Chapter 19 - Emmett
“You’ll never lose me,” Delilah whispered. The soft brush of her lips against mine as she spoke gave me chills. She walked us back to the cot, pressing on my shoulders until I sat down.
My chest nearly cracked in two when she straddled me, hands sliding up my chest and into my hair, and murmured, “I love you.”
My hands settled on her waist, grip tight. I held her as if she’d disappear any second because that’s how unreal this felt. It didn’t seem possible that someone like her could love a guy as broken as me. But I’d spend every day for the rest of our lives proving to her that I was worth it.
She moaned into my mouth, hips bucking forward.
God, I loved it when she was needy like this.
That she wanted me so badly she couldn’t control herself.
I smiled into the kiss, hands sliding down to her ass as she ground into me.
It didn’t seem to matter how tired I was; my body would always be ready for her.
And to think I could’ve lost her for good today.
The reminder stopped me in my tracks. I fisted her hair at the root, pulling her away. “Don’t ever do anything like that again. You hear me?”
Her eyes fluttered open, a lusty haze in them that made it nearly impossible to focus. She was the most magnificent thing I’d ever seen. Beneath the husky rasp in her voice, there was steel. “As long as you don’t,” she replied. “Won’t sit on my ass while my man is in trouble.”
All the blood in my body immediately rushed south. My head was airy. “Your man, huh?” I’d never wanted to be anything more.
She bit her lip, nodding with a coy smile.
She knew what she did to me. That I was wrapped so tight around her finger, I didn’t know which way was up.
And it only made me harder for her seeing the way she owned it.
“Yeah, Emmett, you’re mine.” She emphasized her words with a roll of her hips that had all the air leaving my lungs in a harsh breath.
“Fuck yeah, I am,” I groaned, falling back on the cot. She giggled and pulled her shirt over her head. She was bare underneath—every inch of her, soft and freckled and mine. I ran my hands up her waist before cupping her perfect tits. “And I’m so lucky for it.”
It hit me just how lucky—how grateful I was for her. If that tornado ended up tearing through the ranch, I probably would’ve died if it hadn’t been for her. My throat tightened. I met her gaze, my eyes burning. “I don’t deserve you,” I rasped.
Her eyes softened, and she leaned down, smelling like rain and home.
“It’s not about deserving, baby. You don’t ever need to earn my love; it’s given freely because I choose you.
I’ve chosen you all my life.” She smirked.
“Thank God you finally caught up, though. I was getting impatient.” A broken laugh left me.
Only Delilah could make me laugh while on the verge of tears.
I kissed her again, her lips soft and sweet against mine. Addictive.
Our clothes fell away into a wet pile on the floor. And when I saw her lying bare on the cot, copper hair shining in the dim light, looking up at me with love in her eyes, my heart nearly stopped. Everything else faded away until only she remained. “You should see how perfect you look, sweet girl.”
She bit her lip with a small smile. “Come here.”
I crawled between her legs. Kissed along her body as I went.
Her skin burned against mine, legs falling open, as I settled on top of her.
“So beautiful,” I whispered. Her eyes met mine.
The hazel sparkling. My chest ached, making room for all this love I felt for her.
It was never-ending. I felt like I’d burst with it.
She hooked a finger in my chain, pulling me down. Our mouths met in a slow glide that made me feel like I was melting, fusing into her. I rocked into her slowly, taking my time. She sucked in a breath as I filled her. The stretch was so good I wondered how I’d lasted this past week without it.
“Baby, you’re so big,” she whined, quick breaths fanning across my lips.
I bit back my smile. The things she did for my ego. “You’re gonna be good and take it, though, aren’t you, sugar?” I pulled back, only to surge into her again.
Her eyes rolled shut, head tilting back on the pillow. “Yes.”
The cot creaked beneath us with every sharp thrust I made. Every push into her felt like stitching myself back together. Delilah made everything whole again—me included.
I’d be kicking myself forever for not noticing her sooner. For all the time we could’ve had together. Her nails raked down my back, and if it weren’t for all the tattoos I already had, I’d get the marks she left permanently marked on me forever. Because that’s what we were—forever.
“Never letting you go,” I murmured, kissing along her neck. She tasted like rain, like mine.
“Don’t you dare.” Her tongue traced my jaw, teeth catching my ear in a way that nearly undid me. “Waited too long for you.”
“Gonna make it up to you,” I promised. And I would. I’d spend the rest of forever making it up to her.
Her hips rolled, meeting my thrusts. “You better.”
I buried my head in the crook of her neck, picking up my pace. Delilah’s moans rang through the basement, drowning out the faint hum of the storm. I’d hardly remembered we were in the middle of one. But that always happened when I was with her—everything else melted away.
The lights flickered before going out completely, blanketing us in pitch black.
The world stopped existing. It was just her—breath hot against my throat, hands clutching me like she was afraid I’d vanish.
Every heartbeat felt like a promise I’d never made until now.
Every sound she made carved it deeper into me.
I drove into her faster, chasing the pressure building inside me. I groaned, gripping her tight. “Fuck, I’m so in love with you.”
“Emmett,” Delilah whimpered against my neck.
“Love you, love you, love you,” she chanted with each thrust. I swore I could feel those words everywhere—under my skin, in my blood, in every atom that formed my existence.
Her kisses left a trail of heat that made my balls tighten.
Her hand slipped between us, the other on my ass, pulling me into her harder—a silent plea.
I gave her what she wanted. My hand went to the top of her head, cushioning each blow against the concrete wall.
