Chapter 30
THIRTY
E very kiss makes me hers, irrevocably.
Empire has her hand on my heart to absorb every beat, drawing me into her body, forcing me to match her pulse for pulse. The moment stretches out and slows, and I wonder if maybe I’ve really, honestly, died. Because there is no way this is real. Not when it’s the culmination of my every goddamn dream come true.
She’s here and she’s safe.
She’s mine.
The love I’ve never felt free to give practically pours out of me.
Empire belongs to me.
If she wants to be. And those little throat moans coming from her, the heat from her core, and the arch of her pelvis, they all scream she wants to be mine.
“I love you,” she whispers again.
There’s that. There’s no reason to give her up now. I’m going to do whatever it takes to be the kind of man she deserves. If it means pouring my midnight-black heart right into her palms, then it’s hers. No one has wanted it before, and fuck me, thinking about giving it away is uncomfortable.
Whatever she chooses to do with it from there, well, it’s not up to me.
“Do you have any idea what you do to me?” I drag my tongue up her neck, and she comes alive under my touch.
“Drive you insane?”
I hear her smile in her voice. There’s no way in hell I’m dragging my face away from her skin again.
The shower would have been smarter. No one ever claimed I’m smart. Not when it comes to this woman in my arms. The feel of her is enough to have me ready to come without fucking her.
“That, too,” I agree. “You bring me to life. I was nothing but a phantom before you turned to look at me.”
“I’ve loved you for longer than I can remember.” Empire stops my frantic kisses by cupping my face, our noses pressing together, her expression sultry. “There’s only been you, Marcus. There won’t ever be anyone else.”
She might not be my first love, but Empire Stone will certainly be my last.
“Everything I am is yours.”
There’s no way I can stop now. My body is stiff in all the wrong places, muscles tense and cuts aching like the devil has taken a piss on them. But she’s on my lap, and she feels so damn good. It’s right, it’s natural.
She sacrificed herself for me.
I will never deserve her or be good enough for her, but fuck, I’m done running. She tastes like the sweetest sin and the home I’ve been searching for. The past doesn’t matter. Most of my childhood is nothing but a blank space anyway.
Now matters. Every kiss is stolen, my throat tight, and my eye throbbing.
“I think the pain has made you mushy. It’s scrambled your brains.” She laughs at me.
I slide my hand from her waist to the side of her torso, ready to devour her right here on the bed.
Our tongues tangle together, and something about the moment has her laughing.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“You need to rest,” she mutters against my mouth. “You shouldn’t be exerting yourself this way.”
I groan and drop my head to hers before saying, “I’ll rest when I’m dead.”
“You—”
I flip her on her back, albeit slower than I would have under normal circumstances, crowding her against the mattress and gliding my hand to the zipper on the side of the dress.
Empire pushes against my pecs, but it’s halfhearted at best. “If you keep pushing yourself, then you might end up there sooner than later. Maybe you have a death wish. You wanna leave me so soon?”
“Maybe I just want to feel you clenched around my cock.” I blow against her ear.
She shivers underneath me. “You always know what to say.”
“I have a lot to make up for.” I kiss down the side of her neck, nibbling at the spot just above her collarbone where I know she loves to be touched. “I’ve treated you poorly.”
She shakes her head, but I’m not going to stop until I get it all out there. We’ve been granted a second chance. Fuck, it’s more like a third or fourth chance.
I’ve shoved her away from me, treated her like shit, and she still risked everything to save my ass.
We’ll have to talk about her ruined career eventually, in great detail.
Right now, who gives a shit? I’m not her manager anyway. She already fired me.
“I’ve loved you since I was a teenager, Marcus,” she says softly. “I need you to know that. I definitely didn’t endorse the Hot Daddy Marcus thing, but you are so special to me.”
I run my mouth along the smooth column of her throat and then down lower, burying my face in her tits. She tightens her thighs around me, and need claws right through my gut.
“Good. You’re mine, Em. You won’t have anyone else. Ever.”
“Please tell me you’re serious this time, and you’re not going to have another come-to-Jesus moment where you try to give me up for my own good?” Her question is a breathless babble, her hands in my hair, and her smile so beautiful it breaks my heart.
I drag the dress zipper down her slender torso. “I’m serious. If you’ll have me, then we’re going to do this.”
My cock hardens further in an effort to get to her. There are only a few layers of fabric separating us, plus my broken body, but I’ll push through.
Empires stares up at me with a grin lighting her features.“You’re telling me…that I love you, and you love me. And we’re actually going to be together.”
She’s sexy as hell with her messy hair and her dark eye makeup, staring at me until my pulse goes absolutely nuts.
“Fuck yes, baby,” I breathe. “You and me.”
That’s the way it is.
