silence of the house, now that everyone had left, spread between us for a long moment. I took her fingers in mine, entwining them, savoring the rare peace, the heat of her body, and the chemistry arcing between us.
“Home is wherever you are,” I whispered to her, and I watched her face crumple.
Her gasp of breath precipitated the tear that leaked from her eye. She swiped at it, slapping her palm across my chest. I grabbed it before she hurt herself, lifting to press a kiss to the tiny, delicate fingers.
“You have to stop making me cry,” she sniffled, and I nodded, even though I wasn’t sure how. My mate had a sweet, sensitive heart and she didn’t mind showing that vulnerability to me. I’d cherish every tear for the rest of our lives, even though I hated seeing them.
“You just beat up a bunch of guys for me,” she whispered, swiping at a tear under her eye. “That’s a form of human courtship, you know. An old-fashioned one, but still.”
“It is?” I asked, my eyebrows sweeping up, trying to make light of the conversation now that she’d changed the topic. “Damn it, I could have just done that this entire time?”
My question had a little laugh escaping from her lips. “You already went above and beyond, even before this,” she told me. “But that level of courting usually comes with a long term commitment.”
“How long term?” I asked her, feeling the corner of my eyes twinkled as a grin spread across my face. Was my female saying what I thought she was saying?
“An eternal kind of commitment,” she murmured. “That involves rings and ceremonies and moving in with each other.”
“Let’s do it today,” I whispered and she stared at me for a long moment before she released a peal of laughter, her tears transforming to ones of mirth.
“Always so eager,” she laughed. “But that’s not what I was saying.”
“Tell me what you mean,” I murmured, dying to hear what she meant.
“You performed an act of human courtship today,” she whispered, staring up into my eyes. “And I think it’s time I try one with you too.”
“A human courtship ritual?” I echo, before pointing at myself. “For me?”
Emma nodded slowly, biting her lip before she peered up at me.
“It’s... a gift.” She swallowed hard, and I watched trepidation enter her eyes.
“My mom used to give my dad a gift for special occasions,” she whispered.
“It was the same gift every time. It was something they started when he didn’t have anything.
When they were just a poor couple struggling to make ends meet. ”
She licked her lips, looking away for a second before meeting my gaze again, a sheen of tears appearing there.
“And even afterward, when they had everything, this was the gift that she’d give him any time there was an important moment.
And he treasured them as if they were worth a million dollars.
” She gasped in a breath before reaching up to offer him something that she had taken out of the tiny pocket of her dress.
Peering down at it, my lips curled into a smile. In her palm was a tiny little rock. Almost a pebble. I lifted it, grinning down at it. “I love it.”
She bit her lip as she grinned, ducking her eyes. “My dad kept them in a jar. So that the fuller it got, the more happy moments they’d had together. I always thought...” she cleared her throat before continuing. “I always thought that I’d do that with my husband, too.”
My heart stopped in my chest at her words. “I can be that for you, Zemar. I’ll be the best husband in the world. I promise you.”
Her gaze flickered up to mine, soft and sweet. “I know,” she whispered. And I leaned down for a gentle kiss, barely pressing my lips to her.
“Thank you,” I murmured against her mouth, about to pull away, but she wasn’t having it. She tugged me down harder, kissing me deeper and startling me hard enough I almost dropped the pebble. But I didn’t, gripping it tight before tucking it securely into my pocket.
I gathered her close, ensuring that my mate was as close to me as I could get her. “I love you,” I whispered to her and she nodded, eagerly, pressing kisses all over my face.
“Thank you,” she repeated, over and over again with each one. Then she was back to my lips with a murmured, “I love you too.”
I moved closer when she shifted her body toward me. I ran my palms over her hips, loving the feel of her under my fingers. My soft female was everything I wanted and needed.
I ran gentle fingers over her, skimming up and down her thigh, tracing her rib cage and then her spine. I felt her relax against me. She was drifting into the pleasure.
Her scent filled my nose and I knew she was becoming wet and pliant for me. A beautiful, deliciously hot thing in my hands. When her thigh brushed against my cock, I heard her breath hitch and I answered with a deep, low growl in the back of my throat.
“I want to taste you,” I groaned and when she nodded eagerly, I lifted her into my arms. “Point me in the direction of your bedroom.”
Amusement and arousal played in her eyes. Her pupils were dilated and her lips were parted. She was so fucking beautiful. “Upstairs,” she whispered against my ear before swiping her tongue over it.
Fuck me, she’ll be the death of me.
I pounded up the staircase, following her whispered instructions, barely able to see as my eyes rolled back in my head while she breathed in my ear, nibbling on my neck and shoulder.
When we were finally in her bedroom—what felt like a lifetime later, I paused in the doorway, suddenly aware that I was stepping into a place that had belonged to my female before her life had changed abruptly.
I was glad to see that Adrian hadn’t touched this room. If he had, I would have found a way to punch him when he was in jail.
This feminine world that I was entering was one where even the air seemed to have manners.
Emma’s bedroom was soft light and impossible order, a quiet kind of luxury that made me afraid to breathe too loudly.
The walls were the color of old cream, glowing gently in the sun that filtered through gauzy curtains.
Everything shimmered faintly—the pale silk bedspread, the curve of a crystal lamp, the glass perfume bottles lined up on her vanity. It smelled like her—flowers and sweetness—the scent I’d fallen in love with the moment I’d caught it.
Her bed dominated the room, draped in fabric that looked too fine to touch, though I wanted to anyway. A few books were stacked beside it, perfectly aligned, just waiting to be read, and a single cardigan hung off the bedpost like it had been left there on purpose. Even her mess was elegant.
I’d imagined the world of her past before, but standing in it felt different. Everything here belonged to her, and somehow, so did I.
The only thing that could have pulled me away from that moment was my mate. Her small hand cupping my cheek.
“Hey,” she whispered, rubbing her thumb over my lower lip. “You okay?” Her eyes were still hazy with lust and I licked my lips as I stepped over the threshold of this space that felt sacred somehow.
Once inside, I took her to the bed, laying her down on it. Emma on top of this bed that was hers, holding her hand out to me, was one of the most erotic visions of my life. For a long moment, I stopped breathing.
“Are you sure?” I asked, suddenly having a moment of doubt. “About me?” I swallowed hard, hating myself for having to ask this question, but it needed to be asked.
“What do you mean?” she asked, sitting up and propping herself with her hands behind her back, resting on the bed. The position shoved her breasts forward and I had to look away before I did something stupid.
“You... you have your inheritance back,” I told her, squeezing my eyes shut for a moment before looking at her again. “And you can do or have whatever you want. I just... I don’t want you to be forced to be with me. I can walk away if you need me to.”
I stared down at her, memorizing her gorgeous face, her perfect body, waiting for her judgment of me. She tilted her head.
“Have you lost your mind?” she asked me.
I blinked. “What?”
“Of course it’s you, Krusk,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes before smiling at me and holding that hand out again. The one that welcomed me to all my wildest dreams and fevered imaginings. “It’s only ever been you.”
Fuck, I didn’t know how much I needed to hear that.