Chapter 65 – Emerson
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
EMERSON
The lights of the passing cars glance across Grant’s face as he drives to his house. They paint a vivid picture of the emotions roiling beneath the surface.
Or so I can guess.
Because other than saying, “Let’s go,” before he grabbed my hand and led me from the police station, he hasn’t said a word.
He’s been on autopilot. Get in the car. Start it. Seatbelt. Drive in silence—the pulsing of the muscle in his jaw, the flexing of his hands from gripping the steering wheel so tight, the dancing of his eyes between his mirrors and the road. Pull in the driveway. Park.
The house is dark when we enter, silent except for the sounds of our breathing, and we stand facing each other for the longest of moments.
We don’t speak.
We don’t move.
We just accept what has happened without ever exchanging a single word.
We absorb the moment and the weight of it.
That I’m here. In his house. Willing to trust him again.
We can barely see each other’s eyes in the darkness, and yet, I can tell how emotionally drained he is from tonight and how emotionally stripped he is for me.
Without preamble or pretext, he makes the first move when he steps forward and pulls me into his arms. And just like that, we cling to each other as if we can’t get close enough.
“Grant, I?—”
“Shh,” he says right before slanting his lips over mine. “Please.” Another brush of a kiss. “I just need you, Em. Now. Here. All of you.”
His lips are on mine again. It’s the same man kissing me, but it feels so very different this time around. Something has shifted between us, changing us intrinsically without changing us at all.
It’s just him. And me.
No past.
No future.
Just the moment.
I get lost in his kiss. In the feel of his skin and the taste on his tongue. In the unspoken need and unchecked desire.
We don’t walk to the bedroom. We remove our clothes in subtle movements, as if we’re afraid to ruin the magnitude of the moment, and lower ourselves to the rug.
We react in sighs and moans.
We feel in emotions.
We revel in the connection.
We make love for the first time.