An impatient growl somehow makes its way past my lips, low and dramatic enough to have her chuckling again. Empire grinds against me and rolls her hips, her dress riding up her thighs, and I’m willing to bet her panties are already soaked.
She nips at me and sucks my lower lip into her mouth.
“You’re too old to push yourself when the doctors say you need to rest.”
“Old,” I repeat, nipping her right back. “It sounds like you’re issuing a challenge.”
“Only making a statement.”
On paper, we’re wrong for each other. The age gap between us, our statuses, our backgrounds… but never has a woman felt so right in my arms. Our futures are heading in the same direction and twining together with every passing heartbeat.
She arches up, fitting perfectly against me, and the lump in my throat grows when I reach between us and trail my finger over the side of her lacy thong. If I don’t fuck her soon, I’m going to crack.
As it is, it takes every single trace of willpower at my disposal to sit there and go slow.
“Don’t even try to get naked,” she warns. “You’ve fucked me in this dress already. Just do it.”
Empire rolls her hips again, and the movement presses her throbbing pussy against me. My cock is hard and desperate for her.
“You deserve more—”
She’s the one who drags me in for a kiss. She fits our lips together and glides her tongue against mine as I graze my fingers over her cunt. I feel her wicked smile against my mouth, her intoxicating giggle.
“Do you have any idea how hard it is to go slow?” She reaches between us and curls her fingers into the waistband of my pants. She presses her palm against my cock, and I thrust my hips, groaning.
My blood is pounding through my veins, making every bruise throb and my head spin.
This is a terrible position for my body. I’ve lived through worse but never fucked a woman right after. Empire, sensing my hesitation, maneuvers me onto my back, riding me like a tarnished award.
She’s never looked sexier.
I want to take her right now without hesitation, and my fucking body isn’t going to let me do it.
“If you’re sure, then you better let me do this.” Empire pulls at my pants, sliding my zipper down and freeing my cock in the next beat.
It springs free, dripping precum and aching for her.
Her eyes pop open wider, and she licks her lips, her desire clear in the gesture. She pulls me out farther and works my shaft, spreading the precum and making me twitch with need. Her mouth, her pussy, her ass, whatever it is she’s ready to give me, I want.
“I think as long as you stay exactly where you are, this is going to work. Trust me. I know what I’m doing.” She bobs to take the head of my cock between her lips, giving it a gentle tug before sliding her way down my shaft.
“Fuck, yeah, you do, baby.” My eyes go crossed.
I’ve taken her hard, and I’ve taken her without warning.
It’s her turn to lead.
She sucks me off to lubricate me, teasing me with a slight nip of teeth along the base and cupping my balls.
When she’s done, she pauses only long enough to pull her panties aside before she lifts up on her knees and slowly impales herself on my cock. Inch by inch, she cries out as I fill her, her back arching and my fingers biting into her waist.
This time, though, I’ve got to be gentle. Not just for her but for me. We deserve the ease, and we deserve the time, but my body isn’t where it’s supposed to be.
No, actually.
I’m exactly where I need to be, sheathed inside her tight little cunt.
The sweetest noises make their way out of her mouth. I twine my hand through her hair, those silken strands knotting around me. I hold her in place and kiss her deeply as she rides my cock. She lifts up until only the head is still inside her before plunging back down.
“Yes, god, yes.” She keeps her grip on the headboard and uses it for leverage, making it less work for me.
“You’re so fucking tight.”
“Surprising, I know, considering how well you fucked me yesterday.”
I groan. “Only yesterday?” I bite down on my lower lip to keep from coming too soon. “I want you every single day. Multiple times.”
Her breath comes faster. “I can live with that.”
She lifts up and slams herself down on me, gasping at the look of pain that flashes across my face.
“It’s fine,” I assure her, sweating for a completely different reason. “Keep going.”
Her movements gentle as our bodies find a rolling rhythm we both enjoy. Through the soft sweep of her hair, I see the pleasure of her blushed cheeks and the drowsy happiness in her eyes.
Whatever she sees on my face must be something special. Her smile is the first light of dawn after months of night.
I take her hand and loop our fingers together. It’s a silent promise for a future I thought we’d be denied. The moments aren’t all going to be mushy and gushy. We’ll have our battles. There will be broken glass and screaming. But there will also be times like these to make everything else worth it.
Empire bends to kiss me, grinding her hips and riding me through her orgasm and mine. Her pussy clenches around my cock, milking me over the edge, taking everything I have to give. I thrust up into her with a grunt, my hips pistoning and balls tight.
“Think you’re ready to go to the doctor now?” Empire presses her hand against my suicidal heart.
I manage to shake my head. “Let me stay inside you a little longer. Then you can do whatever you want with me.”
She collapses on my chest with her head beside mine. “Deal.”
THE END