Chapter 46
CHAPTER
FORTY-SIX
ASPEN
What a day it’s been. Here I am, at the end of it, finally feeling like Emmett has let me all the way in. And that’s equally heartbreaking and wonderful because of who he is and what he’s overcome.
Now, I’m under the glittering sky as it shows off its beauty and he holds me like I’m the most precious thing in the world.
I want to stay just like this all night, wrapped safe and tight in Emmett’s arms, out here, where nothing and no one can wreck this moment.
Emmett’s lips dot my face in kisses.
“I need you, Aspen. In every way possible, I need you. Let me be yours.”
The confession is as honest and raw as Emmett.
“You already are.”
He pushes the sandwiches to the side.
That’s fine, there’s only one thing I want right now.
Him.
Moving together, I slide from his lap as he eases me onto the blanket. His body settles over mine, solid and warm. Our hands immediately find each other, tugging at shirts and sleeves.
First my hoodie.
Then his shirt.
We laugh when our hands get tangled.
“Hold still, Angel.”
“Bossy.”
His grin flashes in the darkness.
A cool breeze sweeps through the valley, raising goose bumps along my skin, but the chill doesn’t last. A second later, Emmett covers me completely, pulling the blanket over us and burying his face against my neck.
“This is going to be quick,” he murmurs, lips brushing my skin, “and then I’ll take you inside where I can worship you for hours.”
A shiver races through me as I let my knees fall open to accommodate him.
“I like the sound of that.”
“Which part?”
“All of it.”
His laugh is low and rough as he notches himself at my entrance.
“You’re fucking perfect. You know that?”
“You’ve told me a time or two.”
“That’s because it’s true.”
No one has ever made me feel so seen, so cared for. I know I’m not perfect, but Emmett makes me feel like I’m exactly what he wants.
He steals the air from my lungs as he thrusts inside, stretching and filling me in one punch of his hips.
“Oh god,” I whisper.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d get something like this.” His hand slides into my hair as he holds me and starts a rhythm as desperate as he warned. “And certainly not with someone like you.”
Emotion thickens his voice.
Like he still can’t quite believe I’m real.
The extra touches that I normally need to get there are unnecessary with the intensity in his eyes and the rough grind of his pelvis against mine.
“Damn it, Aspen. What have you done to me?”
It’s less question and more wonder.
Emmett tilts my head back, exposing my neck and chest to him, sucking hard on my pulse point like he needs the proof that I’m here on his lips.
“Me?” My fingernails dig into his back. It’s all I can do to hang on.
“You gave me hope. What the hell do I do with that?” he asks through heavy breaths.
“Hold on to it,” I manage.
The punch of his hips picks up and his mouth finds mine. There’s so much feeling in his kiss that I tighten around him, coming apart just as he swells.
Both of us spent, his forehead falls to my shoulder and he sighs deeply like he’s done fighting himself. It’s so quiet I can hear the pounding of our hearts.
“The only thing I need from you,” I whisper, “is the best you have to give. Trust that you’re enough for me.”
His eyes close briefly.
That might be the hardest thing I’ve asked of him all day.
When they open again, they’re impossibly blue.
“I’ll try.”
It’s not a grand promise for forever. Or that he’ll always be perfect.
But it feels like the truth, and somehow that means more.
I brush my thumb over his jaw. “That’s all I'm asking.”
He leans into my touch.
“Healing has to start here.” I press my hand over his heart. “Only you can do that.”
His gaze drops to where my palm rests against his chest.
For a second, I think he’s going to argue.
Instead, he turns his head and presses a kiss against the center of my hand.
The gesture steals my breath.
Not because it’s grand.
Because it’s him.
Because, for the first time since I’ve known him, it feels like he’s finally letting himself believe me.
His fingers thread through mine.
Then he kisses me—every sweep of his tongue sweet.
And when he pulls back, there’s something different in his eyes.
Unfortunately, body heat isn’t enough to chase away the crisp night air.
When I shiver, curling closer to Emmett, he smooths a hand over my hair.
“I think it’s time to get you inside.”
“But it’s so perfect.”
“It sure is.”
Without a fight from me, Emmett helps me into his shirt, only taking time to slip his underwear on and press a kiss to my forehead before pulling me to my feet.
The auroras still dances overhead.
“Come on, Angel,” he says, threading our fingers together once again. “Let’s get you inside.”
For once, I don’t think either of us is running from anything.
We’re just moving toward whatever comes next.
When I pull my eyes from the Auroras twinkling like they’re just for us, he’s looking at me.
Emmett goes down first, taking our trash, clothes, and the blanket. I follow in only his sweatshirt and my panties. As soon as my feet touch the ground, he’s wrapping me up in the blanket.
With the navy blanket around my shoulders and Emmett at my back, his gaze sweeps over the dark expanse. A precaution that’s probably more habit than anything—always expecting the worst will do that.
We head inside the camper, and he clicks the lock in place behind us.
There’s no rush as we move around the camper. His shirt is peeled over my head and tossed aside, his hands warm where the air was cold a second ago as he helps me into the bed.
Then we settle beneath the blankets, the camper humming faintly around us.
Next to me, his arm is tucked under his head, making his bicep look obscene. I lean over and kiss it. It’s either that or biting it.
For a second, he looks like he’s about to say something important. Something heavy.
Then, he stops himself.
Instead, he brushes his thumb under my eye.
“You didn’t run.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“I wouldn’t have blamed you if you had.”
That answer lands like a hammer to my heart. I roll closer, fitting into him and placing my palm over his bare chest.
“I stayed because you’re where I want to be.”
His eyes search mine, raw and unguarded, and for a second, I think there’s
more something he needs to say. My pulse kicks up speed because I’ve felt it all night—the silent pledge of his secrets. He wouldn’t have told me if this thing wasn’t everything.
Instead, he exhales, slow and shaky, pulling me into his chest like he’s memorizing the feeling, and blows out a breath.
And it leaves me feeling unsure when he doesn’t say more.
But tonight’s been emotional and if he’s going to any declaration that will change us forever, he’s got to be sure, not caught up in the high of the release.
His breathing slows before mine does.
But I stay awake a little longer, making sure sleep takes him peacefully.
Emmett Slate falls asleep with his hand spread over my ribs like he’s making sure I stay.
Losing people has haunted him his whole life, and tonight he finally let me see how deep that runs.
Knowing the worst thing that’s ever happened to him doesn’t make me want him any less.
It makes me understand him more.