Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Cap checked his watch for what felt like the tenth time since he and Emma had eaten dinner. Their conversation had picked up some throughout the evening, but it still hadn’t returned to the ease they’d shared before the hike to the lake. Before his internal implosion.
Should he ask her to? Did she want him to ask?
Emma sat on the couch staring at the television. Her injured ankle rested on a small pillow on the cocktail table in front of her. Earlier, when she’d gotten up, her limp had barely been noticeable.
Though they watched a comedy, she hadn’t laughed for a while, so either the show wasn’t funny, or maybe she was in the same state of mind he was. Conflicted about the thought of the sleeping arrangement.
He stood and did another quiet sweep through the cabin. All the doors and windows were locked.
He looked over his shoulder at Emma. “The squad is still in place. There’ll be a shift change at eleven.”
Emma pulled her foot off the table and stood. Then she grabbed the balled-up blanket he’d covered her with earlier and folded it.
“Where does this go?” she asked.
“Hall closet,” he replied as he pointed to the hallway.
She opened the door, then she leaned back and peeked at him from behind it.
“What’s with the cinder blocks?”
He walked over to her.
“That’s a door to the crawl space. I put them there just in case.”
“In case?”
“In case someone tried to break in through there. Did you see the cellar doors at the back of the cabin when we came back from our walk?”
Her shoulders slumped. “Yes, but I didn’t think much about them.”
He really needed to remember that she wasn’t used to this sort of danger. He should have softened his reply or at least added that he doubted that would happen.
“It’ll be fine. Nobody’s going to break in here. There’s a deputy right outside, and I’m in here. This house is safe. Nobody other than the police and sheriff’s departments knows about it and where it is. You’re safe.”
She nodded but continued wearing a worried expression.
He pulled her into a snug embrace, and she melted into him, letting him know he’d done the right thing.
“I’ll protect you. You know that, right?”
“I know,” she whispered.
When he released her, she stared up at him with those dark, inviting eyes.
“I know we’ve had a rough day and things have been a little tense between us. But if you want, you can sleep in my room with me. We don’t have to…”
His words sounded horribly awkward and choppy, and he thought he should simply stop speaking before he made it any worse.
“I’d like that.”
Okay, maybe what he said wasn’t so dumb.
“I’m going to get ready for bed,” Emma stated before she slipped into her room.
Cap did the same. He brushed his teeth and then eyed his two-day beard. He contemplated shaving, but he was tired and decided it could wait.
When he stepped out of the bathroom, Emma stood in the hall waiting to get in.
“I’ll only be a minute,” she said.
In his room, he stripped down to his boxers and slid into the small bed, his gun within reach.
Moments later, Emma entered wearing the same silky pajamas covered in little white clouds she’d worn the night before. It was easy to recall how she looked without that pajama top on. The thought of her creamy, bare skin and round breasts made him hard. He shifted his body to hide his enthusiasm.
Emma turned the light off and slid in beside him, facing him.
He rolled to his side to face her directly, too.
Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could make out her lovely almond-shaped eyes.
They gazed at each other for a moment before he inhaled deeply to steady himself.
Working up the courage to explain why he had been an ass to her earlier in the day.
Taking her hand, he kissed it, then entwined his fingers with hers.
“Emma, sweetheart, earlier today, when you asked why someone hadn’t snatched me up yet. Well, that question unfortunately reminded me why I’m still single at this age.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”
“No, it’s okay. It was a simple question. First, I’m honored that you think I should be paired off, but I have an unpleasant history when it comes to relationships.”
With her free hand, Emma reached over and pressed her index finger to his lips.
“You don’t have to tell me. It’s none of my business.”
He lowered her soft finger.
“That’s just it. It isn’t, but I want to tell you. I want you to know. I can’t have you thinking I’m an asshole.”
Her light giggle warmed his heart.
“I don’t think you are an asshole. Just the opposite. I think you’re a kind human being. Just look at you. In this cabin, you are keeping watch over me when you have absolutely no obligation whatsoever to do so. That behavior is certainly not that of an asshole.”
Her sincere words filled his heart with so much emotion he could hardly stand it. Now, he really needed her to know his past and that he kind of understood what she was going through, She needed to know he could love the way a man should love a woman. He had until Blythe stomped all over his heart.