Her back bowed off the cot with a gasp when I hit the end of her. The sound wrecked me. “Don’t stop,” she begged, voice breaking. I clenched my jaw, barely holding on. Every ounce of focus I had zeroed in on making her feel as good as possible.
“I can feel how close you are,” I panted. “Squeezing my cock so fucking good. Give it to me, sugar. Show me how good I make you feel.”
“I’m gonna—fuck, Emmett, I’m coming!” She slammed her lips to mine as she fell apart.
“That’s it, Lilah,” I groaned, lost in the way her body writhed beneath mine as she came. Wrapped around me like ivy. “That’s my good fucking girl.”
Wood splintered, the cot collapsing beneath us.
We hit the floor in a tangle of limbs and breathless laughter, but I couldn’t stop.
I was too close. I grabbed Delilah’s leg and pressed it with the other, putting her on her side.
My fingers dug into the soft swell of her thigh, using it as leverage to drive into her faster. Her laughter died with a moan.
Heat built at the base of my spine. My hips stuttered, thrusts erratic and desperate. “Baby, please,” she whimpered. “Come for me. I need you.” My cock jerked. A groan tore straight from my chest.
Every muscle in my body went rigid, right on the precipice.
The lights flicked back on. She was absolutely wrecked.
Skin flushed, lashes wet, hair wild. The sight alone sent me over the edge.
The pressure exploded, ricocheting through every cell in my body.
I fell on top of her, crashing my lips to hers while I pumped her full.
We were all gasping breaths and sweat-slicked skin after. I brushed her hair back, my hand trembling. “You okay, sweet girl?”
“Uh-huh.” She nodded, eyes dragging with a dopey smile. “Just will be walking funny tomorrow, but that’s okay.” I chuckled, lying beside her. “I think I’m addicted to you,” she said on a long sigh.
“I know I’m addicted to you.” I ran a hand up her thigh and along her hip. “I hated being away from you.” Hated was an understatement. I’d felt like a zombie all week, stuck in a perpetual state of loss. I hadn’t felt that directionless since I came home right after retiring from the Army.
Her leg slipped between mine, toes cold. “Me too. Let’s not ever do that again.”
“Deal. But that means we have to tell everyone—my sisters. Are you sure you want to do that?” I would do whatever she wanted.
It didn’t matter to me one way or the other what my sisters thought.
My love life was none of their business, but Delilah cared.
She cared a lot, and that was the only reason why their reactions were important to me.
She became fully alert then. “Yes…no.” She scrubbed her face, groaning. “I don’t know.” She rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling. “I just know I’ve wanted this for…well, forever, so I have to tell them.” She looked at me then. “Right?”
The corner of my mouth twitched with a smile, and she shook her head, already knowing what I was going to say. I pulled her into my side. “About that.”
Delilah covered her face in her hands, burying it in my chest. “Can we not talk about that and say we did?”
“Don’t tell me after nearly thirty years of knowing me, you’ve suddenly decided to get shy now.”
She lifted her face, eyes searching mine before she said, “I’ve had feelings for you since I was nine.”
The words knocked the air right out of me. Twenty-one years. She’d been carrying that around while I’d been too blind to see it. I didn’t know what to think. What to say. “Are you serious?”
“Unfortunately. It’s very pathetic of me, I know.”
“I don’t think it’s pathetic. I’m just confused why you never said anything until now.”
She pursed her lips, staring at my chest. “Because I knew you didn’t feel the same,” she said, her voice small.
“I didn’t want to put myself out there like that just for you to reject me.
” And that’s exactly what would’ve happened had she done it.
As brutal as it was, it was the truth. I hadn’t seen her as anything other than my sisters’ friend until a few weeks ago.
Safe to say I was a goddamn idiot.
“Then why’d you offer to sleep with me?”
Her eyes met mine. “Because I couldn’t take watching you suffer anymore,” she said. Her lips went to a flat line, and she shrugged. “It became worth the risk of losing you completely.”
My heart somehow broke and mended itself all in one go. She was the most selfless person I knew. “Delilah…”
“I figured it was the only way I could help you since you quit therapy with me. And I wanted it to be me rather than someone else. Even if it meant it was nothing more than sex. Nothing more than that one time.” She toyed with my chain.
Swallowed roughly. “The one-time thing was more for my sake than anything else. I knew it’d hurt me regardless, but it’d hurt a ton more if it became a regular thing.
” Her laugh was weak. “And you know how that went.”
“Please don’t ever put my feelings over your own ever again.” She looked away. My grip on her tightened, forcing her to look at me. “I’m serious, Delilah. Promise me.”
“I promise,” she whispered.
I couldn’t believe she was mine. That I had someone who cared about me this much.
I didn’t know what to do with all this love I felt.
Was this how everyone felt when they fell in love?
Consumed and overrun by the need to protect this person who’s suddenly become so precious to you?
“I’m gonna be a shit boyfriend,” I said, my voice rough.
“Just a heads up. I don’t know how to date.
Never really did. But I want to try—for you.
I want to be everything you’ve ever wanted. ”
She arched a brow. “What makes you think I want you to be my boyfriend?”
My stomach dropped. I’d just assumed that was where this was going. “I—” A smile spread across her face. “You brat.” I swatted her ass, and she giggled.
Her thumb traced the curve of my jaw. “I don’t care what kind of boyfriend you are,” she whispered, smiling as she kissed me. “As long as you’re mine.”
“I’ve been yours the last six weeks, sugar.” I kissed her again. “And I’ll be yours until my last breath.”
“I like the sound of that.” She nuzzled into my side, holding me close.
For once, the only storm raging was the one outside—the one inside me was finally silent.