“I was once engaged,” he blurted.
Her eyes widened.
“Yep. Me. I thought I loved her and that she loved me. I truly did.”
Emma’s hand tightened around his.
“The blow came a couple of weeks before the wedding. She called it off and I hadn’t seen it coming at all.”
Emma pressed her free hand to his cheek. Her touch was soft, warm, and comforting. Her gaze was empathetic.
“She evidently decided I wasn’t good enough for her—not rich enough. I was shocked. Her family, like mine, was just your average middle-class family. I couldn’t understand how we got so far down the marriage path without her saying something sooner. She broke my heart, and I felt humiliated.”
“I’m so sorry, Cap.”
“It gets worse.”
He heard Emma’s quick intake of breath.
“Evidently, one of my best friends was rich enough for her. She left me for one of my groomsmen.”
“That’s horrible.”
“It truly sucked. For lack of a better word.”
“Her loss.”
“That’s what people say, but it still stings, even five years later.”
Emma’s eyes watered.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to dredge up bad feelings for you and make you cry. I just…I don’t know. I guess I just wanted you to know since you asked.”
Though he felt guilty for making her cry, a rush of relief swept over him. His heart beat freely without anxiety or fear of loving again. It was as if telling Emma his horrible story had set him free from the grudge he carried. All that in an instant. It was both strange and exhilarating.
“My tears aren’t for me, Cap. They’re for you. For your pain.”
“I want to kiss you so badly right now,” he said.
“Then why don’t you?”
Without another thought, his mouth landed on hers.
Her lips unleashed a fire and she seemed to be on fire as well.
He slipped his tongue through her parted lips.
Her mouth was hot and needy. The kiss turned hotter and wetter.
She tasted so sweet he couldn’t get enough of her, so he deepened the kiss.
Her response was exactly what he’d hoped for. Their tongues tangled greedily.
He slid his hand under her pajama top and filled it with one of her plump breasts.
When she sighed into his mouth, he gave her breast another squeeze, then he pulled her along with him into a seated position, released her breast, and yanked her pajama top over her head.
She lay back down. Her perfect, round breasts were fully exposed to him.
His mouth watered, and he leaned forward and wrapped his lips around one as his hand kneaded the other.
He flicked his tongue over her nipple, and her moan echoed in the tiny room.
He did it again and again before moving his mouth to her other breast.
One of Emma’s hands pressed to the back of his head, pulling him closer to her chest. Her other skimmed down his back, leaving a fiery path burning his skin along the way.
“That feels so good,” she whispered.
He stilled and lifted his head to make eye contact with her.
“It sure does, and you taste delicious.”
She pulled him back to her breast as her other hand roamed over his shoulder and back.
He skimmed his mouth from her breast, kissing a path over her neck, then to her jawline, not stopping until he reached her warm, delectable mouth. The tempo of their kiss slowed, and a long, lingering kiss ensued. Warm, sweet, exhilarating.
Emma broke the kiss and placed her hands on his cheeks. “Do you have a condom?”
“Yes.”
He pushed himself up on the bed, reached over, and pulled a foil packet from his cleanup bag.
Emma’s lovely gaze was erotic as hell as she watched him sheath himself.
He covered her with his body. Her skin was warm and soft.
She was inviting. With gazes locked, he slid into the depths of her warmth.
Slow strokes and even slower kisses ensued.
He paused and returned his gaze to her. The depth of her stare thrilled, yet frightened him.
What had he gotten into? He never saw this coming, and it happened so quickly.
He moved again, stroking, kissing, loving her.
Her breath came quicker and his matched hers.
He moved faster and plunged deeper. Thrill ripped through him.
He teetered on the verge of climax. He reached down between their bodies and circled her clit.
Emma’s fingertips dug into his shoulders.
She shattered beneath him. Her body quivered, and her inner depths pulsed around him.
The sensation of it was exhilarating—phenomenal.
His vision blurred, and he exploded in her arms.
Cap collapsed beside her and took a second to catch his breath, and then, after a few beats, he rolled toward her and kissed her lightly.
“I’ll be right back,” he said before he slid out of bed and headed to the bathroom.
When he returned to the bedroom, he found Emma had pulled the covers up, covering her beautiful body. Dammit. He enjoyed seeing her nakedness.